Rowe On Monday - Sweet Oaks success, the foal crop question, Hellbent on a Single path and Zhang’s Met moment

In this week’s Rowe On Monday, Riversdale celebrates You Wahng’s Queensland Oaks win, Inglis James Price on the declining foal crop, why Hellbent is tracking a champion’s stats and an American success in the Yulong colours.

Sweet Oaks win for Riversdale

For the Hunter Valley’s Riversdale Farm, Saturday’s Queensland Oaks win by You Wahng was extra special.

The Hodges family has been breeding thoroughbreds for decades, with Riversdale credited in more recent times with selling Group 1 winners Nettoyer, Samadoubt and Behemoth.

They are notable achievements, but You Wahng’s elite level victory is even more significant for Nick Hodges and his wife Jasmine because of their close attachment to the three-year-old So You Think filly, Riversdale’s fourth Group 1 winner.

Bred by Riversdale’s client Dr Jeremy Kessell out of his five-time winner Wahng Wah, a $30,000 weanling purchase by Vinery’s Adam White for the owner-breeder, You Wahng was born, raised and sold by the Hodges who played a pivotal role in the filly’s formative stages.

“It's nice for him (Kessell) to have such success when he's doing it all on his own, which is always a risk when you put your money down,” Nick Hodges said of Kessell who trades under Wall Street Thoroughbreds.

“You're not spreading your risk, you're all in.”

That considered gamble by Kessell has paid dividends, however, with Wahng Wah already the dam of Listed winner Street Gossip and the three-time winner So Newchee Thinks, all by So You Think.

Kris Lees trains You Wahng, a $150,000 Magic Millions purchase in conjunction with agent Justin Bahen, having also prepared both her dam and So Newchee Thinks.

Hodges says there was growing confidence that You Wahng could win the Queensland Oaks, having run third to Treasurethe Moment in the Australian Oaks, and an encouraging fifth in The Doomben Roses.

“I actually bumped into Justin Bahen up at the mares sale (on the Gold Coast) and he was pretty excited with what they thought the filly could do in the Oaks,” he said.

“You never know, it's racing. But they seemed a bit more positive than the $18 price that she was going in.

“I went back and had a look at her yearling videos after she won. She wasn't the biggest filly, but it was just her stride and she was an active filly. She was light on her feet and always on the go.

“She had a girth and a big stride to her.” 

Kessell’s 12-year association with the family, starting with the acquisition of the Patinack Farm-bred Wahng Wah, is likely to continue for some time to come given the Casino Prince mare’s ability to produce a good horse.

Her two-year-old filly by Pierro, Listen Sweetheart, was tested at Listed level at her only start while she has a weanling colt by So You Think.

At a time when Pride Of Jenni could race on in the spring while in foal - she is to be served by I Am Invincible - it’s interesting to note that Kessell kept So Newchee Thinks in work with Lees early this year while in foal to Starspangledbanner.

A year-older sibling to You Wahng, a $150,000 Magic Millions purchase by Lees in conjunction with agent Justin Bahen, So Newchee Thinks won two metropolitan races in Sydney in January before being retired after a last-start third in Saturday company on February 1.

With plenty to look forward to, Hodges was revelling in Saturday’s achievement and thankful for the numerous congratulatory text messages and phone calls from his peers after You Wahng’s Oaks win.

“This is our fourth Group 1 winner that we've sold over the years, but this is the first one that's actually been conceived, raised and sold the whole way through by us, which makes it just that extra bit sweeter,” he said.

Price’s foal crop observations

The Australian (and New Zealand) foal crop, no matter which side you’re on, generates debate.

There’s those who suggest too many horses are being bred, compromising equine welfare, then there are other participants who say there aren’t enough foals being born to sustain racing across the country as well as export markets such as Hong Kong.

The Straight last year projected that the 2025 Australian foal crop could be about 10,500, the lowest since the mid-1970s.

That contraction, unsurprisingly, is largely coming in the smaller, non-commercial or breed-to-race segment of the market rather than the commercial breed-to-sell side of the breeding industry.

Inglis’ Victorian bloodstock manager James Price believes that the number of commercial mares being bred remains similar to what has occurred over the past five to 10 years.

“Yes, the foal crop's dropping, but the number of horse inspections we do has remained the same, and I think it will remain the same,” Price told the Straight Talk podcast.

“Look, I do think there was a drop off and we might feel that in 18 months, with less mares bred in the 2024 season that we've just seen, so (there will be) less foals in the 2025 crop.”

Straight Talk Podcast - Bloodstock market insights feat. Inglis’ James Price, prize money questions, plus the future direction of racing and wagering

Join Bren O’Brien and Tim Rowe on this week’s edition of Straight Talk, brought to you by Inglis and Darley, where they delve into the intricacies of the racing and wagering industry.

The StraightThe Straight News Desk

The economies of scale is something that works across almost all industries and thoroughbred racing and breeding is no exception.

Price says the number of farms in Victoria and South Australia who have bred horses to potentially be sold as yearlings has declined by 30 per cent in recent years.

“Interestingly, if we look at the number of farms that we visit over an extended period of time, five years ago, here in Victoria and South Australia, we inspected horses on 200 properties,” he said.

“Now five years on to 2024, last year when we started our inspection period at the end of the second half of the year, we went to 140 farms, so that's 200 down to 140. 

“So, I think the smaller breeder is finding it tough (with) rising costs and very competitive in the sale ring. 

“I would suggest some of (those people) are not breeding, and then also some are saying, ‘well, this is not a commercial horse, I'm just going to breed (and race it)’. 

“But I think it is a challenge for the industry to keep that smaller breeder involved.”

Hellbent on the right track

Comparing stallions at the same point of their careers is often revealing and this column believes consistency from a sire is an underrated trait when it comes to assessing their progeny’s feats.

Naturally, the ability to produce stakes winners is imperative, longer term but so too should be the number of good racehorses. 

They might not be the stallion prospects or high-priced fillies off the track but ones who have the talent to pay their way and get their owners winning photos on the wall.

The late Not A Single Doubt was always a stallion this writer admired for his consistency and Hellbent is leaving a similar impression.

On Saturday, Hellbent’s two-year-old filly Sunrays, trained by Kelly Schweida, made it two Listed wins in succession in Brisbane for owner-breeder Peter Moran, no stranger to a decent horse. He also raced Staging, Duporth, Tickets and Excites in years gone by.

Without wanting to venture into Run The Numbers territory, at the same stage of their stud careers, Not A Single Doubt had sired nine stakes winners (four at Group 3 level and five Listed winners) and had a winners to runners ratio of 61 per cent.

Hellbent is the sire of seven stakes winners - including Group 1 winners Magic Time and Benedetta - and has a winners to runners percentage of 66 per cent.

Not A Single Doubt closed out his career with 84 stakes winners, 16 of them being Group 1 winners including young sires Farnan, Stronger and the influential Extreme Choice.

Zhang’s Raging Torrent of success

US four-year-old entire Raging Torrent, part-owned by Yulong’s Zhang Yuesheng, continued his unblemished record since the change of ownership with victory in the Grade 1 Met at Saratoga at the weekend.

Trained by Doug O’Neill, Raging Torrent had won the Malibu Stakes at Grade 1 level over seven furlongs on Boxing Day, prompting Zhang to buy the stallion prospect.

In two starts since, Raging Torrent has won the Grade 2 Godolphin Mile in Dubai on April 5 before returning to North America to win the Met.

Raging Torrent, initially a US$75,000 breeze up buy for Mark Davis, is by Into Mischief’s son Maximus Mischief.

The reigning six-time champion American sire Into Mischief’s three-year-old son Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga to go with his Kentucky Derby victory.

Sovereignty bypassed the Preakness Stakes, which was won by Belmont Stakes runner-up Journalism.

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