2018 News Archive
5th December 2018 – EVENTING SEASON WRAP UP
I certainly wish my season had ended as well as it started. Wallaby Hill and Adelaide are great end of season targets and I unfortunately had no joy at either this year. My lead up form suggested we were on target but alas the results were not as I had hoped.
Menlo Park started the Spring season well with a 3rd at Melbourne CNC** and a 4th at Sydney CNC** in October and looked well on target. We then went to Adelaide feeling a legitimate chance. On the cross country he felt fantastic but made a baby mistake, shying at an ornamental mushroom in the middle of a combination which resulted in 20 penalties. As it was only at fence 11, I decided to pull up and reroute to Wallaby Hill CCI** two weeks later. Wallaby Hill was subjected to 8 inches of rain and made the ground on cross country day extremely difficult. Menlo Park hated the very holding ground and I pulled him up half way as he was not travelling at all well. Not how I intended to finish the season for him, but he is an exceptional horse with very good form since coming from England who I am certain will be in for a big year in 2019. He goes to the paddock with no issues. I will be certain to run him on good to fast ground only.
Cooley Down Under kicked off his Australian eventing career with low key outings at Canberra and Albury before heading to Wallaby Hill CCI*. He was one horse who loved the mud at Wallaby Hill and barely noticed the tricky conditions. He could have run all day. We were not competitive after the dressage so just hacked around. He will have several weeks off and prepare for 2019. He goes to the paddock with no issues. I think he is a very promising horse in all phases and has come such a long way since I bought him as a five year old in rural Ireland. Certainly our focus will be on dressage as we head to the new season. He is careful, brave and has all the scope and gallop in the world.
Napoleon started the Spring season very well with a win at Melbourne CNC***. Oaky wins a lot of classes, but runs hot and cold. I have long known that and try to enter him at the most suitable events where he is most able to win. He will always perform very well in the dressage and has taken Billy’s place as a dressage leader more often than not which has been very pleasing. His showjumping record is not perfect but is very, very good. There are two Oakys when it comes to cross country. The unbelievable galloping and jumping machine that will win most times he is entered and then the little bugger who will be opportunistic and unexpected across country. At Adelaide, I had Oaky #2 who felt fantastic before and after pulling up at the first water. Extremely disappointing!! We then rerouted to Wallaby Hill CCI***. After a good dressage which put him in 2nd going in to cross country, I decided to withdraw him after my earlier rides. The ground was getting worse and I was not prepared to risk my best horse in these conditions. I felt extremely sorry for Alex Townsend and her team as they had prepared the cross country and footing perfectly. No amount of planning could have prepared them for the 8 inches of rain in four hours that happened on the Wednesday. Napoleon heads to the paddock in great shape and I’m already looking forward to 2019.
4th December 2018 – EARLY SEASON GROUP WINNERS FOR LIMITLESS LODGE GRADUATES
The winners continue to flow freely for horses that have graduated from the farm. All of these horses have either been broken in, spelled, rehabilitated or pre trained at Limitless Lodge. This list is of course headed by Winx who won everything in the lead up to her historic fourth Cox Plate victory. There is a sensational book that has been written by acclaimed sporting journalist, Andrew Rule that is the official Winx story and is a very good read and no doubt will be very interesting for all racing lovers.
Other Group winners from the farm since August 1:
Showtime
Unforgotten
Coming Through
Invincibella
Lean Mean Machine
Carzoff
Fiesta
Ace High
Charge
My Nordic Hero
19th September 2018 – PLANS FOR THE UPCOMING SPRING EVENTING SEASON
Napoleon and Menlo Park have kicked off the Spring season in the best possible shape. Napoleon won the 3 Star at Friends of Werribee after a really good dressage test and then double clear. Menlo Park was having his first 2 Star start and couldn’t have gone better. A very good dressage and a double clear to finish third. It was a super event with great tracks and perfect ground.
Cooley Down Under is freshly out of quarantine and is about to join the team as he heads towards Wallaby Hill CCI*. He is a big horse that was purchased in Ireland in late 2016 and has quickly shown form and serious ability. I have very big plans for this horse and will look after him by going slowly through the grades. He is only seven, but is 17h and 620kg. No question, he will be the biggest horse I have ever competed.
Napoleon will be heading to Wallaby Hill CCI*** in December. In the lead up, he will run at Adelaide CIC*** and possibly Goulburn CIC***. He will definitely run at Sydney in the first week of November. He will also have several showjumping starts. Menlo Park will be heading towards Wallaby Hill CCI** in December. He will have three more runs before then. Possibly Goulburn, Tamborine and Sydney. Cooley Down Under will run at most upcoming events and just search for the best ground. Certainly he would never have seen firm ground ever and these big Irish horses definitely like softer ground. He will run at Wallaby Hill CCI*.
26th June 2018 – THE GROUP 1 WINNERS CONTINUE TO FLOW FREELY FROM LIMITLESS LODGE
2018 has been another fantastic season of racing for graduates of Limitless Lodge. Every year in Australia there are 74 Group 1 races and once again horses from Limitless Lodge have won 20 of those. This brings us into line with the last 5 years and our statistics say that 27% of Group 1 winners have spent time at Limitless Lodge. This includes breaking in, rehabilitation, spelling and pre training. We are super proud of these numbers and the fact that these numbers seem to be repeatable every year. We are very aware that we are dealing with the best horses for the best trainers and that is going to make our stats look good. There are many pre training farms on the east coast of Australia and several that are much bigger than Limitless Lodge but I don’t think any could match these statistics.
11th June 2018 - MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL 3 DAY EVENT
Napoleon continued his form resurgence with a strong showing at Melbourne in the CCI**. He finished 2nd after leading at the completion of cross country. He had an unlucky rail and was beaten by a very promising horse ridden by Stuart Tinney. No disgrace there! Napoleon will now resume his 3 Star career as my new leading horse. Menlo Park put up another good performance with a double clear to consolidate his rise through the ranks. I was surprised that his dressage mark didn’t excite the judges very much. It is very hard to win in a big field from behind the first few in Melbourne. I’m glad he had another successful run. He now heads off as a legitimate 2 Star horse. He is very exciting for the future.
10th June 2018 – GV BILLY ELLIOT RETIRES
My best horse since Limitless has retired after a fantastic career. There is never a good time to retire a top horse but I put a lot of thought into this decision and feel certain it was the right thing to do. At his last run at Wallaby Hill CIC***, he just didn’t have the same swagger and feel for the job that he normally does. When I retired Limitless and Waratah and Kanandah Alchemy, it was exactly the same. Never once in their careers had they felt like that and to me retirement was the obvious thing to do.
Billy has been a wonderful horse who has been a winner consistently all throughout his career. In the early days he was better known for his wild behaviour as a pre novice horse than any ability he may have. Everybody knew he had plenty of ability and it was just a matter of channelling his nervous energy. Billy came into my life late in 2009 and right from the beginning the feeling of brilliance he gave me was like no horse I’d ever sat on. Limitless, Waratah and Kanandah Alchemy were old school gladiators, perfectly suited to the old format. I always wonder how they would have adapted to the modern sport, but I suppose it is like golfers and tennis players from other eras. Champions are champions!
Billy quickly rose through the ranks and became very well known for almost always leading the dressage and showjumping clear. It was then a game of cat and mouse, as he was such an exuberant jumper and feisty galloper, as to whether he would get the time. Needless to say, we probably weren’t the quickest across the country, but we sure did win a lot of events and were rarely out of the top 3.
In 2012, Billy was an 11 year old and in the form of his life. After winning several One Day Events we headed to Sydney CCI*** in really confident shape and trying to force a way on to the Australian Team for the London Olympics. He ran the closest of seconds to Shane Rose and Taurus. I then felt, to consolidate my position in a very competitive year, that I needed to run at Melbourne CCI***. I am glad I did. Billy won the event decisively and was selected as the travelling reserve for the Australian Team. He didn’t get to run at London but it was fantastic to be part of the Team and all the preparations. He then went to Blenheim CCI*** and in a very competitive year ran 9th. We then travelled home full of excitement for the future. In 2013 he was selected on the Australian Team for the Trans Tasman and was unfortunately injured and unable to travel.
In 2014 we travelled back to Europe and had a great season. He won several events and his final goal for the season was Ballindenisk CCI*** in Ireland. He led the dressage and was absolutely fantastic to get beaten in a very close finish by some high class horses into 3rd. His form remained outstanding throughout the next few seasons and included another trip to Europe in 2016 where we concentrated on CICs. He was on the Australian Team that won the Silver Medal at the Houghton Hall Nations Cup in England. He won his last CIC*** event at Werribee in October 2017 and had 3 successful outings already in 2018.
Billy will retire from the eventing circuit but will remain a very important part of Limitless Lodge and my life. He remains in work as that is what he loves and will go to the odd showjumping show. He is a big fat fluffy bear at the moment and is enjoying his extremely well deserved retirement.
https://www.nbnnews.com.au/2018/06/06/equestrian-rider-tim-boland-retires-prized-horse/
30th April 2018 – SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL 3 DAY EVENT
Sydney International 3 Day Event was a great success for my two horses. Menlo Park won the CCI* and Napoleon won the CCI**. Both were faultless with very good double clears. Menlo Park is as an exciting young horse as I have had for a long time. Napoleon’s form is well known. He either wins or has a cross country issue. I seriously think that this is in the past and he will become the good horse that I know he is. They will both have their next start at the Melbourne International 3 Day Event.
22nd March, 2018 – BACK IN ACTION WITH THE EVENTERS
With all the activity of yearlings and breakers, it is nice to have the additional interest of the Eventing season getting underway. It has been a typically Australian start to the season with high temperatures and firm ground. My team has done a lot of showjumping and has already been to 3 events.
Sydney CIC in mid February was the launch of the season. I had 3 rides. GV Billy Elliot (Billy) 3 star, Napoleon (Oaky) 2 star and Schatzi (Queenie) intro. Billy was awesome and ran 2nd. Oaky had an unfortunate run out 3 from home. Queenie at her first start managed to win on her dressage score. She is a very exciting horse for the future. She was purchased in Germany as a 5yo jumper. She has taken to Australia like a duck to water. I will go slowly with her as I think she is a prodigious talent and there is no rush. Oaky will continue to plot a path back to a successful 3 star career. Billy will target CICs and I can honestly say he has never felt better and I will be disappointed if he doesn’t do a bit of winning this year.
Two weeks later we headed to Quirindi. Billy and Oaky both went terrific and placed in the open intermediate. Menlo Park (Jack) was having his first start in Australia and felt like a proper class horse. He had a quiet first run as he was backing up the following week at Canberra in the 1 star. He is an English import with excellent form. He flew over from England with Ridire Dorcha (Limerick) who is yet to have a start. Limerick probably looks the most likely candidate at this early stage. He didn’t travel as well as the other 2 horses so I am taking my time with him and he will appear probably at Camden Equestriad.
Canberra was the next event on the travelling road show. I only had 2 rides. Menlo Park and Goreshill Star. Goreshill Star was having his first start in 2 years and Menlo Park was having his first competitive spin. Menlo Park led the dressage and stayed there to win the whole event. He will probably head towards Camden next and ultimately to Melbourne 2 star. Goreshill Star was double clear to run 4th and I was extremely proud of him. Because of injury he will never get to reach the heights that he is well capable of. He finished 3rd at Melbourne CCI** in 2015 behind Napoleon and then ran 2nd in the 3 star at Sydney.
This weekend we head to Wallaby Hill CIC*** with Billy and I can’t wait. He is in great form and ready to roll.
16th January 2018 – MAGIC MILLIONS KICKS OFF WITH A BANG
The sales on the Gold Coast broke all records and we are pleased to say that we ended up with 40 yearlings to break in for my leading trainers. These horses will likely be broken in over the next 4 to 6 weeks and have a little break before another mini preparation and in to their trainers before Easter. It is always exciting to see the first season sire progeny and work out who the guns will be. Dissident and Deep Field were strongly represented by numbers and quality. It will be interesting to see if they feel and move as well as they look. Last year, very early on we were able to recognise that Zoustar was a star in the making as a stallion, so it was very pleasing to see his daughter win the Magic Millions 2yo race in such dominant fashion. I am tipping you will see plenty of Zoustars kick off in the lead up to the Group 1 Golden Slipper. I will keep my readers updated with the progress of the Deep Fields and the Dissidents.
1st January, 2018 – HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE TEAM AT LIMITLESS LODGE
We are looking forward to a busy, enjoyable and successful 2018. We acknowledge that a lot of our success is from the quality of horses that we receive. We are honoured that the best trainers, owners and studs trust us with their very valuable horses. We take this responsibility very seriously and are constantly updating our facilities and our training techniques to stay cutting edge industry leading in 2018 and beyond. We would like to thank Chris Waller, Team Hawkes, Gerald Ryan, David Payne, John Size (HK), Gary Moore, Vinery Stud and Spendthrift Stud for their valuable support in 2017 and look forward to strengthening our relationship through more winners of more Group races in 2018.