The Victorians standing firm
Competition can steer people in one of two ways. There are those who retract; recoiling back to safer ground in the face of a strong rival. And there are those who thrive, spurned on by an envy and resolve that drives them into unknown territory.
Ryan McEvoy and Rosemont Stud belong to the latter.
And so the latest venture was born. The Victorian Alliance, devised for and aimed at securing the finest yearling stallion prospects in the country, has made itself noticed this first year since its inception, muscling its way into a powerful sphere that was quickly becoming not Victoria’s to consume.
Competition between Victoria and New South Wales, in any sporting arena, has always been rife, and none more so than in thoroughbred racing, whether it’s on the racing side with the latest prize-money arms race or in the breeding of the best.
For Anthony Mithen, stud principal at Rosemont, stud director Nigel Austin, and McEvoy, the growing dominance of New South Wales in acquiring stallions has not gone unnoticed.
“As the Victorian Alliance, we’re unashamedly trying to find that next high class commercial stallion prospect,” said McEvoy, who took up the role of general manager at the Gnarwarre stud in March last year after 15 years as Head of sales and marketing at Hunter Valley giant Widden Stud.
“Anthony and Nigel deserve a lot of credit. They have built a great team here at Rosemont and have established an operation that is not only successful but an industry leader in a relatively short period of time.
“Both are very driven individuals with a clear vision of Rosemont’s future.
Part of that is providing breeders with the best possible stallion talent on offer.”
“It stemmed from just how difficult it is to buy a good colt off the track these days but we’ve seen a lot of quality stallions that have either started their careers in Victoria and ended up in the Hunter Valley or are simply being bought by the Hunter Valley muscle.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here, there are a number of colts partnerships within the Australian market. Ultimately, a strong colts market is a very healthy thing for the broader industry. however I’d like to think ours was a unique concept.
“It’s very much with a view to having a real Victorian flavour to it. Something that as Victorian breeders we can really get behind holistically and ensure that these top-class stallion prospects remain in the state, and ideally we have some fun doing it.”
The partnership is made up of a group of a dozen or so breeders in Victoria, while Rosemont have enlisted the support of successful UK bloodstock agents David Redvers and Hannah Wall, who have a close association with Qatar Racing and worked together with McEvoy to secure colts-turned-stallions Zousain (Zoustar) and Sun City (Zoustar), as well as Melbourne-based bloodstock agent Suman Hedge.
“I’ve had a great relationship with David and Hannah throughout the last decade,” said McEvoy.
“We’ve worked together in the past and bought some nice horses so it suited both of us and it is obviously nice to have the support of a wonderfully successful organisation such as Qatar Racing and Bloodstock involved.
“To have Suman Hedge involved to assist myself and Anthony on the ground has been instrumental. Suman is an outstanding judge and very level headed with his overall view on a yearling.
“Between everyone – Mitho, Suman, David, Hannah and myself – I was rapt with how the whole team demonstrated the ability to work together.”
What McEvoy and his cohorts would have witnessed over the last few years is a dominance of NSW-based colts syndicates swallowing up the leading stallion prospects.
Establishing a foothold in the lucrative stallion business has been an ambition held by many industry players over the last five years, and new, innovative ways of achieving that have emerged.
Since 2016 there has been an incremental increase in the number of stallions going to stud having been purchased, either by stud masters or stallion-making syndicates, as yearlings with the hope they develop into a stallion prospect.
James Harron and his powerful group of investors struck the jackpot as Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Capitalist (Written Tycoon) and Defcon (Choisir) found stud deals in 2016 after their racing careers came to an end, while the Newgate Farm/China Horse Club partnership and Aquis Farm have followed suit, investing heavily in regally-bred colts in the hope of a few of them reaching the heights required, with the likes of Russian Revolution (Snitzel), Cosmic Force (Deep Field), Pariah (Redoute’s Choice), Dubious (Not A Single Doubt) and Rosemont’s own stallion, Strasbourg (I Am Invincible), having made the grade, with a plethora of graduates from various colt funds including Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) and King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice) bound for stud upon retirement.
For what’s a $1 million colt when it goes on to make a $30 million stud deal?
“Ultimately the view was to purchase around a dozen colts. We’re not specifically tying ourselves to a set number of purchases or budget, other than we’d be looking to purchase around 12 or 14 colts throughout the year and certainly the Magic Millions, Melbourne Premier and Inglis Easter are the major sales that we plan to source those horses from,” said McEvoy.
“We’re looking for colts that can give themselves the opportunity of being ready at two and will train on at three. We have an open mind as to what that horse looks like, but it’s nothing too radical that we’re doing here.”
Although not radical it’s certainly influential. At the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale the group went to seven figures to prize a Zoustar (Northern Meter) colt out of Group 3 winner Fuddle Dee Duddle (Red Ransom).
The Victorian Alliance purchased a total of six lots for a spend of $3,600,000, going toe to toe with James Harron (seven lots, $5,275,000) and the Newgate Farm/China Horse Club syndicate (six lots, $2,700,000), ending the sale as the seventh leading buyer, trailing powerhouse pair Phoenix Thoroughbred/Tony Fung Investments, who bought 19 lots for an $11,645,000 spend.
“The majority are proven stallions, for example our Magic Millions purchases include three I Am Invincible colts, a Zoustar, a Written Tycoon and a Capitalist colt. That gives you a fair idea of what we’re trying to achieve,” said McEvoy.
While there is very much a serious element in achieving success with the project, for McEvoy and the group of breeders involved, they are keen to ensure they enjoy the thrills of purchasing and racing these high-end colts, targeting some of the country’s most prestigious races on the calendar.
“We loved the idea of doing it organically,” said McEvoy. “It fuels a desire from our point of view of racing these horses, it’s a passion of Nigel’s to see these horses from the real embryonic stage of selecting them at the yearling stage and being involved from the time they’re broken in and then all the way through their race track careers.
“Doing it this way obviously has its risks no doubt, however a lot of the partners that are involved are at the stage whereby they really want to enjoy just having these well bred quality colts in work.
“And you’ll find that a lot of the partners we do have involved are racing purists and relish the idea of being involved in a group that races high profile colts. With the trainers that will be selected, they’re going to be given opportunities at all the major races. I think that was something that appealed to the group.
“It’s been fun. We emphasised from the very beginning we want this to be a collective venture as much as possible and enjoy the process the whole way through. The partners are in this to be involved in a model that’s hopefully going to benefit the Victorian industry.”
As for the current landscape of the Victorian stallion and breeding scene, with Sun Stud exiting the arena, McEvoy remains confident in the strength of the actors who are investing for the betterment of the industry in Victoria.
“I think we should have a lot of confidence in the Victorian stallion business,” said McEvoy.
“You look at international stallion operations such as Darley, Spendthrift, Yulong, there’s just three, that are really committed to standing stallions in the state and have been a wonderful addition to the Victorian industry.
“In addition I think the mare population in Victoria is as strong as ever. The success of Written Tycoon has been largely brought upon from the support of Victorian based mares.
“Some of the country’s most successful breeders are here; Rick Jamieson, Bruce Wilson, the Liston family, David Moodie, Robert Crabtree just to name a few – they have built their thoroughbred brand from a Victorian base.
“From a Rosemont point of view we’re very committed and excited for what the future holds.”
That future will, McEvoy hopes, involve more than one stallion standing at the Victorian farm in the coming years and reaffirmed their longstanding commitment that this is not merely a splash and dash project for this year.
“We’re certainly in this for the long term. This is a venture we see continuing through for a number of years. We’d obviously hope to see not just one but a number of colts that have come through the Victorian Alliance standing on the Rosemont roster, that’s clearly the dream, without which you don’t get anywhere.”
Heading into the Melbourne Premier Sale, an auction that has seen the likes of Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon) and North Pacific (Brazen Beau) emerge as stallion prospects, McEvoy believes the Victorian sale will deliver the stallions of tomorrow, but he is fully aware that, with the current trend of vibrant yearling sales expected to continue and demand for high-end colts at a record high, the group will have to dig deep into their pockets to secure the quality of yearling required.
“Enormous confidence (in the sale). The Premier sale has consistently produced high-class Group 1 horses,” said McEvoy. “I thought the Inglis Classic sale would be a good barometer for how the Melbourne Premier sale might play out and clearly Classic was off the charts, so I couldn’t be more confident that we’ll see a successful premier sale.
And a lot of that Victorian spend that may have gone to New Zealand one would think will be redirected here at Premier so I expect the sale will be hot.