‘He’s beautifully put-together’: Private Eye’s half-brother to turn heads

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

For a variety of reasons, predominantly, COVID, Kerrie Tibbey’s Goodwood Farm hasn’t consigned horses at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale since 2020 (Riversdale offered a Trapeze Artist filly on their behalf in 2022).

That will change next month, however, with Goodwood Farm set to present two yearlings - Lot 81, a Shalaa (Ire) colt and Lot 122, a Written Tycoon filly.

The former just so happens to be a half-brother to the G1 Epsom H. hero and The Everest runner-up Private Eye (Al Maher) who Tibbey claims is a “lovely colt”.

“He will probably need a little bit of time and he’s a late foal, but he’s beautifully put-together with a deep girth,” Tibbey told TDN AusNZ.

“He’s a wonderful walking horse, he’s very athletic, and I’m very happy with him.

“He is very much like his siblings, they are alike; the mare is a very dominant mare; she’s not huge, but she’s very dominant in the paddock.

“The mare’s progeny know they’re good, they’ve got that feel about them.”

Private Eye and the yearling colt are from the winless Shamardal (USA) mare Confidential Queen, who is a half-sister to the stakes performer and stakes-producing sire King’s Troop.

Tibbey bought Confidential Queen from the Widden Stud draft at the 2015 Inglis Australian Broodmare Sale Select Session, in foal to Star Witness, for just $13,000.

The resultant foal - a colt - made $60,000 at the 2017 Magic Millions National Yearling Sale, with Tricolours Racing buying. Named Royal Witness, he won six races and placed 14 times, amassing $409,215 in earnings.

Private Eye was Confidential Queen’s second foal and he was knocked down to Proven Thoroughbreds/Pride Thoroughbreds for $62,500 at the 2019 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale (Session 1).

The now 5-year-old has gone on to win 10 races, pocketing his connections in excess of $6 million in prizemoney.

“I only paid $13,000 for her and she has done a wonderful job,” said Tibbey.

“We know what Private Eye has done, but Royal Witness was very good, too.”

Tibbey said she thought long and hard about which stallion to send Confidential Queen to, before settling on Arrowfield Stud’s shuttle sire Shalaa.

“She’s quite a stocky mare and quite wide. She’s nearly as wide as she is tall,” Tibbey explained.

“We were looking for something that wasn’t too heavy in the shoulders, because the mare has hemorrhaged. We were just looking for something that was just that bit lighter, a European but still with a bit of leg under them.

“Something with a beautiful pedigree.

“To me, it’s so important to get the right fit conformation-wise.”

The family boasts plenty of quality, with Confidential Queen’s dam, Royal Snippets (Royal Academy {USA}), a half-sister to the stakes winners and Group 1-producing sires Snitzel and Hinchinbrook, as well as the Group 3 victress Viennese (Redoute’s Choice) and the stakes performer Wiener, who is the dam of the Listed scorer Rathlin (Fastnet Rock).

A filly with plenty to offer

Lot 122 is a Written Tycoon filly out of the stakes performer and six-time winner Excessabeel (NZ) (Savabeel).

The filly’s third dam is the Group 1 heroine Royal Tiara (NZ) (Blanco {USA}).

“This is for a client. The mare comes here to get in foal and then the progeny come here and are pretty much reared here,” said Tibbey.

“She’s just a beautiful filly, an athletic filly.

“She’s very correct and a wonderful-moving filly.

“The mare is a really nice type and has done a good job with her first foal.

“The mare is typically Savabeel, you just look at her and know who her sire is.”

A star-studded honour roll

Goodwood Farm has been home to some incredibly talented racehorses over the years.

Tibbey is adamant Private Eye is the best horse she has bred, but the greatest horse to grace the fields of the Murrurundi property in the Upper Hunter Valley would have to be the Triple Crown winner Dance Hero (Danzero), who still resides there today.

Other Group 1 winners that were either raised, spent time or consigned by Goodwood Farm include Sacred Choice (Choisir), Manawanui (Oratorio {Ire}), Rebel Dane, The Astrologist (Zoustar), Fireburn (Rebel Dane) and Flying Artie.

Gallery: Some of Goodwood Farm's honour roll, images courtesy of Sportpix

“We’ve been lucky to have some wonderful horses. The Astrologist was just a beautiful horse,” Tibbey remarked.

“Sacred Choice… we prepped her… I remember saying to one of my clients on the farm, ‘Buy as much of her as you can, she’s a hell of a filly’.

“Dance Hero has been here since retirement. We started off using him as a nanny, but he was too competitive and he would want to race and beat the weanlings.

“He’s such a lovely, gentle horse.”

Realistic expectations

Given the increased cost of living expenses and constant interest rate hikes, Tibbey is well aware of the market correction and she admits she will be surprised if that trend doesn’t continue at Riverside Stables.

“It’s been pretty good, some of the sales have been a bit tough,” Tibbey commented.

“In most cases, if you’ve got a nice horse, the buyers will find it.

“A good horse that’s tough, that’s sound, I think it still sells well.

“The few years before (2023), it was just unbelievable; the bottom end of the market and the middle market were making huge money, and I think everybody was, ‘Gosh, wow, this is amazing’. I do think that it’s evened out now.”