'It's important people know that buying your brand is going to give them the results they want': Kia Ora confident ahead of Magic Millions

Cover image courtesy of Trackside Photography

The first Saturday raceday in 2026 went off with a bang for Kia Ora Stud when farm graduate Warwoven (Sword Of State) cemented his spot in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic with a domineering win at Eagle Farm. The stud’s flagship stallion Farnan enjoyed an interstate double, kicked off by juvenile colt Knightsbridge winning on resumption at Randwick and topped off by a dynamite victory from 3-year-old Ninja in the G3 Vo Rogue Plate.

All three now set their sights on the Magic Millions raceday in a fortnight’s time, and for Kia Ora’s Bloodstock and Breeding Manager Shane Wright, it’s a continuation of the electric spring the stud experienced in 2025.

Headliners on all fronts

“We have had a number of headline horses in the spring, like Inkaruna and, of course, My Gladiola,” Wright said. Inkaruna (I Am Invincible), who carries the stud colours when on the race track, added the G3 Thoroughbred Club Stakes to her record this spring to become a Group winner at two and three, and Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale graduate My Gladiola (I Am Invincible) accrued four Group placings alongside her Listed Cap D’Antibes victory.

“My Gladiola was very unlucky in the Coolmore,” added Wright, referring to the filly’s gallant second in the Group 1 to Tentyris (Street Boss {USA}). “But it'd be a brave man to say she hasn't got a Group 1 win in her in the next 12 months.”

Warwoven and I’m Ya Huckleberry (Home Affairs), who ran second in the G3 Breeders’ Plate, have both flown the flag for last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft, and 3-year-old graduate Just A Journey (Justify {USA}) came within a whisker of winning the G2 Edward Manifold Stakes, before adding another second in the G3 Ethereal Stakes.

The likes of Faraway Dream (Farnan) and Straight Sets (Prague) continued the good form for the farm’s 3-year-old graduates by racking up the wins at metropolitan and provincial level.

Inkaruna hasn’t been the only highlight of the racing team; Tupakara (Trapeze Artist) placed in two legs of the Princess Series, and 4-year-old entire Tropicus (Too Darn Hot {GB}) - also born on the farm - opening the season with victory in the G3 The Heath before adding a second placing in the G2 Schillaci Stakes.

“We have a couple of nice colts on the team as well,” Wright said. “We’re a part of Return To Conquer, who won a Group 1 in New Zealand last season. Sadly, he has had a little setback since arriving in Australia, but we're hoping for a big autumn with him, and Tropicus is likely heading to the Oakleigh Plate. He looks like a very nice son of Too Darn Hot, so if he could get a big win on him, he could be a very exciting prospect.”

Winner of the G3 Zeditave Stakes at three and twice placed at Group level in the same season, there could be a spot for Tropicus in the Kia Ora stallion barn if he can score at the top level.

“He’s a very, very good looking colt out of an Exceed And Excel mare, and unlike his father, he’s an out and out sprinter that would be very well suited to the Australian industry, so he's one we're very hopeful of going forward.”

Small crop, big presence

The stud currently sits ninth amongst vendors for producing black-type performers in the 2025/26 season - no mean feat for a farm whose foal crop averages between 50 and 60 foals a year.

“I think, when you look at the black-type by vendor, it's a good indication of what to expect when you go to the sales,” Wright said. “You know what farms you want to be buying from. It’s a credit to the whole team here - everyone who is involved from selecting the mares to the foals being born and the yearling preparations - that we sit up there with the likes of Arrowfield, Widden, Segenhoe, all the top farms.

“But then when you look at it, they produce three or four times the number of foals that we do every year. That shows what an achievement it is to be up there, and that’s something we're very proud of. When you bring horses to sales, it's important people know that buying your brand is going to give them the results they want.”

Alongside the unbeaten Warwoven and the promising I’m Ya Huckleberry, the same Magic Millions draft has so far produced Invincible Son (Farnan), who was third on debut in the Magic Millions Caulfield 2YO Classic. It’s a good start for a draft of just 12 horses to sell at the Gold Coast last year.

From a crop where the stud registered 51 foals, it tracks quite impressively against the general population to have three runners, when there has to date only been 363 individual juvenile starters in Australia (representing 2.9% of the 2023 foal crop). The cherry on top for Kia Ora is to have all three racing graduates be promising types.

“It’s something we are very proud of,” said Wright. “I’m Ya Huckleberry has had a little setback (after the Breeders’ Plate), but the whole team at Gai’s (Waterhouse) reckon he's one of their top 2-year-olds of the crop, so we are very excited to see him again come the autumn.”

I’m Ya Huckleberry features in the first acceptances for the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes, with over a week to go until second acceptances are due. Invincible Son has made it through first acceptances for both the Slipper and the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes, for which second acceptances close at noon on Tuesday.

“Invincible Son looks like a nice progressive type. Talking to the (Robbie) Griffiths camp, they really like him, and he's going to have a short break now, because they thought Magic Millions might just come a little bit quick for him. But they've got very high aspirations for him to come back into a Blue Diamond campaign.”

Ready for more Magic

Kia Ora Stud will present a draft of 17 Book 1 yearlings for this year’s Magic Millions sale, split between eight colts and nine fillies. The healthy trade in the Northern Hemisphere has Wright confident that their ‘something for everyone’ draft will be well received on the Gold Coast next week.

“I feel like it's always hard making predictions about the first sale of the year when you're going in, but looking from what's happened at sales in Europe and the States over the last few months, again, the top end has been very strong,” he said.

“It's a little bit harder down the scale, but I don't see it being any different. If you have a nice product that vets well with a clean scope and clean x-rays, I think you'll get well rewarded.

“There will be horses that are tough to sell, same as any other year, but we're very happy with our draft going up there this year. We've got a very nice bunch of horses. It's a bit cliche to say it, but there's one there for everyone, really. There's some nice top-end yearlings with big pedigrees, some colts that will suit stallion syndicates, and then there's also some very viable horses that will suit racing syndications.

“There is also something for the trade people and trainers as well. There is something there for everyone in every price bracket.”

One that will appeal to the top end is Lot 420, an I Am Invincible filly out of Group-performed Exceed And Excel mare Key, making the filly a three-quarter-sister to I’m Ya Huckleberry. Key counts four-time Group 1 winner and New Zealand Champion 3YO Filly Princess Coup (Encosta De Lago) as her second dam, tying in a lot of black-type performers close up in her pedigree.

“She’s a beautiful filly, out of a lovely young mare who produced I’m Ya Huckleberry the year before, who is showing lots of promise,” said Wright. When offered at the same sale last year, I’m Ya Huckleberry fetched $400,000 to the bid of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Racing in partnership with Kestrel Thoroughbreds.

“So this is a filly with a lot of quality that hopefully will receive some big pedigree upgrades in the next 12 months.”

From the colts, Wright selects Lot 873, a son of Farnan out of Summer Fun (I Am Invincible) - making him a half-brother to G1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes winner Kimochi (Brave Smash {Jpn}). Summer Fun has had three foals to the track to date, all of whom have been winners, and she has also produced the stakes performer Hole In One (Spieth {NZ}).

“He’s a very well put together, straight forward Farnan colt,” Wright said. “The family's already very well proven that it can produce top-end, elite racehorses. This guy is correct, he's got a great temperament, he is easy to do anything with, and I think he'll be a very nice colt going forward.”

Focus back on Farnan

After the events of Saturday, the spotlight has certainly swung back on Lot 873’s sire, who is currently tied for first in the second season sires’ premiership for individual winners, locking horns with Bivouac for 18 total winners - and over in New Zealand, both have two apiece as well.

The stallion has 24 entries for the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, on par with the 27 offered in last year’s sale. A Farnan half-brother to Warwoven will turn heads in March when he is offered by Blue Gum Farm at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, having sold as a weanling for $65,000 to Ed Stapleton Bloodstock.

Wright admits that it could be claimed that Farnan had somewhat of a “quiet spring” without a headline act, but his ability to keep producing winners - and to have them continue to pop up in the critical pre-sale period - belies a stronger undercurrent of horses coming through.

“He’s had a lovely new stakes horse with Ninja in the Vo Rogue Plate, his fourth Group winner, and he will go into the Magic Millions Guineas as the favourite,” Wright said. “Knightsbridge is a lovely 2-year-old for James Harron that will hopefully go to the Magic Millions after Saturday’s win, and he has North England and King Of Pop going up for Magic Millions campaigns as well.”

$1 million Golden Gift and juvenile Group 3 winner North England (Farnan) has been secured for the Newgate Farm slot for the $3 million Magic Millions Sunlight, and last start Listed Rosebud fourth Nashville Jack (Farnan) has been confirmed for the slot owned by Mulberry Racing. G3 Black Opal Stakes winner King Of Pop has yet to be picked, but there’s still time for the Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou trainee to secure a slot.

Gallery: Farnan progeny confirmed for the $3 million Magic Millions Sunlight, images courtesy of Sportpix

“Johnny is another progressive type, and he has lots of horses coming through the trials right now,” Wright continued. “One or two of his 2-year-olds had setbacks in the spring, so he might not have had that big winner, but days like Saturday show that he can get good winners, and all of his bigger horses are coming back in now.

“I've always learned that patience is a virtue in this industry, and one month doesn't determine a season.”

While Wright shared that Farnan has covered his smallest book to date this past spring, he was still visited by over 150 mares (with some returns still to come to the studbook) and the studbook reports his largest foal crop to date - 132 - born in 2025. The future is bright with over 450 foals on the ground already to build his legacy.

“Numbers do count and they will get him a long way, particularly when you consider how early he is in his stud career,” Wright said. “So he's definitely a stallion to follow. They say that one big weekend can change things - three big weekends in a row proves that you’re a top stallion, and that's what he's heading towards.”