I was delighted to record a podcast recently with top jockey Craig Newitt who’s getting very close to 2000 career wins including 33 Group 1’s.
He’s had the good fortune to ride several elite performers in his eighteen year career and most people would expect him to have Miss Andretti and Lankan Rupee at the top of the list.
When asked to nominate his all time favourite, Craig unhesitatingly plumps for Pompeii Ruler. “I know it’s difficult to compare him with two pure sprinters, but for sheer consistency and determination at the top level he was a hell of a horse”, said Newitt. “He also battled with soundness issues for most of his short career”.
Craig keeps close tabs on the progress of his old favourite. The jockey was delighted to report the seventeen year old is in great fettle and has the run of Brian Coyle’s showplace Flinders Park Stud on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
The veteran shares the paddocks with horses of all ages, fillies and mares included. He has a calming influence on his younger companions and is a role model when it comes to good manners.
Pompeii Ruler was a high energy horse during his racing career. Nowadays he’s Mr. Relaxation.
Pompeii Ruler was the product of a mating between Japanese shuttle stallion Genuine and the New Zealand bred mare West With Night, a daughter of the successful Pompeii Court.
Owner/breeder Brian Coyle recalls that everyone on the farm was deeply distressed when West With Night suffered complications and died soon after foaling a healthy chestnut colt. “We had to bottle feed him for a short time, but thankfully a foster mother became available and the foal didn’t take a backward step”, recalled Brian.
Many breeders and experienced horsemen believe poddy foals lack something in their constitution. The popular theory is they become too used to humans and lack a natural fighting spirit later in their lives. Pompeii Ruler went on to knock that theory into a cocked hat.
Astute trainer Mick Price could see early days that this guy was no natural two year old. “He didn’t have the ideal conformation and his exaggerated front leg action was going to cause trouble if we asked too much too early”, recalled the multiple Group 1 winning trainer.
Image courtesy Bradley Photographers - The astute Mick Price managed Pompeii Ruler expertly during the gelding's racing career.
Pompeii Ruler was a December three year old when he made his debut in a Geelong maiden over 1400m, finishing second with “Froggy” Newitt up. Two weeks later he opened his account in a 1600m maiden on the Hillside course, again with Newitt on board. Mick Price could see he had a pretty promising horse on his hands.
Pompeii Ruler’s next two starts were over 1800 metres at Flemington. He won both with Noel Callow in the saddle and then it was off to the spelling paddock.
Twenty nine weeks later, as a spring 4 year old he was given a demanding first up task in the Group 2 J.J.Liston Stakes (1400m). Mick Price’s opinion of the lightly raced horse was vindicated when Pompeii Ruler raced on the speed before outgunning Red Dazzler and Our Smoking Joe. For whatever the reason, Nash Rawiller replaced Newitt on the day.
Craig was back on board when the gelding won the Craiglee Stakes at his next run. Then came an unplaced effort in the Underwood Stakes, followed by a half head second to Casual Pass with El Segundo third, in the Gr 1 Yalumba Stakes.
The poddy foal from the Peninsula was an unlikely candidate for the 2006 W.S. Cox Plate, but suddenly there he was. At start number nine he was moving into the gates for the weight for age championship of Australia.
Craig Newitt had a decision to make when the “Ruler” was one of a swarm of leaders approaching the post on the first occasion. He elected to press forward. For a short time he was one out one back, but was left without cover when Apache Cat strolled to the front at the mile pole.
Despite racing a little keenly for some distance, Pompeii Ruler gave connections an almighty thrill when he ‘exploded’ to the front on straightening. El Segundo and Fields Of Omagh had both enjoyed easy transits, and it was no surprise to see them charging down the middle of the track.
The “swooping” duo collared the Ruler a few strides from home. Fields Of Omagh won his second Cox Plate, three years after the first. Budding topliner El Segundo was grand in defeat. Pompeii Ruler gave his camp great hopes for the future. He’d been only a nose and a long head from one of Australian racing’s greatest prizes.
Image courtesy Colin Bull - Close to home in the 2006 Cox Plate and Pompeii Ruler still has his head in front.
The Autumn of 2007 heralded Pompeii Ruler’s return to competition. He was in need of the run when unplaced in the Orr Stakes, but bounced back next start with a typical fighting win in the 1800m St. George Stakes. In a thrilling finish he refused to yield to Marasco and Aqua D’Amore with Casual Pass close up.
Image courtesy Racing Photos - Pompeii Ruler never knew when he was beaten. Here he is defying Marasco and Aqua D'Amore in 2007 St. George Stakes.
If you had to pick the perfect consolation for a narrow defeat in the Cox Plate, you can’t do better than the time honoured Australian Cup the following Autumn. The 2007 edition is remembered for Pompeii Ruler’s emphatic win over Marasco and Tawqueet, and for the fact that it was run at Caulfield while Flemington was closed for restoration work.
Was it worth carting him halfway around the world to run in a Group 1 in Dubai? This was the dilemma confronting connections in March of 2007.
What the heck!. They had an invitation, the horse was fine and how often do you get to show off on the world stage. Craig Newitt remembers the occasion clearly. “He had every possible hope in the Dubai Duty Free, but finished mid field’, said the jockey. “He’d probably come to the end of it”.
Spirits were high in the Pompeii Ruler camp when the five year old resumed in the J.J.Liston of 2007. A nice fourth and everybody was happy.
At this stage of his spring campaign, this horse was favourite for the Cox Plate. He was a year older and a much more seasoned horse than the one who’d gone under by inches the year before.
But it was all over in a heartbeat when Pompeii Ruler damaged his off fore suspensory ligament in a routine track gallop at Caulfield. Vets recommended a three month spell after examining the scan results. Mick Price recommended a complete abandonment of the gelding’s career until the following spring. It seemed a hasty call, but Mick was proven right.
It was fifty four weeks before Pompeii Ruler appeared on a racetrack again.
He finished third in the Memsie Stakes, down the course in the Dato Tan Chin Nam, second in the Underwood Stakes, fourth in the Turnbull Stakes, and second in the Yalumba beaten only a neck by Douro Valley - not spectacular form but good enough to warrant a spell and one more preparation. Mick Price was confident he had another Gr 1 in those suspect legs.
The gelding had two easy trials in March of 2009 before making his return in Sydney. He was out of a place but not far from the winner in the George Ryder Stakes, after which Mick made the call to step straight up to the 2000 metres of the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
It was an emotional experience for Craig Newitt and Mick Price when the gallant horse won the prestigious Gr 1 event - his first win in almost two years. Craig dedicated the win to his late father Guy, who’d lost his life in a car accident only a couple of months earlier. Mick was deeply affected by Pompeii Ruler’s fightback from serious injury and the fact that the gallant gelding had given him his first Sydney Gr 1 success.
Image courtesy Steve Hart Photographics - Pompeii Ruler refused to yield in the closing stages of the 2009 Queen Elizabeth - just 2 months after Craig Newitt lost his father in a motor accident.
When the gelding pulled up with no apparent ill effect, the decision was made to fly him to Singapore for the Group 1 Gold Cup. Three weeks later he finished a very creditable fourth in the Singapore feature, on a lightning fast and somewhat flint like track. “He had every hope in the Cup and tried his heart out to get fourth, but I was concerned about the rock hard track’, said Craig Newitt.
Pompeii Ruler certainly didn’t break down in the Singapore Gold Cup but he was walking like a cat on a hot tin roof for a few days after the race. He was flown home and went straight to the spelling paddock with a spring campaign on the agenda.
All of that changed when he twisted a fetlock joint in a simple paddock accident. Scans revealed significant damage. Vets were of the opinion the six year old would require a very lengthy recovery period.
Brian Coyle and Mick Price were on the same wave length. The horse had performed beyond their wildest dreams and neither wanted to risk further injury. Pompeii Ruler was retired with the impressive record of twenty two starts for eight wins, eleven placings and almost $2.2 million dollars.
Pompeii Ruler is the star boarder as you would expect for a two time Group One winner.
Mick Price speaks with great reverence of the horse he describes as the one that got away. “His conformation and his action came against him in the end’, said the trainer. “It’s such a shame that his racing career was cut so short. I have no doubt he would have won another two or three Group 1 races”.
Brian Coyle very kindly took a few photos of his old mate at Flinders Park Stud late last week and they feature in this website story. The happy, healthy seventeen year old is up to his knees in pasture.
There’s more grass in Pompeii Ruler’s paddock than there is in the whole of NSW.
Brian Coyle keeps a close eye on his old mate at Flinders Park Stud.
(Banner Image courtesy Steve Hart Photographics - A Group One win after a serious injury. The Ruler wins 2009 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.)