Livestock producers, horse breeders and irrigation farmers have a unique opportunity to realize their ambitions with the opportunity to lease the renowned Hunter Valley property Carrington at Jerrys Plains.
Carrington was one of the first established horse studs in the Hunter Valley and for the past 15 years the stud facilities were leased by the Ingham family and their famous Woodlands stud at Jerrys Plains.
Carrington is a name synonymous with the Hunter Valley thoroughbred.
The White family owned the stud for many years and stood several successful stallions including French bred horse Faubourg who sired 1962 Irish Oaks winner French Cream before arriving in Australia.
Faubourg’s stakes winners out here included Versailles (VRC St Leger), Gnapur (Adelaide Cup) and grey gelding Maigret who was a favourite of Sydney crowds winning races like the 1967 Villiers Stakes at Randwick.
Just Great was another Carrington resident and his best galloper was the Harry Clark trained filly Just Topic who was a G1 winner of the AJC Champagne Stakes and VATC One Thousand Guineas in 1973.
The Foyster brothers, who sold their mining interests for $80 million in 1969, were the big spenders in the racing and breeding industries of that era.
Lloyd bought Gooree Stud, John purchased Guntawang Stud and Mark bought Carrington Stud and renamed it Balfour Stud. The family also raced numerous Group winners such as Planet Kingdom, Ming Dynasty, John’s Hope, King Apollo and Mighty Kingdom.
Mark stood the classically bred stallion Scarletville (Charlottesville) at Balfour. He was from the English Oaks winner Meld (Alycidon) and was a brother to English Derby winner Charlottown.
The best of his progeny was the George Hanlon trained stayer Noble Comment who was third home behind Gurner’s Lane and Kingston Town in the 1982 Melbourne Cup. Noble Comment seemed certain to make amends the following year until Jimmy Cassidy produced Kiwi with a breath-taking last-to-first finish.
The property changed hands again in the 1980s and reverted to the name Carrington. Former Milluna Stud sire Twig Moss moved there after winning the Australian sires’ premiership and others on the roster were Tate Gallery, Zephyr Bay and Kind Music.
The Ingham family leased the property in the 1990s for breaking and pre-training the hundreds of homebreds that went through the Woodlands system every year. Carrington became available when Bob Ingham sold up to Darley last year.
The Carrington lease is available on a 5 year x 5 year lease with excellent possibilities of further extension. The horse complex comprises 100 stables, day yards, round yards, machinery and hay sheds.
The grazing/irrigation land of 320ha (800 acres) parcel includes 240ha (600 acres) of flats while a second parcel of 240ha (including 400 acres of river flats), available on June 30, 2012, adds further scope and production capacity.
Water is a major Carrington asset with a 1900 megalitres (mg) water/liquid gold allocation which at $3000/mg is valued at $5.7 million.
Carrington is owned by Coal & Allied, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and managed for them by Novine Pty Ltd, a company that has extensive rural interests in NSW.
In the managers opinion this property is worth between $15 to $20 million with its location 2 hours from Sydney, in the middle of Australia’s best thoroughbred studs and close to outstanding wineries.
Carrington will not be subject to a change of ownership or direction in the foreseeable future so a new lessee can look forward to a secure tenure.
It is a special opportunity for an individual or group which the vision and enthusiasm to go forward in any endeavour to which they aspire.
The property could be operated successfully as a:
• Stud for horses, cattle etc
• Equine operation
• Fodder factory – drought proof your operation or sell the product
The scope is only limited by the imagination of the successful tenderer but to realize the potential it’s critical to think outside the parameters of standard rural land production.
If the lessee was predominantly interested in fodder production the stud facilities could be used as an overflow agistment option for nearby Hunter Valley studs.
The magnificent brick and tile homestead has 5 bedrooms, a billiard room, wide verandahs, a beautiful pool, tennis court and large BBQ cabana and is currently let for $20,000 per annum.
Also there are 7 comfortable, well maintained staff houses that would let for $7000 per annum. on average.
For more information and a comprehensive photo gallery please visit www.carringtonstud.com.au.