The Great Hoya kicked off a double for his sire Patronize with a front-running victory in the Trybooking Hcp (1300m) at Northam on Thursday.
The Yarradale Stud graduate sold for $37,500 at the 2021 Perth Magic Millions and won a Belmont nursery for Paul Jordan in July 2022. Now he’s knocking on the door for prizemoney of $200,000 with Hopeland trainer Jade Tangaroa.
The Great Hoya (5g Patronize – Movie Queen by Bletchley Park) was rated perfectly by Brayden Gaerth for his mother Amy who has a share in the winner with Jade and Paul Boyle.
“We call him Cyril at home and he’s so consistent,” Tangaroa said. “He’s just the hardest trier and he never runs a bad race.”
The Great Hoya / Photo: Western Racepix
Bred by Yarradale Stud’s Bernie Hamill, he’s the final foal of Movie Queen and is one of four winners from the mare following Ladies Of London (War Chant), Miss Ellmya (Alfred Nobel) and Without Reg (War Chant).
Playhouse Patron made the most of a class edge and a strong finish to fill out the Patronize double in the Glenroy Chaff Hcp (1400m) at Belmont on Saturday. Long-time leader Corn Cob (Awesome Rock) was being hailed the winner with a three-length advantage in the straight before wilting noticeably in the final 100 metres.
Playhouse Patron (5g Patronize – Playhouse Theatre by Racer’s Edge) was black-type placed in last year’s LR Lex Piper Stakes (1600m) and LR Melvista Stakes (2200m) prior to finishing fourth in the G2 WATC Derby (2400m) won by Awesome John (Awesome Rock).
“He wasn’t stretching out on those heavy tracks last month so we backed off and brought him back to 1400m today,” trainer Bob McPherson revealed. “Joey (Azzopardi) worked him on Tuesday morning and said he should be going better in his races. With that in mind, we will definitely keep him fresh from now own.”
McPherson and his wife Jan race Playhouse Patron with Bunbury-based breeder Betty Lammie. His dam Playhouse Theatre (Racer’s Edge) won races at Ascot (2) and Belmont for the same connections, however, she hasn’t delivered a live foal since 2019.
Meanwhile, the penultimate-crop foals by Patronize comprises just four 2yo fillies and the only one named so far is the Hamill-bred Miss Patronic who is the first foal from Chukyo (City Place).
The last of the Patronizes are a yearling colt from Cosmic Ballet (Northern Meteor) bred by Brad Bell and a yearling filly out of Demon Queen (Barely A Moment) bred by Darling View’s Clive Atwell.
Patronize (Redoute’s Choice) helped put Darling View Thoroughbreds on the map before Playing God lifted it to a different level. A veteran of 15 books in WA, he was finally pensioned in August 2023. “What a great old stallion he has been for us,” stud manager Brent Atwell said. “He’s been a super-consistent sire and a gem to have on the farm. He will live out his days here at Darling View.”
