Makarov looks to have inherited family’s ability

Mark Lupton has plenty of fond memories of his Group One-winning mare Etah James, and he is hoping to create a few more with her son, Makarov (Russian Camelot), following his convincing debut victory at Hastings on Saturday.

The four-year-old son of Russian Camelot has been taken along quietly by trainer Bill Thurlow, having his first trial at Woodville last December before trialling again at Foxton this month, where he placed in both of his 1000m heats.

Those performances gave Lupton plenty of confidence heading into his raceday debut at Hastings, and he was pleased with the way he won over 1400m.

“He was pretty impressive,” Lupton said. “He is quite exciting, we have waited a while for it, but we always thought it was coming. It was a surprise it was over 1400m first-up, but his trials had been good.

“Bill gave him a couple of trials over the last few weeks and his trial on Tuesday morning was pretty good. The one that beat him (Djibouti) has been placed five times at the races, and they ran the fastest 1000m of the day, so I was starting to get a bit confident.”

Makarov was bred by Lupton, and his wife Cath, along with Terry Reid and Gary Howes, who also bred and raced Etah James (NZ) (Raise The Flag), who took them on a great ride, including victories in the Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m), Gr.3 Lord Reims Stakes (2600m) and Listed Pakenham Cup (2500m), and placings in the Gr.2 Avondale Cup (2400m) and Listed Bagot Handicap (2800m). She also contested the 2020 Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m).

“I had her (Etah James) in work here at Matamata myself and I never sent her to Matt Cumani (trainer) until she was rising five,” Lupton said. “I had given her four trials myself and she had run three thirds and a fifth, and she just needed time.”

Etah James proved to be a test of patience for her connections and was sent back to New Zealand on more than one occasion to be retired, however, Lupton persevered.

“The whole time she raced she had issues,” he said. “She had soundness issues for two years with Matt and we could never find out what they were. We brought her home to retire her, and I got a guy called Ronan Costello, a vet at Waikato Equine, to look at her and within two minutes he diagnosed her, he said she is crook in the off shoulder.

“We put her on an Equissage and walked her twice a day for three months. Lisa Anderson, a friend of ours, took her to her place to help me, and I sent her back to Aussie and she won the Pakenham Cup.

“Matt had sent her home to retire her again because she had grown sarcoids on her face, and I kept her going again, flicked her back to Ciaron Maher and she won the Sydney Cup.

“She is a lovely mare, and I think if she had been sound all the way through, she could have won anything.”

Lupton said Makarov has inherited the family trait of needing time, and that is exactly what they have given him.

“He is by a Derby winner out of our two-mile Sydney Cup winner, he was always going to take a bit of time,” Lupton said. “He is a beautiful, big staying horse, he looks a stayer all over.

“The family just takes time and the ones we have rushed have gone amiss and we have problems with, and the ones that we have waited for have come out good. We won’t push him too hard, we think he has got a pretty big future as a stayer.”

Lupton said Makarov has a few similarities to his dam, but he has a lot more speed.

“He seems to have a lot more early speed (than Etah James),” Lupton said. “In his two recent trials he has just jumped straight to the front, and she never won a trial in her life. She probably didn’t have the speed that he has got, but when she got to the front, she took a lot of beating, she kept on trucking. She had a good cruising speed and she just wouldn’t stop.

“She was a lot more solid than he is, but he is going to bulk up over the next 12 months, he is still a year away. He is still a bit rangy-looking and a bit weak-looking, but he is a pretty impressive individual.”

Makarov is the first foal out of Etah James, who is currently domiciled at Coolmore Stud in Australia, where she is set to foal to resident stallion St Mark's Basilica.

“She has got a Saxon Warrior three-year-old, who is getting a bit of education with Anthony Warren out of Sydney. Cath and I sold our share out of her, but Terry and Gary, our partners, still own her.

“She has got a beautiful Churchill yearling filly, and she is in-foal to St Mark’s Basilica. She is resident up in Coolmore and the boys are breeding her fairly well. St Mark’s Basilica is looking pretty good.”

Back in New Zealand, the partnership is excited by the imminent return of Etah James’ half-brother Usain (NZ) (U S Navy Flag).

The six-year-old son of U S Navy Flag won one of his eight starts for Cambridge trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood before he was sidelined with injury following his last start in March last year.

“The guys and I have got one called Usain, a half-brother to Etah James, he won a race for Roger James about 18 months ago,” Lupton said. “He ended up with a fracture.

“I have had him back in work with Tayla Sherwood at Te Aroha, and we trialled him a couple of weeks ago and he went huge. He is going to trial again on Tuesday and he has just matured, he is a lovely horse, and he has got some ability.”

Lupton has become a dab hand at rehabilitation, with Usain joining Etah James and fellow Group One winner Diademe among his success stories.

“It was good to get Usain going again, and Etah James,” he said. “To bring her home twice to be retired and send her back to win a Group One and another stakes race was great.

“I also rehabilitated a mare called Diademe for Scott Richardson when I ran his farm. It took us a year to get her back to the races, and she ended up winning a Group One, the Breeders’ Stakes (1600m).

“It is always a thrill when you get those horses back and win a big race. She was a great mare.”

Meanwhile, Lupton said they will let the dust settle following Makarov’s debut win and wait for Thurlow to return from holiday before plotting his next step.

“Bill is in South Africa watching the All Blacks for a couple of weeks, so I think we will give him an easy week,” Lupton said. “Bill and I had a quick discussion before he went away, and we may have a crack at Waverley at the end of September, but that may all change now with him having won yesterday.

“He is only a four-year-old, but he is a big, goofy staying horse, and we have got to be careful we don’t over-race him, you have got to make those horses a bit.

“There are some nice races coming up at Hawke’s Bay, but Bill and I will have a good talk when he gets back and decide from there.

“The prudent thing would be to go to an easier race at Waverley and give him a bit more experience before we start stepping up. It is easy to get carried away and chase those bigger stakes. Even yesterday you could see he is a bit green, and he is still looking around and gawking when he got to the front.”