TWO YEAR OLD FILLY- Deputy Minister x Nijinsky II x Mr. Prospector
Owner: THEATRICAL

Record: 13/ 4-3-3
Earnings: $1,263,367

Stakes:

1st: Breeders Bowl Juvenile Filly(G1), VideoLand Filly Division(G1), Margarine Stakes(G2)
2nd: Frickazee Stakes(G1), Eastern Town Challenge
3rd: Oklahoma 760 Stakes

By- Roys Mansur

It was late and a strong wind was blowing over the Australian countryside. Theatrical and his head groom were standing in front of the closed circuit monitor watching one of Theatrical’s best mares, a daughter of Nijinsky II, who was ready to foal. The mare was restless, up, then down, then back up, each time straining with the effort of heaving her heavy body around. Small patches of sweat were beginning to break out around her flanks and on her neck. Around her stall she would walk, then lay down, then up and then pace some more. Theatrical was doing his own pacing in the monitor room. “Is she all right?” he asked for the tenth time. “Shouldn’t we be doing something?” The head groom chuckled and said, “Just let Nature take it’s course, she’ll be fine, but I’m not so sure about you. It won’t be long now.”

Outside the wind picked up, but the barn was warm and finally the mare lay down and stayed down. Again Theatrical wanted to go to the mare. “Just stay here,” said the head groom, “we don’t want to make her nervous and we can see on the TV if anything should go wrong.
What are you going to name the foal,” he asked in an effort to distract the nervous trainer?
“Well her dam is a daughter of Nijinsky II and the sire is Deputy Minister. I expect great things from this foal in the future. If it is a filly I will name her Minsky and if - oh look - it’s coming” and all eyes, for the first time, were on Minsky, making her appearance in to the world.

She was a plain bay filly but right from the start everyone knew she was special. She had a devil may care attitude and an air about her that made everyone stand up and take notice. In the pasture with the other colts she excelled in the pasture games they played. Whenever they raced from the old tree at one end of their pasture to the stream near the barn all the other babies ever saw were her heels. In June she was beating then by 2 lengths. By September it was five lengths and she would kick and buck while she waited for them to catch up. Life was good.

After weaning she was put in a pasture of fillies only and by the time she was a year old the others had given up trying to beat her. She didn’t care and raced the blowing leaves, the birds and anything else that moved. Her favorite thing to race was her shadow as it gave her the most competition and that was what she loved, competition. Life was good.

That fall, she was brought up and taught to carry a rider. She was smart and learned quickly, enjoying the new game. She learned to stop and to turn and what the racetrack was all about. She learned to gallop, switch leads and that the starting gate would not hurt her. Soon she was galloping in company and then came the short breezes, which never seemed long enough. She loved going fast and when pulled up would toss her head and shake her mane showing her displeasure. It wasn’t long though before the short breezes became longer works, which were much more fun for the young filly that loved to go fast. Yes, life was good.

It was around the first of May that Minsky was loaded on to a plane with a lot of other horses and sent to Dubai. She did not care for the ride and went off her feed for a few days. She was young and healthy and rebounded fast and was soon enjoying the desert air. Finally on May 13, she was entered into a Maiden race. She wanted to run as fast as she could but her jockey made her stay in the back and she hated it. The dirt clods hurt her face and she almost gave up, but her competitive nature won out and she rallied from far back to being beaten for the win, by a head. She was shipped to the States and the learning process continued. Gradually she learned to ignore the dirt in her face and finally after spending a few months in the States she was shipped back to Dubai. Finally, on July 29, 2000, she put it all together and won the fifth start of her career for owner/trainer Theatrical. Life was good.

With a three-week rest under her belt, Minsky, who was now earning frequent flyer miles, was sent out in her first stakes. Oklahoma was chosen as the track for her stakes debut and it was also the first time she had tried stretching out to a mile. Drawing the far outside she rallied down the lane but could do no better than third. Three weeks later and a short plane ride later she showed up in Michigan and finished a well beaten second in another stakes race at 8 furlongs. Three weeks to the day she ran in the Grade II, Margarine Stakes held in Ontario. This was her first time at over a mile but she was fit and she handled it well, winning easily and earning her career best speed number of 90. Another three weeks and on October 14, she was entered in the Grade I Frickazee in New Jersey. She finished second, but was closing every jump and earned a 97-speed rating.

With her rigorous three-week racing schedule any other filly would be feeling it in her bones, but Minsky was not just any ordinary filly and was thriving. On November 4th she made her appearance in the Grade I Breeder’s Bowl Juvenile Filly. She looked like a million dollars and destroyed the competition as she galloped home the winner by three lengths earning a 98-speed number for the mile and a sixteenth race. When you are hot you’re hot and with only two weeks rest she was shipped across the country to Arizona for the Grade II Mistaken Soda Identity Stakes. All the traveling and hard racing, finally took its toll and Minsky finished fourth. She was then shipped to California and put back on her three-week race schedule. On Dec 9th she finished fourth in a six furlong California overnight stake but this was just a prep for the Dec 23 Grade I Video Land Filly. Trying nine furlongs for the first time she came with her now famous closing run, to crush the competition, winning by nine lengths to close out her 2 YO season.

This blue-blooded filly was deserving of this Eclipse Award in every way. She withstood a long hard campaign and peaked at all the right times. She won over distances of 6 ½ furlongs to nine furlongs and justified her owner’s faith from the day she was born. Congratulations to Minsky Juvenile Filly Champion of 2000. Yes, Life is good.