Ideally situated at Wingen, just 18km north of Scone in prime Hunter Valley breeding territory, Tim and Celie Nolan’s Murrulla Stud is a nursery well respected for growing out classy racehorses. We had a chat to Tim as he gets ready for the 2020 Magic Millions…
What appeals to you most about the MM sales and race series?
It is a great race series and the good buying bench is of great appeal for vendors, plus it is a terrific atmosphere.
How would you sum up your farm and the service you offer?
We are a small family run farm in operation since June 2008, offering broodmare care, yearling sale preparation and spelling.
How many mares did you breed with in 2019, who is the best known?
25 of our own and 60 for clients, it has been a busy season. We have the Strategic mare Mignard, dam of the triple Group One winner Le Romain as well as the lovely dams of our Magic Millions draft.
How would you summarise your draft this year?
It is a good, even draft and we are particularly pleased with Streama’s Medaglia d’Oro colt who looks a real ready to run type whilst our Deep Field colt is a lovely, forward type. The Stratum Star is another to catch the eye and we are happy to be offering for the first time a filly out of Catseye Surprise who we raced to a Doomben victory.
Lot 429 chestnut colt by Deep Field from Juste Si (by Exceed And Excel): his eight times winning dam is a half-sister to the dam of Singapore stakes winner Constant Justice from the family of big race winners Mentality, Mr McCartney, Fara’s Team and Concern. Deep Field, who has made such a great start to his stud career, has already sired three winners out of Exceed And Excel mares.
Lot 819 bay colt by Medaglia d’Oro from Streama (by Stratum): bred on the same Medaglia d’Oro/Danehill cross as the Group One winners Vancouver, Flit, Crown Prosecutor and Astern, he is a son of an outstanding race mare who won ten races including the ATC Oaks-Gr.1,2400m, the Flight Stakes-Gr.1, 1600m, the George Main Stakes-Gr.1, 1600m and the Doomben Cup-Gr.1, 2000m.
Lot 892 chestnut filly by Winning Rupert from First Blossom (by Giant’s Causeway): hailing from the debut crop of a super fast son of Written Tycoon, she is a half-sister to the stakes winner Spring Choice from the wonderful Korveya family that has produced the Group One gallopers Hector Protector, Bosra Sham, Cira, Shanghai and Internallyflawless.
Lot 897 bay colt by Stratum Star from Glorious Lady (by King’s Theatre): from the first crop of a dual Group One winner, he is out of a city winning mare whose four to race are all winners, between them winning 20 races. His grandam is the stakes winner Boisterous Lady, dam of Group One filly Rena’s Lady and the Group winners Vatuvei and Raise.
Lot 940 brown filly by Your Song from Muy Bien (by Encosta de Lago): first foal for a metropolitan winning daughter of the Tesio Stakes-Gr.3, 1600m winner Matras from the family of dual Group One winner Prized Icon.
Lot 991 bay filly by Your Song from Space Odyssey (by Stratum): half-sister to two winners out of a half-sister to the speedy Group winners Sanziro and Flying Object. Grandam is the five times Group winner Will Fly.
Lot 1011 bay colt by Pierro from Volante (by Snitzel): bred on the same Pierro/Redoute’s Choice cross (one which boasts a 75% strike rate; 15.9% stakes winners) as the Group One gallopers Levendi and Arcadia Queen, he is the first foal for a city placed three times winning daughter of the US stakes winner Louis Leggs.
Lot 1044 bay filly by Flying Artie from Catseye Surprise (by Testa Rossa): the first crop of her Coolmore Stud Stakes-Gr.1, 1200m winning sire are bound to prove popular and this filly is out of a multiple city winner from the same branch of the prolific Eight Carat family as Group winners Quilate, Fair Trade, Fiscal Fantasy and Impaler and the speedy Listed winner Jonker.
What product would you stockpile if you found out they weren’t going to make anymore?
At the moment I would say hay and grain!
In 40 years what will people be nostalgic for?
I don’t know but I hope I will be around to find out.
If your job gave you a surprise three day paid break to rest and recuperate, what would you do with those three days?
I would take the family to the beach and throw my phone away.
