Paramount Thoroughbreds poised for debut draft

Fresh off being bought out of Ridgmont by the Cunningham family in September, industry veterans Andrew Dunemann and Bridie Sparkes are now set to offer a draft under their new banner, Paramount Thoroughbreds.

There’s been no shortage of backing for the new venture, with world-class breeder John Camilleri, who has dominated the upper-echelon of sales figures in 2024, along with his old partners at Ridgmont and Lauriston Farm sending horses to Dunemann and his team to make their way through the Riverside ring.

As the clock ticks down to the selling commencing, The Thoroughbred Report spent some time with Dunemann, to talk through his draft, and learn more about what the next steps could be for him.

The new chapter begins

With a relatively short turnaround from exiting Ridgmont to establishing Paramount, there’s seldom been a moment for Dunemann to slow down and smell the roses.

The well-connected horseman has found no shortage of industry allies prepared to entrust his new operation with their stock, a fact that pleases him greatly heading into the hammer coming down on Sunday.

“We were bought out of Ridgmont in September, and we had a lot of horses there, and we've been lucky enough to pick up a couple from Segenhoe and Lauriston as well,” he explained

“A lot of the clients are ones that obviously I know and have a bit to do with, so I thought it'd be nice to just bring those to the sale with Ridgmont not doing a classic draft

“Ridgmont has obviously been there previously. John Camilleri, who was facilitated by Peter O'Brien, and James O'Brien was one of the first clients we had come to Ridgmont as well, so it was probably through those connections that we've ended up with those horses.

“Which is great to kick off your first draft.”

There’s been a fairly steady flow into the Paramount sector of Riverside in recent days, with their yearlings kept on their toes as buyers run their eye over the diverse offering brought down by Dunemann and his team.

“This has been a fairly busy inspection period, it's definitely been busy enough. I think if you got the right horse here, they'll be able to sell.”

Deep and diverse draft

There’s a distinct flavour of diversity to the Paramount debut draft, with a strong mix of stallions providing buyers with an optimal cross-section of types and profiles to contemplate putting a bid on in the coming days.

With 10 currently slated to be sold, from new and exciting stallions to proven performers, Dunemann is going in with optimism at how the wider market will react to some of his quality stock.

“We have an even draft across the board, but I would also say that there is a couple that standout,” he said.

“We have a colt by Farnan out of Panegyria, who is Lot 559. He’s got to be one of the better ones, and the Farnans have been very popular here.

“Whether that portrays people liking it and and and whatever else, you just don't know but he's been popular.

“There’s also Lot 3, he's been really popular, he’s by So You Think. It doesn't mean it's going to sell well.

“We're going to be realistic with our reserves for all of this sale, because we aren't sure where the market is.

Gallery: Some of the yearlings being offered under the Paramount Thoroughbreds banner, images courtesy of Inglis

“It's great having got the only Calyx (Lot 13), especially with what he's doing in Europe. John O'Shea (had a) good winner (Getafix) last week, that obviously helps that stallion, and he's a really nice horse as well.

“So, we’ve got a nice, even draft, and there's definitely horses here that you can see becoming good racehorses.”

With extensive experience under his belt, Dunemann has seen all angles of the market across his career, and shared some of his insight into how he thinks Classic may unfold.

“I think if you look back to last year, I remember taking the draft to Magic Millions last year, and at that time our horses fell into that zero to $150,000 mark, and it was really tough.

“That was probably the first sign that I've seen personally of the market, at the bottom end, sort of struggling a little bit.

“But I think if you’ve got a nice horse it doesn’t matter where you sell it, it's going to sell, and hopefully there's enough nice horses here and then there's enough buyers to go on and buy those horses.”

Leaping in under a new banner, with uncertain market conditions swirling around, is certainly a daunting prospect, but Dunemann has been able to get off the ground thanks to some support from around the industry.

“It’s been challenging, I must give a massive thanks to Middlebrook. We’ve leased (facilities) off them, we had accommodation there.

“The staff there are great, there were three of us prepping out of that one place, and it just worked, Valiant (Stud) were there as well.

“We all just made it work. It could have been a disaster with three of us prepping there, but it wasn't. We made it work, and I think we've all ended up with good products here to bring to Riverside.”

One thing that’s less clear for Dunemann is what comes next, with there being no guarantee that Paramount will be the primary focus for him in the coming years.

“To be honest, we’re just working through it and we will see where we end up. Ideally, I personally can just take some time. I can just work for someone else for a while or I might want to get the farm, but it's easier said than done.

“When I first got bought out (of Ridgmont). I thought I would just be able to go on to the next farm and get it going, but it's not as simple as that.

“So, it's been a bit of a lesson for me, and we'll just see where we land.

“The ideal scenario is to get a farm and go from there. If I can’t do that, we'll see if there's some employment somewhere.”