History: Guntawang Station
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1874
18 July 1874
1880
2 October 1880
1904
3 March 1904
Sale of Guntawang.
Messrs Wilkinson and Lavender, Ltd., in conjunction with Messrs. Crossing and Cox, will offer at the Wool Exchange, Sydney, on Wednesday, 30th March, the Guntawang Estate, together with all stock. Full particulars appear in another column3
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28 March 1904
Sale of Guntawang
The far-famed Guntawang estate will be submitted for auction at the Wool Exchange, Sydney, on Wednesday next, by Messrs. Wilkinson and Lavender, in conjunction with Messrs. Crossing and Cox. The property is being offered in accordance with the will of the late Mr. Richard Rouse4
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1907
15 April 1907
1909
4 March 1909
RAINFALL AT EUMARALLA.
During February 444 points of rain were recorded at Eumaralla station (late Guntawang)7
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1918
7 January 1918
The Eumaralla Estate.
The well known Mudgee district property known as Eumaralla (formerly Guntawang) has been sold by Mr. Denison to Mr. D. Clark, until recently of Monivae, Lue, which he disposed of to Mr. McMaster8
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1922
17 August 1922
NEW BUICK FOR GUNTAWANG.
Mr. A. G. Leresche, the live district distributor for Buick motor cars, reports having sold a remarkably fine buick to Mr. L. R. Coward, of Guntawang station. The car is a model 49 seven seater, dark wine color, and is fitted with wire wheels. The model 49 Buick is noted for its fine lines and easy riding qualities. This is the second Buick car that Mr. Coward has purchased9
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1932
11 August 1932
ACCIDENT
ON Friday morning, when Mr. Tom Wolton was proceeding from Orange to Guntawang station, near Gulgong (of which he is manager), his car struck a culvert after he had passed Molong, near Foy's Farm. Fortunately Mr. Wotton escaped injury, but the car was damaged. The front axle was bent and the mudguards and running board on the left side smashed10
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1951
28 June 1951
Death of Former Owner of Guntawang
A former owner of Guntawang Station, near Gulgong. Mr. John Whitehead, died at his residence, Dalton Street, Orange, last Sunday week.
Deceased, who was one of the best known identities of the Euchareena district, was 77 years of age.
Until two years ago when he sold his property, Weandre, Boomey, via Molong, to go to Orange to live in retirement, Mr. Whitehead had spent practically the whole of his life on the land, principally in grazing activities.
His wife predeceased him by seven years, and he is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Lyons (Molong), Mrs. Doris Baird (Stuart Town), Mrs. J. Edwards (Euchareena). One son, Darvel, predeceased him. There are five grandchildren. Sisters are Mrs. Bourke, Mrs. J. Sloane and Mrs. R. Barrett, all of Wellington. Mrs. Withers (Dubbo), Mrs. Bayliss (Dubbo), Mrs. J. Barrett (Euchareena), Mr. Les Whitehead, of Dubbo, is a brother, and Mr. W. Whitehead, of Uarbry road, Gulgong, is a nephew11
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1981
29 April 1981
'Jester' retired to stud duties
Crown Jester's racing career is finished and he will begin stud duties at Mr John Foyster's Guntawang Stud, Gulgong, this spring.
Mr Jack Ingham, who bred the outstanding colt and retains a major share in him, announced this yesterday, ending speculation about Crown Jester's future.
Crown Jester, who won six of his seven starts and $50,850, will have a first season fee of S15,000 and will be mated with probably 45 mares.
The colt was highly sought by several big commercial studs.
The decision to stand him at Guntawang, beside Mighty Kingdom and John's Hope, is a boost for NSW breeding and Mr Foyster, who owns Guntawang.
Mr Ingham said Mr Foyster was one of 10 breeders who had paid S50.000 for a share in the robust colt.
"He will have a terrific book of mares in his first season," Mr Ingham said. "I will be sending some of my best mares and the other shareholders will, no doubt, do likewise."
Crown Jester (Baguette-Anjudy) is bred to be a great success at stud. He is a speed horse and, as Mr Ingham pointed out, sires of this type, such as Biscay, Kaoru Star and Bletchingly, were now dominant in Australian breeding.
"I would have loved to have squared things with Full On Aces, who beat him on a heavy track in the Golden Slipper Stakes, but I'm sure his future lies as a sire of top gallopers," he said12 .
7 August 1976
HONEYMOON CASTLE' NEW HOME FOR GREY
John Foyster junior is full of surprises when you visit his magnificent Guntawang stud at Gulgong.
I had walked in unannounced to renew acquaintance with the former brilliant racehorse John's Hope whose first foals will arrive this spring.
John Foyster is a toiler these days but he still has time to indulge his sense of humour.
Who else would set up an elaborate sign, Honeymoon Castle, above the door of the concrete serving barn where John's Hope and King Apollo do their chores?
"Come with me, I've got a surprise for you," was John's greeting when I caught up with him.
He bustled me into his Land Rover and we shot off. bumping and jerking through several paddocks until he pulled up alongside this big lump of a foal.
A grey, the foal obviously had been born out of season.
"There you are, the fastest stock horse in the West," John told me, a huge grin on his face. "What you do you think of him?"
I didn't know what to think and I had a feeling that John was testing me out. So I offered no comment.
"That's the foal that resulted from the fertility test we gave John's Hope," he explained "It was born last February."
The mother is a 20-year-old stock horse who belongs to one of the staff. It was the first time the mare was put to a horse and they've named the foal Magic Hope."
John produced his second sui prise in the next paddock, where a bulldozer was filling in a water dam.
"I'm filling in every dam on the property," he said. "Tom Smith told me that you can never breed good horses on dirty dam water that is full of sediment."
We got back to John's Hope who looked a picture of health and contentment as he roamed his large paddock.
This is definitely the life for you, old boy, I thought as I admired the big grey.
This is better than having Kevin Langby kick you in the ribs.
John's Hope has let down into a magnificent individual. He arrived at _Guntawang in August, 1974, a month before the start of the breeding season.
"It was a hell of a temptation to give him a few mares," John Foyster said. "But that idea can mm a young horse's chance at stud."
"The breeding game is so competitive, that you have to ensure that a stallion has a good crop of foals on the ground from his first season.
"Giving a young first season sire a handful of mares is the best way to ruin his career."
I immediately thought of Farnworth, another son of Wilkes, who has had a. hard struggle to make good at stud after getting a very light book of mares in his first season, almost immediately after he retired from racing.
John's Hopes (Wilkes-Fraction)_, whose fee is $1,250, served 46 mares in his first season. Forty one are due to foal this spring.
"I could have got 100 mares to him. Evervone wanted a service," John explained.
One of the few mates who did not get in foal to John's Hope was the brilliant sprinter Nook who was mated only a few weeks after she won at Warwick Farm.
The mare who took my eye among those who were carrying John's Hope foals was Sparkling Red. Her first foal was a colt by Wilkes.
Sparkling Red has furnished into a beautiful broodmare.
John's Hope, who cost $18,000 as a yearling, was a brilliant racehorse. He won at his first four starts, including the 1972 Golden Slipper Stakes and Blue Diamond.
He came back to run second in the Challenge Stakes, VRC Lightning Handicap, Liverpool City Cup and Healy Stakes. And he set a course record at Doomben when he outsped Bcngalla Lad in the Booroolong Handicap.
John's Hope, in his second last suit, finished thud to Chailton Bov and Bcngalla Lad in the Doomben Ten Thousand.
In addition to being a son of the champion sire, Wilkes (imp), John's Hope also is beautifully bred on the side of his dam, Fraction.
Fraction, who is the dam of Somebody and Wilkonon was produced by Favour, a winning daughter of Nizami (Fi).
Favour was a half-sister to Lady's Budge who was the dam of Melbourne Cup winner Hi Jinx.
Somebody, a brother to John's Hope, won 10 races in Sydney before he was sold to the USA where he also won before being retired to stud.
John's Hope was syndicated to stud and among his owners are Sir John Austin, Dave Chrystal, Jim Fleming, Mark and Lloyd Foyster. And his original owners, John Foyster and the Ingham brothers, are major shareholders.
John Foyster, like his brothers Lloyd and Mark, is sparing no expense to develop Guntawang into a leading thoroughbred nursery.
The Australian thoroughbred breeding industry is indebted to the free-spending Foyster family. I'll tell you more later in this series13
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1989
22 July 1989
TITLE DEEDS
IT SEEMS Elizabeth Yuill now holds the private financial reins of her high-profile bloodstock financier husband, Brian Yuill.
Not content to idle time away at their Edgecliff mansion, Elizabeth has just paid the Honeysett family $700,000 for two Gulgong cattle-fattening properties near Mudgee.
The 1,200-hectare Thornbury Station adjoins the larger Guntawang Station which Bondoro Pty Ltd, a shelf company which Elizabeth said was associated with her husband, bought in 1987 for $4.78 million14 .
1991
4 May 1991
The Ceaseless Strife of Brian
In July 1987, a shelf company called Bondoro bought two properties at Gulgong, in the Mudgee area, for S3.1 million and $1.6 million. One was Guntawang, with 93 spelling paddocks, a race-training track, breaking yards and stables for 56 horses; the other an adjacent property, Westwood, which supported 700 head of cattle. According to Mr Miller's report on Spedley, the directors of Bondoro remained as the original shelf company directors but the property was "frequented by Mr and Mrs Yuill. The purchase was, in essence, funded by Spedley Securities ... but, in turn, GPI was debited with the cost." ,
The Guntawang homestead, an 1860s colonial home listed with the National Trust, was restored at a cost of $I million. It now has seven bedrooms, a billiard room, swimming pool and children's rumpus room. Two 17th-century fireplaces were imported from England. A local man involved in the restoration says the carpets were imported from England complete with the carpet layer, who complained of jetlag one day as he laid the carpets' floral borders.
"It makes Milton Park look like a Travelodge," said one frequent guest. Brian and Elisabeth visited the home most weekends, often hiring a Lear jet for themselves and their guests.
Bondoro was placed in receivership a year ago and the receiver, Richard Brien, is hoping to sell its horses, which are costing $3,000 a month. The receiver has a claim against the Yuills personally to recover $300,000 he believes was spent in entertaining and flying people to the homestead. There will be a further claim involving the cattle, which the receiver believes were transferred around late 1989 to a company called Binali Pty Ltd, registered in April 1989. The directors of Binali are Elisabeth Yuill and Louise Costigan, the Yuills' housekeeper who lives in a flat next to Fenton and who worked as an upholsterer with Elisabeth in her interior decorating business. In mid-1989, Elisabeth also bought Thornbury Station, a 1,200 hectare property adjoining Guntawang.
Guntawang is still on the market, a "Marie Celeste", Yuill's lawyer has called it. The horses have not yet been sold, neither have the antiques.
Perhaps in Yuill's mind is the thought that one day, he can regain it all.
Perhaps he is right. After all, no real rain has fallen on Brian's parade yet.
Additional reporting by JONATHAN CHANCELLOR15
1992
17 March 1992
Former Yuill property goes to auction
The liquidator of Bondoro Pty Ltd, a company which owns Brian Yuill's former horse stud and country estate, has rejected a $3.5 million offer for the Mudgee property and will auction it next month.
Two properties, Guntawang and Westwood, have been for sale by tender as one parcel for the past 18 months through Raine & Home Commercial. However, Mr Richard Brien, Bondoro's liquidator, rejected two offers of $2.5 million and $3.5 million as unacceptable.
The properties will now be offered for sale in four parcels at an Elders Real Estate auction on April 30.
Guntawang, which is about 25 kilometres from Mudgee, is well known for its preparation of racehorses under the management of Cheryl and Max Crockett.
Guntawang comprises 452 hectares of unrestricted freehold with a fully operational horse stud and training and spelling complex.
It has stables and attendants' quarters, 30 horse stalls, 13 covered breaking yards, 84 holdings yards, 15 sand roll yards, a lunging yard, and a 2,000-metre grass and sand track.
The 1860s homestead, which has undergone much costly renovation, has seven bedrooms, three with en-suite bathrooms, a billiards room and large family rooms with underfloor beating. The bouse is decorated with quality furniture, ornaments and utensils which are included in the sale.
Other accommodation on the estate includes a four-bedroom furnished guest house and three staff cottages.
Brian Yuill — whose merchant bank Spedley Securities collapsed 2 1/2 years ago with debts of $1.4 billion — put a lot of money into Guntawang after the collapse, and apart from major renovations to the house, a swimming pool was installed and subsequently relocated. In 1990 Mr Yuill was reported as having attempted to buy back the Mudgee property. The selling agent, Mr Tim Sbortis, of Elders Mudgee, said the Westwood property was being offered in three lots at the auction — one of 325 hectares in seven paddocks with a cottage; one of 265 hectares divided into four paddocks; and one of 217 hectares split into three paddocks.
It is expected that Guntawang will sell for about $3 million while Westwood is expected to bring about $1 million, which equates to about $1,200 a hectare.
ANDREA DIXON16
2022
1 August 2022
Sydney couple buy famed horse stud near Mudgee: Equine oasis
Guntawang, a vast colonial-era estate and renowned horse stud near Mudgee, complete with a full-size racetrack and colourful 200-year ownership history, has been snapped up by Gulgong lamb producers Peter and Louise Pethe.
The Australian Financial Review understands Guntawang, which was offered for sale by thoroughbred horse breeder Charlie Cropper, changed hands at close to the $15 million asking price. Title deeds show Guntawang Rural, a company jointly owned by the Pethes, slapped a caveat over the 594 Goolma Road property in Gulgong just to the north of Mudgee two weeks ago.
The couple run a White Suffolk purebred lamb operation across more than 1000ha on a nearby Gulgong property called Omeo (as well as owning a home in Sydney's eastern suburbs) and supply meat to online Sydney butcher Kingsmore Meats.
They declined to comment on the acquisition of Guntawang. Richard Royle and Deborah Cullen of Cullen Royle brokered the sale.
The 452ha property on the banks of the Cudgegong River includes a magnificent seven-bedroom Italianate homestead dating to the 1870s, with an in-ground pool, tennis court and a separate pavilion.
The homestead sits on a hill overlooking the vast estate, which is home to a 2000-metre grass and sand racetrack, modern equine complex and many of the original buildings including red-brick stables and coach house.
Guntawang's origins go back to about 1825 when it was part of an original land grant of 4000 acres given to the pioneering Rouse family. The Rouses produced fine wool and beef cattle, as well as racing and carriage horses at Guntawang. They held on to it until 1908.
Louisa Albury, the mother of the Australian poet Henry Lawson, was born in one of the buildings in 1848. By the 1860s, Guntawang had become a self-contained community with its own school, post office, church and inn, catering to miners working on the Mudgee goldfields.
In 1987, it became the country estate of corporate high-flyer Brian Yuill, then the big-spending boss of merchant bank Spedleys, who owned racehorses, an $88,000 Bentley and a townhouse in London's Chelsea. However, Mr Yuill held on to Guntawang only briefly. In 1989 Spedley Group collapsed owing creditors $1.4 billion. Mr Yuill, who used Spedley as his personal bank, was jailed for four years in 1995. He died in 2014.
In 1992, Mr Cropper acquired Guntawang from liquidators for $2.29 million. Since then it has sustained its reputation as one of the country's leading horse studs and equine complexes, producing a string of champion thoroughbreds. "It's had a pretty amazing history," co-selling agent Mr Royle said. "This sale is likely a per hectare record for the area."
He said a confidentiality agreement prevented him discussing the buyer or price. Mr Royle said the top of the market - Cullen Royle specialises in the rural lifestyle market - had not been impacted by rising interest rates. "A lot of them are cash buyers17 ."
CREDIT: Larry Schlesinger