'I was more nervous seeing horses go through the ring than I am watching them race': McLeods achieve success at Karaka

Cover image courtesy of Carlaw Park

Jenna and Dane McLeod may only be small breeders but the couple enjoyed not one but two big results at the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale this week. It has been a decade since the McLeods last brought yearlings to market but they were left toasting a triumphant sales ring return after their two colts sold for a combined NZ$470,000.

First-up came Lot 97, a Satono Aladdin (Jpn) colt who fetched NZ$320,000 from Stephen Marsh and Dylan Johnson Bloodstock, before Upper Bloodstock went to NZ$150,000 for Lot 156, a son of champion sire Proisir.

Both yearlings were sold through Carlaw Park. “The week’s gone great and we’re really happy with both colts, who completely exceeded our expectations,” said Jenna.

“We generally breed to race, that’s what we’ve always done. We only have a small broodmare band and it’s more of a hobby of ours. We’ve tended to go to less commercial stallions but we got a bit lucky this year because we had two really nice colts by the right sires. These results mean we can look forward to breeding to some more nice stallions in the future.”

Despite the sales ring success, a return to public auction was not part of the couple’s plan when they bred the two six-figure colts.

“We didn’t intend to sell them at all, the plan was to race them as we always do,” said Jenna.

“But things just went right and the mares did a great job raising these two as foals; they had lovely temperaments and great style about them. When all the boxes get ticked like that, you think you might have a chance of going to the sales and people liking them. They certainly did this week, which was nice. It’s been fantastic to be involved again and Nick Fairweather at Carlaw Park did a great job with these two.”

Gallery: Jenna and Dane McLeod's two colts collectively fetched NZ$470,000, images courtesy of New Zealand Bloodstock

Racing and selling tend to stir different emotions, and Jenna admits to feeling more nerves watching her horses enter the sales ring than she experiences when they leave the starting gate.

“Personally I was more nervous seeing the horses go through the ring than I am watching them race,” she said. “That’s for lots of different reasons. Out on the track it’s out of everyone’s control but it only takes two people to like them in the ring. Once the bidding got going and you got the feeling they were well liked then it was pretty exciting.”

The two colts hail from different branches of the same foundation family, both being out of granddaughters of Lady Ukiah (NZ) (Straight Strike {USA}). The Satono Aladdin colt is out of From Eden (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}), whose siblings include G2 Blamey S. scorer The Fuzz (NZ) and the unraced Songbird (NZ), who is best known as the dam of the prolific G1 Thorndon Mile heroine Stolen Dance (NZ) (Alamosa {NZ}).

The son of Proisir, meanwhile, is the first foal out of Kainui Rose (NZ), a winning daughter of the G2 Eight Carat Classic scorer Kainui Belle (NZ). Both mares are by Tavistock (NZ).

Jenna’s family are responsible for the entire catalogue page having first got into the pedigree back in 1957. The names featured in the pedigree stand as a testament to what can be achieved when breeding with the winning post in mind, though the couple stress that luck played its part too.

Gallery: The McLeod's two colts hail from leading NZ sires

Explaining the backstory to the pedigree, Jenna said:

“My great-grandfather went down to Trentham, which was where the big national sales used to be, and he bought a mare called Khorazure.

“My family has been breeding from the pedigree ever since.

“My grandmother bred most of the family and has had a lot of good results. My grandfather on my mum’s side of the family bought a mare called Ukiah from my grandfather from my dad’s side, and that’s what eventually led to us getting these two colts going.”

Taking up the story, Dane continued:

“The big thing with the family these two colts come from is the fact there’s been so many different generations of good horses. Between myself and Jenna, her parents and her grandfather, we were lucky to breed a Group 1 winner not so long ago called Stolen Dance.

“And Jenna’s grandfather, Gerald Shand, was lucky enough to have a share in Tavistock right from the start. So we’ve got a paddock full of Tavistock mares and obviously both of these colts are out of mares by Tavistock. A few things have lined up and the family has become commercial, especially considering that we just wanted to race some horses and have a bit of fun from a dairy farm. But with those results and being bred to the right blood, the family has gone to that next level now, which is really exciting.”

It is clear that the couple prioritise form and function over fashion when it comes to mating plans, though they have found there are few things more commercially desirable than a catalogue page packed with quality winners. Expanding on the thinking behind the matings of these two colts, Dane said:

“Jenna’s father, Phil, was always very big on Proisir. The mare actually missed to him the year before but Phil liked him enough to go back again. I like following the breeding and the Encosta De Lago in Proisir’s pedigree gives you a duplication of Fairy Bridge, which is something I was always really keen on. Tavistock mares can be a bit on the small side but Proisir is a big, strong brute of a horse and leaves big, strong foals so we thought he’d work.

“The Satono Aladdin mating was a bit different because the mare’s first couple of foals were strong but a bit short-legged. Satono Aladdin has great leg as well as the pedigree, so we thought if we were going to breed anything with a bit more leg, then Satono was probably going to be the horse to help us out. He left us this really athletic foal that grew into a lovely yearling.

“There’s a lot of crosses that have worked with the family so we’re just trying to duplicate those. There’s all sorts of little nicks we try and put together. It worked on type this year anyway!”

Although Jenna’s father had a big hand in the breeding of the Proisir colt, it is safe to say he was less certain about the stallion chosen for From Eden.

“When Dane told my dad that we were going to send From Eden to Satono Aladdin, he said ‘Satono who?!’” laughed Jenna, before Dane added:

“He has a good sense of humour so he was going around telling everyone that story after the sale!”

The couple, who keep a nine-strong broodmare band at their farm in Horsham Downs, just north of Hamilton, say they don’t intend to leave it another ten years before returning to the sales ring, although they won’t be deviating from their tried and tested hands-on approach.

“We’ll be keeping an eye on the commercial angle but we won’t go away from trying to breed a good racehorse and hoping for the best,” said Dane.

“You’d be pretty hard pressed getting the fillies out of our hand at the moment, but we’d be willing to sell some more nice colts, provided they have the right conformation and the stars align.”

Reflecting on their time at the Karaka Yearling Sale, Jenna said: “It was great to be back at the sales and involved again. It’s a highlight of the year for a lot of people and we’ve always loved following the sale and looking at stallions’ progeny and seeing what people are doing.

“Obviously we had our own excitement with the two colts selling on day one, but the sale has had a really good vibe about it all the way through. It kicked off well on Sunday and it’s nice to see such a positive atmosphere and everyone in such good spirits.”