Written by Jessica Owers
Cover image courtesy of Gavelhouse Plus
In the latest spate of bespoke online auctions, Gavelhouse Plus on Wednesday evening hosted a one-off sale of the well-bred Kiwi mare Synchronize (NZ), a 5-year-old daughter of Savabeel. She was offered by Te Akau Racing.
At the close of bidding, the successful buyer was the Australian-based Ridgmont Farm with a final price of NZ$377,500, and Synchronize was booked almost immediately to fly to her new home in Australia by the end of the weekend.
Bloodstock agent Jim Clarke, who is Ridgmont’s director of bloodstock alongside his own independent agency, ‘signed’ the ticket for the mare on Wednesday evening. Talking to The Thoroughbred Report, he said Synchronize was an outstanding pick-up for Ridgmont.
Synchronize (NZ) | Image courtesy of Gavelhouse Plus
“She is a mare that we, as a Ridgmont collective, were very keen on, and for quite a few reasons,” Clarke said. “Chris Phillips was very familiar with her from his time at Waikato Stud, and he is very keen on the family, but also on her as a physical.”
Ridgmont’s Chris Phillips, a veterinarian, worked at Waikato Stud for seven years. During that time, Synchronize was bred and foaled from the O’Reilly (NZ) mare Splits (NZ), who represents one of Waikato’s best families. Splits is a daughter of Legs (NZ) (Pins), who won the G1 New Zealand Oaks and G1 Livamol Classic (then called the Kelt Capital S.), and her half-brother was the Group 1-winning Guyno (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}).
This is also the family of the dual Group 1 winner Tiptronic (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}).
“I knew Synchronize as a foal,” Phillips said, speaking to The Thoroughbred Report. “She was one of my favourite yearlings, as she was Jim’s. She’s from a beautiful family, one of Waikato’s best, and we’re over the moon to have got her.”
“I knew Synchronize as a foal. She was one of my favourite yearlings... She’s from a beautiful family, one of Waikato’s best, and we’re over the moon to have got her.” - Chris Phillips
Phillips even remembers the box she was in as a yearling, such was his attachment to Synchronize.
“She was a really, really, really beautiful yearling, and I think Jim might even have been an underbidder on her,” Phillips said. “It’s a really nice marrying of me knowing her in previous history, Jim having wanted to previously buy her, and now Mitch (Cunningham) being successful in purchasing her for Ridgmont.”
Ridgmont has, in very recent history, had a shuffle in its ranks. Mitch Cunningham and the Cunningham family are now outright owners of the business, having bought out their partners. As such, the purchase of Synchronize was well-timed as the farm carefully cultivates its broodmare band under the Cunningham banner.
Mitch Cunningham | Image courtesy of Inglis
Synchronize, as a yearling, was sent by Waikato Stud to the 2020 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Sale, where she went the way of David Ellis’ Te Akau operation for NZ$280,000. It was in Te Akau colours that she raced from early 2021 to as recently as last week, when she trialled at Matamata over 1000 metres.
In 14 starts, the mare won four races, including the Listed Concorde H. in January this year. In her last official start in May, she was unplaced at Group 3 level but the black type was on the board. Last week, Gavelhouse announced she would be offered in a pop-up sale, and the company expected hot competition, which it got.
“I was very fond of her as a yearling as well, and I remember her vividly,” Clarke said. “I had already bought a couple of yearlings out of that mare already. From the perspective of Ridgmont, Synchronize was a mare we were very keen on her for a future breeding perspective.
Synchronize (NZ) when racing | Image courtesy of Kristin Ledington
“She’s by a Champion stallion and she’s from three elite broodmare sires, and from a deep Waikato family. She’s a juvenile winner, winning four races at premier tracks in New Zealand, including a stakes race. We’ve got fairly unlimited options with what we’ve got to breed her to in the next few years.”
Prepared to pay
Clarke said that Synchronize will head to Ridgmont this weekend without a concrete breeding plan. That’s a conversation he’s looking forward to having with Mitch Cunningham and Chris Phillips.
Jim Clarke | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Clarke is very active with Ridgmont’s bloodstock, advising it as he continues to operate his own Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA) operation. He’s excited about the direction that Ridgmont is taking with mares like Synchronize.
“She’ll be retired from racing,” he said. “She’s exactly what we’re looking for when it comes to the Ridgmont broodmare band. We’ve been actively trying to buy mares exactly like her all year, and it’s been very difficult to get our hands on them.
“She compliments what’s in the broodmare band very well, with her age and her stakes record and that pedigree. It’s a family that Ridgmont will be investing in for the next few years, that’s for sure.”
“She’s (Synchronize) exactly what we’re looking for when it comes to the Ridgmont broodmare band. We’ve been actively trying to buy mares exactly like her all year, and it’s been very difficult to get our hands on them.” - Jim Clarke
At NZ$377,500, which on Wednesday’s conversion rates was just shy of AU$350,000, Clarke said it was about what they were prepared to pay for Synchronize.
“Any mare with her profile, you’ve got to be prepared to pay for them,” he said. “It’s a strong market for mares like her at the moment, but she fitted within our valuation. We were definitely getting towards the end of our budget for her, but we’re delighted to get her because we’ve tried on plenty this year and been well-beaten on some and gone close on others.
“Everything works out for the best because she was a mare we were very, very keen on as a group. It’s worked out well.”
Chris Phillips
In the aftermath of the sale, Clarke and Phillips were half-bombarded with congratulatory messages, which gave them an idea of their underbidders.
“It’s always a pleasing thing when you get contacted by other people who have bid on her, and they’re full of praise for the mare,” Clarke said. “Let’s just say we had some very astute judges contact us afterwards with congratulations. When you’re forking out significant figures for those mares, things like that always give you confidence.”
“It’s always a pleasing thing when you get contacted by other people who have bid on her, and they’re full of praise for the mare.” - Jim Clarke
Synchronize has become one of the 20-25 broodmares owned by the Ridgmont operation. It’s a relatively young set of mares that the farm is pointing towards the middle to high end of the market.
“The majority of them are young, well-related and performed mares at city-level during their careers as a minimum,” Clarke added. “There are a number of Group winners and Group-placed mares and they’re being bred to the best commercial stallions for every possible chance.
“We’ve got a lovely draft of horses to take to Magic Millions next year, so it’s really exciting times for the farm from a bloodstock perspective.”
