Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
In today's Q & A, we feature a quick-fire round with Anthony Mithen, principal of Rosemont Stud.
Favourite moment - racing, sales or breeding-related - for the 2022/23 season?
Anthony Mithen: It would have to be the half-hour period on April 29 between 2pm and 2.30pm when we won two 2-year-old stakes races in two different states with two homebred fillies.
Justify filly Legacies demolished a good field in the Anzac Day S. for Peter Moody. Half an hour later in Adelaide was the G3 Breeders’ S. Trainer Jason Warren had agreed to take Starspangledbanner filly Treasurway to South Australia so we didn't have two fillies in the same race and he was rewarded with the victory. It was just great that our team, Moods’ team and Jason’s crew could all work together to get such a big result for the farm. Both fillies have come back bigger and better for the spring, so fingers crossed.
Which sire do you consider a value sire? Fee <$50k and not a first-season sire.
AM: With a discount, it has to be Shamus Award! We are letting breeders use him at less than $50,000 this year and it is truly a gift. Given the number of runners he will have with his 2-year-old and 3-year-old crop (the first of the Shamus Awards bred at our farm after his relocation from the Hunter) and the quality of mares he’s covered, he is in for a massive couple of years.
If he’s got five Group 1 winners already, look out in the future. And breeders to him now will be well rewarded at yearling sales in 2026 if they read the crystal ball like we see it.
Shamus Award | Standing at Rosemont Stud
What young sire (less than three crops) do you think will one day be Champion Sire?
AM: (If you mean less than 3 crops of racing age) Russian Revolution keeps turning up a nice horse. We bought a beauty this year for the Rosemont Stallion Alliance with Michael Freedman and Michael Wallace and are very happy with him.
Which yearling purchase in 2023 are you most excited about?
AM: It would have to be the Blue Point colt x Bumbasina from Segenhoe at Magic Millions. We bought him for our colts package and he cost a bit of money ($900,000), but I’d rather the horse not the money at this stage. Annabel Neasham has him and he is so far on track for an early-season 2-year-old trial. He is a half-brother to gun WA mare Amelia’s Jewel and we name our colts after ex-AFL greats. We named him Bosustow after Peter who played for the blues (Carlton Football Club) and hailed from the West!
What, if any, is your greatest current-industry concern?
AM: Future direction. Our industry needs to unite in its approach and should be dictated by what is best for the whole, not the who. Self-interest is a good name for a racehorse, but a bad trait we must stamp out.
Name an emerging human talent in the industry, and say why?
AM: Billy (Wiremu) Pinn. He’s a guy who could be the face of the industry given his talent. I don’t know him, but the good judges say if he keeps his head on his shoulders, he could be anything. We need stars to promote and enjoy. I really hope he’s one we can all barrack for, like Jamie Kah has been over recent years.
Wiremu Pinn | Image courtesy of Racing Photos
If you had $10 million to invest in an industry initiative, what would it be and why?
AM: It’s been mooted, but I would invest the lot with Netflix and get a series that reveals to the world how great this sport is and how interesting the characters are that star in the show. We kid ourselves that it’s a popular sport. It’s not, but so could be.
Imagine a doco series that follows the action at a breeding farm, sales scene, racing stable and ultimately the race track following characters like Peter Moody, James McDonald, James Cummings, Gai Waterhouse, Bjorn Baker, Jamie Kah and even the likes of big owners Col McKenna or Henry Field. It would rival Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Riccardo for sure!!
