Seven days in … breeding and bloodstock

In this edition:

• Rowe on Tuesday – The aura of racing’s spiritual home and the magnificence of Goodwood
• Run The Numbers – The big blue change
• Caulfield Guineas winner Griff lands in Tasmania 
• Shooting To Win moves to Yarradale 
• Magic Millions sales entries open as March format change confirmed  
• Bountiful on offer in Southern Hemisphere Pop-Up Sale 
• From a Meteor to a shooting Star – Widden gets its champion sire 
• Zoustar chosen as Bella Nipotina’s beau
• Velocious sells for $1.625 million 

After sprinting-bred Knight’s Choice delivered co-trainer Sheila Laxon her second victory in the Melbourne Cup last November, the New Zealander claimed that preparation trumped pedigree when it came to stayers.

“Everybody tells me he (Extreme Choice) would never produce a stayer, but what I say is if you can teach him to relax and he switches off and goes to sleep and saves all the energy, he can out-sprint those other stayers because they’re dour stayers,” Laxon said in the aftermath of last year’s upset Melbourne Cup win.

“Macedon (Lodge) really lends herself to getting horses to do that. And on the farm in New Zealand, same thing, rounding up sheep and cattle and all that sort of thing. It really chills them out a bit.”

After visiting Newmarket for the first time last week, it had me pondering whether it’s nature or nurture when it comes to developing horses, particularly stayers, and this country’s apparent dearth of stamina.

Of course, the simple answer is it’s a mix and not one single variable.

But the working hours and the facilities afforded to trainers at Newmarket in what is a labour-intensive industry allows them to teach their horses to relax by giving them long, slow work that better prepares them to run over longer distances.

In the hustle-and-bustle of racecourse training in Australia, where tracks shut much earlier and staff are at a premium, riders being a horse’s back for up to 90 minutes just isn’t possible in most cases.

In this week’s Rowe On Tuesday (jetlag got me on Monday), we look back on a fleeting visit to the UK to take in Glorious Goodwood, a spectacularly scenic racecourse with a range of associated events that make it one of the world’s truly great carnivals. 

There is more clarity around the new-look Godolphin in Australia since the start of the new season, with one of the nine chosen trainers, Chris Waller, already off the mark with his first winner for the global operation at Rosehill last Saturday, while Anthony and Sam Freedman continued their success with a winner last Friday. Ciaron Maher is set to have his first all-blur runner on Wednesday.

This week’s Run The Numbers delves deeper into how many horses the trainers received from Godolphin.

Auction house Magic Millions has officially launched its campaign for the 2026 yearling sales series and, in doing so, confirmed that its March Yearling Sale on the Gold Coast would be open to interstate-bred horses.

New Zealand Group 1-winning juvenile Velocious will join the all-powerful Yulong broodmare band after selling for seven figures last week, while Inglis and UK auction house Tattersalls will conduct a pop-up online sale on Thursday which features the stakes-placed Zoustar mare Bountiful.

The Magic Millions Virtual Sale is also on this afternoon where more top-class mares go under the hammer.

The emotional toll of the premature death of Northern Meteor on Widden Stud’s Antony Thompson was laid bare last week when his champion son Zoustar was officially crowned Australia’s premier stallion.

Reflecting on Northern Meteor, Thompson told Jessica Owers that “he was just an amazing horse”. 

Michael Christian, who paid $4.2 million to buy out his partners in Everest winner Bella Nipotina at the Chairman’s Sale earlier this year, confirmed that Zoustar would be the Pride Of Dubai mare’s maiden mating.

In stallion news, 2023 Caulfield Guineas winner Griff, who was to stand at Larneuk Stud in Victoria, will relocate to Tasmania after a change of circumstances while Shooting To Win has transferred to Yarradale Stud in Western Australia.

And don’t forget to check out all the final stallion tables from the 2024/25 season, which ended last Thursday.

Tim Rowe

Senior Journalist

The Straight