It’s been almost five years since the passing of Col Richards, who had built Gainsborough Lodge into a powerhouse in the Queensland industry over the previous 25 years. His daughter Melinda and her husband Craig Wallace have since taken the reins and in the past 12 months have piloted a new direction.
They have become part of the Boutique Thoroughbreds venture, headed up by Andrew Dunemann and including Mary-Lee Trivett as well as several other Queensland-based owners.
While Boutique has been busy investing with the help of bloodstock advisor Paul Willetts, spending $1.4 million on five mares at the breeding sales earlier this year, Gainsborough has continued to reduce the scale of its operation at its Toowoomba-based stud.
Paul Willetts
"We’ve got about 25 mares now, we used to have 90-100," Gainsborough Lodge's stud manager Christine Frohloff told TDN AusNZ.
"When Col Richards passed away, his daughter Melinda had taken over the stud and she wanted to keep the legacy going for him. We’ve downsized the mares for Gainsborough, but also purchased into Boutique Thoroughbreds with five other owners.
"We’ve downsized the mares for Gainsborough, but also purchased into Boutique Thoroughbreds with five other owners. " - Christine Frohloff
"We’ve now got the Group winning mares through them and the other better-bred mares through Gainsborough."
As a result of the reduced number, there were only around 15 foals arrive on the stud over the past few months, with a focus on quality. over quantity according to Frohloff.
Gainsborough wins Best Feature
The connection to Stageman goes back to 2014, when a Secret Savings (USA) mare called Best Feature was offered through the Inglis Broodmare and Weanling Sale by Holbrook Thoroughbreds.
A grand-daughter of Group 1 winning mare Miss Margaret (Marscay), she had been bred and raced by leading WA breeder Bob Peters before being on sold after her racing career.
Stageman as a yearling
Gainsborough Lodge picked her up for $19,000 in foal to Written Tycoon, who was just about to explode as a stallion.
Frohloff always held a strong opinion on the colt, who progressed well enough to be sent to the Inglis Classic Sale in 2016, where he was picked up by Chevaux Bloodstock for $64,000.
"He was a lovely horse. I suppose, when he went to the Inglis Sale, he looked like he'd be better as a 3-year-old. He was still a bit gangly, but a lovely type," she said.
"He looked like he'd be better as a 3-year-old. He was still a bit gangly, but a lovely type." - Christine Frohloff
"He was always mentally very well. He came through the prep well ahead of the sale. He always ate up and looked for that next step. He was a very smart sort of weanling and yearling, some of them are a bit headstrong and they aren't ready to be a racehorse. He was always mentally there, but physically, it looked he would improve as a 3-year-old."
Frohloff admitted they were somewhat surprised to see him then turn up again at the Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale later that year, but he breezed up very well and Chevaux made a tidy profit, selling him for $310,000 just six months after buying him.
Stageman (blue cap), when selling for $310,000 at the Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale
While the sale was facilitated by Belmont Bloodstock, Stageman would end up in the same cerise and white colours in which his dam raced in, with Peters buying back into the family.
It’s not all that surprising, given Peters' admiration for Miss Margaret and he has been rewarded with Stageman now a winner of seven of his 19 races and nearly $350,000 in prizemoney.
On Saturday, he looks to join fellow Gainsborough Lodge graduates such as Oliver Twist (Alex Nureyev {USA}) and Swiss Ace (Secret Savings {USA}) as Group 1 winners, with Frohloff saying there was much anticipation ahead of the $1 million race on Saturday.
Unfortunately, Best Feature died after a colic attack a couple of years ago, having produced just one more foal, a Falvelon filly called Alloraine who has won a couple of races.
Peters' admiration for Miss Margaret has been rewarded with Stageman racing in the same cerise and white colours in which his dam raced in
Double connection to Group 1 sprint
Amazingly, for a race 4000km from Toowoomba, Gainsborough Lodge also shares a connection with another runner in the Winterbottom, Flirtini (Artie Schiller {USA}).
It purchased her dam Ajaweed (Hennessy {USA}) in foal to Smart Missile at the 2017 Inglis Broodmare Sale and sold the resultant foal, a filly for $100,000 to Michael Costa at the Inglis Classic Sale earlier this year.
Smart Missile x Ajaweed (filly) whom Christine loved so much they had to stay in her
"We loved her so much that we approached him afterwards to see if we can stay in her," Frohloff said.
"We loved her so much that we approached him afterwards to see if we can stay in her." - Christine Frohloff
"I believe that she was one of the best horses that we’ve bred physically and I thought she'd make a lovely 2-year-old. Michael Costa has said the same about her too."
Again, bad fortune struck the mare and Ajaweed had to be put down soon after her final filly was sold. The ups and down of the breeding game are something that Frohloff is well used to.
High hopes for Vancouver colt
While there are not big numbers of yearlings to sell in 2020, with many of the foals of that year sold as weanlings to help fund the Boutique Thoroughbreds investments, Gainsborough Lodge will present a couple at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale in January.
The highlight is a colt by Vancouver out of Marielle (Lonhro), the half-sister to Yarraman Park's star stallion I Am Invincible.
"He's a lovely colt. He's a late foal. When we purchased Marielle, we've worked out now that she's a mare that has to be kept on Regu-Mate, hence why he's a late foal," she said.
"He's a lovely type. He was accepted for both Magics and Easter." - Christine Frohloff
"But he's a lovely type. He was accepted for both Magics and Easter and we were going to keep him for Easter, but he's such a good sort, we'll go to Magics with him."
The other Magic Millions offering is a Choisir colt out of Summer Song (Sebring), a half-sister to stakes winners The Kildare Kid (Heart Of Darkness {GB}) and General Minolta (Nediym {Ire}).
While it won’t have its own draft at the Classic Sale, Gainsborough Lodge will send a couple of yearlings there through KBL Thoroughbreds, while it will focus the rest of its yearlings at the Magic Millions National Yearling Sale in June.
