Bernadette Hamill is not just a stud manager but also the ‘keeper of all knowledge’ at Yarradale making her invaluable to the farm. She has been with the farm for over 22 years and is part of the farm’s history and magic.
Yarradale is one of the top vendors at the Magic Millions’ 2019 Autumn Thoroughbred and Yearling Sales and The Impact spoke to Hamill about their draft.
Q: How many horses is Yarradale Stud planning to bring to Autumn Thoroughbred and Yearling Sales
A: We are preparing 14 weanlings, 13 mares and 3 yearling colts for these sales.
Q: Yarradale is bringing one of the largest drafts into the Perth Magic Millions Autumn Thoroughbred Sale. Could you tell us a bit more about your draft highlights and which one do you think people should be taking a really close look at?
A: Our highlight lots at this sale are:
Lot 101 is an athletic, correct filly by Bradbury’s Luck (AUS) from the mare Barton Street (x Zentsov Street). The cross on this filly is the same as one of Bradbury’s Luck’s stakes-placed fillies, Make My Own Luck (AUS).
Lot 81 is another Bradbury’s Luck filly from the stakes-winning mare Lauradane (x General Nediym). Not a tall filly but correct and what she lacks in height she makes up for in strength and temperament.
Lot 97 is a City Place (USA) colt who is the first foal from the winning War Chant mare, War Blossom. The mare herself sold for A$110,000 as a yearling. The colt is a neat colt and the mare’s family is going well with the Stakes performer Ranier popping up recently in the pedigree.
People should have a good look at Lot 32, Damsel In Distress (AUS). The mare is a half-sister to Fire And Rain, a horse currently doing very well here who has accumulated 5 wins and over A$380,000 in stakes money. While there is no black type at the top of the pedigree page at the moment, the family is going ahead and the mare herself is in foal to War Chant (USA) and is from the same family as War Room, a War Chant Stakes winner that was sold to Hong Kong earlier this year. Also, the mare’s pedigree is Danehill free so it makes it easier to select a stallion for her.
Q: What are the factors you consider when you plan matings and how far in advance do you plan them?
A: We look at the type of mare, her race performance, the distance of the races she ran in, what is happening in the pedigree, why she may not have made it to track, the temperament of the mare and preferred stallion, and what the end market might be for the progeny. It is not so much a matter of when we start planning the mating but more a matter of monitoring the mares and their pedigrees throughout the year. We try to get our bookings to stallions done by June before the breeding starts in September.
Q: Do you consider breeding for specific races or do you breed for athleticism?
A: We don’t breed for specific races but we try to breed athletic, competitive horses. We do look at the distance the progeny might race over but we aim to breed a horse that is sound and with a good temperament
Q: What were your 2018/20109 successes?
A: Valour Road (Frost Giant x Melba Avenue [Street Sense]) would have to be our poster boy for the 2018/2019 season. We sold him for $60,000 at the Magic Millions 2018 sale and the Stud retained a 30% share. At his first start, he won the restricted Listed Magic Millions 2-year-old race followed by the G2 Karrakata Plate and then came back in 2019 and won the G2 Euclase Stakes in Adelaide. With 9 starts for 4 wins and nearly $700,000 in stakes, he has been a good investment for his owners.
A number of other horses have been consistent performers for the farm including Mizelecki (Lope de Vega x Miss Strezelecki), Settler’s Creek (Discorsi x Three Sisters), Soy Tan Rapido (War Chant x Endesa), and Fire And Rain (Oratorio x Girl In A Storm), along with some exciting newcomers in War Saint (War Chant x Ambers Halo), Power And Passion (War Chant x Passion Cantata) and Witchfulthinking (War Chant x Rokeby’s Witch).
Q: Please tell us more about your farm and your journey in the racing and breeding industry thus far
A: I started in the industry in 1981 and 95% of my working life has been on stud farms. I was fortunate enough to work overseas in England and the US from 1988 to 1993 which was a great experience. I came back to Australia in mid-1993 and decided to go to university. I graduated with a bachelor degree in sports management but couldn’t give up the horses. I had been working at Yarradale Stud to pay my way through university when it was taken over by the current owner, Ron Sayers in 1996. I had a brief hiatus in 1999/2000 when I went to work for the Pony Club Association of Western Australia, and then Ron Sayers rang and asked if I was interested in returning to Yarradale Stud. I have been here ever since.
I was also very fortunate to be the winner of the inaugural Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff awards – Dedication to Breeding Award in 2015. It is a wonderful initiative from Godolphin and a tremendous honour to be acknowledged by your peers.
Q: Which horse has brought you the greatest pleasure?
A: A tough question and very hard to pin down to just one horse. They are the reason I get out of bed every morning. I suppose the horse I get the most pleasure out of watching the race at the moment is one I bred myself – he raced in Western Australia as “The Shoe” and was sold to Singapore and now races as “Nimble”. From the time he was born he was a laid back character who loved attention. Nothing ever perturbed him and he would always push his way through the mob to say “hi” anytime you were nearby. The fact that he can run makes it more enjoyable.
And really, I can’t go past some of the old nannies we’ve had over the years. An old mare called Idol Worship was a wonderful old girl who would take on the job of raising orphans of any age. She would produce thin, watery milk and let them nurse off her so we would supplement the foals with formula. She looked after every foal as if they were her own and then became paddock nanny to as many weanlings we could care to give her. She sadly passed at the age of 30.
Q: Is this the end of the sales season for you, or do you have any more sales will be seeing you at?
A: This is the last sale for us for 2019. Our next major sales will be in February 2020.
Q: Which sales do you attend regularly?
A: Perth sales. If we consign yearlings for other sales in other Australian states, then the farms that prepare the yearlings take them to sale and Ron Sayers, the owner of Yarradale Stud will go to the sale, or Grant Burns of Premium Bloodstock Services will represent the farm.
Q: What is on the bucket list for Yarradale Stud?
A: The obvious answer is breeding more black type winners. We are looking at selling more yearlings on the east coast at the Magic Millions Gold Coast sales or the Inglis Sydney Easter sales. We are currently consolidating mare numbers and are always trying to upgrade the stock.
Q: What are the factors you take into account when planning to buy Stallions?
A: Pedigree, particularly on the dam’s side; race performance; type and conformation; and if they are tried stallions, their progeny statistics.
Q: What you do enjoy outside the Thoroughbred world?
A: Catching up with family and friends, gardening, reading, and I am a Fremantle Dockers tragic (Australian Football League team).
Q: Tell us about a book you’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading recently or a movie you’ve enjoyed watching?
A: I came a bit late to it, but I recently read Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games” and thoroughly enjoyed the books. My stepdaughter introduced me to the film on DVD when it first came out but it failed to grab me so she tried to get me to read the books but I never got around to it. It was probably during the breeding season and I probably slept through most of the movie. As to why the books appealed, I guess because the theme is humanity will shine through adversity.