Horses bearing the renowned Cambridge Stud-brand have been regulars on the Gold Coast in January for a number of years with the yearlings bred and raised on the farm having previously been sold through Mike Fleming’s Bhima Thoroughbreds draft. But it is all change this year with the farm preparing to offer a 10-strong draft of youngsters under their own banner.

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The farm’s Head of Sales and Nominations, Scott Calder told TDN AusNZ that the Lindsays had always aspired to offer a draft of yearlings at the Queensland auction since they took over stewardship of the iconic farm from Sir Patrick and Lady Justine Hogan in 2018, but that the COVID years halted the progress of this ambition.

“It was always something that had been in our minds for a while, but obviously because of COVID in the last couple of years and the travel restrictions made it a lot more difficult to get a draft over to Australia,” explained Calder.

“We have always been involved in Magic Millions through Bhima and had a lot of success, but this year we had the numbers to bring our own draft under our own banner across to Australia.”

Change in direction

In 2019 Cambridge Stud suffered some devastating blows when losing three of their resident stallions in Roaring Lion (USA), Burgundy (NZ) and Tavistock (NZ) in the space of a few months which meant they were forced to seek the services of other sires, both home and abroad.

“We thought this was a good year as well because our 2021-born yearlings are by a really diverse bunch of stallions, largely because when they were conceived we only had the two stallions on our roster and as a result we bred a lot of mares to stallions in Australia in particular,” said Calder.

Diverse is certainly the most accurate word to describe the decade of yearlings set to go under the hammer in a couple of weeks. The draft includes five fillies and an equal number of colts.

There are yearlings catalogued by household names such as Coolmore Stud residents, So You Think (NZ), Fastnet Rock and Pierro, while they will offer one filly by Yulong Stud’s resident star Written Tycoon and another by Eureka Stud’s headline sire Spirit Of Boom.

Among the 10 there are three by exciting first-season sires; Castelvecchio, Too Darn Hot (GB) and Aquis Farm’s Pierata, while they will offer a filly by Newgate Farm’s reigning Champion First Season Sire Russian Revolution and also a daughter of their very own Almanzor (Fr).

With the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale set to take place a few weeks after the action on the Gold Coast concludes, how did the stud divvy up which yearlings would make the trip across the Tasman?

“It was a range of things and there are a lot of people involved in that decision here. Like all farms it is a decision that happens right back in the winter when we try to maximise the value and which sale each yearling would be suited to best,” said Calder.

“Obviously, this bunch are quite forward, mature, early types that will suit the Magic Millions sale. When you’ve got the likes of Written Tycoon, Fastnet Rock and Pierro, you have a lot of options for sales, but we think they have the right physical make up for the January sale.

“Being the first sale of the year and our first time selling here, we obviously wanted to put our best foot forward and these are a small selection of our yearlings who we thought would fit well at Magic Millions and I think the buyers will agree when they see them.”

Heavy investment across the board

During their 40 or so years at the helm of the historic farm, the Hogans were constantly making heavy investments in stallions and broodmares alike, making Cambridge one of the most revered farms not just in New Zealand but in the world.

It would have been very easy for the new owners to rest on their laurels and ride off the coattails of past glories, but since the Lindsays signed for the farm they have been heavily investing in every area.

During the European breeding stock sales this year, Cambridge Stud alongside the Lindsay’s long-time bloodstock adviser, John Foote of John Foote Bloodstock (FBAA) snapped up plenty of quality broodmares at both Tattersalls and Arqana. Meanwhile, in terms of stallion power, two of their current residents, Almanzor and Hello Youmzain (Fr), were both sourced from Europe and stand their Northern Hemisphere seasons at Haras d'Etreham.

“Brendan and Jo have obviously put a huge amount of investment, thought and energy into the farm since they bought it,” said Calder. “We are very fortunate that they are always looking to upgrade the bloodstock and that was even before they took over Cambridge Stud - they were always working with John Foote sourcing mares out of Europe and Australia.”

Indeed, plenty of the yearlings the farm will offer at this year’s Magic Millions sale are a product of the stud’s overseas investment, including the one filly by Almanzor.

Catalogued as Lot 728, the filly is out of the dual-winning Zamindar (USA) mare City Fair (GB), who was purchased by Foote for 130,000gns (AU$248,000) at the 2017 edition of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale.

Her first Cambridge Stud-bred foal was a filly by Widden Stud's Zoustar. Now called Zimbara (NZ) she was snapped up by TFI for NZ$150,000 at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale earlier this year.

Big few 12 months

The filly’s sire, Almanzor, has come of age in the last 12 months. Crowned Champion First Season Sire in New Zealand last season largely due to the exploits of his R. Listed Karaka 2YO Million-winning colt Dynastic (NZ), the stallion also hit the headlines in Australia this spring when his son and Magic Millions graduate Manzoice landed the G1 VRC Derby in dominant fashion.

However, the fact he has a Group 1 winner under his belt is of course a bonus, but even before he began to hit the straps yearlings by the French-bred sire have garnered significant attention at the January sale in the past.

Twelve months ago, eight of his yearlings sold for an aggregate of $1,970,000, while in 2021, three yearlings from his first crop, which included Manzoice, made $1,520,000, headed by an $800,000 colt.

“Almanzor has had enormous success at Magic Millions in the past and they have sold really well and of course Manzoice is a graduate of the sale and we wanted to pick a really nice Almanzor for the draft,” said Calder.

“The filly we will offer by him, we think is a really good representative of her sire and one that will be well received. We felt she was a standout in the crop. She is an August foal, so she is nice and mature. She was one we had in mind for Magic Millions early on and she has a really nice European family behind her.

“Almanzor, being a Champion Middle Distance horse in Europe, we were always hopeful he could produce Classic horses and he has hit the mark pretty quickly and I can’t see why his filly can’t be one for people looking for a filly to get over some ground and target some of those nice 3-year-old races.

“He has been a bit of a dream for us really, because across the board he leaves such nice types and you only really have to look at his results in the last couple of years to see that this filly is very typical of the sort of quality he leaves in his stock and we’re looking forward to offering her next month.”

The same year Foote purchased City Fair for the Lindsays at the Tattersalls mare sale, he also bought the placed mare Nessun Dorma (Ger) (Lawman {Fr}) for 80,000gns (AU$153,000) and her fourth foal, a colt by So You Think, will go under the hammer as Lot 180.

Nessun Dorma has proved a sound investment for the team at Cambridge Stud, with her first Southern Hemisphere-bred foals bringing good results in the sales ring, beginning with a colt by Tavistock, who was purchased by Ciaron Maher Bloodstock for $240,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in 2021.

Last year, that colt’s sister was snapped up by Mark Newnham Racing for NZ$160,000 at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale.

Hot property?

One of the most exciting lots catalogued by Cambridge this year is a filly from the first Southern Hemisphere crop of Darley shuttler Too Darn Hot, who will go through the ring as Lot 233.

The filly’s half-sister by Almanzor was offered by Bhima at the 2022 edition of the sale, selling to Foote and Roll The Dice for $220,000. The filly is now called Tietar (NZ) and is in training with Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr. Calder said the reports on the juvenile have been strong hence the decision to offer her half-sister through the same ring again in 2023.

“We sent her Almanzor half-sister to Magic Millions last year and she was purchased by John Foote and Roll The Dice Racing, she sounds like she has come up nicely as a 2-year-old, so we wanted to go back to the same sale as her,” he said.

“She is hard to pick too many holes in. She is a very well-balanced filly who is very athletic and well-proportioned. She is a Dubawi-style of horse and being out of a European mare, she wouldn’t look out of place in a Tattersalls or Arqana catalogue.”

By Darley’s stalwart Dubawi (Ire), the regally-bred Too Darn Hot took all before him on the racecourse, winning three times at the highest level and Calder said they have high hopes for the progeny out of the stallion, including this Magic Millions-bound filly.

“The way I see it, Too Darn Hot just has everything going for him as a young stallion prospect. He was a great racehorse with impeccable bloodlines and because of that we were keen to use him and we have quite a number of foals across the crops on the ground that we are really quite fond of,” he said.

This particular filly is out of the winning mare Phenetic (GB) (Zamindar {USA}) mare, who was purchased by Foote at Tattersalls in 2014 for 38,000gns (AU$72,500). Phenetic herself is a half-sister to G1 Prix de le Foret winner Etoile Montante (USA) (Miswaki {USA}), the dam of Grade 2 scorer Starformer (USA) (Dynaformer {USA}).

More new faces

The Too Darn Hot filly is one of three yearlings drafted by the New Zealand nursery by first-season sires, with Arrowfield Stud’s Castelvecchio also represented. Catalogued as Lot 556, the colt is out of winning mare Word Games, who is herself by a top-class broodmare sire in Fastnet Rock.

Word Games herself is half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Fiveandahalfstar (Grand Hotel), while she also counts Ritzy (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), the dam of dual Listed-winning 2-year-old, Rhapsody Rose (Star Witness), among her half-siblings.

“We have a couple of Castelecchios and they are both nice types. This one is a lovely and mature horse out of Fastnet Rock mare, who is going well as a broodmare sire. You can definitely see the Fastnet Rock in him. He is a good-boned, well-made type of horse and he has a lovely pedigree to back him,” Calder said.

Once again exemplifying the Lindsay's eagerness to invest in top-class bloodstock, both the fillies by Written Tycoon and Spirit Of Boom are out of mares purchased since the takeover.

Catalogued as Lot 243, the Written Tycoon youngster is out of the unraced Encosta De Lago mare, Pizzazz, who was bought by Cambridge at the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale and she is a sister to Order Of The Sun and the dam of G1 Diamond S. scorer Summer Passage (Snitzel).

Meanwhile, the filly by Spirit Of Boom is out of River Mist - a $130,000 buy from the 2020 Magic Millions Broodmare Sale and she is a half-sister to dual Group 2 scorer Willow Creek (Tale Of The Cat {USA}). This is also the same family as G1 New Zealand Derby winner Crown Prosecutor (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}) and Captivant, who won the G1 Caulfield Guineas winner, earning him a place on the Kia Ora Stud roster.

While, the colt by Aquis’ exciting first-season sire Pierata is out of Egyptian Cross (Commands), whom the operation purchased for $120,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions Broodmare Sale. The daughter of Commands is out of G1 Railway S. winner Our Egyptian Raine (Desert Sun {GB}), making her a half-sister to two-time Group 3 winner Egyptian Symbol (Stratum).

Top-class cross

Meanwhile, Calder rates Lot 610, a colt by Fastnet Rock, as one of the farm’s most exciting lots they will offer on the Gold Coast next month.

The colt is out of unplaced Galileo (Ire) mare Anchovy (Ire) and she was purchased by the farm at the 2018 Tattersalls December Mare Sale for 75,000gns (AU$143,100). Anchovy herself is a sister to G1 Epsom Derby winner Ruler Of The World (Ire), while she also counts multiple Group 1 winner Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) and Annus Mirabilis (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), who landed the G2 Adelaide Cup, among her half-siblings.

Being by Fastnet Rock and out of a daughter of Galileo, the colt is bred on one of the best crosses in the global Stud Book and one that has produced an extraordinary 28 stakes winners, spearheaded by nine Group 1 scorers.

“I think the Fastnet Rock colt is a bit of a standout for us,” said Calder. “Obviously, he is bred on an incredible cross with the mare being by Galileo and this cross has produced nine Group 1 winners and there wouldn’t be many crosses in the world that have achieved those kinds of numbers.

“The mare is young who we thought would suit Fastnet Rock on type and we are pretty delighted with the outcome. They have complemented each other very well, so to have a nice yearling out of a young well-bred mare by a stallion with the credentials like Fastnet Rock has got we really hope that he will be a bit of a standout for our draft when we present him at the sale.”

Despite having representation on the Gold Coast in one way or another for a number of years, Calder said this year’s sale will have a different feel to it when they are presented under their own name.

“We are genuinely excited about it. I think for most New Zealanders, whether it is on the racetrack or in the sales ring, it is aspirational to measure up in Australia. We have been lucky to measure up on the racetrack with our racehorses and this is the next step in the evolution of Cambridge Stud, to be out there in the sales market,” Calder said.

“While it has been nice to have horses sell at the sale over the past few years with the Cambridge Stud brand on their shoulders, it will definitely be extra special for us to go over there and be front of house in our own barn showcasing our horses ourselves.”

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

When trainer Chris Waller labels a horse ‘very special’ it understandably tends to garner a bit of buzz and after Lazzago’s 0.4l triumph over highly touted colt Snapback (Snitzel) the trainer, who is usually pretty guarded in his early public assessment of horses, even found it difficult to hide his enormous admiration for the filly.

“We knew that she was pretty special as both her trials have been good. The Kepitis family have bought a nice filly and we said to them, probably a month ago, that you’ve got something pretty special here but until they actually do it on raceday you never really know,” was Waller’s reaction to the performance on Saturday.

Bred by Robert Anderson, Lazzago was purchased by the Kepitis Family’s Woppitt Bloodstock for $460,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale earlier in the year and Widden Stud’s Antony Thompson, who consigned the filly on behalf of Anderson, told TDN AusNZ she was physically a very impressive specimen from a young age.

“On type she was very strong,” he recalled. “She had a lovely, deep girth and a powerful hindquarter. In that Easter catalogue it is hard to be a standout, but I thought physically she was as good a filly around.”

'She owned the space'

Saturday’s triumph meant Lazzago became the first winner for her dam Lake Como (NZ) (Pins), who was a seven-time winner herself. The daughter of Pins is out of Taameer (NZ) (General Nediym) - the dam of G3 Thoroughbred Breeders' S. winner Khulaasa (Epaulette) as well as Listed scorer Bulbula (Shamardal {USA}), who in turn produced Aryaaf (Epaulette).

Lara Kepitis remembers being very taken with the filly at the Sydney sale and said she had a presence about her, which led to her inspecting her multiple times.

“I actually saw her multiple times and whenever she walked, she owned the space,” Kepitis told TDN AusNZ on Sunday. “Whenever you went to her face, she had a kind eye, which is something else we really look for when buying yearlings.

“She had such a strong backside and you could see the muscles that were already forming. We wanted something that could get up and run early, which is exactly what she has ended up doing.

“It was unusual, because Mum (Debbie) doesn’t usually like chestnuts, but I was out doing a lot of the groundwork because Mum was injured, so I was able to sneak one in there. But when she went and inspected her, she thankfully agreed with me.”

The potential the Kepitis’ had spied before the sale did not go unnoticed by a few other buyers and this came to the fore when she was in the ring, with the competition so fierce it forced the Kepitis' to stretch their budget a little further than they had expected to go.

“They were all raving about her at Widden and we couldn’t have agreed more with them. We had to go above our budget to secure her, but we were thrilled we ended up with her,” Kepitis said.

Rosemont Stud were the unlucky losers on the day and it was no surprise to see the Victorian farm make a play for her given they have been trying to collect members of her family for a number of years.

During the Shadwell dispersal at the 2021 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, Nigel Austin and Anthony Mithen’s operation purchased Khulaasa and Bulbula for $1.35 million apiece, while they paid $800,000 for Bulbula’s G3 Ottawa S.-winning daughter Aryaaf.

Early promise

Once back at Waller’s stable, it didn’t take long for Lazzago to show her hand. She finished a good third in her first trial at Canterbury in November, before signalling she was ready for her first competitive trip to the racecourse when she produced an ultra smooth win in her next trial at Rosehill.

“She was good in her trials, but it is very different to performing on raceday. Yesterday (Saturday) was pleasing because it showed what they (Waller stable) had initially thought had carried through and the second horse looks a very solid-looking colt, which made it even more special,” said Kepitis.

“I also noticed on Saturday when she was in the tie-up stalls she was really calm and I know with 2-year-olds they can be a bit toey, so that was also really pleasing to see.”

Thompson was equally impressed with the filly’s debut and said it was a good result for the farm’s longtime client, Anderson.

“It’s a big thrill for Robert, who is overseas at the moment, but I did speak to him and he was very excited. He is a passionate breeder and spends a lot of time on his matings, so gets enormous satisfaction from results like this,” said Thompson.

“From our point of view, it gives the team at Widden satisfaction to watch horses that have been foaled and raised on the farm make a debut like that.”

Timely update

The win on Saturday perhaps held more significance for Thompson and Anderson than your typical pre-Christmas juvenile event because they are preparing to offer the filly’s Epaulette half-brother (Lot 42) at Magic Millions’ flagship sale on the Gold Coast next month.

“He is good and he is coming on really well,” he said. “He is a nice, big, strong horse and is very forward - a typical Magic Millions-type horse. He has been well-received so far with the on-farm parades and he will certainly hold his own at the Magic Millions.”

This year, Lake Como foaled a colt by Widden Stud resident Zoustar and was covered by Darley sire Bivouac in September.

As for Lazzago’s immediate future, Kepitis said she would head out for a short spell and will then be prepared for an autumn campaign and while they are aware there is a lot of water to pass under the bridge, the Kepitis family are affording themselves the opportunity to dream of bigger prizes down the track.

“She will now go out for a working break holiday and put on a bit so we have some more to work with coming into the autumn. With 2-year-olds you’ve got to see how it goes along the way. You dream big and think, ‘Getting to a Golden Slipper would be incredible’ but there is a lot to happen before that,” said Kepitis.

“But it is very exciting to have at least gotten to the track on Saturday, done well and now start to dream about those sorts of races and hope for the best.”

Four times crowned Australian Champion Sire, Arrowfield Stud stalwart Snitzel had been making steady progress as a broodmare sire, but what a year 2022 has been for his daughters.

His career in this department reflects his career as a stallion, Snitzel a horse who took a while to warm up to the task - his debut crop yielding three stakes winners, while he amazingly drew a blank in his second crop.

For each of the next four seasons Snitzel had less than 10 stakes winners per crop, a tidy effort but nothing compared to his subsequent achievements; such as the 21 stakes winners foaled in 2014; his eighth year at stud.

Starting off with a bang

Snitzel's first broodmare sire success came quickly and quite spectacularly when his unraced daughter Eye For Fun retired to stud at three and her first foal was the subsequent 2014 G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Mossfun (Mossman). The following season she produced Singapore stakes winner Mawahibb (Magic Albert).

She is still at stud and in early September she foaled a colt by Vinery Stud newbie Ole Kirk, having produced a filly by Snitzel’s barnmate Dundeel (NZ) last year.

It was four years until Snitzel's name again appeared as damsire of a stakes winner - in 2018 the aforementioned Mawahibb recorded the first of his three Singapore stakes successes, while locally-bred The Odyssey (Better Than Ready) won the Listed Phelan Ready S. later on that same year.

Snitzel's first born female Group 1 winner Snitzerland - winner of the 2014 edition of the G1 Lightning S. - provided the next stakes winner, when her second foal Hard Landing (All Too Hard) won the G3 Maribyrnong Plate in 2019.

Again just one stakes winner in 2020 in Supreme Idea (I Am Invincible), who is out of Snitzel's unraced daughter, Sweet Sister and she prevailed in the Listed Lonhro Plate.

Last year saw his daughters produce two stakes winners, in the shape of the R. Listed Inglis Millennium winner Profiteer, who is out of the Group 3-placed Moonee Valley winner Athena Lass. Meanwhile, Daisies (Sebring), out of the dual city winner Tigress Lily, recorded the first of her three Group victories in the G3 Ethereal S.

And then in 2022 Snitzel's daughters really started to fire.

Table: Snitzel's stakes winners as a broodmare sire in 2022

It is noticeable that of these 11 stakes winners, six are out of his stakes-performed mares; it is worth taking a look at his overall record in regards to what type of mares are doing the job for him.

Table: Snitzel's winning-producing daughters race records

In summary, 22.2 per cent of Snitzel's stakes winners as a broodmare sire are out of stakes-winning mares; 44.4 per cent out of stakes-performed mares. And while four are out of unraced mares, none are out of unplaced mares.

Who are the best runners by?

Table: The stallions daughters of Snitzel work best with

A closer look at the pedigree

While Danehill (USA) overall has proven somewhat of a disappointing line-breeding subject, though his statistics improve and will continue to do so as he gets a bit further back in pedigrees, Snitzel mares are doing a good job with the Danehill cross.

The overall Danehill line-breeding strike rate is 53.9 per cent and 2.8 per cent stakes winners whilst eight (44.4 per cent) of Snitzel's 18 stakes winners as a broodmare sire carry a Danehill duplication.

Table: Snitzel's record as a broodmare sire and the appearance of Danehill

Two of these horses are by Danehill male-line descendants; he appears elsewhere in the pedigrees of the other six.

And of these horses, Profiteer carries further Danzig (USA) as do another two of the 18 stakes winners, while North Star Lass and Millane are line-bred to Snitzel's sire Redoute's Choice, who is the damsire of their sire Zoustar.

Vain, Wilkes (Fr), Lunchtime (GB), Canny Lad, Snippets and Kaoru Star all stood locally and are all duplicated within the 18 and there is also female influence of note with two mares in particular worth a look - Best In Show (USA) (Traffic Judge {USA}) and Almahmoud (USA) (Mahmoud {Fr}).

A total of six (33.3 per cent) of 18 stakes winners out of Snitzel mares are line-bred to Best In Show and all the same way, each of them carrying a strain of her grandson Try My Best (USA) and all but one of those via his son Last Tycoon (Ire).

Almahmoud - grandam of Northern Dancer (Can) and fourth dam of Danehill - is also duplicated in six of the 18, five of those via her grandson Halo (USA) with two of those carrying a strain of Machiavellian (USA) whose damsire is Halo and whose third dam is Northern Dancer's dam Natalma (USA) (Native Dancer {USA}).

Early days

It is still very early days for this aspect of Snitzel's career with Arrowfield Stud's resident pedigree expert Peter Jenkins noting that it is difficult to make conclusions at this stage.

“I do a lot of statistical research and one thing that holds true for nearly all stallions is that their careers can run hot and cold,” said Jenkins.

He believes it is more pertinent to judge a stallion's contribution at the end of their career.

“Over time things tend to even out and much of it comes down to opportunity both in relation to quality and numbers,” he concludes.

Which is highly relevant in regards to Snitzel's broodmare sire career. For his first seven seasons at stud he stood at a fee of $33,000 (inc GST) or less and it is only logical that the quality of the mares he served increased as his fee did.

Quality can be felt over the generations; as Snitzel's daughters became better bred and better performed, they also became better broodmares. Seven of the eleven 2022 stakes winners are out of mares foaled in 2011 or 2012 - just when the size of Snitzel's books were increasing.

It is also worth looking at the sorts of stallions Snitzel mares have been visiting. It is of course hard to judge any stallion on set criteria but if we look at Group 1 form, the big-race winners visited by Snitzel mares increased quite drastically from 2016 onwards - linking up with the time that his record as a broodmare sire improved.

This suggests that the best is still to come for Snitzel mares who in Australia alone last year visited, going by live foals already returned and mares not yet returned to the Stud Book, 113 different stallions, 28 of whom are Group 1-winning sires of Group 1 winners, another five being the sires of Group 1 winners and another 35 being Group 1 winners.