“Our philosophy is you can have a sire all you want, you can have all the ingredients you want, but if you don’t have a good cook, it never works. To us it’s mare power.”
The speaker is Todd McMillan, the joint owner-manager with wife Tori of Emerald Park Performance Horses, a horse breeding and training facility at Gidley near Tamworth.
McMillan began his life long association with horses through the mini trotters in NSW.
“I had a ball as a kid with the pony trotters,” Todd said.
After a five year hiatus, Todd, Tori and their three children embarked on their journey in the performance horse industry in 2010.
Initially their focus was breeding and rearing campdrafting and cutting stock for the sales.
“We imported 12 broodmares and a stallion from America,” he said.
A long-time friendship with prominent Ipswich trainer Graham Dwyer and his wife Martie reignited McMillan’s interest in harness racing four years ago.
“I got the bug again and bought the Captaintreacherous mare Majic Moment and a Washington VC mare Sassy’s VC through Brendan Micallef and went racing,” Todd said.
“Majic Moment won five races at Albion Park and beat Tim’s A Trooper one night as a three-year-old. She won almost $120,000 before we retired her. She’s now in foal to Sweet Lou,” he said.
In 2024 Todd and Tori ventured up to Queensland and bought seven mares off leading Brisbane breeder Steve Clements including the superbly bred Downbytheseaside mare Mermaid Beach.
Later they bought Mermaid Beach’s dam, Revere Me NZ, a Bettor’s Delight mare out of the dual NZ Broodmare of the Year Scuse Me, in foal to Captaintreacherous, from Goozdolphin Racing, Scott Robertson and Mitchell Tanner.
“We don’t do things in halves,” Todd quipped.
McMillan has around 150 horses on his property comprising quarter horses, standardbreds and recipient mares.
“This time last year I had only two racehorses. We now have 22 mares due to foal in the coming season across the two disciplines including 10 standardbreds,” he said.
The McMillan’s will offer their first ever standardbred consignment at the Australian Pacing Gold Sydney Sale at Warwick Farm on Sunday, March 15.
The two-prong entry is headed up by Lot 242, a lovely Captaintreacherous colt from Revere Me, a member of the celebrated ‘Me’ family in New Zealand.
A half-brother to three 2:00 winners and to the dam of the Bathurst Gold Crown placegetter My Ultimate Barney, the colt’s dam ranks as a sister to the outstanding NZ pacers Have Faith In Me 1:47.5 ($2 million) and Adore Me 1:47.7 ($1.6 million) and is a very close relative of the three-time Group 1 winner Captain’s Mistress (1:50), rated the top racemare in Australia today and the pre-post favourite for the Chariots of Fire.
Emerald Park’s other entry is Lot 204, a filly by the first crop Captaintreacherous import Catch A Fire out of the Christian Cullen mare Kamwood Blue Chip NZ, the dam of the dual Group 3 winner and Group 1 placegetter Hector and the NZ 4YO Pacing Mare of the Year Mantra Blue.
Both yearlings are being prepared by Darren Reay, the studmaster of Medowie Lodge stud, Medowie, near Newcastle.
“Everything of ours is probably going to be sent to auction. If they don’t bring what we think is reasonable I’m happy to bring them home and race them and have some fun ourselves,” Todd said.
For further details of these or any other lots in the Sydney Yearling Sale then please check out the Online Catalogue or Register as a Buyer today!
