Newhaven Park owner John Kelly did not bat an eyelid when asked whether he was disappointed that developing star filly The Playwright (Written By) only sold for $60,000 at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Tricolours Racing & Syndications were the lucky bargain buyers, the 2-year-old displaying tremendous courage to hold off her opponents and win by 0.1l on the line in the $250,000 G3 Widden Stakes for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott at Rosehill on Saturday.
“Obviously, you hope that some horses make more than what they do. But with us, we just put very low reserves on our horses and we sell them,” Kelly told The Thoroughbred Report.
“That gives people the opportunity to buy horses at the right value. We’ve been doing that for four or five years now.
“The Playwright is an example where you can buy a horse for the right price.”
Kelly now believes one of the premier stables in Australia will continue showing his yearlings plenty of interest on the back of The Playwright’s gutsy victory in the Group 3 feature over 1100 metres, who could now be aimed at the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield on February 22.
“For us, we’ve got to breed good horses. If Gai and Adrian are buying good horses off us for $60,000, they’ll be back looking hard to buy another one this year,” he said.
“And that goes for everyone. Our endeavour is to breed good horses, and then put very reasonable reserves on them and allow people to buy them.”
The Playwright following Written By script
The Playwright’s sire Written By was the Champion 2YO colt of his generation, and after retiring from the racetrack as a G1 winner in 2019, he has made an instant impression at stud.
Written By is just behind star sires Harry Angel (Ire) and Justify (USA) for winners by third-season sires, and he stands at Widden Stud for a fee of $22,000 (inc. GST).
Newhaven Park Stud purchased The Playwright’s dam, Sugarparma (Snitzel) for $130,000 from Segenhoe Stud at the 2018 Inglis Chairman’s Sale. She has produced four runners for four winners, with Saturday being her first stakes victor.
“I think with most of those Snitzel mares, most of their progeny are pretty easy to handle and they’re good to get along with,” Kelly said.
“I think with most of those Snitzel mares, most of their progeny are pretty easy to handle and they’re good to get along with.” - John Kelly.
“She was a no-fuss sort of filly, and you need horses who can handle the hustle and bustle of training if you’d like them to be good 2-year-olds.
“Being by Written By, we always thought that she might go early, which she has.
“If you go and look at Sugarparma, her mother’s (Sweet Ransom) race record – she was stakes-placed in three different races.
“She did a lot of racing as a 2-year-old. She was very tough.”
The Playwright as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Kelly said there would be “something for everyone” among his draft of 37 at the 2025 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
“We’ve got some good Cool Aza Beels and some lovely Xtravagants. There’s a lovely Exceed And Excel filly,” he said.
“We’ve got a draft where anybody would be able to find a nice horse in it.
“I think we’ve got a beautiful Xtravagant filly out of Puzzle (Lot 552), and we’ve got a very nice Exceed And Excel filly out of Julianne’s Wish (Lot 344). And we’ve got a lovely Cool Aza Beel colt out of a mare called Emphatically (Lot 189).
“I think the Puzzle filly looks like those good Xtravagant fillies, like Lavish Girl and Xtravagant Star. She’s very much in their mould. And I think the Cool Aza Beel colt looks very much like (last year’s Inglis Nursery runner-up) Cobra Club.
“So that’s not a bad rap for him. The Exceed And Excel filly is just a lovely filly with a nice pedigree.”
Source of precocious juveniles
Matt Comerford, head of Widden Stud’s Nominations, Sales and Client Relations, has been delighted with Written By’s consistent performances at stud.
“He’s had an exceptional run of 2-year-olds; he’s certainly turned them out,” he told The Thoroughbred Report.
Written By standing at Widden Stud | Image courtesy of Widden Stud
“We’ve seen that with The Playwright. The Novelist was also one of the favourites for the Magic Millions before he had a minor setback up at the Gold Coast a few years ago.
“And Straight Charge ran enormously well (winning last year’s Silver Slipper Stakes).
“He had a smart winner (filly Scriptus Vivace) on Friday night at the Sunshine Coast, a 2-year-old debutant.
“They’re going enormously well. Graham Begg has Royal Insignia, the full brother to Written By, and he won a Stakes race last week as well.”
Comerford believes Written By’s standing fee of $22,000 is good value.
“I think looking at his statistics so far this year, and off the huge results he had at the Easter and Melbourne Sales last year, he’s a value sire who produces good types,” he said.
“I think looking at his (Written By)'s statistics so far this year, and off the huge results he had at the Easter and Melbourne Sales last year, he’s a value sire who produces good types.” - Matt Comerford
“There’s still a really healthy appetite for the trainers to target, and that’s on the back on what he did on the racetrack. He represents good value for the breeders, and we’re excited to see that.”
Widden will have three Written By yearlings up for grabs at the Classic Sale, and Comerford likes the look of Lot 774, a colt out of Whenitrainsitpours (Your Song).
Lot 774, Written By x Whenitrainsitpours colt | Image courtesy of Inglis
“Whenitrainsitpours is a Written By colt who sells on Tuesday. He’s an outstanding individual,” he said.
“He’s the first foal of a Your Song mare who was a winner herself from a nice family.
“He just looks typical of a very good individual. He moves incredibly well, he’s got good bone, he’s got a lovely hind quarter to him.
“He’s a lovely yearling, and he’s certainly going to have a lot of interest come Classic Sale.”
Widden Stud will have a total of 45 horses for sale at the Inglis Classic Sale, and Comerford said their Lot 63 filly – by Supido and out of Benella (Not A Single Doubt) – looked a precocious type.
“Gai and Adrian have the half-sister (Bellazaine), who is by Zousain that will potentially run in the Millenium, or the Lonhro Plate the day before the sale.
“She’s a lovely athletic style of filly by Supido (out of Benella). She’s got a great nature about her.
Lot 63 Supido x Benella filly at the upcoming Inglis Classic Sale | Image courtesy of Inglis Classic
“There could be a huge pedigree update, and off the back of what Bellazaine’s (two winning) trials have done in the past three weeks, you’d expect her to be really competitive.
“She’s only had the one start in the Gimcrack, and her half-brother Benzou won in his second start. So she’s an exciting horse.
“There’s another nice colt by Portland Sky out of a mare called Cailini (Lot 88). Portland Sky is our first-season sire, a G1 winner by Deep Field.
“He will have appeal to a lot of trainers, but a lot of syndicators as well. He’s a lovely individual. He’s got a great way about him. He’s got presence and a touch of that Deep Field quality that we see through Portland Sky’s progeny.”
Comerford is delighted with the success Widden Stud is having at the moment.
“The farm’s going well, and we’ve had a great run of Stakes performers,” he said.
“Ultimately, we want to see that. The results are showing, and the quality through these young stallions – whether it be Written By or Zousain or Supido – are certainly coming to the fore.
“The buyers, agents and trainers who support us, we feel that we’re really approachable. We always say if people need information, we’re an open house.
“We’re happy to help out trainers and agents to ensure that they’re finding the right horse.”
