This week we chat to Dean Hawkins from Wentwood Grange breeder of High Emocean who was third in the Melbourne Cup, we chat about that as well as their other successes so far this year.
How many broodmares are there under the Wentwood Stud banner? 50 or 60 of our own
When selecting broodmares what do you think is more important - pedigree, race performance or conformation? I believe conformation is key, you’ve got to have a good-looking horse. Pedigree and the race performance do come into it as well, for example if they were a good racehorse, you can forgive the pedigree to a certain extent.
What is your criteria when looking for new sires to add to your stallion roster? We are fortunate in that we own shares in a few stallions so that means we can breed what we like and works with stallions and mares we have in our band, we’re lucky that we can pick and choose where we go.
What is the process for making mating decisions? There four people that make up the mating decisions, we’re lucky in that respect that we get four different angles, one might love a stallion, and one might not, so you end up being exposed to those stallions as well as the others that are more popular in the group. God help the stallion if all four of us love them, they end up getting a lot of mares! There’s lots of banter goes with that as well, and but we agree in the end and it’s gone well for us to date.
Do you breed any with the intention to retain to race? All to sell ultimately, however, we are also mindful of mares that want to keep fillies out of, that are by a stallion that we would like to have a broodmare daughter of that mare.
What is it about New Zealand-bred horses that makes them successful? I think this is a question that there’s no right answer to. There’s lots of things, if you look at how great our spring has been, you have to go back 3 or 4 years maybe for the answer to that, at that time Australia was deep in a drought at that time, so whether that has impacted on their horses I’m not sure. Added to that we’ve got fantastic farmers, fantastic land. We punch above our weight for the mares and the stallions that we can afford to retain here as well which is great for our industry.
How many yearlings is Wentwood Grange preparing for the 2023 sales? 34 in book one, there is a good diverse range in there. I was having a look at this the other day and noticed that only two or three of the sires represented haven’t produced group one winner yet, having said that most New Zealand sires have left Group 1 winners of that whole crop that came in last year, a whole lot have produced Group 1 winners so that makes our job just that much easier
Do you have a favourite cross? We don’t tend to follow nicks and crosses, we tend to follow female lines
Best breeding advice you have received? You should always look for the positives, celebrate every success, it could be your last… I had a new yearling manager start here 6 or 7 years ago, and that’s what I said to him, and he reminded me of that when High Emocean ran third in the Melbourne Cup just this week.
Who has influenced your career in the thoroughbred industry? Rodney Schick and Windsor Park have been massive influence. I started out working with Rodney Schick, and he’s been a massive influence and now we have a great friendship. Of course, you also try to take advice wherever you can too.
If you could own any broodmare (past or present), who would it be. Eight Carat – without doubt, when I was young I had a picture of her on my wall!
If you could spend a day learning the tricks of the trade on any farm in the world where would you go? Probably have to go Waikato Stud – you want similar conditions to what you’ve got, and they are fantastic breeders
Proudest moment as a breeder? Fortunate to have had quite a few, Little Bridge (Faltaat x Golden Rose) winning Gr.1 King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot will always be up there. Kermadec (Teofilo x Hy Fuji) winning the Group One Doncaster Mile was pretty massive and Kolding (Ocean Park x Magic Star) winning the first Golden Eagle in 2019 as well. Then personally for me Lickety Split (Turn Me Loose x She’s Slinky) winning the Group 1 Sistema Stakes was also amazing. So we’ve been very lucky.
What do you think contributes to Wentwood Grange’s success? We are lucky, to have the farm and the land that it’s on, just in the spring in Melbourne we have had 8 stakes first, second, and third placings, which is massive for us. I have to put it down to the farm, we’re fortunate we’ve got great staff right the way through, and clients, whole mix seems to be working so we’ll carry on with the same formula
Is there a race you would love to win with a Wentwood Grange-bred horse that hasn’t been won before? I think there’s lot I’d like to win, but as a breeder the Cox Plate is one we’d love to win that we haven’t yet.
What are Wentwood Grange Stud’s goals for the future? Keep enjoying it, that’s the key having fun enjoying the life. It is hard at times, so you’ve got to always enjoy it.
Finish this sentence. The best part of being a thoroughbred breeder is … winning races!
