Camera Action is on a hat-trick for Wally Daly at Belmont next Wednesday but her recent rise up the ranks has been tempered by some sad news for the Group 1 breeder out of Victoria.
Morningside Farm reported Daly’s Group 1 Karrakatta Plate (1200m) winner Bomber Bill had died this week. The old warhorse was 29. The Nagambie nursery posted this heartfelt farewell on ANZ Bloodstock.
“Vale Bomber Bill. Ride easy, mate. Your race is run. It’s hard to say goodbye to such a champion. You brought so much joy both on the track and as a gentle soul in retirement. My favourite horse of all time.”
Bomber Bill won 23 times in 98 starts over a decade of racing from a summer 2yo in December 1997 all the way through to an autumn 11yo in March 2007. He retired to Living Legends and later on was nanny to the young ones at Woodside Park.
Long-standing TBWA member Wally Daly and his brother George banked $1.9 million after buying Bomber Bill for $31,000 through Goodwood Bloodstock at the 1997 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale. He was initially trained in Perth by Hec McLaren and remained unbeaten in 7 starts as a 2yo topped by the Karrakatta Plate in 1998 – the last time it was run as a Group 1 event.
Transferred to trainers John Sadler and then Russell Cameron in Melbourne, he ended up competing on 10 different tracks from Perth to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane as well as one-off appearances in Hong Kong and Dubai.
Warrnambool-based Maureen Harry trained him to the last of those 23 wins in the G3 Rubiton Stakes (1000m) at Sandown Lakeside in January 2006. “He doesn’t know how old he is,” Harry said after he refused to lie down in a three-way scramble to the line.
“He does look well within himself but I know he can’t go on forever. He will tell me when it’s time to stop. My horses do have a good life here and the beach is quite handy so there’s a nice daily variation for them.”
Bomber Bill’s sire Air De France (USA) was a son of the legendary Seattle Slew (Bold Reasoning) and his dam Lady Special (Alzao) a daughter of the aptly-named Special (Habituate) who was a three-time Group 1 winner down the straight-six at Flemington.
Black-type wins by Bomber Bill
1998 G1 WATC Karrakatta Plate
2001 G1 MVRC Australia Stakes
2003 G1 AJC Goodwood Handicap
2002 G2 AJC Challenge Stakes
2004 G2 MVRC Schweppervescence Stakes
1998 G3 WATC Sires’ Produce Stakes
2000 G3 VRC Gilgai Stakes
2002 G3 AJC Liverpool City Cup
2003 G3 SAJC RN Irwin Stakes
2003 G3 VRC Gilgai Stakes
2005 G3 SAJC Malaysia Airlines Stakes
2006 G3 MRC Rubiton Stakes
1998 LR VRC Hilton On The Park Sprint
1998 LR WATC Perth Stakes
1999 LR VRC Kensington Stakes
2000 LR VRC Hilton On The Park Sprint
2005 LR MRC Kevin Heffernan Stakes
Promising mare Camera Action was a very impressive Kalgoorlie maiden winner for Daly in September and she won against stronger company last time out in the 7Plus App Hcp (1400m) at Belmont.
Camera Action (4m Shooting To Win – Femmette by Murtajill) took time to balance up when front-runner Ayumi (Real Steel) kicked at the top of the straight but she knuckled down to overhaul the leaders under a good ride by Keshaw Dhurun. “She has a mind of her own and can be a bit of a madam,” co-trainer Sean Casey revealed.
“She got upset in gates one day so we added a blindfold and now she’s putting it together. She’s beautifully-bred and has got a future on the track and in the barn.”
Daly bred Camera Action using Oakland Park sire Shooting To Win before he transferred out of Darley’s Hunter Valley Headquarters to WA. Her dam was an Ascot juvenile winner and second-dam Refemme (Surtee) was bred by George Daly to win the LR Gimcrack Stakes (1100m) at Ascot in 2004.
Femmette has an unraced 3yo gelding by Shooting To Win named Peter Gunn and her yearling is a colt by Gingerbread Man.