About Thoroughbred Breeders Queensland

Basil has been on the TBQA since 1969, only five years after joining his parents in the operation of their stud, Raheen, which they established at Warwick in 1957. He was President of the TBQA 1980-1991 and served on the board of the Queensland Principal Club (QPC) for three years. Was a delegate to the Australian Bloodhorse Breeders for 11 years.

He says he enjoys racing and breeding immensely but the highlight of his career is having the Oaks winner in 1959, ‘Golden Stockade’. 2007 also proved a memorable one for the Stud, selling a Commands colt for an impressive $480,000, while ‘Hard to Catch’ ran second in the Stradbroke.

Basil and his wife Diane have 4 daughters, 2 sons and 20 grandchildren.

Stan was originally a dairy farmer, before gradually converting Craiglea to a spelling complex from 1974. He started with one stallion and a few mares of his own, and the stud’s client base grew from there. They now have 6 stallions and 150 mares.

He says everyday is a highlight to him, but he particularly loves winning races because he breeds to race, not to sell, with top gallopers ‘Falvelon’ and ‘Calaway Girl’ reared at Craiglea.

Stan has been on the TBQA committee since the year 2000.

He has been married for 28 years and has 2 sons and a daughter.

Stacey Silver graduated from Bond University with a Communications Degree majoring in Journalism and Public Relations.

She started her media career at Radio 97, Tweed Heads, before being employed as the News Editor at 4RO Rockhampton. After 18 months, Stacey was transferred to the "hub" on the Gold Coast to write and read National News for the RG Capital Network, as well as local news for both Rockhampton and Toowoomba markets.

In 2000 Stacey joined WIN Television Toowoomba as the Senior Reporter, and within 18 months was promoted to News Editor. She held that position until her second child was born in 2008.

During her career Stacey has won nine media awards for various stories.

Stacey has owned horses all her life, but her interest moved to the Thoroughbred sector when she met her husband David. They breed and race on a small scale as a hobby.

They have three sons Luke, Aiden and Eli and a daughter, Phoenix.

Jeffrey’s always been involved with Lyndhurst Stud, which was founded by his grandparents in 1955. After completing school Jeffrey went to Malaysia as an exchange student as a result we have to this day close client relationships in this region. He then completed a Horse and Farm Management course at the Irish National Stud County Kildare, Ireland in 1988 and also gained weanling and yearling sale preparation experience at Mt Coote Stud County Limerick and Barronstown Stud County Wicklow taking him to sale venues such as Tattersalls and Goffs.

Jeff was elected to the TBQA in 2008, taking the place of his father, Merrell who stood on the committee for over 30 years. Jeffrey says his future in breeding and racing lies solidly in the industry and he feels it is now time to contribute to the betterment of breeding, marketing and sales, following in the footsteps of his forefathers.

He is married with 3 young children.

Scott McAlpine is a third generation breeder, who currently owns and operates Eureka Stud, established by his grandfather Andy, in 1934.

A hands-on horseman, Scott has managed all stud activities including: breeding and foaling of mares, veterinary techniques, raising foals, weanling and yearling sales preparation, stallion management, and breaking in and pre-training of racehorses and attention to all equine health & nutrition.

In efforts to bring international blood to QLD, Scott, in conjunction with Colin, has negotiated deals and stood numerous shuttle stallions in partnership with The English National Stud and Lavington Stud, UK.

Currently Scott is a Committeeman of the Tattersalls Club in Brisbane

His aspiration for the industry includes: seeing the State competitive on a national scale in terms of prizemoney and breeding bonuses, attempts to increase the quality of QLD stallions in a bid to satisfy broodmare owners, see and uplift the quality of Queensland yearling drafts at QLD sales and support country racing across the State with shared bonus prize money.

Scott is married to Grania and they have three sons who are significantly involved in the Eureka Stud operation. The prospect of a fourth generation McAlpine continuing the breeding business validates Scott's commitment to the future of the Queensland Thoroughbred Breeding industry.

Steve has been a part of, and witnessed, the workings of the thoroughbred breeding industry from every level for many years. Originally hailing from a rural background in the central part of NSW, he began as a small time breeder almost 30 years ago on his own block of land and with just the one broodmare. In the year 2000, Steve joined the team at Queensland’s largest thoroughbred farm at the time, Glenlogan Park, and quickly thereafter was appointed as their General Manager.

Steve is passionate about ensuring that Queensland bred horses continue to have a national impact on the racing scene and that breeders in this state are presented with realistic opportunities to earn good commercial returns. He understands the many challenging aspects that confront the industry and is determined to try and guarantee the long-term viability of breeding in the Sunshine State. Steve sees the structure of the QTIS system as being instrumental in achieving this goal in addition to ensuring that breeders are well-educated in achieving the level of professionalism required to compete on the national stage. 

In conjunction with continuing to manage Glenlogan Park, Steve also has his own Bloodstock business and works closely with most stud farms both in Qld and in the Hunter Valley.   

Michael Grieve currently owns and operates Grandview Stud a thoroughbred property at Peak Crossing near Ipswich. A former Physical Education and Mathematics teacher Michael has always had an interest in horses.

Michael started with one broodmare back around 1998. After family and friends bought a yearling that won at its second start and the foal from that first mare was also a winner he was well and truly hooked.

While teaching full time horse numbers continued to grow. The decision was made to purchase the property in Peak Crossing and pursue his passion full time some 7 years ago.

Michael also gives of his time freely on a number of volunteer organisations. Not long after he started racing horses he joined the committee of the Queensland Racehorse Owners Association. He spent many years on that committee before resigning.

He is also a Board member of the RNA as well as being a member of the Horse and Arena, Finance, Audit and Charities committees of the RNA. Michael is also Ringmaster and Committee member of the Ipswich Show Society.

Michael is passionate about the future of the Thoroughbred Industry. There is no greater thrill or sense of satisfaction than breeding quality thoroughbreds. Now is a crucial time for the Industry and Michael is keen and willing to assist in any capacity.

Richard has a long association with the racing and breeding industry, racing his first horse in 1966, training his own city winners in 1982 and having the odd broodmare and racehorse for most of his life. He sold his first yearling at the inaugural Magic Millions sale.

Coming from a rural background which included large scale AI, with the first Charolais semen in Australia, and branching in to the Stock and Station agency business, Richard received background experience which has stood him in good stead in the city business world.

Richard is regarded as one of the forefathers of commercial property syndication in Queensland and with 2 others started a Company in 1998 now known as the Cromwell Group in Brisbane.

The Cromwell Group is now the 100 largest ASX Company in Australia with over 300 employees and $10 billion of property funds under management in Australia and Europe. Richard is still actively on the Cromwell Board. The motto of “if you look after your clients, they will inevitably look after you” has proved a winning mantra for Cromwell.

Yarramalong Park was originally purchased as a hobby breeding farm for Richard and Joan’s retiring racehorses but on Richard’s retirement from the Cromwell Executive in 2010, the decision to make Yarramalong a full blown commercial venture was taken.

The property is run as a private farm and is now home to some 43 broodmares and their offspring. The twists and turns of the industry has changed the business model from sending 27 mares to the Hunter Valley in 2014 to acquiring the first stallion Better Than Ready, who is now fully syndicated and standing in conjunction with the Kruger family at Lyndhurst Stud at Warwick.

Richard and family now look forward to the day the first Better Than Ready progeny hit the racetracks with great anticipation.

Michael is a Public Accountant (FCPA) of 35 years experience holding degrees in Accounting and Economics. He has lived in Dalby since 1981 and in 1992 purchased a small farm which sparked the commencement of a boutique breeding and racing business.

Michael’s initial interest in thoroughbred breeding resulted after, at age 14, reading ‘The Brigadier’, the story of Brigadier Gerard and his breeder John Hislop.

He has a very wide experience in the thoroughbred industry from bookmakers clerk to owner, breeder, and 26 years in club administration. Also, he was appointed Deputy Chair of the Racing Queensland Thoroughbred Board in May 2013. He joined the TBQA committee in 2016.

With a passion for the thoroughbred horse, Michael believes in the importance of the breeding and racing industry to the economies of Queensland and Australia, wishing to continue the advancement of the industry that has occurred recently.

He is married with 3 children and 7 grandchildren.

Paul Knight has a career within the thoroughbred industry that extends over 30 years, with the majority of it at Magic Millions in varying positions including Bloodstock Manager and Operations Manager. His time with Magic Millions has provided Paul with significant experience contributing to a solid foundation within the industry and deeper connection to the people within it.

In 2016 Paul was offered the opportunity to join Aquis Farm as their Business Development Manager. Paul was an integral part of Aquis Farm’s development and growth in two short years, from standing four (4) stallions in their first season of 2016, to seven (7) stallions in 2017, to standing (8) stallions in 2018 at their Queensland Stud. Paul was active in implementing Aquis Farm’s Breeder Bonus Schemes which are aimed directly towards all Breeders, as well Aquis Farm supporting Breeders in buying stock by their stallions in the sales arenas.

It is a different world being in the breeding industry to working in the Sales arena, and it has given Paul a superior understanding of what Breeders go through to get their product to the market.

Paul shares the same sentiment as all those on the Committee and wants to make a difference. Paul’s goal is to always support and lift up our breeding industry and make it stronger; a stronger breeding industry means more vibrant racing encouraging more investment into breeding. It is a self-perpetuating cycle that benefits everyone involved.

His aim would be to in either 5, 10, or 15 years, leave the Queensland breeding industry in a position of strength, where our children and our children's children can look forward to a prosperous future because of the decisions and policies we make today.

Queenslanders, pound for pound, breed the best horses in Australia and we have to fight, just like we have in other arenas, to get what rightfully belongs to us.

Paul is honoured to represent you.