Cover image courtesy of Collingrove Stud
Victorian farm Collingrove Stud specialises in boutique broodmare care and yearling preparation, and has been building a strong track record from small numbers, including producing G1 Centenary Sprint Cup winner Victor The Winner (Toronado {Ire}). Proprietor Daniel Brash took The Thoroughbred Report through five mares hoping to spring more gold with a diverse mix of stallions this spring.
Mares with a bit of upside
“We’re slowly growing our business, and I’ve been slowly building up our broodmare band with the right mares,” said Brash. “We just have to find them in the right price range that we think will have upside, and so far we have had a bit of luck with a few mares who have had pedigree updates, and they’re starting to do things for us that we might not have been able to buy.”
“So far we have had a bit of luck with a few mares who had pedigree updates, and they’re starting to do things for us that we might not have been able to buy.” - Daniel Brash
Competing at the top end is always a challenge for smaller operations, so Brash prefers to find value at the lower end and has had a fair amount of happy hunting for mares through the Inglis Digital online auction platform.
Daniel Brash | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Collingrove Stud paid $1500 for Striking Meteor (Northern Meteor) in 2022 via an Inglis Digital auction after she missed to Harry Angel (Ire).
Her 2021 foal Heavenly Impact (Harry Angel {Ire}) made $30,000 as a yearling the following year at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and finished second in the $500,000 Magic Million The Debut, before breaking his maiden in the $250,000 Magic Millions Maiden Plate earlier this year.
“She’s good enough to go to Toronado this year,” said Brash. “We bought her not in foal and sent her to Exceedance, meanwhile Heavenly Impact comes out and runs second in the Magic Millions Debut.”
Striking Meteor | Image courtesy of Collingrove Stud
Striking Meteor’s Exceedance colt, born in 2023, made $45,000 to the bid of John Foote Bloodstock (FBAA) at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast National Yearling Sale.
“Her Exceedance colt was good enough to make Book 1 of Magic Millions,” Brash said. “John Foote bought him and he is straight off to Hong Kong, so it was a bit of a no brainer to send her to a sire that we know Hong Kong are very interested in.
“There’s a lot of good Toronados - we prepared Victor The Winner - so we have a bit of an affinity for them, and they have all turned out to be quite good. We had another that was with Patrick Payne called Stormy Grove, who has also gone to Hong Kong now.”
Stormy Grove (Toronado {Ire}) comfortably broke his maiden at Geelong in December and caught the eyes of the Hong Kong Jockey Club again in January with a flying second at Flemington.
“We love them, they’re just tough horses and they’re great to prep,” Brash said of Toronado’s (Ire) progeny. The stallion resides at Swettenham Stud, where his fee sits at $88,000 (inc GST). “It was a no brainer - not every mare gets into Toronado, so we asked the question and Swettenham said yes.”
“We love them (Toronado's progeny), they’re just tough horses and they’re great to prep.” - Daniel Brash
Before she visits Toronado, Striking Meteor will foal down another offspring by Vinery Stud’s Exceedance, which was a selection made last year off of the quality of her first foal by the sire.
“She’s due in a couple of weeks’ time and I’m excited to see if it will be as nice as its full brother,” Brash said.
Toronado | Standing at Swettenham Stud
On what attracted him to Striking Meteor, Brash had foreseen that the pedigree had more to give than what was on paper; “Her Harry Angel was an unraced 2-year-old at the time, and we knew the raps on Harry Angels were really good at the time. She had some horses in the second dam that were showing potential. The pedigree has now strengthened up in the first dam - we only paid $1500 and I'd say that she's worth a hell of a lot more than that now.”
Making the right matings
“We bought another mare online very cheaply,” Brash said. “She’s a half to Galaxy Patch but it was before he was really known in Hong Kong, so we got a bit of a boost there.”
Comearoundsundown (Not A Single Doubt), a half-sister to Hong Kong star Galaxy Patch (Wandjina), produced a Hanseatic colt in 2023 for Collingrove, who sold him for $30,000 at this year’s Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale to Lee and Cherie Curtis.
Hanseatic x Comearoundsundown colt | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
They offered her I Am Immortal weanling colt at the Inglis Great Southern Sale later in the sales season, where he made $27,000.
“She (Comearoundsundown) was a little bit older, but looking at the pedigree, I thought she had been mated incorrectly,” said Brash. “She was going to middle distance horses like Animal Kingdom, Real Impact, Manhattan Rain.
“We decided to target speed on speed on speed with her, because I just thought she’d gone to the wrong stallions so she’s in foal to Exceedance right now. She’s a short-coupled Not A Single Doubt mare who was stakes-placed herself and won three as a 2-year-old.”
“We decided to target speed on speed on speed with her (Comearoundsundown), because I just thought she’d gone to the wrong stallions.” - Daniel Brash
A prolific South Australian sprinter in her time, Comearoundsundown was five-time winner and had run third in the Listed Nitschke Stakes at Morphettville.
“This year she’s going to Generation. He’s a stallion that I’ve got a lot of time for. He was a very fast horse, a son of Snitzel, and we just think the mating will work very well with her. The Hanseatic has broken in well and they really like him.”
Comearoundsundown | Image courtesy of Inglis
Lovatsville’s Generation, an unbeaten juvenile and dual Group 3 winner at three, stands at $11,000 (inc GST). His first crop of foals arrive this spring.
Striking with Move To Strike
Brash purchased a breeding right in Move To Strike, son of I Am Invincible and winner of the G1 Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes, who also stands at Lovatsville for $16,500 (inc GST). This year, he will send two mares to patronise the stallion in his first season.
Move To Strike | Standing at Lovatsville
“Move To Strike is a stallion where we identified that the deal was very good value,” Brash said. “A Group 1-winning son of I Am Invincible standing in Victoria - we thought he was very reasonably priced.”
“Move To Strike is a stallion where we identified that the deal was very good value.” - Daniel Brash
Sojournist (Stratum) is the first mare headed to Move To Strike; she was a five-time winner on the track and is a half-sister to G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes runner-up King Pulse (Canny Lad).
Her dam, the stakes-placed Pleasure Ground (Arena), is a full sister to Listed Wagga Wagga Cup winner Coliseo and 10-time city winner Prince Of Capers. Sojournist’s first and only foal is a 3-year-old filly from the first crop of Widden Victoria’s Russian Camelot (Ire).
Sojournist | Image courtesy of Trackside Photography
“She’s another mare who we got very cheaply,” Brash said. “She’s a half to the very good King’s Pulse, he was an Easter yearling who won five races and placed at Group 1 level, so again, we are trying to tap into more speed there. We think she’ll be suitable for Move To Strike.
“Unfortunately she lost her first foal with us this year, so we’re back to the well again.”
An absolute bargain
Fiery Jest (Testa Rossa) was a $600 pickup on Inglis Digital for Collingrove in 2023. She is a dual-winning daughter of Belle Jest (Rory’s Jester), which makes her a half-sister to dual Listed winner Spanish Bay (Nadeem) and stakes performer Casino Belle (Casino Prince). Belle Jest’s seven foals to race have included six winners, and all six daughters have produced multiple winners at stud.
Belle Jest is herself a half-sister to G2 Surround Stakes winner and stakes producer Khaptivaan (Adraan {GB}), dam of G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Khaptingly (Bletchingly).
Fiery Jest | Image courtesy of Inglis
“She’s another mare that we’ve had some luck with,” Brash said. “She’s from a deep family, and she’s done a wonderful job. Since we bought her, the Dundeel (now) 4-year-old has won on debut - she’s called Fiery Deal and she’s with Peter Gelagotis, and they have a very good opinion of her.
“She’s (Fiery Jest) a mare that we have a lot of time for.” - Daniel Brash
“She also has a (now) 3-year-old by Tagaloa that has already placed and was running in some stakes races as a 2-year-old. They’re both doing quite well for us, and she had already had two winners beforehand, including one that the Hawkes team trained that won two starts in Australia before selling to Hong Kong.”
Not much went right for Jester (Star Witness) when reaching Hong Kong, but Fiery Jest’s growing tally of winners stands her current yearling by Hanseatic in good stead for the sales circuit next year, as well as her Sejardan foal that is due to be born in late September.
Hanseatic | Standing at Rosemont Stud
“We’ve got a lovely Hanseatic colt from her that will go to Melbourne Premier this year,” Brash said. “She’s a mare that we have a lot of time for.”
Making the page
“I have one mare that I haven’t quite worked out where she’s going yet,” Brash said. “She’s in foal to I Am Immortal.”
The 5-year-old Raspberry Cuddles (Showtime) is a half-sister to He’s The Real Deel (Dundeel {NZ}), whose seven wins include four at metropolitan level. Their dam Gentle Woman (Starcraft {NZ}) is an unraced half-sister of the stakes winners Sainthood (Lonhro) and Good Sight (Lonhro). For her maiden breeding season last year, she visited I Am Immortal.
“He’s (I Am Immortal) another stallion that we feel is tremendous value.” - Daniel Brash
“She hasn’t quite got the pedigree of the others, but she’s a half to He’s The Real Deel, and at the time, we thought we would get some black-type on the page with him,” Brash said. “She will probably go back to I Am Immortal. He’s another stallion that we feel is tremendous value.”
I Am Immortal | Standing at Swettenham Stud
I Am Immortal stands for $8800 (inc GST) at Swettenham Stud, whose first crop includes G3 SAJC Chairman’s Stakes winner Athanatos and stakes performer Immortal Star. From two small crops to the track, he’s scored a highly respectable 21 winners to date.
“He’s going to have plenty of stakes horses this season,” Brash said. “Raspberry Cuddles is a mare where we will have to try and make the pedigree ourselves.”
