To get the full picture of Longwood Thoroughbred Farm you need to start at the beginning with a sliding door moment.
In the mid 90’s Michael Christian was working as a stockbroker after finishing a celebrated AFL career as a premiership player with Collingwood and with some small shares in racehorses with colleagues. A work colleague had purchased “Lunch With Gai Waterhouse” at a charity auction but passed it on to Michael for him and his clients to enjoy.
“We had twenty of our best clients to lunch on the Wednesday before the 1997 Melbourne Cup. Gai was fashionably late but when she did arrive she captivated the room. She entertained us through a great lunch and as I was escorting her to the lift, Gai enquired if I had any horses running? I replied ‘I have a share in a two-year-old running next week on Cup day’, and just as the lift doors were closing I managed to spit out the horse was called True Blonde not thinking that she had even heard me.”
True Blonde did her part and duly saluted on Melbourne Cup Day and upon his arrival to work the following day, Michael found a fax message on his desk from Gai congratulating him on True Blonde’s win.
Apart from the congratulations there was also the invitation for Michael to visit her at Tulloch Lodge if he was ever in Sydney which he did the following January. Before he knew it, he was attending yearling sales with Gai and investing in horses with her.
“It was great, I was able to follow Gai and George Smith around the sales and it was a great experience,” Michael said. “At the Magic Millions sale we saw a colt by Royal Academy that Gai loved, George loved and I loved so that’s how we came to race Phoenix Park.”
Phoenix Park won his first two races in Sydney and started favourite in the Magic Millions 2YO Classic before finishing fourth behind Belle du Jour in the 2000 Golden Slipper Stakes.
“That was an amazing thrill which I will never forget,” Michael explains. “Phoenix Park went on to win three Group races including the first running of the T J Smith Stakes and it was fantastic for Gai to win the race named after her father, a legend of the turf.”
So fast forward to 2022 and several horses in between and Michael with wife Siobhan and brother, Brad, now own and operate of Longwood Thoroughbred Farm.
As its name suggests, Longwood Thoroughbred Farm is located in Victoria's North East Thoroughbred in the heart of the Victorian breeding industry and apart from breeding it’s own horses also provides a walk-on service for broodmares to the many stud farms in the area.
And like so many racing and breeding stories, being in the right place at the right time is how Michael and Siobhan Christian and brother Brad, managed to buy the property thanks to an errant GPS system.
At the time the Christians had a property at Whittlesea which they purchased on the advice of good friend and renown horseman, Peter Morgan. “The property next door to Peter came up for sale and he recommended I buy it, which I duly did. Peter has been a great mentor and I’ve learnt so much from him”
“We purchased the 240-acre property quite by chance, as Siobhan, my brother Brad and I were heading up to Lindsay Park one morning to watch our horse Fuhryk at track work. The GPS took us along Longwood-Ruffy Road, and we noticed that Fulmen Park was for sale,” Christian said.
“We had been casually looking for a larger property for a while, and as a coincidence when we drove into Euroa for some lunch, we parked right outside the Elders Real Estate office. We popped in, arranged an inspection, and Longwood Thoroughbred Farm – the new home of Saconi Thoroughbreds was born.”
By some standards a relatively late starter in the world of horses, Christian has applied himself fully to the thoroughbred industry and is no desktop expert.
“As my interest grew I knew I wanted to be in this business and I completed the two-year NMIT Horse Breeding Diploma. As part of the Diploma I spent time working with Christoph Bruechert (Bombora Downs) which was a great experience, learning so much.”
The Longwood operation feeds Barastoc Breed N Grow with some adaptations.
“We make some adaptations to suit our country,” Christian explains. “One of the beauty’s of Barastoc is we get access to the knowledge of Peter Huntington. He’s usually here at the farm once a month checking on the pasture, the horses and is a great help and asset to the business.”
The Christian operation is run as two separate entities with Longwood Thoroughbred Farm running the commercial operation of foaling down and growing out yearlings for sale with Saconi Thoroughbreds operating the breeding side and it is there that Christian is fully immersed.
Christian is focused on building families around key mares, he has raced or purchased including, Runaway Jesse, the dam of six time stakes winner Eloping, dual 2yo stakes winner, Of The Brave, Alisa Free, the dam of Group 2 winner, Unpretentious, Bella Inez, the dam of Group 1 performer Hallowell Belle and Group 3 winner, Fuddle Dee Duddle, the dam of 2yo Group 3 winner Brereton.
Current stable star and Group 1 performer Bella Nipotina is a granddaughter of Bella Inez while Godolphin’s Group 2 winner In Secret, is by I Am Invincible out of Eloping.
“We bred In Secret in partnership with Segenhoe Stud and sold her well and it’s exciting to see her now as a potential star for an operation like Godolphin,” Christian said.
“Owning a horse is one thing but breeding a winner is a whole new level, and there is nothing quite like it. It even gets close to winning a premiership!”