Behind the scenes breeders: Alister Haigh

Cover image courtesy of Magic Millions

The Haigh family is best known for its production of high quality award winning chocolate but there is also a long history of thoroughbred involvement in the family - Balcrest Farm in South Australia this year celebrating its 90th year of operation. The Thoroughbred Report had a chat with Haigh’s Chief Executive and Joint Managing Director Alister Haigh.

When Balcrest Stud - perched in the Adelaide Hills not too far from the iconic Oakbank racecourse - took a handsome Toronado (Ire) colt to this year’s Adelaide Magic Millions expectations were high of a good result.

At least for most of the Balcrest team, not so much for the stud’s Alister Haigh who admits to being a bit more on the cautious side in regards to his horses - “I was the pessimistic one!” he laughed.

But he need not have worried with the bay from a family which goes back to generations of Balcrest breeding catching the eye of a number of good judges including Shane McGrath who put in the winning bid of $225,000.

The fifth highest price yearling of the sale, he is the first foal for the two-time Group 3-placed multiple city winner Kabini (Written Tycoon) who was bred by Balcrest, as was her Group 3-placed multiple city winning grandam Ambika (Indian Danehill {Ire}).

Eight generations of Balcrest horses

Ambika’s unraced dam Ambola (Rory’s Jester) is also a Balcrest product as was her G1 Goodwood H.-winning dam Ambala (Gielgud {USA}. As were Ambala’s next four dams - making the Toronado colt an eighth generation Balcrest horse!

And they go back to one of the 18 or so stallions Balcrest stood in the past - their most successful, the imported Coronation Boy (Ire).

Kabini’s seventh dam sire, he proved to be an outstanding success for the Haigh family - well-represented by 39 stakes winners including the Group 1 gallopers Storm Queen, Authentic Heir, Queen Dassie, Sunny Coronation, Anna Rose, Conrapt and Lady Twilight.

A son of the great Nasrullah (Ire), Coronation Boy also made his mark as a sire of sires with 10 of his sons siring stakes winners; four of those siring Group 1 winners including Maybe Lad - sire of the wonderful mare Maybe Mahal.

And he was a very good broodmare sire, his daughters producing 38 stakes winners with the six Group 1 winners including the outstanding galloper Taj Rossi whose dam Dark Queen is the fourth dam of Twin Hills Stud’s G1 Golden Rose S. winner Denman and fifth dam sire of Mogumber Park’s dual Group 3 winner Safeguard.

And ancestress of the champion Saintly (Sky Chase {NZ}) and several other Group 1 winners including the G1 Golden Slipper S. heroine Kiamichi (Sidestep) and the G1 Caulfield Guineas hero God’s Own.

A WS Cox Plate winner at Balcrest

A tough and talented race mare who won six of her 47 starts with a further 13 placings on her record, Kabini has further Balcrest blood running through her veins with her fifth dam sire Rajah Sahib (NZ) also standing at the stud.

The G1 WS Cox Plate winner also did a good job with his 13 stakes winners, though was always in the shadow of another stallion who kicked off his stud career the same year - Lindsay Park’s Without Fear (Fr).

“Rajah Sahib was the bridesmaid of South Australian breeding,” Alister said - “he just had bad timing!”

Whilst not siring a Group 1 winner, Rajah Sahib was dam sire of two - the G1 Goodwood H. winner Beau George (Jon George {GB}) and the G1 Doomben Cup winner Abstraction (NZ) (Grosvenor {NZ}).

Another stallion imported to stand at Balcrest was The Queen’s high-class stayer Hopeful Venture (GB) who from only small books sired a couple of local stakes winners. Balcrest already had a royal connection with the Queen Mother visiting in 1966 - Alister’s grandfather Claude taking her for a stroll around the stud and stables.

A royal occasion

“We have some nice mementos and photos from that day,” Alister said, with an oak tree planted by The Queen Mother now big, strong and healthy.

Alister’s great great grandfather Alfred was breeding horses in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, his son Claude inheriting the farm and deciding to become more professional.

“He thought that to breed good horses you needed to do somewhere that looked like England. The family farm didn’t so he sold up and moved to the Adelaide Hills.”

Which is where Balcrest remains at Balhannah.

It was Alfred - who had run fruit and confectionary stores since 1896 - who opened the first Haigh’s chocolate shop (where it remains open for business) in Adelaide’s King William Street in May 1915, specializing in chocolate covered fruit centres.

There were tough times during two wars though the American soldier’s love of chocolate was a turning point - “their troops introduced a lot of chocolate to Australians and looking at our company, we too off after that,” Alister said in an interview with the Financial Review in 2016.

The Haigh’s family were known for their entrepreneurial views to chocolate manufacturing and selling but there was a disagreement at one time with John Haigh (Alister’s father) looking at the idea of using profits to make Toblerone under licence.

A toblerone or a horse?

But Claude wanted to spend the money on a horse - and that horse was Coronation Boy. And the income generated by him bankrolled the first Haigh’s Melbourne store which opened in 1965.

John - who passed away last year - also loved his horses and Alister Haigh grew up with them in his life - “for many years it was a tradition to spend the May school holidays at the family farm at Strathalbyn where the weanlings were grown out as they got ready for the yearling sales.”

He then headed to New Zealand, spending a year working on a family friend’s thoroughbred stud, enjoying his time spent learning about horses.

But the lure of the chocolate business was strong, Alister laughing as he recalled that “at that time the chocolate factory was operating on a 4.5 day week and the idea of a 2.5 day weekend every week was very appealing for a young man.”

“As opposed to horses which is a seven day week, every week - and the pay is a lot better!”

And so Alister, along with his brother Simon keep the chocolates coming whilst also still enjoying the horses - including spending time with them.

“I just love being in the paddock with them - there is something different and fascinating to see every day. One day the foals will be screaming around the paddock, the next day they will be fast asleep in the grass or scratching each other’s backs.”

Alister sees similarities in the horse and chocolate worlds - “each year you worry that the weather won’t be great leading into Easter and Christmas (heat waves affecting sales) and each year you worry about your horses staying sound and selling well.”

Balcrest is currently home to six broodmares though it is set up for around a dozen, Alister currently “in the market” to increase the broodmare band.

“Anything with black type is pretty expensive at the moment so we will be looking at mares related to stakes performers or mares with ability.”

Balcrest have only a few mares in foal this year, Alister noting that “it was a funny season” last year with the pregnancy strike rate down on usual figures.

2024 plans

But plans are being made for this spring, Balcrest looking at sending mares to Coolmore Stud and others to Victorian-based stallions.

The decisions regarding which mares go to which stallions is a consultation process with input from Balcrest’s manager Peter McIntyre and Adrian Hancock.

“Peter is really keen on bloodlines and pedigrees and we have been taking Adrian’s advice for years.”

Whilst Balcrest has been racing horses for decades, Alister prefers to concentrate on the commercial side. He doesn’t have any horses in work at the moment though may consider keeping the next filly out of Kabini as a long-term prospect.

He does however enjoy watching the progress of the Balcrest-bred horses and is looking forward to watching the career of Kabini’s Toronado colt (their best ever seller) who was purchased with Hong Kong in mind.

“In the past when you sold a horse overseas you lost track of them and never really knew what was happening but with the technology now you can follow them closely,” he said.

Whilst Balcrest is 90 years old this year, the family have been breeding horses for over a century and have been sending yearlings to the Adelaide sales for “a long time.”

“Before ABCOS, before Magic Millions,” Alister said.

And they will continue to do so, hoping for further success in the wake of their good 2024 result.