Black Caviar to visit Written Tycoon as Prince Of Caviar retires to Riverbank
The champion sprinter will be served by a sixth separate stallion with Arrowfield Stud’s new arrival her next suitor
Riverbank Farm will have close relations to two of Australia’s champion mares at stud this season, with Black Caviar’s (Bel Esprit) son Prince Of Caviar (Sebring) joining Winx’s (Street Cry) half-brother Boulder City (Snitzel) on the roster at the Benalla stud.
It was also announced yesterday that Black Caviar will visit Arrowfield Stud’s new addition Written Tycoon (Iglesia) this season, with her daughter and first foal Oscietra (Exceed And Excel) bound for Swettenham Stud’s Toronado (High Chaparral).
Black Caviar has visited Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) the last three years, with her just-turned-yearling a colt named I Am Caviar; she was last covered in late December last year.
That followed visits to Exceed And Excel (Danehill), which produced Oscietra; Sebring (More Than Ready), with the resultant Prince Of Caviar; Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), with Out Of Caviar unraced; and More Than Ready (Southern Halo), whose filly Ready For Caviar caught the eye on debut in March.
Oscietra, who won two of her five starts at Geelong and Ballarat, has also visited I Am Invincible the last two years, but will instead head for Victoria to Toronado, who has been one of the breakout stars of the last 12 months.
Oscietra’s younger half-brother Prince Of Caviar won a maiden at Bendigo from six starts, while he was also city-placed behind Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Extra Brut (Domesday). He will stand for $4,400 (inc GST) at Riverbank Farm this season.
For Riverbank principal Russell Osborne, the opportunity to access these top bloodlines fits into his vision for what he hopes to achieve with the farm.
“We deal in breeding to race, so we’re not chasing any greatly-performed stallion,” Osborne told ANZ Bloodstock News last night. “I think with the Black Caviar ownership – they really do love their horses and that’s why they haven’t sold any of them. It’s not a commercial sort of thing. They were looking for a stud to do their own boutique breeding operation and open it up for everyone else.
“My wife Caroline had a bit of an affiliation with Neil Werrett, they just had a look at us and thought that he would suit our criteria.
“We’ve got to try and get the bloodlines somehow, and the performed horses are priced out of it for us. For the breeding to race market this works perfectly for them. We offer such a variety that it’s like a one-stop station for them.”
Prince Of Caviar and Boulder City are among an expansive eight-stallion roster at Riverbank Farm, joining Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Anacheeva (Anabaa), Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) runner-up Von Costa De Hero (Encosta De Lago) and Group 1 winners Bon Aurum (Bon Hoffa) and Skilled (Commands).
Also on the Riverbank roster are blueblood Wayed Zain, by High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells) out of a half-sister to Encosta De Lago (Fairy King), and the unraced Redente, by Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) out of Group 1 winner Stella Cadente (Centaine).
“The market that we’re looking at is mostly that lower-end breeder who can’t access the likes of Sebring or Snitzel so we get the sons of those stallions who have done really well in the breeding barn and hopefully produce a lot of winners,” Osborne said.
“The likes of Boulder City, Wayed Zain and Prince of Caviar, their sole draw would be on the bloodlines and not the performance and for the lower end bloke to get into blue blood. If they had performed on the track, then they wouldn’t be here.
“Last year the farm produced 84 winners which is what our breeders want. The breeders love to race their horses and that’s where I think the Black Caviar ownership really suits our set up and our niche.
“We would have about 70 mares on the farm that are residents and the majority are pretty keen to go to him.
“He’s a really nice horse and nice natured and couldn’t be happier to have him here.”
While Winx’s first foal, by I Am Invincible, is due within weeks, the unraced Boulder City offers a rare opportunity to access those bloodlines at a reasonable price of $5,500 (inc GST). He has one crop on the ground with his second group of foals to be born this season.
Boulder City is the only one of Winx’s brothers to stand at stud, with her half-brother Win Win Leader (Fastnet Rock) gelded before retiring from Hong Kong without racing and her best-performed sibling, Group 3 winner El Divino (Snitzel), euthanised after a training incident as a four-year-old.
“Boulder City has been received really, really well so far, and his foals I’d put up against any in the area in terms of quality and type,” Osborne said. “From those foals we’ve got a massive return from him and those breeders are really keen to go back to him.
“Without a doubt, Winx and Black Caviar have been the best-performed mares in our lifetime, and to be able to have bloodlines directly associated with them out of the first dam is really unbelievable.”