Source: NZ Racing Desk, Photo Bradley Photos

After missing the A$15 million The Everest (1200m), Lost And Running (Per Incanto) is on the hunt for a consolation win in the A$3 million Nature Strip Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

While trainer John O’Shea was disappointed when Lost And Running had to be scratched from The Everest on race morning, he took it on the chin, even finding positives in the subsequent victory of the Clayton Douglas-trained Giga Kick.

“We took the disappointment early in the week and lamenting about what may or may not have been will only depress you, so we just moved on,” O’Shea said.
“But I’ve got to say, I thought the race got the best story out of the result with the young kid winning it.

“From my point of view, there are always positives to come out of everything. It would have been nice for us to have won, we would have been rapt, but it wouldn’t have been as good of a story.”

A minor lameness issue ruled Lost And Running out of The Everest but he recovered quickly and was kept up to the mark with a barrier trial last week.

O’Shea is happy with his health and fitness and said a victory on Saturday, for which Lost And Running is favourite, would be a handy consolation prize.

“It would be deserving for the horse,” he said. “He is improving and we’re really happy with him. We’ve got him as good as we can get him off a setback.”

The son of Per Incanto was bred by Elsdon Park’s Lib and Katrina Petagna, who retains an interest in the six-year-old gelding, who races in the colours of Carl Holt, with partners including Frank and Christine Cook and O’Shea’s wife Isabel.

Source: Tim Rowe, ANZ Bloodstock

Petagnas officially take control of Matamata farm once owned by the Hickmans

New Zealand’s Lib and Katrina Petagna’s significant investment in the Australasian racing and breeding industry added a new chapter yesterday, with the official opening of their private stud operation Elsdon Park at Matamata.

The former Valachi Downs property of 600 acres was purchased by the Petagnas in May, leading to a dispersal of Kevin and Jo Hickman’s thoroughbred interests, and the new property has become the private home to their expanding JML Bloodstock portfolio.

“Lib and Katrina and JML Bloodstock have been racing horses for a long time and, once you start racing and racing some fillies, your broodmare band starts growing and all of a sudden you’ve become a (commercial) breeder,” Elsdon Park general manager Kerrie Cox told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.

“The broodmare band’s got up to around 60 and we needed to acquire more land, so it was a great opportunity with Valachi coming up for sale. It’s the most beautiful property with good, rolling country for growing racehorses. 

“It’s very exciting, not just for Lib and Katrina, but for all of us at the farm.”

Cox is well-known in the New Zealand thoroughbred industry, spending 17 years at Waikato Stud prior to a sabbatical which was only ended when the Petagnas reached out to her to head-up Elsdon Park.

She was to work from a 200-acre farm about ten minutes away from Valachi, but the Petagnas changed direction when the opportunity came up to acquire more land.

“There’s another 200 acres, which is actually developed to be a horse property, but at this stage it will be running cattle and that will be a big part of the operation because we do have fewer horses than Valachi had,” she said.

Among the valuable broodmare band under the ownership of the Petagnas are three-time Group 1 winner Lucia Valentina (Savabeel), Zaniah (Zoustar), a three-quarter sister to top stallion Deep Field (Northern Meteor) and Group 1-winning sire Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor), and Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Sofia Rosa (Makfi).

Lucia Valentina is in foal to Australia’s champion stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) carrying a colt while Zaniah, a Listed-winning sprinter, trained by Kris Lees for Petagna, is also in foal to I Am Invincible and has been booked into four-time champion stallion Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) this year.

With a November 18 service date, Lucia Valentina will be assessed once her foal, her fifth, is born as to whether she is mated again in 2022 or given a year off.

Sofia Rosa is in foal to newly minted New Zealand champion first-season stallion Almanzor (Wootton Bassett). and is set to be served by the Cambridge Stud sire again this year.

Petagna also bred and co-owns top-class John O’Shea-trained sprinter Lost And Running (Per Incanto), who is already assured of a slot in this year’s The Everest after running fourth in last year’s $15 million race.

His dam Dreamlife (Danroad) is in foal to Little Avondale’s Per Incanto (Street Cry) and is therefore carrying a sibling to Lost And Running. A decision on who the sister to stakes winner Kiss Me Ketut and half-sister to stakes winners Fast Love (Fastnet Rock) and A Chance To Dream (Volksraad), is mated with this year won’t be made until she foals down.

“Lib has quite a large racing team as well, which we will probably limit a little bit from now on because we’ll be selling more of our horses,” Cox said. 

“The goal will be to be a commercial breeding operation, so we will be selling most of our crop and we won’t be keeping as many fillies, and we will sell yearlings where we feel they’re best suited. 

“We want to support the New Zealand breeding industry as well and, when the time comes, we will work out where they’re best suited on type, matings and definitely Australia is on the cards as well.

“This will be our first year under Elsdon Park. The horses have got a new brand on them this year and it is going to be exciting to sell under our own name for the first time.”

The Petagnas were partners in Blandford Lodge, but to facilitate the acquisition of the Valachi property, they have sold out their share of the business to co-owners Graham and Helen Bax.

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Source: Dennis Ryan, Raceform

“It’s a beautiful farm and from my perspective, it’s got everything we want, all brought together with a high-quality infrastructure.”

The bold move by Wellington entrepreneur Lib Petagna to purchase Valachi Downs, one of Waikato’s premier nurseries, is a huge vote of confidence in the New Zealand thoroughbred breeding industry.
Under his JML Bloodstock banner, Petagna has held a well-established position in the industry. His racing team has included Group One winners Lucia Valentina, Sophia Rosa, Tivaci, Alabama Express and Crown Prosecutor.

His investment grew several years ago when he took a 50 per cent interest in Matamata property Blandford Lodge as a base for his expanding broodmare band. Earlier this year plans were coming together to separate from Blandford, by which Petagna and wife Katrina would establish a new brand, Elsdon Park.

That involved adding another 100 acres to a section of retained Blandford Lodge land, however when the decision was made by the Hickman family to divest their extensive racing and breeding interests, the Petagnas’ attention underwent a significant shift.

“We were in the early stages of building a new infrastructure, but when we learnt that Valachi Downs was coming onto the market, we began negotiations,” Petagna told RaceForm earlier this week.

“We’ll retain the extra land we bought, but the focus with our mares and other bloodstock will concentrate on the Valachi property. It’s a beautiful farm and from my perspective, it’s got everything we want, all brought together with high-quality infrastructure.

“Kevin and Joanna Hickman and their team should be proud of what they’ve achieved and now it’s up to us to make the best of it.”

Valachi Downs, located in the Hinuera Valley some 10 kilometres south-west of Matamata, began as a boutique property that gradually expanded to now encompass more than 600 acres. Its mix of flat to easy rolling country is ideal for the breeding and rearing of horses.

“The main reason for deciding to expand in the first place was because of the size of the broodmare band which now stands at 52,” said Petagna. “Complementing them are various stallion interests and those along with other stallion choices mean there are no plans at this stage to stand stallions at the Elsdon Park.

“That may change in time, but for now we’ll be concentrating on relocating when we take possession of the new property in August and gearing up for the breeding season and then the summer yearling sales.”

Petagna’s decision centred on the continuation of bloodstock breeding and rearing is welcome assurance that the property will not be lost to the industry. His team includes respected bloodstock agent Bruce Perry and former long-time Waikato Stud senior manager Kerrie Cox.

“Obviously we have now invested in a lot of land, so now it’s time to consolidate. I’m fortunate to have people like Bruce and Kerrie and we’re all looking forward to what lies ahead.

“The overall operation has grown to the stage that it’s definitely a commercial breeding business from now on, but I’m certainly comfortable with that. New Zealand is in a wonderful position given its climate and land and we’ve got a booming market to offer our horses to just across the way in Australia.”

Pristine thoroughbred nursery Valachi Downs, in Matamata, has been sold to Lib and Katrina Petagna’s breeding business Elsdon Park.

Kevin and Joanna Hickman quietly built the stud that now operates on more than 600 acres and covers all aspects of breeding and racing, including significant expansions in 2018 with the standing of stallions in a new purposely built station and the acquisition of a private training facility adjacent to the nearby Matamata racecourse.

The transaction, which involves solely the stud operation, completes at the beginning of August to coincide with the new racing season.

Valachi Downs will undertake a final dispersal of its bloodstock via a series of sales managed by New Zealand Bloodstock between mid-June and the end of July, with 20 quality weanlings supplemented as part of the National Weanling Sale at Karaka on June 17.

For Wellington businessman and passionate racing and breeding enthusiast Lib Petagna, it was a case of opportunity knocking at the right time.

“It’s a bit of preparation meets opportunity. I am in Blandford Lodge with Graham and Helen-Gaye Bax,” Petagna said.

“With the number of horses I have collected over the years we were getting too small, so I have been looking for an opportunity to somehow expand.

“When I heard Valachi Downs might be coming available I approached Brent Schumacher, who has been acting for the Hickman family, and suggested there might be something to do there. It has moved rather quickly from there.

“It is about my bloodstock holdings expanding and getting too big for Blandford.

“The Bax family is going to be buying me out of Blandford Lodge, which is a good outcome. It has been a very good partnership over the last eight years.

“My bloodstock portfolio will move over to Valachi come early August. It is a phenomenal property, it is naturally beautiful. Kevin and Joanna have done a wonderful job developing it and hopefully, my family can continue the journey with that property.”

Racing fans will be familiar with Petagna’s apple green, dark blue sash and dark blue and yellow striped sleeves and cap silks, worn successfully by the likes of Group One winners Lucia Valentina, Tivaci, Sofia Rosa and Crown Prosecutor, to name but a few.

“Racing is how I got into the business, but I had been breeding a few under the Blandford brand and a few had been going through the Blandford Lodge drafts,” Petagna said.

“That has been increasing. I have kept fillies that I have raced that have kept showing ability. By the time you race a few fillies each year and keep them, the numbers soon start getting up there.

“I think there is about 50 mares going to stallions this year, so it grows rather quickly.”

While the Hickmans have been noted for retaining their fillies, Petagna will have a slightly different business model with a more commercial focus.

“I am expanding breeding and keeping the racing the same, or slightly less. It is a big farm and it has got to pay its way. It is a business, not a hobby, so we will be looking to breed to sell,” he said.

“You always try to keep one or two fillies from the nice families, but they have got to get out there as well and prove their worth.”

Valachi Downs will be rebranded as Elsdon Park, with Petagna, who is of Italian background, and often names his horses as a nod to his heritage, bowing to family pressure when it came to the name.

“My wife decided that (Elsdon Park). It is a suburb of Wellington, so that is how the name came about. I would have been tempted to do something Italian,” he quipped.

While Valachi Downs is set up to house stallions, Petagna has no need to fill the boxes just yet, with a good spread of stallion shares.

“I am a shareholder in Savabeel and I raced Tivaci and Alabama Express, so I have kept 10 per cent of those stallions,” he said.

“I have got a few other bits and pieces along the way, but Per Incanto is another that has certainly been very good to me and I hope Ardrossan will do a job too.

“I would look at it (standing stallions) into the future. There is no particular hurry. I have got more than enough shares in stallions at the moment.

“I think the first job is to settle into the property and continue to improve it and see if there are any opportunities down the track with stallions, but it is not on the horizon at the moment.”

Petagna, who part-owns the Wellington Phoenix, has enjoyed a fruitful career in investment banking and funds management, which has enabled him to gradually expand his racing and breeding interests.

“I was involved with a company called Morrison & Co. for a number of years and left there six or seven years ago. I just do my own thing now and more and more in the thoroughbred space now going forward,” he said.

“My father was a weekend punter and I would occasionally go out to Trentham with him. I started racing horses when I was very young, not long out of university when I had my first job.

“I got back into it in the early 2000s. We ended up buying Clean Sweep and she won the New Zealand 2000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m).”

Well-regarded horsewoman Kerrie Cox has been appointed General Manager of Elsdon Park, having previously spent 17 years at Waikato Stud, the last eight as Bloodstock Manager.

Meanwhile, Petagna’s long-standing bloodstock adviser Bruce Perry will also be heavily involved.

“Kerrie will be the GM of Elsdon Park. We will be offering a nice draft at Karaka in January. She will be running the operation and Bruce is always involved. He has had a phenomenal impact on the operation. We are running at about a third of stakes winners to runners with fillies and stock he has picked for me, so he has done a great job,” Petagna said.

The astute businessman is bullish about the future of the thoroughbred industry and appreciative of the lucrative opportunities that present given New Zealand’s proximity to Australia.

“Anyone involved in racing is an optimist because there are more downs than ups,” he said.

“I am always optimistic about racing, we know we can breed a good horse.

“We probably need a bit more stallion depth in New Zealand but hopefully there are some promising ones coming through with Almanzor and Tivaci, and the likes of Turn Me Loose are doing a good job now. Hopefully that continues.

“At the end of the day, the main market is Australia and that is where the horses have got to continue to perform. That is where the majority of the buyers are and the majority of the stake money is. “We are lucky we are close to a booming bloodstock market in Australia, so hopefully we can continue to capitalize on it.”

Source: NZ Racing Desk

On the 15th of March 2022, Elsdon Park used its brand for the first ever time.

The landmark honours of being the first horse branded went to Rosa Carolina’s 2021 Too Darn Hot colt.

Below is a photo of how this foal looked as a yearling in January of 2023…