Connections share in further success with mare they hope can continue to improve

Australian Racing Hall Of Fame member Tie The Knot (Nassipour) brought the Tait and Payne families together, and that formidable combination was again to the fore at Cranbourne on Saturday when Wings Of Song (Mendelssohn) extended her impressive race record with an eye-catching first-up win.

Before swapping his riding crop for a set of binoculars, Patrick Payne partnered Tie The Knot to three of his 13 Group 1 wins for owner-breeder Sandy Tait, who raced the champion stayer in partnership with his sister Jill Nivison.

Tait has since passed the breeding baton onto his son Olly, who currently runs Twin Hills Stud in Cootamundra in partnership with his wife Amber; but the octogenarian retains a very keen interest in the industry and it was he who suggested sending the family’s broodmare Tortoni (Strategic) to Coolmore America’s shuttle stallion Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy).

Despite a recent run of five winners and a minor placing from his last six starters in Australia, Mendelssohn hasn’t made quite the same impression in the southern hemisphere as another more high-profile son of Scat Daddy (Johannesburg), his fellow Coolmore stallion Justify. However, he was an elite racetrack performer with his victory as a two-year-old in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (Gr 1, 8f) and an 18-length demolition of his rivals in the following year’s UAE Derby (Gr 2, 1900m) among his more notable achievements.

Given his desire to produce quality middle-distance horses, Tait viewed Mendelssohn as an ideal – not to mention ideally-priced – partner for Tortoni, who was the last foal produced by Tie The Knot’s Group 1-winning dam Whisked (Whiskey Road).

“I’ve always had great admiration for the overseas stallions who shuttle here, and we’ve often had great success by sending Tortoni to them,” Tait Snr told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“Her mating with Night Of Thunder produced Cherry Tortoni, who had a super career for us before we retired him last year, and so when Mendelssohn became available we jumped at the chance. There was a lot of depth in his performances and back through his pedigree, so he comes from a wonderful family and compared to some of the local stallions his service fee was also fairly reasonable.

“It’s funny, in the old days the overseas stallions were incredibly expensive and it was the Australian stallions that represented better value, but it’s now gone the other way after the success that many of the locals have had. Scat Daddy’s progeny have made their mark over here as stallions, so I was as confident as you can be in this game that Mendelssohn would produce a nice type for us.”

The resulting filly made her race debut in the Tait family’s famous red and white colours at Murtoa in July 2023, and while she performed creditably enough at that stage there was no real suggestion that she might one day harbour black type aspirations.

After breaking her maiden two starts later at Swan Hill, however, Wings Of Song has improved out of sight and at the start of the year she blazed a trail through the Tasmanian Summer Racing Carnival, winning four in a row including three at stakes grade.

Having subsequently extended her picket fence courtesy of a dominant victory in the Auraria Stakes (Gr 3, 1800m), Wings Of Song stepped up to elite-level company for the first time in the Australasian Oaks (Gr 1, 2000m) and although she was ultimately unable to justify favouritism under Jake Noonan, the filly acquitted herself admirably with a fast-finish fourth behind Vibrant Sun (The Autumn Sun), beaten 0.9 lengths.

Following a lengthy spell, Wings Of Song made her return to competitive action on Cranbourne Cup Day and promptly took her career earnings past $500,000 with an explosive finish which bodes extremely well for the remainder of her campaign.

“She’s such an honest mare with a great will to win, which is something you can’t really teach a horse,” Tait said.

“She’s incredibly genuine and puts in every race, so although we didn’t really expect her to win on Saturday first-up after such a long time off, it certainly didn’t shock me that she ran well. Patrick will take his time with her, as he does with all their horses, so I’m sure the stable will come up with a plan and if she keeps improving we would like to think she might be running in another Group 1 next year.”

Since the start of September Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Michelle Payne has joined her brother Patrick on the training ticket, and the pair have hit a purple patch recently with four winners and two minor placings from their last eight starters.

As the junior partner, both in age and training experience, Michelle often defers to her elder sibling but she was happy to talk up the prospects of Wings Of Song after the mare secured the eighth win of her 14-start career.

“I thought she was brilliant on Saturday,” Payne told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“Her work and trials in the build-up to her return had been very good, but you’re never quite sure how they’re going to come back after such a long time away, and also how they will make the transition from a filly to a mare.

“But she’s such a beautiful mare and she’s a real professional, so she’s a pleasure to have around the stables. She relaxes beautifully and does everything right in her races, so she makes it easy for herself and for us as trainers. We’ll look to space out her runs so we won’t be in a rush to get her back to the races, but wherever we go next we’ll probably look to step her up in trip to the mile.

“She did such a great job last summer and through the autumn. She was up a fair while and had a really solid preparation so it was always the plan to give her a nice long break and bring her back towards the back end of the spring carnival to avoid running into some of the real topline horses. She’s definitely grown into herself during her time off, it’s difficult to know what sort of level she can get to but now that she’s furnished, she’s given herself every opportunity to show she can be competitive at a much higher grade than Saturday.

“We’re really happy with how the stable has been going and given Patrick’s long association with the Tait family, it’s always extra special to train a winner in those colours. Sandy has been a huge supporter of Patrick’s, both as a jockey and now as a trainer, so it gave us all a big thrill to see Wings Of Song win and hopefully she can go on with it now this prep.”