Buy of The Weekend: NZ$160k Australian Guineas champion Feroce to bypass All-Star Mile

Written by Tom Baddock of The Thoroughbred Report

Purchased from the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale in 2023 for just NZ$160,000, Feroce blew his rivals away in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600 metres) at Flemington on Saturday. The victory not only signifies his first win at the elite level but is also a notable milestone for his young trainer, Dominic Sutton, and sire, Super Seth, who both celebrated their first Group 1 success. The Thoroughbred Report caught up with Sutton to discuss what the future holds for himself and his stable star.

Super Seth a super sire

Feroce delivered Sutton’s first Group 1 triumph and simultaneously became the first elite-level winner for his sire, Super Seth, who stands at the world-renowned Waikato Stud. Sutton is optimistic that Super Seth is on a path to rival the top sires.

“I think Super Seth is going to be a serious stallion,” Sutton said.

“The stats that he is producing in his first couple of crops is pretty substantial. I know the guys at Waikato have full faith in the horse and it is starting to show on the racecourse. I’d happily take some more. We actually purchased another Super Seth, Lot 226, with the same cross as Feroce out of the most recent Ready to Run sale in New Zealand. It’s a formula that has obviously worked for us so we were very happy to go back and do it again.”

Super Seth emerged as New Zealand’s top first-season sire for 2023-24 and currently leads the second-season rankings for 2024-25. He has sired 25 winners, with six individual stakes winners. His daughter La Dorada (NZ) has claimed victory in this season’s Karaka Millions 2YO (1200 metres) and the G2 Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (1200 metres). Additionally, promising filly Sethito (NZ) recently achieved a win at black-type level after a close second in the G2 Eight Carat Classic and is nominated for the G1 Australian Oaks (2400 metres).

Feroce has now taken his record to three wins from nine starts with a further three placings and earnings now surpassing $1.3 million.

Feroce (NZ) (Super Seth), who has always displayed superior talent, narrowly lost in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas last year. This Saturday however, both horse and trainer were determined to secure a win, with Feroce successfully overpowering top New Zealand colt Savaglee (NZ) to claim the time-honoured event.

The two horses engaged in a gripping struggle over the final 150 meters, with Feroce ultimately pulling ahead to win by a decisive 0.75 lengths. Goldrush Guru (American Pharoah {USA}), the G1 Victoria Derby (2500 meters) winner, finished third just a length behind, in an eye-catching performance as he prepares for the G1 Rosehill Guineas (2000 meters) on March 22.

It was a pertinent victory for Sutton, who has made a meteoric rise in the training ranks since saddling up his first winner at Pakenham last year on March 23 in a 2-year-old maiden – the horse, Feroce.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Sutton said.

“Would I have thought he would have got to these heights? No, to be honest. We were there just trying to buy nice horses we could win races with. It’s been a crazy ride.

“It’s pretty special to win a Group 1 so early in my career but we all know you need to have the right horse and he was the right horse, so it’s a big thrill.”

Despite being sent out a rough chance in the Australian Guineas at $14 after a subpar performance when third in the G3 CS Hayes Stakes (1400 Metres), Sutton insists he was confident the gelding would prove hard to beat.

“A lot of people and the market probably wrote him off a tad but Billy Egan, who knows him like the back of his hand, came back after the CS Hayes and said he’s absolutely flying,” Sutton said.

“Don’t worry, it was just the soft ground, Billy said. He just did not handle the soft ground whatsoever.”

Feroce to bypass All-Star Mile

The impressive victory also provided the son of Super Seth an automatic spot in next Saturday’s $2.5 million G1 All-Star Mile (1600 metres), however, Sutton has all but ruled out running Feroce on the quick back-up despite sharing that the horse ‘pulled up super’.

“It’s very unlikely he will take his place in the All-Star Mile,” Sutton said.

“He’s just run a personal best in a very hard race and then to run him again against weight-for-age horses a week later is probably not the right thing to do for the horse.

“We’re thinking he will go to the G1 Australian Cup, a 2000-metre race back to Flemington in four weeks’ time. Originally, he was meant to go to Sydney for the Rosehill Guineas but as we learned the other day he hated the soft ground so I just think there’s no point sending him up to Sydney at this time of year when the ground is going to be soft.”

Feroce is currently marked as a $15 chance in All In markets for the All-Star Mile behind Mr Brightside (NZ)(Bullbars) at $2.80.

Feroce, perfectly imperfect

Feroce, bred by Pencarrow Stud, was acquired for $160,000 by Sutton and McKeever Bloodstock from Kilgravin Lodge’s draft at the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale after breezing up in 11.04. He is the third winner and second stakes winner to be produced from Corinthia (O’Reilly), who is a half-sister to G1 Rosehill Guineas winner De Beers (Quest for Fame). Feroce boasts a strong pedigree, being a half-brother to New Zealand stakes winner Siracusa (Sebring) and hailing from the famed Eight Carat (GB) (Pieces Of Eight {Ire}) family.

“He was a beautiful individual,” Sutton said.

“He had a few faults just on confirmation that we forgave because he was just such a big strapping horse, he had the right pedigree and he breezed in a very easy manner. It was probably fortunate for us that he had a couple of little faults there that knocked him off the Hong Kong list because if he was perfect he probably would have been out of our price range. We lucky for him to fall in our bracket.”

Johnny McKeever who owns renowned European bloodstock agency McKeever Bloodstock alongside Byron Rogers, who co-developed the leading pedigree program TrueNicks, has been credited with assisting in the rapid and successful rise of the Sutton stable.

“Johnny McKeever has been paramount from day one, along with Byron Rogers through our main owner, Simon Chappell,” Sutton said.

“They have allowed me to go to the sales and helped me select. They have been doing it for years, these guys. They have a good knowledge base and they are very well-connected. They have good relationships with all the breeders which is very important. It helps me navigate my way in finding the right horses to put in the stable, so it has been very important to have them both by my side.

“Johnny has been a family friend of my fathers since they were 20-years-old, arriving in Australia on a gap year together. See our relationship goes back a long way. Byron is a new association through one of my dad’s good mates in Simon Chappell, who is obviously our biggest supporter. He has got a system that really works, they’ve had a lot of success doing it in the UK and they were ready to try their hand over here and it just made sense to keep it a nice tight-knit group.”

The rise of Sutton Racing

Sutton’s training career has been on a remarkable upward trajectory since he began at Pakenham in early 2024. His initial experience in Australian racing started many years earlier, where he spent two years with Chris Waller, followed by an eight-year period with Leon and Troy Corstens. This time provided him with invaluable knowledge of high-level training. It was then that Sutton decided to take the leap of faith and go out on his own.

Since then, he has quickly expanded both his team and the number of horses under his care. With fewer than five horses in training initially, he achieved his first runner and winner in March 2024, and shortly after, he celebrated his first metropolitan victory at Caulfield in April, coinciding with his relocation to Ballarat. Earlier this year, Sutton further expanded his operations by acquiring 25 boxes at Flemington, all within just 12 months.

Coming from a robust racing lineage—his father was an owner and breeder who also rode as an amateur jockey, his uncle trains jumps horses, and his grandmother is active in breeding and ownership—Sutton has cultivated a distinctive training style shaped by these diverse experiences.

“This time last year we had three horses in our stable,” Sutton said.

“We are now sitting at 40 in work and 60 on the books, so it’s growing pretty quickly and I’ve had good support from people like David Moodie, he’s been fantastic – sending us 10 horses. The original clients that have stuck with me from day one are really keen to invest more and we are starting to get a really good core ownership group around us.

“I learnt a lot from Chris (Waller) and obviously I just picked up my own style as well. Fortunately, my fiancé and I ride as well. We’re very hands-on, that’s the way that we train.

“Early doors, we had to back ourselves – a lot of people were interested but wanted to see how we did. So we did take a big risk, we bought horses and we had to carry some horses ourselves for a while. We didn’t sell Feroce way up until he trialled. We took a risk and luckily it’s paying off and now people are wanting to jump on board.”

Sutton is ambitious, someday planning to try and match it with some of the largest and most elite stables in the country. However, he understands that there is still a long way to go.

“At this stage, numbers-wise, we will stick with where we are at,” Sutton said.

“As I said, we like to be hands-on with the horses and that’s the way that we want to do things. Maybe in the future, we may be striving to get to the size of say a Chris Waller or a Ciaron Maher but we have expanded and expanded over the last 12 months at quite a quick rate so, you just make sure you don’t grow too quickly, that you have the right systems in place, the right people in place and the right horses in the stable as well because numbers don’t always mean everything. We’re really trying to concentrate on quality rather than quantity.

“We’ve bought six yearlings here at (Inglis) Melbourne Premier and picked up five at the Magic Millions so we are sitting on 11 yearlings but are always open to new clients and people looking to be a part of it.”