A SOFT CHALKY DUST settles on the sun-bleached grass on the verges and storm clouds scurry across the sky, threatening to rain. The road winds like a ribbon through the valley and I catch tantalising glimpses of houses discreetly set back from the road, most hidden by giant stands of grey box and ironbark trees. A dark brown Thoroughbred mare standing near a gate lifts her head and looks at me inquisitively as I drive slowly by. It’s a place famed for the quality of its horses, raised on the pastures fed by limestone deposits higher up in the hills. Chances are probably greater here than anywhere else in Australia that the mare I have just passed will foal a Group 1 race winner next spring.

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