Dual Category One winner Salacres Pippy has been retired and is booked into Ireland’s leading stud dog Droopys Sydney.
Owner and trainer Peter Harnden said: “We were hoping to run her in the Ing Memorial Leger at Yarmouth but she is showing that she will be in season by tomorrow. So I’ve called Michael Dunphy and managed to get a booking with Sydney which is a fabulous break.”
Harnden is the first to admit that it was the arrival of the daughter of Definate Opinion turned his attitude around when he was at his lowest ebb. He tragically lost kennel star Salacres Punch in 17 December 2019 and was disillusioned with racing. He wouldn’t know it at the time, but just three nights later, Good Daisy (as she was then known) ran her first qualifying trial at Kilkenny.
Peter said: “I decided that I had to get a really decent one to get myself back on track. I spotted Pippy running in a couple of graded races at Kilkenny and Clonmel; I was actually following another dog. Pippy was beaten in all of her races but she was running on well. She is very well bred but I knew John Kennedy would have enough on his plate with young dogs coming through; we were in lock-down and most people weren’t keen to buy. So I managed to get her.
“Pippy qualified in 29.71 at Nottingham and I ran her in a couple of 500m opens. But I could immediately see that she was going to struggle against the top middle distance open racers. So I made the decision to step her up in distance before she got knocked about and lost all her confidence. It had happened to me once before with a very good bitch called Salacres Polizzi and I swore it wouldn’t happen again.
“I took her to Crayford for her first trial and she did 33.33 for the 540m on her first look. She then followed up with a 44.93 run for the 714m. I knew we were in business.”
It was a case of ‘close but no cigar’ when Pippy, only just turned two years old, led but was outstayed by Smallmead in the 2020 St.Leger Final.
A year later and it was a more experienced, stronger, Pippy who gave Harnden his first Cat One victory in a memorable Hunt Cup Final at Towcester where she smashed the 712m track record. 13 days later, the front running black carried off her second group one event in the Cesarewitch at Crayford.
So now the party is over but there is so much to look forward to. Pippy is a half sister to Irish Derby winner Good News who is currently one of Ireland’s leading young stud dogs. Peter is planning to rear the litter himself.
Peter said: “I will really miss the joy of her racing she’s made my life great for two years but it’s better to finish at the top than let them slide when they are of her quality.
“Three years ago I decided I had finished with breeding and rehomed all my broods. But I’m also sending a bitch called Salacres Baltran to Magical Bale to be mated. Baltran was a very fast bitch who was injured early but she is a half sister to Jetstream Lynx, the dam of Susie Sapphire.
“It was Pippy and moving to Towcester which have turned everything around for me. I absolutely love the place and am loving racing again. Puppies are a two year commitment but I believe in what Kevin is doing and I’m looking forward to the future.”
But if you needed a reminder of what Pippy brought to the Harnden kennel . . .
