Production line is probably an apt description of the system producing what seems like every second juvenile success story this season, but without a human quality the machine wouldn't have the magic and that's where Godolphin's Victoria "Dizzy" Appleby fits in.

Mornings at Warwick Farm are a blur of horses heading in all directions, and more than a hundred of them are coming out of Crown Lodge carrying the riders decked out Sheikh Mohammed’s distinctive blue livery.

When you witness the scale of this pre-dawn wave of horseflesh it's not hard to draw a military comparison, especially given the discipline and precision with which the operation runs, and "the Blue Army" is another, oft-used soldiery-related term that comes to mind.

While Godolphin Australia managing director Vin Cox and head trainer James Cummings have seamlessly shifted into general-like roles in the last two years, sitting at the centre of it all at trackwork, among the burly blokes of the Warwick Farm trainer's stand is the slightly built and always effervescent Appleby.

Maybe her role could be described as field lieutenant, and while it would fit the army analogy, Crown Lodge's assistant trainer Appleby prefers a more artistic metaphor for what she does to help keep Godolphin's talented 2-year-olds humming in tune.

"The way I like to describe it is that James writes the music, I am the conductor and the work riders and the strappers are the symphony orchestra that makes the music," she says.

2-year-old talents

When TDN AusNZ caught up with Appleby it was the Sunday after yet more 2-year-old success, with Tenley (Medaglia D'oro {USA}) scoring in Sydney and Microphone (Exceed And Excel) winning the L. Talindert Stakes.

Appleby had just returned from Port Botany where she and staff were swimming the current G1 Golden Slipper favourite Tassort (Brazen Beau), due to return next weekend in the G2 Silver Slipper, and L. Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Exhilarates (Snitzel).

Last weekend after Bivouac (Exceed And Excel) reappeared on the scene to win the L. Lonhro Plate, colleague Darren Beadman, when asked where the speedy colt ranked in the Godolphin pecking order, quipped "he might make the top ten."

It was a comment made tongue-in-cheek but it did speak to the embarrassment of riches Godolphin has in its juvenile ranks ahead of the autumn features. Throw in G3 Widden Stakes winner Amercement (Lonhro) and pre-New Year's Day winners Kiamichi (Sidestep), Athiri (Lonhro), Pin Sec (Lonhro), and the Boys in Blue have the makings of a golden era.

"It's an exciting time," said Appleby, who knows a thing or two about 2-year-old golden eras, having come through the ranks at what was then known as Darley, shortly after the sale to Sheikh Mohammed and under the guidance of trainer Peter Snowden.

She was there in 2011 when the breeding powerhouse swept through five 2-year-old majors when future stallions Sepoy (Elusive Quality {USA)) won the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes and G1 Golden Slipper double, Helmet (Exceed And Excel) scored in the G1 Sires' Produce Stakes and Benfica (Lonhro) capped a remarkable season with a win in the G1 T.J. Smith in Brisbane.

At that time Appleby was a trackwork rider and travelling foreperson, working hands-on with horses like Pinwheel (Lonhro), Guelph (Exceed And Excel) and Applegate (Exceed And Excel). After time spent working under bloodstock and racing manager Jason Walsh, Appleby got the call-up to help run Crown Lodge.

Now Appleby sits at the nerve centre of the system producing those 2-year-old winners, but even though Appleby is now at the coalface, she is grateful for the time in the engine room with Walsh.

"I learnt a lot more about the breeding and bloodstock operations, just learning how tirelessly those people in the breeding and nominations teams work," she said. "I think sometimes in the racing stable you isolate and focus on one thing. Sometimes you lose track of just how big the operation is and how many people it takes to gain the success that we do."

Crown Lodge still the base

While the cutting edge 126-acre, 84 box Osborne Park facility at Agnes Banks is where Godolphin's older horses have been trained since its establishment in 2010, Crown Lodge at Warwick Farm – built by the Inghams in 1985 and with a system fine-tuned during the John Hawkes heyday – is where the newcomers are still nurtured.

It is a process that needs eyes and ears on the ground while Appleby's main responsibility is her equine "babies".

"It helped that I had that knowledge on how it was run, it was such a slick operation and we wanted to get everybody back in to the way of how things could be run efficiently.

When it comes to the system, Appleby is of the opinion "If it ain't broke don't fix it," and her main concern are the 70 or so staff that care for the horses.

"It's about camaraderie and getting everybody working as a team. There are a lot of staff that I used to work alongside as a trackwork rider, and they know I have done the hard yards, I still muck in when needed, I am not somebody that has just being brought out of management to fill a role, I have actually been there and done that. I have mucked out boxes, taken horses to the races and trials, have done the early mornings and late nights getting horses off the floats."

"I am not a shouter and I get on very well with staff. They know I am the boss but they know they can come and talk to me, they can suggest ideas to me where we can improve. If you have happy staff you are going to have happy horses."

Godolphin's Australian boss Vin Cox said "the results speak for themselves" when it comes to the way Cummings, Beadman and Appleby have been able to combine their skillsets at Crown Lodge.

"It helps that Dizzy has been with Godolphin more than ten years," Cox said. "Having a lot of experience through the Snowden era, and with 2-year-olds, has been a key part of what we do there. Obviously with James' guidance, and her experience, they have got the 2-year-olds humming.

"She is a very good team player, and she works hard at that, and when the team is working well, the horses are working well. One follows the other. That combination of James, Dizzy and the team, the results are speaking for themselves. She lives and breathes the horses, but more importantly she lives and breathes the staff, and that's the key element to her leadership. "

Generation next

If the results are any indication, the horses are clearly happy right now, and it isn't just the 2-year-olds. As well as the juveniles on the track, this week saw the first batch of the 2019-20 crop come through the stables for the first time.

In the coming months, around one hundred will come through in batches of 10 for a week-long familiarisation course in stable life; the tie-up stalls, the wash bays, coming in and out of stables and walking to the track.

"Every week we get a new batch that come in and do their education, we rotate them," Appleby said. "They come in for a week, they go out for a spell. They come in for a month of training, go out and think about life. Then we can think about which ones are forward and which ones need more time."

Family ties

Of course there is that name – Appleby – that rings a bell with any racing follower, and yes, Dizzy is the younger sister of Godolphin's rising training star trainer Charlie, based in England.

Dizzy's big brother had an amazing 2018 flat season that was capped with a sparkling spring Down Under, winning the G1 Rupert Clarke Stakes with Jungle Cat (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) and giving Godolphin its first G1 Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}).

The siblings from Devon grew up racing ponies and have since crossed over many times during their time in racing; they first worked together in the yard of legendary former jockey Lester Piggot and his wife Susan at Newmarket, with Appleby riding as an apprentice. These were the days when women weren't as recognised for their skills in the saddle and after a stint riding on the Yorkshire circuit, she soon re-joined her brother at Godolphin's French operation, then followed trainer David Loder when he went on his own.

Then came "the complete culture shock" of a shift to Australia from England , a shock that Appleby has clearly overcome.

A woman leader

Appleby is keenly aware that she has worked into a leadership role in an industry still falling behind others when it comes to gender parity, not that those hard heads in the Warwick Farm training ranks aren't supportive.

"They've known and watched me come through the ranks here at Warwick Farm," she said. "I have my regular spot now alongside the guys. But there are other women moving through the ranks in the company. At home Marie Murphy is Charlie's assistant trainer at Newmarket, and Sophie Chretien looks after the team in Dubai. "

"It's not all about physical strength in racing and I think women can bring a different perspective to leadership roles. To some extent I see my role as a mothering role, looking after staff and recognising when they might need some personal attention."

As the autumn racing gets serious, and more babies come into the Crown Lodge crèche, Appleby's leadership is sure to grow along with that 2-year-old winners list.

"It's about fulfilling the vision of what Sheikh Mohammed is looking for, and that is excellence," Appleby said. "The aim is to produce racehorses that can go on to be Darley broodmares and stallions, and it is those horses that can create the future lines."

With more of his progeny catalogued at this week's Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale than any other stallion, Mungrup's Stud's first-season sire I'm All The Talk is expected to make a significant impression at Swan Valley this week.

Twenty-two yearlings by the son of Stratum will go under the hammer on Monday and Tuesday, with his hosts at Mungrup offering 18 of them.

A winner of the G3 Skyline S. as a 2-year-old when prepared by Gary Portelli, I'm All the Talk was also placed in a G2 The Shorts behind multiple Group 1 winner Terravista (Captain Rio {GB}).

Portelli is the best-placed person to assess the similarities between the stallion and his stock and has been in Perth inspecting them ahead of the sale.

"He seems to have stamped most of them, although the ones out of Oratorio mares look like the Oratorio has come out in them," Portelli told TDN AusNZ.

"The ones that he put his stamp on have got the white face and the white legs. They are the chestnuts with a silver mane and tails. So he's put a stamp as far as the colour is concerned."

While the flashy white markings and chestnut colouring are an obvious link to I'm All The Talk - ten in all are listed as chestnut - Portelli is keen to see which ones had similarities in physical movement.

"The biggest characteristic we were looking for was the walk. He had a massive overstep and a lot of movement through his pelvis and hips and that's what we were looking for and a couple of them have got that," he said.

"Not every stallion throws them identical to themselves, but there are a couple of them that we quite like."

Mungrup looking for a big first impression

Mungrup Stud owner Gray Williamson is very much looking forward to presenting its 18-strong draft from I'm All The Talk's first crop.

"We've been absolutely rapt with the way they have come up and are presenting themselves. They are great walking horses as well as really good hindquartered horse. We are really happy with them," he said.

"He has some chestnuts and some bays. The chestnuts are pretty flashy. But they all have that really good hindquarter on them. They are good sized horses with a great square hindquarter."

"If they don’t go fast, I’ll eat my hat."

While Portelli was understandably playing his cards close to his chest on which of the I'm All the Talks he would target on Monday and Tuesday, Williamson has a couple of standout lots from his selection.

"His first lot out is Lot 5 out of Almachino (Al Maher). She's a really powerful filly. Her half sister (Orachino) won a 2-year-old trial on Friday," he said.

"She's out of a nice young stakes-placed mare and is a really good-bodied filly. You’d be really surprised if she doesn’t go early."

Almachino was third in a G3 WA Champion Fillies S. and is a half to another stakes-placegetter in Lets Get Nauti Gal (Harbour Watch {Ire}). It's a family that goes back to Italy and a host of black-type winners.

Lot 48 is among the best of the colts on offer from Mungrup Stud, being out of Fleeting Angel (Don’t Say Halo {USA}), making him a half-brother to G2 WA Guineas winner Variation (War Chant {USA}).

"He's more of a 3-year old style," Williamson said. "Out of all the I'm All The Talks, he's the most like a 3-year-old type, but he's great-sized, very strong and good boned."

Market ready to talk

Williamson is confident that the first crop of their stallion will be well received by both the local Western Australian buyers as well as those from interstate who will remember him as a racehorse.

"His progeny should go early as 2 and 3-year olds. Our bonus systems work like that. But he also adds that bit of eastern stakes flavour, we’ve already had a number of eastern states buyers that have seen him race that are already looking at his draft," he said.

As mentioned Portelli has been one of them and having come up with a short list, he is pretty keen to take at least one back across the Nullarbor with him.

"There's enough here to suggest we should be able to get one maybe two, depending on what the market is. We don’t want to spend too much. He's a first-season sire and there is no BOBS bonus for us here. We will go to a mark on a few of them and see how we go," he said.

Strong competition expected

Overall, Portelli is expecting a very competitive buying bench, with a strong representation from across Australia already at the sale. That, combined with what he says is an increase in quality, should make for a very interesting first sale at the new complex.

"I think we’ve seen a big improvement in quality this year. There's a lot of nice horses in this sale and I think that there is a horse for everyone here," he said.

"Based on the Classic Sale, I thought that was a buyers' market, but I'm seeing a lot of eastern states buyers and I think there will be competition on certain horses."

"There are a lot of people from New South Wales, Queensland and Melbourne looking like they may have missed out at the Classic Sale and might have thought there might be some bargains here. All you need is two people in for the one horse and it will make a good sale, it will be interesting to see what happens."

Mungrup offering plenty of depth

From a local perspective, Williamson said it is almost impossible to gauge what direction the market will take, but he is confident in the overall depth of Mungrup's Stud's 32-strong draft across both books.

"As well as the I'm All the Talks, our Oratorios are the best draft we've taken to the sale for a while, and the Playing Gods are looking good too. We are very happy, because we haven’t got big numbers of those this year, we have good quality and they’ll sell well," he said.

The sale kicks off with 155 catalogued lots from Book 1 from 2pm local time on Monday before Lots 156-310 go on sale from 11am on Tuesday.

James Middleton and his family at Redbank North are no strangers to producing top-quality mares and Eckstein's (I Am Invincible) win in Saturday's G3 Southern Cross S. at Randwick is another cause for celebration for the farm based near Jugiong, on the South West Slopes of NSW.

Hot on the heels of the Group 1 winning deeds of Single Gaze (Not A Single Doubt), Eckstein has become the new flagbearer for Redbank North with Saturday's win her fourth at stakes-level, taking her career earnings to over $1 million.

The tough and talented mare, a winner of seven of 29 starts, was sold by Redbank North as a weanling for $50,000, with the buyer KP Thoroughbreds returning a nice profit when she was pinhooked for $165,000 at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

However, her subsequent owners have enjoyed an even a better run, with Goulburn-based trainer Kurt Goldman piloting a career which has gone from strength to strength.

That Eckstein has been able to graduate into such a consistent stakes level performer, including narrow defeat in the G1 Myer Classic, is no surprise to Middleton, who was told not to sell her as a foal.

"She is tough for sure. She's always had attitude," he told TDN AusNZ.

"She was a lovely foal and we didn’t want to sell her, but at the time we needed some money in and we sold her."

"The person who does a lot of my breeding work said you are mad, you have just sold the best horse you are ever going to have. He wasn't far wrong, she's one of the better ones."

"But we took her to the sale and in those days, $50,000 for an I Am Invincible foal was a lot of money."

Numbers added up

You certainly couldn’t argue with the commercials. Middleton had paid just $500 for Eckstein's dam Comrie (Choisir) after he had bought one of the earlier foals by War Pass (USA) as a weanling for $8000 from an estate sale.

"They rang up and asked if we were interested in the broodmare. We said 'What are you doing with her? and they said they wanted $500 and we took her off their hands," Middleton said.

Having pinhooked that colt for $15,000 the following year, he couldn’t do much wrong, paying the $11,000 service fee for I Am Invincible in his third season.

"We saw a chance to get a double cross to Canny Lad, that's why we went there," he said.

When Eckstein was sold as a yearling in January 2015, I Am Invincible had just five stakes winners. When she won her first black-type race in December 2016, she was his 17th stakes-winner and now, two years and two months later, he has 43.

Accordingly, the value of Yarraman Park's star stallion has grown from year to year. His service for last season was $192,500.

$500 mare continues to give

As for Eckstein's dam Comrie, she has had one more foal to the track, the 2-year-old by another son of Invincible Spirit in Zebedee (GB) called Speedycom, who trialled impressively ahead of his debut for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott in the G3 Breeders' S., where he ran off on the turn and ran last.

Redbank North also have a Sooboog filly out of Comrie, foaled in August last year.

"I'll sell a percentage of her, keep half and race and breed from her. She won't go through the sales. I'll put 40 or 50 per cent up for sale and see if anyone is interested in breeding and racing her," Middleton said.

Comrie is now in foal to I Am Invincible's son Hellbent and is one of a dozen active broodmares Redbank North has on the farm.

Restocking with pair of fillies

Middleton was busy at last week's Inglis Classic Sale looking for the next generation of broodmares, buying yearlings by All Too Hard and Star Witness.

The All Too Hard filly, sold as Lot 757 for $40,000 by Valiant Stud, is out of a three-quarter sister to Denman, while the Star Witness filly - Lot 766 bought for $37,500 - is out of That's Amore (More Than Ready {USA}), a half-sister to Angel Of Mercy from the family of the star mare Divine Madonna.

"We are going for fillies and hopefully something comes along for the track and into the breeding barn," Middleton said.

Gallery: Redbank North's Classic Sale purchases

Redbank North, which sold five yearlings at the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast, have another yearling for sale at the upcoming Adelaide Magic Millions, Lot 55 by Choisir, while Middleton said it would likely sell five or so weanlings later in the season.

He expects a similar breakdown of yearlings and weanlings at the sales for the 2020 season.

Owning your success

Redbank North also celebrated a couple of winners as an owner when the progressive Handle the Truth (Star Witness) won at Canterbury on resumption on Friday night and then Reliant (Dubleo {USA}) prevailed in a Class 2 at Tumut.

Handle The Truth has now won five of his eight starts for Canberra-based trainers Keith Dryden and Scott Gollings, who Redbank North have a strong relationship with.

"He'll go to the Country Championships at Goulburn at his next start and then it’s one step at a time for him," Middleton said.

Another one of their horses, Balansa (Helenus) ran fourth in the Highway race at Randwick on Saturday.

None of those are expected to quite reach the heights of Redbank North graduates like Single Gaze and Eckstein, but Middleton said it is all part of continuing to build the brand.

"The fact that there are a fair few winners off our farm, when people pull the yearlings out of the boxes, they are starting to look at our brand and appreciating that because they are winning on the track," he said.

"It opens up the brand to the market and the market is starting to appreciate the brand."