Blackfriars has notched his 9th Western Australian sires’ premiership in a row to equal the long-standing record of Scenic who won 9 consecutive titles between 2002-10.

Together, they have claimed 18 premierships in a row for Scenic Lodge which must be a record for a stud in WA and Australia.

Blackfriars finished 2018-19 with 96 individual winners of 151 races and when Westspeed bonuses were factored in on Friday, his earnings reached $4,992,102.

Scenic Lodge owners David and Jeremy Smith have dominated the local industry since the turn of the century and the father-son team are well prepared to maintain that ascendancy into the future.

Universal Ruler ($3.16 million) and Snippetson ($3.14 million) finished second and third on the table and they also fought out the active-sires premiership.  Darling View stallion Patronize was best of the rest with prizemoney of $2.47 million.

David Smith comes from a strong farming background and ran one of the biggest farm merchandise businesses throughout Australia before it was purchased by Landmark.  “Dad’s amazing and is still hands-on,” Jeremy Smith reported this week.  “He seeded most of the farm by himself this year and also enjoys racing a few of the many that we breed.

“He purchased Scenic Lodge back in 1996 when the farm traded as Durham Lodge.  The following year he bought our first stallion Scenic who, at one stage, climbed to No.2 in Australia.”

Blackfriars (Danehill) won the G1 Victoria Derby in 1999 for Swettenham Stud prior to his transfer out west.  He was a faithful servant until December 2017 when he shattered a shoulder after colic surgery.

Rising stayer Come Play With Me can help make it 10 titles for Blackfriars when he runs in the G1 Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick in October.  He won four on the bounce at Belmont before transferring to champion trainer Chris Waller last month.

“Blackfriars was a true gentleman and loved by all,” Jeremy Smith said.  “He did it the hard way.  We had to get right behind him and, apart from being a champion, he was also just a lovely horse.”

BLACKFRIARS