Pacing For Pink Night to add to story of Success

Success Stud and excellence in breeding and racing have been synonymous in the trotting turf for almost six decades.

The Young (NSW) nursery, who has brought out countless winners over the years, will be a major player at the huge Pacing For Pink Race Night at Menangle on Saturday – both on and off the track.

The Gibson family is sponsoring the Group 1 $200,000 NSW Oaks for three-year-old fillies for the ninth consecutive year.

“It’s the biggest night we have on the calendar. It’s dearer to my heart because it’s the John Gibson Oaks,” Success Stud principal Jackie Gibson said. 

“Dad was such a lover of young horse racing and a renowned breeder. The fillies are the starting point of our industry.”

John Gibson, who passed away 10 years ago, founded Success Stud with his wife Mary at Dulacca in western Queensland in 1967. The couple then moved to Oakey on the Darling Downs before selling up and transferring to a 420 acre property at Young in 1991.

Since 2016 the farm has transitioned their focus to broodmare management, foaling down and raising young stock. 

“Being mare based allows us to source the very best stallions available via transported and frozen semen,” Jackie said.

They foaled down almost 60 mares last season.

“We have eight broodmares of our own and four yearlings including two fillies we purchased at the Nutrien Equine Melbourne sale in April,” she said.

Adding to the excitement for the Gibson family on Saturday night is their homebred mare Eye Keep Smiling competing in Australia’s richest mares’ race the Group 1 $200,000 Queen Elizabeth II Mile.

“We are super proud that our mare is back in the race again. I think the field this year is stronger than what it was last year,” she said.

Eye Keep Smiling tuned up for her Queen Elizabeth Mile II defence by beating a top field in the Listed $30,600 Robin Dundee Stakes in a sharp 1:50.6 at Menangle last weekend.

As the winner of five Group 1’s and $856,008, Eye Keep Smiling heads a list of top flight performers to first see the light of day at Success Stud. Other Group winners have been Two Eye See, Oh Eye See, Makes Every Scents, Eye See Diamonds, Hardhitter, Not To Be Denied and many others.

by Peter Wharton, for Harnesslink