It gives us great pleasure to provide an insight into our world through our Website. My wife Miche'le and I have during the past 10 years developed an extensive horse business. Starting at the handling of stallion semen and moving right through to the production of Ready To Run horses that develop into Group winners and a stable of racehorses along with the clothing and gearing of both horse and man at the saddlery.
Our life is the production of horses and our pleasure is watching them compete!
READY TO RUN SALES PIONEERS
Seven years ago standardbred ready-to-run sales were virtually unknown. This year three of the nine Harness Jewels winners were graduates of the sale. Michael and Michele House supported the concept from the start. Michael House talks to DAVID McCARTHY.
Were you the actual driving force behind the establishment of the sale?
The suggestion came from Graham Court and Terry McDonald and when I read it I rang up PGG Wrightsons in support. We had about half a dozen home bred horses in the first sale (2001), which went quite well and I decided the following year to buy yearlings specifically for it.
How did that go?
I went along to buy the best Christian Cullen colt in the yearling sale and I thought I had when I got Born Again Christian. He was a lovely horse and that was Christian Cullen's first crop. I got him for about $10,000 and he was such a lovely colt he was worth $300,000 in my eyes but the bidding (at the ready to run sale) died out at $80,000. I shed a tear even at a price like that. He was a top horse, though for various reasons we never saw the best of him. But we had some good results that year - eight winners, and I think three of them won over $100,000 so we bought more yearlings for sale the next year.
And?
There were a lot of good ones that year. I had some Christian Cullen money to go back with at the yearling sale and it worked. Kamwood Cully was the best. She got caught up in all the drugs speculation then but I am here to tell you she had freakish ability, even though she was not especially well gaited. She would have won the filly's Triple Crown at two but got away with the cart in the week before the third leg and was probably never the same. She went into the ring with an irregular heart beat warning. Rona and Clive McKay bought her with a proviso and were advised not to go ahead so we ended up back with her. Mr Williams, Presido, a horse called Tuberts - which won a lot of money in Australia - were also tops. 2004 was tougher because there were very few Christian Cullen yearlings around. Fleet Magic came out of our lot and won a good race. The sale kept building momentum. 2005 was a bit tougher because of all that was going on but then the next year Fiery Falcon came along.
In retrospect he (Fiery Falcon) seems a very cheap yearling. How come?
"I went along to buy a group of Mach Three yearlings but a deal I had done with (American owner of Mach Three) Joe Muscara fell apart at the last moment so then I decided to buy the best one. I had been up to Balcairn to look at Fiery Falcon. I wrote $15,000 in my catalogue as his price. When I checked him just before the sale, which was about a month later, I could not get over how he had grown. My $5000 bid got him. He was actually my second pick of the sale behind Smooth Shift.
You must have been laughing?
Not for long. When we got home, he sort of jumped off the float and took a hole out of his knee and knocked himself out so he was standing in a box for a month while all the others were broken in. Then we had trouble getting him to pace and he curbed a hock. But when he learned, he was magic. The first time I asked him to sprint he ran a half in 56 at Ashburton and I reckon he could have run 1:55 that day. Right then I decided either the ready to run sales go or I do. A mark in the sand. So I put up a $200,000 reserve on him.
Too much as it turned out?
He was passed at $180,000 to one of Gareth Dixon's clients and we offered him back to them at $195,000 but they were not interested. I was still confident about what I was doing. On my way to the sale Roy McKenzie had rung and indicated he really liked the horse's video trial and if there was something on afterward he would like to be in it it. We had a a 75-80 per cent strike rate with winners that year. Rona and Clive (McKay) came in with Michele on this one and Phil and Glenys Kennard, who have been friends of ours for years. But he was there for sale at the reserve.
Highview Tommy. What attracted you to him?
I reckon in this business you have to know your stallions. I mean study them physically. When I stood beside Highview Tommy he was a ringer for Bettor's Delight, which I had seen just a week before. He was as well endowed too but with a lovely nature. He stood there while 20 trainers walked around him and didn't care a hoot. He is one of the few horses I went over budget for. I valued him at $30,000 and went to $40,000 to get him. My office manager, Hazel Van Opzeeland, fell in love with him at home. It was like living the Seabiscuit story around here for six months. She told anyone who would listen how good he was going to be. But I never found out until after the sale she had bought a share in her first horse. She went to (trainer) Mark Purdon and did a deal and has lived the dream. Actually he didn't trial as well as some, he pulled up close to the line but I blamed myself. He was a bit fat and had not done a lot in the 10 days leading up to the trial. Mark (Purdon) perhaps liked Mercurio a little better on that day. But when we had tried Tommy on track here earlier he had broken Fiery Falcon's 800m record by a second-just over a minute.
How do you manage them between sales?
They are in paddocks in bunches of four and we feed only lucerne hay there. We don't do too much with them. They might walk half a mile (800m) and then run home 800m. We usually take them down to Ashburton before the video trials but just to wander around the track.
You must miss out on some yearlings you really like?
I'm pretty strict with the budget but my biggest mistakes have been made changing my routines. Like leaving the sale arena. I was the underbidder on Tintin In America and while I was out the back having a final look to convince a partner going in him with me he was big enough (I didn't) I had not noticed there were two passings and as I returned they had just sold the Christian Cullen colt I was going to buy for the McKays. That was Stunin Cullen. Not a good hour.
When can you tell which is the best one for this year's October sale?
Not now but in another month I will probably have some idea. You have to be careful. Just Like Cullen went from about 14th to near the top last year and fetched $160,000 even though I told the buyer (Graeme Rogerson) there were more buyers than horses and I wasn't going to do any percentage deal with him. We have a half sister to Safin (the third Jewels winning ready to run graduate this season) by Elsu among them.
Where did you start your life in racing?
Growing up in Reefton I rode work on gallopers for Denis Cutbush. He was very good to me. Then I got a job with Delvin Rickerby, who always wanted things spot on, which was good education. Then I was with Roydon Stud for 10 years and pre-training for Robert Dunn before going out on my own.
You recently took on the management of Roydon Lodge and have your own stud. How tough is the business?
Extremely tough. Studs carry an enormous amount of debt and now more than ever. Some of it is our own fault. Some studs make ridiculous offers for a stallion and the sellers think that sort of money is common. Now at Roydon Lodge I am ordering in everything for 250 horses. We have 35 to 40 yearlings to go to the sales this year and after that draft is cleared I will have a better picture of where I am going.
You have a name for being innovative in racing. What drives you?
Quite a few things. I don't need much sleep, which is just as well. I am not afraid of failure in itself but I desperately want to succeed in whatever I am doing. And I like to get into new things. When computers took hold I spent weeks on one until I had mastered what I was doing. My family life was not the best. I was brought up largely by my grandmother, and my own family (two children) is precious to me. Somebody told me once that in the racing fowl house one day you are the rooster and the next the feather duster and it is true. A lot of my success with the ready to runs I owe to Mark Purdon. He is just a focussed trainer with everything flowing from that as a result and he has the passion. If Mark has won a race 10 times he gets just as much pleasure out of the next one. There are also a lot of support people around here and I wouldn't survive without them.
How long will you carry on the ready to run enterprise?
While I still have the passion and while enough other people have it too, or unless something drastic happens to the market, but that doesn't look likely just up ahead. The sale has the record now and a bright future. There were a lot of knockers when it started off. I have evaluated trying a similar thing with thoroughbreds, buying in weanlings, and selling them as yearlings and I will keep looking at that. Michele is from a racing family and we bred Ombre Rose so it would sit good with us. We call her Group 1 Michele these days with Ombre Rose and Fiery Falcon. Horses may not necessarily be what I will be working with on this scale in another 20 years but I feel I have another 10 good ones to make the most of the opportunities. There are a lot out there just now.
Michael House and his wife Michelle have leased Roydon Lodge Stud, Weedons, from Wellington owner Keith Gibson.
House told Harnesslink tonight Monday 3 April that he and his wife had taken over ownership and running of the farm and business and also the stallions Monarchy and Sundon.
The deal had highlighted six months of negotiations, House said, dating back to before Cup Week in Christchurch in November.
Gibson bought Roydon Lodge Stud Ltd off Sir Roy McKenzie, of Wellington, five years ago.
Roydon Lodge was in earlier years established by Sir Roy's late father Sir John McKenzie.
The establishment became a landmark breeding and training farm with great sires U Scott ad Light Brigade being pillars of the industry. So was trainer the late George Noble and subsequent successful stallions Game Pride, Smooth Fella, Captain Adios, Thurber Frost and Sundon.
Gibson, as an absentee owner, had experienced some difficulties operaing Roydon Lodge to the standards he aspired to, House said.
"So, with other business projects on his plate, he weighed up his options and allowed us to take the property over.''
Gibson and Sir Roy McKenzie would continue to breed horses on the farm, House said.
House first worked at Roydn Lodge in 1983 after earlier stints with Delvin Rickerby and Frank Murfitt.
He stayed eight years at Roydon Lodge and was in awe of the magnificent standing and success of the establishment through halcyon times marked by great sires and race horses.
Scottish Hanover, Game Pride and Smooth Fella were standout sires as were the racehorses Roydon Glen, Roydon Scott, Arndon and Sundon.
"It was a magical era when sales were also booming and the whole industry was on a high,'' House said.
"My dreams were fired up by it all and I now have a wonderful opportunity.''
The fear of failure was understandably high, he said, but hopefully a top horse would emerge and assist him to achieve his goals.
Two blocks involved in the deal make up Roydon Lodge, a homestead block and an agistment block.
House said he would like to establish a boutique operation for clients that provided the complete start to finish service from conception of a foal to the selling or training of it.
Michael and Miche'le House have made a success out of diversifying into specific areas of growth and potential in the standardbred breeding and racing business.
Having taken the usual route as a horseman from humble beginnings working in stables to establishing himself as a trainer at West Melton, just outside Christchurch, Michael now primarily targets the yearlings sales for pacers which he develops for the relatively new, innovative and progressive Ready To Run sale six months later, and for trotters to race with the hugely successful ‘Trotting’ Syndicates.
Coinciding with these achievements in recent years, Michael has also developed his Double E Stables into the St Pegasus ‘Stallion Station,’ where this year at least six sires will be in service, headed by the brilliantly performed 4-year-old Mach Three, a winner of over US$2m.
This is all a long way since leaving school early to begin a career with horses some 24 years ago by working for several trainers, and spending seven years at Roydon lodge.
After setting up on his own account at West Melton in 1993, success soon came with the likes of 1995 Easter Cup winner Matthew Lee, Yearling Sales 2yo & 3yo Fillies Pace winner Vee Mee and the imported American trotter Holdonmyheart, who won a heat of the 1997 Inter-Dominions in Adelaide, among others such as Mighty Khan (US1.51.6).
More recently however, Michael has scaled back his public training activities to concentrate on the better opportunities now available for trotters and the syndicates which race the likes of Castleton’s Mission and Just Incredible having enjoyed considerable success. Castleton’s Mission, an 8-year-old bought at the yearling sales for $9000, won an Inter-Dominion heat at Addington in 2003 in national record time and was only beaten a whisker in the final. Just Incredible, a $10,000 purchase, won the Yearling Sales 3yo Trot at the same meeting, again in record time, before being sold for six figures and embarking on a North American career.
Michael has also been the principal player in all of the Ready To Run sales, sending forth six youngsters to the inaugural event and 13 in the second, a consignment which included the outstanding juvenile Born Again Christian, an unlucky runner-up in both the NZ Sires Stakes Final and Yearling Sales 2yo Open. A $10,000 purchase at the sales, Born Again Christian has already repaid his $85,000 purchase price at the Ready To Run and is a star in the making. Michael prepared another 27 youngsters for the 2003 Ready To Run Sale, 16 of which were bought from the ‘middle market’ of the yearling sales. It is the increasing stakes and opportunities on offer for trotters, along with the healthy export market for young ‘going’ horses, that Michael has recognised as growth areas in the New Zealand standardbred industry and targeted.
The breeding sector has also progressed at a rapid rate in recent times and Michael now competes with the major stud farms around Australasia in tandem with these aspects of Double E operations. Mach Three has just successfully completed his first stint at stud in Canada, where he covered a full book of 200 mares at a Can$7500 fee, and this year the 2002 Meadowlands Pace winner adds an exciting new dimension to the shuttle sires in service Down Under.
The irrepressible Michael House has never been one to sit still for long however, and one can’t help feeling this will no doubt be just a transitional phase to even bigger and better things.
Miche'le, with her impeccable racing pedigree, was always destined to be a part of the racing world. Starting with her grandfather, Woodrow Wilson was famous for winning multiple group races in the glamour days of thoroughbred racing, namely the New Zealand Cup, New Zealand Derby, Auckland Cup and Canterbury Gold Cup.
Miche'le's father Bob Wilson was a Riccarton icon, dedicating 50 years of his life to his trade of Master farrier, and her mother Marion was also a horse enthusiast with a lifelong interest in showing and horse jumping. Miche'le was therefore left with few options and upon leaving school, started her life as a vet nurse. Moving on to the Canterbury Saddley just around the corner from her home proved to be a turning point, working there for a number of years under the proprietor/saddler Leigton Diggs. Miche'le learned all there was to know about the saddle trade and after a two year break in which she toured the world, Diggs brought her back from England to manage the business. After about two years Miche'le purchased the Canterbury Saddlery and has operated it in partnership with Michael since 1993.
Miche'le's success in business has come hand in hand with her participation in horse sports at all levels, combining her ability to communicate with her clients and friends on a level that is respected by all.
OMBRE ROSE SNIFFS SUCCESS FOR CANTERBURY FRIENDS
By Susan Archer 25 Apr 2006
The victory of Ombre Rose (O’Reilly-Lady Chanele by Citidancer) in Saturday’s CJC Inglewood S. 1600m LR confirmed the class she’d already shown in four previous wins. It also gave her Canterbury owner-breeders Michael and Michele House, and Sheldon Murtha another reason to be very satisfied indeed with their first joint venture in thoroughbred breeding and racing.
Michele & Michael House, part-owners & co-breeders of Ombre Rose Michael is a harness trainer, and he and Michele have recently expanded their successful breeding operation in that industry by taking over Roydon Lodge Stud. However, Michele’s background is in thoroughbred racing: she’s a grand-daughter of Riccarton trainer Robert "Woodrow" Wilson.
Racing broadcaster Sheldon, who gave half of his share of the filly as a birthday-cum-Christmas present to his father, well-known commentator Reon, picks up the story:
"I bought Lady Chanele from Clive and Rona McKay when she was a three-year-old, running nice races for fourths and fifths in the South Island fillies’ series. She caught my eye when I was a host on Trackside and by being in the right place when the McKays wanted to sell her, I bought her for $5000.
"At the time that was plenty of money for me to spend on a horse, so I got a mate, Michael House, to come in with me. We won a couple of races with her quickly, then retired her to stud."
Lady Chanele’s first foal, a colt by Centaine, was sold at the NZ Ready To Run Sale for $43,000. Named Mr Liverpool, he has won three races in Macau. Her second foal, a colt by Danasinga named Daneger, is a winner in the South Island. Sticking with Waikato Stud’s stallion roster, the partners then sent Lady Chanele to O’Reilly, resulting in her only filly to date.
Described by Michele House as "a sweet-natured, delicate and very feminine filly with a good temperament and a good heart", Ombre Rose is named for a French perfume* worn by one of Michele’s friends on her wedding day.
Naming the filly appears to have been the only difficult aspect of racing her so far. Michele says "We tried fifty fragrance names but none of them were available, and we finally came up with Ombre Rose under pressure because the filly was due to race that weekend."
That was at Banks Peninsula last October. Ombre Rose duly won her debut, won again at Riccarton and ran sixth in December’s MRC Eulogy Stakes G3, won by subsequent New Zealand Oaks G1 winner Legs. Ombre Rose resumed in March with a win at Ashburton, and has since won the first two of the three Listed Races targeted by trainer Shane Marr. Her autumn campaign will conclude with the CJC Warstep S. LR on 6 May, after which her owners may well begin looking at the spring racing programmes in Australia.
Michele gives Sheldon credit for selecting Lady Chanele’s mates, all of which have clearly stamped the mare’s foals. Waikato Stud sold her Danasinga yearling colt last year for $22,000 and her rising two-year-old Faltaat colt will be offered for sale by Michael, Michele and Sheldon later this year. Lady Chanele is due to foal to Pins for Waikato Stud in the spring. As Sheldon explains, "We've leased her to the stud for a couple of seasons when we couldn't afford to breed from her." The partners have all agreed to return her to O’Reilly this year.
Choosing the trainer was the role of Michele, who met Shane and Megan Marr through a mutual friend, Grant Davidson, and as clients of her business, Canterbury Saddlery. "Shane broke in Ombre Rose, and wanted her back to train her so we gave him a chance. They’re good people who work very hard." Shane has now recorded 16 wins and prizemoney of almost $180,000 for the season.
Ombre Rose is the most recent of O’Reilly’s 14 stakeswinners (2.7%) from his 527 foals of racing age and the third of them to feature Noble Bijou as second damsire. The former champion sire also appears in that position in the pedigrees of multiple G1 winner The Jewel (and her G1-placed brother The One), and SW Salsa.
Ombre Rose is the sixth stakeswinner from a mare by Citidancer, best-known in New Zealand as sire of the breath-takingly brilliant two-year-old Ballroom Babe. Other daughters have left Hong Kong Sprint G1 winner All Thrills Too and G3 winners Diamond Dash, La Rumba, Tahni Girl and Hidden Dragon.
Although a relatively minor performer herself, Lady Chanele is half-sister to the excellent stayer Aquidity (17 wins, incl. VATC Herbert Power H. G2 & AJC Queen’s Cup G3, and five times G1-placed in Australia up to 2400 metres). Their dam, Lady Joelyn is a three-quarter sister to the dam of the good sprinter-miler Platonic (10 wins, incl. WRC Cuddle S. G3, VRC Chester Manifold S. LR & VATC Summoned S. LR). Platonic was sold after her racing career to Australian owner-breeder Gerry Harvey and has had fillies by Encosta De Lago and Danehill Dancer.
Taproot mare for this family is Lady Manna (GB), imported to New Zealand more than sixty years ago.
*Just in case you think we don't know much about French perfume, Ombre Rose is a rich floral fragrance created by Jean-Charles Brosseau.
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