Always a keen eye for the best progeny’s this man has created a special demand for himself in the market. One of the most iconic figures in horse racing, Julian Blaxland opens about what he is looking for in this year’s sales. His first win and his mentor Adrian Nicoll.
Q: What do you think of this year’s Easter Yearling Sale offering?
A: As usual the Easter Yearling sale has thrown up some of the best pedigrees offered not only from Australasian breeders but from many of the best family’s in the world. It seems a smaller catalogue this year which will be interesting to watch the market effect. Obviously one would think it can only be positive from an overall average perspective.
Q: How often do you attend the Easter Yearling Sales?
A: I attended Easter for the first time in 1996 as a 17yo and was blown away. I’ve been buying there since 2006 and have bought every year since.
Q: Are there any specific sires, whose progeny get first preference?
A: Look Easter is typically a sale for proven sires – the big guns and this year we are blessed again with plenty of progeny by Fastnet Rock, I Am Invincible, Snitzel, Redoute’s Choice and co. For me, though I don’t go to a sale with a preconceived idea of what I am going to buy. I inspect every horse and take each one on its merits.
Q: What do you like best about buying at the Riverside Stables?
A: Riverside is a great complex. It’s still pretty new to all of us but I can’t lie, I do miss the old Newmarket complex as its where so much history was made over 100 or more years. But change is the one constant in life and the new Riverside set up is easy to work and has some of the best amenities found anywhere in the world.
Q: What is your process when buying horses?
A: For the Premier Sales like Magic Millions January and Easter, I like to get to the farms a few weeks prior to the sales and see the stock at home. That’s where the process of elimination starts for me. I’ll then re-inspect those horses I like again at the complex and slowly reduce horses from my list over a 5-7 period at the sales complex. Generally, I’m buying with trainers or clients too so I’ll reduce the overall catalogue down to around 10-15% and go around with the trainer or client and get a consensus among us which horses remain on the list to be vetted. The vets then reduce the list further and finally we are left with a list to work budgets prior to the sale.
Q: Who was your mentor when you started out buying horses?
A: Adrian Nicoll was the first agent/judge to really help me learn the fundamentals of selecting horses when I worked a year for him and the BBA in 2004/5. I thought I knew a lot prior to this but I really gained a great insight into what makes a racehorse from Adrian. Later in my career, I learned much from Richard Kelly of Newhaven Park. He’s one of the best judges in the world in my opinion and Newhaven’s record on the track over many years is a testament to that. I think you're always learning. Trainers that have been invaluable to inspect horses with are of course Gai Waterhouse, Peter Moody and recently Anthony Freedman. Not only top-class trainers but brilliant judges to go with it.
Q: Tell us about the first winner you’ve bought.
A: My first winner was Testarossa colt bought from Yarraman Park stud for $50,000. Harry Mitchell put me onto him. He didn’t have much pedigree but was a sharp, 2yo type and relayed my faith with a 2yo stakes win in the Tommy Smith Slipper. He ran in the Magic Millions Classic the following January and was then sold for a good profit for the owner to Hong Kong. It was more luck than good selection and a bit of help from Harry steering me onto the right one!
Q: What do you like best about buying at the Riverside Stables?
A: You can stay at the complex which is particularly useful for the first few days on inspections while you are getting everything in the catalogue seen and rated. Having a pool and a spa on-site next to a sales complex is also a rare but thoroughly appreciated luxury!
Q: How important are a black-type and race record in your evaluation of a yearling prospect?
A: Pedigrees are important to a point in my opinion. You like to see black type in a family obviously but it’s not the be-all and end-all of a horse. A yearling has to be an athlete first and foremost and look like it will run.
Q: Do you study pedigrees?
A: I do of course, but I probably focus more on whether a horse is mated correctly more than anything in regards to its pedigree. Statistics matter. Say I fall in love with a yearling, but it’s not mated correctly - I have to ask myself whether the odds are in my favour for this horse to make it. Can the horse defy the genetic stats against success? Some can but usually, you lose that battle. The majority of horses I buy – the primary objective and hope are that the yearling can be a black-type performer itself. One must at least start with that as the objective, otherwise don’t buy the horse. Obviously, only a small percentage of horses will win black type, but you must aim high when buying yearlings otherwise I don’t see the point.
Q: In terms of sire power, do you lean toward what is more commercially popular? Or do you run more strictly along the lines of how you think the pedigrees will best complement each other? Or is it a more of a balance?
A: It’s a balance. Sires are generally commercially popular because they’re successful. You do however observe the buying bench getting carried away over the early success of a sire and I’m wary of that phenomenon. Often a first or second season sire outsells top proven sires and that makes no sense to me. Sure I like buying first season sires and have had success doing so, most recently evident with Sunlight and Lean Mean Machine. But becoming a proven sire is a hard thing to achieve, hence Ill lean towards proven sires if given a choice.
Q: Any first crop sires you are keeping an eye out for?
A: I’ve bought a few first-season sires this year. I like the stock of Rich Enuff, Pride Of Dubai and Exosphere. I’ve bought 4 Vancouver’s so far. He was an incredible racehorse and I’d back him to put his hand up early with his progeny.
Q: What was the best advice you were given?
A: ‘The harder you work, the luckier you get' – is a line I live by. Gary Player the golfer said it and it makes a lot of sense to me. I've been given countless pieces of advice from so many kind people over the years so there are too many to mention. I wish I’d taken on some more of it as a young bloke sometimes!
Published in The Impact 7 Issue, 7 Vol
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Credit: Pallavi Shevade pallavi.shevade@secretariatsworld.com