With the breeding season in full swing in Australia, the new racing season kicked-off in Hong Kong with Swettenham Stud stallion Toronado producing a winner at the first meetings at Sha Tin and Happy Valley.

He had the aptly named Victor The Winner scoring on debut at Sha Tin by three and a quarter lengths, while Beauty Glory won at Happy Valley.

Swettenham principal Adam Sangster said Toronado also had a Group 3 winner at Newcastle last Friday when Wild Chap (Pipkin) won the Cameron Handicap (1500m).

The six-year-old is out of Toronado’s first crop.

Sangster said Toronado remains one of the most popular horses in Victoria and describes the stallion as a great blue chip investment.

“Breeders know they are going to get a commercial return on investment,” he said.

And Sangster said that taking Toronado (High Chaparral x Wana Doo) and new stallion Wooded (Wootton Bassett x Frida La Blonde) to show them off recently to the New South Wales breeding industry at Ridgmont Farm was an outstanding success.

“Ridgmont who hosted us is a really good, new operation in Scone and it wasn’t a fact of who was there, but rather who wasn’t there,” Sangster said.

“People were very impressed and appreciative of us bringing the two stallions to them.

“The industry has seen Toronado and Wooded and if they are at the sales and are bidding on one of the yearlings, they can say that they saw Toronado and this particular yearling looks like him and they’ll go the extra bid.

“And it’s the same for Wooded and his yearlings.”

Sangster said Wooded had been extremely well received and his fertility is so far 100 per cent.

Sangster said no one had ever taken their stallions on an interstate road trip for a show and tell.

Asked if he was a risk to travel the valuable horses interstate, Sangster said: “Don’t forget that these two horses have just travelled from France to England and then by plane to Australia and have then been quarantined.

“There is always a risk when you deal with that but the owners encouraged us and we just had to alert the insurance company.”

But Sangster said the benefits of the trip far outweighed the risks.

He said that Toronado’s progeny that are racing now are off his $22,000 service fee, but has had some blue hen mares coming to him over the past two years. His 2020 service fee rose to $49,500 and this season has been set at $88,000.

Sangster said Hong Kong had a thirst for Toronado and that’s where a lot of his colts and geldings were going.

And with Toronado no longer shuttling and permanently based at Swettenham Stud, Sangster said it was pleasing that the stallion is doing such a good job in Australia.

“And when your talk about risks, this stops the risk of misfortune happening when he travels back overseas,” he said.

“He still generates in Europe, but the owners appreciate the commerciality of him down here, now that he has done eight seasons here, and that they should make it his permanent residence.”

Sangster said that looking back when Toronado stood his first season at Swettenham in 2015, breeders didn’t know what his yearlings were going to look like.

“And you hope by his actual physical looks, he has such muscle definition, that he would throw very nice yearlings and foals and of course he has done that.

“They are very well presented sale’s horses which is very important to the market.”

Sangster said Toronado’s progeny would win a rosette at every event as they are truly blue ribbon.

The Hong Kong trainer of four-year-old Victor The Winner, Danny Shum, has given the gelding plenty of time to develop said he won’t rush the gelding back to the races.

“This sire, you can’t chase them too hard – most horses from this sire need a little bit of time, four to six weeks is better than two weeks,” Shum said.

“Then they can grow in confidence and keep developing.”

Shum said he can’t see any problems with the gelding in Class Three and predicts there plenty of wins in him.