Both Colts are bred, reared and prepared by Celestial Standardbred
A former School Principal and Director of Education and now owner of Celestial Standardbreds in Forbes, NSW with his wife Denise, Phil Thurston, knows all about breeding a sale topper.
The ever humble 72 year old father of two and grandfather of six, reckons he and Denise are a good chance of emulating their feat of the last two years.
The Thurston’s first topped the Sale in 2019, their second year of breeding commercially, with a Bettors Delight colt out of Freedom Is NZ and at the past two APG Sales have made it a Sales Topping quinella with foals out of Miss Halfpenny – in 2024, a colt by Bettors Delight and in 2025, a colt by Huntsville.
On Sunday, March 15, 2026, Celestial Standardbreds will sell a quartet of colts and Phil and Denise are excited about all four.
“They are all well grown and sensible with great conformation and pedigrees. They are all hard to fault.” Thurston said.
The first colt is the first foal out of outstanding Art Major mare, Nostra Villa (1.50.1) and by the 2024 leading first season sire, Poster Boy. Nostra Villa won 20 races including the Group 1 2017 Vicbred 2YO Super Series Final and the Group 1 Breeders Crown Final of the same year and banked $479,810 in stakes.
Phil said, “He is an impressive looking colt with all the credentials to be a top race horse.”
Then there is the very athletic colt by Sweet Lou, a sire with such an impressive record. He is the 4th foal out of the 100 percent producing mare, Miss Artistic Tara (by Artistic Fella) and is a half brother to Windy Hill Tara who has so far won 14 of her 49 starts ($263,761) including the Group One 2023 NSW Oaks.
Celestial Standardbreds will also sell the second foal out of the trotting mare, Reign On Me NZ. She was the winner of 8 races and was Group 1 placed.
“Her first foal is already a winner and just last week she qualified for the final of the Nutrien 3 Year Old Fillies Classic with the fastest last half and mile. This colt by King Of The North is an early foal and a big strong boy who does nothing but trot in the paddock”
The fourth yearling the Thurston’s will sell at the Sale is the first foal out the Bettors Delight mare, Our Cowgirls N Lace NZ (1.50.7) and by the outstanding sire, Captaintreacherous. Phil has a big opinion of this mare.
“She was a Group 3 winner and placed second at Group 2 but her 4th in the Queen Elizabeth (Group 1) was amazing. She would have won a lot more races had she not developed a respiratory problem.”
“This colt is bred on an outstanding cross and should attract a lot of attention. I think potentially he is the best colt we have bred. He is an outstanding free legged pacer. You would think he had already been gaited up. Bittersweet is the only other one we have bred to pace like this colt in the paddock. He has a great temperament and an intelligent look. I love him!”
Both Phil and Denise are retired teachers who do all their own work on their 100-acre riverside property near Forbes.
“Denise and I have always done everything ourselves. We don’t employ any help although in the past few years we have been taking our mares to Hilltops Equine in Young to have them bred and foaled down. Jantien, at Hilltops is and outstanding equine vet.”
Phil admits that Denise is the backbone of their success in breeding.
“Had it not been for Denise I probably would never have become involved with horses. She takes after her dad and is a true horse person. She has an uncanny eye for picking quality horse flesh and at selecting mares to breed.”
“We are very proud of the facilities we have here in Forbes. A lot of hard work over several decades has gone into making our place as safe as possible for our mares and foals” Thurston said.
“When we first decided to go into Commercial Breeding about 10 years ago, we wanted to breed a comparatively small band of black type mares each year (6 to 8). It hasn’t been easy to find quality fillies or mares. Having lost 5 top mares over the past 3 years has been devastating and made the task all the more difficult but we have persevered and now believe we have a very special group of outstanding mares from which to breed. We will be breeding 8 this coming season.”
Thurston emphasized that while he and Denise are thrilled with the results they have been getting at the Yearling Sales, they are more pleased and excited with the results on the track of horses they have bred and sold.
“It has always been our goal to produce quality race horses. For buyers, purchasing a great looking yearling at the Sales means nothing unless it performs on the track. We have worked hard to get the results we are now getting. Our 2019 crop has been very special for us. Of the 7 foals bred, 3 have been Group One winners. All seven have raced, 6 have already won races and the other one has been placed.” He added.
The Thurston’s have every right to be proud of the results they have achieved. Included in this 2019 crop, current 3 Year olds, are;
Fate Awaits: Australian 2 Year Old of the Year. 1:50 and three-time Croup 1 winner who has amassed $681,084 from his nine wins to date. His Group One triumphs have been in the 2025 Rising Sun, last year’s NSW Breeders Challenge 2yo Final and the 2024 Protostar and recently looked a bit unlucky when held up and checked in the concluding stages of the Eureka.
Bittersweet: NSW 2 Year Old of the Year. Four wins and two placings from 6 starts including the Group 1 Bathurst Gold Tiara Final.
Mac Bon: 1:51.2 winner of 8 races and 8 placings (Nearly $140,000 in stakes) to date from 24 starts including the 2 Year Old Breeders Crown final (Group 1), the NSWBC Eastern Region (Listed Classic) and second in the Simpson Memorial (Group 3)
The current 2 year olds bred by the Thurston’s and sold at last year’s APG Yearling sale in Sydney are also performing well with 3 out of four winners spearheaded by the Brian Portelli trained, A Buck Ten. Now the winner of 2 races, he has been competitive at the top level, including coming fourth in the Bathurst Gold Grown Final (Group 1)
“We are so proud of our success in breeding. It gives us great pleasure to see our babies go on and race successfully for their new owners. We believe we have developed respect with buyers and buyers are confident they can purchase a yearling from us knowing they have a very good chance of getting a nice race horse.”
“Denise and I are very grateful for the effort of APG. They look after all vendors, big or small, and are continuing to build on what they do each year. We are happy to support them again in 2026.”
Entries for the all of our 2026 Yearling Sales will close on Sunday September 14 so make sure to get your entries in today.
From APG Media
