Alma Vale bidding to open new chapter at Magic Millions with quality draft
Esteemed industry veteran Verna Metcalfe begins a new chapter on Tuesday with the first exclusive draft of her Alma Vale Thoroughbreds going under the hammer at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
With more than four decades in the industry including time with the giant Woodlands and Widden operations, Metcalfe branched out to establish Alma Vale, near Scone, in 2023 after 13 years of running Middlebrook Valley Lodge.
And while Alma Vale sold in tandem with close partner Kitchwin Hills at the Gold Coast in 2024, this week marks the first time Metcalfe’s new farm will be going it alone.
Buoyed by a slick new look and feel after a recent rebrand, Alma Vale presents a quality 14-horse draft sired by 11 stallions, from the tried and proven Zoustar (Northern Meteor), So You Think (High Chaparral) and Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo), to relative newcomers Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), Farnan (Not A Single Doubt) and Wild Ruler (Snitzel).
“We’ve got some really nice horses, and what we’ve got are racehorses – because we’ve got an accent on breeding and rearing them to be racehorses,” Metcalfe told ANZ Bloodstock News.
Alma Vale is well-positioned to achieve this aim, with its operations split across two farms. Horses are foaled at their Scone property – importantly just ten minutes from the Scone Equine Hospital – then reared on the undulating pastures of their Gundy farm, which Alma Vale has leased from Kitchwin Hills.
Just as Metcalfe is thankful for the generous help in setting up Alma Vale from those on neighbouring farms who are ostensibly “rivals”, she also doesn’t mind admitting she hopes to mirror the successful model of one nearby stud in particular.
“The way we’ve set up the two properties works very well,” she said.
“When the foals are one to two weeks old, the horses go up to the Gundy property, and the weanlings are reared up there, and the yearlings are reared and prepped up there.
“It’s got good big paddocks and nice hilly ground – it’s very similar to Newgate and the way they run their horses, which obviously works well. You’ve only got to look at how Newgate raise their horses, and what their winners to runners ratio is, and their number of stakes winners.
“And it’s very important because young horses need those hills, to develop bone and muscle, and lung capacity.
“Plus we’ve built a new barn at Gundy, and turn-out yards, so the yearlings can be turned out. That’s important too, because it gets their heads right.”
Among the highlights of Alma Vale’s first solo draft is Lot 241, a robust late September filly from the first crop of Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Stay Inside, out of winning two-year-old Californiasurprise (I Am Invincible).
Yarraman Park’s three-time Australian champion stallion I Am Invincible is starting to also fire as a broodmare sire, notably of recent Group 1 winners Kimochi (Brave Smash) and Asfoora (Flying Artie).
Another star of that ilk looks well on the way in Lot 241’s half-brother Field Of Play (Deep Field), a $500,000 Karaka 2024 yearling who Metcalfe co-bred, and who – as the pedigree update reflects – debuted on December 28 with a scintillating 3.25-length victory at Moonee Valley.
“This filly is a beautiful filly who’s thrown to I Am Invincible. She’s got that Vinnie walk and that power,” said Metcalfe, who has great faith also in Newgate’s $55,000 (inc GST) sire Stay Inside.
“Stay Inside looks a real chance to succeed as a sire, I believe. We went back to him in the spring on the strength of some of our foals and our yearlings. There’s just quality there through his stock. I think he’s a huge chance.”
Lot 555 is a colt by another Newgate debutant in Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) winner Wild Ruler (Snitzel) and is the fourth foal of one of that farm’s many American speed mares, dual Listed winner Katie’s Eyes (Leroidesanimaux).
The colt was bought at the Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale by Alma Vale for $130,000, and Metcalfe believes, unlike Lot 241, this one has thrown to a paternal grandparent.
“He’s a very nice colt, and you look at him and you think you’re looking at Snitzel,” she said. “He’s got the same look Snitzel has, with great muscle and strength all over him.”
Lot 163 is a colt by Yulong Stud’s Pierata (Pierro), the first foal of winning mare Aqaareb (Not A Single Doubt), and has a lot of black type on his page.
“He’s a great looking colt who’s a ripping first foal and looks like a real two-year-old type,” Metcalfe said. “I’m a big fan of the Pieratas. He gets athletes.”
Alma Vale also presents Lot 891, a So You Think filly Metcalfe says has “a magnificent walk and a beautiful head” who looks like making a “very professional” three-year-old type.
The farm’s draft starts with Lot 18, a powerfully-built filly by Kia Ora’s Slipper winner Farnan out of The Promise (Snitzel), a city-winning three-quarter sister to Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) hero and successful sire Shamus Award (Snitzel).
And it ends neatly with Lot 1000, a Zoustar colt who’s the second foal of the well-performed Strome (Smart Missile), a multiple city-winner of eight races in total from 1200 metres to 1600 metres.
“He’s a terrific looking colt who’s very well built and has a great temperament,” Metcalfe said.
Alma Vale runs 270 mares in total, seven of whom are their own. The farm’s brood includes 14 mares owned by ten partners each in a mare-share endeavour Metcalfe says is proving popular.
“If you’re buying shares in various mares, it spreads your risk,” she said. “And they’ve all got good foals and are in-foal to good stallions. To go to commercial stallions is really important. We’ll also sell some of their stock as weanlings to get the cash flow going for our clients.”
The Gold Coast kicks off a bumper sale season for Alma Vale, which will send 23 yearlings to Inglis Classic, nine to Melbourne Premier, and 11 to Inglis Easter, showing how Metcalfe’s farm has come a long way in a short time.
“There are always challenges when you’re building a new farm up, but I’d like to think that we’ve done very well. I’ve got a great team behind me and excellent staff. It’s easy when you’ve got really good staff,” she said.
These include stud manager Oscar Engelbrecht, whose CV includes time at Vinery, Widden, Yarraman Park and Kitchwin Hills, plus the vastly experienced Michelle Vincente, who leads Alma Vale’s specialised foaling unit – a state of the art facility featuring 16 mare and foal boxes and 15 foaling/day yards.
The ever-affable Metcalfe is also deeply thankful for the assistance of others from outside who’ve helped her establish her own venture. While fearing she’ll forget someone, she mentions Newgate pair Jim Carey and Jackson Biers, Bhima’s Mike Fleming, Widden’s Matt Comerford and Yarraman’s Arthur and Harry Mitchell.
“They’ve all pitched in and helped me out,” she said. “That’s the good thing about this industry – people aren’t greedy. They’ve got their own farms, but they’re always there to encourage and help you out, which is just wonderful.”