When a promising stallion comes onto the market its hard to
withstand the money and pressure that can be brought to bear by Australia's high powered
Hunter Valley studs.
When the stallion is a promising Group 1 placed son of
super sire Danehill and the potential acquirer is John Messara's Arrowfield Stud, any
opposing bidder needs to get his act together very quickly. So it was when Lion Hunter
became available as a stallion prospect at the end of his racing career.
His trainer, Eagle Farm based Ken Turner, had a high
opinion of the horse and wanted him to go to stud in his native Queensland. The problem
was, who could put together a package which would ensure that Lion Hunter's owners would
get a good price for the horse, while withstanding the financial might of New South Wales
and Victorian studs?
 Turner approached Magic
Millions General Manager, David Chester, whose ability to stitch up a deal is well known.
Chester went to work to see if he could muster enough Queensland interest in Lion Hunter
to keep him in the state. He was up against substantial opposition from studs like
Arrowfield, who had seen the early promise of other Danehill sons like Flying Spur and had
actually bred Lion Hunter in the first place.
Chester had several meetings with Queensland interests,
knowing that impediment to a high price was Lion Hunter's lack of a Group 1 win,
considered mandatory for all serious stud prospects. Finally in a meeting at Chester's
home, he secured agreement from Oaklands Stud owner Neville Stewart, backed up by
Carnation Lodge's Dan Hayes, to take a controlling interest in the horse. A number of
other Queenslanders took up smaller shareholdings, ensuring that control of Lion Hunter
remained almost entirely within the state.
Stewart is cagey about the initial syndication price of
Lion Hunter, preferring that it remain confidential. However Hayes admitted that a share
had sold "about a year ago" for $20,000, valuing Lion Hunter at about $1
million.
 With the success of Lovely Jubly in the
Magic Millions, Chester estimates that shares in Lion Hunter would now be worth at least
$60,000, trebling his value to the best part of $3 million. With the horse covering books
of nearly 200 mares, even doubling the service fee from $5,000 to $10,000 would still
leave him very affordable compared to the fees of other sons of Danehill like Flying Spur
and Danzero.
Retaining control of Lion Hunter within Queensland
represents a real victory for Queensland Inc. As Chester put it "I worked my butt off
to keep him in Queensland". |
