Champion nursery with seven colts at CHCH sale

Studholme Bloodstock is one of New Zealand’s leading Standardbred horse nurseries and the birthplace of some of the best harness racing horses in Australasia.

Brian West is the man responsible for having bred or co-bred 279 individual winners in New Zealand, achieving a combined total of 943 race victories. Among these are prestigious races such as the New Zealand Cup, Derbies, and Oaks—events reserved for the true champions of our sport.

Icons like Lazarus, Bit Of A Legend, Paramount Geegee, and True Fantasy showcase the Australasian and North American success that defines Studholme Bloodstock and in 2024, the legacy continued with remarkable performances from Chase The Dream, Paramount Kiwi, Wish Me Luck, Dreams Are Free & Don’t Stop Dreaming, further solidifying their reputation as breeders of excellence.

In 2025, Studholme Bloodstock are back at the Christchurch sale of the NZB Standardbred Yearling Sales with a draft of seven colts and five fillies.

In this article, we speak with Brian West in a honest and frank discussion about his seven colts in order of the catalogue. West isn’t afraid to call a spade a spade and hopefully readers and prospective buyers will appreciate the candid responses to each of their chances as he perceives them heading into yet another year of selling yearlings.

Lot 148: Lazarus x Lancome (Courage Under Fire) colt

“Very much a bit of pride being the first Lazarus to go through the ring under the Studholme Bloodstock banner. He was born here on the farm, raised here, sold from here and here we are breeding to him and taking one to the sales all these years later. It’s quite lovely and if you  notice the name, it’s the French word for Jack, pronounced Jacque. That’s after Jack Smolenski who bred Lancome,” said West.

“If I had to pick one without knowing what anything was in the barn, he’s my pick. He’s got a magic physique. He’s absolutely perfect. He’s strong, muscled, and a very calm horse. Just everything about him is superb.

“To date Lancome has had mainly fillies so I don’t know if I can compare anything between her stock. If I had to say, have we had one out of her that looks like him? The answer is no. He’s quite a standout in my view but I’m an amateur,” laughed West.

“Listening to people who have been to farm to inspect the yearlings, they like what they see in him. I know a lot of people wouldn’t probably won’t want to look at a Lazarus, unfortunately. However if you take your time, you can’t look past this guy. If you saw him, you’d say, who is he? Because he’s one of those horses that just catches your eye, he’s quite magical actually.”

Lot 169: Bettor’s Delight x My Style (McArdle) colt

“Well, I have to say, if you’re looking for a backup to the first one, he’s the horse,” said West.

“He’s magic looking too. He’s perfect. He’s not big like Lot 148. He’s a typical Bettor’s Delight and extremely faultless, and will probably be our top lot based off the amount of interest he has been receiving to date.

“Those that look at them and we’ve had two more sets of buyers here today, they all say the same thing. He’s the horse. You can see people they’re focusing in on him as well. He’s a stand out, but a different type from Lot 148. A bit more in proportion and has a very real two-year-old get up and go look about him.

“When you look at his maternal family also, it doesn’t get much more current than seeing the likes of Don’t Stop Dreaming on the page and we believe he ticks a lot of the right boxes being by a champion sire also,” he said.

Lot 201: Art Major x Secret Dream (Bettor’s Delight) colt

“This horse is a nice enough horse, but certainly in my view, if you had to grade them, he’s below the other two we’ve just discussed,” said West.

“He’s faultless in type. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he’s the top ender, but there’s no fault with this horse. He stands correct, he is correct. And if you look at the photograph you’ll see he’s a lighter bay and he’s got that colour of a typical Art Major.

“He’s a really a handsome horse and there’s not a fault with him. He’s just not in the same category as those other two but he’ll appeal to people because of his pedigree. He’s just the second foal out a young Bettor’s Delight daughter of a dual Group One winner in Secret Potion and it’s a proven cross when you consider the likes of Merlin and a number of other top performers,” he said.

Lot 222: Father Patrick x Sungait Sally (Pegasus Spur) colt

“If you looked at him physically, you’re not going to pick a fault with him. And I can tell you he’s getting a lot of interest when people come here to look at that draft.  A lot of people will at times see one walk and just decide to put them away, but they’ll look at him and go over and he warrants your full attention. When they say walk him, and he’s a walker, he’s been walked a lot.

“So the answer is he’s a very nice horse with a lovely personality. He was raised by a foster mother, as you know and I think he thinks between you and I, he’s a bit more human than he is a horse.

“He’s quite a dag of a horse, he’s quite a character. While we’re doing some of the videos recently, he must have thought, I’m finished with this shit, and he just decided I don’t want to do it anymore. It was so funny,” laughed West.

“If you look at him, if you look at the picture, you’ll see the beautiful bodied horse despite from memory being a late foal born on the 3rd of January. You wouldn’t see that in him if you look at with the others. He looks like he’s a mature horse,” he said.

Lot 230: Art Major x Take My Hand (Roll With Joe) colt

“He’s a bigger horse, which may or may not come through in the photo, but he is a big horse, but athletic as well and I expect him to sell well, actually.

“It’s a real family of early speed with a lot of New Zealand records on the page being the family of Hurricane Dancer and this is the first colt and just the second foal from a qualified Roll With Joe mare who had a lot of ability herself. The daughters from this family are starting to get runs on the board which is always a good thing and I have a bit of time for this guy,” said West.

Lot 277: Captaintreacherous x Better Go (Bettor’s Delight) colt

“I think from the interest and the fact that he’s faultless, he’s at number three as the pick of our colts,” said West.

“The dam has done a wonderful job of producing good types to date, and this is another one of them. You will not be able fault this horse, and I’m not saying that because we own him, but like, I know because as I said, we’ve got two that have come out of the sale with little issues, but this guy, he’s faultless.

“He’s beautifully mannered, he’s not a big tall Captaintreacherous which I was very happy about. He’s thrown more to the Better Go in terms of size and type, but he hasn’t got the black colour that a lot of them have had either.

“If you saw him in the flesh, you, you would say to me, he’s a very nice horse, and that’s what’s we are hearing again today. When you start to see the horses line up and the experts like the Cran Dalgety’s and the Mark Purdon’s come in and you see they’re sitting there writing heaps and heaps and heaps of notes like they have with this guy, you get a good feeling about a yearlings chances heading to the auction ring,” he said.

Lot 286: Downbytheseaside x Blah Blah Blah (Christian Cullen) colt

“He is a big, tall horse. I don’t know what height because we don’t measure them, but he’s a big boy.

“Blah Blah Blah herself is a big mare and I’m just looking at this guy now actually and again this morning, a leading trainer said, I like that horse a lot. He has a bit of presence about him in the way he moves and he commands your attention.

“His mother has done a nice enough job for us without leaving a star but that could be my fault as I haven’t really given her the creme de la creme of stallions and yet her first three foals have gone and done a wonderful job and won close to 30 races between them. She hasn’t left the star though, that’s the only issue. However this guy could be the one that changes that,” said West.

To view the full list of Studholme Bloodstock yearlings catalogued in Christchurch, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink