Gerry Harvey is not just a titan of Australian business but a colossus of breeding, an octogenarian whose acumen has brought billionaire status and, at last count, around 550 broodmares. It’s a little surprising, then, when he makes the following declaration on the secret of making thoroughbreds: “I’d say it’s 98 per cent luck and... Read More

As the name would suggest, Lightsaber is a flashy thoroughbred who stands out – in more ways than one.  For a start there’s the tail – the eyecatching streak of silver trailing the bay, who underlined his Caulfield Guineas credentials and further pushed those of his sire Zoustar with his second stakes win from eight... Read More

You don’t see many horses winning like Incentivise did on his path towards Group 1 glory in last Saturday’s Makybe Diva Stakes – four Queensland victories by a combined 38 lengths that made him the most exciting horse in the land.  You also don’t see many horses who reach the top with bloodlines like his,... Read More

We all know the value of meticulous planning in breeding but also of its apparent antithesis – luck. Sometimes those two powerful forces combine. Sometimes one blows the other out of the water.  It was lucky Pierro took ill in his third season of 2015. Not for Coolmore and his shareholders of course, but, six... Read More

It’s a fine line between pleasure and pain. So, too, between madman and genius.  When Rick Jamieson watched Masked Crusader win the Group 3 The Heath so effortlessly at Caulfield last Saturday, hanging over the pride in another cracking piece of breeding was a large cloud of melancholy.  It was the Gilgai Farm maven who... Read More