Cover image courtesy of Group 1 Bloodstock
I’ve really enjoyed reading your Breeding Drain or Racing Gain series over the past weeks. It’s a complex and important topic, and I’m looking forward to the rest of your coverage.
As someone who sources European stayers for clients as part of a broader strategy, I have no issue with the introduction of a levy on imports. However, if it were to be introduced, I believe it should be applied uniformly, not just to geldings. Those importing significant numbers of fillies and mares should also contribute, and a levy is a fair and effective way to capture those funds. Breeders should not be exempt.
The main reason I wanted to reach out, though, is to raise a broader question: Why are we looking overseas for stayers in the first place? I believe it’s because we’ve developed two distinct categories of aspirational, big prize money races in Australia, each attracting different types of buyers.
The first is the 2-year-old market, centred around a cluster of major races typically targeted by wealthy syndicates or colt funds aiming to uncover a future stallion. These horses are often expensive and largely out of reach for individual owners.
Mathew Becker | Image courtesy of Group 1 Bloodstock
The second is the more traditional middle-distance and staying races, many of which offer immediate opportunities to compete at a high level via the importation of a proven stayer from Europe. This pathway has been more accessible from a buying standpoint. However, because there is little commercial incentive to breed or buy middle-distance yearlings locally, the gap between these markets continues to widen.
This is where I believe real change is needed. We must start incentivising the breeding and buying of horses with more scope. In my view, that begins with reducing the distances of our Oaks and Derbys to 2000 metres. From there, we should significantly boost prize money for these races, bringing them in line with our richest two-year-old contests. A properly structured Triple Crown series for 3-year-olds would also provide depth, identity, and aspiration for this tier of racing.
We also need to be honest with ourselves: Are we really equipped to develop genuine stayers in Australia? I have my doubts. Our climate, the depth of our broodmare pedigrees, and our training infrastructure are not ideally suited to producing elite stayers. However, we do breed world-class sprinter-milers, and we should place more value on those that can train on at three and stretch out to 2000 metres.
The Derby, in its current form, has largely lost its relevance. Few winners train on to compete successfully against Europe’s best stayers, which is why there’s limited demand for them. By reducing the distance and investing more heavily in our 3-year-old classics, we can broaden the appeal of the yearling market and refocus buyer interest on locally bred horses.
One potential knock-on effect of elevating the commercial importance of our 3YO Classics could be a broader shift in stallion demand across the breeding industry. As you know, our commercial stallions are currently under huge pressure from mare owners wanting to access the small pool capable of producing top-class 2YOs. These stallions are often overbred, which leads to mare owners missing cycles and can ultimately impact the long-term fertility of the stallions themselves.
If we were able to broaden the commercial market to place more value on 3YO Classic winners, it would open the door for a greater number of stallions to sit in that top bracket. That would give breeders more choice and relieve pressure on those few elite sires—something that can only benefit the industry in the long run.
But that shift will never happen if we continue to run our Classics over 2400 metres.
In the U.S., the most valuable yearlings are those that could potentially compete in the Breeders’ Cup as a juvenile and then train on to become Kentucky Derby or Oaks contenders. While they still breed for speed, there’s a more diverse and balanced market because horses with scope are highly valued as future stallions and broodmares. France is another strong example, their Derby was reduced to 2100 metres in 2005 and has since produced many Champion sires.
If we’re serious about changing buyer behaviour, we need to give people a better reason to invest locally. Building a stronger, well-funded series of races for three-year-olds over 1600–2000m is a powerful step in that direction. There will always be a place for genuine stayers, our calendar is full of time-honoured races that owners still dream of winning, but with European horses becoming increasingly expensive due to Middle Eastern competition and a weakening Australian dollar, now is the perfect time to pivot.
If we build it, the owners will come.
Best regards,
Mathew Becker
Group 1 Bloodstock
