omarie

Just my opinion Davey, however I am looking at Ocean Park and Reliable Man with both Per Incanto and Redwood starting to produce good winners over there as well. I do like Rip Van Winkle and even though Jennifer Eccles hasn't raced in Aus I wouldn't mind breeding one half as good as her. Te Akau Shark isn't bad either. What a sad loss Tavistock has been, as he appears to get winners every day over there.

I wish Hangfire. About twenty years ago I did have a mare resident at Coolmore for a number of years, however from what I am lead to believe the costs to breed in Australia are now very high. The cost of actually grazing a mare there nowadays is a significant issue. My mares are based on my property in the lower North Island so I will be sending a few to NZ based sires that are doing well in Aus. If I didn't have the property I would only have a couple of mares. Maybe I should only breed one mare & send it to Aus, however it wouldn't be to one of those you mentioned, as they are well out of my price range.

Interesting topic Chevy. I have changed my mind a few times over the last few months about how many mares I will send to stud this year. Out of a possible nine I will send only three and they will go to proven sires that are doing well in Australia. It is a bit soul destroying for breeders to see progeny being sold on gavelhouse for no money by sires with a 10k plus service fee. No doubt there will be a shortage in the foal crop down the track, so I have decided to send a few and lower the risk at least by going to ones Aussie buyers rate.