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Boutique Victorian breeder Grant Sheldon from Macedon Park is celebrating the sale of his race mare Delectation Girl. In an exclusive interview with The Impact, Sheldon discusses the advantages of a digital sales platform that helped him secure a top price for his mare, his favourite reading choices and his vision for a better racing industry.
Q: Please tell us about your boutique farm Macedon Park and your history with Delectation Girl.
A: Macedon Park is a boutique thoroughbred breeding operation run by Margie and Grant Sheldon in Macedon, Australia (45km North of Melbourne). We have been in operation for 13 years. We usually breed 6 – 8 mares per year, each of whom are typically stakes performed.
Delectation Girl (formerly known as Delectation) was identified as a top-class racing prospect by Australian Bloodstock after she impressively won her first start as a 2yo. We then bought into her. She won her next start in a 2yo Group over six furlongs. From there she was transferred to Andreas Wohler where she again won at her next start, this time as a 3yo over 1600m at Group 3 level.
From there it was off to the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches where she did not handle the soft Deauville track. After a 4th at Group 2 and a 5th in Group 1, she was then able to win another 1600m 3yo Group 3. The decision was then made to send her to the USA to focus on their turf races in a bid to get her a Group 1 victory. Whilst that was a good strategy, the execution was not so good and although she managed a 4th at Group 3 level at Churchill Downs, for the most part, it was a wasted 12 months and she was put through the sales ring at Arqana.
She did not reach her reserve so was then bought back to Australia to race under Kris Lees. Kris got her back into form and she was good enough to run 4th in one of Australia’s premier Group 1 races for Fillies and Mares (beaten by three Group 1 winners and beating a Group 1 winner and six Group 2 winners. She also came 2nd in two Group 3’s.
We then purchased her outright with an intent to race her on for a season and then breeding her. She stepped out for us at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Day 2020 in a 1400m Group 3. She ran some nice races for us with impressive sectional times. She had just run a nice 3rd over 1600m at Flemington but then suffered an injury setback while we were gradually building her up to her first attempt at 2000m. Rather than press on we retired her to be bred in the forthcoming 2021 breeding season.
The market was incredibly strong for Stakes performed mares at the annual Magic Millions Broodmare sale in May. On the strength of that, we decided we would test the market with her whilst be filly comfortable in retaining her to be bred – most likely to Australian Group1 2yo 1200m winner Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa).
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Q: The purchase of Delectation Girl was a sale topper. Were the buyers able to sight the horse before the purchase? Please tell us more about the purchase process.
A: She was entered into the July Inglis Digital sale and was very popular with multiple bidders and multiple inquirers.
As Australian states have been in and out of various stages of Covid lockdown physical inspections were not easy.
However, we were very pleased when one of Australia’s most renowned bloodstock agents, Suman Hedge inquired about her with lots of probing questions and then came to inspect her.
From our perspective, one of the key advantages of the Inglis Digital Platform is the ability to write a compelling narrative about the horse and back this up with photos and videos. When we do this, we attempt to identify and expand upon key selling points and also to be fully frank and open with subsequent inquirers. For Delectation Girl this was all about her international bloodlines that are not readily available in Australia (Dansili, Pivotal and Indian Ridge) plus her stakes race record across three continents. I believe Suman appreciated this and we equally appreciated his frank assessment of her.
Q: Did you expect the sale to get so exciting and so international? Also, did you Suman Hedge to go up to A$245,000 for her?
A: The online auction commenced Friday afternoon.
By Sunday morning the bidding was reasonably slow and then I was very pleasantly surprised to see it run from $80,000 to $240,000. Suman came out to inspect her on Sunday afternoon so I assumed that if he liked her enough he would have been prepared to bid at least $245,000 for her.
Obviously, I was hoping she would run much higher than that.
No further bids were placed on her until shortly before the auction closed when Suman placed his first and only bid and won her.
We were delighted he secured her. He has interests in some of the best stallions in Australia including champion-elect Written Tycoon, former champion first season sire, Zoustar and champion-elect first season sire for this season in Extreme Choice. As such Delectation Girl will now be given every chance to continue her race track success into the breeding barn. I understand she is likely to go to Written Tycoon this season.
Q: Have you purchased any mare digitally earlier this year? And if yes, please tell us about your favorite purchase.
A: No, we are regular sellers on Digital Platform but have not been buyers. This is just circumstantial. We would be happy to buy online.
Q: Which stallion, ever, do you think was the best type?
A: I was fortunate to see Frankel when he had not long retired off the racetrack. I may have been influenced by his outrageous racetrack record but I thought he was a smashing type.
In Australia, I remember seeing the Declaration of War and declaring him as the best type I had seen that season (2104). I wanted to use him, but I decided he would not be commercial in the Australian yearling sales ring. I was right on that front but gee I wish I stuck with my convictions as he produced six stakes’ winners, including a Group 1 Oaks winner and Melbourne Cup winner, from 85 foals that season. Then for good measure, he also had another Group 1 Derby winner from his next crop of only 70 foals. But has not been seen again in Australia since.
Q: Who has been the greatest influence on your life? And why?
A: My parents – taught me about the importance of hard work, openness and integrity.
Q: What would you like to see the change in the industry?
A: In Australia, we are very fortunate to have a vibrant racing industry with strong prize money. No doubt, one of the key drivers of this is the competition between the major state-based Principal Racing Authorities. However, as a by-product of that competition, we now need to get back to a more harmonious National Racing Pattern.
Q: What book are you currently reading? / What film have you immensely enjoyed watching, recently?
A: The demand of running our operation means I get very little time to read – apart from breeding/racing news. I do however enjoy reading when on vacation – usually non-fiction. With Covid travel restrictions that have been unable to happen, so I now have a backlog of reading that includes Winx and Resilience Project.
My favourite movies are older ones that I still enjoy watching again. The Castle, which is an Australian comedy, is my all-time favourite.
I also enjoy We Bought A Zoo as it reminds me a bit of our own journey with Macedon Park.