A yearling whose sire was not the first choice and who then topped a sale run in monsoon conditions, plus a miracle baby make this a story you know you want to read.
International Day in Hong Kong showcases some of the very best horses in the world and in the Group I International Mile (1600m) it was an Australian born and bred gelding that took centre stage and Voyage Bubble has been a favourite with Torryburn Stud manager Mel Copelin since he was born and she was a guest on our podcast Tara Talks Racing this week.
Owned by the Cornish family, Torryburn Stud is situated at East Gresford near Maitland in the Hunter Valley and has proven a fertile source of Group I winners in recent years with six year-old Deep Field gelding Voyage Bubble the current star performer with a race record featuring eight wins and nine placings from 20 starts.
Last year’s winner of the Hong Kong Derby at 2000m, Voyage Bubble has now found his niche as a high class miler with this victory his second G1 at the 1600m, so what is it that sets him apart as the very best offspring for his now pensioned sire, who is well placed to be crowned Champion Hong Kong sire for the fourth time in a row in 2025.
“His dam Raheights was booked to Extreme Choice in his first year and we had four mares going and he got just one in foal and that produced Espiona (G1 winner),” revealed Mel Copelin.
New plans had to be made and executed quickly for the other mares.
“We jumped on the phone to Newgate and Bruce (Slade) and I worked out that she would visit Deep Field instead. Not very expensive and was third season at stud, but we’d supported him the whole time and along comes Voyage Bubble, just a plain bay fellow and nice enough to get into the Classic sale,” Copelin said.
“I don't think anyone raved about him, but I always loved him.
“And then we get to the sale and he absolutely blossoms!”
Voyage Bubble presented well at Riverside Stables and sold himself topping the 2020 Inglis Classic Sale when his trainer Ricky Yiu bought him for $380,000.
“He had the hind end of a sprinter, but he had this really loose walk in front, so maybe that's why he gets the mile because he's really fast behind, but he can move really well,” Copelin recalled.
“Maybe he wasn’t the perfect stallion prospect and he wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but two really good judges picked him out and that was Dean Hawthorne with Ricky Yiu and Damon Gabbedy for Tony McEvoy and they just went to town in a bidding war, so that was how he topped that sale.”
Temperament is one of the most important attributes for any horse to achieve success in Hong Kong and Mel saw the early signs of a kind and intelligent horse that could go far.
“I remember that sale vividly. It was just torrential rain and the day before the sale everywhere flooded and our staff that were staying at the Holiday Inn could not get to work, but I was staying at the grounds and I actually had to parade this colt in the morning for people,” Copelin said.
“I obviously know the horses, but I'm not on the tools all the time and I didn't have the right shoes and the ground was slippery shiny concrete and I’ve just got this fresh colt out of the box.
“He was such a good boy and that's the best memory I have. He's so quiet, so soft. He was big and strong, but he was really soft and gentle and I think that's what's made him a champion.
“He’s just really clever and does what is needed to be done.”
Voyage Bubble is the sixth foal of Raheights, who has been a tricky producer and had been relegated to being a nanny for other weanlings with her stud career seemingly over until the rise of her famous son.
“She had Voyage Bubble and then she had one more foal straight after him and then we thought, well, she's done her job and we'll retire her,” Copelin said.
“She had four years off, and then we could see something happening with Voyage Bubble and Brett (Cornish) was out in the paddock with Chris Russell from Inglis and she came bowling down the hill with all these weanlings and we made a joke how good she looked and how healthy and robust she was.
“And then we had this hare brain scheme that we might put her in foal last year.”
She missed a couple of times to Pierro and then switched to Coolmore young gun Home Affairs, who was also bred and sold by Torryburn Stud.
“I rang Brett and said, look, let's just send her to the young boy Home Affairs and see how we go and she went in foal and has given us a filly,” said Copelin, who is understandably proud of all that Home Affairs has achieved so far and all that is to come.
“You could say that we're very biased when it comes to Home Affairs, but his fertility is a huge thing.
“You know you can have all the plans in the world… we're going to send this mare to this and we’re going to get that and sell it here, but if the mare doesn't get in foal, there's no point. You waste all this money, so any mares that are a little bit tricky to get in foal, you'd send them to him because he just gets them in foal, he stops them.”
Purchased from the 2017 Inglis Chairmans Sale for $675,000 by Damon Gabbedy’s Belmont Bloodstock on behalf of Torryburn Stud, Miss Interiors, the dam of Home Affairs, has become a valuable asset for the farm.
She produced a filly this spring by Home Affairs sire I Am Invincible.
“She's beautiful. She's just like Home Affairs, but more feminine and perfect in every way,” Copelin added.
“There was a huge toss up as to whether to go back to Vinnie or try Too Darn Hot or Wootton Bassett, but in the end we went with Zoustar and she is positive.”
To hear more from Mel and her recollections and thoughts on Home Affairs have a listen to our podcast.
