Selecting Success

Widden Stud is a name synonymous with champion sires – Marscay, Vain, Bletchingly, Todman, and General Nediym – brilliant, tough, speed oriented horses that left a legacy of greatness for generations to come. With the emergence of young champion sires Stratum, Sebring & Northern Meteor the future of Widden beiong the source of Champion stallions looks assured.

The current roster features an array of young sires with aspirations to greatness and the process that brought them to the Widden Valley is one that did not happen by chance.

Seeking out the best prospects is the starting point and that involves evaluation of pedigrees, conformation and suitability to Australian race conditions as well as racing ability. This all equates to ‘will this horse be an asset to our farm?’

Once identified, the next task is the acquisition of a horse and quite frequently it’s not all about the money, but what a stud can offer in terms of quality of life for the stallion, opportunity to cover excellent books of suitable mares and ongoing marketing of the stallion and his offspring when they eventually hit the sale ring.

It is invariably a combination of factors that result in the purchase of a stallion prospect and Widden have been at the forefront of acquiring some of the best and most promising in recent years with recruits Sebring, Stratum, Northern Meteor, Zoustar, Shamus Award, Star Witness, Your Song, Nicconi, Snippetson, Tickets and Dreamscape indicative of the quality of Widden’s exciting roster of Australian stallions.

 

Attention to Detail

Geography and Mother Nature have bestowed tremendous natural gifts on Widden,but it is our valued team of staff who are the greatest asset of all.

Dedicated horsemen and women from throughout Australia and all around the world come together at Widden to live, work and learn in the valley of champions. Providing a safe and happy working environment enables our team to apply the attention to detail required to care for high value individuals.

Many of the leading farm managers and industry personnel can boast having worked at Widden and we pride ourselves on training and developing our staff under the guidance of enthusiastic managers with decades of experience.Our loyal team of dedicated managers have been at Widden for many years ensuring continuity of management and a wealth of knowledge.

Our team is focused on providing the individual care and attention to each horse ensuring each foal gets the best possible start in life, every yearling grows to its full potential and all the mares are cared for like they are our very own.

 

Affordable and Sustainable

Widden shares its clients’ goals. We celebrate your success. We understand the highs and lows of this challenging business.We value our clients as partners in our business and appreciate your comments and feedback.Widden enjoys good relationships with industry participants and as a wholly owned Australian farm we are dedicated to the future health of the Australian racing and breeding industries.We are actively involved on the boards of Aushorse Marketing,The Australian Thoroughbred Breeders Association,The Racing Industry Consultative Group and The Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association and feel we can contribute to our industry through these groups.

Our aim as a stud master is to be fair to our clients in a way that is sustainable.We resisted the temptation to increase our service fees in the boom times and the results were evident this year with many of our clients recording healthy returns on their investments and our sires’ sales averages demonstrating positive multiples of service fee.This year it is imperative the stud masters are in tune with the economic challenges facing breeders and we have carefully priced our stallions to allow breeders to make a commercial return.

We, like you, are breeders, understanding the nuances of this complex industry, and are subject to the ever changing fashions of the market place. As much as it changes there is one constant; good types of horses never go out of fashion and we rely heavily on the type of horse we breed as the cornerstone of our success.We hope when using our sires you will breed the type of horse that turns heads and succeeds both in the sales ring and on the track as ultimately your success is our success.

A Head Start

Horses living at Widden receive a massive head start in life, reaping the benefits of being raised on superb pasture, provided with the expert assistance of an agronomist, combined with round the clock care from our resident veterinarian.

The Widden Valley comprises rich alluvial creek flats sheltered by magnificent sandstone cliffs providing a pristine and tranquil environment in which young thoroughbreds can thrive and grow in large paddocks.

From conception, through foaling and on towards a yearling preparation and eventual sale, the team at Widden work as one to deliver the best outcomes for our clients and their horses.

Our experienced bloodstock staff are always available to assist clients with any and all bloodstock matters ranging from pedigree analysis and mating advice, to sales planning, preparation and agistment, both long and short term.

Acquisition of new stock is an important aspect to consider for all breeders with aspirations to improve their bloodstock portfolio and is an area in which our expert team is happy to assist.

Widden is also an industry leader in terms of modern technology and communications with an outstanding website to facilitate distribution of news in the pursuit of building close and productive relationships with clients from all over Australia and throughout the world.

Another Chapter in our Book of Success Stories

As long as there have been thoroughbred yearling sales in Australia, Widden Stud has been in the business of selling young racehorses and after 143 years, we are still industry leaders.

Whether a yearling is expected to make $20,000, $200,000 or $2 million, he or she receives the same level of care and attention, with results on the racetrack reflecting in the ongoing popularity of our yearlings in the sale ring.

Recent Stakeswinners consigned by Widden Stud include All Silent, Anacheeva, Whobegotyou, Dissident, Happy Zero, Floral Pegasus Champagne Harmony, Driefontein, Poor Judge, Belong to Many, I’m All The Talk, Ready to Lift, Sir Moments, Running Tall, Shamal Wind, Stratum Star etc.

Their success follows on from horses such as recent Group One stars Typhoon Zed, Absolute Glam, Bon Hoffa, Triple Honour, Le Drakaar and globetrotting superstar Sun Classique, who was foaled and raised at Widden before being exported to South Africa.

Champion mares Sun Classique & Samantha Miss have provided recent highlights for Widden Stud when consigned under our banner for the Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale on behalf of their respective owners. Sun Classique being purchased for $2 million & Samantha Miss fetching $3.85 million.

The Widden nursery invariably produces the sort of horses that can shape the breed with two such leading lights being Sydney’s Dream (dam of Charge Forward) and Circles of Gold (dam of Haradasun and Elvstroem).

Bred by Widden Stud and sired by our former champion sires Bletchingly and Marscay respectively, Sydney’s Dream and Circles of Gold were Group One winners on the track who have made an even bigger impact at stud… is it any wonder Widden Stud is the yardstick by which others are measured.