Welcome to the first edition of Haunui eNews.  As a subscriber, you have no doubt already visited our up graded website.  We hope that it is user friendly and provides useful information about Haunui Farm, our team and of course our bloodstock.

 

Don Eduardo is off to a quick start in the breeding shed and has covered over a dozen mares already.  After generally spending most of his time toward the back of his paddock since re-locating to Haunui Farm, he’s now more often than not, grazing not too far from the gate – he certainly knows what time of year it is!

 

 

Notable arrivals

Along with the arrival of spring of course comes the arrival of new foals and we now have our fair share with almost 30 on the ground so far.  With more than 100 mares to foal down this season, there is still a long way to go but there is no doubt that new foals are a great site at any stud farm.

 

One of the first foals born at Haunui Farm this season was a colt out of Midnight Madam (NZ) (Kaapstad).  By Van Nistelrooy (USA) (Storm Cat), he is a half brother to Group One-winner Perlin (NZ) (Carnegie).  He has been joined by one of the stand outs of the season so far - a stunning Stravinsky (USA) (Nureyev) filly out of multiple Group One-winner Fayreform (NZ) (Tights). 

 

Liberty Walk (NZ) (Zabeel), has a filly on the ground by Flying Spur (Aus) (Danehill) while, we are all waiting with anticipation for her half sister Coogee Walk (NZ) (Success Express) to foal to Redoute’s Choice (Aus) (Danehill) – it will be all hands on deck when that happens!

 

More foaling news can be seen in the News section of our website, www.haunuifarm.co.nz

 

Railings (Aus) (Zabeel) started the spring with a flourish for Haunui Farm notching up the first stakes success for the season by a Haunui graduate.

 

Trained by John Hawke’s, the four-year-old won the Listed Premier’s Cup (1800m) at Rosehill in his second start this campaign.  Already Group One-placed in the AJC Derby (2400m), Railings holds nominations for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

 

Congratulations must go to Marie Leicester, one of our long-term clients at Haunui, after Tsarina Belle (NZ) (Stravinsky) got her classic season of to a flying start at Te Rapa last week.

 

Trained by Lance O’Sullivan, it was the filly’s first start this preparation after finishing second behind Darci Brahma (NZ) (Danehill) at the Taupo trials last month.

 

Bred and owned by Marie, Tsarina Belle was stakes placed as a two-year-old in the ARC Champagne Stakes and this season could be set to add to her black type record with a possible tilt at the Group One 1,000 Guineas (1600m) on the cards.

 

Out of Empress Belle (NZ) (Sir Tristram), Tsarina Belle is a half sister to two stakes performers. Empress Belle has a Van Nistelrooy yearling filly and is due to foal to Van Nistelrooy again. She has been booked to visit Stravinsky (USA) (Nureyev) this season.

 

Haunui Farm has an exciting season ahead as a number of young colts the stud has invested in, begin to make inroads into their racing careers.

 

Already, De Beers (NZ) (Quest For Fame) looks to be heading to bigger spoils in the spring after kicking off his campaign in style at Randwick in the Group Three Roman Consul Stakes (1200m) finishing second in a deadheat with Golden Slipper-winner Stratum (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice).  Trained in Sydney by John Hawke’s, De Beers is part-owned by Haunui Farm and after this effort, the colt will now continue on the path toward the Group One Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on the 8th of October.

 

A $750,000 yearling purchase at the 2004 Karaka Premier Yearling Sale, De Beers is the first foal out of the stakes winning mare Chimeara (Aus) (Danehill), a daughter of the outstanding race horse and broodmare Tristalove (NZ) (Sir Tristram). His pedigree page features the likes of Viking Ruler (Aus) (Danehill), Viscount (Aus) (Quest For Fame), and of course, AJC Derby-winner Don Eduardo (NZ) (Zabeel) who stands at Haunui Farm.

 

Another colt with stallion potential is the two-year-old Zadoute (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice) who is in the Roger James stable.  Out of the Zabeel mare Za Tiara (NZ), we have high hopes for this colt with the view to achieving that all important black type success to secure his future as a sire.

 

As one of New Zealand’s leading commercial stud farms, our focus is on breeding horses that achieve success at the highest level.  Success is measured not only by results in the sale ring, but more importantly, on the race track. 

 

Over the last three seasons, graduates of Haunui Farm have stepped up to the mark on the racetrack with more than 27 individual stakes performers, many of these on Australian soil.

 

 

Group One-winner Perlin, a graduate of Haunui Farm and heading towards the 2005 Emirates Melbourne Cup (3200m)

 

Australia is quickly becoming one of the world’s leading racing destinations and the strength of the Australian racing industry is greater than ever before.

 

Ron Chitty has recently returned from a visit to the Hunter Valley which has only cemented the vision that Haunui Farm has undertaken in recent years.  Here is some feedback from Ron in regard to his trip.

 

“There is no doubt that the Australian racing and breeding industry is on a high.  We’ve seen this through the sales results at all levels – yearling, broodmare, weanling – but also in their racing with prize money just increasing all the time,” said Ron.

 

“We have seen over the last three or four years the Australian market give sires that have raced and are proven in their conditions every opportunity,” said Ron.  “With the success of horses such as Encosta de Lago (Aus) (Fairy King) and now of course Redoute’s Choice (Aus) (Danehill), we are seeing the progeny of shuttle horses that have succeeded in our conditions taking up “Champion” status,” he said. 

 

“For Australia, the focus of New Zealand is Zabeel (NZ) (Sir Tristram) – Zabeel is New Zealand - and we are just so pleased to have one of his best sons in Don Eduardo (NZ) (Zabeel) here at Haunui,” he said.  “He, along with the likes of Savabeel (NZ) and Reset (Aus) will have some of the best opportunity to emulate their sire’s success at stud,” says Ron. 

 

“Don Eduardo comes from the best family in the New Zealand stud book and arguably, one of the best in Australasia.  His is a pedigree that is recognised world wide and more importantly, he has performed at the highest level in what is our biggest and most important market – Australia,” said Ron.

 

“We have made a commitment to breeders to source and secure stallions with the best pedigree’s, conformation and race performance but all the time, there is one objective in mind – to source horses that will produce progeny that are suited to our environment,” said Ron.  “A great example of this philosophy is Soviet Star (USA) (Nureyev).  We may have only secured him for one season the one season but he was a horse that was given a great opportunity by New Zealand breeders a.  He served mares with good, solid New Zealand pedigrees that produced the types of horses that suit our style of racing and now look what Starcraft (NZ) has achieved in the last fortnight – the first Group One win for a New Zealand-bred horse in Europe,” he said.

 

“I received a fantastic quote while I was away about stallions and I think it sums things up particularly well,” said Ron.  “The odds about picking stallions are the same as Russian roulette.  You can be right, you can be wrong, but you can never be certain.  However, if you don’t give yourself the chance, you’ll never know.”

 

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