A platinum gold contribution
O’Brien reflects on his long tenure on the board of Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria
James O’Brien, the long-serving Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria (TBV) president, had one main objective in mind when he joined the board of the state’s peak breeders’ body more than 15 years ago.
And that was, O’Brien said, to enhance the Victorian Owner and Breeder Incentive Scheme (VOBIS) with the view of encouraging greater participation in the state’s thoroughbred industry.
That took a while to come to fruition, but it gathered pace when the Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm principal succeeded Tim Johnson as president of TBV in 2013.
O’Brien has been at the helm of TBV in the 11 years since, that was until last Friday when Victorian breeder Peter Murray was elected president of the body.
When reflecting on his days in charge of TBV, O’Brien takes great pride in the implementation of VOBIS Gold and, in more recent times, the establishment of a $7.5 million voucher scheme to be won across 250 Victorian races each year.
Again, the aim of the initiatives – headed by the $1 million The Showdown (1200m) for Victoria-sired two-year-olds and a $500,000 Guineas (1600m) for three-year-olds – was to encourage reinvestment by owners into either buying or breeding another racehorse by one of the state’s stallions.
“To get Vobis Gold up, we had to go directly to the government and that was … at the time Denis Napthine [was Racing Minister],” O’Brien said.
“At the time he committed $2.5 million to breeders and that was divided amongst the three codes and we were able to get 70 per cent of that.
“That all went into VOBIS Gold. That was the first initiative with Vobis, which was also funded by the owners chipping in $1,100 to upgrade their horses to Vobis Gold.
“The stallion farms also chipped in [the equivalent of a stallion] nomination, so that is how we got the Showdown and the VOBIS Guineas up.”
During O’Brien’s term, he has also seen a huge amount of investment in the Victorian industry by people such as Zhang Yuesheng establishing Yulong as Australia’s biggest thoroughbred operation, Blue Gum Farm has changed hands and Rosemont Stud has also emerged as a major player.
Eddie Hirsch also purchased Woodside Park Stud and this year’s stallion start-up Lovatsville has chosen to make Victoria home.
“I think that the investment into Victoria, particularly the stallions, but also the broodmares has [increased significantly],” O’Brien said.
“The quality of broodmares has been on the up and up. We do have a great environment for breeding horses.
“Our pastures are second-to-none, we’ve got great people and with the Vobis support programme and the government behind us, as well as Racing Victoria, it’s a great place to breed horses.”
At least $1.5 million has been claimed by owners under the Vobis Platinum voucher scheme and O’Brien said that initiative is also having a positive impact on the local thoroughbred economy.
“The current government has supported the voucher programme which TBV pitched to the RV board, so that’s been running for two years, too,” he said.
“The enhancements have brought [Vobis from an annual] $12 million to beyond $30 million, so I think that’s terrific growth in that space of time.”
It was no secret that O’Brien has been ready to hand over the baton to the next leader of TBV for the past couple of years.
With respected businessman Murray elected as president, O’Brien is confident TBV is in good hands.
Murray has a growing high-end broodmare band which predominantly reside at the Liston family’s Three Bridges Thoroughbreds property near Eddington in Central Victoria.
“Our role at TBV is to promote breeding in Victoria and hopefully it grows as part of that promotion. We represent the views of our members and interests with all stakeholders,” O’Brien said.
“I think we’ve forged great relationships with most, if not all stakeholders and government in my time. I think those relationships will continue to be fostered and, with Peter, those relationships will continue to grow.
“He’s that type of personality. I think that is one of his strengths. We have created a great foundation for him to leverage off.”
O’Brien added: “Peter has great business acumen, he’s a great person, he understands the industry and he brings those strengths [to the role].
“I think he’ll be great in giving stakeholder engagement for TBV going forward. He’s got time, he’s committed and he’s passionate about the industry, so I think he is a fantastic get for TBV.”
O’Brien won’t be lost completely to industry administration, with the breeder intending to remain on the board in the short-term during the transition period.
His Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm, meanwhile, is also undergoing a transition of its own.
Instead of keeping mares, foals and yearlings at his property at Corinella to the east of Melbourne, O’Brien has for the past couple of seasons had his horses agisted elsewhere while some mares have been sold to reduce numbers.
“It is a changing of guard at my business Lauriston as well [as at TBV],” said O’Brien, the
“My dad [Kevin] passed during Covid and my mum [Tanith] passed earlier this year, so just how that plays out, I am not too sure. We have had to move mares out of mum’s name, so we have sold down a great deal of our mares.
“It’s a consolidation phase as we look at the estate and how it goes forward.”