‘I was there to sell horses, not bring back a stallion’

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On a milestone week for Waylon J Stud, studmaster Brian Smith struck for a left-field ‘Performer’ at the Magic Millions National Sale

Amidst the $140 million of trade over the last fortnight on the Gold Coast, a stallion exchanged hands. But, a far cry from the eye-watering seven-figure prices commanded by the most desired and well credentialed mares on the market, he sold for the princely sum of just $6,000. 

Brian Smith of Waylon J Stud experienced a milestone week on the Gold Coast, selling his highest-priced horse ever at the weanling sale, but during the more sparsely attended final day’s National Racehorse Sale he found himself bidding to the left of the rostrum at Magic Millions on behalf of his client Mark Jacobson, as he snapped up the Aquis Farm-offered Performer (Exceed And Excel) and took his very own stallion back to his Wamuran-based farm, just north of Brisbane.  

The plan? Rather than pack up mares, travel them to the stud and pay the service fee each time, Jacobson and Smith, at whose Waylon J Stud the former’s “small” breeding stock interests reside, simply purchased the stallion to take to them. 

“I was there to sell horses, I didn’t expect to be coming back with a stallion!” Smith told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. 

“A client of mine, Mark Jacobson, has mares on the farm here. He had a few whose pedigrees matched up very well with the stallion, who he also bred to last year. He just said ‘if you’re around at the time, could you have a look and see what he makes’. 

“Basically, I’ve bought Performer as a private stallion for him to send his mares to.”

Smith said they could consider setting a fee for Performer, who won the Canonbury Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) as well as the season-opener, the Breeders’ Plate (Listed, 1000m) for Chris Waller, and take outside bookings, with ‘just a few mares’ required from elsewhere to pay back the seven-year-old’s purchase price. 

“We’ve had stallions here in the past, but I’m not in the business of standing stallions, as such, it’s more of a headache for us to have,” Smith said. “But if someone wants to breed to him, that would be fine.

“We hadn’t really made any plans at the time [of purchasing him], it just kind of happened, and he was not very expensive for what he was. 

“We brought him home today [yesterday]. He’s a lovely horse and I did like him. We’ve bred quite a few horses to the Aquis stallions over the years, but he’s a handy sort of horse to have around and with the QTIS bonus, it makes him useful as well.

The stallion stood his first four seasons at Aquis Farm, covering 104 mares in his maiden year at stud off a $8,800 (inc GST) service fee. 

However, he got just 52.7 per cent of those mares in foal and, with his fertility issues common knowledge, his numbers plummeted to 33, 18 and 28 mares across the next three years respectively and the stallion has just 71 live foals on the ground.  

The sire’s first two-year-olds have ‘performed’ reasonably well. From 12 runners to date, Performer has three winners, including an impressive two-and-three-quarter-length debut scorer at Townsville last month for trainer Georgie Holt. Named Jawgo, the gelding was sold by Waylon J Stud for $25,000 at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, before making $35,000 at the Gold Coast March Yearling Sale a few months later.  

And, tomorrow, the stallion could be afforded his fourth winner and first stakes scorer if the Scott Morrisey-trained Sonny Daze can cause a minor shock to shed his maiden tag and land The Phoenix Stakes (Listed, 1500m) at Eagle Farm. 

The gelding, a $210,000 yearling buy for John Morrisey and a $34 chance in the opening race in Brisbane tomorrow, has finished runner-up in four of his five starts in Queensland, most recently when falling a head short of Boomster (Spirit Of Boom) at Ipswich on a Heavy 10 track and the pair are set to re-oppose at Eagle Farm. 

He’ll step up markedly in distance for The Phoenix Stakes, having only previously run to 1200 metres, but a strong showing could see him progress to next weekend’s JJ Atkins Plate (Gr 1, 1600m) back at Eagle Farm. 

“It’s a big jump up in distance, but he’s been unlucky this preparation having drawn wide all the time,” said John Morrisey. “We’ve got him in on Saturday just to see if he warrants a start in the Atkins. 

“He’ll improve a lot from Saturday and we’ll make a decision once we see him pull up from the race. I don’t know if he’ll handle the distance, but it’s just a matter of suck it and see.

“He’s a lovely horse but he’s a Performer, so we’re not sure if he’ll get the trip. He drew wide and got back the other day, and the other horse [Boomster] had his momentum, so we think he can improve from that.”

While Smith may not have celebrated his potential ‘headache’ purchase Performer, he was most certainly jubilant at the sale on the opening day of the National Sale of a weanling colt by Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Farnan (Not A Single Doubt), who at $190,000 became the most expensive horse the stud had sold. 

The colt, who is the second foal out of dual metropolitan winner Bella Success (I Am Invincible), was purchased by renowned judge Jim Carey, and therefore surpassed the $170,000 Waylon J Stud received for just two months earlier at the Gold Coast March Yearling Sale for a colt by another son of Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) in Dubious. 

“He was a lovely colt [the Performer]. He had a tremendous mind on him,” Smith said. “I think [Jim Carey] will probably have a bit of success with him.

“Physically, he was a nice horse who had a lovely action. We had four Farnans at the sale and they were all very good-minded horses like this. I think he’s a very real hope [to make it as a stallion]. 

“It’s been quite a good year for us at the sales. It was certainly tougher [selling horses] than the previous two years, which were very good years. This year you had to have the right horses and, if you didn’t, you were going to get hurt a little bit.”