Welcome to Lantern Hill Farm.
AROUND THE FARM
Click for more on: History | Services | Staff | Around The Farm | Media

Hessonite: Your Chance for a 'Slam Dunk'

October 24, 2013

Breednet - Media Release - Sunday, 20 October 2013

With the North American breeding stock sales starting next week, there will be plenty of Australasian buyers that will be either in attendance or have representation at the sales and this particular mare screams Australasian interest.

In recent years North American bred mares have punched well above their weight on the racetrack with the likes of Forest Native (USA) producing the G1 winner and promising young sire Foxwedge and Quiet Life (USA), a $260,000 broodmare purchase in the U.S. who is now the dam of G1 winner and Singapore champion Better Life.

In the sale ring it has also been a case of high returns.


In 2009 noted agent James Bester purchased two mares at the Fasig-Tipton November sales going to US$460,000 for the G2 winner Dream Play (USA), and US$650,000 for the G1 winner Mani Bhavan (USA) as broodmare prospects, to see their first foals sell at the 2013 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale for $1.5 million and $1.55 million respectively.

This year the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, held in Lexington Kentucky on Monday November 4th, has over 90 graded stakes winners or stakes producers and is yet again a catalogue that should be well studied by the serious bloodstock investor.

One mare in the catalogue that looks in the local vernacular to be a 'slam dunk' for Australasian breeders is Hessonite, a daughter of Freud who ran out earnings just shy of US$880,000 in her career.

Click here to see her page.
"She's a half sister to two stakes winners and three other half sisters are the dams of stakes winners. Two of the half sisters to Hessonite are Nureyev's Girl who is the dam of the Champion New Zealand 3yo Filly King's Rose and Great Notice who is the dam of the Champion New Zealand 2yo Filly Anabandana and the talented Gybe," said Fasig-Tipton's Australasian representative Byron Rogers.

While Hessonite certainly has an appealing "one dam page" her own racetrack performances are noteworthy in that she was a graded stakes winner on the turf and raced soundly winning half of her 22 lifetime starts.

"It's pretty easy to see that she sets up very well to go to a high end son of Danehill or maybe even More Than Ready who has the Grade one winner Verrrazano out of a mare by Freud's brother Giant's Causeway this year," said Rogers.

While agents like James Bester have done extraordinarily well with high end broodmare purchases at the Fasig Tipton Sale, Rogers was quick to point out that there are certainly mares in the sale that will suit the breeder whose budget can't stretch that far.

"Brett Howard has been up here the past few years and has bought very well at this sale. You can certainly buy a good looking stakes winning mare with a good page that allows you to breed her to a commercial stallion in Australia for quite reasonable money," Rogers added.

The Fasig Tipton November Sale will be able to be viewed online by visiting www.fasigtipton.com . It will begin at approximately 7am Eastern Time in Australia on the morning of the Melbourne Cup.

Click here for original article