From the moment he stepped onto the racetrack in the Listed Talindert S. at Flemington as a 2-year-old, there looked to be something special about Ole Kirk.
The son of Champion Sire Written Tycoon immediately made an impression for trainers Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes, ascending the ranks to be crowned Champion 3-Year-Old Colt in the 2020/21 racing season.
Along the way, he notched major victories in the G1 Golden Rose S. and the G1 Caulfield Guineas, leaving a legacy as one of the best spring 3-year-olds of recent years.
Ole Kirk | Standing at Vinery Stud
Introduced at a debut fee of $55,000 (inc GST) for the 2021 breeding season, a fee that remained through to 2023, some of his headline first-crop acts will be sold in less than a week, and judging by the interest on the ground, some will command strong prices.
Across the salegrounds on Friday, The Thoroughbred Report caught up with a number of people connected to the Ole Kirk story in one way or another, to find out the qualities driving the hype machine into the opening day of the sale.
Player’s love for Ole Kirk continues
Respected bloodstock agent Mark Player, who has achieved international acclaim across his career, is an integral brushstroke in painting the story of Ole Kirk.
Mark Player | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Player’s bid of $675,000 secured him at the 2019 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, knocked down with Owner heavyweight Neil Werrett.
“Ole Kirk was a yearling presented by Gilgai Farm at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale, and he was a horse that I saw at the sale on several occasions, and he was just one of those horses that caught the eye,” Player told The Thoroughbred Report on Friday.
“Neil Werrett, who had a lot of success with the family, (with) Black Caviar and so on, asked me to have a look at it, so I gave him a report back and was very impressed by him, and so we put a plan together to buy the colt.
“As a yearling, he was a very attractive colt, he moved very very well, he had a great presence about him, and he was just one of those horses that as a yearling you remember very well. He stood out in all aspects, we had to pay a fair bit of money for him, more money than I thought, but probably the amount Neil thought, and we were able to secure him for $675,000.”
“As a yearling, he (Ole Kirk) was a very attractive colt, he moved very very well, he had a great presence about him, and he was just one of those horses that as a yearling you remember very well.” - Mark Player
As Player tells it, Ole Kirk going to Vinery was far from a guarantee, with the prestigious farm coming out on top of a competitive process to stand the blueblood colt.
“The next stage of the journey with Ole Kirk for me is when it was time to look to secure a future at stud for him, the ownership team asked me to try to place him at stud, so we ran a very competitive tender process for him, with Vinery being the successful bidder, but there was certainly a lot of interests from a lot of studs. It was a reflection on him and his quality.”
With plenty of excitement echoing around the inspection areas of the Gold Coast complex, Player is another who is enthused by what he has seen early on from Ole Kirk’s debut crop of yearlings.
Neil Werrett | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
“I’ve seen probably all the Ole Kirks in the catalogue, I made it a mission of mine to do so, and I’ve been thrilled. I saw quite a few as foals, but then to see this crop as yearlings was a real thrill over the last couple of days.
“There has been talk around the salegrounds (about him) and I can certainly see why, he’s put great body into horses, they really are a terrific line of horses, very athletic, deep girth, very attractive, be they bays or chestnuts.
“He’s got a nice variety of horses, nice colts and nice fillies.”
“There has been real talk around the salegrounds (about him) and I can certainly see why, he’s (Ole Kirk) put great body into horses, they really are a terrific line of horses, very athletic, deep girth, very attractive, be they bays or chestnuts.” - Mark Player
Vinery delight with freshman stallion
Ole Kirk retired to the luscious paddocks of the Hunter Valley with a parade of excitement behind him, being closely related to legendary sprinter Black Caviar (Bel Esprit).
Vinery Stud’s Bloodstock Manager, Adam White, is delighted with what his boom stallion has been able to produce in the early stanza of his stallion career.
“We’re very happy,” he told The Thoroughbred Report on Friday. “We picked it up at the weanling sales quite early, how consistent he was, with the physical types he was getting.”
Adam White | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Ole Kirk enjoyed a promising start at the 2023 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale, featuring a chestnut colt sold to Redwall Bloodstock for $200,000 as Lot 320, out of the draft of Rosari Farm. Out of Nicconi mare Oxford Angel, he will be up for grabs on Tuesday, when he goes through the ring as Lot 18.
“I’ve been around the complex and seen them all now,” White continued. “The same thing is (that) they’re very consistent, he’s putting a big, strong hindquarter on them.
“They’re good movers, they’ve got a lot of quality, and the word on the whole complex in regards to his stock here has been very positive, so we’re very happy.
“They’re (Ole Kirks) good movers, they’ve got a lot of quality, and the word on the whole complex in regards to his stock here has been very positive, so we’re very happy.” - Adam White
“He’s got some great breeders involved in him already, they’ve got great results physically with the ones they’ve got here, I’m sure they’re in for a good sale with him.
“Keeping in mind he’s a son of Written Tycoon, Ole (Kirk) won a stakes race down the Flemington straight on debut as a 2-year-old, he was Group 1-placed as a 2-year-old, which was an entree to what he would do as a 3-year-old.
“He was the Champion 3-Year-Old Colt in his year, with those two Group 1s in the spring, so very much you can see physically that he’ll get his fair share of the early ones, that get up and run as 2-year-olds, but then there’s a few others around the place that you can see will benefit from when they turn three.”
Lot 18 - Ole Kirk x Oxford Angel (colt), sold through the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale for $200,000 to Redwall Bloodstock | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Vinery has put their money, or indeed their mares, where their mouth is when it comes to Ole Kirk, bringing a seven-strong draft north to be offered through the ring, which White hopes will transfer to strong results as the hammer drops.
“We’ve supported him really well, we’ve got a bunch of them here at Magic Millions, already our leading horse at the parades is an Ole (Kirk) filly out of Saas Fae (Lot 121), we’ve got some nice fillies by him here, they look like 2-year-olds. We’ve got one out of Allez Wonder (Lot 414), who won a (G1) Toorak H. when she was older, so she looks like one that will develop as she gets older.”
External support reflected across diverse array of breeders
Interest in offering an Ole Kirk yearling extends well beyond Vinery, with an array of vendors descending on the Gold Coast with one or more of his yearlings in toe.
With one of his progeny on just about every corner of the complex, and seemingly everywhere in between, there was no shortage of inspections to be done and notes, whether digitised or scribbled, to be taken.
Pauline Alix and Mick Malone | Image courtesy of North Bloodstock
One of his biggest supporters, relative to total draft size, is the Scone-based North Stud, who have four on-site to be viewed. In what is the first yearling draft for the operation, having been established in 2023, proprietor Mick Malone is bullish about what he has seen from Ole Kirk to date, and what his yearlings have to offer.
“He was a great racehorse, he’s got a pedigree to die for, we’re lucky enough to have a bit of an association with the family through Black Caviar, he was just a fast racehorse and an easy horse to breed to.
“We’ve got four here, and I’ve actually been looking at a lot of yearlings around Magic Millions as well, I would say Ole Kirk, from a first-season sire point (of view), would be up there with the best of the first-season stallions’ yearlings I’ve seen.
“I would say Ole Kirk, from a first-season sire point (of view), would be up there with the best of the first-season stallions’ yearlings I’ve seen.” - Mick Malone
“They’ve got a great quality to them, they’ve got beautiful heads, good actions, a bit of scope to them as well, to me they just look like horses that will be sharp early horses but have a little bit of 3-year-old (ability) to them as well.”
Malone has belief in his quartet, telling The Thoroughbred Report, “The four we’ve got here, every one of them I could own, and the broodmare sires, he represents them well to, two are out of Snitzel mares, they’ve got his length, with a bit of Ole (Kirk) to him.
“They’re just nice horses, I can’t say anything more than that.”
Gallery: North Stud's Ole Kirk yearlings to be offered at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Magic Millions
Fellow Scone residents Glenbeigh Farm have also made the trip north to put an Ole Kirk through the ring, with co-owner Dennis Griffin also impressed with what his stock have to offer.
“He (Lot 213) is bred beautifully, he’s a great mover, he’s got a real good mind on him and he’s a really nice horse.
“I worked with Ole (Kirk) at Vinery, and he was a lovely horse, a Group 1 winner, if they’re all like this guy they’ll be pretty popular.”
“I worked with Ole (Kirk) at Vinery, and he was a lovely horse, a Group 1 winner, if they’re all like this guy (Lot 213) they’ll be pretty popular.” - Dennis Griffin
Another breeder that has hoisted support behind Ole Kirk is Sullivan Bloodstock, with the Victorian-based operation bringing two yearlings across two state borders from their home base in Kialla East, near Shepparton.
Owner Sherah Sullivan is pleased with how her duo has presented, and was one of the early parties interested in what he brings to the table.
“A big part of our business is pinhooking weanlings into yearlings, and we inspected quite a few of the Ole Kirks,” she said on Friday.
“I thought they were all pretty similar types, he really stamped his stock, they’ve got a lot of quality about them, good heads, good bone, good strength behind, so we were pretty impressed.
“... they’ve (Ole Kirks) got a lot of quality about them, good heads, good bone, good strength behind, so we were pretty impressed.” - Sherah Sullivan
“From all accounts, it sounds as though they’ve been really well-received as yearlings, so that’s excellent, we’ve got two in our draft.
“The filly (Lot 220) is the best moving horse, she’s very athletic, good hip on her and a very good head, and the colt (Lot 607) has good strength behind, good depth of girth, good bone and just a really quality head on him, so we’re really happy.
“I think he’s in for a pretty good sale, it sounds like he’s been really well-received here, so long may it continue. They’ve got good attitudes too, I think that will stand them in good stead as well.”
