Probabeel set to line up in Saturday's Queen Of The Turf Stakes while Bavella flies the flag in New Zealand in the Sapphire Stakes

On Saturday, the famous Cambridge Stud silks will once again be on show at Randwick when Probabeel (Savabeel), who landed the Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) on February 20, lines up in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m). 

The daughter of Savabeel (Zabeel) will shoot for her fourth win at elite level in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes and the daughter of Savabeel (Zabeel) had her chance in the All-Star Mile (1600m) all but ended when the rain hit Moonee Valley the night before the race and Plumptre is expecting the better ground to see the mare return to her best form. 

"She's only ever let us down a few times," said Plumptre. "The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. We've run her on a heavy track three times now and she hasn't performed and that is the only time she's ever let us down. 

"We are hopefully going into Randwick on Saturday with a Dead4 and she's doing very well. She was disadvantaged in the All-Star Mile because it had rained on the day and it didn't just rain, it absolutely bucketed it down and with the benefit of hindsight we should have pulled her out, but it's always easy to say that after the event. But she's an amazing mare, we're very lucky to have her."

Bred by Waikato Stud, Probabeel is out of Pins (Snippets) mare Far Fetched, meaning she is bred on one of potent crosses the stud book, with the cross represented by 16 stakes winners and she is one three elite level winners bred on the cross, with the others being Savvy Coup and Brambles. 

"She's one of the best products that you can get from Waikato; she's by Savabeel out of a Pins mare. It's just something that's worked time and time again and she's one right out of the box," said Plumptre. 

The yellow and black silks will also be carried by the stud's homebred Bavella (Snitzel), who will run for Lance Noble in the Sapphire Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) later on in the afternoon. 

Plumptre admits the filly could have her work cut out for her in the Group 2, with the biggest threat looking to come from fellow New Zealand raider Entriviere (Tavistock), who beat the daughter of Snitzel (Redoute's Choice) into second in the King's Plate (Gr 3, 1200m) on their last meeting at Ellerslie. 

"We have Bavella in the Sapphire Stakes," said Plumptree. "She probably can't beat the favourite who beat her last time out at Ellerslie, but she's here and she's well and it's obviously the most satisfying thing to have one of your homebreds go well on a signature day, so we'll have our fingers crossed for her. 

"She runs an hour after Probabeel so we'll either be swinging from the rafters or drowning our sorrows."

With exciting shuttler Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) already making waves with his first crop and the imminent arrival of dual Group 1 winner Hello Youmzain (Kodiac), Cambridge Stud’s CEO Henry Plumptre is confident the future is looking bright for the historic New Zealand-based nursery. 

Brendan and Jo Lindsay have undergone what can only be described as a baptism of fire since they purchased the stud off Sir Patrick Hogan in 2017 and 2019 will definitely be a year the pair would be keen to put behind them. 

The first blow came when colic claimed the life of exciting shuttler Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) in August before he covered his first southern hemisphere book of mares. 

This was then followed by the death of promising young sire Burgundy (Redoute’s Choice) in December and in another massive blow to Cambridge a freak accident in the paddock led to the death of Tavistock (Montjeu), who had for a long time been the flagbearer for the stud. 

Fast forward to 2021 and the future of Cambridge Stud is looking extremely positive, with the first crop of multiple Group 1-winning champion Almanzor proving to be resounding success with buying benches in both New Zealand and Australia, while it is about to get more interesting for the Lindsay’s operation when they welcome exciting new stallion Hello Youmzain later this year. 

Plumptre told Racing & Sports Bloodstock that, despite the terrible 2019, the Lindsays’ ongoing enthusiasm for the breeding industry has paid dividends for Cambridge Stud and the New Zealand breeding landscape, starting with their decision to shuttle Almanzor to New Zealand.  

“I think, without patting ourselves on the back, the due diligence that we did back in 2018, particularly that Scott Calder did, paid off,” said Plumptre. “We went and saw Almanzor at Etreham and we talked to Nicolas about him and he gave us a very strong impression that Wootton Bassett was going to go to the next level over the next two years and that gave us a lot of confidence. Wootton Bassett is a good style of horse and Almanzor is just an outstanding type. 

“You can’t do that, in the environment that we work in, without a positive proprietor and Jo and Brendan Lindsay are just that. While they might be relative newcomers to the industry, they are massively enthusiastic about what they’re doing.”

The Lindsays’ enthusiasm to keep Cambridge Stud as a leading player in New Zealand once again came to the fore when they teamed up with Haras d'Etreham to purchase Hello Youmzain shortly after his victory in the Haydock Sprint Cup (Gr 1, 6f) in 2019 and their faith in the son of Kodiac (Danehill) delivered in spades when he subsequently added a second elite level win to his CV on the biggest stage in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) at Royal Ascot last season.

“They had a terrible year in 2019 and it was a learning curve that neither of them deserved, but they picked themselves up and dusted themselves off and got on with it and went and bought another stallion in Hello Youmzain and here we are a few years later and the stallions were full before the end of March and that’s all about momentum,” said Plumptre. 

The Lindsays’ decision to shuttle Almanzor to Cambridge Stud certainly paid off, with 56 of his yearlings from his first-crop having sold for an aggregate $11,243,549 at an average of $200,777, his top colt was purchased by Ultra Thoroughbreds and Baystone Farm for $800,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. 

The faith they have shown in the pair of stallions seems to have paid off, with the stud announcing earlier this month that both the sires books for the 2021 season are full. 

“The momentum that Almanzor created in Europe, and the momentum that his yearlings created here at the sales this year has seen his yearlings go to 25 different training yards across Australia and New Zealand, it’s a fantastic start and I think Hello Youmzain is lucky to have that banner horse performing and we’ve tacked him onto that,” said Plumptre. 

“Hello Youmzain a slightly different bloodline and obviously he was a sprinter, but it’s the same formula. He’s a very good type, a good physical specimen so that we know when we wheel him out in front of our breeder base here in New Zealand that they’re going to like him.”

Hello Youmzain and Almanzor will stand alongside Group 1 winner Embellish (Savabeel) and Plumptre said that, given the current state of racing in New Zealand, they are satisfied to stick with only three stallions for the time being. 

“It’s not a secret that we watch the New Zealand industry with interest to see whether there is a long term recovery there with the enactment of this bill last year with the Messara Report and all of those things that have happened over the last 24 months,” said Plumptre. 

“We would want to see some good traction in the next two to three years and I think that will happen, but you’ve got to rebuild the racing system. 

“You’ve got to have a viable racing system to support your breeding base. At the moment the stud book returns in New Zealand are static; they’re not going down, but they’re not going up but in Australia the numbers are increasing exponentially so we’ve got a lot of catching up to do and that is a note of caution to us with regard to how many stallions we would launch in a calendar year. 

“We’ve been offered a number of horses this year, for example, that we’ve said ‘look they’d be lovely to have’, but we’re launching Hello Youmzain this year and we’ll stick with him. 

“But, down the track, if it’s hand in hand with the industry recovery in New Zealand, yes of course, we would love to stand a good line up of stallions and five or six would not be a problem.”

While most the stud’s horses are trained in New Zealand, Plumptre explained they like to have a certain amount of horses scattered throughout stables in Australia, due to the strong prize-money and also the strength a win across the Tasman has on the pedigree pages of their horses. 

“We’ve got probably 15 - 20 horses in training in Australia, principally because it’s very good for our brand to have horses running around particularly in Sydney and Melbourne but we also have a couple in training in Brisbane as well with Tony Gollan,” said Plumptre.

“Partly to try and get some of that prize-money but also to get that authenticity that it gives a pedigree page when you have Australian form. It’s also to look after the trainers who routinely come to New Zealand and attend the Karaka sales every year and buy yearlings. It’s a fairly blunt instrument but that’s what it’s there for. It’s a model that Waikato Stud have used very successfully for the past 20 years and it’s something that we need to do - brand awareness.”

Recently, Cambridge Stud have forged a strong relationship with David Ellis’ Te Akau operation and their trainer Jamie Richards, headlined most recently by the aforementioned Probabeel, who was purchased by Ellis for NZ$380,000 at the 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale at Karaka. 

“We have the private stable at Karaka run by Lance Noble and we would have 25 horses there,” said Plumptre. “We would have bits and pieces with the stallion syndicates and we would have 10 or 12 with Te Akau and then we would have another dozen scattered around with trainers in New Zealand. We are probably up at around the 50 mark in New Zealand. 

“This is on the basis that if we have something that’s good enough to go to Australia, then it goes to Australia. It might go with the trainer but it might also transfer to another trainer but obviously we’ve been very limited with what we can do with Te Akau for the last 15 months because Jamie hasn’t been able to travel but the whole purpose of our involvement with them is that Richards is something of a phenomenon in the southern hemisphere and he’s been very successful for us and we want to be part of that operation.”

“David [Ellis] remains the single biggest buyer of yearlings on the Australasian circuit pretty much - as a one man entity - and Richards is a very good trainer so the relationship works well for both of us.”