Nothing short of a horse paradise, this 30-hectare farm based in Matamata, New Zealand is a force to reckon with. Kilgravin Lodge has made a name for being one of the very few training facilities that you can easily place your blind trust in. Run by Eion Kemp and Megan Kemp, with an acute focus on the minutes of details in ensuring the well being and all-round well being of the horses and the staff. A Waikato native Eion has been an amateur jockey himself and in 2018 also completed the 1000 km Mongol Derby, widely regarded as the toughest horse race in the world.
Kilgravin Lodge has come out as an elite training facility, and they bring in some of the enormous batches every year, and that has remained a standard this year as well. Bringing in some of the best horses in the world, theirs is a story to take notice of. Facilities like Kilgravin are not only a trusted name but also, a reasonably good template on how to run a prosperous business.
Eion Kemp of the Kilgravin Lodge chats with The Impact's team about his 2019 draft for the upcoming Karaka sale, his farm and much more:
Q: Kilgravin Lodge will be presenting one of the largest lots to this year's edition of the Karaka Ready 2 Run sale. Could you tell us more about your 2019 draft & your highlight lots?
A: At Kilgravin we are taking a lovely draft of horses to Karaka this year. There's a good mixture of stallions both from proven stallions like More Than Ready, Per Canto, Charm Spirit as well as up and coming stallions & new stallions like Mongolian Khan, Zoustar, Vancouver.
The unusual ones this year would have to be Zoustar colt by Testy. He is a lovely healthy horse, fabulous presence by a stallion that is really on fire at the moment. Probably the Vancouver is another horse on the stallions might a going to get good start first season.
Another horse is by More Than Ready. He is a very athletic horse by a stallion that's on the rise
Q: Please tell us about the most expensive horse you ever sold?
A: Most expensive horse for sold. Probably in the last couple of years we have sold a couple of beautiful horses for around A$ 240,000. Last
year we sold a horse by Sacred Falls. He was a nice horse. He was purchased at the Karaka Yearling Sales for A$ 120,000. Previously we bought a Sepoy colt for A$70,000 out of the June Gold Coast Sale (Magic Millions: and sold him for A$240,000 who went on to be multiple winners.
Q: Kilgravin Lodge is one of the top agistment and sales preparation facilities in New Zealand. Please tell us the Farm's history and your history with the farm. Furthermore, please tell us more about the name Kilgravin?
A: We have been running Kilgravin Lodge for seventeen years, and this is our sixteenth year presenting at the Ready to run the sale. Our main core businesses the breaking and pre-training along with ready-to-run preps. In the last five, we have also moved into the yearling market, thus adding another string to our bow. We have 75 acres just outside Matamata (New Zealand:. Our facilities have been set up primarily for the job that we do. We have good well-trained yards, 26 boxes, and treadmill. We also have our track, walker and 50 acres dedicated to spelling.
Q: You have worked with Paul Jenkins, Watson Bloodstock, Antrim Lodge and the iconic Waikato Stud. Could you please tell us more about your experience?
A: We worked at a few fantastic places over the years, primarily when we moved up here. We just took a little bit (of best practice) from every place, both facility-wise and management-wise. This helped us develop our style, and we also tried to incorporate things that worked for us.
Q: You started as a jockey and won the prestigious Duke of Gloucester Cup. Could you tell us a bit more about that win?
A: We won the Duke of Gloucester Cup in 2002 riding a horse called Sky baby for Robert Prescott. That was my last season riding amateur races. Kilgravin Lodge was just being established around this time, and we needed to focus more of our time on the business. It was a great experience and good to have my name on the cup.
Q: And finally, which is your most favourite horse in the world and why?
A: My favourite horse in the world, Winx. I think just caught the imagination of the people. It was amazing for her to win the number of races she did. She is just truly amazing for any horse.
Published In The Impact 22 Issue, 2 Vol
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