Cover image courtesy of Willow Grove Stud
The changing nature of the thoroughbred industry and the commercial realities of acquiring and standing stallions in the South Australian market has seen the Satchell family diversify the Willow Grove Stud business, with a focus on their broodmare band and spelling operations.
Host arrived at the property at Woodside five years ago, having left Swettenham Stud and was a much-loved part of the Willow Grove Stud family before his death from colic at the age of 19 last week.
The late Host (Chi)
"It’s always hard when a stallion goes, because you work so closely with them," Ralph Satchell told TDN AusNZ. "It was a colic that was outside of what you would call a straight-forward colic and he had a few other things going on internally. The vets thought it was going to end badly, so we made the call and didn’t prolong him.
"He's had a good few years while he was with us and he was a pleasure to have around really. He was an easy horse and trouble free and his stats spoke for himself. He wasn't at the cutting edge of commerciality, but he did a pretty good job."
"He's had a good few years while he was with us and he was a pleasure to have around really." - Ralph Satchell
As it stands, the Chilean-bred stallion has produced 143 winners from eight crops to the track, including six stakes winners. The Group 2 winning and Group 1 placed pair Philippi and Eduardo were his best performers.
It was an end to a life which started out at Haras de Pirque just outside of Santiago for the son of Hussonet (USA). He proved himself the champion 2-year-old colt in Chile, winning the G3 Alvaro Covarrubias, and then the next year stepped it up further to win the G1 Chilean 2000 Guineas by 6.25l, en route to Horse Of The Year honours.
Purchased by Canadian businessman Eugene Melnyk, he joined Todd Pletcher's American stables and continued to prosper, with his best victory in the 2005 G1 Keeneland Turf Mile, where among the vanquished was Australian sprinting star Alinghi (Encosta De Lago).
He finished his racing career in 2008 with 10 wins from 27 starts and his breeding future was secured when Byron Rogers brokered a deal which saw him stand at Swettenham Stud in Victoria.
Byron Rogers | Image courtesy of Tattersalls
"He was outstanding in Chile at two and three and then won the Keeneland Mile as an older horse in the US. Adam Sangster brought him to Australia off the back of Hussonet doing a good job at Arrowfield," Satchell said.
"Trainers have always said he is one of those horses, who there was never a knock on his progeny's temperament. They always said they were nice horses to have around. He drew a very trainable horse.
"Adam Sangster was good enough to let us have him when he needed to make room for other horses and he's been easy to deal with. We just wanted to give him a home for the rest of his days."
End of an era
Host's death marks an end of an era for Willow Grove, which had its other stallion, Mint Lane (USA) relocate to Glen Eden Stud in Victoria ahead of last season.
"It will be a change. We have stood stallions for 41 years. It will be a culture shock not doing that. But we move on and you have to evolve and change and it’s too hard for us to stand our own," Satchell said.
"It will be a change. We have stood stallions for 41 years. It will be a culture shock not doing that. But we move on and you have to evolve and change." - Ralph Satchell
"We have diversified our mares a bit in sending them out. Our yearling draft at Adelaide, you'll see that we have got quite a diversity of stallions, Air Force Blue, Stratum Star, a couple of Palentinos, and a couple of Manhattan Rains.
"Our foals at foot are quite a diverse group too. We will probably look to tighten our broodmare band up a little bit and look to breed 10-12 mares to outside stallions. Just breed with an eye to saleability."
While the Satchells will look to use stallions from Victoria and New South Wales, they will also work closely with Cornerstone Stud, which has continued its investment in South Australian breeding by adding World Of Trouble (USA) to a roster that already includes the likes of Sir Prancealot (Ire) and Ambidexter.
A new focus
While selling yearlings is still a focus for Willow Grove Stud - it has 10 catalogued at March's Magic Millions Adelaide Sale - the growth in the business is in agistment and spelling.
"Our racehorse spelling side of our business is booming at the moment. Recently, we’ve had the likes of Kemalpasa, Dalasan and Li'l Kontra. We are fortunate we are in a high rainfall area and have got 60 acres we are irrigating, so this time of year, we are in a position to have those horses," Satchell said.
"The racehorse spelling has taken the place of us standing stallions, I suppose. The beauty of that is that we don't have to spend a fortune up front and try to get that back."
While the era of Host himself is over, his legacy will continue for some time for Willow Grove Stud, including at the upcoming sales.
Host (Chi) x Penny Opera (NZ) colt sold for $52,500 last year
"We've got two nice yearlings by him for the Adelaide sale and we sold one nice colt for $52,500 last year. He can get a good type and the two we've got are nice colts," he said.
"We have got a couple of nice foals by him and a couple of mares in foal. They were a couple of mares that suited him well, so we will still have a few more on the farm here the next year or two.
"We were all very fond of him. He was a character and we will miss him."
