Rowe On Monday – Unit a tribute to Merrick, American Pattern discord and farewell to Mahler

Seventeen kilometres off the main road, in the picturesque Widden Valley, phone reception is hit and miss.

That’s why staff at Widden Stud, when traversing the 8000-acre thoroughbred property, use two-way radios to communicate.

For more than three decades, David Merrick was identified over the two-way as ‘Unit Five’. Sadly, after a battle with cancer, Merrick died in February this year.

It prompted a group of Widden staff and friends to name a colt by Supido, who was bought by trainer Ciaron Maher at January’s Magic Millions for $80,000, after Merrick.

And that promising colt, known as Unit Five, could return to the Gold Coast in the coming weeks after impressively winning the Magic Millions Vic 2YO Classic at Caulfield on Saturday.

For the breeders of Unit Five – Widden yearling manager Liam Attwood, stud manager Ben Walsh, nominations manager Matt Comerford, stud financial manager Andrew Swales and former employee Jarrod Robinson – it was a sentimental and satisfying victory.

The nod to Merrick, an influential figure not only at Widden but industry wide, only added to the joy of the debut success – as did the $137,500 first prize money.

Magic Millions VIC 2YO Classic I Unit Five

Unit Five detonates on debut to win the Magic Millions VIC 2YO Classic with authority for @cmaherracing ⭐️

📺 Ch. 78/68, Foxtel 529, Kayo or via our app
REPLAYS: https://t.co/ZIa4a02wC0 pic.twitter.com/YaLCZG5Ryy

— Racing.com (@Racing) December 20, 2025

But it was far from smooth sailing for the $80,000 Magic Millions graduate who was picked out by Lovatsville’s Sam White and Maher.

“It was all pretty straightforward … but when he got off the truck, when he arrived at the Gold Coast, he stood on his shoe,” Comerford told this column.

“He got a bit of an infection, so fair play to Sam White and Ciaron and Gab Nutt, who was there at the time. After they bought him, they sent him to Bong Bong, and he went really lame.

“It wasn’t a perfect situation, so we said, ‘look, send him back to Widden at no charge to the new owners, nothing like that at all, and we’ll get him right’.

“We knew he was a lovely horse and he was right within six weeks, but then we gave him another six-week break at the farm.

“He never turned a hair. He never, ever, ever dropped any condition, and then we sent him back to Ciaron, and away we went.”

Co-owner Tony Stevens, a friend of White’s and Merrick’s, was instrumental in the naming of Unit Five.

“Tony Stevens was keen to do it and Derek Field’s wife, Marguerite, took a share in the horse and it’s been a pretty good story,” Comerford said.

“We were lucky enough to have to retain a little share in him as well, which is good, and we’ve all had a bit of a spring in our step walking around the office. 

“They (Maher stable) have just handled the horse incredibly well and placed him incredibly well. He’s got a big ownership group and everyone’s up and about.”

Unit Five’s dam, $9500 online purchase En Aval – a half-sister to the Comerford-owned Benella, herself the dam of Zousain’s Listed-winning juvenile filly Bellazaine – has an Anders colt heading to next year’s Inglis Premier sale in Melbourne and an Exceedance filly born in September.

She was covered by first season Rosemont Stud sire Schwarz this year, but unfortunately slipped the foal after 45 days.

“It’s probably made worse by the fact that he won on Saturday. But that happens. We’re all in the game, and we know that’s exactly what can happen.

“That is part of the ups and downs of it.”

The breeders of Unit Five also retained a share in his older half-brother Ulfberht, an unraced three-year-old gelding by Anders who is in work with Robbie Griffiths at Cranbourne. 

‘Too big to fail’

The Pattern – again – dominated breeding and bloodstock headlines last week and it wasn’t just in the southern hemisphere.

The Asian Racing Federation may have intervened in Australia’s Pattern impasse by temporarily taking over the promotion and demotion of black-type on the country’s stakes race calendar, but there were moves in America as well.

The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association have made a number of changes to its black-type schedule in 2026, with 410 races to carry Listed or Graded status next year, five fewer than in 2025.

But the decision to demote the Grade 1 Frank E Kilroe Mile and other downgrades at Santa Anita and Del Mar, prompted concerns from prominent industry figures about the direction of racing in California.

Tom Ryan, who manages SF Bloodstock’s portfolio including those horses in Australia, wrote in America’s Thoroughbred Daily News: “When you strip premier events in the middle of a wagering and field-size crisis, you’re not “protecting the integrity of the pattern,” you’re accelerating the decline of one of the game’s few remaining flagship jurisdictions.

“This outcome might look neat on a spreadsheet, but on the ground in California it means fewer top-class opportunities, weaker cards, and less incentive for owners to keep investing in this circuit.”

“Hard to talk about ‘national balance’ when Kentucky adds a Grade I turf sprint and fresh upgrades at Churchill and Kentucky Downs, while California absorbs a net loss in graded quality.”

Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm’s John Sikura, another investor with Australian interests, called for action.

“Supporting California graded stakes through purse supplementation, freezing the downgrading of stakes while attempting to create stability, and restoring the prior status of fixture races like the Santa Anita Oaks and others with set criteria is actionable and necessary,” he wrote. 

“The phrase ‘too big to fail’, applied to the banking industry and automobile industry, certainly applies to California racing.”

Melbourne Cup’s Mahler dies in Ireland

Mahler, the horse who ran third to Efficient in the 2007 Melbourne Cup at his eighth and final race start, died in Ireland on Friday at the age of 21 due to the infirmities of old age.

Coolmore reported at the weekend that Mahler, a second crop son of champion sire Galileo, died at The Beeches Stud. He was a champion point-to-point stallion in Ireland.

The Beeches Stud’s Robert McCarthy said: “Mahler had a wonderful temperament and was a lovely horse to be around. 

“He has been a great servant over the years and will be sadly missed by everyone here at The Beeches, in particular by Yann, who has looked after him so well for the past few years and is absolutely heartbroken.”

Rowe On Monday will return on January 5