Off The Track - 'Stage Presence'

As seen in the June 2017 edition of Horse Deals Magazine

At the recent Sydney Royal Easter Show, Stage Presence carried Rebecca Farrow to the Lady Rider Championship and continued on to claim the Hack Championship. This impressive double is rare and was last achieved by Helen Crowley and Molière who pulled off the remarkable accomplishment in 1976. Luck comes in to most achievements, both good and bad; luck and a lot of hard work. People outside the horse world wonder what it is about riding that seems to captivate people. For the elegant Yarra Valley rider, it is the connection she has and the commitment to her horses that holds her in the sport. It does not always turn out so well, but this dedication has seen yet another ex racehorse claim the most coveted show horse title in the country, the Sydney Royal Championship.
Stage Presence has gone through a few name changes in his career. He raced as Persistency from which he gets his stable name, “Percy”. His first crack at the show horse world with Courtney Smith saw him shown as CS Masquerade and when purchased by Rebecca, Percy became Stage Presence. Percy was bred by Innisfree Thoroughbreds in Pakenham, Victoria and foaled in 2007. He is the result of top class Australian breeding, being by Testa Rossa that won over three million dollars out of the Rory’s Jester mare, Rorkes. His pedigree includes Northern Dancer, Vain, Wilkes, Without Fear, Saddlers Wells and Sovereign Path to name a few and all well known names in Australian racing circles. He was purchased by Dynamic Syndications as a yearling and they described him as “a cracking yearling with a great walk”. A leggy youngster, Percy went first to Peter Moody and then to NSW trainer, Darren Smith. To the credit of all connections they were not in a hurry to start the big youngster and after a few barrier trials, Percy had his first and only start at Scone at the end of January 2012 as a four year old. He sustained an injury during that race and, reading between the lines the connections were not so keen to persevere with the not so promising near 17hh gelding. Darren Smith’s daughter was keen to try him as a show horse and with the agreement of all the owners, Percy was gifted to her.
“He spent two months in the paddock before I could start work with him,” remembers Courtney Smith. “He proved to be an easy horse to work with and he picked up everything so well. He had a fantastic attitude and it didn’t take him too long before he was out competing. By the end of 2012 he was competing and by the end of 2013 he represented NSW in the Large Hack division at the Nationals. At Sydney in 2014 he won his Novice Over 16.2hh. At Sydney that year Rebecca borrowed him for her riding. “Anything I should know about him?” she asked; “just point and enjoy”, I said and she came back with a blue ribbon. It is wonderful what she has achieved with him.”
“I spotted him during his novice class at Sydney,” explains Rebecca, “I thought he was a lovely type and had a lovely way of going. I am always drawn to tall horses and he was a big, young, leggy Thoroughbred and well put together for such a big horse and I thought, that’s a horse I could do something with. I am not in to borrowing horses, but my horse, Kholo got a knock in the warm up arena and was uneven after that. Courtney graciously said yes and I rode him for about five minutes in the marshalling yard right before my rider class and went out and won the event. I really liked what I felt underneath me. I asked Courtney if she was interested in selling him and two months later I bought him.
“I took him to Adelaide and Melbourne Royals that year and he was in the top placings as well as carrying me to Champion Rider at Melbourne. A few days before Christmas 2014 Percy came down with colic. I got him to Werribee very quickly and my vet said; if they give you the option of operating, don’t mess around, do it. You need to act quickly if given this option. At Werribee they gave him some drugs and put him on a drip. I could do nothing more, so I drove home and as I turned in to the drive, Werribee called to say that he was not responding to the treatment, so I turned around and drove the hour and a half back. They met me in the driveway; you have three choices, 1. We put him down now, 2. We wait and see if he improves overnight or 3. We operate. They said he had a good chance of a complete recovery and that what he had was a nephrosplenic entrapment (when the large colon becomes trapped between the left kidney, spleen and the ligament that runs between those two organs). He went to surgery and it went well. Nothing had to be removed or cut out and they just had to put everything back in the right place. I was lucky, as they said if I had waited two more hours he would not have made it. Werribee were great, they kept in regular contact with me and they are genuinely interested in their patients well after they leave the hospital.
“Percy was at Werribee for about a week and then came home and had to spend eight weeks in a box on grass hay with some oaten chaff introduced gradually. After that he was in a small yard, no uncontrolled exercise, for four weeks. In May 2015 he came back in to work and I was very methodical with my training programme. I got him to Adelaide that year where he was third in his Open, but chose not to go to Melbourne as he was still pretty light in condition. He went to Sydney in 2016 and was third in the Open and at Melbourne that year he was second in the Open. At the Show Horse Council Show at the end of the year he was Runner-Up Large Hack and was also Runner-Up Large Hack at the Barastoc EV Horse of the Year Show in February 2017, so he was going well. The stewards at Sydney told me I was third in the Pope Cup and the judge, Kristy Oatley told me she thought he was beautiful and that she loved his way of going, so I was hoping I was in with a chance in the Championship.”
At the shows over the years, Rebecca’s mother, Jan has been her constant companion, but she did not accompany Rebecca to Sydney this year. “I did not know until after I had worked out that mum and dad had flown up from Melbourne, it was a big trip for mum. After I had worked out, I looked in the stand to see a couple of friends and saw mum and dad walking down the stairs in the members. Mum has been a constant at the shows all my life. I have been Reserve Champion Hack at a Royal before, but never Champion until now with Percy and it was wonderful that she was there to see it. It was so exciting, I still can’t believe it.
“Percy is such a trainable horse with an incredible work ethic. If you give him a job, he tries his heart out and he loves to learn. He is a true athlete and makes the training very satisfying and he gives me more than any other Thoroughbred has. He is quite unique in that sense. I have tuition from Judi Kopanica and Roger East and I have focused on correct, classical training methods and he responds so well to that. I will keep training him and continue competing. He will continue to learn, because he is that kind of horse.”

Written by Anna Sharpley

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