Latest articles
- Sunday Steps Up Again
6 August 2008 - Sunday Silence Line Winners Flow
8 July 2008 - A knockout win
7 July 2008 - Punch Up is a Knockout!
7 July 2008 - Sunday Knight Produces a Gem!
23 June 2008
6 August 2008
Sunday Steps Up Again
6 August 2008
Sunday Knight (Sunday Silence / Wrap Around) continues to chalk up winners with his 4YO filly, Mythical Memory, claiming her maiden title over 1106m at Toowoomba last Saturday.
Mythical Memory’s dam, Rasian (Semipalatinsk / Flying Heels) is grandaughter to the stakeswinning mare, Limousine, who won the VATC Debutants Stakes and produced the WATC Roma Cup winter, Star Glitter.
Rasian has also produced Kamulla, (a 2YO filly by Conatus) who won a Barrier Trial in great form at Eagle Farm. Kamulla is trained by Barry Baldwin.
Born and bred at Plaintree Farm, Mythical Memory is trained by Michael Nolan at Toowoomba.
8 July 2008
Sunday Silence Line Winners Flow
Breednet - Brian Russell Media - 8 July 2008
PUNCH UP, a winner over 1400m at Eagle Farm on Saturday, is the second to score in Brisbane in recent weeks by unraced Australian bred sons of one of the sire giants in world breeding, the now deceased Japan used Kentucky Derby winner and American Horse of the Year Sunday Silence.
Punch Up is a 3-year-old from the first crop of Sunday Knight, a near black 16.2 hands stallion who has been a foundation sire at Heather and David Pascoe’s Plaintree Farms Stud, Cecil Plains, Toowoomba, while the other Sunday Silence sire represented successfully in Brisbane has been the illfated Any Given Sunday. He died after only one year at stud in Victoria, but has supplied one of the best 3-year-old fillies of the past year, Riva San. She won the Queensland Oaks and Queensland Derby at the Brisbane Carnival.
Now successful in three of ten starts, Saturday’s winner Punch Up is one of two metropolitan winners in recent weeks by the lightly represented Sunday Knight. The other is Marunouchi, a winner in six starts of four races, including three in Perth.
Sunday Knight
Sunday Knight (pictured), 2008 fee $4,400, to date has had seven winners and eleven other placegetters from 19 runners.
Like Any Given Sunday, Sunday Knight is one of a small number of foals got by Sunday Silence in Japan to Southern hemisphere time by arrangement with John Messara of the Arrowfield Stud, Scone and foaled in Australia. In the last four years of his life, it saw the supersire on this program put over nine mares in 1998, eight in 1999, nine in 2000 and five in 2001. The result was 25 live Sunday Silence Australian foals out of which 13 raced, five won, seven placed and the other was a minor money earner in New Zealand.
7 July 2008
A knockout win
QUEENSLAND Racing web news - Hollie Roberts - 7 July 2008
Jason Taylor (red cap) encourages Punch Up to the front
The conditions were in his favour for Punch Up to win the Racetree QTIS 3YO Handicap 1400m at Eagle Farm on Saturday, July 5 according to Gold Coast trainer Peter Balzen.
A great ride by the jockey, a good barrier, wet track breeding and the right distance all amounted to the victory.
Ridden by Jason Taylor from barrier three, Punch Up (G3 Sunday Knight-School Blue) got fast away but settled back mid field. He kept trying in the straight and made a late change to claim the win a long head in front of Our Magic (Kelvin Wharton).
A further length and a quarter back Shudule Gee (Mandy Radecker) placed third.
“It was a good win,” said Balzen.
“It was a particularly good ride from Jason Taylor. He was hell bent on getting to the correct part of the track.”
“I was also impressed with the way, at about the last 50 yards, he put the stick away when the horse wasn’t going to catch the other one and the horse responded by putting his head out right on the line.”
“It was all due to Taylor doing that, it was really good.”
The track was downgraded to heavy after race three and Balzen thought Punch Up would handle it.
“He’s that sort of horse that seems to go through anything in trackwork. Also he’s basically bred to handle anything. He’s by a Sunday Silence sire coming out of a Geiger Counter mare so that’s really sort of wet track breeding.”
Delighted with his win Peter Balzen (Noel Pascoe photos)
Punch Up placed third at Doomben just over a week earlier and Dalzen was confident he was due for a win.
“It’s only been seven runs (since his last win). Some of them have been wasted a little bit, racing him too short. He’s not really competitive until he hits the 1300m.”
“His two runs back from the spell were very good. He didn’t have much luck in either, I think, he got caught three wide without cover in both runs. You know he certainly could have won one or both of those.”
“We were relatively confident heading into it that the 1400m would suit him and he’d drawn well. As it turned out that didn’t have a big impact but leading into the race we thought he was always going to get a nice run and he was very forward because he was backing up eight days later and had done really well so we thought he’d be very strong at 1400m in the conditions.”
Balzen is also a part-owner of Punch Up and the gelding has earned $71,700 for connections including $25,900 in QTIS bonuses.
“It’s always thrilling when your own horse wins of course and particularly on a Carnival day and for the good QTIS money. It really makes it enjoyable.”
Punch Up is a Knockout!
7 July 2008
3YO Sunday Knight Gelding, Punch Up (ex School Blue) has done it again. On a heavy track at Eagle Farm last Saturday, Punch Up overcame being checked in the running to blitz his opposition and win over 1400m in a 3YO Handicap Race.
Peter Balzen, trainer of Punch Up was delighted with his young charge and said that he is slowly working his way up to his ideal distance which Peter feels is 2000m.
“Punchy” as he is known around the stables, will race in a 1600m race in 2 week’s time.
23 June 2008
Sunday Knight Produces a Gem!
23 June 2008
3yo Sunday Knight Gelding, Knight’s Gem (Sunday Knight / Radja’s Gem) earned his maiden stripes on the weekend with a nice win over 1000m at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.
After a shaky start in his career when he ran into the barrier due to an equipment malfunction, Knight’s Gem went on to place successfully in two Barrier Trials.
Greg Kennedy, trainer of Knight’s Gem and based at Caloundra’s Corbould Park, has had a long association with this family as he also trained Radja’s Gem (who won 4 races herself) into his first provincial win.
While Knight’s Gem is just about ready for a spell, Greg has indicated that he has no special plans for the gelding at this stage, however. he will continue him on through his classes.
Sunday Knight certainly is the quiet achiever with another of his progeny, True Dozen (Sunday Knight / Truly Brave) flying the flag in NSW for her first start with a 3rd place at Lismore in a maiden over 1100m on Saturday.