Originally published in TDN AusNZ, written by Jessica Owers
If Musk Creek Farm is starting to look a little different, it’s because the David Kobritz-owned operation is trying to do just that. In a few months, it will have a new logo in what probably isn’t rebranding, but more a refresh of an already excellent product.
All of this is lining up nicely with the start of the new breeding season and, as Farm Manager Scott Williamson tells us, it’s the result of a few years’ worth of significant investment and restructure.
“I’ve been with Musk Creek just over five years now, and we’ve had Craig Rounsefell of Boomer Bloodstock working with us for a similar length of time,” Williamson said.
“A number of years ago, he and I had sat down and looked at all the mares we had and where we wanted the farm to be, and it was good news and bad news when we presented the facts to David. For where we wanted the farm to be, we didn’t really have the mares to take us there.”
Musk Creek Farm sits on 140 acres of sloping land in the Mornington Peninsula. It has reared the likes of Pierro and G1 Epsom H. winner Rock Kingdom (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), so it was no stranger to elite success. However, there was room for more.
“To stay relevant, we need to be competing at the higher level of the sales to justify having the business,” said Williamson. “So we set about finding mares that fitted our criteria with regards to pedigree and performance, and I feel that over the last few years we’ve made significant investment in broodmares not just in Australia, but also in America and Europe.”
It was a far-sighted, years-long plan that is only just bearing fruit, according to Williamson. Slowly, the broodmare band was picked apart and rebuilt, two to three mares purchased each year with others sent to market.
“Like most things, developing your broodmare band takes time and you can’t afford to just replenish all your mares in one year,” Williamson said. “It’s not financially viable to do that, so we set ourselves goals to get two to three a year, and also assess our stock every year.”
This spring upcoming, Musk Creek Farm will breed between 22 and 24 mares. It’s not a huge variant on past years, with the farm breeding 25 last year, but the quality is markedly up.
“That gives us the right number for our crops to aim at those higher-end sales that we like to target,” Williamson said. “January on the Gold Coast at Magic Millions, the Inglis Premier Sale in Melbourne and possibly Easter too.
“We want to target those sales and not just be there as also-rans. We want to be making an impact and, over the next few years, I really think people are going to notice the quality of our stock.”
The Williamson-Boomer alliance has moved and shaken Musk Creek significantly.
The top of the tree
In the first 18 months of Williamson arriving to the property, just over half of the broodmares were moved on. That amounted to nearly 20 mares in a short space of time, and it has taken time to replenish.
“We feel rejuvenated,” Williamson said. “We’ve livened up the logo and we want to push the ‘K’ brand out. We feel it’s a good time to do it given all our investment in the broodmares and the quality of stock coming through, and people will see what’s happening in the next few weeks and months as we lead up to Magic Millions in January.”
Among all these new additions, the jewel in Musk Creek’s crown might well be Personalised (Snitzel), the half-sister to the G1 VRC Oaks winner Personal.
Personalised is a daughter of Personify (Galileo {Ire}), who was an Adelaide Listed winner before her ambitious career as a broodmare.
he foundation broodmare in this family is Procrastinate (Jade Hunter {USA}), whose five stakes winners include (in addition to Personify) the South African five-time Group 1 winner Laisserfaire (Danehill {USA}), the sires Foreplay and Time Thief, and the Group 3 winner A Time For Julia (Redoute’s Choice).
Personalised was a good buy for Musk Creek Farm in 2019. She was offered by Cressfield at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale and bought with Boomer Bloodstock for $525,000.
Her first foal was by Spirit Of Boom, a colt that fetched $575,000 when bought by Tony Gollan and John Foote Bloodstock (FBAA) on the Gold Coast in January 2021. Now named Spiritualised, the colt has just turned three and he’s had four starts for a win. In the remaining three races he’s been second.
Personalised has since had a Dundeel (NZ) colt, and her filly by Zoustar is growing up at Musk Creek. She missed to Written Tycoon last spring, and this upcoming season she’s booked straight to the top with I Am Invincible.
“She’s already up in New South Wales right now,” Williamson said. “Our dry mares all left last week, and we’re hopeful of getting a nice, early cover to I Am Invincible. She tends to be a mare that goes slightly overdue with her pregnancies and we knew we’d have to give her a break at some point, so it was as good a year as any to do that.”
Williamson describes Personalised as ‘an absolute queen’. She, along with the More Than Ready (USA) mare Anna Cecelia, are the foundation mares of Musk Creek Farm.
