Most people when they retire go on a cruise, take up golf or maybe even a spot of gardening. The lucky few with a bit of cash stashed under their pillow can even jet off to sunnier climes. None of that interested Rae Guest and his wife Rachel Flynn, however, as the pair reinvented retirement with dream filly Sunlit Uplands (Sands Of Mali). The 16,000gns buy took the couple halfway around the world to win close to 10 times that amount before cashing in at a whopping $1.2 million. That sounds a bit more entertaining than digging weeds, doesn't it? The reality is that Guest, who called time on his glittering training career last year, and Rachel, have enjoyed a rollercoaster of enjoyment and emotion with their superstar filly, who has been expertly handled this year by Stuart Williams. Saying goodbye to the Group 3 winner, whose runner-up effort behind Kathynmarissa in the Group 2 Flower Bowl Stakes received a timely update when Chad Brown's filly was successful at the Breeders' Cup, wasn't easy. However, when the bid board rattled into $1.2 million at Fasig-Tipton last week, the decision was taken out of her owners' hands. Flynn said, “It has been a whirlwind. I suppose, expectations were high after Kathynmarissa won at the Breeders' Cup but, it has to be said, $1.2 million did rather exceed our expectations. To be honest, I was pleased to see the market appreciate her the same way that I have appreciated her. When she was in the ring, we were fully expecting her to be very popular because she had six vettings and 70 lookers. We expected a lot of people on her but we could never have expected what actually happened. How did it feel? Well, it was a long wait, that's for sure. We sat in the same spot as we did when Rae sold Serious Attitude for $1,850,000 in 2010. When the bid board went to $900,000, we looked at each other and our eyes opened a little bit wider. Afterwards, actually, I felt a little bit sad because I love that horse.”She added, “Swapping a horse for money, it is what we do but also it isn't what we do. If you like horses, you like good horses and you'd like very much to be able to keep them. But you have to know when to get out and this made financial sense for us to get out. If it had been a borderline figure, I'd have been feeling very bad about selling Sunlit Uplands. But it's not a borderline figure, is it?”Guest sold his famous Chestnut Tree Stables to up-and-coming trainer Jack Jones last year. Renowned for his skill and patience with fillies in particular, he sent out 626 winners all told, with Group 1 heroine Serious Attitude being one of the most famous horses he trained. The timeline of events from handing in the licence to then going on the most wonderful journey, along with maestro trainer Williams, is scarcely believable and is unfathomable in almost any other industry or profession. Flynn commented, “Rae is 76, so, while he won't like me saying this, he has passed out a lot of people with regards to retirement age. You've got to make decisions head over heart and, to be honest, I think he was ready to retire when he did. I always thought this filly would be good but Stuart has done an amazing job with her. I really wanted us to round off with a Listed success as Rae's last winner but it wasn't to be and it didn't happen for one reason or another. We couldn't have hoped or dreamed for this outcome. Rae has been to Fasig-Tipton twice – this is the second horse and he has come away with over $3 million! So, that is mad, isn't it? We sat there after Sunlit Uplands sold in disbelief almost. It's an amazing sale.”Luck, as it needs to be in this business, was on the side of Flynn and Guest. And, what may have been perceived as bad luck at the time, worked out to be a blessing in the fullness of time. Flynn explained, “I bought her at Tattersalls myself. I have always liked Sands Of Mali as a racehorse – liked his toughness and his will to win. She was the only Sands Of Mali filly in Book 3 and was actually the only horse I went to look at twice. She was big, slightly bolshie, not too pretty, correct and quite charismatic, even as a yearling. She always cantered like a stayer and even the Arion system describes her as a stayer but then she did manage to win over six furlongs as a two-year-old and probably should have won on debut. Isn't it funny how all of those things work in your favour in the fullness of time because, if she did win on debut, she'd probably have been sold. But, she didn't, they didn't and we didn't. And then, all during her three-year-old career, I was hoping that someone like Wathnan Racing would come along because, you know, it's quite nice to have money. As it turned out, it has worked out for the best on all fronts and we have been left with some brilliant memories.”She added, “I have never had horses with another trainer before but Stuart has been absolutely brilliant. It's kind of a team effort but he has some really nice members of staff who were out there in America with her – Alex Murray was there and so, too, was Annelie Hollstenius, who rode her most days. So well done to Stuart and all of his team. They have done an excellent job. Both Rae and Stuart seem to have this superpower of flying under the radar which enables them to do these brilliant things unnoticed. I would love for this to enable Stuart to be better recognised and have more good horses sent to him. People often say, 'such and such a person is well up to the job given the ammunition,' but I don't know why Stuart doesn't get more really good horses because they would do so well. I must say that Price Bell from Mill Ridge Farm was excellent, as was Tom Goff, who is a talent scout for Fasig-Tipton.”Sunlit Uplands was initially purchased by the ultra-shrewd Harry Dutfield from Prospect Stables for only 8,000gns. Dutfield then doubled his money when selling the filly for 16,000gns at Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale at 16,000gns. But what is perhaps most remarkable about this story is that these chapters may never have been written had Guest not been forced to sit out that sale due to a chest infection. The scouting, and ultimately buying, was left to Flynn, a lawyer by trade. As the old saying goes, it is outside the comfort zone where the magic happens. Flynn concluded, “I am not a bloodstock agent. I'm actually a lawyer. Rae was in bed with a chest infection and left it to me to go to the sales the year we bought Sunlit Uplands. She was one of six yearlings I came home with. One was no good, the other didn't stand up to training and the other four won races, with Sunlit Uplands being one of the four. I used to always look at the yearlings with Rae but certainly wouldn't have done any bidding or bought any myself. But, because he was so ill, I said I'd go up and look at them so at least we'd have a list for when he was feeling better. Quite clearly, he couldn't get out of bed so it was down to me. I was too apprehensive to do any bidding myself but I had friends that helped me – Armando Duarte and Stuart. I was totally out of my comfort zone. Can you imagine taking home over 100,000gns worth of yearlings without Rae having seen them first? That wasn't good. It was a scary moment. A lot of pressure. But, fortunately, it has all worked out. Magical, really.”The post Retirement Reinvented: Guest And Flynn Enjoy Perfect Sendoff With $1.2 Million Sunlit Uplands appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.