2022-23 season in review

Aug 1, 2023

Proven Thoroughbreds isn’t naïve enough to think that every season will be like 2022-23 but that doesn’t mean we won’t celebrate it!

For the first time in a single season, our horses crashed through the $10 million barrier which says as much about the prizemoney increases as it does about the quality of horse we have been blessed with over the last 12 months. Of our 48 winners for the season, 12 were at stakes level, equating to a 25% stakes winners/winners strike rate.

The obvious highlight was the emergence of star galloper THINK ABOUT IT, whose meteoric rise started in a provincial maiden this time last year before claiming back-to-back Group 1 victories over the Queensland carnival.

In the spring, it was all about PRIVATE EYE. The son of AL MAHER cemented his status as one of the best sprinters of his generation with his agonisingly close second in the Everest bookended by wins in the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes and $3 million Nature Strip Stakes.

Then STOCKMAN gave us the privilege of participating in the Melbourne Cup for the first time. Though he finished a well beaten 8th, the experience was unforgettable and we derived a great sense of pride from having one of the few Australasian-born runners.

Throw in the ageless SCALLOPINI, and stakes winning females STROLL and BETTER GET SET, we couldn’t have asked for a better season of results and we have our trainers, spelling farms, vets, farriers and owners to thank.

STAR PERFORMERS

THINK ABOUT IT

Perhaps the most exciting horse in Australia at the moment. To go from a provincial maiden to a dual-Group 1 winner in less than 11 months is virtually unheard of. Every time the bar was raised, he jumped it and comfortably too. Claimed the Kingsford Smith Cup under weight-for-age conditions before winning Queensland’s flagship race the Stradbroke Handicap. We still don’t know where his ceiling is but we are certainly looking forward to finding out in the spring.

PRIVATE EYE

Not much went right for him in the autumn but in the spring he was simply sublime. Resuming with a devastating win in the Group 2 Gilgai Stakes, he went on to beat all bar GIGA KICK in The Everest before another stunning triumph in the Nature Strip Stakes. In a four start campaign, the son of AL MAHER netted his connections more than $4.25 million in prizemoney!

SCALLOPINI

What more can you say about this horse? He just keeps getting better with age and has a clear penchant for the Flemington 1400m circuit, winning three stakes races over the track and distance last season. With 13 wins from 43 starts, the now 9YO gelding would have to be one of the most durable horses in training at the moment. He’s currently having a well earned break before targeting the QLD summer and VIC autumn carnivals.

STOCKMAN

Most people in racing can only dream of ever having a Melbourne Cup runner. Indeed, we dreamt a long time before STOCKMAN forced his way into the 2022 field. These days the race is dominated by international visitors and imports so to have had an Australasian-bred runner selected as a yearling may well be Proven Thoroughbreds’ greatest achievement. As it turned out the son of TAVISTOCK ran an unlucky 8th in Australia’s greatest race but we couldn’t have been prouder. Earlier that spring, the gelding had won the ATC St Leger and ran fourth in the Group 1 Metropolitan.

2022-23 Proven Stakes results

Horse Starts 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
THINK ABOUT IT 4 4
PRIVATE EYE 7 2 1 1
SCALLOPINI 7 3 1 1
STOCKMAN 12 1 2
BETTER GET SET 4 1 1
STROLL 5 1 1
OCEAN TREATY 1 1
CONTEMPTUOUS 3 1 1
SNIPPY FOX 3 1

 

ONES TO WATCH

SPIN DOCTOR

An impressive winner on debut in Saturday company at Eagle Farm, SPIN DOCTOR went on to run an unlucky third in the $500,000 QTIS 2YO Jewel. He’s a horse the O’Dea-Hoysted stable have a lot of time for. Look out for him in the spring, especially over 1400m and beyond.

SHOT OF WHISKEY

Another smart debut winner who subsequently contested the QTIS Jewel. Whilst he didn’t have a lot of luck in the big one, he lost no admirers and showed he has come back well with an easy trial win last week.

ACCREDITED

Joe Pride has taken his time with this gelding and it’s starting to pay dividends. Now a 4YO, he showed a sharp turn of foot to win his first start at Nowra in June before catching the eye when third around Gosford. He’s gone out for a break now and will be all the better for it.

SIRES ON FIRE

CAPITALIST

His 149 winners last season was head and shoulders above any other third-season sire and placed him in the top 15 sires overall. Interestingly 12 of his 14 stakes winners attained black type status as 2YOs. APPIN GIRL, LAZZAGO & SOVEREIGN FUND were CAPITALIST’s juvenile stakes winners in 2022-23 and one feels there is plenty more to come.

CAPITALIST x SILKY MOVER filly (Kerry Parker)
2.5% share = $5,750 inc GST

RUBICK

A memorable season for Swettenham Stud’s acquisition with the likes of JACQUINOT, OPAL RIDGE and SHADES OF ROSE putting RUBICK’s name up in lights. Standing for a fee of $27,500 this spring, he’s arguably the best value stallion in the country.

RUBICK x CAPRICE colt (Joe Pride)
2.5% share = $3,250 inc GST

RIBCHESTER

Too often our breeders don’t know what they’ve got until it’s gone (see DECLARATION OF WAR & NIGHT OF THUNDER!). So, to see a promising northern hemisphere stallion return to this part of the world for a fourth consecutive season is certainly refreshing and may well turn out to be a masterstroke if RIBCHESTER’s early stats are anything to go by. Read more HERE…

RIBCHESTER x ANICETA gelding (Joe Pride)
2.5% share = $5,200 inc GST

LOOKING AHEAD

The last couple of seasons have seen record prizemoney increases, partly due to warring racing jurisdictions (yes we are looking at you NSW and Victoria). Whilst a united industry would be ideal, the relentless prizemoney injections and introduction of new big money races has been a welcome side effect.

One criticism of the prizemoney boom is that it has been too ‘top heavy’. In other words, the focus has been on the elite races and so the benefits of such prizemoney increases are only felt by those fortunate enough to have a top class horse (a very small percentage of the racing population).

As calls for changing the allocation of prizemoney have grown louder, the powers that be are finally starting to listen.

Maidens, the first and often the most important milestone in a racehorse’s career, have been boosted significantly for the 2023-24 season. The Inglis Xtra initiative will add $100,000 to the winners’ cheque of 50 maiden races while Racing NSW has forked out $6.5 million towards maiden races from September 1. See details below:

• Metropolitan Super Maidens will be run weekly at midweek metropolitan programs for prizemoney of $100,000

• Two Provincial Super Maidens will be run each week carrying prizemoney of $60,000

• A Country Super Maiden will be run at one Country TAB meeting each week as well as at all 65 Showcase meetings for prizemoney of $50,000

This is a much-needed restructuring of prizemoney in NSW and gives owners a far better chance of recouping their initial investment.

Meanwhile, QLD prizemoney also received a significant injection this year on the back of changes to wagering taxation. As well as having the best incentive scheme in the country (QTIS), QLD will return more than $260 million in prizemoney in FY24. To put that into perspective, FY17 delivered $133 million!

We hope to see you in the winners’ circle soon…

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