TE AWAMUTU NEWS | 1
THURSDAY DECEMBER 5, 2024
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'It’s truly magnificent' They say Ōhaupō’s new stables match anything in Kentucky. Mary Anne Gill checks out Breckon Farm. A Waikato horse breeding legend has described Breckon Farm’s new state of the art complex in Ōhaupō as “world leading” saying no stone had been left unturned at the multimillion dollar development. Sir Peter Vela said the vote of confidence in the industry by owners Ken and Karen Breckon – who have been breeding harness racing horses near Te Awamutu since 2007 – ensured the future for years and years. “I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere in the world, it’s truly magnificent. It’s taken technology, logic, horse breeding to the next level. “Just look at the technology. The windows that are automatically governed by temperature. That’s just so important when you’re dealing with animals,” Vela told The News after the official opening last week. The stables have two wings housing 48 horses – one for colts and the other for fillies. Each stable has wash bays, feed and tack rooms and feeding facilities which the newly installed horses clearly loved. The complex also includes a function-entertainment centre with views of Pirongia Forest Park to the west. Guests from around New Zealand and Australia made the opening one of the most high-profile events in the racing calendar but it was Ken Breckon’s down-to-earth speech which stole the show.
Ken and Karen Breckon with star mare Millwood Nike.
He talked of starting a small plumbing distribution business while his late brother Peter worked in the alcohol industry. When they wanted to expand the plumbing business, they needed funding so called on family members to help. When told their mother might lose her house, the brothers went to the South Island and came back after two months
Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
having turned over $700,000 in business. Suffering from stress, the brothers thought buying a horse might help so they went to the Karaka sales in 1995 and bought Megaera which went on to become a Group One winner and filly of the year. “They called us the Blues Brothers,” Ken told guests at the
opening. “She was lot 68 and she was going in the ring as we arrived. So, we went straight up, put our hands up, we’d never been to an auction in our lives, and we bought that horse for $35,000.” But the brothers had not registered, and the auction had to be stopped halfway through to allow their details to be taken.
Once bought they had no idea what to do with Megaera as they had no horse float or farm to take her to until they saw trainer Roy Purdon who organised for his sons Mark and Barry to make arrangements for her. The rest is history. Peter Breckon died of a heart attack in 2003 after the brothers had established themselves as successful harness owners and breeders. In 2007 Ken and Karen bought Sandy Yarndley’s 75ha standardbred farm in Ōhaupō and set about becoming one of the country’s premier standardbred breeders. “The moment I came into this beautiful area, I fell in love with it,” said Ken. “I say to people ‘if you have got a bucket and you wanna get rid of your money, this one here’s a hole in the bucket’.” It was clear the operation needed to expand though as the number of yearlings grew so, in 2019, they announced plans to build the new facility after visiting several stud farms around New Zealand, including Cambridge Stud which provided the “clincher”. Five years later despite the setbacks Covid presented, the stables were complete. “It’s as good as anything around people are telling me, as good as anything in Kentucky,” said Ken. Before Harness Racing New Zealand chief executive Brad Steele
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