Maluka to make move to farm once owned by Spendthrift
Andersons reach a deal with Hesket Thoroughbreds to take on Kerrie property
Luke and Mags Anderson’s Maluka Thoroughbreds will soon relocate to the former Spendthrift Australia farm near Melbourne, enabling the couple to expand their Victorian broodmare, spelling and sales preparation business.
The pair have established a reputation for breeding and consigning high-class, Group 1-winning horses as a predominantly Victoria-focused operation, but with their current leased farm near Avenel going on the market, they were forced to look elsewhere to run Maluka Thoroughbreds.
After exploring potential options, the sellers of Group 1 winners Seabrook (Hinchinbrook) and Gytrash (Lope De Vega) will move to the 244-hectare stud, now known as Breeders Farm, after reaching a joint arrangement with Hesket Thoroughbreds’ David Moodie and Ash Hardwick.
“We have been granted an outstanding opportunity by Hesket Thoroughbreds to operate out of Breeders Farm. Working out the details with David Moodie has been a great process,” Luke Anderson said yesterday.
“Mags and I fully appreciate the trust shown in us to maintain the high standards that have been set for Breeders Farm.
“General broodmare and spelling clients don’t normally have the ability to keep their horses on a farm fitted out to a standard like this. It’s normally reserved for the likes of private breeders such as Darley or Yulong.”
The farm at Kerrie, 45 minutes north west of Melbourne, has been owned by Hesket Thoroughbreds’ Moodie and Hardwick for about 18 months after the US-owned Spendthrift Farm suddenly offloaded the property and its Australian thoroughbred holdings following the death of B. Wayne Hughes in 2021.
Hughes bought the Victorian property, previously known as Yallambee Stud, in early 2015 and subsequently invested tens of millions of dollars on the Australian arm of Spendthrift, both on the farm itself and acquiring horses.
In March, former Racing Victoria chairman Moodie and Hardwick, a co-founder of Cotton On, relisted for sale the rebranded Breeders Farm property with a reported $20 million price guide through Inglis Rural Property and Colliers.
A sale was not forthcoming, presenting an opportunity for the Andersons to relocate Maluka Thoroughbreds to Breeders Farm, which has a 22-box mare and 14-box stallion barn, two large stable complexes, a foaling barn, veterinary facilities, a four-bedroom weatherboard homestead and two four-bedroom managers houses.
Upon buying Spendthrift Australia on a walk-in, walk-out basis, Moodie immediately relocated stallions Dirty Work (Written Tycoon), Gold Standard (Sebring) and Overshare (I Am Invincible) to nearby Widden Victoria.
Hesket will still run cattle and perform maintenance on Breeders Farm under the arrangement, but Moodie said the Andersons would have autonomy over the property and the running of Maluka Thoroughbreds.
“It is a facility that needs occupation, use and horses. It’s a five-star facility and I imagine Luke and Mags will do it great justice,” Moodie told ANZ Bloodstock News of the occupants.
“We had to wade through a number of issues, buying a walk-in, walk-out farm and buying a company and [associated] businesses, so we’ve cleaned all that up and now it’s time to do something aggressive with it and use the facility for what it’s worth.”
With Maluka responsible for selling 18 individual stakes performers, including 2021 VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) runner-up Douceur (No Nay Never), the Andersons will start operating out of Breeders Farm from next month, just as the Inglis Melbourne Premier and Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale preparations begin.
However, the new venture will also provide the opportunity for the Andersons to consign yearling drafts at other major sales, such as the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast and Inglis’s Sydney sales, Classic and Easter.
“Mags and I have always had an aspiration to expand the business. With the experience we have gained, matched with Breeders Farm, we can now turn it into a reality,” Anderson said.
“The proximity to Melbourne and being central to all the major studs is a real bonus. Maluka will continue to provide full broodmare services, with the capability of taking on more clients on this beautiful 450-acre farm.
“I am sure when any prospective clients or trainers come out to inspect the property, front of mind will be the safety of their horses through the fencing and boxes, plus the calm that comes with the magnificent trees and wind breaks.”
The 57-hectare Avenel-based Pisa Lodge – home to Maluka Thoroughbreds for the past four years after the Andersons first established the business on a property near Kilmore – is currently on the market with Magic Millions and Donovan & Co.
Moodie, meanwhile, is comfortable with the decision to firstly buy Spendthrift Australia and to keep it under the Hesket banner after an unsuccessful marketing campaign earlier this year.
“A deal wasn’t reached because it is overcapitalised for a particular purpose and they capitalised it with a view of standing a dozen stallions there and not many people have got a dozen commercial stallions, so we had to find some sort of alternative outlet for it,” he said.
“We moved in May last year and there was no way known we were going to continue with what Spendthrift were doing.”