International appeal: First Light Racing on shopping for success in both hemispheres

Cover image courtesy of Tattersalls

Striking in the early stages of this year’s Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale last week, prominent Australian syndicators First Light Racing snatched up a Blue Point (Ire) colt that they hope will take them to Royal Ascot before heading down under. The purchase is just the latest evolution in their roadmap to international success, shares Tim Wilson, First Light Racing’s director.

A son of Havana Grey (GB) may have stolen the show when selling for 1.75 million gns ($3.8 million), toppling a record set just the day before - but First Light Racing only had to spend a fraction of that price to find ‘the one’ for their newest venture.

In conjunction with bloodstock consultant David Skelly and Blandford Bloodstock, they secured Lot 8 - a son of international Group performer Anahita (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire}) - for 175,000 gns ($380,000) from Irish consignor Mocklershill. Wilson professed that he gave Skelly a bit of a “mission impossible” brief for the sale.

“We want to have runners all over the Northern Hemisphere and we'd love to have runners at Royal Ascot on a regular basis,” Wilson shared. “So David went to the Craven sale (to get) a 2-year-old to specifically target one of the six races over the carnival.

“I want a horse that'll get up and go early to compete in the better races in the Northern Hemisphere, but (also) then when he comes out to Australia, he's got to have scope to get out to a mile.”

One of the Northern Hemisphere’s leading sires of juveniles, Blue Point ticked the box on the colt’s upper half of the pedigree. A stylish, medium-sized horse, the colt impressed Wilson with his head-down, focused breeze on Newmarket's historic Rowley Mile, and he is of the opinion that his newest acquisition will have no trouble ticking the 1600-metre box when travelling south.

“It was a big ask, but we think we found the right horse,” Wilson said.

Skelly emphasised the importance of finding a horse with the necessary scope; “The most important part of the brief was that we find something that we feel will ultimately be peaking as a 3-year-old and getting over that middle distance.

“Blue Point is on the cusp of becoming an elite stallion - he stands for €100,000 this year - so to have a horse breeze as he did and to be able to get him at that price point, it's unbelievably exciting.”

Fruitful fillies

The 2025 Craven Sale was Wilson’s first foray into breeze-up sales, but not his first rodeo in the Northern Hemisphere; First Light Racing has been purchasing Northern Hemisphere-bred fillies at the Arqana and Tattersalls mares sales for the past three years, with a good strike rate. From eight mares that have been imported to Australia, they have sourced seven winners, including G3 Epona Stakes winner Osmose (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}).

“I've been shopping at Arqana and Tattersalls each December looking at 1600-metre style fillies that bring a pedigree down to the Southern Hemisphere that's going to appeal to breeders in the long term," Wilson said, "but also give our clients the opportunity to still get two to three years racing out of them first, and then look to sell them on.

“We bought (Osmose) at Arqana in 2022. She’d had seven starts in the Northern Hemisphere, including fourth in a Group 3 and she ran really well in a Group 1. We brought her out to Australia and she’s done a wonderful job here.”

Unlucky to not place at Listed level at her first Australian start, Osmose has since racked up five stakes placings alongside her Epona victory, and has narrowly missed the placings on several other occasions.

“She's (Osmose) been the perfect prototype, in that she had success in the Northern Hemisphere, which will appeal to breeders down here in due course, but she's also been able to transition into Australian racing,” he said.

First Light Racing was rewarded on Thursday with a fourth win from another of their Northern Hemisphere acquisitions; 5-year-old Junebug (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) notched up her third win of the preparation at Wyong for Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald, and has earned herself a swing at stakes level. The mare was a €120,000 ($213,500) purchase for the syndicator in association with Howson and Houldsworth Bloodstock at the 2023 Arqana Deauville Summer Mixed Sale.

“I'd love to take the credit for her, but Matthew (Houldsworth) did all the work for her,” Wilson said. “She just had a cracking pedigree when we bought her, and we were looking again for those dual purpose, lightly raced fillies that we could bring out to Australia.”

Herself a half-sister to Listed Newmarket Pretty Polly Stakes winner Maqsad (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), Junebug’s second dam is Champion Older Female Stayer Aquarelliste (Fr) (Danehill {USA}), a stakes-producing daughter of blue hen Agathe (USA) (Manila {USA}).

“She's blown away my expectations,” Wilson was honest. “She had four starts in Europe subsequent to us buying her, and she wasn't able to win, so we bought her out to Australia and put her with Annabel and Rob, and she's been an absolute ripper.”

A promise of a wet - at the very least, damp - winter has Wilson hopeful that the mare can step up to Listed level; “She's only really tasted defeat where she's hit really firm tracks. She's taken on the boys and done it all, and (now) she’s gotten her rating up to that level where I think she's ready for a crack at stakes level against the girls.“

While the option remains on the table to sell Junebug in Australia at the conclusion of her racing career, Wilson is also weighing up sending her back to the Northern Hemisphere, if the price is right.

“It might be an opportunity to get the best return at the end of her career for her owners,” he said. “It might cost $50,000 to get her (back) there, but you might get double the price (she fetches) by appealing to that market. Like everything we do, we can do it because we've got a great owner base that supports us to try things that appear a little bit left field.”

Ready to race

The breeze-up sale is another beast altogether.

“We’re looking at more opportunities to target a different style of horses,” Wilson said. “The Craven breeze-up sale has been an incredibly successful sale - five Group 1 winners have come out of it in the last two years - so we’re happy to dip our toe in the water.”

The difference between ready-to-run sales between the hemispheres has been a “bit of a learning curve” for Wilson; the chief difference he has found is that the European equivalent produces horses that truly live up to that name.

“What I've learned over in the Northern Hemisphere is that they are properly breezed horses, ready to go to the races hopefully within three to four weeks in the sale,” he said. “And the success of the sale tells you that.

“In contrast, the Australasian breeze-up horses seem more lightly educated. The statistics tell you they’re still six to 12 months away from racing. So it’s a bit of a different concept - it’s taken some education from David.”

Skelly highlights the horsemen and women buying yearlings for the breeze-up sales as the lynchpins for why the Northern Hemisphere sales graduates seem to do so well; “These guys who are buying horses for breeze-ups, they're phenomenal yearling judges as it is, and they're buying what is ultimately going to be a fantastic race horse.”

As consignors continue to hone in the style of horse that is most successful every year, particularly with increasing Southern Hemisphere interest in European breeze-up sales, the quality continues to grow.

Skelly points to the Ciaron Maher-trained Light Infantry Man (Fr) (Fast Company {Ire}) as an example; sourced by Blandford Bloodstock - whose Stuart Boman also assisted Skelly and Wilson with their Craven selection this year - the now 6-year-old gelding was a Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale purchase at £82,000 ($170,000) who won on debut just five months after the sale, and followed that up with a Group 3 victory at his second start. A dual Group 1 winner in Australia, the gelding perfectly fits the import model.

Official breeze-up times are not posted for British breeze-up sales, which is another key difference that Skelly highlights.

“It’s more up to interpretation, and the horse’s action,” Skelly said. More emphasis is generally placed on action. “The Rowley Mile is extremely undulating and is a difficult track for young horses (to gallop on), they can become unbalanced very easily. You’re looking for little idiosyncrasies in their movement. There’s less emphasis on the final time.”

Super sales amongst economic challenges

First Light Racing have been active at this season’s yearling sales, adding 25 purchases to their collection, highlighted by a $900,000 Frankel (GB) colt half-brother to dual Group 1 winner Nettoyer (Sebring), out of Cleanup (Dehere {USA}), from Vinery Stud’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale draft. Wilson highlighted the challenges that the yearling market has faced this year, but has still been surprised by the strength of trade, particularly across the top end.

“We've got some challenges out here in Australia as opposed to the Northern Hemisphere; our dollar has been battling,” he said. “I don't think our economy is going as well as it might be up north. There was certainly a lot of skepticism at the start of the year around whether the continued year on year growth of the Australian market could continue.

“Magic Millions was an interesting sale to start the year. It can be a bit of an outlier is that it's the first opportunity for nine months to get your hands on the best quality bloodstock available, so sometimes it doesn’t reflect the season ahead.

“This year, I actually thought Magic Millions was probably the best buying sale. I thought there was terrific value to be had. Even though there were economic factors that were probably working against subsequent sales, it's actually built surprisingly well through the year; to see the Inglis Easter Sale up 10 per cent year on year was incredible.”

The market for fillies in particular, Wilson found, was ravenous. The team purchased three at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, and were pushed to $800,000 to purchase Lot 238, the Home Affairs daughter of Twinkle (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who is a full sister to champion stayer Anthony Van Dyck (Ire).

“There's no stopping the market out here,” Wilson said. “Our prizemoney is strong. There are some obvious economic factors that should slow the market down, but then there's great strength from international buyers and strength at the top end here domestically, which is less susceptible to economic influences.”

On the ground at the Riverside Stables complex earlier this month, Wilson was fascinated by the confident air amongst vendors.

“Three to four days out from a sale, the vendors are always cautious, and they're naysayers - whether or not that's part of the tactic of seducing the buyers into the market - they're always talking it down and saying it's a buyer's market,” he said. “Being at Easter this year, we were three days out from the sale, and the vendors are like, ‘nah, this sale is going to be unreal. It's going to be such hard buying’.

“I've never seen such a level of confidence from vendors so far out from the sale that it was going to be so strong, and obviously that was how it played out.”

Changing of the guard

Aside from Home Affairs, the First Light Racing team patronised a few other first season sires this sales season, picking up yearlings by Wild Ruler, St Mark’s Basilica (Fr), Glenfiddich, and Pinatubo (Ire).

Wilson acknowledges that there seems to be a coming “changing of the guard” in Australasian stallion ranks; last year saw the retirement of industry stalwarts Fastnet Rock and Exceed And Excel, while Snitzel, I Am Invincible, and Written Tycoon serve smaller books as their farms seek to look after their champions in their twilight years.

“Extreme Choice is probably the heir apparent, but he's obviously got his fertility issues, which makes him more a boutique sire than a mainstream, commercial sire,” Wilson said.

“To see Wootton Bassett, with the likes of Wodeton this year, and the year before, Justify with the likes of Storm Boy, and the success of Too Darn Hot down here, I feel like these Northern Hemisphere stallions are making their marks stronger than we've ever seen before.”

With that in mind, Wilson has been keen to invest in the next generation of shuttle stallions to strike down under.

“We bought a St Mark's Basilica filly at Magic Millions. She was the first yearling we bought (this year). She's still my favourite, I love the way the St Mark’s Basilicas have presented.”

First Light Racing also bought the top lot at the Magic Millions March Yearling Sale; a Pinatubo colt offered by KBL Thoroughbreds who cost $290,000.

“I look at the success of Too Darn Hot, Justified, Wootton Bassett; it’s really representing a shift in the market. You just wouldn't be surprised if, in 12 months' time, those stallions (St Marks Basilica and Pinatubo) aren't having a similar impact to what we've seen these three do.

“What we bought this year, I think, is terrific value, and they could be anything, based on what we've seen from similar sires in recent years.”

Success across hemispheres

Seeing the success of a shuttle stallion’s first Northern Hemisphere crops can offer an excellent preview ahead of investing in Southern Hemisphere-bred yearlings, but Wilson concludes that it’s not entirely straightforward. The balance of what stallion will work in Australia is a delicate one.

“It's certainly not a guarantee of anything,” he said. “If you had asked me that question five years ago - does Northern Hemisphere success give you confidence it's going to translate down here - I probably would have said no, but, given the success of those stallions in particular in recent years, I think it does bode well for the new stallions coming down here.”

Something that Wilson thinks has benefitted shuttle stallions is how Australian breeders have evolved the way they pair their mares.

“I think breeders are doing a wonderful job with learning how to put Southern Hemisphere mares to Northern Hemisphere stallions to produce the right horses for the Australian market.

“You need a really big hindquarter and depth to your shoulder, you need a powerful, athletic physique, whereas the horses we've seen a lot in Europe in recent years that we've deemed not suitable for Australian racing are a more gangly, taller style of race horse. Obviously they're incredibly successful in the Northern Hemisphere, but you do need a different physique to your horse down here.”

Wilson’s Frankel colt stands out as an example of his perfect match.

“(You) never would guess that horse was a Frankel,” Wilson said. “He looks so much like an Australian-bred horse. He looks like he could get up and run in a Breeder's Plate.”