Hawkesbury-based Glenn Haven Racing training facility to be sold by Sir Owen
Focus to be on Go Bloodstock’s elite broodmare band and stallion portfolio
Prominent Australian thoroughbred investor Sir Owen Glenn’s private training centre Glenn Haven Racing at Hawkesbury on the outskirts of Sydney will be closed at the end of the month and placed on the market as the octogenarian embarks on a “significant change in direction”.
But Steve O’Connor, the manager of Sir Owen’s racing and breeding interests, yesterday stressed that despite the planned selling off of the property the New Zealand billionaire was as committed as ever to the industry and that he would now place a greater commercial focus on his Go Bloodstock enterprise.
The decision means respected young trainer, educator and pre-trainer Matt Vella and his offsider Enzo Mezenguel will depart Glenn Haven Racing, which has been under its current ownership for nearly four years. Sir Owen has pledged to support the pair in their future endeavours.
“We have taken a hybrid approach in the past, but now rather than keeping a lot to race, we will be racing a few and we will be selling a lot more. As a result, we just don’t need to have our own facility,” O’Connor told ANZ Bloodstock News late yesterday, soon after the release of a statement announcing the pending closure of Glenn Haven Racing.
“I spoke to Sir Owen this morning and even an hour ago (Friday afternoon) he was watching the races, so he is still committed to winning races like the Melbourne Cup and Golden Slipper.
“Sir Owen has set the agenda that he wanted to build the broodmare band, increase the stallion equity and take more of a commercial approach, which means we race a few less horses of our own that we breed and that is where our focus is really going now rather than educating and breaking in on our own.”
Sir Owen has shares in a number of high-profile stallions including Newgate’s Capitalist (Written Tycoon) and Russian Revolution (Snitzel), as well as reigning Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200) winning colt Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), Profiteer (Capitalist), Artorius (Flying Artie) and Captivant (Capitalist), among others.
Go Bloodstock is also closely aligned with Coolmore, Sledmere and Segenhoe Stud, as well as other Hunter Valley thoroughbred farms, and has one of the best private broodmare bands in the country.
Sir Owen has mares of the calibre of Dame Giselle (I Am Invincible), Heatherly (Lonhro), Pure Elation (I Am Invincible) and In The Vanguard (Encosta De Lago), the dam of Te Akau Racing’s exciting Group 1-winning three-year-old colt Sword Of State (Snitzel).
The Glenn Haven Racing transition has been taking place over recent months with fillies and mares who had been in training with Vella such as three-year-old filly Miss Glenn (Written Tycoon), the first foal out of Group 2 winner Heatherly, transferred to Richard and Michael Freedman prior to being given two barrier trials in July.
Vella, 29, who has a young family, will take up a role with a leading Sydney trainer once his commitments at Glenn Haven Racing are completed. Mezenguel is expected to continue breaking-in horses but at what location has not been determined.
Glenn Haven Racing will consign 18 two-year-olds at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale on October 12, which will bring Vella’s tenure as an employee of Sir Owen to an end.
Vella revealed that he had expressed his desire to O’Connor and Sir Owen in recent months to take a step back from the pressures of managing a large stable of horses being broken in, pre-trained and in training.
He expressed his utmost gratitude for the opportunities Sir Owen had provided him.
“It has been great; we’ve had a lot of fun together, but it’s a big workload, a lot of stress. It’s been fantastic, but it’s time to move on,” Vella said.
“I have been breaking in for Owen for five years but we have been working in business together for the past three to four years. It’s just been amazing; it’s been fantastic.
“He is an amazing man, Owen. I’ve got the most respect for him, he treats me like I am his own flesh and blood, so it won’t be my last dealings with Sir Owen.”
The Glenn Haven Racing facility, which has 48 boxes, a treadmill and horse pool with direct access to the Hawkesbury racecourse, will be offered for sale by Inglis Rural Property.
O’Connor said: “It is a facility we take pride in. It’s a pristine state-of-the-art facility on the (Hawkesbury) track which is a bit of a rarity. So, whomever does buy it will walk into a top-class facility that’s ready to go.”