Unite And Conquer looked in fine fettle, along with three other stallions at Kingstar Farm near Denman, during a recent Australian Thoroughbred Breeders Club studs/racing tour.
I, along with a small tour group, inspected Danehill line sires Unite And Conquer, Time To Reign, Bull Point and Lord Of The Sky.
A precocious colt, Unite And Conquer displayed blistering speed. He debuted before Christmas winning the VRC Maribyrnong Trial Stakes-LR before easily taking the $200,000 Wyong Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic.
By Snitzel, Time To Reign was another early-comer, being an undefeated spring two-year-old winning two races, including the ATC Kirkham Plate at Randwick, a race he defeated subsequent triple Group 1 winning star Bivouac.
Unite And Conquer is by deceased Hinchinbrook, a son of Coolmore Stud's champion Fastnet Rock, also the sire of Bull Point. Topping the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale at $960,000, Bull Point can now count Encountabull and Bygone Era among his stakes horses racing.
Lord Of The Sky is by Danehill's phenomenal sire of winners Danerich, a $24 million stud success.
A tough, durable sprinter, Lord Of The Sky was a triple Melbourne Group winner which also finished second to fabulous "grey flash" Chautauqua in the 2015 ATC T J Smith Stakes-G1.
Our group then travelled to Corumbene Stud on the outskirts of Dunedoo.
The farm has been revitalised with the introduction of stallions, Menari and Standout. Established in 1980 by George Altomonte, Corumbene Stud is part of a vast holding encompassing 5000 hectares which also includes cropping, cattle and sheep production.
While standing Australia's first registered Australian Stock Horse at the property, Cecil Bruce, the Thoroughbred enterprise prides itself on success via its numerous homegrown racehorses, which includes Golden Slipper winner and outstanding sire Sebring, as well as its new stakes winning stallions.
Beginning his stud career at Newgate Farm, Snitzel horse Menari (a dual stakes winner) is represented with his first winners.
A chestnut son of Exceed And Excel, Standout - a dual stakes winner culminating in the ATC Expressway Stakes-G2 - is a brother to Golden Slipper winner and champion two-year-old Overreach.
Next, we landed at Gooree Park - a historic property in the Mudgee district which includes three other properties and the sprawling expanses of Gooree Stud, home of its Thoroughbreds and state-of-the-art training facility.
While standing stallions in the 1990s, the stud has since stood its homegrown sires elsewhere, including Smart Missile, Hallowed Crown, deceased Northern Meteor and Your Song, however, the latter returns to Gooree after initially standing at Widden Stud. By Fastnet Rock, Your Song is a sire of nearly 200 winners and includes stakes winners Brave Song, Gem Song and Miss Exfactor.
A younger Gooree Stud bred and raced horse is More Than Ready stallion Prized Icon, which is installed at the Lamont family's Kooringal Stud near Wagga Wagga.
Since the death of Gooree's Filipino owner Eduardo Cojuangco Jr in 2020, Gooree Park has expanded to include stud tours, wine tastings and functions. Its excellent tour for our group ended with a hospitality lunch of Wagyu beef burgers and wine tasting.
The wines were stamped via its signature drops Crowned Glory Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, Don Eduardo Shiraz and a Desert War red, the three racehorses of great importance to the late owner.
While deceased, the Gooree Park bred Crowned Glory is a Melbourne group winner and also was a close second in the 2000 Golden Slipper Stakes-G1 (to Belle Du Jour). The Danehill mare also made her mark at stud, being the dam of Hallowed Crown and Needs Further, the latter also a stud success standing in Tasmania.
During the tour, our group saw memorable retirees Don Eduardo and Desert War.
Our group had a fabulous tour around Gooree, which was given to us by the property's passionate stud manager Peter Ward. However, we since learned that he sadly passed away.
His passion was evident, the Irish-born having world experience as a steeplechase hoop in Ireland, England, France and New Zealand, before moving to racing stables, then stallion manager at two studs in NZ, before finally landing in Australia.
