The thoroughbred breeding and racing industry is an industry built on hard work and relationships. The importance of developing an industry network is priceless for a young person, in order to progress, improve and be considered for new opportunities.
With this in mind, I took some time out from working in the Belmont Bloodstock office to visit Eureka Stud in Queensland and spend some time in Sydney. During my time in Sydney, I was fortunate to have the chance to visit Mudgee and Scone, inspecting weanlings and viewing stallions, with some members of the Inglis Bloodstock team. I was also able to have a tour of Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott’s Tulloch Lodge and Randwick Racecourse stables.
Eureka Stud
Having spent 2 years working at Eureka Stud for the McAlpine family, I was interested to see how the farm had changed upon my return.
It didn’t take long for me to get stuck into work, assisting farm hand, Ed, with putting barley hay feed out in a broodmare paddock, ready for the weekend. Located on the Darling Downs of Queensland, the landscape is rugged and relies heavily on the level of rainfall to flourish. With the unpredictability of the weather, the McAlpine’s do a fantastic job of growing their own hay on the property, to compliment the pellet feed, given to the horses. They grow three variations of hay (Barley, Oaten and Lucerne) that can be harvested multiple times a year to ensure the horses have high quality feed all year round.
Next, I was able to help bring in 2 of the farm’s 3 stallions from their turnout paddocks. Firstly, Queensland’s leading sire, Spirit of Boom (Sequalo x Temple Spirit) was returned from his paddock, fed and his rug put on, ready for a cold night. Professional as ever, “Spirit”, looked in great order and got his head down straight into his feed. The sire has been a revelation for the farm, the dual Group 1 winner was resilient and consistent, winning 9 of his 52 starts and placing an impressive 20 times between 2 and 6. Well supported by Queensland breeders; he has sired the likes of Group 1 Manikato Stakes winner Jonker, who now stands at Aquis farm; Group 2 winners Prince of Boom and Sassy Boom; as well as further 23 stakes winners across Australia.
New arrival, Don Corleone (Extreme Choice x Snipzu) was next. Appearing to have settled in quite nicely to his new home, the son of Extreme Choice, bought in partnership with Newgate Farm and China Horse Club appears to have a lot of upside with a deep girth, great strength of shoulder and a handsome head. A winner at 2, he showed toughness on the racetrack throughout his career. “The Don”, finished 2nd in the Group 1 Sire’s Produce Stakes and Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes and 4th in the Group 1 Golden Slipper, behind Shinzo, Cylinder and King’s Gambit. Showing a great turn of foot and toughness as a 2 year-old, Don Corleone will no doubt be supported by Queensland breeders and will be a welcomed addition to the Eureka Stud roster.
My Saturday morning was spent helping with general farm jobs and mowing the farm’s racetrack.
On Sunday morning, I helped on a feed run and was able to see some of the farms in-foal mares, spellers and weanlings, that will go on to be sold at next year’s yearling sales. Spelling on the farm was Group 2 winning, son of Spirit of Boom, Prince of Boom and Group 1 winning, daughter of Hellbent, Benedetta. The retired listed winner, Simply Fly was also settling into his new role as a nanny. The two weanlings that stood out, when feeding, were the colt by Too Darn Hot, out of Queensland Oaks winner, Tinto and the Spirit of Boom filly, out of Express Air; a full-sister to Simply Fly.
Gooree Park Stud & Macquarie Stud
A 3 and half our journey to Mudgee from Sydney, on Wednesday morning, meant an early start. Car sharing with experienced Inglis Bloodstock consultant & auctioneer (Jonathan D’Arcy) and Inglis Bloodstock Intern (Will Gardner), we discussed the purpose of the visit to the Mudgee and Wellington farms. As part of Jonathan’s role within the company, he is tasked with valuing client’s stock. In order to do this, he will visit properties to inspect the stock and look deep into the market to establish a value.
The Gooree Park property was particularly impressive; with traditional, American barns, undulating paddocks, a 2000m racetrack and spelling yards. Not only the excellent infrastructure for the horses, but the property is also home to a large number of wagyu cattle herds, a vineyard and visitor accommodation.
After a tour of the characterful property, we inspected 22 weanlings (12 fillies & 10 colts). By a variation of sires, including; Capitalist, Smart Missile, North Pacific, Profiteer, Victor Ludorum, Ghaiyyath, Yes Yes Yes, Brutal and Saxon Warrior, the weanlings appeared in great order. I was particularly impressed with two strong fillies, a Yes Yes Yes, out of Decisive Move and a Capitalist out of Fastnet Rock mare, Heat Haze. Decisive Move’s filly, a first foal, had great strength and balance, with strong foearms and gaskins and looks as though she will develop into a lovely yearling. The Capitalist filly had a lovely shape, plenty of scope and great strength to go with it.
Continuing on to Wellington, we arrived at David Baxter’s Macquarie Stud. Greeted by the team, we swiftly began the inspections of the 7 weanlings by Stay Inside, All Too Hard, Nicconi, St Marks Basilica, Pinatubo and Wild Ruler. I was impressed by the Pinatubo colt, out of Fastnet Rock mare, Shalfah. Purchased by World Wide Bloodstock for $32,500 at the National Weanling sale, the colt looks to have great strength and balance and will no doubt make a fine looking yearling.
Scone Farms
Arriving in the “horse capital of Australia”, on Wednesday evening, I was unable to appreciate the landscape, due to the decline in daylight.
The next morning, began with a cold mist over the paddocks, but that soon lifted and the stud farms appeared. On the way to our first inspections at Vinery Stud, Jonathan was kind enough to give me a tour of the local farms in the East of Scone, passing Sledmere Stud, Segenhoe Stud and driving through Arrowfield Stud and Kia Ora Stud.
Vinery Stud
On arrival at Vinery Stud, we were welcomed by Sales & Nominations manager, Harry Roach, who took us around the farm to inspect the 5 weanlings. The property combined modern infrastructure and traditional character. The rolling hills, healthy water sources and rich, green paddock feed benefit the health and development of the youngstock. The weanlings by Extreme Choice, Extreme Warrior, Wild Ruler, Russian Revolution and Tiger of Malay looked well.
Kelvinside Stud (Darley)
Once the Vinery Stud inspections were complete, we headed down the road to meet with Darley’s Alastair Pulford, who had joined us for dinner the previous evening.
With great generosity, Alastair took us on a tour of the property, showing us the stallion unit, foaling paddocks (that are no longer in use), yearling barn, breaking yards, barrier training area and pool, as well as a beautiful view of the pre-training track.
Additionally, Alastair had organised for us to see the 9-time Group 1 winning Stallion, Anamoe, who’s first foals will be on the ground in the coming months. The son of Street Boss is an elite looking athlete, with a great frame, incredibly strong shoulder and hind and enormous forearm and gaskin. I was surprised with his length of back, with my early thoughts being he was quite long however, he used himself so well with a great stride length. His strength, size and length will hopefully make him a good match for a smaller, shorter type of mare.
Newgate Farm
Our final farm visit in Scone was Henry Field’s Newgate Farm, where we saw 5 of the farms stallions and inspected 8 weanlings.
Out of all the farms we had seen, a Newgate’s paddocks were the most testing. The huge paddocks were, nearly, all on the side of a hill. Designed to work the young stock, they are fed at the top of the paddock and given water at the bottom, forcing the horses to work so they put down bone at a young age and build muscle. The landscape was very similar to that of Blue Gum Farm in Victoria.
The weanlings, owned by Gooree Park, were mostly sired by Newgate Stallions; Capitalist, Extreme Choice, Stay Inside, Wild Ruler and Russian Revolution with the exception of the Sultry Feeling colt by, Yarraman Park’s, I Am Invincible. The “Vinnie”, colt, a full brother to one of Newgate’s newest stallion additions, Kings Gambit. With strength throughout, good bone and strong hocks, the colt looks to be an early type, with great strength and power.
Down at the stallion unit, we were shown Newgate’s newest additions; Militarize, Ozzmosis and King’s Gambit as well as, Stay Inside and Wild Ruler. The stallions were all presented superbly by the team.
Militarize, shown first, was a lovely shape, with a deep girth and strong shoulder. He had good bone, moved very well and was light on his feet. Ozzmosis, was a fluid moving, leggier type of horse. King’s Gambit, a strong and athletic framed horse, has great muscle tone, a strong shoulder and hind and is very well balanced. Stay Inside, had a strong frame and good bone. Wild Ruler, a big horse had a good shoulder and deep girth and moved well.
Tulloch Lodge & Randwick Stable
On Friday morning, I had organised to meet Emma Coleman, who works as part of the Sales and Bloodstock team for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing. Emma was kind enough to show me around the historical Tulloch Lodge stables and show me the stables at Randwick Racecourse.
Tulloch Lodge is a traditional and charming yard, discretely set back from Bowral St, Kensington. Formally used by Gai’s father and legendry trainer, TJ Smith; the yard has been home to some of the best racehorses Australia has ever seen. Receiving his license in 1941, TJ went on to train 282 Group 1 winners and received 33 consecutive trainer premierships. In 1992, TJ handed the reigns to Gai, who has continued the success of the yard with 150 Group 1 winners. A credited trainer of 2-year-olds, Gai has trained the winner of Australia’s premier 2-year-old race, the Golden Slipper, 7 times. More recently Gai joined a training partnership with Adrian Bott and the pair have continued the success, with 16 Group 1 winners.
Similar to most yards in Newmarket, England, Tulloch Lodge looked deceptively small from the outside but had plenty of stable room and housed around 35 horses. Emma explained how all the horses are bedded down onto straw because, although it is an expensive bedding material, it is warmer for the horses. When mucked out in the morning, the staff use traditional muck sacks so hard work is required. I was shown the horse treadmill, wash bays and taken through the feeding process.
Feeding is a crucial part of the care of any horses, and it is especially important to ensure that horses in training are receiving the right nutrients and quantities of feed. Emma explained how the horses are given a large amount of food after morning exercise and kept topped up, to allow them to graze throughout the day. A variety of chaff (lucerne, barley, oaten) is mixed, by a machine, with boiled barley and oats, with added honey and molasses. This provides the horses with nutrients and energy, while promoting good gut health. All the horses have molasses water in their stables, as well as slices of hay.
On the tour of the stables, I was fortunate to see many of the stables successful horses including this year’s Golden slipper favourite and winner of the Group 2 Skyline Stakes, Storm Boy; as well as other Golden Slipper contenders Straight Charge and Fully Lit. Last years Tattersall’s HIT purchase, French bred, Royal Patronage was also in the yard; alongside dual Group 1 winner, Tropical Squall. Ha Ha Ha, a mare by Dark Angel was stabled at the yard before her Randwick win on Saturday, in the Elite Sand & Soil Handicap. Another notable horse in the stable was the 2-year-old half sister to Golden Sixty; out of the mare, Gaudeamus, the filly was purchased from the recent Element Hill dispersal sale.
To finish the visit, Emma took me into the office to show me the array of trophies and awards won at the stable over the years. Like a museum of Tulloch Lodge, there were many paintings and images of race finishes hung on the walls. A very impressive place for owners and racing fans to visit.
Producing many great horses over the years and in recent times, it is clear that the management of the stables by the long serving staff members has a profound impact on the success of the stables. Dedication to the cause and attention to detail clearly gets the best out of horses and staff alike.
The trip, as a whole, was incredibly valuable and enabled me to spend time with industry professionals, visit new and important areas for the racing and breeding industry and see stallions, racehorses and youngstock at a number of properties. It was very enjoyable, and I can take a lot from the experience.
Article by Rob Moss. July, 2024
