Business Rural North Autumn 2021

10 | Producing the next Richard Loader RURAL PEOPLE » Haunui Farm: Mark Chitty R eflecting on what has underpinned Haunui Farm’s success over the years, Managing Director Mark Chitty says a good deal of resilience is necessary. “But like anything, not cutting corners, paying close attention to detail and not resting on your laurels is very important. You’re dealing with perfor- mance animals and it can be life changing. “The current thoroughbred Horse of the Year, Melody Belle, was born and bred on this farm. She cost $57,500 and has won just over $4 million in prize money. So for the people who bought into that mare it has been a little bit life changing.” Mark Chitty’s family has been in the business of producing race-winning thoroughbreds for the last sixty years. The origins of the farm step back to Mark’s grandfather who bought yearling thoroughbreds as potential racehorses back in the late ‘50s and ‘60s but it wasn’t until 1970 when Haunui Farm was established as a true stud farm. In 1973 the Chitty’s stood their first stallion, Kara- yar, an imported stallion from the United Kingdom, which started the family’s foray into standing stallions. Originally farming in Whitford, southeast Auck- land, in 2009 Haunui Farm relocated to Karaka in the south of Auckland and has been fully opera- tional since 2011. A mix of flat and gentle rolling country with Patumahoe loam, the 202 hectare farm offers ideal horse country. A veterinarian by trade, Mark grew up on the family farm with the influence of traditional school Agricultural Days and pet lambs. Passionate about breeding fast racehorses, Mark is also focused on growing out young stock as best as the farm can. “It’s challenging managing that. Horses don’t always stay the same as they go through their growth periods. I also have a real passion for get- ting difficult mares in foal because in this industry we don’t select for fertility. So good performing racemares don’t necessarily have a foal every year. Our natural fertility is around 72% and my push is Yearlings are led out by their grooms at Haunui Farm. to get it to 85 – 90%.” Last season Haunui Farm foaled 175 mares on farm, using two standing stallions, Belardo and Rib- chester, European based shuttle stallions brought in for the season, despite Covid. “They arrived late July and flew out of New Zealand the third week of December. Between the two of them, they served about 190 mares from the 1st of September till they departed. About 15% of those mares belonged to Haunui Farm, another 35% were resident on the farm and the remaining 50% were ‘walk-ins’ from owners selecting Belardo or Ribchester.” The Karaka Yearling Sale was held from the 24th to 28th of January as a live auction at the New Zealand Bloodstock complex in Papakura. Mark says given the circumstances of a Covid embroiled world the market held up remarkably well. “There was more information provided on the young horses than ever before – so x-rays, endoscopes, health reports, videos, standing photos – all were available on line for people to browse. There were a whole lot of New Zealand based agents who utilised their contacts to liaise with the international buyers who couldn’t be there in person to look at the horses. The gross for premier Book One was about $50 million and the international spend was about half of what it was a year ago, but the local spend was up considerably. Haunui Farm took 43 yearlings to the market of which 38 were sold. “We had 24 yearlings in premier Book One of which we sold 21 and averaged $115,000 with the top price $240,000 for an Iffraaj filly, Iffraaj being a shuttle stallion we used. Our lowest price in the Book One sale was $30,000.” “The current thoroughbred Horse of the Year, Melody Belle, was born and bred on this farm. She cost $57,500 and has won just over $4 million in prize money.” THE TRACTOR CENTRE Checchi Magli We transport horses safely from A to B, ensuring unbeatable attention to their needs whilst in our care. From the moment we connect with your precious cargo, we treat it like one of our own. Everyone in our team are horse people. We understand horses and love everything about them. 08004FLOATS WWW.MAJESTICFLOATS.CO.NZ