Burwood Stud: good, better, best!
The Darling Downs
The lush Darling Downs is not only Queensland’s most-productive equine breeding grounds, but it is one of the best in the Southern Hemisphere – and that includes New Zealand!
Horses are important part of the rural scene on the ‘Downs,’ situated over the Great Dividing Range, around Toowoomba.
Even the Queensland Government knows that horses are raised right on the Darling Downs to race right.
The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries states: “…native species, such as Queensland bluegrass, are ideal for horses.
“Queensland bluegrass (Dicanthium sericeum) is native to the clay soils of the Downs.”
Horse breeders know the value of raising youngsters on the Darling Downs: that’s why Studs proliferate there.
Fake Left, Australasia’s all-time champion standardbred sire stood on the ‘Downs,’ just a few kilometres up the road from the Sunshine State’s best-known standardbred nursery – Burwood Stud.
Burwood Stud
Burwood Stud has grown exponentially over the past quarter of a century to 1500 fertile acres of prime basalt and limestone country, just what’s needed for growing champion racehorses.
The fully-fenced, safe property is supported by six mineral-rich bores and six large dams, providing adequate water supplies are on hand 12 months of the year for both additional stock water and irrigation.
Burwood Stud itself is a source of quality lucerne hay, feed for the Stud’s mares and foals.
Initially an equine agistment and spelling complex, Burwood Stud has grown to a breeding centre of note, one which would pass muster on the international stage.
More than 100 horses call Burwood Stud home: the property houses standardbreds and thoroughbreds – stallions, broodmares, yearlings and weanlings.
As well as agisting Stud-owned stock, Burwood Stud also caters for permanently-agisted mares and their offspring and short-term visiting mares; some breeders, including interstate-based enthusiasts, have been Stud clients for 25 years.
Standardbred mare owners have the best of both worlds at Burwood Stud, which offers the choice of pacing and trotting stallions on-Stud, as well as semen transport, where the semen of the best stallions in the world is readily and quickly available.
Burwood Stud standardbred stallions
Millionaire racehorse and sire Cammibest, well-regarded import Ultimate Falcon and exciting ‘young gun’ Lanercost are Burwood Stud’s pacing stallions, joined by the successful imported trotting sire Brylin Boyz.
Cammibest 1:50 is by the TT1:46.1 Cam Fella superstar Cambest, whose progeny have bankrolled close to $100million from Mib Hanover, a 1:55.3 three-year-old daughter of Tyler B.
A leading free-for-all performer in North America, Cammibest retired with stake-earnings of more than $1.07million, with wins in the Dan Patch Invitational, Reynolds Memorial and legs of the Kentucky Sires Stakes and Arden Downs at two, Spring Pacing Series, Classic Series and an elimination of The Adios.
Cammibest has proven himself as not only the sire of brilliant juveniles such as Jack Malone (2, 1:55.5), Cha Ching Chaching (1:56.2), Mathilda Diventa (2, 1:58.1) and many others, but also as the progenitor of quality stock which race through to Grand Circuit class, such as Pub Blitz (1:52.9; $337,460).
Despite his continued success at stud, Cammibest’s service fee remains at a very affordable $1650, inclusive of GST – no money at all for a sub-1:53 sire.
Lanercost, whose service fee is $1650 (including GST), won 30 of his 45 starts, through to Group One company, was a sensational juvenile who carried his form into subsequent seasons.
A young son of super racehorse and sire Courage Under Fire, Lanercost, who raced for Brisbane trainer Darrel Graham, is out of a New York Motoring mare who left eight winners, of which five bettered 2:00, and three inside 1:55.
In his introductory season of racing as a two-year-old, New Zealand-bred Lanercost won heats of the Seymour Nursery Pace, the Australasian Breeders’ Crown and the Big 6 2YO Pace, beating Smiling Shard as well as filling second berth in the Seymour Nursery Pace Final and Australasian Breeders’ Crown.
Lanercost made it even bigger at three years, winning the Group One blue ribands the Australian Derby and Tasmanian Derby as well as the Caduceus Club Cup and Victoria Derby heat, only to finish third in that prestigious final.
At four, Lanercost made experienced track regulars sit up and take notice with his electrifying win in the Group One Chariots Of Fire.
“I’m flat out thinking of another of my wins which was better,” experienced Group One horseman Graham said. “He went his last half in 54.2s and final quarter in 26.5s…he has remarkable speed, and can stay as well.”
Lanercost also annexed the Queensland 4YO Championship and a heat of the Australasian Breeders’ Crown in that season.
“He would have won the Breeders’ Crown final in a jog trot,” Graham said. “He was scratched as $2.10 favourite on race morning…they would have put up a margin!”
As a five-year-old, Lanercost kept on keeping on with his gallant win in the Queensland Christmas Cup at Albion Park.
Ultimate Falcon, who is available for only $1100, is one of a rare breed – a sub-1:48 racetrack performer. At his time of import into Australia, he was the fastest horse ever brought ‘Down Under.’
At the time of his retirement, ‘The Falcon’ was the fastest aged pacer in history, and retired with five sub-1:50 miles as a four-year-old.
Ultimate Falcon has proven himself as one of Australasia’s greatest ‘bread-and-butter’ stallions, with progeny earnings close to $5million and around 150 individual winners.
Included in his booty are 10 $100,000-plus winners, and four sub-1:56 performers. Ultimate Falcon’s honour roll includes such notables as Il Tenore, Falcon Vista, Flamin Yomax, Makin Dough, the prematurely ill-fated Misty Plains, My Ultimate Hell, Super Falcon and a host of others.
The growing incidence of trotting races in Queensland has made imported square-gaiter Brylin Boyz a realistic opportunity to build on his already-imposing reputation.
Already boasting a ‘Hundred Grand Club’ member among his trotting flock, Brylin Boyz has backed his family tree with racetrack winners.
By Noble Gesture’s champion son Balanced Image, Brylin Boyz is out of the former Canadian Broodmare of the Year, the Dream Of Glory mare Lou Macs Glory; as such, Brylin Boyz is a full-brother to the 1:53 trotter and $2million-plus earner Glorys Comet, the winner of 56 races.
Brylin Boyz, whose stud fee is $1650 including GST, is the sire of trotting winners of more than $1.5million, including Awesome Imace, Brylin Crescent (tr1:57.5), Heza Boy Star, Lanex Luck, Makati Maximus, Sea Spray Notch, Shezoneoftheboyz and Springfield Barry.