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 In 1910 John and
Christina Lamont with the first
of their 3 children and all of
their goods and chattels, moved
up to Wagga Wagga from the
Wimmera in Victoria.
They were to take
ownership of a bare block of
almost 3000 acres of land 22 kms north of Wagga
Wagga. This was the northwest
corner of Eunonybareenya
Station, which had been cut off
from the rest of the station by
the Melbourne to Sydney railway
line.
John and Christina called their
first block “Kooringal”,
aboriginal for “home on the
hill”, and proceeded to build a
house, stables, woolshed and
workshop. These buildings still
stand today and are still used
for their initial purposes.
The house was built of solid
brick in federation style with
high ceilings and has had only
relatively minor refurbishments
over the years to make it the
comfortable modern home it is
today.
The sheds were built of cypress
pine cut down from the farm and
clad in corrugated iron. The
stables were built to house the
workhorses – teams of
Clydesdales to pull the ploughs, seeders, reapers, and binders.
Today they house the
thoroughbred stallions that form
the backbone of Kooringal Stud.
In 1917, just 7 years after
coming to Kooringal, John Lamont
died in a horse accident on the
farm. This left his widow
Christina with three young
children to run the farm, which
she did for the next 30 years.
In 1937 the eldest son Murdoch
married and part of Kooringal
was split off for him to call
his own. He named it “Kooringal
West”.
The Second World War next
intervened and the younger son
Colin joined up and was away
until 1945. He returned with a
young bride he met while
stationed in Perth during the
war.
Horses and horse racing had
always been in the Lamont blood
and so it is not surprising that
in 1953 Colin purchased three
broodmares that were to form the
basis for Kooringal Stud.
In 1956 he brought his first
stallion Kerry Piper (GB). Kerry
Piper had already been at stud
for some years and had been
relatively successful. In 1960
Kerry Piper was joined by Epsom
Cup winner Timor and Kooringal
Stud was transformed from a
hobby breeder to a commercial
enterprise forming an integral
part of the farming business
that it is today. Other notable
stallions to stand at Kooringal
Stud include Major General,
Bless Me, and the highly
successful Biscay stallion King
Hadrian, Kooringal now stands
stallions such as Bureaucracy
and Alert, sires that have won
at Group 1 Level.
Kooringal Stud is owned and
managed by Stuart and Penny
Lamont and their children,
Angus, James, Richard and
Georgie. the fourth generation
of Lamont's are now involved in
Kooringal which is having a very
positive impact. |
