SAYING GOODBYE TO GYPSY

By Graham Potter | Friday, January 27, 2023

David Vandyke’s Group 1 Queensland Oaks winner, Gypsy Goddess, has been sold as a broodmare and will relocate to Japan where she will join another former David Vandyke runner, now broodmare, Yankee Rose, who won the Queensland Horse Of The year title for the 2015/16 season.

Gypsy Goddess, the winner of the National Champion Three-Year-Old Filly title for 2021-22 and the Queensland Three-Year-old Horse Of The year for the same season, has taken the Vandyke team on a thrilling ride since she first walked into the stable.

The fact that she looked ordinary early, and showed little in relative terms at that time, probably enhanced the wonder of the journey that followed.

From winning on debut, when unwanted in the betting at $26, to making it a perfect four from four in her first prep which culminated in a Group 3 victory in The Grand Prix stakes ... to then extending that winning sequence to five when saluting again first-up ... it was already the stuff that dreams are made of.

But what was to follow took her performance to another level.

Three Group 1’s were to follow in her next four starts and she took to the challenge of racing at the elite level in her stride.

A third place in both the Group 1 Vinery and a second place in the Group 1 ATC Oaks marked her as something special and it was third time lucky for her when she duly got her just reward when taking out the Group 1 Queensland Oaks. (The run nestled in-between these three Group 1 assignments was the Listed Gold Coast Bracelet ... her lead-up run to the Queensland Oaks ... in which Gypsy Goddess finished second).

Gypsy Goddess would have only one more run. That came in the $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill, a race in which she finished third, less than a length behind the winner I Wish I Win.

Third place was worth a cool $1 million in prize-money.
While it was not the win that her connections were seeking, the Golden Eagle result again highlighted the majestic level that Gypsy Goddess reached during her career and that she would go out on top of her game with a record that radiated class.

Having never finished out of the first three in ten starts, her final, proud race record stands at six wins and four places from ten starts with $1 972 300 banked in prize-money.

Not bad for a horse who couldn’t reach her $20,000 reserve price when passed-in at the 2020 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale.

A social media post by David Vandyke perhaps says it best.

‘It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to Gypsy Goddess.

‘She has been sold and will join our former top mare Yankee Rose as a broodmare in Japan.

‘Gypsy Goddess has been a true warrior and has been much loved. Great thanks and appreciation goes out to her connections, my staff, her riders & all those who supported and cared for her including vets, farriers, practitioners, dentists, etc.

‘In recent times, Gypsy Goddess’ breathing has deteriorated, and an endoscopic examination revealed she may struggle to reach her full potential on the track without a procedure. This made the decision easier to give her a change of life.

‘It’s time to kiss her goodbye, watch the videos with gratitude and hope to see her a happy mum in the future.’

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