Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Swettenham Stud confirmed on Monday that Rubick, who had stood his first six seasons at Coolmore Australia, would head to the Nagambie farm for the 2021 season in what it described as 'another massive boost' for the Victorian industry.
The sire of three stakes winners, most notably The Everest winner and now Coolmore stallion in his own right, Yes Yes Yes, as well as Rubisaki and Condo's Express, Rubick has 95 winners in total from 198 runners.
Rubick will stand at Sweetenham Stud for the 2021 breeding season
He will commence his duties this year at Swettenham Stud in a deal with Coolmore, which speaks to the connection between the family of Swettenham Principal Adam Sangster and the Magniers of Coolmore.
Adam's late father Robert Sangster was a long-term partner with Coolmore and also had a strong connection with the family of Rubick's sire, Encosta De Lago. He raced his dam Shoal Creek (Star Way {GB}) and bred and raced his sire Fairy King (USA), who stood at Coolmore in the 1980s.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled, to continue the strong relationship between the Magnier and Sangster family," Sangster said.
Adam Sangster (left), Jason Robinson and Adam Tims | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Swettenham Stud has significant faith in the upside of Rubick, who has very large crops coming through in the next couple of seasons, with 174 live foals from both his current yearling and weanling crop.
“Those two seasons - 2019 (262 mares) and 2018 (263) - have seen him with his best books of quality mares,” Sangster said.
“I think that coupled with the success he has had on the track from a more modest service fee shows that the most exciting aspect is that the best is yet to come for him.
“He is a workman and an absolute gun – fertility wise and number wise."
“He (Rubick) is a workman and an absolute gun – fertility wise and number wise." - Adam Sangster
Rubick's yearlings in 2021. conceived at a fee of $17,600 (inc GST), have sold up to $170,000 and at an average of just under $60,000.
Sangster said the achievements of Rubick as a stallion already put him in elite company.
“To be able to produce an Everest winner at any stage of a stallion’s career is great and only Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt have done it. And Rubick did it from his first crop. There is plenty of excitement there for the breeders,” he said.
Sangster believes Victoria is the natural home for Rubick to prosper further in his career and he will have immediate resonance in the local market at that price point. His own sire stood in Victoria for six years, being based at Blue Gum Farm, before becoming a legend at Coolmore.
“Some of Encosta De Lago’s best years were when in stood in Victoria and we all know how successful he was at stud," Sangster said.
“Some of Encosta De Lago’s best years were when in stood in Victoria and we all know how successful he was at stud." - Adam Sangster
"And the majority of Rubick’s success on the track has been down here in Victoria and it’s really been the unofficial home for Encosta and his progeny."
On the track, all of Encosta De Lago's career, including his Group 1 victory, was staged in Victoria, while Rubick's two biggest wins were in the G2 Schillaci S. and G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (Colts), which were both at Caulfield.
Rubick winning the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (Colts)
"Yes Yes Yes also started his racing career in Victoria, winning two of his first three races in Victoria before joining the Sydney stables of Chris Waller where he won The Everest,” Sangster said.
“For those looking to breed with a proven commercial horse that can get an Everest winner, a Kewney Winner and a McKenzie winner from his first crop, you’ve found him,” Sangster said.
Rubick boasts connections to the two of the most influential sirelines in the past 30 years in Australia, through his Champion sire, as well as his dam, Sliding Cube (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), who is three-quarter sister to Champion sire Redoute's Choice.
Rubick joins a Swettenham Stud roster that is headed by rising star Toronado (Ire).
