‘Like jumping out of a plane wondering if your parachute’s going to open’ – Family first as Tyreel calls time

After more than 12 years of dedication to breeding and raising thoroughbreds, Tyreel Stud’s Linda and Laurence Monds are taking a step back from the seven days a week commitment the industry requires.

During their time based at Tyreel Stud in the Hawkesbury region the Monds have bred or raised Group 1 winners Classique Legend, Coco Sun, Behemoth and Montefilia at the renowned property in the Sydney basin.

They have continued the rich four-decade thoroughbred history of Tyreel, a place where Golden Slipper winner Bint Marscay, Singapore champion Rocket Man and Filante, among other stars of the track, were born and raised under the tutelage of the late Jim Fleming and later his son Dean.

Tyreel was sold by Dean Fleming in the mid-2010s, with the Monds maintaining the small farm’s reputation for breeding Group 1 horses.

But the death of Linda Monds’ father David Wallings two-and-a-half years ago caused pause for thought, leading to the decision to scale back their thoroughbred interests and to spend more time with her two sons Ben and Blake and her mother Helen, 83.

“It’s actually that time in our lives where we’re not getting any younger and we’ve done this for 12-and-a-half years now. When my father passed away that really did hit us quite hard,” Linda Monds tells The Straight of the family’s decision to wind down Tyreel’s thoroughbred breeding operation.

“I’ve got my beautiful mum, who’s 83, she lives on her own and I always said, when dad passed away, that I’d spend a day a week with her, helping her out and doing things for her and with her, and that just doesn’t happen. 

“I try to make it happen, but then this game is so busy, it takes so much of your time. And so it was a family decision between my husband, myself, my mum, and my two boys.”

The excitement of one day becoming a grandmother also made Monds consider that there were other things in life other than breeding horses.

“We’ve been very successful over the years, and we’ve had a great journey. It’s been really, really wonderful to us, the whole industry. But I just couldn’t bear the thought of saying to my kids, ‘I’m sorry, we can’t spend Christmas Day or Easter with you because of work’,” Monds says.

“It’s a full on role and you’re either 100 per cent invested in it, or really not at all.”

The Tyreel property, along with their cattle property at Cassilis near Merriwa in the Upper Hunter region, won’t be sold. 

The Monds’ also won’t be lost to the thoroughbred industry all together, with four Tyreel-bred weanlings to be consigned at next year’s yearling sales by Yarraman Park.

The Mitchell family’s Yarraman Park will also board some Tyreel-owned mares as well as another as-yet-to-be-determined stud.

“We’ve retained four (weanlings to be sold) next year and they’re an exciting four,” Monds says. 

“All going well with them, they should do very, very well and we’ll just keep the broodmares and enjoy the journey with it all.”

Tyreel’s red and white sash and light blue sleeve racing silks are also still associated with two half-sisters to Classique Legend.

Candlewick, a four-year-old daughter of Pierro, is nearing a return to the races for trainer Joe Pride and two-year-old I Am Invincible filly Fiaba is currently spelling.

She won a barrier trial at Rosehill in April before being sent to the paddock by trainer Chris Waller.

“Candlewick’s racing and Fiaba’s gone back into pre-training (today), so we’ll enjoy them. We do race a few fillies and mares and we’ll continue to do that. We’re loving the racing side of it,” Monds said.

“Obviously, you’d like them to be up there winning the black type races, but we still get just as much of a thrill when they win a midweeker. Mum loves it, so I try to get her to the races with me when I can. She’s loving that and the great interest for our family.”

While it wasn’t a dispersal then, in reality, Tyreel had been making sound commercial decisions in recent years with its breeding stock.

The Monds’ sold Classique Legend’s dam Pinocchio for $1.15 million at the 2024 Chairman’s Sale and South Australian Derby winner Coco Sun’s mother Miss Hufflepuff for $260,000 at Inglis’ premium mares’ auction 12 months later.

As the Monds’ decision to bow out of the day-to-day thoroughbred breeding industry was solidified, they have been destocking with one mare on the most recent Inglis Digital sale and more expected to be catalogued in the upcoming online auction.

And they do so without any regrets.

“We didn’t anticipate the success coming as early and as quickly as we did, but with a bit of luck on our side and a lot of hard work (we have had big results in the sales ring and racetrack),” Monds says. 

“In this game, you make a decision and you really don’t know if it’s the right or wrong one, but you just have to hang on tight and hope for the best and do everything in your power to just hopefully make sure that all the Ts are crossed and the Is are dotted. 

“I used to say when we first came here, ‘oh wow, this business is like jumping out of a plane wondering if your parachute’s going to open’.

“But now my new saying is, ‘it’s like putting all of your money into a poker machine and waiting two to three years later to see if your numbers and colors align’.

“It’s a high risk, but it’s also high gain, so when it has paid off, it’s been incredibly rewarding. And you do have to sort of pinch yourself and say,’ wow, did that just happen?’ We’ve been so grateful for the support of the purchasers of our horses and the trust and the belief they’ve had in our brand.”

Tyreel’s thoroughbred staff have either obtained other employment or are in the process of doing so.