Industry Mentors: Ryan McEvoy

The Head of Marketing and Stallions Nominations for the Thompson family’s successful operation began his time in the Hunter Valley in a practical role and, with knowledge of all facets of the stud’s workings, saw him seamlessly move into his current role.

In 2009, McEvoy relocated to a newly established Victorian office based in Melbourne, but is a regular visitor to the farm and its unique setting and stunning vistas make it a special welcome home each and every time.

“Widden is in a remote location and I think that adds to its beauty and charm,” he said. “Arguably, it’s one of the most tranquil stud farms in Australia, if not the world.

“It’s surrounded by these beautiful big rock escarpments, it’s a wonderful, peaceful place for horse and human. It’s easy to see why so many high class horses have come from there, they’ve bred champion after champion.”

Current owner Antony Thompson is the seventh generation of his family to breed thoroughbreds in the Widden Valley.

“The Thompson family celebrated their 150th anniversary in 2017,” McEvoy said. “In 1857, those pioneers came over the Rylston Ranges and were presented with this beautiful, lush valley and you can understand why they set up and never left!”

Thompson has understandably been a major influence in McEvoy’s life, but more of that later, and back to beginnings for the country boy from Wodonga.

“I spent my formative years running around there, going to school, working at a couple of stables in the mornings and playing football on weekends – a fairly typical and common upbringing for most young guys in the area,” McEvoy said.

“I wouldn’t say I was from a racing family, my late father Richard was a livestock agent on the border of Victoria and New South Wales and that’s where I grew up.

“The family raced a couple of horses locally in the bush and I was certainly more attracted to a few of our old racehorses running around rather than the cattle. Ultimately, that was the catalyst that sparked my early interest in the industry.

“I guess I was quite pragmatic in what I wanted to do and realised early on that it was an industry I was keen to be involved in and my parents were both very supportive of that. My mother Margaret is still a great supporter.

“She’s a great racing fan and that’s developed further since I’ve been with Widden.”

Enough to even get involved in racehorse ownership and her first share in a horse being none other than 2015 Australian Horse of the year Dissident (Sebring) who was bred and raised at Widden.

Formal equine education

After completing his VCE, McEvoy enrolled at Wangaratta’s NCEE (National Centre For Equine Education) where the thoroughbred journey began in earnest.

“It was a two year course and it was brilliant and I really enjoyed it,” he said. “The first 12 months was predominantly theoretical with study assignments relevant to anything from horse reproduction, anatomy, stud management, pedigrees etc.

“By design, we were exposed to all different facets of the industry and the analysis of bloodlines was a particular strong suit. I really enjoyed studying them while I was at high school as well, much to the frustration of many a teacher!”

“I remember catching the old V-Line train down to the Melbourne sales, marking the catalogue on the three-hour commute and then seeing the yearlings in the flesh, meeting the vendors and I loved every minute of it.

“Fundamentally, I suppose that initial understanding of how a pedigree might be effective is something I’ve been able to adapt to some use whilst at Widden.

“The second year of the course was entirely practical, we were placed at various studs and introduced into everything from yearling preps, foaling units, stallion barns. I was lucky enough to go to Eliza Park (now Sun Stud) which was run by the Fleming family.

“I was at Eliza for four months on a yearling preparation before working at Blue Gum Farm. I got to work in the stallion barn with Encosta de Lago in his last year before he went to Coolmore and you could sense what a super young stallion you were dealing with at the time.”

Call of Widden

Nearing the completion of the course, McEvoy’s mind turned to full-time employment and a knock on the door of Widden.

“The great thing with Widden is the staff are exposed and given opportunities in all areas of the farm and those early years I had living on the stud was great fun, a time to simply observe, listen and learn,” he said.

The Widden experience has been enriched with the advice and encouragement of Thompson, who has been McEvoy’s chief mentor.

“I’ve always admired Antony’s boldness and ambition. As long as I’ve known him he’s been someone that is uniquely driven in everything he does, not just for Widden necessarily but broader industry issues,” he said.

“Competition is fierce and as a young studmaster he’s had his challenges, yet the Widden stallions and brand are known the world over and recognised as being elite. Antony has the management acumen and overall vision to do that.

“He has so much respect for the land he is on and often describes himself as simply being a custodian of Widden. I think that philosophy will certainly ensure a long and bright future for the stud for many decades to come.

“Antony and Katie have been incredibly generous to me and my young family so I’m very thankful of that. It’s an exciting, fun and rewarding business to be involved in.”

Thompson’s mentoring aside, McEvoy also credited General Manager Derek Field and Stud Manager David Merrick with the roles they have had in his development.

“They are two hugely respected industry figures and I’ve been fortunate to have them both as mentors throughout my time at Widden,” he said.

“Both Derek and Dave have in the last couple of years been recognised with various industry awards and I couldn’t think of two more deserving people.

“Of recent years, I have also enjoyed learning from the likes of David Redvers, Hannah Wall, David Toole (Kambula Stud), Dean Harvey, Grant Burns and Matt Rudolph who have also become good friends.”

Shift to Victoria

McEvoy said the move to Victoria had been beneficial for the continued growth of the business.

“Having a presence in the southern states, I’d like to think it’s been a positive for us both. By and large, this is a people industry and you need to connect, so to build on relationships with breeders and trainers from not just in the New South Wales or Hunter Valley bubble is clearly important.

“We get terrific support from Victoria, South Australian and Western Australian clients, along with New South Wales and Queensland obviously.

“I’m of the view the industry in Victoria is one of real progression and there is some brilliant, young talent in the state. Particularly those that are managing farms such as Ryan Arnel, Dearne Gess-Jones, Toby Liston, Gerrard Jones, Sherah Sullivan, Rob Carlisle…I could go on.

"If these guys are the future of the industry then I reckon we’re in pretty good hands.”

Top quality roster

McEvoy is also blessed to be selling nominations to such a stellar cast that Widden has assembled.

“It’s an incredible line-up and we’re very thankful to work with and showcase the stallion quality we currently have,” McEvoy said.

“I guess there is nothing like having a young gun to keep the momentum flowing and fortunately Zoustar is achieving things that we couldn’t have dreamed of when we first put together a plan to secure him prior to him winning the Coolmore Stud S. in 2013.

“He could well end up being Widden’s greatest ever sire and that’s certainly saying something.

“This is a young stallion that has effectively won every title he could possibly win up to now. He’s just a phenomenal horse.

“Then there’s a young horse like Trapeze Artist and I can’t think of a stallion with a profile like his who has retired to stud in the last few years with his mix of sire line and racetrack performance.

“Indeed, as a 3-year-old he was the highest rated sprinter in the world, which is quite an awesome accolade.

“Written By is a fascinating horse, a champion 2-year-old colt with a devastating sprint on him and a beautiful looking horse. He’s just perfect for what the market loves in Australia and he reminds us so much of a horse like General Nediym who was a sensation.

“Nicconi and Star Witness just keep producing stakes winners, they’re still relatively young horses and I’m certain their best years are ahead of them given the numbers and quality of mares supporting them in the last couple of years.”

They are ably complemented by Your Song, Supido, Stratum Star and Outreach.

Made for marketing

In addition to nominations, McEvoy has added the important role of Marketing Manager to his portfolio at Widden, a role which he’s dived into with great enthusiasm.

“Having that responsibility to promote the Widden stallions and our brand to the wider audience is something that really drives me and feel it coincides well with my selling role,” he said.

“Antony is a natural marketer and to work together on different projects has been huge for my development in that role. I think some of the advertising campaigns or initiatives we have run over the years, on safe to say a more modest budget than some of our competitors, have been really effective.

“Overall, having successful stallions and sales graduates such as Sunlight makes life a little easier from a marketing viewpoint.

“It’s a stallion roster we’re really proud of and I must admit, it’s very rewarding to witness the support these stallions receive from all over Australia.”