TDN Q&A with Antony Thompson

Widden Stud, one of the most recognisable Thoroughbred nurseries and stallion stations in Australia, celebrates its 150th anniversary of operation in the New South Wales Widden Valley in 2017. Widden Stud has been home to some of the country's most influential sires, including Marscay (Aus), Vain (Aus), Bletchingly (Aus), Todman (Aus) and General Nediym (Aus), and more recently the likes of Sebring (Aus), Star Witness (Aus) and the late Northern Meteor (Aus). Widden has also consigned Group 1 winners and champions like All Silent (Aus), Anacheeva (Aus), Whobetgoyou (Aus) and Dissident (Aus) through the sales. One of the more remarkable aspects of the Widden story, however, is that it has been owned and managed by the Thompson family since its inception in 1867. Widden kicks off its 150th year by consigning 42 yearlings at this week's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, including first-crop yearlings by its sires Zoustar and Shamus Award, and TDN International Editor Kelsey Riley caught up with stud owner Antony Thompson at the sales.

KR: The Widden team seems to have developed a knack for selecting and launching successful sires. What are the keys to selecting a stallion prospect and starting him off successfully?

AT: There are a lot of things that go into a successful stallion. In the selection process it's a very detailed and heavy decision, but when you weigh up everything from the type of horse, the pedigree, the race record, it only gets you so far. Ultimately, it's that gut feel on a stallion. The Australian market would be the most buoyant and fluid stallion market in the world and when you do pull the trigger on a stallion deal ultimately in your heart you have to have a great sense of belief, because you are really staking the farm against one horse. Zoustar was that type of horse for me and when we were able to purchase him after losing [his sire] Northern Meteor [to colic in 2013], you had to know it was a sense of fate and maybe a sense of destiny that something like that could come from something bad. But it feels like a sense of deja vu, launching what I perceive to be the two best stallion prospects this season together. It's very similar to a few years ago when we launched Sebring (Aus) and Northern Meteor (Aus) in the same year. I have that same sense of excitement and same sense of belief this year launching these two young stallions together.

KR: The Widden name has become synonymous with the Golden Slipper, and the winners of other top sprints, when it comes to buying stallions. Is that something that's very important to your business plan?

AT: What's important is successful stallions. It's no accident we target those types of horses, because they're the successful stallions. I don't think it's that complicated a plan and I don't think it's that big a secret that Widden's success has been on the basis of great sprinters and that type of stallion, so sticking true to what has served us so well for 150 years is probably not that hard. You have to find a horse you really think can be special to move away from that. There have been horses over the years, Anabaa and Barathea, those types of shuttle horses that maybe weren't as much in the Widden mold, but we could certainly see they'd bring a lot to the breeders down here and we could see they'd work with a lot of our mares.

KR: What is it about the Widden land that makes it such a good nursery for horses?

AT: It's a remarkable property. I think it's like nowhere else in the world. It's not something I can say I was clever enough to choose or decide on; it's more the valley chose us when we settled there. The success the horses have had there has really driven the farm for 150 years. It's a spectacular 8000 acres surrounded by beautiful mountains. I look at it as a beautiful, pristine horse environment, but it's the little things and it's the things we don't know that make it so special. Ultimately, if you're not having success on the racetrack as a breeder you probably wouldn't still be in the business in the same family in 150 years time, so that's been the secret, that amazing valley. We've been fortunate to have a bit of luck and some great horses come off it.

KR: You're debuting the first-crop yearlings by two of your young sires at Magic Millions: Zoustar (40 catalogued), the G1 Golden Rose and G1 Coolmore Stud S. winner and a son of Northern Meteor; and Shamus Award (16 catalogued), a son of Snitzel who is the first horse to win the G1 Australian Guineas after winning the G1 Cox Plate. How have their first yearlings been received thus far?

AT: Both horses have been very well received, Zoustar and Shamus Award. Zoustar is very much in the mold of Northern Meteor as a racehorse and as a sire he's produced a lot of yearlings that look like the Northern Meteors. Northern Meteor was a huge loss [he died of colic when his first crop was two] and I think the buyers out there who have seen and liked and had success with the Northern Meteors have really been thrilled with the Zoustars. He's the sort of horse the Australian breeders want: a terrific sprinter who gets you some really lovely types with great temperament and a really big action. We're thrilled with the reports and the way they look and hopefully they'll sell well and find their way into the right stables.

Zoustar had his first season at Widden with a book of 180. He then went to Victoria to Woodside Park Stud for his second season and covered 160, and then back to Widden last year and he served 185. It's the first time a stallion has moved between the two states as such but I think it gave the breeders in Victoria an ideal chance to access him in his second season and also makes the progeny eligible for VOBIS [Victorian Owners and Breeders Incentive Scheme] as well as BOBS [The Racing NSW Breeder Owner Bonus Scheme], so taking advantage of the breeders bonus schemes in two states has been an interesting idea as well. That's something that's certainly a little different but something I think has worked really well and ensured he got great support. He'll go back to Victoria this season and then back to Widden, and then we'll make a decision about where he'll be based depending on where his most successful progeny are.

Shamus Award was a bit of an underrated 2-year-old, but being Snitzel's best son he's right in the sweet spot for the market at the moment; Snitzel is a very commercial sire and for a son of Snitzel to win the sire-making races the Guineas and the Cox Plate, on top of nice 2-year-old form, for the trainers and syndicators Shamus Award is a horse they'll come looking for, and they've been very pleased with what they've seen. I think across the board he's got some colts with some great strength and some really quality fillies in this sale, so I'm sure they too will sell well. Shamus Award has served average size books of 150 and been popular with the breeders and seen some very quality mares.

KR: Widden is unique in that it has been owned by the Thompson family for 150 years. What do you think the next 150 years holds?

AT: We're probably not looking that far ahead! I hope it's an exciting, vibrant successful farm. Maybe one day my kids will see that and get excited and passionate about the business. My son and daughter both enjoy riding their horses and being around them, so who knows.