"Away he goes again! He's 2 and a half in front! He's now won 40 million - he's looking for 16 in a row to equal Cigar ... too easy. He is just exceptional!"

So rang the words of race caller David Raphael this afternoon as Silent Witness easily secured his 15th straight victory and in doing so inched ever closer to Cigar's record.

The freakish son of El Moxie now also enjoys his own webpage on the HKJC website - and rightly so. Silent Witness is to marketing Hong Kong racing to the world as the pope is to the Catholic church.

Cape of Good Hope, not surprisingly, was unable to cope with the pressure of "2 countries, 1 week" and finished in the middle of the field.

John Holloway's prediction concerning Redoute's Choice service fee (see below) may well be on track after Undoubtedly secured today's G1 Aami Blue Diamond Stakes by 2.3 lengths (a race won by his sire in 1999). Another Redoute's filly - Opportunity - ran 4th in the same race. In Canberra Al Samer won the G3 Black Opal Stakes by an authoritative 3 length margin. [Postscript: Snitzel (Redoute's Choice ex Snippets' Lass) also won the G3 Skyline Stakes at Canterbury by 2.3 lengths later on Saturday and is now favourite for the $3m AAMI Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on March 19).

Danehill ensured the public weren't too quick to laud his son's talents above his own historical records however. The champion sire was on the top line of the pedigree table for three group winners at Caulfield today: Elvstroem in the G2 St George Stakes, Fastnet Rock in the G1 Oakleigh Plate and Shinzig in the G3 Schweppes Cup (Danehill Express placed third in the same race - but in a unique twist, Not a Single Doubt (by Redoute's Choice) ran second).

John Holloway's Thursday column (Sydney Morning Herald) contained a few other choice tidbits as well:

"It's been a hot time at the Adelaide Magic Millions sales this week, not only for selling horses but for rumours regarding the futures of two of Australia's most talked-about horses, Redoute's Choice and Fastnet Rock.

Speculation abounded that Redoute's Choice's fee for the 2005 breeding season could be as much as $150,000 - up $50,000 on the $100,000 that was suggested around Gold Coast MM time. And if one of his two-year-olds wins either the Blue Diamond or Golden Slipper, the fee could skyrocket to $200,000.

The Redoute's Choice bandwagon is on a phenomenal high and the sire is doing things that even his illustrious father, Danehill, couldn't do in the early stages of his stallion career.

The other mail is that Fastnet Rock will stand at stud earlier than thought, with talk this week he will stand this year at Coolmore in the Hunter Valley.

Connections are disappointed with the 57 kilograms he has been allocated for the Oakleigh Plate on Saturday and are concerned about what weight he will receive in the Newmarket Handicap if successful in the Oakleigh.

Fastnet Rock is overseas-bound for two races in England but it's believed the plan afterwards is to bring him back to Australia to begin his stud career, similar to what Exceed And Excel did last year."

John Holloway printed the rumour in the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday, Breeding & Racing (Australia) officially confirmed it yesterday - and every major racing portal including The Thoroughbred Times and The Bloodhorse were fast on their heels spreading it.

The Thoroughbred Times article read as follows:

"Vinery Australia has confirmed that it has sold its 50 Australian-bred weanlings, for approximately $3.5-million to Arrowfield Stud, its neighbor in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, and a silent partner.

The deal is reportedly the biggest private weanling sale ever struck in Australia.

Vinery general manager Peter Orton, quoted by Australian Breeding & Racing magazine internet industry news on Friday, said that Vinery is "more than happy with the arrangement and the price."

The overnight sale took the industry by surprise, and includes weanlings by Red Ransom, Fusaichi Pegasus, and the Australian-bred Mossman.

John Messara, head of the Arrowfield group, has not yet made a formal statement but confirmed that all 50 weanlings will move in the coming weeks to Arrowfield, where they will be allowed to mature.

"Some we will keep, many we will sell as yearlings," Messara said."

Some worthy statistics for the PR (and also advertising) managers who have to determine the balance between hard-copy and online strategy:

"A study commissioned by the Washington Post showed rapid movement from traditional sources to online news consumption. In 2004, 47 percent of respondents to a Nielsen and Scarborough series of surveys said they increased online news use. Only four percent said they had decreased online news use. Traditional news sources showed smaller gains, ranging from 12 to 18 percent, but similar numbers of respondents said they'd reduced usage commensurately, making the traditional media mostly break even with 2003 levels. Things people liked about online news: the ability not to be hemmed in by traditional media schedules, ability to multi-task while reading, faster breaking news and search capabilities. More and more online news readers are spending more time with the medium than they spend with any other medium. Last year, a similar study showed TV and the internet neck and neck in terms of time spent per week, but in 2004, the Internet jumped ahead definitively."

Source: MarketingVOX 25/2/05

It's hard enough admitting an error - it's even more difficult when the admission has to be made public.

The essence of good PR (and client and media relations) is honesty - and providing a full and frank disclosure as soon as practicable after the event.

Despite the theory it is fair to say that you don't often see people step up to the plate and openly admit a major error - or what they have done to rectify the problem going forward.

Many companies could therefore learn a lot from the following email from Michael Maroney.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Dear Client,

As you are aware, I was forced to stand Andrew Scott down as my training partner recently and now racing’s officialdom in New Zealand have followed my actions by disqualifying Andrew until July 31 of this year.

Andrew made an error of judgment and falsified an application for blinkers for a stable runner and then provided false information to the powers that be during an investigation. This is out of character for Andrew and I am confident he will be able to put this behind him and conduct himself within the rules of racing once he is relicensed.

It is just unfortunate that, in not admitting to a genuine and minor mistake, a $400 fine for the partnership has turned into a black mark against his career.

Andrew has been my training partner in New Zealand for five and a half racing seasons in which time we have achieved considerable success culminating in dual Classic success this year and three Group 1 winners in total so far this term. Ballymore Stables also currently heads the prizemoney list.

Much of this comes down to Andrew’s excellent application of my training methods in my absence but he has also had the backing of a good team behind him and one of these, my brother Paul, has always been visible in a management role for the stable and will now step into the breach as my training partner for the remainder of the season.

Paul has been heavily involved with the training of horses since the early 1970s when he worked for Dave O’Sullivan, and following that with my stable from its inception, so he is well capable of implementing our successful system. He has always been in an overseeing role as another set of eyes for me, and much of the programming and racing of our team over the past five seasons has been framed around Paul’s advice.

Paul will now be your point of contact and is freely available to discuss your horse and its progress. His numbers are +64 7 888 5446 (day/night) and 021 941 429 (mobile). He will also be in charge of providing pre and post race reports, mainly via email where possible. I am sure you will value the depth of these reports which Paul has been providing to his own client base for a number of years.

Finally, I would like to assure you that Andrew will still have a role as my training partner once he has served his disqualification. During that time he will be educating our recent New Zealand yearling purchases based at JK Farm so he will have a head start in assessing our juvenile crop for next season.

Yours faithfully,

Michael Moroney

Senior Trainer – Ballymore Stables

South Africa has adopted a novel approach to jockey sponsorship - one that supports the owners above the jockeys.

Breeding & Racing (Australia)'s Daily News reported today:

"In South Africa, owners' body the Racing Association announced "owners will be allowed to sell advertising on their runners silks," reported thoroughbredinternet.com. Three sites have been approved for branding: the collar, back & chest areas. However the agreement notes: "If for any reason the National Horseracing Authority are of the view the sponsorship material impinges on their ability to identify the silks, then the owner would be instructed to remove the advertising. If this is not possible by the time of the race, then the owner would need to substitute the silks with a clean set or Club Colours will be used."

Ambush marketing will also be disallowed.

For a detailed article on the global Jockey Sponsorship Debate click here.

A popular Australian horse-racing forum entered into a heated debate earlier this week after one reader raised the topic of some journalists not double-checking their copy for mistakes before going to print.

I assume it was one of the journalists who ultimately leapt to their (own) defence and said that if people had an issue with mistakes they could exercise their democratic rights and not read the posts at all.

It's a fair comment ... but to be honest, in today's commercial environment, there is no excuse for poorly drafted copy. Everyone works to tight deadlines and yes, you always want to be first to break the next BIG piece of news and yes, of course people make mistakes on occasion - but if sites rely on sub-standard stories courtesy of poor grammar then site readership will eventually suffer. There are plenty of sites with great copy and not too many errors. The Bloodhorse, Stallions Daily Bulletin, ThoroughbredInternet.com all come to mind.

Magazines should follow the same advice - there is one in particular at the moment that seems unable to spell check or sub their articles before the magazine is sent to print each month and the standard is fast deteriorating. In many ways an editor becomes the brand of a magazine and if poor quality becomes a trademark ... then why would people want to advertise with you?

Meanwhile the TBA might want to have someone monitor their forum as the spam marketers have well and truly latched onto it. Messages 1 & 2 today related to porn and weight loss ... Perhaps not the impression one would be hoping for from the peak industry and representative body for all thoroughbred breeders in Australia?!

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia will be participating at the 30th Asian Racing Conference to be held at Seoul in South Korea in May.

The ARC will be held from May 20 to 27 with the TBA to be represented at exhibitions in conjunction with the conference.

This will be the third time an Australian breeding industry exhibition has been held in conjunction with the Asian Racing Conference to coincide with the various seminars and meetings.

The ARC is attended by over 1000 delegates from thoroughbred breeding and racing countries in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Middle East, and representatives from the UK and USA.

As such it provides an ideal opportunity to promote the Australian-bred racehorse.

Thoroughbred Breeders Australia is inviting the breeding industry to take part by providing promotional material that will show the rest of the world the diversity of the Australian product.

The display, information kits and the generic marketing material is being coordinated by TBA Executive Officer James Peters along with other TBA representatives.

Promotional material may be provided to the TBA and can include flyers, brochures, pamphlets, videos or CD Roms, newsletters, magazines and business cards.

A small marketing fee is required that will defray expenses such as freight and distributing costs.

(From Racenet)

In a study sponsored by Arbitron and the Radio Advertising Bureau, media buyer planners and marketers rated radio the worst among TV, newspapers, magazines and even the internet in terms of accountability, schedule integrity and audience measurement. National radio spending has been losing marketshare in the past few years, while local radio grew three percent in 2004. Local now makes up four out of five radio dollars.

Source: MarketingVOX

In the continuing battle for who can be first in the innovation stakes, Racing Victoria are flashing a clean pair of heels to NSW Racing this month.

Latest news: Racing Victoria has moved to assist owners & trainers in securing flights for their racehorses to & from Australia's major racing carnivals by setting up a horse movement information service on its website. The service will provide future airline schedules, details of freight-forwarding companies & the protocol involved when a horse is transported by air across Australia. Racing Victoria chief executive Robert Nason commented: "This means trainers & freight-forwarders have a schedule they can work with to better plan the movement of horses around Australia. The safe & efficient transportation of horses to interstate carnivals is critical to the thoroughbred racing industry."

An article by Raj Khera: Email Marketing: The First 48 Hours Are Critical which appeared in this month's Marketingprofs.com newsletter is well worth the read if you incorporate email-based marketing as part of your company's marketing mix.

"The next time you broadcast a permission-based email to your customers, members or newsletter subscribers, monitor your response for the next 48 hours.

That's when the vast majority—80%—of those who would open your message will actually open it, according to the results of our recent study. What's more, 95% of people who read your message do so within six days of your mailing.

The "Email Marketing Use and Trends Report: H1 2004" shows performance by industry for the first half of 2004, based on over 70 million opt-in email messages sent by MailerMailer customers. It includes delivery/bounce rates, unique open rates, click-through rates by industry; open and click rates by day of the week; and the effect of personalized subject lines and messages on open and click rates."

Note also the related article on MarketingVOX this week titled Email Send Day Studies Prove Self-Influencing. The article discusses research conducted by email firm ExactTarget who have released a study on the effectiveness of email campaigns relative to the days of the week emails are sent. Several earlier studies suggested that Monday and Tuesday have been the most effective days of the week. But the new study suggests that the best day for opening emails aren't necessarily the best days for conversions.

Further complicating things, ExactTarget showed that its own results matched a MarketingSherpa study published in July, yet after that MarketingSherpa study was released, so many emails were sent on Monday that the day came to be ranked fifth or sixth for subsequent quarters. ExactTarget found that emails sent Wednesday through Friday maximized open rates. Weekends tended to earn the most clicks per open, perhaps because only about three percent of emails are sent during that lull period.

The Victorian breeding industry is further supporting the non-shuttle concept and increasing the depth of talent in its local sire ranks with news that Niello and Elvstroem have been secured for stud duties in the Southern State.

In January Chatswood Stud purchased 50% of triple Gr1 winner Niello (Octagonal-Shadea, by Straight Strike) & the 4YO stallion will commence stud duties this year at Chatswood's Seymour base at a $16,500 fee.

Blue Gum Farm also announced today that multiple Gr1-winning 4YO stallion Elvstroem (Danehill-Circles Of Gold, by Marscay) will stand for a $30,000 service fee this year making the 4-time Gr1 winner the most expensive stallion in Victoria. Elvstroem (a $330,000 yearling at the 2002 Inglis Easter Sale) currently has 8 wins (including the Gr1 Caulfield Cup and Gr1 C.F.Orr Stakes) & 7 placings in 24 starts for $3,743,600 prize-money.

In terms of marketing who said size wasn't everything? News last week that Tokyo racecourse plans to install a video screen that track officials claim will be the largest in the world (surpassing the display board at Hong Kong's Sha Tin racecourse that measures 26 feet by 231 feet for a surface area of 6,006 feet). Thoroughbredtimes.com reported that the planned Tokyo in-field screen will be 36 feet high & 197 feet wide (for a surface area of 7,092 square feet). Construction is scheduled for completion in September 2006.


The screen at Shatin.

A question for you: have you ever asked your clients how they would like to be communicated with? If you haven't asked them directly have you instead supplied ways of collecting the information from them - either through an occasional survey, email opt-in/out facility, or IT tools that allow clients to manipulate/change what data you store on them?

Nowadays there are all manner of ways of communicating with clients: in person, by post, fax and phone and more recently, mobile phones [SMS], email, and PDA's. You may look bewildered at the thought of sending your clients final nominations and acceptances by SMS for example, but a large number of your clients may actually prefer to be informed using that medium. Shouldn't you know who they are?

Staying close to your customers allows you to learn more about them and, importantly, how they want information presented to them.

I have only once been asked by a horse stud (I have never been asked by a trainer) how I wish to receive my bills (by fax, email or post). I have never been asked how I wish to be informed of nominations, weights, results or, on the breeding front, latest service dates and again, only once have I been asked how I wish to be informed of veterinary interventions or agistment issues. Typically I just get the information when and how the trainer/stud chooses to provide it. Many of you will no doubt say "well that's fair enough". But has anyone stopped to think that the way information is currently being communicated may in fact work to a company's detriment? If your client works/lives interstate or overseas for example (and many clients do) then a bill can take anywhere from 2 - 8 days to reach the client. If it is emailed then a client receives it immediately. For clients who pay promptly (yes, there are many who do) that extra week could end up affecting your cash flow.

Don't automatically assume that all clients are the same either. As odd as it seems to many of us, a lot of people still don't know how to use email. If you're sending these clients updates/newsletters/bills by email (and just to throw a spanner in the works many companies give all their staff email addresses which then appear on their card - doesn't however mean everyone checks their accounts) ... they won't be reading them and all your time and effort has gone to waste.

Also make sure that the information you are providing can be easily accessed by a client. I am surprised by how often companies or individuals approach me to print media releases for them and then send it to me in a format that may not be compatible with the way we print updates (as we do not work off a 'typical' content management system for our news section). This means I will choose to ignore it, or I have to undertake a significant amount of work re-formatting it. After awhile certain companies do end up getting treated more favourably simply because they have made the effort to work out what communication system works best for both of us.

Taking the time to learn more about your clients and discovering what works best for them in terms of contact means you are a long way towards gaining long term loyalty -which given how expensive clients are to get (and keep) is a rather important matter for today's marketing staff and companies generally!

It's more than just a pedigree - look at the other integrated solutions Weatherbys provides as part of the fee.

It's been refreshing to see some of the recent marketing efforts pitched at new owners.

At the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale new owners’ information sessions were presented by Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners’ Association (TROA) and William Inglis and Son Ltd.

For just $10, the Forum offered new racehorse owners guidance on:
- the auction process
- Horse selection and conformation
- Syndication and bloodstock agents
- Training options and costs
- Benefits of racing in Victoria
- Super VOBIS
- TROA and its role

A Young Members Owners Information Day was also part of the scheme.

"Quality is easy to claim, hard to prove and virtually impossible to show. For these reasons it is tough to hang your hat on quality, no matter how good your product and increasingly consumers are looking for 'value-differentiators' ['value' meaning benefit not price in this context] when interacting with a company.

Value-added differentiators are expressed through brand. Brands have always been about trust, but in this new competitive environment they are increasingly an expression of value"

(SIAA Information Industry Summit 2005: Wrap Up Notes as reported on www.contentbiz.com)

In the thoroughbred arena, value-differentiators may include improving the usefulness of data that you supply to clients, increasing (or indeed decreasing) the number of stallions on offer; offering bloodlines that work particularly well with client mares, capping books, revising the terms of the service agreement; publishing the results of professional studies undertaken on the quality of your pasture; enhanced safety; increased client communications ... the possibilities are endless.

I have never had any professional dealings with Lord Lodge and Jacquie Little Thoroughbreds but when you look at their website the first thing that becomes apparent is that this is a company that appears to inherently understand the concept of value-differentiation. Look at a recent news posting on the site:

"CONFORMATION - WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

"Many people have expressed a desire to know more about the 'importance of Thoroughbred conformation' .

"We have decided to address this issue and will be holding a Question/Answer Information Session for those who are desperate to know more. For logistical reasons each session will have no more than 25 people.

"Please email us at lordlodge@aol.com to register your interest".

Another initiative that the various State Owners' Committees could do well to shamelessly plagiarise is Lord Lodge's OWNER FOR A DAY scheme.

"Periodically we have the opportunity to offer our valued Lord Lodge clients the chance to be an OWNER FOR A DAY. Suited, in particular, to clients whose horse has yet to hit the track the OWNER FOR A DAY scheme will allow you to experience all of the behind the scenes action. Saddling up, mounting yard, talking to the jockey and then the post race activities. Our last OWNER FOR A DAY was lucky enough to be part of the presentation ceremony after the horse won!! Talk about coat hangers!!"

Of interest, Jacquie also offers clients the Lord Lodge Service Agreement which she says "is an industry first. We believe that this Agreement will dramatically improve the overall service that we offer our valued clients and all who purchase shares in horses here at Lord Lodge or who give us a horse to train will receive the Lord Lodge Service Agreement."

If you're looking for photos of this season's US foals (particularly from first season sires), the Bloodhorse.com offers a slideshow on their site. It's still relatively early in the season so there aren't too many photos uploaded at present but you would expect to see quite a few more in coming weeks.

For foals of 2005 born in the Western United States and Canada (the states of California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico and the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan) check out the following site.

Individual stud websites remain your best bet for sheer numbers of photos - Harris Farms provides a good example.

Some interesting statistics reported by Mark Smith on RaceNet today:

"The 2005 Easter Yearling Sale catalogue emphasizes the strangle hold of the Hunter Valley powerhouses on the top end of the market. Stallions standing at Coolmore, Arrowfield, Darley, Widden, Woodlands and Vinery account for 491 (82%) of the 598 yearlings catalogued.

"Coolmore stallions alone contribute 228 yearlings, 38% of the total offered. In fact that figure blows out by a further 26 yearlings when stallions owned or part owned by Coolmore that stand at different studs are added in.

"When 60 yearlings by New Zealand based sires are factored in, it leaves slim pickings for the vast majority of Australian stud farms."

Some timely PR from Ken McCaffrey at McCaffrey's Australian Livestock Marketing in Rockhampton today.

Rockhampton is home to the Capricorn Yearling Sale, a sale that in 22 years, has yet to break a $10,000 average yet boasts an impressive track record. In the past 12 months sale graduates have won on 37 metropolitan, provincial & country racetracks around Australia & also in NZ.

McCaffrey commented: "It's a sale which certainly punches above its weight with metropolitan success for graduates in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth & Darwin over the years. We are attracting a growing number of astute buyers every year, who recognise exceptional value in yearlings."

The 2005 sale offers 72 lots from breeders in central & southern Queensland. Sires of yearlings include Iglesia, Easy Rocking, Dodge, Anglia, Telesto, Switch In Time, Celestial Dancer, Western Red, Dane Supreme, Chariot, Nediym, Legal Opinion, Speeding Fine, Forever Regal, Oarsman, Mapperley's Star, Forgotten Hero, Al Jaasi, Kaaptive Edition, Immovable Option, Knowledge, Armidale, Great Dane, Mr Innocent & Irish Royal.

The Capricorn Yearling Sales will be held on 3 April 2005 at Rockhampton Showgrounds, QLD.

If you're involved in marketing your stud farm/business/the Industry generally then the following 6 trends should be of interest:

1. Yahoo! has launched contextual search that allows users to narrow searches based on the content they happen to be viewing at the time, providing a contextual targeting of sorts. Further details at the following URL.

2. The eternal search for customer loyalty often sees companies attempting to buy it. To some extent we saw it with Darley's 'deals' last year. Here's a (non thoroughbred) example of a business bidding for customer loyalty in an innovative way: MarketingVOX reports that e-commerce giant Amazon will offer an annual fee based arrangement allowing buyers to pay US$79 per year for unlimited free two-day shipping. Currently, Amazon.com offers free shipping for orders that reach a certain amount. CEO Jeff Bezos said the plan would cost Amazon.com money in the short-term, but that he anticipated it would increase customer loyalty and thereby the quantity of product sold. It's a measure that few other e-commerce firms could match, as Amazon.com provides one of the widest arrays of product categories, making households capable of relying on their $79 to extend across a wide swath of needs.

3. Google announced yesterday that following a recent expansion, its image index now contains more than 1 billion pictures. Speaking of Google they have also launched Google Maps, which offers maps, driving directions and the ability to search for local businesses. The service offers a few tweaks to standard mapping products including the ability to click and drag the maps, instead of having to click and reload as well as magnified views of specific spots pop up in bubbles.

4. Does your company use viral ('word of mouth') marketing? If so, it's worth being aware of recent developments in the US. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) released an ethics code earlier this month, pushing viral marketers and others to ensure that their efforts are above board. The code of conduct includes the provision that marketers should disclose relationships, ruling out fake endorsements, shilling, falsifying identities, blog spamming and other practices that could otherwise give the field a worse rap. It also indicates word of mouth marketing is inappropriate to audiences below the age of 13.

5. Wondering how the next generation of clients will interact with your website? It seems video will be far more pervasive than what we may have expected. A new Online Publishers Association study shows that more than a quarter of internet users say they watch an online video feed at least once a week. One in twenty said they watch one every day. Seven out of ten said that they'd seen a video ad. The OPA conducted the survey primarily to build up a demographic profile of online video consumers. Not surprisingly the results largely reflected the demographic differences seen among audiences with higher broadband penetration: a little more wealthy, a little more male and slightly younger.

6. How much radio advertising are you using? The medium which supposedly has the best audience recall of any advertising message is also said to be the worst for accountability. In a study sponsored by Arbitron and the Radio Advertising Bureau, media buyer planners and marketers rated radio the worst among TV, newspapers, magazines and even the internet in terms of accountability, schedule integrity and audience measurement. National radio spending has been losing market share in the past few years, while local radio grew three percent in 2004. Local now makes up four out of five radio dollars.

A couple of photos from this year's sale:


Lot 155, a colt by Encosta de Lago x Garter Lane (vendor: Eliza Park as agent) purchased by Gai Waterhouse for $300,000. 4th highest price of the sale (Encosta de Lago responsible for 7 of the top 10 yearling prices)


Paringa Park were celebrating not just their first year in the commercial yearling market but also this lovely colt by Encosta de Lago x La Baronne(USA) which they offered as agent; purchased by Paul Perry for $210,000 (making the colt the tenth highest priced lot of the Melbourne Premier)


Clarrie Connors inspects the Encosta de Lago x La Baronne(USA) colt.


The famous filly graced the front of the Inglis catalogue and spotted in the carpark was a car that no doubt belonged to one of the syndicate owners (I'm told it's not a parking ticket on the windscreen!).


On account of Yallambee Stud - a chestnut filly by Testa Rossa x Truly. Purchased by M Minervini (South Australia) for $130,000


On account of Phoenix Broodmare Farm - a bay filly by Lion Hunter x Favorite Date. Purchased by Mick Price for $85,000.


Eliza Park staff busily place yearling photos into frames for all new owners.


On account of Arrowfield Stud (as agent) - lot 359, a grey filly by Gilded Time x Pure Bright purchased by Paul Moroney B'Stock (New Zealand) for $90,000.

One minute heavily marketed ... the next bundled unceremoniously into a Magic Millions Monthly Sale courtesy of a minimal sperm count and an insurance claim. Whilst most of us accept that this is a commercial business and investors need to be paid, I have no doubt that many people still flinch when they see these horses back in the ring.

Today it was Geronimo, the young Willowbend hopeful who had had some well known family relations to boost his first season stud appeal. But a champion father and sister weren't enough when he proved infertile and it would appear that a renewed focus on racing - or another career path - is what he now faces.

Meanwhile, another monthly sale (this time Inglis' March Thoroughbred Sale at Oaklands) has turned up two extraordinarily well credentialed stallions. Both seem to have appeared on our fine shores without even a media byline and have now (equally mysteriously) sidled their way into a less that stellar sale. Anyone got any ideas?

The first is lot 163 - GENEREUX (ARG) - a G1 winning 5 year old bay stallion by French Deputy out of the G1 winner Griffe de Paris. He is the half-brother to 3 group winners including the G1 wining filly Lady de Paris and his pedigree, whilst all Argentinean form, is, quite simply, a sea of black type.



The second is lot 164, a 7 yo Argentine champion and classic winner - LORD JIM (ARG) who won or placed 5 times at G1 level and has the distinction of having been voted the Champion 2YO Colt in Argentina. His half-brother, LITTLE JIM, was purchased in 2004 by Sheikh Rashid, the eldest son of Godolphin chief Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. Satish Seemar trains Little Jim, who was conditioned in Argentina by Roberto Pellegatta. Little Jim captured the U.A.E. Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-III) in his first start of the 2004 season and ran third in the UAE-II US$2m UAE Derby on Dubai World Cup Day.

Considering that a number of stud farms in Australia have taken a punt on Argentinean horses the appearance of these two very well bred stallions at a sale of this type does seem eminently strange ... hopefully one of the AAP/Cyberhorse/Stallions journalists will dig something up to help us out.

I couldn't resist sharing this fabulous example of a translation not always doing justice to a brand. I'm also not quite sure that William Inglis & Son Ltd would actually WANT to be known as the 'in grease and the sun earring' company which a Google interpretation of this particular JAIR page has unwittingly labelled them as!

I know that the journalists and quite a few business people will be aware of the following service but for those that aren't ...

The search engine GOOGLE provides a free service for people who want to receive the latest news updates (across all global media). You can quite easily track your horses using the same service. For example, if I wanted to track the racing success of Fastnet Rock I would do the following:

1. Go to Google

2. Click on the "News" link directly above the search term field.

3. Click on the link called News Alerts on the left-hand side navigation menu.
Enter your search terms in the field provided (if you're familiar with using Boolean operators such as AND or OR in your search terms you can also use these to prevent receiving unrelated items e.g. if you wanted to track only the stories that discussed overseas race plans for the horse you would enter: Fastnet Rock AND Royal Ascot; alternatively if you want to track the trainer and the horse you would enter: Fastnet Rock AND Perry)

4. Choose the type

5. Choose the frequency ("as it happens" is recommended)

6. Enter your email address

It's that easy! You will then begin to receive emails anytime the horse/person (or event) you are interested in makes the news.

You can also create an account with Google so that you can manage your alerts and remove them if you no longer wish to receive them. Again, this is a free service.

For smaller stables/stud farms and owners it is a very easy tool (and an inexpensive one given it doesn't cost a cent) to track whether horses you own/train/breed or sell - or are just plain interested in - make the news. It is also a very useful tool for competitor analysis (and/or to keep tabs on any of your well-to-do owners who make the press on occasion).

PS - and just think, if you hadn't signed up for the Fastnet Rock news alerts you would have missed the article in the Wodonga Border Mail (in addition to the ones in the Age, The Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, Herald Sun, FoxSports, Sportinglife.com, Virtual Formguide etc etc etc)!

Arrowfield Stud’s Redoute’s Choice has set a new Australian record by serving 212
mares during the 2004 covering season – a leap of an additional 98 mares in his 5th
season at stud.

The son of Danehill is the first horse to reach such numbers, overtaking Encosta De
Lago, based at Coolmore and who served 208 mares in 2004.

With approximately 90% of stallion declarations now returned to the Australian Stud
Book, the statistics show an increase of approximately 32% in the number of stallions
covering 100 or more mares (75 stallions in 2004 up from 57 stallions in 2003).

The number of stallions standing in Australia in 2004 totalled 888, a decrease of 95
stallions or 9.6%. Decreases in stallion numbers were felt across NSW (10.3%),
Victoria (6.7%), Queensland (6.7%) and Western Australia, ACT and Northern
Territory (1%). South Australia and Tasmania gained a slight increase of 1% in the
number of stallions standing in each state.

As the state racing and breeding bodies vie to improve the breeding performance of
each state, NSW based breeders continue to have a stronghold over the rest of
Australia including notable increases in foal production (2.7% increase) and the
number of mares covered (6.3% increase).

A complete copy of the breeding statistics will be available for distribution at the end of the breeding season on 31 May, 2005.

Australian Stud Book Media Release 8 February 2005

For those wishing to inspect any yearlings in the 'virtual' medium, SireCam has quite a few videos on its site for the Inglis Premier sale (which starts this weekend). There's also a link on the Inglis site.

From New Zealand Bloodstock

2005 NATIONAL YEARLING SALES SERIES SUMMARY

- Record-Breaking Premier Sale Aggregate, Average & Median
- Record Turnover for Number of Lots Sold
- Combined Average up 24%

In total, 1477 yearlings were catalogued for sale at the 79th National Yearling Sales Series at Karaka, with 1029 yearlings sold for an aggregate of NZ$69,628,350. This is the second highest aggregate ever seen at Karaka, the highest being $70,809,351 for 1139 lots sold in 2000, which included a colt for $3.6m. Last year 1109 yearlings were sold for $60,631,650 showing an impressive 15% increase in total returns to vendors this year, and record returns for the number of lots sold.

Buying Bench

What was significant for the week was the strength and depth to the buying bench, particularly amongst northern hemisphere buyers. European buyers such as Adrian Nicoll, Demi O'Byrne, Angus Gold, Hubie de Burgh, Grant Pritchard-Gordon and Richard O'Gorman were all present and active, together with a notably strong buying bench from prominent agents, trainers and owners from Australia.

The overall leading local buyer for the week was trans-Tasman trainer, Graeme Rogerson, who shopped in all three sessions of the Sale and purchased a total of 44 yearlings for $6,261,000. Next leading individual buyer was Adrian Nicoll with 8 purchases for $5,859,100, followed by New Zealand buyer, David Ellis, with 29 purchases for $2,842,500.

The Danehill Factor

This year was undoubtedly the year of the Danehills, with twenty of the final southern crop catalogued for sale in the Premier session. And the super-sire duly delivered. Danehill was responsible for five of the top ten lots of the Sale and topped the sires table with a total of sixteen yearlings sold for an outstanding average of NZ$528,438 and an aggregate of NZ$8,455,000.

Danehill was also responsible for the only two yearlings of the Sale to hit seven figures. The top lot was a Danehill filly from Encens (Common Grounds) purchased by BBA Ireland principal, Adrian Nicoll, for $1.3m. This is the second highest filly ever sold at Karaka, and one of only two to ever break the million dollar mark at auction in New Zealand. The filly will be raced by a syndicate of owners from around the world, and will be trained by prominent Australian trainer, David Hayes. Nicoll secured two other Danehill yearlings at the Sale, two fillies from Sadler's Wells mares Magical Moment and Dance My Dance purchased for $600,000 and $575,000 respectively. Both fillies are heading to Lee Freedman's stables in Australia.

To prove that it wasn't all an international affair, local buyer David Ellis secured the second top lot of the Sale. The Danehill colt was out of Gone West mare, Beyond the Sunset, purchased for $1,050,000 from Pencarrow Stud. Ellis was responsible for the top lot of the Sale at Karaka last year when he purchased a Danehill x Grand Echezeaux colt for $1,100,000. To add to the excitement of the week for Ellis, the colt won impressively on debut on the first day of the Premier Sale.

Home grown champion sire Zabeel, was second leading sire by aggregate with 28 yearlings sold for $7,120,000. His top priced yearling was the regally bred colt out of Marquise (Gold and Ivory) which sold for $950,000.

First southern crop sire, Giant's Causeway, was second leading sire by average with 6 yearlings sold for an average of $407,500.

Significant Growth

The 15% increase in aggregate for this year's National Yearling Sales Series shows significant growth right across the Series. The overall clearance rate was a healthy 78%, and the combined sale average was up a huge 24% from $54,476 to $67,666.

New Zealand Bloodstock Marketing & PR Manager commented, "This week has been an overwhelming success for the industry. We had a strong buying bench of both international and local buyers, and a great product to offer them. The signs were there leading into the Sale that we could expect a strong Sale, but you can never be certain until you put buyers and sellers together in the auction ring so we are very pleased with the outcome.

"There's no question the presence of the Danehills in the Premier Sale catalogue had a positive effect on the entire Sale, and the quality of the catalogue we had meant vendors could capitalise on it. The atmosphere on the sale grounds throughout the week was very positive amongst both buyers and vendors, and we are extremely happy with the results achieved here."

The overall leading vendor by aggregate was Sir Patrick Hogan's Cambridge Stud, with 51 yearlings sold for $8,871,000. Next was Nelson Schick's Windsor Park Stud with 72 yearlings sold for $6,869,000, followed by Peter & Philip Vela's Pencarrow Stud with 17 yearlings sold for $6,345,000. Pencarrow Stud was also the overall leading vendor by average with 17 sold for an average of $373,235, followed by Bruce and Maureen Harvey's Ascot Farm with 11 sold for an average of $267,045.

Overall 2005 National Yearling Sales Series Combined Results

OVERALL SALE AVERAGE = $67,666
24% increase from 2004
2004 Final Sale average = $54,476

OVERALL AGGREGATE = $69,628,350
15% increase from 2004
2004 Aggregate = $60,631,650

OVERALL LOTS CATALOGUED = 1477
2004 Lots Catalogued = 1532

OVERALL LOTS SOLD = 1029
2004 Lots Sold = 1113

OVERALL CLEARANCE RATE = 78%
2004 Final Sale Clearance rate = 82%

TOP PRICE = $1,300,000 Danehill x Encens (Lot 385)
2004 Top Price = $1,100,000 Danehill x Grand Echezeaux (Lot 159)

LEADING BUYER BY AGGREGATE = Rogerson Bloodstock, 44 Purchased for $6,261,000

TOP 10 LOTS

LOT BREEDING VENDOR PURCHASER PRICE
385 f DANEHILL x ENCENS Pencarrow Stud BBA Ireland $1,300,000
295 c DANEHILL x BEYOND THE SUNSET Pencarrow Stud Mr D C Ellis $1,050,000
13 c ZABEEL x MARQUISE Cambridge Stud NZB as agent $950,000
320 c GIANT'S CAUSEWAY x CHAMPAGNE Cambridge Stud Rogerson Bloodstock $875,000
401 c DANEHILL x FERN Ascot Farm Mr R R McAnulty $700,000
5 f DANEHILL x MAGICAL MOMENT Ascot Farm BBA Ireland $600,000
353 f DANEHILL x DANCE MY DANCE Pencarrow Stud BBA Ireland $575,000
362 c VISCOUNT x DIAMOND HABIT Cambridge Stud Mr R R McAnulty $550,000
311 f FUSAICHI PEGASUS x CANNSEA Whakanui Stud Coolmore Australia $540,000
292 f GIANT'S CAUSEWAY x BESPOKEN Curraghmore Stud Robert Roulston $500,000

LEADING SIRES BY AVERAGE (3 or more sold)
1ST = Danehill 16 sold for average $528,438
2ND = Giant's Causeway 6 sold for average $407,500
3RD = Fusaichi Pegasus 4 sold for average $293,750
4TH = Zabeel 28 sold for average $254,286
5TH = Galileo 3 sold for average $169,167

LEADING 1ST CROP SIRES BY AVERAGE (3 or more sold)
1ST = Giant's Causeway 6 sold for average $407,500
2ND = Galileo 3 sold for average $169,167
3RD = Viscount 7 sold for average $140,357
4TH = Fantastic Light 10 sold for average $101,000
5TH = Traditionally 20 sold for average $80,125

LEADING BUYERS BY AGGREGATE
1ST = Rogerson Bloodstock 44 Lots $6,261,000
2ND = BBA - Ireland 8 Lots $3,375,000
3RD = Mr D C Ellis 29 Lots $2,842,500
4TH = Paul Moroney Bloodstock 35 Lots $2,396,000
5TH = Kieran Moore Bloodstock 10 Lots $1,570,000

LEADING VENDORS BY AGGREGATE
1ST = Cambridge Stud 51 Lots $8,871,000
2ND = Windsor Park Stud 72 Lots $6,869,000
3RD = Pencarrow Stud 17 Lots $6,345,000
4TH = Curraghmore Stud 38 Lots $4,766,100
5TH = Trelawney Stud 41 Lots $3,672,500

LEADING VENDORS BY AVERAGE
1ST = Pencarrow Stud 17 Lots $373,235
2ND = Ascot Farm 11 Lots $267,045
3RD = Whakanui Stud 7 Lots $224,286
4TH = Cambridge Stud 51 Lots $173,941
5TH = Rodmor Stud 14 Lots $128,643

From the Bloodhorse.com:

The Australian arm of Dr. Tom Simon's massive Vinery Stud organization, announced on Friday it will sell all its mares and weanlings through the Inglis Sales company in Sydney. The bloodstock will be sold with the mares going through on the first day of the broodmare sale (April 3) and the weanlings being sold during the traditional Australian select weanling sale in May.

Early estimates have the livestock valued at around A$22 million (U.S.$17 million).

Full story.

Darley: Home of champions. Well, it is according to their leading competitor Coolmore anyway.

It's an even more generous accolade when you consider 'home of champions' is actually Coolmore's tag line.

What's that I hear you ask?

The cap that appears in the following photos was provided in good faith to a friend (who part-owns and races 4 horses in Australia) who was visiting Coolmore's headquarters in Ireland a few weeks ago. The cap seeks to promote one of Coolmore's flagship freshmen.

So why the free plug for Darley?

I was admiring the cap's buckle (my marketing hat on [no pun intended] as I wondered who else was using a similar embossing style as it looked so effective).

"I didn't realize One Cool Cat was actually standing at Darley Stud." I said to the cap's owner, suddenly confused.

"He's not" was the response.

Errrr.................

A well deserved result for the NZ Bloodstock team whose 3-day Premier Sale this week achieved a record aggregate, average & median with 84 of the 389 lots sold reaching NZ$200,000 or more (almost double the 2004 figure of 45).

The median of NZ$90,000 was up 24% on 2004 (NZ$72,500), indicating major growth in the middle market.

The aggregate of NZ$53,446,500 was up 20% (NZ$44,685,000 last year) & the new record average of NZ$137,395 was up 23% (last year NZ$111,955).

NZ Bloodstock marketing manager Petrea Vela summed up: "While market indicators pointed to promising results leading in to the sale, this has well & truly exceeded all our expectations. There was high demand for top quality yearlings plus the record median of NZ$90,000 (meaning more than half the yearlings in the sale fetched that amount) shows growth right throughout the middle of the market. Most importantly, with the huge increase in aggregate it means there is more money going back to the vendors."

Leading sires by average (3 or more sold) were:

Danehill: 16 sold for average NZ$528,438
Giant's Causeway: 6 sold for average NZ$407,500
Fusaichi Pegasus: 4 sold for average NZ$293,750
Zabeel: 29 sold for average NZ$248,966
Catbird: 4 sold for average NZ$186,667

Leading 1st-Crop Sires by average (3 or more sold) were:

Giant's Causeway: 6 sold for average NZ$407,500
Galileo: 3 sold for average NZ$169,167
Viscount: 7 sold for average NZ$140,357
Keeper: 16 sold for average NZ$120,469
Fantastic Light: 10 sold for average NZ$101,000

Top price was the $NZ1.3 million paid by BBA Ireland for a Danehill filly from Encens. The yearling was the first filly to top the Karaka sale since 2001 (when Shower Of Roses (by Zabeel) collared a final bid of $NZ1.45 million).

Danehill sired five of the top seven lots including both lots that sold for in excess of a million dollars.

On MarketingVOX this morning:

Most Fail to Maximize Email Delivery

Jupiter Research reports that more than half of email marketers fail to check whether or not users are receiving their mass communications. Fully 54 percent report that they don't audit their emailings to diagnose delivery issues, except after a campaign has already gone out. Two thirds of marketers who do their own email marketing in-house fail to institute ongoing auditing processes. The report stressed the importance of inbox seeding, scoring content for its likelihood to get flagged by spam filters, message rendering quality control and blacklist monitoring.

A very interesting (and good) use of PR by Magic Millions this morning when a media release identified weekend runners who were also first acceptors for the $400K Magic Millions Adelaide 2YO Classic in 3 weeks time.

With attention on Karaka and also a strong weekend of racing coming up courtesy of - at Flemington - the G1 Lightning Stakes, G3 The Vanity and The Debonair and the million dollar Inglis 2yo championship; at Rosehill - the listed Millie Fox Stakes and Parramatta Cup, G2 Silver Slipper, G3 Frederick Clissold Stakes; and at Morphetville the G2 Woodlands Stud Breeders' Stakes, G3 RN Irwin Stakes, and the listed CS Hayes Memorial Cup it was a savvy way of returning people's attention to the Gold Coast auction company and build some anticipatory 'buzz' for the forthcoming sale.

Please find following a list of first acceptors for the $400,000 Magic Millions Adelaide 2YO Classic (1200m) who are racing this weekend.

The 2YO Classic, sponsored by Malaysia Airlines, will be run at Morphettville on (Wednesday) February 23.

MORPHETTVILLE - SATURDAY

Woodlands Stud Breeders' Stakes - 1200m

Colonel Mustard - Lee Freedman
Freestyle - Phillip Stokes
Hayaat - Tony McEvoy

DOOMBEN - SATURDAY

Centrepoint Finance QTIS 2YO Handicap - 1200m

Shanambah - Gerald Ryan

SALE - SUNDAY

Gala Ball Feb 26 Super Vobis 2YO Handicap - 1100m

Emilydelago - Ricky Maund

Today's post from JOHN BAXTER

According to Arrowfield's John Messara, the 4 best Australian 3yos from a breeding perspective are Fastnet Rock, Alinghi, Not A Single Doubt and Charge Forward. Arrowfield now has a controlling interest in the third and fourth named. It would be fair to say that, from a racing point of view, you could add Dance Hero to that illustrious group.

Alinghi cost $80,000, Charge Forward $100,000, Dance Hero $90,000 and Not A Single Doubt $210,000. Fastnet Rock didn't make his reserve - $300,000 (Demi O'Byrne bought the year older full brother for $850,000).

With results like that, you've got to ask yourself - at what level does the real value lie at the sales ?

And why didn't all the "good judges" with open cheque books pick 'em out ?

From The Bloodhorse.com 1st February 2005

A unique advertising campaign has been undertaken by the Kentucky Equine Education Project to alert drivers to competition faced by the Thoroughbred industry from other states.

"Welcome to New York, Horse Capital of the World," reads a billboard in Louisville, Ky. that is part of KEEP's campaign. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, eight to 10 such billboards will be placed in Louisville and Lexington and several more in the state capital of Frankfort.

The billboard's mention of New York is in reference to the success of Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner Funny Cide, who was conceived in Kentucky but foaled in New York. New York offers a fund for state-bred horses, an incentive Kentucky does not.

Claria Horn Shadwick, KEEP's executive director, wouldn't disclose the cost of the billboards, but said they are part of the group's goal of educating the state about the economic importance of horses in Kentucky, according to the Courier-Journal.

"It's an extension of KEEP's educational phase, which is to make the point pretty forcefully and bluntly that our state can't take the industry for granted," Shadwick said. "We're the horse capital of the world, but we're not doing anything to protect it."

Shadwick said the billboards will be along interstate highways and other major roads.

KEEP has 4,300 members representing nearly all breeds of horses. According to the Courier-Journal, the organization's board is not expected to take a stance on expanded gambling legislation during the General Assembly, although chairman Brereton Jones has said it might back other measures that could aid the industry.

RVL Media Release

A NEW service has been established on the Racing Victoria Limited website that is providing enhanced information on horses nominated for two-year-old races.

The service has commenced with an analysis of nominations for the $1 million William Inglis Two-Year-Old Championship to be run this Saturday 5 February 2005, which is now available on www.racingvictoria.net.au.

The analysis of each nominated horse includes information such as its sale price, pedigree analysis, trial form and race form analysis.

“The aim of this initiative is to provide more information to the public on two-year-olds, especially those that haven’t raced,” RVL Chief Executive Officer Robert Nason said.

“Figures show that wagering on two-year-old races is not as popular as other types of races. This initiative will give punters more tools to make an informed decision on finding the winner.”

In the initial weeks, only the major Victorian two-year-old races will be covered by the service, however this will be extended to all Victorian two-year-old races for the remainder of 2004/05.

“Longer term, we will look at further initiatives that will provide greater levels of information to punters on the two-year-old racing population,” Mr Nason said.

To access the form on two-year-old nominations visit the following link.

MVRC Media Release

SOME of Australia’s best known horses will parade at Moonee Valley next Friday night, February 11, to help celebrate TROA Racing For Owners’ Night sponsored by Jayco.

1996 Cox Plate winner Saintly, 1992 Cox Plate winner Super Impose and Melbourne Cup winners Doriemus, Subzero, and Brew (NZ) will all parade at the Valley at 8pm.

Saintly will travel to Melbourne from Princes Farm in NSW especially to appear on the night and the ever popular Super Impose - now 20-years-old – will be transported from Glenlogan Stud in Queensland to join the parade.

Members of the public will also have the rare chance to get close to their turf heroes and pat them near the horse stall area.

It will be the first time a parade of champions has ever been staged at a MVRC night meeting.

30, 000 of Victoria’s racehorse owners have been invited to attend a cocktail party next Friday night for the launch of TROA’s 2005 Ownership Strategy. A racehorse ownership information stand will also be set up for the general public.

In another first for night racing, participating owners who win a race next Friday night will win $5000 towards the purchase of a horse at the Inglis Premier Sales next month.

Every race on the seven-event program will carry a $5000 Inglis bonus for winning owners.

The first race kicks off at 7:15pm. Live bands will perform on-course and in 2040 bar throughout the evening.

RVL Media Release

A BROAD survey of Victorian racehorse owners is being conducted in the first stage of Victoria's new $3.6 million Owners Strategy. The strategy is being jointly delivered by Racing Victoria Limited (RVL) and Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association (TROA).

The survey has been sent to all Victorian racehorse owners who have raced a thoroughbred in the past 12 months and will enable the Victorian thoroughbred racing industry to gain a better understanding of the views and experience of owners.

"The survey of 30,000 owners commences the roll-out of our $3.6 million Owners Strategy. This is a major initiative as it is the first time such a comprehensive survey has been conducted, canvassing the views of all Victorian owners," said RVL Chief Executive Officer Robert Nason.

"We are committed to fostering the ownership experience and see the survey as a way of giving Victoria's racehorse owners the opportunity to shape the outcomes of the Owners Strategy."

TROA Chairman Martin O'Connor said: "This is the most important initiative ever undertaken by TROA and will lead to widespread benefits for current and future owners."

The key objectives of the Owners Strategy are:

* To improve the viability of ownership;
* To strengthen the diversity of interest in racehorse ownership across the community;
* To improve the experience of owners on-course and off-course;
* To demystify the ownership process; and
* To strengthen the representative voice of owners in addressing industry issues.

To launch this initial phase of the Owners Strategy, TROA will host a Racing for Owners Night Out at the Moonee Valley night meeting on Friday 11 February 2005. The exclusive owners' event will be staged in the Octagonal Lounge from 5:30 to 8pm. Each owner is entitled to two complimentary tickets, which includes racecourse entrance, members' access and an invitation to the Racing for Owners Night Out. To receive their ticketing, owners must contact the Owners Service Centre on 1300 139 412 by 8 February 2005.

Each ownership group that wins a race at the Moonee Valley meeting will receive a William Inglis & Son Ltd Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale $5000 credit. The credit is non-transferable and is only for use at the Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.

Hitwise is a global company that reports on how 25 Million Internet users interact on a daily basis with over 500,000 websites across 160+ industries.

Hitwise's Australian division will be hosting an awards celebration later this month showcasing the most popular Australian websites for 2004. The annual awards recognise excellence in online performance through public popularity. Results have been based on the surfing habits of over 3 million Australian Internet users during 2004.

In the sports division (or 'industry vertical' as it's referred to in marketing terms) one dedicated racing site did make the finals - TAB taking the honours.

Award winners will be announced during a gala dinner to be hosted in the Crystal Ballroom at Luna Park, Sydney on February 25 2005.

Interested in what a 6-figure sponsorship (or "partnership") package looks like with a leading Australian race club? Sponsorship HQ (a company that only deals with premium sponsorship packages) has all the details.

One for the marketers: an article on the role of marketing within a company.

If marketing is not important to you, what is? by Vincent Grimaldi

"It is troubling when we hear company representatives saying that 'marketing is not a priority for us.' The role of marketing is so central to the entire strategic decision-making of a company that we may wonder how long a business can compete when it neglects its marketing..."

Click here for the full article which appears in this month's BrandChannel.