As hands on owners of Waikato Stud, our focus has always been to produce the best racehorses.

My father, Garry, has often told me ‘the future reflects the past’, and who am I to argue! Waikato Stud had a black type pedigree before my family’s tenure began 15 years ago. Preceding us, the likes of Dulcify, Imposera and Courtza came off these fertile paddocks, a heritage which inspired us to keep upping our game. This place’s sustained ability to produce top class racehorses has earned us perhaps the ultimate accolade, Group One Breeder of the Decade.

Season 2008-09 closes with Waikato Stud setting a breeding record with 16 individual stakes winners including six Group One winners of nine Group One races.

Overall, New Zealand-breds were resurgent in Australia, winning 18 Group One races of which Waikato Stud-breds accounted for eight.

Daffodil’s triumph in the Group One AJC Oaks, on top of her New Zealand 1000 Guineas, was a big thrill. Her trainer Kevin Gray, and his wife Kathleen, have been loyal supporters. Kevin is an old hand with a top horse but this victory on his first visit to Sydney was a huge feather in his cap. That was the fourth Saturday in a row that a Waikato Stud-bred had won a Group One in Australia. It left us wondering – can it ever get any better?

Among many clients and friends who have enjoyed success this year, Jim and Mary Wallace of Ardsley Stud bred the dual Group One winner MacO’Reilly, trained by David Haworth who also guided our homebred filly Bird to the South Island Filly of the Year title. Herbie Dyke, most recent recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Racing Award, enjoyed a fruitful season with his Waikato Stud-bred filly Raid while the super job Peter and Kim McKay did with Alamosa in New Zealand continued in
Melbourne under Mick Price, raising the colt’s profile to an even higher level.

Legends of the turf, Bart Cummings, Jack Denham and Nick Moraitis, were on the Group One dais with Waikato Stud-breds Swick, Metal Bender and Vision And Power respectively, as were young gun trainers Joseph Pride and Peter Moody (Markus Maximus).

Waikato Stud’s backbone will always be the farm, now encompassing over 1200 acres, and the stallions.

Our boys are delivering the goods. O’Reilly’s percentage of stakes winners to winners this season exceeds Redoute’s Choice and Zabeel. Each runner earned on average almost A$50,000 and he’s neck and neck with Zabeel for the new Centaine Award for global earnings by a New Zealand based sire, named in honour of our late great, himself now the champion broodmare sire.

Pins chalked up another ten impressive stakes winners and from limited numbers No Excuse Needed is making people sit up and take notice. Noted Australian breeder Stuart Ramsey provided Savabeel’s first Group winner, My Emotion, while everything lies ahead for our young sprinters Scaredee Cat and Fast ‘n’ Famous.

The first decade of the new millennium has been something quite special. So if, as Garry claims, the future reflects the past, then there will be good days ahead. Let Waikato Stud play a part in your future success too.