'We want to be a part of their story too': Lovatsville's 2026 fees a part of a 20-year plan

Cover image courtesy of Lovatsville

The theme of the 2026 season at Lovatsville is meeting the market, and director Sam White has built the roster around affordability, without compromising on the quality of what he offers. The Northwood-based operation will stand six stallions in 2026 with fees that range from $5500 to $16,500 (inc GST).

Table: Lovatsville's 2026 stallion service fees, including GST

The blueprint for success

The plan for Lovatsville is long-term, and White understands that those sorts of plans do not come to fruition overnight. The Lovatsville team has doubled down in 2026 on their commitment to ensuring not only the long-term success of their own horses, but of their clients’ horses as well.

“The main thing about being on this path is that we're doing the right thing by the people we're dealing with,” White said. “We are trying to price our horses really sensibly in the market. We're trying to hear the concerns of the breeders that are out there and we believe we're acting accordingly.

“We're taking a 20-year view on things, not a two-year view. I know that standing a lower-priced horse within the market can be difficult, but if it's the right model with the right ingredients and you have the right group behind it, it works.

“And it doesn't just work occasionally. It's actually been the blueprint for success of Australian breeding and racing over the last few years - it's evident through the success of horses like I Am Invincible, Written Tycoon, Not A Single Doubt.”

Move To Strike, who enters his second season in 2026, is a son of the first of that trio, and White is of the belief that the juvenile Group 1 winner has been given the right blueprint to echo his father’s rise to fame.

“I know I Am Invincible was always quick, but it is easy for everyone to say that now that he is a successful sire,” he said. “It really is hats off to the Mitchells for creating that horse. Those are the kinds of horses that we are trying to identify for Lovatsville.”

A great coup for Victoria

Lovatsville announced the acquisition of dual Group 3-winning juvenile Espionage back in March, with White describing it as “a great coup” both for the farm’s burgeoning stallion roster and for the Victorian breeding population. He will debut at a fee of $11,000 (inc GST).

“We feel like we're identifying the right horses for the market, and the shareholders we've been able to introduce into a horse like Espionage gives us great belief that we're on the right path,” White said.

Coolmore Stud have retained an interest in the son of Zoustar as he begins his next chapter.

“Coolmore’s continued backing underlines his credentials in this market,” said White.

“It shows the value of pedigree. He was always an exceptional type - he made a million dollars as a yearling when bought by James Harron, and Coolmore bought into him for a multi-million dollar figure. Those two organisations value quality, they value precocity, and they value pedigree.”

Trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Espionage will be the third sire son of Zoustar to kick off his career in Victoria, after the arrival of Schwarz and Growing Empire in 2025. Having won the G3 Breeders’ Plate in 2023, he was the quickest off of the mark of all three.

“The ability of Zoustar to produce a horse like Espionage to win a Breeders Plate speaks to the pedigree behind this horse,” White said.

“He’s out of a high quality Street Cry mare, and we all know how good Street Cry is as a broodmare sire. He’s a grandson of a Magic Millions winner, and his dam is a half-sister to the dam of Campione D’Italia. The pedigree has just Australian colonial speed littered all the way through it.

“I love looking at his pedigree to see how current it is, to see how active it is, to see how fast and precocious it is. Because that’s what he was himself. That is precisely why we were so keen to jump on a horse like Espionage - he’s by Zoustar out of a Street Cry mare, out of a high-performing General Nediym mare, out of a Flying Spur mare. We have all seen how important and current the Flying Spur factor is with Home Affairs.”

In a market hellbent on breeding a type that turns into a fast racehorse, Espionage has all of the ingredients that White desired when he set out to add another stallion to the roster.

The roster revelation

G1 Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes winner Move To Strike will retain his $16,500 (inc GST) fee in his second season at Lovatsville, after covering 143 mares in his debut season.

“Move To Strike was a revelation for us last season,” White said. “We take great heart that we've been able to launch a stallion like Move To Strike, a Kiwi horse without a strong Australian narrative outside of his pedigree, and for him to end up covering 143 mares.

“We're very fortunate that we have a very strong shareholder group behind him, and he was well supported in a competitive market, with breeders impressed by his physique, his juvenile form, and his brilliant pedigree.”

Move To Strike’s first foals will arrive this spring, and White is certain that they will deliver on the confidence he placed in their sire by standing him on the roster.

“He’s deep, dark, strong, and has a fantastic temperament,” he said. “He’s got the head, hip and girth we expect to see as dominant attributes in his foals, and for all that his sireline has achieved in the past 12 months, he looks like a free lick of the ice cream at $16,500.”

Support in the right places

The other four stallions on the Lovatsville roster will take slight reductions in their fees as White aims to ensure they continue to receive support as in the critical early stages of their careers.

“We're very understanding and realistic of where the industry is at, the stage of our business within the industry, and we respect what's come before us,” White noted.

Young proven sires Fierce Impact (Jpn) and Royal Meeting (Ire) will both stand at $8800 (inc GST), down from $13,750 and $22,000 (both inc GST) respectively. Fierce Impact’s first crop are currently 3-year-olds and feature among their number four stakes performers, including G2 Tulloch Stakes runner-up Eureka Rebel and G3 WATC Champion Fillies Stakes placegetter Fine Star. As his first crop comes into their own, they now have a strike rate of 26.5%.

“The Deep Impact sireline improves with age, time and distance, which is exactly what Fierce Impact did himself,” White said. “We continue to receive positive feedback from trainers who have his stock in their yards, and we look forward to seeing the sireline demonstrate its class in this part of the world, led by Sheza Alibi.”

Royal Meeting’s first crop are now 4-year-olds, a crop that has produced G1 Blue Diamond Stakes victress Hayasugi and multiple metropolitan winners Royal Lass, Royal Majesty, and King Lotus. His current weanlings are the product of his largest book to date.

“Royal Meeting covered 129 quality mares in 2024, so he has great strength coming through,” said White “You’re able to access a Group 1-producing sire, with a trade profile, at a very attractive fee.”

Generation and Gold Trip (Fr) will both be represented by their first weanlings at this year’s sales. A dual Group 3-winning son of Snitzel, Generation will stand in 2026 for $6600 (inc GST) down from $11,000 (inc GST). G1 Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip will stand for $5500 (inc GST), down from $8800 (inc GST).

“One of our initiatives this season is an additional 25% discount on Generation’s fee for any Written Tycoon-line mares that visit him,” said White. “It’s an exceptional cross, and one we’d like to exploit.”

Producing the type to succeed

All of the horses on the Lovatsville roster were selected with a key goal in mind, and that is to produce a type that can sell.

“For people to make money, they need to produce a type,” White said. “For people to be able to race horses or buy them to train, they want to see a story that they can believe in.”

For that to happen, White understands it is a two-way street for breeders, and is prepared to bridge the gap between them and the stud in order to forge the kind of relationships that will bring his 20-year plan to fruition.

“We're all trying to breed horses that have a chance to succeed,” he said. “That's all we're trying to do. That's all we're trying to provide. We want to ensure that people out there know that we're open for business, that we are hearing what they've got to say, that we want to be a part of their story too.”

It is not a simple matter of putting any mare to any stallion and hoping that the results will bear fruit.

“We want to go deeper,” White said. “We want to understand what the mare's like. Does she physically suit the stallion? Does the pedigree make sense? Is it the best opportunity for that mare? Is there another way we can help? Do you want us to come and inspect your stock before organising the mating plans? We can do that.

“Do you want to call up and we'll go through, line by line, the merits of your mare against each of our stallions? We'll do that. You might not decide to use us this year, but you might next year, or the year after that. It’s not about immediate gratification - that's a one way relationship. That's us expecting something from you, and how do we expect to get ahead and build something meaningful together if we're only taking a short term view on things?

“Let's do this together. Let’s breed smarter, breed better, and protect each other so that we can all enjoy the success in the future.”