ZOETIS: WORMING UPDATE

In this edition, let’s chat about internal parasites and how times have changed with the way we deworm horses. The good news is that deworming horses should be simpler and cheaper if we adopt current expert advice.

As background, until the mid-20th century worms were difficult to control, and treatments were potentially toxic. Most horse owners didn’t follow a routine for deworming; if they thought the horse had parasites they called the vet to drench the horse, often with some terrible chemical with little efficacy.

It was only in the 1960’s that the first of the modern deworming chemicals were developed, the benzimidazoles or ‘BZs’. These drugs were revolutionary; safer for horses, and effective against worms such as large strongyles which were thought to be a main contributor to colic cases. The new drugs were widely used and led to dramatic reductions in the number of horses getting sick and dying from parasites. The BZs are still commonly used today and are most effective against roundworms (ascarids) in foals.

The “’mectins” were developed in the late 1970’s, beginning with ivermectin. The last ‘mectin to appear was moxidectin in the late 1990s, and these are still the dominant drug group in use today, being most effective against small and large strongyles.

An unfortunate by-product of these amazing drugs was that they were used more frequently. Every 8 weeks was the initial recommendation, along with ‘rotation’ amongst chemicals to cover all the relevant parasites of concern. Happily the impact of the dreaded large strongyles receded, but. rotation was continued once the ‘mectins arrived, this time to try and avoid drug resistance. Today we have reached a point where small strongyles have replaced large strongyles as the ‘parasite of concern’ for adult horses, but rotation has not prevented the emergence of resistance. A 2014 study in Australia of over 100 horse farms revealed that all farms were infested with small strongyles, whereas less than 8% of the farms had evidence of large strongyles; and resistance has been well documented both here and overseas.

Cyathostomins (small strongyles) are a nasty group of parasites, in that larval (immature) stages encyst, or ‘hide’ in the horse’s gut lining – with most wormers being ineffective against this developmental stage. We generally measure the number of eggs shed in the manure to assess worm burden, however encysted stages do not produce eggs, so there is no reliable way to know if a horse has encysted small strongyles or how many.  More concerning is a syndrome where all of the larval worms emerge from their cysts in the gut wall at once – this can cause severe colic and is fatal in up to 50% of cases. The reasons for mass emergence are largely unknown so using a wormer that kills encysted worms is a useful tool in worm management. Moxidectin as a single dose or fenbendazole at double dose for 5 days consecutively are the only options at present.

I mentioned the failure of rotation to prevent resistance, and sadly resistance exists in variable degrees to all available wormers nowadays. If you are rotating,you could potentially be rotating from one ‘resistant drug’ to another, or you may be rotating from a more effective to a less effective drug, which seems counter-productive.

Unfortunately, there are no new and exciting wormer classes in development that are safe, broad-spectrum and without resistance.  The high cost associated with the discovery of new drugs combined with the small size of the equine parasiticide market potentially limits drug development. In addition, any new drugs are likely to be much more expensive than the options we currently have. So, what to do? Well, we need to make the best use of what we currently have – and we need to start thinking strategically.

In essence, you need to treat as infrequently as possible, but as much as required.

In the next edition we will talk more about how we deworm our horses ‘smarter, not harder’.

Stay tuned for next week, when we present part 2 of this article.

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Umgawa’s Vobis Gold Reef

Umgawa ridden by Damien Oliver wins the VOBIS Gold Reef at Flemington Racecourse on March 19, 2022 in Flemington, Australia. (George Sal/Racing Photos)

The 2022 $230,000 Vobis Gold Reef run over 1600m had a great field of 11 three-year-olds line-up for a very rich city win on All-Star Mile Day.

Umgawa, the son of SHAMUS AWARD was too strong for his rivals late in the piece with champion jockey Damien Oliver in the saddle.

Boasting plenty of city form leading into the race, Umgawa was the subject of heavy market support, snaring a great win for the punters on course.

Defeating the Mick Price & Michael Kent Jr trained Chateau Nine and the Peter Moody trained Pounding, this gelding put win number two into the book along with reaching more than $276,000 in prizemoney including almost $50,000 in total Vobis prizemoney.

Shamus Award, the Cox Plate winner as a maiden is continuing his winning run at stud with his sons and daughters doing some great things on the track, highlighted by INCENTIVISE in three Melbourne Spring Carnival Group One wins.

Standing at Rosemont Stud for $30,000, Shamus Award will continue to climb in the stallion rankings.

Umgawa, bred at Golden Grove Stud in Victoria, is trained by Team Corstens at Flemington and will look to continue that success across city racing in the coming months.

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Inaugural Vobis Gold Comet produces fantastic finish

Connections of Express Pass after winning the VOBIS Gold Comet at Flemington Racecourse on March 19, 2022 in Flemington, Australia. (Reg Ryan/Racing Photos)

The inaugural $230,000 Vobis Gold Comet (1000m) was run at Flemington on All-Star Mile raceday, with five-year-old WANDJINA gelding EXPRESS PASS reigning supreme over consistent galloper Zorro’s Dream.

It was a small, but classy field that took to the Flemington straight, with just a long head proving the decisive margin between Express Pass and Zorro’s Dream.

Six-year-old Fine Dane was less than two lengths away in third spot while stakes winner SIRIUS SUSPECT held on for fourth.

Express Pass, trained out of the flying Nick Ryan stable and ridden by Rhys McLeod, took his prizemoney over the $500,000 barrier from just six career wins, many thanks to the Vobis prizemoney on offer in Victoria.

Express Pass’ sire in Wandjina stands at Larneuk Stud for just $8,800, being an Australian Guineas winner and a proper Group One performer, his sons and daughters have shown plenty of ability on the track.

He has produced stakes winners including Newcastle Sprint winner WANDABAA, Singapore Sprint winner TIGER ROAR, Skyline Stakes winner MAMARAGAN and of course this gelding, the winner of the Chautauqua Stakes.

Bred by Pepac Atf Ept, Mr K Brown, Mr M Matthews, Mr B White, he was originally sold at the 2018 Inglis Melbourne Vobis Gold Yearling Sale for just $38,000, a price that now clearly looks a bargain.

Express Pass has given his owners a ride to remember and it is not set to end yet, having missed the money just nine times from his 22 starts.

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Westpac People Column | Teresa Poon

The theme for International Women’s Day 2022 is #BreaktheBiasBreaking Bias . This issue of People Column is honored to invite Westpac’s business client Teresa Poon to tell her story of her hard work in Australia and the creation of a Chinese community.

When Teresa moved to Melbourne with her family in 1991, the young family not only gave up the very comfortable life in Hong Kong, but she also had no idea what opportunities and challenges her new life in a “foreign country” would bring her.

On the day she arrived in Australia, she applied for a newspaper job as an office administrator for a commercial real estate company. Before she could adapt to the new environment, she had already started a new career in CBD. Teresa’s learning journey as a “manager” of a small team has been tough: taking calls, pouring coffee, managing ledgers and trust accounts for the company, and more.

In the 1990s, when the global economy was at a slump, it was not uncommon for banks to foreclose on commercial real estate. A client of Teresa’s company, which owns an office building on St Kilda Road, came to seek help. Using Terasa’s family’s connections in Hong Kong and working with an investor, she came up with an innovative idea to convert an office building into apartments. At that time, they sold 50 percent of their apartments to overseas buyers, mainly from Asia. The success of the project not only prevented the owner’s assets from being seized by the bank, but also ushered in a new era of residential renovation projects in Australia. More importantly, the success of this project has created new business opportunities for Teresa. For the next 10 years, Teresa regularly traveled to major cities in Asia, roaming hotel showrooms, promoting residential projects at real estate fairs, and successfully selling off-the-plan apartments for a number of real estate developers.
One of Teresa’s first clients was real estate developer David Kobritz. Teresa and David have been working together for nearly 25 years now, after several successful projects. Teresa was also deeply involved in David’s property development business, Dealcorp, until a few years ago when she handed over the baton to David’s children.In addition to his real estate business, David also owns Musk Creek Farm, a thoroughbred horse farm in Flinders, on the Mornington Peninsula. Since Teresa “retired” from Dealcorp, she has spent most of her time running the farm, which has around 25 mares and whose breeding business has grown from a hobby to a business.

For Teresa, David’s Musk Creek farm brought another twist to her life: Teresa’s journey in Australia might not have been so spectacular without meeting David.
Teresa’s roots in horses can be traced back to her time as a member of the Hong Kong Jockey Club in Hong Kong, when she knew nothing about horse pedigrees or breeding and only attended Jockey Club events to socialize.

Teresa still vividly remembers when she first visited David’s office in 1994, the first thing she saw when she entered the meeting room was a painting of the Subzero racehorse, the 1992 Melbourne Cup winner. Teresa eventually won David’s project and also invested $8000 in one of David’s racing horses. Despite the horse’s unsatisfactory performance, she won the biggest prize of her life, her life partner David, and created the legend that followed by word of mouth.Through horse racing, Teresa not only met many interesting people from all walks of life, but also met many very smart and hardworking people. She has also had the opportunity to work for the Thoroughbred Owners Association, Mornington Turf Club and Melbourne Turf Club.In 2015, under the leadership of Teresa, the Australian Chinese Jockey Club (ACJC) was established.

ACJC aims to encourage the local Chinese community to participate in the horse racing industry in Melbourne and Sydney. Since its inception, ACJC has grown its membership base to over 200 and has recruited over 100 new members for metropolitan jockey clubs in Melbourne and Sydney. With the support of Moonee Valley Racing Club, the ACJC has pioneered the introduction of Chinese New Year celebrations to the horse racing industry . In addition, ACJC members and partners already have fractional ownership of more than 30 racehorses in Melbourne and Sydney. ACJC’s reputation has also earned it the favour of Victoria’s horse racing governing body, Racing Victoria, becoming an official partner of the organisation in 2017. Since then, Racing Victoria has been working closely with ACJC to achieve the common goal of “horse racing for all”.

When Teresa founded ACJC, the first task was to select and appoint talented people. Her CEO Derek Lo is a young and promising lawyer dedicated to volunteering for the Chinese community. With his help a young and enthusiastic management committee team was born. ACJC embarked on a journey of mutually beneficial partnership with Westpac Bank through the connection of her Head of Membership Joey Wong, Westpac Corporate Accounts and Multicultural Business Development Manager.

With the support of Irene Yu, General Manager Corporate Accounts and Multicultural Business Director at Westpac, ACJC has worked closely with Westpac Bank to implement a number of initiatives to advance the shared goal of diversity and personal development for women in the workplace.

Teresa’s life motto has always been to give her best to every cause, to make a positive contribution to the realization of what she believes in, while continuing to set a good example and inspire others in the process. Always be humble and grateful for everything in life, enjoy life to the fullest, and never forget to give back to society is also her life creed.

Images and story courtesy of the ACJC and Westpac.

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GROUP WINNING BARB RAIDER GIVES BREEDER HIS BEST HORSE

Barb Raider (inside) was gallant in defeat in last Saturday's Australasian Oaks. (Brett Holburt/Racing Photos)

They say everyone deserves a good horse and for someone like long time breeder Graeme Gathercole it seems that Barb Raider is going to be that horse.
Gathercole, whose family is in the meat business, has been breeding for more than 20 years and didn’t know anything about the racing industry until he bought his first horse nearly 30 years ago and called it Beef House.
Unfortunately, the Jukebox (GB) mare failed to impress in five starts and was retired after picking up her only cheque for $175 when finishing fourth at her final start at Bairnsdale on Melbourne Cup Day in 1994.
But the racing and breeding bug grew for Gathercole and his wife Barbara.
He now employs Jerome Hunter as his private trainer and breeds about 25 horses each year from his band of broodmares which he sends to Victorian-based stallions.
Hunter says that Barb Raider, by the now-retired Rebel Raider (Reset x Picholine), has proven to so far being Gathercole’s best horse after claiming back-to-back Group races with the Group 2 victory in last Saturday’s Kewney Stakes (1600m) for three-year-old fillies.
It follows her Group 3 victory in The Vanity (1400m) in March. She showed glimpses of her above ability in her last campaign with a third in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas (1600m) and a 2.2 lengths fifth in the Wakeful Stakes (2000m).
Hunter said they might head to Sydney for the Group 1 Vinery Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill on March 26.
Bar Raider is out of the modestly performed mare Graebarb which is by Host and out of the unraced mare Ardent Command.
Trained by Hunter, Graebarb had six starts for Gathercole and was placed as a two-year-old at Seymour and won a benchmark 55 at Corowa before two consecutive lasts forced her into retirement and a career in the breeding barn.
She slipped to Danerich in her first season and then produced Barb Raider.
Interestingly her next foal, the now unraced two-year-old Graewazi, is by a former stallion Our Wazi (Choisir x Nkwazi) which Gathercole bred but never raced because of injury.
Nkwazi died in 2017 and her last foal – her eighth – was Our Wazi, now a six-year-old.
But Gathercole thought it would be a good idea to send a few mares to Our Wazi and he served a total of ten the mares in the 2018-19-20 seasons before his career at stud took an unusual twist.
Our Wazi, whose oldest progeny are unraced two-year-olds, has now been gelded and is a paddock partner to the young horses on Gathercole’s farm.
“Graeme can afford it and as a bit of a hobby thought he’d throw a few of his mares to one of his stallions,” Hunter explained.
“It was just a bit of fun. He can’t come back because he has been gelded and if they all come out and are champions, we will all be in a bit of trouble.
“He is a lovely quiet horse and easy to deal with, and every year we get colts and you just can’t keep everything a colt, so he has had his fun and now he is actually like a pony with the younger horses and just keeps them company.”
Hunter said Our Wazi was broken in but injured his sesamoid and and was given 12 months off and was bought back into work, but the injury flared again.
Graebarb has a filly by Squamosa and is in foal to Prized Icon.
And as for Barb Raider, Hunter said nothing had been set in concrete for her next start.
“We’ll just see how the horse pulls up and there is always the travelling side of things and stuff like that,” he said.
“We’ll just see what else is around, but maybe Sydney.”
Hunter said there are options for the filly, and they don’t necessarily have to stretch her out to 2000m, a distance she has raced at once in her eights start career when she finished fifth, beaten just 2.2 lengths in the Group 1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield last October.
Hunter said that Barb Raider’s two Group victories had been at 1400m and a 1600m.
“Why do we need to stretch her out over further?” he asked.
“We could try her again over 2000m and see what happens and she might be even better, who knows. I’ll sit on it over the next few days and decide whether we go up there or not.”
Hunter said training exclusively for one person was an arrangement that had its positives and negatives, but it was something he enjoyed immensely.
On average he has 25 to 30 horses in work at any one time for Gathercole and there are no outside horses.
He admits he has been down that road of being a public trainer in the past and it was often a case of chasing money and getting “40 different opinions of where a horse should go” and what jockeys should be riding.
“That’s the beauty of it with one person, you can just have a chat and it’s very simple and it’s either a yes or nothing or it gets very sticky when a lot of people have different personalities, opinions and thoughts,” he said
Hunter said Gathercole has around 25 broodmares and mainly sends them to Victorian stallions with the occasional one venturing interstate.
Hunter’s association with Gathercole started as a public trainer when he rented boxes from Gathercole at his 400-acre spelling and breeding property named Graebar Park at nearby Moorooduc on the Mornington Peninsula.
“And that’s how we got started,” he said.
“Then I had a break for about five years, and then he asked me if I’d come back and train a few for him and it got bigger and bigger.
“Graeme’s farm out at Moorooduc has stables and a track there, and that’s where I used to train and then just float the horses in to Mornington when I was a public trainer.
“Then I became a private trainer with him, and it would be over 10 years now that he purchased a 10 acre property right opposite Mornington Racecourse and it’s a great set-up and we can handle about 40 horses.
“There are paddocks and yards and we are just fully equipped and we have got the track right across the road. It’s the best of both worlds.
“If we spell the horses or whatever, we take them out to Graebar Park; it’s only like five minutes away.”
Gathercole’s homebred Belwazi (Bel Esprit x Nkwazi) won the Kensington Stakes (1000m) and provided Jamie Kah with her first black-type winner in Victoria.
Hunter said Kah had only been riding in Victoria for a couple of weeks and he saw what she’d done in Adelaide, and I thought it won’t hurt to put her on.
“I trained Nkwazi (Rory’s Jester x Lady Minister) and her half-sister Ocean Bridge (Dolphin Street) and she was handy horse for me and she came fourth in the Oakleigh Plate (finishing half a length behind River Dove).
Hunter’s association with Nkwazi started before Gathercole arrived on the scene.
He trained Nkwazi and Ocean Bridge for the man who bred them, Harvey Hunter.
While Nkwazi finished up with Gathercole as a broodmare, Ocean Bridge, which won twice in town, was later sold to Patinack Farm and produced Group 2 winner Longport (Casino Prince) and two-year-old Stakes winner Run For Wilson (Shamardal).
“So that’s the Belwazi line,” Hunter said.
“Ocean Bridge has been a pretty good broodmare with some Stakes winners and so has Nkwazi, so both mares were handy.”
None of Gathercole’s horses are bred to go through the sales and are just for him to race – if they’re good enough.
While he bred 24 foals last season, he doesn’t go to the expensive stallions.
“As I said, it’s a hobby, and I guess on breeding with Graebarb you wouldn’t pick it, you wouldn’t buy her at the sales on breeding on paper anyway,” Hunter said.
“I guess he sees all these horses that are well-bred and bought for X-amount of money and there are lots are duds anyway. He is seeing if he can have a bit of fun without having a lot of risk.
“The handier mares he will keep as broodmares. So he has never looked outside selling horses and stuff like that.
“He doesn’t need to. We get offers all the time from people trying to buy our horses but why does he need to? He enjoys the racing side of things.
“I have been with him for 20 years now and Barb Raider is certainly the best horse he has had.”
Hunter said Gathercole loves the farm and it’s a real passion to have his broodmares there and see the foals grow up,
“He is in that position where he can enjoy himself and why not?” he said.
“But he horses have to perform or we pretty quickly get rid of them after a few starts and send up to New South Wales and Queensland.”

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LET’SROLLTHEDICE GIVES STONEHOUSE A MEMORABLE WIN

Let'srollthedice after winning the MSS Security Sires' Produce Stakes at Flemington Racecourse on March 12, 2022 in Flemington, Australia. (Brett Holburt/Racing Photos)

The victory of Let’srollthedice in Saturday’s Group 2 Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Flemington marked another significant achievement for Ryan Arnel and his team at Stonehouse Thoroughbreds.

Stonehouse sold the Dundeel colt through their draft at last year’s Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale for Segenhoe Thoroughbreds.

It was Stonehouse’s first two-year-old Stakes winner.

Arnel admitted that he didn’t pick the colt, which won on debut on March 1 over 1100m at Bendigo by a leisurely 3.5 lengths and then backed it up with the Sires’ Produce win at his next start, as an early going two-year-old.

“We sold him for $240,000 to John Foote (bloodstock agent) at Premier and the colt was obviously one of Segenhoe’s,” he said.

“He was an excellent type and a really good mover and it’s a little bit surprising that he has gone so early. I didn’t think he’d be an early horse and thought he’d be a bit more of a distance horse and need a bit more time.

“But he was always an outstanding horse and was a real eye-catcher, that’s for sure.”

Let’srollthedice was Stonehouse’s second-highest Lot last year behind the $460,000 Flemington trainer Michael Moroney paid for a Toronado colt (Toronto Terrier) out of Dom Perignon (Redoute’s Choice x Champagnecharlotte).

The dam of Let’srollthedice was Hannah in a Hurry (More Than Ready x Viennetta) which was unplaced in her two Sydney stats for Peter Moody. Moody and Segenhoe paid $230,000 for Hannah in A Hurry as a yearling.

Arnel said he was happy with the overall results at Melbourne Premier this year with John Foote purchasing Stonehouse’s top Lot – $260,00 for a Savabeel colt out of Smart Thinking (NZ) which is a sister to Betwixt which produced Queensland Oaks winner Provocative (Zabeel).

Stonehouse also sold another yearling (Savabeel x Candelabra) for $230,000 and another two for $200,000 each.

“Obviously we have seen the market being strong all year round,” Arnel said.

“We saw it from the Gold Coast down to Sydney and then into Melbourne where it was still very buoyant and strong. It pretty got a bit sticky in areas where there were definitely patches of the sale where in that middle market where it did get a little bit sticky.

“But definitely the strength of our market and the strength of the industry are strong

“Our average was well and truly up and we were really happy.”

Arnel said Stonehouse’s last three years had been really good.

“The winners coming out of the sales have really been excellent for our label as well,” he said.

“Each year we try and get stronger and stronger.”

Arnel said the victory of Let’srollthedice was an example of what everyone in Australia wanted – a two-year-old Stakes horse.

“We have had a few Stakes horses, but that’s actually our first two-year-old, and it was really good to see,” he said.

Let’srollthedice’s Flemington trainer Danny O’Brien said two Group 1 races in Sydney were options for the filly.

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VICTORIANS SMASH IT AROUND AUSTRALIA

Duais ridden by Joshua Parr on the way to the barriers prior to the running of the TAB Australian Cup at Flemington Racecourse on March 12, 2022 in Flemington, Australia. (Scott Barbour/Racing Photos)

The hot ride for Victorian stallions continued with some bumper results around the country on the weekend headed by Rosemont Stud stallion Shamus Award providing the winner of the Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington.
Duais, a four-year-old daughter of Shamus Award, rocketed her prizemoney to nearly $1.8m with last Saturday’s victory for Edward Cummings.
The Cox Plate winning Shamus Award served his biggest books of mares – 216 last year – at his biggest service fee of $33,000 which was up from $19,800 from the previous season. His service fee was unchanged at $11,000 in 2019 in his first season at Rosemont after relocating from New South Wales.
It was a case of another two of Victoria’s leading stallions – the reigning Australian Champion Sire Written Tycoon and Toronado – again having significant success in important races.
Written Tycoon mare Kissonallforcheeks (Rosie Rocket), trained by Western Australia’s Dan Morton, scored in the Group 3 Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap (1400m) at Flemington.
The four-year-old was making her first appearance outside of WA and enjoyed the outing with a 2.3 length victory.
The 19-year-old Written Tycoon, which was purchased by Yulong last year, served 199 mares on his return to Victoria, the same amount as the previous year but his serviced fee increased from $77,000 to $165,000.
The two near century book of mares are his second largest, behind his 226 record set in 2016 at a fee of $49,500.
Shelby SixtySix became Swettenham Stud Toronado’s 13 Stakes winner when the five-year-old took out the Group 3 ATC Maurice McCarten Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill on Saturday for trainer Danny Williams and jockey Tommy Berry.
The five-year-old gelding was a $150,000 purchase by Williams at the 2018 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
Let’srollthedice (Dundeel x Hannah In A Hurry), the winner of the Sires’ Produce (1400m) at Flemington, was sold through StonehouseThoroughbreds’ draft for $240,000 at last year’s Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
Barb Raider (Rebel Raider x Graebarb) is a filly aiming for bigger things after her Group 2 Kewney Stakes (1400m) victory at Flemington.
The Victorian bred Just Folk is aiming for the Group 1 Doncaster Mile on April 2 after winning the Group 2 Ajax Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday for Bendigo trainer Josh Julius.
The five-year-old son of Widden Stud stallion Magnus was bred by Julius’ grandparents Leo and Maureen Dwyer, who also bred Tears I Cry (Lacryma Cristi x Cassazione) which famously gave a young Ciaron Maher in his first Group 1 winner in the Emirates Stakes in 2007.
Julius said it was special that the horse had been bred by his family.
“I know nanna and pa got a big kick out of the horse just winning races in Melbourne and being competitive and wearing their colours,” he said.
“But I think they got a pretty big kick out of it the other day seeing their colours going around and winning a race at Rosehill.
“We all lease the horse off them and everyone is prospering nicely which is good.”
Now with his second Group 2 after winning the Crystal Mile at The Valley last year, Just Folk has just ticked over half a million dollars in prizemoney.
“Hopefully it is just the beginning as he is a relatively lightly raced five-year-old who has plenty of ability” Julius said.
“Hopefully I can keep placing him accordingly going forward and we can add to that.”
Just Folk is the result of the mare Cassazione (Salieri x Weekend) which Leo Dwyer paid $4000 at the 1998 Inglis July Mixed Sale.
Cassazione’s first foal by Lacryma Cristi died after 18 months, but Dwyer was so impressed with the filly that he sent the mare back to the stallion with the mating producing Tears I Cry.
After another two foals, Cassazione was sent to Desert Sun (GB) but the resultant foal, named Fast Ruby, was unraced but retained by the Dwyers as a broodmare.
Fast Ruby’s fourth foal was Just Folk.
Julius said he grew up working on his grandparent’s dairy farm at Orford, between Warrnambool and Hamilton, during the school holidays and has been their only grandchild, besides his jockey sister Melissa Julius, to go down the racing industry path.
“They have been involved in the industry for a long time as breeders, and with pa being a clerk of the course in the Western Districts for 60 plus years, it makes it very special,” he said.
“They breed one or two a year.
“My aunty Anne (McGrath) bred Tears I Cry and this bloke is out of the sister of Tears I Cry. My aunty borrowed the mare from nanna and pa for a year, and Tears I Cry was the result of that and obviously the mare had a few more foals, and Fast Ruby was an unraced half-sister to Tears I Cry.”
Julius said they also race Just Folk’s older full brother Highclass Harry who has won five races and had five seconds from 19 starts.
He said Highclass Harry has plenty of ability, but also has some niggles they are trying to overcome.
“There is a nice big chestnut filly with a big white blaze that dropped last year and is a full sister to the pair of them as well,” Julius said.
“I am pretty sure she is back in foal to Magnus again. We are going with the tried and proven formula, and hopefully there are a couple of Just Folks coming in the future.”
Julius believes Magnus is an extremely underrated stallion that produces good honest horses.
The 32-year-old Julius has been training for about 10 years and has been based in Bendigo for six years.
And Victorian stallions dominated across the border at Morphettville Parks on Saturday which started with Magic Max winning the second race over 1000m.
The Rangel Park Stud bred Magic Max, by Magnus, was bought by trainer Gordon Richards at the 2020 Adelaide Yearling Sale for $36,000.
The three-year-old gelding is building up an impressive record with two wins, a second and three thirds from nine starts.
Stockwell Thoroughbreds stallion Artie Schiller got another winner with Art Major scoring over 2250m for Mornington trainers David and Coral Feek.
Art Major was bred and sold by Stockwell and is out of their mare Arazi Belle (Arazi x Goblet Belle).
Woodside Park stallion Rich Enuff (Written Tycoon x Hotnuff) capped off a good day for Victorian studs and breeders when Rich Gina (Ambolene) won her second race from three starts with victory in the 1400m handicap in the second last race of the day in Adelaide.

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VICTORIANS END MELBOURNE PREMIER ON BIG HIGH

Rushton Park set a new record for the Showcase session, when lot 669 sold for $270,000

The nervous wait was worth it for two Victorian studs that each had a yearling withdrawn from the second day of Melbourne Premier due to minor injuries before they went under the hammer on day three.

Both were passed fit for the third day of the sale and were the last two lots offered in the premier session.

It was a case of patience being rewarded for Maluka Thoroughbred when that last lot of the session, a Nicconi colt, equaled the top price of $340,000 on the day.

Originally listed in the catalogue as Lot 430, Maluka Thoroughbreds at Avenel was the agent for the Nicconi colt that had been hurt after being cast in its box at the sale’s complex.

Out of three-time winner Clearwater Bay (Stratum x Ranchera) and a full brother to Lankan Star, the colt’s physicality was compared to Nicconi’s best sprinting son, Nature Strip, by Belmont Bloodstock’s Damon Gabbedy.

He bought the colt for an undisclosed a long-time client who at this stage wanted to remain anonymous.

“We are thrilled to be able to get the horse,” Gabbedy said.

“A bit of bad luck happened to him with being cast in the box and having been offered today,” he said.

“It certainly didn’t seem to affect the price he brought.”

Gabbedy said liked to buy from proven mares and Clearwater Bay had already had three to races for three winners, with Lankan Star being Group 1 placed.

“Nicconi is a great sire, and he is big strong colt much in the mould of Nature Strip so we are dreaming of him of course,” he said.

“He is a big horse, and he would be 15.3 already and is a beautiful mover and a really loose mover and I looked at him two or three times and he put his head down and has a great attitude.

“He is a big, stronger type of Nicconi.”

He said he would go back to Maluka for 30 days to make sure he is completely recovered from being cast in the box.

Maluka Thoroughbreds’ Luke Anderson said his team had worked really hard to get the colt to the sale ring after being cast and injured.

“It was a great result,” he said.

“We prepared him for the sale and he has been with us since October and we did the preparation with him and he is one of those beautiful bombproof colts that deal with everything so well.”

There were a few bumps in the road for Musk Creek Farm’s Extreme Choice colt out of Wahini Miss (Ocean Park x Dosh) who was the second last horse offered in the premier session.

The colt was originally knocked down for $300,000 at yesterday’s sale.

There was confusion over whether it was a genuine or mistaken bid from the floor and the yearling was immediately offered for sale again with the two under bidders resuming the battle at a starting bid of $260,000.

The yearling was quickly knocked down to Kennewell Racing for $280,000.

Lloyd Kennewell was happy to finally get Musk Creek’s Extreme Choice colt after the injury and then the confusion over the bidding.

“He is a sought after commodity the Extreme Choices, as there are not many of them and I think is the last colt to go through a sale this year by that stallion,” he said.

“We liked him at a price. We tried to bring the price back a little bit after the dilemma, but it was good to get him.

“He looks a nice physical and looks an early running two-year-old and obviously he has had a bit of a foot abscess. Our vet went over him, and he is great.

“The farm is great and are guaranteeing him. Musk Creek will take him home for 30 days and take him out and make sure he is right and then we’ll get him broken-in. He looks an early running type.”

Kennewell said they had offered to buy the colt privately if he hadn’t gone through the ring.

It was another big sale for Victoria’s Blue Gum Farm led by Phil Campbell and his staff.

The farm finished second on the list of top vendors with the sale of $4.79m of yearlings. They sold all 25 yearlings offered at an average sale price of $191,600.

Blue Gum’s top yearling was $350,000 for an Extreme Choice x Superego (So You Think x Keep de Fortune) filly to Trilogy Racing. They sold two yearlings for $300,000 (Lean Mean Machine x Innocent I Am and Grunt x Little Indian) to Cranbourne training partners Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock.

The strength of Blue Gum’s draft was reflected in another two yearlings selling for $320,000 and another seven bought for $200,000 or more.

Widden Stud, which had the $950,000 sale topper with the Victorian bred a I Am Invincible colt, was the leading vendor with $5.322m. They sold 30 of their 27 yearlings at an average of $197,130. Negotiations were continuing with the three passed in lots.

Gilgai Farm at Nagambie had another outstanding sale. They sold eight yearlings for $2.54 million at an average of $317,500. Their Written Tycoon x Soorena colt was bought by Team Hawkes for a day one sale topper of $675,000.

Gilgai’s second top lot was $520,000 for a Deep Field colt out of Mossin’ Around (Mossman x Rhythmic Affair).

Hawkes also bought a Gilgai colt by Written By out of Holy Cow for $260,000 on the final day of the sale, as well as parting with $200,000 for a Kingman x Dancing Brave Bear colt sold by Blue Gum Farm.

Rushton Park at Tatura set a new record for a yearling sold in any showcase session of Melbourne Premier when Cranbourne trainer Clinton McDonald paid $270,000 for a colt by Preferment out of three-time winning mare Sea Spray (Von Costa de Hero x Black Pearl).

Swettenham Stud’s Toronado topped the stallion list with his progeny selling for a total of $4.82m. His 29 nine yearlings sold for an average of $166,724. The top price was $460,000 which matched the record paid for a Toronado yearling at last year’s corresponding sale.

The equal day three sale topper of the premier session was a Zoustar colt, out of Group 3 winning mare Honey Rider (Pins x Southern Heights) offered by Widden Stud and bought for $340,000 for the Hong Kong Jockey Club by its southern hemisphere buyer, Craig Rounsefell of Boomer Bloodstock.

Rounsefell bought three horses for the HKJC and said Melbourne Premier always offered quality horses.

“A lot of good horses come out of this sale, particularly for Hong Kong,” he said.

“I think it’s probably one of the big points, it’s been the rise over the last five to 10 years in Australia is what’s happening in Victoria.

“There are a couple  of big farms like Widden supporting, but there is also other new stallion farms and boutique broodmare farms that are investing heavily.

“So, it’s good to see stallions like Written Tycoon standing down here now and I think over the years to come this sale is only going to get better.”

There was plenty of interest in the only De Gaulle (De Gaulle x Tremolo) yearling to be offered at the sale.

The stallion had his first winner, from a handful of runners, when Madame Du Gast won on debut at Flemington in January.

Lauriston Park Thoroughbred Farm at Corinella offered Madam Du Gast’s full sister as Lot 701, on behalf of Quilty Park, and she sold for $115,000.

Small-time breeder Ron Beadle, from Arthurs Creek, offered one horse at the sale, a yearling by Highland Reel, and while he was hoping for $30,0000 but anything above $20,000, he wasn’t complaining with the $24,000 paid by trainer Robert Hickmott.

Beadle began breeding about 12 years ago when he decided he needed to do something else a couple of years after his wife Sue passed away.

He now has four broodmares and while he likes to retain a couple to race, the most successful horse he has breed was Captain Spud (Toronado x Dane Sense) which started his racing career in Victoria before being sold to Hong Kong.

The 74-year-old Beadle led his yearling around the sale ring as the bids came in for the filly which is out of his broodmare Northern Aspect (Northern Meteor x Galleta).

“I was very happy with the price, and she is a bit of feisty thing but she did well,” he said.

“I have probably bred 20 and the best horse I bred was Captain Spud which races in Hong as Captain Win, and he has won up there.

“I have two foals that I’ll probably sell as weanlings and I’ll keep another, a Highland Reel filly, which is out of Dane Sense. The filly has a good mother.”

Beadle originally owned 40 per cent of Dane Sense and then nabbed another 10 per cent and then bought her outright when she got injured and never made it to the racetrack.

Yulong’s Sam Fairgray said it had been good to present the first yearlings by the stud’s foundation stallion Grunt at Melbourne Premier.

The top price for a Grunt yearling was on the first day of the sale when a colt out of Little Indian was bought by Cranbourne trainers Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock for $300,000 from Blue Gum Farm’s draft.

The $300,0000 matched the top price paid for a Grunt yearling at Gold Coast Magic Millions this year.

“It’s been great to have the first Grunts in the Victorian market and obviously great for Written Tycoon which had the sale topper on the first day,” Fairgray said.

“To have a Grunt sell for $300,000 has been great for the stud.

“The Grunts have definitely been well received and everyone wants to see them and look at them. They are nice horses; they are good movers, and everyone is really pleased with what they’ve seen.

“We are really pleased that they have gone to some really great trainers which is going to give the stallion every opportunity.”

Fairgray said he looks forward to seeing Grunt’s first runners.

The premier session of the sale grossed just more than $77 million at a clearance rate of 89%.

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WIDDEN TOPS PREMIER SALE WITH $950,000 COLT

Widden sold the third most expensive yearling at Melbourne Premier, when lot 522, a colt out of Fine Bubbles sold for $950,000 to Coolmore (Inglis)

An opening bid of $500,000 sparked a fierce bidding war for Widden Stud’s Victorian colt which became the most expensive yearling sold in the first two days of Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.

Coolmore were the successful bidders for the I Am Invincible colt at $950,000 – the third highest priced yearling in the history of the sale. The colt was just short of the previous two top prices of $1.4m and $1.1m.

The colt, offered late in the sale, is the fifth foal out of stakes winning Fine Bubbles (Casino Prince x Pekalan). The colt is Victorian bred by Sun Stud.

Widden owner Antony Thompson wasn’t surprised the I Am Invincible colt was highly sought after.

“He was the standout colt and the colt’s syndicates had all done a lot of due diligence on this horse and been back on him, so they do have that sort of firepower when they do team up on the star colts,” Thompson said.

“It is was good to see him go to Coolmore who seem to be really leading the charge in that department.

“Obviously this horse fits into a real sweet spot for them around Home Affairs, a horse they have got an enormous thrill out of buying for a similar number I think ($875,000), to win their own race, the Coolmore Stud Stakes, was one of Tom Magnier’s finest days with a colt like that and I guess they see the similarities here with the way he’s bred and the way he looks. it’s no surprise to see them go again.

“He was bred by Sun International and he’s been down here at Widden Victoria since we took over (12 months ago) and it’s followed on from there, growing him out as we normally would and prepared him for the sale. It’s the first time for us to really bring a draft of horses through and it’s a huge thrill to be topping the sale so far.”

An I Am Invincible filly, also a late lot in the sale, was poised to become the sale topper when it sold for $550,000 to prominent Hong Kong owner Bon Ho. The filly is out of Endean Rose (Savabeel x Pretoria) and will be trained by Team Hawkes who were also the successful bidders for the top selling lot on the opening day of the sale.

Swettenham Stud stallion Toronado (IRE) is leading the way as the most sought after stallion during the first two days of the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.

His progeny has sold for $4.55m.

A total of 27 of his yearlings have sold for an average of $168,704.

And Blue Gum Farm continues to dominate the sale as the leading vendor.

The farm has sold all 20 of their yearlings offered for a total of $4.06m at an average price of $203,250.

Another Victorian farm, Kulani Park at Goulburn Weir, has also had great success, selling 23 of their yearlings for $3.65m at an average of $159,783.

After providing the sale topper on the opening day of Melbourne Premier,  Rick Jamieson’s Gilgai Farm  was again prominent on the second day with the sale of a colt by Exceed and Excel for $420,000.

The colt, out of Vellor (Sepoy x Hosannah), was the first purchase of the sale by the Victorian Alliance, a group of prominent breeders led by Rosemont Stud which aims to develop potential stallion prospects to stand at their stud.

Rosemont and the Victorian Alliance, an under bidder on the sale’s top lot, bought the colt at Lot 303 in partnership with Suman Hedge Bloodstock and David Redvers Bloodstock.

The Alliance bought 12 colts last year and named them after VFL state football legends, including Brereton, Quinlan, Silvagni, Daicos, Dunstall, Goggin, Hafey, Doull, Millane, Neitz and Bews.

Of the colts to race so far, the two year-old Brereton (Zoustar x Fuddle Dee Duddle), named after champion Hawthorn centre half-forward Dermott Brereton has been the most the most successful, being Listed placed on debut in the Debutant Stakes (1000m) and then winning the Group 3 Maribyrnong Plate (1000m).

Rosemont’s Anthony Mithen said it was good to buy from a great farm like Gilgai.

“He was a horse that suited our criteria,” he said.

“If was nice to get him at what we thought was a reasonable price and it was about where had him, somewhere either side of $400,000.

“It’s our fifth purchase for the Rosemont Victorian Alliance of the year, so we still have a little bit of work to do. We ended up with 12 last year.

“We’ll do a bit of work on the Easter catalogue and see what can collect there.

“He’ll probably be the only horse we’ll end up with out of this sale. The competition is hot and it’s a good catalogue, but it’s nice to get one.”

Mithen said the alliance spend $6.5m on the 12 colts in 2021 and so far this year has outlaid $3.65 on five colts and still have a “little bit to play with” going into Easter.

Another high-priced yearling on the second day of the sale was Lot 353 – a Snitzel colt of Western Australian mare Amelia’s La Bout (Hinchinbrook x Dance With Zeal) – which was bought by Cranbourne trainer Clinton McDonald for $475,000.

The Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott training team combined with First Light Racing to buy a $450,000 Dundeel colt out of Bring Me The Maid (Sebring x Maid for Me).

The Victorian bred colt was offered through the draft of Kulani Park.

Bring Me The Maid won two Group 2 races and was a Listed winner for trainer Peter Moody. The mare, a $105,000 yearling purchase for syndicator Wylie Dalziel, was sold for $900,000 at the Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale in 2016.

There was plenty of joy for the likes of Gilgai who topped the opening day of the sale with the $675,000 colt by Written Tycoon out of Soreena, and also sold a Deep Field x Mossin’ Around colt for $520,00,

Rushton Park’s Written Tycoon colt was secured by Mick Price, who was delighted with his purchase.

Going through on the second day of the sale as the third lot offered, the colt was knocked down to trainer Mick Price for $275,000.

Rushton Park’s Kayley and David Johnson bred the colt from their mare Sunset Affair (Exceed and Excel).

Kayley said he was going to good trainer in Price and would be given every chance.

“He is a good colt out of an Exceed mare who won as a two-year-old,” Price said.

“Obviously, you’ve seen Capitalist, Written By and Ole Kirk, all Written Tycoon colts, go to stud.

“We love our colts, it’s a good place to train them out of Cranbourne, they’re big, safe boxes and I thought he was undervalued.

“I like the fact that he is a sprinting Written Tycoon colt, but he is a big, strong, robust, good walking colt all the same. Hopefully we can get that pedigree to jump out of the ground.

Price also paid credit to the quality of stallions and their progeny at Melbourne Premier.

“There’s a lot of good stallions here, a lot of nice colts and nice fillies, and you have to outbid a few fellow trainers here to get the right horse,” Price said.

“Look, Melbourne Premier is always a happy hunting ground for us and we better buy them now because Sydney Easter is going to be Sydney Easter.

“I am filling my shop up at Melbourne Premier and we’ll have plenty for people to buy shares in.”

 Blue Gum Farm’s Phil Campbell said he couldn’t be happier with the results they had achieved this year as the farm continued to live up to its reputation as Premier’s top seller.

He said they had all their yearlings had sold. The top price was $350,000 for a filly by Extreme Choice out of Superego which was bought by Trilogy Racing.

Not far behind was $320,000 for a Snitzel colt out of Paris Cracker which was sold to Belmont Bloodstock Agency.

Campbell said while they didn’t have their sights set on providing the sale topper, they didn’t have a multitude of stallions, they were selling nice horses very well.

“I can honestly say that I am getting a lot of satisfaction out of it because we try and put together a nice group of individuals and I think the selection process has been vindicated,” he said.

“We are delighted with the results we are getting for out clients and delighted with the people who are buying the horses and it’s just going well.”

Campbell said offering nice horses was obviously the key to selling them for good prices.

While Campbell said they didn’t think they’d have the sale topper, they were always very strong in selling their yearlings in the $2000,000 to $400,000 bracket.

“And that’s been proven already,” he said.

“If you are selling your horses for that sort of money and they are not all by the real big stallions, you are getting a good return on investment for your client and that is very important to us.”

Michael Christian’s Longwood Thoroughbred Farm followed up success on the opening day when they sold a Toronado colt for $460,000, with the second day sale of a Deep Field colt out of Bella Sorellastra for $240,000 to Mick Price.

The Toronado colt equaled the top price paid for a yearling by the stallion when Mike Moroney bought a colt out of Dom Perion (Redoute’s Choice) for $460,000 at last year’s Melbourne Premier through Stonehouse’s draft.

“He was a beautiful colt, and we knew he would be a great price as all the major players were on him and so I was just delighted to be able to achieve a price like that for a couple of our great clients,” Christian said.

“He (Toronado) is a wonderful stallion and Swettenham has done a great job with him and it’s great to be able to bring a yearling of that quality to the sale.

“I knew he would be popular, and he was.”

While Christian said they knew the Toronado colt was a lovely horse there was they fear of losing a bit of perspective when you spend every day with them, but it was good to be vindicated with a big sale.

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