Vandeek travelling Down Under

THE DUAL Group 1-winning two-year-old Vandeek has just come to the end of his first season at stud, but the grey stallion is not kicking up his hooves on holiday in Newmarket and enjoying the summer season in the UK, rather his bags are being packed for a six-month stint on duty as a shuttle sire in Australia.

The son of Havana Grey, who has stood his first season at Cheveley Park Stud, part-owed by the farm alongside his racing owner KHK Racing, who had such a successful time of it with the horse on the track, has attracted the attentions of a southern hemisphere patron – Arrowfield Stud in the Scone Valley, New South Wales.

The stallion is travelling to his summer (winter) home at the beginning of August for the Australian covering season and Arrowfield’s bloodstock manager Jon Freyer explains that the idea has been something of a long-term plan for the farm.

“He was on our radar during his two-year-old season and when Cheveley Park Stud moved quickly to secure an interest in him, we reached out to explore the possibility of shuttling him,” recalls Freyer. “We’ve done good business with Cheveley Park Stud in the past with Danzero, so it was easy to reignite that relationship and it was a perfect opportunity all round.”

It was Vandeek’s outstanding ability on track that appealed to Arrowfield to consider him as a suitable prospect for Australian breeders.

“He’s a horse who has shown incredible natural ability right from his breeze-up to his first start, through to Group class then Group 1 success, and he had tremendous speed and precocity – qualities that make him very attractive for Australian breeders and buyers,” he outlines.

The Australian industry’s roster is not short of speed stallions, but this desire to shuttle Vandeek shows the enduring need for farms to continue to source those outstanding, once-in-a-generation, class acts. 

And, of course, with Vandeek’s sire Havana Grey making such a huge impression, his stock producing statistics that continue to take him into elite levels, Arrowfield was keen to tap into the Whitsbury Manor Stud’s sire’s apparent genetic prowess; Vandeek is the first son of the exciting sire to travel to Australia.

“Havana Grey is a stallion we’ve been watching closely, his stats are very impressive, he’s obviously pre-potent,” outlines Freyer. “And, like our own Not A Single Doubt, he’s progressed to commercial success on sheer merit. With the strong support he’s now receiving at a new fee level, his future looks very bright.”

In the short time that Vandeek has been at Cheveley Park Stud, his level temperament and amiable personality have endeared the stallion to the Newmarket team, and indeed it will be an emotional, albeit temporary, au revoir for the farm.“He just has this wonderful aura and everybody likes the horse,” smiles managing director Chris Richardson. “When he comes out and stands, he just walks into presence, and everyone likes him as soon as they’ve seen him.

“He has a wonderful temperament – just as an example, at the end of last year we had a drone that was flying above him doing some aerial shots. Most horses would hear something buzzing above them and probably go a bit silly, but he just stood there, interested. The next day, he came out and he looked up again and was asking why he was not being filmed that day, too! He is such a quick learner.”

“We are really excited about the opportunity,” he outlines. “We think it’ll give breeders here the confidence knowing that he’s going to have runners in both hemispheres and, if the Australian market embraces him as much as breeders have here, then I think that just gives more confidence.”

He adds: “The nation is so keen for speed, and I think breeders appreciate the fact that Cheveley Park Stud built its reputation on speed right from Music Boy in the 70s, while obviously Pivotal was a phenomenon for Cheveley Park Stud.

“Australia recognises the fact that Vandeek was such an impressive racehorse, and right from his first gallop in public when he breezed and put in such an impressive time. 

“He was a 625,000gns two-year-old bought by Anthony Stroud, and that sort of says it all, really,

“He just ticks all the boxes with his performance on the racetrack, physically and with his pedigree – he is exciting for Australia with Exceed And Excel on his bottom line. He is an imposing individual, stands at 16.15hh, he’s got great balance and that aura.”