Resilience, reward, and renewal: Swettenham Stud’s 2025 breeding season

Cover image courtesy of Swettenham Stud

From the uncertainty surrounding Toronado’s (Ire) health, to the steady progress of younger stallions and the long-term vision shown with future acquisitions, the season reflected the realities of modern breeding: not every chapter is smooth, but strength often lies in how setbacks are managed.

Toronado’s remarkable comeback

Few stories defined the emotional swings of Swettenham’s season more than the recovery of leading Victorian stallion Toronado.

Sidelined on the eve of the breeding season due to a hock injury and subsequent severe infection, there were genuine early fears for the son of High Chaparral (Ire), who has called Swettenham home permanently since 2022 after shuttling for almost a decade.

Such was his recovery, Toronado was able to return to the serving barn in October, beginning conservatively at one mare a day before increasing his workload in November. In total, the 16-year-old served around 70 mares this season at a service fee of $88,000 (inc GST), marking his 11th year at Swettenham.

"The stallion is back to full health now and is 100%, in theory he could have probably covered earlier the way he recovered, although we were prepared to give him the full season off," Swettenham Stud General Manager – Operations and Nominations Sam Matthews commented.

The decision to remove him early was driven by transparency with breeders, many of whom had already made logistical commitments.

“We had mares that were scheduled or had travelled from the Hunter, New Zealand, Perth, and Queensland, so we just wanted to be up-front and give breeders time to make appropriate arrangements and adjust mating plans.”

While Toronado was given every chance to recover fully, his own competitive spirit played a role.

“We took our medicine early and wanted to look after the horse, but I think when he recovered and saw the boys heading to the breeding shed, it helped his libido and got him back into it, as he has always been a busy boy and it’s normally the other stallions watching him walk past.”

The emotional weight of the season was not lost on Swettenham, particularly given the wider industry context.

“We front-footed our bad luck and got good luck at the end, at the time there were thoughts about what had we done to deserve this, but by the end of the season with sadly all the stallions that were lost through no fault of anyone, it just showed how lucky we really were.

“We really feel for all the studs that have lost stallions this season, in what has been a particularly tough season.”

Despite serving quietly - largely in-house and for existing loyal clients - Toronado still finished strongly.

“He didn’t make it too widely known that he was back serving, he served in-house mares and good clients’ mares, but we didn’t want to disrupt other plans," Matthews said. “He had a strong finish to the year and ended up serving about 80, his fertility has been strong so I would expect about 70 live foals.”

Adding further momentum, Toronado enjoyed a standout year at the sales.

“He had a breakthrough year at the sales this year, siring his first million-dollar lot off his first $80,000 conceived progeny, so the breeders that have mares in foal to him from this season are in a great spot for the 2028 sales.”

Lofty Strike’s first foals impress

At the other end of the stallion spectrum, Lofty Strike provided a welcome lift as his first foals arrived this spring.

The son of Snitzel, a Group 2 and Group 3 winner who was Group 1-placed in both the Newmarket Handicap and Oakleigh Plate, has wasted little time making an impression.

“We are really happy with them (his first foals), they look like him, he is stamping them with a bit of white and they are correct, big strong things.”

Consistency has been a pleasing theme, regardless of mare profile.

“It also doesn’t seem to matter if they are out of maiden mares, third foals, or foals from older mares, they are nice and consistent.

“We were definitely waiting around at the farm for the first couple, and we were very happy with them and remained happy across the board.”

Lofty Strike’s second season figures reflect a competitive environment, particularly in Victoria.

“His numbers have ended up pretty good, he served 115 last year and ended up with 80-something this year. They can often ease off a little bit that season, and I think Victoria had something like nine first-season sires starting this year, with the likes of Rosemont and Yulong introducing nice young stallions.

“So it was a bit tougher, but some breeders recognise the reward for supporting second-season sires and if breeders get it right it can often be more rewarding financially than a first-season sire that is often seen as the safer bet.”

Diego Velazquez: Looking ahead to 2026

One of the clear highlights - and a significant ‘up’ for Swettenham - was the announcement that Frankel’s (GB) Group 1-winning son Diego Velazquez (Ire) will shuttle to Swettenham in 2026.

Announcing the deal a full year in advance was unconventional, but strategic.

“It was a different way of doing it, but simply there was so much competition from other studs in Australia to get the deal done, so we were very pleased to get it locked up," Matthews said. “There aren’t many Group 1-winning sons of Frankel that look the way he does, bred the way he is and that cost 2.4 million guineas (AU$5.1 million) as a yearling.

“He is an incredible-looking horse, and I flew to Tatts and got a chance to see him and it is very hard to fault him.”

Comparisons to Toronado are hard to ignore.

“He actually reminds me a lot of Toronado, he isn’t a real big horse, but he is strong and actually looks more like an Australian horse. Sam Sangster is supporting him heavily, buying mares for him for when he serves his first book at The National Stud, and with him serving there first, he will give us a little leg-up.

“We always like doing things a bit outside the norm, now we just have to harness the excitement a bit. An advantage is that we have all of 2026 to target mares that we think will suit him, and breeders will be in the same boat knowing he is coming well in advance.”

Wooded building momentum, I Am Immortal delivers value

Wooded (Ire), the Group 1 sprint-winning son of Wootton Bassett (GB), is edging closer to racetrack reality with his first 2-year-olds showing promise.

“A few Woodeds have been trialling well and we have been told that Greg Eurell thinks quite a bit of one he has got.

“We didn’t think they would be real sharp and early, but the early signs are good. He had some really good yearling sale results and some of the breeze-up results were big, on the back of that he has actually served about 30 more mares than last year, which is very pleasing.

“It’s going to be exciting following them when they do hit the track in Australia and they should only keep improving.”

Meanwhile, proven sire I Am Immortal continues to reward patience and pragmatism.

The son of I Am Invincible is now responsible for Group 2 winner McGaw and Group 3 winner and Group 1-performed Athanatos, with a fee adjustment proving timely.

“He was part of some robust discussion. I wanted to keep him at the same fee, while Marcus (Heritage) was keen to drop him and he put up a compelling case on why we should do that, and that is what we did.

“It has worked as he has served about 110 mares, with a good amount of trainers breeding to him, as well as people that are breeding to race and breeding to sell.

“He is going well and there is plenty more to come, we probably thought he would be a real sharp and early sire, and while he has done that, they look very effective over a mile and with more age under them, so that I Am Invincible trait is really coming through.”

“We have a lovely mix with our stallions at the moment, we aren’t interested in just breeding juveniles that are purchased in January to March and you know whether they are going to be any good by December of that year. I also think breeders are after a bit of longevity, and that is really important.”

A tough season, finished the right way

Expectations were tempered heading into the season, and the wider industry felt the strain of what possibly could lie ahead.

That backdrop prompted the introduction of Swettenham Stud’s Breeder Protection Scheme, designed to reduce early-life risk for foals and lessen reliance on costly neonatal insurance.

“There are risks associated with breeding, and we wanted to make sure breeders have as little risk as possible. It’s expensive to be unlucky. If something goes downhill, it’s a good sense of cover for breeders. In a tough market, people should not be out of pocket from a bit of bad luck.

“The scheme was brought about to help people in a different way to just discounting service fees. With loyalty comes luck, and we looked to help our breeders.”

Through challenge came clarity.

“Some breeders have found it particularly tough, but through the challenges we have had a very good breeding season and we are lucky, as (Swettenham principal) Adam (Sangster)’s mantra is to try and help people and to work together as breeders and stud farms.

“Adam enjoys other people’s success even more than his own at times, and our job is not done when the mares get in foal - our job is done when these horses are sold at whatever sales they may be or when they hit the track.

“It has been a challenging year at times, but it has been a rewarding one too.”