You only have to win by a nose to win a horse race. Saturday will see Riley and Will Manwaring take part in the George Tooke Grand Final. If they win by a point it will be enough and they know this all too well as co-owners of the areas’ hottest horse Headley Grange. Fresh from a brief spell, the 6 year old bay gelding by now deceased sire Exosphere, put the opposition to the sword and broke their hearts in the last stride and a bob of the head.
A nose. That was all that separated Headley Grange from defeat on Saturday. It was enough.
Riley and Will’s father Bob has spent decades breeding horses and all that time and money is somewhat being repaid. Some will think the money won is a lot of money and they are right but is a just reward for a life spent studying bloodlines, improving broodmare stock, tending to foals, dealing with vets, preparing horses for sale and knowing when to trust your gut. Bob trusted his and Headley Grange is returning that faith and trust.
In the dying strides of the Group 2 myPlates Tramway Stakes at Royal Randwick, Soothsayer looked to have stolen the race. The pair locked together down the straight. The crowd rose. The photo was called. Headley Grange had put his head down at the only moment that mattered. Margin: 0.03 lengths. Official time: 1:21.54. His 13th win from 30 starts. Prize-money now $2,672,935.
Trainer Joe Pride did not sound surprised.
“This horse is a winner, he just finds a way to get it done,” Pride said. “About 100 metres out I had a bit of faith he was going to find a way to get there because he doesn’t really run seconds. If he gets close enough, he finds a way to win. I am extremely happy with him. He has returned in great shape.”
It was a head-bobber. Pride called it typical.
Out of mare, Hard Go Jo, he was first-up after a Queensland winter that delivered his first Group 1, the Kingsford Smith Cup at Eagle Farm on 30 May, by another tiny margin — 0.09 lengths from Jimmysstar. A fortnight later the Stradbroke Handicap on a Heavy 9 track ended in 10th. Pride was forgiving then. He was rewarded on Saturday. Headley Grange is no ‘donkey’. He is a genuine horse beating even greater rivals. Jimmysstar has won over $8.8 million and 3 Group 1s himself. Headley has had his measure and Headley is on the up, in the prime of his career.
Adam Hyeronimus, the horse’s regular partner, settled him sixth, fifth at the 400 metres, and asked the question when Soothsayer surged. Headley Grange answered. Attica, another Pride runner, finished third. The trainer now has options: a title defence in the $1.5 million Alan Brown Stakes is on the radar, though Pride has not locked the spring plan. “I haven’t made up my mind with Headley Grange but I would like to get him to the Alan Brown Stakes. We have a lot of options with him.”
From Grafton to Group 1
The story did not begin in Group company and it continues to evolve. Headley Grange was foaled on 16 September 2020, bred by Bob. The family traces to foundation mare Go Johemma, bought at a Sydney sale. Hard Go Jo, a Hard Spun daughter of that mare and a three-time country winner, produced Headley Grange as her second foal.
He started with Coffs Harbour trainer Noel Mayfield-Smith and won a maiden at Grafton. Manwaring thought the horse was too good for the bush. There was an argument. “I said, ‘He’s too good for the bush’, so he said, ‘Buy me out then’,” Manwaring recalled. They put the gelding through the 2023 Inglis November (Late) Online Sale. HDB Bloodstock, acting for Manwaring, paid $120,000. Pride got the horse.
Pride won with him at Kembla Grange almost immediately. The climb was steep and unusually fast. A Civic Stakes (Listed). The Cameron Handicap (Group 3). The $1.5 million Alan Brown Stakes, beating Gringotts. Then the Kingsford Smith Cup. Saturday’s Tramway made it four black-type wins and a résumé that now includes a Group 1. Win range: 1115 metres to 1600 metres. He is honest on good and soft ground, useful on heavy, and dangerous first-up.
Hyeronimus has said simply: “He’s a beautiful horse. I actually really love him.” After the Kingsford Smith he could not see why the gelding could not win a Stradbroke. The Stradbroke did not fall. The Tramway did. Same theme. Same small margin. Same horse.
The colours are orange with a dark blue stripe and quartered cap. The owners are a tight group: R. J. Manwaring, S. C. Foley, G. Eggleton, M. H. Paine, M. S. Pasini, A. J. Hale, G. Pasini, J. Kitsou, N. G. Pasini, W. R. Manwaring, R. J. Manwaring, and Miss E. J. Manwaring. Family, mates, and the man who bred him.
Manwaring is not a commercial stud magnate where some properties have over 100 mares. He runs sheep and crops, a small fleet of trucks, and three or four mares a year. Headley Grange has eased the load without changing the man. “I wouldn’t say that a horse like Headley Grange has changed my life because I just keep doing the same thing that I’ve been doing. But he has made it a little bit easier.” After the Group 1: “I knew he’d run a big race, he’s been too consistent not to and it’s amazing to see him get his Group 1.”
What Saturday said
Pride had previewed the return with quiet confidence. Headley Grange, he said, is “a very good horse fresh” and “a model of consistency”. The Tramway, a set-weights-and-penalties race at 1400 metres, suited him. The market sent him out $3.80 favourite. He had to fight for every centimetre. That is the point of him.
There are flashier pedigrees in the Pride barn. There are bigger names. Few horses have this habit of arriving at the line with their nose in front when the camera clicks. Thirteen wins. Seven times placed. Almost never a soft second when the prize is there to be taken.
Pride put it best on Saturday afternoon, standing in the Randwick birdcage with another close one in the book: if Headley Grange gets close enough, he finds a way to win.
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