Matings Mix: Trelawney seeking proven talent across the Tasman

Cover image courtesy of Trelawney Stud

New Zealand’s longest-running commercial stud farm, Trelawney Stud has built both a reputation and a broodmare band worthy of envy, and as such, they make use of the best stallions on both sides of the Tasman.

With the covering season now underway, Managing Directors Cherry and Brent Taylor have hand-selected several mares to make the trek over to Australia in search of the right stallions to give their mares the best chance of adding to the farm’s legacy.

Type steers matings for Grunt’s relations

Dual Group 1 winner and now Group 1-producing sire Grunt (NZ) was born and bred on Trelawney pasture, and the farm understandably retains a number of close relations who hope to build the next chapter of one of New Zealand’s most illustrious families. The first of that number is Reemyya (NZ) (Exceed And Excel), who is set for a date with Capitalist this season for her maiden cover.

“It’s a perfect mating on type,” said Cherry Taylor. “She’s a big, strong mare. To be fair to both her and Zayydani, they could on type go to almost any stallion. They are neither too big nor too small, they are very neat types with good length and a bit of quality about them. They both have good depths of girth too. It’s very typical of the family.”

Homebred Reemyya is a daughter of Listed-performed Addison (NZ) (Jimmy Choux {NZ}), who is a half to Grunt and to Zayydani (NZ) (Savabeel), who joins Reemyya in Australia.

A six-time winner who took out the G2 Matriarch Stakes, the Listed Tatts Gold Crown, and the Listed Ballarat Cup, Zayydani is booked to Home Affairs this year after several years visiting some of the top proven stallions either side of the Tasman. Her first two yearlings, by Snitzel and Wootton Bassett (GB), sold for NZ$400,000 and NZ$450,000 respectively at the New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale. She is currently in foal to Super Seth.

“We are very lucky with both mares on type as it is not hard to match them to a stallion physically,” Taylor said. “With Reemyya, we wanted to send her to a proven horse for her first foal, whereas with Zayydani, it is less important as it’s not her first and she has had two sell well.

“But at the same time, it costs a lot of money to go over to Australia and access these horses, so we try to go to proven horses who can get us a good result at the other end. The value of the New Zealand dollar means we have to pay a lot more in Australia, so it has to be worthwhile.”

With the help of Capitalist and Home Affairs, it shouldn’t be hard to continue the family’s strong legacy. Zayydani’s dam Ruqqaya (NZ) (Van Nistelrooy {USA}) is a half to Ocean Park (NZ), as well as the dam of Group 2 winners Shanwah (NZ) (Too Darn Hot {GB}) and Excelida (NZ) (Exceed And Excel).

Further back in the family is G1 Easter Handicap winner Prince Kaapstad (NZ) (Kaapstad {NZ}) and O’Reilly (NZ) himself.

Proven performers set young mares up right

“It’s a big jump for us, so we need those proven stallions to start a mare off right,” Taylor said. That has been just the case for three young mares in the Trelawney cohort, who find themselves heading to Zoustar and Toronado (Ire) this spring.

Heading to Victoria will be Indian Jewel (All Too Hard), a three-time winner out of a More Than Ready (USA) half-sister to Japanese dual Group 3 winner Fiano Romano (Fastnet Rock) and stakes-performed Ameristralia (Fastnet Rock), dam of Stateside Graded winner Ain't Easy (USA) (Into Mischief {USA}).

“We wanted to set her up right with another proven stallion, and Toronado has been doing a great job,” said Taylor. “She’s a good size and a good length, she is probably around the 15.3hh mark and Toronado is a nice big horse who should add some size to her in the right places.

“Going to these types of stallions just gets the runs on the board early for young mares, and means they are not simply hoping for a good result with a stallion earlier in his career.”

Indian Jewel has big boots to fill with the help of Toronado; her third dam Pretty 'N Smart (USA) (Beau Genius {USA}) produced four stakes winners including G1 Santa Anita Gold Cup winner Cupid {USA} (Tapit {USA}). Her daughters and granddaughters continue to produce black-type horses in both hemispheres.

G3 Canterbury Breeders Stakes winner Acquarello (Written Tycoon) is currently booked to Zoustar, and while there might be a change before her date, Taylor is happy with the physical side of the mating. The five-time winner is currently in foal to I Am Invincible for her maiden mating.

“She does look really good on paper with Zoustar, and again, she's a beautiful type of mare,” said Taylor. “She's a big, roomy mare and she is due to have her Vinnie foal any day. Going to Zoustar will really help kick her off right.”

Acquarello has the pedigree to succeed too, being that her dam River Pebbles (Al Maher) is a full sister to Listed Geelong Black Pearl Classic winner River Delta and half to multiple stakes winner Kulgrinda (Exceed And Excel), granddam of G3 Vain Stakes winner Band Of Brothers (Omaha Beach {USA}) who won the Listed Ramornie Handicap this year.

Her second dam is a half to G1 Oakleigh Plate winner River Dove (Hurricane Sky), dam of Headwater, and River Express (Blazing Swords), dam of dual Listed winner Cross Current (Keltrice).

River Express’s daughters have been particularly fruitful - they include the dams of Captivant, G2 Magic Night Stakes winner Willow Creek (Tale Of The Cat {USA}), and G1 New Zealand Derby winner Crown Prosecutor (Medaglia d'Oro {USA}). This family has also produced G3 Canonbury Stakes-winning sire Mclaren and Listed-winning Kalino (Pierro), and Group 2 winners First Command (Commands) and One World (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).

“Depending on what comes out, she is currently still booked to Zoustar,” Taylor said. “We have a couple of other services we could use for her, depending on what she produces.”

An absolute cracker earns a repeat date

Four-time winner and Group 3-performed Petrucci (I Am Invincible) was originally booked for Too Darn Hot (GB), but when his availability didn’t line up with her earlier in the week, she headed down the road to Zoustar instead. It had not been a tough choice to make, given she had delivered a strong Zoustar colt as her first foal on August 11.

“She whipped over to Zoustar instead on Wednesday, and it really was a no-brainer decision, because she’s got the foal on the ground by Zoustar and it's just an outstanding type,” said Taylor.

“When Too Darn Hot was full on the day, we thought, ‘well, we'll just go to Zoustar with her and send someone else to Too Darn Hot once we've got the next lot of foals on the ground’. Brent just has to take a look at the pedigrees for a good match.

“Peter O'Brien has just been up and had a look at the foal and he sent me a video and said, ‘it's just a cracker’. He's obviously a very good judge, so we are very pleased.”

This family descends from the influential Twyla (Danehill {USA}), and Petrucci’s dam Via Napoli (Fastnet Rock) is a half to G1 Railway Stakes winner Gathering (Tale Of The Cat {USA}) and G3 Gold Coast Guineas winner Florentina (Redoute’s Choice), dam of three stakes performers headed by four-time Group 1 winner In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), plus Listed winner California Turbo (Fastnet Rock).

This branch of Twyla’s family has also produced G1 Queensland Oaks winner You Wahng (So You Think {NZ}) and her Listed-winning full sister Street Gossip.

The Frankel factor books Koshu to Chaldean

One mare who will be staying home is Koshu (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}), who will visit Chaldean (GB) as he returns to stand his third season at Cambridge Stud.

“It looks good on type, and also good on paper to send her to a Frankel son,” said Taylor.

A homebred juvenile winner at her only start, Koshu has visited the late Savabeel three years in a row and awaits a third foal by him at the moment. She is a half to G1 Thorndon Mile winner A Touch Of Ruby (NZ) (Pins) and G1 New Zealand One Thousand Guineas winner Loire (NZ) (Redoute’s Choice), and it is a relation through the latter that cemented the match.

“It was also chosen off the back of a horse that we bred and kept a share in, who’s in training with Ciaron Maher,” said Taylor. “He’s out of Loire by Frankel and he had his first start on Wednesday over 1100 metres. It wasn’t his distance, but it was a great starting point for him.”

Cab Franc (NZ) (Frankel {GB}) finished fifth in the maiden race at Caulfield Heath, but the feedback from the trainer has the Taylors enthused to repeat a very similar cross.

“He had to sit three wide without cover, but he stuck on and went through the line well, which is what you want to see,” Taylor said. “So we're going to Chaldean off the back of that horse hoping that he's going to be what we expect him to be. He's a beautiful type and the stable do like him at this stage. We have some crackers on the ground from the stallion, so we are pretty excited to send another mare back.”

Cab Franc may get better out in distance, particularly if he has inherited any of the genes of close relation Pride Of Jenni (NZ) (Pride Of Dubai), whose granddam G1 Queensland Oaks winner Vouvray (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) is a half to the dam of Loire and Koshu.

Table: Some of Trelawney Stud's 2026 matings plans