On November 6th this year the Australian Horse, Vow and Declare, won the prestigious, Melbourne Cup (2019) and brought immense pride and joy to Mick Malone, who is co-owner and stud manager of Kitchwin Hills, where he was bred and foaled, but also to his homeland Australia.
Bred by the supposed hobby breeder, Paul Lanskey, this handsome horse was named after his breeder’s father’s habit of saying, “I vow and declare, I've one only have a few beers”.
Vow and Declare left some really formidable competition behind to win the race which is truly an achievement for a horse who received such a low bid at the sales that the owner decided to retain him.
Malone agreed to share speak to The Impact about Vow and Declare and the Melbourne Cup win. Let us find out what he said:
Q: It was fantastic to hear that Vow and Declare bred, foaled and consigned at Kitchwin Hills. You seem to have all the good ones. What was Vow and Declare like as a foal?
A: Yes, Vow And Declare were bred and foaled here at Kitchwin Hills, and we carried him right throughout to the yearling stage before he moved off to Shannon Betts at Emeran Park to be broken in.
He was always a nice big scopey type who would appreciate the time and getting overground. I guess you could say he wasn’t the most commercial yearling, but what he was looked all racehorse, which he has no doubt shown now throughout his lightly raced career.
Q: What do you remember about Vow and Declare which made a ‘shoo-in’ for the Cups?
A: I remember one of the first reports back from Shannon who broke him in, and she talked of how big & fluent his action was throughout and he had such a good attitude. She said at the time he just covered the ground so effortlessly, and that certainly looked the case in the Cup this year.
Q: Please tell us a bit more about your plans for the upcoming yearling sales season? Which are the biggest sales you will be attending and which horses look like they are your highlight lots?
A: We have a massive year of yearling sales ahead of us in 2020 with around 80 yearlings to sell. No doubt a highlight will be selling the half-brother to the Everest winner Yes YesYes by Sebring. He is heading to Magic Millions and is an outstanding colt who just looks athletic!
Outside of him, we have a quality line up of 28 for Magic Millions, a draft I am really excited about and getting back into the swing of sales season.