On Tuesday afternoon the stallion Salvation Son died after a bad colic attack – the winner of the 1990 Bunbury Cup was a remarkable 36 years old.
Bred by Colin and Lyn Brown, Salvation Son was more than just a very nice race-horse – Paddy was the sixth member of the Brown family.
His efforts on the track provided the financial wherewithal for the Browns to build their Banjup home and stables and thereby the reason he was treated as equine royalty long after he retired.
Such was Salvation Son’s age, the Brown’s three daughters have never known life without the chestnut who occupied box 20 and was treated as the king being rugged and boxed every night and given his own yard by day.
“He was special to us and gave us a great kick-start and we were really lucky to have him for nearly 37 years,” Lyn Brown said on Tuesday night.
In the four years between August 1986 and August 1990, Salvation Son had 60 starts which resulted in 19 wins and 20 placings and stakes of $114,022.
He won a heat of the 1987 WA Derby before finishing fourth to Trunkey Sting in the Group One final.
The highlight of his track career was his 1990 Bunbury Cup victory over stablemate Gamby Pride and a week later he finished third to Whitby Timer and Gamby Pride in the Mount Eden Sprint at Gloucester Park.
A brief career at stud saw him produce five winners including the handy mare Arions Daughter which won five races and was third to Most Happy Lady and Saabella in the 2003 Race For Roses.
Clearly the best of the 70 winners produced by the Race Time stallion Salvation in a stud career across Australia, New Zealand and the USA, Salvation Son was out of the five time winning Beau Don mare Donna Way.
Paddy will be sorely missed.
Alan Parker