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Our stallion roster remains unchanged for the 2025 breeding season with popular young sire Sword Of State earning a fee rise on the back of his remarkable results at the yearling sales.

“Whether it be on the racetrack or in the sale ring, all our stallions have had a past 12 months to be proud of,” said Cambridge Stud’s Sales and Nominations Manager Scott Calder.

Sword Of State will stand at an increased fee of $20,000 + GST. The son of Snitzel’s first yearlings sold for up to $540,000 and averaged over $200,000 at the major sales this year.

“Sword Of State has provided some fantastic results for his supporters this year. Many of the best trainers and agents have put their faith in his progeny, which bodes very well for his future,” Calder said.

“He has more exceptional stock in the pipeline and we are very bullish about his prospects.”

Frankel’s multiple Gr.1-winner Chaldean returns from Juddmonte in England for his second season at a fee of $35,000 + GST.

“Chaldean covered an outstanding book of mares in his first season – 59% of the mares were either black type performers or producers. Probabeel is one of four Gr.1 winners in foal to him as are the dams of Gr.1 winners Asterix, Ceolwulf, El Castello, Pinarello and Signify,” Calder said.

“We feel that his two-year-old record, in particular, is well suited to this part of the world. He remains Frankel’s best two-year-old son and won the Champagne Stakes/Dewhurst Stakes double at two just like Too Darn Hot.”

Proven sire Almanzor was very popular with breeders in 2024, covering 145 mares, and his fee remains at $30,000 + GST for 2025.

On the track this season he has been represented by Gr.2 Auckland Cup winner Trav and fellow stakes winners Rise At Dawn, Positivity, Mehzebeen and Keeneland.

“Almanzor’s progeny have become a regular feature on the biggest race days across Australia and New Zealand,” Calder said.

“He has had another strong set of results at the sales and continues to show that he produces the right types to give commercial breeders a return in the sale ring as well as producing results on the track.”

Hello Youmzain, who was the leading first season sire in France and leads the first season sire list by winners in New Zealand this season, will stand for $30,000 + GST.

“Hello Youmzain laid down a marker with his early results in Europe and is trending the same way down here. He has had several very promising winners, including our filly Remala who we have high hopes for next season, and he has had another five trial winners this month alone,” Calder said.

Savabeel’s Gr.1 winning son Embellish represents fantastic value again in 2025 at a fee of $5,000 + GST. His first crop headliners Luberon and What You Wish For have added stakes wins this term, while his second crop three-year-old daughter Hitabell won the time-honoured Gr.2 Eight Carat Classic.

“We have experienced firsthand what Embellish is capable of as a sire with his very talented daughter Luberon, who has competed with the best sprinters in the country this year,” Calder said.

“Embellish’s biggest crop are rising three-year-olds so we expect to see even more from him next season.”

Outstanding sprinter Joliestar produced an explosive performance to demolish her G1 Newmarket Handicap rivals at Flemington and press her claims for a trip further afield later in the year.

Our richly bred daughter of Zoustar was in a league of her own in the 1200 metre short course feature with trainer Chris Waller now likely to turn his shorter-term focus to another top-flight title in Sydney.

“There’s the TJ Smith Stakes (at Randwick) and there’s Royal Ascot later, if she were to go that would be amazing, very special,” Waller’s Racing Manager Charie Duckworth said.

Successful in last season’s G1 Thousand Guineas, Joliestar raced without luck in the spring when unplaced in the G1 The Everest and the Golden Eagle before she was put aside.

The four-year-old again didn’t have any favours again when a resuming third in the G2 Expressway Stakes at Randwick before she showed her true colours in the Newmarket.

She camped in behind the leaders and once into clear air, quickly put the issue beyond doubt for her fifth career victory and boosted her earnings beyond A$3.6 million.

“We had faith that she was the best horse in the race, she’s got an electric turn of foot and at her best she’s amazing,” Duckworth said.

“Massive credit to Chris, the team at home and Cambridge Stud. She’s won a Guineas and now a Newmarket, she’s an amazing athlete.”

Joliestar was beautifully handled by Damian Lane, who was in the fun zone a long way from home.

“She just needed an inch of room to put them away, she travelled so easily and I’ve never been as confident in a Group 1. She made light work of it,” he said.

Bred by Chris Barham, Joliestar was offered by Segenhoe draft at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale where we went to A$950,000 to secure the blueblood.

She is out of the Fastnet Rock mare Jolie Bay, winner of the G2 Roman Consul Stakes and finished runner-up in the G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes, who is a sister to the Australian and international Group 1 winner and stallion Merchant Navy.

All six of Jolie Bay’s progeny to race have been successful and includes stakes performers Emperor and God Of Thunder.

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Our strapping three-year-old Tycoon Prince made a successful return at Te Rapa where he proved too strong for his older rivals.

The son of Written Tycoon hadn’t raced for three months but was produced in prime order by trainers Shaune Ritchie and Colm Murray off the back of two lead-up trials.

He settled close to the away from the fence and answered every call of rider George Rooke in the run home and now has a brace of wins and a couple of placings from eight appearances.

Tycoon Prince is a son of the English-bred mare Vanity Queen, who was purchased on our behalf by bloodstock agent John Foote for 125,000gns at the 2017 Tattersalls December Mares’ Same.

She was successful as a two-year-old and is a half-sister to the Listed Newbury Fillies’ Trial Stakes winner Volume, who also placed at Group 1 level in the English and Irish Oaks, and dam of the G1 Curragh National Stakes winner Quorto.

We sold Vanity Queen’s colt by Almanzor to Foote for $260,000 at Karaka earlier this year and she have a younger sister while the mare missed last season and is now in foal to Embellish.

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Cambridge trainer Tony Pike believes the well-related Wind Rush can realise his full potential next season.

He has a high opinion of Almanor’s son who paid the believers at Te Rapa where he posted a long overdue maiden success with a commanding performance over 1600 metres.

Wind Rush had previously posted eight top four finishes from his previous nine appearances, including a third in the Listed Waikato Equine Veterinary Centre Stakes.

“It’s been a long time coming and he’ll get a lot of confidence from it,” Pike said.

“He’s always been a talented horse, but he’s been immature both physically and mentally and I think he will get to a good level next season.”

Wind Rush settled three back on the fence under rider Ryan Elliot before the short-priced favourite finished powerfully one off the rail to win by a length and a-quarter.

“He drew a nice gate and got into a good rhythm and sprinted away, it was really encouraging,” he said.

Wind Rush was bought out of Kilgravin Lodge’s draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale by Pike for $170,000.

He is a brother to Adam I Am, whose career was cut short by injury after winning four of his seven starts, with their dam the G2 Japan-New Zealand International Trophy winner Our Famous Eve.

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Progressive filly Esternay handled a rise in class with aplomb at Flemington where she gave a competitive field of fillies a head start and a sound beating.

Trained for us by Mark Walker, the well-related daughter of All Too Hard had broken her maiden at her third start at her previous appearance at Cranbourne and continued her winning form in fine style.

“It’s great for Brendan and Jo and the whole team at Cambridge Stud, they’ve been very patient with this filly and she was quite impressive,” Walker said.

“She can throw a bit of a tantrum, so we’ve handled her with kid gloves,  and she’s needed time for the penny to drop.”

Esternay drifted well back in the running and was still last as the field thundered for home.

Rider Blake Shinn drew her to the outside halfway down the straight and the three-year-old turned on the after burners to mow down her rivals and win going away by three-quarters of a length.

“She’s got a great turn of foot, I rode her in a jump-out prior to this and she had prepped up well,” Shinn said.

“It was a quality field of fillies, and I was very impressed with her.”

We purchased Esternay out of Vinery Stud’s draft for A$400,000 at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

She is a daughter of the More Than Ready mare Sezanne, who was a dual winner and finished runner-up in both the G1 Flight Stakes and G2 Moonee Valley Fillies’ Classic.

Sezanne boasts a highly decorated pedigree page that features the Group I winners Bonneval, Charmont and siblings St Reims and Champagne.

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Lightly raced three-year-old Silver Wedding has added performance to her illustrious pedigree with a dominant winning performance at Canterbury Park.

Our regally bred filly placed in her first two appearances from Ciaron Maher’s stable and was then spelled after she was out of the frame in the G3 Reginald Allen Quality at Randwick in the spring.

Silver Wedding resumed over 1100 metres and sat back in a small field before breezing past her rivals in the straight to romp home in the hands of expatriate Kiwi jockey Jason Collett.

She will be a valuable future addition to our broodmare band as the daughter of Zoustar is a sister to the G1 William Reid Stakes winner Schwarz, who will stand his first season in 2025 at Rosemont Stud.

We purchased Silver Wedding from breeder Widden Stud’s draft at the 2023 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale for A$800,000.

She is a daughter of the G2 Angus Armanasco Stakes winner Silver Sham, a Not A Single Doubt mare who hails from the decorated family of multiple Group 1 winners and Champion Sire Redoute’s Choice.

His half-brothers Platinum Scissors and Manhattan Rain were also top-flight winners while their half-sister The Broken Shore is the dam of three-time Group 1 winner Shoals.

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The well-related Immediacy added winning momentum to his campaign with a dominant second-up victory over 2000 metres at Mornington.

We bred the gifted son of Tarzino who made it four wins, including last season’s G2 Autumn Classic, from 10 appearances for trainers Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young.

“We were very confident, he was good first-up at Flemington and had improved,” stable spokesman Daren Saunders said.

“Trent and Natalie are in Bali, so they’ll work out where he goes next when they get back.”

Immediacy lobbed along one out and one back before he peeled three wide 600 metres from home and proved far too good in the run home.

“I wanted to be one off the fence and when I pulled out, he went through his gears and was strong to the line,” successful jockey Michael Dee said.

Immediacy is out of the Pivotal mare But Beautiful, who was a three-time winner in England up to 1600 metres and is a half-sister to the stakes winners Ayrad and Dawn Of Hope.

But Beautiful’s second dam is the G1 Beverley DS Stakes winner Fire The Groom, mother of the multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Stravinsky, who enjoyed such a successful stallion career at Cambridge Stud.

All four of But Beautiful’s foals to race have been successful, including our own dual stakes winner Bella Waters, and we sold her Hello Youmzain filly to Busuttin and Andrew Wiliams Bloodstock for $240,000 at Karaka last year.

The dam produced a colt by Embellish in 2024 and is back in foal to Hello Youmzain.

Immediacy was originally purchased as a yearling from the draft of Kiltannon Stables at Karaka for $15,000 by Game Lodge.

He was then secured by Busuttin and Group 1 Racing for $200,000 when offered by Riverrrock Farm at the Ready to Run Sale.

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Kiwi Skyhawk’s last-gasp thriller in the Gr.3 Trelawney Stud Championship Stakes (2100m) at Ellerslie on Saturday delivered a milestone result for his trainer Stephen Marsh.

Having also won the Listed Skycity Star Way Stakes (1200m) with unbeaten two-year-old Little Black Dress earlier on the Ellerslie card, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing statistics now credit Marsh with 97 wins at Group or Listed level in New Zealand.

He has also won three in Australia – the Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m) with Sofia Rosa, the Gr.2 Brisbane Cup (2200m) with Chocante and the Gr.2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) with Antrim Coast – to give him an overall total of 100.

Marsh was en route to Hong Kong on Saturday to oversee El Vencedor’s shot at the Gr.1 QEII Cup (2000m) at Sha Tin next weekend. The Cambridge trainer was represented at Ellerslie by Dylan Johnson.

“It’s been a really rewarding day for the stable at Ellerslie today, and 100 black-type wins is a fantastic milestone that the team can be very proud of,” Johnson said.

Saturday’s win also completed a unique achievement for Kiwi Skyhawk himself, who added the Championship Stakes to his last-start success in the Gr.3 Manawatu Classic over the same distance at Trentham on March 29.

In the decade since the Championship Stakes was shifted from New Year’s Day into its current autumn slot, no other horse has won both races. Joy Alone went the closest in 2021, winning the Manawatu Classic before being beaten by a nose by Hezashocka in the Championship Stakes.

Kiwi Skyhawk’s Group Three double caps a super-consistent season for the Contributer gelding, who had previously finished third in the Gr.3 War Decree Stakes (1400m), fourth in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), fifth in the Karaka Millions 3YO (1600m), seventh in the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) and fifth in Willydoit’s Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m).

“He’s a lovely horse who’s been so consistent,” Johnson said. “We’ve run him in good company all the way through the season and he’s just kept doing a great job in every race. It’s nice to see him pick up a couple of good wins in the autumn, because he certainly deserves it.”

Kiwi Skyhawk had to work for Saturday’s Championship Stakes success. His jockey Matt Cartwright positioned him in midfield and just behind the highly regarded filly Zormella, who jumped as the $2.80 favourite.

Zormella showed push-button acceleration around the home turn and quickly ranged up alongside the leaders, the Marsh-trained pair of Bourbon Proof and Roctave. She left Kiwi Skyhawk half a dozen lengths behind in fifth and with limited time remaining make up that lost ground.

But Cartwright moved Kiwi Skyhawk through his gears and he began to build up his momentum. He hit top gear in the final 50m, diving through in between Roctave and Zormella to snatch victory by a nose.

Marsh and Johnson paid $240,000 to buy Kiwi Skyhawk from Cambridge Stud’s draft in Book 1 of Karaka 2023. He has now had 11 starts for three wins, three placings and $281,975 in stakes.

“We’ll have a team talk on Monday about what we do with him from here, but I’d be leaning towards saying he’s done enough for the season,” Johnson said. “He’s done a good job and is only going to get better with a bit more maturity.”

The Marsh team narrowly missed out on a clean sweep of Saturday’s black-type features at Ellerslie. Tardelli was edged out by a neck by Doctor Askar in the Gr.3 Manco Easter Handicap (1600m), in which he was attempting to join Eastern Joy (1985), Status (1990) and Time Keeper (2010) as only the fourth three-year-old to win the race in the last 40 years.

“He ran a terrific race and I thought he looked the winner at the 200m,” Johnson said. “But all credit should go to Doctor Askar, who’s obviously a very good horse. Joanne Moss has done a super job with him.

“Michael McNab and I were both very pleased with Tardelli’s performance, and we just agreed that we were beaten by a better horse on the day.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk.

Gifted stayer Alma Rise turned her fortunes around stylishly at Echuca to claim top honours in the Country Oaks over 210 metres.

Little had gone the way off the daughter of Almanzor in her opening two runs this preparation and the Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained the four-year-old bounced back to her best with an emphatic performance.

She loped along in fifth spot away from the rail before rider Craig Williams urged her four wide around runners 600 metres from home.

They were in front before the turn and Alma Rise stayed on strongly to have two lengths on her closest rival at the post.

“She hasn’t had much luck in her last few, so Craig took all the bad luck out of it, and it was a convincing win,” Moody said.

“She’s a lovely staying mare, it was very pleasing.”

Alma Rise has now won four of her 10 starts and was also runner-up in last season’s Listed VRC St Leger over 2800 metres.

She is co-raced by her breeder Ed Calvert and is a daughter of the Bertolini mare Fashion Black, who was successful on six occasions.

Fashion Black is a half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner and sire Xtravagant whose brother He’s Remarkable was a Group 3 winner and placed at the elite level.

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