Stonewall Stud: From Sales Ring Dominance To Breeding Barn Powerhouse

When the blue and white chequered colours of Stonewall Stud started flashing across New Zealand tracks with greater frequency in the early 2020s, most punters would have associated the brand with one thing first and foremost — bold and unashamed spending at the National Yearling Sales. And rightly so. From 2022 onwards, Stonewall flipped a switch that few in the industry have ever dared to flip, and the country's record books have been getting rewritten ever since.

The numbers tell a story all of their own. At the 2022 Christchurch Sale, Stonewall went to $1.023 million for eight lots. At the 2022 Auckland Sale, another $1.325 million was outlaid for 13 yearlings. By 2023, the spend hit $1.632 million across 22 lots at Christchurch alone. In 2024, $1.406 million for 20 yearlings. In 2025, a staggering $1.992 million for 18 yearlings at a top price of $360,000. And in 2026, Stonewall was again top of the Christchurch leaderboard with $1.355 million for 13 yearlings at a top of $290,000, while also figuring prominently at Karaka. It's the kind of multi-year commitment that doesn't just move the needle, it dictates where the needle sits.

That investment now manifests itself in two stables — one in Canterbury, one in Auckland — both fronted by the brother and sister training partnership of Steve and Amanda Telfer. The Telfers, in formal partnership for Stonewall since 2021, have racked up a staggering 565 victories under the banner and, in December 2025, set a new New Zealand training record of 171 winners in a single season. It was their second training premiership in partnership, and the moment was made all the more poignant by the fact Steve Telfer once worked for Roy and Barry Purdon, whose 168-win mark from 1994 had stood as the benchmark.

Seven of those wins have come at Group 1 level, with Allamericanplayer (American Ideal), Stella Rouge (Bettor's Delight) and BD Joe (Roll With Joe) to name a few all sourced from the sales ring. Across Group 2, Group 3 and Listed company, the Telfer-Stonewall axis has now amassed 37 black-type feature race wins. But here's the kicker: only two of those 37 wins, since the partnership began, have come courtesy of horses Stonewall bred themselves. Music Mistress (Sweet Lou — Rock Chick) banked the G3 Caduceus Club of Southland Alabar Fillies Classic in 2024, and Sweet Diamond (Sweet Lou) added the Listed Uncut Gems Mares Classic in the same year.

That ratio looks set to shift.

The Breeding Barn Steps Up

What's coming through the paddocks at Stonewall now is the product of an operation that has quietly scaled to a size that puts it right at the top end of the New Zealand industry. In the 2025/26 season, Stonewall served 40 mares — an increase of 11 head on the previous year, the single largest jump of any breeding entity in the country. That sits Stonewall third equal among the nation's biggest broodmare powerhouses behind only Woodlands Stud and Breckon Farms, and shoulder to shoulder with the Canterbury nursery of Spreydon Lodge.

For Gillian Stockman, the matings are a labour of love.

“We've been buying up quite a bit at the sales as everyone knows, but the idea is to breed quite a few of our own to keep the two stables running, so we've got about 47 mares on the books at the moment,” she said.

“There's a real mix. We've bought some lovely fillies from the sales and look, some of them have gone good on the track and others haven't, but we've sort of kept them because of the families they're from, and we'll give them a chance in the breeding barn and see how they go.”

That patience already has form on the board at the highest level. Years before Stonewall scaled the operation up to its current footprint, Gillian and Steve had sold a young filly named Dancingonmoonlight to Robert Famularo, and the rest is history.

“Dancingonmoonlight and Shivna were both the same age, and Glenn Harwood liked them both, but he probably preferred Shivna. We got a really good offer for Dancingonmoonlight, so we sold her to Robert, and you know the story from there. She won the New South Wales Oaks and was our first Group 1 for the breeding side of things.”

That foundation has only continued to compound, and Better B Amazed is shaping as the next chapter. The 18-win G2 winner of the NZ Premiere Mares Championships was Stonewall-bred by Bettor's Delight and is now firmly on her way to a stellar broodmare career, leaving three winners and four qualifiers from her first three foals. Among them is B B King, the smart 3YO son of American Ideal who saluted at Timaru last week to add to a growing list of 2026 breeding successes, and Better B Amazed has just left another colt this spring, this time by Captaintreacherous.

“She's done a great job. She was a wonderful race mare. She's from one of our foundation lines from Robert Reid's old family, and she's gone on and done a job for us, and it looks like she's going to go well in the breeding barn,” Stockman said. “We've also got one of her daughters, Better Amaze Me, that didn't do much on the track due to injury, but we're going to give her a go into the breeding barn as well.”

Better B Amazed's win at Timaru came on a weekend in which Stonewall also collected at Auckland through Secret Beach (Downbytheseaside x Secret Desire), the three-year-old gelding making it two wins from just four starts. The pair are among six individual Stonewall-bred winners on the board in 2026, joined by Crimson Tide (three wins), Spicey Lou (two wins) and Wishas Darling and D J Rock saluting across the Tasman.

The Stallion Selection Game

For an operation with this many mares heading to the breeding barn, the matings homework is no small task — and it's homework Gillian relishes.

“I love getting the Stallion Directory. The earlier you can get it out the better. It's a great tool, and it means I'm not having to wonder what stallions are available. It's all there in front of me, so I use it. I think it's great.”

“I go through and make my choices, and then I present them to Steve Stockman, he has his own ideas, so we work in with that, and then we let the trainer have a little bit of a say too.”

The 2025 spring book is heavy on Pebble Beach (10 visits) and includes well-considered punts on rising names like Confederate, Cannibal and Lather Up, along with established performers in Sweet Lou, Captaintreacherous, Always B Miki and Tall Dark Stranger. The trotting side, headed by Elite Stride, reflects a corner of the operation that has become an increasing area of investment.

“I try to look at history. History is a great way of telling us what works and what doesn't. There's no golden rules, and the good ones can come from anywhere, but I try and look and see what crosses have worked. I use the USTA Crosses of Gold and the Standardbred Breeders one too. I find the Aussie information a bit harder to find and use, but I look at results.”

“We've got a lot of Bettor's Delight mares now, so you obviously can't go to Bettor's, and it's just looking to cross them the right way, hopefully. There's a few first season sires in there too. It's working out what I think works for our mares.”

The bonus of also being a major buyer at the sales is the opportunity to see emerging sires' stock up close in the home paddocks.

“Steve will have broken them in or handled them, and he'll say, oh, I quite like these, you know, and so it gives you an idea. Looking at it you think, well, we can try that. And it may not be an expensive horse, you know.”

Among the new wave, Stockman has been doing her homework.

“From what I've seen, and it's mainly been overseas photos, I think the Confederate and Cannibal offspring look good. We really like the look of the Cattlewash's too, but we haven't got any on the ground yet.”

“We've also gone to Legendary Hanover, so we've got a couple at them on the way. I thought he was an outstanding looking stallion.”

The Trotting Pivot

While pacing remains the bread and butter, the trotting side at Stonewall has quietly been gathering steam — and the recent breeding investment is a clear signal of intent.

“I've always loved the trotters. My very first horse was a trotter,” Stockman said. “Steve and I bought a daughter of Pride Of Petite for quite big money a few years ago, but she was no star on the track. She actually went on to leave Regal Petite for someone else after we sold her, so she did well in the breeding barn. That probably put Stocky off for a while,” she laughed.

“But as the stable got bigger, you could see that half the card we weren't having horses competing in. So we went to the weanling sale a few years ago and just bought three cheapies — three What The Hills. That was Joca's Hill, Elizabeth Hill and Amanda's Gem. The third one could trot, but she broke down and has joined the broodmare band. The first two have won races and done quite well, and that sort of fired it from there.”

“Each year we've gone back and bought a few trotters and really upped our game when we bought the Tactical Landing — Love Ya Doozy filly (racename Tattica, which means Tactical in Italian), then we went back and bought her brother and then her half-sister again this last year.”

Sustainability Through Scale

With 33 foals due to drop this spring on top of the existing crop, and a sales budget that hasn't shown any signs of cooling, the question becomes one of long-term sustainability. Stockman has a view on that too.

“Going to the sales and buying 20-odd yearlings is not sustainable, because the prices have gone up at the sales, particularly when you like buying good quality stock, and that's what everybody else likes buying too. So the idea is to breed a few more and still go to the sales, but probably be a bit more selective on what we buy, and there's no pressure to get a certain number.”

It's a deliberate, considered evolution of the model. For an operation that has already lifted the bar so high on the racetrack through sales-ring acquisitions, the foundations being laid in the breeding barn now look every bit as ambitious. With 40 mares served, a 33-strong foal crop arriving this spring, and Better B Amazed already showing what a Stonewall-bred matriarch can do in the second life, the next chapter of Stonewall's story may well be written less at the auction rostrum and more in the foaling paddock.

The blue and white chequers aren't going anywhere. They're just going to be carried by an increasing number of homebreds in the years ahead.

Foals On The Ground — Spring 2025

Aiming For Glory — colt by Sweet Lou
Allamericanlover — colt by Captaintreacherous
Better Amaze Me — filly by Always B Miki
Better B Amazed — colt by Captaintreacherous
Cashlodo Flybye — filly by Pebble Beach
Cloudy Bay — colt by Pebble Beach
Delightful Reality — filly by Confederate
Down The Hatch — colt by Sweet Lou
Flying Steps — filly by Pebble Beach
Full Of Cheer — filly by Tall Dark Stranger
Jeanneau — colt by Pebble Beach
Jubilee Princess — filly by Cannibal
Jubilee Rock — colt by Sweet Lou
Katie Mac (T) — filly by Elite Stride
Kerri Maguire — filly by Always B Miki
Lady Banner — filly by Tall Dark Stranger
Obsession — filly by Confederate
Pott Luck — colt by Pebble Beach
Ruby Mach — colt by Sweet Lou
Sarandon — colt by Pebble Beach
Secret Delight — filly by Pebble Beach
Simply Gorgeous — colt by Pebble Beach
Tallulah Bromac — filly by Lather Up
Tempo Rose — colt by Pebble Beach

Foals Due — Spring 2026

Adorer Dreamer in foal to Confederate
Aiming For Glory in foal to Pebble Beach
Allamericanlover in foal to Confederate
Better Amaze Me in foal to Confederate
Better B Amazed in foal to King Of Swing
Brittania in foal to Lather Up
Cashlodo Flybye in foal to Confederate
Cloudy Bay in foal to Downbytheseaside
Cyren Shard in foal to Pebble Beach
Delightful Reality in foal to Downbytheseaside
Down The Hatch in foal to Captain Crunch
Full Of Cheer in foal to Lather Up
Jeanneau in foal to Legendary Hanover
Jubilee Rock in foal to Cattlewash
Kerri Maguire in foal to Confederate
Lady Banner in foal to Bettor's Wish
Landora's Lassie (T) in foal to Volstead
Miracle Miki in foal to Downbytheseaside
Molly Belwin in foal to Perfect Sting
Music Mistress in foal to Legendary Hanover
Obsession in foal to Bettor's Wish
Pott Luck in foal to Confederate
Rocknroll Princess in foal to Legendary Hanover
Ruby Mach in foal to Lather Up
Sarandon in foal to Confederate
Secret Delight in foal to Confederate
Simply Gorgeous in foal to Legendary Hanover
Spicey Delight in foal to Confederate
Step Up in foal to Bettor's Wish
Sweet Diamond in foal to Lather Up
Tayrona in foal to Lather Up
Tempo Rose in foal to Confederate
Theron in foal to Perfect Sting