Northern exposure - Australian mares and their passports to success

When 14 ‘international’ yearlings appeared at the recent Inglis Easter Sale, it reconfirmed the global theatre that is breeding and racing.

Shuttle mares — *Shuttling Australian broodmares to the northern hemisphere is gaining in popularity. Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)*

All boasted sires from the northern hemisphere and 13 of their dams were also ‘internationals’. Only Key, a daughter of Exceed And Excel and granddaughter of the New Zealand mare Princess Coup, bore the Australian suffix, as her colt by the world’s premier sire Frankel sold for $800,000.

This is truly a stage with a global reach and passionate audience.

Many Australian owners now send their best mares to the most favoured stallions on earth - in Britain, France, Ireland and the US.

Some bring them home to foal down, some leave them to foal overseas to ‘Australian time’. Others buy mares already in foal and fly them back to have their offspring on home soil.

This post is for our free members

Thanks for your interest in The Straight. It looks like you are trying to access a free members article via an in-app browser on X, Facebook or LinkedIn. For the best experience, and instant access, sign on via the Social Sign In links below. You should only need to do this once.

If you wish to access or create an email-based account, please provide your email below. You will receive a link to click by email which will then open in your device’s native browser.