Photo: Quentin Lang
Annavisto’s (Reliable Man x Avisto) win in the Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m) last Saturday proved to be more than just a highlight for her big group of owners.
The Reliable Man filly provided her breeder Greg Tomlinson of Nearco Stud with a very significant treble.
Tomlinson bred her dam Avisto (Tavistock-Miraculous Miss[AUS]) and she has the honour of being the first stakes winner for Nearco Stud, she was also the first stakes winner for Tavistock, and now she has given Tavistock his first stakes winner as a broodmare sire.
“I thought I was the only who had realised the significance,” said a delighted Tomlinson when contacted by the NZTBA this week.
“It was very satisfying, considering I was a shareholder in Tavistock as well, and in the early days I was keen to get something behind him so I sent Miraculous Miss there. That mating produced his first stakes winner and now she has gone on to produce Tavistock’s first stakes winner as a broodmare sire.”
Following a lifelong interest in racing Tomlinson established Nearco Stud around 11 years ago with the aim of breeding top quality racehorses. With a passion for pedigrees he set about sourcing some good race mares and shares in a variety of young stallions, and in that time has bred numerous stakes performers including the Hong Kong Champion Beauty Generation (Road To Rock [AUS]-Stylish Bel[AUS]). It was through that horse’s achievements that he also won the Breeder of the Year title in 2019.
“Annavisto was a trial winner as a late two-year-old and caught the eye of Phill Cataldo who obviously buys for Mick Price, and I sold her and retained a shareholding. I have sold a few horses to Mick and race a couple from his stable including Annavisto.”
Following that trial win in New Zealand, Annavisto, who was born and raised at Curraghmore, won on debut in August, she then had a couple of unsuccessful attempts at Group Two level before heading to the spelling paddock.
She returned to the track in February with a win over 1200m at Packenham, followed by a second over 1400m at Flemington before heading to the Bendigo Guineas where she was an impressive winner.
Avisto, the dam of Annavisto, won on three occasions. She broke her maiden in the Listed Great Northern Foal Stakes as a two-year-old and came back at three and won the Listed Soliloquy Stakes and the Listed Fordell O’Leary Stakes at Wanganui.
Her first foal by Savabeel(AUS) Happy Jai Jai is currently racing in Hong Kong and Annavisto is her second foal, and her third foal Colleagues is also by Reliable Man.
“I look to support as many stallions as I can locally, and most of my matings are with stallions I have shares in,” explained Tomlinson.
“I bought into Reliable Man when he was syndicated, and I have a couple of shares. He’s not quite the right sire to put over Zabeel mares but he works over Danehill line mares.”
Of Reliable Man’s 16 stakes winners Miami Bound (ex Arapaho Miss[AUS]) and De La Terre (ex Veva Girl[AUS]) are from Danehill line mares. For good measure another two of his stakes winners Belle Du Nord (ex Bankside Belle) and Kinane (ex Tres Rapide) were also bred by Nearco Stud, with Kinane being out of a Nom du Jeu mare.
Nom du Jeu, like Tavistock is by Montjeu so clearly a cross with the Sadler’s Wells (IRE) line works well also.
Avisto’s next two matings produced colts to Almanzor(FR), the first is a yearling is to be sold through Curraghmore's New Zealand Bloodstock South Island Sale draft, and the second is a weanling. She is in foal to Ocean Park.
Her dam Miraculous Miss (by Exceed And Excel [AUS]), a stakes placed winner at two, produced a colt by Ocean Park this year as her eighth foal. Her first four named foals have all raced and include Celtic Tiger and Goko both by O’Reilly, and Miracleofmiracles (by More Than Ready[USA]). Celtic Tiger originally raced out of Mick Price’s stable and won the Listed Morphettville Guineas as a three-year-old, becoming Miraculous Miss’s second stakes winner.
Miraculous Miss is in foal to Waikato Stud’s son of Dundeel in Super Seth (AUS), another sire Tomlinson is happy to have a share in, and he also has a couple of shares in Dundeel.
Miraculous Miss is out of the Group One placed Rhythm[USA] mare Galway Lass who won five races including an Egmont Cup. She was second in the Auckland Cup, and third in the Gr.2 New Zealand Cup and Gr.3 Manawatu Cup. She is also the dam of the Listed VRC ANZAC Stakes winner Outdo, also by Exceed And Excel(AUS), and is herself a half-sister to the Group Two winner Pure Harmony and the stakes placed winner Irish Rebel.
In the time since Nearco Stud was established Tomlinson has pretty much stuck with his original philosophy of producing quality racehorses and has been nominated for Breeder of the Year on three occasions. Among those quality racehorses are a number of stakes winners that include Beauty Generation, Belle Du Nord, Kinane, Distinctive Darci, Miss Federer, Full Of Beauty, Sinarahma, Celtic Tiger and Manalo Blahnik.
“We have consistently produced decent progeny, and stuck to the philosophy I set out with, but if anything, I am getting crisper on the decisions I make,” he explained.
“Our broodmare band now sits at 30 and we have continued to invest in young stallions. We have our upsets, it’s not an easy game but when one like this (Annavisto) comes along it comes along it takes care of the bad ones.” -Michelle Saba, NZTBA
