It is not difficult to peg the sagacious and steady voice of In Her Time’s co-owner Peter Brown with that of a man who has worked with numbers all his life. But it is very difficult, to then align that voice with that of a breeder and a true horse lover.
There are many breeders who do the ‘business’ of thoroughbred breeding. They are very good at it and thoroughly passionate about making their business successful. But it’s rare to meet a man who has worked in the breeding and racing industry for the sheer joy of the work, without earning a penny. Brown worked as a strapper for Group One trainer Jim Johnstone from Newcastle for over 20 years without pay.
During his time with Jim Johnson, he met John Cobcroft who became a great friend. The Cobcroft family in the forties and fifties used to rule the rural realm of extremely successful farmers and graziers. Eventually, at the time of his passing, John handed Brown the reins of his breeding operation to oversee together with his wife, Mrs. Denise Cobcroft.
Brown fell in love with his racehorses as a young lad during a business trip to London in the seventies. Upon returning to Australia, he didn’t have the money or the expertise or the connections to get involved with the industry. He started working for some trainers in his spare time, one of whom was the famous, Jim Johnson.
Eventually Brown started to work for George Altomonte, who was also a racehorse owner, incidentally. The Cobcroft horses used to compete against those owned by Altomonte who knew John and Jim well from competing with them over the years. Peter Brown worked at The Alto Group. Peter Brown rose to the position of General Manager in the company. Altomonte and Brown continued to discuss breeding and racing in every spare minute they got.
(The Alto Group has been successfully serving the motoring needs of Sydneysiders since 1956, says their website proudly.)
His love for In Her Time is evident in his almost unabating redolent praise of the multi-group winning mare.
“I have had horses all of my life and I come from a racing family but I’ve never had anything like her. She’s very unique. She’s not just a wonderful moving athlete but also a beautiful animal.
She just blows the spectrum. She can run over 70 km/hr. and her stride is getting longer and longer by the day.”
There is a detailed plan in place for In Her Time spanning until the end of 2018. The grandiose but extremely realizable plans start with a prep race (the Gr.2 Premier Stakes) before The Everest. After her date with destiny on 13 October, the Time Thief filly will proceed to participate in well-known Group One sprint races in the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
She then may be heading to Hong Kong to participate in the Hong Kong International race, for which she has been invited. (Her inoculations for the travel are in place and the paperwork is being processed)
“It has been my dream to stand in the winner’s circle of one of the top Group One Melbourne races. In Her Time may just be the mare thatcan make my dream come true,” says Brown.
According to Peter Brown her success is attributable to her ability to turn off the stress and adrenalin after a big race.
“She just goes to sleep. When you take to the training track, among all those other horses, she will just stand there and literally go to sleep. She’s very laid back. Yet she can run like the wind during the races.
Her recovery is amazing because she is able to completely turn off once she is back in the stable after a race.
You can’t order that. We are very lucky. She’s been like that since the day we asked her to become an athletic,” explains the owner.
Brown also attributes her talent to her dam line which features Caranna, an AJC Derby, Rosehill Guineas and Caulfield Guineas winning stallion.
“It’s an attribute (her ability to remain relaxed under pressure) that’s come to her. The family that she comes from has been held by the Cobcrofts for two generations. “
The breeding of Caranna provides another salutary tale in the capricious fortunes of bloodstock breeding.A black filly, Connette was bought as a yearling by the brothers Arthur and Gavin Cobcroft at Easter 1939 and was a winner at Randwick when trained by Bayly Payten.
She descended from what was once regarded as one of the stoutest staying families in the Australian Stud Book, tracing to Cross Battery, the dam of Artilleryman.
The Cobcroft and Thompson families had been closely involved for many years and so when the time came to send the mare to stud it seemed only fitting to choose a Widden stallion (Valognes) for their prized mare.Caranna’s sire was a son of the 1938 English Derby winner Bois Roussel, who was also the sire of Delville Wood and was owned by Colonel Macdonald Buchanan. Valognes was trained by Marcus Marsh. Valognes failed to train on in his 4YO season and Frank Thompson, the A.J.C. committeeman, was able to acquire him on behalf of Widden Stud in 1949.
Only two of Connette’s foals were ever tried on the racecourse. One of whom was the worthy Derby winner, Caranna, trained by early Australian Hall of Famer, Tom Hush.
“After retiring from racing, the Cobcroft family bred this line of horses just for themselves. John Cobcroft had the foresight to use the (Caranna) seed. The Cobcroft family (horses) is quickly developing into one of the best speed families in Australia.”
“Yearlings from this family are now selling for A$400,000 to A$500,000 as opposed to A$5,000 when I first started with them,” said Brown with pride.
“I help the trainer with the Cobcroft horses because I know their idiosyncrasies and understand how the breed has to be trained.”
“Her races have been very spaced. We haven’t tried to over race her.”
“It will be a fantastic race (The Everest) as there is lot of natural speed in the race. All we can do is prepare our horse as best we can,” continues the ebullient owner.
She’s beaten some very good horses from the start. 2018 Royal Ascot winner Merchant Navy’s sister was beaten by In Her Time in her first start. She’s a very good mare. Let’s hope she can do it come Everest day. “
Credit: Pallavi Shevade pallavi.shevade@secretariatsworld.com