This week we chat to Mark Chittick breeder of Icebath and I Wish I Win who were both success over the weekend in Australia.
How many broodmares are there under the Waikato Stud banner? 200 approximately
When selecting broodmares what do you think is more important - pedigree, race performance or conformation? We’ve produced good horses out of really good mares that were good types, and produced good racehorses out of mares that aren’t good types. But at the end of the day if you’re going to start with a good type you’ve got a good chance of getting a good type. Really, we’ve been a type breeders all the way through, Garry (Chittick) was a type breeder, and I’ve been taught to be a type breeder all my life, just trying to breed that best racehorse, and you’ve got to start with a good type, (without bent legs of course, I Wish I Win would be the exception to this).
What is your criteria when looking for new sires to add to the Waikato Stud stallion roster? We look for a horse that we be in the ownership of, that are good types. We look for horses with a turn of foot because we believe most mares will be slower than the stallion so we need to have that speed gene to be able to pass on, as if they don’t have it to start with it’s very hard to pass it on.
Do you support any outside stallions? Yes, we do, we’ve got long term relationships with various people where we support each other. There’s been a few of older farms that we’ve done that with that aren’t around now. Sam Williams and I have been going backwards and forwards for a number of years, Rodney Schick (Windsor Park Stud) and I, and Simms Davidson (Mapperley Stud) and I all support each other, it’s really about stud farms supporting each other. It’s a great industry to be in, and we’re all trying our best, and these stallions when you purchase them are expensive so it’s awesome to get the support and be able to provide it as well.
What is the process for making mating decisions? This year four of us sat down a while ago to do this, we had Garry with his many years’ experience, Mike Rennie with his experience having been on both sides of the fence as both an agent and partner in breeding operations, Jaimee Gowler, she’s been on the farm along time and had a lot of experience with young horses coming through and myself. Basically, we sat down with lists of everything, and I think we did it in around four hours, we have great belief in what we’ve done all the way along, and obviously there’s a history of 50 years breeding that we’re dealing with now, and we’re just trying to setup a situation where there will be another 50 years to go.
Do you breed any with the intention to retain to race? We breed with the intention to breed the best type and the best racehorse. Certainly, we have had a policy of retaining a percentage of our fillies every year, and that has stood us in very good steed over the years. It’s left us with Centaine, O’Reilly and Pins fillies and mares. Also, we’ve now also got Savabeel mares which all go into our broodmare band. We’re very fortunate, that we’re breeding out of females that have a very long history with us, for example when you look at I Wish I Win’s dam, he is the result of 40 years of breeding on the farm.
What is it about New Zealand-bred horses that makes them so successful? I think most of us think the same way now, or at least along similar lines now with our breeding. I think a lot of us have totally recognised that Australia is the best racing in the world, and they are our shop window. They are our biggest market, so you must produce a product that will compete in that market, and if that product is coming from that Australian market there’s every chance that they will be competitive over there as well. I also think of course the conditions we can rear these horses in is to our benefit. At the end of the day I’m just a great believer that, and I know we’re biased, but New Zealand Horsemen and farmers (most of us come from farming backgrounds) give our horses every opportunity to be their best as we’re rearing them, I really think this stands us in good stead, it really gives us every opportunity to then produce the stock we have. I believe we’re all pretty sensible about how we farm, and this makes the difference to the animals too at the end of the day.
How many yearlings are Waikato Stud preparing for the 2023 sales? About 90.
Do you have a favourite cross? The one that breeds a group one winner! I have a lot of favourites, over the years we’ve put O’Reilly over Centaine Mares, Pins over Centaine mares, Savabeel over O’Reilly mares, Savabeel over Pins mares and now Tivacii over Savabeel mares. It’s all good stuff, when you talk about ‘favourite’ it’s not really that simple, we do put a lot of thought into it, but at the end of the day we think those sorts of lines are sensible and that’s why we do it.
Best breeding advice you have received? You’ve got to be patient. Now’s a good time to ask that question, as really nothing’s changed for us despite the recent successes. You have highs and lows, but to be honest over the years nothing’s changed, you can have a bad run over a week, and you think crikey what are you doing wrong, but then the next week’s a good week and really nothing’s changed. For example, right now we’re trying to get these mares in foal, and I’ve just said to my guys recently, there’s two things we’re dealing here, females and nature and every now and then they can be hard to determine what they’re going to do! So we just do the best we can.
Who has influenced your career in the thoroughbred industry? Pretty simple to answer that isn’t it, Garry Chittick, the one that bred me.
If you could own any broodmare (past or present), who would it be? Baggy Green.
If you could spend a day learning the tricks of the trade on any farm in the world where would you go? Waikato Stud
Proudest moment as a breeder? I know it’s very recent times but was very proud on Saturday, when you take into consideration that the Golden Eagle is for 4 year olds, there’s approximately 15,000 four year olds that were bred in Australasia, let alone adding the rest of the world, and that means there’s 15,000 could have headed to the Golden Eagle and I Wish I Win won it, that’s pretty cool. Second to that was the day that Daffodil won The Oaks, then Vision & Power won The Doncaster, Swick won the Newmarket, and Bird won the Warstep Stakes in the South Island that was a pretty big day, and a very big night that one.
What do you think contributes to Waikato Stud’s success? Everything that goes into it, so we have the farm of course, and we had success on the farm prior as well but it’s key to everything. Also the people, the philosophies, that glass half full positive attitude that rubs off on people around here and rubs off on the every animal that you have anything to do with and the love and passion of our family, and everyone that’s involved here on the farm.
Is there a race you would love to win with a Waikato Stud-bred horse that hasn’t been won before? I would love to win the Cox Plate, we stand two Cox Plate sires, I’d love to breed a Cox Plate winner, that and also if I can add another one, it’d be pretty cool to win the Golden Slipper as well.
What are Waikato Stud’s goals for the future? Keep it going the way we’re going, acquire the stallions that we feel are right for us, and are right for our clients, breeders, and friends. And keep being a place that we all love being at and enjoy the successes when we get it.
Finish this sentence. The best part of being a thoroughbred breeder is … when the last foal is born!
