Salsa spices it up for owner-breeders
All Salsa’s super win at Canterbury last week was noteworthy for more than obvious reasons.
It was certainly notable for jockey Sam Clipperton who out-rode his apprentice claim in the race, always a special achievement for a young rider. That he did it on a horse trained by his master, former champion jockey and now successful Randwick trainer Ron Quinton was icing on the cake.
The cherry on top was provided by All Salsa’s owner-breeders, the family of the late Phillip Esplin who bred the 3YO filly’s sire Charge Forward.
All Salsa is very much a legacy of Phillip’s enthusiasm for breeding and racing, as his son Hamish explains. “Dad loved the Tattersall’s Broodmare Sale, he always picked a few out of the catalogue and in 2007 he picked out Ashmal, a Shadwell filly off the track.
“She was by Machiavellian from a daughter of Salsabil, and Dad bought her for 28,000 guineas. Noel Mayfield-Smith trained her to win a race in Australia and she then had two Charge Forward fillies and a Duporth colt, but she died from complications after foaling in 2011.”
All Salsa is the mare’s second Charge Forward filly and Hamish sees a strong resemblance to her sire. “She’s very neat, very athletic, well put together and very like Charge Forward when he was racing.”
Last week’s win was All Salsa’s second success in two starts this campaign, after two placings and two fourths from the John O’Shea stable in the early summer before John’s move to Darley.
Hamish says, “We’ll take her to Saturday grade, then see whether she’s up to the next step. She should cope with 1400 metres and we’re hopeful she’ll get a mile.
“We’re very happy with what Ron has done with All Salsa, he’s a very uncomplicated trainer. He doesn’t have set ideas, he looks at a horse and treats it the way the horse wants to be treated.”
All Salsa is one of two horses that Hamish, his mother Michele, his brother Patrick and sister Elise have placed in the Quinton stable. The other is Loulinda, a winning 3YO War Pass half-sister to Group 3 winner Fast ‘N’ Famous.
Among the other dozen or so Esplin horses in training are last Spring’s Flemington Group winner Plucky Belle, and recent Melbourne stakeswinner Office Bearer, both with Peter Moody; 2YO filly Something Secret (Charge Forward-Secret Land) with Gai Waterhouse; and 2YO colt Aglet (Redoute’s Choice-Astinella), also joining the Moody stable.
The Esplins are busy developing a a 210-acre farm near Kulnura, little more than an hour north of Sydney, which will be home to their 30 or so broodmares and young stock.
Among those mares are Sydney’s Quest, a half-sister to Charge Forward (in foal to Smart Missile); Office Bearer’s dam Street ‘Em Sheila (in foal to Not A Single Doubt); and Pay My Bail, dam of stakeswinner White Sage (in foal to Animal Kingdom).
Hamish explains, “We all love to breed and race horses, and it was always Dad’s goal to produce the best progeny by the stallions we’ve bred. We haven’t done it yet with Charge Forward but maybe All Salsa can do it for us!”
Charge Forward, whose three new stakeswinners this season are headed by his 5th Group-winning 2YO London Lolly, will be available for inspection at the Arrowfield Stallion Open House, 21-24 August – click here for more information.
