Last week in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Meet The Breeder segment, we caught up with David Wallace following Little Brose's success in the Gr.1 Blue Diamond Stakes.
What made you interested in breeding horses and how did you get into it?
My family-owned Ardsley Stud so I was brought up with horses, brought up in the game. My Grandfather started Ardsley Stud in 1970 (I think!).
How many mares do you breed from:
About nine, across both New Zealand and Australia.
How did Mohegan Sky end up in your broodmare band?
My brother is Bloodstock Agent Michael Wallace and I had asked him to look out for a sprinting mare for me to bring home to NZ and hopefully breed a fast one, which took a while. Unfortunately, she lost about three foals.
She has been to some very good stallions, what stood out about Per Incanto?
I just thought he would really suit her physically. I also got hold of a really cheap service fee that year from one of his shareholders who wasn’t sending him any mares and was selling them for $10,000 so I thought I’d grab one of them thanks very much! I live in Wairarapa too so it was also nice and close. I am not sure the shareholder has put two and two together that it is his service.
Per Incanto throws such nice foals and I thought at the very least I will have a nice one to sell. I haven’t been able to get anything else to run out of her so from a sales point of view, he leaves horses that you can sell. Little Brose is the last horse I got from her, I sold her online in foal to Russian Revolution, which she foaled a filly; but unfortunately she got bitten by a snake at her new home and she died. She was a lovely friendly mare too.
What else do you have in your bloodstock portfolio (youngstock, racehorses etc)
As well as my nine mares, I have shares in stallions Russian Revolution, Wild Ruler, Reliable Man and Time Test. I always support my stallions, but I have also sent three of my mares to Satono Aladdin and Proisir. Before his run, Satono Aladdin had a really good winner in Melbourne that paid a fortune and I rung John Thompson afterwards and said mate for 10 grand this horse could really kick off.
I have shares In The Congo too and due to Covid restrictions I wasn’t able to fly to Australia but Wild Ruler won the Gr.1 Moir Stakes on the Friday and In The Congo won the Gr.1 Golden Rose on the Saturday.
What do you love about the NZ thoroughbred breeding industry?
I like the people a lot, they are all genuine. Over the years, you get to know a lot of people and they are all pretty genuine and supportive.
New Zealand is such a great place to breed and raise horses as well, there are a lot of natural advantages over Australia.
What advice would you give to someone entering the industry as a breeder?
Have plenty of money! Haha…and be prepared for things to go wrong.
Proudest moment as a breeder?
Pretty obvious and has to be Little Brose. Now that I have experienced it, I have certainly learnt it is not easy to breed a Gr.1 winner, it has taken quite a few years I can assure you. I thought I would breed a Gr.1 winner by Russian Revolution or something like that but that’s how good Per Incanto is, coming off low base mares and now look at him, it is great!
Finish this sentence…the best part about being a thoroughbred breeder is….
Breeding Group One winners. My wife passed away two weeks ago so it has been a troubled few week’s but Little Brose certainly lifted our spirits.
