B2B booked to some of the best this season

Cover image courtesy of B2B Thoroughbreds

For breeding farms around Australia, seasonal mating plans can be exciting and exhausting, an exercise in playing God as much as lady luck. However, for Riccardo Surace, racing manager at B2B Thoroughbreds and son to stud principal Ricky Surace, it’s an annual highlight.

“I think it’s the most enjoyable thing ever,” Surace said. “I’m such a nerd in that sense. I like learning about all the new stallions, and I love studying all the genetics and seeing what works. It’s all about trial and error at the end of the day, but it’s very rewarding when it pays off.”

The breeding plans for the following season begin at B2B Thoroughbreds as soon as mares begin foaling down a year ahead. Surace looks ahead to the following year and considers genetics, pedigree and type.

“For us, the mare and stallion have to match physically and genetically,” he said. “We select genetically by going back seven or eight generations, so it’s quite a step back. Once we see what stallions can go to that mare, we’ll pick the match physically and see what suits her best.

"Of course, it takes more than genetics to breed a champion racehorse, but we think that genetics give you up to a 10-times better chance of breeding that champion racehorse.”

Star Witness family

B2B Thoroughbreds has been in operation much longer than its young farm, which has sat in the shade of Mount Lindsey, outside of Mittagong in the Southern Highlands, only since 2019.

This spring, the operation has 35 mares on its run-sheet, all booked to a spread of stallions that include Ole Kirk, Doubtland and Bivouac, as well the excellent usual suspects like Exceed And Excel and Snitzel.

“Ole Kirk was one we were really keen to breed to,” Surace said. “Doubtland was another, and Pierata and Invader. Toronado too. The list goes on and on, and even Graff, he has great bloodlines.”

The bookings are fairly final at this late stage, but Surace said it can be a long labour getting to that final point.

“We chop and change all the way from January to July,” he said.

One of the notable exclusions from this season’s B2B run-sheet is the old maiden Leone Chiara (Lion Hunter), who is 22 years old now and the dam of Widden sire Star Witness, Rosemont sire Nostradamus, stakes-winning gelding Embracer (Sebring) and Group 1-placed Lady Lupino (Sebring).

Leone Chiara herself was a Group 3 and Listed winner in South Australia, and she will foal to Lonhro this spring before retirement.

“She was the mare that started everything for us, because we took a share in Star Witness, her first foal,” Surace said. “Eventually we were able to buy her, and she’s done her job now. We’ve got a full sister to Star Witness and we’ve got a couple of half-siblings to Leone Chiara that we’re breeding from this season, so it’s good to keep the family going.”

When B2B picked up Leone Chiara privately, they sent her to Starcraft (NZ) twice for full siblings to Star Witness.

The result of that first mating was Regulus, who was third on debut in July for trainer Danny O’Brien. O’Brien purchased the colt for $320,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale last year.

The second foal is Split Image, who was unsold and is currently an unraced 2-year-old with the Hawkes team at Rosehill. Surace is hoping the Lonhro foal this spring, the mare’s last, will be a filly they can also retain as the old mare puts her feet up.

“We just built her a nice paddock, so as soon as she foals she’ll go in there,” Surace said. “She’s bouncing around like she’s two years old, she’s great.”

Exceeding, excelling

Leone Chiara is one of B2B’s more famous names, but she isn’t alone.

The farm has Vintage Strike (USA) (Smart Strike {Can}) among its private hall of fame, and this is the family of the wonderful Australian mare Bollinger (Dehere {USA}).

Bollinger, from Golden Slipper winner Bint Marscay (Marscay), in turn a daughter of Group-winning Eau D’Etoile (NZ) (Sir Tristram {Ire}), won the G1 Coolmore Classic, G2 Surround S. and G3 South Pacific Classic in 2003 and, in a subsequent stud career, produced the American star Friesan Fire (USA) and dual Group winner Villermont.

Twelve-year-old Vintage Strike was the result of Bollinger’s time in the United States, and she was brought to Australia by Julian Blaxland and Ricky Surace Snr in 2014, sold for US$500,000 (AU$695,700) from Vinery Stud at the Keeneland November Breeding Sale.

Since then, she has lived up to her genes.

Vintage Strike foaled Aim (Star Witness) in 2017, the gelding that won the $2 million R. Listed Magic Millions 3YO Guineas in January. Aim was also third to Mamaragan (Wandjina) in the G2 Skyline S.

Vintage Strike additionally foaled Venting (Star Witness), who won on debut last week at Bendigo for Danny O’Brien.

The mare has a Written Tycoon yearling colt called Soldier Field, and she is in foal to Toronado (Ire). Surace has booked her to Exceed And Excel, along with the broodmare Scarlet Billows (Street Boss {USA}), the dam of Capitalist colt Gleneagles.

“We’re very strategic on how we mate our mares,” Surace said. “We mate to make racehorses, not for the sales ring, and I thought Exceed And Excel would be a great suit both physically and genetically for those two mares. They’ve both got fantastic pedigrees to back that up, and Exceed And Excel is still doing fantastically in the sales ring, and I can’t see that stopping any time soon.”

Scarlet Billows has had only two surviving foals – Gleneagles in 2018 and a Dundeel (NZ) filly that is now a yearling. She will foal to Exceed And Excel before heading back to the sire this spring.

She’s had a boom start to stud already, with Gleneagles fetching $500,000 when sold as a yearling last year at Magic Millions in January. He was sold to Peter Twomey’s Wattle Bloodstock and has won two races in five starts for ARAMCO Racing and trainer David Payne.

“We know that Darley likes to protect its stallions, in terms of mares having great pedigrees behind them that go there,” Surace said. “So that’s a massive influence when it comes to yearling prices, and you know when sending a mare to Exceed And Excel that it’s (the resultant foal) coming from an exceptional Darley family.”

Booked to Snitzel

Among the mares heading out this season, B2B Thoroughbreds has four notables on their way to Snitzel at Arrowfield Stud.

“His sale averages this year were extraordinary,” Surace said. “I think at his $165,000 (inc GST) stud fee, he represents great value. I think it could be doubled and he’d still be great value, to be honest. Three of the four mares we’re sending are already in foal to Snitzel, and he’s almost like a no-risk option. If they’re a good type, they’re going to make a lot in the sale ring.”

Surace said his four booked mares were handpicked on genetics.

They include Maybe I (Red Ransom {USA}), the dam of Group-winning Ringerdingding, who awaits a Snitzel foal this spring. There’s also Forbidden (General Nediym), the dam of Mamaragan, Black Prada (Domesday), whose dam is a half-sister to the brilliant four-time Group 1 winner Appearance (Commands), and Beetobee (Jpn) (Symboli Kris S {USA}), who hails from the family of Arrowfield shuttle star Maurice (Jpn).

“Maybe I has fantastic bloodlines through Red Ransom which is a proven Roberto cross,” Surace said. “Forbidden is a lovely cross through the General Nediym-line, and Mamaragan was by Wandjina, a son of Snitzel, so we thought we’ll go back to the source and stick with what works. Black Prada will return just because it’s a massive filly family.”

Beetobee is an interesting one for Surace.

“I did some research and thought that these Japanese mares go so well to Snitzel, and as you can see from Arrowfield, they’re handpicking Japanese mares to head to him,” he said. “Beetobee would be genetically a good mating, and she’s a big, strong mare with a fantastic pedigree. Her half-sister won a stakes race not that long ago in Japan, and she’s from the extended family of Maurice, so I thought this would be a strong mating.”

Surace Snr picked up Beetobee in 2016, paying ¥18 million (AU$226,344) at the JRA Select Yearling and Foal Sale. The filly was lightly raced in Australia before heading to stud last year, and she foaled a Microphone filly just a few days ago.

Lipstick loving

B2B is spreading the love this season, and one particular mating of note is Lipstick Lover (I Am Invincible) booked to Darley’s exciting freshman Bivouac.

Lipstick Lover was bred by Yarraman Park and is a daughter of Kensington Rose (NZ) (Kenfair {NZ}), making her a half-sister to the brilliant Ilovethiscity.

The latter won the G1 Randwick Guineas and G2 Hobartville S. in 2011 and, as a stallion at Noor Elaine Farm, has sired five stakes winners to date, including the G1 ATC Sires’ Produce S. winner El Dorado Dreaming.

Lipstick Lover was picked up by B2B Thoroughbreds for $100,000 as a yearling at the 2015 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, and she was a five-time winner in the Surace silks. Her first foal was Lipscani by Toronado, and she revisited Toronado for a filly last year before going to Dundeel.

“Lipstick Lover is by I Am Invincible, and we think the I Am Invincible to Exceed And Excel cross works pretty well,” Surace said. “This is why we’ve gone to a son of Exceed in Bivouac, who was obviously a top racehorse himself.”

Surace said the physical match is a good one.

“Bivouac is a perfect size for her because he’s not too big and she’s that bigger, rangier, staying type of I Am Invincible mare,” he said. “She was stakes placed and she’s already had two Toronados. We retained the first one, Lipscani, and the yearling filly we will most likely retain due to the family. She looks like a Toronado sprinter, which is a bit weird for the breed, but I’m excited to see what she develops into in the next couple of months.”

The unknown of using debut sires isn’t something that worried Surace with his choice of Bivouac.

“We were happy to take that risk,” he said. “She lets off wonderful foals and physically it was a great mating. They will suit each other, and once again it just came down to the genetics.”

Table: Some of B2B Thoroughbreds' 2021 matings