‘It wouldn’t matter if he was $35,000 or $100,000, it’s a no-brainer’

Cover image courtesy of Bronwen Healy

Producing elite racehorses is no cake walk, but Vinery Stud certainly does its best to make it look that way. Its honour roll of graduates contains an embarrassment of riches, and you need only look at the list of stallions currently standing at stud in Australia to get an idea of just how fruitful Vinery’s pastures are.

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Exceed And Excel, Russian Revolution, Farnan, Shamus Award and Rubick – they are all Vinery graduates, while Champion mares like Samaready (More Than Ready {USA}) and Atlantic Jewel (Fasntet Rock) prove that it is not just about the boys.

With some of the industry’s most prominent breeders among the six partners that comprise Vinery’s ownership, it should come as no surprise that the Segenhoe Valley-based operation continues to flourish.

Its seven-strong stallion roster is complemented by a large broodmare band brimming with quality, and Bloodstock Manager Adam White is one of the main figures tasked with formulating the mating plans for each of the 120 mares that the farm has in its arsenal.

Given the desire to continue the production line of Group 1 winners, it is a task that he and his team do not take lightly.

“From a partner’s point of view, we send our mating recommendations through based on where we feel each mare is at commercially, as well as based on the pedigree and physical type we think each mare is best suited to,” White explained.

“We will generally come up with a couple of options and give reasons for each one, then we will talk to each of the partners and they will give us their final selection after a bit of a discussion.

“It’s a big job, but it’s one that we obviously take very seriously and put a lot of time and effort into. I have seen a lot of good horses go through our yearling barns and paddocks; it’s not just the matings and the planning that is responsible for that, it’s also having a wonderful farm that can obviously produce a good racehorse.

“There are a lot of elements that go into producing the kind of record that this farm has.”

Two of those elements that White pays particular attention to when planning a mating are pedigree and physical type, with a slightly greater emphasis placed on the latter. Where the former is concerned, White is certainly not afraid to back his own judgement and try something a little less established in the hope of striking gold.

“You have got to give each of those two elements a lot of time and thought,” he said.

“Personally, I think that at the end of the day you need a physical, especially for what you are trying to do not only in the sale ring, but also on the racetrack. The physical match up is very important.

“Of course you have got to think of the pedigree and what has worked before, but you’ve also got to keep a really open mind and think, ‘This might not have been tried just yet, but it’s something we think could work, so let’s give it a try’.

“Although there might not be many examples of a pedigree cross working, I think sometimes if you feel it would work well and you’re happy with the match up, you’ve got to give it a try and see how it goes.”

Useful tool

When comparing the stallion options for their mares, a tool that every farm leans on is Arion pedigrees.

“We use Arion and like to punch in a theoretical pedigree, just so we can see how it would look come sale time,” White said. “Obviously, the pedigree is going to change a lot by the time you come to the sale, but it gives you a bit of a feel on how it will look.

“We also use Arion to look at certain crosses, just to keep an eye on what horses are coming through on that cross, as well as the winners-to-runners percentage that the cross is producing.”

With such a large broodmare band at its disposal, Vinery has an envious blend of older, more proven mares to complement the younger, less-exposed mares who have only recently embarked on their second careers.

While insisting there is not a one size fits all approach to deciding whether a mare should visit a proven or unproven stallion, age is an important factor according to White, who issued a word of warning to breeders looking to support sires whose fees have been increased markedly off the back of a promising start to life at stud.

“I guess it depends on the mare and where she is at in her career. We are more likely to use a proven horse for the younger mares who are just starting off, because we know they are a good chance of setting that mare up as a producer,” White explained.

“Not only does it depend on where the mare is at in her career, but also where the stallion is at in his. I think that a few of these young stallions have gone up a bit high and breeders need to be a little bit careful with that, because things can change pretty quickly.

“They have done a good job, but they still have a long way to go to really advertise the fact that they are a proven stallion.”

Fitting the bill

After a landmark season in which he sired four individual Group 1 winners, White is unequivocal in his belief that Vinery flagbearer All Too Hard has earned the right to be called a proven stallion.

“Breeders are now very conscious that he is doing a terrific job and that he is great value at his $38,500 service fee,” he said.

“He consistently gets somewhere between 160-180 mares a year, and he is on track to do that again this year. Those proven horses below the $50,000 mark are extremely difficult to find and he certainly puts his hand up high in that regard.”

The G1 George Ryder S. heroine Forbidden Love and Hong Kong star Wellington, two of All Too Hard’s four elite-level winners, are out of mares by the late More Than Ready (USA), whom White described as “one in a million” when reflecting on the shuttle stallion’s impact at Vinery.

Another of All Too Hard’s Group winners bred on this burgeoning cross is talented gelding Outrageous, whose dam Fit And Ready (More Than Ready {USA}) will once again form part of his book this year after visits to household names I Am Invincible and Zoustar in recent seasons.

“She foaled a filly by Zoustar on the weekend, which is great. We upped the ante on her a little bit because she has done such a wonderful job at stud, but probably her best results so far on the track have been the All Too Hards, so we thought, ‘Let’s bring her back to him’,” White explained.

“He’s great value, the cross already works with her and she throws a really good-looking one. It wouldn’t matter if he was standing at $35,000 or a $100,000, it’s just a no-brainer.”

Similar sentiments apply to promising mare Orvieto (Testa Rossa), who is heading back to All Too Hard after her first mating with the stallion produced progressive 4-year-old Pizarro.

The Champion Thoroughbreds-raced gelding entered plenty of notebooks after an impressive victory at Randwick last month, and White is confident that his ceiling is yet to be reached.

“Pizarro looks a really promising horse and he’s a very typical All Too Hard,” he said. “They might not be early, get up and go sort of horses, but they just get better and better as they get older, and I think this horse is waving that flag.

“I think he has a good race in him and I have spoken to John O’Shea, who feels the same way. Orvieto is going back to All Too Hard because of that.

“She is owned by one of our partners, Greg Perry, who is an extremely good breeder. He puts a lot of time and effort into his matings, and relies on us a little bit when it comes to the physical match up.

“It’s a very active family with plenty of fillies in there. It’s a family we are having a lot of luck with.”

Orvieto and Fit And Ready are not the only well-credentialled mares booked to visit All Too hard this season, with Group 2 winner Night War (General Nediym) returning to the stallion for the first time since 2015.

The daughter of renowned broodmare sire General Nediym is a half-sister to Vinery’s former dual Group 1 winner Samaready, who produced R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic heroine Exhilarates (Snitzel), before she was sold to Coolmore for an eye-watering $1.8 million at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale in 2020.

Maintaining the balance

It is well documented, however, that not all mares who were stakes class on the racetrack go on to replicate the same level of success in the breeding barn.

With new, unexposed mares entering the broodmare band each season, tough decisions need to be made, and part of White’s remit is to recommend which mares need to be traded in order to keep the numbers in the sweet spot.

One such mare who may fall into the above category is Hallowell Belle, a Group 2-winning daughter of Starcraft (NZ) whose impressive race record also features three placings at the elite level.

“Hallowell Belle has probably been a touch disappointing as a producer,” White said. “She’s had a couple of minor winners but she is one we might just trade on next year as part of that trading discipline.

“In order to do that, we thought why not use a nice, young, sexy horse like Ole Kirk. Physically, it’s a perfect match and on pedigree we think it works.

“We are confident in these early foals that we have seen by him that he will have some nice weanlings around the place selling next year, and the talk will be good on him, so from a trading point of view, let’s put her in foal to a horse who is going to be generating a lot of interest and momentum.

“You can never take her race record away, so she should sell in foal to him at a reasonable fee.”

Having retired to stud last year as one of the most highly credentialed stallions in recent times, Ole Kirk boasts a race record and pedigree to rival any sire standing at stud in Australia.

It is his physical development, however, which has got White even more excited about the future for the son of Written Tycoon, whose first few foals have already made an early impression.

“Ole Kirk has changed a lot physically in the last 12 months,” he said. “We have had a lot of people in the first few weeks of the season come and visit the stallions, and a lot of people who saw him last year and have seen him this year have been blown away.

“He was always a lovely horse and an expensive yearling, but he’s gone to a new level this year and has been really well received.

“We have only had three of his foals here at present, but we are really taken with the size and scope they’ve got, as well as the quality. We have spoken to a lot of the people around other farms and they’re all saying the same things really. A lot of them have got that distinct markings on their head like he has, the nice star and the sniff on the nose. We are pleased with what we are seeing so far, definitely.”

Ole Kirk will be heavily supported with another quality book of mares this season, one which includes the well-related Ballet Rose (Exceed And Excel), who was served by Written Tycoon, The Autumn Sun and I Am Invincible during her first three seasons at stud.

His book will also feature Group 3 winner Peace Force, whose yearling colt by Exceed Excel - now named Nobel and is stakes-placed for Annabel Neasham - sold for a whopping $2.1 million at last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. Peace Force is a daughter of leading broodmare sire Bernardini (USA) and is a half-sister to five-time Group 1 winner Eremein (Timber Country {USA}).

Sticking to the blueprint

While more synonymous with Group 1-winning graduates and million-dollar results in the sale ring, the team at Vinery are no strangers to tasting top-level success with horses they have sourced at the yearling sales themselves.

The most famous example in recent times is undoubtedly Exceedance, who was purchased by Vinery for a modest $180,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, before going on to land the stallion-making G1 Coolmore Stud S. and securing himself a place on the farm’s stallion roster.

The son of Exceed And Excel is now in his third season at stud and will once again cover a book of mares packed to the rafters with stakes producers. One of the headline names is Amberino (Perugino {USA}), who has already produced Group 3 winner and Group 1 placegetter Winter Bride (Not A Single Doubt).

“She’s a mare who has a proven record having already thrown a stakes winner,” White said.

“She was a multiple Group winner herself, she’s thrown a stakes winner, so she’s a lovely young mare with a proven record to send to an unproven stallion like Exceedance, to give him a chance of getting these nice mares to start his career off well. That’s why she is heading back to him.”

Single Style (NZ) (Not A Single Doubt), the dam of Group 2 placegetter Still Single (More Than Ready {USA}) and stakes winner Miss Hipstar (Star Turn), will also be sent to Exceedance this year for the same reason.

Given the immense faith that Vinery has in the son of Exceed And Excel, it is hardly surprising that the team have chosen to send a mare to his old sparring partner Bivouac, who chased him home in both the G3 San Domenico S. and G1 Coolmore Stud S.

The mare in question – Group 3 winner Runway Star (Northern Meteor) – has an Exceedance colt on the ground whom White is effusive in his praise for. She was put back in foal to the son of Exceed And Excel last year but is due to head elsewhere this season, following the blueprint of one of Vinery’s key mating strategies.

Gallery: Some of the high-class mares visiting Exceedance this season

“We are really happy with her first Exceedance, he’s a magnificent colt and he’ll be going to the Easter Sale, but we try to avoid going back to the same stallion three years running - That’s why we are going in a different direction with her this year,” White explained.

“If a mare has produced a champion or an extremely good horse with one particular stallion, then obviously you don’t have a problem going three years in a row, but if the first one doesn’t run, then you’ve got another two to come.

“The mating with Exceedance has given us a lovely colt, and she has another one by him coming this year, but we like to mix it up a little bit and we thought she’d match up really well with Bivouac.

“He is a nice young stallion who we like the look of. Obviously, he raced against Exceedance and they beat each other on numerous occasions. He’s a stallion we like and we have a partner in the farm who is quite keen to use him as well as our own stallions.”

It is also no surprise to see Vinery supporting another exciting young sire in the shape of Farnan, who was sold by the farm for $550,000 as a yearling before going on to win the G1 Golden Slipper S. and earn the coveted crown of Champion 2-Year-Old.

More Than Ready mare Manasari, a $600,000 yearling in her own right, is booked to visit the son of Not A Single Doubt in his second season at stud.

No discussion of Vinery broodmares would be complete without a word for Miles Of Krishan, a Group-placed daughter of Snitzel who has already provided a huge windfall for the farm.

She is booked to go to Widden Stud's superstar stallion Zoustar this season, meaning the resultant foal will be bred on the same cross as Saturday’s G2 Furious S. winner North Star Lass.

“Miles Of Krishan is a really nice mare from a great family, it’s a very big page,” White said.

“We paid $500,000 for her, she won a couple more races on the track for us and then her first foal, a Vinnie filly, we sold at Sydney Easter for $1.4 million.

“She has another Vinnie coming and we are extremely happy with the Zoustar colt she has on the ground. Financially, she has been a real win for us, so we are not afraid to use a high-end stallion for her again this year – That’s why she is heading back to Zoustar.

“To get huge results like that brings great satisfaction, especially when you are doing it for the partners in the farm.

"I’ve got a really good client of my own who is in this mare and it was the first yearling he has ever sold for a million dollars. He’s not just a client, he’s a great mate and he was there the night she sold. To see him lap it up there at the sale, it’s no different to him owning a Group 1 winner – It’s the same sort of prizemoney and same sort of thrill.”

Table: Some of the matings Vinery Stud is planning for the 2022 season