When Newgate decided to stand three new stallions ahead of the 2015 season, it was a significant statement of its intent to make an impression in the competitive stallion market.

Those three stallions, Deep Field, Dissident and Wandjina, have played a major role in a season which has been a high-water mark for first-season sires in Australia.

As it stands, with just over three weeks of the season to go, there have been 121 winners by first-season sires in 2018-19, just two short of the mark set in 2010-11 season.

While the successes of Lyndhurst Stud's Better Than Ready, who has had 20 winners, the highest amount for a first-season sire in 43 years, and Sidestep, who became the first freshman sire in a decade to have a G1 Golden Slipper S. winner, have been highlighted, the contribution of the Newgate trio can not be undersold.

They have combined for 31 individual Australian winners from their first crops, with Deep Field leading the way with 18, matching the record first-season deeds of his own sire Northern Meteor.

"He is well-poised to break the record for any first-crop sire that is based in New South Wales. I think that's important when you consider that most of his stock go into the New South Wales circuit, which is very competitive," Bruce Slade, Newgate's General Manager, told TDN AusNZ.

"If you compare him to other horses that have stood in the Hunter Valley, nobody has ever left more 2-year-old winners in his first-season than him."

The achievements are even more significant when you consider how competitive the local stallion market is in terms of juvenile winners.

No less than 32 stallions have had 2-year-old stakes winners this season, headed by I Am Invincible with eight, backed up by soon to be three-time Australian champion sire Snitzel with three, the same number as Exceed And Excel, Lonhro and Better Than Ready.

"It’s been a good season to appreciate how hard it is to sire 2-year-old winners in Australia, when you are running into Snitzels and I Am Invincibles," Slade said.

"Our leading stallions are such good 2-year-old stallions, so it’s very hard for these first-crop stallions to make their mark when you are taking on some of the best 2-year-old stallions Australia has seen."

Deep offering first up

Deep Field has certainly more than held his own, with the stakes winners Cosmic Force and Dig Deep among the 18 winners he has had.

"I think he's been enormous. It's not just quantity but quality as well. He's had seven stakes horses, which is more than any other first-season sire this season. That is very measurable against Northern Meteor as well, who left eight in his first crop," Slade said.

"He's been huge and like his own father and himself, you’d expect them to be better as 3-year-old and 4-year olds as they fill into those big frames."

Success on the track has created considerable buzz ahead of Deep Field's fifth season at stud, where his service fee will double from $22,000 (inc GST) to $44,000 (inc GST). He has served big books his first four years and while that will continue, the approach will be slightly more select.

"At some stage, you have to go from a model where you are trying to get them off the ground and give them every opportunity, to a model where you are trying to protect and look after them long term," Slade said.

"We've probably flicked that switch this year in terms of managing his numbers a bit better. We'll keep him to the 200 mark and try and play a bit more of a long-term game."

Dissident's strong finish

Dissident's first crop have finished their first season full of momentum with a run of recent winners in the past six weeks taking him to seven in Australia, plus an additional first-crop winner in New Zealand.

"He's had four winners in the past four weeks, three of them at metro level. They have been spread across Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales," Slade said.

"He's got the making of a really nice middle-distance type sire. He'll get very nice classic 3-year-olds. They all looked a bit like that, they were very tall athletic yearlings. They always looked like they'd appreciate time and a bit of ground."

Dissident is yet to have a stakes winner but has had two stakes placegetters in his first crop to date, while he also has a leading chance, Pancho, in the Listed Taj Rossi Series Final at Flemington on Saturday, which could get him a breakthrough.

The 2014-15 Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year, the son of Sebring was a five-time Group 1 winner between 1400m and 1600m.

Slade sees him as very much in the mould of other recent successful middle-distance stallions in Australia and that his haul of winners in his first season measure up well in that regard.

"If you compare that to the other recent success stories that have turned themselves into high-class middle distance stallions, in particular Pierro, Dundeel (NZ) and So You Think (NZ), it measures up well," he said.

"Pierro had seven winners in his first crop, Dundeel four and So You Think one. He's right on track with those guys, in terms of getting his name out there and getting winners on the track."

Finding that banner horse

While numbers of winners are important, having a banner horse can be a huge boost for a stallion in his first crop.

Fate robbed Wandjina of that opportunity and while he has had six winners, he has been a somewhat harder proposition to sell on the deeds of his 2-year-olds to date.

"The market is judging him pretty harshly at the moment. The big loss for us was Big Chill, who was favourite for the G1 Inglis Sires' and unfortunately David Payne lost him ahead of that," he said.

"That's all it takes and the market can be fickle. If you get one good horse like that, you are on the map and everybody thinks you are the next big thing. You lose that horse out of your first-crop mix and it’s much harder and people sit off you and wait for the next one."

"He's in the holding pattern. He's left his fair share of winners, there are some good quality among them. One of those horses wins a stakes race and he'll be the flavour of the month again."

"The market is waiting for him to have something to hang his hat on, and when he does that, they’ll come in droves."

That chance may come as soon as Saturday with Nemerari to contest the 1600m Listed race at Flemington.

Wandjina himself didn’t peak until the second half of his 3-year-old season, winning the G1 Australian Guineas, and his progeny look suited to improvement on the same time frame.

Best ahead of them

In such a competitive market, marketing stallions can be tough, but Slade declares 2018/19 a great success for Newgate's trio, with better to come.

"I'm really proud of the jobs the boys have done and we are really looking forward to seeing what their first crops do in their 3-year-old years," he said.

"All of those horses didn't race at their peak until they were 3 or older so the next 12 to 24 months is very important for them."

The racing flame was kindled early on for Bonnie Connellan and it has burned brightly ever since, fuelling a love and passion for the thoroughbred industry that has seen her forge a successful and rewarding career in administration and management.

The Chief Commercial Officer for Inglis in Sydney, Connellan grew up in Melbourne with father John and mother Joan, with both parents racing enthusiasts their interests have had a lasting effect on their daughter.

“My parents owned shares in horses and one of my first memories is calling out the scratchings from Teletext on Saturday mornings for Dad and his form guide,” she said.

“I started to follow it and develop a love of the industry. My parents used to take me to the races and I loved the excitement, emotion and passion that I felt.”

Connellan’s love for the game saw her apply for a job at Flemington at the first possible opportunity.

“I was working in the trainers and strappers’ café on race days serving pies and coffee because I was too young to serve alcohol,” she said. “That was amazing. I started to see people that to me were only ever superstars on TV.”

That led to a variety of different roles at the Victoria Racing Club before taking time out for university and it was then straight back to the club in Business Development and Events where Connellan would subsequently encounter three major influences on her career.

“Probably the person who had the biggest single influence on my career is Julian Sullivan, he was the Executive General Manager of Membership and then the CEO at the VRC and the CEO of Perth Racing.

“He was also a hobby breeder. Whilst I worked for him on the racing side of the business, he taught me a lot about breeding when I was in my early twenties.

“He taught me how to read pedigrees, he taught me about broodmares and bloodlines, and encouraged me to go to a horse sale with him.

“He was the first person to really ignite my interest in the bloodstock side of the industry. I’d been to a couple of sales at that point, I then came up to Sydney for the carnival on my own with friends and we would go to the Easter Yearling Sale at Newmarket and Derby Day and Doncaster Day at Randwick. The frenzied bidding at the sales and the excitement on the track was incredible.”

Special mention

Connellan also singled out Rod Fitzroy, who was Chairman of the VRC during her time there, for special mention.

“He is a true visionary and had really big picture ideas,” she said. “I remember going to meetings with him and I learned pretty quickly not to go to a meeting thinking one dimensionally, thinking about a problem with only one answer.

“What are the different ways we can attack this – he really taught me to think of an idea or a response to something and then continually question it and refine it.

“He rebuilt the Flemington track, he put in bold plans for the water strategy and created the wetland. He was an amazing Chairman and he is an amazing thinker.

“Interestingly getting back to bloodlines, he also loved Carbine. He gave me a book on Carbine. Rod and Julian from the VRC really taught me about breeding.

“As a young person working with leading administrators in Julian and Rod, as well as getting business advice from Dad, was when I started to aspire to be a CEO in the industry.”

A fair bet

Eight years later, Connellan furthered her experience with Betfair for two and a-half years.

“That was really interesting and if I think back, it really developed my career. Betfair was a new brand and quite controversial for many people because of the regulatory environment but also in that it had no shop front,” she said.

“You knew every move your customer made when they were doing something online. I look back now and all the things I learned about customer service at the VRC helped me to act strategically because you know every one of your customers’ habits when you worked at Betfair. It took the guess work out of marketing and consumer behaviour which was invaluable.

“A big part of my role now in marketing and commercial negotiations is about understanding the customer and I learned a lot from Betfair.”

At that stage, Connellan was pondering a move interstate or overseas.

“I’d never lived outside Melbourne and that’s when the Inglis opportunity came up and it was in Sydney, so it was perfect,” she said.

During her VRC days, Connellan handled the Inglis sponsorship account and first met Inglis Managing Director, Mark Webster. “They used to sponsor the Carbine Club S. on Derby Day,” she said.

Connellan started her Inglis career as the Business Development Manager, moved to Group Marketing Manager and now Chief Commercial Officer, which includes running the marketing department, international market development and commercial aspects such as sponsorship and technology.

“What Julian taught me was that customers don’t necessarily base their loyalty on price or product, he taught me to build loyalty through experiences people receive.” she said.

“At Inglis, one way we aim to build loyalty is through the great experiences that people can have in Sydney and Melbourne at the sales and races. It’s a privilege to work for a fifth-generation Australian family business, who treat their staff and clients like family.

“What I also quickly learned was because horse ownership and breeding are so unique, is that you can have skin in the game, logic can go out of the window with people’s passion.

“In other sports you can’t have the same level of ownership at all levels like you can in racing. This drives the emotion and enthusiasm of the sport, I love that.”

Influential figure

Connellan also paid tribute to the influence Webster has had on her during her seven years with Inglis.

“Mark has an incredibly strong sense of family and work life balance and enjoying what you do,” she said. “Over the years working with him has taught me to be a lot more empathetic, to walk in other people’s shoes.

“That translates to our breeders and when a horse comes to an Inglis sale, it could be five years in the making. In terms of walking in other people’s shoes, that is important to our clients.

“Also, because he is very composed and measured, I’ve definitely learned to maintain a sense of calm no matter how many things you’re juggling at one time.”

Connellan is also passionate about continued learning and post-University she has gained a graduate Diploma in Sports Law and travelled overseas to undertake further study.

“I lived in London for a month last year and went to the London Business School to complete a month long Executive Leadership course. It was so motivating and inspiring,” she said.

“It hit me between the eyes like it never had before, if I step up and choose to make an impact on the world, I can.”

Connellan has also experienced the thrill of ownership with shares in three thoroughbreds – “amazingly all city winners but no stakes horses, yet,” she said.

Wentwood Grange will continue its trend of sending top quality mares to the Hunter with plans in place to meet a directive announced this week by a number of Australian farms.

Arrowfield Stud, Aquis Farm, Coolmore, Darley, Kingstar Farm, Kitchwin Hills, Newgate, Vinery Stud and Yarraman Park are among those who won’t accept any mares that aren’t vaccinated for the deadly Hendra virus.

The move, which follows a recent confirmed case of the virus on a Hunter Valley farm, is also supported by a number of broodmare farms and the Scone Equine Hospital, Dartbrook Equine Veterinary Clinic and the Hunter Equine Centre.

“We’ve been working through this in the last few days and our vet can locate the vaccine in New Zealand and we’re going to vaccinate here,” Wentwood studmaster Dean Hawkins said.

“It’s something we have to deal with and get all the paperwork done properly and keep good records. We’ll isolate the mares going to Australia and once they come home as well for our own personal peace of mind.

“That takes any risk out of it and then they can be placed on the Australian register. It’s an individual thing for farms to sort out and most studs in the Hunter Valley have suggested the dry mares need to be on farm four weeks beforehand.

“They’ve got to have two vaccinations three weeks apart. We’re sending 10 mares over and it’s about NZ$100 a jab. For us, if we’re paying a month’s extra agistment at $35 or $40 a day then that’s $400 a day for an extra month so it isn’t cheap.

“They will go over in the last week of August or the first week of September, that’s what has worked best for our mares in the past and they’ll come back once they’ve had their final scan.

“We’ve worked closely with the vets at Cambridge Equine and our mares go to Bhima so we have kept Mike Fleming in the loop as well.”

Travelling party

Featuring in the Wentwood party is the G1 Railway H. winner Miss Raggedy Ann (NZ) (Faltaat {USA}), the G1 Herbie Dyke S. winner and the G1 Vinery Stud S. runner-up Valley Girl (NZ) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

Also booked to go over is the dual Group 2 winner and Group 1 performer Our Abbadean (NZ) (Lookin At Lucky {USA}), multiple winner Unique Magic (Denman) and Hy Fuji (Fuji Kiseki {Jpn}), dam of the dual Group 1 winner Kermadec (NZ) (Teofilo {Ire}).

“Our Abbadean will be going to Justify, Miss Raggedy Ann will go to Astern, Valley Girl will be going to The Autumn Sun. Hy Fuji is going across but we haven’t quite finalised who she’ll go to,” Hawkins said.

“Kolding’s half-sister Unique Magic is booked to go to Brazen Beau.”

Mares already there

Haunui Farm has already sent mares to Australia, also based at Bhima, including the G1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ S. winner Perfect Fit (NZ) (Elusive City {USA}), who will be served by Dundeel (NZ) and Meleka Belle (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}), the dam of six-time Group 1 winner Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands), will visit Dundeel or Snitzel.

“We sent them over on Monday, recognising that the vaccine was going to be available but we were running into a shortage of time because they are recommending not to vaccinate mares within three weeks of due date,” studmaster Mark Chitty said.

“You don’t want to be vaccinating mares probably from 10 and a-half months of pregnancy, not that they are there yet, but you’re not meant to export a horse within two weeks of vaccination.

“They will be vaccinated in Australia. If they were done here you run the risk of them not being able to fly.

“Any dry mares we haven’t sent yet. We believe we can vaccinate them now and they would be fine because you can’t serve them before September 1 anyway.”

Review likely

Chitty said Haunui’s approach with its Hunter Valley mares would likely be reviewed.

“In the last five years we have foaled mares here and sent them to Australia and that’s worked well for us.

“That management is now being called into question. I’ll get through this year without any panic and then look at maybe vaccinating the mares post-season and then I can continue that next year.

“You only need annual vaccination so could have your horse vaccinated in May.

“It’s not cheap, but how much value do you put on human life. It’s an added cost, it adds no value but it’s a safety scenario.”

No issues

Little Avondale Stud will be sending three mares to the Hunter Valley and one to Victoria.

“They are dry mares and I don’t see any issues, they’ll be vaccinated in Australia,” Sam Williams said.

Kechika (More Than Ready {USA}) will be served by The Autumn Sun, dual Listed winner Kekova (NZ) (Elusive City {USA}) will be going to Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor), stakes winner Tie Me Down (NZ) (Pins) will be served by Dundeel and while Urban Royal (Exceed And Excel) will be heading to Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible).

Prominent New Zealand vet Ivan Bridge said the stance of the Hunter Valley studs in non-acceptance of mares not vaccinated was understandable.

“They have got an obligation to their staff. It hasn’t been a threat here and any mares coming back will be vaccinated.

“I can’t argue with it. I can understand them taking that approach when they’ve had Hendra in the area.”

Costly exercise

Wellfield Lodge is a regular supporter of Hunter Valley stallions, but are undecided if it will send any more over this year.

“It’s expensive tripping back and forth and we’ve left ours based there for the last two years,” Bill Gleeson said.

Wellfield has eight broodmares between Amarina Farm and Aquis, two supporters of the Hendra vaccine stand announced this week.

“They will be covered as part of their protocols,” Gleeson said. “As a breeder you have to accept they’ve got some oddball diseases we don’t have so you accept vaccinations. It’s in the industry’s best interests.”