WHAT BUYERlambethmedia.com/Edge/downunder/2011/sept2011pdfs/... · pointed out, by the time you take into account the service fee, costs of raising and preparing the yearling and

WHAT BUYER

WANT

RS

Diana and Ray KenneDy’sJubilee Park breeding farm name

their progeny after a character from

the movie What Women Want and

given their success, they’ve obvious-

ly discovered what yearling buyers

want. By ivan Behrns • Photos by Trish Dunell

Six Group One winners and counting… that is the won-derful record Cambridge breeders Diana and Ray Kennedyhave achieved since they established their plush Jubilee Parkbreeding farm, using the name Maguire for each of theirhorses, near Cambridge in 2004.

Few breeding enterprises in Australasia have achievedsuch a strike rate in so short a time frame. And no, it wasn’ta family connection or links to Ireland that seeded the ideato use the name Maguire for all their horses but instead itcame from one of Ray’s favourite movies, What WomenWant, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.

“Darcy Maguire was Mel Gibson’s girlfriend in the movieand it was a name that we thought would sound good to usefor all our horses,” Ray said.

What a record the Maguire name is achieving. Not onlyare numerous standout Maguire pacers winning around theglobe but they are also featured as sales toppers on a regularbasis at PGG Wrightson’s annual Australasian Classic YearlingSales at Karaka in South Auckland.

One such sales star at the recent 2011 sale, with a pricetag of $170,000, was Tori Maguire, a standout ChristianCullen - Unrehearsed filly, a full sister to former championjuvenile filly Lizzie Maguire, with 10 wins and $477,366.

Adding another healthy profit to the Jubilee Park bal-ance sheet was the $85,000 received for Curtis Maguire, aBettors Delight - Miss Jubilee colt. Both yearlings are goingto the stable of South Auckland trainer Gareth Dixon.

“I was somewhat surprised at the great price theChristian Cullen filly fetched. I was hoping for six figures butwas unsure considering all the talk of gloom preceding thesales, though I thought the Bettors Delight colt would sellwell. He was a magnificent individual and his spectacularlooks had a constant flow of people coming to inspect himwell before his sale,” Ray said.

A Mach Three colt from one ofJubilee Park’s foundation mares and for-mer Southland Oaks winner Mystic Goldnamed Robbie Maguire also made goodmoney, selling for $65,000.

“You have to have good sized andwell conformed yearlings combined withgood breeding to consistently sell well atthe sales but it takes good sales like theseto ensure you make a profit every year.”

In past years Jubilee Park has sold anumber of top priced yearlings includingDavy Maguire (Christian Cullen - SokysSunday) $160,000, Baccha Maguire(Christian Cullen - Bhutan) $150,000,Danny Maguire (Art Major - Seeled AllOver) $105,000, Gracie Maguire(Christian Cullen - Bhutan) $90,000, KatieMaguire (Bettors Delight - Mystic Gold)$90,000, Carey Maguire (Christian Cullen-Unrehearsed) $85,000, Matt Maguire(Christian Cullen - Unrehearsed) $80,000and Harrison Maguire (Christian Cullen -Sokys Sunday) $70,000.

What is the secret to such consistentsuccess? For Ray it has been a combina-tion of important factors and a strongdiscipline to stick to a formula that works.

“You need to breed from qualitymares that had ability on the track and

are from good performing families. Youmust then send them to proven commer-cial stallions and stick with any that con-sistently give you rewards, such asChristian Cullen,” Ray said.

There is also the important factor ofmaking sure the mares and yearlingsreceive the best of care. “I am also verylucky to have a wife who comes from anequestrian background and is an excel-lent hand with the young horses. She hasalso trained gallopers.”

But not all mares make it. As Raypointed out, by the time you take intoaccount the service fee, costs of raising

and preparing the yearling and the salecommission, you need to take a hardnosed business approach if your mareisn’t paying her way.

“I am culling Falcon Road, a racewinning Falcon Seelster mare whoseMach Three colt only brought $10,000 atKaraka and this despite her having leftthe very good West Australian Derby andLord Mayor’s Cup winner Mr Yankee. Irecently advertised her for sale, willingto take just an offer, but to my surprisedidn’t get one response.”

Ray is justifiably proud of the mag-nificent set-up he and his wife have at

Winter 2011 • The Harness Edge Downunder

WHAT BUYERS WANT

The farm that is now Jubilee Park was formerly aThoroughbred facility called Allegra Park Stud. “I just hap-pened to be at the right place at the right time to purchase it.Nothing was spared in setting it all up and to do somethinglike this now would be prohibitive,” noted Ray Kennedy.

Winter 2011 • The Harness Edge Downunder

WHAT BUYERS WANT

Jubilee Park. It was a major change ofdirection for the couple. Ray had previ-ously worked for a law firm in Gisborneand then together they ran a farm with6,500 stock units on it. Not to mentionthe eight children and 12 grandchildrenbetween them needing quality time.

As Ray said, “If I was to carry on likethat, I was going to die! I needed to trysomething else.”

Jubilee Park was previously aThoroughbred stud known as AllegraPark Stud, which was a public company.Unfortunately it had to be sold due tothe market crash in the late 80s.

“I just happened to be at the rightplace at the right time to purchase it.Nothing was spared in setting it all upand to do something like this now wouldbe prohibitive,” he said. “It is as good asanything in New Zealand.”

Jubilee Park, in the heart of tophorse country in the Waikato, covers 35acres and has a state of the art Tudorstyle stabling complex which can house20 yearlings indoors, plus day paddocks,vet facilities, self-contained flats, a halfmile track and a massive horse walkerthat can exercise eight horses at a time.

Ray says he is lucky to be in an area

where grass grows 12 months of the yearmeaning he has to feed little, if any, hayout in winter.

“I buy some meadow hay if I have tobut try to get my broodmares off theproperty for a short time during winterto give the pastures a spell.”

He said he doesn’t have any secretformula when it comes to feeding hisbroodmares, weanlings and yearlings butswears by an Australian feed productcalled Prydes Easi Feed and also FiberPro, a form of chaffage processed frompure alfalfa and laced with molasses.

“They really thrive on it.” He is also

an advocate for regular drenching andhe and Diana are sticklers for makingsure close attention is given to eachhorse’s feet from birth right through toyearling stage.

“It sometimes only takes a little raspon a foal, weanling or yearling’s feet ona regular basis to help correct any prob-lems with the way they stand. You willget the rewards come sales time.

“You have to be really careful as youcan find that a particular sire leaves hisstock toed-out so you have to get in earlyto sort out any potential problems. It ismost important to have them correct.”

“I guess I have been lucky having come from a backgroundof farming and caring for thousands of animals over theyears. It all comes down to good animal husbandry, pasturemanagement, common sense and sticking to strict guide-lines," said Ray Kennedy of the success of Jubilee Park.

The Harness Edge Downunder • Winter 2011

He also starts feeding the mares sup-plementary feed on a more consistentbasis closer to foaling and later leadinginto weaning if needed. “It teaches thefoals how to eat and sets them up afterweaning so they don’t have any majorsetbacks,” he said.

Diana’s job is to get the yearlingsready for the sales and they are first fedtwice a day and, when getting nearer tothe sales, up to three times a day forthose that need it but importantly onlyin small portions.

“I keep a close eye on their develop-ment as I hate seeing fat yearlings beingparaded at sales.”

The success of the feeding regime atJubilee Park can be seen in the consistentquality of each year’s yearling draft andthe top prices many fetch. Ray and Dianaoften receive compliments from buyers,trainers and auctioneers alike when theyinspect their yearlings.

“I guess I have been lucky havingcome from a background of farming andcaring for thousands of animals over theyears. It all comes down to good animalhusbandry, pasture management, commonsense and sticking to strict guidelines.”

Ray Kennedy’s interest in horses firstbegan in the southern city of Dunedinwhere he was born.

“I used to be a regular follower of thetrots at Forbury Park as a youngster andwould often take the drive through to seethe races at Addington and Ashburton.”

His first involvement as a racehorseowner came with Thoroughbreds duringthe late 1980s and early 1990s when heraced the top class gallopers Steely Dan,the winner of 12 races including theGroup one 2000 Guineas at Riccartonand the Group One Thorndon Mile atTrentham, and Mr Yankee, a one-timetop New Zealand Cup prospect whichunfortunately broke down.

He later became a committee mem-ber of the Poverty Bay Turf Club butwhen his gallopers’ careers ended thelure of Standardbreds saw him join thefirst of the Auckland Trotting Club’s rac-ing syndicates, racing the very successfulMatai McKenzie and Parisian Falcon. Rayhas also been a committee member atthe Cambridge Harness Club and hassponsored races there. That is where Ray

and his wife decided to enter the seriousand sometimes risky business of breedingand selling Standardbreds.

The foundation of Jubilee Park’sbroodmare band, Unrehearsed andLethal Mee, began at the 2001 NewZealand Yearling Sales when Ray pur-chased Unrehearsed for $20,000 andLethal Mee for $15,000.

Unrehearsed, by Live Or Die fromTentative, p, 3, 1:58.3, won three racesincluding a Nevele R fillies heat and aPyne Gould Guinness NZ Yearling SalesSouthern Graduate race at two.

Lethal Mee, by In The Pocket fromCharsi Me, was a winner at three in hershort race career for Ray, winning just

$4,018 in stakes but showing enoughability to be retired to breed.

Added to their broodmare band wasthe Butler BG - Vita Gold mare MysticGold p, 1:59.3 bought out of Australia.She was a talented pacer, winning theSouthland Oaks plus a number of races inAustralia and accumulating over $60,000in stake money.

Mystic Gold was from a family nur-tured by Ray Anicich and was one Rayhad always admired from his past days inDunedin. Other notable mares wereChangeover’s half sister Bhutan (twowins) by Falcon Seelster, Pure Prestige (byNew York Motoring from WindshieldStar), Sokys Sunday (by Sokys Atom fromTabella Beth) and Diamond Fleet (byFalcon Seelster from Esprit Noir).

Ray and Diana sold their first com-mercial draft of 15 yearlings at the 2005Australasian Classic Yearling Sales, aver-aging over $9,000. Their best sales were

$42,500 for a Dream Away - DiamondFleet filly and $34,000 for a PresidentialBall - Mystic Gold colt.

However they didn’t have to wait longbefore success came by way of their 2006sales’ draft, really putting Jubilee Park onthe breeding map. Heading the list was thetop selling colt Davy Maguire, by the newboom sire Christian Cullen from SokysSunday, which sold for $160,000. At thesesales they also sold the fillies LizzieMaguire (Christian Cullen – Unrehearsed),for $60,000 and Susie Maguire (PresidentialBall - Lethal Mee) for $21,000. What a rev-elation they turned out to be for Ray andDiana on the racetrack.

“My biggest thrill to date as a breed-

er was seeing Lizzie Maguire win the2007 two-year-old fillies DiamondHarness Jewels final in Ashburton in 1:56and Susie Maguire (Presidential Ball -Lethal Mee and a winner of $279,963)finishing second,” said Ray.

Lizzie Maguire later went on to winthe 2008 Northern Oaks. To produce twooutstanding fillies from just their secondyearling draft set Jubilee Park up as oneof New Zealand’s most sought-afterbreeding establishments.

And currently starting to make aname for himself is Lizzie Maguire’syounger brother, Matt Maguire, a 1:53.9winner at Ashburton earlier in the sea-son and later a place getter in theVictorian Derby. This talented youngpacer who has $83,000 on his card todate, is trained by Cran Dalgety whothinks he has great potential to becomea future star of New Zealand racing.

The 2008 sales purchase Meredith

“You have to have good sized and well conformed year-lings combined with good breeding to consistently sell wellat the sales but it takes good sales like these to ensure youmake a profit every year.”

Winter 2011 • The Harness Edge Downunder

WHAT BUYERS WANT

Maguire, by Christian Cullen from Alvez,is yet another top young female pacerproduced by Jubilee Park and finishedthird in the Harness Jewels three-year-old fillies final at Cambridge.

A winner of $223,809 so far in hercareer she was a $32,000 yearling pur-chase who won in 1:50.2 at Mohawk lastAugust and remains racing on the WEGcircuit. Unfortunately she was the lastfoal of Alvez bred by the Kennedysbefore she died.

Currently there are 13 mares beingbred at Jubilee Park. They are: Artyana(Perfect Art - Berndon Star) with a GottaGo Cullen filly at foot and in foal toBettors Delight; Bhutan (Falcon Seelster -Chaangerr) with an Art Major colt at footand in foal to Christian Cullen; DameNellie (In The Pocket - Miss Maples) nofoal at foot but in foal to Art Major; KimMaguire (In The Pocket - Bhutan) no foalat foot but in foal to Art Major; LethalMee (In The Pocket - Charsi Me) with anElsu filly at foot and in foal to BettorsDelight; Miss Jubilee (In The Pocket -Mystic Gold) with a Bettors Delight coltat foot and back in foal to BettorsDelight; Moscardon (Holmes Hanover -New York) with an Art Major colt at footand in foal to Christian Cullen; MysticGold, a Mach Three filly at foot andempty; Seeled All Over (Falcon Seelster -Karara Lass) with a Jeremes Jet filly atfoot and in foal to Christian Cullen; SokysSunday (Sokys Atom - Tabella Beth) withan Art Major colt at foot and in foal toChristian Cullen; Tootsie (In The Pocket -Moscardon) with an Art Major colt atfoot and back in foal to Christian Cullen;Unrehearsed (Live Or Die - Tentative)with a Christian Cullen filly at foot and infoal to Art Major and Zenola Starbuck(Christian Cullen - Zenola Star) a maidenmare in foal to Bettors Delight.

Ray and Diana enjoy racing some oftheir breed and have three with topSouth Island trainer Cran Dalgety, includ-ing a very nice Bettors Delight - MysticGold three-year-old gelding JB Maguirewho they race in partnership with Cran’swife Chrissie. There is also the three-year-old filly Becky Maguire, by ChristianCullen - Falcon Road and a two-year-oldFalcon Seelster from the family ofMeredith Maguire.

“We also have two two-year-old filliesat home we are jogging, called Terrorist(Western Terror - Paula Vance) and ZoeMaguire (Falcon Seelster - Pure Prestige).”

Stallion matings for the 2012 seasonare still to be worked out. Ray spends alot of time studying the stallion selec-tions, their stud fees and assessing howhis mares would match both with theirbloodlines and physical compatibility.

“You don’t want to send small maresto Bettors Delight or Mach Three.”

His favourite stallion is ChristianCullen, (“The matings just work withhim”) and he also likes Bettors Delight,Mach Three and Art Major “although Iam tempted to also look at Rocknroll

Hanover next season, especially if hisfresh semen is available down here. I wasalso impressed by the look of theJeremes Jet yearlings and how popularthey were with the buyers.”

He finds many stallion service feesare generally too high when added tothe additional charges that breedersoften have to face and the returns theyget. That is why he prefers to arrange hisown stallion services at Jubilee Park,using the excellent facilities he has avail-able and also so he can keep a close eyeon both his budget and when his maresare ready for serving.

“I often achieve a 60 per cent successwith the first serving. It ensures I have agood supply of early bred yearlings atthe sales.”

On the question of the present year-ling sales format in New Zealand, Ray is astrong believer that the annual yearlingsales should be centered on just onevenue, making it the showcase for New

Zealand’s best yearlings. “In an ideal world we should have

all our best yearlings sold at the magnif-icent Karaka complex. The complex inChristchurch is of third world standarddespite the best efforts by PGGWrightson. We need to showcase themin the best arena. The Thoroughbredsdo. There could be three sales held there,a Premier, Select and a Festival sale.”

Ray is aware there would be hugeresistance from southern breeders overthe costs of getting their yearlings up toKaraka for such a sale but sees someform of travel subsidy for southernbreeders to transport them north wouldhelp. “There are South Island breeders

such as Bromac Lodge already sendingyearlings to Karaka each year.”

Another thing Ray is concernedabout is the dominance in numbers bythe four sires Christian Cullen, BettorsDelight, Art Major and Mach Three atthe major sales and sees this as a threatto achieving high prices for a number ofyearlings by these sires.

“There are getting to be too manyto choose from, which can affect theprices.” He is already looking forward tonext year’s sales, having yet another nicedraft of yearlings.

One thing can be assured and that isthe name Maguire and Jubilee Park, withits astute and skilful, hard-working own-ers, will be around for many years tocome. You certainly can’t argue thatgrossing over $430,000 at an average of$39,000 per yearling from their 11 year-lings at this year’s sales is a good reasonfor Ray and Diana Kennedy to continuedown the path they have chosen. �

“My biggest thrill to date as a breeder was seeing LizzieMaguire win the 2007 two-year-old fillies Diamond HarnessJewels final in Ashburton in 1:56 and Susie Maguire finish-ing second.”

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