“Sir Patrick Hogan had told me some time earlier, the really great time with a mare is breeding from her and seeing her foals. We missed all of that, which was unfortunate. “We are lucky enough to have three of her sisters. “She was at Vinery and is buried at Vinery.” Josh’s brothers work in the footwear side of the business, but Josh decided to make a career out of the horse side of the family business. “It was never my intention of doing this, but it came to a stage where there was a sizeable investment in the horses,” he says. “As soon as I finished high school I went and worked at Coolmore for eight months and then worked for Duncan Grimley at Glastonbury for six months. “I learnt a lot off both farms. It was a great experience. I saw how it works at a big factory and then a smaller operation. “I then went to Uni for three years studying commerce, majoring in finance and accounting and came straight here (to Element Hill).” Element Hill has about 40 mares on the books at any given time and gets a rest during the breeding season, when the horses are transferred to another property in the Hunter while they are being covered. “The horses themselves have the best of everything, whether they are here or in the Hunter,” Josh said. This year the broodmare band has been bolstered with new purchases like Pasar Silbano (the dam of Zousain), My Amelia (dam of The Mission), Amelia’s Dream and Dizelle. “From those mares we will obviously hope to get fillies and we will keep those,” Josh said.
Lot 239 Fastnet Rock - Risk Aversion
“OUR INVESTMENT IN MORE EXPENSIVE MARES WILL FALL AWAY AND WE WILL RELY ON THE DAUGHTERS OF THE GOOD MARES WE’VE GOT AND HOPE THEY CAN BE BLACK TYPE HORSES THEMSELVES.” Element Hill has a draft of 16 headed to the 2019 Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale, with progeny by stallions including Redoute’s Choice, Snitzel, I Am Invincible, Zoustar, More Than Ready and young stallions Exosphere and Pride Of Dubai.
Lot 239, Fastnet Rock - Risk Aversion
74 / ELEMENT STORY TITLE HILL MMGC 19_Element Hill.indd 74
22/11/18 2:28 pm
