Behind the scenes breeders: Guscic’s ambitions to come to fruition with Inglis Premier debut

Cover image courtesy of Aristia Park

The success sparked what they call the ‘racing bug’ in Guscic, and it’s fair to say his investment in the industry has grown significantly since with a broodmare portfolio numbering around 30.

Fast forward to 2024, and with the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale virtually on our doorstep, the Oaklands complex is set to launch Guscic’s debut yearling draft under the Aristia Park banner.

The Thoroughbred Report caught up with Guscic to learn more about his involvement, inspiration and philosophy on breeding early in his new venture. Early days Guscic is a successful man; as the managing director of Webjet, he’s also a busy one, but like everybody, he needed a pastime, and that is where the excitement of horses and racing entered his life.

“I lived overseas for a number of years and currently live overseas and have done so for a number of years now, but for a period of about five years, I came back to Australia and was looking for a pastime,” Guscic told The Thoroughbred Report.

“I spent a lot of time working, and I thought, gee, it’d be nice to do something that had some excitement, and I reflected on my life and thought, what was missing? Well, it was horses. Horses were the obvious answer.

“So, I decided to take a small plunge in 2011 to buy a few small shares in some First Light Racing syndicated horses. I loved the enthusiasm of Tim (Wilson) and Sam (Kilkenny), the business’ founders.

“I loved the incredible professional level of communication from First Light Racing.

“As I understand, they were one of the first syndicators, and obviously, the world has caught up with syndications. Still, they have enabled everyone to do what they were doing circa 13 years ago, which was in-depth analysis from the trainers during the early education to the pre-training to the spelling and when they got to the track, whether that be trials or the races.

“I thought it was an immersive and engaging experience. I just really enjoyed it, and my involvement has grown.”

Encouragingly for the future prospects of the sport, racing was capable of attracting newcomers who can develop into prominent investors in the sport, sport. Like Guscic, who had no prior family involvement with horses, his love for the thoroughbred and the track was developed from scratch.

“I have absolutely no family involvement. In fact, I’m from a family that is anti-gambling and sees no merit in the horse racing industry. I was told at a young age that horse racing is not a sport.”

Guscic’s debut Inglis Premier Yearling Sale draft contains 14 yearlings, and it’s evident from looking at the pedigrees on offer that he has a global outlook. Among the Aristia Park draft are two yearlings by the sensational Frankel (GB) (Lot 100 and Lot 455), while the likes of Wootton Bassett (GB) (Lot 397), Too Darn Hot (GB) (Lot 228) are represented, rounding out an exciting and varied draft.

Gallery: Some of the sires in Aristia Park’s debut Inglis Premier draft of 14 yearlings

“I’m even coming back to Australia a couple of weeks earlier than scheduled to be at the sale,” Guscic shared.

“I come back for work four times a year, but I’ve extended the trip for a month to be there for the Premier Sale. It’s great to see the fruition of several years of planning and investment come to the market. I’m more apprehensive about the performance of my yearlings in the Premier Sale than any other public presentation I’ve done in the last 10 years.

“I’m very eager and anxious to see how it all transpires.”

Aristia Park will offer Lot 100, a chestnut filly by Frankel from the Sea The Stars (Ire) mare Alsephina (Ire). She was placed as a 2-year-old in Great Britain before being sourced from the 2021 Tattersalls July Sale for 22,000gns (AU$44,500) by First Light Racing and Paul Willetts Bloodstock.

The daughter of the great Sea The Stars is the Listed-winning daughter of Champion Sire Dubawi (Ire), Pabouche (Ire). In turn, she is a daughter of the brilliant mare High Heeled (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), a victress of four races, including the G3 St Simon S. High Heeled also filled placings in the G1 Coronation Cup and the G1 The Oaks at Epsom Downs.

Another international pedigree is Lot 228, a filly by Darley’s exciting Too Darn Hot. The son of Dubawi has sired a Group 1 winner from his debut crop in the Northern Hemisphere and has got off to a flying start with his first Southern Hemisphere runners with the likes of Arabian Summer and Too Darn Lizzie.

Gallery: Too Darn Hot (GB) has got off to a flying start with his first Southern Hemisphere runners

Philosophy on breeding

Guscic provided some insight into his approach to breeding and the team helping him behind the scenes to make informed decisions for his new venture.

As somebody who has succeeded in the corporate world, Guscic brings a slightly different perspective. Relying heavily on stats, tangible evidence and a keen interest in artificial intelligence has shaped how he approaches breeding alongside a familiarity with international stallions.

Speaking on having sires of international status prominent in his draft, Guscic explained, “That’s derived from a couple of reasons. For one, it is the most timezone-friendly environment for me to watch racing in Europe.

“When the big races are run I can watch them from wherever I am in Europe, and I have several different abodes in that region and in Africa, which is timezone friendly for Europe.

“So I’ve seen a number of those recent shuttle stallions to Australia and are familiar with the stallions standing in Europe. I’ve seen many of them when racing or competing at Royal Ascot or wherever in the United Kingdom, France, or Ireland.

“I’ve had the privilege of watching them race, and I think there are some amazing middle-distance horses, and it supports an underlying business philosophy that I’ve always had: if you want to be mediocre, do exactly what everybody else is doing.

“And in my case, I’ve tried to aim for asymmetric outcomes, which entails risk. You can have asymmetric outcomes with the possibility of massive failure or massive success. So, I’m not going to judge the work we’ve done over the last few years on one draft, but I like that we’ve got a broad range of horses, many of them of an international pedigree.”

Helping Guscic in his decisions have been the renowned journalist and pedigree consultant Bill Oppenheim, international bloodstock agent Matt Houldsworth and First Light Racing’s bloodstock manager Ashleigh Dowley.

“Many of the horses in our draft are by shuttle stallions and obviously the Frankels. Ultimately, our aim is to try to create horses that I’d like to own and look to see whether the genetics have worked.

“To extend on that, I’ve had a nice introduction to Australian racing and breeding through First Light Racing. I’ve got to know what’s popular and working. Still, I’ve also had the opportunity to engage with some international expertise to complement Ash (Dowley), who runs the day-to-day bloodstock portfolio with First Light Racing.

“In addition, I’ve developed what was initially a business relationship but is now a friendship with Bill Oppenheim. I’ve described him and will continue to describe him as the godfather of data analytics regarding horse performance and predictive potential.

“Bill has a track record of being instrumental in the matings of 19 Classic winners in the United Kingdom. So, he assists with some matings and is very helpful.

“I also use Matt Houldsworth. He’s a younger guy, a couple of generations younger than Bill, but he’s an emerging talent who helps with procuring mares from overseas that he thinks will do well in Australia. Matt has a broad portfolio of interests, and he also assists with the mares and matings.

“But Ash primarily drives all of it; she’s been a fabulous judge of talent on a budget across a broad range of horses over the last 10 years with First Light, and she’s the driving force behind many of the decisions we make.

“Overall, it is a collective in that sense but tapping into a degree of expertise notwithstanding my interest, as I don’t claim to have any premier knowledge of the bloodstock industry I’m still learning.”

Data, data, data

Oppenheim has been involved in journalism since 1974 and runs APEX Stallions Ratings. Guscic explained the pair’s relationship.

“Bill is the most fabulous individual to have a meeting with because he’s got the most iconic laid-back style. It’s clear he’s from the Southern part of the United States, and time is of no pressure to him.

“I found all aspects of the thoroughbred industry engaging, and I spend an hour each night before I go to sleep reading as much as I can about the history. What’s current and what the various hypotheses that people have about how to breed horses are.

“Some of which I think are verging on crazy, and others I believe have validation through data. The people I subscribed to initially and thought had that degree of business insight were Dr Emily Plant and Bill.

“In addition, with my own business, I’ve seen the transition over the last 20 years where insights through data and machine learning have replaced gut feel and, as I’m sure many readers will appreciate, especially in the last 12 months with the publicity around AI.

“The level of sophistication for decision-making about many elements of your business can be transformative with tools that no human could replicate no matter how talented or skilled they are.

“For me and my naive eye, Bill was a pioneer in building that and was also trying to maintain relevance as the market shifted and adapted to that environment. So, for all those reasons, I reached out to Bill and said, 'Hey, I love your work! Let’s have a meeting'.”

Building the brand

The 2024 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale will mark a milestone for Aristia Park. However, it’s only a small part in building the brand.

“Building the brand of Aristia Park entails many things - one is doing things that I don’t do for my own businesses, which is to do these sort of profile pieces. I try to let the work and the strategy drive the outcome.

“In this case, and one of the learnings I’ve had as I’m a late entrant by age into an environment in which there are lots of people who are well established, it seems many of them over the last 20 years or so have been where we need to engage - with both ends of the cycle from supply to demand.

“As an intermediary, I try to build relationships with people at both ends. So far, I’ve been delighted with the relationships I’ve been able to breed. I’ve developed relations with Coolmore and the team, the team at Darley, and Henry Field at Newgate Farm. All three have been fabulous in giving me their insights and knowledge about stallions and matings.

“Because it’s the first draft, we will be selling the yearling, but I’m not reluctant to partner up with people who buy from our draft. I am keen to build a brand that exists in 10 years, and hopefully, the premise is still the same. I can at least wash my face with the investment I’ve made but, more importantly, have a rollicking good ride along the way.”

Touching on why he felt Victoria was the place to have his bloodstock located and sold, Guscic explained, “I haven’t lived in Australia for most of my adult life, but I’m from Melbourne originally.

“So I will return to Melbourne when I return to Australia as Webjet is also headquartered there. I go back at least four times a year and if I’m going to be remote and watching them from afar I wanted to do it in my home state.

“Even though I haven’t resided there in the last 20 years, it is still my home, and it’s exciting to see the quality of stallions standing in Victoria is improving. Obviously, there has been significant investment from Yulong alongside Rosemont, Darley and interstate farms opening Victorian branches, such as Widden, alongside several other operations.

“There are reasons to be optimistic about what the future holds. So, let’s see how it all transpires over the next few years.”

Reflecting on super times

Rounding out the interview, Guscic shared some of his most memorable moments on the track from an ownership point of view.

Unsurprisingly, it was the outstanding mare Aristia who provided the biggest thrill to date. Although it wasn’t in the G1 VRC Oaks, as one would expect, it was her success in the G2 Wakeful S.

“My favourite moment of a racecourse was Aristia winning the Wakeful on Derby Day. That was my first significant win and was, in many ways, the most euphoric moment.

“It was because I really liked her, and I thought she had an incredibly frustrating run leading up to the Wakeful. We could all see the potential, and for her to do what she did was fabulous. In many ways, it was a bittersweet moment because I just made the largest acquisition in the history of Webjet, and I had to fly out on Saturday night, so I missed the Oaks.

“But I got up early and celebrated like there was no tomorrow at 5.30am London time when she won the Oaks four days later, and the meetings that day all went really, really smoothly. There was something in the air.”

Guscic has also been involved with last year’s G1 Australasian Oaks victress Affaire A Suivre (Astern).

“I wasn’t there when she won the Oaks as I had other work commitments on the other side of the hemisphere, so I missed that one. So, maybe that’s the trick of not being there when I’ve got an Oaks runner.

“But to be involved in two Oaks winners this early in owning horses, I’m more than delighted.”

Despite all the success and glitz of winning Group 1 races, it is a reasonably modest-winning mare who holds a special place in Guscic’s heart named Menage A Charge (Charge Forward).

The daughter of Charge Forward was a $27,500 purchase by First Light Racing from the draft of Arrowfield Stud at the 2012 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. Menage A Charge won once from seven races, albeit that success was at Flemington.

“I’m very early in my breeding venture, but I think one of the first favourites is Menage A Charge. I raced her with First Light Racing, and she started in the provincials. Then she went to Sandown and ran the best third you’ve ever seen in your life.

“She then went to Flemington down the straight and won. She was fabulous, but unfortunately, she bled, and at the time, I didn’t have any breeding interest. So we sold her, and then I repurchased her from Arrowfield, and for sentimental reasons, I bred from her.

“Unfortunately, she died last year, but of all the ones I’ve had, even though she didn’t do anything spectacular as a broodmare, she was sentimental and was my favourite.

“Even though it was a cold winter’s day in Melbourne in May, it was my first win down the Flemington straight. That was super exciting, the famous Flemington straight, and to have a winner, I thought this was amazing.”