Beginning as a humble dairy farm, Darling View Thoroughbreds has blossomed into probably the most distinguished stud farms within the State via the dedicated ambition of father-son duo Clive and Brent Atwell.
“The enterprise has been within the blood for a very long time, my nice grandfather Walter Atwell truly owned and skilled the 1925 Perth Cup winner Nice Applause,” Brent Atwell mentioned.
“Breeding has all the time been within the household, however not in a business sense – aside from the previous 14 years, when my father Clive and I made a decision we’d stand the stallion Patronize.
“One factor on this sport I’ve came upon alongside the way in which is that you simply’ve bought to take each alternative that will get thrown at you. In the event you tread water on this sport, I reckon you’re gonna drown.”
It has been a daring transfer that has paid large dividends, with the steady standing a few of WA’s most in-demand stallions.
And none are extra distinguished greater than Taking part in God, the headliner at Darling View.
“We had the chance to in 2020 to buy Taking part in God and I mentioned to Dad, if we’re going to take this farm to the following stage, I reckon this might be the horse to do it,” Atwell mentioned.
“The star of the present is Taking part in God, he’s an absolute freak, I feel he’s the perfect stallion that we’ve seen within the State …ever.
“Over the following few years, he’s simply going to get even higher than what he’s doing now.”
The champion stallion, together with steady companions Lightsaber and Splintex, put in work year-round – producing some high quality foals and stakes winners.
Whereas discovering a suitable companion in actual life can really feel unimaginable, Atwell has it all the way down to a science for his studs.
“It comes down to some issues,” he mentioned.
“You’ve bought pedigree, so what the household has been plus the descendants – what they’ve accomplished. Then we’ve bought to match the bloodlines appropriately … have we bought a quick, smaller mare that wants a little bit of measurement and what stallion will swimsuit that.
“Predominantly in WA we’re in search of these velocity traces, so possibly they could have gained as a two or three-year-old over 1000 to 12 or 1400 meters, metropolis winners, black-type winners.
“We’re making an attempt to breed athletes, however we additionally need them to look good when the patrons are coming to the sale to buy them.”
A stallion like Taking part in God can solely carry a lot of the load in breeding.
Which is why discovering a top quality match can turn out to be a mission.
“Then you definitely’ve bought the opposite aspect of issues the place I head off to the breeding inventory gross sales,” Atwell mentioned.
“Not solely are we breeding the horses and breeding new foals, we’ve bought to have the ability to assist these stallions with high quality bloodstock.
“So I journey to all of the breeding inventory gross sales all through the nation and look via all of the mares.
“See what’s out there, see what may swimsuit our mares and whether or not we will buy any, as a result of we have to give our patrons a product that’s commercially proper for them.”
The operation runs year-round, with the crew out at Oldbury having all arms on deck when wanted.
“It’s fairly fixed, there’s no actual lull interval on the farm right here,” Atwell mentioned.
“The whole lot out of your basic horse husbandry to feeding and caring for these couple of hundred horses each day.
“It’s a seven day per week job, something from easy care to the veterinary work so far as the breeding aspect of issues goes.
“From December 1st we get into yearling preparation, in order that’s three months of schooling and train, getting ready the younger horses on the market to allow them to go there and present themselves off as finest they will.”
Every horse that goes via Darling View is a two-and-a-half-year funding.
The stud’s preparation for the yearlings is a meticulous course of and every is skilled with a view to it turning into a champion.
“They undergo a 12-week train schooling program they usually’re getting taught stroll correctly so when a purchaser comes to take a look at them, they will current properly,” he mentioned.
“They should be prepared for any state of affairs so far as their temperament goes and they should look very properly so there’s loads of grooming that goes on each day.
“We x-ray each joint on the horse so far as their legs go they usually get scoped to ensure their airways are clear and tidy.
“After mainly 10-and-a-half weeks, we take them to the sale and spend simply over per week up on the sale grounds. Anybody can come out and look at them.
“The planning aspect of issues is as large because the preparation, as a result of as breeders we’re making an attempt to assume what’s going to be business two-and-a-half years down the observe.”
However even with on a regular basis and energy that goes into getting the horses prepared for the yearling gross sales, generally it’s about discovering the diamond within the tough.
“We’ve bought horses from $2000 to $600,000 … everybody’s in search of the story of the horse that makes $5000 and goes and wins $1 million,” Atwell mentioned.
“You’ll find them in any form or type and you may pay any amount of cash for it … so, attempt to tick as many packing containers as you may and hope they run quick.”
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