At Wagga, one of the oldest racing centres of the State, Mr. J. J. McGrath and his sons have their Wattle Vale property, and this year a recent purchase in the New Zealand-bred Egypt, an own brother to the famous mare, Desert Gold, will be used the first time by them.
One of the most recently formed Southern Studs is Curraburrama, near Young, owned by Mr. A. P. Wade, whose transactions in matters pertaining to the pastoral industry generally have been on a very large scale during recent years. He has established at the head of his Thoroughbred stud a good-looking and well-bred stallion in Colugo, by The Welkin (imp.), who will not want for opportunity. Mr. Wade does not do things by halves and is giving Colugo a great chance with some splendid mares at the outset of his career.
The rich, sound lands of the Upper Murray are ideal pastures for the production of big-boned, sound horses, and here at Towong Hill, just across the river on the Victorian side, stands a turf idol of yesterday in splendid Trafalgar, the well-beloved of the Randwick and Flemington crowds. Had his owner, the late Mr. Walter Mitchell, lived, Trafalgar’s stud chances would have been greater than they now are.
Messrs. Leitch, A. E. Tyson, A. S. O’Keefe, etc., are all breeders who contribute their quota to the number of good horses the South produces. Mr. A. S. O’Keefe had in imported Bright Steel a very noble son of St. Simon, whose memory will be kept alive by Westcourt, Chrome, Scarlet and others.
Thoroughbreds also find a place on the Northern Rivers, and the old-established studs of Gordon Brook and Dyraaba, near Casino, have turned out their share of winners. The first-named property no longer goes in for thoroughbred breeding, but Mr. H. S. Barnes has a very elegant son of Bridge of Canny in the imported horse Canzone at Dyraaba as well as another English-bred horse in Repartee, by Melton, and is breeding some very useful horses.
Of the studs near Sydney, the famous old Hobartville comes easily first; a beautiful old home surrounded by the most magnificent trees and situated just outside the historic town of Richmond. Now owned by Mr. Percy Reynolds, it still keeps up its reputation for producing high-class winners, and in his English stallions Bernard, a son of Robert le Diable, and Bardolph, by Bay Ronald, Mr. Reynolds has two most valuable sires whose progeny for the most part know how to stay. Here it was that the Ascot Gold Cup winner Merman first saw the light of day, as well as the countless good horses bred by Andrew Town, Messrs. Long and Hill, and other breeders who owned the property in bygone times.
Another historic property not far from Sydney is the Camden Park Estate, owned by the Macarthur Onslow family, whose ancestor, Captain Macarthur, brought out the first Merino sheep to Australia. A beautifully bred horse in imported Polycrates, by Polymelus, is in use at Camden Park, as well as another importation in the Desmond horse Flying King.
This about completes the itinerary of the Thoroughbred Homes of New South Wales, and most of these mentioned send drafts of yearlings regularly to the Sydney sales held every Easter at Randwick by the bloodstock firms of Messrs. H. Chisholm and Co. and William Inglis and Son. About 500 yearlings are offered each year, and most of the breeders get a satisfactory return. In 1920, 572 yearlings realized £107,233, averaging £187/15/-; in 1921, 512 brought £104,891, averaging slightly over £204; while last year the 524 sold aggregated £101,669, averaging £194. The sales have grown steadily in importance each year, and buyers attend from all parts of Australia and New Zealand to satisfy their wants. The possibility of buying an embryo Breeders’ Plate or Derby winner cheaply is the magnet which lures the bids from the buyers at the ringsides. There is a fascination in buying a yearling which does not enter into the purchase of a horse whose galloping powers have been tested, and nearly every buyer at the sales thinks, until disillusioned, that he has the winner of the next Derby in his newly acquired equine baby. When one pauses to consider that the average number of runners in a Derby field is about ten, it will be seen what disappointments the yearling lucky dip holds. It is good that racing men, one and all, are more or less always cheerfully optimistic, and the compensation of a yearling purchase turning out well makes up for a lot of disappointments.
Victoria has, after many years of stagnation, taken on a new lease of life as a stud centre, and, with such successful stallions as Comedy King, The Welkin and Woorak, all located south of the Murray, New South Wales will have to look to her laurels.
The valley of the Goulburn has become the happy hunting-ground of the Victorian breeder, and mostly all the principal studs are now located in this rich strip of country, which extends from Seymour along the banks of the river for many miles.