Photo: Trish Dunell
How did you get into thoroughbred breeding?
Desperation….no, it has been ever since I was a young kid. I raced a horse the day I was eligible to race it in 1964 (I think!), it was the first horse I ever trained, and it won. Morven Queen at Rotorua and Roger Lang rode it. I have always had horses, breeding, selling and racing; and we have had a few winners over the years, I think it is well over 5000 races.
I have bred some good ones, I bred Winx’s Mum, then I sold her after I had finished racing her.
How many mares do you breed from?
I am sending 80 odd mares to stud this year. I have got one at Waikato Stud, one in Australia and 70 will go to Ferrando as I’m backing him. We have done well in the stallion game, we syndicated Savabeel with Waikato Stud. I bred him as I raced the mother (Savannah Success) who was filly of the year. I took her to Aussie and won a Group One with her. I sold her to Gerry with a foal at foot who was Savabeel and then I bought him back.
What else do you have in your bloodstock portfolio (youngstock, racehorses etc)
I breed two to Savabeel every year, I have Alezan who is due to foal to him this year- she is the dam of Lowry and Princess Lowry, she also has a Ferrando 2yo and an El Roca 3yo. The mare I raced, Malambo, she is also in-foal to Savabeel. I also have 10 standardbred mares as harness is my hobby.
Do you have a favourite cross?
I like Savabeel, I raced and sold Not A Single Doubt, I like to be commercial as I am a commercial breeder. So this year I have two going to Savabeel, one to Super Seth, 70 going to Ferrando and a couple going to Redwood as I like Redwood. I am supporting Gerry’s stallions El Roca, Reliable Man and Tarzino too.
Best breeding advice you have received?
Back your judgement.
Who do you admire in the thoroughbred breeding industry?
Garry Chittick at Waikato and Sir Patrick Hogan of course. We used to have a boy turn up to the track at 3.30am every morning in Sydney where Debbie and I taught him to ride, Henry Field from Newgate, what he has done I really admire the boy.
I look up to Mr Zhang who owns Yulong Stud. I like him and also sit down and have a talk to him, he doesn’t speak English but he has an interpreter there and I think he will be the future in Australia. He is buying all those good mares, putting his money where his mouth is.
If you could own any broodmare (past or present), who would it be?
What Sir Patrick did with Eight Carat and her family. There are so many great families out there and I think with the prizemoney announcement, I think the industry might take off.
What advice would you give someone entering the industry as a breeder?
Back your judgement. Your never know where your next good horse is coming from and anyone that tells me that they have got all these theories and that, I tell them that there is one great day of reckoning ‘the day you put them out on the racetrack’. I always say, ‘it’s what you got in your pocket when it is all over that counts.’
Proudest moment as a breeder?
Probably Savabeel winning the Cox Plate. I bought his mother for $30,000 at a sale and it turned out to be a good investment. We sold her for a million plus in-foal and with Savabeel at foot. We are in front of the eight-ball.
Finish this sentence: The best part of being a thoroughbred breeder is…
Dreams are free! I am always thinking about the next real good horse. I think we broke in about 45 yearlings this year and we have got some lovely 2yos but we will see what happens. I like backing me judgement and that’s why I have backed Ferrando. It was a very fast horse and a lovely horse. He is standing at Gerry’s (Westbury Stud) and I am in the ownership of him in a big way, I think they are ok – the next few years will tell me. I have been associated with some good stallions but I don’t think there has been a better stallion in New Zealand than Savabeel.
It is great to see Proisir doing what he is doing, I admire them. You wouldn’t have thought he was going to do what he has done but he is doing it. They do a wonderful job, and they promote him.
Racing is a fiddly thing, I always say ‘Winners are grinners’. It is a hobby the breeding side, but I do seem to be accumulating a lot of mares. I have about 30 foals and I’ll end up selling a good one that I wish I kept. Someone said ‘would you have sold Winx’s’ mother if you knew how she turned out, and I said ‘no’ – you can never tell. I always liked the saying ‘a little bit of luck is worth a tonne of judgment.’
