Boutique Waikato thoroughbred nursery Kaha Nui Farm will make their sales debut at Karaka next week and principals Nicky and Nick White can’t wait to showcase their five-strong draft.
The former Auckland-based couple moved to their Mystery Creek property nearly four years ago to be closer to Hamilton, where Nick works as the Chiefs’ scrum coach, and return to their love of horses.
White played Super Rugby for the Crusaders, Highlanders, Blues and New Zealand A before beginning his coaching career, where he has held roles with the Blues, Auckland, and Chiefs.
Nicky White continues to commute north for work but is loving life in the Waikato where the entire family has got in behind their new thoroughbred venture.
“Nick and I were both from Northland originally, but we ended up based in Coatesville for a number of years bringing up our family, and we decided we needed a bit of a change,” Nicky White said.
“Nick played Super Rugby and then he got into the coaching side of it. He has been with the Chiefs now for about four years. It was a lot of commuting for him and I said ‘let’s have a change of lifestyle and have our base down there and I’ll do the commuting’.
“I work in real estate, selling high-end lifestyle properties in the Rodney district.
“We landed on this property at Mystery Creek. We are quite lucky with what we have been able to create there.
“It grows very good grass, is free-draining, and is the perfect set-up for horses. I have fallen back into the horses a little bit. My husband is very interested, and our kids are as well.
“Toby, our oldest son, is particularly interested in it and he and his Dad, as well as his girlfriend Flo, have done a great job in bringing this draft through.
“Charlie (daughter) is the one that has always ridden. She works for Windsor Park. It is a real family affair.”
The passion for horses originated from White’s involvement with riding in her youth and she was drawn to thoroughbreds through her father.
“It is in the blood. I grew up riding and Dad got into racing, and I think once you get a bit of a taste of it, it is a little bit addictive,” she said.
“Dad used to race horses and he had about 75 wins. When I gave up riding he got into racing because he just loved his horses.”
While they are relatively new to the breeding game, White said there has been no shortage of sage advice and support from industry stalwarts.
“We have had some amazing advice from people who have encouraged us to do it ourselves from the outset and support us along the way,” White said.
“It is the people I have enjoyed as much as the horses.”
White has also taken immense enjoyment in not only establishing the farm, but also the Kaha Nui Farm brand.
“While the family is interested, I wanted to create our brand Kaha Nui, which means ‘great strength’,” White said.
“It is a nod to the nutritional excellence and piece of land that we have been lucky enough to secure and to the people past and present in our lives.”
She is excited to offer the farm’s first draft at New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sales, where they have two fillies in Book 1, and two colts and a filly in Book 2.
While at the infancy of their breeding endeavours, the Whites elected to head to the weanling sales last year where they secured three yearling sale prospects.
As well as offering the trio of yearlings at the sale, the farm is also preparing two U S Navy Flag’s for a client.
White is particularly looking forward to offering their two Book 1 fillies – lot 394, the Almanzor filly out of More Than Ready mare On The Move, and lot 517, the Capitalist filly out of Shuwaamekh, a Snitzel daughter of Group One winner Shamekha.
“The Almanzor we were lucky enough to secure from the Valachi Downs weanling sale. She is a beautiful type,” White said.
“The Capitalist is a beautiful filly and has developed beautifully. She is a real little speedster and to me is a Karaka Million type.
“We are also offering a Tivaci colt in Book 2 (lot 770) and we are preparing two U S Navy Flags (lots 693 and 792) for a client.”
White said their business model will continue to focus on pinhooking, however, they will bolster their draft with a few homebred yearlings in the future.
“The breeding really stems from Dad and we have got his mare, The Strutter, who had nine wins,” White said.
“We have put her to Tivaci this year and she has got a lovely Vanbrugh colt on the ground, which we are hoping to take to the sales next year.”
The farm also has a number of racing prospects they are looking forward to stepping out over the next year.
“We have got a Turn Me Loose that is at the breakers and she will come back home for a spell shortly and we have got a two-year-old by Embellish that we will race as a three-year-old,” White said.
“The Embellish is one we have bred from Dad’s mare. We are really enjoying it.”