Four Otago stallions have headed to the paddock to enjoy the off-season after a busy stud season.
White Robe Lodge studmaster Wayne Stewart has been responsible for the stallions Gallant Guru, Raise The Flag and Ghibellines.
''We had a good season, breeding-wise,'' Stewart said.
''The stallions all covered the mares well - there were no problems at all.
''Some years you get the odd problem with foot abscesses and things like that but they were all good.''
The newest of the White Robe Lodge trio, Ghibellines, was the most popular of the three sires. The horse covered 47 mares from breeders who will be buoyed by the sire's recent sales successes.
Ghibellines stamped himself as a commercial sire with strong results at the national yearling sale at Karaka and the Inglis Classic yearling sale in Sydney recently.
That was just one demonstration of the strength of the horse-breeding climate in Otago at present, Stewart said.
Ghibellines could be in for an even bigger season next season as he had attracted a good number of bookings already, he said.
Raise The Flag bounced back from a disappointing last breeding season to double his bookings from 12 to 25.
That was driven by the success his progeny have had with Australian trainers, Stewart said.
That success could go to new levels on Saturday when Victorian trainer Darren Weir lines up Civil Disobedience in the New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie.
Gallant Guru's numbers dipped to just 13 mares, from 24 last season.
His progeny have enjoyed their share of success on the track, but it seems being at stud for more than 10 years has counted against the horse.
Newer stallions were simply more attractive to breeders, Stewart said.
Beeders who kept Gallant Guru foals to race, rather than selling them, had had success but a weak local racing scene counted against the stallion, too, he said.
Grassyards Farm is hailing its first venture into standing a thoroughbred stallion.
Its sire, Prince Of Brooklyn, could not have made a better start to his stud career after getting every mare he served in foal.
Settling in has not been a problem for Prince Of Brooklyn, who came to the Taieri Plain from the much different setting of trainer Mick Price's busy Victorian stable.
''Temperament-wise he has exceeded our expectations - in the breeding shed he has been magic,'' stud manager Jason Coutts said.
The son of Magnus served 18 mares, which Coutts described as a select and high-quality book, in his rookie season.
''We have based our whole thinking rationale around quality, not around numbers.
''We could have taken a lot more.''
Coutts will head into the next breeding season with high hopes for Prince Of Brooklyn.
''All in all I could not have asked for anything else, really. I am pretty excited.''
''It was the first year for him and myself, so a couple of boys have had to learn their trade, which we have done.''
