Focus now on youngsters

With another stud season behind us, St Fort is now excited to be concentrating on 40 plus well bred yearlings.

“There are some lovely looking youngsters in the group and it’s exciting to have a lot of them from some of Australia’s leading sires,” Tony said.

“I really like a few by Mach Three, but there are some spectacular looking types by Rocknroll Dance and Auckland Reactor, and he’s certainly been making his mark in recent months with some impressive winners.

“In addition we have others by Tintin In America as well as a few by our own farm based stallion Genuwine (Cam’s Card Shark-Beverage).”

Genuwine had a strong racetrack career with 15 wins and 19 placings for over $325,000 and a best time of 1.50-4.

“It’s a great time of year because you know there are some handy performers in the making among the group of babies — maybe even that superstar we’re all looking for!”

Tony said weaning had finished for the season, and that was the beginning of the hard work. The weanlings are well-handled, then as they mature into yearlings they are taken through a breaking-in program.

“That’s where they yearlings are at now — they’re going through breaking in and will develop their experience and manners over the next few weeks,” he said.

“They’ll end up in the cart, allowed to bowl along, and then get put out for awhile before undertaking a second preparation,” he said.

“There will be some who will pick up the caper really quick, while others will take a bit of patience. But it’s the part of the job I really love, because you see that potential starting to turn into ability and the work and care that you put in now will stand these youngsters in good stead through their careers.

“Of course we are all driven by the thought of unearthing that special one.”

Tony invited anyone interested in purchasing a two-year-old or a yearling to make a call and “try before you buy.”

“We’ve sold a few really lovely two year olds in recent months to some of the leading stables and they are reportedly all going along nicely so that’s what we like to hear,” he said.

Tony said he was contemplating having a “ready to run” type sale.

He said he was fine tuning a few of the details and an announcement would be made as soon as possible