Premier stage beckons for Longwood’s reunited draft after bushfire ordeal
Relief washed over Longwood Thoroughbred Farm on Monday when its draft of 21 yearlings arrived at Oaklands Junction for the 2026 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale – the first time the youngsters had been reunited since being evacuated from the property during Victoria’s devastating bushfires in early January.
The crisis claimed one life and burnt more than 400,000 hectares, destroying or significantly damaging at least 300 homes across the state amid record heat and extreme fire conditions. A state of disaster was declared as authorities coordinated emergency responses and evacuations, with the breeding industry among those impacted.
For Longwood principal Michael Christian, the road to Premier has been anything but straightforward.
“It’s been a challenging period for us. Our yearlings had started their preparation for Melbourne Premier at the end of December, and the fire came through on the 8th and 9th of January,” Christian told ANZ News.
“We had to evacuate our horses, and as an impact of the fire we lost our perimeter fencing, paddock fencing, key barn and other structures in an area where we would ordinarily prepare our yearlings. This made it impossible to proceed with our yearling preparation.
“We explored a number of different options, including leasing a facility to try and relocate our yearling staff there. But for various reasons, it just didn’t quite work out.
“After receiving some incredible offers of help we decided to outsource the preparation of our yearlings to five different farms: Rosemont Stud, Two Bays Farm, Shadow Hill, Collingrove and Widden Stud. There’s not a lot of money in prepping yearlings so I’ll be forever grateful and thankful to those farms and their people for the generosity they displayed during this time.
“The horses all arrived across the day on Monday and it was great to have them all in one location again, after being scattered all over the state. We could get about the business of parading and showing them to potential buyers.”
Back at Longwood, rebuilding efforts are underway.
“It’s a slow gradual process. We’ve put up the perimeter fence, which is great. That was really important. In terms of other internal fencing, we’ve started replacing it and expect it to be completed shortly. We also lost one of our really good barns, so we’re just working through how to rebuild that, whether we change the structure up a little bit. Hopefully that will be rebuilt in the coming weeks.
“Even things that I never really imagined, like areas of our water pipes melting from the extreme heat of the ground. Obviously that’s something we repaired very quickly. So it’s all slowly coming together.
“I must say, we were a lot luckier than many other properties in the area. Other farms were decimated, losing houses, structures and fencing, including our great friend [Magic Millions bloodstock manager] Tim Brown across the road who lost everything.
“The fire burnt right up to our house, and it was only great work from our CFA that saved it. They’re an incredible organisation, the people in that organisation were just amazing right through this ordeal. Our staff were amazing as well with the way they evacuated horses.
“I couldn’t be more grateful and thankful to them for doing what they did. It’s been a challenging period for us, and we’ve finally got all our horses back together for the Premier Sale, and we’re looking forward to selling them come the weekend.”
Across the three days of selling, Longwood will present 21 yearlings, headlined by Lot 11, a chestnut colt by reigning champion Victorian sire Toronado (High Chaparral) out of Di Lusso (Lonhro). The mare has already produced Group 2 winner Contessa Vanessa (Bullbars), runner-up in the New Zealand Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m), as well as Group 2 placegetter Pivot City (Not A Single Doubt) and recent Manfred Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) runner-up Job Done (Snitzel).
“The mare has done an incredible job,” Christian said. “She’s produced a Group 2 winner, and now two stakes placegetters with an upgrade in the pedigree with the Mick Price-trained Job Done running second in the Group 3 Manfred Stakes.
“The colt is beautifully balanced and has plenty of strength. He gets across the ground effortlessly and we’re really excited to take him through the ring on Sunday. He is owned by our great friends, Rob and June Harding, who have bred some outstanding horses. It’s a pleasure to have this colt in our draft.”
Lot 72 is a colt by Capitalist (Written Tycoon) out of Group 3 winner Fuhryk (Star Witness), who also finished second in the Winterbottom Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).
“I reckon if you wanted to produce something similar to Capitalist himself, this would be it,” Christian said. “He’s a November 5 foal, but he’s beautifully developed with great scope and balance. He’s a beautiful moving horse with a terrific temperament, and I’m really looking forward to putting him through as well.”
Lot 337 is by in-form sire Ghaiyyath (Dubawi) out of Shy Talk (Shamus Award), an unraced half-sister to champion stayer and triple Group 1 winner Jameka (Myboycharlie) and Group 2 winner Grandslam (Myboycharlie). Ghaiyyath could add further top-level success this weekend with three runners engaged in the Australian Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) at Flemington.
“It’s a great family and the stallion is doing an incredible job,” Christian said of Ghaiyyath.
“They just all run. This guy is big and strong with a wonderful depth of girth. But he’s also just a lovely moving horse, and I think that’s the trick when you’ve got these big, strong colts – if they can move the way he does, then I think you’ve got a potential star on your hands. We’ve had quite a few Ghaiyyaths grow up on the farm and he’s very typical of the breed.”
Lot 498, by another in-form sire in Street Boss (Street Cry), is a colt out of a winning More Than Ready (Southern Halo) half-sister to stakes winner Our Crown Mistress (Star Witness) who has been popular during inspections.
“He’s an absolute beauty: very athletic, light on his feet, and I’m very excited to not only put him through the ring, but also to see where he ends up because Street Boss is taking all before him at the moment,” Christian said. “I’m really excited about this colt.”
Rounding out the highlights is Lot 581, a colt by Anders (Not A Single Doubt) out of Daisy Head Mayzie (Sebring), a half-sister to Group 3-winning juvenile Brereton (Zoustar) and recent Manfred Stakes winner Space Rider (Zoustar) out of Christian’s star mare Fuddle De Duddle (Red Ransom), from the family of champion mare Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai).
“He just got a recent pedigree upgrade with Space Rider winning the Manfred Stakes,” Christian said. “The first foal from the mare was actually purchased by Colin Little, and she’s called Bettylou Who. She trialled up at Cranbourne before Christmas, and won her trial comfortably for Grahame Begg. Graham gave her a little break and she’s back in work now, but she looks really exciting.
“This colt is just picture perfect. He’s got great balance, a well-proportioned, good moving colt. There’s some pretty good blood in that family, so hopefully that carries through to him.”
With inspections in full swing, Christian said buyer interest has been encouraging.
“Thursday we were off our feet. I can’t remember doing as many parades, and today, again, it’s been really steady. We’ve just had a constant flow of people and multiple parades, so hopefully it all goes well for the sale and looking forward to presenting our draft of 21.”