TASSIE INDUSTRY Ripe For The Picking

KATRINA PARTRIDGE

Whilst former Champion Sydeston ($3m earner and 4-time Group 1 winner: STC BMW S., Gr1, AJC Queen Elizabeth S., Gr1, VATC Caulfield Cup, Gr1, Caulfield S., Gr1) was always useful to fly the Tassie flag, recent names such as The Cleaner (19 wins, multiple Gr2 winner, Gr1 placegetter, and earnings of $1.3m), Mongolian Khan (ATC Australian Derby Gr1, MRC Caulfield Cup Gr1, New Zealand Derby,

Gr1) and Palentino (VRC Australian Guineas, Gr1, Makybe Diva S., Gr1.) have really stamped the Tasmanian brand because simultaneously it also demonstrated the work that Tassie breeders were doing behind the scenes to improve the quality of their breeding stock. In 2018/19 this lengthy work in progress seemed to reach new heights with the deeds of Tasmanian home-breds such as Mystic Journey, Soul Patch (winner of the MVRC Moonee Valley Vase Gr2; game in defeat finishing 3rd in the 2019 VRC Victoria Derby Gr1), Kemalpasa - winner of both the VRC Linlithgow S., Gr2 and SAJC Durbridge S., L - the same breeder as Palentino; not a bad result when Macleay Thoroughbreds own just nine broodmares and can boast an impressive 82% winner to runner average) and don’t forget leading Tasmanian trainer Scott Brunton churning out Spring Carnival results such as MM graduate The Inevitable (VRC CS Hayes S., Gr3, MVRC Bendigo Bank S., L, TRC Tasmanian Guineas, L & victor in the inaugural running of the $500,000 Silver Eagle).

Something’s working. And it’s more than just the climate and the fertile ground, the passion, the drive, and the relentless hours that are being put in.

It’s a beautiful morning in Devonport. Adam Trinder’s stables abound with activity as horses move to and from the track, between the tie-ups, wash bay and day yards yet the surrounding silence is palpable and it is easy to get lost in the mountain views. Tasmania has a habit of doing that; losing you in the views. Trinder - a third generation horseman is a former jumps jockey. His grandfather Ray trained Piping Lane before transferring him to George Hanlon who trained him to win the 1972 Melbourne Cup. Adam’s father Michael was also a noted horseman. Adam rides out each morning and as he chats to me he is legged aboard ‘Betty’. The somewhat unassuming black filly with a keen gaze was recently voted

Tasmania’s 2018/19 Racehorse of the Year as well as 3YO of the Year. She was also named runner up to the four-time Cox Plate winner Winx as Victorian Racehorse of the Year. In a coup for Trinder and owner Wayne Roser ‘Betty’ aka Mystic Journey’s three-quarter sister Mystical Pursuit was also named Tasmanian 2YO of the Year. “Yes, she has been life changing,” Trinder admits of the $11,000 Tasmanian Magic Millions graduate that has won 11 races including the VRC Australian Guineas Gr1 plus the world’s richest mile race the $5m VRC All Star Mile with her career prize money just shy of $4m. Mystic Journey’s victory in the All-Star Mile was one of the most impressive middle-distance performances of the 2018/2019 season. Despite travelling wide, largely without cover, for the entire 1600m journey, the then-filly was able to power away from Hartnell, Alizee and Happy Clapper among others to score by 1.25L in handy time. She is also only the second Tasmanian horse to gain a top-five finish in the Gr1 Cox Plate - Sydeston finishing second in 1990 and third in 1991. Her following is industry-wide not just stablewide. She boasts more than 2,000 followers on her dedicated Facebook page. On Cox Plate day Tasmania’s Parliament House had a large screen to broadcast the race to the general public and when she ran in the All Star Mile, Hobart Race Club put on a function even though there wasn’t a race meeting scheduled that day so that people could watch the race. “[She] has given people locally as well as on the Mainland a general understanding of Tasmanian racing so she gave us national exposure as a business. We were hardly on the map, but we are on the map now,” Adam says.

“She has created a lot of interest primarily from the Mainland syndicators who have sent a lot of horses down here,” he says. “People are starting to realise how simplistic it is to travel. It is an easy trip and a lot of people are now trying. Our stock are proving that they are up to [Mainland] Saturday grade now and some have proven that they are beyond that grade like Mystic Journey and The Inevitable so it has certainly opened the gates for everyone.” A few hours drive South and not far from Hobart airport is based the training centre of Scott Brunton, trainer of - amongst others - the diminutive sized but lion hearted galloper The Inevitable. You won’t find stables here. Yards are built onto sand to harden horses hooves and endless trails which were developed by his father before him lead through scenic forest, across dunes and along the sweeping sands of Seven Mile Beach. If you were to sketch a string of riders riding out at daybreak you simply wouldn’t do it justice. “We are as good as anywhere in Australia. This is great ground for horses,” says Scott. “Our racing isn’t as strong prizemoney wise but in terms of our people and our horses we are right up there. I’ve got a few good horses in my team like Sir Simon. Mandela Effect (another MM graduate) is another. He was recently beaten in a Listed race. He should have won but didn’t see daylight but there’s a good race in him. His brother Galenus is a really good horse and we’ve got good wraps on him. Some headline acts at the moment but there are 20-25 Saturday Victorian horses and that’s fantastic with small numbers.” The trainers emanate a positivity and the numbers of horses that they train reflects well on their current success; their strong support of this year’s Tasmanian sale another indicator that they are feeling bullish about the local industry.

Mystic Journey was bred at the picturesque Armidale Stud not far from Launceston. It is run by the Whishaw family. Mystic Journey’s sire Needs Further has been a coup for Tasmania - this year alone he was honoured as Tasbreeders Leading Overall Tasmanian Sire Of The Year and Magic Millions Leading Tasmanian-based Juvenile Sire. “We have more mares foaling down here this season than we have had in the past 20 years,” says Armidale Stud Managing Director David Whishaw. “We have a lot of new clients including mainland clients. They’ve come down to utilise Needs Further but also the green grass - and we can give them that in spades - so it’s an exciting period for us.” Just up the road is Grenville Stud where Mongolian Khan was bred. Run by Graeme McCulloch, three stallions call this farm home. Son Bart is in the process of developing two additional farms and it would not be overstating

it to say that between them Armidale and Grenville are two of the big players in Tasmanian breeding. “The breeders in this State have come a long way,” says Dave Manshanden, Executive Officer of TasBreeders. “Probably six or seven years ago the Tasmanian sale was grossing just under a million dollars and no one was making any money. We were pretty lucky that Magic Millions gave us a commitment for another three years and since that time it has continued to grow. But the breeders need to take some credit for that because they stopped breeding with a lot of stock they shouldn’t have been breeding with, improved their stallions and produced a couple of very handy horses who certainly haven’t been bad advertising.” The Racing Fact Book reports that Tasmania has just 2.3% of the total Australian broodmare population, covers just 2.68% of all mares in Australia each season and produces just 1.83% (just 250 foals) of the total Australian thoroughbred population. Realistically the industry is largely unheralded. A lot of mare owners are hobby breeders and as Graeme explains, a lot of traditional breeders - farmers who owned one or two mares and bred them each year - are no longer in the industry. Despite this however the State continues to churn out an increasingly impressive tally of black type winners. “A number of horses have gone across [to the Mainland] and done well so people are starting to realise we are breeding good horses down here,” says Graeme. “The only thing we lack is money - someone to invest with big money in the State. I’ve always said we’ve had the best country in which to breed horses. We are very much like New Zealand in that regard and their success rate is proven. Our country is so good horses don’t have to be over force fed and so we they might be a bit more later maturing but they are very tough and very sound and people are starting to realise that and more and more people are starting to come down to the sale. It’s a good value sale for the quality.” “Don’t ever forget that a single horse can sell at the Gold Coast for what the entire catalogue can sell for down here,” says David. “But equally Magic Millions were willing to support the Tasmanian industry when it was on its knees. They recognised that there were some passionate young blokes like David Whishaw and Bart McCulloch. Without MM we wouldn’t have had a sale and our breeding industry probably would have fallen over. Then we would have had to send 150 of our best horses to the mainland and they would have got lost in those big catalogues. The interstate trainers love the laid back atmosphere of this sale, it’s very relaxed and an excuse to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life for a few days. They know we breed tough, sound racehorses. Sometimes these take time but they like them.” “We race once a week. And we race for $11,000. Country Victoria races for $25,000. And that hasn’t changed for the 45 years that I have been involved. We have always been the poor cousin,” says Robyn Whishaw of Armidale Stud. “What has changed is that we have become more professional in the way we market ourselves particularly the bigger studs and there is no doubt that Magic Millions coming down to run our sales lifted our profile as they work so hard to get interstate buyers in. We had built quite a good relationship with provincial buyers such as Kenny Keys. They knew we were here but Magic Millions lifted the bar even higher and guys were coming in and saying ‘gee that’s a really nice horse and we are getting it for way under the odds. If that was on the Gold Coast we would be paying double that.’ So we are starting to see new interstate faces each year attracted to the good horses that the sale produces. So with what horses are doing on the mainland, with word of mouth, with marketing and with what Magic Millions are doing, together it is all working to raise the profile of the local industry. “ In 2019 the new TasBred bonus scheme was also launched which sees, from 2020, some 72 local races carry a bonus of $20,000 if the winner is registered for TasBred. In addition, the State will host a two year-old and three year-old race for $50,000 which is restricted to locally bred runners that have been nominated for the scheme. “We also appreciate how important our interstate buyers are to breeders here, so any horse which is sired by a Tasmanian stallion and registered for TasBred will, if it is taken to Victoria, receive bonuses for winning SuperVOBIS nominated races. With this incentive it now means that nearly all horses in the Tasmanian sale, which will be held on February 15, are eligible for state bonus schemes” says David Whishaw. In the David and Goliath battle between the Mainland and the Apple Isle The Inevitable’s trainer Scott Brunton summed it up best. When giving his speech at this year’s Tasmanian Horse of the Year Awards he said it had now been proven that you can breed and train your Group 1 winner out of Tasmania and you can also buy and train your Group 1 winner out of Tasmania. The mentality before was that you had to send your horse to Victoria; Trinder, Brunton, Watson, the Whishaws, McCullochs and a number of others following in their footsteps have turned that theory on its head.