Kenmore Lodge

This article is one of 34 vendors exclusively in our MMGC 2023 souvenir edition ! This edition is not for retail sale and you can only get one by subscribing to BLUEBLOODS

A few years back Cameron and Kellie Bond of the family owned, boutique farm Kenmore Lodge, made the decision to expand and invest in better quality mares. It was a venture that looks certain to be rewarded starting on the Gold Coast in January.

Cameron, Kellie and the Kenmore team will arrive at Magic Millions with a sizeable offering of 31 yearlings, the produce of a broad spectrum of stallions. But what is striking is that the catalogue pages look just that much better this year. Discussing the youngsters with Kellie she said “It’s a good draft of horses, a nice spread of stallions, a few first foals, others from mares with proven records and plenty with recent pedigree updates. We started buying a better class of mare a few years ago and the early results are the yearlings we’ll take to Bundall in January.” Interestingly, partially by design and the rest by fate, the top end of the draft has a distinct flavour of The Everest running through it.

When asked to pinpoint her favourite colt Kellie didn’t hesitate to nominate Lot 598, a son of first crop sire Yes Yes Yes, winner of The Everest, out of the Not A Single Doubt mare Alnaas. Kellie explained “He just looks an early runner carrying plenty of Not A Single Doubt, a good mover with
a good attitude and a big forearm. He looks precocious and is the perfect horse for the sale.”
Alnaas won four times up to a mile including a two length success at Warwick Farm and comes from a tough family with seven time Gr1 winner Grand Armee not that far down the page. It also helps that the last horse on the page can gallop a bit, Anamoe.

So here’s where The Everest connection begins. That colt, along with a filly out of the six time winner Berrimilla that sells as Lot 658, are both by Yes Yes Yes.

It is fair to say only the true believers could have expected Giga Kick to win The Everest. However, when he reeled in Private Eye and Nature Strip, Kenmore’s Lot 290 got a massive pedigree update and suddenly came on the radar of a few more prospective buyers.

By another first season sire in Castelvecchio, this colt is out of the unraced Redoute’s Choice mare Rekindled Glow, a three-quarter sister not only to Giga Kick, but also to the Gr1 C F Orr Stakes winner and sire Alabama Express. Rekindled Glow is the dam of the winning three year-old Monastery which David Payne thought enough of to run in a Gr2 recently behind the Caulfield Guineas winner Golden Mile. Kellie was taken with the horse even before Giga Kick scored at the elite level. “He’s a nice size horse, not overly big with a nice length of rein on him and an uncomplicated mover.”

The connection with Randwick mid-October continued when discussing Kenmore’s better fillies and Kellie mentioned Lot 827. By Champion First Season Sire Russian Revolution out of Empress Matilda, a Charge Forward full sister to the Gr1 Coolmore Stud Stakes winner Headway, this filly has another “The Everest” pedigree. Empress Matilda is also a half-sister to Gr1 Doomben 10,000 winner and The Everest third Mazu (Maurice). “She’s by a stallion that has started off tremendously well and is an athletic filly that I really like.” Of course Charge Forward is still recognised as an excellent broodmare sire which just ticks another box for the filly. It doesn’t hurt either that Mazu is already locked in to run in The Everest again in 2023 so there is plenty of upside for whoever takes her home. Cameron and Kellie will offer that filly on behalf of Stuart and John Ramsey of Turangga Farm, recent breeders of the Gr2 winner Chain Of Lightning.

Interestingly, when asked for her pick of the fillies Kellie plumped for a daughter of the first crop sire Dubious, this one out of Rambla de Flores by Encosta de Lago. In Kellie’s opinion she is a “Neat, mature, balanced, early running filly that looks really in the mould of Not A Single Doubt.

She is well-muscled with a great temperament and if she’s typical of the Dubious yearlings then they will be ready to contest the early two year-old races next season.

Once raced, Rambla de Flores is a half-sister to the Listed placed Angelus out of Great Anna, a Listed winning daughter of Anabaa who was also third in the Gr1 Australasian Oaks. There is plenty of stamina on the page to go with the speed of Dubious as the third dam of this filly, the Sir Tristram mare Great Vintage, won the Gr2 Herbert Power Handicap and was fourth to Vintage Crop in the Melbourne Cup.

Looking at fillies by proven stallions, they don’t come much more proven than Extreme Choice, Kenmore will take his daughter Lot 914 through on the Saturday night session with high expectations. Out of Green Mirage, a daughter of Green Desert, Kellie said of the filly “She’s a nice big filly by a stallion who has an incredible record of runners to Stakes horses. She’ll be a valuable commodity, a well grown half-sister to a Stakes performer.” The Stakes performer Kellie referred to is Lone Eagle, one of seven winners from eight foals to race for Green Mirage. This is also a family with a little bit happening on the page with recent Listed Alinghi Stakes winner A Very Fine Red (Deep Field) to run for the successful bidder.

Looking through the draft there are a few more opportunities for a quick update to a pedigree, amongst them Lot 112, a Territories half-brother to the Listed winner Ranch Hand. Yearlings by other sires at the top of their game include Lot 378, a Capitalist filly out of Shining Eagle, a daughter of dual Gr1 winner Dashing Eagle. There is also a filly by Anamoe’s sire Street Boss out of the well-related Lonhro mare All Joy that sells as Lot 592, and in Book Two a Capitalist filly out of the four time winner Reef Knot, a half-sister to Spanish Reef who saluted four times at Group level.

It should be remembered it doesn’t cost the earth to get a Magic Millions 2YO Classic runner from a Kenmore draft. In January 2021 Peter and Will Hulbert paid just $50,000 for a Book Two son of Heroic Valour, and as Heroic Son he comfortably won on debut and earned enough prizemoney to get into the 2022 Classic.

The 2023 Gold Coast Yearling Sales draft off of Kenmore Lodge is easily the best Cameron and Kellie have taken to the sale in the few short years they have been selling.

It’s now time for buyers to reap the benefits from the Bond’s extensive investment.