WANTED TO STAND AT ELIZA PARK

The nation’s premier sprinter, WANTED, has been retired to stand at Eliza Park in Victoria.
Arguably the hottest property heading to stud this spring, Wanted’s future has been the subject of industry conjecture since he – literally – stormed home to victory in the $1,005,000 Group One VRC Newmarket Handicap at Flemington in early March.
Outpacing both the fastest horses in Australasia AND the worst hailstorm to hit Melbourne in living memory, Wanted secured his hooftnote in history with a powerhouse performance.
(Interestingly, among Newmarket winners, leading sires Century, General Nediym and Exceed And Excel also took out the race as three year olds)
Hailing from the first crop of Danehill’s boom stallion Fastnet Rock, Wanted was – at $800,000 – his sire’s most expensive yearling. As one industry pundit declared recently: “Wanted has phenomenal good looks”.
Wanted also boasts a highly commercial pedigree with half brother, Shrapnel, a two year old stakes winner this season, while their dam, Fragmentation, is a stakes winning Snippets mare.
Trained by Peter Moody, Wanted would race on 15 occasions – 14 of those starts in black type company.
Indeed, in the three lead ups to the Newmarket – all at Group One level – Wanted would finish a head, a head and a half length shy of the winner.
Moody has always maintained a high opinion of Wanted and pulled no punches immediately after the Newmarket, stating: “on today’s performance, there is probably no better sprinter in the land”.
That’s an opinion shared – in part at least – with industry bible Timeform, which has ranked Wanted (along with dual Group One winner Starspangledbanner) the leading three year old in Australia.
While it’s been well documented that Wanted is a ‘rig’ and there were initial issues in regards to obtaining fertility insurance, Eliza Park aggressively chased the horse following the opinion of two of the world’s leading reproductive veterinary surgeons in Dr Angus McKinnon and Dr Geoff Hazard.
A delighted Eliza Park CEO, Cameron Croucher, announced the acquisition last night after striking a deal with Wanted’s managing owner, Eddie Hayson, who will continue to support the stallion with top line mares.
“This is a tremendous coup for both Eliza Park and the Victorian breeding industry,” Croucher enthused.
Wanted will be limited to a book of 80 mares in his first season and will stand at an introductory fee of $38,500 inc. GST.

For further information, contact Eliza Park’s nominations team: David Somers (0428 440 330), Mark Lindsay (0416 334 338) or Phil Marshall (0407 853 782) or email info@elizapark.com.au