2015 J&B Met – Futura on parade (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
I like to think I’ve got a reasonable nose for a good story, so am embarrassed to admit that the Futura one escaped my notice until a recent kind email from Jack Mitchell. However, the fact that I have finally found it means I can now share it with all of you, so every cloud.
It goes without saying, well no, it doesn’t, as I say it all the time, that for each and every entry in the race card, each horse, and generally each person that goes with each horse, has a story. And usually a pretty good one, depending on how much of it one is allowed to tell. The Futura story is a cracker and it’s built on loyalty, friendship and a lot of love for a very special horse.
But let’s start at the very beginning
Dam Scribblin’ The Cat was bred by Vaughan Koster at Cheveley Stud. She was by Badger’s Drift out of the 4-time winning Western Winter mare, Winter Fox (a half sister to Angelina, Rakeen’s only Gr1 winning daughter). Scribblin’ The Cat went through the ring at the 2006 National Two Year Old sale and after failing to reach her reserve, was sold out of the ring to Brett Warren and a friend of Gary Player’s named Mike Jolly (Mike has been in the game for thirty odd years and some may remember him as part-owner of Gold Cup winner Colonial Girl). The filly raced three times, winning at the third time of asking over 2000m at Turffontein with Stephen Swanepoel in the saddle. She sustained a knee chip and rather than battling with her, the partners chose discretion over valour and retired her. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Mike relates that he was keen to send the filly to stud, but his partners weren’t interested in breeding, so he retained a half share and Guy Murdoch, who was Gary Player’s stud manager at the time, traded the other partners a colt for their 50%. The journey had begun.
A Date with Destiny
Dynasty
From her Colesberg base, Scribblin’ The Cat was sent to the Cape to visit Dynasty (who is managed by Futura’s part-owner, John Freeman). She returned in foal and then, deep into her pregnancy, Guy moved to Mooi River to join Yellow Star Stud. It was there that Scribblin’ The Cat foaled down a bay colt. Things don’t always go to plan with first foals and it is a credit to the people around him that the little colt survived at all. The first challenge came by way of a meconium impaction. Teenagers would classify this as ‘TMI’ (Too Much Information), but meconium is the first manure produced by a foal and is made up of amnionic fluid, gastrointestinal secretions, bile, and cellular debris ingested in utero. In the normal course of events, the meconium passes within the first three to four hours, but it’s not unusual for things to go awry. Meconium is quite hard and dense and uncomfortable to pass – often more so for colts than fillies – and occasionally requires a little help by means of an enema (now you’re definitely thinking TMI!). However any blockage or impaction results in severe abdominal pain and serious cases may even require surgical intervention. And you thought foals just popped out looking cute and fluffy.
The poor creature had no sooner recovered from his first ordeal, than he suffered a galloping case of diarrhoea – also a potentially life-threatening condition for a young foal. However, it turned out to be fortuitous as it led to the discovery that the dam wasn’t producing milk, so with no time to lose, the little colt was hastily fed his first meals by bottle. In fact, Guy spent the first few weeks of the colt’s life sleeping in the stable, making sure he was going to be ok. I’d like to say ‘and the rest was history’, but no, there was more to come. At 5 months, the colt contracted a case of strangles so severe that he had abscesses all over his head. When he stubbornly survived yet again, the Grim Reaper finally got the message and the rest of his early life progressed uneventfully – much to Guy’s relief! It is hard to guess how much those early experiences shaped the young colt, but ignoring the odds is something he clearly learnt early on.
Shortly afterwards, Guy took up a post at Mauritzfontein Stud and Futura grew up stretching his legs across the same dusty Kimberley landscape that produced Horse Chestnut. He joined a draft of four Mauritzfontein yearlings on the 2012 National Yearling Sale where he caught the eye of John Freeman and Jack Mitchell.
Sales
Futura – electric (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
John picks up the story. “Guy is a mate of mine, so I always go and see his horses. Jack and I normally walk around with a group of people, but this time we were on our own and we both loved him. You know, you don’t buy a horse because you see a name on paper – you’ve got to like the horse. He had this electric look about him and he just excited me. I gave him a huge rating in my book and said to Jack ‘this is ours’. He was really so impressive. Thanks to Guy we had him vetted and we walked away determined to buy him.” Jack Mitchell concurs. “He was a very good walker. We picked him together right as he walked out of the box – first impressions are the most important!”
However, the actual sale didn’t go quite according to plan. John explains, “He cost us much more than we expected. We thought he’d go around the R250k mark, but he went past that without even breathing. When we got to R500k, I said to Jack ‘Geez, that’s more than we expected.’ I’d only paid R475k for his father! It turned out Ian Longmore had been the underbidder and he came and found us afterwards (I normally hide when I’m bidding on a horse). Ian said “I was wondering when you were going to stop?” I must admit, we’d been thinking much the same! Then he asked if he could have a piece and Jack said, “Let’s put the Jackson partnership together again,” and that was it. If you think about it, Jack Mitchell is probably to Dynasty what Mike Bass was to Jet Master. Jack has been Dynasty’s biggest fan and he’s been well rewarded for his loyalty.”
Symmetry
Ian Longmore with Nancy & Jack Mitchell
The shoe had been on the other foot at the 2010 National 2yo sale when Jack and John were the underbidders to Ian Longmore on Jackson. John remembers, “Jack wasn’t at the 2yo sale, but his daughter Nancy came out to have a look at Jackson. I’d said to her ‘This is your type of horse’ and took pictures of myself with him to show off his beautiful head. Nancy agreed that I was right, so Jack said he’d buy half if I bought the other half. I was on the phone to Jack during the auction and things were getting a little serious. It went up to a million and I said ‘I can’t go anymore, it’s too rich for me.’ I clicked the phone off and Jack rang straight back and insisted that I bid again. I explained that the hammer had fallen, so he instructed me to find out who had bought the horse ask to buy a share. Of course it was Ian Longmore and Brett Crawford.”
The name
The bay colt with the tiny trickle of white between his eyes was listed on the 2012 NYS catalogue under the name Venia. Today of course, we know him as Futura. I asked Jack why they changed it. “We didn’t like the first name. I don’t like it when breeders name horses. If you pick up a catalogue from New Zealand or Australia, there are no names – it’s very refreshing. I don’t buy a dog and expect the breeder to drop it off and say it’s called such and such. I like to name my own horses, so I often change the names – it doesn’t bother me. I find they often do well afterwards. Nancy chose the name – the dam is Scribblin’ The Cat and Futura is the name of a typeface.”
Next steps
The colt was started under saddle at Julia Pilbeam’s Soetendal pre-training facility and she remembers him well. “He was very immature and playful. We started him and he was absolutely no trouble at all, but he was incredibly coltish. Usually they settle once they start working on the track, but he’d been trotting for about two weeks and was still neighing at everything all the time. We’ve only ever had two like that and it was obviously just a stage he was going through, but I rang Brett and said ‘you’ve got to take him in’. I phoned a bit nervously a week later to see how he was getting on and Brett said he hadn’t put a foot wrong. He’s been back to spell twice since then and he’s just like an old gelding now.” I’ve noticed Julia and her assistant Ricardo Christian at all Futura’s races this season.
Trainer Brett Crawford concurs and says ‘Basically he’s always had a wonderful temperament. He’s just a relaxed, laid back type of horse. Nothing fazes him, he’s very simple to work with.”
Glen and Futura winning the Champions Cup
Of course the rider who has been with him from the start, Glen Hatt, rode him in every single career start until their victory in last season’s Champion’s Cup, after which he has been recuperating from hand surgery. While the reins have since, quite literally, been passed to Bernard Fayd’herbe, Glen has been with them every step of the way. He joined the team on the podium for both the Queen’s Plate and Met victories and joined Neil Andrews for the TV coverage of Saturday’s race. As the field headed into the straight, he leaned over and said to Neil ‘now watch this’, just as the colt kicked for home.
As always after a big race, there has been a lot of talk. What if Legislate had run, what if the pace had been different, if this, if that. At the end of the day, Bernard rode a textbook economical, waiting race. When the gap appeared between Punta Arenas and Helderberg Blue, Bernard asked and Futura went through it. And then he kept going.
Up in the press room, we all compared photos, bemoaning the fact that there weren’t too many showing his ears pricked or alternatively anything dramatic showing him looking particularly exerted – he just cantered over the line without too much fuss. He paraded politely back past the stands as Bernard loosened his girth, then joined his people in the winner’s enclosure to accept the adulation of the crowd.
From 11 starts, the colt has notched 7 wins, 3 of which have been at Gr1 level. He has never finished worse than 3rd. Is it loyalty? Is it friendship? Is it love for a special horse? Or are some heroes just simply ‘made different’?
Futura – made different? (photo: hamishNIVENPhotography)
