The new kids on the block: part 1

Cover image courtesy of Fenwick Farm

Today’s first instalment features Greg Bennett, Hinnerk Hueppe, Sam Beatson and Eion Kemp.

Greg Bennett (Fenwick Farm)

An immensely respected figure on the Australian thoroughbred landscape, Bennett has more than 40 years’ experience under his belt and has broken in the likes of the immortal Makybe Diva (GB) (Desert King {Ire}), elite racehorse and sire Written Tycoon, and other Group 1 winners such as Typhoon Tracy (Red Ransom {USA}), All Silent (Belong To Me {USA}), Ha Ha (Danehill {USA}) and Red Tracer (Dane Shadow).

But even for a horseman with as long and distinguished a CV as Bennett’s, the class of 2020/21 has been something well out of the ordinary. His 2-year-old graduates this season have included the Golden Slipper winner Stay Inside (Extreme Choice), Blue Diamond hero Artorius (Flying Artie) and the Magic Millions 2YO Classic quinella of Shaquero (Shalaa {Ire}) and Alpine Edge (Better Than Ready).

“It was an absolutely outstanding group last year,” Bennett said. “We were incredibly lucky. We had 220 horses come through our system, and to have those three absolute star 2-year-olds who won those big races, from just that group of 220, was unbelievable.

“Sometimes you go quite a few years without having any horses who are close to that sort of level, so it really has been a special year.”

A special year, and one that the class of 2021/22 has its work cut out to emulate.

“It’s a hard act for this year’s group to follow, absolutely,” Bennett said. “But regardless of what happens, we’ve had another really nice group of horses come through this year.

“The quality may not be quite as high across the board in terms of their pedigrees and their pricetags, but they don’t all have to be superstar-bred horses to have a nice ending. For example, one of the horses we had last year was a son of Spill The Beans called I’ve Bean There. They bought him for $13,000 as a yearling, he ran fourth in the G1 Champagne S. at Randwick, and then they sold him to Hong Kong for $900,000. You never know where the good ones will come from.

“We’ve had around 190 horses come through from January 10 onwards this year. We don’t tend to get very many from the Inglis Easter or Melbourne sales, unless they’re bought by Queensland buyers. Most of the horses that we get come from the Magic Millions Sale, or sometimes Inglis Classic.

“This year we’ve also got some really nice colts and fillies that Guy Mulcaster bought on behalf of Chris Waller at the June Sale.

“We’ve had a lot of horses this year by Shalaa. Chris Waller had Shaquero this season, so he’s really got on board with the Shalaas – and a few other trainers have done the same thing, all hoping to get a similar result with his progeny next season.

“Even though he did throw a very good 2-year-old in his first crop, along with some other nice winners, I get the impression that many of his progeny will actually get better as they get older.

“Extreme Choice is another one whose progeny I really like. Obviously we haven’t had very many of them, because of his well-documented fertility issues, but we’ve loved all of the ones we’ve had. They’re all really athletic and have a lot of quality about them.

“The Flying Arties have been great to educate. They’re very sensible and trainable horses, and that really lessens the stress right across the board, because being broken in can obviously be an extremely stressful time for a young horse.”

In terms of next season’s first-crop sires, Bennett singled out three that have made a particularly favourable impression.

“The ones that come to mind in terms of the horses we’ve dealt with this year are The Mission, Invader and Spieth.

“In particular, I really like The Mission. They’re lovely horses to ride. They give you such a good feel, and they float across the ground.

“To get a first impression like that, from the early days of riding a horse, that’s always a really positive sign. If you get on a horse and really like the way it feels, and it has an easy and economical action, those are normally the sorts of horses that go on with it.

“The Invaders are very good too. They’re typical Snitzel types of horses – they’re very athletic little horses who look like sprinters.

“The Spieths are taller, leggier and have a bit more length about them. They give me the impression that they’ll be 3-year-olds, although that’s not always how it works out. A lot can happen between the time that they leave here and when they eventually step out on to the racetrack.

“I don’t think many people expected Shalaa to be a 2-year-old sire, and he’s certainly proven that he can produce very good ones.”

Hinnerk Hueppe (Hannover Lodge)

Formerly a high-level show jumper in Germany, Hinnerk Hueppe moved to Australia and worked at Oaks Sport Horses, as well as riding trackwork at the Wild Oaks pre-training facility – where he later moved into a management position – before going out on his own and establishing Hannover Lodge in 2017.

The 120-acre facility in Wilberforce, an hour outside of Sydney, has rapidly grown from its relatively humble beginnings.

“We’ve just had our four-year anniversary, and I think we’ve had a really good start,” Hueppe said. “The big thing is that we’ve been consistently growing. We started off with a very small number of horses and only one staff member, and now we have 15 staff and 150 horses.

“We’ve had quite a few horses that we’ve broken in that have gone on to perform well on the racetrack. We do all of the ‘California’ horses, so obviously California Zimbol has been a really good performer for us. We broke her in, and she spells and pre-trains with us as well. She’s won quite a few stakes races and has probably been one of our main graduate successes so far.

“We’ve broken in just over 70 horses this year, and there are quite a few really nice ones, including the progeny of some interesting young sires.

“Rebel Dane might not be rated as highly as some other young stallions, but from only a tiny number of foals on the ground, he’s had three winners including a stakes winner (Subterranean). We have a very nice young horse by Rebel Dane coming through at the moment that I really like. We also have some nice progeny of Pride Of Dubai.

“In terms of the first-season sires, the horses by Russian Revolution really look like they’ll run early. I’m looking forward to seeing how they go as early 2-year-olds, and then whether they can carry that on as 3-year-olds a bit later on.

“Merchant Navy and Almanzor strike me as slightly later-developing types, and you might start to see good things from them as late 2-year-olds and early 3-year-olds. They’re probably the standouts among the ones that I’ve had a good look at.”

Sam Beatson (Riversley Park)

Formerly a New Zealand representative in show jumping, Beatson later settled in the thoroughbred arena and has developed a reputation for nurturing young talent.

Beatson has broken in numerous star performers, including Melbourne Cup hero Prince Of Penzance (NZ) (Pentire {GB}) and top-class racehorse and sire Dundeel (NZ).

In 2015 he established Riversley Park Bloodstock, which has gone on to become the leading vendor at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale on four consecutive occasions.

Graduates of Riversley Park’s Ready to Run drafts include Hong Kong hero Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), who has won all of his last 14 starts in a row – four of them at Group 1 level.

Bought for NZ$300,000 at Karaka in 2017, Golden Sixty was named Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year, Champion Miler, Champion Middle-Distance Horse and Most Popular Horse of the Year during Tuesday night’s Champion Awards.

“It was great to see him pick up those four awards in Hong Kong,” Beatson said. “That’s a hugely satisfying result for the team.

“We thought he might be a chance of getting Horse of the Year last year, but he came away with Champion 4-Year-Old and the Most Popular Horse. So for him to come back the following year with a clean sweep of everything he was nominated for is huge. He’s just a superstar, isn’t he?”

Beatson has been impressed with the young talent coming through his program this year, including a quality draft being assembled for Riversley Park’s draft in the 2021 Ready to Run Sale at Karaka on November 17 and 18.

“We’ve got big numbers in our draft this year, and it’s full of quality as well,” Beatson said.

“There’s a really diverse range of stallions – some from Australia, some from New Zealand, some first-season sires and some proven ones as well. It’s a really interesting and diverse mix and I’m really happy with how they’re shaping up.

“We haven’t really done a huge amount with them just yet. There’s been no fast work, and it’s just been walking and a bit of cantering. But they’ve taken all of the education in their stride really well so far, and they’ve been covering the ground nicely.

“We’re doing a heap of horses for other clients as well. We normally do close to 200 a year on average, and we’d be up around that number again this year.”

On the stallion front, Beatson is one of the many admirers of Cambridge Stud’s pin-up boy Almanzor (Fr).

“We’ve done quite a few Almanzors for Cambridge Stud and Bruce Perry, and they’re terrific horses,” he said. “They’ve done everything right and have been great to work with, and they’re really nice types.

“In terms of the other first-season sires, we’ve got a Russian Revolution who looks like he’s going to get up and run early. He’s a really athletic type that I’ve been very impressed by.

“We’ve also got some very nice progeny of Time Test that cover the ground nicely and seem to be lovely athletes.”

Eion Kemp (Kilgravin Lodge)

As well as completing the famously gruelling Mongol Derby in 2018, to sit alongside an earlier success in the Duke Of Gloucester Cup as an amateur jockey, respected horseman Eion Kemp runs a breaking, pre-training and breeze-up business whose results speak for themselves.

Kemp and his wife Megan established Kilgravin Lodge in 2002, and the Matamata operation has become renowned as a nursery of quality racetrack talent.

Routinely among the leading vendors at New Zealand Bloodstock’s Ready to Run Sale, as well as being highly successful breakers and pre-trainers for outside clients, Kilgravin Lodge boasts a graduate roll of honour that features Group 1 winners Sangster (NZ) (Savabeel), Viadana (NZ) (Towkay), Artistic (NZ) (Darci Brahma {NZ}) and Jessicabeel (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}).

Another notable graduate is Need I Say More (No Nay Never {USA}), who has won seven of his nine starts in New Zealand for Te Akau Racing, including six at black-type level.

Kemp is upbeat about the prospects of this year’s group of rising 2-year-old talent.

“The horses for our Ready to Run Sale draft this year are slowly starting to come back in now to begin their preparation, and most of them should be back and underway by early August,” he said.

“We’ve also got a good number of horses coming through for other clients – an amount that’s steady with what we’ve had over the last few seasons – and we’re very happy with them as well.

“I’ve been very impressed with the horses this year, and more than satisfied with everything that they’ve done so far. I’d expect the ones in our Ready to Run Sale draft to be up towards the higher end of the market. We’ve got some very nice horses by Deep Field, Exceed And Excel, Capitalist – they’re the sorts of horses that I’d expect to be top-end types for the Australian and Hong Kong markets.

“We’ve also got some nice horses by Contributer that I quite like, and also some by the first-season sire Time Test that I’ve been particularly impressed by. I’ve heard a lot of trainers speaking in very positive terms about Time Test’s progeny, so I’m glad to have some of them, and they certainly do seem to be very nice horses.

“Another first-season sire that I’ve definitely been impressed by is Invader. His progeny are real athletes.”