Hunter Valley stallion parades move to open house format
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual Hunter Valley stallion parades in August will operate differently this year, moving towards a similar format to the open house setup seen at Newmarket and in Kentucky.
The Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association (HTBA) yesterday announced the change in format from the traditional one- and two-day parades to a six-day open house arrangement, taking place between Tuesday, August 18 and Sunday, August 23.
In a statement to ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday, the HTBA confirmed that its committee had come to a collective decision to try the new format “as a result of Covid-19 and the continuing requirements for social distancing”, with the visits “to be conducted in strict adherence to any government health and safety restrictions that are in place at the time”.
“Each year the dates typically stretch out over a four-day weekend due to the number of studs. Extending the dates will also be of great economic benefit to the rural community,” the HTBA said in a statement to ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. “Parade week is an important annual event for the Hunter Valley and sees a large influx of visitors each year. Our leading stallion farms have together shown great initiative by allowing breeders the continued opportunity to visit these wonderful properties and see their impressive array of stallions.
“We hope that breeders from around the country can safely and responsibly travel to the Hunter in August and enjoy these open days.”
The HTBA committee brings together some of the leading industry representatives from a number of top farms. Among them is Vinery Stud’s bloodstock manager Adam White, who said that the farms wanted to ensure that they could continue to hold stallion parades while adhering to strict protocols in an uncertain environment.
“It was more the stallion farms that took the approach as we have to be very mindful of the times we are currently living in and ensure not to take any unnecessary risks,” White told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“We all felt we could host people over the course of the week which will allow us to keep to the social distancing requirements in place as well as being able to spend more time with breeders to discuss their plans for not only the upcoming season but also the seasons ahead. From a HTBA point of view, we certainly felt it was the right decision for this year.”
White believes that, although the old format will be missed from a social perspective, it also allows the farms to engage with breeders on a more meaningful and intimate level.
“We always enjoy the open day weekend as we know how much people love to come to these spectacular farms and see the stallions,” he said. “It is a very social time and the old format will be missed this season but we also see it as an excellent opportunity for people to get closer to the horses and ask more questions which will assist them to achieve what they are striving for as breeders.
“It also gives us an opportunity to learn more about their mares, which will help us direct them to the stallion we feel will complement the mare the most from both a physical and pedigree aspect.”
The new format links the three centres of thoroughbred breeding excellence – the Hunter Valley, Kentucky and Newmarket – in that they will all employ this open house setting in 2020. White believes that the demonstration will work just as well down under.
“I have been to Kentucky during their sale season and visited numerous farms at the time to see the stallions,” he recalled. “It was about ten years ago now. I did get a lot of enjoyment from seeing horses such as A P Indy up close and personal as well as meeting a wide range of people connected to the farms.”
One of the highlights of any stallion parade season is the opportunity to see some of the new arrivals, merely a week before they serve their first mares.
That will be the case again in 2020, with the likes of Brutal (O’Reilly), Cosmic Force (Deep Field) and Tassort (Brazen Beau) at Newgate; Calyx (Kingman), Magna Grecia (Invincible Spirit) and Yes Yes Yes (Rubick) at Coolmore, Castelvecchio (Dundeel) at Arrowfield; Microphone (Exceed And Excel) and Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) at Darley; Pierata (Pierro) at Aquis, Unite And Conquer (Hinchinbrook) at Kingstar and Zousain (Zoustar) at Widden on show.
Vinery will also be one of the popular destinations during the open house period in that area, with their ranks bolstered by leading three-year-old Exceedance (Exceed And Excel). He has already been highly sought after by breeders in the weeks since his retirement, according to White.
“He has settled in really well,” White said. “It is easy for me to say but he does look tremendous at the moment. We have had a lot of people come to see him already and they have all been very taken with him and most booked on the spot. You know you have a quality horse when farms like Yarraman, Corumbene, Edinburgh Park and Sledmere book after seeing him. Getting the support from these types of farms is so important for the horse’s future.”
For now, White and the Vinery team – like the other Hunter farms – are slowly gearing up for the breeding season, which is now only a couple of months away.
“We have a great team of people who work extremely hard to have everything spot on for these days,” White said. “Office staff, gardeners, farmers, stallion handlers, other horse staff all do their bit to put it all together. Everyone takes pride in what they do and we all get a big thrill to see how much people really enjoy the show.”
And while, at this stage, the format is only in place for the upcoming breeding season, the HTBA says it will review the success of the new-style parades to determine whether it may continue with them going forward.
“Each year the format is reviewed and will always continue to be reviewed in the future,” the HTBA said. “Covid-19 has seen evolution and changes to many industries, the studs will review this new format post the parades.”