Photo: Cambridge Stud
Brent Gillovic is pleased to have recently added two well-bred Zabeel mares to Highview’s broodmare band.
Gillovic purchased Kilfenora for $22,000 and Tuesday’s Child for $12,250 from Cambridge Stud via Gavelhouse.com’s March 16 auction.
“I was really excited to secure two Zabeel mares of this quality for such a reasonable price,” Gillovic said.
“While were facing unprecedented times, it presented a unique opportunity to buy into these families.”
Tuesday’s Child hails from one of the best Australian families in the studbook, as a daughter of a three-quarter sister to champion sire Redoute’s Choice and she has eight individual Group One winners within her first two dams.
Kilfenora is out of the blue-hen mare L'Quiz, making her a full sibling to Group One winners St Reims and Champagne. There are 14 stakes winners descending from L’Quiz including multiple Group One winner and 2016/17 New Zealand Horse of the Year Bonneval.
The pair had additional significance for Gillovic, who has prior connection to both families.
“I actually sold Dancing Show, the grand dam of Tuesday’s Child, to Sir Patrick in the late eighties and at a similar time I procured a package of mares that included L’Quiz,” he said.
“Both pedigrees have simply exploded in this part of the world over the past 30 years, particulatly that of Redoute’s Choice.
“I have followed the progress of both mares and I couldn’t believe our luck to be able to buy into daughters of Zabeel from these families.
“It goes without saying that we will be retaining their first fillies if we’re lucky enough breed fillies. It sounds like a long-term plan but that’s what business is all about, planning for the future.”
A leading broodmare sire in Australasia, Zabeel mares have produced 39 individual Group One winners.
Kilfenora and Tuesday’s Child will join the Gillovic family’s personal broodmare band of approximately 30 mares, all of which will be bred to Wrote in the coming season.
Gillovic said that Zabeel mares provided a good cross with their exciting young sire Wrote, the most precocious Group One winning son of High Chaparral.
“Genetically Zabeel mares are a great cross with Wrote and his yearlings by Zabeel’s son Savabeel sold well at Karaka earlier this year,” he said.
Wrote was represented by two yearling colts out of Savabeel (Zabeel) mares at Karaka 2020 that fetched $80,000 and $50,000 respectively.
Gillovic said that prior to New Zealand’s Level 4 lockdown, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, he had received many enquiries from those wanting to breed to Wrote this season.
“Naturally things have gone pretty quiet over the past two weeks, but we will emerge from this and our breeding decisions this coming season result in yearlings for sale in January 2023 which is a fair way off," he said.
For more info on Wrote click here.
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