Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Fred Noffke, a cattle farmer from Emerald in Queensland, purchased 3-year-old filly Sheza Alibi (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) for $10,000 at the 2023 Inglis June Digital Sale as a weanling from Middlebrook Valley Lodge.
He travelled down to attend the races at Flemington on Derby Day to see his star filly win the G3 Vanity Stakes for trainers Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman. His only regret is that he didn’t buy Sheza Alibi’s dam when she was put online at the 2025 July Inglis Digital Sale.
“I was away at that time or I might have provided a bit of competition for (Cameron Bond). I was on the road, so I couldn’t bid on the mother, and I would’ve been quite keen. She was a very cheap buy.” Sheza Gypsy (Shaft) sold to Mayfield Pastoral for $1250 at the 2025 Inglis July Digital Sale and is now owned by Cameron and Kellie Bond of Kenmore Lodge.
Sheza Gypsy | Image courtesy of Inglis Digital
The benefits and risks of buying online
Noffke loves the digital platforms when it comes to buying horses, because they remove the remoteness factor. “I live in the bush, and I don’t get to sales. Nearly all my horses have been online (purchases), strange as that might seem. That’s the disadvantage of living in the bush, you have to leave everything to run itself or get someone else to do it, so you can attend the sale, and then you’ve got to have the time,” Noffke said.
Sheza Alibi as a weanling | Image courtesy of Inglis Digital
Buying online comes with its own risks, because there is no way to physically inspect the horse, but Noffke has a solution for that too. Get trusted advice.
“I bought my early horses with Arrowfield and I’ve seen where they’ve gone with the Japanese horses, and then with the Saxon Warrior, I liked the look of her. I thought, this is a similar thing to what Arrowfield is doing, so that interested me in the first place.
“I rang Matt Hill at Arrowfield and asked about the person selling her. Verna Metcalfe was the contact point for the filly and I asked if she would tell me the truth, and Hill said, ‘Yes, she’ll say what she thinks’ and that I could believe what she said.
“I rang her and she said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with the filly’. She said that the owner has two and he needs to sell one. Sometimes you do buy tickets in the future and that’s what she was.”
Japanese sire line was a big draw card
Sheza Alibi is by Saxon Warrior (Jpn), a son of Deep Impact (Jpn) who shuttled to Coolmore Stud for four seasons from 2019 to 2022. “That’s why she was attractive to me, because I’ve seen a bit of the system that Arrowfield have been using. I did buy her for a little bit less than I thought, and I was very pleased when it stopped at $10,000.
Saxon Warrior (Jpn) | Standing at Coolmore, Ireland
As a type, Sheza Alibi has continued to grow and improve. “She looks like she’s a proper horse.
“She’s beautiful, and I don’t say that because she’s mine. She’s an incredibly good looking horse. She stands out, even on Saturday in the enclosure, there was only one other horse that looked as good as her or just a fraction better.
“She’s very well proportioned and looks very much like her father, or pictures of him. Peter Moody perfectly prepared her and she’s close to her best. She’s very strong and has matured very nice. A bit over 16hh, she’s not just an average horse, she stands out.”
Competition for Sheza Gypsy was only theoretical
Noffke regrets not buying Sheza Gypsy when she sold to Kenmore Lodge for $1250, and the vendors of Sheza Alibi contemplated buying her too. The timing of Sheza Alibi’s sale as a weanling was around Middlebrook Valley Lodge’s transition to new ownership, but they also sold the mare on behalf of her owners in July 2025.
“Sheza Alibi was sold about a month before I started,” said Middlebrook Valley Lodge’s Bernie Kane. Sheza Gypsy had a King’s Legacy colt, who is now a 2-year-old, in the year following Sheza Alibi.
“The mare and the King’s Legacy, and the photo of Sheza Alibi all look the same, nice consistent types. We foaled the King’s Legacy and took him all the way to the sales, and he was a cracking type who made $160,000. The owners were expecting $50,000 so they were happy too.”
Lot 636 - King's Legacy x Sheza Gypsy | Image courtesy of Inglis
The King’s Legacy colt sold for $160,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale when bought by John Thompson and Boomer Bloodstock.
“We nearly bought the mare ourselves for the farm just based on the King’s Legacy. But we have only young mares, and she didn’t really fit the bill, but in hindsight, maybe we should have.
“She was an older mare with a bit of a checkered breeding history, so the owners put her online in the middle of the year and Kellie Bond bought her for Kenmore Lodge. They’d broken (Sheza Alibi) in and so they had a bit of inside information. They’ve picked up a bargain, and I think she’s been sent to Ozzmosis.”
Sheza Gypsy, who won six of her 21 starts, is a 15-year-old mare. Her first two foals are unplaced, and then she has an unnamed 4-year-old filly, before she produced Sheza Alibi and the King’s Legacy colt. She hasn’t been served since then.
Sheza Alibi’s interesting career pathway
Sheza Alibi began her career with Rockhampton trainer Kris Hansen, and she had four starts for him before being sent south to Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman. All up, she has had three wins from six starts.
“Cameron and Kellie Bond broke her in and did a bit of pre-training, and I came up with a bit of a scheme. I sent her to Matt Kropp in Toowoomba and then one day I woke up and I thought I’m never going to get to Toowoomba to watch her race, so I bought her up to Rockhampton to Kris Hansen,” Noffke said. Rockhampton is an hour and a half drive from Noffke’s farm.
“I buy these horses to watch them. After we raced in Townsville, I thought I’m never going to go to Melbourne unless I have a horse there, so that’s why we went there.” Sheza Alibi moved to the Moody/Coleman stable after she placed in the Listed Tattersall’s Stakes in June 2025, running second to Autumn Boy (The Autumn Sun).
She had her first start for her new stable in the Listed Gothic Stakes, running third to Saturday’s G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Tentyris (Street Boss {USA}).
“I rarely ever miss a horse’s race (in person). That’s why you have a racehorse. You get to watch them and you get to have the thill. That’s the reason you spend the money.”
Sheza Abili | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Noffke has always had a few horses on his cattle property, and he almost got rid of them once, but the love drew him back into horse ownership. “I had a few horses on my farm a long time ago and I thought they were just wasting grass! I gave them to the neighbour who used horses most days, and after six months, I realised I missed them. 30 horses later…” he laughed.
“Being part of the beef industry, when I was much younger, a wise man told me, ‘It’s just a numbers game, you’ve just got to run more cows to make more money’. That’s why I went down the track of more horses at lower cost, but then I was becoming a soak for money. I’ve learnt that (horses) are dependants, you’ve got to have someone there to feed them every day twice a day.”
Noffke has backed off recently, with less horses in work, but still always chasing a bargain.
“I’ve had up to seven in work at one time, but (now) I try to limit to three or maybe four, and (try to) get rid of the slow ones quickly. I had a winner (this week) who’d had 10 starts and I’m never usually that patient with them, 10 starts for one win, Run Freda Run. She’s the only one that got a free ticket for 10 races without a win.” Run Freda Run (All Too Hard) won at Rockhampton on Thursday for trainer Kris Hansen. She had placed on four occasions prior to winning.
“Paul Messara told me three starts, that’s enough (to decide).”
Spitting image of her sire
Saxon Warrior was a Group 1 winner at two and three in Europe and Sheza Alibi became his 19th stakes winner, led by Group 1 winner Victoria Road (Ire).
“When I was trying to find my way, I asked Cameron Bond what do you look for in a good horse, and he said, ‘It needs to look like it’s father and that’s half of it’. And she does, she looks very much like Saxon Warrior. Obviously most of the goodness comes from the mother, that’s the other side of the coin. The other person I asked said it was just pure luck and for a long time I thought he was going to be right!”
The plan from here
Sheza Alibi has a big future ahead of her, with the autumn looking like the next key target.
“The track was pretty hard yesterday. She ate up well last night and if she recovers well, Peter thought the Sandown Guineas in a fortnight over 1600 metres with the boys again, or otherwise a spell.
“Luke Nolan said, one more then spell her and bring her back in the autumn and Peter agreed quickly. It’ll be nice to go to a Group 2 and a Group 1 eventually. And then breed hopefully, and hopefully have a future in racing.”
Noffke has a few broodmares already. “I was fortunate enough to have four colts this year, no fillies, so there won’t be any breeders out of them. I don’t like selling much, because which one would you sell?
“After she ran second to Autumn Boy in Brisbane, there was an offer for $400,000 and I was talking to Chris Waller about it, and I said I wasn’t interested in selling. It wasn’t him with the offer, it was another party. He said, ‘All you will do is you take that $400,000 and you’ll waste it on other horses, you may as well keep the good one you’ve got.’”
It’s been good advice for Noffke who now enjoyed a Group winner on Derby Day and has a Group 3-winning filly with a big future.
