A new stallion will stand on the Taieri Plain next spring when South Australian Derby winner Howard Be Thy Name starts his stud duties at Grassyards Farm.
Studmaster Jason Coutts recently secured the services of the Redoute's Choice 6yr-old, who will stand for a service fee of $5000 plus GST.
Coutts said he was excited to have obtained a group 1-winning sire and was looking forward to the challenge of standing a second stallion at his Taieri property.
"We are really looking forward to it. He is flying out to New Zealand on Thursday," Coutts said.
"To get a group 1-winning son of Redoute's Choice in the South Island is very exciting."
Grassyards Farm has established a lucrative incentive to entice southern breeders to give Howard Be Thy Name a go.
The breeders of the sire's first 2yr-old winner and his first 3yr-old winner will each receive a $30,000 prize.
"We are keen to incentivise breeders. The game is a bit tough at the moment and we wanted to do our bit.
"We wanted to make it a significant number that would spark breeders' interest."
Howard Be Thy Name won the first of his five races in January of his 3yr-old season.
It was the starting point which led to hat-trick of wins in feature races.
He won listed and group 3 events before producing a tough win in the group 1 South Australian Derby.
The 6yr-old finished his career with $A615,540 ($NZ653,293) in career earnings from his 25 starts.
The Redoute's Choice stallion is out of New Zealand-bred mare Bellini Rose.
The Faltaat mare was also a good performer on the track, winning at group 2 level and banking $A504,050 in stakes.
Coutts said the chance of securing a son of recently deceased super sire Redoute's Choice made Howard Be Thy Name an appealing acquisition.
"With Redoute's Choice dying and with this fellow being by Redoute's Choice, we felt it was good opportunity.
"Waikato Stud has brought in a son of Redoute's Choice as well and I was certainly heartened by that."
Howard Be Thy Name will stand alongside Prince Of Brooklyn, who will start his season at stud in the spring, at Grassyards Farm.
