ANNIE’S ROSE GOT THINGS TO SUIT AND BLEW ‘EM AWAY AT ROSEHILL GARDENS

Annie's Rose (Reece Jones) storms past Kimberley Secrets to win the Congrats James McDonald Hcp - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

When Kristen Buchanan came away from the 2022 Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale with a $50,000 Kermadec colt from Broadway Harmony she immediately forged a connection with vendors Bungan Street Thoroughbreds Pty Ltd and SCG Racing. In fact, that enthusiastic little family group paid Kristen the great compliment of retaining a twenty per cent interest in the yearling.

The association blossomed over time as the gelded son of Kermadec put together a tidy record of four wins, six placings and $236,000 under the name of Broadway Bouncer. His best effort in six city runs was a close second to Everyone’s A Star in a Rosehill Midway in April 2024, but he did manage one win at Newcastle, two at Hawkesbury and one at Port Macquarie. “It’s hard to win anywhere and we were all delighted when he was able to win five times his purchase price,” said Kristen. “My association with vendors Neville Gereaux and sons would later generate a brand new adventure.”

Broadway Bouncer was the horse to generate Kristen's association with the Gereaux family. Here he is winning at Hawkesbury 28/03/2024 with Anna Roper in the saddle - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

While Broadway Bouncer was racing in NSW the Gereaux syndicate had a big chestnut filly called Annie’s Rose with young trainer Alexander Justice at Strathalbyn in South Australia. Justice thought enough of the Sepoy filly to take her all the way to Bendigo where she came from well back to win a 1000m maiden with Jarrod Fry in the saddle. At her very next start she stepped up to Gr 3 company in a pretty strong Scarborough Stakes at Moonee Valley finishing out of a place almost 7 lengths from winner Coeur Volante.

Eleven months passed before Annie’s Rose won again. This time it was a race for non city winners over 1200m at Morphettville on a Soft 5 track, and the big filly won emphatically with Rochelle Milnes on board. Her trainer immediately formed the opinion that she was appreciative of some cut in the ground. The return of hard tracks in Adelaide saw her finish out of a place at her next two runs after which the decision was made to transfer her to NSW where the tracks were a little more forgiving at the time.

Neville Gereaux, impressed with the job Kristen Buchanan had done with Broadway Bouncer elected to send the chestnut filly to the trainer’s Wyong stables. “It wasn’t hard to see why she had an aversion to hard tracks,” recalled Kristen. “There were no major structural issues, but her sheer size would have impacted on knees and joints. She went straight to the paddock and on resuming we went to great pains to keep the pressure of her forelegs in all trackwork. She spends a lot of time in the pool and rarely goes better than pacework between races. Trials are so frequent up here we can always give her an easy pipe opener at Wyong or Gosford. I’m always pleased to see a little rain close to her races, although there hasn’t been a lot of that lately.”

Annie’s Rose has had 9 starts for the Buchanan stable since January of last year and the figures don’t lie. Her three wins have all been on soft tracks - the Wayne Harris at Muswellbrook, a Rosehill Midway on March 28th this year, and Saturday’s BM78 at Rosehill. There was one second placing at Hawkesbury on a Good 4 and five other unplaced runs on firm ground. “She’s a high maintenance mare and is definitely better suited by a yielding track,” says Kristen. “Looked after, she should pay her way for some time to come.”

Kristen's first win with Annie's Rose was in the Wayne Harris Hcp at Muswellbrook 28/03/2025 - jockey was Anna Roper - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

Saturday’s Congratulations James McDonald Hcp of 1100m on a Soft 5 looked to be the right race for Annie’s Rose. She hadn’t been to the races for some three and a half months but pulled up well after winning a Gosford barrier trial on July 22nd in H8 ground. She beat two smart horses, recent two time Gosford winner Dietrich and Heroic Deed whose Cl 1 win at Newcastle on Saturday would have sent the Hong Kong agents into a frenzy. “Reece Jones rode her in that trial and I was happy to put him on again at Rosehill,” said Kristen. “Whenever the rail’s out a fair way as it was on Saturday, I believe you’re better sticking to the fence and hoping for the best in the run home. They were Reece’s instructions and this time they paid off in spades.”

At the 600m the speedy Mogo Magic led Kimberley Secrets with Tristate and Huon prominent. Favourite Jarrito was well placed from Couple’s Retreat, Sovereign Hill caught wide and so was Polyglot. Annie’s Rose was in a good rhythm close to the fence with well supported Zouripper too far out of his ground. On straightening Annie’s Rose started to gather momentum near the fence and aimed up for a split between horses, but was checked slightly when the gap closed momentarily. Fortunately, it widened again and the former South Australian mare fairly exploded. Annie’s Rose burst through for Jones and quickly put paid to Kimberley Secrets with Couple’s Retreat hanging on gamely for third. There’s little doubt this was the mare’s best performance to date.

Kristen plotted race tactics with jockey Reece Jones and they paved the way fro a dominant win by Annie's Rose - courtesy Bradley Photographers.

“I’d love to run her in the listed Mona Lisa Stakes on her home track on September 4th which would mean five weeks between runs, but that doesn’t concern me too much. If I really think she’d benefit from a run in between I’ll look for something suitable. I ran second in The Mona Lisa with Two Blue eleven years ago, and it’s been on my bucket list ever since. She was the mare to help me get me going as a trainer with a Gr 2 win in the Sapphire Stakes and five other black type placings.”

Kristen is a trainer who thinks outside the square. She's had great success sending horses interstate when the right race comes along.

A sensational winning run in Midway races a few seasons ago saw an influx of horses into Kristen’s Wyong stables. Against her better judgement she successfully applied for an additional on-course barn, and before long she had forty five horses in her care. For a trainer who likes to be across the characteristics of every horse in the stable, she quickly realised this was not for her. Today she’s back to one barn and twenty five horses, and doesn’t anticipate any change going forward. “I’m a lot happier and so are the members of my team,” said the horse loving Mum.

Buchanan is constantly thinking outside the square. If she happens to have a horse in the stable unsuited by a spate of wet or firm tracks, or a horse crying out for a downgrade, she’s apt to take a peek at upcoming programmes in other states. Just three weeks ago she sent Hellova Nature north for a non city winner race at Doomben and watched him win on TV at the Randwick meeting. She slipped Delexo to Eagle Farm on another occasion to achieve the same result. Around the same time, she sent a horse called Kooled to Benalla in Victoria in search of a firm track. She arranged for Ben Brisbourne to deputise and watched the grey stroll home in an 1100m Cl 2. Kristen had no doubt the horse wouldn’t have been winning on Sydney’s heavy tracks.

Kristen Buchahan actually launched her training career in WA more than twenty years ago. When she returned to her home state of NSW in 2007 she was accompanied by her mother Lauraine, who by her own admission knew absolutely nothing about horses or the racing industry. “Mum’s learned a heck of a lot about the racing game and the administration of my business,” says Kristen. “She’s become a crucial part of the operation. I couldn’t do it without her.”

13yo Mackenzie spends a lot of time at Mum's stables. Here she is with "camera shy" Brownie.

The light of trainer Buchanan’s life is thirteen year old daughter Mackenzie, who loves the horses unconditionally but has so far shown no inclination to ride or train them. “She spends a lot of time at the stables and has her special favourites,” says Kristen. “It might happen one day but I’m certainly not putting any pressure on her. There are so many other interests in her life at the moment. We’ll see what happens.”

In quizzing Kristen on the future prospects of other horses in the stable we got some very positive comments about a four year old Capitalist gelding called Gravel Road. “He’s had only six starts so far for a maiden win at Wyong and a couple of placings, and he’s in the paddock currently. I’ve always liked him. I really think it’s all ahead of him. I’m also wrapped in a couple of two year olds we purchased at the recent March Magic Millions yearling sale. There’s a Lean Mean Machine colt out of an All Too Hard mare called Woolsey and a Spirit Of Boom filly out of Queensland Guineas winner Express Air who’s already produced six individual winners. They are quality young horses and I’m pretty excited about them.”