Earlier this year John Muir and his wife Trish were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first foal from their former star mare Secret Admirer, winner of the Group I ATC Epsom Handicap and Flight Stakes, but sadly things did not go according to plan.
"We were down at the farm when Scott Holcombe, our stud manager, called and said she was about to foal," recalled John Muir.
"We rushed across to the foaling paddock and just when I thought I'd be handing out cigars it all went wrong. After about 20 minutes even I could see the mare was in trouble."
Trouble that eventually resulted in the loss of the foal, a filly by Redoute's Choice.
"It was a tragic loss," Muir lamented."You just don't see that coming, but she (Secret Admirer) was a tough bugger on the track and she's bounced back from it, so much so that she is now safely back in foal to Exceed and Excel."
Fast forward three months and from the lowest of lows, the Muir's are now riding the crest of a winning wave with their star colt Hampton Court, who is prepared by Gai Waterhouse.
He is the fourth Group I winner they have bred joining Redoute's Dancer, Sizzling and Once Were Wild, but the first to have been foaled and raised on the new Milburn Creek farm at Wildes Meadow on the Southern Highlands.
A $500,000 Inglis Easter purchase for John Warren Bloodstock from the Milburn Creek draft, Hampton Court runs in the colours of John Muir in partnership with a number of other investors including James Packer and Alan Jones.
"Alan Jones has a place just near here and he was over visiting one morning before the sales and he asked to see the yearlings, so we paraded them and Hampton Court was his pick of the draft and he said we should buy him," Muir recalled.
"He spoke to Gai about him and John Warren had him at the top of his list, so it went from there. He asked if I would take a share, which I agreed to and he organized the other partners that are in the syndicate.
"It's a really nice group of people, a mix of old friends and new friends, I didn't know James Packer at all before this."
With three wins and two placings from nine starts and prizemoney topping
$360,000, Hampton Court has blossomed over the longer journeys, his impressive
victory in the Group I ATC Spring Champion Stakes paving the way for a crack at
the $1.5 million Group I VRC Victoria Derby on Saturday."I'd much prefer we were the underdog," confessed Muir.
"Too much press and too much pressure as favourite!
"Gai couldn't be happier with him though, he's settled in really well down there and has even put on weight."
By champion sire Redoute's Choice, Hampton Court is the first foal of stakes-winning import Roses 'n' Wine (Can), who interestingly comes from the family of Makybe Diva.
"Back when Vin Cox still had his own bloodstock agency, his assistant Gary Cuddy sent me the pedigree for this mare and suggested she would be a good prospect,"' Muir said.
"It sat on my desk for about a month and then I decided to make an offer, which was accepted.
"She's the most beautiful mare, absolutely gorgeous.
"We wanted to give her the very best opportunity in her first year at stud so she went to Redoute's Choice and Hampton Court is the result."
Milburn Creek sold an Exceed and Excel colt from Roses 'n' Wine at Inglis Easter this year for $225,000 to Gai Waterhouse/ James Harron Bloodstock/ Round Table Racing and there is a yearling colt to follow by Snitzel that is also headed for Inglis Easter.
"He's a flashy chestnut colt, a bit different to the other two, but a lovely horse," Muir said.
Roses 'n' Wine is due to foal to Snitzel again this spring with the resulting offspring to be a three-quarter sibling to Hampton Court.
"She's due to foal very soon, but I haven't really decided on what she will go to just yet," Muir said.
It's a nice dilemma to have and one that many breeders would like to share.
"I love it when you read about other breeders that have had some success, because most people just don't realise about all the behind the scenes disasters that occur with thoroughbreds," Muir said.
"I like to think that if you stick at it you'll have your day of reckoning.
"What do they say, 'life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get!' "
