Rowe On Monday – A Super deal for Waikato and Coolmore, the emerging multifaceted talents of Anders on show at Caulfield

‘We’ll still be involved’ – Super Seth sale cements breeding powerhouses’ growing relationship

Mark Chittick didn’t get much sleep on Thursday night, knowing that he’d just signed a deal to sell Waikato Stud’s super stallion Super Seth to Coolmore for $70 million.

Chittick wouldn’t confirm financial details, but The Straight has established that breeders are being offered shares in Super Seth at $1.75 million for a 2.5 per cent share in the Group 1-producing stallion.

That values him at A$70 million or NZ$82.8 million. Regardless of which currency you’re using, it’s a mouth-watering amount of money. Despite the huge sums involved and the ramifications of selling a horse of Super Seth’s calibre, negotiations were relatively quick.

They went from an initial expression of interest, a flight to New Zealand by Coolmore’s Tom Magnier and stud manager Justin Carey, to a deal being done in less than a fortnight.

New shareholders in Super Seth – and existing owners including Jonathan Munz who have retained all or part of their percentage ownership – entitle them to a 30 per cent discount on his service fee and an annual dividend from the income he generates from the serving barn each season. 

To the dispassionate, it would seem a no-brainer for the Chitticks to sell, but it wasn’t that easy.

“It’s our family’s life and soul and it’s exactly what we do and we don’t do anything else. And from my personal point of view, those stallions, past and present, I love them to bits and he’s the horse that’s right at the top of the list there,” Chittick told this column. 

“But I’ll continue to have as much passion for him because we’ll still be involved. And the relationship that we’ve built over the last wee while with the Magnier family has become very tight and very strong through this process. 

“Off the success that he’s had in this short amount of time, plus the gap that they have after losing a couple of proven horses, that’s how this scenario all came together and played out, I suppose.”

Coolmore’s acquisition of Super Seth points to a void in its Australian roster for a proven stallion who can stand in the realm of $125,000 to $150,000 service fee range, a figure that Chittick says the New Zealand industry couldn’t sustain. 

“I honestly believe, and obviously Coolmore do as well, that the way his career is going, he could potentially stand at north of $200,000,” he said.

“We do see the stallions over there that are (standing for that fee), but no matter what his success was here, he was probably always limited to the $100,000-$120,000 to be honest.

“And so I suppose when you start throwing all of the equations, in the end it was a business decision and I firmly do believe, and although I’m very sentimental with the stallions, we’ve made the right decision in handing him over to Coolmore and getting those opportunities over there.”

With Super Seth heading to the Hunter Valley, and Group 1-winning two-year-old Return To Conquer joining the Waikato roster in 2026, it could signal a change of approach for Waikato’s mating plans.

“We bred 180 mares of our own this year, so come the 1st of September, where did the top 60 go? 

“We’ve got a new young horse that will hopefully arrive on the farm this week and I still have a lot of belief in Ardrossan and Noverre who have got a massive opportunity in front of us.

“Let’s say we send something like 10 over there for Seth. Why not have a couple more and look at a couple of other stallions?

“Obviously, we’ve had close dealings with Kia Ora over the last couple of weeks and formed a relationship there (through Return To Conquer) and a horse like Farnan, even pre-Saturday, but certainly confirming his results on Saturday, he’s a horse I’d love to send mares to.”

While Chittick has plenty to contemplate, he will sleep more easily once Super Seth arrives at Coolmore, possibly late this week.

“Tom can do that worrying from now on, but I’m sure he’ll have as much fun, if not more, than what we’ve had so far with him,” he said.

Anders becoming a versatile stallion just like his own sire

There are no “absolutes” when it comes to breeding. Widden Stud’s Anders was a flying machine, winning four races at two and three, all over 1100 metres for trainer Ciaron Maher.

Anders, a son of the versatile Not A Single Doubt, has two first-crop stakes winners so far, his second coming at Caulfield on Saturday 

The Matt Cumani-trained Single Choice won the Group 2 Autumn Classic over 1800 metres, a victory that came a fortnight after Daytona Diva won the Strutt Stakes in Tasmania over 2020 metres.

Were there any pedigree clues to the dash of stamina? The pair’s dam sires were Sebring and Elvstroem, respectively, who have proven the ability to throw middle-distance horses.

Anders was bought as a yearling by his trainer Ciaron Maher and Shane McGrath, who was acting for Aquis Farm at the time.

McGrath celebrated another big-race success as agent on Saturday, having selected Blue Diamond-winning filly Streisand, a $100,000 buy at last year’s Inglis Premier sale, two years after her Clinton McDonald-trained stablemate Hayasugi won the same race.

Hayasugi, who died early last year after complications from a foot injury, was a $47,500 weanling purchase by McGrath and his old Coolmore peer James Bester.

Streisand, who has quickly become a seven-figure filly, is co-owned by McGrath’s children Ava and Darcy, the latter a key member of McDonald’s team at Cranbourne.