The annual Coolmore Australia stallion parade is one you just can’t miss and if you didn’t make it this year, do read on as you will feel like you were there after all!
Regular Breednet readers will know I went to Victoria for the stallion parades this year leaving the Hunter Valley for Breednet owner Craig ‘Clocker’ Tompson, however I did go for one day on Sunday for the annual Coolmore parade and the images are so fabulous we just had to share them.
Acrobat will have his first runners this season and James Bester was oozing confidence that we won’t have to wait long to see his first juveniles stepping out to follow in the fast and early footsteps of their sire.
Bester – you know it’s the Coolmore parade when you see James Bester at the mic!
City of Troy (USA) was the horse many of us came to see, the 2024 Epsom Derby winner and 2024 European Horse of the Year was also the Champion 2YO Colt of 2023.
He is special and just as importantly he looks special.
Dry parade? That is something you will never see at Coolmore!
Empire building has been going on here at Coolmore Australia with the farm now sprawling across 11,000 acres as the Magnier family add cattle farming to the thriving horse business.
This is an inclusive farm for the Jerry's Plains area that quite obviously is a positive presence for the community that surrounds it.
Fair weather and good friends made this parade a relaxed and enjoyable one for all who attended.
Golden Slipper winner Shinzo looked fabulous and has let down impressively from the previous year with his first foals delighting breeders this spring.
And he's not the only Golden Slipper winner on this roster with Pierro representing exceptional value this year at a fee of just $33,000.
Home Affairs might be by I Am Invincible, but every time I see him he looks more like his dam sire Flying Spur. The first yearlings by Home Affairs achieved record breaking sale results with a filly from Sunlight selling for $3.2million and a colt from Shout the Bar fetching $3million.
What happens in the next 12 months is going to be fascinating as we find out if the Home Affairs 2YOs can run as fast as they look.
Instagram – check out the Coolmore Insta account to see a great wrap up of the annual parade day.
Julia Ritchie is a passionate supporter of all things racing and breeding and her share in a syndicate that owns glamour broodmares including Shout the Bar and Champagne Cuddles has put her in the spotlight this year winning the Coolmore Breeder of the Year.
Also in the running were the Ingham family along with Kate Nivison, who bred a colt that was offered by Coolmore at Inglis Easter selling for $1.7million.
King’s Legacy has already sired 10 first crop winners headed by G3 winning filly Steel Trap, who has been bought privately by Yulong.
She is now being trained by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, so that may well be a tip in itself as to what is to come for this blueblood son of Redoute’s Choice.
Living legend Fastnet Rock might be retired from active duty, but was a crowd pleaser when brought out to parade with his old friend Peter O’Brien, clearly pleased to see him.
Maestro – that would be Chris Waller, who is responsible for producing four of the young gun sires on the roster – Home Affairs, Shinzo, Switzerland and Private Life.
No place like home – Shinzo was bred by Coolmore and foaled and raised on the farm.. he looks happy to be back where he started life.
Onwards and upwards for St Mark’s Basilica (FR), the 2021 European Horse of the Year and a five time G1 winner. His European 2YO’s are starting to mark their mark as the season progresses with the next few months likely to prove very interesting.
His first Aussie progeny will race this season and while we would expect to see more from them at three, St Mark’s Basilica did win the Group I Dewhurst Stakes at two over 7f.
Private Life is a G1 Caulfield Guineas winning son of Written Tycoon as is reigning champion Australian First Season Sire Ole Kirk. Priced at $19,250, he is going to be hard to resist for aspirational breeders on a budget.
Private Life is a horse that broodmare owners will find as somewhat of a pineapple given he does not really fit the physical profile of his sire Written Tycoon or dam sire Snitzel, he is his own man!
Question – How many G1 winning stallions on this 14 strong roster? Answer: 11
Rain may have played havoc with Hunter stallion parades this year, but you wouldn’t have known it at Coolmore where the gardens were pristine and guests had no need of gumboots.
Switzerland was a $1.5million Inglis Easter purchase for Tom Magnier and was a brilliant 2YO before progressing to win the Group I VRC Coolmore Stud Stakes last spring.
By Snitzel from a US mare with a diverse pedigree, he is very much his father’s son.
Trainers like to hang their hat literally on having produced a good stallion!
Up in the air – that was Best of Bordeaux!
Value is not hard to find on this roster, take a look at Pride of Dubai priced at $27,500 – he’s the sire of Australian Horse of the Year Pride of Jenni, Everest queen Bella Nipotina and last season’s G1 winners Dubai Honour and Deny Knowledge – that’s serious bang for buck.
Wootton Bassett (GB) might be 17 years old and this will almost certainly be his last trip to Australia, but he is in phenomenal shape and there is no denying the black horse was the star of this show.
X-factor is what Storm Boy was showing as a juvenile winning his first four starts including the Magic Millions 2YO Classic and G2 Skyline Stakes before finishing a close third in the Golden Slipper.
He’s by the same sire as City of Troy in Justify, but is a completely different style of horse with a powerful sprinter’s physique .
You take one look at the forelock and you know what stallion this is!
So You Think is a sire known as much for his charisma as his achievements which are considerable as the sire of 12 individual G1 winners.
Zoustar? Coolmore stand sons of champion Australian sires Fastnet Rock (Acrobat), Lonhro (Pierro), Redoute’s Choice (King’s Legacy), Snitzel (Shinzo, Switzerland, Best of Bordeaux), I Am Invincible (Home Affairs)and Written Tycoon (Private Life), but no Zoustar… yet!
All images courtesy Georgia Young and Coolmore.
