Victorian-based stallion Toronado (Ire) topped the sire’s list by gross over the two days with 13 sold for $3.68 million, while Zoustar and Written Tycoon came in second and third with almost identical aggregates at $2.18 million and $2.16 million respectively.
“I absolutely love him,” said Gilgai Farm’s Rick Jamieson of Swettenham Stud’s Toronado (Ire) and whilst we may put that down to this week’s stellar results as the reason for that, the fact is that Jamieson has been on the Toronado bandwagon from day one.
He bred the G1 Sussex Stakes and G1 Queen Anne Stakes winner’s first Group 1 winner Masked Crusader; the G1 William Reid Stakes winner who he sold for $340,000 to the Hawkes stable at the 2018 Inglis Premier.
Toronado (Ire) | Standing at Swettenham Stud
Three of his 11-strong draft at this year’s sale are sons of Toronado and each sold well, exceptionally so in fact with the equal sale-topping $1 million colt being a Gilgai product.
He went through the ring on Sunday whilst another two sold well on Monday; Lot 322, a three-quarter brother to Masked Crusader fetching $475,000 to the bid of Mulberry Racing and Lot 449 $400,000 to Upper Bloodstock (discussed below).
“Our Toronado colts are beautiful,” Jamieson enthused, “the stand-outs of our draft.”
Sending “six or eight mares to Toronado,” Jamieson currently has six in foal to the horse he said is his “second favourite stallion after Ole Kirk (who he bred).
There is, he told us, so much to like about Toronado.
“He is fertile, he gets them in foal and he sires good types. When a stallion does that, it’s a good start; you are a fighting chance.”
“And I don’t think we have seen the best of Toronado yet as the quality of his books has improved over the last few years.”
“And I don’t think we have seen the best of Toronado yet as the quality of his books has improved over the last few years.” – Rick Jamieson
“Adam Sangster deserves a lot of credit, he has supported Toronado all the way through.”
Swettenham Stud’s Sam Matthews was understandably delighted by the demand for Toronado colts though also a bit disappointed in the response to his fillies.
“The Hong Kong factor is a major part of his sons selling better than his daughters,” he said, “and the fact that he doesn’t yet have a good son at stud.”
“But we are big believers in his fillies as well.”
Matthews is fully aware of the perception that the sire line of High Chaparral (Ire) – and Sadler’s Wells (USA) before him – has been much better represented overall by its boys than its girls, but believes that has been overstated.
Matthews loves the consistency of the stock sired by Toronado.
“You can send a 15.3hh mare to him or a 16.3hh mare and you are going to get the same good type. He has been consistent right from the start. He gets great sales results and they can run.”
Sam Matthews | Image courtesy of The Image is Everything
He is looking forward to even better performances with this yearling crop the first sired by Toronado when his fee was raised from $49,500 incl GST to $88,000 incl GST.
Ross Lao of Upper Bloodstock is an unabashed Toronado fan and when he put in the successful $400,000 bid for Lot 449 it was the fifth time he has bought one of the bay’s yearlings.
Another nice one from the draft of Gilgai Farm, the colt is out of the placed Exceed And Excel mare Segosha whose dam is a half-sister to the Group 2 gallopers Chinchilla Rose (Lion Hunter) and Ferocity as well as the Group 3-winning high-class broodmare Leone Chiara (Lion Hunter).
Lao purchased the horse for Hong Kong where Toronado has been represented by 23 individual winners of 67 races; three stakes winners including the Group 1 sprinter Victor The Winner.
There are several traits of the breed that make Toronado an attractive proposition for Hong Kong racing, Lao noting that “they are very tough, they have the right action, they are a good size with a strong girth and they handle the firm tracks.”
“They are robust and they have great temperaments which makes them so suitable for racing in Hong Kong.”
View the full article here: https://www.ttrausnz.com.au/edition/2025-03-04/five-things-we-learned-on-day-2-at-inglis-premier
