Tasracing

Naming a filly after a gold medal-winning Olympian always creates an expectation that her ability will live up to the brand, and Linda and Ian Hay are hoping Sunday’s Hobart winner Stefanidi can continue a trend for a family they have experienced substantial success with.

It was 20 years ago that the Hays were looking for a name for a filly by then first-season sire Encosta De Lago. Australia was in Olympic fever at that moment, and while much of the nation cheered as Aussie Tatiana Grigorieva claimed the silver medal in the first-ever Olympic women’s pole vault final, Linda Hay thought the gold medal winner, American Stacy Dragila, also deserved a bit or recognition.

“I have always admired the women pole vaulters. I think it’s an unbelievable sport and when the Olympics were here in Sydney in 2000, that’s when we had to name Dragila, and she won the gold and that’s where it came from,” Linda Hay said.

Dragila would go on to make her own considerable mark as a racehorse with Ian Hay as her trainer. She was the first ever stakes winner for her sire, who would become one of the more influential Australian stallions of this century. All in all, she won 11 races, three at stakes level, in a 28-start career.

She was also very handy for the Hays as a broodmare, with her second foal, a filly by Johannesburg (USA), living up to both her dam, and her name. She too was set to be named in an Olympic year and it seemed fitting that she took the surname of a dual gold medallist in the pole vault. Isabaeva would also win 11 races, including a G3 Bow Mistress Stakes.

The third generation of the family is represented by Isabaeva’s now 3-year-old daughter, Sidorova (Brazen Beau), who won back-to-back races in Launceston late last year, and Stefanidi, a filly by Wordsmith out of Isabaeva’s half-sister Catendra.

Sidorova is named after a world champion pole vaulter, while Stefanidi follows the Olympic tradition, being named after the 2016 Rio gold medallist Katerina Stefanidi of Greece.

“Let’s hope she can keep the family tradition going. Dragila won some very good races, Dragila’s daughter Isabaeva won a Bow Mistress, so it flows down to the next line. We’ve had two winners out of the family this year, the other one being Sidorova,” Hay said.

“Stefanidi is very much in the mould of the rest of the family. The line that comes down is through the markings on the head, and Isabaeva, who is her aunt, she was a bay too, as was Dragila.

“There’s a few traits there, and I know when Stefanidi was born, I remember saying we could see that come through.”

The two fillies are likely to be the last bred from that family by the Hays, who have opted out of breeding after many years at Anzaas Lodge. Stefanidi’s dam Catendra died when foaling last year, while they lost the matriarch, Dragila, a few weeks ago after persistent feet problems.

The heartbreak of losing such an iconic fixture of the family farm was alleviated somewhat by her granddaughter’s breakthrough win in the Relish Catering 3YO Maiden on Sunday.

Having her fourth start, Stefanidi relished the soft conditions and plotted a path through along the inside of runners for a victory in the 1100m TASBRED bonus race for jockey Ianish Luximon.

Linda said it was a reward for the persistence her and Ian had shown with a filly, who had always demonstrated as much attitude as talent.

“She’s always given us a lot of headaches from when she was a foal, to tell you the truth. She was quite difficult to break in. She had a nasty accident as a younger horse and has got a quite mammoth scar on her offside front leg. She’s always been pretty highly strung,” she said.

“But when you breed them yourself, you have to try them and that’s why we have persisted with her.”

Sunday’s win came with the added TASBRED Bonus of $16,000 the ownership group, and $4000 to Linda as the breeder.

She described the bonus as a wonderful thing, albeit, she has her own thoughts on how it could be better distributed, given how competitive the TASBRED races have become.

While the Hays’ breeding interests have been wound right back, the passion still burns for Linda and Ian, and they are very much looking forward to what else Stefanidi can produce on the track.

“We just hope she delivers what she is capable of,” Linda said.

Watch the replay of Stefanidi winning a 3YO maiden in Hobart on Sunday.