Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

As Coolmore Stud prepares for the 2026 breeding season, their roster looks a little different from last year. A new flagship has emerged for the organisation with Home Affairs, who enjoyed an incredibly strong run with his first 2-year-olds, and gun New Zealand stallion Super Seth has joined the roster in Jerry’s Plains.

With several promising young stallions welcoming their first foals and preparing to see their first yearlings at auction, it has been an exciting period matching up the bluechip members of the Coolmore broodmare band.

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A Super edition to the roster

Multiple Group 1-producing stallion Super Seth joins the Coolmore Stud roster in 2026 and it is little surprise to discover that his first Australian book will be loaded with some of the organisation’s finest young mares to kick off the next chapter of his career.

“Super Seth is a hugely exciting addition to our roster for this season and we will be supporting with mares of the highest quality,” Moore said. “When paired with the Australian pool of mares, we think he is capable of producing the types of horses that can compete in all the Grand Final races for two and 3-year-olds in Australia.”

Four of Super Seth’s 10 stakes winners are Group 1 winners, and he produced four stakes winners during the 2025/26 season, including G3 Rough Habit Plate winner Kilman (NZ) and La Dorada (NZ) returning to form in the G2 Levin Classic. He also achieved his highest sales price to date this year when Andrew Williams Bloodstock (FBAA) bought a filly of his from Wentwood Grange’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale draft for $950,000.

The diversity of mares he has achieved these results with have given him plenty of options with Coolmore’s band.

“He’s produced Guineas winners in Australia out of mares by Oasis Dream and O’Reilly, and a Champion 2YO out of a Savabeel mare. When we send him the likes of Amelia’s Jewel, Climbing Star, Coolangatta, and Tiggy Wiggy it will be interesting to see what he is capable of.”

West Australian star Amelia’s Jewel (Siyouni {Fr}) won the G1 Northerly Stakes amongst eight Group victories and 10 stakes wins altogether. She was a $3.8 million Inglis Chairman’s Sale purchase for Tom Magnier last year and was sent to Wootton Bassett (GB) for her maiden season.

Magnier purchased G1 Robert Sangster Stakes winner Climbing Star (NZ) (Zoustar) the same year at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale for $2.1 million, before sending her to I Am Invincible for her first season. Dual Group 1-winning sprinter Coolangatta (Written Tycoon) delivered a Snitzel colt in 2025 before visiting City Of Troy (USA).

European Champion 2YO Filly and G1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Tiggy Wiggy (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) is the most established of the group, with two stakes performers to her credit already. Her first foal Year Of The Tiger (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was third in the G1 Futurity Trophy and fourth in the G1 Dewhurst Stakes, while her current 3-year-old Central Europe (Frankel {GB}) was runner-up in both the G2 Skyline Stakes and G3 Pago Pago Stakes last season.

Tiggy Wiggy is a half-sister to the dam of Wootton Bassett’s G1 Prix de la Foret winner Maranoa Charlie (Fr), who joined the roster of Tally Ho Stud this year. She delivered a Wootton Bassett filly in 2025 before visiting City Of Troy.

“We have also accumulated a number of high-class I Am Invincible mares in recent years and they can’t go to Home Affairs, so Estriella and Tiz Invincible are young mares who will get their opportunity with Super Seth this season,” Moore said.

Estriella (I Am Invincible) and Tiz Invincible (I Am Invincible) were both $2.8 million purchases at the 2025 Chairman’s Sale, and will patronise Jerry’s Plains’ super recruit early in their breeding careers. Estriella will visit him having missed in 2025, while Tiz Invincible awaits her first foal by Wootton Bassett later in August.

Replicating what works for a champion

Home Affairs has the kind of beginning to his stud career that most stallion owners dream about. The son of I Am Invincible finished his first season with runners as the Champion First Season Sire in both Australia and New Zealand, and challenged the late Snitzel down to the wire for the Champion 2YO Sire honours. His domestic prize money of $4,969,325 exceeded the first crop record set by Too Darn Hot (GB) in 2023/24.

He joined an elite bracket of stallions in siring a G1 Golden Slipper Stakes winner in his first crop with Guest House, who will join him on the Coolmore roster at the close of his racing career, plus three other stakes winners and a total of 20 winners on either side of the Tasman. As such, his fee rises to $176,000 (inc GST) in 2026.

“Not many stallions start off at stud in the manner that Home Affairs has,” said Coolmore’s Marketing And Nominations Tom Moore. “He has emulated Danehill and Extreme Choice by producing a Golden Slipper-winning colt from his first crop and his progeny earned more prize money than any first crop sire in history.

“He is a stallion that looks like he will only continue to get better as his progeny get older and we will be using him heavily this season.”

Flamboyant Lass (Stratum), dam of Guest House, is top of the billing to go to Home Affairs this season. She was offered by Newgate Consignment at this year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale in foal to Storm Boy, and Tom Magnier landed the winning bid at $800,000.

“It didn’t take a lot of time to come up with a mating for Flamboyant Lass, the dam of Home Affairs’ Golden Slipper winner Guest House,” Moore said. “She was bought with the intention of being married to him for the foreseeable future.

"Amongst the other highlight mares due to visit Home Affairs are Learning To Fly, Nimalee and Zougotcha, each of whom are young mares with deep pedigrees and elite performance, capable of producing anything.”

Three-time Group 1 winner Zougotcha (Zoustar) was added to the Coolmore broodmare band in 2025, when she was a $5.25 million sale-topper at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale. She visited I Am Invincible in her maiden season at stud.

The first foal of G1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes winner Nimalee (So You Think {NZ}), a colt by Snitzel, was popular at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale this year when selling to Avenue Bloodstock for $1.1 million. She has a colt by Wootton Bassett to head to the sales in 2027 and is currently in foal to Home Affairs with a due date in mid September.

Dual Group winner and Group 1-placed Learning To Fly (Justify {USA}) will welcome her first foal in 2026, also by Wootton Bassett.

First foal anticipation for City Of Troy and Switzerland

For two of the younger members of the roster, the anticipation has built waiting for their first crop of foals to appear. Champion racehorse City Of Troy has returned to the Southern Hemisphere, where he served a book of 158 mares in 2025, to join G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Switzerland, who covered a book of 195.

“City Of Troy is a stallion we took a strong position in last season and we’re eagerly awaiting his first foals,” Moore said. “He was an incredible racehorse who was the best of his generation as a 2-year-old and a World Champion at three.

“Being by Justify out of a Galileo mare, we think he is absolutely nailed-on for Fastnet Rock mares, and thankfully we have a significant number of them. A couple of our Fastnet Rock mares that are down to go to him are Ennis Hill and Amicus.”

G3 Chairman’s Stakes winner Ennis Hill (Fastnet Rock) hails from one of Coolmore’s most prolific families, being a daughter of G2 Reisling Stakes winner Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}) and a full sister to Listed-winning Lake Geneva and Coolmore sire Acrobat. She is also the dam of Learning To Fly.

Ciaron Maher Bloodstock and Linda Shanahan outlaid $1.3 million to secure her Justify (USA) filly at this year’s Easter sale and she traveled to the States in 2025 to revisit the stallion.

“Ennis Hill is in foal to Justify to produce a full sibling to Learning To Fly, who was arguably the best filly of her generation at two,” Moore said. This mating would produce a three-quarter-sibling to Learning To Fly and her sister who sold for $1,300,000 to Ciaron Maher at Easter this year.

“Amicus was a high-class Group 1 winning Fastnet Rock mare and has produced two Group winners by Galileo, so we think she is a perfect candidate for City Of Troy.”

G1 One Thousand Guineas victress Amicus (Fastnet Rock), whose dam is a half to successful dual hemisphere sire Starspangledbanner, produced G2 Moonee Valley Gold Cup winner and G1 Melbourne Cup third Okita Soushi (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) as her first foal. G3 Gallinule Stakes winner Chief Little Rock (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is her second to race and has been a multiple placegetter at stakes level on top of his win.

“We raced Switzerland and know how good he was,” said Moore. The Coolmore team also race his full brother St Gotthard (Snitzel), winner of the G3 Ken Russell Memorial Classic in his first preparation, and purchased another full brother for $2 million at Easter this year.

“He was an elite 2-year-old and even better at three, just like Home Affairs, who also won the Coolmore Stud Stakes in similar fashion. We’re looking forward to welcoming a number of foals by him here at Coolmore this season and we’re eager to get behind him again.”

Two notable names in Switzerland’s second book are Diamondsareforever (Ire) (Justify {USA}), a juvenile winning daughter of G1 Pretty Polly Stakes victress Diamondsandrubies (Ire) (Fastnet Rock), and $1.15 million broodmare purchase Fashion Faux Pas (USA) (Flatter {USA}).

“From a physical standpoint, we think he is a relatively straightforward horse to breed to, as a medium-sized, robust, correct horse with loads of quality and very good limbs,” Moore said. “We think he will tidy up Diamondsareforever who is an impeccably-bred daughter of Justify, out of Irish Group 1 winner Diamondsandrubies.

“Her first foal was a very good Frankel and we sent her to Switzerland because we felt they were a compatible match on both type and pedigree, as she is a big, scopey mare. She’s booked to go back to him.”

Diamondsareforever hails from the family of multiple Group-winning sire Eminent (Ire) and descends from Alruccaba (Ire) (Crystal Palace {Fr}), the ancestress of triple Group 1-winning mare Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and G2 Sandown Guineas winner Snitzanova (Snitzel).

“Fashion Faux Pas produced a $1,100,000 Extreme Choice yearling this year and is the dam of Nations League, who is well-regarded in Chris Waller’s stable so we wanted to stick with the Snitzel line with her. She’s expecting a Shinzo this season but we’re keen to give her a go with Switzerland. She was a fast mare with a high-class American pedigree, just like Switzerland.”

Nations League (Snitzel) was a $1.7 million yearling himself and was placed close behind subsequent Group 1 placegetter Stormy Marco (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the autumn. Fashion Faux Pas will have a filly from the last crop of Snitzel heading to the sales in 2027.

Big backing in Shinzo’s third season

G1 Golden Slipper Stakes winner Shinzo welcomed his first foals in 2025 and proved as popular as anticipated at the weanling sales earlier this year, concluding the sales season as the leading first season sire by average of $138,636 and a top lot of $600,000.

Noorilim Park offered the filly, who is a half-sister to G3 Blue Diamond Preview (fillies) winner Miss Roseiano (Exceed And Excel), at the Inglis Australian Weanling Sale, where she was bought by SP Bloodstock.

In acknowledgement of Shinzo entering his tricky third season, Coolmore have stacked the odds in the stallion’s favour and have given him another book full of quality. One such mare visiting him in 2026 is dual Listed winner and Group-performed Lady Of Honour (No Nay Never {USA}).

“Lady Of Honour was a talented race mare and her first foal was an outstanding Wootton Bassett filly that sold at Easter this year to Ozzie Kheir and Matt Becker,” Moore said. The filly made $510,000.

“She was stunning, and her Shinzo colt going to the sales next year is equally as good, if not better. He’s such a nice colt that we must send her back.

“Shinzo is a horse that we feel we need to have exposure to this season in his third season given the quality of his stock. We did it with Home Affairs in his subsequent third season and that’s why we have a significant number of Home Affairs yearlings to sell next year, so we’re backing Shinzo in a similar way this season.”

Table: Mating schedule for some of Coolmore Stud's broodmares

Cover image courtesy of Cornerstone Stud

The close of Wednesday’s Inglis Digital sale will signal the end of a chapter at South Australia’s Cornerstone Stud, who are dispersing their entire breeding portfolio through the platform. The decision hasn’t been spur of the moment for John Frankhuisen and General Manager Sam Pritchard-Gordon, who disclosed that the decision had been 12 months in the making.

The operation will close its doors after the sale, calling time on over 60 years of racing and breeding history at the site.

A calculated decision

Located on the original Lindsay Park site in Angaston, Cornerstone had long been cultivated by Sam Hayes, grandson of Colin Hayes, since 2005 and the stud officially took the Cornerstone moniker in 2011. It had been in the hands of the Hayes family since Colin Hayes purchased the site 1965 and a number of well known names had graced the stallion barn over the years, including Scenic (Ire), Without Fear (Fr), Godswalk (USA), Bluebird (USA), and more recently Sir Prancealot (Ire), Good Journey (USA), and Valentia.

Despite the rich history of horses on the property, the reality in the modern day has not been so prosperous. The struggle of keeping a stallion farm afloat in South Australia, with local stallion and mare numbers continuing to dwindle, took its toll on Sam Hayes, who sold out of the operation in mid 2023 to long-time business partner Frankhuisen.

Pritchard-Gordon remained as manager, as well as taking on half ownership of the farm itself. The duo pivoted the operation away from stallions and towards what was commercially viable; a smaller broodmare band of high quality mares, agisted clients, and pinhooking weanlings to produce higher results in a shorter period of time.

While they have had plenty of successes in the years since, it has become apparent to both Frankhuisen and Pritchard-Gordon that continuing was not going to be an option.

“Twelve months ago, John said, ‘Sam, I’m just nervous about putting more money into the business’,” Pritchard-Gordon said. “He said, ‘if you could find someone who’d be willing to take on the responsibility and carry the farm through then you’d have my blessing’.”

With no takers for the business since that conversation, Pritchard-Gordon and Frankhuisen discussed their options and came to the decision that their best option would be to wind up operations.

“It’s not easy in a contracting environment, and that’s not just South Australia, that is the breeding industry as a whole. Being on the periphery of that, and carrying a lot of hereditary debt made it a very difficult task.”

Chicken or the egg

The pivot away from stallions in 2023 had been a conscious choice when being realistic about the South Australian landscape. The last decade has seen a marked contraction in the number of stallions nationwide, particularly those serving smaller books, and the state’s stallion population has dwindled from 29 in 2017 to just eight in 2025, with only five currently confirmed to be standing in 2026.

Just 86 mares were covered by those eight in 2025, versus 290 covered by 16 stallions in 2021. There were 211 foals born in the state last year, almost half the 391 born in South Australia in 2021.

“Without stallions in the state, the broodmare population isn’t exactly blossoming,” Pritchard-Gordon said. “It’s just ageing. And there is no one replenishing the stallions, in part because there are no mares to visit them. It’s a chicken or the egg situation.

“I personally feel like the South Australian racing industry has done a really good job in the last four or five years to improve themselves. They have certainly hit the bottom of the bell curve and are now rising. It's well managed, the prize money is improving, but it’s probably arrived too late to give the South Australian breeders a commercial stallion to consider utilising.

“At the same time, the industry is becoming increasingly ‘big business’ minded, and if you aren’t a part of those big businesses, then there really isn’t much room to thrive, or even survive.”

Carving out their own niche in the southernmost mainland state, Cornerstone has still enjoyed plenty of high points over the last four years, including selling G2 Queen Of The South winner Caste (Sir Prancelot {Ire}) for clients at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale in 2021, then selling her as a broodmare in 2025 for $255,000.

The Speed Machine (Hanseatic) has been one of his sire’s highlights last racing season, winning his first two starts as a 2-year-old, and the operation also saw graduate Shiki (Too Darn Hot {GB}) strike in the G3 Gimcrack Stakes last spring.

“Selling horses, good horses, has always been a high point,” said Pritchard-Gordon.

The latest highlight came just last Saturday, when Cornerstone-bred Sir Now (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) rose to the occasion to claim the G3 Behemoth Stakes.

Commercial decision making

Hence the turn to sourcing stallions out of state and purchasing weanlings to pinhook. In 2021, a group of Cornerstone clients invested in four European mares to send to Frankel (GB), yielding $925,000 in 2023 for a colt weanling and $725,000 for a yearling colt. The following year, a yearling filly made $400,000.

Proven sires Toronado (Ire), Wootton Bassett (GB), Ole Kirk, and The Autumn Sun have delivered some of their other greatest success since Hayes’ exit; in 2023, they sold a $420,000 Toronado colt at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and, in 2025, Tom Magnier paid $420,000 for a Wootton Bassett weanling colt they presented at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale.

From the same draft, Riverstone Lodge, Bevan Smith Bloodstock, and Suman Hedge Bloodstock (FBAA) paid $200,000 for an Ole Kirk filly out of Jest Excel (Exceed And Excel), who Cornerstone is offering as a dry mare this week.

“It's been a conscious decision by the stud for the last four years since John's taken over to try and create stock that is commercially well received,” Pritchard-Gordon said. “The balancing act has been to choose stallions that sales companies want, but also not be one of 200.”

With that in mind, the mares selling this week are in foal to the likes of Vandeek (GB), Starlust (GB), Schwarz, Celestial Legend, Henry Longfellow (Ire), and Storm Boy, all whom await their first crop of foals this spring. Likewise, the yearlings on offer are by Bivouac, Maurice (Jpn), Diatonic (Jpn), and Lofty Strike.

Nevertheless, Pritchard-Gordon understands that this is no guarantee of success.

“It is just part and parcel of running a commercial operation,” he said. “The business isn't folding up because we've made poor commercial decisions. The business is folding up because we started off with a large hereditary debt and it was hard to generate consistent cash flow without a growing adjacent component to the business.”

When competing against the studs situated closer to the major sales and when it costs more to send your mares further to reach the stallions you want to use, the margins become slimmer and slimmer. With the market also increasingly particular about what they want, it has been simply “getting more and more difficult to land one into the bullseye”.

A proven source for stars

Past Lindsay Park dispersals have provided some rich pickings for those that have taken notice of them, and there is a hope that the potential can be recognised yet again in this week’s draft.

At a Lindsay Park dispersal in 2002, Peter Devitt and Les Gordon bought out the other ownership in Nicola Lass (Scenic {Ire}) and sent her to Bianconi (USA) in 2004, producing now-Widden Victoria resident Nicconi.

In the same sale, Alistair McFarlane bought Gift Bouquet (King's High) in foal to Jeune (GB). The resultant foal was G3 Adelaide Guineas and five-time Listed winner Blahnik. Gift Bouquet would also produce Listed Cinderella Stakes winner Elysees (Statue Of Liberty {USA}) for McFarlane, but she saved the best for last with The Inevitable (Dundeel {NZ}), who won 12 stakes races topped - fittingly, given his heritage - by the G3 CS Hayes Stakes.

McFarlane had also bought Beat The Bullet (Bite The Bullet {USA}) from a Lindsay Park dispersal two years prior in 2000 - a mare that would also produce him three stakes winners, highlighted by G1 VRC Oaks and G1 Arrowfield Stud Stakes victress Hollow Bullet (Tayasu Tsuyoshi {Jpn}). On the same day that Hollow Bullet struck in the Oaks, her half-sister Red Hot Mama (General Nediym) won the Listed Myer Stakes.

Beat The Bullet also hit the board with her last foal, Last Bullet (High Chaparral {Ire}), who won the G3 SAJC Breeders' Stakes almost 10 years after his sisters’ stakes double.

The 2002 dispersal was a particularly fruitful one, as John Singleton was able to purchase Biscay Bird (Bluebird {USA}), in foal to Danehill (USA), for $850,000. Already the dam of four-time Group 1 winner Universal Prince, she produced Universal Queen (NZ) (Scenic {Ire}) in 2003, whose four stakes wins were highlighted by the G1 Robert Sangster Stakes.

The aforementioned Jest Excel stands out as the horse who could repeat the pattern. Cornerstone sold her Too Darn Hot (GB) weanling filly in 2024 to Riverstone Lodge and Hedge, who reoffered her as a yearling to Kurrinda Bloodstock. Named Shiki, her Gimcrack win put her dam’s name up in lights. Her Ole Kirk half-sister made $380,000 at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. Jest Excel was not served after foaling a filly by Artorius in late November.

While Pritchard-Gordon hopes the same potential rests in this week’s Cornerstone dispersal, he is most concentrated on ensuring that the end of this chapter is a smooth one.

“The modus operandi is to get this tied up as well as I can do, and the nice thing is that John’s going to honour all creditors,” he said. “We have a commercial agreement with the farm and we will make plans on what happens with it after the sale.

“Hopefully these horses sell well, and it allows us to tidy up the business and put a permanent full stop at the end of it all. We have done as good a job as we can.”

The NSW Legislative Council Privileges Committee has delivered a significant rebuke of Racing NSW, finding the regulator likely would not have pursued Mark Latham over an altercation at Rosehill Gardens had he not been a prominent parliamentary critic of the organisation.

In an interim report released on Tuesday, the committee said that, despite Racing NSW’s “adamant denials”, its present view was that the investigation and subsequent charges were “retaliatory in motivation”.

“After carefully and diligently considering the matter and taking into account Racing NSW’s adamant denials,” the report said, “the committee is currently simply left on balance with the view that the proceedings would not have been instituted against Mr Latham for this relatively trivial matter if he had not been a vociferous parliamentary critic of Racing NSW.”

It stopped short of making a formal finding of contempt of Parliament, saying that decision should await the determination of former Federal Court judge Steven Rares KC, who was appointed by Racing NSW as the independent adjudicator of the charges against Latham.

The committee said Rares was better placed to make findings on factual matters surrounding the proceedings and has asked him to consider its conclusions about why the investigation was commenced.

“If the committee were to be conclusively satisfied that Racing NSW’s actions were entirely retaliatory or intimidatory in intent, then Racing NSW would undoubtedly be held by the committee to be in contempt of Parliament.”

TTR AusNZ has approached Racing NSW and Australian Turf Club chief executive Steve McMahon for comment.

Altercation sparked two investigations

The matter dates back to April 1, 2025, when Latham and McMahon, then the ATC’s Head of Membership and Corporate Affairs, were involved in a verbal altercation at Rosehill Gardens.

The precise nature of the exchange has been disputed.

Latham has acknowledged swearing at McMahon and apologised for doing so, while McMahon has described the incident in stronger terms, saying he was verbally abused and intimidated.

The ATC investigated and banned Latham from its venues for 12 months.

Racing NSW subsequently began its own investigation after becoming aware of the incident through media reports, despite McMahon not lodging a complaint with the regulator.

Three days after the incident, Racing NSW issued Latham with a notice of investigation. He was later charged over his conduct towards McMahon and separately over his refusal to attend an interview with Racing NSW’s investigator.

Racing NSW has consistently rejected Latham’s claim that its actions were politically motivated, arguing that, as a registered racehorse owner, he was bound by the Australian Rules of Racing and subject to the regulator’s jurisdiction.

Committee questions why matter was pursued

The committee did not find fault with the way Racing NSW conducted the investigation once it had commenced.

It found no evidence of impropriety in the appointment of Rares and acknowledged steps taken by Racing NSW to establish an independent process, its concern centred on the earlier decision to launch the investigation at all.

The committee described the underlying conduct as “relatively trivial”, pointing to the absence of violence or physical danger and noting that the matter had already been investigated and sanctioned by the ATC.

Racing NSW provided previous disciplinary cases in an effort to show that it had acted against participants for improper behaviour in other circumstances.

The committee, however, found none directly comparable.

It noted Latham was a minor owner rather than a licensed professional participant, there had been no complaint to Racing NSW, no physical aggression was alleged, the ATC had already dealt with the incident and Latham was not accused of obstructing an existing Racing NSW investigation.

The report said that if similar conduct routinely prompted Racing NSW investigations, it would have expected the regulator to produce a greater number of comparable examples.

The report also considered Latham’s allegations that other prominent opponents of the proposed Rosehill sale had faced retaliatory action from Racing NSW, including trainer Gai Waterhouse, Save Rosehill campaigner Julia Ritchie, TTR AusNZ owner Vicky Leonard and members of the ATC board who opposed the sale.

While the committee did not investigate those allegations because they fell outside its terms of reference, it said they were relevant to Latham’s argument about Racing NSW’s motivation and found “there is a prima facie case, on the face of these allegations, that Racing NSW engaged in retaliatory conduct against those parties”.

Second warning to Racing NSW

The interim report comes less than 12 months after another Privileges Committee inquiry raised serious concerns about Racing NSW’s conduct.

In October 2025, the committee considered issues arising from the parliamentary inquiry into the proposed sale of Rosehill Racecourse.

It described Racing NSW’s provision of detailed adverse allegations about third parties as “deeply inappropriate” and warned that such conduct could discourage witnesses from participating in future parliamentary inquiries for fear of adverse treatment.

The latest report referred directly to those findings. It warned Racing NSW, and regulators more broadly, that regulatory powers must not be exercised for the purpose of intimidating, retaliating against or punishing members of Parliament for performing their parliamentary duties.

For now, however, the question of contempt remains unresolved.

Rares is yet to determine the two Racing NSW charges against Latham. Once his decision is handed down, the Privileges Committee has indicated it will return to the issue and decide whether Racing NSW’s conduct amounts to contempt of Parliament.

Cover image courtesy of France Galop

For the Perth-based owner and breeder, Canneza’s victory brought together several strands of an approach he has been developing for years. Buying European-bred mares from strong families, racing them in Europe and ultimately bringing them to Australia to build his broodmare band.

Johnson's journey with Canneza (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) started in 2025 where she was purchased for €180,000 (AU$295,000) via McKeever Bloodstock from the Aga Khan Studs draft at the Deauville Vente d’Elevage.

Canneza delivers in Deauville

“I picked her up and now we've just had a Listed winner in Deauville in France, which was just amazing,” Johnson said. about the Siyouni (Fr) 4-year-old mare that is out of the Listed-winning stayer Canndera (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}), who has also left the 2200-metre winner Canatiyann (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Canndera has a fantastic Aga Khan pedigree, being a full-sister to the dual Group 2, Group 3 and Listed winner and Group 1-placed Candarliya (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}), who herself is the dam of the Group 3 winners Cankoura (Fr) (Persian King {Ire}) and Candala (Fr) (Frankel {GB}).

She is also a half-sister to the Group 1-winning stayer Canelari (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and the three-time Listed winner Canessar (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}).

Canneza now has two wins and three placings from 11 starts, with Saturday’s 1500-metre Listed victory in the Prix Isola Bella coming after a fourth placing in the Listed ParisLongchamp Prix Maurice Zilber.

“Winning a Listed race in Deauville on Saturday night was a lovely surprise, jumping up and down at 12.30 in the morning can be quite exciting in the scheme of things. It was great.”

The result is significant because Canneza is not simply a European horse Johnson happened to acquire. She is representative of the type of bloodstock he has deliberately pursued and of his belief that some of the strongest families in the world remain in Europe.

The $51 wager

The Listed victory was also accompanied by a memorable betting story, with Johnson attempting to back Canneza before the race.

Johnson had an account with a bookmaker and after deciding to have a small bet on Canneza at $26, found his wager would not be accepted.

“I have an account with a bookie with a bit of money in it and at about 6 o'clock on Saturday night, probably two rosés in, I decide I'll have a bet on Canneza and she’s paying $26.

So I got to my account and said, “Here's $500, put it on the nose." “Sorry, we’re not taking your bet," they say.

“A few weeks ago we had Beechworth go around for Waller and a similar thing happened. So during the week I rang the bookie and said 'I have an account with you, I’m curious, do you do betting?' They said, 'yes, that's what we do.' I said, ‘Funny, because you won't f**king do it with me'.

“Anyway, so I bounced (up the chain) to the supervisor, the next supervisor, the next supervisor and it comes back that on the day of the trading floor, they chose not to have a bet with me. Well, fair enough. I'm in the process of exiting the money from them and moving to someone else.”

Canneza eventually jumped at $51, and Johnson managed to get his wager on through his friend Pete Jones.

“It turns out that Canneza ended up jumping at $51. I'm not a big punter at all, but Louis (Blanchet), the trainer, is a lovely young guy and said, she’ll be top three. I’m looking at $51 and thinking something is right or wrong here. So I rang my friend Pete Jones and said, can you put a bet on for me?.

“He put on $500 for me and $500 for himself and then he put on $50 for his doctor. The next day, his doctor sent out a text message to all his mates - praise the Aga Khan!”

Following the European bloodlines

Johnson’s interest in the European breed has developed over many years, with Too Darn Hot (GB) among the stallions to have further strengthened his interest.

When Too Darn Hot did not shuttle in 2024, Johnson took the opportunity to breed to him in Europe to Southern Hemisphere time and return those mares to Australia.

The thinking, however, goes back much further.

“When I was breeding early days with the Listons, and Paul Willets, and I still do breed with the Listons at Three Bridges. Paul Willetts said to me, the best breeding in the world is in Europe.”

That comment stayed with Johnson and gradually became part of his approach to breeding and buying.

“That's where the bloodlines are and it was always running in the back of my mind. It must have been about six or seven years ago, the first mare I brought was Baba Ghanoush at Newmarket. I sent her to Invincible Spirit, then Kingman, then she went to Siyouni.”

Visits to the major European breeding operations only strengthened the attraction.

“Once when I went to Europe, I went to Deauville, I went to the Aga Khan Stud and saw these amazing bloodlines and amazing stallions, and it's like being a kid in a lolly shop.”

Johnson also credits the people he has met through the process, particularly Georges Rimaud, the former director of the Aga Khan Studs.

“I was fortunate enough in this process, forget about the success or failure that you have within this game to meet all these wonderful people, especially Georges Rimaud from the Aga Khan Stud, who is now retired, but he is still a huge influence.”

Rimaud also helped Johnson understand how major European breeding operations manage their bloodstock and why some of their well-bred horses become available.

“He said, Gary, every year, whatever foals we have on the ground, we need to disperse some of them. They can’t keep them all. So then with Johnny McKeever, who I’ve used for the last five or so years, they said, in these cases, you’re one (generation) removed from an upgrader in any family from the Aga Khan or these other big breeders.”

That thinking has become central to Johnson’s approach at sales such as Deauville and Newmarket.

“So you turn up at these sales, Deauville or Newmarket, and you pick up Siyounis, Lope De Vegas, Dubawis, who are just one away from being successful, and Canneza is exactly that. I picked her up and we've just had a Listed winner in Deauville in France, which was just amazing."

The European pedigree challenge in Australia

The success has also highlighted the contrast between the European bloodlines Johnson values and the preferences of the Australian commercial market.

“That’s the highlight of it as much as there's lowlights. You bring this European bloodline attitude to Australia and try to take it to the market. They want speed on speed. You take them to a Magic Millions or Inglis and if you turn up with a Siyouni out of a European mare… I did that this year and I couldn’t get a bid.”

Johnson retained that horse rather than allowing the sales ring to determine its future, with plans to take it to the races himself.

“I’ve retained that horse, he has been broken in and I will take him to the races myself. My thinking is that he might prove a Cox Plate winner or Derby winner, but without that speed on speed which Australian trainers find it's easier for them to get out of, then I may end up with them.”

It is a frustration, but one that has not changed Johnson’s commitment to the European approach. Instead, he is increasingly looking at ways to combine his European mares with Australian stallions.

European mares, Australian stallions

Johnson’s current plans with his mare include Anamoe, Tentyris and Bivouac, with the European mares providing the foundation and selected Australian stallions supplying a different genetic influence that has more commercial appeal.

“European over European, not so much. I’ve got a Baaeed because we look at his performance in Europe. He was just a freak. I will retain him, but going forward as I foal down my European mares with European blood on board, I will then take them to locals and get a blend of blood.

“We’re going to Anamoe, Tentyris, Bivouac, I have a lifetime breeding right to him. We're going to have some fun this year, that's for sure.”

The broader strategy is to acquire horses in Europe as proven racehorses, give them their racing opportunity there and then return suitable mares to Australia for breeding.

“That is what I look to do, Canneza will race on, I'm thinking she may race on for another year now, then she may go to Night of Thunder. And then come down here in foal to Southern Hemisphere time.”

Johnson’s enthusiasm for Anamoe grew after a visit to the Hunter Valley with Andy Makiv, where he inspected the stallion’s weanlings.

“I was fortunate enough to go to the Hunter Valley with Andy Makiv and I had a look at their Anamoe weanlings. Unbelievable. All thrown completely to Dad. They are going to be freaks, and I know they're going to be up and about this year, but Anamoe, son of Street Boss, and he has everything in his favour.”

Johnson has already supported the nine-time Group 1-winning Champion son of Street Boss (USA).

“Last year I sent Savoureuse, which is a beautiful European Siyouni mare to him. This year I've got three going to him and Tentyris, for me and my band of girls from the Northern Hemisphere, we think Street Boss is a great mix. We brought a lifetime right to Tentyris too. The rest, you just sit and wait.”

For Johnson, the breeding equation remains a balance between the mare and the stallion.

“You'll talk to some people about the advantage of your broodmare versus the advantage of the stallion, and it wouldn't matter what you sent that broodmare to. She's always going to throw a good one. But I'm still sitting on the fence. I think it's 50% stallion and 50% broodmare. And if you get the genetics right, you end up with a blue hen, don't you?”

Taking a little more control

Johnson has also changed the way he manages his young horses, keeping more of the development process in-house rather than relying on the commercial sales process to determine their future.

“The other thing we do. We used to take a horse to the sales and invariably you'd end up retaining a leg or a half because a trainer will always try and exit that horse at the sales as quick as he can. Then someone puts a pair of blinkers on you and you don't hear anything for weeks and months, and then all of a sudden it's no good or you go to the races or whatever.”

The horses are now kept on the farm for much of their early development, with breaking in, further preparation and pre-training carried out in stages.

“So we've taken that journey back in house and we keep them on the farm. We'll send them to the breakers early, to Adrian Corboy. He is a freak. Absolute freak. So he does the breaking in, then they come back to Three Bridges. And they have amazing 50-acre paddocks and just knock around with each other and grow up as young kids. Then they go back to Corboy for second preparation. And then back to Three Bridges, and then we'll find a pre-trainer, like Taige Weir.

“We then get to a point where we decide where the horse is going to go, to trainers like Chris Waller or Archie Alexander or others. We’ve found we've not had as many vet bills and just preserve the journey of the horse or exit the horse early if he’s not doing anything.”

The objective remains the same, however: finding the horse capable of making the strategy work on the racetrack.

“But you're still looking for that diamond in the rough, let me tell you.”

The in-house approach, Johnson believes, simply gives him greater control over when that decision is made.

“But you've got more control over when you're going to exit or when you're going to pick it up and go hard with it.”

Cover image courtesy of Fasig-Tipton

The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale had its first seven-figure result just 19 hips in when Amr Zedan bid US$2 million (AU$2.83 million) for a colt by Curlin, and it produced the last of the first session's 15 million-dollar yearlings when MV Magnier and Peter Brant went to US$1.9 million (AU$2.69 million) for a colt by Gun Runner, the very last hip through the ring.

Somewhere in the middle of the action-packed session, a colt by Nyquist claimed the day's top spot when selling for US$3.2 million(AU$4.53 million) to Randy and Jenny Boyd's Boyd Racing.

At the close of business Monday night, 79 yearlings had grossed US$54,395,000 (AU$77.1 million)–more than half of the 2025 auction's total record gross of US$100,845,000 (AU$142.9 million). The session average of US$688,544 (AU$975,786) was well ahead of last year's total sale record figure of US$626,366 (AU$887,669), as was the session median of US$500,000 (AU$708,600). The record 2025 cumulative median was US$450,000 (AU$638,000).

During last year's opening session, 77 yearlings grossed $39,975,000 (AU$56.65 million) for an average of US$519,156 (AU$735,734) and a median of US$400,000 (AU$567,000).

“It was a tremendous start to the 105th Saratoga Yearling Sale tonight,” said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning, Jr. “Literally from beginning to end, from hip number two–since hip one was a scratch–to the last horse in the ring tonight. The energy was palpable. The bidding activity was very, very strong. It was a tremendous session.”

Browning said Monday's results confirmed the optimism that had been building around the sale all summer.

“We were optimistic when we put together the Saratoga catalogue,” he said. “We were more optimistic when the horses unloaded off the vans and we saw them on the sales grounds. We got even more optimistic as we saw the level of activity on the sales grounds with people looking, got even more optimistic when the we saw the vetting, in terms of repository activity. But despite our optimism, it exceeded our expectations.”

Browning added the 2026 Saratoga auction still had to come out strong for its second session Tuesday.

“We like where we are at halftime, and we hope to be able to put together another great sale tomorrow night,” Browning said. “We have another bunch of really, really good horses to go through the ring tomorrow night. I'll sleep a little better tonight. But we've still got half the work to do.”

Tuesday's final session of the Saratoga sale begins at 6:30pm (GMT-7).

Nyquist Colt steals the show

Flattered by a trio of yearlings to bring over seven figures on Monday, Nyquist was represented by Monday's session-topping yearling, secured for US$3.2 million by Brittany Linton on behalf of Randy and Jenny Boyd's Boyd Racing. Offered as hip 83, the colt was consigned by Gainesway, acting as agent for Stonestreet.

Out of GII Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes winner Slammed (Marking), the February 11 foal is bred on a similar cross to Grade I winners Nysos and Immersive. Slammed, with this colt in utero, was purchased by Stonestreet for US$1.1 million (AU$1.56 million) at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. This is her first foal.

According to Randy Boyd, the operation veered off its original plan heading into Monday's session.

“We came here with a strategy of buying two fillies, but we just fell in love with this colt,” he admitted. “And like we say, we have a strategy, we stick to it, but every month we change the strategy. (Monday), we changed the strategy, but it was just a colt that we couldn't pass up.”

During Monday's session, a quartet of Nyquist yearlings sold–from five through the ring–for a gross of US$5,975,000 (AU$8.47 million) for an average of US$1,493,750 (AU$2.12 million).

“The sire, Nyquist, of course,” said Boyd when asked what attracted his team to the colt. “I just think it's just going to be an amazing colt. We think it has a possibility to be a Kentucky Derby horse one day.”

What's next for the colt?

“Well, I can say that you'll initially go to Paul Sharp and that's where he'll do his initial training,” Boyd confirmed. “But we haven't got the race trainer yet.”

Ward all Shook Up over US$2.3 million Gun Runner colt

Trainer Wesley Ward went to US$2.3 million (AU$3.26 million) to acquire a colt by Gun Runner (hip 78) from the Taylor Made Sale Agency consignment Monday at Saratoga and shortly after signing the ticket on the yearling, the client gained a partner in the colt's breeder, Three Chimneys Farm.

“Everything,” Ward said when asked what he liked about the yearling. “I trained for Goncalo Torrealba and Three Chimneys. And Doug Cauthen and his team bring me out every year to see the horses in the sale. This was my favorite for the year so far.

"He's just a beautiful colt. I was very excited for him to come here. And sometimes they get here and they can go one way or the other and this horse just kept going the way that we wanted. Everything I want in a race horse. It looks like he's going to be, not just a really good horse, but also it looks like he could be a really nice 2-year-old for next year. So we're really excited.”

The colt is out of 2015 GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up Shook Up (Tapit), who is also the dam of the stakes-winning and multiple graded-placed King Ottoman (Curlin).

“Goncalo jumped in and Three Chimneys is going to take half the horse,” Ward said. “We're going to put our partnership together for the other half.”

Of the colt's final price tag, Ward added, “I thought he was a $2 million horse and we had to go a couple more to get him, but we were excited.”

Three Chimneys purchased Shook Up for US$1.65 million (AU$2.34 million) at the 2015 Keeneland November sale.

“That colt has been a star from day one and a farm favorite, all the grooms, managers, everybody liked the horse,” Doug Cauthen said. “And he came up here and really showed himself very well. The sales company, the consignors all did a great job and we expected him to bring in that realm.”

Of the decision to stay in on the colt, Cauthen said, “We asked him after the fact and he kindly said we could stay in. So that's great because we do like the horse a lot.”

Cauthen added, “Almost all the (Three Chimneys) horses go to auction and Goncalo loves partnering with people. So if people come up, he likes to stand behind his product and we'll stay in with them. As long as he's going to a trainer he's comfortable with, he's very open to it.”

Into Mischief colt tops Flying Dutchman's Saratoga shopping list

Hunter Rankin said he was finding plenty of competition while bidding on behalf of Flying Dutchmen during Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, but even so the Boersma family's racing operation came away with five new yearlings for a total of US$5,225,000 (AU$7.4 million).

The group was led by a colt by Into Mischief (hip 91) purchased for US$2.3 million (AU$3.26 million) from Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa, which was consigning the colt on behalf of his breeder, Don Alberto Corporation.

The yearling is out of multiple Graded-placed Stellar Sound (Tapit), a half-sister to Grade I-placed 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Luminance (Tale of the Cat), whose dam Silent Serenade (Unbridled's Song) was purchased by Don Alberto for US$1.025 million (AU$1.45 million) at the 2017 Keeneland January Sale carrying the filly that would become Stellar Sound.

A full brother to hip 91 topped last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale when selling for US$4.1 million (AU$5.81 million) to Coolmore and White Birch Farm.

“He's out of a great mare,” Rankin said of the yearling. “They breed great horses over there and it's fun to buy horses off them. He was a really nice horse. We are just really excited to get him.”

Flying Dutchman also purchased a colt by Cody's Wish (hip 50) for US$950,000 (AU$1.35 million) and a colt by Curlin (hip 51) for US$800,000 (AU$1.13 million)–both from Lane's End–a colt by Life is Good (hip 30) for US$675,000 (AU$957 million) from Taylor Made Sales Agency, and a full brother to GI Preakness Stakes winner National Treasure (Quality Road) (hip 102) for US$500,000 (AU$708,600) from Bridie Harrison, agent for Peter E Blum Thoroughbreds.

“There is a lot of a negative stuff people say about the business, but there are a lot of people excited about it,” Rankin said. “Our group is excited and I know a lot of new groups who are excited, too. We've been outbid a bunch tonight. That's a really good thing for the business. We have tried really, really hard. It's a good sign for this market.”

Curlin Colt wows early

With only a handful of yearlings having passed through the ring at Monday's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga opener, a colt by supersire Curlin drew a cool US$2 million (AU$2.83 million) from Donato Lanni bidding on behalf of Amr Zedan. Plying his trade from the balcony above the main sales ring, Lanni was accompanied by Zedan in addition to Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.

“He's a horse that the whole team liked. Bob loved the horse,” said Lanni. “He was a horse that impressed us from the very beginning. At Saratoga, you have so much time to look at these horses, if you ever have a reason to get off a horse. We just stayed on the horse.”

“There's not going to be too many of those Curlins left,” added Lanni. “Unfortunately, he's getting a little older. He had the (Kentucky) Derby winner (Golden Tempo) this year and he's been such a great sire.”

Out of Merlazza (Medaglia d'Oro), hip 19 was consigned by Hill 'n' Dale at Xalapa.

“Pedigree looks like he'll stretch out,” added Lanni. “He's a very mature colt, very athletic colt. Just a really, really cool colt.”

Merlazza is a full sister to the dual Grade III-placed Gold Standard and a half to Mapit (Tapit), responsible for Graded winner and Grade I performer Where's My Ring (Twirling Candy). This is the extended family of multiple Grade I winner Dream Supreme.

“You never know what they're going to bring, but the good ones always seem to cost a lot. I know there was a lot of competition for the horse. I'm a very happy guy.”

Curlin, who stands at Hill 'n' Dale, was withdrawn from breeding service earlier this season.

“Curlin has been everything to Hill 'n' Dale,” said Hill 'n' Dale's Jes Sikura. “He's been the flag bearer at Hill 'n' Dale for the last decade. He's been our Classic sire, America's Classic sire. He got his Kentucky Derby winner. He's had a son win every leg of the Triple Crown, Breeders' Cup Classic, everything. And now that there's obviously a little bit more of a limited number of horses, they're in high demand.”

In regard to Monday's fourth top-priced yearling of the session, Sikura explained, “To be up here in Saratoga, it's such a great sale to look the way he did, move the way he did, and show the way he did all week.”

He added, “I think the way he moved, he was a beautiful mover with a huge overstep. He was also strong, sleek, light on his feet. So I think as a whole, he stood out and he looked like he has a lot of room to develop to be a strong, robust, athletic curling colt. So there were a lot of things about him physically that stood out and made him a star and achieved the result he just did.

Asked about the price, he said, “Probably past the expectations. I though he was going to sell really well. I didn't really have a number in mind, nor do I think anybody did, but I think that was definitely a little past the range we were expecting.”

Gunning to the Very End

Some might have been worried that their yearling would be strolling through the sales ring as the very last offering of an evening session, however, agents Hanzly Albina and Ron Blake were not among them.

When their striking Gun Runner colt strode into the sales ring at the end of the night, several key players were still sitting in the pavilion. Among them, the Coolmore team in tandem with White Birch Farm's Peter Brant, who changed things up by sitting on the upper level to do their bidding. When all was said and done, the partners landed Hip 113 for US$1.9 million (AU$2.69 million), ending the evening as the fifth highest-priced colt of the session.

Armed with only a pair of yearlings on Day 1, Blake-Albina sold both of them, including a Gunite colt (hip 39) that sold earlier in the session for US$310,000 ($439,000).

Were they concerned about the late post?

“No,” affirmed Albina. “We thought we were going to close it out pretty strongly and they would wait around for us. So I wouldn't say we were worried. If we'd been the last horse tomorrow, we may have been worried. But today we're okay with it. It's a Gun Runner, so that's going to keep them in the seats.”

Out of stakes winner Toni Tools (Roaring Fever), the colt is a half-brother to GI Darley Alcibiades Stakes winner and millionaire Candied (Candy Ride {Arg}).

Asked what made the chestnut so special, Albina responded, “He obviously has an extremely good pedigree. He's a three-quarter-brother to a Grade I-winning filly and he is by the best dirt sire in the world. And he's a specimen that, in the best sale of the finest horses in the year, stood out. And the buyers know what they want. They want the best stuff. They want the best times, the best mares, and the best physicals. And he embodied all three of those things.”

He added, “We were flattered by all the people who looked at the horse and gave us praise. It just reaffirms what you're doing and that you're trying to do it the right way.”