Victorian Stallions 2020/21

Luke Ryland hopes a $40,000 punt on a globetrotting sprinter will pay off when he stands Spirit Of Valor for his first season at stud in Victoria. 

Ryland, who operates Lethbridge-based farm Ryland Thoroughbreds with his partner Bec Haussler, purchased the son of War Front in conjunction with Darren Dance’s Esker Lodge from an Inglis Digital Sale in March. 

Originally a US$850,000 weanling purchase by Coolmore, Spirit of Valor won the Group 2 Minstrel Stakes (1400m) in Ireland and ran a narrow second to Brave Smash in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at The Valley when trained by Aidan O’Brien.

The entire failed to fire in two subsequent racing campaigns when trained in Australia by Ciaron Maher and Kris Lees.

A relative newcomer to Victoria’s breeding scene, Ryland said Spirit of Valor’s purchase was motivated by the tragic death of another of his resident stallions.

“We lost another one of our stallions, America, earlier this year so we were keeping an eye out for another that might be able to join the roster,” Ryland said.

“We keep in touch with Adam Sangster and the team at Swettenham Stud and they made us aware that he (Spirit of Valor) was for sale and thought he might work for us.

“I spoke to Darren Dance about him to see what he thought and he basically said that we should just buy him.

“There’s only one other stallion by War Front that stands in Victoria - I think there’s one in New South Wales as well – so we thought he would fit in well.

“He arrived here pretty soon after the auction and he’s put on about 100kg since he’s been here.

“He had his last race in January so he hasn’t had a long time to let down but he’s looking amazing.”

Had Spirit of Valor held off Brave Smash in the Manikato Stakes, Ryland has no doubt that a deal would’ve been completed to see the entire stand at a larger, more commercial stud.

At an introductory fee of $5500, he believes he’s a sound option for those in the market looking to breed to race. 

“If he’d won the Manikato Stakes that night, we wouldn’t have been able to afford the couple of million to buy him, that’s for sure,” he said. 

“We’d love to see him get 30 or 40 mares in his first season.

“We think he’s affordably priced at $5500 and the perfect stallion for those owner-breeders or trainers that breed a few of their own to race.

“And we are selling lifetime breeding rights for him and we’ve had a lot of interest in those so far – at $11,000 you get two serves in his first year, two in his second and then one serve every year after that.”

Spirit of Valor joins another European import, seven-time Stakes winner Kaspersky, on the Ryland Thoroughbreds stallion roster.

Kaspersky, who will stand for $5500 in his second season at stud, served 20 mares in 2020.