Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

On the post-and-rail pastures of Burradoo, on the rich property that was once Think Big Stud, Zhongli Thoroughbreds has tucked itself into one of the best thoroughbred nurseries south of the Hunter. It did so in early 2020, taking over the 200 acres that flank the Wingecarribee River in the New South Wales Southern Highlands.

At its helm for China-based owner Gu Tao, stud manager Alex Kingston is preparing the farm’s first-ever yearling draft. It’s a concise collection of five horses for Book 1 of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

It will be the first time Zhongli Thoroughbreds will sell under its own banner and, while Kingston is a very deft hand in the thoroughbred business, there is still a bit of pressure that comes with a debut draft.

“There’s a bit of scrutiny with it being a first draft for a new company, but it’s certainly not the first draft I’ve presented,” Kingston said. “I’m used to the pressure that comes with yearling sales, and these are five very good-quality horses by five very good sires. They’re definitely up to what Magic Millions looks for with this Sale.”

The five-horse draft has yearlings by Deep Field, Written Tycoon, Pierro and a pair by Trapeze Artist. Each are from mares selected by the Zhongli team in foal at their time of purchase.

“I selected most of these mares for Mr Gu up on the Gold Coast two years ago,” Kingston said. “I tried to pick sires that would be good in two years’ time and I wanted good 2-year-old types, but the mares had to have some type of performance as racehorses.”

Gallery: Sires being represented by Zhongli Thoroughbreds' yearling draft at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale

The outcome is a draft by largely proven stallions from young and emerging mares, and Kingston said it reflects exactly what Zhongli Thoroughbreds is pitching for with its yearling representations.

Artists in the draft

Among the draft, the farm has two fillies by Widden Stud’s new sire Trapeze Artist, who is having his first progeny head into the sale ring in January.

For Kingston, the Zhongli pair is headed by Lot 816, the fourth foal from the Group 2-winning broodmare Blueberry Hill (Myboycharlie {Ire}).

Zhongli Thoroughbreds purchased the mare at the Magic Millions National Sale in 2020 for $220,000. She was sold by Widden Stud in foal to Trapeze Artist.

“This filly is a very precocious 2-year-old type, very well-balanced with great muscle,” Kingston said. “She’s got a fantastic walk, one of the better walks I’ve actually seen on any yearling. She has prepped up beautifully, and she basically prepped herself. She’s one of those horses that, from the day she was born, looked like being a really good filly.”

Blueberry Hill won the G2 BRC Champagne Classic in 2015 and, the following year, she won the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic at Ipswich, which has been a strong race for producing mares over the years.

Kingston said Lot 816 was very professional in everything she did, and she expected the filly to be among the best of the Trapeze Artist yearlings, which number 33 in this Sale.

Alongside her is Lot 112, also by Trapeze Artist and from the High Chaparral (Ire) mare Highway. This mare was a metro winner and Group-placed during her career before being sold at the Magic Millions National Sale in 2020 by Baystone Farm to Zhongli Thoroughbreds for $300,000.

This Trapeze Artist filly is her first foal, and she’s a different cut to Lot 816.

“This is a very athletic filly,” Kingston said. “She’s grown out very well as a maiden foal, and she’s a lot more feminine than the Blueberry Hill horse.

“They’re two very different types of Trapeze Artists, and I’ve heard that both of these fillies are in the top few of the progeny by this stallion, so it’s a good thing that they’re quite different. One is a very bullish, colt-like filly (Lot 816), and the other is a more elegant type.”

Maiden tactics

The remaining three horses in the Zhongli Thoroughbreds draft are by established stallions, which is important for an emerging farm. Among them is Lot 171, an early colt by Written Tycoon from the Nadeem mare Karavali (NZ).

Karavali was a Group 3 winner, and she’s a full sister to the stakes winner Sir Nate (NZ), who was also placed in a string of important Group 1 races in New Zealand, including the G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas and G1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce S.

Lot 171 is a punchy yearling for Zhongli Thoroughbreds.

“If you’re going to get your name out there, these horses have to be among the top 10 per cent of the Sale,” Kingston said. “This colt is a very well-balanced and neat sort of yearling, and he represents his sire extremely well. Being a first foal out of Karavali, we are extremely happy with him.”

Equally, Kingston is hopeful that Lot 915, a colt by Pierro from the Snitzel mare Dinnigan, will do well on the Gold Coast.

This is also a first foal, with Dinnigan being an early running mare who was Group 3 placed and third in the R. Listed Magic Millions Wyong 2YO Classic to Madeenaty (Exceed And Excel) in 2016.

This is also the extended family of Australia’s reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Stay Inside (Extreme Choice).

“This is an extremely athletic, well-balanced colt,” Kingston said. “He’s very much like his dam, with a very good walk and good outlook, and he hasn’t put a foot wrong in his prep.”

Kingston said it was a Zhongli tactic two years ago to buy these young, maiden mares with first foals coming through in 2022.

“Our rationale was to acquire a boutique broodmare band, and to do that we needed very good types of mares that were proven on the racetrack, but also mares that had gone to the right sires,” she said. “We’ve got about 15 broodmares at the moment, but we’re hoping to get up to about 25 or 30 in the next couple of years.”

As a result, the farm is expecting to have a strong buying presence on the broodmare circuit through 2022.

Selling for Asia

Whipping in the draft is Lot 37, who pops up early in the catalogue as a colt by Deep Field from the Snitzel mare Fashion Sniptz.

Zhongli bought Fashion Sniptz in foal to Deep Field at the Magic Millions May Online Sale in 2020. She was consigned by Glenesk Thoroughbreds and sold for $80,000.

Lot 37 is a second foal and half-brother to the 3-year-old gelding Lucky Sun (Maurice {Jpn}). The latter has been consistent for Randwick trainer Mark Newnham in a handful of starts.

“We bought this mare in foal to Deep Field, and that sire has really come on since then,” Kingston said. “This yearling is a very scopey, well-balanced colt with great size about him, and he should suit the Hong Kong market nicely.”

The Newgate stallion Deep Field has done exceptionally well as a Hong Kong sire in the last two years. He has had 28 starters all up for 14 winners and 34 wins, and they’re headed recently by Sky Field, who won the G1 Hong Kong Sprint in early December, plus the G3 Premier Cup.

Kingston said Lot 37 looks an obvious choice for the Asian market.

“As well as stallion, it’s the overall type that will suit Hong Kong,” Kingston said. “This colt has both of those things on his side.”

Soaring Ambitions

In a short space of time, Zhongli Thoroughbreds has moved quickly onto the Australian breeding scene. It has been buying since mid-2020, and its debut draft will be hotly watched on the Gold Coast next month.

“I think there will be plenty of eyes on Zhongli, and I’m glad I’m part of the team,” Kingston said. “I’m glad to be able to bring my expertise to the farm to rear and grow these horses out, and to present them as we will be at Magic Millions.”

Zhongli Thoroughbreds has a second excuse for a spirited presence at the Sale in a few weeks’ time.

Its 2-year-old filly Soaring Ambition (Not A Single Doubt) is fourth on the ballot for the upcoming $2 million R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic. The filly won the Wyong equivalent just last week.

“She’s looking very well,” Kingston said. “She galloped this morning (Tuesday) and she pulled up extremely well after her Wyong win last week. She’s precocious enough to do well in January, so it’s looking good for her.”

Soaring Ambition will carry the yellow silks of Zhongli Thoroughbreds and, so early in the farm’s genesis, she’s an important filly for the new operation alongside its debut draft.

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

Canterbury Park hosted a busy morning of trials on Tuesday, with five heats for the 2-year-olds proving a successful affair for the Newgate Farm-China Horse Club partnership.

The group had a pair of winners among the colts and geldings, headed by the valuable youngster Current King (Snitzel), who is a son of the multiple stakes-producing mare Courgette (Charge Forward).

China Horse Club and Newgate Farm, in partnership with Darby Racing, bought this colt from the 2021 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, where they paid $650,000 for him to his breeder, Tony Bott’s Evergreen Farm.

Current King is a half-brother to no less than G1 Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) and G2 Silver Slipper winner Time To Reign (Time For War).

“There is no better-bred 2-year-old in Sydney right now than Current King,” said Newgate studmaster Henry Field. “He’s by the Champion stallion Snitzel out of as good a blue hen mare as has been around in the last few years in Courgette. She was a $2.1 million purchase for Tony Bott, and this colt is one that Michael Freedman has marked as having above-average ability.”

Current King hasn’t been in work with his trainers Richard and Michael Freedman for very long. His trial win on Tuesday was his first official outing, and Field said part of this is down to his being a very late foal.

“He’s a December foal, so we’re really pleased to see him at his first trial with such natural talent,” the studmaster said. “But it doesn’t surprise me given the mare has never missed with her progeny.”

Such is Field’s faith in this family, Newgate Farm bought another daughter of Courgette at this year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. Rosina Kojonup (Shamus Award) set the farm back $550,000 from the draft of Attunga Stud, but she was worth every penny.

“She was described to me by Blake Shinn as one of the fastest he’d ever ridden, even though she went amiss very early in her career,” Field said. “This colt clearly has the family’s potential, and he’s arguably the best-bred colt going around.”

Natural talents

Current King had Tommy Berry in the saddle for his 890 metre debut trial at Canterbury.

The pair leaped quickly out of the barriers, taking up a leading position on the rails with Sweet Ride (Deep Field) on their outside. Into the straight, they remained in that order, with stablemate Ringmaster (Zoustar) closing on the rails and the Darby Racing colt Merisi (Caravaggio {USA}) whipping them in.

Straightening, the flashy Sweet Ride looked full of running, but Current King was nudged along to keep his nose in front.

The final result was the Newgate-China Horse Club colt by 0.21l, with Ringmaster 3.39l to third. The time was 56.63s, the last 600 metres in 36.48s.

Earlier in the morning, the Zoustar colt Metallicity kicked off the winning double for Henry Field and his cohorts, winning Heat 10 in fetching fashion for his trainers, Peter and Paul Snowden.

The trial proved the fastest juvenile event of the morning, the 890 metres ticked off in 55.29s.

Metallicity, ridden by Regan Bayliss, sat off the early pace set by another Newgate-China Horse Club colt in Scream (Zoustar), and it proved a stiff gallop in the straight when Metallicity gathered them up wide.

The big colt won by 1.4l to Fire Power (Written Tycoon), while Scream was 5.32l in arrears for third.

“This horse was a big, beautiful, scopey yearling that we liked very much at Easter,” Field said. “We had to wear the vision goggles buying him because he was a big yearling, and we were hoping he’d furnish the right way. He’s certainly developed into a magnificent horse, and Peter and Paul have had a big opinion of him.”

Field was impressed by the arrogance of the win on Tuesday morning by a colt he expected would take time to blossom, given his size.

“To have trialled with such beautiful action and to have run such a fast time, it’s indicative of a horse with a very big future,” Field said. “He wasn’t a horse we earmarked as being a super-early runner, but his natural ability got him there and hopefully he can bring to the races what he’s showing in the mornings.”

The Newgate agenda

Field said the pair of colts would likely have another trial before any official race starts. There’s a possibility that Current King will race on January 7, while Metallicity will be pitched at the R. Listed Inglis Millennium.

Newgate and China Horse Club paid $340,000 for Metallicity from the draft of Segenhoe Stud. Like Current King, the colt was a 2021 Inglis Easter Sale yearling.

He is the fifth foal from the O’Reilly (NZ) mare Captivating Claire (NZ), and this is the family of Eight Carat (GB) (Pieces Of Eight {Ire}) through Metallicity’s third dam, Marquise (NZ) (Gold And Ivory {USA}).

With this pair of valuable colts, Field said the obvious targets were stallion careers.

“Every horse we race has purely two objectives, either stallion potential or to trade,” Field said. “We work that out within a couple of starts usually, and the majority of our horses are trading horses, but if we can get one or two stallions out of the 20 a year we buy, that’s about what we target.

“Since 2015, we’ve been involved as yearling purchasers with 12 horses that have gone on to be stallions, including six Group 1 winners. So based on that logic, we run on the basis of two stallions a year – one an elite prospect and the other a non-Group-1-winning prospect.”

It’s a tried and trusted agenda for Newgate Farm and, as soon as a horse is identified as not fitting the farm’s stallion roster, it is traded. It’s early days for both Current King and Metallicity, but both will compete with this criteria in mind.

“We’re well-known for this,” Field said. “And one thing we aim to do when we’re trading is not squeeze people, to leave something in the tank for the guy that buys them. But the trading aspect of our business is what allows us to replenish a fair amount of our capital to keep buying more yearlings the year after.”

Harron colt shines again

Across the rest of Tuesday morning, the remaining three juvenile trials exposed winners for Coolmore sire No Nay Never (USA), Darley shuttler Ribchester (Ire) and Newgate resident Capitalist.

Madame Pommery (No Nay Never {USA}) won the first event for the fillies, while the Godolphin filly Portray (Ribchester {Ire}) was successful for James Cummings.

The James Harron colt London (Capitalist), meanwhile, won the first of the heats for the colts and geldings, and this is a particularly interesting juvenile on the rise. London was a $600,000 purchase for Harron at the 2021 Inglis Classic Sale, bought from the draft of Dave and Alison Hush’s Davali Thoroughbreds.

The colt was the second-highest priced colt at that Sale, bettered only by the $625,000 Capitalist colt from Theatric (Casino Prince) that was sold to George Moore Bloodstock.

London is from the family of G1 Golden Slipper winner Polar Success (Success Express {USA}).

Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy

The year 2021 coincides with the 100 year anniversary of the birth of Mumtaz Mahal (GB) (The Tetrarch {GB}), "The Flying Filly." And what better way for her descendants to celebrate this milestone by winning, and winning big, eight of the 74 Group 1 races contested in Australia this year.

Other notable broodmare figures, as producers of 2021's Group 1 winners:

• 37 (62.7%) are out of winning mares

• 18 (30.5%) are out of stakes-winning mares

• Three (5%) are out of Group 1-winning mares

The Northern Dancer (Can) (Nearctic {Can}) sire-line dominated the year; aside from the 18 Danehill (USA) (Danzig {USA})-line horses, there were four from other Danzig (USA) branches, 11 from Sadler's Wells (USA) (mostly Galileo {Ire} with five and High Chaparral (Ire) with four), three from Nureyev (USA), three from Fairy King (USA) and one each for Storm Cat (USA) and Try My Best (USA).

Of great interest there is that Sadler's Wells, Fairy King and Nureyev are all closely related.

The second most prolific line was that of Mr Prospector (USA) (Raise A Native {USA}) with eight winners; half of those being members of the Street Cry (Ire) (Machiavellian {USA}) branch.

The Halo (USA) (Hail To Reason {USA})-line provided three Group 1 winners and Sir Tristram (Ire) (Sir Ivor {USA}) four whilst with one each were Blushing Groom (Fr) (Red God {USA}), Thatch (USA) (Forli {Arg}) and Roberto (USA) (Bramalea {USA}).

Mumtaz still flying

But back to that elite blue hen mare. Four different descendants of Mumtaz Mahal's prolific daughter Mumtaz Begum (Fr) (Blenheim II {GB}) displayed their class at the elite level in 2021 - Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}), Jonker (Spirit Of Boom), Selino (GB) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and Hungry Heart (Frankel {GB}).

The first two of those are both members of the Eight Carat (GB) (Pieces Of Eight {Ire}) branch of this ever flourishing family; that great mare's high-achieving daughter Cotehele House (GB) (My Swanee {GB}) being the fourth dam of two very different Group 1 horses - a G1 Melbourne Cup winner and a G1 Manikato S. winner.

Gallery: Descendants of Mumtaz Mahal's (GB) prolific daughter Mumtaz Begum (Fr) who displayed their class in 2021

Meanwhile the G1 Sydney Cup winner Selino is a descendant of Eight Carat's fourth dam Sun Princess (GB) (Solario {GB}) whose half-sister Bibibeg (Ire) (Bahram {GB}) is the ancestress of Hungry Heart.

Each of these four high-class gallopers are line-bred to the Mumtaz Mahal family; Verry Elleegant boasting a 4 X 4 cross of her own fourth dam Cotehele House, third dam of her sire who also carries strains of Nasrullah (Ire) (Nearco (Ity}), Mahmoud (Fr) (Blenheim II {GB}), Badruddin (Fr) (Blandford {Ire}) and Royal Charger (GB) (Nearco (Ity})... as well as Fair Trial (GB) (Fairway {GB}) and Aristophanes (GB) (Hyperion {GB}) who are both descendants of Mumtaz Mahal's half-sister Lady Juror (GB) (Son-In-Law {GB}).

Jonker's dam Hearts And Arrows (Kempinsky) is bred on a 4 X 4 cross of her fourth dam Eight Carat whilst his sire Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) also has strong Mumtaz influence via Abernant (GB) (Owen Tudor {GB}), Nasrullah and Royal Charger - as well as Lady Juror influence via Fair Trial, Aristophanes and The Recorder (GB) (Captain Cuttle {GB}).

Hungry Heart's sire Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) has Nasrullah, Royal Charger and Mahmoud as well as Aristophanes, Tudor Minstrel and Fair Trial whilst Selino's sire Champs Elysees (GB) (Danehill {USA}) carries multiple Mahmoud and Nasrullah strains whilst also having Lady Juror influence via her her son Fair Trial and her grandson Tudor Minstrel (Ire) (Owen Tudor {GB}).

Marchetta leaving her mark

Mumtaz Mahal is not the only great mare to have made her mark on Australian Group 1 results this year with three descendants of the influential Marchetta (GB) (Marco {GB}) between them winning five big races; Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), Think It Over (So You Think {NZ}) and Krone (Eurozone).

Zaaki's sire Leroidesanimaux (Brz) (Candy Stripes {USA}) has both Turn-To (Ire) (Royal Charger {GB}) and Borealis (GB) (Brumeux {Fr}) from the Marchetta family, Think It Over's sire So You Think (NZ) (High Chaparral {Ire}) has Turn-To and Marco Polo II (Fr) (La Pacha {Fr}) and Krone's sire Eurozone (Northern Meteor) has Klairon (Fr) (Clarion {Fr}) and Turn-To.

Gallery: Descendants of the influential Marchetta (GB)

More recent in history is Northern Dancer's famed daughter Fanfreluche (Can) who had two Group 1-winning descendants this year - Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) whose dam is bred on a 4 X 4 cross of Fanfreluche - and Duais (Shamus Award).

Another family to have played a big part in Group 1 success this year is that of the formidable mother/daughter team of Almahmoud (USA) (Mahmoud {Fr}) and Natalma (USA) (Native Dancer {USA}).

With the latter being the dam of Northern Dancer and the third dam of Danehill it is little wonder that she pops up over and over - especially when noting that the Northern Dancer sire-line provided 41 (69.4%) of the 59 individual Group 1 winners for the year with 18 of those hailing from the Danehill branch.

All but four of the Danehill-line Group 1 winners carry further Northern Dancer in their dam lines with one of those - Sierra Sue (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) carrying a strain of Almahmoud's grandson Halo (USA) (Hail To Reason {USA}).

And she is one of the 19 Group 1 gallopers bringing Halo into the mix with Northern Dancer and/or Danehill - joined by Artorius (Flying Artie), Anamoe (Street Boss {USA}), Lunar Fox (Foxwedge), I'm Thunderstruck (NZ) (Shocking), Hitotsu (Maurice {Jpn}), Colette (Hallowed Crown), Willowy (Kermadec {NZ}), Forbidden Love (All Too Hard), Lion's Roar (NZ) (Contributer {Ire}), Savatiano (Street Cry {Ire}), Cascadian (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), Private Eye (Al Maher), Montefilia (Kermadec {NZ}), Profondo (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Vega One (Lope De Vega {Ire}), Media Award (Shamus Award), Celebrity Queen (Redoute's Choice) and Krone who is bred on a 3 X 4 cross of Halo's son Don't Say Halo (USA).

Several other mares of influence have made an impact as line-breeding forces this year.