Everest Contender Classique Legend was bred by Linda Monds at Tyreel Stud, renowned boutique agistment, thoroughbred breeding and bloodstock development facility.

She is passionate about breeding high-quality thoroughbreds and continuing the fine tradition started by the farm’s first owner and develops the Late Jim Fleming.

Everest Diaries chats to Monds about Classique Legend, the business of breeding top quality thoroughbreds and much more

ED: What is the story behind the breeding of Classique Legend? How did it come about?

LM: Pinocchio is a mare from a fast family and she herself was flagged early on as a speedy individual but unfortunately sustained an injury which impeded her career on the track.

The mating for her second foal to Not A Single Doubt was due to the desire to produce a quality individual both for speed and physical appearance.  We believed sending her to a proven sire in Not a Single Doubt would have given her every chance to succeed as a Broodmare, which it has.

ED: Do you own the dam Pinocchio?

LM: Pinocchio is owned by me and my husband under the name of Wallings Bloodstock.

ED: What impresses you about Classique Legend the most?

LM: Classique Legend was always a very strong muscular individual who stood out in the paddock as he grew.  Mentally he was mature and he displayed natural athleticism.  Whilst Classique Legend is proving to have every quality that is desired on the racetrack, I think the thing that impresses me the most is the combination between the trainer, manager and the horse.  Classique Legend has not shown his true potential as yet – that is still to come.  He has been managed and looked after for longevity into his career.  He has been trained well and grown into a mature, determined individual which is evident in his race performances to date.

ED: Could you tell us a bit more about his sale? What was the journey like for you?

LM: Classique Legend was a very popular yearling at the sales. He was sold in 2017 at the Inglis Classic Gold Ribband Session.  This was the first year the Gold Ribband Session was first introduced, and he was the sale topper, selling for A$400,000 to Carmel Size.

I did not know Carmel Size personally prior to her purchasing him on behalf of Mr. Ho, but I did get to know her throughout the sales inspection time.  She inspected him multiple times, as did others.  It was no surprise to me that she was the one that ended up with him.  Her comments post-sale were that she ‘just had to have him’.

ED: Were you expecting the price he was finally sold for?

LM: When presenting any yearling at the sales you always hope that they will sell well, but it is not until the hammer finally falls the true value the buyers put on them is shown.  I believed he was going to be the one that would top our draft and I was pleasantly surprised when he topped the wholesale.  We always had a very high opinion of him.

ED: Not A Single doubt has become one of Southern Hemisphere’s greatest stallions. What was it about him, which attracted you to him for Pinocchio?

LM: Pinocchio is a big strong mare with a speedy family and Not A Single Doubt produces quality speedy individuals. We believed this mating to a quality stallion was the best possible mating to launch her career as a broodmare.

ED: Could you please tell us more about yourself, your family and Tyreel Stud as well as your history with the farm? This season you have had some record-breaking sales. Can you please tell us about your top 3 sales toppers?

LM: Laurence and I purchased Tyreel Stud in 2014 and moved onto the farm with our two boys, Ben and Blake.  We live on the farm and work on the farm.  Tyreel Stud has a rich history of producing the quality stock.  We arrived at Tyreel with 1 broodmare who was the last remaining breeder from my parents.  In the first few years, we were aggressive in the broodmare sales market; we just had to purchase broodmares to then build our business.  It was our intention to purchase broodmares by varying sires, broodmares with varying on track performance themselves, some mares were unraced, some mares were Group and Stakes performers, but it was always our intention to try and purchase mares with a physical presence themselves and mate them correctly.

This year we have seen the results of the foundations that have been laid in the beginning.  On Wednesday 10th April we sold another outstanding colt who is bound to have a bright future, Written Dash x Exceed and Excel, at the Inglis Easter sales for $1.7 million to Aquis.  This is the highest-priced yearling we have sold to date and he was another outstanding individual with a fantastic attitude.  On the following Saturday, Classique Legend raced at Randwick and won the Arrowfield 3yo Sprint Group 2 convincingly.  Then the following day, Sunday 14th April, Aethero (Classique Legend’s half brother) won The Griffin in Hong Kong.  What a week!!  All 3 colts were sold at Inglis Sales, Classique Legend in 2017 (Classic Yearling Sale), Aethero in 2018 (Easter Yearling Sale) and Written Dash x Exceed & Excel in 2019 (Easter Yearling Sale).

ED: What’s on your bucket list for you and for the farm? What records do you hope to break in the next decade?

LM: Whilst it is always a bonus to break records, it has never been my intention to do that.

It has always been a goal of ours to produce quality horses who achieve on-track results at all levels.  It has always been a goal of mine to see the horses we have bred and raised go to good homes, be looked after and nurtured and then see them achieve.  The horse breeding business sounds quite easy, but it is not for the faint-hearted.  It has its highs and lows like most businesses.  It was always our intention to set out to be the best we can be at what we do.  It was always our intention to build our reputation into producers of quality stock.

ED: What is the best non-horse related thing you like doing and when did you last do it?

LM: The best non-horse related thing I like doing is spending time with my family, but mostly we love what we do with our horses, they are our family too.