Photo: Cornege Photography
In this week's Meet the Breeder, we caught up with a name synonymous in breeding and racing- Daniel Nakhle. Daniel achieved the pinnacle of breeding when Crocetti took out the Gr.1 2000 Guineas in 2023. Crocetti has now doubled his group one tally after his success in the Gr.1 Sistema Railway at Ellerslie on Karaka Millions night.
Tell us the story of Crocetti
Crocetti's grand dam Irish Colleen was the very first purchase I made selecting a horse by myself. I am absolutely sure it was more luck than skill but I was walking around the weanling sales and went to the Fayette Park barn where they were having a dispersal sale. I still remember the exact moment I saw a furry but strong weanling filly by a sire I loved in Shinko King. My thinking was more around finding a horse that was well "engineered" piecing together what I understood from listening to far better horse people and judges than I will ever be.
Irish Colleen was a lovely race mare trained by Stephen and Trevor McKee and won a couple of stakes races and so a tiny dynasty began.
Colleen's first foal (and only ever filly) was Gracehill who was a foal share with my pal Mark Chittick at Waikato Stud and was purchased by Roger James. I followed her short career with interest and was taken by her explosive turn of foot. After she was retired, I approached Roger to see if she was available and after a lot of back and forth (where Roger and Gracehill's owners Don and Sue Crawford were very patient with me!), we managed to agree on a price and I bought back the only daughter Irish Colleen has had to date. I still keep in regular contact with Sue who is a fan of the family and it's really brilliant to be keeping her and Don updated with photos and videos and she is often one of the first to send a message when there is a winner in the family. It's great to share the excitement with them both.
Crocetti was Gracehill's third foal, her first having knee issues but is now a top eventing horse for Philippa Whitaker. Her second foal showed a lot of ability and won on debut as a 2yo but unfortunately went amiss and has now had a lovely Proisir filly.
Gracehill and in fact Irish Colleen were sent to Zacinto as I was captivated by the cross with the stallion and Russell Warwick, who very generously lets me run all matings past, gave me his tick off approval and Crocetti was conceived.
He was a standout colt from the minute he was born and Carol Walker's pick of all our foals. Carol ran Byerley Park at the time and is racing manager now.
Not being overly fashionably bred, we kept Deano back for the NZB Ready To Run sale but after a couple of weeks, he developed splints was sent back home for a rethink on what to do with him.
I recall Carol ringing me one afternoon a few weeks later. Carol knew I wanted to send a horse to Danny and Arron given the great job they do with their horses and said she had been watching Deano around his paddock for a few days and he "floated" over the ground and asked my thoughts on sending him to Danny and Arron for an assessment of him. I agreed which was very good news to Carol as she then advised me Deano was already at their stable and in work!! I still smile when I recall that conversation and I owe Carol a lot for her great judgement!
Deano never put a foot wrong and as he worked into his preparation, the team's confidence grew that we might have the real deal on our hands. The rest as they say is history.
How did you get into thoroughbred breeding?
My father was a punter and all Saturday was spent listening to races on the radio and hearing bets being placed. At the age of 11 we moved onto a lifestyle property and the paddock next door had a mare and foal. My school holidays were spent digging out thistles and watering trees and on breaks, jumping over the fence to play with the filly foal. I was 100 to 1 and drifting to not be involved in breeding and racing from then on!
How many mares do you breed from?
The broodmare band has increased over the last few years as Entain has reinvigorated the industry. I am a bit anti-cyclical with my thinking so as the foal crop dropped, I purchased more mares and stallion shares. I just hope I have the timing right! At this stage I have around 25 mares including some with my great pal Darren Brady.
What else do you have in your bloodstock portfolio? (foals, racehorses, stallion shares etc)
Gracehill has a lovely yearling filly by Brazen Beau who will head to Danny and Arron and a standout chestnut Proisir filly at foot who reminds us a lot of Crocetti at the same age. I am a big fan of Proisir and sent quite a few mares to him when he was up and coming a few seasons ago and a couple of the yearling fillies will be kept to race. Barbara Kennedy is doing a great job with Pour The Wine and I have a few young horses with both Barbara and also Donna Logan at present.
Do you breed to race or breed to sell? If sell, how do you decide on what to retain and what to sell?
Russell Warwick has always drilled it into me that we should be planning to breed a racehorse not a sales horse so you will often see me sending mares to less than commercial stallions like Zacinto and even Proisir early on when he stood for $7000. The plan is to keep the fillies and sell the colts but given the numbers I do sell both now and keep filly's from mares that are close to my heart like Gracehill and a couple of other's with the rest heading to NZ Bloodstock at yearling stage or RTR.
Some colts are kept back for maturity reasons and are always open to offers at the trials.
When I am selling I won't take horses to the sales that I would not be happy to race myself on the basis that if I don't think they are a good enough type, why would anyone else want to buy them.
Do you seek advice on your breeding decisions?
Russell Warwick is extremely generous with his time and his explanations every season (often seeing my emails come in at 2am!) and I like to run the matings past Carol Walker and Kenny Best at Byerley Park to make sure the right decisions are being made on type and any faults in the mares we are trying to correct.
Best breeding advice you have received?
We are here to breed a top race horse not a sales horse - Russell Warwick.
What do you love about the thoroughbred breeding industry?
You have to love horses first and foremost but what also makes it for me are the people in the industry. You meet some absolute champions through racing and breeding and almost all my closest friends I have met that way. It's an extremely challenging game and you have to have a lot of backbone and fortitude and that is the type of people thoroughbred breeding attracts.
What advice would you give someone entering the industry as a breeder?
Be careful and surround yourself with people you trust to give you advice and guidance along the way.
Proudest moment as a breeder?
It has to be taking the punt and sending Gracehill to Zacinto to breed Crocetti.
Finish this sentence: The best part of being a thoroughbred breeder is…
The friends you make.
