Of all the names available for a thoroughbred, one which would never be given away lightly is that which graces Darley’s new stallion: Musket. There has, of course, already been a Musket, the original bearer of the name being the imported stallion forever remembered as the sire of Carbine. Musket, a winner at Royal Ascot prior to his export to New Zealand, thus already features in the pedigrees of many of history’s greatest horses because Carbine, who still holds what is likely to be a permanent weight-carrying record for the Melbourne Cup, proved to be a hugely influential stallion, initially in Australia and subsequently when standing alongside St Simon at the Duke Of Portland’s Welbeck Abbey Stud in England, where he proved responsible for three generations of Derby winners (his son Spearmint siring Spion Kop, who in turn sired Felstead). Among the horses descending from Musket via Carbine are Phar Lap, Tulloch, Kingston Town, Bernborough, Rising Fast and Sunline.
Which horse, then, should be honoured with such a name? Well, if any horse deserved to bear this title, who better than Makybe Diva’s Redoute’s Choice half-brother?
Tugela, dam of this distinguished pair, foaled Makybe Diva in Britain prior to the export of mother and daughter to Australia and, once the Diva had started to demonstrate her astonishing ability, Redoute’s Choice was a natural mate for her: both Desert King (the Irish Derby winner who is the sire of Makybe Diva) and Redoute’s Choice are sons of Danehill.
Musket was born in the spring of 2003, coinciding nicely with the first of Makybe Diva’s history-making three Melbourne Cups. While clearly the dominant stayer of this, or just about any other, era, Makybe Diva was much, much more than ‘just a stayer’. Her haul of Group One victories also contained a Sydney Cup, but the extent of her versatility is shown by the fact that it also included the Cox Plate, Australian Cup and BMW. Furthermore, her Group Two triumphs included a tremendous display of speed to defeat the Group One-winning sprinter/milers Barely A Moment and Regal Roller at weight-for-age in the Memsie Stakes over 1400m at Caulfield.
Musket was offered for sale at the Inglis Easter Sale in 2005, just after Makybe Diva had confirmed herself Australia’s dominant weight-for-age performer by following up her Australian Cup victory with an emphatic two-length defeat of Grand Armee in the BMW at Rosehill. He was clearly the most eagerly awaited lot in the sale, and pre-sale inspections revealed him to be as imposing a colt as he was a well-bred one. Unsurprisingly he proved the star of the show, selling to Woodlands for $2,500,000. He went into training as clearly the best credentialed colt of his generation, and one for whom a distinguished name was only natural.
Musket did indeed go on to prove himself an excellent racehorse. He kicked off his career by winning on debut at Canterbury over 1200m in August of his three-year-old season before progressing, via wins at Randwick over 1400m and 1600m, to Stakes company as a four-year-old, recording second placings on his first two Stakes starts in the Sky High Stakes at Canterbury (beaten a neck) and the Japan Racing Association Plate at Randwick (to Viewed). The following spring he won a competitive renewal of the Group Two Shannon Stakes over 1500m at Randwick, beating Black Piranha by a long head. He recently ended his career with a creditable sixth of 19, beaten only 1.4 lengths, in the Group One Doncaster Handicap at Randwick, and thus retires to Twin Hills, NSW, with a proven record of speed, toughness and durability to complement his outstanding pedigree and physique.
When Musket won the Shannon Stakes, he became the third Group winner bred by Tugela, because Makybe Diva’s successes had been followed by victory in the 2006 Tesio Stakes at Moonee Valley by Valkyrie Diva, Tugela’s daughter of Jade Robbery. Tugela, unsurprisingly, has a lovely pedigree. Her dam Rambushka, a daughter of Roberto from the Northern Dancer mare Katsura, was a good filly in England, winning two of her six races and running behind Lammtarra’s dam Snow Bride in the 1989 Oaks. Katsura has proved to be an influential matriarch, her other grand-daughters, aside from Tugela, including the Quest For Fame mare Fame At Last, the dam of last year’s Group One Prix du Jockey-Club runner-up Famous Name (a son of another Danehill stallion, Dansili).
With these blood-lines to match his looks and proven performance record, Musket looks a safe bet to continue the tradition of breeding excellence established all those years ago by his famous namesake.
