Arrowfield is Australia’s leading Group 1 breeder of 2014/15

Arrowfield closed out the 2014/15 season as Australia’s leading breeder of Group 1 winners with four horses successful at that level.

As the Stud celebrates thirty years of operation, they bring Arrowfield’s tally of Group 1-winning graduates to 54 – forty of them also Arrowfield-bred.

Sweet Idea, Hot Snitzel & Wandjina (all by Snitzel) won a total of six Australian Group races last season with their Group 1 victories coming in the ATC Galaxy Handicap, the BRC BTC Cup and the VRC Australian Guineas.

Champion South African filly Majmu (Redoute’s Choice-Spontaneous by Hussonet) progressed from her unbeaten 2YO season to claim the Kenilworth Cape Fillies Guineas & Turffontein Empress Club Stakes at Group 1 level for Sheikh Hamdan & Mike de Kock. She also made up a Group 1 quinella for Redoute’s Choice in the Turffontein President’s Champions Challenge won by Wylie Hall.

Sweet Idea (ex Flidais by Timber Country) & Hot Snitzel (ex Flames of Paris by Blushing Groom) were bred & sold by Arrowfield & Katsumi Yoshida, a partnership also responsible for 2008 Horse of the Year Weekend Hussler and 2008 Blue Diamond winner Reaan.

The Gai Waterhouse-trained Sweet Idea was retired after her Galaxy win which capped a stellar $2.4 million career of eight wins (five in Group company) and eight placings (four of them in Group 1 races) from 19 starts.

Sweet Idea’s indomitable character and consistency in top company gave her owners a tremendous ride and one of them, Nick Vass, paid $1.6 million for her at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. That completed a $4 million return on the $240,000 that Waterhouse & James Harron paid for her at the same venue three years ago.

Harron also bought Wandjina (ex La Bamba by Last Tycoon), but had to pay $1 million for him at the 2013 Inglis Easter Sale on behalf of Edmund & Belinda Bateman. The handsome bay colt more than fulfilled the expectations attached to such a price with his powerhouse, all-the-way Guineas win and two Group 1 placings, most notably a valiant second, splitting Dissident & Chautauqua in the weight-for-age ATC All Aged S. G1.   

Sent to Royal Ascot before retiring to Newgate Farm, Wandjina signed off with a fine effort for sixth in Undrafted’s Golden Jubilee Stakes, over a distance short of his preferred 1600 metres.

Hot Snitzel saved his best until the Brisbane Winter Carnival for his Triple Crown-managed band of owners and proved too strong in the 1200-metre BTC Cup at Doomben.

That was the 6YO gelding’s sixth Group success among the 8 wins & eight placings that have returned $1.2 million on the $60,000 that Chris & Michael Ward paid for him at the 2010 Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale.  Trained by Gerald Ryan for most of his career, Hot Snitzel was transferred to Peter & Paul Snowden before his Group 1 win and remains in training for 2015/16.

This quartet heads a collection of 16 Arrowfield-bred winners of 26 Group & Listed Races in 2014/15. All were offered for sale at auction and 15 of them sold for prices ranging from the $20,000 paid for the weanling Lady Jivago to the seven-figure bid Wandjina attracted.  Perth stakeswinner Rock Magic was sold out of training after four wins with Paul Messara.

The list doesn’t include champion sprinter Lankan Rupee (by Redoute’s Choice; MVRC Manikato Stakes & VRC Lightning Stakes) & Miracles of Life (by Not A Single Doubt; SAJC Robert Sangster Stakes), both born & raised at Arrowfield for Teeley Assets; nor does it include Listed winners Bouzy Rouge & Modello (both by Snitzel), both offered for sale by Arrowfield on behalf of their private breeders.

The full list of Arrowfield’s stakes-winning graduates last season is: