Woodside partnership to benefit Victorian breeders
Woodside Park Stud sees its alliance with Arrowfield Stud and the relocation of Written Tycoon as a sound long-term play that could help boost the Victorian farm and the state’s breeding industry’s sire power.
The Mark Rowsthorn-owned, Tylden-based stud, hours after the confirmation of Written Tycoon’s move, confirmed a four-stallion roster for the upcoming season with the promise of a potential addition in the coming weeks.
Group 1 winner Tosen Stardom, by Japan’s late champion stallion Deep Impact (Sunday Silence), will stand for $12,100 (all including GST), last season’s recruit Foxwedge (Fastnet Rock) will stand for $11,000 while shuttler Cable Bay (Invincible Spirit) ($9,900) and promising young stallion Rich Enuff (Written Tycoon) ($8,800) round out Woodside Stud’s 2020 roster.
Woodside Park Stud chief executive James Price said the farm was undertaking a long-term strategy to ensure breeders were able to get their mares in foal this year during an economic slump when determining their service fees for this year.
“To be fair, I don’t think studmasters have taken into account the impact Covid is going to have. This is not a six-month thing, especially here in Victoria,” Price told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“Up to 40 per cent of (the state’s) breeders are hobbyists and, as we know, when there’s economic downturns the first thing to go are luxury items. Racehorses are a luxury item, so it’s the stallion farms who must keep broodmare owners breeding. If they don’t have broodmare owners, there’s no point in them having stallions.”
Price added: “It has been a very fruitful decade for the industry and it’s now time to support everyone. With our fees, we really think we’ve hit the mark and that will allow people to keep breeding.”
The respected Price, a former Inglis employee who said Woodside Park Stud was currently attempting to add another stallion to its 2020 roster, also made the case that Written Tycoon’s departure from Victoria would benefit the stallion’s supporters.
“As CEO of any company, you have to do what is right by the owner of the farm and the shareholders of the stallion and the figures certainly worked out that this was the best opportunity for him,” he said.
“I think it would be short-sighted of people to say that it was a blow to Victoria. We have entered into a new alliance with Arrowfield which we think will be very, very good for Written Tycoon in the immediate future but also hopefully it leads to more opportunities for Woodside and with those opportunities it will only benefit Victoria.
“Arrowfield are the best in the business and by no means have we or Victoria lost Written Tycoon. He is simply standing at Arrowfield for the 2020 season and let’s hope in the future that it’s not a ‘loss’ for Victoria, it’s actually a gain in (terms of) what Victoria might receive.”
Rich Enuff, whose first crop two-year-olds were conceived in Queensland, has sired two winners in the past week and while Price is a realist he is encouraged by the start the stallion has made with his progeny on the track.
“I think of the second season sires in the yearling sale ring, buyers can very quickly drop off them and we didn’t see that with Rich Enuff this year,” he said.
“People still wanted to buy them, so that is an excellent tick that trainers are liking their stock.
“They’re not early, early types and they are needing a little bit of time, whether they go shin sore or they just need to mature, but they still like them.
“I think towards the back-end of the two-year-old season and certainly into their early three-year-old careers he might start giving us and breeders a nice reward.”
Cable Bay’s first crop Australian-bred foals are due to race next season and Price was also optimistic that his stock could also make an early impression.
After an initial doubt about Cable Bay shuttling in 2019, he said the travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus would not prevent the stallion from returning to Australia this year.
“We are constantly in touch with International Racehorse Transport and they are being very, very supportive and constantly keeping us updated,” he said.
“Planes look like they are going to be flying to bring stallions out for our season. There’s no reason to doubt that Cable Bay won’t be here and he will stand for a fee of $9,900.”
The potential new acquisition, Price said, underlined Woodside’s commitment for the Victorian industry.
“We are still looking at another horse and we will hopefully have a decision about an offer we have made on this horse in a week or so,” he said.
“We are certainly looking to reinvest and it’s all guns blazing in terms of Woodside Park being a commercial stallion operation in years to come in Victoria.”