Photo: RACE
This week in Dunstan Horse Feeds Meet the Breeder, we catch up with Peter and Heather Crofskey who have bred some fantastic horses over the years, including most recent Group 3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) winner, Leica Lucy.
How did you get into thoroughbred breeding?
Our life with horse racing began when sitting on our veranda shortly after we married 33 years ago, and asking each other what we shared in interests. Number one was horse racing. We were both passionate about it; having started the journey at a very young age.
Memory has it: me crawling around Riccarton race course as a baby, and being taken to all the little racetracks in Canterbury. To this day I love racing. The racing channels are forever on in our living room. For Peter; his dad bred Clydesdales and raced a good thoroughbred, Spring Moss, who won 16 races here and in Australia. He recalls listening, when about 12 years old (a LONG time ago) to the races of Gendarmerie and Coleridge on 2YA, with commentator Peter Kelly. He loved the horse Yeman who won the Auckland Cup and 12 months later, the Wellington Cup for Colin Jennings. He can recite horse names, their breeding, the jockey, trainer, races et al. I guess it’s helped!!! Ha.
The idea of us racing went nicely with the small dairy farm in Lepperton we own and operate, too: the climate and good grass, amazing.
We went to Karaka for the first time in the late 1990’s to buy our first race horse. Sitting above the inner parade ring in the Festival Sale, Pete looks down and says, “I like that one (a big, beautiful Omnicorp colt). It’ll either be very ,very good, or very, very slow”. “You’d better be quick, he’s going in now”. After buying, we asked friend, John Wheeler what he thought of him. After looking him over, he said, in an annoyed voice,, “You’re lucky. Don’t ever do that again”. GULP. We called him MODEM and he ended up winning 5 here, including the Egmont Cup, beating Sapio. Sold him to England where he won 5 hurdle races.
He was bred by a wonderful lady from Masterton, the late Ms Lorraine Jameson and her partner, Robbie Rutherford of Cardoness Stud. Lorraine was the first person to sell a horse at auction for $100,000. Her breeding knowledge was mindblowing, producing some excellent bloodstock. She had a long and successful association with Waikato Stud and held a number of shares in Savabeel. To us little people she was so kind and helpful in sharing her stories. So began a close, lifelong friendship, and our breeding journey began.
Lorraine gave us Modem’s dam, Replica, to start us off, and we bred Replicate, (Towkay) the dam of some good horses: including Countofmontecristo (Echoes of Heaven) becoming Singapore’s Champion 3 yr old. Others; I Suggest, Question Mark, and Final Suggestion. We had some fun with them.
As Lorraine became less involved in the breeding industry, she went on to give us Pania, Ocean Park x Ciara,.and the unraced but talented, well credentialed mare: Pins/Timamou. We named her. Timpin.
Timpin was the beginning of our Leica Lucy story.
Must mention another mare that of Danny Holiday (Danasinga): the only mare we’ve purchased. Warren Bolton rang one night telling us he was leaving for a UK holiday, and we could have his mare. We said we “have a few already, but thanks for the offer though”. Next morning, the mare was in our paddock, and ownership papers in the letterbox. Thanks Warren. She was perfect for a visit to Ekraar; a sire we had seen and liked as a potential Derby horse.
We went three times before we got HABIBI. What a horse. She foaled in our paddock, “queen bee”, and we loved her, and trainer and forever friend, Donna Logan, made her. We’ll never forget that magic day of disbelief: we had achieved a years’-long dream.
Tell us the story of Leica Lucy
She has come out of the blue: an unbelievable talent, and it’s happened so fast, it’s really hard to take on board. Considering she flew a six wire fence as a foal, and was in your face, a witch that our trainer and friend for many years, master horseman Robbie Patterson, really liked early. He’s always told us truth about our horses. And he told it early.
Lucy is out of Dynamite Lucy (Sir Percy / Timpin). We’re not into sprinters. Pete and I love the classic type. And we were looking for that.
Her first Derryn, (we liked the breeding and it matched very well for distance), was a gelding as slow as and was rehomed, the third sadly died when we had to put Dynamite Lucy down due to laminitis so it’s all up to Lucy. What she has achieved since her first win has been beyond sanity.
How many mares do you breed from?
Currently we have just 3 mares: Madeira, Dezella and Question Mark. All raced and bred. Having to cut down, now being old fellas!
What else do you have in your bloodstock portfolio? (foals, racehorses, stallion shares etc)
One colt weanling (Vanbrugh), Two yearling fillies (Turn Me Loose and Armory), Two x 2yos - a Satono Aladdin filly (Madeira) and a Zed/Malala (half-sister to Habibi) gelding.
Matings to foal this year, an Armory, Ace High, and Profondo.
Racing: Leica Lucy, and Meloni, (Ghipellines/Pania) about to race, and kept 20% share of Bridal Train (U S Navy Flag/Madeira), who we sold at Karaka to Allan Sharrock. We liked her.
Do you breed to race or breed to sell? If sell, how do you decide on what to retain and what to sell?
We mainly breed to race but we have to try and sell one to cover service fees. This year, a Proisir/Dezella filly at Karaka.
Do you seek advice on your breeding decisions?
Our choice of sires comes mostly from our gut feelings, what Peter sees in the breeding, and sometimes asking studs for their opinion of our choices.
Best breeding advice you have received?
Best breeding advice came from a studmaster who told us to just accept the ability to make ‘not bad’ choices. That’s tough because we’re just little people in the breeding business. We love the entire horse industry, even when it brings failures, mistakes, and disappointments. We’ve had heaps, like every one of us.
What advice would you give someone entering the industry as a breeder?
It’s a great feeling to realise passionate dreams. Go for it.
Finish this sentence: The best part of being a thoroughbred breeder is…
For Peter and me, the BEST part of being a thoroughbred breeder is being passionate enough to take it on. About being a part of a wonderful family of little breeders, the joys of achieving some success. It takes a big commitment too. NZ has a great record of producing racing stars
And lastly, we have to say a HUGE “THANK YOU” to each and every one of you for being a part of our journey. There are so many of you. We are so very lucky and grateful.
