Dear Victorian Breeder,

Today, we are excited to announce that Aquis Farm will stand Gr.1 winner Royal Meeting (Invincible Spirit) in Victoria. This horse is the real deal. He will stand at an introductory fee of $11,000 (inc.GST) which really is exceptional value.

Royal Meeting is the ONLY Gr.1-winning undefeated 2YO to stand his first season in Victoria this year. That’s the very simple reason why the ownership group is bringing Royal Meeting to Victoria – an ownership that includes Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Seymour Bloodstock, Mangalore Park, Yarran Thoroughbreds, Damian White, Ralph Portaro, Paul Crawford, David & Kathy Brown and Erinvale Thoroughbreds. A group of leading breeders with some of the best broodmare bands in Victoria committing to this horse and building the platform for Royal Meeting’s future success. Renowned breeders. We believe in this stallion, so too do our partners, and I wish for you to share in our success by breeding to Royal Meeting.

Royal Meeting will stand at Aquis Seymour for the coming season (© Scoopdyga.com)

As the only Gr.1-winning unbeaten 2YO son of Sire of Sires Invincible Spirit, Royal Meeting is out of Champion 2YO Filly Rock Opera, herself an unbeaten Gr.1-winning juvenile. He is from a Gr.1 family with three Gr.1 winners in his immediate family, from a pedigree that is on the move. Royal by name and by nature.

At his second ever race start, Royal Meeting had the raw ability to win the Gr.1 Criterium International (1400m) at Chantilly in race record time. In doing so he beat Hermosa who subsequently went on as a 3YO to win the Irish 1,000 Guineas and the English 1,000 Guineas. Hermosa was European Champion Filly, Royal Meeting didn’t just beat her, when doing so he rewrote the record books.

Royal Meeting is the ideal horse for Victoria, and we believe he is the best horse to retire to Victoria this season – here is why, no gimmicks, just facts:

•    He is a Gr.1-winning, unbeaten 2YO.
•    A son of Invincible Spirit, the direct source, not a son of one of his son’s.
•    Sons of Invincible Spirit have produced over 140 stakes winners highlighted by 15 individual Gr.1 winners.
•    Invincible Spirit himself was by sire of sires Green Desert out of a Gr.1-winning mare. His only two Gr.1-winning sons who are both also unbeaten juveniles and are both also out of Gr.1-winning mares are Kingman and Royal Meeting. Kingman now commands a service fee of GBP150,000.
•    He is a Gr.1 winner, by a Gr.1 winner, from a Gr.1 winner, with a Gr.1 pedigree.
•    He is the ideal VOBIS horse. VOBIS continually goes from strength to strength as the best national bonus scheme. This horse will produce you an early precocious type that trainers will envision as perfect targets for the Vobis Sires Showdown and Gold Rush style of races, as well as the Blue Diamond, VRC Sires Produce etc.
•    He is Danehill-free.

From my time in Europe, I saw firsthand the influence of Invincible Spirit and his emergence as a dominant source of speed through his sons. There are similarities between French racing and ours here in Australia and pinpointed Royal Meeting as a horse that we needed for our Victorian stallion roster.

I know that a precocious French 2YO, such as this, is ideally suited to the Australian conditions and broodmares, but also delivers an extra quality and depth of pedigree, bringing a wonderful Gr.1 outcross to the Victorian broodmare bands.

We look forward to presenting Royal Meeting when he arrives at the farm in August, where we are sure he will take your eye and imagination. Please call myself or any of our sales team.

Kind regards,
Tony “Tubba” Williams

Through the success of the likes of his granddaughter Oohood and his close relative Pride Of Dubai, I know firsthand the positive influence of Invincible Spirit as a stallion. Therefore, it is exciting to be involved in a son of Invincible Spirit with such fantastic credentials as Royal Meeting. He is unique in being the only unbeaten G1-winning two-year-old son of his sire, while his dam, amazingly, was also an unbeaten G1-winning two-year-old. In country where speed and precocity are so important, I am looking forward to giving him the opportunity with suitable mares from my broodmare band and am excited by the prospect of what he might be capable of achieving as a stallion.”

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum

“When you look at thousands of horses for a living and then you come across Royal Meeting you suddenly realise what you’ve spent so much time looking for, he’s stunning!”

Dermot Farrington, Bloodstock Agent

“Seymour Bloodstock is delighted to share in the Royal Meeting journey. Like all owner/breeders we’ve been approaching our 2020 mating plans with caution. Tubba has identified and sourced a beauty. Proper type, proper pedigree, proper performance and importantly THE RIGHT PRICE. Without compromise – Royal Meeting is a horse for the times.”

Mark Pilkington, Seymour Bloodstock

Above: Delago Deluxe now standing in Victoria

The Encosta de Lago bloodline has produced many successful progeny including Delago Deluxe, who is set to stand in Victoria this season.

The dual Group 1 son of Encosta de Lago is the second foal out of Succeeding, who was sired by Flying Spur and is a half sister to Group 1 winners Duporth, Excites and Tickets.

In 2010, Delago Deluxe became the second highest priced Encosta de Lago yearling at the 2010 Magic Millions sale selling for $550,000.

His racing career took place in South Africa where he demonstrated the sprinting quality of Encosta de Lago. He was unbeaten in his four starts as a two-year-old which included the Gr.1 Golden Medallion Stakes over 1200m, the Gr.2 Nursery Plate and the Gr.3 Protea Stakes. This success earned him the title of South African Champion 2-year-old colt. These achievements continued into his three-year-old season where he won a further Group 1, the Golden Horse Casino Sprint over 1200m, setting the fastest time of the day which included four other Group 1 races. The two Group 1’s he won in South Africa are the equivalent to Australia’s Golden Slipper and Newmarket Handicap.

From his twelve starts, Delago Deluxe achieved seven wins and four places retiring to stud sound.

Delago Deluxe then made his way back to Australia to stand at Newhaven Stud in New South Wales. His yearlings have sold for up to $250,000. While he was a very successful precocious 2-year-old, and generally his progeny show early speed, the Encosta de Lago sire line are known for their further ability with maturity.  In the past two breeding seasons in Queensland the horse has had only quiet recognition.

Above: Delago Deluxe in the paddock

Ian Dodunski was attracted to Delago Deluxe’s racing success and strong pedigree.  When he saw the horse was for sale on an on-line auction he jumped at the opportunity to purchase him. ‘I was going to send a mare to him last season as he is impeccably bred and was a fantastic racehorse. He looks like a stallion of exceptional ability and has nearly 57% winners to runners ratio. He has had winners in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and South Africa. He is a beautiful type standing at 16.2hh and is a lovely natured horse’ remarked Ian.

Delago Deluxe has a number of his progeny on the racetrack and most weeks he has winners or placed runners.

Delago Deluxe will be standing at Ian’s property, Linton Grange, which is very close to Noorilim Park Thoroughbreds who will prepare the mares that will be sent to him this season.

‘Noorilim Park is a magnificent broodmare and agistment property. I would say as good as you could find anywhere in Australia’ remarked Ian. Whilst preparations are being finalised at Linton Grange, Sherah from Noorilim Park has been working with Delago Deluxe and has been very impressed with the horse so far.

‘Hopefully his great attitude will be passed down to his stock as well. He is a lovely balanced style of horse. He has been exceptional, and his temperament has stood out to me more than anything and he is just a lovely natured horse. He has been really easy to handle which is a big credit to him as a stallion. He has had limited books over the past couple of seasons, so it would be nice to see him get a bit of support in Victoria’ remarked Sherah.

There are also a number of other agistment farms nearby that have the facilities to walk the mares on for the breeding season so there are plenty of opportunities.

‘At the service fee of $4,400 we have already had quite a bit of interest. We have had five people contact us from Queensland who are wanting to send mares to him’ said Ian.

This might be the opportunity that Delago Deluxe requires to get himself noticed in the stallion ranks. As more of his progeny are winning trials and races in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand and selling well through the ring, Ian is looking forward to the future for the horse.

Delago Deluxe will be standing for a service fee of $4,400.

For more information please contact Ian on 0456 401 894, or visit the website delagodeluxe.com

Above: Starcraft standing at Rosemont Stud

Rosemont Stud’s principal Anthony Mithen targeted the strong Hong Kong market with a homebred by one of the stud’s resident stallions, Starcraft, at a two-year breeze-up sale on the Gold Coast.

But even the best thought out plans can end up with a bit of a twist.

Instead of finishing up in Hong Kong, where the Starcraft progeny are eagerly sought of, the colt ended up at suburban Caulfield in the stables of Mick Price.

The horse was purchased for $80,000 by Price’s then bloodstock manager Luke Wilkinson who has since taken up the same role with Yulong.

With three wins, including victory in last Saturday’s $108,000 three year-old 1600m handicap at The Valley, it was a wise decision by Wilkinson who races the gelding with 17 other owners.

Smoke Bomb has now had three wins and two thirds from eight starts.

Mithen said the Magic Millions’ David Chester does an excellent job with his Asian clients at the two year-olds in training sale.

“With Starcraft going so well in Hong Kong that is where we thought we would pitch him in,” Mithen said of the 2018 sale.

“It couldn’t have been more Anglo Saxon when Mick Price and Luke Wilkinson chimed in and bought the horse to be trained at Caulfield.

“Your best laid plans and where you think your target market is, sometimes it surprises you.

“I think Luke was the driving force behind the horse and good luck to him because he found the horse and I remember him being pretty honest and open to deal with. He told us he really liked him and was going to buy him.”

Mithen said they were rapt Wilkinson bought the horse and gave him to Price, who is now in partnership with Mick Kent Jnr to train.

And as Mithen says, there is also a bit of a story to Smoke Bomb’s dam, Diyaraka (FR), which was stakes placed in France and from the family of 2008 Melbourne Cup runner-up – by the narrowest of margins – Bauer.

“It was about the time Bauer was kicking on and just gone through his purple patch and beaten in the Melbourne Cup,’’ Mithen said.

“It was at the Arquana sale and Louis Le Metayer, who is a French bloodstock agent based in Australia, was shopping around.

“He was looking for a nice horse and a client to buy it and pitched her to us. We quite liked the look of her and bought her at that sale.

“I still remember it, a Saturday night in Australia and it must have been Saturday morning in France and we paid a bit for her – 300,000 Euro – when the dollar was pretty kind which gave us a bit of an incentive to keep bidding.”

Diyaraka (Clodovil/Diamonaka) was transported to Australia to be trained at Flemington by Mike Moroney who gave her seven starts, including in the Geelong Cup, but she never recaptured the form in France where she won two races and was stakes placed over 2000m.

Mithen said she was retired to stud, but gave them the thrill of racing in the Geelong Cup (2011) which was the precursor to Runaway winning the Geelong Cup in 2018 for the Rosemont team.

“When Runaway won, I thought about Diyaraka as people had asked if we’d ever had a Geelong Cup runner before and it was Diyaraka,” he said.

Diyaraka’s first foal by Savabeel died in an accident at another stud shortly after birth and the next one by High Chaparral (IRE) had knee issues and then the third one by Snitzel had problems but was retained by Rosemont unraced and was sold last month as a broodmare prospect.

Smoke Bomb is Diyaraka’s fourth foal but she was not served last year.

“She has a full foal on the ground to Smoke Bomb, a Starcraft colt,” Mithen said.

“There is a yearling colt by Tarzino which is quite a nice horse who will be going to Danny O’Brien after being purchased by Simon O’Donnell who raced Bauer.

“So the Bauer link might continue.”

While Smoke Bomb’s full brother is likely to create increased interest in the Hong Kong market, Mithen said it was also a reminder to the local market about Starcraft’s ability as a stallion.

“The good thing that Luke, Mick and Michael Kent jnr have been able to do is open up a different market,” Mithen said.

“There will always be the Hong Kong market because his stats up there are great and he gets a winner at most meetings.

“It’s nice to have a Starcaft here in Australia and reminding everyone what a great stallion he is and has been over a long period of time.

“Hopefully we will get the best of both worlds with the local market saying that Starcraft must be the best value stallion in Australia when you can buy them and then win a $100,000 race at Moonee Valley.

“They have been enlightened in Hong Kong on Starcraft already and it seems the Australian market sometimes needs a bit of a reminder that those good old proven stallions keep on giving.

“Hopefully he is in for a good season.”

And Mithen said Rosemont, which has been standing Starcraft since 2015, recently welcomed back one of his most successful sons, Blizzard, which started his career in Hong Kong and finished with Lee Freedman in Singapore.

The Group winning eight year-old, ended his racing career last August and the owners contacted Rosemont and asked if they could give him a good home.

“They exported him and he arrived last month back home and we have given him a home for life,” Mithen said.

“We didn’t breed him but he is reunited at the farm where his father stands.”

Blizzard, which also raced in Group 1 races in Japan, won more than $3 million in his 39 races which netted nine wins, five seconds and eight thirds.

Mithen said Blizzard was winning races when Rosemont first took over Starcraft from Arrowfield.

Patch Adams ridden by Dean Yendall wins the DiGiorgo Family Wines Apsley Cup at Casterton Racecourse. (Alice Laidlaw/Racing Photos)

It was a three in one sale that Matt Finn considered was a fairly good deal.

Along with David Douglas, they parted with around $20,000 for broodmare Dorothy Dinosaur which had a foal at foot by Dane Shadow and was also in foal to the same stallion.

Finn, who is the racing manager for Caulfield trainer Mick Price, says it’s amazing that a mare with such a modest pedigree has been able to produce some impressive horses, including Patch Adams which has now won six races and $370,000 in prize money.

Formerly trained by Terry and Karina O’Sullivan and now in the care of Aaron Purcell, Patch Adams won the Apsley Cup at Casterton on Saturday after running second in the Casterton Cup at his previous start.

Now with six wins from his 65 starts, Patch Adams also won the 2018 Casterton Cup, the Mount Gambier Cup last year, the 2017 Colac Cup and has finished second in the St Arnaud Cup, Murtoa Cup and the Woodford Cup at Warrnambool.

As a three year-old, he finished a narrow second in the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington. He competed in nine successive stakes races.

Rushton Park bought Patch Adams as weanling for $36,000 and pinhooked him for $70,000 at the Melbourne Premier yearling sale where he was bought by one of the current owners, Kingsley Peach.

And Ruston Park’s David Johnson recalled that the then colt was a handful but Terry O’Sullivan gelded him which quickly changed the horse’s manners.

“He was an absolute ratbag early doors,” Johnson said.

“And he’d have a crack at anything.

“He has been a good horse and was Group placed as a three year-old.

“He wasn’t far off winning a Group race early door in his career.”

Johnson said Patch Adams has developed into a good bread and butter horse that turns up and wins a race every season.

And for Finn, he says that while Dorothy Dinosaur hasn’t produced a great horse, they’ve been handy.

“It’s an OK bunch, I suppose you could say,” Finn said.

“We bought Dorothy Dinosaur in foal with her first foal at foot and which was Fill The Page (Dane Shadow).  The foal was then sold at an Inglis Sale, bought by Inglis and went on to win a listed Canberra Cup (2012), a $200,000 race.

“The next foal we kept and it was called Holdontoyahorses (Dane Shadow), which I didn’t name but Dave Douglas did because he told us he was going to hold on to it when we thought we were going to sell it.

“It went to the sales and got passed in for $50,000 or $60,000 and went to win on debut and won its next race at Caulfield. Following this, ran fourth in the Blue Diamond Prelude and then finished fifth in the Blue Diamond (2011) behind Sepoy.

“Then there was Schaduw (Dane Shadow) which won in Adelaide. She won six races and nearly $100,000 in prize money.

“And the next one was Googly Gander, by Myboycharlie, who won a maiden and was placed in town and then was sold. Then there was Patch Adams followed by Sweet Hannaford (Hard Spun) which won last year.

“There is another one running at Pakenham this week, Dane Zelek (Dane Shadow).”

Finn doesn’t sugar coat what he thinks of Dorothy Dinosaur’s pedigree, but it hasn’t stopped her from producing winners and nearly a Group victory.

“Her pedigree is not great and Inglis bought her just on type. She was called Fill The Page because the pedigree didn’t even fill the page.

“So for a 17 start horse that couldn’t win at the picnics, Dorothy Dinosaur (Canny Lad) was a very good producing mare.”

Fill The Page was sold for $12,000 as a yearling.

With Douglas no longer involved with Dorothy Dinosaur, Finn’s childhood friend Josh Slattery is now breeding from the mare which is in foal to Swettenham Stud stallion, Akeed Mofeed (GB).

Finn said the mare had missed to Rosemont Stud stallion Starspangledbanner in 2018, along with Choisir in 2015 and Time For War in 2017.

“There is a Magus colt weanling on the ground,” Finn said.

“I knew owner of Dorothy Dinosaur and his daughter named it Dorothy Dinosaur.”

Slattery said he was breeding from Dorothy Dinosaur through his company, Kingdom Thoroughbreds, after being involved with Finn.

“We have bred a few from her,” Slattery said.

“The colt we have with Mick Price, Dane Zelek, hopefully goes well. We will see how he goes.

“With Dorothy Dinosaur, the other owners wanted to get out of her and so I got her for a good price.

“I have always had a lot of horses, but I’ve only been breeding for the past few years and from Dorothy because of the opportunity.”

Dane Zelek has one start for a third leading into this week’s Pakenham assignment.

Easter Round 2 Scone Catalogue available online

A quality catalogue for Round 2 of the Australian Easter Yearling Sale has been finalised, featuring yearlings by a diverse range of top-class domestic and international stallions, as well as progeny of the best first season stallions.

What is tracking to be the world’s first physical yearling sale in months due to COVID-19 restrictions, Easter Round 2 will be held as a live auction at Riverside Stables in Sydney on Sunday July 5.

The unique Easter Round 2 catalogue of 94 lots is a combination of yearlings originally catalogued for the Easter Yearling Sale, plus a handful of additional entries.

It contains some of the southern hemisphere’s best-bred yearlings by all the leading Australian stallions such as I Am Invincible, Snitzel, Pierro, Exceed And Excel, Fastnet Rock, Lonhro, Written Tycoon, So You Think, Dundeel, Sebring, Zoustar, Deep Field and Not A Single Doubt to name a few, as well as international superstars like Frankel and Medaglia d’Oro.

First Season Sires such as American Pharoah, Capitalist, Shalaa, Extreme Choice, Divine Prophet and Astern are also represented.

To view the Easter Round 2 catalogue, CLICK HERE.

Inspections will be available at Riverside from Thursday July 2 ahead of the sale which begins at 10am Sunday July 5.

Strict biosecurity measures will be in place at Riverside on inspection days and sale day, with information surrounding that to be made available in coming weeks.

“As has been well documented, the lead-up to the traditional Easter Yearling Sale in April was against a back-drop of a hugely challenging environment as a result of the pandemic,’’ Inglis General Manager of Bloodstock and Marketing Sebastian Hutch said.

“It was agreed at the time that it would be appropriate to offer vendors and buyers a further opportunity to acquire Easter yearlings at a later date, so the concept of Easter Round 2 was born and we are very pleased with how the catalogue has come together.

“The recent G1 success of horses like Dreamforce, Nettoyer and Quick Thinker further demonstrates the value represented by Easter yearlings and we have every confidence that quality racehorses will emerge from this catalogue.”

Easter Round 2 will be immediately followed by the annual Scone Yearling Sale, which will for the first time be held at Riverside rather than White Park, due to COVID-19.

It is another strong catalogue of 156 yearlings, headlined by the Outreach half-brother to exciting undefeated 2YO The Bopper, winner of the 2020 Inglis Challenge having been purchased for just $30,000 at the 2019 Inglis Scone Yearling Sale.

The Scone Sale – which has provided the likes of Voodoo Lad, Cradle Mountain and Condo’s Express in recent years – features yearlings by the likes of More Than Ready, Nicconi, Teofilo, All Too Hard, Deep Field, Foxwedge, Smart Missile, Headwater, Pride Of Dubai, Shamus Award, Rubick, Choisir etc as well as First Season Sires such as Capitalist, American Pharoah, Star Turn, Flying Artie, Winning Rupert, Sooboog, Divine Prophet, Territories Air Force Blue, Odyssey Moon and others.

To view the Scone Yearling Sale catalogue, CLICK HERE.

Hard copies of both catalogues will be available within the next fortnight.

Five wins and one second from seven starts says all you need to know about the courageous filly Liberty Beach who has been a wonderful flag-bearer for Woodside Park Stud shuttler Cable Bay (IRE).

Some great results overnight for #CableBay, as G3 winner Liberty Beach resumed with a Listed victory while Belle Anglaise recorded her first stakes performance.

Looking forward to his first-crop Australian 2YOs launching in the Spring!#MultiplyYourChances

Winner of the Group III Molecomb Stakes and Listed Dragon Stakes and runner-up in York’s Lowther Stakes on her final start last season at two, Liberty Beach kick-started her three-year-old campaign with a hard-fought victory in Sunday’s Listed Cecil Frail Fillies’ Stakes at Haydock.

With regular rider Jason Heart in the saddle, the John Quinn-trained 3yo defeated Queen Jo Jo (Gregorian) by three-quarter of a length with maid In India (Bated Breath) a head back in third.

Racing Post said: ‘Pulled hard, tracked leaders, pushed along and led over 1f out, edged left inside final furlong, ridden out.’

The only time Liberty Beach has been further back than second was when she was fourth in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot.

The daughter of Cable Bay (IRE) is the lone winner from three to race out of the winning Avonbridge mare Flirtinaskirt a half-sister to the Group III winner La Rioja (Hellvelyn).

A Group II winning son of Invincible Spirit, Cable Bay (IRE) has received solid support in his first three seasons and returns to Woodside Park in 2020 where he will stand for a fee of $9,900.

Article courtesy of Breednet

Above: Rachel and John Doherty at Yarran Thoroughbreds

Rachel Doherty grew up in Palmerston North, a small town in New Zealand, but the interest in the industry started by spending time with her grandfather. ‘I was lucky that my grandfather always liked to have a bet and was interested in racehorses.’ This interest was then passed down the generation to Rachel’s dad who owned a broodmare and had a few shares in racehorses.

‘Although we didn’t live on a farm, I don’t remember my life without a horse in it. I just love the horses and never imagined not working with them. My bedroom at home was covered with pictures of racehorses and never singers or celebrities! I remember writing to the different studs and telling them how much I loved their horses. I was madly obsessed’

Rachel acknowledges her parents’ good friends the Fell’s at Fairdale Stud in New Zealand who supported her passion for the industry. ‘I used to go there for weekends and school holidays since I was about ten years old. My family did the foaling there for quite a few years and then eventually I was able to assist with a couple of yearling preps.’ From school Rachel always planned to join the police force albeit the mounted division with the stud work to fill up the school holidays and weekends. However, Rachel was hit by the bug and she has never looked back.

During the early days of working in the industry Rachel met her now husband John who had brought a shuttle stallion to New Zealand. Rachel and John then completed a few seasons with shuttle stallions in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres which included taking some mares to China and onto inner Mongolia. Whilst John was looking after the stallions, Rachel would turn her hand to a variety of roles including trackwork, yearling prep and whatever opportunities were available.

‘We then took a full-time contract in Japan where John was working at a stallion station and I was riding track work which we did for about five years.’ Shortly before their first daughter was born, John took up the role of managing a broodmare farm which was owned by an Irishman in Japan. ‘We were lucky enough to be in the ownership of a few mares in Japan, one of them we sent to Sunday Silence a couple of times. A few of our foals sold for over $1million dollars which was really exciting.’ After nine years in Japan Rachel and John moved back to Australia to work with Darley.

‘I wasn’t employed by Darley as we then had 2 very young children but we leased a 100-acre property in Avenel where I managed our own mares in addition to a couple of outside ones. We bred a few horses that we took to the sales in Adelaide in a draft of three.’ Rachel is obviously very caring and passionate about her horses and remarked that all three sold and all have since won races which is an amazing achievement.

Rachel and John have both been working at Yarran Thoroughbreds for the last three years and have been taking it from strength to strength. In 2018 Yarran sold Heatherly for $1.6 million and more recently it is Booker who has been making headlines selling for the same price at the Chairman’s Sale which is phenomenal results for the farm. John is the farm manager and Rachel describes her role as ‘a bit of everything.’ ‘I absolutely love where we are. The owner of Yarran lives overseas so we get to do what we feel is right for the business.’ Both John and Rachel are hugely passionate about the industry.

‘I find it rewarding watching them go from foals all the way through their racing career. We just absolutely love the animal and they bring us so much happiness and joy. The aim is to breed a Group 1 winner so that is what we are hoping for one day.’

Above: a mare and foal at Yarran

‘In every country there is a special horse. In New Zealand when I worked at Fairdale we foaled a mare called Fun On The Run and that filly turned out to be Group 1 winner Tall Poppy who following her racing career retired home to Fairdale as a broodmare. During my time at Cambridge Stud I was there with Eight Carat and also Horlicks the year Brew won the Melbourne Cup. In Ireland I had my photo taken with Sadler’s wells which was pretty special. There is something in every country!’ In Japan during Rachel’s time doing trackwork she had the opportunity to ride a Japan Cup winner which I’m sure not many people can add to their repertoire. To date, the notable horse for Rachel in Australia is Heatherley, ‘who was absolutely beautiful.’

John and Rachel bring a breadth of experience from around the world and Rachel is hugely supportive of the breeding industry in Victoria. ‘The Victorian racing is the best anywhere! It is a no brainer to have a good breeding industry here in Victoria to breed for those races and Victoria has a very good climate for horses. The top stallions are making their way to Victoria which in turn will improve the broodmares here. There is huge potential from Victoria and I would rather be based here than anywhere else in Australia.

The advice that Rachel would pass on to anyone looking at starting in the industry is ‘Definitely travel! Getting experience of different systems with different people is so important. Do as much as you can while you are young.’

Above: Cliff’s Edge winning Group II Schweppes Crystal Mile (1600m) at Moonee Valley. (photos Grant Courtney)

Rangal Park Stud are delighted to announce that the talented new stallion CLIFF’S EDGE will stand at their Victorian property for the upcoming season. Cliff’s Edge is by Canford Cliff’s (IRE) out of the dam Simulation (Snaadee (USA)). As an eight-time winner, the dam showed success from 1000m to 3000m similarly to Cliff’s Edge who was a winner from 1200m to 2040m proving his resilience on the racetrack.

Cliff’s Edge won 8 races including two Group 2 and two Group 3 and amassed over 1.1 million dollars in prizemoney winning during his 2, 3,4 and 5 year old seasons. Most notably, Cliff’s Edge won the Group 2 Crystal Mile beating Prized Icon by half a length and the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes impressively beating Levandi both in 2018.

As a $60,000 purchase from the 2016 Inglis Premier Sale, Cliff’s Edge has provided the ownership group which included Victorian breeders Brett Holburt with great joy on the racetrack and an impressive investment return.

Cliff’s Edge will stand for $6,600 inc GST and will stand alongside of Soul Patch, Boom Time and Danerich.

For more information please contact Eric Butler at Rangal Park Stud on 0427 200 763

Above: Sam Fairgray with Mr Zhang

Sam Fairgray manages the Yuesheng Zhang-owned Yulong operation in Victoria and home to foundation stallion Grunt (NZ), who stands at $13,750 inc GST and newcomer Alabama Express at $27,500 inc GST. It also has future sire, Group 1-winning colt Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in its quality ownership stable.

TDN AusNZ: Service fees have been announced, how are you finding the response to your roster given the current economic uncertainty?

SF: We’re really pleased and the Victorian breeders have responded really well to Alabama Express and to Grunt, who was extremely popular in 2019. He served 178 mares and 160 in foal, he’s got fantastic fertility – his first 30 mares in a row were in foal and he will be serving another top-quality book this year.

Article courtsey of TDN written by Paul Vetisse

TDN AusNZ: You have new stallion Alabama Express, can you describe him physically and what mare type you will be sending to him?

SF: Alabama is going to be an easy horse to mate to because he’s medium-sized at 16 hands and he’s full of quality. Whether it’s a mare that needs a bit of size or a bigger mare that needs tidying up he’s right in the middle. He’s got substance and is an easy horse to breed to on type.

TDN AusNZ: How did that stallion come on your radar to stand, and what was the process to acquiring him?

SF: Sons of Redoute’s Choice have been great and we always keep an eye on them. Alabama Express did well early on in his career and then he came back and won at Flemington, that’s when we thought this might be a horse going places. Obviously, he later won the G1 CF Orr S. and we were on to him and were fortunate enough to get hold of him.

He’s the only 3-year-old son of Redoute’s Choice to win at weight-for-age in Australia and showed he was the real deal when he beat the older horses and seven Group 1 winners in the CF Orr. He had a great turn of foot and he’s out of an Encosta De Lago mare so there’s lots of positives and he’ll be a great fit with the Australian broodmare population.

TDN AusNZ: Physical type, race performance and pedigree are all important criteria when selecting stallions, but if there were one you’d prioritise over the others, what would it be and why?

SF: That’s a tough one, but I think at the end of the day pedigree is vital and then performance guides you commercially. If the horse has got the pedigree and he works with the mare gene population then that’s the way to success. It’s a combination of them all to be able to leave commercial types.

I think it’s pedigree and physical – obviously race performance is important, but horses might not have luck in certain races so you also have to gauge that when assessing their ability.

TDN AusNZ: Looking ahead to the next few years, are there any changes to your business model you’re planning? And what is your process for reviewing how your business is placed?

SF: As we are growing, Mr Zhang is always checking and making sure we’re progressing in the right direction. We try to keep things streamlined, having the racing and breeding operations we are always looking to evolve the business and keep it at the right level.

Mr Zhang has big hopes and we’re certainly well on the way. We look at successful farms in Australia and world-wide to see how they operate and their business models. Mr Zhang is very involved and was here from January up until just before the Inglis Chairman’s Sale. His knowledge of the industry is incredible, he’s very passionate about it and knows what’s going on. He reads all the news about the industry all over the world.

TDN AusNZ: What is the biggest challenge facing your business at the moment?

SF: I think breeders are certainly going to take stock and look at what they’re doing and their models. Sometimes, challenges like we are currently facing, can actually be a positive because it can be too easy to be breeding mares for the sake of it and hoping that you get a result at the other end. The way the economy is now, you’ve got to scrutinise where the end product is going to end up and the buying market.

Obviously, it’s difficult times and it’s also time for breeders to see which of their mares are going to be profitable, we obviously want to help keep them successful so they stay in the game. The mares you breed this year are three years away from a result so people definitely have to assess what they’re doing carefully and that’s what I have noted with breeders. Some have decided that some mares won’t be bred, they’ve done their homework and decided it may not be best for their business.

TDN AusNZ: You’ve worked for some interesting people throughout your career, can you tell me who had the largest influence on you and the lesson you will not forget?

SF: When I was at school and about 15 I went and did a week at Denny and Mark Baker’s Hallmark Stud and I think that cemented what I wanted to do with my career. They are great horsemen and I saw how they operated their business and that got me going.

Then I was really lucky that Peter Keating at Ra Ora Stud gave me my first job and horse-wise he taught me all about conformation and diet.

John Messara is the other person I learned an awful lot off when I worked at Arrowfield Stud and saw how he operated and what it took to make a business work.

Article courtesy of TDN- written by Paul Vettise