Cover image courtesy of Newhaven Park
Newhaven Park has become the latest farm to release its fees for the 2023 breeding season. With two stallions on the roster, Xtravagant (NZ) will once again line up alongside Cool Aza Beel (NZ).
The pair of horses has had strong recommendations in the lead-up to decisions about their service fees, but Xtravagant will stand for a slightly reduced sum of $22,000 (inc GST), down on last year’s $24,750 (inc GST), and Cool Aza Beel will remain unchanged at $16,500 (inc GST).
For studmaster John Kelly, front and centre in his fees decision was the dampening of the Australian yearling market across the last few sales.
John Kelly
“With the yearling market being basically down 20 per cent, and we took into consideration the gross and averages too, we thought it timely to drop one of our service fees,” Kelly said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “It was despite Xtravagant having a very good year again, and he’s got a pretty nice filly going around right now in Arts.”
Arts is trained by Edward Cummings and she’s a fancy for this weekend’s G1 Australasian Oaks. She’s already a winner of the G3 Adrian Knox S., adding to her sire’s tally of five stakes winners.
Arts | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Xtravagant has been at stud since 2017, retiring from the track to Newhaven Park. He’s currently a third-season sire in Australia, and his stakes-winning tally to date includes Arts, the Group 2-winning Lavish Girl, the stakes winners He’s Xceptional and Devoted, plus the R. Listed Inglis 2YO Millennium winner Xtravagant Star.
“Despite Arts looking very good, we still thought it fair to bring back Xtravagant a bit, and that’s what we’ve done,” Kelly said. “We did give consideration to the sizeable book he had last year, and we thought about leaving him where he was, but we were mindful of what breeders had to face at the yearling market this year and probably next, so we dropped his fee.”
“We did give consideration to the sizeable book he (Xtravagant) had last year, and we thought about leaving him where he was (at $24,750), but we were mindful of what breeders had to face at the yearling market this year and probably next, so we dropped his fee.” - John Kelly
Ten-year-old Xtravagant heads into his sixth book at Newhaven Park. His numbers took an enormous leap last year, going from 48 mares in 2021 to 141 mares in 2022.
On debut, the stallion stood for $16,500 (inc GST), sliding slightly to $11,000 (inc GST) in his next two years, and last year, as mentioned, he stood for a career high of $24,750.
According to Kelly, at this competitive price-point of the stallion game, the yearling market is a huge consideration, even for the stallion masters right at the top of the tree.
Xtravagant (NZ) | Standing at Newhaven Park
“I think it’s a big consideration for every breeder,” he said. “For myself, we can dance around the yearling market as much as we want, but it’s a reality we all face. It’s come back this year and we need to be aware of it. It’s why we came to the fees that we came to, simple as that.
“We’re confident that Xtravagant will deliver for those breeders that have supported him in that big book last year because his figures are good. His winners-to-runners is good and his stakes-winners-to-runners is good. We closed his book at 140 last year and we’d be expecting he’ll get the same numbers this year.”
Xtravagant has had four crops head to the yearling market. So far this year, he’s posted the strongest aggregate since his opening yearling year in 2020.
He set a personal record when his filly from the Sebring mare She’s A Danica sold for $360,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale this January. She was bought by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Waterhouse a loyal patron of the Newhaven product.
Xtravagant (NZ) x She's A Danica (filly) who sold for $360,000 | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Cool Aza Beel on the up
Cool Aza Beel meanwhile, a young sire rising just six years old, is heading into his third season at Newhaven Park. This time next year, his first yearlings will creep into the sale rings, while his first weanlings are doing just that next month.
At the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale later next month, he has three youngsters catalogued, two of those for Newhaven Park.
Cool Aza Beel is still fresh enough in the mind as a racehorse for his track deeds to be mentioned. Campaigned by the Te Akau Racing operation, he won four races in six starts, including the G1 Sistema S. and the R. Listed Karaka Million 2YO. He was a sharp juvenile.
Cool Aza Beel (NZ) when racing | Standing at Newhaven Park
At the time he was secured for stud, Kelly was surprised by the amount of Australian enquiries he had for the horse. However, Cool Aza Beel is from a fast Australian family, and it includes the good mare Aloha (Encosta De Lago), who is the dam of Libertini (I Am Invincible) and last weekend’s G3 Hawkesbury Guineas winner Hawaii Five Oh (I Am Invincible).
“That Australian family is a big help,” Kelly told TDN AusNZ two years ago at the announcement of Cool Aza Beel to his roster. “There have been four or five Group 1 winners in that pedigree in the last five or six years, plus Libertini. It’s an evolving family.”
“That Australian family (of Cool Aza Beel's) is a big help. There have been four or five Group 1 winners in that pedigree in the last five or six years, plus Libertini. It’s an evolving family.” - John Kelly
Cool Aza Beel has been a smart outcross option for Australian breeders. By Savabeel from a Testa Rossa mare whose female line is through Red Ransom (USA), he is Danehill (USA)-free. This has made the young stallion appealing for the wealth of Danehill families in Australia, including those good ones through Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt.
As such, it was no surprise that Cool Aza Beel attracted 114 mares in his debut season, backing that up with 121 mares last year. It’s tactical that Kelly is leaving him at his stud fee of $16,500.
Cool Aza Beel (NZ) | Standing at Newhaven Park
“His progeny have been really well-received by the people who’ve bred them, and we think he’ll garner good support,” Kelly said. “This horse’s second book was larger than his first book and we thought it would be good for him to stay where he was on fee.”
And Mo’unga?
Newhaven Park is one of the studs in Australia with a long and illustrious history of standing stallions. It’s like Widden in that respect, and also Yarraman Park... they're generation farms.
The likes of Wilkes (Fr) has stood at Newhaven in the past, along with Agricola (GB), Luskin Star, Marauding and Zeditave. It gives Kelly a unique perspective on the stallion game, including where it is right now and where it will be in the near future.
“We’ve got Mo’unga who will come to stud here next year, and we’re always keeping our eye out,” he said. “We’re not in any shape or form trying to get too much bigger, but we’ve always got our eye out for a stallion that might suit the market.”
Mo'unga (NZ) (sky blue and black silks) | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
The farm announced in April last year that it had acquired the Annabel Neasham-trained Mo’unga (NZ) for eventual stallion duties, and it was a recent announcement that the son of Savabeel would race on. In the meanwhile, he placed third in the G1 Ranvet S. in March behind Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai), then split that good horse and the brilliant Anamoe when second in the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. on Day 2 of The Championships.
“We would have enjoyed having him at Newhaven this spring but we felt it was best to race on,” Kelly said. “His best run of his career so far was probably in the Queen Elizabeth, so why go to stud? It made sense to race on and give him the opportunity to win another Group 1.
“We raced on last year after we bought him, and we’re very comfortable and hopeful that he’ll come up again in the spring and do a good job for us.”
