Melbourne turned on a gorgeous day that encouraged the finest thoroughbred sires to shine. Especially King De Lago a freshman stallion owned Chrissie and Gary Ashmore and who will be standing for his first season this year at Eldon Park, a lovely stud nestled into the bushlands at Tyabb in Victoria.

In total, 40 stallions were on show, and they came from leading studs including Eldon Park, Collingrove Stud, Eliza Park and Lynden Park.  The Parade offered a marvellous chance for mare owners to view potential sires in private parades at the stables throughout the day then from 1pm each stallion was  paraded indoors for three minutes to the accompaniment background of full commentary of his history.  The huge crowd in attendance for the indoor show was testimony to the interest in Thoroughbred breeding and great opportunity to take advantage of being in total comfort while viewing the lads.

King De Lago was joined by some of his fellow stud sires Portland Pirate, Curata Storm who are also standing at Eldon Park Victoria this season.

So why the buzz with King? You meet a lot of great horses in this business but when you come across a unique character like King he stands out from the rest. His impeccable breeding (by Encosta de Lago out of Ranch Lady who is by Rancher) is enough to make him special but apart from that, I find him fascinating because of his unique character and outstanding temperament, couple that with the fact he is very well put together individual and very easy on the eye. It will be exciting to watch his stud career unfold over the next few years.

The day saw King spending more time out of his stable than in, as there was so much interest shown in him. It was exciting to see a large crowd gather once he was out on display, a rough count with one group viewing had as many as 30-40 people checking him out!  and King  …well he took it all in his stride. Owners Gary and Chrissie turned it on complete with marque, plenty of refreshments and also the opportunity to go into a draw to win a free service to King! Anyone who would like more information on this outstanding stallion can access his web site by clicking here and for Eldon Park click here.  

King's Gallery