Vantage Hill educated around 160 yearlings this year and among them were approximately half of Extreme Choice’s yearling crop, as well as many of the top priced yearlings through the ring. But price doesn’t matter to Vantage Hill’s Blair Richardson who takes each horse as an individual.
“We have done between 160 and 180 this year. That's quieter than what we used to do. A few years ago, we used to do 250 to 280 a year, but I cut back three years ago. It was too hard,” Blair Richardson said.
“I mainly do for GSA Bloodstock, Yarraman Park, Annabel and Rob Archibald, and Henry Field’s Newgate Farm Colts Syndicates. I did Russian Revolution, and all those good colts, Militarize, although he’s a gelding now.
“It's all the first six months of the year. But we've got quite a good system that works quite well. I try and start ten horses every Monday, and then I pass them on to my son Charlie and another guy Tyler at the end of the week, and I start another ten the next Monday. If you just start ten every week, I find you can get through them.”
Temperament is the key to success
Richardson believes that you can’t pick if a horse will be fast at this stage, saying that he’s had horses who feel good but turn out to be slow. There is one factor that stands out among all the good colts he’s educated over the years.
“You can't tell when they're breaking in how good they’ll be. You can tell nice horses, and I think a good horse is a good horse.
“The best colts we've broken in have all been very, very uncomplicated. Like Proisir who we did, and I talked to Shane Rose who did Capitalist and he said the same thing about him, he just got on with it.
“The best colts we've broken in have all been very, very uncomplicated. Like Proisir who we did, and I talked to Shane Rose who did Capitalist and he said the same thing about him, he just got on with it.” - Blair Richardson
“Look at Giga Kick. I thought he was just a nice easy horse. I wouldn't have picked that he would have gone on and won so much. But he had the right attitude and was a very uncomplicated horse to break in.”
Blair Richardson | Image courtesy of Vantage Hill
Giga Kick (Scissor Kick) is a rising 7-year-old gelding who has won nine races and over $15 million.
“It's amazing, Giga Kick is still going. It's good for the racing industry, seeing an older horse out there still going. He’s had so many injuries, and he just keeps coming back, but he's got the will to want to put in 150%, and I think that goes a long way.”
Richardson is more forgiving of the fillies if they have a little bit of spice about them.
“A long time ago we had a filly called Sea Siren. She wasn't the easiest of horses to break in.”
Giga Kick | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Sea Siren (Fastnet Rock) won seven of her 19 starts with three wins at Group 1 level. As a broodmare, she’s produced Group 1 winner Warm Heart (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Warm Heart’s Listed winning full brother Bremen (Ire).
“If there's a filly with a little bit of spice or attitude with her, as long as it's the right type in the right direction, I think that gives them a bit of a winning edge and they can take on the colts in a race too.
“I had one out of a mare called Abscond, and I broke in Abscond too. I’ve just sent this one to Chris Waller. Now I’m seeing the progeny of horses I broke in, and I think ‘Oh you’re just like your mother’.”
Sea Siren | Image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Unraced Abscond (Galileo {Ire}) is the dam of Group 1 winner Invincibella (I Am Invincible), Group 3 winner Secret Blaze (Sizzling) and Listed winner Extreme Flight (Extreme Choice). Her current rising 2-year-old is a full sister to Invincibella.
Richardson likes Anamoe and In The Congo
Of the upcoming cohort of first season sires for next season, there were two stallions that Richardson had several yearlings by whose stock stood out temperament-wise.
“Anamoe, his progeny have been nice to work with both the colts and fillies. I haven't found them tricky. They have gone through the motions very well. Annabel and Rob have been positive about them. He was such an amazing racehorse himself. They've been nice horses to deal with.
“In The Congo, I've done a few of those for Henry. I broke in In The Congo and he was such a lovely temperament of a horse to break in, and his progeny had been the same as him.
“One we did for Gai Waterhouse. She bought him at Magic Millions and he was a great type. I can see why Gai bought him because he had the temperament to go early. I reckon he’s with the right trainer to get it to go early and he physically looked nice and strong.
“They've all had a nice temperament, just like their old man.”
In The Congo | Image courtesy of Newgate Farm
The In The Congo colt from Stolen Jade (So You Think {NZ}) cost Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds $625,000 from Newgate Farm’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft. Stolen Jade won six races, two in the city, and this is her first foal. The colt’s third dam is the tough 12-race winner, including two wins Group 2 level, Magic Music (Loosen Up {USA}) who also placed in the G1 Lightning Stakes and G1 Oakleigh Plate.
Among the proven ranks, it’s I Am Invincible, Zoustar and Extreme Choice who continue to stand out.
“I’ve done a lot of Vinnies for Harry and Arthur Mitchell at Yarraman over the years and they all benefit from a second go around. Some of them can get hot and some of the fillies, if you rush them into a trainer too early, it can have a more of a negative effect, whereas if you just give them a little bit more time early on, they benefit so much more.
“I’ve done a lot of Vinnies for Harry and Arthur Mitchell at Yarraman over the years and they all benefit from a second go around... if you just give them a little bit more time early on, they benefit so much more.” - Blair Richardson
“He’s a champion sire, and that's where the Mitchells are amazing. They're happy to give them a bit of time and they work at good communication between myself and Harry and Matt Scown. They’re happy to do what’s best for the horse and then they get the results.
“I’ve got the Zoustar filly here from Summer Sham that Dean Hawthorne bought at Easter. She’s about to go to Graham Begg. (Dean) is another who gives his horses a bit more time. She came from the sales and spelled, then went into breaking and had another break.”
I Am Invincible | Standing at Yarraman Park
The $1.8 million full sister to G1 William Reid Stakes winner Schwarz went through Widden Stud’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
“I’m lucky. I have a lot of expensive horses in my barn. In May, when they were going into the paddocks, some of my staff are adding them up. I said, ‘Don't even tell me what the value is. The horse doesn’t know their price tag.’
“I don't worry about that.
“One of my boys was adding up the number of Extreme Choices who were sold and the number who ended up here and he said, ‘Half of the Extreme Choices in the whole country are here.’
“One of my boys was adding up the number of Extreme Choices who were sold and the number who ended up here and he said, ‘Half of the Extreme Choices in the whole country are here.’” - Blair Richardson
“This was half the reason why I wanted to cut back. I’ve been in it a long time, and now my son is in it, and I want to put 150% into each horse. We've got some really good clients that I enjoy working with. And it's nice to do less.”
Extreme Choice had 44 foals in his 2024 crop and of those, 28 were sold at the sales in 2026 for an average of $858,000.
Extreme Choice | Standing at Newgate Farm
“Henry Field is very good. He comes out and watches his horses and when he's trying to decide on which trainers to send them to, he’s always looking at his horses and keeping a finger on the pulse. It’s a sign of being successful too, because they're not just getting these horses done and letting them wander everywhere. They’re working out programs.
“Annabel is the same, very involved with her finger on the pulse.”
Moving into a mentoring role
Richardson and his wife Nikki both come from an equestrian background. Nikki has competed at the Atlanta Olympic Games, Richardson has represented New Zealand at Trans-Tasman level and son Charlie is competing up to 4 star level.
But as he gets older, Richardson is passing the baton over to the younger riders.
“This has been my first year that I haven't hopped on a thoroughbred. Charlie has been here for three years and Tyler too, and I’m more than happy to pass over to them,” Richardson said.
Nikki Richardson | Image courtesy of Vantage Hill
“Tim, who works for me, he's in his late 40s too and he's more than happy not to ride them. It’s a young man’s game. Tim and I are more than happy to start them all and assess them and drive them and get the gear on and then give the boys a pony, but their reflexes are much quicker, they're sharper than us now.
“Tim and I are more than happy to start them all and assess them and drive them and get the gear on and then give the boys a pony, but their reflexes are much quicker, they're sharper than us now.” - Blair Richardson
“I've got three equestrian girls that work for us and they ride the pre-trainers, but they jump on some and put them in the gates to help out. We are helping them with their riding, but they work in our business. It's so beneficial for them. They learn so much with these horses who turn up out of the sale.
“We love it. The last few years I would hop on and show them what to do and I don't feel the urge to do that at all now. I still ride my own equestrian horses and jumping but not these sharp thoroughbreds.”
But mentoring his own staff isn’t enough with Richardson concerned about the future of young racehorse education across the whole industry.
Vantage Hill staff | Image courtesy of Vantage Hill
“There's no real keen young people that want to become a horse breaker. They can earn good money working for someone and then setting up their own. There is definitely an opening. I talk to a lot of the other horse breakers and we're all slowing down and there's a not a lot of new places popping up and new people coming through.
“A lot of us are wondering about the next generation.
“I do a demonstration for Godolphin’s Flying Start where they come out here and I walk them through the process of what we do. Everything, the system, and the people, the dynamics have got to be right.
“I do a demonstration for Godolphin’s Flying Start where they come out here and I walk them through the process of what we do.” - Blair Robertson
“Sometimes I feel not only are you a horse breaker, but you're a counsellor.
“We have a routine and a system, but you have to tailor your system to the individual horse. If you pick up on a horse that is sensitive in the gates really early on, you can take a slightly different path to the ones that don't mind it.
“You have to get that right, otherwise they won't have a racehorse in a year's time.”
