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 (Sequalo) filly, a daughter of Written Tycoon (Iglesia) mare Shorthand, is being closely watched from near and afar as she grows out at Widden Stud in the Hunter Valley with her first-time breeders already booking accommodation on the Gold Coast for the 2024 Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
By Eureka Stud’s Spirit Of Boom, who sired the most two-year-old winners in Australia in the season just gone, the filly is the first result of the Viva Racing breeding partnership formed by Lowe with the assistance of agent Neil Jenkinson.
“A lot of the general public, the punter or the owner, doesn’t understand that breeding side of things,” Lowe told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“So, I am just really trying to provide an opportunity for people to get into the breeding space and treat it as more of an investment and try and earn a little bit of money for everyone but also try to provide an experience and do it that way.
“We’ve started it off with a few mares now, which have been going great. The first of those will hit the Magic Millions sale in January.
“It’s no different to a racing syndication, so if someone wants to jump into a mare for a five per cent share, some owners have got up to 40 to 50 per cent in the mares.”
Lowe’s clients are expecting another four foals to be born this year as they jump on the rollercoaster ride of breeding and selling horses and those that have paid up “are well schooled in the ups and downs”.
“Some of the partners I have got involved [in the breeding venture] are also in horses we’re hoping to get towards that Magic Millions race series in January, so it’s going to be an interesting few days,” Lowe said.
“Not only will you be checking on how the [Spirit Of Boom] yearling’s going, how many inspections has she had, how many x-ray hits has she got, all those things are part of it while we’re waiting for her to sell, but then we’ll also be inspecting horses to potentially buy another one and have horses racing at that time as well.
“It’ll be the full experience for a lot of people and … a lot have already booked their accommodation and are looking forward to going up there [Gold Coast].”
Lowe credited Jenkinson in assisting him in selecting yearlings under his banner of Viva Racing, which has horses in training with Matt Dunn at Murwillumbah, Steve O’Dea and Matt Hoysted as well as Tony Gollan in Brisbane and Mick Price and Mick Kent Jnr in Melbourne.
“I know when I first started out with horses, you make plenty of mistakes along the way and I got to the point where I was buying horses that I liked on pedigree and what I was really lacking was in selecting the best-conformed horses,” Lowe said.
“I do pedigree analysis, Neil will inspect all the yearlings and then we work with all our trainers on what horses they like, so between the three of us – it works really well.
“Our strike-rate for runners to winners has improved out of sight since Neil’s come on board.”
Jenkinson has not only been instrumental in the rise of Viva Racing, but he is also a key influence in the establishment of the mares’ partnership with Widden Stud.
“When we bought our first mare I approached Antony Thompson with the story of Mitch wanting to bring new owners in to the breeding industry and giving them the opportunity to buy a five, ten and 25 per cent shares in a nice mare and if he was interested in Widden buying a leg in her, which would give what were doing credibility and give Mitch’s clients and investors further comfort in the knowledge that one of the leading farms where happy to partner with him,” Jenkinson said.
“The first mare we bought Shorthand had a lovely Spirit Of Boom filly that heads to the Magic Millions next January, all going well, and Widden have been kind enough to continue that support by going into other mares that we have now bought, which is very good of them.”
The aforementioned Shorthand, a half-sister to stakes-winning juvenile Twist Tops (Beneteau), was in foal to Spirit Of Boom when bought by Jenkinson and Lowe for $105,000 at the 2022 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, the pair’s initial foray into the breeding syndication. She is due to foal to Anders (Not A Single Doubt) in September. This year the Viva Racing mares’ portfolio added $49,000 mare Phantomix (Teofilo), half-sister to Adelaide Listed winner Indian Thunder (Manhattan Rain), who will soon foal to Trapeze Artist (Snitzel), while they also purchased Mashrabiya (Teofilo) for $100,000 at this year’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
Formerly owned by Godolphin before being sold in 2022 and resold this year to Viva Racing and Jenkinson, Mashrabiya, a half-sister to Listed winner Inquiry (Exceed And Excel) and the stakes-placed Cloak (Medaglia d’Oro), and she is in foal to Darley’s high-profile shuttler Too Darn Hot (Dubawi).
They also paid $40,000 for Power O’Hata (Power), a winner of six races including a Group 3, and she is also a half-sister to Hong Kong stakes-placed Pikachu (Keeper), who is in foal to Widden Stud’s Portland Sky (Deep Field).
Lowe said: “We floated the concept of what we were trying to do with Widden and they thought it was great that we were trying to look at a different market to get more people involved.
“Widden is involved in all of the mares at present, but that’s not to say that we won’t work with other studs moving forward or explore other opportunities.
“We’re happy to have their support in the ones that we’ve syndicated to date.”
Jenkinson has also played a role in providing mating advice for the mares, but the new investors have also had the opportunity to visit Hunter Valley farms to inspect stallions under consideration, something they will again do later this year.
“A lot of people think it’s just about looking at the pedigree and working out, ‘OK, this is a good genetic match’, but when you’re breeding a horse and going to the sales, all the big buyers are selecting horses on type nowadays,” Lowe said.
“That has probably been the biggest learning curve for a lot of our partners, that it’s not just about looking at the pedigrees, it’s also working out what a stallion can do for the mare in trying to produce a better quality athlete.”