WOODLANDS STUD DENMAN - HISTORY
The history of Woodlands Stud dates back to 9 th October 1824, when the lands which have since come to comprise the Woodlands Estate were first granted to various settlers. Henry Dangar surveyed the Hunter Valley, commencing in 1822 but prior to that, in 1817, minerologist William Parr ventured as far north as the hills above what is now known as Doyle’s Creek. Two years later John Howe led an expedition which traced Doyle’s Creek to its junction with the Hunter River. However, they returned overland to Sydney and did not realise that this was the Hunter River they had reached until they returned the next year. Soon after this John Howe’s footsteps were retraced in the construction of The Great North Road from Windsor to Jerry’s Plains. This was recognised as the single most significant engineering project in the first century of the colony’s history, made all the more remarkable by the fact that the road was built by teams of inadequately fed convicts in leg-irons using primitive hand tools.
Woodlands Denman Then & Now Photo from same position on Stud
George Ryder on left in Black & White photo
The Hunter River itself was originally named Hunter’s River for Governor John Hunter but for many years was popularly known as “ Coal River” following the first major expedition inland made by Lieutenant Colonel Paterson aboard The Lady Nelson in 1801. He sailed about 60km inland to the area where Maitland stands today and reported on his return finding a great abundance of timber and coal. The naming of Jerry’s Plains is the subject of some disagreement. However, it is thought likely that it was either named after the chief of the local Aborigines, the Kamilaroi people, or after Jeremiah Butler, an ex-convict who looked after the base camp during Howe’s 1820 expedition. He is thought to have died of gangrene having blown his thumb off with a pistol which exploded and to have been buried in this area.
Doyle’s Creek was named after Cyrus Doyle, one of the earliest settlers in the area. He was the son of Andrew Doyle, an irish patriot, who was exiled ‘for the term of his natural life’ for his part in the Irish uprisings of 1798 and 1801. Cyrus Doyle’s daughter, Mary, married Charles Harpur, recognised as one of Australia’s first important poets and also postmaster for a time in Jerry’s Plains.
Following Henry Dangar’s survey of the Hunter Valley and the granting in 1824 to settlers of the first blocks of land, the homestead block became the property of Mr. James Arndell who named it “Woodlands”. It is thought that the homestead was built in approximately 1833, the year of his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Pike of “ Pickering”. Among the more prominent names to have been involved with the lands which eventually made up Woodlands Stud were the explorer, Gregory Blaxland & his brother John in the 1830’s. They were both members of the first Sydney Turf Club, established in 1825. It is probable that Woodlands’ connection with the thoroughbred horse dates back to this time.
Even before the death of James Arndell in 1868, Woodlands had become part of the vast pastoral empire owned by the White family of Belltrees. In 1870 H.C. White began breeding shorthorn cattle at Woodlands & his cattle were frequent show winners with young Woodlands bred bulls commanding the highest prices. It is from this time that Woodlands’ earliest recorded association with thoroughbred breeding exists. H.C. White bred & raced his own horses, the best of these being Grandmaster’s son, Paris, who twice won the Caulfield Cup, in 1892 & in 1894 and in 1893 won the AJC Metropolitan.
At the end of the 19 th century Woodlands was owned by Mr. E. Vickery who mainly used it as a cattle breeding property and it was the fourth owner, E. G. Blume, who first established it as a thoroughbred stud and imported a number of stallions. Yearlings from Woodlands were soon in demand but although Blume lavished money on Woodlands, he never succeeded in making it into a top stud. Hard times, which followed, forced him into leasing it to a number of people & finally selling in 1928 to A. E. Grace, director of Grace Brothers. Following this it was owned for a time by the jockey Ted McMenamin who raised sheep on the property before it was sold once again in 1946 to George Ryder, D. C. Crystal & Dr. Street. Many well-known stallions were brought to stand at Woodlands during this period including Newtown Wonder, Pipe of Peace, Sostenuto and King of Babylon.
In 1971 Lord Derby purchased the property & the stud maintained its reputation as one of the best thoroughbred nurseries in Australia. Together with the american owned King Ranch, he imported a number of high class mares & from one of these the Golden Slipper winner Marscay was produced.
In June 1985 Woodlands was purchased by Inghams Enterprises, the present owners. Since that time the stud has been completely redesigned and refurbished by Manager Peter Flynn who began working for Jack & Bob Ingham shortly after the property came into their hands. In 1986 the property of Oak Range, situated on the southern side of the Hunter River, was acquired & in late 1989 Randwick Park, to the north of the original Woodlands, was also added. The total area incorporated in the new Hunter Valley “Woodlands Stud” is 6,200 acres & gives an ideal combination of irrigable flats & sheltered hilly country with good natural pasture. The horse numbers had expanded to such a degree by 1989 that it was decided to add a second facility outside the Hunter Valley and Transmedia Stud was purchased from Mike Willesee to become Woodlands Cootamundra. The two studs serve as the nursery to supply and complement the Crown Lodge training establishment and its interstate counterpart of Carbine Lodge in Victoria, under the command of John Hawkes. Added to these, the breaking-in, pre-training and spelling facilities of Belmont Park, near Windsor and Coolamon add up to what is the largest private racing enterprise in Australasia. Between them they provide an ideal environment for rearing young horses with their upbringing geared entirely towards racing, without the disruption of yearling sales & the long periods of preparation which these involve.
Jack & Bob Ingham have been involved in racing for well over 40 years & they owned & bred their first Golden Slipper winner – Sweet Embrace – as long ago as 1967. It had long been their dream to develop a stud to world class standards where they would breed and raise their own horses instead of having their mares agisted at a number of places and Woodlands Stud is the culmination of that dream. From quite a modest band of mares, relatively speaking, in 1986, the stud mares now number approximately 400. Since 1996 and up to the time of writing this article, Woodlands Stud has every year gained the award for Leading Breeders and Leading Racehorse Owners in Australia. In the year 2003, during Jack Ingham’s lifetime, the two brothers saw Woodlands Stud reach the greatest achievement they could have wished for – to be accorded the status of Leading Breeder of Stakes Winners in the World for the year. While much new blood has been purchased to expand the stud & add to the racing stables, many of their horses still trace back to their original mare, Valiant Rose, foaled in 1946, grand-dam of Sweet Embrace and given to the brothers by their uncle.
Between 1985 and the present day, staff employed on Woodlands Stud in the Hunter Valley have increased from 15 to approximately 60. From 3 stallions at that time, the stud now stands 7 here and another 4 at Cootamundra and several amongst those are home bred and reared. The area of the original purchase was approximately 1,700 acres and this, as already mentioned, has now expanded to 6,200 acres. 2003 was the end of a wonderful era with the tragic passing of Jack Ingham. He and his brother Bob have led an extraordinary life and never can two brothers have been closer, nor more of a team. They have been visionaries in both the chicken and the thoroughbred industries, with a huge capacity for work and life and the energy and enthusiasm to pursue both with a passion. The stud continues as before, under the care of “Mr. Bob” and Woodlands will continue pursuing its quest to raise the bar with every season that passes.
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