New blood, old formula for Peters’ next generation

Bob Peters has bred and raced champion after champion over the past 30 years, but a substantial yearling investment spearheaded by his grandson Liam looks set to shape the next generation of stars in the cerise and white.  

Amid the regeneration of a racing and breeding empire that has kept Bob Peters at the forefront of Australia’s thoroughbred industry, the legacy left by one broodmare will never be diminished.

Antique is the matriarch of a family that has delivered the West Australian owner countless racetrack memories.

A daughter of Metal Storm, Antique was purchased by Peters for $130,000 at the 2001 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale.

She raced 10 times for George Hanlon but her career was cut short because of a tendon injury sustained in a minor placing in the 2002 VRC Oaks.

But any disappointment over unfulfilled racetrack potential was soon forgotten as Antique established her bona fides as a broodmare, delivering so much success for Bob and Sandra Peters, before her death in March at Two Bays Farm in Victoria at the age of 25.

Vale Antique

The “Queen” of the farm laid to rest today. Was one of the best. Will be missed daily but remembered forever #dynasty pic.twitter.com/FPawb7xgia

— Two Bays Farm (@twobaysfarm) March 6, 2025

Antique’s influence has been profound as the maternal descendant of eight individual stakes winners, all for Peters Investment, including Group 1 stars Arcadia Queen and Regal Power.

Arcadia Park will attempt to become her latest black type descendant in the Listed Aquanita Stakes at Bunbury on Saturday.

He will have family history on his side in more ways than one because his dam Arcadia Dream won the race in 2015 among five victories that also included a WATC Derby triumph.

A son of Ocean Park, Arcadia Park’s entry into stakes grade comes during a period of renewal for a bloodstock operation in which Peters’ grandson Liam is playing a more active role under the Byerley Bloodstock banner.

In a 2025 investment strategy aimed at delivering new bloodlines, Byerley purchased 18 yearlings across Australasia and added three weanlings to the shopping list from Sydney and the Gold Coast.

For Liam, his brief when buying is uncomplicated.

He tries to source progeny by sires that have served his grandfather while looking for angles to inject fresh pedigrees into the farm. 

“I’d say that we’ve ended up buying pretty much over double the normal amount, maybe even up to triple what we would year on year this time around,” Liam told The Straight.

“It’s good that the boss is sort of giving me a bit more rein and is willing to buy into these different families and create new bloodlines.

“A lot of it is because with some of the better mares … a few wouldn’t get in foal and a few were starting to get old, the better producers like Arcadia and Broadway Belle.

“I think it’s just a good sort of refresh … getting this new blood in.”

Liam says his grandfather has an established blueprint for buying new stock and he rarely departs from that pattern.

“I go off the rules that Bob gives me,” he said. “He wants horses with a bit of leg and a nice amount of athleticism and balance, things like that.

“But he never really wants to stray too far away from the tried and true as well. 

“There’s a few of the younger stallions that he’s willing to take a bit of a punt on but we’re mostly sticking with what’s worked for us, with sires like Pierro.”

Pierro has been particularly effective with the descendants of Antique as the sire of not only Arcadia Queen and Regal Power but other stakes winners Action and Arcadia Prince.

Ocean Park has also been another favourite for Peters, having raced several stakes winners for the Waikato Stud stallion and sent many of his best bred mares to visit him over the years.  

His son Arcadia Park, trained by Michael Grantham is the only last-start winner in the Aquanita, a middle-distance test for three-year-olds that has a rich history of unearthing a future star.

None have been better than the 2000 winner, Northerly but Scenic Shot (2006), Playing God (2011) and Come Play With Me (2019) add gravitas to the honour roll.

Described as a “slow burn”, Arcadia Park is starting to develop a ringcraft that makes him one of the better chances in this year’s race.

“We were hoping to target the better middle-distance races in the autumn like the (WATC) Derby,” Liam said.

“But there were just a few niggling issues and we tried to get him through it but then thought it was just to pull up stumps and save him for these winter races.

“He’s a beautiful type physically but he’s just starting to put it all together now.”

Grantham and Peters will also team up to chase Belmont Oaks success with Lillian, a War Decree filly who will be having her fourth Australian outing after starting her career with an Ashburton win in New Zealand.

Of the five horses to compete in the famous cerise and white Peters colours in Bunbury on Saturday, four were bred by Peters’ Investments.  

But this year’s influx of fresh investment, led by Liam, will see that formula change in the upcoming years.