An unusually warm winter and low rainfall has been the backdrop to a hive of activity at Abbey Thoroughbreds over the past few months.
In May Abbey Thoroughbreds consigned two colts at the Scone Select Yearling sale. The first was Lot 44, a colt by Beautiful Crown out of the Invincible Spirit mare La Petite Coquette. This was a first foal for a mare that was unplaced due to forced retirement but she blitzed them in her first two barrier trials whilst shin sore and her family consistently throw winners. Our confidence that she will prove to be a good producer was shared by one of long terms clients and we have also been lucky enough to retain a share in this lovely colt. Although he is a good 12 months off fully developing he’s currently in full work and showing signs that our confidence will not be misplaced.
Beautiful Crown / La Petite Coquette colt
Lot 106 was a colt by ultra consistent sire Tale of The Cat from the Fastnet Rock mare Snoozing. This was another first foal from an unplaced mare but this relation to the promising Casual Choice had good bone and was very popular with buyers, many of whom noting he walked a lot like the progeny of his dam’s sire, Fastnet Rock. After some spirited bidding, he was knocked down for $16,000 and we wish his new owners every success with this colt.
Tale of the Cat / Snoozing Colt
The winter months also saw plenty of success for the Abbey Thoroughbred spellers, with almost all of our boarders over the summer and autumn posting wins or placings for their respective trainers when they returned to full work. We put a lot of time and money into our feeding programs and although this won’t compensate for lack of ability, we firmly believe this plays a strong part in ensuring a successful racing preparation when these horses return to full work.
We also believe the same applies to our broodmares and weanlings and we focus closely on making sure our mums-to-be and their offspring are given the best opportunity to develop good bone and muscle in a natural environment.
As we enter another breeding season we eagerly await the birth of our first foal due early September, with arrivals due right out until end of November. If this was not enough to keep us on our toes we are also working on finishing off our new paddock shelters before summer and building an upgraded vet crush which will get plenty of use over the coming months.
If you are interested in talking with us about agisting your mare or racehorse please call Jason on 0418 429 630 or Melanie on 0407 803 746.