WHY PURCHASE SHARES IN WEANLINGS?

In 2004 I started to investigate the possibility of purchasing and syndicating weanlings as part of my overall selection strategy. My reasoning for this was simply that yearling prices appeared to me to be inflated and I have always strived to give my clients the best value for money syndications available.

I purchased my first weanling in 2006, six in 2007, five in 2008 and seven in 2009. I have been very happy with these purchases and I am of the opinion that I can offer these to my clients at the same price that I would have purchased them as yearlings. In essence I was able to offer my clients horses that would syndicate for about $25,000 less than would have been the case had I purchased them as yearlings.

At this stage the first twelve that I purchased are of racing age. I'm pleased to report that ten have raced. Eight of the ten that have raced are winners. The highest profiled of these are Believe 'N Achieve, Too Many Reds, I Am Magic, Merry Miss and Hyginus. Recently the 10th runner Pitt Street ran a terrific 4th first up at Flemington in a strong two year old race and is now being set for a crack at the Melbourne Spring Carnival. The other runner has been placed.

The two unraced are now two year olds by Starcraft and Foreplay with the reports from the trainers being quite promising.

These figures are impressive and as I wrote at the time I started this new approach to syndicating that the proof would be in the pudding. Its looking a nice pudding as I write this.

INTRODUCTION

Pictured above is a colt by one of our most exciting stallions in Foreplay out of the stakes winning two year old, Amphritite. He is a strong, athletic colt with a great hindquarter.

David Hayes suggested I purchase this colt after I contacted him to say I was able to buy him. David trains the other three foals out of the mare.

All of these horses were syndicated by Prime Thoroughbreds with the first two to race being the multiple winners in the 2009/10 season, Sea Coral and Hyginus. Both these horses are still racing and display well above average ability.

A full sister to this colt named Ohmygod recently won a jump out impressively at Lindsay Park and appears to have more than her share of ability. She is due to have her first start in mid August.

Unfortunately, this colt is one of only 35 foals by Foreplay in what is likely to be his final crop. Foreplay is undergoing radical treatment for fertility. He is infertile and if he is lost to the breeding industry it would be a terrible loss.

FOREPLAY

Foreplay was a brilliant stakes-winning sprinter and Group One placed in the VRC Newmarket Handicap behind champion three-year olds Alinghi and Fastnet Rock.

He was a $625,000 Easter yearling from outstanding producer Procrastinate, the dam of champion South African sprinter Laisserfaire, winner of 12 races including five Group Ones.

He is from a superb Australian speed oriented female family with second dam Reigntaine a full sister to leading sire Centaine and next two dams by Golden Slipper winners Vain and Todman.

Foreplay was selected to stand at the great nursery Yarraman Park Stud in the Hunter Valley and he had the pedigree and look of a successful sire.

He has started his test career off in great style and is third on the First Season Sires Premiership behind the high profile pair of Stratum and Snitzel. He is also 7th on the Two Year Old Premiership. This is a terrific effort from a stallion that only had 75 foals in his first crop.

Foreplay is by the great sire of sires in Danehill and like his best sons at stud he was a sprinter and comes from a superb female line.

AMPHRITITE

This colt is the 4th foal out of the stakes winning two year old mare in Amphritite.

She is very well credentialed. Some of the very best horses I have syndicated have had an Oaks or Derby placed horse in the first three dams. These include Lord Monty, Izacat, Holding, Polish The Silver, Horrocks, Zero Drama, Unabated, Hidden Wonder, Let There Be Rock, Captain Chaos, Tuqiri and Cubozoa. In this pedigree the second dam was placed in the WA Oaks and the 5th dam won the VRC Edward Manifold Stakes and was placed VRC Oaks.

Amphritite is also closely related to the recent Group 1 winner Allez Wonder. This is very much an improving family.

We have also had great success buying horses out of well performed WA families that are crossed to good stallions. These horses include Unabated, Transparent Lass, Brunei Tale as well as this colt's 3/4 brothers Sea Coral and Hyginus.

THE TRAINER

Since Bill Mitchell's retirement in 2005 David has been Prime Thoroughbreds main trainer and I intend for this to remain the case into the new season. David has done a terrific job for us and I have been delighted with his and his staff's efforts. David and his staff have been great to work with and we have a very strong young team of horses with him.

We have had a good season with David particularly considering that we are in a rebuilding phase after the retirement of some of our better horses that David was training. Having written that, we had 10 winners from 48 starters for a strike rate of 20.8% winners to runners which is very good.

Some of the better horses David has trained for us include Unabated, Maha Chakri, Holding, Lord Monty, Brunei Tale, Hidden Wonder and Shine On Anna.

THE STUD

Yarraman Park is one of our very best studs situated in the famous Hunter Valley close to Scone. Over the years I have often written that it is more important where a foal is reared than who its parents are. This is so true and in Yarraman we have a farm that consistently breeds winners.

Currently, I have six horses in our racing team that were reared at Yarraman Park. Five of these are winners with Believe 'N Achieve, Too Many Reds, Sea Coral, Hyginus and I Am Magic having won 17 races from 45 combined starts with stakes earnings of $293,128. These five horses were purchased for a total of $200,000. This is a winner's to runner's ratio of 37.7% which is exceptional.

Given that these six horses are only lightly raced there should be plenty of wins ahead. The sixth is Foreboding which is yet to win but looks a nice staying filly in the making and has been placed in two of her four starts.