On the other side of Mudgee Mr. D. U. Seaton has Eurunderee, where his brilliant racehorse Wolaroi is embarking on his stud career. Wolaroi, by Kenilworth, was bred and raced by his owner, and few more brilliant horses have carried silk of recent years. Another good performer, in the Bright Steel horse Westcourt, a Melbourne Cup hero, is at Eurunderee, and the stud has a nice collection of English and colonial-bred mares.
Farther out from Eurunderee is the old-established stud Biraganbil, owned for years by the Rouse family, and the present owners, Messrs. L. G. and H. C. Rouse are keeping up the family’s long connection with the Thoroughbred. A beautifully bred son of Chaucer, in imported Allegory, holds sway at Biraganbil, and, if judicious mating will mean success, the horse has got into the right stud. It is almost needless to say that L. G. Rouse is identical with the keeper of the Australian Stud Book, and there is no sounder judge of pedigree in the Southern Hemisphere. He has done splendid work in his official capacity, not only as regards the Stud Book, but also as a Racing Steward, etc., and our Thoroughbred breeders are under a debt of gratitude to him, and Mr. Archie Yuille, of Melbourne, for their efforts in recording reliable breeding records whose value cannot be over-estimated.
Dunlop, near Merriwa, is a stud of fairly recent origin, Mr. T. A. Stirton having established his splendid horse Cetigne, by Grafton (imp.), there, as well as the flying Biplane, by Comedy King (imp.), a dual Derby winner and one of the fastest horses of his day.
Another Western Stud, situated near Wellington, on the banks of the Macquarie, some 80 miles from Mudgee, is that of Mr. Harry Taylor, a successful breeder. A recent purchase is the New Zealand-bred Humbug, a great, strapping son of Absurd, and a fine performer in the land of the Moa. He also owns a fine son of The Welkin in Trillion, and some very high-class mares. Mr. E. J. Watt, whose dark-blue jacket is familiar to most racegoers in most parts of Australia, has the Boomey Stud near Molong, an important station on the branch line from Orange to the Lachlan and not far from Wellington. A horse of his own breeding in Pershore, a son of All Black (imp.), is at Boomey, and he will not want for opportunity among the mares he is being mated with.
Near Cowra, a flourishing Western town, is Alfalfa, owned by the Payten Bros., sons of the successful trainer, Tom Payten, who saddled so many good winners for the Hon. James White. The colonial-bred Popinjay, a brilliant son of Maltster, has done yeoman service for his youthful owners since being given to them by the present Chief Justice of Australia, Sir Adrian Knox, whose colours he carried with distinction.
Here, too, in the rich Lachlan country, Mr. I. J. Sloan breeds a number of good horses, and the latest addition to his stud in the English horse Cyllene More should materially increase the record of winners turned out from the North Logan Paddocks. Cyllene More, as his name implies, is a son of the great Cyllene, and his dam is the well-performed St. Maura.
Another star in the Western breeders’ firmament is Mr. E. A. Haley, whose stud is not far from the celebrated Leeholme, where the great mare Etraweenie and her daughters bred so many good horses for the late Hon. George Lee. At Tekoona, near Bathurst, Mr. Haley has a real English aristocrat in Redfern, by St. Denis. This well-performed horse will be represented in the yearling sale ring of 1923 for the first time, and if Redfern’s progeny inherit their sire’s speed all will be well for the Tekoona Stud. Redfern was imported at a high cost by Sir William Cooper, Bart., who raced Trenton and other good horses, and whose colours were very popular with the Australian racing public.
Another Bathurst studmaster is Mr. John Lee, whose family bears a name famous in Australian turf and stud history. He is justly proud of a fine son of The Welkin in Wedge, the last horse to carry Mr. John Turnbull’s respected and popular colours, and who is just embarking on his stud life.
An enthusiastic breeder in Mr. C. S. Macphillamy is happily located at Warroo, near Forbes, on the Lachlan, whose peaceful waters, usually teeming with bird and fish life, flow on through the property. Good winners in the past have first seen the light of day in the rich river frontages of Warroo, and a recently acquired English horse in Polydor, by Polymelus, should sire many more there.
The Southern Districts of New South Wales breed many good horses, and the Messrs. G. and H. Main have turned out their share of winners since starting breeding at their Retreat Stud, near Illabo. William Allison, the renowned “Special Commissioner” of the London “Sportsman,” made no mistake in sending out to them the good-looking sire, Limelight, and some beautifully bred English mares, for in his first stud season Limelight was successful in siring the brilliant dual Derby winner Salitros.