Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy

Hughes passed away on Wednesday at his residence on the farm in Kentucky surrounded by his family. He was 87 years old.

He was renowned as a visionary entrepreneur who grew from humble beginnings to build a self-storage empire, through Public Storage, before turning his attention to thoroughbreds. Hughes purchased Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky in 2004 and transformed it into a leading commercial breeding operation with son-in-law Eric Gustavson as president and General Manager Ned Toffey.

The farm gradually returned to prominence, then soared in the past decade with the breakout of superstar sire Into Mischief (USA). Spendthrift campaigned multiple champions including Beholder (USA) (Henny Hughes {USA}) and Authentic (USA).

In 2020, Hughes celebrated Authentic's G1 Kentucky Derby and G1 Breeders' Cup Classic, before the son of Into Mischief retired to stand at Spendthrift. He threw his support behind MyRacehorse, allowing thousands of micro-owners to share in Authentic's success.

In 2014, Hughes took his thoroughbred stallion operation international, purchasing the former Yallambee Park Stud in Victoria to establish Spendthrift Australia under the guidance of General Manager Garry Cuddy.

Speaking to TDN AusNZ, Cuddy said he was forever grateful for the opportunity afforded to him by Hughes, when he was appointed to that role.

"From a personal perspective, he took a very big punt on me and backed me as a young man. He gave me a wonderful opportunity," Cuddy said.

"I hope that the development of the farm and brand in Australia over the first seven years was something he was proud of.

"The team here are very flat today hearing the news, as Mr Hughes was a man we all looked up to and greatly admired. The culture and values of Spendthrift were optimised by Mr Hughes, who very much led by example from the top.

"There's a fire in the belly for us to fulfil the dream for Mr Hughes and get the results that he desired. We want to continue and honour his legacy, along with his family."

Cuddy met Hughes in 2014, after he was flown to Kentucky for a job interview for the new Australian operation. He said he was immediately struck by a man of passion and conviction.

"I got a phone call and they said, 'we’d like to interview you for a job'. Two days later I was in Kentucky, meeting Mr Hughes and Ned Toffey, and we drove around the farm," he said.

"Anyone who has met Mr Hughes will know his infectious attitude and character. He's a person that grabbed your attention as soon as he spoke. You could really feel that what he said, he meant."

That approach was something that struck Cuddy as a key tenet to the culture that had elevated Spendthrift into one of the American thoroughbred industry's great success stories of the 21st century.

"One thing that is particularly wonderful for Spendthrift, is the powerful brand he has created in both hemispheres. You know we fight the good fight for everybody, big or small, be they the richest client or breeders with only one mare. All over the world, you are treated the same way. That's the way he wanted it and that's the way it will continue on into the future," he said.

An Australian ambition

Hughes' affinity for Australia came through his previous business dealings in the country and Cuddy said from that perspective, it made sense for him to expand his thoroughbred interests in Australia.

"He loved the country and the racing excited him. At the end of the day, he was a businessman, and he knew that fast American shuttle stallions could work," Cuddy said.

"He had around 30 stallions on the roster in Kentucky at the time that he purchased the Australian arm. There have been opportunities for some of those horses to make their way down here. We've learned a lot in those first few years and now stand Omaha Beach and Vino Rosso down here, two incredibly exciting prospects in both hemispheres who fit the profile of American stallions that work. It's exciting to think of the stallions we will have the opportunity to stand into the future."

As well as investing in stallions and broodmares, Spendthrift has also been a major supporter of the Australian yearling market, spending over $30 million either in its own name or in partnership since 2016. Among those purchases have been Swear, Dirty Work and Overshare, who are now on Spendthrift Australia's roster.

There have also been considerable resources put into the Australian base at Romsey, north of Melbourne.

"We are still only a young farm and still in the redevelopment stage really. We have been here for seven years. We started out with the approach that 'Rome wasn't built in a day' and we weren't going to rush things," Cuddy said.

"Now we are at the point where the farm is almost exactly where we want it. We have got our broodmare band up to the capacity our farm can hold. We've got a very exciting stallion roster, so with a bit of luck, there's plenty of excitement in the future for us.

"It will all be done the Mr Hughes' way, with the breeder considered first, that’s for sure."

An American story

Born Bradley Wayne Hughes on September 28, 1933, in the small town of Gotebo, Oklahoma, he was known by his middle name since childhood. The son of a sharecropper who fled Oklahoma's Dust Bowl and resettled in California shortly after he was born, Hughes grew up poor in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles. Winning a scholarship to the University of Southern California, he graduated with a degree in business in 1957.

Climbing the professional ladder in real estate, Hughes had recently opened his own firm when business associate Kenneth Volk Jnr brought him an idea in 1972 for buying and renting out private self-storage locations in major cities.

Hughes and Volk pooled US$50,000 (AU$69,507) together and founded Public Storage, which became an immense success and established Hughes' business empire. The company has grown to a US$40 billion (AU$55.6 billion) valuation and was the foundation for Hughes to expand into other successful real estate ventures.

Introduced to horse racing by his father as a young boy, Hughes was involved in the sport for decades as an adult before making his big splash with the purchase of Spendthrift in 2004. The historic farm, which once stood Triple Crown winners Seattle Slew (USA) and Affirmed (USA), fell into bankruptcy when the thoroughbred market crashed in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was sold at a foreclosure auction in 1993.

He purchased Spendthrift in 2004 and traded in his residence in California for a life on the farm in Lexington. Hughes quickly began restoring the historic brand and its land, renovating almost all the farm's signature structures and returning Spendthrift to a viable commercial breeding operation.

A gradual build back to success for Spendthrift gathered considerable pace thanks to Into Mischief, while the on-track success of Beholder and Authentic added another chapter to Hughes' story.

Spendthrift dominated last year's Fasig-Tipton November Night of the Stars, buying dual Champion Monomoy Girl (USA) (Tapizar {USA}) for US$9.5 million (AU$13.2 million) as one of several multi-million dollar purchases to pair with Into Mischief and the rest of the farm's ever-growing stallion roster.

Following Beholder's 8.5l victory in the 2015 G1 Pacific Classic, Hughes said: “I've had a few good horses in the past, but she is the first horse that makes me feel lucky to be the owner. I've never had that feeling before. I think it's called pride.”

Said Hughes after being honoured as the 2020 Galbreath Award winner by the University of Louisville: “Thoroughbred horse racing has been a tremendous passion of mine ever since my father took me to the races as a young boy. It's something he and I got to share together, and I've been fortunate to be able to make it a large part of my life and share it with so many that are dear to me.

"There are few thrills greater than what horse racing can provide, and it is our responsibility to do a better job of improving this great sport so that future generations can enjoy it as much as I have.”

Mandella pays tribute

Richard Mandella, who trained Beholder and her half-brother Into Mischief, reflected on the impact Hughes had made.

“It's a very, very sad day for me personally, and for racing in general,” he said. “He was such a stand-up guy, trying to make the world better, and a lot of fun.”

Mandella, who said he had known Hughes for 25 years, described him as a bastion of old-school horsemanship.

“He was like those old owners who used to come to the track and see the horses train and have breakfast and talk about them–the old-school type.”

Asked what memory of Hughes stands out above all others, Mandella sidestepped a carnival of indelible moments with the likes of Beholder. “She had so many days you could pick–the last race she ran in at the Breeders' Cup. The Pacific Classic just took your breath away,” he said.

“But if I had one day to pick, it's when I asked him for a favour for my son,” Mandella said, reluctant to elaborate in detail. “My son had some health problems, and Mr Hughes did something that nobody else could do.”

Hughes devoted a considerable portion of his wealth to philanthropy, almost always anonymously and without fanfare.

He gave a staggering US$400 million (AU$556 million) to his beloved University of Southern California and committed over US$100 million (AU$139 million) more to paediatric cancer research after his 8-year-old son Parker died of leukemia in 1998. During the wildfires that killed and displaced horses in California in 2017, Hughes gave US$50,000 (AU$69,500) to relief efforts and flew in veterinary supplies and volunteers from Kentucky on a private plane. He also donated toward the rehabilitation of wildlife after the devastating Australian bush fires in 2019.

In addition to his philanthropy, Hughes will be remembered as one of the great, consistently innovative business minds of the last 50 years and a true rags-to-riches story who found his way to success in nearly everything he tried. His investment in and expert management of Spendthrift has risen the farm from the ashes and restored its legacy while disrupting the industry by continually implementing new ideas on both the breeding and racing sides.

Hughes was preceded in death by his father William Lawrence, his mother Blanche, and his son Parker. He is survived by his wife Patricia, his son Wayne Jnr (Molly); his daughter Tamara, wife of Spendthrift's Eric Gustavson; his grandchildren Kylie Barraza (Pat), Skylar Hughes, Grant and Greer Gustavson; his sister Sue Caldwell and family, Frank, Bill, Allen; and a host of beloved cousins and friends.

Social media tributes

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

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

One of the impacts of the 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns was that Arrowfield retained a high number of yearlings from that crop, due to the disruption caused to the sales season, and in particular, the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

That crop of yearlings has just turned three and, with many of them in the Arrowfield colours, they are set to make a major splash this spring, headlined by highly rated colt Remarque (Snitzel) and smart filly Mallory (Not A Single Doubt), who resumes in Saturday's G2 Silver Shadow S.

While there was an element of risk at the time, dealing privately on many of Arrowfield's top yearlings, Messara told TDN AusNZ that he feels that the different approach the circumstances necessitated that year has turned out be a success.

"It’s worked out very well because we had some lovely horses. We syndicated a number of the fillies. Mallory came out of that and there are a number which will emerge from that draft. We are pretty happy. We haven't pushed any of them, so you will see them over the next three or four months," he said.

"We will be able to tell the story by the time the autumn has passed. We can go back and do a balance sheet on it, and I think we will be okay, in terms of sale value versus race rewards."

Remarque-able

Key to that success will be Remarque, who would have been a star attraction of Arrowfield's 2020 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale draft under different circumstances but was retained by Arrowfield in partnership with Northern Farm's Katsumi Yoshida, who co-bred the colt.

A brother to G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Estijaab, who herself was a $1.7 million yearling, and out of Group 1 winner Response (Charge Forward), who cost Yoshida $1.5 million as a broodmare in 2015, expectations were always high for Remarque.

Prepared by Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes, his 2-year-old campaign featured a brilliant debut win at Rosehill in January and a close-up fifth in the G2 Todman S. He resumed with an unlucky third in the Listed Rosebud at Randwick last week.

Messara holds strong ambitions for the colt, who is nominated for the G1 Golden Rose S. and who will have his next start in the G3 San Domenico S. to be held at Kembla Grange on August 28.

"We have got big raps on him. If you analyse his last race, he was fairly unlucky to be honest. That was a race run in very fast time and won by a good horse (Paulele). He would have finished a lot closer, perhaps even won the race, if conditions had been a bit different," Messara said.

"We're bullish about the horse. We’ve seen more of his prowess in his trials, where he has been unimpeded, because he's a big-striding horse, than we have in his races, where he has had to dart in and out.

"I'm hoping that on a big track at Kembla next week, that he can get himself positioned and see some daylight, and he can quicken impressively."

Climbing The Everest?

A strong performance in that race would not only put Remarque on track to target the Golden Rose S. but would also make a strong case for him to be considered for a slot in The Everest.

Arrowfield shares an interest as a slotholder with The Star Entertainment Group and Messara has already put Remarque on the radar for that position.

"He is a horse that I have discussed with The Star. You have to put a horse in the slot that is going to give the best chance of giving Star a result, as well as ourselves. Remarque will have to earn his way in and run extremely impressively next week," he said.

Messara the studmaster also sees great potential in the longer-term future of Remarque as a stallion should he fulfill that promise on the track.

"He's a beauty. He's a beautiful physical and he has the pedigree to go with it. So we are excited about him. I don’t think we have seen the best of him at any stage yet," he said.

Messara also sees Remarque as a horse that will improve again into the autumn.

The fillies' flagbearer

The Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained Mallory is the leading light of the Arrowfield fillies brigade in terms of those who have raced.

Having finished second in the G3 Gimcrack S., the daughter of Not A Single Doubt returned in the autumn to win the G3 Widden S. at her second start. She then placed third in the G2 Sweet Embrace S. before finishing ninth in the G1 Golden Slipper S., where she was the second filly across the line.

She has made strong progress in her time off the track since then, and resumes in the G2 Silver Shadow S. on Saturday.

"She's made a good transition. She has thickened up and she is bigger and stronger than she was last prep. I think her ideal distance will be 1400 metres to a mile. I'm hoping to see a good showing from her. She trialled well last week, so I'm pretty hopeful she will run well on Saturday," Messara said.

Mallory holds nominations for the Golden Rose S. and the G1 Thousand Guineas, and is likely to follow the Princess Series, which culminates in the G1 Flight S.

Another filly which could carry the Arrowfield colours to glory this spring is the Team Hawkes-trained Yearning (Snitzel), who finished fourth in a Kensington maiden on Wednesday, but who Messara feels can make quick progress with a bit of fortune.

"I'd say we will have some fun ahead with her, particularly up to that mile distance and beyond. She's out of Rising Romance, who had a very strong 2000-metre record," he said.

Yearning is the first foal out of Rising Romance (NZ) (Ekraar {USA}), who won a G1 Australian Oaks and was placed in seven other Group 1 races. Her second foal, a colt by Snitzel, topped the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale this year when he sold to Hawkes Racing for $2.5 million.

Now named Magic, Arrowfield has retained a share in him.

"He was one of the nicest yearlings we have ever put through a sale. John Hawkes was crazy about him. He was very keen and we decided we’d keep a share," Messara said.

"He's very nice. He's been in and out a couple of times and they like him. He is more of a precocious, powerful, early muscled type compared to his sister."

With much of Australia in lockdown, the approaching spring racing season is very much welcomed by those in the industry, none more so than Messara, who appreciates everything that has been done to keep the show on the road.

"I tip my hat to Racing NSW and Racing Victoria for keeping racing going during these very difficult times, albeit with the protocols that have had to be adopted. It's been really useful that racing has kept going for the participants," he said.

"In the end all that counts is what happens at the finishing post, for stallions, for mares and for sales. The race results drive everything and it’s so important to keep those races going."