Paul Talbot Art » friendly connections

Horsing around

admin — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 22:17:04 +0000

following recent posts some more horse stuff…….. but a little more personal! A good friend, Ben AKA ASBO who now resides in Australia has informed me via further person in the know (the grudge) won approx 4,000 oz dollars on a horse some years ago
The name of the horse was Octagonal
wiki link:
Octagonal (foaled 1992 in New Zealand ) is a retired champion Thoroughbred racehorse, affectionately called the big O or ‘Occy’. He was sired by Zabeel , out of the broodmare Eight Carat , a descendant of Man o’ War who was ranked No. 1 on the Blood-Horse magazine List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century .
Trained by John Hawkes , in 1995 Octagonal was crowned the Australian Champion Two Year Old . The two-year-old Octagonal won the AJC Sires Produce Stakes and earned a second placing in the STC Golden Slipper , and AJC Champagne Stakes .
In his three-year-old season Octagonal won seven times. But what was even more remarkable was the standard of his 3-year-old contemporaries. Saintly had already won the Australian Cup . (In the nextseason Saintly would win both the W S Cox Plate and the Melbourne Cup ). Nothin’ Leica Dane had already been runner-up in the Melbourne Cup. While Filante would go on to win the Epsom Handicap in record time.
Octagonal’s seven three-year-old victories started with the weight-for-age championship of Australia, the W S Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in his most dominant season. He went on to take out the 3yo Triple Crown consisting of the Canterbury Guineas , Rosehill Guineas and the Australian Derby in record time, and he is still the last horse to have done so. Add to this a victory in the WFA Mercedes Classic marking his fourth Group 1 race win in five weeks. Already the earner of close to $A4 million, Octagonal was voted the 1996 Australian Champion Three Year Old as well as the Australian Horse of the Year title.
Octagonal continued to perform well in 1997 when as a four-year-old he collected his second Mercedes Classic plus further Group I wins in the Australian Cup , Underwood Stakes and Chipping Norton Stakes . Octagonal retired to stud after 28 starts with a record of 14 wins (10xGroup1), 7 seconds (6 in GI or GII races) and a third. He ended his racing career with a stakes tally of $A5,892,231, the highest of any galloper in Australasia to that point.
Octagonal stands at Woodlands Stud, NSW. He is the Sire of Australian Group 1 winning brothers Lonhro and Niello, the South African Group 1 winner, Suntagonal. In 1998 he stood at Haras du Quesnay in France where his most prominent offspring was Laverock whose wins include two Group 1 races: the Prix d’Ispahan at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris and the Gran Premio del Jockey Club at Milan , Italy’s , San Siro Racecourse .
On the ASBO front following previous posts re; Obama portraits I managed to locate a website in which you can create your own versions, this is good linking and bringing subjects together, I’m impressing myself here! so I had a go…..

that Talbot gets everwhere!

admin — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 19:41:46 +0000

Strange how the past catches up with you. some time ago I gave a leaving present to work colleage and a good friend who was returning back to New Zealand with his new to be wife and their (at the time unborn baby). I had worked with Hamish for little over a year and found his company enjoyable to say the least!

I must admit at this stage I haven’t been that good at keeping in contact, just the odd email here and there, nothing that unusual with me! A fellow colleage returned home over the summer and visited Hamish and family and sent me these photos. The bottle that you see him so proudly pointing at is the said present!

� � � �

When in France over 8 years ago I was in a shop (wine) and saw this particular wine, Vintage Talbot well I couldn’t resist it could I? the cost, as Iremember worked out to be roughly £35.00 (an awful lot for a bottle of red wine, as I prefer the cheaper ones found in Tesco!! Well I bit the bullet and purchased one.� On my return I attended my local Round Table meeting (I am a past member) and fell into discussion with a Nick Mansi who is a bit of a wine buff. I mentioned that� I had bought this bottle of wine and how much it cost (feeling rather proud of finding my namesake as a wine and if be honest, a little big headed), only to be informed I could have bought it at his local Threshers for under a tenner!! Eventually, we did open the wine and I must admit, I didn’t like it that much. but I bought some more as time went on – mainly as keepsakes and at times to hand to friends as a ‘special’ present. I notice it’s not opened!! Not to sure about those curtains also!!!

Its nice to see the old gits face and looking so well, and� I promise to get in touch very soon�

the challenge

admin — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:08:48 +0000

further to being set a challenge some time ago by best friend Paul (aka. Oz) to produce 100 pieces of art within three months – this of course has led to me being at this particular stage! The time had come that he needed the same kick up the backside that he gave me. we both now have flourishing careers in education! and have the need to develop ‘ourselves’ and produce a world from the heart and soul.

Oz being a great musician, artist and allround creative person I have set him a challenge:

to write something that will ‘make me cry’

deadline: 17th October 2007 (my birthday)

well, he’s already started having thoughts (beer at the angel, near Denmark street – usual drinking spot!)

first entry: ‘onoins’

I have a feeling that it can only get better