We had a very interesting day yesterday visiting Yallambee and Eliza Park Studs and Oakford Thoroughbreds.
At Yallambee we inspected a couple of new mares we have purchased who are under lights in preparation for the stud season. Chrisite showed us their yearling set up and we also saw the latest foal born a few hours before we arrived. We then had a look at the stallion line up at Eliza Park. Their ‘boys’ looked magnificent and were a credit to their handlers. We saw BEL ESPRIT, SHINZIG, MAGNUS, MOSHE (full to Black Caviar and first season at stud), WANTED and SHARKBITE.
David and I both agreed that MAGNUS once again stood out as our favourite – a really athletic horse with a magnificent powerhouse behind, lovely long loose walk, and a great rein and head. He finished the season as Leading First Season sire in Victoria and I’ll be hugely disappointed if he doesn’t continue on with the job and make a successful sire. He has the looks, the pedigree and the race performance to make the grade.
We inspected a new water walker and a specialized feed mixing system at Oakford and really enjoyed chatting to the McKnight family.
Last night we stayed with JKB and Penny at Seymour. The weather was no warmer (in fact colder!) than Tasmania but the welcome was wonderfully warm. It was great to see their training set up which is very impressive, and to spend an evening over a few beers and wines chatting and catching up.
John has a stable full of promising horses – though he says there aren’t any superstars in the boxes at this stage. We watched early morning track work this morning (well the last part of it!) and were thrilled to see several sporting the Armidale brand going around the track.
John and Penny are off to Geelong races today whilst David and I head up to Chatswood, then off to Darley and Swettenham Studs looking at more stallions.
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