HOW old is too old when breeding Thoroughbreds?
Several elements can determine what age a broodmare or stallion will live to – living areas, the state of the horse’s health and well-being throughout its life, feed supplements used other than paddock pasture, weather conditions, number of times a mare produced or a stallion serves, and even its temperament.
Statistics from the Australian Stud Book reveal some interesting facts.
In the 2014 stud season two mares, Buds Of May, by Bletchingly’s Willingly and Rose Of Kala, by imported Nijinsky grandson Kala Dancer, delivered foals, by Strada and Dash For Cash respectively, when they were both 26 years old. Passing-away not long after foaling, Rose Of Kala was not served every season and produced seven foals, as was the same for Buds Of May.
In the 2015 stud season the oldest mare to produce a foal was Brummel’s Lass at 26 years of age
In the 2015 stud season the oldest mare to produce a foal was Brummel’s Lass at 26 years of age. A daughter of Brummel Who, by US-bred Round Table imported Beau Brummel, Brummel’s Lass produced a Snippetson filly last September which was her 15th foal. She has since retired.
A daughter of Biscay’s champion sire son Bletchingly, Miss Bletchingly produced a foal in 2014 and 2015, both by the Lyndhurst Stud-based sire Drumbeats as a 24- and 25 year-old. Now retired, Miss Bletchingly was also a good producer, being the dam of 15 foals.
George Altomonte’s Corumbene Stud at Dunedoo is the home for his 24-year-old mare Cut A Dash, by Nijinsky import Whiskey Road, who produced a filly foal by So You Think last October. She produced 11 foals for eight winners including three stakes winners.
Another long-time breeder Fred Peisah, owner-operator of his long established Lomar Park Stud at Werombi, south west of Sydney, bred (in partnership) his 23-year-old stakes winning mare Misty Dawn to elder Danehill stallion Arena, and which produced a colt born last October.
The daughter of Lomar Park’s deceased outstanding imported sire Mister C – one of the first Danzig sons to stand in Australia – Misty Dawn produced 14 foals, and was served again by Arena last stud season.
The $2.2 million earner by Danehill, Arena has a highly successful stud career at Lomar Park, with the 21-year-old serving seven mares last season.
GB import by Last Tycoon, Monde Bleu is 28 years old and is in fine fettle at Malcolm Boyd’s Bullarook Park Stud at Avenel, Victoria. Since his first stud season in 1994, Monde Bleu has served 893 mares since for more than 210 winners including three stakes winners. In 2014, the bay stallion covered four mares which produced two colts and a filly last season.
In Western Australia, 26-year-old Kenmare stallion Kendel Star served 13 mares in 2015, while he served 16 mares in 2014, producing four colts and five fillies. Though retired, Bletchingly stallion Sir Laurence is 30 years old and is still living a good life at Byerley Stud, Sandy Hollow.
While passing away late in the 2014 stud season, the then 26 year-old imported sire Citidancer served one mare that year for a non-result. Located in Western Australia since the early 2000s, Citidancer began his southern hemisphere stud duties in New Zealand before crossing the Tasman Sea in 1994 to stand at Segenhoe Stud near Scone, now Vinery Stud. An Irish bred son of Northern Dancer’s outstanding sire son Lomond, Citidancer sired 11 stakes winners including champion New Zealand bred filly Ballroom Babe, dam of current Queensland based sire of winners Hidden Dragon.
A trio of loved Thoroughbreds
CARE and good health can indeed lead to Thoroughbred broodmares living to very old age. On my home property I and my husband Ron have three Thoroughbreds, a retired broodmare and her two retired gelded sons.
Surviving the equine influenza in the Hawkesbury Valley in 2007 and a five-hour truck ride as a 32-year-old from the Hawkesbury to our new home on the Mid North Coast, our “old girl” Cornwall Countess is now aged 34 and still going strong.
The trio live altogether in a two-hectare paddock, they’re rugged in the winter, and get a hard feed – with fresh carrots – every day. They know their place on the farm, however for the past 10 months Cornwall has been fed in a separate yard as a deterrent for her two greedy sons – Wolf Winter and Muncher, both of whom have had successful recreational careers.
Twenty one-year-old Wolf Winter was the mare’s star galloper winning four races including two in Sydney over 2200 metres. As well as having eight seconds and seven thirds – and providing us with much excitement – Wolf Winter is by US-bred successful import Piccolino, a son of Princequillo’s Round Table, a remarkable US racehorse who won 43 races in the 1950s. Advancing to Sydney stakes class in the spring of 2000, sadly Wolf Winter tore a superficial flexor tendon which ended his racing days.
Troubled with wind problems, Muncher, by New Zealand bred Almurtajaz who was by Northern Dancer’s Danzatore, had four unplaced starts.
Belonging to an old South Australian stakes winning female family of Countess Wynward, Cornwall Countess is a daughter of US-bred import Hunka Papa. By Rough ‘n Tumble champion US racehorse and sire Dr Fagar, Hunka Papa, who sired two stakes winners, stood at Jim O’Connor’s famed Milluna Stud at One Tree Hill in South Australia from the late 1970s.