We chatted to David Archer who lives in Karaka Auckland, he is the breeder and owner of Queen Sarabi (Rip Van Winkle/Keepa Cheval) who won the Colin Thompson NZB Insurance Pearl Series race at Matamata on Wednesday.
He is also the breeder of Mufhasa – pictured.
Queen Sarabi just won the Pearl Bonus, how important do you think this series is for breeders of fillies/mares to be able compete for? Very valuable, Amy Durant chose the race because of Pearl Bonus and targeted it. I was staggered at number of people who noticed it was a Pearl Bonus race, was amazed at how many people rang or texted who reached out and commented on the Pearl Bonus.
What is her season looking like? We will keep Queen Sarabi to keep her family line going, she will continue racing for a while longer then will be bred from.
How many mares do you breed from? We have three families that are our focus, we plan on keeping six mares maximum, we don’t need any more. Keepa Cheval and Seven Schillings are commercial lines doing well, we are looking forward to the Little Belle foal arriving in coming days, who is out of Belle Joie (Mellifont [USA] - Sheila Cheval).
What else do you have in your bloodstock portfolio (youngstock, racehorses etc)? We have five in training with Andrew Scott, Lance O’Sullivan and Stephen Marsh, Dark Destroyer is one we’re looking forward to seeing how he goes. Amy Durant trains Queen Sarabi at home as this suits her better.
Do you make your own mating decisions or seek advice from others – if others who? We tend to make own decisions and usually clear with the Stud prior to booking. Five Shillings went to Hello Youmzain and produced a lovely colt five days ago. Keepa Cheval is due in the next few days.
Do you have a favourite cross? We have no real favourite cross, we aren't that sophisticated in our approach and tend to go with stallions we have shares in first for economic reasons, with one or two going to other stallions depending on what might suit them.
Proven stallion or new season sire? Mix of both, second season can be a bit nerve wracking as people can be waiting to see how first season foals go before buying second season crop. We have shares in Shocking, Hello Youmzain and Sword of State and end up committing to those three. We are very fortunate to be with Rich Hill and use, Vadamos, Satono Aladdin and their previous stallion Pentire. We also use Waikato Stud's Ocean Park, Savabeel and Tivaci.
Best breeding advice you have received? I was told early on that if you’re going to go into breeding, there is a likelihood that you’re in for a few years before you will make a profit. It takes some time to get into positive cashflow as you sell horses, and leapfrog over the expenses each year. Things are now going well after six or seven years, once commercial foals come through it certainly helps when selling them for good money, it’s leapfrogging costs against revenue. You need to stick with it if you can to get to a profitable position.
Who do you admire in the thoroughbred breeding industry? Lots of people, to single anyone out would be wrong. We have wonderful connections in the industry. Fasttrack Insurance has meant we get to meet lots of new people and there are so many good people in the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry that I can’t name just one.
If you could own any broodmare (past or present), who would it be? This is difficult as I wouldn’t necessarily go to a great racing mare, often they don’t throw good foals. We are very happy with the broodmares we have currently.
If you could spend a day learning the tricks of the trade on any farm in the world which would it be? I would have to go to one of the studs we use is Rich Hill Stud, Cambridge Stud and Waikato Stud.
Proudest moment as a breeder? Travelling with The Bostonian and being on course for the big races he won for us, Gr.1 ATC Canterbury S., Gr.1 BRC Doomben Ten Thousand S., Gr.1 Kingsford- Smith Cup. It was all a great thrill.
Finish this sentence: The best part of being a thoroughbred breeder is we own racehorses that we’ve bred and we get a lot of fun out of watching them race. The win with Queen Sarabi just the other day was great. We also get a thrill when something we bred and sold wins. We went to the races just other day with one we owned that ran fourth, but one we bred won so we went home feeling like we’d won anyway.
