Cover image courtesy of Inglis

At A Glance

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The Broodmare Sale average, albeit in a smaller catalogue than recent years, jumped to $63,311, up from $41,343 last year and $41,261 in 2019.

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The median for the Sale also jumped to $45,000, double what it was in 2020 and up from the $30,000 of the last pre-COVID Sale in 2019.

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The Sale aggregate topped $11 million across 174 purchases, a jump from the $10.2 million (247) last year and the $9.8 million (237) in 2019.

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The Sale clearance rate sits at 77 per cent, an improvement on 73 per cent last year and 76 per cent in 2019.

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The top lot, Oklahoma Girl secured $350,000 and is destined to go to Rosemont's new stallion Hanseatic.

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Brae Sokolski backed in Yes Yes Yes by paying $320,000 for Agueda (General Nediym) to send to the Coolmore stallion in his second season.

Hanseatic spending spree

Rosemont Stud signalled its intentions to strongly support new acquisition Hanseatic by purchasing the Sale-topping mare, Oklahoma Girl for $350,000 at the Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale.

Coming off the back of Friday night's Inglis Chairman's Sale, where $2.23 million was spent across four elite-quality mares to go to Hanseatic in his debut season at the Victorian farm, Rosemont's Hanseatic Syndicate purchased the Sale-topping Oklahoma Girl and paid $38,000 for Meiji (Strategic), on Sunday.

Richard Edmunds caught up with Anthony Mithen to learn more about their support for Hanseatic, covered in detail in the next feature article.

Coolmore ended the day as the second most successful vendor on aggregate, with 15 mares sold for a total of $1.252 million, just short of Segenhoe, which sold 13 mares for a total of $1.335 million.

The leading vendor on average was Two Bays Farm on $138,333 across three mares.

It's a Yes for Agueda

Early in the day it was Brae Sokolski's Yes Bloodstock setting the pace, paying $320,000 for Agueda, with a view to sending her to Coolmore's Yes Yes Yes.

Catalogued as Lot 328 and offered by the Newgate Consignment in foal to leading first-season sire Capitalist, Agueda has produced the three-time winner Enseguida (The Factor {USA}), while her yearling filly by Star Turn was purchased by Yes Bloodstock at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale for $310,000.

“She is a lovely mare by General Nediym and we’ve bought her to go to Yes Yes Yes. We bought the filly by Star Turn at the Classic Sale for $310,000 and she is in work with Annabel Neasham. Annabel loves her, she’s a nice filly, the mare throws good sorts and hopefully she’s the mare for Brae’s stallion," Matt Scown, representing Yes Bloodstock, said.

“We knew we were going to have to pay for her because we thought she was one of the better physicals, she did it on the track and she throws very good sorts. Symon Wilde had the one by The Factor who was a really good running horse and we love the Star Turn, so we were happy to go to that. We wanted to obviously buy her for a bit cheaper than that, but I think the ones you really love, you’ve got to stump up for."

The addition of a pregnancy to one of the country's hottest sires was a great bonus.

“He’s the super-hot stallion at the moment and we’re rapt to be able to buy a mare in foal to him. He will probably keep (the foal) to race but we will see when she foals down," Scown said.

Agueda is one of eight winners from Smoothie (Lacryma Cristi {Ire}) the half-sister to stakes winner Who Did It (Mukaddamah {USA}).

Sokolski was a major shareholder in The Everest winner Yes Yes Yes during his racing days and retains a strong interest in his breeding career. Scown said he will look to continue to secure quality mares to go to him in his second season, having also added speedy mare Backpedal (Toronado {Ire}) for $90,000 late in the day.

“We want to support him with nice running mares who will suit him physically as well and she ticked all the boxes for everything. We will send four or five mares to him this year and carry on supporting him,” he said.

Inglis hails sales success

Another amazing set of numbers greeted the hard-working Inglis staff at the end of Sunday, with the catalogue striking a chord with a buying bench, enamoured with paying strong prices for quality mares.

The fact that the Sale aggregate surpassed that of the previous two editions despite selling significantly fewer horses was especially telling of the strength of the market.

"There was a lot of very positive results today. Competition on the mares deemed to be commercially desirable was very strong," Sebastian Hutch, Inglis' General Manager of Bloodstock Sales and Marketing, said.

"Again, a number of people found it difficult to buy during the day and a number of vendors went home, having not only sold many or not all their mares, but having sold them for a premium. All around there were a lot of reasons to be very pleased."

Hutch said the demand for quality certainly tested the supply in what was a smaller catalogue than there has been at this Sale historically and with that in mind, Inglis would review its approach to the Sale moving forward.

"There's no doubt that the demand was here for more better mares and more nice-commercially desirable mares. We put a lot of work into canvassing a buying bench for the Sale and we had good crossover with the Chairman's Sale, plus a good supplement of people looking at the value of the market," he said.

"There is certainly a capacity there to facilitate more mares. There is plenty of confidence in the market.

"Certainly there is scope to grow and we will continue to work hard with vendors to try and ensure we land in the right spot in years to come."

Illuminaire lights up on Daandine interest

The prospect of securing a mare who could produce the next Written Tycoon or Capitalist proved a lure for Daandine Stud to pay $240,000 for Illuminaire (All Too Hard) via agent Boomer Bloodstock.

Illuminaire, who was offered by Segenhoe Stud in foal to Trapeze Artist as Lot 421, was a multiple stakes placegetter and is a granddaughter of multiple stakes winner Illuminates (Strategic), who is also the dam of Listed winner Hursley (NZ) (Makfi {GB}).

A stallion for her upcoming season has not yet been determined, but Boomer Bloodstock's Craig Rounsefell said she was a mare with plenty of upside, having shown considerable potential during her racing career.

“I saw her on Friday and thought she was such a lovely, big, strong mare with plenty of quality. She had a lot of speed in her races with solid 2-year-old form. She is the right style of mare that Daandine are looking for," he said.

"Jan Clark wasn't able to attend the Sae, but she thought she fitted the bill as well, so we had a go. We are fans of Trapeze Artist, who this mare is foal to."

She joins a select broodmare band at a farm which has built a strong reputation for selling forward and fast horses.

"The Daandine program, they are looking to breed early 2-year-old types to sell at the early sales and obviously had a lot of success with the likes of Written Tycoon, Capitalist and now with that top filly Isotope off the farm," Rounsefell said.

"They are producing a lot of good horses from a pretty select broodmare band."

Rounsefell returned to Queensland on Saturday having conducted his inspections in Sydney earlier in the week and did his bidding on Sunday, online.

"I opted to get on the road yesterday and get home for Mother's Day. The Inglis Online platform is so good to bid online, it’s very straightforward."

Russian syndicate lands trio

Listed winner Shakespearean Lass (Written Tycoon) was one of three mares Widden Stud purchased as part of its Russian Camelot Syndicate to support the new addition to the recently acquired Victorian operation.

Catalogued as Lot 504, Shakespearean Lass was offered by Valiant Stud on behalf of Aquis, who paid $360,000 for her in 2017. She was offered on Sunday in foal to Pierata.

A half-sister to the stakes-placed Dan Zephyr (Danbird), she was a six-time winner on the track, including a Listed WJ Adams S. and has produced a colt by Snitzel and a filly by Invader to date.

The other purchases for the Widden/Russian Camelot Syndicate were Lot 303, The Black Tide (Kuroshio), for $85,000 and Lot 519, Simply Dreaming (Denman), for $120,000.

The Black Tide is the half-sister to multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Santa Ana Lane (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and was offered by Segenhoe Stud in foal to Pride Of Dubai, while Simply Dreaming, the three-quarter sister to Group 2 winner Lonhspresso (Lonhro) was offered by Caithness Breeding in foal to Exceeedance.

Charged and ready

Hong Kong-based investor Victor Lee went to $260,000 to secure the stakes-producing mare Fully Chargeable (Charge Forward), Lot 405, who is in foal to Deep Field. She was from the draft of Middlebrook Valley Lodge.

Fully Chargeable has already produced two winners, including the Group 3 placegetter Niccovi (Nicconi), who was a $200,000 yearling, and while the mare was unraced, her half-brother Ability (Reward For Effort) won a pair of stakes races. Her dam's half-sister Well Rounded (Reset) is a Group 2 winner.

Yulong leaves it late

Yulong's triple late strike propelled it to status as the Sale's biggest buyer, spending $525,000.

Lot 513, Seababe (Sebring), carries a pregnancy to Capitalist and was offered by Davali Thoroughbreds. She is out of the stakes-performed Swinging Babe (Encosta De Lago) and a half-sister to Resistant (Choisir) was purchased for $220,000.

Yulong also purchased Lot 520, Single Note (Not A Single Doubt), off Segenhoe Stud in foal to Pierro. She was a city winner on the track from the family of Group 1 winner Mentality (Flying Spur) and stakes winner Gold Force (Flying Spur) and cost $210,000.

It was also the winning bidder for Wild Impact (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), paying $95,000 for her off Waratah Thoroughbreds.

Top lots

Top buyers

Top vendors by aggregate

Top vendors by average

Top covering sires by aggregate

The Rosemont Hanseatic Syndicate signed for three mares during Friday evening’s elite broodmare session, spending a total of $1,380,000. Then on Sunday, Oklahoma Girl topped the Sale at $350,000 and is headed to the same stallion.

Friday's top price was $800,000 for From Within (Not A Single Doubt) – herself the winner of seven races including the Listed Alinghi S., and a half-sister to the quality sprinter California Zimbol (I Am Invincible).

“Our trip to the Chairman’s Sale on Friday night was all about Hanseatic’s book,” Rosemont proprietor Anthony Mithen told TDN AusNZ.

“We showed the intent that we’ve got for him – we really targeted some quality speed mares to try to give him the best possible chance in his first few books. That was our intention, and I think we got it right with the mares we came away with.”

Their other purchases were the G3 Blue Diamond Preview (Fillies) winner A Beautiful Night (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) for $330,000, and the well-related Belle Danseuse (USA) (Eskendereya {USA}) – a half-sister to stakes performers Letzbeglam (Snitzel) and Snazz ‘N’ Charm (Snitzel) – for $250,000. Belle Danseuse is currently in foal to Hanseatic’s sire Street Boss (USA).

Meiji (Strategic) was purchased for $38,000 on Sunday, along with the $350,000 Sale-topping mare Oklahoma Girl (Fastnet Rock) offered by Coolmore Stud in foal to Zoustar, on behalf of her breeders at Ingham Racing. Oklahoma Girl was twice placed at stakes level, finishing runner-up in the G2 The Roses and third in the G1 Queensland Oaks.

Her dam Shawnee Girl (Encosta De Lago) also produced the Group 3 winner Sure Knee (Snitzel) and is a three-quarter sister to the influential late stallion Northern Meteor, while Oklahoma Girl is a blood sister to Twin Hills Stud stallion Smart Missile.

"She's just a lovely mare to have. Regardless of whether you have got a stallion for her to go to or not, you'll find a match for her," Mithen said.

"She's the right type of Fastnet Rock in terms of shape and size and athleticism. Obviously, she was a very well-performed mare, with a Group 1 performance on her page. She was probably a miler at her best, but in her Classic years she stretched out of be placed in that Queensland Oaks.

"I have long admired the Queensland Oaks for a reference for future broodmares. It seems to throw up mares at all levels and not necessarily just your producers of future Classic horses. There seems to be a Queensland Oaks reference in a lot of fast horses as well."

Her prospective foal to Zoustar is also a value addition, given it will be line-bred to Northern Meteor's dam Explosive (USA) (Fappiano {USA}).

"We are excited to have her and the Zoustar mating with her is great as well. He's obviously going from strength-to-strength from a commercial point of view. If we can add a Zoustar to the collection and breed a nice mare like that to Hanseatic, it's a win-win," Mithen said.

"We’ve got a fairly substantial broodmare band already, and we have obviously picked the eyes out of that to give him some strong support. We want to target speed mares for him," Mithen said.

"We have looked to the top of the tree and we secured Mildred and From Within on Friday night and they will visit him and that is a really exciting prospect from our point of view as well as those who are on the Hanseatic bandwagon."

That bandwagon, Mithen admits, is getting quite full, with the multiple 2-year-old stakeswinner to stand for $17,600 (inc GST) in his first season.

"The support has been quite overwhelming for him. I've had some great support for securing him and setting him at a reasonable price," Mithen said.

"I might have cost myself a dollar or two, but I’d rather have a popular horse than an overpriced horse. We aren't too far away from getting full in terms of his numbers."

Now Mithen is turning his attention to the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale later in the month, where he hopes to pick up further recruits.

“We’ll charge on up to the Gold Coast next and see what we can find there,” he said. “We’re active in all markets at the moment.

“The quality seems to be pretty high in the Gold Coast catalogue, so we’ve deliberately kept some of our powder dry to see what we can pick up there.”

Slick speed credentials

Mithen has been delighted with the reception for Hanseatic, whose service fee has been set at $17,600 (inc GST) for his debut season at stud.

An outstanding 2-year-old performer for Godolphin, the chestnut colt began his career with brilliant back-to-back black-type victories in the Listed Merson Cooper S., Listed Blue Diamond Preview (Colts and Geldings) and G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (Colts and Geldings). He started favourite in the G1 Blue Diamond, in which he overcame traffic trouble to finish second behind Tagaloa.

Hanseatic’s 3-year-old campaign featured a second placing in the G3 Blue Sapphire S. and a fourth in the G2 Ian McEwan S.

He is by Street Boss (USA), the sire of 667 winners from 976 progeny to race, including 48 individual stakes winners. Eight of those have won at the elite level, most recently Anamoe in the ATC Sires’ Produce S.

Hanseatic’s dam Itameri (Exceed And Excel) is out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner and sire Magnus, while another half-sibling is Helsinge (Desert Sun {GB}) – dam of none other than Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) and All Too Hard.

“Hanseatic is such an exciting addition to our roster,” Mithen said. “A friend of mine here at the Broodmare Sale on Sunday said he thinks this horse is the best deal of the year. I’m happy to take that, but I’ll let others, and ultimately his progeny, be the real judge of that.

“We’re very excited about him. He’s a fast, good-looking horse. Precocious speed is such a huge asset in the Australian market, it’s what people are looking for, and he is every bit of that.

“There’s also the Street Boss factor, and coming from the Black Caviar family also adds to the flavour.

“I’m feeling pretty smart at the moment, but time will tell, and we’ll have to wait and see what comes from his progeny.

“We’ve set his fee at $17,600 (inc GST), and the response has been amazing. We’ve been knocked over in a rush, which is fantastic. There are plenty of mares booked, with more than 150 on his list already.

“Victorian breeders are often true to form and don’t really start looking through their stallion lists and making their decisions until July or August, but I’ll give them a warning now – if you want to breed to Hanseatic, you’d better give us a call soon. Otherwise you might be too late.

“Traditionally Victorian stallions haven’t really tended to book out that often, but this is a horse who’s still only 3-years-old at the moment, and it’s going to be his first season at stud. We need to be careful and look after him.

“There’s an incredible appetite Australia-wide, which we’ve been very pleased about. The interest out of New South Wales has been phenomenal. The breeding rights are all sold out, taken up by a variety of big players like Rick Jamieson’s Gilgai Farm, Tom Magnier, and some clients of James Harron. We’re delighted with the way he’s been received.”

Shamus Award continues to shine

Meanwhile, Cox Plate winner Shamus Award will stand for $33,000 (inc GST) this season – up from a 2020 fee of $19,800 (inc GST) following a flurry of winners.

The son of Snitzel has sired 77 winners since August 1, eight of them at stakes level including Mr Quickie in the G1 Toorak H. and Media Award in the G1 Australasian Oaks.

“He continues to go from strength to strength,” Mithen said. “I think people have been quite happily surprised with the fee that we set for him, considering he had just sired his second Group 1 winner in the Oaks the previous weekend.

“He also had another stakes winner at Gosford yesterday – Enchanted Heart in the Takeover Target S.

“That really shows what a versatile stallion he is. He’s had stakes winners from 1000 to 2000 metres this season (and Duais also placed in the G1 Australian Oaks at Randwick). As our tagline says, he has Snitzel speed but Cox Plate strength.

“He’s accessible to a huge range of breeders in that $30,000 bracket, giving them a great opportunity to breed a nice, commercial horse.

“His stats compare very favourably with the likes of Toronado, and his achievements are even starting to push up somewhere near what a horse like Dundeel has done. He shoulders up alongside those sorts of horses, but stands for half the fee.

“He served 180 mares last season, so he’s going to be represented by big numbers in the seasons ahead.”

Hanseatic and Shamus Award are part of a six-stallion roster at Rosemont, with Starspangledbanner standing for $16,500 (inc GST), Strasbourg for $11,000 (inc GST), Nostradamus for $4400 (inc GST) and Starcraft (NZ) for $8800 (inc GST).

Hall of Fame honour for veteran

The last of those names, trailblazing international performer Starcraft, was honoured late last month with induction into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame.

The winner of the G1 Australian Derby and Chipping Norton S. in Sydney and the G1 Mudgway S. in New Zealand, the son of Soviet Star (USA) became the first New Zealand-bred horse in history to win a Group 1 race in Europe when he later added the Queen Elizabeth II S. at Newmarket and Prix du Moulin at Longchamp to his resume.

Standing at various studs in Australia since 2006, Starcraft has been a successful stallion with 338 winners from 566 runners, with 20 stakes winners including Group 1 winners Star Witness and We Can Say It Now.

“It was really nice to see the old boy honoured in that way,” Mithen said. “We’re relative latecomers to Starcraft and his great history, but we’re honoured to have him on the farm.

“He’ll stand privately this year – he’s rising 21, so we’re going to make sure we look after him. We don’t want him to be mismanaged at that age, even though he’s in fantastic health and looking amazing.

“We’ll just keep him here on the farm and smile every time we look at him. He’s been a marvel.”

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

The busy weekend began on Friday evening at the Riverside Stables, where Newhaven was in the thick of the action on both sides of the ledger during the Inglis Chairman’s Sale.

They sold three mares through their Chairman’s Sale draft for a total of $1,425,000, headed by an $800,000 pricetag for stakes-winning mare From Within (Not A Single Doubt). But they also signed the docket for the Group 2-winning New Zealand mare Pinmedown (NZ) (Pins), who was purchased to be served by Newhaven’s new stallion recruit Cool Aza Beel (NZ) in the spring.

The following day at Newcastle produced a big moment for Newhaven’s other stallion Xtravagant (NZ), with talented 2-year-old Sinba scoring a dominant debut victory against older maiden rivals over 1400 metres. Sinba was a $90,000 purchase from Newhaven’s draft at the 2020 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, and the promising gelding is trained by Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou.

Himself a scintillating 8l winner of both the G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas and the G1 Waikato Sprint as a 3-year-old, Xtravagant has now sired two winners from 10 starters in his first crop of 2-year-olds this season.

Xtravagant’s first winner was He’s Xceptional, who is trained by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and won at Cranbourne in March. He’s Xceptional has also had second placings at both Caulfield and Moonee Valley.

“It’s been a good weekend,” John Kelly told TDN AusNZ on Sunday. “We were very happy to see Xtravagant have that impressive winner at Newcastle yesterday.

“This was the first time he’s had a runner past six furlongs (1200 metres), and we were really pleased to see that horse perform the way he did.”

Kelly has an extra connection to Sinba, having also purchased his dam Kamili (Bernardini {USA}) for $20,000 at the 2017 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.

“I bought the mare for a friend of mine and put her to Xtravagant, and it’s turned out really well,” Kelly said. “That was a nice performance yesterday, and Gerald Ryan thinks Sinba is a promising horse.

“Gerald has also told me that he has a couple of other Xtravagant 2-year-olds in his stable that he quite likes, and they’re likely to have their first starts over the next couple of weeks.

“Xtravagant’s made a promising start, with a couple of good winners from just a handful of runners so far. Xtravagant himself began his career around this time of year as a 2-year-old (a 7l win at Hastings in New Zealand in late April, 2015), and then he really made a name for himself after he turned three. Hopefully we’ll have a bit to look forward to next season with his progeny.

“I haven’t found a trainer yet that has an Xtravagant that they don’t like, which is unusual. They all think a lot of them, which is really good to hear, and it gives us a bit of confidence that he’s going to have some nice horses representing him on the track.”

A promising stallion roster

Xtravagant is joined on the Newhaven roster by fellow Kiwi recruit Cool Aza Beel, who was New Zealand’s Champion 2-Year-Old of 2019/20.

Trained by Jamie Richards for Te Akau Racing, Cool Aza Beel won four of his six starts, including the G1 Sistema Diamond S. and the R. Listed Karaka Million, both at Ellerslie. The Karaka Million had been won by his elite stablemates Melody Belle (NZ) (Commands), Avantage (Fastnet Rock) and Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel) in the preceding three years.

Cool Aza Beel’s introductory service fee has been set at $16,500 (inc GST) for the 2021 breeding season.

“The response to Cool Aza Beel has been really encouraging,” Kelly said. “We’ve fully syndicated him into 50 shares, and there’s a great syndicate behind him now. The bookings have also been really strong so far, so all the signs are very promising.”

Xtravagant, who was also co-trained by Richards for Te Akau during his explosive racing career, will stand for a fee of $11,000 (inc GST).

“Xtravagant has got to keep getting the winners over the next few weeks and months, but he also seems to be tracking along nicely at the moment,” Kelly said.

Satisfying sales

Kelly was delighted with the weekend’s selling, both as a vendor and as a buyer.

“We’ve been very pleased,” he said. “We had a couple of really nice sales on Friday night, including From Within for $800,000. It all turned out very well. It was a strong Sale in general, and we came away very happy with the results that we had.

“It was also really pleasing that we were able to secure Pinmedown to go to Cool Aza Beel. As everyone knows, Savabeel crosses so well with Pins and also O’Reilly, so we’re focussing on finding some nice mares with that blood. Hopefully the mares that we’re picking up will help to give Cool Aza Beel a good start at stud.”

Pinmedown was a $630,000 purchase from Newgate, who sold her on behalf of Ballymore Stables. The daughter of Pins was bought for only NZ$28,000 by Paul Moroney at the 2017 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka. She won four races and more than NZ$160,000 in stakes, headed by the G2 Eight Carat Classic at Ellerslie.

By sending Pinmedown to Cool Aza Beel, the Newhaven team will attempt to replicate a golden cross between Cool Aza Beel’s sire Savabeel and mares by Pins. That combination has produced a remarkable 84 winners from 110 runners, with 16 individual stakes winners including Group 1 winners Probabeel, Savvy Coup (NZ) and Brambles (NZ).

The Newhaven team is also on the lookout for O’Reilly (NZ) mares, which have crossed with Savabeel for an equally impressive 107 winners from 145 runners, with 20 stakes winners including Costume (NZ), Mo’unga (NZ), Amarelinha (NZ), Embellish (NZ), Savaria (NZ) and Diademe (NZ) at the elite level.

A hectic schedule

A busy weekend rolled on with another four Newhaven mares going through the Riverside ring in Sunday’s Australian Broodmare Sale, and the team will have little time to rest afterwards, with Magic Millions' sales now looming large on the horizon.

“We get a week at home after this, and then we’re straight off to the Gold Coast for the broodmare, yearling and weanling sales there later in the month,” Kelly said. “We’ve got some big numbers in those sales.

“It really is non-stop at this time of the year, but we enjoy doing it, and the market is very strong at the moment, so the work is being rewarded.”

Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy

It was confirmed last week that Exosphere, a G1 Golden Rose winner, will stand at the Umbrian-based Oaklands Stud for a service fee of $4950 (inc GST).

He had stood his first five seasons at Darley with Group 2 winner Thermosphere and recent G3 Hawkesbury Guineas winner Exoboom among his 33 winners.

While he stood his final season at Darley at $16,500 (inc GST) in 2021, he will be at a price Stewart believes will prove a huge boost for Queensland breeders.

“We took into consideration the status of the Queensland sector and wanted to offer Exosphere at a price that we believe offers great value to the breeders in Queensland and is very affordable,” Stewart told TDN AusNZ.

“I’ve had people ask me ‘why price him so cheap’, well we can afford to, as owning the horse outright means I don’t have to satisfy any shareholders or pay any dividends.

“And also, we wanted to do the right thing by all the breeders in Queensland, in offering a service fee that when they go to the yearling sales, they won’t be struggling to get their service fee back. They know that they will get their service fee back in multiples and make a good profit by joining with Exosphere.”

Stewart outlined a multitude of reasons as to why breeders should consider sending their broodmares to Exosphere this season, saying that his own ability on the track combined with an enriched pedigree provides the perfect recipe for successful progeny.

“He is one of the best-performed, if not the best-performed, son of Lonhro standing at stud in Australia and horses who set records on the track normally perform well at stud,” Stewart said.

“He has Marscay (Biscay) blood which Iglesia the sire of Written Tycoon who I stood also had, and that attracted us to him. He is definitely the right horse for the Queensland market as he will put speed into his progeny and match well with Danehill-line mares.

“So, if you have mares with Star Kingdom blood, which I know are plentiful in Queensland you have only one stallion to breed to in Queensland and that is Exosphere.”

Exosphere’s barnmate Power (GB) rises from $11,000 (inc GST) to $13,200 (inc GST) off the back of his progeny landing four New Zealand stakes victories and proving a profitable commodity in the sales ring.

Previously standing at New Zealand’s internationally renowned Cambridge Stud, Power was added to Oaklands' roster in 2018, a decision that Stewart feels is already validated.

“Of all the stallions I’ve had over 40 years he is the best that I’ve had in terms of throwing a type. His progeny are very similar to him, they have very good leg and are very athletic and handsome,” Stewart said.

“And that was recognised by the buyers during the yearling sales, as his progeny went to good traders for good prices up to $85,000. So, that warranted our decision to slightly increase his fee.”

Stewart declared interest in Power to be sky-high ahead of the upcoming breeding season, saying that 57 bookings had been confirmed for the versatile stallion in the first day of fee announcements.

“He’s very versatile across the board which makes him a desired proposition, Cape Cross, Zabeel and Reset mares work well with him and he also crosses extremely well with Danehill blood, as he is by Oasis Dream which gives his progeny a big burst of speed,” Stewart said.

Stewart holds high hopes for his two-pronged attack in 2021 and beyond.

“The highly promising young sires provide breeders with the opportunity to breed racehorses that will be up and running as early 2-year-old types, whilst also running on successfully into their and three and 4-year-old seasons and beyond,” Stewart said.

“Our stallions have a terrific blend of pure power, speed and athleticism, and we believe both stallions are particularly well-suited to the Australian and specifically the Queensland breeding landscape.”