There is nothing like a new stallion celebrating his first-ever winner to lift the spirits of a stud and June was responsible for such an occasion. If life is all about timing, a juvenile success at Kembla Grange was the perfect way to prepare for the new foaling season which is very much now upon us…

Lavished became the first winner of HALF HENNESSY’s stud career when breaking through in a 1000-metre juvenile contest worth $27,000 at Kembla Grange on June 24.

Having only the first start of her career, the Bede Murray-trained filly won the contest by the equivalent of a long-neck, showing considerable improvement from her debut outing at Rosehill Gardens last December.

Lavished is one of a handful of HALF HENNESSYs to have come back in to work in recent time and appear race-winning material. Dancing Time placed third at Canberra in May, Grand Amy also filled the same slot at her latest outing at Murwillumbah, and Hangover Henry put the writing on the wall with a good first-up effort at Newcastle within the past few days.

It is definitely worth pointing out that this breed effectively missed four months of competition due to the Equine Influenza outbreak in New South Wales during the final third of 2007. Under the circumstances, the HALF HENNESSY breed is doing a better job than some folk would consider in their debut season.

With Lavished breaking through, and Dancing Time, Grand Amy and Hangover Henry all showing promise, we have very little doubt that the 2008/09 racing season is shaping up nicely for HALF HENNESSY’s first-crop runners.

The super consistent MARWINA posted a notable hat-trick on the Wagga Wagga program staged on June 14. Look At The Rose (ex Ruby Rosewyn), Marbe Lad (ex Capoten) and Wina Pocketfull (ex Pocket Flyer) made it a day to remember for a stalwart of the Riverdene Stud stallion roster.

Notably, the milestone came just a few days before Victory Joy (ex Only Joy-NZ) scored a metropolitan win at Canterbury in a $27,000 event.

Suffice to say, the progeny of MARWINA is going as well as ever, seldom going through any period of a season without making its mark.

The select number of shares made available in new Riverdene Stud stallion ENEMY OF AVERAGE have been snapped up in very quick fashion.

With just under two months to go before covering his first mare on the property, our juvenile stakes winning half-brother to Exceed And Excel looks set to cover a substantial book.

Only a handful of shares are stil available for purchase in ENEMY OF AVERAGE. We fully expect these to go before the end of the month.

Any breeders still considering their ENEMY OF AVERAGE options are advised to act without delay.

Pedigree of the Month: LAVISHED

HALF HENNESSY’s first winner Lavished boasts an interesting pedigree which easily explains why the filly broke through for her maiden success as a 2-year-old. The Kembla Grange winner carries precocious bloodlines in abundance, with champion 2-year-olds and/or Champion Sires of 2YOs featuring in her genetic make-up.

European Champion 2YO Storm Bird features on both sides of her pedigree, through the sireline of Half Hennessy, of course, as well as damsire Mukaddamah (Ire). Significantly, Mukaddamah is also the sire of resident Riverdene Stud stallion Zariz, providing owners of the stallion’s daughters with the perfect opportunity to replicate the breeding of Lavished.

The other most interesting aspect of Lavished’s pedigree is the fact that she carries the blood of Star Kingdom (Ire) in both the top and bottom of her pedigree through Todman and Kaoru Star. This is a common pattern with the best progeny of Hennessy (USA) to have raced in Australia, Grand Armee and Speedy King both featuring Biscay in their tabulations. Owners of Marwina mares could confidently put them to Half Hennessy, re-introducing Star Kingdom through multiple champion sire Marscay.