Exceptional son of Montjeu to stand at Fairdale Stud

It was an up-beat Gerald Fell on the phone to New Zealand Thoroughbred Marketing this morning announcing, exclusively to NZTM, that Nom du Jeu (Montjeu ex Prized Gem, by Prized) had been secured for stud duties at his Fairdale Stud near Palmerston North.

“He’s an outstanding son of Montjeu.  Montjeu is the most expensive stallion in the northern hemisphere right now and he’ll never return to New Zealand for stud duties,” Fell commented.

“Nom du Jeu was an exceptional racehorse; has wonderful looks; a great pedigree – he’s the perfect stallion type for New Zealand, especially with the swing towards our middle distance horses demonstrated so clearly at the sales series this year,” added Fell.

Nom du Jeu will stand at the attractive fee of $6,000 + gst at Fairdale and has been syndicated into 50 shares.

“The Morton family of Brisbane have retained 50% of the horse; both Fairdale Stud (Gerald & Duncan Fell) and Goodwood Stud (Rex & William Fell) are shareholders and the remaining 15 shares are available to breeders via New Zealand Bloodstock who are promoting the syndication.” said Fell.

The Nom du Jeu share price is $30,000 + gst which entitle the holder to 2 service nominations to the stallion for the first 4 years of his stud career.

Gerald Fell said that his family have had an association with the Morton family for more than two decades. 

“We knew the late Barry Morton who bred Nom du Jeu’s dam Prized Gem, while Billie Morton bred and raced Nom du Jeu,” said Fell

Negotiations to secure Nom du Jeu have been going on for the last fortnight or so and Fell has been dealing with Billie Morton’s son, Glen and the family’s bloodstock advisor, Peter Ford of Melbourne.

He won his only 2YO start from last-to-first; he had a lot of speed

Nom du Jeu was trained throughout his career by the Cambridge combination of Murray and Bjorn Baker.

“Recently we had a direct enquiry from England to purchase Nom du Jeu; I’m delighted that a top New Zealand stud has been able to retain the horse,” Murray Baker told NZTM this morning.

Nom du Jeu won the Australian Derby-Gr.1 and was four times Group One-placed for prizemoney exceeding $2m.  Baker was keen to point out that the horse won from 1200m to 2400m.

“He won his only 2YO start from last-to-first; he had a lot of speed,” said Baker snr.

“He is a quality horse with a lot of speed and a lovely temperament.  An example of his temperament is that I’ve had one of my grandchildren on his back in the box – there are very few entires you could do that with,” added Baker.

Nom du Jeu has been in the care of Dean Hawthorne in Cambridge and will travel to Fairdale Stud later this week.  Gerald Fell said that he will be available for inspection next week.

Fell was keen to point to a quote seen in the New Zealand Herald this week from successful buyer and owner, Rob McAnulty:

“There’s a big swing back to buying horses for races like the Rosehill Guineas and the AJC Derby.  You can make a lot of money now with a stayer and any NZ breeder who breeds staying horses and classic horses is going to be rewarded.”

For further information on Nom du Jeu, contact the following people…

Gerald Fell: 0274 472-134

Duncan Fell: 0274 604-132

Andrew Seabrook (NZB): 0274 972-832