Swettenham Stud

Interview with Ian Rimington, Bloodstock manager/sales and marketing, Swettenham Stud, Nagambie, Victoria

By Virginia Harvey - The Land

Do you think breeding industry bodies are doing enough to encourage more people into owning a broodmare? And any suggestions?

Who are the breeding industry bodies? 

If you mean all the bodies that have a vested interest in breeders providing the product to conduct racing for the next decade, then the answer is an emphatic no.

Have these bodies realised the need for breeders to be encouraged?  I honestly don’t think so.

For racing to continue to fund itself even at its present levels it needs horses.

Warren is no stranger to leading in a winner at headquarters, as he often played the role of deputy for his former boss Lee Freedman.

He learnt a lot under the master trainer and there were never any complaints when Makybe Diva was on the other end of the lead.

Warren is a young man really going places, he has a useful team in work and has the knack of placing them to advantage.

As for Tony Biddle, he hasn't yet wiped the smile off his face and for good reason, he has achieved more that he could have ever envisaged.

To breed a horse and win a race with that horse is the dream of every horse player, and if it just happens to be at Flemington, well that is the pinnacle.

Tony and his wife Julie have quite a few nice mares at their private stud on the Mornington Peninsula, the result of selective breeding.

It all began when Tony's brother Frank bought the mare Zephyrit with a foal at foot for $250 at Yass, the thought being the foal's future was destined to be as a child's pony.

The foal outgrew any thoughts of being a pony. While the mare would be put to stud, her only claim to fame at that stage, was winning one small race and collecting $2,620 for the effort.

Zephrit's stud career had mixed results, however she did produce a winner when mated to Lord Revenir, who was a useful stayer.

Things were pretty depressed over the next decade until she was mated with Adam Sangster's sire Bianconi at Swettenham Stud, Nagambie.

The mare produced a filly, she was back to Bianconi the following year and another filly.

They say that lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place, however that is a fallacy as far as the Biddle family are concerned.

Two matings to Bianconi, and two winners and a dynasty being achieved, who could ask for anything more?

Zephyrip is now 20 but no one has bothered to tell her, so she's up the highway shortly for another date with Bianconi, and he is not likely to complain.

The mare is line bred to Biscay in the third remove and has a double dose of Star Kingdom, which has so often been the recipe for success.

Two winning fillies Coronation Crystal and Coronation Diva, both by Bianconi, will be retained by the Biddle family and if the veteran mare can produce another filly from this season's mating, it will certainly be well received.

A family that was beginning to wear a bit thin has been resurrected by stallion and a mare and a nicking pattern that is working.

Photos: Fiona Tomlin