scooby3051 10,695 Report post Posted June 27, 2022 Sad to hear of the passing of respected agent Anton Koolman over the weekend...very good eye for a horse...Thoughts and prayers with Margaret ,Ollie and the rest of the family RIP. JJ Flash, Hedley Jordan, Pete Lane and 4 others 6 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Memphis3 1,222 Report post Posted June 27, 2022 RIP. He sure knew his stuff. Has been round a very long time. Chestnut and scooby3051 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fermoy 226 Report post Posted June 27, 2022 8 hours ago, scooby3051 said: Sad to hear of the passing of respected agent Anton Koolman over the weekend...very good eye for a horse...Thoughts and prayers with Margaret ,Ollie and the rest of the family RIP. Very good Central Districts Horse Trainer in the 70s and 80s firstly at Waikanae and then Otaki Beach. If I remember rightly he trained top fillies Julia (Eulogy Stakes winner and 2nd to Noble Heights in the 1000 Guineas) and Kayenta. Julia was by Frontal who I think may have been stood at stud by Anton Koolman ???? Anton's father Anton Koolman senior emigrated to NZ via Australia after competing at the 1924 Olympics as a wrestler for Estonia and he set up "Koolman's Gym" in Wellington. Young Anton would have been an Olympic wrestler like his father except he chose to work with horses getting into equestrian and representing NZ while working as a builders labourer. Anton was inspired by Equestrian Legend Eric Ropiha to try his hand at Horse Training after which he moved to Australia and became a successful bloodstock agent sourcing the likes of Let's Elope and Richfield Lady out of NZ and then horses like Stony Bay, Hidden Dragon for HK and more recently Egg Tart , The Autumn Sun and Youngstar. RIP Anton. We're Doomed, Baz (NZ), Hedley Jordan and 2 others 3 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mill Reef 119 Report post Posted June 27, 2022 Did he have Gressier Stud in Otaki? fermoy 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breeder 599 Report post Posted June 28, 2022 Yes that is right Mill Reef. Had Gleam Macine and Americus there. Mill Reef and fermoy 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tripple alliance 1,005 Report post Posted June 28, 2022 Here's another , Nick Moraitis, who owned one of Australia's greatest-ever horses, New Zealand-bred star Might And Power, has died overnight at the age of 87. Might And Power, a son of Zabeel who Moraitis purchased for $40,000 as a yearling despite being warned about a crooked leg, was Australasia's most famous galloper towards the end of last century. He first shot to fame with his seven-and-a-half-length winning romp in course-record time as a four-year-old in the 1997 Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m). Just 17 days later he would add a Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) and then 50 weeks after that a Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m). Bugger , The ques getting shorter JJ Flash, Black Kirrama and Memphis3 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ Flash 2,114 Report post Posted June 28, 2022 2 minutes ago, tripple alliance said: Here's another , Nick Moraitis, who owned one of Australia's greatest-ever horses, New Zealand-bred star Might And Power, has died overnight at the age of 87. Might And Power, a son of Zabeel who Moraitis purchased for $40,000 as a yearling despite being warned about a crooked leg, was Australasia's most famous galloper towards the end of last century. He first shot to fame with his seven-and-a-half-length winning romp in course-record time as a four-year-old in the 1997 Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m). Just 17 days later he would add a Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) and then 50 weeks after that a Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m). Bugger , The ques getting shorter Also owned Exceed and Excel. Good horse but even better sire for Darley Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pole 53 Report post Posted June 29, 2022 On 6/28/2022 at 12:15 PM, Breeder said: Yes that is right Mill Reef. Had Gleam Macine and Americus there. I and a few other's raced a colt out of Entice. Trianed by Howie Mathewes in Matamata. Never made it to the races after some poor trial form. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby3051 10,695 Report post Posted June 30, 2022 Anton Koolman left a proud legacy Three decades have passed since Anton Koolman resided in New Zealand, however, the highly respected horseman’s death at age 82 in Sydney last weekend still resonated with many on the other side of the Tasman. From lowly beginnings and in partnership with Marg, his wife of 50 years, Koolman forged a place in the racing industry, initially as a trainer and studmaster, and then as a bloodstock agent trading throughout Australasia and establishing a strong Hong Kong clientele. Koolman’s Estonian-born father, Anton Senior, emigrated to New Zealand after competing as his homeland’s champion wrestler at the 1924 Paris Olympics. In Wellington he established the renowned Koolman’s Gym, specialising in wrestling and boxing, from where he instilled the principles of fitness and sportsmanship in protégés that were to include his son Anton. The younger Koolman also became a champion wrestler, yet despite not having grown up with any exposure to horses, he developed a passion that was to steer him in that direction, initially as a sport-horse rider. By his late teens, when he worked as a builder’s labourer, he had become proficient in showjumping and then in the combined eventing disciplines of showjumping, dressage and cross-country, which included representing New Zealand in Australia when in his mid-20s. One of Koolman’s mentors was the renowned all-round horseman Eric Ropiha, who was to introduce him to thoroughbred training, and in the 1970s he established stables on the Horowhenua coast north of Wellington. Koolman’s success in that role attracted the attention of Texas oilman Nelson Bunker Hunt, the founder of Waikato Stud in Matamata, for whom he prepared a steady stream of winners. One of the best to carry the Hunt colours in the mid-1970s was the quality filly Kayenta, and another was Julia, the winner of the Gr. 3 Eulogy Stakes and runner-up in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) in 1981. Julia’s sire, the former Waikato Stud stallion Frontal, stood at the Koolmans’ Otaki stud Gressier Lodge, as did another American-bred, Gleam Machine. Having already become a regular trader, Koolman moved further towards what was to become his primary role as a bloodstock agent and in 1991, at the behest of Victorian Dennis Marks, he sourced a two-horse New Zealand-bred package par excellence. Grosvenor filly Richfield Lady won the VATC One Thousand Guineas and VRC Oaks, while her Bart Cummings-trained stablemate, the year older Nassipour filly Let’s Elope, won the Caulfield- Melbourne Cup double. Between them, the pair won a total of 11 Australian Group races, seven of them at Group One level. A year after that landmark transaction, the Koolman family relocated to Australia and established a highly successful agency that in more recent times has operated in partnership by Koolman and his son Oliver. The burgeoning Hong Kong market attracted Koolman’s attention, leading to a hugely rewarding relationship with the Chuang family’s Hermitage Bloodstock. Over the past decade horses selected for Hermitage have included Australian Group One winners The Autumn Sun, September Run and Egg Tart, while in New Zealand the big-race list also includes Rocket Spade, Summer Passage and Dragon Leap. Other notable purchases, in which the Koolmans took a direct ownership interest, were the Group One-winning siblings Funstar and Youngstar. In early 2017 Koolman sustained a brain bleed when knocked over by a horse and after being released from hospital with his mobility affected, he was to spend his remaining years confined to a wheelchair. That by no means hindered him, however, and the sale ground remained his favourite workplace as he went through final inspections and whittled down the list of likely targets. “Dad always said that no matter what the budget might be, with every horse he bought it was as if he was spending his own money,” his son Oliver Koolman said. “He had to be genuinely attracted to a horse. It was never about simply filling orders – he had to like what he was buying.” The determination that had marked every previous endeavour remained unwavering when Koolman was confronted by his greatest ever challenge. “Right through his life he had been a competitive person and that took on another form after his accident,” Koolman said. “He had to spend a lot of time in rehab, which is when his physical and mental strength really carried him, and it continued like that in the five years since. “The success of horses we’ve been involved in during that time has been a tremendous source of satisfaction for him. “The main thing is that he still had a life he could enjoy with his family; we celebrated every Christmas as if it might be our last together and in the end he suffered for only a short time. “We had already made plans for Dad’s funeral service to be at the William Inglis Riverside Hotel. He had his 80 th birthday party there, the Riverside sales complex was his happy place and it’s where we’ll gather to farewell him on July 7.” - NZ Racing Desk Breeder, Cubes and Ponderosa8 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohokaman 5,762 Report post Posted July 2, 2022 One of Antons horses MONTE DITTO is in R3 at Rosehill…..would be an appropriate time to front up…. Baz (NZ) and scooby3051 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohokaman 5,762 Report post Posted July 2, 2022 Prayers answered…… pole and Baz (NZ) 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohokaman 5,762 Report post Posted July 3, 2022 Emotional win at Rosehill after death of breeder Hugh Bowman and Monte Ditto (right) get up to win the Midway Handicap at Rosehill Gardens. Pictures: Mark Evans–Getty Images It was a perfect end to a sad week for the connections of Monte Ditto who didn't let them down from a tricky spot in the Midway Handicap at Rosehill on Saturday. Monte Ditto's breeder Anton Koolman died last week, aged 82, in Sydney after a long career as a trainer studmaster and bloodstock agent throughout Australia. Koolman's father Anton senior emigrated to New Zealand from Estonia in 1924 and he forged a highly successful career in racing. His early successes included the purchases of Let's Elope, Richfield Lady, and stayer Stony Bay who won the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes and Group 1 Tancred Stakes. The late Anton Koolman checks horses being shown at Magic Millions Bloodstock sale on the Gold Coast. Picture: Brian Condron In 2010 Hermitage Thoroughbreds was formed, and with son Oliver they enjoyed great success securing champion three-year-old The Autumn Sun and dual Oaks winner Egg Tart. Patiti and Baz (NZ) 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...