Kingstar Farm ready to Reign at Riverside

Cover image courtesy of Kingstar Farm

It is a period of excitement for the Denman-based Kingstar Farm, owned by the prominent breeder Matthew Sandblom.

Despite only being in operation since 2016, Kingstar Farm has created quite an impression. The farm’s graduates such as Stay Focused (Cosmic Force), whom Kingstar Farm sold for $190,000 to Blade Racing at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale, was an impressive winner on debut at Geelong and rates as a top seed for the G1 Blue Diamond S.

Other graduates this season include Devine Force (Cosmic Force) and Onemoretwomany (Tassort), who have both won twice from as many starts and hinting at big futures.

Gallery: Some of the recent winning graduates for Kingstar Farm

Not only are the good times rolling on the racetrack but there’s a hint of anticipation and enthusiasm at the farm as Kingstar Farm puts the final touches on their 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling draft of 16.

Among the draft are the first yearlings by their exciting freshman, Time To Reign and the first-season sire Unite And Conquer. The Thoroughbred Report caught up with Kingstar Farm’s nominations manager, Conor Phelan, ahead of selling on Sunday to learn more.

Classic grand final

The 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale serves as a sort of grand finale for Kingstar Farm’s sales season. Phelan shared the operation's operandi modus, with Kingstar Farm focusing on presenting yearlings at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and the Inglis HTBA Yearling Sale.

Phelan informed us that Kingstar Farm puts much emphasis and thought into the drafts they present at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, intending to figure in the top-end market of that sale.

“Kingstar Farm presents at three sales: Magic Millions on the Gold Coast, Inglis Classic and the HTBA Sale. In terms of the numbers, we can put through our boxes and prepare on the farm, we don’t generally go to Melbourne for the Inglis Premier, and we generally don’t return to Riverside for the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale,” Phelan told The Thoroughbred Report.

“Easter and Premier are both fantastic sales, but for Kingstar, the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale is a grand finale, and we aim to bring some horses that will figure at the top end of Classic every year.

“Part of the draft this year includes two lots by Extreme Choice, a filly (Lot 175) and a colt (Lot 129). These two yearlings could have quite easily gone to Easter, but we don’t prepare for that sale.”

Lot 129, a colt by Newgate Farm’s brilliant Extreme Choice, is the second foal from the Spirit Of Boom mare Boomstress. She won as a juvenile and was placed in the Listed Calaway Gal S.

Boomstress hails from the family of the Group 3 winner Metallic Crown (Northern Meteor), and the dual Listed victor, Snitzepeg (Snitzel).

Gallery: Kingstar Farm's yearlings by Extreme Choice to be offered at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Inglis

The filly, Lot 175, is the fourth foal from the five-time winning More Than Ready (USA) mare Clockwork Orange. She is a daughter of the grand mare Private Steer (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), who was crowned the Champion 3-Year-Old Filly in Australia and retired with 12 wins in races such as the G1 Doncaster H. the G1 All Aged S. and the G1 Stradbroke H.

Diverse offering

The progeny of Extreme Choice complements a diverse and strong group of proven, up-and-coming freshman sires represented in the Kingstar Farm draft.

Other stallions represented include Widden Stud’s Zoustar (Lot 418), his barn mate Anders (Lot 668), Coolmore’s So You Think (NZ) (Lot 110) and Newgate Farm’s Russian Revolution (Lot 508) and Capitalist (Lot 206).

“Kingstar Farm has a lovely draft. We’ve got a Zoustar, a So You Think. Some big-name experienced stallions, and then you have to have a good mix of the young first-season and freshman horses for the buyers to look at.”

Excitedly, for Kingstar Farm, part of the new boy brigade includes their very own Time To Reign.

“Luckily for us, one of the freshman sires is our boy, Time To Reign. He gets proper athletes, and this is a great sale for him off a $9900 (inc GST) service fee. We can get his progeny on the market nice and early.

“Everyone from the syndicators to the small trainers to a couple of the big trainers, some of whom bought them at the Gold Coast in January, can have another crack at purchasing a Time To Reign.”

Gallery: Some of Kingstar Farm's yearlings to be offered at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Inglis

Phelan is beyond proud of the reputation Kingstar Farm has built since 2016. From the graduate success to offering breeders value with their stallions and their results in the sale rings.

“We ranked second in this sale last year and had the second top lot. We’re keen to have horses at the top end of every sale we go to, and we take a lot of pride in it.

“We were the leading vendor last year on average for the big farms or anyone with more than 10 horses. So, that’s been a real feather in our cap.

“Kingstar Farm is a young stud, and we’re earning our stripes and getting results that rival the big farms that have been in operation for far longer than us. So, for buyers, it shows and gives confidence we do bring good horses to Classic, and our offerings are always worth inspection.”

Ready to Reign

Phelan was buoyed by the reception to Time To Reign’s first yearlings offered at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling in January. Kingstar Farm sold a colt from Hi Belle (Clanglang) for $230,000 and another colt for $100,000 from Jehannedarc (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) to Portelli Racing.

Five sold at an aggregate of $482,700 from seven yearlings offered, recording an average of $96,540 and a median of $100,000.

“That particular colt (ex-Hi Belle) was stunning. We had people flying in from Perth and a couple of international agents having a look at him. He was one of the greatest advertisements you could have for a young sire.

“We didn’t see too many of Time To Reign’s progeny go through the weanling sales, but we put a couple of good types through to show off. However, most of them were that good on type their breeders didn’t want to part with them.

“But you will start to see them coming through the yearling sales, and those ones on the Gold Coast were a very good example of what Time To Reign can throw.”

Time To Reign could arguably be described as the quintessential Australian type—a well-muscled, fast, precocious juvenile. Time To Reign is from the late Time For War, a victor of the G2 Pago Pago S. and G2 Sires’ Produce S.

Time To Reign is a son of Time For War, who left five individual stakes winners of seven stake races and 64 winners from 122 live foals before his death.

Time For War is a son of Arrowfield Stud’s four-time Champion Sire, Snitzel. Time To Reign’s sireline has plenty to recommend, and his page is one to boast about.

The son of Time For War is from the Charge Forward mare Courgette, who has also produced She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain). She was crowned the Champion 2-Year-Old Filly in Australia, retiring with six wins, with the jewels in her crown being the G1 Golden Slipper and the G1 Moir S.

She Will Reign’s exploits reached far and wide, and she was snapped up international interests and sent to Japan, where her stud career has so produced the Group 2 placegetter Danon Tornado (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}).

Time To Reign has plenty to recommend on pedigree. However, he also brings performance to the party, having won the G2 Silver Slipper S. and the Kirkham Plate.

Given the types on the ground, Phelan is confident that Time To Reign has every chance to be a successful stallion.

“He looks the part, and so do his kids. A lot of them are the spitting image of Time To Reign. He was a fast, precocious horse, which Australians like.

“The family is internationally renowned. Obviously, Time To Reign is a half-brother to the Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign, who is now doing great things as a broodmare in Japan. So, it’s an international pedigree with a big Australian flavour.

“With Time To Reign being a fast, early runner himself, we expect his progeny to be in the same mould. So far, they have all presented as athletic horses that have inherited his good looks.”

It is early days in the stud career of Time To Reign, but his ability and dominance in passing his looks and attributes into his progeny has impressed Phelan.

“Time To Reign is putting a lot himself into his foals; it’s actually very easy to pick them out in the paddock. There hasn’t been one particular sireline or style of mare that we have pinpointed with him yet.

“Arguably, he could be a bit of a different sireline for many people being by Time For War, who I felt even to this day was a very underrated stallion. His raw stats were impressive, and he was a significant loss to the industry when he passed away after serving only two books.

Gallery: Some of Kingstar Farm's yearlings by Time To Reign to be offered at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, images courtesy of Inglis

“It was unfortunate he didn’t get the chance to build upon that great start. I don’t think people realise how good of a stallion he could have been. We have extremely high hopes for Time To Reign and are extremely pleased with the early feedback and the physicals we have on the ground.”

Kingstar Farm’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale draft contains six yearlings by Time To Reign, five colts (Lots 28, 227, 466, 700 and 708) and one filly (Lot 619).

Unite of to a great start

Time To Reign’s barnmate, Unite And Conquer, has made a dream start to his career. From one runner, the son of Hinchinbrook has sired one winner. On Wednesday, at Sandown-Lakeside, he is set to have his second runner when the Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans-trained Western Conqueror makes his debut.

The gelding was a $34,000 purchase by Murrulla Stud from the 2023 Inglis HTBA Yearling Sale, and Phelan, along with the Kingstar Farm team, is looking forward to his debut.

“It is nice to be vindicated. We said that the Unite And Conquer progeny would get up, and he’s had one runner and one winner. So, it’s nice to come into the Classic Sale with a couple of nice fillies (Lots 71 and 266) with an unblemished stallion.

“Unite And Conquer wasn’t on the track long himself, but he won the first stakes race of the year, then the Magic Millions race at Wyong. He was injured in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic in January, which was very unfortunate because I think he would have been one of the 2-year-olds of that year.

“However, what we have seen from his early runners has been extremely promising with jump-out and trial winners. Unite And Conquer will have another runner on Wednesday, with Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans' horse named Western Conqueror, purchased out of this Classic Sale last year.

“We have high hopes for him, and the future looks pretty bright for the sire at the moment. He’s doing exactly what we said he would - getting fast, early juveniles. Unite And Conquer puts a lot of bone into them; they are good-looking, fairly muscular types. At the end of the day, they can come in all shapes and sizes as long as they’re fast.”

Kingstar’s vision

Kingstar Farm is committed to providing breeders value for their money, with Sandblom being an experienced breeder who understands and appreciates the risks involved in breeding. Kingstar Farm hopes to give all their clients a chance at getting a return on their investment in the sale ring and producing a runner.

“Matthew (Sandblom) has a lot of interest in racing. At Kingstar, we try to offer breeders a value stallion. A stallion that breeders can access for under $10,000 and hopefully make money on, and we’re certainly seeing that with the early results for Time To Reign in January, there were big returns for many breeders there.

“Those returns on investment make our service fees affordable for buyers. So, we aim to please both sides. We make them easy for buyers to purchase and affordable for our breeders to breed. We want people who use our stallions to make money along the way; that’s one of our distinct goals.”