Yes Yes Yes puts Wagga Wagga breeder in national spotlight

Yes Yes Yes the colt and Glen Boss breaking records and climbing the summit to win The Everest (Photo Lisa Grimm)

 

Until he met one of Australia’s most racing prominent figures not long after arriving from the United States, Brett Bradley admits his connection to the turf was of a casual nature.

Fast forward more than two decades and Bradley is now an established thoroughbred breeder who has been thrust onto the global stage after Yes Yes Yes won the $14 million Everest.

Breeding the winner of the third edition of the world’s richest race on turf is a crowning moment for Bradley’s boutique breeding operation and one that might not have happened if not for meeting Neil Werrett.

 

 

Werrett is one of Australia’s best-known racehorse owners, thanks to the deeds of unbeaten wonder mare Black Caviar and a host of other Group One stars.

He is also a successful businessman and it’s that part of his life where he first crossed paths with Bradley.

“I had a small interest in horse racing but not as much as I do now. Certainly not in the breeding side of things,” Bradley said.

“I met Neil when I moved here 23 years ago. We started our own business together and Neil got me going to the races.”

Bradley joined Werrett in the ownership of Foreteller, an import trained by Chris Waller who won three Group One races, contested two Cox Plates and ran in a Melbourne Cup.

But it is the breeding side of the industry that has captivated him the most.

“Most breeder-owners are in it for the horses rather than the racing and that’s me. I love horses,” he said.

“I love going to the races, don’t get me wrong, but I’m in it because I love horses.

“I’m not a massive breeder. I don’t have 20 mares. I’ve probably got six or seven mares but none of them are sort of breed-to-race mares.

“We always try to find top stallions to send them to so we can either race them ourselves as very, very nice horses or sell them.

“But for me it’s mainly sell them. I am looking for mares that are commercial and not breed-to-race type mares.”

Bradley and his wife Andrea bought Sin Sin Sin, the Australian-bred dam of Yes Yes Yes, as an unraced two-year-old from New Zealand.

Sin Sin Sin was trained at Wagga Wagga in the NSW Riverina where the Bradleys live on a small acreage and she was fast.

 

Yes Yes Yes connections and jockey Glen Boss accepting the trophy for the richest race on turf (Photo Lisa Grimm)

 

So quick that she won the Wellington Boot, the Golden Slipper of bush racing, at her first start.

Sin Sin Sin, a daughter of Fantastic Light, won a further two races before retiring to stud in 2010.

She produced a stakes performer in Brisbane winner Dee Nine Elle from her second foal but her 2016 Rubick colt that races as Yes Yes Yes has sent her into another stratosphere as a broodmare.

“Sin Sin Sin was a good racemare but she is probably having a better career as a broodmare than as a race filly or mare,” Bradley said.

“She’s proven very good in the barn.

“Hopefully we can get a few more good foals out of her and enjoy it while we can.”


Bradley agists his broodmares at Kitchwin Hills in the Hunter Valley and a half-brother to Yes Yes Yes by Sebring will be among the farm’s draft for the 2020 round of yearling sales.

It’s safe to say the colt will surpass his older sibling’s $200,000 purchase price.

“He’ll turn a few heads at the sales. Not only because of the page with Yes Yes Yes but just because he is a really nice type,” Bradley said.

Yes Yes Yes was one of two Everest runners to come off Kitchwin Hills and Bradley says that is a testament to the professionalism of the farm.

 

“All my mares are at Kitchwin Hills. They do a great job and I can’t say enough about them,” Bradley said.

“The team up there do an unbelievable job. Two runners in the Everest and not many farms can claim that.

“For a small operation it is a huge compliment.

“It has a lot to do with their staff and Mick Malone and Steve Brown and the team there.

“What they have been able to achieve, particularly in the last few years is quite amazing.”


The same could be easily said for Bradley who has elevated his breeding interests and potential returns to a new level as Yes Yes Yes is now valued as a stallion prospect worth upwards of $50 million.

 

The Power of Passion

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