This week in Dunstan Horsefeeds Meet The Breeder, we catch up with Alex Lander BVSc MPhil, who in partnership with Diane Andersen under their Platinum Bloodstock banner bred Read About It (Wrote x Diggilou {Iffraaj}) to win the Listed Ryder Stakes on Saturday.
Tell us the story of Read About It
Read about it was born a strong, correct and very bullish looking colt. He's the second foal from our Iffraaj mare Diggilou. I acquired the mare from Sharon and Joe Waldron when she was a 3yo and hadn't shown enough at the track, but I liked her size and massive kind head and thought that even a first foal from her will be a good size. Diane (Andersen) and I have two mares together; Diggilou and also Wild About Me (Lonhro) and have been breeding as a partnership since 2019.
The first foal from Diggilou was an Eminent colt (Silver Destiny); who we sold at Book 2 and just like Read About It, he won a trial as a 2yo (for Hamish Auret) and then got sold to Hong Kong, where he's got a third placing so far from 5 starts.
I was quite keen on the High Chaparral cross over Iffraaj and needed a medium size stallion. The Wrote service was supplied from another kind TB breeding acquaintance of mine; Bruce and Raelyn Wallbank. Diggilou got in foal first cycle and I foaled her down at home in mid October 2021. Read About It was a nice and quiet colt and he went to Diane's for a weanling prep and at Karaka in June 2022 looked a strong, well-developed colt. He was very popular but had an X-ray issue and hence was very good value for Kirk (Prestige Worldwide) who could see past this. The issue resolved with time as a lot of them will and he's never looked back. It was so awesome to see him take them on and running at the front with his big stride and ears pricked on Saturday. Robbie Paterson has done a great job with him and wish the connections all the best for this year.
How did I get into Thoroughbred Breeding?
Hard not to when I'm an equine repro vet (at Waikato Equine Veterinary Services) My work is my hobby and 6 months of the year it completely takes over my life and there is not much time for anything else. My lovely children only like horses when I happen to sell one ..
How many mares do you breed from?
The Breeding partnership with Diane only have two mares now, we have reduced the numbers as a couple mares were retired. Diane has a few of her own mares, Dagmar the dam of Diggilou, is the matriarch of her broodmare team.
I have another 8 mares of my own. My Galileo mare Cuddles for Layla is my favourite, she's in foal to Ardrossan. And I also have a couple of younger Tavistock mares; Avi Trallee maiden mare in foal to Sweynesse and Downton Abbey (G2 placed mare) in foal to Noverre, who I have together with some girlfriends in a Breeding Syndicate. And another young Iffraaj mare Altenari, who also had a runner; Void (by Belardo) in the Ryder Stakes, plus an older Redoutes' Choice mare; Baheeya are worth mentioning. All the mares I have are special to me and well pampered.
What else do you have in your bloodstock portfolio (youngstock, racehorses, stallion shares etc
I don't know the exact number since it varies a bit with the season. But a few exciting ones are two 3yo homebred Eminent fillies, one from Wild About Me (Lonhro) and one from Baheeya (Redoutes Choice) and I'm looking forward to an exciting year of racing with them. Diane and I also have a couple of older racehorses that we bred; Enjoyable (Jimmy Choux-Lucky J'abeel) And Leandersen, a Perfectly Ready gelding, both just been trialling and hopefully racing soon. A Proisir mare called Diva Kingdom currently spelling at Dianes.
I also have a 10% share in a Dundeel 3yo filly with Mike Moroney in Melbourne. Loved her at the Melbourne sale and she's from a full sister to Sharkbite and Scissor Kick. I love Dundeel!! He would be just the Perfect mating for Diggilou actually, perhaps if Read About It keeps running well we could justify doing that cross again.
Do you breed to trade or breed to race? How do you decide on what to keep and/or sell?.
Mainly breed to sell. The mares are my pets really and I need to sell some of the progeny to be able to breed the mares again. I don't mind keeping a nice filly from one of my older mares of course. Diane and I complement each other quite well; I do the breeding and foals and then she is very good at the sales prepping and breaking in and training.
Do you have a favourite cross?
Love the Deep Impact sire line over Galileo mares, that has produced horses like Auguste Rodin and Snowfall.
That cross gave me an outstanding Satono Aladdin filly from my Galileo mare that sold to Te Akau and just been named Aishiteru (I Love you in Japanese) and the mare will go to Profondo this season.
The Galileo /Frankel Sire line over any mare produces lovely horses. We have a stallion share in Eminent and Diane also has a King of Comedy share.
Do you seek advice on your breeding decisions?
I am so lucky that I work with and learn from some of the best studmasters in NZ. My partner Nick and I, living and breathing it at Brighthill Farm. But also Gordon Cunnigham, Leon Casey, Mark Baker and Don McKinnon gives me a good yarn in the crush every morning . Gareth Downey and Luigi Muollo are also great minds to pick and always keen to talk about my mares.
I'm very grateful for all their help and enjoy the discussions but ultimately the decision what to breed is down to the type of the mare and my budget. I spend a lot of time swiping left and right in the Stallion Register and online doing mating analyses and I'm trying to breed the best racehorse that I can, that still has commercial appeal. I've been lucky on some Stallion choices and picked a few at the right time, but there is a problem in NZ when prices go up sometimes very steeply then I can't justify the spend. My horses are my hobby after all..I think it's important that we look after smaller breeders and make it affordable to keep the numbers up. With all the new investment from Entain and the awesome Results from Kiwi breds in Australia and Hong Kong, we want to make sure we have a steady supply of NZ bred horses.
Proudest moment as a breeder? You can have more than one!.
Diane and I topped Book 3 in 2020, with the first yearling we took to a sale; a colt by Keeper from Lucky J'abeel.
And we sold our first 6 figure yearling this year in Book 2, a colt by Ace High and the third foal from Diggilou.
And of course the win by Read About It on Saturday, breeding a 2yo stakes winner is not easy in NZ when naturally our horses take longer, but fingers crossed he can stay and we look forward to seeing him in some of the classic races.
Finish this sentence: The best part of being a thoroughbred breeder is….
The horses and the people!
