Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

Continuing The Thoroughbred Report’s ‘Stable Tours’ journey, TTR AusNZ caught up with Snowden Racing’s racing and bloodstock manager, Colum McCullagh, on Thursday to discuss some of the juveniles we may see step out at the official 2-year-old trials in September.

McCullagh also provided updates on the plans for some of Snowden Racing’s classy 3-year-olds and the established brigade.

Starting with a colt named Impact Zone (Exceed And Excel), McCullagh shared that the colt was purchased for $575,000 by China Horse Club, Newgate, Go Bloodstock, and Trilogy from the draft of Rosemont Stud at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

“We’ve got a number of 2-year-olds coming through the stable at the moment that we are teeing up towards the official juvenile trials on the 23rd of September,” McCullagh told TTR AusNZ.

“We have some nice horses for the Newgate/China Horse Club Colt Syndicate and the James Harron Colt Syndicate as well. There’s a 2-year-old colt called Impact Zone. He’s by Exceed And Excel out of a Power mare called Gift Of Power for Henry Field and the team.

“He’s showing quite a bit. It’s still early days, but everything we’ve asked of him at this stage, he’s doing on his ear. So, he’s one to look forward to if he goes the right way.”

Gift Of Power (NZ) (Power {GB}) won 11 races, including the G2 Wakefield Challenge S., the Listed Wellesley S., and the Listed Levin S.

McCullagh added, “Another horse would be one named Caesar. He’s a Capitalist horse out of Fimatino. He’s the top-priced Capitalist this year, bought by James Harron. He’s a beautiful, athletic type of horse.

“He looks to have a bit of longevity as well. He’s not your typical Capitalist; he's got a bit more leg under him and moves really well.”

Caesar was an $800,000 purchase by James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership from the draft of Attunga Stud at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. The colt is the half-brother Shaquero (Shalaa {Ire}), winner of the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic and G3 Breeders’ Plate.

“To be fair, you don’t really know until the next couple of weeks as we start increasing their workload and open up the bonnet a little bit. But there’s a couple of horses there, and another one would be a Russian Revolution colt out of Aalto that we purchased ourselves.

“He’s out of a Pierro mare. We bought him from Blue Gum Farm at the Magic Millions in January. He’s not your typical Russian Revolution. He seems to have a little bit more scope and size to him, but he moves very well.”

The son of Russian Revolution is from the Pierro mare Aalto, who is a daughter of Miss Mooney Mooney (Redoute’s Choice), a winner of the Listed City of Marion and placed in the G2 Schweppes S.

He was purchased by Snowden Racing from the draft of Blue Gum for $240,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

“Another one would be a Capitalist filly out of Notation. She’s one that we purchased on the Saturday night of Magic Millions. She was bred by Rob Love and the late Donna Love. She’s a beautiful filly, just very straightforward, out of a nice Fastnet Rock mare. She has a really good mindset and is very good mentally, which is going to take her a long way.”

Notation won five races and was placed in the G3 Tibbie S. and finished fourth in the Listed Mona Lisa. The filly was purchased for $350,000 from the draft of Newgate Farm at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Rounding off the juveniles to watch, McCullagh said, “There’s a Russian Revolution colt out of Eiffel Tower that we bought from Vinery at the Magic Millions. His brother is a horse called Capital Delight, who is racing in Hong Kong and has won over $1.2 million in prize money.”

Eiffel Tower (Stratum) is a half-sister to the Listed winner Sangria (I Am Invincible) and from the family of Manhattan Rain and Rubick.

“He looks like a real up-and-running 2-year-old type. He’s very strong, very forward, and showing plenty.”

McCullagh also nominated a son of So You Think (NZ) from the Encosta De Lago mare Crystal Flute, now named The Confidante. A dual winner, she is also the dam of Meritable (Snitzel), who was placed in the G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas and the G2 James and Annie Sarten Memorial S.

“We purchased this So You Think colt from The Chase. Mr Teo is a very good client and has retained equity in the horse, and it’s good to have Duncan Ramage from Think Big Stud/DGR come into the horse.

“It’s good to have people who raced So You Think themselves coming into a son of his. There’s a little bit of equity left in him as well, which has surprised me.”

High Octane on Golden Path

McCullagh indicated that he and Snowden were pleased with the first-up run of High Octane (Deep Field) in last Saturday’s Listed The Rosebud. The Listed Blue Diamond Preview (Colts and Geldings) victor finished third behind Gatsby’s (Snitzel) but was eye-catching in the run home.

“He’s come through The Rosebud really well. He was definitely, if not the one, the eye-catching run out of the race. I think everyone else was kind of a little bit obvious in their runs, and there were a few disappointing ones, but High Octane gave us what we really wanted to see.

“He made up a lot of ground late, and his late sectionals were also very, very good. We should see him come into full effect as we get him over a little bit further. At this stage, we’re tossing up a few different ideas with Henry Field on what way we go, but we’ll be looking to get him to the Run to the Rose and then onto the Golden Rose.

“Then we’ll toss up the idea of the Caulfield Guineas. If he’s looking for the mile and he’s strong over the seven furlongs in the Golden Rose, it’s a possibility. We always felt he’d have the pace for the Roman Consul and the Coolmore, but he’s probably showing now, as he’s starting to get really fit, that he’s more looking for that 1400 metres and maybe even a mile trip.”

McCullagh also shared that last Saturday’s G3 Quezette S. winner, Drifting (Zousain), has come through her run well and is likely to return to Sydney for the G2 Furious S.

“She’s a very brilliant filly. Drifting has very good tactical speed. Her sectionals first-up down in Melbourne in the Quezette S. were through the roof. She has shown she can do it from behind and from the front.

“At this stage, we’ll probably keep her over those shorter trips. She’s not a gross filly; she’s quite athletic, so you’ve got to be a little bit mindful of that, taking into account that she’s only just turned three; she’s still very young. Luckily, Drifting hadn’t been overly taxed as a 2-year-old but was brilliant for the owners and everyone that supported us in getting involved in the filly when we bought her from the sales.

“It was a big thrill to get that Group 3 win as a 2-year-old in a Slipper lead-up, and luckily, we put to bed the temptation to go to the Golden Slipper with her. We’ve reaped the rewards first-up as a 3-year-old, and we’ve added to her price-tag as a broodmare now.

“We’ll keep her over shorter trips. There are a couple of options down in Melbourne, but currently, we will bring her back up to Sydney and look at contesting the Furious S. next with her.”

Commenting on Drifting’s versatility, McCullagh said, “For such a lightly raced young filly, she’s done a great job. She’s won a stakes race on a clockwise bend in Sydney. She’s had a run up the Flemington straight, where she’s placed in a stakes race, and now she’s won around an anticlockwise, tough track of Caulfield.

“She’s added some strings to her bow.”

Bodyguard a Coolmore Boy?

Bodyguard (I Am Invincible) burst onto the scene by winning the Listed Maribyrnong Trial S. in the spring and returned in the autumn to claim the G3 Blue Diamond Prelude (Colts and Geldings). He was considered a leading contender for the G1 Blue Diamond S., but was scratched by Racing Victoria vets.

“He had a little bit of an interrupted preparation when he won the Blue Diamond Prelude. He was a late scratching from the Blue Diamond on Victorian Vets' advice. He’s come back in really good order.

“We’ve just been taking our time with him, and all going well, we’ll see him resume in the Danehill or the Roman Consul, and then head on through to the Coolmore Stud S.”

The Yulong-raced colt, Media World (Written Tycoon), is another horse the stable holds in high regard. “He’s a Written Tycoon out of Meryl, who was raced by Francis and Christine Cook. They also bred Media World, and they have stayed in the ownership.

“He won the Clarendon S. at Hawkesbury last start, and was probably just doing that on raw ability as a 2-year-old. He’s the first foal out of the mare, so he probably just lacked a little bit of physical presence, but he’s really sprouted as a 3-year-old now, and we do believe there is a good race in him.”

The Snitzel filly, Sakima, a $1.25 million purchase by Snowden Racing, William Johnson Bloodstock (FBAA), and Trilogy Racing from the draft of Newgate Farm at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, will resume in Saturday’s G2 Silver Shadow S.

“We have Sakima racing this Saturday in the Silver Shadow. She’s going to hopefully go through the Princess Series. She’ll start in the Silver Shadow, then we’ll probably wait for the Tea Rose and hopefully get her to a Flight S. if we can.”

Exciting spring ahead

Several established stable stars are gearing up for an exciting spring campaign. Queen Of Dragons (Pierro), who won the G3 Kembla Grange Classic and finished fourth in the G1 Vinery Stud S., is among those preparing for the season. McCullagh shared, “She’s a full sister to Paris Dior and is raced by Trilogy Racing. She trialled super on Tuesday and will head to the Mona Lisa S. at Wyong, Sunday week, first-up.”

The G2 Expressway S. and Magic Millions Carnival star, King Of Sparta (I Am Invincible), is also set for a spring campaign with an eye on returning to the Gold Coast in January. “He is back in work. He will ultimately look to do another Gold Coast assault at the Magic Millions. But between now and then, we’ve always looked at setting him up for the Sydney S. on Everest Day. It’s a $2 million race over 1200 metres and a Group 3, so right up his alley. He’ll be just kept fresh, and we will hopefully target something like that.”

The dual G1 Doomben Cup victor, Huetor (Fr) (Archipenko {USA}), has also returned to the stable. “He’s been a revelation for the stable in terms of purchasing and syndicating imports. He’s on a Caulfield Cup path, so fingers crossed we can get him there. Huetor raced through the winter, and unfortunately, he couldn’t make it a three-peat in the Doomben Cup this time around. We’ve kicked off the northerly box, so hopefully, we can get him down south and see how we go.”

Another import, Touristic (GB) (Frankel {GB}), is on a Caulfield Cup path and will resume on Saturday in the G3 Premier’s Cup. “Touristic is another horse who also races in the Francis and Christine (Cook) colours. He’s a Frankel, and he’s running this Saturday in the Premier Cup. He’s really come to hand well. He ran super in the Grafton Cup, finishing second up there. So, he’s starting to build a nice resume for himself and seems to have acclimatised this preparation. Touristic also holds a nomination for the Caulfield Cup. He needs to tick a few boxes before we look at a race like that for him, but we’ve always got to keep the door open.”

The progressive import, Unspoken (Ire) (Territories {Ire}), is on an Epsom H. path. “Unspoken, our Five Diamonds winner, is hopefully going to get to an Epsom. He probably lacked a little bit of lustre in his last preparation. However, if you go back to this time last year, he was picking them off like dominoes. Hopefully, he can get back to that sort of form. We know the talent the horse has got, and he holds a nomination for the Cox Plate as well.

“If he can get back to the form he was in last spring, which is quite common with these imports because they don’t race all year round in the Northern Hemisphere, so you have to take that into account as something they adapt to. They are used to having a nice, long holiday before they’re asked to perform again. All signs are showing that he has come back in good shape, and we’ll look forward to getting him to the trials next Friday (30th).”

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

The false claims vary from Black Caviar being bred too often, that she died too young, that she was too old to be breeding, that laminitis isn’t that bad, or that racehorses don’t get it (only ponies), and even some wildly incorrect claims that she was mistreated because she lived in a paddock with other broodmares.

“I think all these articles need a veterinary point of view in them. I think they need like a little box with a vet’s comment, a specialist in the area, maybe a medicine expert from Scone, an expert’s opinion to be added to these articles. If you put the experts in the room, (myths) are squashed pretty quickly,” Dr Ben Mason told RSN.

Anthropomorphism and social media

One of the key reasons that some of these myths gain traction is our urbanised society. The majority of people, even the majority of racing fans, live in urban areas and are not necessarily familiar with horses, equine biology, and what needs horses have. Trainers spend a lot of time educating owners and organisations like Kick Up exist to educate the public on why horses have certain behaviours and how best to keep horses healthy.

It seems obvious to those of us who work with horses, or have experience with horses, that a racehorse will only run if it is happy and healthy. Olympic athletes only win gold medals when they are at their peak physically and mentally. And by extension, broodmares, like Black Caviar, only get in foal when they are healthy.

But it’s more than just urbanisation, and a lack of basic horse knowledge. People without horse knowledge tend to assume that horses are like people; therefore they ascribe human qualities to horses instead of learning about horse behaviour.

In the 2007 paper, “On seeing human: a three-factor theory of anthropomorphism” Dr Nicholas Epley, et al, wrote, “people are more likely to anthropomorphize when anthropocentric knowledge is accessible and applicable, when motivated to be effective social agents, and when lacking a sense of social connection to other humans.”

In other words, humans on social media, who are seeking social connection to other humans, are more likely to see human characteristics in animals (and objects). Further to that, a 2020 study done by Dr Manfredo, et al, which surveyed nearly 50,000 American people, found a “cultural shift due to modernization increases anthropomorphic attributions which leads to seeing wildlife as more human-like.”

People are trending towards seeing animals with more human-like qualities, but this leads to misunderstandings around what animals need and how their bodies work, because they are not human.

The key differences between equine and human reproduction

One of the biggest discussion points around Black Caviar was that she’d had 8 live foals. Claims of overbreeding quickly grew online into claims of greed, despite the fact that none of Black Caviar’s foals had ever been sold at auction.

“A fundamental truth is that one of the most basic biological drives is to reproduce, it’s what everything is meant to do. And then there are a lot of cultural factors on top of that. There are two key aspects of the differences between horse and human pregnancies. One is basic biology and then there is the layering of how people and horses live now,” said Dr Meta Osborne, veterinary expert in equine reproduction. Last year, she completed a Masters degree in Animal Welfare at the University of Edinburgh.

“Horses have around an eleven month gestation, and they are seasonal breeders. The birth is timed to coincide with maximum grass growth, so the mare has access to feed. In humans, the season is irrelevant.

“Horse broodmares are polyoestral breeders, that is she has a series of heat cycles during her fertile period, in which she is receptive to the stallion. Generally for 5-7 days every three weeks, starting in spring and finishing in summer, with the idea that the mare will be mated and 11 months later when it’s spring/summer again and there’s grass, she will foal at the optimal time.

“Outside that time, the mare is not receptive to the stallion. ‘I will kill you if you come close’. In feral horses, eg brumbies, the same applies. It’s basic biology from a survival of the species point of view. Further, horses are designed to move and graze - in the wild, they spend about 16 hours a day walking and eating. Humans now tend to lead a sedentary life. Pregnant mares are constantly moving.

“When she foals down, and unlike her human counterpart, the whole process takes 20 minutes and then within two hours that foal is ready to flee a predator. The maximum bonding between mare and foal is within the first two weeks, after that the foal spends more and more time playing with other foals.

“The human situation is very different. There can be protracted labours and then the mother has a baby who is totally dependent and can’t do anything for at least two years. Motherhood, or the maternal experience, for humans and horses are very different.

“Then there are the cultural issues that can lead to anthropomorphism. ‘Poor Black Caviar, she should’ve been allowed to rest’ but broodmares just don’t do that. You couldn’t make her (rest) if you tried.”

Should a mare be bred every year?

“In nature, with feral horses, they would be (breeding every year) as it’s imperative for survival of the species. But domestically there’s an ethical factor to this (which complicates the decision). Without breeding there would be no horses. There’s a circle of life factor here, and the joy that animals bring to humans is special.

“If you accept that horses can be bred every year, should a mare be put in foal every year? Yes. On a case by case basis if the mare is healthy and well, and there’s no issues, then yes. I’d only say, ‘don’t breed this mare this season’ if there was a very good reason. Besides, if she’s not ready, she simply won’t go in foal. We can’t make her get in foal unless she is fit to carry.”

Stud Book statistics show that broodmares only have a foal on average every second year. Of the 19,439 broodmares at stud in 2022, 2742 were not served, and the remainder produced 12,362 live foals in 2023. The other broodmares missed or slipped. What are some of the reasons that mares miss or slip?

“Things happen along the way, and not every covering results in a live foal. The standard of reproductive vet work globally is very high and is improving all the time. When I started, the mare got in foal, then we saw the foal once it was born, but now we monitor pregnancies on the way too. It’s better than leaving things to chance where a mare might slip in a field and both mare and foal die.

“I often joke with clients when we found a mare that missed – mare is a four letter word – a lot of us who work in this field still don’t know all the reasons. Up to 30 days, infection is the most common cause of pregnancy loss, and we can help prevent that with the right care. Later on, we can look at the (slipped) foetus and work out what happened in about 50 per cent of the cases.

“There's really interesting work going on with a study led by Dr Mandi de Mestre, head of the equine pregnancy laboratory at the Royal Veterinary College, looking at genetic reasons for why mares slip. An interesting sidebar to this research is that pregnancy in the mare can be used as a model for pregnancy loss in humans.

“The other thing is that a mare’s fertility naturally declines after 15 or 16 years old. There are textbooks written on this subject. And researchers spend their whole careers investigating it. But many times, you are left scratching your head, and all you can do is do the attention to detail stuff to keep the mare as healthy as possible. It’s what makes it fascinating. 80 per cent of mares get in foal without drama, and the rest will have you up at night reading the textbooks trying to figure it.

“Black Caviar had six in a row. If we accept that we are breeding horses, then we shouldn’t be breeding indiscriminately. We should be breeding with the aim of improving the Thoroughbred. If you want to improve the breed of the racehorse, you are going to use the best, like Black Caviar, and hopefully produce something as good as her. Every type of domestic animal breeding is about that, improvement. In racing’s case, it’s success on the racetrack.

“She’s the perfect type of mare to achieve that. She had 25 starts. If breeders, as a whole, concentrate on breeding sound horses, you’ll have fewer injuries across the board, and Black Caviar was sound and durable and the best of the breed. It would actually be greedy to breed numbers (of mares) without a strategy. In her case, she’s the absolute ideal.

“You don’t have control over their future and whether she’ll produce something as good as herself. It’s in the lap of the gods, but as a breeder, starting with the best is the best.”

Black Caviar raced from April 2009 until April 2013 with 25 starts. She had some athletic-related injuries but recovered from them to race again and is what many would consider to be the ultimate racehorse.

“There is a fundamental issue with critiques of racing, that is, maybe, coming from an anti-elitism perspective, where they see racing being all about money and that overlays the criticism of it. They don’t see the jobs, and they don’t see the money spent on the horses who don’t make it. There seems to be this subtle thing about it being the sport of kings. But there’s a lot of really good people working at a lower level in this industry, and many of them are losing money but they keep going in the hope of producing something like Black Caviar.”

Laminitis – a nasty disease for all horses

Black Caviar isn’t the first famous horse to die from laminitis. Secretariat (USA), Sunline (Desert Sun {GB}), Sunday Silence (USA) and Thorn Park are just a few of the many examples of racehorses who’ve been diagnosed with laminitis and needed to be euthanised on humane grounds.

“(Laminitis) is a case by case basis. I don’t think there’s actually percentages on how often it affects horses. It’s condition of the horse’s feet, sometimes the back, mostly the front. It’s a painful condition which affects their feet and it’s due to the lamina, which is the glue between the hoof capsule and the bone, becomes inflamed initially and almost the indigitation between those rings which holds it all together basically falls apart and you get separation, and the bones sink within the hoof capsule and rotate and that’s an extremely painful,” said Dr Mason in his RSN interview.

“Let’s just talk about the gestating mare, who are about to give birth. They are generally heavier than normal, they put on 10-20 per cent of weight, obviously the foal is 50kg inside them, then you’ve got all the fluid as well, so let’s say they are putting on at least 80-100kg at this time of year. So they are heavier than normal and mechanically they are putting more weight through their feet which therefore puts more pressure on their feet. … But most mares would go through that (without laminitis) but what’s the trigger? Sometimes it’s an endotoxic episode.

“In a big horse, and (Black Caviar) was probably big since she was big on the racetrack, that’s a huge amount of weight. But they would’ve done everything to help her. Everything. She was in the best place possible, she was in the centre of reproduction in Australia, the smartest people would’ve been there to help her. She would’ve had everything possible done to help her.”

And that’s the key takeout. Black Caviar was racetrack royalty. She was given the very best of everything, the best pastures, the best paddock mates, and the very best veterinary care that it was possible to have.

We were all blessed to have seen her grace our racetracks with her athleticism and speed. A true champion. The best of the breed.

Cover image courtesy of Twin Hills Stud

This spring, Olly and Amber Tait’s Twin Hills Stud are welcoming the first foals from their resident stallion, Daumier, a G1 Blue Diamond S. winner. The Thoroughbred Report caught up with Olly Tait to discuss which mares will be visiting Daumier this season and the plans for their other resident broodmares.

Bred and raced by Godolphin, Daumier made an impression on debut by winning the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (Colts and Geldings) and followed it up by taking the main event, the G1 Blue Diamond S. He later finished a gallant fourth in the G1 Golden Slipper.

“We’ve had two foals born on the farm by Daumier so far,” Tait told TTR AusNZ. “One is out of a mare called Vol Vallee, and the other is a lovely colt out of a mare called Rochelle. They are both genuinely very nice foals.”

This season, Twin Hills will continue to support Daumier, with several mares heading his way. One such mare is Sense And Reason (Exceed And Excel), who won five races. Her first foal, Belieber (Zoustar), won twice and was fourth in the G3 Breeders’ Plate and her latest runner Reasonable Point (Blue Point {Ire}) was stakes-placed as a 2-year-old last season.

“Sense And Reason has been a really good mare to us,” Tait shared. “She was one of the first mares we bought when we started Twin Hills, and she has produced a stakes-placed 2-year-old this season. That filly is by Blue Point and named Reasonable Point; she was second in the Talindert S.

“She’s also the dam of Belieber, who was fourth in the Breeders’ Plate. Sense And Reason produces a beautiful horse every year, and she’s been a great servant to us. So, she’s heading to Daumier and is a really nice mare for him to cover in his second season.”

Another mare set to visit Daumier is Something Silver (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), who won six races. “We’re also sending Something Silver, who was a top-class race mare trained by Clinton McDonald.

“She’s a big mare and will suit him physically. Something Silver had a nice yearling by Deep Field, who made $240,000 at this year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale and has since been named Mega Mastermind. He was her second foal, and her first foal (Dekadance) has shown a bit of promise. We’re supporting Daumier heavily in his second season.”

Tait also mentioned the mare Demetria (Conatus), who will be served by Daumier this season. Demetria is a half-sister to the Champion 2-Year-Old Samaready (More Than Ready {USA}), the dam of G1 Golden Slipper winner Shinzo and R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic victress Exhilarates (Snitzel). Demetria won twice and produced the Sebring gelding Plutocracy, who was placed in the G3 Vain S.

“It’s hard for any stud to stand a Blue Diamond winner, and we feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to stand him. We’re committed to giving him the best opportunity to succeed, and he had a good book of mares in his first season.”

New sires to be supported by Twin Hills Stud

This season, Twin Hills Stud will be sending several mares to outside stallions as part of their breeding program. “We’ve got about 60 mares we’re breeding ourselves this year,” Olly Tait shared.

One of the mares, Cavaco, a Fastnet Rock mare who is a full sister to G1 Australian Guineas victor Rock Classic, is currently in foal to Capitalist and will visit Newgate Farm’s recent addition, Militarize (NZ). Cavaco’s Justify (USA) filly was sold for $460,000 to Clinton McDonald Racing and Shane McGrath at this year’s Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.

The Justify filly has since been named Kyosha. “Cavaco is a beautiful mare. Her second foal, a filly by Justify, made $460,000 in Melbourne this year. Cavaco will go to Militarize. She’s a big mare, and he was just an outstanding racehorse. We thought that would be a nice commercial mating for her. Cavaco’s last two matings have been with Justify and Capitalist, so she’s been to some proven sires, and now it’s time to go to an unproven sire, and he’s an exciting horse.”

Cosmic Powers (Not A Single Doubt) will head down the highway to visit Pierata. Cosmic Powers is the dam of Lord Cosmos (Pierro), who won four races, including the Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre S., and placed in the G3 Northland Breeders S.

Tait explained the decision, “She is the dam of a stakes-winning 2-year-old by Pierro, so we’re sending her to Pierata. He’s obviously off to a promising start with his first 2-year-olds. He’s far from the finished product as a proven stallion, but he seems to be on the right trajectory. So naturally, to breed a three-quarter sibling to a stakes winner seems the right approach. It looks like a very nice mating for her, and he’s a promising stallion.”

The proven producer My Obsession (Lonhro), who was served by Justify last spring, will head to Shinzo at Coolmore. The daughter of Lonhro won three races and is the dam of G3 Geoffrey Bellmaine S. winner Vagrant (Pariah).

“My Obsession is the dam of Vagrant, a Group 3 winner by Pariah. Pariah is by Redoute’s Choice, so we just thought going for a stallion from the same sireline would be the way to go. So she’s going to Shinzo, who’s a Golden Slipper winner by Snitzel. The age-old cliché ticks all the boxes.”

Support for Home Affairs

Tait is also set to support Coolmore’s stallion, Home Affairs, this season. The son of I Am Invincible has an impressive record, having won both the G1 Coolmore Stud S. and the G1 Lightning S.

Home Affairs will be serving his third book of mares this season, and Tait is enthusiastic about backing the stallion. “We’ve got a lovely mare named Azula, who’s a maiden that we purchased at the Magic Millions. She’s by Maurice and she’s off to Home Affairs.

“We were going to send her to Too Darn Hot but had to switch to Home Affairs, and I’ve always liked supporting horses in their season who’ve covered large numbers of good mares; it has always served us very well breeding on the back of those big books.”

Azula (Maurice {Jpn}) is out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Shutout and hails from the family of G2 HKJC Jockey Club Cup winner Straight Arron (Fastnet Rock). The daughter of Maurice won twice as a 2-year-old, including the Listed The Phoenix S. Twin Hills Stud and Stallion Match secured her for $320,000 at this year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.

Table: Mating plans for some of Twin Hill Stud's broodmare band