Matings Mix: Young guns for Beiwacht's sister and I Am Excited's daughter

Cover image courtesy of Bell River Thoroughbreds

The breeding season is always an exciting time for Bell River Thoroughbreds, who are situated in Glen William, a couple of hours' drive from the Hunter Valley's stallion hub. The family-owned operation has enjoyed success over the years with the likes of Extreme Choice, Ace High, Group 3-winning Bel Merci (Extreme Choice), and sharp Listed-winning juvenile Gin Spirit (Spirit Of Boom), plus a host of homebred talent that has now populates the broodmare band.

Director Andrew Ferguson has finalised many of the matings for the covering season ahead, and looks forward to sending his mares out to upgrade themselves with proven ability and seek new talent amongst the new first season stallions.

The Express has impressed

Top of the list this year are two well-related mares booked to the same stallion, both of whom had huge pedigree updates in the 2025/26 racing season. Song Writer (Medaglia D'Oro {USA}) is first in line to visit Alabama Express at his new Hunter Valley residency this spring, having foaled a Farnan colt earlier this month.

“Song Writer is a half to Beiwacht, and we were lucky enough to pick her up before Beiwacht turned up,” Ferguson said. Dual Group 1 winner Beiwacht (Bivouac) was just a weanling when Bell River purchased his half-sister, and he has been very successful in reigniting the page in the years since. He kicks off his spring campaign in the G1 Memsie Stakes this weekend.

“She’s just had a lovely Farnan colt and will go to Alabama Express next month.”

Ferguson Bloodstock paid just $22,500 for Song Writer when offered by Godolphin at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale. The Microphone colt she delivered later that year passed away as a weanling and she missed in the following two seasons, but her Farnan colt has pleased the Bell River team so far.

“I hadn’t seen Alabama Express before, so we ducked down last Wednesday to view him and I am quite impressed with him,” Ferguson said. “He’s a beautiful horse and he’s doing a great job at the moment. He obviously has a good number and quality of mares behind him thanks to Yulong, so we’re pretty happy to send her there.”

Another for Alabama Express’s book is Kusini (Magnus), who visits him for her maiden season.

“We purchased Kusini privately from Tasmania, she’s half to the dam of Unit Five,” Ferguson said. R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic hero Unit Five (Supido) kicks off his spring preparation in the G3 McNeil Stakes at Caulfield this Saturday.

Another half-sister to Kusini produced Listed Lonhro Plate victress Bellazaine (Zousain), who was a $900,000 broodmare prospect on the Gold Coast this year.

“She won in Melbourne, and I know the family quite well, so we are pretty excited to book her to Alabama Express for her maiden season.”

Set To Skelter’s well-mated daughters

Bell River’s grand matriarch Set To Skelter (Reset) has produced three stakes-winning daughters - G1 One Thousand Guineas winner Another Prophet (Brazen Beau), G2 Rubiton Stakes winner Prophet’s Thumb (I Am Invincible), and G3 Dark Jewel Classic winner More Prophets (Smart Missile) - so far, and all three remain in the stud’s broodmare band alongside another daughter in La Bianca (Bivouac).

Ferguson highlighted the matings for three of the daughters that he found particularly exciting.

“More Prophets is out of Set To Skelter, it’s a really good family,” he said. “She had a Home Affairs colt as her first foal that we sold for $290,000 as a weanling, then she unfortunately missed to Extreme Choice.

“Last year, she went to Too Darn Hot and she delivered a filly a couple of weeks ago, and I just could not have asked for a better foal when spending that kind of money. She’s a beautiful filly and it’s a fillies family, so it’s a great result. We haven’t decided what we will do with the filly, but we will be happy either way.”

More Prophets has been booked this spring to dual Group 1-winning sprinter Tentyris, who arrives at Darley Kelvinside with a fee of $88,000 (inc GST).

“I think it’s a really good mating for her,” Ferguson said. “He’s been on my radar virtually since he started racing. I loved him, and I think everyone has. We were lucky enough to get a breeding right in him and that’s where she will go this year. It’s a very exciting mating.”

La Bianca joins her sisters at stud this year, and following in More Prophets’ footsteps, she will visit Too Darn Hot (GB) for her maiden cover. A $250,000 yearling graduate from the farm, she was bought back at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale by Bell River Thoroughbreds for $170,000.

“Some very good clients of ours purchased her back at the Chairman’s Sale and they have decided to send her to Too Darn Hot,” Ferguson said. “Set For Skelter is also due to foal to him this year. We have built a pretty high quality group of mares over the last few years with our partners, and they warrant that calibre of stallion.”

Group 1-winning Another Prophet has also joined the broodmare band this year. The 5-year-old will head down the road from Darley to visit another sire on the rise in Arrowfield Stud’s The Autumn Sun, whose daughter Autumn Glow celebrated a fourth Group 1 win on Saturday in the G1 Winx Stakes.

“That’s a really exciting mating for my partners and I,” Ferguson said. “To be honest, I probably wasn't a believer in him at the start, but it'd be very hard not to be now. Autumn Glow actually looks world-class.”

Inglis Digital purchases replicating successful crosses

An exciting young addition to the broodmare band last year, Elation And Joy (Zoustar) heads to I Am Invincible this spring after she delivers her maiden foal by Champion First Season Sire Home Affairs in September. She was purchased for $120,000 in a 2025 Inglis Digital sale from Bennett Racing, a small price to pay for her pedigree.

“A mare we bought on Inglis Digital is Elation And Joy, it’s a family I’ve always been very keen on,” Ferguson said. Elation And Joy is the last daughter of Group 3 winner Rosa’s Spur (Flying Spur), dam of Listed Cap D’Antibes Stakes winner Members Joy (Hussonet {USA}).

Members Joy produced dual Group 2 winner Pure Elation (I Am Invincible) with her first foal, and the match to Yarraman Park Stud’s resident champion will create a three-quarter-in-blood relation to the mare, who repeated her dam’s feat with her first foal Hip Hip Hurrah (Snitzel), winner of the Listed Woodlands Stakes.

“We put her in foal to Home Affairs and actually offered her at the Chairman's Sale, but she didn't meet her reserve,” said Ferguson. “She hasn’t foaled yet but we look forward to seeing the foal. This year’s mating will produce a three-quarter to Pure Elation, who I still consider one of Vinnie’s best 2-year-olds ever to race.”

Another reasonably priced addition is Boom Time Miss (Epaulette), a $16,000 Inglis Digital purchase in April of 2024, with J&J Bloodstock signing the docket. She passed in at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale when offered in foal to Tassort, with the resulting filly born on Friday a three-quarter-relation to G2 Silver Shadow Stakes winner and G1 Robert Sangster Stakes runner-up Ameena (Tassort).

“She’s an unraced mare but a very athletic type, and we bought her very cheaply before Ameena showed up,” Ferguson said. “She just had her second Tassort filly on Monday night, and she goes to Tropicus this season.”

Bred just down the road at Kia Ora Stud, G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Tropicus stands his debut season at a fee of $27,500 (inc GST) and has been quick to fill up.

“I saw him last week at Vinery Stud and he reminds me a lot of Too Darn Hot. I don’t think you can go far wrong with a stallion like that. He’s a Group 1-winning son of Too Darn Hot, and currently there’s only two in Australia.

“I saw Too Darn Hot had a Group 1 winner in America (Saratoga Derby winner Glacius), so his influence is really spreading far and wide. We are lucky enough to have access to the sireline.”

A date with the Devil

“Another mare we have to highlight is Venus Fly, who is out of McFly, who has a very deep Queensland-based pedigree,” Ferguson said. Venus Fly (Shamus Award) is a half-sister to G3 George Moore Stakes winner Chapter And Verse (Rothesay), and to Madam Fly (Excites), dam of multiple Group winner Cifrado (Encryption) and Listed winner Miami Fleiss (Spirit Of Boom).

Stakes-performed McFly (Perugino {USA}) has the dam of G3 Vo Rogue Plate winner Boomsara (Spirit Of Boom) as a half-sister.

“She’s in foal to Storm Boy, which will be her first foal, and she will visit Devil Night this year. I saw him on Wednesday last week as well and he's just his father reincarnated, I thought - just a bit bigger. From what I heard on the weekend, he was extremely popular. He’s completely booked out. We have got three mares booked to him.”

Debuting at Yulong’s Hunter Valley locale at a fee of $33,000 (inc GST), G1 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Devil Night owes part of his parentage to Bell River Thoroughbreds, breeders and vendors of Extreme Choice. Ferguson reminded himself of the family resemblance on his Valley sojourn last week when stopping in to visit the Newgate Farm resident.

“We saw Devil Night first, and then after lunch, we went to see Extreme Choice and give him a pat and some carrots, and he still isn’t very big,” said Ferguson. “I remember when he came into yearling prep out at Wellington, and when I looked at him, I thought, ‘how the hell are we gonna sell you?’ And yet he's one of the best stallions in the world now.

“Everyone worries about how big their horse has got to be and all the rest of it. And here he is, he was a grasshopper and yet he’s become one of the very best. There's no set rules in this game. That's the one thing everyone should remember. One of my favourite sayings is, ‘all the bullsh*t stops on raceday’.”

The Bell River band also features She’s Our Choice (Duporth), a 12-year-old half-sister to Extreme Choice, who awaits a foal from the first crop of Growing Empire this spring. She will travel south again in 2026 to patronise a different first season son of Zoustar.

“She's promised a few really smart ones, but we haven't got one yet,” Ferguson said. “She's been very good financially and she produced a couple of winners, but she hasn't really met all our expectations. She's going down to Espionage, who I saw at the weanling sale down in Melbourne and I loved him. I've loved his pedigree.”

A multiple Group winner as a juvenile. Espionage debuts at Lovatsville at a fee of $11,000 (inc GST). Hailing from the direct female line of prolific producer Summoned (Crowned Prince {USA}), he is closely related to G1 Sires’ Produce Stakes winner Campione D'Italia (Snitzel).

“The pedigree seems to be getting better and better all the time,” said Ferguson. “And he’s just a lovely, lovely horse to look at. I’m looking forward to the result.”

Carrying on a legacy

Bell River sadly lost their G1 Galaxy Handicap winner I Am Excited (Snitzel) after she had produced just three foals, so they were keen to hang on to her two daughters. Three-year-old Over Excited (Zoustar) is with the Anthony and Sam Freedman stable and is set to debut any day, while 5-year-old Still Excited (Lonhro) will enter stud this year as a winner.

Splitting the two fillies is Group-performed Farcited (Farnan), who is also trained by the Freedman father-son duo.

The page lives up to the naming theme of its youngest members; I Am Excited is a half-sister to five-time stakes winner Flippant (Hinchinbrook), and their dam Lady Beckworth (General Nediym) is a half to the dam of Group 1 victresses Atlantic Jewel (Fastnet Rock) - herself a Group 1 producer with triple top flight winner Russian Emperor (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) - and Commanding Jewel (Commands).

“Still Excited goes to Tassort for her first season,” said Ferguson. “I have a lot of faith in Tassort. We stayed in a filly that we sold last year at Magic Millions and she’s with Ciaron Maher, and we have been receiving rave reports about her.

“Tassort has two really good books coming and I firmly believe it’s the right year to be using him. Everything up until this stage has been off a $11,000 service fee and he has been unlucky not to have two Group 1 winners, not just one. His first 2-year-olds bred on that higher fee are coming this spring.”

Over Excited will be destined to join her sister at the end of her racing career, but not before she gets off on the right track.

“We scratched her on Wednesday as it was going to be a Heavy 10, and she was scratched two weeks ago for the same reason,” said Ferguson. “We’re not going to start her off on a bog track. They have a very good opinion of her.”

Ferguson hopes that I Am Excited’s two daughters can carry the family forward in her absence.

“We feel very lucky to have two fillies from her dam, and a $1.2 million colt, before we lost her,” he said. “She’s buried here on the farm, not far from our house.”

Table: 2026 mating plans for some of the Bell River Thoroughbreds' broodmare band