About us
Nevele R Stud has helped shape and been at the forefront of the modern standardbred breeding industry in Australasia for more than five decades.
Established in 1973 by the successful Canterbury property developer Wayne Francis and Tasmanian bloodstock agent Bob McArdle, the pair focused from the beginning on importing quality North American stallions that possessed both proven racetrack performance and desirable bloodlines.
Whilst the pairʻs first stallion purchase Nevele Romeo, after whom they named the stud, certainly possessed these attributes –he was a $140,000 earning son of the Hall of Fame mare Romola Hanover (from whom modern siring greats Art Major and Captaintreacherous descend), and a half-brother to both the 1966 Triple Crown winner and three-time US Age Group Pacer of the Year Romeo Hanover, and the 1967 US 3YO Pacer of the Year Romulus Hanover – it was his fellow foundation sire, Timely Knight that would make more of an impact in those early years.
Timely Knight was a star Canadian pacer that won 13 races in a row as a 3-year-old, including the Queen City Pace (the fore-runner to the North America Cup) and who as an older horse went on to win the Canadian Pacing Derby. With earnings of just under $450,000 he was one of the highest earning standardbreds to have been imported at the time to New Zealand.
He attracted good books from the outset and was one of New Zealandʻs leading sires in the early 1980ʻs, leaving the likes of the champion mare Armalight (who is buried at Nevele R) and fellow NZ Trotting Cup winner Camelot.
In the decades since, many notable stallions have called Nevele Rʻs Prebbleton farm home, but undoubtedly the three greatest and the most synonymous with the stud were Holmes Hanover, Falcon Seelster and Live Or Die.
Homes Hanover was the champion New Zealand Standardbred Stallion four times in the late 1990ʻs and early 2000ʻs and became the first New Zealand domiciled stallion to sire 1000 individual winners, with his best progeny the great Holmes D G, winner of 13 Group 1 races and back-to back Miracle Miles.
Falcon Seelster succeeded Holmes Hanover as the champion New Zealand Stallion in 2003 and left an indelible mark on the New Zealand breeding industry as both a sire and broodmare sire. He was in effect the first standardbred shuttle stallion (albeit in reverse as he was owned by Nevele R), with his progeny winning over $100 million worldwide and down-under including the Grand Circuit champions Elsu and The Falcon Strike.
Live Or Die, who descended from Nevele Romeoʻs brother Romeo Hanover on the maternal side, was a hit from the outset, both with breeders and with his progeny on the track, serving over 100 mares for thirteen consecutive seasons, including a New Zealand record 435 in the 2002 season. He was the leading New Zealand Pacing Sire in 2007 and was second to Christian Cullen twice, with some of his standout performers including the NZ Horse of the Year Elect To Live, the two-time NZ Cup winner Just An Excuse and the Miracle Mile winner Divisive.
Other successful stallions to have stood at Nevele R include Neroʻs B B (the first New Zealand based stallion to leave an Oaks, Derby and major Cup winner in the same season when Adina Bebe won the NZ Oaks, Neroʻs Jay the Queensland Derby and Neroship the Auckland Cup in 1989), Bo Scots Blue Chip (sire of the Grand Circuit stars Franco Tiger, Attitagain and Franco Ice), Badlands Hanover (a terrific sire of quality fillies and mares as well the millionaire male pacers Washakie and Beaudiene Boaz), Bobʻs namesake, McArdle (sire of the multiple Group 1 winners Nike Franco and Tintin In America, and the grandsire of the NZ bred US Horse of the Year Shartin), Courage Under Fire (sire of Grand Circuit champion Smolda); and of course the stud was privileged to have stood the incomparable Christian Cullen towards the end of his stud career.
Since its inception Nevele R has also been at the forefront of a number of significant developments and innovations in the New Zealand standardbred breeding industry, from pioneering embryo transfers in the 1980ʻs to the opening up of stallion books in New Zealand, as well as the introduction of shuttle stallions, shipping fresh semen across the Tasman and the importation and successful use of frozen semen.
In addition to developing Nevele R Stud into one of the Southern Hemisphereʻs showpiece standardbred studs, both McArdle and Francis went on to establish their own separate highly successful breeding entities – Bob, Bromac Lodge and Wayne, the racing and breeding establishment Spreydon Lodge – with both enjoying tremendous success on the racetrack over the years and more recently in the sales ring too.
Today, the stud remains one of the largest full service standardbred operations in Australasia, serving and foaling down around hundreds of mares on its 450 acre farm each season, as well as weaning around 100 foals each year.
In recent years, Nevele R has also joined with fellow industry heavyweight Alabar Farms, in order to be able to continue to secure the best North American and domestic stallions available for breeders, with success stories to date including the outstanding dual hemisphere sire Always B Miki, the US 2YO Pacing Colt of the Year Captain Crunch, whose first two crops are doing a terrific job down-under to date, along with the 2023 US Trotter of the Year Tactical Approach and the 2022 US and Canadian 3YO Pacing Colt of the Year Pebble Beach.
Under Wayneʻs daughter, Helena, the Managing Director since 2013 (and involved in the governance since 2000), the stud continues to support and invest in the industry through both stallion acquisitions and race sponsorships, with its flagship event the Nevele R Fillies Series in its 25th year this season, and remains just as committed to providing quality customer service for its clients and exceptional on farm care for breedersʻ mares and foals as it did back in 1973.