Generational change – Chitticks look to new guard with son of Snitzel to stand at Waikato Stud

Mark Chittick is fully aware that Savabeel, the rising 25-year-old champion stallion who has been the leader of Waikato Stud for two decades, is near the end of his career.

His rostermates Super Seth, with three crops of racing age and four Group 1 winners to his name, is on his way, and Savabeel’s son Noverre is poised to potentially make his mark as a stallion.

But equally the New Zealand studmaster knows the fickleness of the industry means it requires constant investment in the future otherwise you’ll be left behind.

Two years ago, that foresight saw Chittick buy a share in a $1.3 million Snitzel colt out of a Lonhro sister to Godolphin’s stakes-winning mare Ghisoni at the Magic Millions in a Te Akau syndicate that also included Australian breeding powerhouse Kia Ora.  

The Blue Gum Farm-sold colt, who was purchased by Te Akau’s David Ellis, won all four starts in New Zealand as a two-year-old, his juvenile season capped with victory in the Group 1 Sistema Stakes at Ellerslie.

He appeared to have it all in front of him, with head Te Akau trainer Mark Walker sending the colt to Australia with a plan of enhancing his CV.

All was on track until Return To Conquer suffered what would be a career-ending suspensory injury prior to racing during his three-year-old season, leading to his early retirement and now, a place on the Waikato Stud stallion roster.  

As a part-owner Chittick was kept up to date with Return To Conquer’s unlikely return to the racetrack and it was then that he began “having a bit of a chat” about taking him on at Waikato Stud.

“Off the back of his pedigree, his looks, his yearling price, and obviously his race performance, and with the start that Sword Of State has had, it was the obvious choice to give him every opportunity here in New Zealand,” Chittick told The Straight.

“He fits into our program and our farm business extremely well, and obviously we’re rapt to have a few of the previous owners staying in him, such as an Australian farm in Kia Ora.

“For them to be sending mares over and supporting him is a big thing for the horse and for New Zealand.”

Chittick’s reference to Sword Of State in relation to Return To Conquer, both sons of Snitzel bought out of the Magic Millions, is important.

Stallion power drives buyers’ appetite to spend up on horses, no matter the yearling sale, and that adage was evident again at last month’s New Zealand Bloodstock’s Karaka Yearling Sale.

At the conclusion of the Karaka Book 1 offering, Cambridge Stud’s Sword Of State was the country’s leading local sire by average ($260,250) and second by aggregate ($5.25 million), runner-up by that metric to Savabeel, whose 27 yearlings to sell made a combined $5.715 million at an average of $211,667.

Buyers, including Ciaron Maher who bought the sale-topping $1.1 million colt by the stallion, gravitated towards Sword Of State off the back of the Bjorn Baker-trained Warwoven, a Golden Slipper hopeful, the Lindsay Park-trained Listed winner Torture and the New Zealand winner State The Obvious.

The early signs are encouraging for the Cambridge Stud stallion who stood for NZ$15,000 – the same introductory fee that Return To Conquer will stand at in 2026 – but it’s a fickle business and things change quickly.

No one knows that better than Chittick whose Waikato Stud draft of yearlings grossed NZ$5.9 million at Karaka’s Book 1. It was second only to Cambridge Stud but below what Waikato had budgeted.

More than anything, Waikato suffered because of the stage of their stallion roster’s generational cycle. 

“It’s such a fashion business, but as well as that, you’re breeding for two years’ time and I suppose when you take the likes of Super Seth, at that stage he had two-year-olds, you’ve got the legend in Savabeel in the box next door who has left 150 plus stakes winners … your best mares are going to him,” Chittick says. 

“In between that time, Super Seth had a start like no other stallion has. In fact, somebody told me yesterday his stats at the same stage are exactly the same as Redoute’s Choice, and only second to Danehill, in kicking off a stud career in Australasia.

“If that’s a fact, it’s a pretty big call.”

The generational change at Waikato extends beyond the stallion roster, with Chittick leaving it to sons George and Harry, who were also overseeing the stud’s Classic sale draft in Sydney last week, to inspect Return To Conquer at Te Akau’s Cranbourne stables prior to signing the contractual dotted line.

Their opinions backed up what agent Bruce Perry thought of the colt as a yearling and the high opinion held by Jamie and Chanel Beatson who broke Return To Conquer in for Te Akau.

“And then when George and Harry went from Sydney to see him in the stable last week, and the positive comments that came from (Te Akau assistant trainer) Ben Gleeson who worked with him and what they experienced in the hour or so that they were there, there’s just no negatives, all positives,” Chittick said.

All going well, Return To Conquer will be stabled alongside Savabeel who could be embarking on his 22nd season at stud before handing over the mantle to the Super Seth, Return To Conquer, Ardrossan and company.

“He looks incredible, he’s still doing his exercise on the treadmill every second day, which has certainly kept him fit and in good order, and he served extremely well last year, but there’s no doubt about it, it is more difficult getting success in the breeding shed nowadays,” Chittick said.

“And this year, if there is – and I can’t see any reason why we wouldn’t be taking him to the breeding shed on the 1st of September and onwards at this stage – it will more than likely be just shareholders’ mares of 50 or 60.”