NZ HARNESS NEWS
Former top racehorse-come-stallion Stunin Cullen will stand this coming breeding season in New South Wales at Yirribee Pacing Stud.
Yirribee recently had the misfortune to lose their new sire, Courage Under Fire, and Stunin Cullen has been acquired as the last-minute fill-in on their stallion roster.
Graham Court is the owner of Pinelea Farm, where Stunin Cullen has stood for the past four breeding seasons, and he says it is simply a case of trying to maximise the horse’s prospects.
“Other than the few we have lined up, not many of them have been seen at the races just yet.
“We do have some very nice colts in the barn here that I am certain will do a super job, but by the time they make their mark, the ship will have sailed on this breeding season.
“The opportunity arose to send him over there and once we looked at it, we thought it was probably the right move.
“It’s only for this season at this stage but if he gets good support, it might become permanent.”
Court says his son Paul has a very exciting son of Stunin Cullen in training called Ready To Rumble.
He qualified as a juvenile back in April and was subsequently put aside, but resumed at the Rangiora workouts on Wednesday with a win.
“He’s a very nice animal and there is also a half-brother to Terror To Love there too (Stunin Love) that we think a bit of.”
Court says the harsh reality of the commercial stallion game is that sires can be made or broken by their first crop.
“It’s a tough old game, the stud business.
“We’re more than happy with what we’ve got but we had to be realistic about the support he might get here this spring.”
To date, Stunin Cullen has had six qualifiers from his first crop of 54 live foals
Subsequently, he had crops of 24 and 12 hit the ground while he served 23 mares last season.
On the track he was a freakish talent, winning 18 races and nearly $1.5 Million under the tutelage of Tim Butt.
He was crowned the champion three-year-old colt in 2009 after winning the Sires Stakes Final, Sales Series Final and Great Northern Derby.
His crowning glory as an older horse came in 2011, when he won the time-honoured Hunter Cup in Victoria, just a week after victory in the Ballarat Cup, both Group 1 events.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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