Naturalism retired in 1994 to stand at the historic Segenhoe Stud (now Vinery), near Scone, in the Hunter Valley, after an illustrious racing career. His wins included the 1992 Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m at Rosehill) and the Group 1 AJC Australian Derby (2400m at Randwick), during a stellar year in which he also won the Group 1 Caulfield Stakes (WFA 2000m) at Caulfield; for all that winning form, there is no doubt his courageous, when injured, second to the local champion Tokai Teio in the 1992 Group 1 Japan Cup (2400m at Fuchu) was a career-defining performance.

Naturalism's first crop sold encouragingly as yearlings. He was well supported by his host stud, and it wasn't a surprise when it was the Segenhoe Stud-bred filly, True Blonde (B f 1995, Naturalism-Easy Date, by Grand Chaudiere (CAN)), a half-sister to the sensational Snippets (by Lunchtime (GB)), that emerged as an early runner in the 1997 spring.

The filly, in the care of Naturalism's trainer Lee Freedman, charged down the straight at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival to thrash her juvenile rivals in the Listed VicHealth 1000 (1000m). The boom on the new sire was bigger than any New Year's Eve fireworks' display. Segenhoe was forced to close Naturalism's book that spring. He sired no more than 68 foals in any year in his first three crops, but that 1997 season saw his harem grow dramatically to 110 mares, many of whom arrived late in the season in the wake of True Blonde's success.

A few months later at the Magic Millions, Naturalism's yearlings paraded as if they wore gold bridles. From a batch of significantly inferior mares - and the quality of the yearlings on show was not outstanding - to his first season, the 1998 Magic Millions by Naturalism were fought over and snapped up as if they were the last items left at a Boxing Day sale. The average price of $60,000 (highest price $200,000) was far greater than the pedigrees or the individuals deserved.

The breeding industry is a fad industry. The fad at that time was Naturalism. But fads fade and by April, when the Inglis Easter Sales yearlings were on parade, the boom on Naturalism - despite some nice yearlings from good families - in the space of three months had faded to a speck. At Easter, he had more yearlings sell under $25,000 than sold for $100,000 or more. True Blonde couldn't add to her spring form, and Naturalism had no Golden Slipper contenders, and no other winners in that period.

As it was, incredibly, Naturalism didn't sire another Stakes winner for six years when Johnny Reb (B g 1997, Natur alism-Kylemore, by Star Watch) won the Listed National Sprint (1400m) at Canberra. By 2001, he had only 20 foals from 30 mares the previous year. At one stage in 2003, banished to life as a farm stallion, he mated with only two mares to produce one foal. Now, Naturalism, following the deeds of his brilliant four-times Stakes winning son Natural Destiny (Gr h 2002, Naturalism-Force Of Destiny, by Archregent (CAN)), has had a new lease on life, and he stands for a $5500 fee at Tony Hartnell's Meringo Stud, Bergalia, on the NSW south coast, near Moruya. Even the brilliance of Natural Destiny hasn't taken Naturalism's bookings beyond 10.

I discussed the Naturalism story with studmaster Mick Malone of Kitchwin Hills, set in the little-known Isis Valley, out the back of Scone - take the Gundy Road, and turn left just past the aptly named Linga Longa Hotel. Malone touched the nearest wooden post for fear that the same fate could strike his resident young sire Dane Shadow (B h 2001, Danehill (USA)-Slight Chance (NZ), by Centaine) that struck Naturalism in 1998. Malone and Kitchwin's owners - brothers Graham and Steven Brown - are set to defy the financial crash when he offers a select batch of quality yearlings by Dane Shadow at next week's Magic Millions Sale on the Gold Coast, starting on January 7.

The Dane Shadow yearlings will carry a lot of hype with them when they enter the Gold Coast sales' ring. The young stallion has made an immediate impact from his first crop of runners (61 foals off a $12,100 service fee). He is likely to have at least one genuine winning chance in the Restricted Listed Magic Millions (1200m) on the Gold Coast on January 10 - Gai Waterhouse's impressive debut winner Shadow Assassin (B g 2006, Dane Shadow-Mascara Magic, by Citidancer (IRE)).

Already seven of his 2YOs have raced. Apart from Shadow Assassin, Dane Shadow also is the sire of three times city runner-up Shellscape (B c, from Kisma, by Snippets)) - who is running at Randwick on Saturday (January 3) - and last week's very impressive filly Shadow Miss (B f, from Best Out West, by Best Western), who just failed to run down the unbeaten Indian Ocean (B f 2006, Danehill Dancer (IRE)-Dashkova, by Fasliyev (USA)) at Rosehill.

Dane Shadow is an intriguing stallion. While he has all the strength and bone of his sire Danehill, he also carries the class, looks and refinement of his dam's sire Centaine. Importantly, Dane Shadow's yearlings have the unmistakeable influence of Centaine in their conformation - length of leg, length of body and long rein. He is the product of a royal mating, by a champion sire and sire of sires, from a champion race mare. His dam Slight Chance won six Group 1 races, including the VRC Oaks and the Queensland Oaks, and she was placed in the 1992 Cox Plate, as a 3YO filly, behind Super Impose. (She was the last filly to place in the Cox Plate before Samantha Miss this season.)

As a racehorse, Dane Shadow - for owner Graham Mapp who retains a major interest in the stallion - was below expectations after a promising start to his career made him a Golden Slipper contender. While he competed competently at the highest level, his only Stakes win was the 2004 Group 3 Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m) at Randwick as a spring 3YO. At two in the autumn of 1994, he was placed second in both the Group 2 Silver Slipper Stakes (1200m) at Warwick Farm and the Group 2 Todman Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill, and at three, he also finished fourth to Grand Armee in the 1994 Group 1 George Main Stakes (WFA 1600m) at Randwick.

Dane Shadow's fee dropped to $7700 in his second season. He has 50 yearlings from that crop. The quality of his first foals saw him receive 104 mares in his third season, although that number also was thanks to the restrictions of equine influenza as Kitchwin was able to use him on mares stranded on their property. In the spring just gone, the Australian Stud Book has received returns for only 55 coverings.

Dane Shadow, like Naturalism in 1998, has had only one winner going into the Magic Millions, but such parallels are unfair as he has more "prospects" running for him that Naturalism did at the time. There also is the chatter about "the one at home" and Malone can spin with the best of them when needs be to boost his stallion - "the filly out of Pharein is flying." Indications are that Dane Shadow stock will be in tremendous demand at the Magic Millions, and he looks set to defy a likely trend next spring when his service fee, and bookings, rise.

A young professional outfit like Kitchwin Hills deserves to find its own commercial stallion. Such a discovery is a financial windfall and the making of any stud farm. Few farms get this sort of opportunity in a period dominated by conglomerates like Coolmore and Darley. Kitchwin already has a fine reputation for its expertise in broodmare agistment, foal care and yearling presentation, but riding on the back of a recession-busting stallion can be a joyous experience that will finance new infrastructure of buildings and landscaping to complement the lush pastures that overlook this obscure valley.

Kitchwin Hills and Dane Shadow are shaping as a force to be reckoned with, and the Linga Longa Hotel (part owned by some of the Kitchwin crew) might need some extra parking to cater for the influx of breeders taking the Gundy Road. The beer's cold and the welcome friendly. But hold off on mentioning the Naturalism word for at least a few months yet.

Some of Dane Shadow's Magic Millions (www.magicmillions.com.au) yearlings. Comments by Danny Power:

Lot 80 (Kitchwin Hills draft), a bay colt from the Desert Sun mare Sin Bin. An athletic colt with a strong, purposeful walk. The third dam of this colt was the brilliant NZ mare Jandell. This is a winning family that also features Group 3 Auraria Stakes winner Shelbourne Lass and the Group 2 Liston Stakes winner Skoozi Please.

Lot 278 (Kitchwin Hills draft), a bay colt from Best Out West (by Best Western), who is the dam of the unbeaten 2YO Indian Ocean. This is a quality mature colt, in the image of his sire. His dam also is the sire of the Listed Fernhill Handicap (1600m for 2YOs) winner, Stone Canyon. This colt represents the incredibly successful Danehill-Star Kingdom cross.

Lot 500 (Kitchwin Hills draft), brown colt from the Indian Ore mare Janelle Again. Very attractive, good walking colt that is very mature despite his October 13 birth date. He is a half-brother to the brilliant racemare Fair Embrace, winner of the Group 2 Champagne Stakes (1200m at Moonee Valley) and Group 1 placed. Those who grew up in the 1960s will remember this colt's outstanding third dam, Cendrillon, winner of the Group 1 Futurity Stakes (1400m) and Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m).

Lot 785 (Reavill Farm draft), brown filly from Citiscene (by Snippets). The only Dane Shadow filly in book one. Another fine example of the athleticism of the Dane Shadow yearlings. This good walking filly throws a lot to Dane Shadow's dam-sire Centaine. Her dam is a daughter of the Stakes winning Citidancer mare Citirecruit.

For at least the past year almost no one has questioned whether Nicholas Hall (21 last April) would rise quickly to the top ranks of Victorian riders despite not starting his apprenticeship until he was 18; and almost everyone has questioned how much longer Darren Gauci  (who turned 43 on Boxing Day) would go on as good rides in big races began to dry up for the four-times champion jockey.

Going on the winning rides in the Standish (Gauci, King Hoaks) and Bagot (Hall, Good Red) - races that can be comfortably tagged time-honoured - each has much to look forward to in this new  year and beyond.

Gauci often shakes his head in bemusement when the age issue is raised, and after following Moe trainer Allison Bennett's  instructions to the letter, with a little help from a tardy jump from a wide gate, the veteran jockey said:  "I had a reasonable year with the opportunities I had (last year), but surely this year, I hope, I can get better ones in some of the bigger races."

It is 26 years since Gauci burst on to the scene as an apprentice with a pop star following. He won three senior titles as a junior (1982-83, 83-84 and 84-85) and one as a senior  (1995-96) and has racked up 34 Group 1 wins, the latest on El Segundo in the Underwood Stakes  (1800 metres) at Caulfield in September 2006. The pair was just beaten by Fields Of Omagh in Australia's weight-for-age championship, the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040 metres),  at Moonee Valley a month later, and Gauci lost the mount to  Damien Oliver and then Luke Nolen, who won the 2007 Cox Plate to make up for connections' disappointment  12 months earlier. 

Gauci has battled on, without a big-name mount to hang his skull cap on, to keep reminding punters and some owners and trainers that he is a class act. At Flemington, Bennett gave Gauci explicit instructions for King Hoaks (5yo b g, King Charlemagne (USA)-My Nancy, by Noalcoholic (FR)).  "I said to 'Gauc', 'I don't want to see you facing the breeze all the way down the straight because he'll knock up. He over-races.'"

More explicitly, she added: "It's not too much to ask to have one bum in front of him ... and he had everyone's bums in front of him, so that was a bit of a worry." It was a concern only until Gauci pulled King Hoaks ($18) around Orbit Express ($3.70 favourite), who he had followed. Appearing to find a fast lane more than 200 metres out, King Hoaks quickly came from last to win by a widening length from Bowhunter ($11), with Orbit Express a short head back third.  

Gauci said King Hoaks jumping a touch behind the field after turning sideways just before the gates opened was a blessing in disguise. "(Otherwise) I would have been outside Orbit Express trying to come back behind him. Instead I was there, staring at bums straight away ... he travelled kinder."

The Standish was Bennett's biggest win, eclipsing this day eight years ago when she won the Bagot with $31 chance Makibaoh. She had no luck with Juan Carlos ($41) 14^th in this Bagot, whereas Gauci made his own luck with an outstanding front-running ride - his forte - on Robrick ($20), who held on for second behind Good Red.

"He ran good, the last horse (Robrick)," Gauci said after his follow-up success on King Hoaks. Good Red (6yo ch g, Kingston Rule (USA)-Croslee, by Cavalry (USA)) ran even better, thanks to a superb ride by Hall that was lavishly praised by young Caulfield trainer Luke Oliver. Hall settled on the fence in the back part of the pack after breaking from barrier 15. He found himself inside Damien Oliver and the favourite Eskimo Dan ($4.40) as he threaded his way forward coming to the corner. He beat Oliver to a gap in the straight and kicked clear to win by two lengths from the brave Robrick, with Eskimo Dan a long neck back third.

"Nick put him in the winning spot," said Luke Oliver (no relation to Damien). "He saved all that ground on the inside and got runs through the field ... the horse was good enough to finish it off."

Good Red had gone 16 races without a win. Oliver was happy to break through - and with his application of blinkers to the gelding - and even happier that the win came with a horse that had been in his stable since he was a yearling, rather than via the usual cast-off. Not that he is knocking cast-offs, having had recent success with Sensational Toy and Ulysses, among others.

Oliver (31) has had his licence for about 4½ years after giving up his day job in a bank to work with trainer James Riley at Caulfield, who initially tried to talk him out of abandoning his office security for the insecurity of training for a living. He has built an initial team of half-a-dozen into nearly 20 and, with advice from neighbours at Caulfield, is starting to make Melbourne more than a one-Oliver town. He has trained 57 winners from 420 runners, with 12 from 71 this season. The Bagot was his first Stakes win and Good Red's seventh success from 33 starts.

Oliver said he might look at March's Adelaide Cup (3200m) for the six-year-old, as he had Ulysses, once in the Lindsay Park camp, ready to race for the rich stakes, for his class, in Tasmania. Brad Rawiller will ride Ulysses in the $120,000 Devonport Cup (1800 metres) at Spreyton on Wednesday. Success there could see Oliver look to bigger Tasmanian plums - the $400,000 Hobart Cup (2200 metres, February 9) and the $300,000 Launceston Cup (2400 metres, February 25).

Hall, son of Melbourne Cup winning jockey Greg, has 239 wins from just over 2000 rides in 3½ seasons, 48 from about 370 this season, with 16 in the city. He had his first Melbourne Cup mount earlier this season when 16^th on the Anthony Cummings-trained Red Lord.

He still claims 1.5 kilograms in the city. He will lose his allowance before long, but on yesterday's effort in a non-claiming race, that inevitability won't slow his progress. 

To download the Ascot quadrella summary CLICK HERE

Freedman rates Maka Ena (B f 2006, Exceed And Excel-Living Spirit, by Hennessy (USA)) one of his better 2YOs, but the trainer said there were times when he doubted the filly would reach her true potential. Maka Ena, a $450,000 Inglis Easter purchase by Sheikh Mohammed's Darley, is a very highly-strung filly who lives on the edge.

Freedman rates the filly alongside Darley's Listed Debutants Stakes (1000m at Caulfield) winner Come Hither (B f 2006, Redoute's Choice-Hanky Panky, by Anabaa (USA)). Both precocious fillies were ready early in the spring, but the more professional, relaxed Come Hither "won the toss" for the trip to Sydney for the first 2YO Stakes race of the season, the Listed Gimcrack Stakes (1000m at Randwick) on October 4. She finished a luckless third behind Our Joan Of Arc.

When Come Hither was warming for her debut run with an easy trial win at Warwick Farm, Maka Ena was trialling the same day (September 22) at Cranbourne. I sat beside Freedman as Maka Ena finished second to the speedy Dancescape, in a trial that Freedman declared was the strongest of the day. His assessment proved correct as Dancescape bounced out to finish second to Noesis in the Listed Inglis Stakes (formerly the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes) over 1000m at Flemington, and then chased home Come Hither in the Debutants.

Freedman spelled the flighty Maka Ena, but he has been constantly concerned about her temperament, until a stroke of fate - a coloured stroke of fate - caused an amazing turnaround. By chance one morning at Markdel, Maka Ena was being led from a pony - the usual process to try and keep her in check - when Freedman noticed a dramatic change in her temperament. The filly trotted beside the pony like a foal beside its mother.

The only difference between that morning and the previous troublesome episodes with Maka Ena was the fact this was a new pony for the filly - a tough, sturdy grey pony. Freedman immediately remembered that Maka Ena's mother, the 2003 Listed VRC Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1200m at Flemington) winner Living Spirit also was grey (although the bay Maka Ena throws to her bay sire Exceed And Excel). The flashback to life in the paddocks of Swettenham Stud, where Maka Ena was bred and raised, saw Maka Ena a changed filly.

Now her constant companion is the grey pony, so much so, that the pony shared the float with Maka Ena to Moonee Valley. Ånd there is a chance the pampered pony could find himself in Sydney in the autumn, if Maka Ena earns herself a Golden Slipper start. I suspect the Sheikh will find the extra cash to make sure Maka Ena's life remains a happy one.

Ironically, only last week I was in the Hunter Valley when the subject of grey horses was raised. At Vinery Stud, nominations manager Adam White was talking about the stallion Mossman's complete dislike for grey mares - so much so, that he needs to be tricked into mating a grey mare. "We usually bring in another mare (not grey) at the same time, and he gets so confused and worked up, that he forgets that the mare is grey," White said. Sometimes the mare is covered with a blanket to hide her colour.

The opposite attraction to grey mares exists for Testa Rossa. The sight of a grey mare in the breeding shed sees Testa Rossa, almost on his hind legs, eagerly charging at her like a lion after his prey.

Maka Ena, who gets her grey colour from the stallion Godswalk, who is the sire of Living Spirit's granddam, Sisterhood, won't be seen until late January when she steps out at Caulfield in a Listed Blue Diamond Preview (1000m). The grey pony will be along for the ride to keep his young starlet calm, and Maka Ena will be led to the start by a grey Clerk Of The Course's horse. One wonders what might happen if a couple of Maka Ena's combatants are also grey! 

The New Zealand-born jockey rode a superb race to win on Game Serena for trainer Ron Gravett, but Childs would dearly have loved to ride a winner for Flemington trainer Michael Moroney on his last day in the saddle. The pair have had a long relationship that began 26 years ago when Childs rode Moroney's first winner as a trainer - Blue Avon at Matamata, on September 19, 1982.

Childs partnered the Moroney-trained Papa in his last ride, but the gelding, after the 46-year-old jockey game him every chance, managed only ninth in the Skipton Handicap.

Moroney said he will miss Childs' input around his stables. "He gave me his first winner, and I would have liked to train his last winner, but it wasn't to be," he said.

Childs is best remembered for his association with the great mare Sunline, but he also regularly rode Northerly and the brilliant Bart Cummings-trained mare Let's Elope. Below is a profile of Greg Child's career, taken from the latest edition of Racing In Australia, Guide to Season 2008/09 (available for purchase through this website).

THE GREG CHILDS PROFILE

Born: February 6, 1962

Greg Childs was raised in Taranaki, on the west coast of New Zealand's north island, one of the most famous horse districts in the country. His love of racing stemmed from being involved with his father Brian, an owner-trainer at Stratford. Childs, an accomplished pony club rider, left school at 15 to take up a jockey's apprenticeship with trainer Brian Deacon at Hawera, not far from home.

He rode his first winner in 1978, on his home track, on a horse named Stormee. He was New Zealand's leading apprentice in the 1978-79 season.

His first Group 1 winner came two years later when Summer Haze won the Sires' Produce Stakes at Palmerston North.

Childs over the next decade became one of the leading riders in New Zealand. His first visit to Australia came in the spring of 1990 when he rode Mr. Brooker in the Melbourne Cup, finishing third to Bart Cummings's Kingston Rule in track record time.

Childs was encouraged by what he had seen of Australia, so he decided to stay. "I gave myself six months to test it out. I've been here ever since, 16 years," he said.

He based himself at Flemington and began riding primarily for Cummings and Tommy Hughes. Childs was in Australia only months when he rode the Hughes-trained Umatilla to win the 1990 Group 1 Karrakatta Plate at Ascot in December.

The following season - 1991-92 - Childs rode 69 city winners to win the Victorian Metropolitan Jockeys' Premiership. He repeated in 1997-98 with 77 winners.

The big break in his career came with a chance pick-up ride on the great mare Sunline. Another ex-Kiwi jockey Larry Cassidy had the mount on the Trevor McKee-trained filly when she arrived in Australia in the spring of 1998, winning three Group races on end in Sydney, including the Group 1 Flight Stakes at Randwick.

Childs picked up the ride in the Group 2 Kewney Stakes at Flemington in the autumn when Cassidy was required to forego the mount because of commitments to the John Hawkes stable. Childs won the Kewney and the Group 3 Moonee Valley Oaks on the filly before Cassidy rode her to win the Group 1 Doncaster Handicap at Randwick.

Cassidy was beaten on Sunline in three Sydney runs in the spring of 1999, and Childs was snapped up to ride Sunline in the Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley in October. She beat Tie The Knot and Childs retained the ride from that day - a glorious partnership that won the 2000 Cox Plate and many other wonderful Group 1 wins, including the 2000 Hong Kong International at Sha Tin.

Childs' run of great associations and big wins continued when trainer Fred Kersley booked him to ride Northerly in the spring of 2002, replacing Damien Oliver who had been beaten on the gelding in the Memsie Stakes. Childs and Northerly won the Group 2 Craiglee Stakes, Group 1 Underwood Stakes, Group 1 Yalumba Stakes and the Group 1 Caulfield Cup, before his commitment to Sunline saw him hand the mount to Patrick Payne in the Cox Plate. Northerly won, while Sunline was a gallant fourth in her last race start.

Childs is married to Diane. They have twin children, a boy, Jordan and girl, Tayla (10).

Childs' sole Group 1 winner for the 2006-07 season was during the 2007 Brisbane winter carnival when he won the Queensland Oaks on Eskimo Queen for trainer Michael Moroney.

The filly also finished Childs' season on a sour note, when she dipped and dumped Childs in the Queensland Derby. 

Childs' association with top filly Zarita was his highlight of 2008. They combined to win the Group 1 Schweppes Oaks and Group 1 SA Derby, both at Morphettville.

First winner: Stormee, Hawera (NZ), 1978.

First Group 1 winner: in NZ - Summer Haze, Sires' Produce Stakes, Palmerston North (NZ), 1980; in Australia - Umatilla, Karrakatta Plate, Ascot, WA, 1990.

Group 1 wins (to August 1, 2008): 72 (42 in Australia).

Scobie Breasley Medal: 1 (1998)

Metropolitan Premierships: 2 (Melbourne)

Awards: Scobie Breasley Medal (1998)

To download the Ascot Quaddie summary CLICK HERE

The Hunter Valley is just coming through the other side of one its most successful breeding seasons. Two of the big studs of the world, Sheikh Mohammed's Darley and John Magnier's Coolmore, are having an international battle for racing and breeding dominance, and no more so than in Australia's breeding heartland around Scone.

When the last mare was served late last week, the two powerhouse studs, between them, had nearly 5500 mares covered by 36 stallions.

As the shuttle stallions were led into quarantine on Tuesday – most won't leave until mid-January – the Hunter Valley studs switched their attention from the breeding shed to the yearling barns.

But the joy of the big breeding season, which was coupled with a rain-soaked spring that has even the driest Hunter Valley farms as green as an Augusta fairway, soon diverted to a picture of doom and gloom. Expectations of a prosperous New Year are zero. The word bloodbath, usually associated with the rugby field, is now part of the common talk of the yearling sale vendors. After record years under the auctioneers' gavels, the breeders are expecting the global downtown to hit hard.

I spent the first three days of this week in the Hunter Valley, visiting most of the studs and the yearling sale vendors. They are bracing themselves for a Jonah Lomu-like hit at the Magic Millions, the first of big sales, which kicks off at the Gold Coast complex on January 7. One well-known vendor is expecting to get "only $45,000 to $50,000" for yearlings he would have got $100,000 for in the past two years.

"It will be very hard, especially for those vendors who have debt to service. They will have to take what they can get because they can't afford to take the yearlings home," he said."There are some vendors who have speculated in the weanling market during the year that will be struggling to get anywhere near what they paid for them when the horse goes through as a yearling."

Glen Burrows, from Willow Park, is less pessimistic. "If a vendor hasn't been making good money in the last five years, they have been doing something drastically wrong. We have to take the good with the bad, but I expect that the good yearlings will still sell well," he said.

The buyers are still around, if the number of trainers and agents in the Hunter Valley during the week is any indication. Anthony Freedman was there last week. Agent Steve Brem did the rounds earlier in the week, and other leading agents Vin Cox and Kieran Moore and trainer Peter Morgan crossed paths throughout the week as they went farm to farm for parades.

And then in rolled Gai Waterhouse. We caught up with Sydney's champion trainer late on Wednesday afternoon at Yarraman Park. She had been on the hustings for two, long hard days in 30-degree heat, but she was still in fine form as 25 yearlings were paraded in front of her, as the Mitchell brothers of Yarraman, Harry and Arthur, looked on. "The nice horses will sell well, but the middle range will be good buying," she said.

Waterhouse said she had spent most of the past two weeks encouraging her owners to buy. "I've told them to buy, the horses won't get any cheaper. It will be a buyer's market."

Her words buoyed the Mitchells, who are quick witted and enjoy a verbal spar. "Why is this filly fat, Harry," she said. Mitchell retorted: "She's not fat, Gai, you can see her ribs." Waterhouse looked at him, tipped her bright orange hat back and sighed. "I've seen 650 of these yearlings, and she's fat."

Mitchell had no comeback. The great trainer is hard to beat, even after a tough day in the heat and the dust – just as she will be when the bidding starts in the sticky atmosphere of the famous Magic Millions Yearling Sale.

Announcing the end of career that climaxed around the turn of the century with a magnificent association with the great mare Sunline, Childs said: "People ask, why retire? The answer is I've lost the aggression, I've lost the desire, and I'm tired.

"You've got to have it (aggression) to get out and chase rides. And you've got to have it to want to win. After 30 years I've lost that, and I acknowledge it. So, I'm retiring."

Childs, who came to Australia from New Zealand in 1990, denied last month that he was about to quit, but now admits that he had been planning his exit for months. The writing had been on the wall, with only a handful of rides in recent weeks after a dry Spring carnival.

"I wanted to give myself every opportunity to do well in the Melbourne Cup carnival," Childs said. "It didn't happen ... it's time."

Brendan Cormick, who took over managing Childs from the long-serving Dale Verhagen in May, said it "takes a bit to make that call" to retire. This was especially true for the earnest Childs, who often took the chance after a big win to remind reporters of his ability.

Talking to thethoroughbred.com.au, Childs said: "I've had an enormously successful career. At the end of the day I've ridden more than 2100 winners and 72 of those Group 1."

Eleven of the Group 1s were on the remarkable Sunline (b m 1995, Desert Sun (GB)-Songline (NZ), by Western Symphony (USA)).

Childs said the mare's great asset was her "dominance, in that she liked to lead or sit on the pace. She had that x-factor - when the chips were down it kicked in."

Obviously, Sunline is the best horse Childs has ridden. Among the Group 1 wins on her were two Cox Plates (1999, 2000). The next best for Childs was one of Sunline's great rivals - Northerly (b g 1996, Serheed (USA)-North Bell, by Bellwater (Fr)), his 2002 Caulfield Cup winner,  and conqueror of Sunline in the 2001 and 2002 Cox Plates. 

The best he has seen? Sunline again. "After that, it's pretty hard to go past Makybe Diva (b m 1999, Desert King (Ire)-Tugela (USA), by Riverman (USA))," he said of the triple Melbourne Cup winner who also won a Cox Plate.

"The only difference between Makybe Diva and Sunline, was Sunline won in three different countries ... Makybe Diva was a great stayer, but struggled to win over short distances. Sunline won (from 1100) up to 2000 metres."

His highlights with Sunline were when she won the 2000 Cox Plate by seven lengths, the 2002 Doncaster by a nose and the 2000 Hong Kong Mile.

After winning the Caulfield Cup with Northerly Childs turned down the winning Cox Plate ride to stick with Sunline, who finished fourth in what was to be her final race. "Trevor McKee (the mare's Takanini-based owner-trainer) said if I wanted to get off I could," Childs said, "But it wouldn't have been in my best interests - my family love Sunline, it would have been detrimental to my health.

"I had the weight of New Zealand on me. I never really thought about not riding her ... she lifted my profile tenfold. Like Aussies, New Zealanders love horseracing and their champions, and she was a New Zealander kicking Aussie arse."

(The great mare, aged 13, is now fighting the life-threatening hoof condition, laminitis. Her latest condition is improving, and she is , likely to recover.)

Asked his strong points as a jockey, Childs replied: "I would say a good work ethic. I loved being a jockey and I love winning."

Childs had a bonus win in the last race at Sandown yesterday. He went to the track for one ride, finishing fourth on $8 chance Snow Patrol in race five. But when Damien Oliver hurt his knee in a barrier mishap in race four and had to quit for the day, Childs picked up the mount on another $8 chance, Be Mine, in the last and guided it home by two lengths.

He rode at Kyneton today and will finish at Flemington on Saturday. He has four rides, two for trainer Mike Moroney, another New Zealander who settled in Melbourne.

"I rode his first winner (in New Zealand), so I'm hoping he can repay me," Childs said.

Papa and Butwaittheresmore are the Moroney runners - surely the latter is an omen that Childs has another winner in him, however tired he might be.  (Childs went out a winner – not on one of his Moroney mounts, but on Game Serena for Camperdown trainer Ron Gravett.)

He will retain his links with racing after hanging up his saddle. Childs has a business designing and selling Vipa body protectors used by jockeys and others in racing and other equestrian pursuits.  And he and wife Diane have 10 hectares at Greenvale, north-west of Melbourne, where they agist racehorses.

 "She wants me to retire," he said of Diane. Their 12-year-old twins, Jordan and Tayla, both do show riding and Childs said Jordan showed an interest in becoming a jockey. He will not discourage his son if he wants to take that path.

He remembers his own first ride. "Vividly," he said. "It was Chateau Bleu, in April 1978, at Waverley (in New Zealand) and the horse finished sixth or seventh." His first win was on Stormee at Hawera, at his seventh ride, in August that year. He rode winners overseas before and after coming to Australia.

Is he Australian or a New Zealander? "I've got dual passports, but I have to say if the All Blacks were playing the Wallabies I'd barrack for the All Blacks."

Like Sunline, Childs has been a big winner who earned the respect of racegoers in both countries. That makes him Australasian.

GREG CHILDS: THE HIGHLIGHTS

Wins: about 2100.

Group 1s: 72 (37 in Australia, with most recent the 2008 Australasian Oaks and South Australian Derby on Zarita).

Biggest wins: two Cox Plates (Sunline 1999, 2000), two Caulfield Cups (Northerly 2001, Railings 2005), nine Oaks, six Derbys. 

Premierships: New Zealand apprentices, 1978-79; Victorian metropolitan, 1991-92 and 1997-98.

Scobie Breasley Medal: 1997-98.