Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Less than a decade after Victorian couple Travis and Rebecca Kelly established their small-scale breeding operation, Lunar Fox (Foxwedge) defied long odds to deliver Group 1 glory in the stallion-making Guineas at Flemington.
“We couldn’t believe it,” Travis Kelly told TDN AusNZ. “It was absolutely amazing. Being able to say now that we’re Group 1-winning breeders, it just means the world to us.
“That’s the ultimate. It’s what everyone aspires to achieve when they start out breeding horses. It’s something that you dream about, but you never really expect it to happen – especially small breeders like us. It’s unbelievable.”
The Kellys offered Lunar Fox under their Kelly Thoroughbreds banner at the 2019 Inglis Melbourne Gold Yearling Sale, where part-owners Terry and Karina O’Sullivan secured him for $40,000.
Lunar Fox has now had 13 starts for three wins, also including another upset in last year’s G2 VRC Sires’ Produce S., and he has earned $877,850 in stakes.
“We have very fond memories of Lunar Fox as a young horse,” Kelly said. “He was probably never a sales-type of horse – they tend to be big and robust, and he wasn’t ever really like that. But we breed them more to be racehorses, and he always looked like he was going to fit that mould.
“We have very fond memories of Lunar Fox as a young horse.” - Travis Kelly
“He was very athletic. Right from the very beginning, he just looked like a proper racehorse.
"He also had a lovely nature. He did everything right all of the way through, and he was just a really nice horse to have around.
“But he was quite difficult to sell. Being a colt by Foxwedge probably made it a little bit harder. Most of his success had been with his fillies, and the demand was mostly for the filly yearlings because of that. So he was a bit tough to get away.
"He went to the sales a few times, and then we eventually sold him for $40,000, and the rest is history.”
Lunar Fox as a yearling
Astute Great Southern buy
Six years ago, the Kellys began heading to the sales to recruit members for their broodmare band. Between 2015 and 2017, Kelly Thoroughbreds secured seven mares for prices ranging from $700 to $10,000.
At the 2017 Inglis Great Southern Weanling & Bloodstock Sale, they bought Grant’s Moon (USA) (Malibu Moon {USA}), and this is where the Lunar Fox story begins.
The winner of seven races in the US up to Listed level, and placed in another three black-type races, Grant’s Moon was offered by Burnewang North Pastoral and was carrying the foal by Foxwedge that would become Lunar Fox.
Travis Kelly went to $20,000 to secure the mare, who had produced the winner Dawn’s Fight (Domesday) among three previous foals to race.
“I just thought she was a mare who possibly hadn’t been given much of a chance,” Kelly said.
“Here in Australia, I think we perhaps don’t respect the Malibu Moon bloodline quite as much as we should. He’s a top stallion in America, where he’s produced a huge number of stakes winners and Group horses.
“Here in Australia, I think we perhaps don’t respect the Malibu Moon bloodline quite as much as we should.” – Travis Kelly
“I think that’s possibly part of the explanation for why we were able to buy her relatively cheaply. She’d had a bit of a chequered foaling history as well, so that played a part in it too.
“In addition to that, mares who were in foal to Foxwedge may not have been in huge demand at that point in time either.
“But I thought she was a lovely, big strong mare and well worth having a go with.”
Lunar Fox was born the following spring, and Grant’s Moon produced two filly foals over the subsequent two seasons.
Holler x Grant's Moon (USA) (filly) as a yearling
“The mare passed away last year, so unfortunately we’ve lost her and there won’t be any more coming from that line now,” Kelly said.
“But we bred a filly by Holler who’s now a 2-year-old, and we’ve got another filly by Frosted.
“We offered the Holler filly as a yearling last year, but the Sale went online and not many people had the chance to see her. We ended up passing her in.
“In addition to our breeding operation, my wife Rebecca also trains a team of horses at Sale. We’ll be keeping the Holler filly and racing her ourselves, and we’ll see how we get on.”
History to repeat?
Kelly is now following the same formula in a couple of different ways, hoping to see history repeat.
Firstly, the Frosted (USA) filly will be offered at the same Sale that Lunar Fox was sold through two years ago.
“Our Frosted filly is going to go to the Inglis Melbourne Gold Sale in May,” he said. “She was a bit of a late foal, born in November, so she’s just been a touch backwards. That’s why we’ve held her back a little bit. But she’s really developing beautifully now. We’re very happy with how she’s looking.”
Secondly, another stakes-performed Malibu Moon (USA) mare has been added to their broodmare band. They paid $12,000 at the 2020 Inglis Broodmare Sale to secure Moon De French (USA) from Newgate.
Moon De French (USA)
“On the back of what Lunar Fox has done, we decided to try and buy a couple more Malibu Moon mares,” Kelly said. “We bought Moon De French, who won four of her nine starts including a Listed race. She also ran third behind the champion mare Zenyatta in the G1 Lady’s Secret S.”
“We bought Moon De French, who won four of her nine starts including a Listed race.” - Travis Kelly
Moon De French was bought in foal to Flying Artie, and she produced a colt foal in September. The Kellys’ choice for her next mating will come as no surprise.
“She’s in foal to Foxwedge now, so we’ll wait and see if lightning can strike twice,” Kelly said.
In the meantime, they are turning their attention to a three-pronged yearling contingent that is set to go through the ring in this week’s Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale. On Monday an Impending yearling sold for $80,000 to Moloney Racing.
Lot 647 is a Palentino filly from the family of Doncaser H. winner Over (Dr Grace {NZ}), while Lot 653 is a colt by Holler out of an unraced I Am Invincible mare.
