Jungle Cat after winning at Caulfield under James Doyle – his first yearlings down under are selling on the Gold Coast
‘Building’ is the operative word for Telemon Thoroughbreds’ principal Dan Fletcher and next week the flourishing Queensland stud will add a sizeable new brick to its ever-strengthening structure when they present their first draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
“It’s exciting for us, it’s a milestone,” Fletcher told ANZ Bloodstock News. “We have a handful of Book 1 horses and some nice ones for Book 2 as well. But we’re all very much looking forward to it.”
“It’s a nice little building block for us this year, and next year we’ll certainly look to have more of those Book 1-type of yearlings. And the mares that we’ve bought this year, we’re building further still.”
Fletcher and his wife Rae acquired the Innisplain-based property in 2016, rebranding it Telemon Thoroughbreds in 2018, with the stud first consigning yearling drafts in 2019. Their Magic Millions National Yearling Sale draft of that year featured a So You Think colt that sold for A$250,000.
This year’s season-opening Gold Coast yearling sale marks their first foray on to the vendors’ list of one of Australia’s two major yearling auctions, and the team present a 12-strong draft, including three fillies and a colt in Book 1.
‘Building’ is a wholesome project for Fletcher, from building up the property – Telemon acquired neighbouring Running Creek Stud last year – to building the right team of individuals and, indeed, a noteworthy strategy to build the all-important families that make up part of their burgeoning broodmare band. It is an investment that leaves their 2022 yearling offerings with plenty of potential upside.
A key glue in the making of this year’s yearling draft has been the move to build an outstanding team to facilitate their ambition, and for 2021 Fletcher lured yearling manager Vincent Kierans from South Australia’s Mill Park Stud to Queensland to oversee the preparations of Telemon’s sale consignments.
Since 2016, Mill Park has produced no fewer than 16 individual stakes winners from its yearling consignments.
“The yearling preparation has gone well and it’s a real credit to the team,” said Fletcher. “We’ve got Vincent Kierans, who has come and done our yearlings for us. Vincent used to work with Mill Park Stud and they need no introduction. This will be the second group of yearlings that Vincent has overseen and he’s got a really good team behind him.
“I’m really happy with the way they’ve come together. It’s been only an eight or nine-week prep but they’ve really shown up beautifully and we’re looking forward to showing them to people.”
This year’s yearling sales carry special importance for Telemon, with the launch of the first yearlings by their globetrotting Group 1 winner Jungle Cat.
Among six Book 2 yearlings on offer by the former Godolphin-raced Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes winner, two are in Telemon’s draft; a colt out of the stakes-placed Shovhog mare Startling Pleasure (lot 996) and filly out of Casual Witness from the family of dual New Zealand Group 1 winner Ray’s Hope (lot 1091).
Fletcher said: “It’s particularly exciting to launch his first yearlings, and especially with our two to see them come through that sales process and how they’ve coped. They’ve each come through with flying colours.
“The filly, in particular, she’s the second foal of that mare and the first foal was a bit reactive and she was quite headstrong, and it’s a very interesting comparison when you see the Jungle Cats come through and she’s been tractable and has a constitution . . . when you see a pronounced difference like that it really grabs your attention. If that’s how they all take to the yearling prep, you’ve got to get excited about their prospects for the racetrack as well.”
Former Haunui Farm shuttler Iffraaj is a stallion responsible for four Group 1 winners among 29 stakes winners from his southern hemisphere-bred crops, and his sire-sons have enjoyed noteworthy success in recent years, representing a sireline which is set to yet again rise to prominence in the coming period through the likes of shuttlers Ribchester, Wootton Bassett and his Cambridge Stud-based son Almanzor.
Furthermore, European stallion Hot Streak celebrated a first-crop Group 1 winner last year, courtesy of A Case Of You in the Prix de l’Abbaye.
“It’s been fascinating to see how influential Iffraaj has become,” enthused Fletcher. “I had a look at some of the mares that Wootton Bassett had covered and it’s a ‘who’s who’ list of mare.
“That sireline is really emerging and as a performer on the racetrack Jungle Cat is up there with them, so he’s got a really good profile to start with and then when all the foals came out with his really distinctive structure, he’s really put his stamp on them.
“He’s a good racehorse and he looks pre-potent genetically, so the next thing is we’ll all see together whether they can run, but they certainly look like they will.”