The Tait Family

Inducted in 2014

Some of the finest horses in the post-war period have been bred by the Tait family at their magnificent agricultural property near Jugiong in southern New South Wales. They have operated with a relatively small band of broodmares, and no stallions, being content to send mares to expertly selected sires.

The Tait family owned racehorses at least as far back as the 1920s, but it has been in the past 60 years that they have really made their mark. The family has given the thoroughbred world horses of the calibre of Tie The Knot, Spinning Hill, Wild Iris, Cabochon, Baguette, Stirrup Cup, Whisked, Heirloom, In Love, Cream Puff, Indian Chief, and many others.

Baguette won the Golden Slipper Stakes, AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes and Champagne Stakes in 1970 and as a three-year-old won the Newmarket Handicap.

In more recent times, Tie the Know won two Sydney Cups and 11 other Group 1 races; Wild Iris took home the 2004 AJC Oaks; and Spinning Hill was a brilliant sprinter against all comers in Sydney and Melbourne.

At the beginning of this century the Taits saw success with the likes of Tie the Knot.

Image source: Australian Racing Museum Collection.