by Myra Lewyn

Group 1 winner Whisked, Australia’s Broodmare of the Year of 1999 and the dam of two-time champion Tie the Knot, died on September 20 due to complications while foaling.

The 22-year-old mare by Whiskey Road out of That Is A Shame, by Kaoru Star, died at Darley’s breeding operation in Denman while foaling a filly by Strategic. The chestnut filly was sent to a foster mare at Darley’s Cootamundra stud.

Whisked, who was bred and owned by Sandy Tait and co-owned by his sister, Jill Nivison, produced 12 other foals, including eight starters, seven of which reached the winner’s enclosure.

Her most prominent foal was Tie the Knot, a versatile and durable Nassipour gelding, who won from six furlongs to two miles, earning 13 Group 1 victories—one less than Kingston Town’s record of 14 and equal to Sunline’s mark—and was Australia’s champion older horse of 1999 and champion stayer of 2000, earning Broodmare of the Year accolades for his dam.

Also campaigned by Tait and Nivison, Tie the Knot was the first Australian-based horse to win the same Group 1 race in four consecutive years—the 1,600-meter (7.95-furong) Chipping Norton Stakes (Aus-G1) in 1999, 2000, ’01, and ’02. Trained by Guy Walter, he also won consecutive editions of the 3,200-meter (15.90-furong) Sydney Cup (Aus-G1) in 1998 and ’99, the 2,400-meter (11.93-furlong) Mercedes Classic (Aus-G1) in ’99 and 2000, and the 2,000-meter (9.94-furlong) Ravnet Stakes (Aus-G1) in ’00 and ’01. Overall, Tie the Knot won 21 of 62 career starts and placed 17 times while earning $3,868,073. He was retired in 2002 at age eight.

While Tie the Knot cannot carry on the legacy of Whisked, another of her sons, stakes winner Dream Ballad, by Singspiel (Ire), stands at Erin Park Stud in New South Wales.

Three-year-old Hood, by Shamardal, is the most recent of Whisked offspring to begin training. Also a gelding and trained by Walters, he won a barrier trial in August at Hawkesbury.

Whisked posted three wins, four seconds, and four thirds in 11 career starts, including a victory in the 1990 The Thousand Guineas (Aus-G1), and earned $382,588 in two seasons.

“It’s the end of an era, and people tend to forget she was a great racemare,” Tait told www.racenews.com.au. “The fact that she was able to produce one better than herself [Tie the Knot] was quite remarkable.”

Myra Lewyn is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor