SCONE trainer and horse-breaker Greg Bennett educates and prepares dozens of royally-bred thoroughbred babies annually, but the veteran horseman has recently welcomed a truly rare filly to his stables at Carmyle.
Bennett is educating a very rare pure white filly – one of only 17 white horses among 830,000 thoroughbreds registered in the Australian Stud Book.
The Zabeel filly is a three-quarter sister to dual Australian Horse of the Year Might and Power.
Might and Power won 15 races during his illustrious career including the spring’s big three - the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups and Cox Plate. He earned more than $5.2 million.
She was purchased for $270,000 by high profile owner-breeder John Singleton and rugby league legend Andrew Johns at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale at the Gold Coast earlier this year.
After her initial education with Bennett, the filly will be trained by Newcastle conditioner Kris Lees.
Bennett says although she will need protective care throughout her life due to her delicate pink skin, the filly is “an absolute gem”.
“She is a real sweetheart, she is learning quickly and progressing beautifully,” he said this week.
Bennett has educated thousands of racehorses including triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva, but says he has never trained a pure white horse before, and does not expect to see one again.
Keeper of the Australian Stud Book, Michael Ford, said the filly was the result of a rare genetic mutation – her father is bay and her mother is chestnut.
“Somewhere in there her parents are carrying a little W gene,” he said.
The filly is among only one or two living white thoroughbreds, lost in a sea of 225,000 bays, 200,000 chestnuts and 125,000 browns.
“About one quarter of thoroughbreds are chestnut, six per cent are grey and the rest are bay, brown and black, which is all one colour family, although black horses take up only one per cent,” he said.
Interestingly, grey is not a true colour either but the result of a harmless disease.
“It is a disease of the skin, horses are not born grey, they are born a solid colour with a few grey hairs and then it spreads over the coat as time goes on, and as they get older they tend to go whiter,” Mr Ford said.
“It is very rare for a foal to be born white, sometimes they have a few coloured hairs at the end of their body such as tufts in their tail, and sometimes they have blue eyes.”
The filly, sold by Craig Anderson’s Denman Farm Amarina, was the first white yearling to be offered at Magic Millions in over 20 years of selling.
“She’s a nicely put together filly,” Anderson said. “As an individual she’s very attractive.”
Singleton and Johns plan to use the filly in a marketing campaign for Bluetongue beer in the Newcastle and Hunter Valley areas. Singleton’s bloodstock manager Duncan Grimley confirmed that the name ‘Bluetongue’ was being sought for the filly, and proceeds associated with her career will be donated to charity.
Greg Bennett said he was donating half of his training fee to the charity that Singleton nominated.
Mr Grimley said plans were underway for eight clubs such as RSL clubs to be involved with the filly and half of the proceeds would be donated to a charity.
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