Exciting prospect Get the Nod made a lot of people happy last Saturday when he
won the Group III MRC Vain Stakes for South Australian trainer Lloyd Kennewell.Bred and consigned for sale by Mike Becker's Independent Stallions, Get the Nod is the first foal of Silent Cash, an unplaced half-sister by Secret Savings (USA) to Group II placed Silent But Deadly from the family of Victoria Derby winner King's High.
"I've known the Kennewell family for years and have long been friends with Lloyd's father Gary," said Mike Becker.
"Gary walked past at that sale and stopped for a yarn, so we showed him the two colts we had there and I think he bought Get The Nod out of sympathy as we looked a bit desperate, but it's all worked out for the best.
"He was a lovely colt, but was a small foal and then a small yearling. He was very athletic though and a loose walker, so we decided to take him up to Sydney for Classic as at that sale they tend to leave the catalogue at home and buy on type."
He might have been small as a foal, but Get the Nod lacked for nothing in
personality and presence leaving a lasting impression on his breeder."We called him Angry," Becker recalled.
"He was such an aggressive, angry little termite at feed time. He was the boss of everyone. I've never been bitten and kicked so much by a foal. The nickname stuck and even at the sale, we were still calling him Angry!"
Wallflowers seldom make good racehorses and it seems from an early age Get the Nod had more than a streak of the warrior in him, which may well stand him in good stead as his career unfolds.
The progress of Get the Nod will be followed closely by Mr Becker, who still has his dam Silent Cash that he purchased in 2009 from an Inglis Mixed Sale for just $1,600.
"The bloke that trained her told me she was very fast and had ability, but that she went too hard and as a result had recurring problems with pulled muscles and he could never really get her right," Becker explained.
"We had trouble with her too the first year at stud as we couldn't get her cycling, but then the next year she had Get the Nod and has had a foal every year since."
Silent Cash has a two year-old filly by Artie Schiller (USA) and a yearling filly by Al Samer.
"I loved the Artie Schiller filly and when she passed in at Inglis Premier, I was happy to keep her, but then to make our budget work we had to put her back through the Inglis Autumn and she made $23,000," Becker said.
"The Al Samer filly is probably the best foal the mare has had, but in reality she would have been headed for Inglis Autumn next year as well so we decided to put her in the Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale where Gary Kennewell bought her for just $2,000.
"We had a laugh about that the other day… he's bought her very well in hindsight!"
Silent Cash is due to foal to Golden Slipper winner Sepoy's Group II winning half-brother Mulaazem, but Mr Becker is yet to decide on a partner for her this year.
"Mulaazem is a magnificent looking horse, so we're really looking forward to that
foal and then we'll decide on what to do with her this year," Becker said."Get The Nod winning a Group Three is a game changer for the mare, so you have a lot of options to consider. I don't know how far he'll go, but they are aiming for the stars and we wish them well."
Get the Nod is the first Australian stakes-winner and is in fact the only winner to date from the one and only small crop of 34 foals sired by US Ranger (USA), a stakes-winning sprinter by Danzig that shuttled briefly to Independent Stallions at a fee of $11,000.
"We stood him in conjunction with Eric Butler at Rangal Park and despite his good credentials we could only get him 47 mares," Becker reflected.
A brilliant sprinter that was Group I placed in the July Cup and Prix de La Foret, US Ranger now stands in Kentucky at WinStar Farm at a fee of $5,000, his Northern Hemisphere progeny headed by Group III winner Solitary Ranger.
"Breeders knocked him because he hadn't won a Group I and they said there was too much Danzig blood here already," Becker said.
"He was also out of a three-quarter sister to Dynaformer (sire of Americain) which probably means more now than it did then.
"It was very disappointing and coming on the back of EI in 2007 it just about finished us. It's seven years since EI, so maybe it's like the seven year itch, now that's off our back something good has happened and we can move forward."
