History of Durham Lodge

David and Rita Smith established Durham Lodge Stud on a 10 Ha property in Pickering Brook in 1989. With an expanding number of broodmares the operation, after a short spell at Duncraig Stud in Middle Swan, moved to Muchea following the purchase of 'Yaminga Stud' in 1996. The property which had previously been dedicated to training racehorses by its owner the late Ted Hickling had produced many outstanding gallopers trained on the 1500 metre sand track and has now been transformed into a complete thoroughbred stud with both breeding and racing facilities.

Well known Perth trainer Alan Matthews has the distinction of training four Perth Cup winners from Yaminga'. The purchase and lease of additional land on the West side of the highway has increased the size of the property from its initial 105Ha to 235 Ha.

Improvements to the property include:

• Thirty horse stable complex
• Veterinary shed
• Serving barn
• Covered round yard
• Three stallion boxes with yards
• Parading Arena
• Two horse walking machines
• 2KM of bitumised driveways and roads with over 15KM of internal sighter wire fencing.