Racing: Westbury Stud attracts top talent

Former successful Australian trainer Russell Cameron is coming to New Zealand to take over the Westbury Stud training operation at Pukekohe.

Cameron, who has spent the past two years in Macau, is scheduled to take up the Westbury position on April 1. He will take over the training duties from Westbury's co-owner Russell Warwick.

Warwick said he had received about 25 applications for the training position and he was thrilled that Cameron had shown interest.

"It would be a very long time since a trainer of his ability has come to New Zealand to train," said Warwick, who owns the stud in association with millionaire Eric Watson.

"I think it was our training establishment that really impressed him."

Cameron trained for many years in Adelaide and was a founding trainer of the Aquanita Racing operation.

He transferred to Melbourne about five years ago before heading to Macau in 2003.

He has won eight group one races with his star performers being Toledo and Bomber Bill.

Among Toledo's wins were the Stradbroke and Newmarket Handicaps and the Australia Stakes.

Bomber Bill also won an Australia Stakes for Cameron, and his other notable victories include the Adelaide Cup with Apache King and a Thousand Guineas with All Time High.

Warwick said the employment of Cameron coincides with a shift in focus for Westbury.

"Breeding and racing in New Zealand does not generate the returns we are seeking so we are divesting some of our existing stock to see our stud repositioned at the top end of the Australasian market," said Warwick.

Westbury has between 25 and 30 horses in work but Warwick said this would increase to 40 when Cameron commences.

"Most of them are young horses that have yet to race."

Warwick said it was hoped to get another campaign out of the classy but unsound Zafar, who will be aimed at the Kelt Capital Stakes at Hastings in the spring.

Other capable horses in work include St Verdi and Miss Monk.

Meanwhile, the breeding stock at Westbury will undergo a major overhaul.

"We currently have broodmares that are spread across the board but we will be concentrating at the top level," Warwick said.

This means a large number of mares, weanlings and untried stock will be offered for sale at the National Weanling and Bloodstock Sale in May.

It has been reported that this could number 250 horses but Warwick said the final number was undecided.

To counter that, Westbury will be an active buyer at the Sydney broodmare sale at Easter and the Gold Coast sale in Queensland in June, looking for high-quality mares to join the likes of Grand Archway, Zirna, Puzzle Book, Gypsy Geena, Clear Advantage and Bahira.

"While the stock we are selling will offer real value in the New Zealand market place, our future investments will be benchmarked against the Australian marketplace and targeted for Australian racing," Warwick said.

He confirmed that there had been some redundancies at Westbury but said this mainly involved casual staff.

Westbury stands eight stallions and Warwick said there were no plans to change that.

- NZPA