Cover image courtesy of Telemon Thoroughbreds
Telemon Thoroughbreds, located in Innisplain, Queensland, is owned by Dan and Rae Fletcher and has crafted a roster of four diverse and promising young stallions.
Fast start by Sun City
Among them is the first-season sire Sun City, a son of the Champion Sire Zoustar.
Sun City was a $525,000 purchase by McEvoy Mitchell Racing and David Redvers Bloodstock from the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. As a juvenile, he proved to be a precocious runner claiming the G3 BJ McLachlan S.
Sun City winning the G3 BJ McLachlan S. | Image courtesy of Telemon Thoroughbreds
It appears he is passing a trait onto his progeny, who have already hit the ground running, popping up at the early 2-year-old trials, including the Les Ross-trained Mishani Suspect who won at Deagon.
“Sun City covered around 60 mares in his first books. By no means massive numbers,” Fletcher told TTR AusNZ.
“Physically, Sun City is a very strong and powerful horse who was early maturing himself, and that’s what he seems to have transmitted into his foals.
“His foals have all come out as strong types, and as you’ve seen, they’ve gotten to the trials nice and early, so that’s a really good indication that they are forward.”
“Physically, Sun City is a very strong and powerful horse who was early maturing himself... they’ve gotten to the trials nice and early, so that’s a really good indication that they are forward.” - Dan Fletcher
Sun City is from the Flying Spur mare Roulettes. She showed speed and precocity, winning the Listed St Albans S.
In addition to Sun City, Roulettes is also the dam of the speedy Parlophone (I Am Invincible) who won the Listed Lightning S.
“Sun City is an outstanding type. He was a $525,000 yearling before Zoustar was even established, so it’s just a testament to the type of horse he is.
“He’s a beautiful moving horse with a lot of strength, and Sun City actually has a really commercial pedigree, and he’s straightforward to breed too. Because his pedigree is versatile, he has a lot going for him.”
Sun City | Standing at Telemon Thoroughbreds
Sun City is set to stand the 2023 breeding season at $7700 (inc GST), and although mating plans are yet to be finalised, Sun City’s book is shaping up nicely.
Among his confirmed mares is the speedy Conchita (Uncle Mo {USA}); she was a four-time winner from 1000 to 1250 metres and ran fourth in a Listed Alinghi S.
Conchita foaled a colt by Sun City last year, and the development and quality of the yearling has prompted Fletcher to return Conchita to him this season.
Conchita, pictured when racing, will visit Sun City this season | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“We have supported Sun City each season with nice mares. There has been a lot of inquiry off the back of these early trial results,” Fletcher told TTR AusNZ.
“We are still six weeks or more away from the racing season to really get underway with the 2-year-old racing. But obviously, there are many people close to trainers and breakers that have given Sun City a really good push.
“It’s looking like he will be quite busy this year, and we’ve priced him to be busy. We’ve put him on the market with an accessible fee for breeders, and hopefully, they want to support him and can come on the journey with us.
“We’ve put him (Sun City) on the market with an accessible fee for breeders, and hopefully, they want to support him and can come on the journey with us.” - Dan Fletcher
“Conchita, she’s probably one of the fastest mares in our broodmare portfolio. She doesn’t have a stakes win besides her name, but everybody that was close to her recognised that she was a real speed machine.
“She was purchased with the intention of going to Sun City in his first season. We really want to back up the fact to people we believe in Sun City, and it’s not just talk.
“Another mare who is very likely to visit him is Victorem’s dam Playful Miss. Mike Cooks of Mishani has always loved Sun City, and we knew what way the wind was blowing a month or so ago when those guys confirmed they would be coming again,” Fletcher shared.
Dan Fletcher | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“They’ve always been really happy with their foals by Sun City, and the 2-year-olds are showing trainer Les Ross that they’re nice and forward. So that’s all really encouraging.”
QTIS king
Standing on the Telemon Thoroughbreds roster is the QTIS King The Odyssey who became a first-time dad on Saturday afternoon.
The Odyssey is a son of Better Than Ready and was crowned Champion 2-Year-Old in Queensland.
The Odyssey | Standing at Telemon Thoroughbreds
He retired a winner of 10 races and over $1 million in earnings. The Odyssey is set to stand the season for $5500 (inc GST).
“There’s a lot of people trying to find value this season. People’s living costs have risen, and the thoroughbred industry is no exception. We think The Odyssey is an ideal horse for breeders to capitalise on the QTIS scheme up here,” Fletcher explained.
“He was an early maturing natural horse, nice and forward. He fits the bill up here.
“The Odyssey, he was tough, but he had a fantastic temperament. If you talk to his former trainer Kelly Schweida and all the guys that were close to him, they’ll say he was a remarkable individual. We have found he’s obviously in a different phase of life now, but he is a really intelligent and easy horse to get along with.
“He’s a great horse to work and has shown he’s got all those attributes that made him trainable and tractable, and hopefully, we will see those in his progeny.”
“He’s (The Odyssey) a great horse to work and has shown he’s got all those attributes that made him trainable and tractable, and hopefully, we will see those in his progeny.” - Dan Fletcher
The Odyssey is a near black entire, reminiscent of his sire Better Than Ready, and Fletcher was impressed with the first foal from the stallion, thoroughly pleased with how The Odyssey has stamped the colt foal.
Plans are still pending on who will visit him this season, but with strong ownership backing, Fletcher is confident he will be supported by his ownership group, who are set to return to The Odyssey.
“The Odyssey is a particularly good-looking horse and a real bull that has let down into a good type,” Fletcher said.
“It is a bit early to say who will make up his final book. But his ownership group has been really staunch.
“Darren Wilson and Janelle Whaley were in the racing syndicate that raced him, and they’ve got a particularly good broodmare band. So, without being able to rattle off names, they sent him five or six really good quality mares for the first season, and they’re all coming back.
“We’ve got the one colt foal on the ground already, but if that foal's typical of what he’s going to throw, it is a really good advertisement for the horse.”
Sidestep bouncing back to the spotlight
Also standing on the Telemon Thoroughbreds roster is Sidestep, a son of Exceed And Excel.
The former Darley stallion is already the sire of a G1 Golden Slipper winner and is on a resurgence, siring winners weekly.
Sidestep | Standing at Telemon Thoroughbreds
“Sidestep was a little bit out of people’s minds when he simply didn’t have runners, and that was no fault of his own,” Fletcher told TTR AusNZ.
“We have given him a second wind up here (Queensland), and the last crop of 2-year-olds were conceived off the back of his Golden Slipper winner and all of a sudden, it’s been a stark reminder for people just how good he is.”
Sidestep enjoyed a fantastic run with his juveniles last season. Among them was the Telemon Thoroughbreds-bred Party For Two, who ran second in the G2 Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies).
“He’s had a terrific 2-year-old season, and they’re going to build into really nice 3-year-olds as well. Sidestep had almost 10 2-year-old winners.
“He’s just a prolific and reliable stallion who will get you winners and one of those rare horses that can get them early.
“He’s (Sidestep) had a terrific 2-year-old season... He’s just a prolific and reliable stallion who will get you winners and one of those rare horses that can get them early.” - Dan Fletcher
“The filly we bred, Party For Two, is a really good example of what he can produce, and you don’t have to spend a fortune on either side of the equation. His service fee is very affordable, and he’s upgrading the mares.”
Sidestep will stand the 2023 breeding season for $16,500 (inc GST).
“It’s early days but Sidestep is shaping up as our busiest stallion this season.”
Jungle Cat
Rounding out the roster is Jungle Cat (Ire), a dual Group 1 winner of the G1 Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan in Dubai and the Sir Rupert Clarke S. in Australia.
Jungle Cat is a son of Iffraaj (GB), who is the sire of the sire sensation Wootton Bassett (GB).
Jungle Cat served 57 mares in his debut crop and that number rose to 80 mares in his second season, of which resulted in 57 live second-crop foals.
In the 2021 season Jungle Cat served 56 mares and last season he covered 42 mares.
The eight-time winner has been represented by seven runners from his first crop of which two have won in Australia, Puss Boots and Tiger Town.
The expectation is that the progeny of Jungle Cat will continue to get better with age.
“We didn’t know a huge amount about Iffraaj when we sourced Junge Cat, but Wootton Bassett is probably as good a young stallion as there is,” Fletcher explained.
“Iffraaj is also the sire of Turn Me Loose and Hot Streak in Europe, they have both sired Group 1-performed horses.
Jungle Cat (Ire) | Standing at Telemon Thoroughbreds
“I don’t think there’s been many better racehorses start their careers in Queensland than Jungle Cat, he’s a really fast horse. He didn’t cover a lot of mares in his first book, but his second book was much bigger and definitely higher quality.”
Fletcher explained the increase in book size was off the back of the foals that Jungle Cat was leaving on the ground.
“Those first foals impressed breeders. He got a couple of winners from a handful of runners in his first crop, but he and his progeny definitely have more ahead of them,” Fletcher shared with TTR AusNZ.
“He is leaving structurally very good foals. They have nice wide hips to them. Jungle Cat is a really masculine horse with a beautiful head and a big wide mandible on him.
“He (Jungle Cat) is leaving structurally very good foals. They have nice wide hips to them. Jungle Cat is a really masculine horse with a beautiful head and a big wide mandible on him.” - Dan Fletcher
“He’s really stamping his progeny with his head; you can pick out his progeny in a mob readily. Jungle Cat is not a bay-dominant stallion, so he does throw chestnuts, but usually, the chestnuts are a very strong colour.
“He has worked with a lot of different mares, and I find that those big boaty mares Jungle Cat really tidies them up and adds quality into them.”
Among the mares bred to Jungle Cat were the stakes performed Brook Magic (Hinchinbrook).
The five-time winner has a filly by Jungle Cat born in 2021 and will visit him again.
Brook Magic | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“We’ve got a filly by Jungle Cat from a mare called Brook Magic who again, was a good stakes-class mare, who is young, she’s part of our portfolio.
“If these stallions are good enough for us to put to the market, they need to be good enough for us to put our nice mares to them as well.
“Hopefully, some of the results that are starting to flow through from our paddocks are a testament to that, from the mares that we breed to our stallions to our yearlings.
“Hopefully, some of the results that are starting to flow through from our paddocks are a testament to that, from the mares that we breed to our stallions to our yearlings.” - Dan Fletcher
“Our results last year, which was a small group of yearlings, we produced around seven 2-year-old runners for six 2-year-old winners, very small numbers, but there was a Group horse in there and a number of metropolitan winners.
“They were often from our mares, or our paddocks or by our stallions, so we’re just trying to lead by example a little bit and just demonstrate if you send the right mares and you give them the right upbringing, you can get the results.”
