2025 looks like being another exciting year for Victorian breeders.
On the back of outstanding success for local stallions at the recent Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale we have plenty to look forward to with three new Group 1 winning stallions already announced for Victorian studs.
The Breeders’ Cup Mile, the National Stakes, the Australian Guineas, the Manikato Stakes.
All races to have produced high class stallions. More Than Ready, Dubawi and Written Tycoon.
All champion sires and proven sires of sires. The new boys for Yulong, Widden Victoria and Rosemont Stud have those races on their impressive resumes and they are sons of those superstar stallions.
The winner of five of his 11 starts, including the Breeders’ Cup Mile in which he proved too strong for the outstanding gallopers Johannes and Notable Speech, Yulong’s More Than Looks was competitive in the best of company right from the start. His trainer Cherie De Vaux heaped praise on the imposing entire, describing him as “an eye-catching horse who showed elite ability from day one.
His explosive turn of foot and competitive nature led to consistency at the highest level.”
The son of a stakes winner from a Group 1 family, More Than Looks is one of his sire More Than Ready’s 232 stakes winners and 27 Group 1 winners.
A horse who excelled during his 19 seasons in Australia, More Than Ready is a high class sire of sires with 18 of his sons siring stakes winners - eight of those represented by Group 1 winners including the great Australian success stories Sebring and Better Than Ready.
More Than Looks is part of the nine-strong Yulong roster with the stud’s Chief Operating Officer Sam Fairgray noting that “he is a very well named horse.”
“And we know that his blood works here,” he said, pointing out the strong affinity Yulong’s Champion Sire Written Tycoon has with More Than Ready; the Group 1 winners Coolangatta, Lady Of Camelot, Southport Tycoon and La Luna Rossa bred this way.
“There is no reason why the reverse cross can’t work just as well,” he said, looking forward to seeing what Written Tycoon mares can do with More Than Looks. Fairgray said that Yulong is proud to call Victoria home.
“When Mr Zhang first came to Australia he travelled around and he liked Victoria. He thought it was a good place to be with its climate and soil conducive to raising horses.”
Fairgray is excited to see the quality of Victorian rosters continue to improve.
“The trend has been for the better horses to retire to stud in the Hunter Valley but that is changing,” he said, noting the quality of the Yulong horses already proving themselves.
“We could not be happier with the start that our young stallions Alabama Express and Lucky Vega have made,” he enthused.
Rosemont Stud’s General Manager, Bloodstock Ryan McEvoy is - as is stud principal Anthony Mithen - a proud Victorian and he is also excited to be witnessing the state’s upward spiral. Rosemont makes its contribution to that in 2025 by standing Dubawi’s high class son Henry Longfellow.
The first Dubawi Group 1 winning two-year-old to stand in Victoria (and just the second in Australia - Too Darn Hot the other) - Henry Longfellow treated his rivals to a five length galloping lesson when taking out the National Stakes, his third success from as many starts at two.
He joined his sire as winner of that race, one which has also been won by the likes of Sir Ivor, Roberto, Storm Bird, El Prado, Danehill Dancer and Teofilo; a who’s who of successful stallions! One of Dubawi’s 291 stakes winners and 60 Group 1 winners, Henry Longfellow has pedigree enthusiasts drooling.
He is the son of two superstars – his dam Minding by the great Galileo winning seven Group 1 races, earning the title of Cartier Horse Of The Year.
Minding’s dam Lillie Langtry won two Group 1 races and her daughters Tuesday and Empress Josephine are also elite level performers.
“We thought we were just an outside chance to secure such a horse,” Ryan McEvoy admitted “and we were terrifically excited when we were able to come to an arrangement with Coolmore to stand him in Victoria.”
Rosemont and Coolmore have teamed successfully before with Starspangledbanner doing such a great job and McEvoy looks forward to showing Henry Longfellow off to breeders.
“We are very happy to be standing him at a fee of $22,000; we think that leaves plenty of meat on the bone for broodmare owners.” Mare owners who will be aware of Dubawi's impressive record as a sire of sires with Too Darn Hot amongst his eight sons to have sired stakes winners; Refuse To Bend also faring well during his sole Victorian season.
Rosemont are still smiling on the back of selling a million colt by Swettenham Stud’s Toronado at the Premier, McEvoy noting that “Victorian breeding and racing is in a very strong position.”
Widden Stud is another to make significant investment into Victorian breeding and Antony Thompson said that it was a given that Southport Tycoon would stand at Riddells Creek.
“With the success of Written Tycoon it is obvious to have one of his best sons stand in Victoria,” he said of the dual Group 1 winning sprinter/miler.
“Written Tycoon is a stalwart of the Victorian industry and so many local breeders have enjoyed great success with him in the sales ring and on the track.
So it’s a no brainer to have Southport Tycoon here.” It’s a strong roster at Widden Victoria with Thompson saying that the state had long been on the radar.
News from Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria
