Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Kingstar is certainly no stranger to major 2-year-old success, having bred and sold G1 Golden Slipper S. hero and now Newgate Farm-based sire Stay Inside, a son of Extreme Choice, as a weanling, and recent results at both the trials and on the racecourse suggest that trend is only set to continue.
The farm has already produced one of this season’s leading juveniles in the shape of unbeaten Queensland filly Devine Force (Cosmic Force), who is being aimed at the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic, and with the dam of Tuesday’s G3 Maribyrnong Plate hero Dublin Down now in the paddocks at the Denman property, there is likely to be plenty more where that came from.
The mare in question, Dublin Lass (O’Reilly {NZ}), was purchased by Kingstar for $85,000 from the dispersal of hugely successful breeder Ian Smith at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale earlier this year, when offered in foal to Aquis Farm’s Group 2-winning stallion Glenfiddich.
Dublin Lass | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
At the time of her purchase she had already produced a $370,000 yearling - the highest-priced Exceedance colt from his first crop, who is now a 2-year-old stakes winner - and a matter of days before she was knocked down to Kingstar, her third living foal, the weanling sister to Dublin Down, was secured by Kitchwin Hills for a healthy $100,000.
A daughter of increasingly potent broodmare sire influence O’Reilly (NZ), Dublin Lass is starting to look like a bit of a steal at $85,000, and Cook revealed that he was more than happy to take a punt on the dual Listed-winning mare confident in the knowledge that she would have been given every chance by Smith, who had purchased her off the track for $460,000 back in 2016.
Adam Cook | Image courtesy of Inglis
“I think we bought about half a dozen mares off Ian (Smith) at the dispersal and Dubin Lass was one of them,” he told The Thoroughbred Report. “Ian has had solid sales results at the yearling sales forever now and is a very astute buyer of broodmares as well.
“Dublin Lass is a nice mare and was a good racehorse. Her progeny had already sold well and Kitchwin were fortunate enough to buy the weanling filly off Ian for $100,000, which is probably a very good investment now.
“You don’t get sales results if you don’t produce good types. If these mares have sales results then you go in confident that they’re going to produce a nice horse.
“You don’t get sales results if you don’t produce good types. If these mares have sales results then you go in confident that they’re going to produce a nice horse.” - Adam Cook
“We probably got Dublin Lass a little bit cheaper because she was in foal to Glenfiddich, who is not a Group 1-winning stallion. But fortunately for us, she has produced a very, very good foal that I personally believe will make double what we paid for the mare.”
There is no getting away from how effusive Cook is in his praise for Dublin Lass’ weanling colt by multiple Group 1 placegetter Glenfiddich, and he is even more bullish about the colt’s sale prospects after seeing Dublin Down provide the mare with a precocious 2-year-old stakes winner from her very first foal to race.
“She has had an outstanding Glenfiddich colt who will be the highest-priced Glenfiddich to be sold in 2025 by a country mile - he’s that good,” Cook added.
“She (Dublin Lass) has had an outstanding Glenfiddich colt who will be the highest-priced Glenfiddich to be sold in 2025 by a country mile - he’s that good.” - Adam Cook
“He’s a good size foal, very strong, with good bone. When he was born he looked like he was four days old.
“I’m very confident that anyone who is a fan of Glenfiddich will certainly be looking at him, especially off the back of that 2-year-old result on Tuesday. He looks like he’ll be a 2-year-old himself.”
Bargain buys
Despite Dublin Lass having produced a 2-year-old stakes winner by Exceedance and a cracking colt foal by Glenfiddich, Kingstar has resisted the temptation to go back to either of those stallions this year and has instead opted to send her to another descendant of Danehill in the shape of In The Congo, the G1 Golden Rose S. winner who is standing his first season at Newgate Farm this year at a fee of $33,000 (inc GST).
Kingstar’s owner, Matthew Sandblom, is a co-owner of Newgate alongside Gavin Murphy and Henry Field, and the latter also pitches in when it comes to deciding on mating plans for Sandblom’s burgeoning broodmare band at Kingstar.
Dublin Lass will visit In The Congo (pictured) this season | Standing at Newgate Farm
“We buy these mares to go to Kingstar stallions or Newgate stallions,” Cook explained. “It’s nice for Matthew to send a nice-looking mare to a stallion that he owns a particular percentage of and showcase that stallion.
“Henry, myself and Matthew will then sit down at the table and go through the mares and who we are going to send them to roughly six weeks before the breeding season starts. Sometimes I haven’t seen some of the first-season sires standing at Newgate at that time, so Henry is at the table to say that this stallion is this, that and the other, and he doesn’t necessarily know what the mare looks like, so I’ll say that she’s this, that and the other, and then we all agree upon something.
“With Dublin Lass we agreed on In The Congo. Him and Exceedance are both descendants of Danehill and In The Congo looks like an exciting stallion. He’s a very strong, forward-looking horse who I am sure is going to throw 2-year-olds.
“With Dublin Lass we agreed on In The Congo. He looks like an exciting stallion. He’s a very strong, forward-looking horse who I am sure is going to throw 2-year-olds.” - Adam Cook
“It’s not a bad match for her. We can see with Dublin Down she has a horse that has had three starts by the first week of November, so obviously she can produce a 2-year-old.”
Dublin Lass is just one of many recent success stories that Kingstar has managed to source for what has subsequently transpired to be a relative bargain.
Perhaps there is no finer example than Nothin Leica Storm, the daughter of Anabaa (USA) whom Kingstar purchased in foal to brilliant young sire Extreme Choice for $90,000 at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale in 2018. A matter of months after her purchase, Nothin Leica Storm gave birth to her Extreme Choice colt, whom Kingstar subsequently sold for $60,000 to Newgate Bloodstock at the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale the following year.
Stay Inside | Standing at Newgate Farm
That colt turned out to be G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Stay Inside, and Nothin Leica Storm delivered another fairytale result for Kingstar when her yearling filly by Newgate stallion Russian Revolution, now named Stormy Revolution, sold to Annabel Neasham, Brian McGuire and TFI for $600,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2022.
Finding such value is more of a necessity than a choice for Kingstar, with the farm unable to match the financial might of some of the breeding superpowers with whom they share the fertile pastures of the Hunter Valley. That is where Sandblom’s profound knowledge of pedigrees comes into play according to Cook, who is always on the lookout for a good type that might be one to slip through the cracks on the sales ground.
“We try to find types and then Matthew and I will look at the pedigrees - He’s a very smart man Matthew, and he’s very good with his pedigrees,” Cook said.
“We try to find types and then Matthew (Sandblom) and I will look at the pedigrees - He’s a very smart man Matthew, and he’s very good with his pedigrees.” - Adam Cook
“I look at a lot of mares at these sales and we just try to see where the value is. The obvious ones make a lot of money, and Kingstar is not at that competitive market level with Yulong and Coolmore. We’ve got to try and find a bit of value and it has worked, even with Nothin Leica Storm, the dam of the Golden Slipper winner, who we bought for $90,000.
“If she’s a good type and there is something in the pedigree that suits us, Matthew will put his hand up and we’ll buy her. That’s what we have seen with Dublin Lass and that’s what we have seen with Munjai.”
Matthew Sandblom | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
A Classic contender
The horse Cook makes reference to, Munjai (Trusting), is yet another fine example of Kingstar’s ability to transform a relatively cheap broodmare prospect into a proven producer, both at the sales and on the racetrack.
Secured at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for just $7000 in 2018, the two-time winning daughter of Tasmanian stakes winner Maha Chakri (Beautiful Crown {USA}), who is also a half-sister to Listed Breeders’ Plate hero and former Grandview Stud stallion Whittington, has been nothing short of a revelation since joining the broodmare ranks at Kingstar.
Her three yearlings to date have sold for a combined total of $880,000 - not a bad return for a $7000 purchase - and that trio includes arguably Queensland’s leading 2-year-old of the season so far in Devine Force, who stretched her unbeaten record to two with a taking performance at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Devine Force as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
The Chris Munce-trained filly is a horse of huge potential in the eyes of Cook, who is relishing the possibility of Devine Force taking on some of the country’s best 2-year-olds in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic at the Gold Coast in January.
“We bought Munjai off the track up at Magic Millions and she is an extremely good-looking mare,” Cook said. “She got mated to Capitalist and we sent her first foal over to Perth, where he made $220,000.
“Munjai’s second foal, now called Turbulent, is going quite well and I think he’s racing in the next week or two. He made $560,000, and then the third foal was Devine Force, who made $100,000. So off that $7000 we paid for Munjai, she has been an absolute till.
“The other day you could clearly see that Devine Force was going to win by six (lengths), then she saw the inside signs, her ears went straight up and she just stopped. On her first start she couldn’t see them because she was coming from behind and had horses inside her, but in front on Saturday she had everywhere to look and deadset wanted to stop.
“We have no ownership of the horse, but I hope they put her out for 10 days or something like that and then come back for the Magic Millions 2YO Classic. I’m assuming on her prizemoney earnings she’d be qualified now, and hopefully they look after her because if she didn’t baulk at the inside signs there, I think she would have won by six. I think she’s pretty special.”
“... if she (Devine Force) didn’t baulk at the inside signs there, I think she would have won by six (lengths). I think she’s pretty special.” - Adam Cook
Whilst stopping short of declaring Devine Force as a standout yearling, Cook has always had a nice opinion of the daughter of Cosmic Force, who was secured by her trainer Chris Munce in conjunction with bloodstock advisor Arthur Hoyeau on the Gold Coast earlier this year.
“Funnily enough, I thought that Gary Portelli was going to buy her,” Cook recalled. “We had the yearling tours and I wanted to show Gary a couple of Time To Reign foals, so I put him in a buggy and took him down to have a look, and he goes, ‘Jheez, that Cosmic Force filly is nice’, so I thought here we go, we have a buyer here, but he never put his hand up.
“She was a nice filly, not overly big, but not small. She was just an athletic, racy-looking thing and moved well. She probably didn’t have the big shoulder and hip, but she was a nice filly and made her money.
“She (Devince Force) was just an athletic, racy-looking thing and moved well. She probably didn’t have the big shoulder and hip, but she was a nice filly and made her money ($100,000).” - Adam Cook
“She was by a first-season sire, Cosmic Force, who stood for $15,000, and she made $100,000, which wasn’t a bad result. With $15,000 stallions you hope to make five times the service fee and she made more than that.”
The future looks bright, too, with Munjai having produced a colt and a filly by Newgate Farm’s exciting young stallion Russian Revolution, whose eight stakes winners from his first two crops are spearheaded by G1 Randwick Guineas hero Communist.
Given the untapped potential shown by Devine Force, Munjai is unsurprisingly heading back to Cosmic Force this year, and the wide-margin G3 Pago Pago S. winner is a stallion that Cook feels is destined for the very top.
Cosmic Force | Standing at Newgate Farm
“We have a very nice Russian Revolution colt, a very early looking colt going to Inglis Classic, and Munjia has had an absolutely beautiful filly, again by Russian,” he said.
“I think the Russian Revolutions, the yearling and foal, are certainly going to be well found, because they are very nice types, and she’s booked to go back to Cosmic Force this season.
“Cosmic Force is going to be a headline stallion in the next couple of months, I think.”
“Cosmic Force is going to be a headline stallion in the next couple of months, I think.” - Adam Cook
West is best
Part of the reason Cook is so confident in Cosmic Force’s credentials as a stallion is down to the stock that he has seen pass through the barn at Kingstar, including the 2-year-old three-quarter brother to fellow Kingstar graduate Ningaloo Star (Deep Field), who continued the red-hot run of results for the farm when chalking up her second metropolitan victory at Royal Randwick on Tuesday.
The horse in question, Stay Focused, is in training with Phillip Stokes having been sold by Kingstar as a weanling for $190,000, before being secured by Bennett Racing for $250,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Stay Focused, whom Cook describes as ‘very, very good’, reportedly went shin sore after a jump-out earlier this year but the team at Kingstar remain excited by his prospects, as they do with his year-younger brother who will be bound for the yearling sales in 2024.
Stay Focused as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
There is also plenty of excitement at Kingstar surrounding promising colt Onemoretwomany (Tassort), who caught the eye with a stylish trial victory in a 10-runner juvenile heat at Belmont on Monday.
Sold as a weanling by Kingstar for just $12,000 before making $70,000 to the bid of Fantail Holdings at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale, Onemoretwomany is a half-brother to G3 Vanity S. winner Wollombi (Extreme Choice) out of the Hinchinbrook mare Hazlebrook, who is now back in foal to Extreme Choice having produced a three-quarter brother to Wollombi by Tiger Of Malay earlier this year.
All in all, the last week has been an extremely fruitful one for Kingstar, and Cook was quick to praise Sandblom for his unrelenting investment in the Australian bloodstock industry.
Onemoretwomany as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“A lot of things have happened very quickly at Kingstar, from the broodmare band to the farm expansion, but results have happened very quickly as well, which is the main thing,” he said.
“When you start off quickly you can be too busy building, but at the same time we’ve been building we’ve had great results, like breeding a (Golden) Slipper winner and breeding these sorts of horses that people want to buy.
“The way things have happened, we are buying the right horses, we’ve obviously designed the right farm, they have been running well, they’re selling well, they’re going to the right trainers and we’re getting results. That’s the main thing for Matthew, is getting the results, because he’s a big investor and we want Kingstar to make him happy.”
“... we are buying the right horses, we’ve obviously designed the right farm, they have been running well, they’re selling well, they’re going to the right trainers and we’re getting results.” - Adam Cook
One of the relatively new developments at Kingstar Farm has been the decision to support the racing and breeding industry in Western Australia, a move that was triggered by Munjai’s first foal by Capitalist selling so well at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale back in 2019.
It is something that the farm will continue to do more over the coming years, with Cook citing the return on investment potential in the yearling market as one of the main drivers behind the initiative.
“We’ve actually sent just under 20 mares over to Perth and we’re also the major shareholder of Marine One over there,” Cook revealed.
“We’ve had a bit of luck in Perth over the years and I think it’s a very upcoming market, especially for yearlings. The prizemoney over there is exceptional, and for breeding purposes the stallions over there stand for not much money compared to Eastern states.
“We’ve had a bit of luck in Perth over the years and I think it’s a very upcoming market, especially for yearlings. The prizemoney over there is exceptional...” - Adam Cook
“I’m pretty sure the Magic Millions sale over there this year averaged over $90,000, and I think the average service fee would be around $5000, so the percentage of service fee to sales average is huge. And the prizemoney is huge as well.
“We have identified that and are investing over there, and the Capitalist out of Munjai was the first horse that we sent over there, which sparked our interest.”
If things carry on the way they are going, then it won’t be long before Kingstar is making a real splash on both the east and west coasts of Australia.
