Last year Musk Creek Farm owner, Scott Williamson sold one of most expensive horses at the Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale. Located at Flinders, Musk Creek Farm is set on 140 acres of undulating pasture, to a backdrop of rolling green hills and ocean views. A boutique, purpose-built, thoroughbred nursery developed to cater to every horse's needs.
A Poet's Voice (GB) colt was sold for $280,000, at the 2018 sale, Musk Creek, based at Flinders in Victoria. Scott has held various positions and gained vast experience at many of the world’s leading farms including Coolmore (IRE), Darley (GB) and Lane’s End (USA).
The Impact speaks Scott Williamson about his 2019 Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale draft, Musk Creek's breeding strategies as well as his own plans and ambitions:
Q: You have an excellent draft of 13 horses this year. Please tell us more about your highlight lots?
A: We have several lots in our draft that we feel are highlight lots. They all have something going for them whether it be the times they ran, physique or pedigree. Based on the times recorded the 10.63 of the Unencumbered lot 39 colt was impressive and is from a good family being a half brother to Wise Hero. Unencumbered obviously was a very good 2yo and this colt seems very professional.
The Bull Point colt lot 24 out of a Stakes place Hussonet mare was also very impressive and wasn’t ridden hard to achieve his
time of 10.65 seconds. This colt impressed his jockey Jamie Kah immensely and she thought he was a readymade racehorse.
Our Toronado colt lot 27 ran his breeze in 10.94 seconds and is by a young stallion getting some good results including the impressive Prince Of Sussex, who has been sold to Hong Kong.
Another impressive breeze was lot 81 and another Bull Point colt from a Galileo mare. He cruised in his breeze and showed he had plenty more to give going forward. I would describe him as a Guineas and Derby prospect.
Lot 168 is by leading sire Smart Missile and out of a half-sister to Group 1 winner Prized Icon. He breezed in 11.30 seconds and has the most impressive stride. He looks like making into an exciting 3 and 4-year-old.
When the rest of the draft include colts by proven and exciting young stallions like Shooting To Win, Choisir, Helmet, Wandjina and Outreach not to mention being from Group 1 winning mares, Stakes-winning mares and consistent producers we are confident we have the product for all buyers.
Q: Last year, you Not A Single Doubt colt secured a premium price. What was it about the physiology, performance or the sire-line of these horses which attracted buyers to pay a premium?
A: I feel buyers are drawn to athletic horses and the Not A Single Doubt colt last year was that!! He had an amazing stride and looked like he would keep progressing. He also had a super attitude and paraded in a professional manner every time he was inspected. Being by leading sire Not a Single Doubt is always helped as there aren’t many stallions doing a better job at stud than him.
Q: How long have you been involved with horses and horse sales? Please tell us about your history with Musk Creek Farm.
A: I’ve been involved with horses my whole life and starting working at horse sales at the age of 16. Having worked in many countries for leading farms I now find myself at Musk Creek Farm. I’ve held my current position for 2 and a half years. In this time we have made our main goal to produce a product that buyers want to buy but also that they have success with over a long period of time. We aim to produce a sound horse and want buyers to keep coming back to our draft.
Q: What sales do you normally aim to attend every year? Please tell us about the most expensive horse you ever bred and sold?
A: Our focus is quality and we aim to be at the leading sales in Australia. We put a lot of effort into our matings for our mares and also when selecting horses to be resold. So far the most expensive horse sold by Musk Creek Farm was the mare Bubble Below, dam of Hong Kong star Lucky Bubbles. She made A$700,000. The highest-priced yearling sold was a Sebring colt out of Footprint for A$600,000. I feel our first A$1,000,000 horse isn’t far away!!
Q: Do you breed for overall athleticism or for specific races?
A: I think we all should try to breed an athlete. Mating mares on type is very important to try to achieve the desired result from the foal produced. We all dream of breeding the winner of the Golden Slipper, Caulfield Guineas or the Cox Plate but in time we can hopefully achieve this by focusing on producing a sound and athletic horse.
Q: How do you plan your matings? How far in advance do you plan the matings?
A: We are always considering our matings. Obviously, if a previous mating produces good results on the racetrack then you often try to repeat this. We generally sit down after the yearling sales to discuss matings for the coming season. For us, matings are aimed at producing a good type of offspring that’s hopefully commercial for us but also successful as a racehorse for the eventual owners.
Q: Although it's tough to predict, as a breeder, which pedigree lines do you place the most stock of future successes in?
A: I’ve been very impressed with I Am Invincible and other sons of Invincible Spirit. They all seem good types.
Personally, I’m a big fan of Lonhro as a Broodmare sire and feel his sons will also produce top-class Broodmares to cross well with a large number of Danehill line mares.
Q: Which was your most favourite horse from your stable of all time and where is he/she now?
A: In my first year at Musk Creek Farm we sold an I Am Invincible filly out of If I Can for $475,000. She is now named Iamican and trained by David Van Dyke. She’s just turned 3 years old and I feel she is one to follow this year.
Q: As a breeder, what two (doable) goals which are on your bucket list to achieve by 2030?
A: I’d like to breed a Group 1 winner, hopefully, a Golden Slipper or a Cox Plate.
The other goal is to breed a sale topper at one of the leasing sales in Australia. That would be a massive accomplishment for a small farm like us.
I feel with our focus on quality and on producing sound athletic racehorses makes these goals achievable.
Published In The Impact 20 Issue, 2 Vol
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