By Peter Wharton
Egmont Park Stud at Biddeston on the Darling Downs is one of the bedrocks of Australian breeding – a constant at the Brisbane yearling sales for more than 50 years – and the inspiration of businessman and high profile breeder-owner Kevin Seymour and his wife, Kay.
This year the noted Group 1 nursery will present a 15-strong draft at Nutrien Equine’s Sunshine Stars Yearling Sale at Magic Millions, Gold Coast on Sunday, March 12, all selected for their class, presence, style and bloodlines.
Raised on rich limestone soils at Egmont Park, they hail from the same paddocks as outstanding pacers Colt Thirty One, Majestic Mach, Fame Assured, Good Lookin Girl, Cherry Cheer and Rhapsody In Red, all Group 1 winners.
The draft includes youngsters from the first crop of USA 2YO Colt of the Year and North America Cup hero Captain Crunch, the second crop of NZ 3YO of the Year and dual Derby winner Ohoka Punter, a colt by siring sensation Captaintreacherous, two fillies by USA 3YO Colt of the Year and leading first season sire Downbytheseaside, a colt and a filly by world champion and emerging sire Always B Miki and a filly by the Inter Dominion champion Mr Feelgood.
The yearlings all belong to ‘black type’ families that have been nurtured at Egmont Park over five decades.
One of the most sought after yearlings will be Lot 351, a Captaintreacherous colt out of the Art Major mare Favourite Miss, a half-sister to the multiple Group winner and placegetter Fame Assured, the QBred Triad 3YO winner Frankie Rocks and Feel The Faith.
Other yearlings closely related to Fame Assured are Lot 352, a Captain Crunch filly out of the Albion Park winner Feel The Charm, and Lot 373, an Ohoka Punter colt from the Somebeachsomewhere mare Ipanema Beach.
The QBred Breeders Classic 2YO and Triad 3YO winner Get In The Groove has two close relatives in the sale, being Lot 358, an Ohoka Punter filly from the Mach Three mare Go Be Happy, and Lot 361, an Always B Miki colt out of the 1:56 Mr Feelgood mare Happy Feelings.
Rich Heritage, winner of the QBred Breeders Classic 2YO and runner-up in the NSW Ladyship Mile and Queensland Oaks, figures prominently in the pedigrees of Lot 248, an Always B Miki filly from the Bettor’s Delight mare Long Legs Lou, Lot 277, a Downbytheseaside filly from the $90,000 earner Remember Ruby, and Lot 278, a filly by Ohoka Punter from the Mach Three mare Rich Ruby Red.
Lizzie Maguire, a NZ Harness Jewels and Great Northern Oaks winner, is a close relative of two yearlings in the draft, namely Lot 257, a filly by Captain Crunch from Misstori (by Mr Feelgood), and Lot 297, a colt by Ohoka Punter from the Mach Three mare Talent In Spades.
There’s a Downbytheseaside granddaughter of the Seymour Nursery winner Rhapsody In Red (Lot 276), a Mr Feelgood sister to the QBred Breeders Classic 2YO and Triad 3YO winner A Good Chance (Lot 334), Ohoka Punter fillies from the 1:56 winner Merrymach, whose dam is a half-sister to the Australian 2YO and 3YO of the Year Majestic Mach (Lot 254) and Go The Gold, a Mach Three daughter of the NSW Ladyship Mile and Queen of the Pacific winner Good Lookin Girl (Lot 359), and an Ohoka Punter colt from an Art Major daughter of the Australian and Victoria Oaks winner Cherry Cheer (Lot 335).
Click here to view the 2023 Egmont Park catalogue.
Click here to arrange an inspection or contact Egmont Park Stud manager Peter Bell 0418 885 033.