Photo: Cornege Photography
How did you get into thoroughbred breeding?
Seems a long time ago now, I just had an interest in a racehorse and it grew from there. I got myself a couple of mares and it went from there really.
Tell us the story of Mr Brightside.
I approached Marcus Corban at the sales one year and I bought two weanlings off Sir Patrick, a colt and a filly who were both by Tavistock.
I believe the colt ended up in Malaysia but the filly, I sent her to a trainer and unfortunately her legs weren’t the best so I rung Marcus and said ‘what do I do’ and he said ‘oh we’ll put her to a stallion’ and I said ‘she’s a 2yo’ and he ‘yea we will do it’ and she went to Power. We got Will Power first who raced in Hong Kong and then we went to He’s Remarkable and then we went to Bullbars who resulted in Mr Brightside.
He was entered in the Yearling sales but he got crook so we have to withdraw him, so he went through the May sale and was sold for $22,000. During this period of time, my wife passed away and I did the silly thing of selling his dam and a couple of others. I did try and buy her back through Mike Rennie but obviously it wasn’t going to be. And so when I saw him back on gavelhouse.com, I bought him back and I rung up Ralph Manning who had one for me at the time and asked if he wanted to come in on him and the rest is history. Opie rode him, the horse got held up and we were approached to sell him.
Did you retain a share?
Don’t even go there! They offered me as much as I wanted to keep him but back then I thought I really breed them to want to sell them and that’s how it is. You look at the bigger studs, they are that position all the time when you have a few mares, I only have a couple. Everyone says to me ‘you must be so disappointed, but I am actually rapt that I bred the thing! He is just a fantastic horse and he is just going to be so much stronger this year, you can see that already.
I keep in touch with those guys, we sold them another horse so they have come back to us which is great and I have got a couple more at the moment that I have got a couple of guys doing some work with to see if they have got the potential and those Australian buyers have asked me to keep in touch with them so for that I have to be thankful.
Have you had any success breeding-wise previously?
No I hadn’t. I dabbled with a few racehorses, just bread and butter horses but they have paid their way. I only have a couple of mares and work very closely with Ken Beer from ‘Mate Your Mare’ in Morrinsville. Ken does the old system of all the nicks and that, and it was on his recommendation that I actually went to Bullbars.
Being a one-man-band, I never go to high value stallions, I am looking at type. The Australian buyers have told me quite clearly that is what they are looking for. Obviously they come to the yearling sales but a few of them have said to me that they would rather buy tried horses.
This year, I have just had a mare foal to Savile Row and she will go back to him as she just suits him 110%, I have two mares going to Waikato Stud and Banquo which is a cheap stallion but he has got the goods and he is just a perfect mix for both those mares, another mare is going to Brighthill Farm and is going to Eminent, and the other mare I have to sent to Wrote.
I have a really nice Staphanos colt at home, he was going to go the Weanling sales but I withdrew him and he has created a bit of interest at the moment. I am just a small operator enjoying what I am doing.
Do you have a favourite cross?
No, I am just going off nicks really. Ken Beer’s recommendations to me, the horses have been winners that have got to the track. I like to play around myself with what I like, then I go to Ken and tell him to put it through his system. One of the recommendations for my mares I didn’t listen to him because I just didn’t like that stallion, there is plenty out there.
My old mare she has not produced a loser yet, they have all been winners and she was from Sir Patrick’s Sir Tristam/Stravinsky cross so she has been a very good mare to me. She is the mother of Sing For Peace, Infantry, Night Nurse (all by Tavistock) and I have a very nice Tarzino filly out of her who is in Australia now with Charlotte Littlefield in Victoria. I have leased her to a group and have retained a share myself so she will eventually come back to New Zealand whatever happens.
I have a mare in-foal to Satono Aladdin, but he is out my range now, and I have another well-bred Australian mare that is due to foal any day now to Sweynesse.
There is plenty to look forward to and I enjoy it, that is the main thing.
Who do you admire in the thoroughbred breeding industry?
If I go right back to the start when I first go involved, obviously Sir Patrick but Marcus Corban has been a great help to me from day one and he still is. I can pick up the phone and ring Marcus anytime. It was through him that I actually ended up with Lilahjay (Mr Brightside’s dam), he thought she might suit me and she wasn’t expensive.
If you could own any broodmare (past or present), who would it be?
Don’t think I could go past Eight Carat. Lilahjay’s page is riddled with Sir Patrick’s top family.
Proudest moment as a breeder?
It has got to be Mr Brightside of course. It is a pity that the All-Star-Mile wasn’t a Group One race as that would have been quite phenomenal, but his second Doncaster was an outstanding run. There was a lot of pressure, but those Hayes boys are from an outstanding family and they had Craig Williams riding him.
I went to the National Breeding Awards recently, and to celebrate 35 individual Group One winners was outstanding, just unreal – long may it continue.
Finish this sentence: The best part of being a thoroughbred breeder is…
Foaling is always a great time with anticipation of what you are going to get. This time of the year is such a great time – seeing the new foals, after you have been dreaming about them, are they going to be winners or not, who is going to buy them, where are they going to end up.
I have to give a shout-out to Chanelle Fraser who does a fantastic job on the farm with the horses. Whenever we send horses somewhere, we always get compliments on them and it is all her. I don’t always live on the farm everyday but she does a superb job and I am really thankful for her.
