Astronomer Royal - A Star In The Shed
We knew that Astronomer Royal was a star performer on the racetrack. The Classic winning son of Danzig proved brilliantly fertile over his first book of mares in France this year and he is now continuing on his merry way in our breeding shed, with 18 of his first 19 mares covered tested safely in foal. Read More

He’s Coming!
As we said last month, the initial expectation of Elvstroem when he went to stud was that he would be a sire of Spring three-year-olds. Having headed the Victorian First-Season sires list and with a stakes winning, group placed colt in the shape of Carrara, it can safely be said that Elvstroem made a better than expected start to his stud career. Read More

Astronomer has arrived
The travel and quarantine is all over now and we are delighted to advise that Astronomer Royal has arrived safely here at Blue Gum Farm. Possessing a magnificent skin, beautiful bright eye and an all round healthy appearance, this magnificent son of Danzig has settled in beautifully and quickly made the place his own. Read More

Elvstroem’s Time To Shine
When Elvstroem first retired to stud, the general consensus on the stud prospects of the five time Group 1 winning son of Danehill was that he would get the odd two-year-old, but that his stock would begin to shine at three. Having finished the season as the leading First Season sire in Victoria and with a top 10 finish on the Australian First Season Sires list, it can safely be said that Elvstroem exceeded expectations with his first runners. Read More

Spring Has Sprung at Blue Gum
One of the features of the North East of Victoria is the quality of the land. However tough a dry summer can be, the rejuvenation process never ceases to amaze and this year is no exception. In contrast to many areas of Victoria and indeed the Hunter Valley of NSW, Blue Gum Farm currently enjoys the luxury of rainfall, days of sunshine and quality pasture. Read More

NET Awards Night
North East Thoroughbreds held its annual Awards Night and Dinner Dance on Saturday August 15th at Shepparton’s beautifully appointed Eastbank Centre. During the 2008-09 racing season, the breeding farms of Victoria’s world famous North East region once again provided many highlights. Group 1 winners Littorio and Gallica, Group 2 winner Light Fantastic, Group 3 winners Diplomatic Force and Dan Baroness as well as Stakes winners Berlioz, Black Caviar, Jacqueline Rouge, Just Look and Rok Posta were all raised on the fertile pastures of the North East. Read More

Astronomer Royal DVD
Our DVD on Danzig’s Group 1 Classic winning Miler Astronomer Royal was posted to you with last month’s newsletter. The release of the DVD has certainly caught the attention of many broodmare owners and bloodstock agents who, come late August when Astronomer Royal has completed his Australian quarantine and joined us here at the farm, are organising to come and inspect the stallion. Don’t you miss the opportunity to inspect Astronomer Royal and consider sending your mare to him this season. Just contact us here at the farm to make a time convenient to yourself to visit. If you know of a colleague who would like to receive a copy of the DVD, just let us know and we will arrange for it to be forwarded on to them.

Elvstroem Champion Victorian First-Season Sire
With the 2008-09 racing season now concluded we are delighted to report that Blue Gum Farm is in the fortunate position of being able to add further silverware to its trophy cabinet. At the Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria awards presentation at Caulfield Racecourse on August 1st, Elvstroem was crowned Champion First Season Sire in Victoria by earnings and winners while Last Tycoon (Ire) was again crowned Victoria’s Champion Broodmare Sire. Read More

Churchill first crop impress
Having covered books of 134 and 114 mares in his first two seasons at stud, Churchill Downs continues to maintain his popularity due to the quality of foal he is producing. With the maturation of those first foals towards the 2010 yearling season there is a confident anticipation about how those individuals will be received. Read More

Inkster Again
Blue Gum Farm homebred Inkster (4 m Umatilla - Delgara) is racing most consistently and she added yet another win to her growing record with a dominant performance in the Glasshouse Cafe Handicap (2400m) at Caulfield on July 18th. Rolling up to make her challenge approaching the home turn, Inkster rounded up the opposition and strode to the front halfway up the straight. Jockey Craig Newitt allowed himself the luxury of patting Inkster down the neck as he eased her near the line, some two and a half lengths clear. Read More

Broodmare checklist
Owners planning to transport their Broodmares to Blue Gum Farm for the current season can provide some valuable information prior to your mare’s arrival that will speed her progress into the farm’s wider horse population. The most crucial details we will need are the dates of her last vaccinations for tetanus and strangles and the date of her last drench. Read More

Astronomer Royal popular
Since the announcement that French Classic winner Astronomer Royal (USA) will be standing at Blue Gum Farm in 2009, the level of interest from breeders has been most encouraging. Already there are several high-class mares booked into the Group 1 winning son of Danzig, indicating that the market has accepted him with open arms. Read More
Please note: ASTRONOMER ROYAL DVD IS NOW AVAILABLE. Just phone the office (03 5795 3331) to have a copy posted out.

Inkster holes out at Sandown
Blue Gum Farm homebred Inkster (4yo mare by Umatilla (NZ) ex Delgara by Delgado) is well known for being one of the biggest mares in training. Her latest win on June 13 at Melbourne’s Sandown Park proved yet again that she has the heart to go with her size. Read More

Elvstroem forging a path
The Elvstroem bandwagon continues to gather momentum. As this issue went to press Elvstroem had sired five winners – four of them metropolitan winners highlighted by Frank Tagg’s high-class colt Carrara, winner of the Doomben Slipper (Listed) and placed in the QTC Sires Produce Stakes and Australia Post Stakes. Read More

Helicopter help
Blue Gum Farm prides itself on its pasture maintenance and renovation programme. As we have reported previously, every Autumn we are busy spraying, sowing and fertilising paddocks believing that if you don’t look after your property, it wont look after you.Read More

NET Annual Dinner Dance and Awards Night
We certainly don’t want anyone to miss out on NET’s next function, that is for sure. The NET Annual Dinner Dance and Awards Night will be held on Saturday evening, the 15th of August at the beautifully appointed Eastbank Centre in Shepparton. Read More

1st Stakes winner for Elvis
The running of the Elvstroem 2YO Classic at Swan Hill in northern Victoria this month provides a timely reminder to us that perception and fact are often leagues apart. It is now part of Australian racing folklore that Elvstroem won his only start as a juvenile at the famous June Swan Hill meeting back in 2003. Read More

Astronomer Royal visit
Philip and Patti Campbell recently travelled to Normandy, France to inspect the latest addition to the Blue Gum Farm stallion ranks, Astronomer Royal (USA). Currently winding up his first northern hemisphere stud season at Aliette and Gilles Forien’s beautiful Haras de la Reboursiere et de Montaigu, the Campbell’s found Astronomer Royal in terrific order. “He has a lot of quality about him” commented Philip Campbell on returning. Read More

Leaving his mark
As a racehorse Churchill Downs was typical of the precocious juveniles that made his sire a household name in racing and breeding circles across the country. In particular, being a Stakes winning two-year-old from Danehill’s final crop, placed in both the Magic Millions and Golden Slipper, added to the expectation that has followed Churchill Downs all the way to Blue Gum Farm. Read More

Astronomer Royal
News from Haras de la Reboursière in France is that Danzig’s Group 1 French 2000 Guineas winner Astronomer Royal has taken to his new career with great effectiveness and is working beautifully through a quality first book of mares. From the final crop of his legendary sire, and sire of sires, Astronomer Royal is a very exciting young prospect and one that we are very excited to be associated with. Astronomer Royal’s owners are offering a very interesting ‘Lifetime Breeding Right’ option also. Please contact either Darryl or Philip to discuss. Download the Astronomer Royal Fact Sheet.

Elvstroem results
In the sale ring and on the racetrack, Elvstroem has been meeting with great success in the past month. At the Australian Easter Yearling Sale in early April, his three lots sold averaged a very healthy $135,000. The magnificent brown colt out of Group winner Pravda (NZ) realised $200,000 to the bid of leading Hong Kong owner Mr Kai Fai Leung. This colt, a half brother to Stakes winner Pravana from the immediate female family of Group One winners Cronus and Samantha Miss, will be trained by Elvstroem’s trainer Tony Vasil. Read More

Churchill Downs
Those that have weanlings by Churchill Downs already know but for those that haven’t seen any members of his first crop as yet, take note; respected judges are talking them up! A precocious individual himself, Churchill Downs has produced a wonderful first crop of foals, so much so that the repeat business from broodmare owners last year was excellent. Read More

Umatilla
On April 25 the lightly raced four-year-old gelding Chasm added the Listed VRC Auckland Racing Club Handicap to his impressive record. Having placed at Group level in his previous three starts, jockey Brad Rawiller had to wait patiently for a split on Chasm but when it came, the big chestnut exploded away to win impressively over the Flemington mile. Already a Group 3 winner of eight races from just 17 starts and over $410,000 in earnings, Chasm is quickly shaping as another Umrum or Valedictum for his sire. Whether he reaches the lofty heights of those two chestnut Group 1 winning milers or not, Chasm is the latest in a long line of quality performers sired by the evergreen Umatilla.

Reminder to Breeders
‘Mare Returns’ are lodged by the breeder on an annual basis by telephone or online with the Australian Stud Book. A ‘Live Foal Return’ is lodged within 30 days of the foal’s birth. In the case of ‘No Live Foal’, a Return is lodged 12 months from the last date of service. A ‘Not Served Mare Return’ is lodged for a mare that has previously been to stud but has not been served during the current season. This due date is March 15th. We encourage all breeders to check your records and if applicable, lodge the ‘Not Served Mare Return’ as its due date has passed.

Astronomer Royal
Nothing stands still in this business and now is another exciting time for Blue Gum Farm. We are delighted to announce that we have added the Champion and Classic winning sprinter/miler Astronomer Royal to our stallion roster in 2009. From the final crop of Danzig, Astronomer Royal fulfills everything a breeder in Australia could ask for in a stallion. Read More

Premier Sale wrap
While the market was certainly sticky for some, Blue Gum Farm enjoyed another successful Premier Sale in March. Taking a large draft of 20 to a sale that was held in the aftermath of Australia’s biggest natural disaster was always going to be a difficult task, but our yearling crew had the horses looking in great order so the task was made that bit easier. From the 15 yearlings that Blue Gum Farm sold, the farm grossed $1,147,000 for clients at an average of $76,467. Read More

Net Golf Classic
A beautiful North East Autumn day greeted 63 players at the Euroa Golf Course on March 23 for the annual North East Thoroughbreds (NET) Golf Classic. This year’s Classic was again sponsored by the major Stallion farms in the north east as well as many local business'. Read More

ELVSTROEM OFF THE MARK
The first-crop offspring by Elvstroem have been impressing many good trainers with their prowess and the five-time Group 1 winner showed he can get horses with more precocity than himself following the victory of Viking Legend at Moonee Valley on Saturday. Away sharply and ridden across the field to lead, Viking Legend then had the class and courage to quicken up into the straight and open a winning advantage. Read More

Ruby flies
The John Moloney-trained Flying Ruby swept home from last to land the Swettenham Stud Bow Mistress Stakes at Hobart to become the 37th stakes winner for Rubiton. Following on from Flying Ruby, Annesong then became another stakeswinner for her sire when sweeping home at Caulfield, emphasising just how successful a sire Rubiton has been. Read More

Yearlings under way
Blue Gum's high-class draft of Melbourne Premier yearlings is in the barn and well into their preparation We welcome a visit to inspect any one of our 21 offerings. Simply call the office and we will be delighted to make a time to suit. Read More

Tempest rules Millions
Geoff Harper's fine filly Tempest Tost (3 f Statue Of Liberty - Lady Violet, by Old Crony) registered the biggest win of her career when proving too good for the boys in Saturday's $1 million Magic Millions 3yo Trophy at the Gold Coast. A $72,000 yearling bred by John Barty, Tempest Tost has now won more than $730,000, continuing the fine run of success for her sire Statue Of Liberty (USA). Read More

Aquanita Charity Golf Day
The Aquanita Charity Golf day, held on December 5th, carried a full field to raise awareness for the E.J.Whitten Foundation in support of prostate cancer research. Held in blustery conditions on the picturesque Southern Golf Course, the day was a huge success that featured a lunch, charity auction and an ambrose tournament that succeeded in raising over $12,000 for the foundation. Read More

First-cut Lucerne crop
Blue Gum Farm’s home-grown lucerne crop has yielded an excellent 277 bales. With 92 mm of rain recorded in November and a further 69 mm to the middle of December, Blue Gum’s Dirk Warren is delighted with the fresh growth since the first cut and is looking forward to a second cut as the crop is starting to head back to flower. The lucerne crop, planted 12 months ago, will have a life expectancy of about seven years according to Dirk and will provide valuable nutrition for mares and yearlings for the coming seasons. See More

Another Season Ending
The 2008 breeding season is drawing to a close now and it certainly proves an interesting one for us here at Blue Gum Farm to look back and reflect on. Everything was progressing normally until Tuesday the 7th of October, when Elvstroem was found to be sore in his near hind hoof. Subsequent x-rays confirmed that he had cracked his pedal bone and would have to be withdrawn from breeding duties. Read More

Chasm engulfs rivals
Amidst all the hoopla of the Victorian Spring Carnival it would be easy to overlook the achievement of Chasm in graduating from restricted class to Group winner. The four-year-old son of Umatilla became the 30th individual Stakes winner for his sire when coming with his now trademark booming late finish to land the Group 3 Sandown Stakes on Sandown Classic day. Read More

On Your Marks
READY. SET. GO! Off like a shot is the Elvstroem filly out of Miss Monsoon. A touch of cool weather with some rain in the air is always a tempting formula for foal-play. As her mother, by the aptly named Torrential, busied herself with the green grass on offer, this energetic filly charged about in that joyous manner which make foals great time wasters for those watching the fun. See More

Since 1985, 27 Group 1 winners of 45 Group 1 races have been conceived behind the Blue Gum Farm breeding shed doors
As another Melbourne Spring Carnival nears a successful completion it’s easy to focus on the smiling group of owners at the trophy presentation. The winners circle is the end result of a lot of hard work, in most cases years of planning and preparation. Read More

Churchill Downs First Foals
With the greater portion of the season now behind us the majority of the foalings at Blue Gum Farm have been by Elvstroem, Churchill Downs and Umatilla. While many are very familiar with the progeny of Elvstroem and Umatilla, its been exciting to see the development the Churchill Downs foals have made. To date we’ve had 17 Churchill Downs foals born on the farm. From 134 mares covered in his maiden season that has given us a good take on the type he produces; ‘correct, bold character, strong shoulder with their fathers head. Read More

Lady Violet’s unique record
In a world of change it is reassuring to know that some things stay the same. The Barty name is synonymous with successful thoroughbred breeding in Victoria and the legacy of Ed Barty, founder of Trevenson Park Stud at Maldon, is being carried on by the Barty family. Read More

Dan Baroness - Another Group Winner
Blue Gum bred and sold Dan Baroness enhanced her future Spring prospects with a dominant win in the Champagne Stakes (Gr 3) at Moone Valley on Saturday. The daughter of Statue Of Liberty (USA) looked as though she was again going to be a hard luck story coming to the home straight but once she found some room she quickened impressively to go on and register her first stakes success and the second from the first Australian crop of Statue Of Liberty. Read More

Chasm opens up
The highly-promising Heath Connors-trained four-year-old Chasm made a winning reappearance when defeating a strong field in grand style in a $50,000 Sprint at Benalla. Making his first start since returning from Queensland where he was a leading fancy for the Queensland Guineas until illness forced his withdrawal, Chasm burst through late in the straight to score comfortably in the fashion of a horse destined for bigger things. Read More

TBV Awards
Blue Gum bred and sold Dan Baroness enhanced her future Spring prospects with a dominant win in the Champagne Stakes (Gr 3) at Moone Valley on Saturday. The daughter of Statue Of Liberty (USA) looked as though she was again going to be a hard luck story coming to the home straight but once she found some room she quickened impressively to go on and register her first stakes success and the second from the first Australian crop of Statue Of Liberty. Read More

Farm Sustainability Field Day
Blue Gum bred and sold Dan Baroness enhanced her future Spring prospects with a dominant win in the Champagne Stakes (Gr 3) at Moone Valley on Saturday. The daughter of Statue Of Liberty (USA) looked as though she was again going to be a hard luck story coming to the home straight but once she found some room she quickened impressively to go on and register her first stakes success and the second from the first Australian crop of Statue Of Liberty. Read More

Inkster update
Blue Gum bred and sold Dan Baroness enhanced her future Spring prospects with a dominant win in the Champagne Stakes (Gr 3) at Moone Valley on Saturday. The daughter of Statue Of Liberty (USA) looked as though she was again going to be a hard luck story coming to the home straight but once she found some room she quickened impressively to go on and register her first stakes success and the second from the first Australian crop of Statue Of Liberty. Read More

Blue Gum Stallions honoured
Blue Gum Farm was the proud recipient of three awards at the annual North East Thoroughbreds Awards dinner held in a magnificent marquee by Lake Nagambie on August 9. Statue Of Liberty (USA) took out the Goulburn Valley Equine Hospital Leading Freshman Sire Award as a result of his first crop’s wonderful achievements. Read More

This month we provide an insight into the steps we follow to produce you a healthy foal and to get your mare back in-foal.
This article is divided into two sections; dry mares and foaling mares. Read More

Princess Gisella Wins Cockram Stakes
Group 1-winning former Blue Gum Farm shuttler King Charlemagne (Nureyev-Race The Wild Wind, by Sunny's Halo) added a group success when 4YO mare Princess Gisella (King Charlemagne-Donvamore, by Rubiton) made it 3 successive wins with a 0.75-length victory in the $100,000 Group 3 Cockram Stakes. A $40,000 yearling from the fraft of Blue Gum Farm at the 2006 Inglis Melbourne Premier Sale now has 5 wins & 6 placings from 18 starts for $335,000 earnings. Read More

Statue takes title
Statue Of Liberty has joined our foundation sire Noalcoholic, Rancho Ruler, Umatilla, Kenvain and Encosta De Lago as a Champion Victorian First Season Sire from stud duties at Blue Gum Farm. A son of the remarkable Storm Cat from a peerless stallion producing female family, the true value of Statue Of Liberty is just being realised here now. With many anticipating his stock improving with maturity as they fill out their typically athletic frames, his record here will only be enhanced in the years ahead. Read More

Encosta highlights local success
Having been runner-up in three of the past four seasons to Danehill, Redoute’s Choice and Flying Spur, the former Blue Gum Farm resident Encosta De Lago has been crowned Australian Champion Sire for season 2007/2008. Standing his first season with us in 1997 for a fee of just $8,500, it is a remarkable result when one considers that all his runners, bar his two-year-olds, were conceived at Blue Gum Farm. Read More

More positive feedback
From a first season live foal crop of 139 there is no shortage of young Elvstroem two-year-olds that are being broken in and educated to stable life at the moment. We have spoken to a number of breakers and trainers and steadily they’ve been adding to a very positive outlook for the breed. Read More

Inking the Brand
‘From little things, big things grow.’ It may be the title of a Paul Kelly/Kev Carmody tune but it is a phrase that is certainly apt of the Mick Price-trained Melbourne Cup hopeful Inkster. The Umatilla filly, a half-sister to the Group placed six-time city winning Sorenstam, was bred and is raced by Blue Gum Farm. She stands an imposing 17 hands high and having just turned four, she is a lightly raced, Group placed Stakes winner and fully qualified for this years Cup. Tell a potential yearling buyer they could have that two years down the road and they’d surely rush your door. Read More

Circles strikes Gold
Since our breeding landscape was revolutionised following Danehill’s first season at Arrowfield Stud in 1990, the Australian thoroughbred has built a growing reputation on the world scene through high quality racing. With the addition of this new gene pool, mares from Australia and New Zealand are now sought after with extraordinary purchasing power. Just prior to us going to press, the Danehill mare Milanova sold for $5 million! Not in their wildest dreams would Messrs Tagg, Meduri and Moffitt have thought that a mare could be worth such an amount 13 years earlier when their filly out of the Zamazaan mare Olympic Aim broke her maiden in Sydney. Read More

Paddock Improvements
As we head into winter, a time the horse population is at its lowest, Blue Gum Farm has just completed its annual pasture improvements. Bob Howie and his maintenance team have been on a tight schedule to complete the spraying and fertilizing of the entire property as well as the ongoing project of progressive re-sowings. Read More

Park Heiress
Special congratulations must go to our good friend Frank Meduri. Frank has a number of mares in residence at Blue Gum Farm, none more important now than Park Heiress, the half-sister to this year’s Epsom Derby winner New Approach. Frank purchased the Sadler’s Wells mare at the 2007 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $38,000. Read More

Umatilla – Proven value
Breeders looking for a proven stallion at a fantastic value fee this season need go no further than our very own Umatilla. The 1988 first foal of the 1983 Nijinsky mare Dancing Show, who has gone onto be the cornerstone of the most desirable bloodline in Australia, Umatilla was the first stallion from this branch of the Best In Show line to stud. In subsequent years he has been joined in these ranks by his half-brother Hurricane Sky, Platinum Scissors, Al Maher and the 2006/2007 Champion Sire Redoute’s Choice. Like Umatilla, all were Group 1 winners. Read More

Argonaut Update
News from the Lee Freedman stable has been nothing but positive with regards last seasons Champion South African two-year-old colt Argonaut. The striking chestnut, a dual Group 1 winning juvenile in his native land, was sent to Freedman’s Rye base in February after travelling to Australia and spelling here at Blue Gum Farm. “Lee came up to the farm in late January to look at the horse and we sat down and mapped out a plan then,” said Philip Campbell recently. Read More

Elvstroem’s rising two-year-olds
Much has been written about the manner in which the first crop progeny of Elvstroem were received at Australia and New Zealand’s major yearling sales, suffice to say that they generated terrific competition from all corners. It’s worth reflecting on the fact that from the 64 yearlings sold at the five major yearling sales (New Zealand Premier, New Zealand Select, Melbourne Premier, Magic Millions Gold Coast and Sydney Easter) Elvstroem returned an average of $115,789 and overall his yearlings grossed over $7.86 million across the two countries. Read More

Umatilla Inks quality
Six days after Valedictum’s Stakes win, Umatilla was to the fore again with a double to a pair of three-year-old fillies, one of whom became his 29th individual Stakes-winner in the process. Highlighting the versatility of this beautifully bred son of Miswaki, the Wayne Nicholls-trained Devil May Care (Umatilla) won her third race from eight starts in the Tasman Handicap over 1,000 metres. Three races later and the Blue Gum Farm home-bred Inkster (Umatilla) put up a sterling performance in the VRC St Leger over 2,800 metres which saw her dead-heat for first with the classy South Australian-trained filly Moment In Time. Read More

Darryl Sherer joins the team
With the start of the 2008 stud season fast approaching, we are delighted to announce that Darryl Sherer has joined our team and is now based on the farm looking after Client Relations and Stallion Bookings. It is a case of the wheel turning full-circle for Darryl as he was given his first job in the industry by the late Graham Campbell, learning his trade at the ripe old age of 16 in the pedigree section of Wright Stephenson & Co at their old offices in Flemington. Read More