In this week’s Rowe On Monday, Tim Rowe catches up with some of the Australian contingent in the US for Kentucky's breeding stock sales, examines the Atishu gamble and reflects on Denise Martin's New Zealand purchases.
Manaal, King Colorado, Little Brose, Affaire A Suivre, Wild Ruler and now Switzerland, Saturday’s emphatic Coolmore Stud Stakes winner, has joined the growing list of Australian Group 1 winners out of American mares.
It’s that impressive record that sees an increasing number of Australian breeders tempted to test the market in the US at this week’s Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland breeding stock sales in the country’s thoroughbred heartland of Kentucky.
The Chris Waller-trained and Coolmore-owned Snitzel colt Switzerland, who put 2-3/4 lengths on his rivals at Flemington to make it five wins from seven starts, is a son of Canadian-bred mare Ms Bad Behavior, a Grade 3 winner in the US who cost Arrowfield US$600,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton sale.
Arrowfield’s Jon Freyer, who signed the docket on that occasion, is back in Kentucky for the breeding stock sales alongside Paul Messara searching for more suitable US-bred and performed mares to import to Australia.
So too are Coolmore’s Colm Santry, Newgate’s Henry Field, Widden’s Antony Thompson, Milburn Creek’s John Muir, Emirates Park’s Bryan Carlson and Bell River’s Andrew Ferguson as are a host of bloodstock agents such as Will Johnson, Craig Rounsefell and Julian Blaxland.
If Switzerland’s timely reminder of the influence of American bloodlines on the Australian Stud Book wasn’t enough, the Victoria Derby provided another.
The Harry Perks-bred and Andrew Gluyas-trained Goldrush Guru is by US Triple Crown winner and former Coolmore shuttler American Pharoah out of the Group 2 Wakeful Stakes-placed mare Glam Guru. She is by Darley’s former US shuttler Medaglia d’Oro while Glam Guru’s dam, the unraced Glory Guru, is by Fusaichi Pegasus, another American stallion who shuttled to Coolmore Australia.
The week in Kentucky is a melting pot of industry figures from around the world meeting in Lexington as much as the array of pedigrees on offer at Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland.
Magic Millions managing director and Keeneland representative Barry Bowditch, who is also in the States for the sales, says it makes sense why the American bloodlines appear to be working Down Under.
“When you look at what the American pedigree represents - which from an Australian perspective is type, speed, an outcross and precociousness - it ticks a lot of the boxes that the Australian breeder looks for when they go to the market to buy breeding stock,” Bowditch says.
“You're looking towards breeding a great sprinter or two-year-old and I think the American thoroughbred represents that and complements what we're breeding here like no other bloodline in the world.
“Every year, for the small percentage of what the American mare represents within our studbook, they far out exceed expectations.”
There were 30 mares imported to Australia from America (not all with an USA suffix) last year and, so far in 2024, there’s been another 23 brought Down Under.
The lower Australian dollar, which is currently buying 66 US cents, will be a factor for the commercial breeders attempting to add diversity to their broodmare bands.
“It’s like bringing a knife to a gunfight is never a good idea. But you're going up there for a reason. You're going up there to buy something that will fit your profile or portfolio,” says Andrew Williams, the Australasian representative for Fasig-Tipton.
“In doing so, you know that you've got to factor in the dollar. It's not cheap to buy fillies and mares off the track in Australia these days. So, you've got to be mindful of the fact that, yes, you're taking on the American dollar, but you go to Tattersall's and you're taking on the pound.”
Santry also escorted a number of Australian buyers to the Breeders’ Cup festivities at Del Mar on their way to Kentucky where he will also host a tour of Coolmore’s Ashford Stud for the southern hemisphere contingent before attending Monday’s (US time) Fasig-Tipton and the Keeneland sale which starts on Tuesday.
He believes the Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland breeding stock sales are “probably the best in the world”.
“It's got worldwide participation from Japan to the southern hemisphere and, of course, everybody in the US,” Santry says.
“They have great depth of pedigrees in America. They've been doing it for a long time, as we know. But I would say the longevity of the breeding industry and the depth they have in their pedigrees is very good.
“Also, the mares tend to suit Australia. They run at a very high cruising speed in their races and it's a survival of the fittest up there (in America), if I may say.”
Coolmore’s MV Magnier was at the Breeders’ Cup at Del Mar where he watched Justify’s pin-up colt City Of Troy out-paced early at his dirt debut, running on to finish eighth ahead of his retirement to stud. The Coolmore and company-owned Sierra Leone, a three-year-old colt by Gun Runner who is trained by Chad Brown, however, prevailed in the brutally run affair.
MV’s brother Tom, principal of Coolmore Australia, was at Flemington to witness Switzerland’s important Group 1 victory, ensuring the colt will join the Jerry’s Plains stallion roster alongside 2023 Golden Slipper winner Shinzo and 2021 Coolmore winner Home Affairs.
“We looked at him a lot at Easter, the whole team had him on the list straight away,’’ Tom Magnier said of Switzerland, a $1.5 million Inglis Easter purchase in 2023.
“To win this race is what you have to do in our industry and I’m just delighted for all the people involved in the horse because they’re great supporters of our industry.”
The Breeders’ Cup also demonstrated that Australian bloodlines can have an impact in the northern hemisphere. Zoustar’s three-year-old colt Starlust won the Group 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint for Britain’s Ralph Beckett.
Widden Stud’s Cogburn, who will shuttle to the Hunter Valley from next year, started favourite but he weakened late to run fifth after jockey Irad Oritz set a cracking tempo.
Australian mare Uncorked, a daughter of Pierro who was bred by New Zealander Alan Galbraith and sold by Willow Park Stud at the Magic Millions in 2021, also featured at the Breeders’ Cup, finishing runner-up in the Grade 3 Goldikova Stakes on day two at Del Mar.
A daughter of Iffraaj mare Piaf, Uncorked won a Sale maiden for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott prior to being sent to North America by her owner Stuart Grant where she has won three races including the Grade 3 Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita in April.
Uncorked was subsequently announced as a supplementary entry for Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton sale.
Atishu gamble pays off
Derby day at Flemington was also vindication for Go Racing’s Albert Bosma and Chris Waller who made the call to withdraw Saturday’s Group 1 Empire Rose winner Atishu from the Magic Millions sale in May and instead race her on in the new season as a seven-year-old mare.
Atishu, a daughter of champion sire Savabeel and a sister to Group 3 winner Mazzolino from the family of Group 1 winner Daffodil, would have realised a multimillion-dollar price on the Gold Coast.
It’s a delicate balance for a syndicator as to when to retire or sell their banner horse and the temptation is always there to go on for too long.
What a finish 😮💨
— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) November 2, 2024
ATISHU comes from nowhere to take out the TAB Empire Rose Stakes.
🎥 @wwos | #DerbyDay | #MelbCupCarnival pic.twitter.com/G6Pd4S6ul0
Bosma and the owners gambled on continuing to race Atishu on for another season - a punt indeed given mares, in particular, can lose form for no apparent reason - and she now has a third Group 1 to her name as a result.
Runner-up Amelia’s Jewel was brave in second and owner-breeder Peter Walsh can also feel a sense of pride in his mare despite being beaten by a narrow margin.
Atishu will definitely be sold to dissolve the partnership and it’s unclear whether West Australian Walsh will retain Amelia’s Jewel to breed with, but there’ll be seven figures waiting for one or both if and when they go to a broodmare sale.
Invincibella connection pays off for Star and Aeliana
Another syndicator to enjoy Derby day success was Star Thoroughbreds’ Denise Martin.
Her talented Aeliana - a first-crop three-year-old daughter of Arrowfield’s Castelvecchio, the same sire as Group 1 Spring Champion winner El Castello - backed up her Reginald Allen-winning run in Sydney by putting 3-1/2 lengths on her rivals in the Carbine Club, the traditional Group 3 opening race of Flemington’s four-day carnival.
Bred in New Zealand by Nearco Thoroughbreds and Rich Hill Stud, which sold the filly for NZ$180,000 to Star at last year’s NZB Karaka Yearling Sale, Aeliana is one of about a dozen horses Martin has purchased from across the Tasman.
Despite the Kiwi connection, Aelinana has a deep Australian pedigree, being out of Star Witness mare Temolie, a half-sister to Star Thoroughbreds’ Group 1-winning mare Invincibella, hence Martin’s attraction to the Castelvecchio filly.
Martin’s visits may be few and far between, but Star has enjoyed success out of Karakat, most notably with the Gai Waterhouse-trained Primrose Sands, a winner of her first eight starts in the early 2000s.
Rich Hill Stud paid $200,000 for Temolie, who is also a half-sister to stakes winners Secret Blaze and Extreme Flight, at the 2021 Magic Millions Broodmare sale carrying Aeliana. Her Proisir yearling sold for NZ$250,000 at this year’s Karka sale to Ciaron Maher and Tony Fung Investments. She has another Proisir filly born last year and she again returned to Rich Hill’s champion sire in 2023.
Martin, meanwhile, has also expanded her reach to the northern hemisphere, linking with Blandford Bloodstock’s Stuart Boman to buy Watcha Matey for 150,000 guineas (A$309,000) at last week’s Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale.
Formerly trained by Hugo Palmer, northern hemisphere three-year-old Watcha Matey has won four of his 13 starts, from 1400 to 1800 metres.
A last-start winner over a mile at Ripon in August, Watcha Matey will join Aeliana in Waller’s stables.
