Husson Eagle as a yearling - Patinack Farm - $42,500

Over the next ten days Prime Thoroughbreds will have six runners competing in stakes races across three states.

This is quite a feat when you consider the average purchase price of our stakes contenders was just $51,166, proving you do not have to spend a fortune to compete at the top level. The combined current value is many times the purchase price.  To date the six have won 12 races and $633,474 in stakes money.  Each of these horses is aged two or three years and we have seen 17 of our two and three year olds race with 12 winning so far. 

The six horses Husson Eagle, Hijack Hussy, Savoureux, Makeadane, Atalanta Miss and Shining Brooke are pictured when I purchased them.  Shining Brooke was a weanling.  All of these horses were advertised through our website and weekly newsletters. To date Hijack Hussy and Savoureux are stakes winners with Husson Eagle stakes placed.  

Hijack Hussy as a yearling – Bellerive Stud - $62,000

Savoureux pictured as a yearling – Edinglassie Stud - $65,000

Makeadane as a yearling – Baramul Stud - $35,000

Atalanta Miss pictured as a yearling – Mill Park Stud - $55,000

Shining Brooke as a weanling – Yarraman Park - $47,500

Good luck to the connections of each of these horses.  Husson Eagle runs in the Group 2 William Hill Stakes at Morphettville, Hijack Hussy in the Listed Mick Dittman Stakes at Doomben, Savoureux in the Listed Denise’s Joy Stakes at Scone, Makeadane in the Listed Hawkesbury Guineas at Rosehill with Atalanta Miss and Shining Brooke running in the Group 3 National Stakes.

Irrespective of the results of these races it is a great effort to have these horses competing in such high class races with each of them indicating they have big futures ahead of them.

ON THE TRACK

In addition to these horses highlighted above we may have Arrayanes, Bella Venus, Stimuli, Maraska, Faith’n’Courage and Invincible Me running as well during this period.

COUNTRY CUP MEETINGS

The Scone Cup Carnival scheduled for next week is in my opinion the best Country Carnival in Australia.  The racing is first class and the Scone Committee really know how to put on a great show and use the two day carnival to promote the industry in our very best breeding region.

Grafton is getting closer.  I am planning to be at both carnivals so make sure you give me a call if you are attending.

I wish all the country clubs great success with their carnivals.  These meetings are vitally important to the financial well-being of these clubs.

A MUST VISIT RESTAURANT

Sails Restaurant in Robe South Australia is a great seafood restaurant.  I stayed at Robe on our way back from Adelaide and the quality of the food on offer was simply top class.  I highly recommend it should you be passing through that beautiful part of Australia.  Great wine list as well!!!

VALE MICHAEL SULLIVAN

It must be a sign that you are getting older when you start to lose too many good friends.  Michael Sullivan was a great influence on me when I was involved in the Tweed Heads and Coolangatta Surf Lifesaving Club (Greenmount) as a young man.  Michael was from Sydney where he was quite an accomplished sweep with the North Curl Curl SLSC.  He moved to Brisbane and joined Greenmount where his son Brian and I became very close mates.  Brian is Vincent’s godfather.

Michael had been in poor health for some time but was very proud that Brian and his son, Michael’s grandson Jason rowed in the surf boat race at Gallipoli during the recent ANZAC Day activities in Turkey.

I have always been grateful that I linked with Greenmount and had so many great role models to look up to in those formative years.  I can’t think of any of the young people linked to the club during my time there that haven’t gone on to have good and successful lives.  The Surf Life Saving Movement is a wonderful organization and for a great part of his life Michael lived for it.  He was grateful for the strong support he received from the members of the Club until the end.  He was a great character.

When I joined the Army in 1978 and told Michael I could buy a schooner for 20c he suggested I should drink more because each time I had a schooner I saved 30c.

It is a pity some of the misguided youth we see constantly in the news today couldn’t link with the types of people involved in Surf Life Saving and other similar organizations.  Too many of our young people live in cyber space and with no role models to show them the way are easily lead down the wrong path by faceless people with hidden and dangerous agendas.  

YEARLINGS

This week I am featuring the Tough Speed colt out of Vickers.  He is a ripper and hopefully will be a nice middle distance horse for us.  He as impressive a type of colt as I have seen at the sales this year.  I was pleasantly surprised when Darren Weir approached me asking if he could train the horse.  This is the only time he has approached me about a yearling and he is a very good judge of a yearling.

Tough Speed colt out of Vickers 2013

10 shares @ $5,790 each (5% shares $2,895)

The colt

When I attended the Tasmanian Magic Millions Sale this year I was taken by this colt.  I had inspected the high profile colts in the sale but was more impressed by this fellow than any of the other ones on offer.

He has a beautiful easy walk and gets around very well.  He is a beautifully relaxed horse and our vet Tim Roberts was also very impressed with him.  I don’t purchase too many colts but was determined to get this fellow.  To put it simply he oozed class and is out of a very good Flying Spur mare by a stallion that can get a very good horse.

I expect this colt to run at two and have paid him up for the Tasmanian Magic Millions but really expect him to excel as a three year old and beyond where his best distances should be at 1600m.

The colt will be a great addition to our team of horses trained by Charlie Goggin and Leuella Meaburn at Runnymede Stud in Tasmania.

Tough Speed

Tough Speed has stood at Armidale Stud in Tasmania for nine seasons serving relatively small books of mares.  In the main this was due to the Tasmanian economy and the uncertainty surrounding the state of the thoroughbred Industry.  It is interesting to note in the 2013 breeding season he served his biggest book of mares.

In any case his results have been very good with his best being the Stakes winners Black’n’Tough, Banca Mo, Lyell and Tough Chick as well as the stakes placed Settler’s Joy, Speedy Sky and Jay Bee’s Gee Gee.

When assessing a stallion I like to look at the number of stakes winners to winners a horse has.  Very few have a 10% or greater conversion rate.  Tough Speed has a 6% conversion rate which is very good considering the quality of mares he served.

Many of his progeny go on to win multiple races with 79% of his winners being metropolitan winners. 

Australia’s leading sire Fastnet Rock has 66% winners to runners compared with Tough Speed’s 56% which gives you an idea of his effectiveness.

In my opinion Vickers is one of the highest quality mares to go to Tough Speed.

Vickers

Vickers is by the Champion broodmare sire Flying Spur who is currently 4th on the Australian Broodmare List.  Vickers was a very good race mare winning metropolitan races at Flemington, Caulfield and Sandown.  She ran a terrific 5th in the Group 3 Tranquil Star Stakes.  Unfortunately she had a race fall and this ended her racing career.

Vickers comes from one of the best families in Tasmania being out of the stakes winning mare Eascapada.  The 3rd dam is Knightly Belle a high class Sydney two year old and dam of the stakes winners Poacher’s Star, The Old China and of course Escapada.

As a broodmare Vickers has done a very good job with four of her six foals winning on for mainland.  I purchased the first foal out of the mare for $70,000 but unfortunately she had to be put down after a paddock accident. 

It should be noted she missed getting into foal in the season before she had this colt.  The odds of a mare getting a stakes horse increase after missing a year and a good mare like Vickers is entitled to get a very good horse.  Hopefully it is this colt.