'Our focus lies in becoming a world leading broodmare farm': Ridgmont positioned to leave mark

Cover image courtesy of Ridgmont

Ridgmont, established by the Cunningham family, is emerging as a significant player in the Australasian breeding industry. Situated in the renowned thoroughbred country of Segenhoe, the enterprise has recently welcomed Chris Phillips as a permanent fixture into its expanding fold.

Phillips, a graduate of The Royal Veterinary College in 2005, brings extensive expertise in all aspects of equine wellbeing to the table, with a particular focus on reproductive medicine, yearling preparation, and stallion reproduction, as well as subfertility examinations.

Having served for seven years as the managing veterinarian for Waikato Stud, a nursery whose brand is celebrated worldwide, Phillips now embarks on a permanent role at Ridgmont.

Ridgmont Director and Owner Mitch Cunningham said Phillips permanent role underscored the operation's commitment to securing top talent to produce exceptional horses.

In conversation with The Thoroughbred Report, Cunningham reflected on the ethos of striving for excellence, “We want to be breeding stakes winners, at a high percentage. This will be entirely contingent upon the quality of our people, our process, our feed, and our farm and infrastructure.

“In the last 18 months, I have been aggressive in the recruitment of the best staff in the industry, who are aligned with our aspiration, and bring with them years of expertise from all the best farms around the world including such operations as Juddmonte, Waikato, Segenhoe and Arrowfield to name a few.”

Cunningham shared some of the infrastructure developments on the property, which was formerly Glastonbury Farm.

“We have redeveloped the farm, which is now fully irrigated, and this season will benefit from our new world class foaling unit. The yearling paddocks on the back hills have now been fenced and will provide our young stock a challenging environment to grow and strengthen.

“We are big believers in our science-based feeding program, provided to us by Dr Steven Duren at Performance Horse Nutrition. So, the key ingredients are all there for us to leverage, but our long-term success will be undeniably linked to the calibre of staff we have at Ridgmont.”

Phillips a permanent fixture

“Having Dr Chris Phillips as our full-time vet is such an advantage. His accomplishments as a Group 1-winning breeder are dwarfed by his professional veterinary pursuits.

“After graduating from the Royal Veterinary College, he has worked all over the world, most recently spending seven years as the managing vet at Waikato Stud. His 24-hour care provides value to the farm that is hard to quantify without spending some time here and seeing it first-hand.

“One clear metric however was his fertility rates on the farm two years ago (during the big wet season) reached 95 per cent by season's end, when the broader hunter region was averaging well below that. Chris has focussed heavily on the implementation of “best practice” around Ridgmont, with a key focus on horse welfare and education.”

Cunningham shared some of the staff and key players Phillips will join and work alongside at Ridgmont, “Chris will be supported by our stud manager, Stephanie McDonald, who is the backbone of the operation and brings with her years of experience at Segenhoe.

“Jakub Vitek, our yearling manager, has year on year shown his expertise with every draft he presents for sale. We are a tight knit team, and collectively have some seriously big ambitions for the farm.”

Global investment

Cunningham and the team at Ridgmont are well-aligned with the dynamic nature of the thoroughbred racing and breeding industry, recognising the benefits of sourcing and investing in quality international stock for their expanding broodmare band. He noted that blending global blood with the best local bloodlines was a potential recipe for success.

Most recently, under the banner of Ridgmont Farm and Director of Bloodstock Jim Clark's Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA) Ridgmont secured the Showcasing (GB) mare Many Tears (Ire) for 300,000gns (AU$597,300) at the 2023 Tattersalls December Mares Sales.

Many Tears has continued her racing career with success, claiming victory in three races, including the Listed Cooley S. She also achieved a commendable fourth-place finish in the G3 Chartwell S. Her pedigree traces back to Love Divine (GB) (Diesis {GB}), a distinguished mare who won the G1 The Oaks at Epsom Downs, later producing Sixties Icon (Ire), a notable performer in his own right, winning the G1 The Leger and the G2 Newmarket Jockey Club S.

Edith Piaf (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}) stands as Ridgmont's initial venture into the international market. Acquired for 850,000gns (AU$1.7 million) as a yearling at the 2018 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale by Blandford Bloodstock, she later found her way selling to Avenue Bloodstock, who secured her for 110,000gns (AU$219,000) at the 2020 Tattersalls December Mares Sales.

Edith Piaf's pedigree holds familiarity to the Australian racing scene. Her dam, Blissful Beat (GB), is the dam of Home Of The Brave (Ire) (Starspangledbanner), a prolific campaigner for Godolphin, with eight victories, including success in the G2 Theo Marks S., the G3 Aurie's Star H., and the G3 Criterion S. at Newmarket.

Ridgmont's investment in Edith Piaf yielded swift returns when her colt by the renowned Frankel (GB) fetched $750,000 at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, purchased by Go Bloodstock Australia, Tom Magnier, and Paul Moroney Bloodstock. Edith Piaf subsequently foaled another colt by Frankel in August and was bred to Australia's reigning Champion Sire, I Am Invincible, during the spring.

Cunningham told TTR AusNZ, “We are always looking to improve upon the depth and quality of our broodmare band. We have taken an international focus in pursuit, and while the majority of our band are your quintessential colonial families, we definitely see value in casting a wider net.

Cunningham also highlighted the value inherent in service fees for using the shuttling international champions like State Of Rest (Ire), a son of Starspangledbanner. State Of Rest will stand the upcoming season at Newgate Farm, with a reduced fee of $27,500 (inc GST), down from an initial fee of $44,000 (inc GST).

Additionally, he mentioned Coolmore's St Mark's Basilica (Ire), standing for $38,500 (inc GST) compared to Anamoe, who remains at $121,000 (inc GST) at Darley's Kelvinside, a figure more familiar to Australian audiences.

“These sorts of bloodlines add a sort of niche appeal to your draft, but the market here is so much more focused on the stallions they have seen race with their own eyes. There is no more obvious example than the difference in the first-season service fee of Anamoe vs State Of Rest.

“We have bred to Anamoe, and he was an absolute champion, but State Of Rest beat him when they faced off, and won four Group 1s in the United States, France, Australia and the time-honoured G1 Prince of Wales’ S. at Royal Ascot.

“Anamoe stood for $121,000 and State Of Rest for $44,000 (last season). The same argument could be made for St. Mark's Basilica.

“This is the clearest indication that the market here has a serious bias towards local form. Jim Clarke, Chris and I focus on finding value in the current stallion ranks. Clearly, we want to be selling well, but our mandate is to be breeding stakes winners, and so all our matings are considered and debated deeply.”

Best sales season yet

There's perhaps no better measure of success and the effectiveness of an operation's ethos than when its product is warmly received by the market during the Australasian sales season. This reception often translates into crucial racetrack success.

For Ridgmont, the brand continues to gain momentum, underscored by a recent milestone; a significant increase in yearling averages compared to figures from the previous two years.

“This was our third year in business, and our most successful to date,” Cunningham told The Thoroughbred Report.

“At the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, we went from an average of $145,000 in 2023 to $280,000 this year for the same number of horses offered (13).

“While at the 2024 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, we improved our average to $367,000 from an average of $316,000 the year prior.

“This was an encouraging statement from the market, and one that we are buoyed by.”

Cunningham shared that the focus will be on continuous improvement as they aim to increase their numbers across three key areas: yearling and broodmare numbers and expanding the client base.

“Our focus will continue to be on quality. Our yearling numbers will increase alongside our growing broodmare population and client base. We feel very fortunate to have the clients we do. It’s just an exciting time at the farm.”

Stallions in the future?

There's been plenty keeping the Cunningham family busy at Ridgmont. However, their racing arm, Cunningham Thoroughbreds, enjoyed a strong season thanks to the star juvenile Storm Boy (Justify {USA}).

The highly publicised 2-year-old was initially purchased for $460,000 by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Racing and Kestrel Thoroughbreds from Coolmore Stud's draft (as agent for Morning Rise) at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Sporting the navy and gold sash silks of Cunningham Thoroughbreds, Storm Boy easily stormed to victory in the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic. He further showcased his talent by winning the G3 B.J McLachlan S. and the G2 Skyline S. and finishing third in the prestigious G1 Golden Slipper.

When the time comes, Storm Boy will retire to Coolmore's Hunter Valley base at Jerrys Plains.

Cunningham Thoroughbreds retained an interest in the colt.

“Storm Boy has been a wonderful ride for us, and one we feel is only in its infancy. We have retained a meaningful share in him and are confident that his 3-year-old season will be more impressive than the last.

“Storm Boy has always profiled more as a 3-year-old, so to have won the way he did on multiple occasions this season has been special. We hope to have a paddock full of Storm Boys in years to come.”

However, the question remains: will Ridgmont ever venture into standing stallions as part of their operation model?

“In time, standing stallions is something we will consider. It isn’t on the short-term horizon. However, our focus now lies in becoming a world leading broodmare farm. We have stallion equity and breeding rights, as well as investment in the Newgate and Rosemont colt funds, so we are well positioned to benefit at an arm's length.”