Examples of my work | Four | 09 July 2020
Trying to secure a racemare 'off-the-track' normally requires patience. Yes, you can buy the filly or mare while racing, but it will nearly always require the payment of a premium price - the value of the filly/mare plus factoring in her future potential on the track. A more cost-effective plan of attack, I've found, is putting that mare on your radar & picking your moment to secure her. It might be after a poor performance, or after an injury scare or simply when the mare has been retired.
I did this during my 8 year stint as Manager of Nearco Stud (2019 NZ Breeder of the Year) and one mare, in particular comes to mind. Pennacchio was a mare which caught my eye one day at the Hastings races. A magnificent type trained by Lance O'Sullivan & Andrew Scott and I reckon she was on my radar for 12 months before the 'right' time came along. Meanwhile she had won two Listed Races at the Queensland Winter Carnival. The deal was secured in conjunction with the Robt Dawe Agency and Pennacchio joined the Nearco Stud emerging quality broodmare band.
I decided on Darci Brahma for her second mating. She produced a colt, which we offered at the Melbourne Premier Sale & he fetched A$120,000. Now in Hong Kong, that horse has become 'Full of Beauty' (see photo), the winner to date of 6 races (including a Gr.3) and HK$9.5m.
A bonus to this purchase was that I managed to source, to lease, a half-sister to Pennacchio by the name of Abenroad. Mated with Alamosa, she produced the SW & Gr.1 placed beauty queen Strada Cavallo.
Lookout for the fifth-and-final example of my work (for now) tomorrow (Friday NZ time).
