Matings mix: Milburn Creek

Cover image courtesy of Milburn Creek

Breeder John Muir has been in the game a long time, long enough to know that it’s been a hard winter in New South Wales. At Milburn Creek, his pretty farm in the state's Southern Highlands, the rains have lashed his paddocks as much as anywhere.

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“We’re fortunate that we’ve got plenty of undulation here,” he said. “Otherwise it would be just water on water at this point. It’s been a very long winter for a lot of people in New South Wales this year.”

When last we checked in with Milburn Creek about its broodmares, it was 2021 and Muir had 37 mares booked to stallions around the country. This time, he has 28 mares in a tactical downsize.

“We sold a few throughout the year, if nothing just to give the property a chance to always recover,” he said. “We always want a couple of spare paddocks up our sleeves, and we were going to do it anyway but it’s certainly made a difference this year with the weather we’ve had.”

As such, Milburn Creek’s book of mares still includes the likes of Secret Admirer (Dubawi {Ire}), who is rising 15 and a winner of both the G1 Flight S. and G1 Epsom H. But it also includes new additions like Raymundos Secret (USA), an American import by the G1 Irish Derby winner, Treasure Beach (GB).

The Milburn Creek mares are tentatively booked to around 21 different stallions, and those bookings represent brand new blood, like St Mark’s Basilica (Ire) and Wild Ruler, and more established names like Snitzel and Written Tycoon.

Latest addition

Traditionally, John Muir hasn’t minded an American pedigree, and he has five mares with the USA suffix in his collection this season.

He points out Raymundos Secret as particularly interesting, a Group 2-winning mare that he bought at the 2021 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for US$310,000 (AU$440,000). As many of Muir’s imports are, she was bought for him on behalf of Nicoma Bloodstock’s Headley Bell.

“She was catalogued as Hip 2 in that Sale and, fortunately for us, the first lot was withdrawn,” Muir said. “That made her the first lot and we tend to think that people don’t rush into those early horses because they’re waiting to see what the market will do.”

It was a happy occasion, therefore, when Muir landed Raymundos Secret without much competition, although he admits that her Treasure Beach pedigree wasn’t hotly contested.

“Treasure Beach was an Irish Derby winner but he probably didn’t get a lot of opportunities because of his breeding,” he said. “This mare won five of her 10 starts and she was a Group 2 winner at Santa Anita. We were lucky to buy her and we think she would have made US$450,000 if she’d sold four hours later.”

Raymundos Secret was imported into Australia in January this year, and Muir has booked her maiden cover to Arrowfield’s Champion, Snitzel.

“I particularly like this mating,” he said. “She could run very well up to a mile, so I thought Snitzel would put some speed into her. Plus Snitzel is one of the three best stallions in the country, so we figured we’d send her to him to give her every opportunity.”

When working such matings out, Muir throws to the Tesio system, one based on a reinforcement of dominant ancestors through duplication and line breeding. The idea is to breed back to desirable ancestors and duplicate them, which Muir particularly likes to do on the female side.

“I like doubling females up on both sides of the pedigree, providing they’re sex-mated and not male-to-female,” he said. “I’m no genius but I have had a bit of luck, and I’ve been using that Tesio system for about 10 or 15 years now. I also take Louis Mihalyka’s recommendations a bit, and I’m not saying these things always work, but often they do.”

Mihalyka’s system is the Brain Pedigree Analysis, for which Mihalyka is an Australian agent. It’s based on 25 years of pedigree research by Patrick Brain that identified a common pattern in the pedigrees of the majority of top-class racehorses.

Brain discovered that the sires and dams of the best horses he studied had a higher concentration of similar genetic background than lesser-performed half-siblings. For breeders like Muir, it’s food for thought in the execution every spring of important line breeding.

Secret Admirer

At 15 years old, Secret Admirer is one of two mares that Milburn Creek will send south to Written Tycoon. She’s belonged to the farm since her weanling days when purchased by Muir via Jon Freyer for $38,000 at the 2008 Inglis Inglis Weanling and Broodmare Sale.

“She’s getting a bit of age on her now,” the studmaster said. “She’s due to foal to The Autumn Sun again this season, and she’s off to Written Tycoon as she heads into her twilight days.”

Secret Admirer is already the dam of the G3 Ming Dynasty H. winner Danawi (Exceed And Excel) and, as a sales-producing mare, she’s got runs on the board.

Her 2017 foal, Lord Of War (Snitzel), was a $675,000 yearling when bought by James Harron, and her latest yearling by Dundeel (NZ), sold at the Inglis Easter Sale last May, securing $360,000 from Gai Waterhouse, Adrian Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds.

Joining her in heading to Yulong for Written Tycoon, the mare Glamorize (Sepoy) is a daughter of the brilliant producer Beauty World (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Glamorize had a Written Tycoon filly last spring and is due to foal to Ole Kirk next week. The foal will be one of Milburn Creek’s earliest expected arrivals.

The question of stallions

With 28 mares this spring, Muir has had inevitable discussions about various stallions. There are horses he’s using like I Am Invincible and Zoustar, that are bankable, and others that represent risk like new guns Wild Ruler and Extreme Warrior.

“In the case of a horse like Chocolate Martini, for example, we’re still deciding between Exceed And Excel and Home Affairs,” Muir said. “We’re just going to wait to see what her foal is like before we make a decision.”

Chocolate Martini (USA) is an American Group 2 winner by Broken Vow (USA). She was placed in the G1 American Coaching Club Oaks, and she is due to foal to Snitzel in mid-September.

The choice of Exceed And Excel or Home Affairs is one of extreme difference, with both stallions differing remarkably in age and record.

“Exceed And Excel has been a wonderful sire in both hemispheres, an unbelievable sire actually,” Muir said. “He and More Than Ready are probably the most successful sires that have clicked here and in the Northern Hemisphere, and then a horse like Home Affairs is interesting because he was very good.”

Muir acknowledges that Home Affairs has a high service fee for a debut stallion, and it’s pointless trying to talk around that. But he also concedes that a good number of stallions are expensive this year.

“I believe that a lot of stallions are standing at an absolute maximum of what people can afford to pay,” he said. “Personally, I think there is better value in sires in America and Europe, but that’s just what I think.

“Some of these stallions might justify their costs, but some of them are at the maximum of what they should be standing for. We reckon it costs a minimum of $40,000 just to raise a horse to take it to the yearling sales, and then add a $60,000 service fee onto that. You’re up for $100,000, and then you’ve got all the costs.

“I can tell you it takes a pretty good yearling in Australia to make over $100,000, and at the moment you’re hearing about all the highs but you’re not hearing about all the lows and disappointments.”

As successful as Muir has been over the years, he doesn’t forget about the small breeder. It’s a consistent conversation with him, so he’s able to look at stallion fees from the perspective of both ends.

“St Mark’s Basilica, for example,” he said. “When his fee of $40,000 was set, I thought he represented very good value for a first-season sire with a beautiful sireline out of a very good, proven mare that’s produced he and Magna Grecia. I know that horse was over-subscribed in the first two weeks and he could do very well.”

Milburn Creek has potentially four mares going to St Mark’s Basilica. They include Delphic by Street Cry (Ire) from a half-sister to Lonhro, and Kookie Gal (USA), an imported mare by Boisterous (USA).

“Our policy is usually proven or first-season sires, and then we’ll punt a horse like The Autumn Sun again because we’ve got progeny on the ground and we’ve liked what we’ve seen,” Muir said. “In his case, we’ve had feedback from the breakers that’s been very good, and the trainers are talking about them too.”

Muir is sending the mare Belladini (Bernardini {USA}) to The Autumn Sun this spring, and this family is from the Twiglet (Twig Moss {Fr}) line.

Rebel with a cause

Like a lot of significant breeders, Muir has arrangements to factor into his annual matings. He has a breeding right to Bivouac that he’s using, and he has a foal-share situation with Widden.

For the latter, he’s sending the mare Fascination Street (NZ) (Elusive City {USA}) to Zoustar, and this mare was a Listed winner in New Zealand and a half-sister to a New Zealand Listed winner. She’s currently in foal to Farnan with a Written Tycoon filly on the ground.

Elsewhere, he’s sending up to three mares to Wild Ruler at Newgate Farm, and he’s supporting his neighbour, Silverdale Farm, by sending Dorodansa (USA) (Bellamy Road {USA}) to Rebel Dane for that horse's first season at Widden Stud.

“Rebel Dane has started off with humble beginnings, but his percentage of stakes winners to runners is quite exceptional, a bit like Extreme Choice,” Muir said. “With the small number of horses he’s had to the track, the results are pretty good.”

Muir is the first to admit that Milburn Creek breeds to sell. Getting a good sales horse is a top priority but, like the chicken and egg argument, a good sales horse will only occur if there are good racehorses on the track.

As tiringly as he and his farm’s manager, Scott Holcombe, pour over matings each winter, it’s still a game of chance full of trial, error and the odd success.

“If you’ve ever seen the movie Forrest Gump, he sits at the bus stop with a box of chocolates and says you never know what you’re going to get,” Muir said. “That’s a lot like the breeding industry, isn't it?”

Table: Some of the matings Milburn Creek is planning for the 2022 season

Whether you're breeding to race or breeding to sell, we'd love to hear from you! Over the coming weeks we'll be featuring a selection of mating plans for 2022. To be featured, reach out to Lydia at lydia@tdnausnz.com.au