Boutique farm Rheinwood Pastoral has embraced the concept of a business ‘pivot’. The idea is to take action and change the direction of a business to meet the needs of the market, and over the past few years, Rheinwood Pastoral has gone through a positive process of refreshing their bloodstock, upgrading broodmares, and renovating pastures to pivot towards more success.
Kirsty Willis talked to Bluebloods about their draft and the changes. “We’ve done a lot of work in the last few years at Rheinwood to transform our operation. The farm has had many successes in the past, but you can’t rest on your laurels in this business, we saw the need to evolve and streamline our operation to remain competitive in the market place. The appointment of our new stud manager Dee Foster in July 2019 has been an integral part of this journey. Dee joined us as our Stud Manager following on from a successful five years at Amarina Farm as Yearling Manager. Her dedication and work ethic is second to none and this flows through to our whole team. We are really proud of the steps we have taken, and the progress we continue to make here at Rheinwood. There are many exciting times ahead for us!”
“We have some exciting two year-old graduates coming along from our 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast draft that we are hearing good reports about, including Miss Shalaa (Shalaa) purchased by Dynamic Syndications, Dream Witness (Star Witness) purchased by First Light, Sacred Field (Deep Field) purchased by Darby Racing, and Kinetic (I Am Invincible) purchased by Tony Gollan. From our 2019 draft, Dewhurst (Kermadec) won on debut this spring for Archie Alexander. He was purchased by Bennett Racing and we kept a share in him too.”
The 2021 draft for Rheinwood Pastoral shows their renewed focus on emerging stock with all five yearlings by young stallions at the early stages of their stud careers. The sole filly is Lot 607 by Deep Field, sire of Gr.2 winner and Gr.1 placed Xilong, out of Occasio (Snitzel) who is a half-sister to Listed winner Insistence, from the family of Outback Barbie. This filly is Occasio’s second live foal, and the other is Deladies Boy who is a city winner of four races.
Stud Manager Dee Foster said, “The Occasio filly by Deep Field has been a stand out since she was a foal, she is a smart, athletic filly who looks a runner. She is very sweet and has a great nature. She is a pleasure to work with and very trainable.”
A colt by Royal Ascot and Coolmore Stud Stakes winner and first season sire Merchant Navy, Lot 252, is certain to grab buyer’s attention as his sire should be in high demand being the winner of two sire making races. This colt is the second foal of Elegant Air (So You Think), a half-sister to Gr.1 Champagne Stakes winner Go Indy Go, and group winner Essay Raider. This is a strong family that contains the likes of Southern Speed and Ha Ha.
“Our Elegant Air colt by Merchant Navy is a lovely colt from a very good running family.
He is compact and has a very nice action, and I think he will appeal to much of the buying bench at Magic Millions.” By Gr1 winner Russian Revolution, whose first crop are going to sale, Lot 251 is a colt whose dam, Electric Charge (Charge Forward) is a winning half-sister to group winner Miss Darcey, from the family of Hurried Choice and Lurestina. Electric Charge has a three year-old and a two year-old both by I Am Invincible about to race, so there might be a decent pedigree upgrade for this colt by the time the sale comes around. It is worth mentioning that Charge Forward mares have already produced many brilliant early 2YOs including two Golden Slipper winners, She Will Reign and Estijaab.
“I love watching this Russian Revolution colt in action, he is a beautiful fluid moving colt that covers the ground very well, he is a striking looking individual with a lot of presence about him.”
Brazen Beau has started his stud career with the quality expected of a Coolmore Stud Stakes winner, and has nine stakes winners at this early stage of his career. His colt, Lot 487, is the first foal of Lost Without You who is from the family of Gr.1 winners Dealer Principal, Drum, Anamato, and the very tough Grand Armee. There has been a spectacular update to this pedigree with Anamato being the dam of this season’s crack 2YO, the Merson Cooper winner Anamoe.
“This colt is a good sized colt with a big overstep and nice free action. He has a great temperament and is pleasure to work with, nothing fazes him, he will be a trainers dream.”
Proven Gr.1 sire Smart Missile will round out the Rheinwood Pastoral draft with a colt, Lot 315, who is the first foal of Five Card Charlie, a daughter of Premier’s Cup-Listed winner Break Card from the imported family of Gr.1 winner Yosei, and tracing back to Nassipour.
“This colt continues to impress me. He is a good looking, intelligent, athletic colt. He takes it all in his stride as he is progressing through the preparation. The sire is certainly doing a great job at the moment and should have great appeal to many buyers.”
A change in direction and a focus on quality for Rheinwood Pastoral has led to a select draft of yearlings with strong pedigrees. As they say, bred in the cold, hot on the track!
