An interesting business (and indeed marketing) initiative was reported in yesterday's issue of Breeding & Racing's Daily News.

Three studs in the Hunter Valley - Byerley Stud, Ashleigh Thoroughbreds & Riversdale Stud - have combined to market and sell their yearlings under the banner Southern Cross Breeders.

Byerley Stud's Martin Hawcroft was reported as saying "It's a logical progression. In this modern era of super-sized studs, many smaller studs have to increase broodmare numbers in order to stay competitive. We could end up with more mares of inferior quality, with little competition for their yearlings; we would all rather aim for something much higher than that. We are also finding service fees are becoming more expensive, so predicting what will be commercially viable in 3 years is a real issue for smaller breeders. We felt, as a group, our interests would be best served if we could concentrate on quality rearing of superior bred horses in smaller numbers on our individual studs, in order to optimise yearling development."

The group has the advantage of demonstrated achievements in breeding quality horses. Horses bred & reared at the studs include Danni Martine (Gr1 Coolmore Classic), Bulla Borghese (Gr1 Victoria Oaks), Laurie's Lottery (Gr1 Doomben 10,000), Adam (Gr1 Stradbroke Handicap), Spark Of Life (Gr1 Lightning Stakes), All Time High (Gr1 Thousand Guineas), Leica Falcon (Gr2 Winning Edge Stakes) & Rockford Bay (Gr3 Yallambee Stud Stakes).

It will be interesting to watch how the groups collectively market themselves and whether the promotion for yearling sale purposes will have any impact on their individual brand awareness.