Some time ago, Jeremy Thornton made the decision to bring over Swet Fame to give him a go as a stallion, and on Sunday the last of his progeny, Major Buzz broke through for his first win at Bridgetown.
Hopeful that they would see something come out of the stallion, Thornton admitted that they were disappointed by what was produced, but their four-year-old Major Buzz has showed them enough that they believe he will go on with it.
An inquisitive gelding, Major Buzz hasn’t been without his troubles, chewing an earth wire as a youngster and getting it caught on his lip in a similar fashion as a fishhook, but with only minimal superficial damage done, it didn’t cause him any setbacks for racing.
“We took a punt for a while, and I bred quite a few foals but a lot of them didn’t make it (to the racetrack), he’s closely related to Sweet Lou through the mare’s line,”
“We persevered and bred a few, and Buzz is the last foal.”
“He was well bred, very well bred and he had won a heat of the Inter Dominions with Brian Hancock, he had the ability.”
“We thought he would be alright and throw some good horses but unfortunately not as good as Sweet Lou’s.”
Sweet Fame produced just 35 foals, for five individual winners including full sister to Major Buzz, Rose To Fame who won for Thornton last year.
The Thornton family has been involved for many years now, with Jeremy just a child when his father Neville took up training, with fond memories of Eclipse Hanover winning the $35,000 States Sires 3YO Fillies Final in 1994.
Sundays win at Bridgetown gave the Narrogin based horseman his 30th training success, with stable mate Swanbourne Spunk successful in February at Albany.
At one point, Thornton had a keenness for club management and handicapping, but now concetrates on his team of seven when he’s not working in the family business, Carpet Court in Narrogin, and as Thornton expressed himself, the horses are a hobby that is just like a second job.
Thornton heads to Wagin on Thursday night with three horses engaged, with Major Buzz drawing barrier three in the second race(6.29pm), Swanbourne Spunk from barrier three in race three (6.57pm) and Rose To Fame in race eight, starting from barrier nine (9.20pm).
