Cost of living and the thoroughbred industry
With cost-of-living pressures dominating the headlines over the past 12 months, By The Numbers looks at how the thoroughbred industry has been historically impacted by high inflation. You would have to be living under a rock to have not realised that the global economy is undergoing a major challenge with inflation over the past year.... Read More
Bernie’s back in business with new Middlebrook Valley Lodge role
Kane reenters industry fray with role ‘too good to Popular Hunter Valley industry stalwart Bernie Kane will join well-known Hunter Valley nursery Middlebrook Valley Lodge as the farm undergoes an overhaul after the departure of the stud’s most familiar face. Kane, who left Aquis Farm in late 2020, has been enjoying working on the periphery... Read More
Caballus
We’ve all been struck by it, at various points in our lives: that sight that barges into the mind’s landscape, arresting the eye, setting the pulse thrumming a little faster. Sometimes it’s a person. For many, it’s a horse. Breeder Verna Metcalfe has been around thoroughbreds for probably more decades than she’d care to remember.... Read More
Exceed And Excel’s Signore Fox to stand at Alma Vale Thoroughbreds
Start-up Hunter Valley farm Alma Vale Thoroughbreds will stand its foundation stallion in 2023, taking on the stud duties of the well-bred Group-winning, Group 1-placed sprinter Signore Fox (Exceed And Excel). The new home for the former Peter and Paul Snowden-trained stallion is the 47-acre property formerly known as Riversdale North, located five minutes from... Read More
Syndicator Viva Racing ready for highs and lows of breeding venture
Lowe and Jenkinson hoping for a Magic start after teaming up with Widden Stud Mitch Lowe’s first public foray into being a commercial breeder as a way of growing his Viva Racing syndication business is still more than five months out from its maiden selling experience. But the development of an eye-catching Spirit Of Boom... Read More
International influence dominant among top freshmen
The influence of international bloodlines among Australia’s top stallions has grown significantly in the past 30 years and was especially strong at the top end of the 2022-23 first-season sires tables. When Justify (Scat Daddy) stood his first season at Coolmore Australia’s Jerrys Plains in 2019, he was part of the smallest cohort of shuttle... Read More