Sweet Smell of Success

The Newgate Farm 2017 Magic Millions consignment have arrived on the Gold Coast and will be ready to show from January 5 - with a key focus on raising tough racehorses,  it's been a big last 12 months for Newgate graduates with the sweet smell of racetrack success.

Preparation, planning and hard work have seen Newgate Farm evolve into the most progressive stallion business in the country, while on the flip side of the coin, the horses being raised on the farm have been racing up a storm.

Group I VRC Emirates Stakes winner and $2million earner Awesome Rock was bought out of the 2013 Magic Millions Newgate draft for $575,000 by Spicer Thoroughbreds, while Foxwedge's dual Group II winning daughter Foxplay was also snaffled at MM from the Newgate draft by Star Thoroughbreds for $160,000.

Add in the success of unbeaten Foxwedge filly Volpe Veloce, a multiple Group II winner in New Zealand, foaled and raised at Newgate and the Newgate sold stakes-winners Hall of Fame and Zamzam and you can see that a winning recipe has been put in place by Henry Field and his dynamic team.

The first crop of foals to emerge from the new farm are now three year-olds and their success is remarkable.

The Magic Millions draft of 2015 numbered 32 yearlings, 25 have raced to date and six of these are stakes horses headed by Foxplay and we still have half of the season to come.

That represents an exceptional 19% stakes horses to horses sold, 24% stakes horses to runners!

Newgate Farm's Sales Consignment and Yearling Manager Dominic Corban explains the process of preparing youngsters for sale

Every yearling prepared in our Newgate Consignment has an individual exercise and nutrition plan to suit their needs, this involves lunging, hand walking, or exercising on the walker with plenty of paddock time.

We do a lot of parade practice and we constantly monitor condition and conformation with our management team to give us the best commercial advantage. Our end goal is to raise fast sound early maturing racehorses, at Newgate we hope we have found the balance.

Sale preparation is about putting the finishing touches on your product, but the real story begins a lot further back as General Manager Sam Fairgray reveals.

We aim to raise our foals/weanlings/Yearlings with the best possible produce and education we can provide them. Planning starts from when the mares are tested in foal and we begin to feed them mineral supplements and the right amount of energy feed to allow the foetus to grow and develop whilst still inside the womb.

Once the foals are born, they are cared for in a relaxing environment in lovely open paddocks with plenty of room for the mares and foals to move as they graze the fields. Monitoring the growth on each foal is important as they are all individuals and require specific care to have then growing on the optimum growth plain. Keeping the paddocks well grassed and free from disease and bacteria is also important as this may hinder the foals internal development such as lungs and heart etc.

Once the foals are weaned from their mother we structure a diet that allows them to maintain consistent growth rates right through until they go to the yearling sales. This allows then to lay the foundation they require to perform at their highest level on the race track. The weanling / yearlings are kept in groups specific to their stage of development. The weanlings are rotated through the stables during the winter time teaching them to relax in the stables and learn about wearing rugs, exercising on the horse walker and to accept change and routine.

Allowing the most natural process of development is what we are aiming to achieve with these future athletes. Feeding them with raw produce : oats, corn, chaff along with supplements so they build muscle /strength not fats on their body and a solid bone structure that will stand up to the pressure of Australian racing.

Raising racehorses is a process of high quality nutrition with foundation education in keeping it as natural as possible for the horse..

The Newgate Magic Millions draft for 2017 features 41 yearlings including youngsters by the farm's proven top class sire Foxwedge and exciting young guns The Factor (USA) and Sizzling, while our other first season horse Eurozone has 13 entries through other vendors.

Below are some of the draft highlights:

Lot 32 Filly The Factor (USA) x Fritz's Princess, by More Than Ready (USA)