Cover image courtesy of Shannay VanDyk
Stay Inside is exactly what you expect to see in a Golden Slipper winner. He’s a very well-balanced, forward-looking horse that has great strength and great muscle definition. He’s not a tall horse, but I think he is exactly the type you want to breed to to get a pre-Christmas 2-year-old. Obviously, the sireline, in a short space of time, has proved to be electric and given it is very difficult to breed to Extreme Choice, going to his best son is the next best thing and he looks a very good option.
I was extremely impressed with him. I saw him shortly after he retired and even in those few months he has let down into a gorgeous horse.
Tiger Of Malay is another one that caught my eye. I love his pedigree, being out of a More Than Ready mare who has proved herself a very good producer. He is a lovely rich chestnut and has a lot of quality and athleticism. Given the sireline’s performance with his first few crops, I think he is a horse you can breed to at a very competitive fee. He is certainly a stallion that is going to get you a very good-looking yearling that will be very sought-after at sales time.
Gallery: Images from Newgate Farm's stallion parade, images courtesy of Shannay VanDyk
Profiteer is very much in the same model as his sire, Capitalist. I would suspect he would be the type of stallion whose progeny will be nailed on for the Magic Millions sale in a few years' time, because they will be strong, forward and close-coupled horses.
I love Wild Ruler. I purchased a share in the stallion on behalf of the Cunninghams, who are very good clients of mine. He has lovely leg, lovely scope and a very attractive head, but also has plenty of strength. I am also very taken by the fact that he continued to improve the older he got and kept performing at the highest level time after time. He is a horse the Cunninghams have supported very heavily and we purchased Group 2 winner and Golden Slipper-placed Bring Me The Maid specifically to go to Wild Ruler.
I’ve seen Russian Revolution a few times since he retired and each year I am more and more impressed with him. He has lovely strength and lovely angles. He is a scopey horse and he has certainly let down beautifully in the last couple of seasons. The interesting thing with Russian Revolution, and something that a lot people who have bred to him will be excited by, is that he himself was a horse that just got better and better as he got older, so the the fact they have come out and performed as 2-year-olds bodes pretty well for their 3-year-old, 4-year-old and 5-year-old seasons going forward. He has obviously had a phenomenal start, being crowned Champion First Season Sire and he looks like a horse who is going to make the elite grade.
Gallery: Images from Newgate Farm's stallion parade, images courtesy of Shannay VanDyk
I have a group of 30 clients of mine who have come down to the Hunter Valley to see the stallions and it is something I have tried to do for the last couple of years, but that was stopped by COVID. The fact that people haven’t been able to get out and see the horses means there are plenty of new stallions to see and plenty of opinions.
One thing I did say to my group was that 10 years ago you never would have imagined one farm retiring four horses to stud in the same year and the fact that Newgate have done that several times now and done it successfully I think it’s a sign that if you get the right systems in place and you buy the right horses you can get a competitive book of mares both in numbers and quality to several stallions retiring in the same year.
Jim Clarke | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
When you look back, when Henry (Field) first retired Capitalist, Flying Artie, Winning Rupert and Extreme Choice in the same year it was probably the first time something like that has been done. To see three of them have Group 1 winners in their first crop is quite remarkable and judging by the lineup of first-season stallions they’ve got this year I wouldn’t be surprised to see them do it again.
