Sprinting Stars – General Nediym

Filed in Horse Racing by on November 27, 2011

If there are two things we learnt during the Turf Heroes series, they are that (1) a surprising number of people seem to like reading about champion thoroughbreds; and (2) Cliff can’t shut up about such horses. With that in mind, Making The Nut is pleased to bring you a ten-part ‘Sprinting Stars’ series, where Cliff Bingham will look back upon the short course specialists who scorched turf at the highest level. Part three of the series reminisces about outstanding Queensland sprinter General Nediym.

Previous instalments of the Sprinting Stars series:

Part 1: Schillaci

Part 2: Mahogany

 

The career

General Nediym started his career early in the two year-old season – November 2, 1996 to be precise – with an emphatic win over 1000 metres at Eagle Farm. He would repeat the dose at the same track and distance a fortnight later, running a very sharp 56.9 seconds and marking himself as a promising sprinter. Almost six weeks later he made it three-for-three when stepping up to 1200 metres (with 58 kilos on his back) for the first time – a nice final tune-up for the two year-old Magic Millions Classic on the Gold Coast.

In the Magic Millions race itself he had drawn extremely awkwardly in barrier 13, but was still by far and away the public elect for the race. The tight turning Gold Coast track was not one that yielded easily to horses drawn wide, but on this day class would overcome all, as the General ran a scintillating 1:09 flat to maintain his unbeaten record.

After an eight week let-up, his next assignment was at Rosehill, specifically the Group 2 Todman Slipper Trial. The scenery may have changed but the result remained the same, as he made it five from five and posted his first victory at Group level.

The scene was now set for the Queenslander to take on the Group 1 Golden Slipper. Drawn nicely in barrier four, he was sent out a warm favourite to retain his unbeaten record. However, it was another unbeaten horse in the John Hawkes-trained Guineas who would take the spoils that day from the wayward Encounter (who may have cost himself the race by not running straight and true), with General Nediym finishing in fourth place. His first career defeat would also mark the end of his two year-old campaign, as he was sent for a spell.

August and September of 1997 saw the now three year-old General Nediym pick up where he had left off prior to the Slipper. He resumed with a win in the Group 2 San Domenico Stakes at Randwick, defeating Sports and Encounter. He followed this up with another win over Encounter in the Group 2 Up and Coming Stakes and then had some semblance of Golden Slipper revenge when defeating Guineas in the Listed Heritage Stakes at Rosehill.

Trainer Bill Mitchell then decided to step his star up to 1400 metres for the first time in the Group 2 Stan Fox Stakes at Randwick. Despite over-racing in patches, he was able to record another comfortable win, his ninth victory in just ten starts. This was sufficient to earn him a trip to Melbourne for the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas.

This would be just his second go at Group 1 level and his first attempt at 1600 metres. He took up the front position in running, but his stamina was tested by a number of rivals who were not going to let jockey Brian York dictate terms in front, and in the end this proved decisive. Encounter won the race, with General Nediym just over half a length away in third place. This run would be his first and last attempt at a distance beyond 1400 metres, and his last run of the preparation.

In February 1998 he resumed in the Group 1 Lightning Stakes, taking on the older horses for the first time. On rain affected going, he bolted clear of the field to record his first win at the highest level.

The handicapper thought so highly of this run and his overall record that despite taking on the older horses again in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate, he was allotted 58 kilos. To put that weight into perspective, a three year-old Schillaci received 54.5 kilos in 1992 after winning the Lightning Stakes, while a three year-old Fastnet Rock received 57 kilos in 2005 after doing likewise.

After leading easily early in the race, the General faltered badly and finished 14th of 15 runners, almost eight lengths behind Singing The Blues. A number of theories abounded after such a poor run, including that he choked down and even that he had been distracted by an encounter with a filly behind the gates before the race (I’m afraid to say anything more here).

A fortnight later he returned to Flemington for the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap. The return to a track he had tasted success on and the drop in weight to 55 kilos proved pivotal, as the speedy Queenslander landed his second Group 1 victory within a month and the 11th victory of his then 14-race career.

His Lightning-Newmarket double had put him in esteemed company of Schillaci (albeit that he couldn’t match the grey’s Group 1 treble), Shaftesbury Avenue, Placid Ark and Special, each of whom had captured those two races in the same season during the 1980s and 1990s.

The autumn 1998 fun was not yet over for General Nediym though. After a seven week let-up, he headed home to Brisbane for the Group 2 (nowadays Group 1) BTC Cup. Much as he had done in the Lightning Stakes, he handled the rain-affected going with aplomb, notching up win number 12 in a career that seemed to be on the up and up. Little did we know at the time that it would be his final win at Group level and his second-to-last win overall.

With the WFA scale continuing to entice him and Group 1 riches in the offing, Mitchell pushed his charge back out to a slightly longer trip (1350 metres) for the Group 1 Doomben 10,000. However, an awkward draw in barrier ten and the irrepressible challenge of Doomben specialist Chief De Beers proved too much for him to handle, as he finished a length away in third place to round out his campaign.

His 1998 spring campaign began amid high expectations but quick came plummeting back to the earth. He ran last of six runners (beaten more than nine lengths) in the Group 2 Schweppes Stakes at Moonee Valley and then ran fourth of five runners (beaten eight lengths by Toledo, whom he had defeated in the Newmarket Handicap earlier in the year) in the Group 2 Linlithgow Stakes at Flemington, ending an abbreviated and disappointing preparation.

Two barrier trials in Sydney kept him ticking over until January 1999, when he returned to the Gold Coast to take the Magic Millions Cup over 1400 metres. Despite an awkward draw in barrier ten and a 58 kilo impost, he looked to back to his best form in recording his 13th career victory.

He then returned to Sydney for the final two runs of his career. At Randwick he was beaten by Kidman’s Cove in a driving finish to the Group 2 Expressway Stakes, and two weeks later he was second again to the same galloper (albeit three lengths away this time) in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes at Warwick Farm.

Whilst his final three runs had suggested that his 1998 Melbourne spring form was an aberration and that more sprinting success was achievable, the breeding barn lay in wait, and thus the curtain came down on the racing career of one Queensland’s finest in the modern era.

 

The memories

As is the way with many a precocious talent who displays their wares on the track all too fleetingly before being whisked away to stud, the memories of the Queensland flyer are perhaps not as ingrained as they are for gallopers whose greatness spanned across a four or five-year period.

Nonetheless, in full flight he was an out-and-out speed machine, often bowling along in front while mere mortal gallopers tried to keep pace. To wit: his first 16 starts resulted in 12 wins, two thirds (the Caulfield Guineas and Doomben 10,000, both over distances beyond his optimum range) and two unplaced runs (an unlucky fourth in the Golden Slipper and an atypical stinker in the Oakleigh Plate when carrying 58 kilos against older horses). Over the short courses, he took a hell of a lot of beating.

There are also three significant aspects to the General Nediym story that aren’t directly linked to on his efforts on the track, perhaps deflecting some attention from the calibre of his racing career.

The first significant aspect was the set of circumstances regarding his (non) sale as a yearling.

Bred at Ron Ashdown’s Glengarry Stud in Queensland, he was sent to the 1996 Magic Millions yearling sale. Ashdown considered him to be a very promising horse and placed a sizeable reserve on him.

However, a major setback befell the team when the horse became cast in his box at the sale and took a small piece off a leg. Subsequent x-rays showed no breaks, but the incident had cast enough doubt in Ashdown’s mind for him to remove the reserve price.

These two factors led to the colt going for the absolute bargain price of just $20,000, but more drama was to ensue. The new owner ordered a second x-ray and despite it also revealing no problems, the colt was returned to Ashdown.

Instead of receiving $20,000, Ashdown received $2.1 million in prize money over the next three-and-a-bit years. Allowing for payments to trainers, jockeys, vets and the like, Ashdown probably got upwards of 80-1 odds in the end about his $20,000 ‘investment’. And people wonder why some owners don’t feel the need to bet on the horses in their possession.

The second significant aspect of General Nediym’s career was that he was the horse who helped bring Peter Moody (who oversaw the General’s preparation for Bill Mitchell) to prominence. We’ll come back to Moody later in this Sprinting Stars series (specifically, in the tenth instalment), but suffice to say that his rise through the racing ranks has worked out rather nicely.

The final aspect was his contribution to the Australian racing industry as a sire before he died of colic in January 2009.

After retiring in 1999, he was the Champion First Season Sire in 2002-03. The best of his progeny was Queensland filly Regimental Gal, a winner herself of the Lightning Stakes and also the Group 1 Australia Stakes. Had she won another Sprinting Stars ‘criteria’ race, we could have had a father/ daughter combination in this series to go with the father/ son Turf Heroes in Octagonal and Lonhro – heady company indeed.

Whilst the story of General Nediym is far richer than his on-track efforts alone account for, the Sprinting Stars series is all about what happens on the track. To those who query his place amongst the best sprinters of the past 20 years, go back and have another look at the short list of horses that have completed the Lightning Stakes – Newmarket Handicap double. To win both races is to be a star of your time – one worthy of the sprinting star mantle.

 

The stats

Overall record: 21 starts, 13 wins (2 x Group 1s, 5 x Group 2s, 0 x Group 3s), two seconds, two thirds, $2,121,898 prize money

2YO spring/ summer (1996-97): Four starts, four wins

2YO autumn (1997): Two starts, one wins (1 x G2)

3YO winter/ spring (1997): Five starts, four wins (3 x G2), one third

3YO summer/ autumn (1998): Five starts, three wins (2 x G1, 1 x G2), one third

4YO spring (1998): Two starts

4YO summer (1999): Three starts, one win, two seconds

 

 

Turf Heroes series

Just in case you missed them the first time around, links to each of our Turf Heroes series are below:

(1) Super Impose, (2) Better Loosen Up, (3) Let’s Elope,(4) Octagonal, (5) Saintly, (6) Might and Power, (7) Sunline, (8) Northerly, (9) Lonhro, (10) Makybe Diva

Image:

Comments are closed.