Matings Mix: 'The next champion always starts with a dream'

Cover image courtesy of HP Thoroughbreds

When Anthony and Kristen Evans of HP Thoroughbreds put together their mating plans, the emphasis is on producing not just an athlete, but a horse that ticks the boxes across the board. With this in mind, their best mares are off to some of the most exciting young stallions and proven sires Australia has to offer.

“It’s about looking at the whole picture,” said Kristen Evans. “Pedigree, performance, physical attributes, temperament and, most importantly, the ability to produce the next generation of racehorses.

“This season, we have selected some exciting matings, each chosen with a clear purpose and a belief that the resulting foals can make their own mark on the track.”

Skybird’s dam scores a date with Anamoe

Real Desire (Wanted) has been a flagbearer for HP Thoroughbreds, producing G1 Lightning Stakes winner Skybird (Exosphere) with her third foal. All four of her foals to hit the track have been winners, including The Real Man (Deep Field), who has won four of his last six starts. She has a 2-year-old colt by Pierro named Regal Desire who sold to Kris Lees Racing and Bahen Bloodstock for $325,000 at this year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.

“A mare with a proven ability to produce elite performers, Real Desire is the dam of Group 1 winner Skybird,” Evans said. “She now visits one of the most exciting young stallions in the Australian breeding ranks, Anamoe.”

Real Desire scored a date with Home Affairs in 2024 with Skybird, already the winner of the G2 Moonee Valley Classic and G2 Tobin Bronze Stakes at the time, providing the ultimate pedigree update the following autumn. She delivered a filly last September, before visiting I Am Invincible.

Horse Of The Year Anamoe will have a crop of 111 first 2-year-olds hitting the track within the coming weeks, and has 99 yearlings waiting in the wings for next year’s sales. He covered a book of 147 last spring, setting up plenty of progeny to get him results before the resultant foal from this mating hits the track.

“The mating brings together proven female-line quality with a stallion who possessed the speed, class and toughness required to compete at the highest level,” Evans said.

Real Desire is a granddaughter of Snow Finch (Ire) (Storm Bird {Can}), whose Listed-winning daughter Snippets’ Lass (Snippets) is the dam of Snitzel and Hinchinbrook.

“It is a mating designed to produce athleticism, quality and the potential to become a serious racehorse - while giving Real Desire another opportunity to build on an already impressive record as a broodmare.”

Caballus’ sister bound for Tentyris

“Covalent is a particularly exciting mare for our broodmare band,” Evans said. A full sister to Group 1 winner Caballus, she carries the depth of pedigree that every breeder hopes to acquire - and her purchase through the Chairman’s Sale reflects the confidence we have in her future as a producer.”

Seven-year-old I Am Invincible mare Covalent was a $220,000 Inglis Chairman’s Sale purchase earlier this year for HP Thoroughbreds, carrying a valuable pregnancy to The Autumn Sun. A winner for Bjorn Baker, her pedigree is all the more valuable for the update given by Baker-trained Caballus, winner of this year’s edition of the G1 Newmarket Handicap.

From the family of Sebring Sun and G1 Mercury Sprint winner War Artist (Orphen {USA}), Covalent’s dam Calming Influence (Commands) was Group-performed herself and currently has six winners from six foals to race.

Covalent’s first foal Carbon Force (Stay Inside) was sold for $150,000 by Lime Country Thoroughbreds at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale earlier this year. He was bought by Darby Racing, owners of Caballus, and De Burgh Equine, and has followed in the family tradition of joining the Baker stable.

“This season’s mating with Tentyris, creating an intriguing combination of pedigree and athletic potential,” Evans said.

Dual Group 1 winner Tentyris serves his first book of mares at Darley this spring with a fee of $88,000 (inc GST), and the son of Street Boss (USA) was incredibly quick to book out. The data for Street Boss over I Am Invincible mares is only limited, but Street Cry (Ire) matched with Commands mares yields an 8% stakes winners to runners strike rate, and 75% winners to runners.

“With a mare from such a strong family, our goal is to continue to strengthen a young mare’s bloodlines further. She’s in foal to another exciting stallion The Autumn Sun due to foal October and I can’t wait to see the type they produce, because I think he’s a perfect match for her.”

No secrets kept from Wodeton

A mare with an exciting recent upgrade is dual Listed winner Secret Liaison (Artie Schiller {USA}). She yielded a stakes performer in G3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy placegetter Styling City (Starspangledbanner) with her second foal, but from her visit to Extreme Choice in 2022, she produced Berzelius who scorched home in the G2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes at the recent Queensland carnival, before running fifth in the G1 JJ Atkins Plate.

Berzelius was a $340,000 Gold Coast purchase for Michael Freedman Racing, Michael Wallace, and Kia Ora Stud, and Secret Liaison’s three most recent yearlings through the ring have averaged just under $400,000. She was a shrewd score for HP Thoroughbreds on Inglis Digital in March 2025, when they paid just $7500 for her in foal to In The Congo.

“Secret Liaison already has proof of what she can produce,” Evans said. “She is the dam of Queensland Sires’ Produce winner Berzelius, giving her the most important credential of all - the ability to produce a horse capable of competing at stakes level.”

From the close family of G2 Waikato Guineas winner Autumn Glory (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}), dual Group 3 winner Spring Heat (More Than Ready {USA}), and G2 Pago Pago Stakes winner Deferential (Royal Academy {USA}), Secret Liaison also placed at Group level and has produced six winners from seven to race. Her capability with different sirelines - with multiple winners sired by the likes of Starspangledbanner, American Pharoah (USA), and Written Tycoon - has led her to the book of a different Newgate Farm resident this year.

“She heads to Wodeton this year, with the mating selected to build upon that proven racetrack ability,” Evans said. A $1.6 million yearling and a striking winner on debut, Wodeton enters his first season at a fee of $16,500 (inc GST), reflective of his six Group placings, including seconds in the G1 Golden Slipper Stakes and the G1 Golden Rose Stakes. The son of Wootton Bassett (GB) stands at Newgate in partnership with Coolmore Stud.

“When a mare has already demonstrated that she can produce genuine black-type quality, it gives us more confidence to breed to a first season sire, who is an outstanding physical,” said Evans. “With the backing of power houses Newgate and Coolmore involved, we believe he’s the best option for her.”

Under Lights set for Castelvecchio

“Under Lights, a daughter of Fastnet Rock, is another mare whose pedigree credentials make her an exciting part of the broodmare band,” Evans said. “She is the dam of Group 3-placed 2-year-old Under Focus, giving her an early indication of her ability to produce talented juveniles.”

A $300,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale purchase for Yulong last year, Under Focus (Too Darn Hot {GB}) was second on debut this autumn behind the impressive The Next Episode (Snitzel), winner of the Listed Dalrello Stakes and the $1 million Magic Millions 2YO National Classic.

After a win at Kensington, he was third in the G3 Kindergarten Stakes behind the same horse and Blue Door (Stay Inside). Trained by Kris Lees, he is back in work and runs in the Listed The Rosebud this Saturday.

Under Lights (Fastnet Rock) is a full sister to G3 NJC Newmarket Handicap-placed Condor out of stakes-performed Ronan’s Bay (USA) (Johannesburg {USA}) from a very international family that features stakes winners in both hemispheres, highlighted by G2 Woodbine Nassau Stakes winner Bay To Bay (USA) (Sligo Bay {Ire}) and her multiple Group-winning son Suave Aramis (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}).

Under Lights has been set for a date with another 2-year-old talent in Castelvecchio this spring after delivering a foal by Switzerland in October.

“Her mating with Castelvecchio is aimed at combining that Fastnet Rock influence with the exceptional racing ability and pedigree of a Group 1-winning stallion,” Evans said. “There is plenty to like about the potential for speed, athleticism and 2-year-old ability in this cross.”

Winner of the G1 Champagne Stakes as a juvenile and the G1 Rosehill Guineas as a 3-year-old Castelvecchio is best known for his horses who get over distance, but he does have four 2-year-old winners to date and his sire Dundeel (NZ) has produced three Group 1-winning juvenile colts so far.

“Under Lights is in foal to Switzerland who is one of the most talked about first season sires from last season, and I can’t see the mating letting us down,” Evans added. “He is an absolutely beautiful stallion, and from all early reports his first foals are nothing less than exceptional.”

Evans Hellbent on special date for Amore

The last mare Evans selects to highlight is Amore (NZ), a winning daughter of the late Savabeel and a half-sister to Listed Macau Derby winner Triple Ex - Sacred Man (Mac) (Fastnet Rock).

“Then there is Amore, a young Savabeel mare with an exciting future ahead of her,” she said. “Her mating with Hellbent brings together two pedigrees with plenty of speed and commercial appeal.

“I feel Hellbent is one of the best value for money proven sires standing at stud, I have been wanting to send one to him for years and bought this mare specifically with him in mind.”

A $270,000 Gold Coast yearling, Amore was a steal for HP Thoroughbreds, who paid $2000 for her on Inglis Digital earlier this year. She has been well mated in her first three seasons at stud, with a 3-year-old by Toronado (Ire), a 2-year-old by Shamus Award, and a yearling filly by Farnan in the pipeline for her. Her granddam Fair Embrace (Strategic) was a million dollar earner and winner of the G2 MVRC Champagne Stakes.

Hellbent earned a fee rise to $55,000 (inc GST) in 2026, after a banner season that saw him finish eighth in the Australian general sires’ table with four stakes winners and 114 winners, and sixth in Hong Kong, where his 10 winners were topped by Listed Hong Kong Derby winner Invincible Ibis.

His daughters Savvy Hallie and Magic Time enhanced their Group hauls last season, and Zip Lock was an exciting winner of the G3 BJ McLachlan Stakes in the summer. In the sales ring, his daughters Miss Hellfire and Benedetta signed off their racing careers on a high when achieving $2.05 million and $1.9 million pricetags respectively, while his yearlings sold up to $600,000.

Savabeel’s daughters have a 5% stakes winners to runners strike rate with Hellbent’s sire I Am Invincible and 76.4% winners to runners.

“I’m really, really looking forward to this mating next year,” Evans said. “The next champion always starts with a dream.”

Table: Mating plans for some of HP Thoroughbreds' broodmare band