Gordon Yorke has experienced the highs and lows of racing in the last month or two. The Coffs Harbour trainer relished a winning ride with Rare Diamond but that was offset by news his brilliant sprinter Nuclear Medicine will be sidelined indefinitely.
Rare Diamond (Redoute’s Choice) boosted her residual value with a Listed victory in the Juanmo Stakes at Doomben on April 24 and Yorke was confident Nuclear Medicine (Nuclear Freeze) would have made it a winning double later in the day.
Sadly, his stable star suffered a severe hoof injury on the eve of the winter carnival and his racing future is now on hold.
Yorke has learned to take the good with the bad in racing. Injury curtailed the career of his previous pin-up horse Natural Destiny when they were on the threshold of an autumn campaign aimed at the Group 1 Doncaster Mile.
The Coffs Harbour trainer wasn’t looking for a silver lining when Natural Destiny was retired to Willowbend Stud after 10 wins in just 15 starts. But the grey flash was around long enough to capture everyone’s attention including Murburg horseman Colin Clark.
“I was a Natural Destiny fan – who wasn’t?” Clark recalled. “He broke Falvelon’s track record at Doomben and then won the Summer Triple Crown. I also liked the way Gordon handled the horse.”
Clark and his wife Shona had purchased a Redoute’s Choice filly at the 2006 Magic Millions National Foal Sale for $160,000 and, when it came time to put her in work, they naturally thought of Yorke.
Named Rare Diamond, she won her maiden at the Gold Coast in November 2007 and the last-start victory in the Juanmo Stakes boosted her bank to $243,600. She is gunning for five in a row this Saturday in the Listed Silk Stocking at the Gold Coast.
A year after Rare Diamond, the Clarks sent a homebred called One Lickety Split to Coffs Harbour and he could turn out even better than the mare.
One Lickety Split (Medecis) won his first three in a row including a Listed victory in the 2009 Golden Stakes at Doomben. “I think he’s a pretty special little pony,” Yorke said after the hat-trick. “He’s a natural.”
One Lickety Split has been off the scene for 8 months after surgery to remove bone chips but Yorke has pencilled in a return to racing at the Queen’s Birthday long-weekend in June.
Back at Murburg, which is situated on the Warrego Highway west of Ipswich, there are five mares in foal to Natural Destiny including the Grand Lodge mare Niemcz. The Clarks bought her off Coolmore Stud and she is from the family of Champion WA sire Metal Storm.
Yorke boards several mares there including Balvenie (Air De France). She was bred back back to Natural Destiny after foaling a filly foal by him in October. She is an absolute ripper and Yorke is looking forward to the day she arrives at his Coffs Harbour stables.
Natural Destiny stands at Willowbend Stud for a $4,400 fee (inc gst). For further information contact David Lucas (0438 114 134) or Ben Lucas (0438 614 134).