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THE £6.95 JULY 2021 ISSUE 203

Waiting in the wings

Starman ready to blow our minds in the July Cup

PLUS

Derby pedigrees

Is the pool too narrow?

Gavin Cromwell

Trainer targets Breeders’ Cup

Breeze-up bonanza

Graduates excel at Royal Ascot

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£6.95 JULY 2021 ISSUE 203

Waiting in the wings

Starman ready to blow our minds in the July Cup

PLUS

Derby pedigrees

Is the pool too narrow?

Gavin Cromwell

Trainer targets Breeders’ Cup

Breeze-up bonanza

Graduates excel at Royal Ascot

www.theownerbreeder.com

Cover: Starman, trained by Ed Walker for owner-breeder David Ward, captures the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes at York in May under Oisin Murphy Photo: Martin Lynch

Edward Rosenthal Editor

Ward’s big dreams fuelled by homebred rocket Starman T o say that racehorse owners have endured a challenging time over the past 15 months is putting it mildly. Covid’s emergence in 2020 saw all sports in Britain hit hard and for racing that meant a ten-week shutdown, a period in which owners were still paying out for the upkeep and training of their horses while literally not getting a run for their money while racecourses remained shut. When racing did return prize-money was greatly reduced and continued to decline as tracks struggled to balance the books without paying customers coming through the gates, cutting their executive contributions accordingly. Headline races were run for a fraction of their former values, with winners returning to the sound of silence and empty enclosures, their proud owners watching on TV at home like everyone else following the severe restrictions on movement and public access. Yet hope springs eternal and for owners like David Ward, the prospect of his promising young thoroughbreds taking centre stage at Royal Ascot kept the passion burning brightly. At the start of Flat racing’s biggest five days last month, he had two live contenders for Group 1 races but come the end of the week neither had set foot on the hallowed turf and his top hat remained in its box. We all know that the going can alter overnight but rarely, if ever, has the change been so dramatic as it was as this year’s Royal Ascot. The good to firm ground that prevailed up to Thursday turned to heavy by Friday, ruling out Primo Bacio and homebred Starman, Ward’s exciting duo, from their prospective engagements in the Coronation Stakes and Diamond Jubilee Stakes respectively. Ward could only watch on as Oxted, brushed aside by Starman in the Duke of York Stakes in May, enjoyed Group 1 glory in the King’s Stand Stakes while Snow Lantern, a well-beaten third behind Primo Bacio in Listed company at York on her previous start, chased home Alcohol Free in the Coronation Stakes. What might have been and all that…

Moving on, both horses will have the opportunity to get back on track granted suitable ground conditions, with July Cup candidate Starman a real contender for champion sprinter honours. Few would surely begrudge Ward the Group 1 victory he craves for a horse that has plenty of suitors ahead of a likely career in the breeding shed. At present, the four-year-old son of Dutch Art is not for sale. “We’re holding fast, certainly for this season,” Ward tells Julian Muscat (The Big Interview, pages 42-45). “I may never have another like him, which is why I want to be sure we are doing the steering, so to speak. Money cannot buy the thrill he has already given us. Not in a heartbeat.” Of course, the testing underfoot conditions

“Rarely has a going change been so dramatic as it was at Royal Ascot” at this year’s royal meeting did not inconvenience every horse; indeed, for Chris Wright’s filly Wonderful Tonight, they were almost essential, the daughter of Le Havre having shown her best form on heavy going. The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is the end-ofseason target for Wonderful Tonight, who made short work of the opposition in the Hardwicke Stakes – her first race against male opposition – on her seasonal reappearance, despite trainer David Menuisier openly stating that she was far from fully fit for her comeback. If the Longchamp going turns out to be as soft in early October as it was in 2020, it would take a brave man to bet against Wonderful Tonight in the Paris showpiece.

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Contents

July 2021

News & Views ROA Leader Levy reform required

TBA Leader Technology takes us forward

News Jockey Club's prize-money boost

Changes News in a nutshell

Howard Wright Racing's great opportunity

Features continued 5 7 9

Action from Epsom and Royal Ascot

Derby pedigrees Galileo's influence on the Blue Riband

The Big Interview With owner and breeder David Ward

Breeze-up season review Graduates strike at the royal meeting

Equine nutrition Feeding in focus

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Homebreds to the fore at Royal Ascot

Records tumble at Arqana

Caulfield Files 68

The Finish Line With trainer Gavin Cromwell

Sales Circuit

Epsom Classics in the spotlight

Features The Big Picture

Breeders' Digest

Forum Great British Bonus

16 36

Latest news and winners

ROA Forum Complimentary raceday admission news

TBA Forum

Breeding industry report published

Highclere and Floors Studs for Palace Pier

Breeder of the Month 83

Vet Forum 51

West Nile Virus update

Did you know? Our monthly average readership is

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ROA Leader

Charlie Parker President

Governance and levy reform in focus L

ast month I mentioned that the clouds were rolling in on a June ‘freedom day’ and it was indeed extended to midJuly. Despite the rain and despite Covid and its various restrictions, Royal Ascot went ahead. What a week it was with some glorious races in challenging conditions. Oisin Murphy was the eventual star but we saw so many of the next generation of riders and horses who’ll be pushing for greatness over the years to come. The team at Ascot racecourse deserves huge thanks for navigating such a tricky week to bring owners, breeders and fans the joys of Royal Ascot once again. I for one can’t wait for next year. Racing is facing more than just rain over the next few months with a number of items on the agenda to help both the sport and owners navigate the impact of Covid and support our recovery. The subject of levy reform has been much discussed and it is something that is essential for the whole sport, especially owners. A system that does not rely upon favourites losing is much needed and, with the distribution channels for levy funds already established and controlled to some extent by horsemen, this must be our main target. Interestingly, an anomaly exists whereby no levy is generated for UK racing from bets placed on overseas racing in Britain. With time ticking and work ongoing with wider reform it feels that a quick win on this could be the short-term gain that the sport needs, especially when it could deliver an extra £20 million for racing, and crucially, into the right pot. I expect the to-ing and fro-ing will continue on this and other areas of the levy as the sport looks at its future and how to grow its revenues alongside bookmakers. There has also been recent focus, amongst the bodies that administer and participate in the sport, on how to improve corporate governance standards. It is an issue that has become a real focus across the world of sport. The sporting landscape is evolving and there are real pressures, from Sport England and others, for us to move with the times: better transparency, increased independence, and more diversity throughout the sport’s structure. This is not just about being modern and compliant with the law and some of the main industry funders – it is about ensuring that racing has the right skill sets and structures in place to maximise our opportunities. More than that, it is about how improvements in governance can help racing reputationally and deliver successfully for all its participants. With better corporate governance, diversity of opinion and skills and the right checks and balances, we can ensure that our sport is making the right decisions for its future.

As I have previously noted in this column, governance is an issue across wider society, as well as our sport, with many businesses and organisations assessing their governance structures. The ROA’s own practices and structures have been the focus of a significant internal project that has recently concluded. We have approved recommendations put forward to make changes to our Articles of Association and it is important that we continue improving our governance structures to better represent our members’ interests across all areas of our work. We have also further strengthened our board with the election and co-option of new directors, who, following our AGM, will be bringing a diverse set of skills that will help us push the ROA and its members’ agenda with an informed and professional board.

“Racing needs the right skill sets and structures in place to maximise our opportunities” There are further plans to improve member engagement with the creation of a new Members Representative Group, allowing selected members to engage with, advise and help the board and the executive. We expect to give more detail on this and other innovations in due course. As things return to normal, slower than expected, our attention is focused on how this sport recovers and grows back beyond its pre-pandemic size. Part of that is how its structures and foundations are prepared for the future and part is how it treats its participants. We will be working hard to improve racing, its structures and its delivery for owners, breeders and participants alike, as the lifeblood of our industry.

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Speak to your vet about using GastroGard® to treat and prevent EGUS. References: 1. Sykes BW, et al. ECEIM Consensus Statement – EGUS in Adult Horses. J Vet Intern Med 2015; 29: 1288-1299. GastroGard® 370 mg/g oral paste contains omeprazole. UK: POM-V IE: POM. Advice should be sought from the prescriber. Further information available in the SPC or from Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health UK Ltd., RG12 8YS, UK. Tel: 01344 746957. Email:vetenquiries@boehringeringelheim.com. GastroGard® is a registered the Boehringer Ingelheim Group. ©2020 Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health UK Ltd. All rights reserved. Date of preparation: Oct 2020. EQU-0200-2020. Use Medicines Responsibly.

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26/10/2020 20:35

TBA Leader

Julian Richmond-Watson Chairman

Embrace of technology aids TBA and industry A

s Britain hopefully emerges from the Covid pandemic back to something approaching normality, everyone must take stock of the best that has been learnt in lockdown and not waste the advantages that have become apparent, and commonplace, about modern communication. The breeding and racing industries have been affected as much as any other sporting and leisure activities, although racing has thankfully managed to carry on for most of the last 16 months, even if active participation has been restricted. Increased emphasis on methods of communication have helped many people through the coronavirus crisis, allowing greater use of modern technology to bring the benefits of travelling less and having more productive time. During the coronavirus pandemic the TBA has communicated online almost daily with breeders. A glance at the association’s website will indicate how busy this element has been, with 46 news releases clocked up from the beginning of the year to the third week of June. Content has ranged from general topics affecting all professionals involved with breeding and racing, including updates on Covid-19 protocols, to information specifically tailored to TBA members, such as the announcement of the short-list of nominees for this year’s Flat Breeders’ Awards and the provision of discounted membership of The Friends of the National Horseracing Museum. Interaction will really come into its own when the TBA’s 2021 AGM becomes a virtual online event on Wednesday, July 14. Providing up-to-the minute information is now so important that the TBA board believes investing in these services and building on the launch in early May of TB-Ed, the association’s online learning platform, is the way forward. TB-Ed is a particularly important example of what lies ahead, for it enables us to provide education, best practice guidance and important updates and information on a timely scale. It has already proved extremely popular, offering the first two courses – on pedigree essentials and broodmare nutrition – with video resources and webinars that are free to members. Their online availability offers convenience to studs of all sizes, whose staff do not have to travel to attend residential courses. Everyone has become used to receiving information online and it is now routine for breeders to record coverings and registration of foals directly through the General Stud Book (GSB) database at Weatherbys. The smart card recently sent out for registration of all 2021 foals is just the start of a process of moving the passport online, with identification details, location history, vaccinations and

veterinary information recorded for every thoroughbred. It will be some time before paper passports are replaced but having a complete set of information about each horse available digitally, without the worry of having to make sure the physical passport is with the horse and is not lost or been eaten by the dog, will help everyone. Losing it will not now be so much of a concern! Thanks to the enterprise of the auction houses, online sales and bidding for horses has become accepted, and the ability for anyone around the world to see excellent videos and to participate can only strengthen those sales which have adopted the new medium. Zoom has taken on a fresh meaning and along with other meeting facilitators it has allowed the TBA, like so many other

“Webinars communicate important information to breeders without them having to leave home” organisations, to function more efficiently without asking participants to drive hundreds of miles to meetings. Similarly, we regularly run webinars that enable us to communicate important information to breeders across the whole of Britain, without them having to leave home. The information is also posted on the TBA website and YouTube channel, ensuring that it is available for those who missed the real-time transmission. As we move forward, let’s hope we can make the technology work for us and improve all the recording and communication methods we need to operate an efficient stud in the 21st century.

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News

Stories from the racing world

GEORGE SELWYN

Jockey Club injects extra £3m into prize-money for 2021

Newmarket’s July course is one of the tracks that will benefit from the Jockey Club’s additional contribution to purses

rize-money at the Jockey Club’s racecourses will rise by more than £3 million for the remainder of 2021, meaning its fixtures will offer purses within 9% of pre-pandemic levels. Updated plans for 2021, albeit before the news of the lockdown extension by four weeks from June 21, which affects the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown and July meeting at Newmarket, sees total prize-money due to exceed £42m for the year, spread across the Jockey Club’s 15 racecourses. This total is before additional funding from the industry’s Appearance Money Scheme, and contrasts with the distribution of £30.5 million in prizemoney for the Covid-19-blighted 2020 campaign. Efforts to grow commercially – which were stopped in their tracks by the pandemic – led to the Jockey Club being able to increase its contribution to prize-money by 103% over the decade prior to Covid-19 (£13m in 2010 to £26.4m in 2019). This saw average prize-money per fixture at JCR tracks increase from £105,883 in 2010 to £152,752 in 2019.

Across the sport, total prize-money grew from £99m in 2010 to £154.5m in 2019. In the same period total fixture numbers grew by 3.81%. Nevin Truesdale, Chief Executive of the Jockey Club, said: “One of our imperatives since the start of the

“The financial impact of coronavirus has been very significant” pandemic has been to keep prizemoney values under constant review. The financial impact of coronavirus has been very significant indeed and it will take some time yet to recover. However, with some positive indicators around funding and with spectators starting to

return, albeit in heavily restricted numbers at this point, we wanted to move quickly to announce this prizemoney increase. “The biggest issue aside from losing so much of our revenue has been the constant uncertainty. If you could guarantee after the second lockdown that things would return permanently to normal, we would have been able to plan investments accordingly, but here we are well over a year into the pandemic and we are only just starting to welcome some racegoers back. Therefore, we continue to have to play the situation as it comes and ensure we would remain solvent if another lockdown occurred.” He added: “I’d like to thank participants for the huge amount of patience they’ve shown and reassure them that the Jockey Club always treats prize-money as an absolute priority, as I hope our track record and this announcement leaves no doubt about. We aim to get our prize-money contributions fully back to prepandemic levels as soon as we realistically can.”

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News

GEORGE SELWYN

Chacun Pour Soi leads Irish domination in jumps rankings

Chacun Pour Soi (right) was the top-rated jumps horse despite defeat at Cheltenham

Irish-trained chasers and hurdlers dominated the top spots in the 2020/21 Anglo-Irish Jumps Classification, with Chacun Pour Soi and Honeysuckle leading their packs after spectacular seasons. The Irish domination of the Cheltenham Festival, and the Grand National through having the first five home, was one of the big talking points last season, though Chacun Pour Soi himself was not actually part of the Cheltenham greenwash, suffering his only defeat of the campaign at Prestbury Park when third in the Champion Chase. Chacun Pour Soi started odds-on at Cheltenham but had to give best to Put The Kettle On, with Britain’s Nube Negra splitting them. However, Chacun Pour Soi roared back to his best at Punchestown, where he beat the

Ryanair winner Allaho by five and a half lengths. That earned him a rating of 176, just enough to top the chase division from Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo on 175. Allaho is in third on 174, with Savills Chase winner and Gold Cup runner-up A Plus Tard joint-fourth with the highest British-trained chaser, the Punchestown Gold Cup winner Clan Des Obeaux, on 172. Andrew Shaw, Senior IHRB National Hunt Handicapper, said: “There was a clean sweep for Irish-trained horses in all three steeplechase categories. Allaho put in a spectacular display of jumping when powering his way to victory in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham. Minella Indo produced the best staying performance of the season in the Gold Cup after a couple of disappointing efforts on home soil, and

Chacun Pour Soi’s electrifying display in the Champion Chase at Punchestown sees him top the overall chase division.” Dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo ended the campaign on 170, while the next two in the chasing list, and promising much for this season, were Energumene and Shishkin on 169. Martin Greenwood, BHA Steeplechase Team Leader, said: “There are plenty of potential superstars in the novice ranks, topped by Energumene and Shishkin in the two-mile division, the pair both rated 169 and both unbeaten, the only disappointment being that they did not get the chance to race against each other.” Willie Mullins trains Chacun Pour Soi, while Henry de Bromhead had the privilege of preparing Honeysuckle, whose brilliant season was highlighted by a Champion Hurdle success under Rachael Blackmore. Honeysuckle has won all 12 of her races over hurdles and topped the classification on 165. Sharjah, who she beat into second at both Cheltenham and in the Champion Hurdle at Punchestown, was co-second on 164 with the staying hurdle champions from Cheltenham and Punchestown, Flooring Porter and Klassical Dream. Anglo-Irish Classifications Leading chasers: 176 Chacun Pour Soi, 175 Minella Indo, 174 Allaho, 172 A Plus Tard, Clan Des Obeaux, 170 Al Boum Photo, 169 Energumene, Shishkin, 168 Cyrname, Greaneteen, Native River, Politologue, Presenting Percy Leading hurdlers: 165 Honeysuckle, 164 Flooring Porter, Klassical Dream, Sharjah, 163 Aramon, Paisley Park, 162 Thyme Hill, 161 Silver Streak, 160 Appreciate It, Sire Du Berlais

New owner at Newsells Park Stud Newsells Park Stud, one of Britain’s leading bloodstock concerns, has a new owner after technology entrepreneur and businessman Graham Smith-Bernal purchased the Hertfordshire-based operation from the Jacobs family. Home to the stallions Nathaniel, sire of outstanding mare Enable, and new recruit Without Parole, Newsells Park Stud, set in 1,200 acres of pristine countryside, is one of

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Europe’s leading yearling vendors and has produced a host of top-class runners including Waldgeist, winner of the 2019 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and Classic scorers Legatissimo and Masked Marvel. Smith-Bernal, 63, is a leading figure in legal technology, revolutionising the operation of law courts, tribunals and arbitrations around the world through the introduction by his company, Opus 2

International, of paperless trials a decade ago. During that time he has become an enthusiastic and passionate racehorse owner and breeder and has been a client of Newsells Park for the last six years. He said: “Newsells Park Stud dates back almost a century and is part of the fabric of British and international horseracing. As an existing client, I have had the pleasure of witnessing at first hand the meticulous

Pioneering veterinary scientist Twink Allen dies aged 80 Professor William Richard Allen, universally known as ‘Twink’, died on June 6 at the age of 80 after a short illness while in hospital in Dubai, writes James Crowhurst MRCVS. A New Zealander, he qualified as a vet in Sydney in 1965 and, after a year in farm practice in New Zealand, a severe car accident resulted in a year in hospital and retirement from farm work. He travelled to England and enrolled for a PhD under Dr Roger Short at Cambridge University. His thesis on placentation and early pregnancy in the mare demonstrated the origin and role of the endometrial cups and was completed in 1970. He continued to work on early pregnancy with a herd of experimental ponies at the Agricultural Research Council unit in Cambridge, establishing a rapport with both veterinary practices in Newmarket and with Peter Burrell, Manager of the National Stud, and Col Nat Frieze, Chairman of the TBA, who helped to raise funds for his work. Allen set about the many challenges of breeding mares in the 1970s. He developed and helped bring to market prostaglandins, Regumate and the routine use of ultrasound scanners per rectum in mares. These, and other techniques, greatly improved fertility in broodmares by controlling the oestrus cycle and identifying and managing early twin pregnancies. Horse breeding became much more efficient, allowing stallions to cover many more mares and raising fertility levels. Much of his research was funded by the TBA and

the Levy Board. An enthusiastic and inspiring speaker, Allen helped educate many vets, breeders and research workers in improved breeding techniques. In 1972 with Peter Rossdale he organised the first International Equine Reproduction Symposium in Cambridge. This four-yearly event attracts all the foremost researchers in the field and its proceedings became a vital resource. In 1989 the ARC Huntingdon Road Unit closed and funds were raised to build the Equine Fertility Unit at Mertoun Paddocks, Newmarket, a world-class facility which was opened by the Queen. Allen and his team continued research into stem cells and endometrial cysts and with Huw Neal he developed laparoscopic stimulation of oviducts with prostaglandin gel to great success. Sadly, the unit was closed in 2007 as Twink pursued artificial insemination and other breeding techniques. Allen was awarded the Jim Joel Professorship at the Cambridge Vet School, funded by the Childwick Trust. With research material saved and funds remaining from the unit, he set up a small lab in a cottage on Cheveley Park. Over the next three years the ‘Paul Mellon’ laboratory produced over 50 scientific papers. Twink’s enquiring mind, enthusiasm and many overseas contacts resulted in him becoming an expert in reproduction of many other species, especially the camel and the elephant, and, with Sheikh Mohammed, he set up the Dubai Camel

“He certainly enriched the lives of all those he met and who knew him” Twink Allen: leader in his field

Reproduction Unit. After retirement, a lifeline came from the Sheikhdom of Sharjah, where Twink was offered the directorship of the Reproduction Unit of the Sharjah Equine Hospital. With his research assistant Dr Sandra Wilsher he continued research into equine pregnancy and modern breeding techniques. During the summer he was able to return to Newmarket and dispense gin to his many friends. He was awarded membership of the Victorian Order by the Queen and made CBE in 2002 for his contribution to horse breeding. It must not be forgotten that the magnificent stallion statue on the roundabout into Newmarket was his idea and with his determination the money was raised to see it to fruition for the millennium. With his wife Diana, Twink had three children: Felicity, Catherine (married to Frankie Dettori) and Jeremy, a vet working at Newmarket Equine Hospital. No veterinary scientist has made a greater contribution to the horse breeding industry.

Graham and Marcela Smith-Bernal with Nathaniel at Newsells Park Stud

NEWSELLS PARK STUD

professionalism, attention to detail and service provided by [General Manager] Julian Dollar and his team, both in preparing horses for racing and yearlings for the sales ring. “I consider it a huge honour and a privilege to have acquired Newsells Park and look forward to building on the legacy of Klaus J Jacobs and the previous owners to ensure that the stud remains at the pinnacle of breeding and racing.”

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Changes

Racing’s news in a nutshell

People and business

Ryan Day

Retires from riding aged 27 having partnered 100 winners and enjoyed bigrace success on talented chasers Baywing and Guitar Pete.

Alistair Rawlinson

Jockey set for extended spell on the sidelines after sustaining a broken ankle and four broken ribs following a fall at Windsor in June.

Government help

British horseracing receives £21.5m from the Sport Winter Survival Package with £7.5m put towards enhancing prize-money.

Levi Williams

Jockey, 22, handed six-month ban after testing positive for cocaine and cannabis at Wolverhampton in January.

Dr Svend Kold

Senior veterinary surgeon at Ascot racecourse for 30 years retires before this year’s royal meeting.

Tom Phillips

Course executive consider extending the Festival to five days, running from Tuesday to Saturday, from 2023.

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Stephen Mahon

County Galway-based trainer handed four-year ban by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board for neglecting multiple horses in his care.

Takes over from Teddy Grimthorpe in managing Juddmonte’s European runners, liaising with trainers in the UK, Ireland and France.

ITV Racing will show 14 races from the two-day meeting at Del Mar on November 5-6.

Chair of the Racecourse Association to relinquish her role after six years. Headhunters have been appointed to find her successor.

Barry Mahon

Breeders’ Cup

Former assistant to trainer William Haggas in Newmarket, latterly working for his son, pre-trainer George Peckham.

Maggie Carver

Jockey who rode winners under both codes calls time on career after partnering Hawthorn Cottage to victory over fences at Warwick.

Cheltenham Festival

Kevin Peckham 63

Cheltenham’s Clerk of the Course will step down later this year after more than 20 years in the role.

Lucy Barry

Will stand down as RaceTech Chairman in September after six years in the role; Bevan Gibson will succeed him.

People obituaries

Simon Claisse

Steve Docherty 60

Stephen Webb 77

Tony Ingham 74

William ‘Twink’ Allen 80

Producer of Tour de France coverage on ITV and Channel 4, later directing the final years of the BBC’s TV racing output.

Trained Persian Bold to win the Richmond Stakes and Horris Hill Stakes in 1977 from his base in Epsom.

Jockey Club member was a former Director of Hereford and racecourse steward, having also ridden as an amateur.

New Zealander based in Newmarket was a pioneer in the field of equine fertility and reproduction.

An eye for success

visit studlife online: tweenhills.com/studlife

July 2021

CHIPOTLE TOO HOT AT ROYAL ASCOT Tweenhills stallion Havana Gold’s fantastic year with his two-year-olds – his biggest and best crop to date – continued when his son Chipotle won the 27-runner Listed Windsor Castle Stakes over five furlongs at Royal Ascot.

Soft ground and a wide draw scuppered his effort in the Listed National Stakes but he bounced straight back in the Windsor Castle, winning by two and a quarter lengths for trainer Eve Johnson Houghton, jockey Charles Bishop and owners The Woodway 20.

Chipotle had won the first two-year-old race of the year in Britain, the Brocklesby Stakes, before following up in the Royal Ascot Two-Year-Old Trial at Ascot in April.

Chipotle was bred by the McIntyre family’s Theakston Stud in Yorkshire, who bought his dam Lightsome for just 8,000gns. Big congratulations to all involved.

Left: Havana Gold colt Chipotle wins the Windsor Castle

GEORGE’S FLYING START It has been great to have the Godolphin Flying Start programme’s George Broughton at Tweenhills on an 8-week summer placement. George’s excellent blog on his first few weeks with us can be read at tweenhills.com/studlife.

, ations and Marketing) Alice Thurtle (Nomin Manager), Ivo Thomas ng Scott Marshall (Yearli ) and his partner er ag (Assistant Stud Man e part at Royal Ascot. th Lauren Gaunt looking

George is keen to learn about all aspects of the breeding industry and helped in the covering shed as the season drew to a close; accompanied David and the team at the breeze-up sales; and has enjoyed watching the farriers and vets up close amongst other things. George is clearly a shrewd judge of form too as he finished in profit in the Royal Ascot tipping comp!

Charles Purtill (Stallions) and partne Griesel (Foaling Manager) with r Sammy Samm Caroline – they all look fantastic! y’s mum

George with Kameko

TWEENHILLS’ TOP TIPSTER The winner of the Tweenhills Royal Ascot Tipping Competition was Accounts’ Jodi Burrows with a profit of +£30.93 to a £1 level stake across the five days. Jodi was also runner-up in this year’s Cheltenham Festival competition and is threatening to replace Adam Brookes as Racing Analyst.

STAFF PROFILE Charles Purtill and partner Sammy How did you come to be at Tweenhills? I grew up in Killenaule in County Tipperary. My father has been working in Coolmore for 40 years and when I was 16 he got me a part-time job there with mares and foals. I did that for two years and when I finished school went to full time. After two years I shuttled to Australia and started working with stallions in 2017. I then went back to Ireland with the stallions and then shuttled to Australia again. I met Sammy in Ireland in 2018 and then went to South Africa with her for the 2019 breeding season before starting at Tweenhills in 2020. How was the 2021 breeding season? Very busy! Kameko covered a full book; he took to it like a duck to water and his fertility was outstanding. Havana Gold was busy after his early two-year-old winners, which was great to see as he’s a popular horse at Tweenhills. This was Zoustar’s third season here and he’s a seasoned pro who probably doesn’t need us helping! Spear is still enjoying his second career too! What about away from horses? Well, I’m a big Man United fan. Several of us on the farm have a game of football once a week – it’s always good to get one over on Ivo who fancies himself as Sol Campbell but is more like David Luiz! He’s also currently bottom of our Euro 2020 Fantasy Football League…I can’t possibly say who’s top.

Tweenhills, Hartpury, Gloucestershire, GL19 3BG W: www.tweenhills.com T: + 44 (0) 1452 700177 M: + 44 (0) 7767 436373 E: davidredvers@tweenhills.com

Changes

Racehorse and stallion

Movements and retirements

Heart’s Cry

Champion stallion in Japan, sire of ten individual top-level winners, is retired from stud duties at his birthplace of Shadai Farm aged 20.

Verdana Blue

Grade 1-winning jumps mare who relished decent ground is retired aged nine and will head to the paddocks at Coolmore.

The Tin Man

Triple Group 1 winner for the James Fanshawe stable in the Golden Jubilee Stakes, Champions Sprint and Sprint Cup is retired aged nine.

Stormy Atlantic

Son of Storm Cat based at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farms is pensioned aged 27; his progeny includes Grade 1 winners Stormy Liberal and Get Stormy.

Last Kingdom

Kooringal Stud in New South Wales acquires Group 3-winning son of Frankel as a stallion prospect.

Personal

Coolmore’s winner of the 2020 Kennedy Oaks for trainers Tom Dabernig and Ben Hayes is switched to the US stable of Chad Brown.

Horse obituaries Cassandra Go 25

Top sprinter for owner Trevor Stewart and trainer Geoff Wragg, she bred three-time Group 1 scorer Halfway To Heaven.

Top Notch 10

Winner of 14 races for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, including the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase in 2017.

Diligent Lady 4

Daughter of Due Diligence was a dual winner for her owner-breeder Monica Teversham and trainer Michael Attwater.

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S TA R T I N G I N

DECEMB ER 2021

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The Big Picture

Blue is the colour Godolphin and Charlie Appleby fired three arrows at this year’s Cazoo Derby at Epsom and hit the bullseye when Frankel’s son Adayar, the supposed third-string, stayed on best of all to take the prize under Adam Kirby. A second Blue Riband for the owner and trainer after Masar in 2018, it was a first Derby strike for Kirby, whose bravery to persist with a run up the rail was rewarded when Adayar picked up powerfully to put daylight between himself and his rivals, crossing the line four and a half lengths clear of Mojo Star. Photos Bill Selwyn

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Cazoo Derby

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The Big Picture Snow fells Oaks rivals in the mud Few Group 1 races are won by 16 lengths, let alone British Classics, but the Aidan O’Brien-trained Snowfall produced a quite incredible performance on Epsom’s rain-softened going to go into the record books for her winning margin in this year’s Cazoo Oaks. The field raced towards the stands’ side in the straight and while conditions started to take their toll on her 13 rivals, Snowfall galloped on relentlessly under Frankie Dettori as the daughter of Deep Impact, owned by the Coolmore trio of Derrick Smith, John Magnier and Michael Tabor, hammered Mystery Angel to eclipse the victory of Sun Princess, the winner of the Oaks by 12 lengths in 1983. Photo Bill Selwyn

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Cazoo Oaks

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

Horserail continues to set the pace More than 25 years on since launching its unique plastic fencing, Horserail is still making strides in the equestrian fencing market with its innovation

T’S been quarter of a century since Horserail burst out of the traps into the equine fencing marketplace. Sales and marketing manager Ruth Todd explains: “Horserail’s distinctive plastic fencing has been on the market for over 25 years now and is well known and respected across the globe. “There are some similar products on the market, and sadly we are hearing that some are wrongly portrayed as Horserail. This is easy to understand given it is such a high-quality brand, but there is currently a copy of Horserail on the market with the same brackets and hardware. However, when you compare Horserail to these other

“One of the major advantages of Horserail is that it can be electrified,” explains Ruth Todd, sales and marketing manager

HORSE & HOUND 17 June 2021

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products, you will see some noticeable differences. “One of the major advantages of Horserail is that it can be electrified. We have two options for this. HotTop electrifies just the top of the rail, while HotTop Plus electrifies the top and bottom of each rail. The HotTop Plus is great for customers who want to keep costs down and just install two rails. With the HotTop Plus option, this would prevent the animal from leaning over, through the middle and underneath the fence line. “Of course, you do not need to electrify the rail but, with a 30-year guarantee, no one knows what kind of animals they will have in that time so it’s always a good idea to allow for this option. The customer can either leave it off or hook it up to a battery. Both mains or solar work equally well and deliver the requisite charge. “You might think it better to run a line of wire or tape above or below the fencing, but this is not the case. Horserail is highly conductive and does not break down like tape and rope does. This is because the wire encased in the fencing is covered by a carbon compound which conducts the electric current. Also, there is no stripping back or exposing wires with Horserail, so it’s easy to electrify using the insulated end brackets which hold a special screw to run the electric, too. “While some other products may recommend a wire to keep the animal off the fence, to prevent them leaning on it and causing damage, in our experience this can increase the chances of the animal getting caught and causing serious harm to itself. With Horserail there are no sharp edges, and accidents are minimal. “The unique Horserail tensioning system also works well. With Horserail we use tensioning spoolers that allow you to fence for miles without stopping and starting. It pulls the fence up so tight it’s as stiff as a board.

With a 30-year guarantee, Horserail is unlike anything else in the fencing market

“With Horserail there are no sharp edges, and accidents are minimal” Check out our website for photos and info or go to YouTube and search Horserail for videos on installation.” The Covid-19 crisis appears not to have diminished demand. Despite the cancellation of this year’s Badminton Horse Trials, an event in which Horserail has become heavily involved as a sponsor, Ruth and the team at Horserail are looking at organising events and taster days around the UK targeted at fencing contractors as well as equestrian clients. “We would welcome you to get in touch for more information and prices,” concludes Ruth. Truly electrifying stuff from Horserail. H&H

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The Big Picture

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Royal Ascot

Palace professional Royal Ascot 2021 kicked off on quick going with the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes and saw an authoritative winner as the John and Thady Gosden-trained Palace Pier made it eight wins from nine races under regular partner Frankie Dettori. Palace Pier, owned by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, looked to be in a spot of bother three furlongs out as his rider asked him to improve, but the son of Kingman ultimately picked up well to take the lead approaching the furlong marker and see off Lope Y Fernandez by a length and a half. Photos Bill Selwyn

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The Big Picture

Love shows heart Coolmore’s brilliant filly Love had not been seen since winning the Yorkshire Oaks in August ahead of her Royal Ascot date in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Ryan Moore set out to make all the running on the daughter of Galileo and as each of her rivals came under pressure, it was the mare Audarya, also making her seasonal debut having triumphed at the Breeders’ Cup in November, who threw down the biggest challenge. A terrific finish saw the Aidan O’Brien-trained Love edge out her year-older rival to score by three-quarters of a length, with the runner-up, trained by James Fanshawe for Alison Swinburn, losing little in defeat. Photo Bill Selwyn

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Royal Ascot

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The Big Picture

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Royal Ascot

New staying star Jockey Joe Fanning takes a long look over his left shoulder after a masterful ride on Dr Jim Walker’s Subjectivist in the Gold Cup, as three-time winner Stradivarius crosses the line in fourth place. For 50-year-old Fanning it was undoubtedly his best moment in the saddle as he provided trainer Mark Johnston with his fourth Gold Cup triumph after Double Trigger (1995) and Royal Rebel (2001 and 2002). Photos Bill Selwyn

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The Big Picture

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Royal Ascot

Stewards decide Cup outcome The rains came ahead of the Commonwealth Cup as the best three-year-old sprinters competed for Group 1 glory. Campanelle, winner of last year’s Queen Mary Stakes for owner Stonestreet Stables and trainer Wesley Ward, went toe-to-toe with the Archie Watson-trained Dragon Symbol inside the final furlong, the latter crossing the line just ahead of the US-based filly. However, the stewards decided that jockey Oisin Murphy was culpable after Dragon Symbol had carried Campanelle across the track and reversed the decision in favour of Frankie Dettori’s mount. Photos Bill Selwyn

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The Big Picture

Fantastic Flare Poetic Flare could yet rank as the best horse Jim Bolger has trained after his decisive victory in the St James’s Palace Stakes under Kevin Manning. The son of Dawn Approach was adding to his win in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas in May as he defeated Lucky Vega by four and a quarter lengths. Other Group 1 scorers during the week included the Roger Teal-trained Oxted under Cieren Fallon in the King’s Stand Stakes (top right) and Saeed Suhail’s Dream Of Dreams, trained by Sir Michael Stoute, who made it third time lucky under Ryan Moore in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (bottom right). Photos Bill Selwyn 30 THE OWNER BREEDER

Royal Ascot

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The Big Picture Clockwise from below: the David Evans-trained Rohaan continued his upward trajectory in the Wokingham Handicap; Kirsten Rausing’s homebred filly Sandrine, a daughter of Lanwades sire Bobby’s Kitten, wins the Group 3 Albany Stakes; owner-breeder Jeff Smith sees his famous silks carried to victory by Alcohol Free in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes; Chris Wright’s Wonderful Tonight, trained by David Menuisier, relishes the testing ground in the Group 2 Hardwicke Stakes

Royal approval The Queen enjoys Royal Ascot more than any other race meeting and Her Majesty was a most welcome guest on the Saturday, when Reach For The Moon fared best of the monarch’s runners, finishing second in the Chesham Stakes. Photos Bill Selwyn

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Royal Ascot

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The Howard Wright Column

Come and share it: time to push joys of ownership global growth from the 4.2 per cent predicted in December to 5.8 per cent, but it also says the UK economy is likely to increase by 7.2 per cent this year, having issued a projection of a 5.1 per cent uplift in March. The gains are small, but in international terms they are significant, for they predict that UK growth will be the fastest among the rich countries and behind only India and China in the wider G20 countries. Thanks to stimulus measures introduced by the government and swift

roll-out of the vaccination programme, the OECD reckons that the UK will get back to pre-pandemic levels of economic activity per capita by the middle of next year, a few months ahead of France and Spain, alongside Italy and Canada, but slightly behind the US, Japan and Germany. What that means for British racing is that the pool of disposable income among existing and potential owners, already swollen temporarily through lockdown inactivity, may become bigger,

TATTERSALLS

easons To Be Cheerful: so good a tune that Ian Dury and the Blockheads recorded it as a three-parter in 1979, which got to number three in the charts and whose title should now be adopted as the campaign song for British racing over the remaining months of 2021. Its sentiments might also be taken up as a theme for the podcast of that name aired regularly by former Labour leader Ed Miliband and Sony Award-winning radio host Geoff Lloyd, except that during Miliband’s current day job in his ‘parachute’ constituency of Doncaster North, he has shown much less interest in the region’s racing exploits than fellow town MPs Dame Rosie Winterton and 2019-deposed Caroline Flint, who both have more intimate local connections. Instead, British racing can look for post-lockdown encouragement from a slightly unusual source, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the international agency that at the end of May published an updated report which suggested the UK’s recovery from the pandemic is set to be stronger than previously thought. The OECD has raised its forecast for

Many bloodstock auctions have held up well despite the global pandemic

Barney Curley was a man of contradictions I’ve changed my mind, slightly, about Barney Curley, following his death in late May at the age of 81. Variously described in obituaries as “one of the most colourful characters in horseracing”, “to some a modern-day Robin Hood, to others just a shark”, “a gambler, showman and thorn in the side of authority” and “a big-hearted genius, legend and one-off”, he was probably all of those things. As to his reputation with the public, even he said that half the people would regard him as a hero, the other half as a rogue. Curley organised the illegal raffle of his house in Co. Westmeath, which he bought for £250,000 from the proceeds of his best-known gamble on Yellow Sam, a coup that illustrated his hypocrisy, since although he claimed to be a champion of the little man and the small punter, it involved deceiving both, as he hid the horse’s true ability until the big day and employed someone to stop other calls being made from the only public telephone box on the racecourse when the

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big day arrived. Despite Curley’s protestations to the contrary, his admitted subterfuge before attempting the Yellow Sam gamble, and others, did no favours for the small punter, who might have followed horses he either owned or trained to the edge of the cliff. Then, landing the gamble put another one over them, for they were betting blind, either hoping that Curley was right or being oblivious to what was going on. As for mentoring jockeys or employing staff at above-average wages, which have been highlighted among Curley’s strengths, the assertion he made about “not wanting anything from them” was to bend the truth. Those in his employ were sworn to secrecy, at the risk of being sacked, so he did want something from them, if only Barney Curley indirectly. died in May But, and here’s the big aged 81

faster. As has been consistently pointed during months of racegoing deprivation, the sport needs owners – old, existing and new – to fuel the ongoing programme, and looking beyond sectional-interest chiding about prize-money levels, opportunities to take advantage of potentially favourable conditions raised by the OECD’s observations will soon come thick and fast. Bloodstock auction levels have held up remarkably well around the world, as innovative sales companies banded together to keep their own shows, as well as the industry’s, on the internet, if not on the road. Now, racing’s equivalent of the futures market is about to open up again, with horses-in-training sales in the offing and yearling auctions lurking around the corner. Replenishments aplenty will be available for those willing, able and even teetering

“For British racing the pool of disposable income among existing and potential owners may become bigger, faster”

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on the edge to take part. Word of mouth about what owning a racehorse means to the participants is a powerful sales pitch, but it is really up to trainers and agents to press home the advantages that British racing has to offer. They have always been the best advertisers. Their businesses depend on the constant recruitment of raw material, but so too does the future success of the sport. More than Great British Racing, which has such a wide and nebulous remit that is hard to justify in KPIs, trainers and agents are the people who can shout and holler loudest about what British racing has to offer by way of unparalleled leisure and pleasure.

but, a couple of poignant reminders provoked a personal reappraisal of the complexities and apparent anomalies of Curley’s character. They were the video eulogy by Racing Post Chief Executive Alan Byrne, which first appeared in print 48 hours after his death, and a Twitter reference that promoted a reviewing of the Luck On Sunday interview he did in March 2019. Both can be found on YouTube and are well worth a watch. Forget Curley’s most famous interjection on television, the six-minute interview with Luke Harvey and John McCririck in January 2013, which has been described as ‘TV gold’, the real Curley, contrite almost to the point of admitting his past faults and failings, came through in his one-to-one with Luck, while Byrne’s eloquence summed up the two sides of his character with growing persuasion. Both largely centred on the charity work on which Curley embarked following the death of his teenage son in 1995, where his fundraising and personal involvement in Direct Aid For Africa has improved the lives of hundreds of people in Zambia. Curley took not a penny piece in organising a range of projects focusing on healthcare, education and self-help. There was a good side to him after all.

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The Derby

Too much of A GOOD THING? Adayar’s win in this year’s Derby marked the eighth time in the past ten runnings that the Classic had fallen to a descendant of Sadler’s Wells. With his son Galileo a notably dominant force, what does this tell us about the breed? Words: Nancy Sexton

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Frankel: son of Galileo enjoyed a Derby breakthrough as the sire of Adayar

BRONWEN HEALY/JUDDMONTE

s night turns into day, so it has become inevitable that Galileo will play a major role in the outcome to the Derby. No stallion in living memory has dominated the Classic quite like the Coolmore colossus, who reigns as the leading sire over the race’s 242-year history by virtue of five winners. And although the plaudits for this year’s hero belong to Frankel as the sire of Adayar, the result remains a win for the Galileo legacy, just as it did via an earlier winning grandson, Masar. In a snapshot of the breadth of Galileo’s rule, Adayar was one of six sons or grandsons of Galileo to take part in this year’s race, with one runner, Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Mac Swiney, even possessing two crosses of the stallion. Going back further, his line has been responsible for 25 of the 40 colts to have run in the past three renewals. As for his sire Sadler’s Wells, that figure increases to 31. The 2019 running in particular represented something of a Galileo blanket, with all bar one of 13 runners a member of his tribe; the odd one out, Sir Dragonet, descended from Sadler’s Wells as a son Camelot. Of the past ten winners, only Golden Horn and Harzand don’t descend from Sadler’s Wells or Galileo – and even then, it was Galileo’s half-brother Sea The Stars who supplied Harzand. It is the kind of command that we have come to expect from Galileo, a brilliant Derby winner himself for Aidan

“Galileo imparts plenty of stamina along with his other attributes” of whom historically took pleasure in campaigning stayers. Against that, Galileo is a horse who imparts stamina and class with incredible regularity, as Sadler’s Wells and Montjeu did before him. Thus it stands to reason that when it comes to an Epsom Classic, races which call upon reserves of class, speed, stamina and temperament, Galileo is going to hold a strong hand. “Galileo imparts plenty of stamina

along with all his other attributes,” says bloodstock agent James Delahooke. “The essence of the Derby is stamina. Yes, speed is involved as is temperament. But when you look through the card of prospective runners nowadays, you can put a line through many of them over stamina. They need to get that final two furlongs. Adayar, I thought, got the trip manfully. “I always find it interesting that in the Coolmore stallion yard they have that image of Tattenham Corner alongside Tesio’s Derby quote [noted Italian breeder Federico Tesio famously said that ‘the thoroughbred exists because its selection has depended, not on experts, technicians, or zoologists, but on a piece of wood: the winning post of the Epsom Derby’]. That criterion is certainly something that I agree with. And Coolmore have benefitted mightily by not being afraid to shoot for that holy grail.”

Changing landscape

It’s a very different scene to the

›› GEORGE SELWYN

O’Brien in 2001 who continues to rewrite the record books. It won’t be long until the 12-time champion sire hits the magic landmark of 100 Group 1 winners, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they will include another Derby winner to join the roll call of New Approach, Ruler Of The World, Australia, Anthony Van Dyck and Serpentine. Of course, Galileo’s supremacy is a further continuation of the success enjoyed by his sire Sadler’s Wells. Responsible for two winners himself, including Galileo, his mantle as the dominant Classic middle-distance influence was ably assumed by an earlier son Montjeu, for whom a strong Derby record consisted of Motivator, Authorized, Pour Moi and Camelot. As such, 14 of the past 21 renewals have fallen to the Sadler’s Wells line. Yet such domination hints at other issues bubbling beneath the surface. Sectors of today’s market find greater appeal in the production of fast two-year-olds and sprinters/milers than they do in the middle-distance horse, a development that has run in tandem with a decline in the number of European owner-breeders, several

Galileo: brilliant Derby winner has since gone on to sire a record five winners of the race

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The Derby ›› 1990s when the list of successful sires

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MOST SUCCESSFUL DERBY SIRES 5 wins GALILEO

(New Approach, Ruler Of The World, Australia, Anthony Van Dyck and Serpentine)

TATTERSALLS

James Delahooke: “the trouble is so few horses are bred to go 12 furlongs now”

constantly reminds us, with breedshaping results. Subsequently came an era when American-breds regularly acquitted themselves well in the race. After all, a number of Europe’s better middledistance horses, such as Nijinsky, Sir Ivor and Roberto, then stood in Kentucky. Northern Dancer himself wound up as the sire of three winners – The Minstrel and Secreto followed in later years – and as for Nijinsky, he achieved the feat of siring an Epsom Derby winner, Shahrastani, in the same week that another son, Ferdinand, won the Kentucky version. The Roberto line could also be relied upon to impart plenty of stamina and duly popped up as the source of Benny The Dip (by Silver Hawk; 1997) and Kris Kin (by Kris S; 2003). However, not one American-bred has won in the 18 years since Kris Kin. The grip of Sadler’s Wells has instead

4 wins MONTJEU

(Motivator, Authorized, Pour Moi and Camelot)

BLANDFORD

(Trigo, Blenheim, Windsor Lad and Bahram)

CYLLENE

(Cicero, Minoru, Tagalie and Lemberg)

WAXY

(Waxy Pope, Whalebone, Blucher and Whisker)

SIR PETER TEAZLE

(Sir Harry, Archduke, Ditto and Paris)

tightened alongside a smattering of success for Cape Cross, the sire of Sea The Stars and Golden Horn and grandsire of Harzand, and King’s Best, a relation to Galileo who sired Workforce. So what does this say about the thoroughbred? Is the status quo a tribute to the superiority of Sadler’s Wells and Galileo or does it reflect shortcomings

consisted of Rainbow Quest, Caerleon, Ahonoora, Dancing Brave, Chief’s Crown, Nijinsky, Mtoto, Silver Hawk, High Estate and Fairy King. While Northern Dancer was ever present, his influence did at least flow through the varied forms of Nijinsky (sire of Lammtarra and grandsire of Generous), Lyphard (grandsire of Commander In Chief), Danzig (grandsire of Erhaab) and Fairy King (sire of Oath). Of course, by the very nature of the game, there will always be stallions who reign superior to others as the breed evolves. In the case of the Derby, it has at one time or another been heavily influenced by the likes of Nearco, Fairway, Gainsborough, Blandford, Cyllene, Hurry On and St. Simon. Cyllene and Blandford, for example, were represented by four Derby winners apiece during the first half of the 20th century; Cyllene, a son of Bona Vista foaled in 1895, sired Cicero (1905), Minoru (1909), Lemberg (1910) and the filly Tagalie (1912) while Blandford, a son of Swynford foaled in 1919, left behind Trigo (1929), Blenheim (1930; also sire of the 1936 winner Mahmoud), Windsor Lad (1931) and Bahram, the Triple Crown hero of 1932. In turn, Cyllene was a grandson of Bend Or, whose male line was responsible for 11 winners between 1886 (Ormonde) and 1921 (Humorist). Similarly, there were seven winning representatives of the St. Simon sire line between 1896, when his son Persimmon won in the colours of King Edward VII, then the Prince Of Wales, and 1914, won by Durbar. Come the 1940s and the race was more or less the domain of Fairway, Gainsborough, Nearco and the French stallion Vatellor, the sires or grandsires of two winners apiece. It can be argued that a turning point in the race’s history arrived in 1968 with the victory of Sir Ivor. Bred in Kentucky by Alice Chandler and trained by Vincent O’Brien, who had purchased him as a yearling on behalf of Raymond Guest, he opened the eyes of European investors to the value of North American stock, none more so than O’Brien and the Coolmore partners. A trip to Canada for O’Brien in the autumn of Sir Ivor’s three-year-old campaign resulted in the purchase of Nijinsky. With that colt carrying all before him in 1970 as the Triple Crown winner, interest in the potential of Northern Dancer was duly ignited; his stock were aggressively pursued and as history

Roberto (right): a supreme source of stamina, he later became the grandsire of Kris Kin

“The emphasis has probably tipped too much towards speed” within today’s breed? “The trouble is that few horses are bred to go 12 furlongs now,” says Delahooke. “The Americans have barely any at all and we are breeding fewer and fewer. “It’s partly a result of the big book era. By the time that you find out that these horses might not be any good, there are already 300 or 400 of their foals on the ground. And then people start to breed from them. “Stamina is not a dirty word. It is a magnificent achievement for a horse to maintain a gallop over a mile and a half. In that respect I think what the TBA are doing to protect stayers [in 2015, they commenced a long-term project with the BHA to revitalise the race programme for staying horses] is marvellous. We’ve seen how well the Great British Bonus scheme has worked and I’m sure the staying scheme will start to kick in.”

Star role

Pat Downes is well placed to observe varying bloodstock trends in his role as manager of the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud, from where champion Sea The Stars has developed into one of Europe’s elite sires. Sea The Stars is capable of throwing smart two-year-olds and milers but is particularly effective as a source of middle-distance talent, as illustrated by the fact that his third crop contained the Aga Khan’s homebred Epsom and Irish Derby hero Harzand. And although a half-brother to Galileo, he is a grandson of Green Desert and thereby offers a route away from Sadler’s Wells. “Personally, I think it [the lower market interest in middle-distance horses] is a concern going forward,” says Downes. “Right round the world, the most prestigious races are predominately varied distances from 1,600 metres up to Cup race distances. “The emphasis has probably tipped too much towards speed breeding and while there is obviously a demand for breeding fast two and three-year-olds, it would be preferable I think if the speed/ distance ratio had more balance to it.

DERBY SIRE LINES 2005 - 2021 NORTHERN DANCER SADLER’S WELLS GALILEO (won 2001: damsire Miswaki) NEW APPROACH (2008: Ahonoora) MASAR (2018: Cape Cross) RULER OF THE WORLD (2013: Kingmambo) AUSTRALIA (2014: Cape Cross) ANTHONY VAN DYCK (2019: Exceed And Excel) SERPENTINE (2020: Danehill Dancer) Frankel ADAYAR (2021: Dubawi) Montjeu MOTIVATOR (2005: Gone West) AUTHORIZED (2007: Saumarez) CAMELOT (2012: Kingmambo) POUR MOI (2011: Darshaan) WINGS OF EAGLES (2017: Kendor) Danzig Green Desert Cape Cross SEA THE STARS (2009: Miswaki) HARZAND (2016: Xaar) GOLDEN HORN (2015: Dubai Destination) MR PROSPECTOR Kingmambo King’s Best WORKFORCE (2010: Sadler’s Wells) SHIRLEY HEIGHTS (won 1978) Darshaan Mark Of Esteem SIR PERCY (2006: Blakeney) “However at the end of the day, commercial breeders are producing for a market that currently wants two-yearold speed and/or sprinters – this is an observation, not a criticism – but there probably needs to be a shift in mindset from all stakeholders from the breeding and racing industries.” A brilliant champion himself for the Tsui family and trainer John Oxx, Sea The Stars’ stud record consists of 14 Group 1 winners and a reputation for producing tough, sound runners – Stradivarius being a notable example. As such, he generally stands above any discrimination that the market may hold towards middle-distance influences.

“Undoubtedly the expectations were very high when Ling Tsui took the decision to retire her champion,” says Downes. “Being a half-brother to Galileo but also, after such an outstanding race career and having eventually retired 100% sound, there was no doubting what he could offer as a stallion. Even with all those positives, such is the nature of the thoroughbred breeding business, success was not guaranteed but as he did as a racehorse, he has excelled as a stallion. “He looks set for another very good year and is currently the leading stallion in Europe by stakes winners to runners and also winners to runners.”

››

THE OWNER BREEDER 39

The Derby ›› Diversity key

This year’s Derby did at least yield a popular landmark success for Frankel. Adayar is his third British Classic winner after Anapurna and Logician, and given the current momentum behind the stallion and his firepower waiting in the wings, there is surely the strong likelihood of another Derby winner coming his way in the future. With Galileo now in the twilight of his stud career, the question of a successor is never far away. Frankel naturally fits into that mould while Australia and Teofilo are each well established sources of middle-distance talent. New Approach, of course, sired the 2018 winner Masar, himself an attractively priced option at £14,000 on Darley’s roster.

Camelot, meanwhile, remains a classy conduit of the Montjeu line. Outside of the Sadler’s Wells clan, Sea The Stars fulfils a crucial role, even allowing for his close association to Galileo. “I think we can see the traits that made Sea The Stars the racehorse he was in plenty of his progeny,” says Downes. “John Oxx commented many times how mentally tough Sea The Stars was, and the fact he could never really give him an easy time as he needed to work to keep him from becoming too fresh. “We see many of Sea The Stars’ attributes in Stradivarius. Al Aasy, hopefully a Group 1 winner in waiting, is another – we have heard William Haggas say that like his sire, he needs

and thrives on work.” Outside of Sea The Stars, it wouldn’t be beyond the realms of imagination to envisage either Dubawi, Siyouni, Lope De Vega or Kingman throwing a Derby winner, although one suspects that they would require the right mare to do so. Perhaps a son of Deep Impact, himself a Group 1 winner over two miles in Japan where stamina is celebrated, is another answer – in that regard, Saxon Warrior and Study Of Man are two options. No one would argue that diversity isn’t an important element to the breed yet the collection of Derby bloodlines have contracted remarkably in under two decades. The emergence of any alternatives would surely now be a most welcome development.

As much as Galileo towers over today’s bloodstock landscape, it is his dam Urban Sea, the pride and joy of the Tsui family, who wields the greater influence as one of the breed’s great blue hens. A lengthy and wonderful racing career for owner David Tsui under the care of Jean Lesbordes was highlighted by a win in the 1993 Arc. Yet despite the importance of that success, it is for a remarkable stud career that consists of eight black-type winners - including Galileo, Sea The Stars and Black Sam Bellamy - for which the Miswaki mare is today most revered. When Sea The Stars carried Christopher Tsui’s colours to victory in the 2009 Derby, Urban Sea became the first mare since Windmill Girl in 1973 to throw two Derby winners. Five years later and Sea The Stars was tasting Classic success of his own as the sire of Oaks heroine Taghrooda. With Galileo also represented that weekend by the Derby winner Australia, it marked the first time since 1866, the year in which Pocahontas’ sons Stockwell and King Tom sired the Derby and Oaks winners Lord Lyon and Tormentor, that a pair of half-brothers had supplied the winners of both Epsom Classics. “I think that beyond her abilities, temperament and good genes, there’s something more that cannot be quantified, that little bit of magic that makes her extraordinary,” says Christopher Tsui. “Like Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, they have that unique ‘je ne sais quoi’ that puts them in a class of their own.” The success of Galileo and Sea The Stars in their respective stud careers means that barely does a Group 1 race in Europe pass by without Urban Sea exerting some kind of influence. Even so, her hold over the Derby is remarkable. Since New Approach became Galileo’s first Derby winner in 2008, no fewer than eight subsequent winners have carried her blood. Galileo’s winning quintet naturally accounts for the bulk of that success and as the sire of Frankel, also features as the grandsire of this year’s winner Adayar. Sea The Stars joined the roll of honour courtesy of Harzand in 2016 while New Approach’s winning son Masar was actually inbred to Urban Sea. In what is becoming an increasingly popular and successful pattern, Masar is the headline act of a group of five stakes

40 THE OWNER BREEDER

GEORGE SELWYN

‘From that Arc, her legend continued to grow’

Urban Sea holds off White Muzzle to land the 1993 Arc. She has since become one of the most important mares of all time

winners inbred to Urban Sea; others include last month’s King Edward VII Stakes scorer Mohaafeth. “Urban Sea’s story is a bit like a fairytale for our family,” says Tsui. “It is a story that we can tell to our children and grandchildren. From her humble beginnings, an owner completely new to racing, an out of luck trainer [Jean Lesbordes], a jockey [Eric Saint-Martin] trying hard to get out of the shadow of his father and an outsider in the world’s biggest race, the Arc… it had all the makings of a Hollywood movie! “From that 1993 Arc, her story and legend just continued to grow with Galileo and Sea The Stars. We can all see her influence today just looking at the racecards of the biggest races in Europe.” And for that, look no further than the field for this year’s Derby, in which all bar two of the 11 runners carried Urban Sea somewhere in their pedigree. “It is amazing that it all started with my mother [Ling Tsui], who without any help brought Urban Sea from France to Ireland with the simple belief that she would be the best broodmare in the world,” says Tsui. “With sheer determination and complete faith in Urban Sea, these two very special ladies completely changed the entire racing industry 28 years later.”

ANOTHER BLACK-TYPE WINNING YEARLING SELECTION Recent selections include :Waikuku – Group 1 winner – €33,000 yearling selection Safe Voyage – Group 2 winner – £52,000 yearling selection Night Colours – Group 2 winner – £38,000 yearling selection Pablo Escobarr – Group 3 winner – €200,000 yearling selection Lord Riddiford – Listed winner – €27,000 yearling selection Roberto Escobarr – Listed winner – €145,000 yearling selection

YEARLINGS PURCHASED TO ORDER – CALL NOW TO DISCUSS YOUR FUTURE REQUIREMENTS Richard Knight Bloodstock Agent Ltd +44 7769 349240 richard@richardknightbloodstockagent.com

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THE OWNER BREEDER

The Big Interview Andrea Atzeni greets David and Sue Ward after victory aboard Primo Bacio in the Listed Oaks Farm Stables Fillies’ Stakes at York

Ready for

LIFT-OFF Denied the opportunity to watch his exciting duo Starman and Primo Bacio perform at Royal Ascot when the heavens opened, David Ward still has big hopes for the rest of the season

any were inconvenienced by torrential rains at the tail end of Royal Ascot, yet none will have been as disappointed as David Ward. The man who had live prospects in two Group 1 races was faced with little choice but to withdraw both horses. Starman traded as favourite for the Diamond Jubilee Stakes until the ground turned soft, while Primo Bacio was denied her chance in the Coronation Stakes for the same reason. It was doubly frustrating for Ward to see Snow Lantern, soundly beaten by Primo Bacio at York in May, finish runnerup in the latter race. In some ways that rain-check was something of a reality-check for Ward. An emotional man, he was in danger of emigrating to cloud nine after the same two horses doubled up for him at York’s Dante meeting. The Knavesmire is Ward’s spiritual home. It was where his father took him racing in his youth, so to have won a Listed race for fillies and the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes within 48 magical hours sent his spirits soaring. Besides, there will be other opportunities for his star duo as the season unfolds.

Starman and Primo Bacio make an accurate snapshot of Ward’s growing involvement with racing and breeding. Starman is a homebred son of the Montjeu mare Northern Star, with whom Ward fell in love upon seeing her at the 2011 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale. Starman is Northern Star’s second foal; the first was Sunday Star, a Group-placed winner of two races who is among six mares Ward boards at Whatton Manor Stud. Primo Bacio will eventually join Sunday Star in the paddocks. A threeyear-old daughter of Awtaad, she was bought for 100,000 guineas as a yearling at Tattersalls as part of Ward’s push to raise the quality of his mares. Before too long he wants to breed most of his own racehorses save for the occasional yearling acquisition to diversify his bloodlines. “The other day I was trying to work out how many horses I have bought,” he says. “It must be somewhere between 70 and 80 but until Primo came along my two best racehorses were the first two horses I bred. “With the best will in the world, you don’t always know what you are getting at the sales,” he continues. “I think it’s

“You don’t always know what you are getting at the sales”

42 THE OWNER BREEDER

EDWARD WHITAKER

Words: Julian Muscat

a sign for me that my homebreds have done so well. The results suggest that is the way I should go, and of course, it’s so much more satisfying. Following them through to their racing days is a completely different experience. It’s like watching your children running in the Olympics.” So that is the way Ward, 60, plans to go. It wasn’t the plan when he took his first, tentative steps into racehorse ownership 13 years ago. The first two horses he bought cut no ice at all, but

David Ward

he wasn’t there for the beer. A more profound undercurrent carried him along in the swell of his father’s legacy. Ward was in his late 40s when Donald died. A second-generation guardian of the family’s sizeable recycling business, Donald was a man who liked a bet and loved the sound of hooves pounding the turf. He would return home from work before lunch to scoop up whichever of his children wanted to go racing and they’d be on their merry way.

“One of my earliest recollections as a child was of Lester Piggott winning the Stewards’ Cup from stall one, which in those days was virtually unheard of,” Ward reminisces. “I did a number of things when my father died and this [buying a racehorse] was one. It’s a journey I wish he could have taken for himself but he came from a generation that felt it wasn’t for him to do.” Given the fact that racehorses are today owned by a broad cross-section of society, in particular footballers and

entrepreneurs of humble roots, Ward’s words shine a revealing light on late twentieth-century perspectives. It may be hard to conceive in the present age but there was a prevailing sense that flaunting self-made wealth was unappealingly ostentatious. “The world has changed in a big way,” Ward reflects. “It’s a smaller place and people have expectations; a lot of things are more accessible. My father would have loved owning horses. He would have been absolutely overjoyed, and for

THE OWNER BREEDER 43

››

BILL SELWYN

The Big Interview

Listed heroine Primo Bacio (above) and Group 3 victor Starman (left) gave their owner a week to remember when striking at York’s May meeting

STEVEN CARGILL

›› my part I felt life was too short. Here

44 THE OWNER BREEDER

was an opportunity to realise my dream, and I hope my father is enjoying it from where he is.” It’s clear from talking to Ward that his knowledge of racing is broad. It’s a superior kind of knowledge than is gleaned from betting: he is a diehard enthusiast who thinks about horses like a man to the game born. Equally, he recognises the assets brought by specialists in their field; hence his close working relationships with his main trainer, Ed Walker, and the bloodstock agent Ed Sackville, who buys his yearlings and advises on mating plans. Ward is very involved in deciding where his horses should run. “I talk to Ed [Walker] a lot but I try to avoid the idiosyncratic tracks,” he says. “That’s why Primo Bacio ran at York. If she’d run at somewhere like Epsom and ran badly, you’re not always sure whether the track was to blame. “At places like York you know where you stand at the end of a race,” he continues. “And I enjoy that side of it,

David Ward too. Trying to find the right opportunity for horses is an interesting exercise. Also, I don’t bet, so running through the handicap ranks is not my thing – I’d far sooner run well in a good race than win a poor race.” Ward’s relationship with Walker, who trains Starman and Primo Bacio, has been pivotal within his more intimate embrace of the sport. He had horses with a handful of other trainers before he chose to coalesce around Walker, since when he had increased his spend. “We are close, we get on well and we both think the same way,” Ward says. “If there’s ever any doubt about the horses, we wait. I don’t want to see my horses banged out every few weeks, and Ed is patient even though he is a young trainer making his way. He puts heart and soul into it. He is nicely settled at Kingsdown, and whatever people might say, I think consistency is good for horses.” Ward’s views on what best suits horses were formed from days he spent riding in the company of his wife Sue and daughter Siwan, who has her own property and stables a few miles away from the family home near Ashbourne, in the Peak District. Ward, too, has stables on his land, which gave him the opportunity to take in the aforementioned Northern Star when she was injured during her threeyear-old campaign in 2013. He spent plenty of time around the filly as she convalesced, in the process striking up a special bond with her. Northern Star won once from nine starts and went on to become Ward’s first broodmare. Her first foal, the Kodiac filly Sunday Star, joined her dam at pasture on her retirement last year. A valuable commodity through her superior racing exploits, Sunday Star’s value rose still further when Starman, her year-younger half-brother, swiftly made his way through the sprinting ranks. But Ward cherishes Northern Star’s clan for other reasons. Tragically, Northern Star died after giving birth to her third foal, a Kingman filly born in 2018, who Ward named Lodestar. Then Sunday Star, due to be bred to Frankel this year, had problems cycling and was found to have a cyst in one of her two ovaries, which had to be surgically removed. The setback shook Ward to the core; so much so that he recalled Lodestar from Walker’s string before she had even run. He was taking no chances with Northern Star’s surviving daughters, of which there were just two.

‘Finishing third is pointless’ There isn’t much to gripe about, what with David Ward currently surfing the crest of a giant wave. However, even he finds himself shaking his head in dismay over prize-money levels in British racing. “I don’t feel differently to a lot of people,” he says. “It’s quite hard when you buy these animals, put a lot of time and money into them, and end up with £340 when they finish third or fourth in a race.” This has prompted him to take stock, the consequences of which spells bad news for Britain’s trainers. “To me, there is no point in keeping a horse that keeps finishing third or fourth,” he says. “It’s pretty pointless having them in training. I’m not in it for the prize-money but prize-money is still important.” By way of an example Ward cited She’s All In Gold, a Golden Horn filly

“Money cannot buy the thrill that Starman has already given us” But there is better news of Sunday Star, who has rebounded from surgery sufficiently for her date with Frankel to go ahead next year. And Lodestar has been successfully bred to Dutch Art. Any live foal from that union will be a three-parts sibling to Starman. “When Northern Star died it was heart-breaking,” Ward reflects, “and when I heard about Sunday Star’s predicament, the decision to retire Lodestar without her having run was made for me. Lodestar showed ability but I am not a commercial breeder. It makes no difference to me that Lodestar might have won at Wolverhampton last winter. “I am much more interested in trying to perpetuate Northern Star’s line. In time I will breed from Primo Bacio and see how that works out. I will give her every chance, although I don’t always use [what are described as] top-class stallions because the most expensive

he bought for €78,000 as a yearling in 2018. She was placed three times from six starts for Tom Dascombe, after which Ward passed her on. Now with Oliver Greenall, She’s All In Gold made a successful debut over hurdles at Stratford on June 15. “She was sound and genuine but in April she ran at Chepstow, which is 250 miles from me,” he says. “I found myself questioning whether it was worth going to see her run, so I decided to take the loss on her and move on. “Everybody’s got an opinion about prize-money but it is an issue, no doubt about that. It must be a big worry for trainers but the reality of it is that there is no pleasure for owners. There’s no sense in persisting with a horse below a certain level. That’s a source of some sadness to me.”

ones don’t necessarily get the best results.” The optimum scenario for Ward and his family is to have a dozen horses in training and six mares to breed from. Tempting as it is to base mares and their progeny at home, where he has the facilities and where he could see them every day, he is mindful of the expertise required to rear thoroughbreds to best effect. Meanwhile, he can look forward to Starman and Primo Bacio’s exploits in the coming months. Starman may yet emerge as the champion sprinter, a fate Ward intends to explore with the horse running in his silks despite lucrative offers from interested parties to secure him for stud duties. “We’re holding fast, certainly for this season,” Ward says. “I may never have another like him, which is why I want to be sure we are doing the steering, so to speak. Money cannot buy the thrill he has already given us. Not in a heartbeat.” On a more personal level, Ward’s journey in racing serves to remind him of a father lost well before time, and of the prospect that he too will be remembered in the same racing context. “I have had a taste for breeding through two horses that have given me some of the best moments of my life,” he reflects. “When I am dead and gone, I hope my children and their children will talk about it. And you never know, I might even get a mention in passing.”

THE OWNER BREEDER 45

Breeze-up season review

Bullish MARKET Despite the ongoing global uncertainty, the 2021 breeze-up season was a successful one – and now its graduates are already excelling on the track Words: John Boyce

oyal Ascot’s Norfolk Stakes and Coventry Stakes provided a perfect showcase for the breezeup sales this year, both in terms of a business model and as a source of high quality two-year-olds for buyers seeking value. The first two home in the Norfolk – Perfect Power and Go Bears Go – were breeze-up graduates earlier this year, selling for £110,000 and 150,000 guineas respectively, while the Coventry runner-up Eldrickjones was bought for just £26,000. Moreover, Perfect Power’s sire Ardad was also a breeze-up graduate, selling for £170,000 back in 2016 before he too won at Royal Ascot, as was last year’s recordsmashing first-season sire Mehmas, who cost 170,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Sale. So, it seems, you can also find

decent stallions at the breeze-ups. It’s easy to understand the attraction of buying a ready-to-run two-year-old. Foregoing all the trials and tribulations plus the costs of bringing a yearling or foal to the same stage in its career is an obvious attraction. But, best of all, there is great value for money to be had, too. Since 2015, the three main British breeze-up auctions – two at Tattersalls and the other for Goffs UK at Doncaster – have enjoyed eye-catching success when compared to Books 1 and 2 at the Tattersalls Yearling Sale in October. Since 2014, Books 1 and 2 have produced about 4.5% stakes winners to runners. Significantly, the 354 stakeswinning graduates have cost an average of £229,000, which is of course great value in itself given the prices at the

Perfect Power (yellow): provided a quick return for connections by leading home a one-two for breezers in the Norfolk Stakes

GOFFS

A son of Kingman out of the Sholokhov mare Monami makes £500,000 at Goffs in May

46 THE OWNER BREEDER

very top end of the Book 1 market. But compare this to the combined efforts of the three breeze-up auctions covering the same crops, where the stakes-winning graduates were secured for an average price of £137,000. Moreover, the stakes winner strike-rate at the breeze-ups stands at 3.4%, which is commendable given the disparity in pedigrees between the main yearling auctions and two-year-old sales. True, one is less likely to find a Palace Pier or a St Mark’s Basilica at the breeze-ups, but a 3.4% strike-rate is pretty good when the average price of a stakes winner is 40% less than at the main yearling sales. Horses like Donjuan Triumphant (£31,500), Quiet Reflection (£44,000), Ventura Storm (£115,500) and La Pelosa (£294,000) have all greatly advanced the

BILL SELWYN

cause of the breeze-ups with wins at the highest level. And who would say no to an A’Ali, Prince Of Lir, Trueshan, Far Above or Summer Romance? Typically, over 70% of breeze-up candidates are sourced from yearling or foals sales and this was the case again in 2021 with 73.7% of those sold at Doncaster (including Arqana May), Tattersalls, Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge and Osarus having come from a previous sale. Although the average price for juveniles at these sales has remained fairly static in the past three years – £56,900 in 2021, £56,800 in 2020 and £57,300 in 2019 – this year’s average was achieved from 727 individual sales, compared to only 483 a year ago and 658 in 2019. Therefore, in terms of the total size of the breeze-up market in the past three years – £41.3

million compared to £24.7m and £37.7m – this year’s sales have been the most successful. The good health of the breeze-ups this year is also supported by the fact

“There is great value for money to be had” that there were 117 £100,000-plus juveniles, up from 61 last year and 93 in 2019, even allowing for the fact that only two of this year’s graduates would

have made the top ten over the past three years combined. And all of these strong indicators are underpinned by an exceptional clearance rate of 86.8%, significantly higher than the 82.2% and 82.4% of the previous two years. It was the same story for traders, who combined strong demand with a softer yearling market last year to push profits higher than they were in either of the past two years. The average price paid for the 439 yearlings bought last autumn for resale this year was £28,300 and that turned into an average of £61,800 at the breeze-ups, a multiple of 2.19. Last year, that multiple was 2.01 and in 2019 it was 2.07. This year 62% of those sold added at least £10,000 to their yearling price and 22% added at least £50,000. Twelve months ago, the corresponding numbers

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››

Breeze-up season review 19%. So, all in all, yearling-to-breeze-up traders did very well this time around. Most of the very best stallions around had offspring at the breeze-up sales this year. The top five prices came at the Arqana May Sale, held this year at Doncaster due to Covid restrictions. Medaglia d’Oro, a perennial name at the top of the US breeze-up market, topped the charts at £675,000 with his colt out of Shelbysmile, who had been sourced from Fasig-Tipton’s October Yearling Sale for just $175,000. Even better was the filly by Ribchester out of Cheap Thrills, who was transformed from a £45,000 Doncaster Premier yearling into a £590,000 juvenile. The mark-up on this pair was over £500,000 and there were plenty of others that hit the jackpot, too. In fact, no fewer than 40 posted a gross profit of £100,000 or higher. Juddmonte’s Kingman provided the third highest price of the year at £500,000 for a half-brother to German Oaks winner Miss Yoda, originally purchased for 340,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in 2019. Among stallions with five or more sold in 2021, it was Kingman who posted the best average price and, with Almanzor, the joint best median. He has made a bright start to the year, Palace Pier and his US star Domestic Spending winning in impressive fashion, and the fact that he’s also responsible for talented breeze-up graduate Summer Romance didn’t hurt either. Nine stallions with five or more sold posted averages of £100,000 or higher. Besides Kingman, the most impressive was Night Of Thunder with an average of £143,208 for 12 sold. The Kildangan stallion now has an impressive 16.9% stakes winners to runners in his first crop and he has just come to the end of another very successful covering season

JUDDMONTE

›› were 57% and 16%, and in 2019 56% and

Kingman: Juddmonte stallion returned an average of £204,375 during the breeze-up season

at a fee of €75,000. All but three of the Night Of Thunders provided a profit for their vendors, with two posting gains of over £130,000 on their yearling prices. Lope De Vega’s yearling average may

“No fewer than 40 posted a gross profit of £100,000 or higher” have slipped a little in 2020 but that made profits easier to achieve at the breeze-ups. All of his six pinhooked youngsters made money for their vendors, including his toppriced half-brother to Timeform 120-rated

LEADING SIRES BY AVERAGE (5+ sold) Sire

Sold

High (£)

Avg (£)

Med (£)

Kingman

500,000

204,375

120,000

Night Of Thunder

500,000

143,208

117,750

Lope De Vega

350,000

141,166

94,500

*Almanzor

245,000

128,400

120,000

Dabirsim

252,000

109,300

105,000

Distorted Humor

260,000

105,570

73,500

Dark Angel

410,000

104,507

78,750

Wootton Bassett

173,627

103,089

100,000

No Nay Never

300,000

101,000

52,500

*Ribchester

590,000

93,783

44,625

*First-season sire

48 THE OWNER BREEDER

Breton Rock, sourced for €155,000 at the Goffs Foal Sale in 2019 and sold at Arqana for £350,000. And his £210,000 son out of Momentus was well bought for only 48,000gns last December at Tattersalls. Best among the first-season sires was Almanzor, whose five two-year-olds averaged £128,400. All five turned a decent profit on their yearling and foal prices. Darley’s Ribchester was next best with an average of £93,783 for 12 sold. Like Almanzor, buyers like the future potential of Ribchester and though some of his early runners were forward enough to contest Group and Listed races at Royal Ascot, we ought see much more from them as the season progresses. The Coolmore pair of Churchill (£68,518) and Caravaggio (£67,578) were next best among the new sires, followed by Ardad (£42,921), who had 12 winners by the end of Royal Ascot – the most of any British sire this century. Speed counts for much at the breezeup sales and it was therefore no surprise to see multiple juveniles by the likes of Mehmas (36 sold, average £62,420) and Kodiac (19 sold, average £49,816). But two other first-season sires that had more than 20 sell were Cotai Glory and Profitable. Both have got off the mark early with their first runners. Cotai Glory is already into double figures in terms of winners and has three stakes horses, namely Group 3 winner Atomic Force, Coventry Stakes second Eldrickjones and Windsor Castle Stakes runner-up Dig Two. Profitable has done even better, his eight winners to the end of Royal Ascot featuring Quick Suzy, who proved best of the fillies in the Queen Mary Stakes.

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Equine nutrition

Fine BALANCE Regardless of whether it’s a yearling heading to the sales or a staying chaser in training, developing the right feed programme is crucial Words: Martin Stevens

be divided up and fed little and often throughout the day.” When aiming to produce a foal in peak condition to wow potential bidders at the winter sales, we should look for a feed that has a superior quality protein source such as extruded soya bean or soya bean meal, says Fradl. She continues: “This will be important to support growth, development and top-line condition. Oil is often added to improve coat shine and biotin may be added to support hoof quality. “Several vitamins and minerals work in sync to support sound development. These should all be present and carefully

evising a nutritional programme for horses at different stages of their development requires careful balance and planning. From feeding for the sale ring to the racecourse, from Flat sprinters to staying chasers, each will benefit from a particular schedule to maximise performance.

Feeding the commercial foal

Horses in training can benefit from tailored feeding programmes to maximise performance

GOFFS UK/SARAH FARNSWORTH

The feed programme for a foal bound for the sales starts even before they have come into the world, says Connolly’s Red Mills’ senior equine nutritionist Lorraine Fradl. “I always say that feeding starts inutero, where the foal spends 11 months growing stronger and putting down key body structures,” she explains. “When the foal is born, his primary source of nutrition is colostrum followed by milk, and the quality of each is reflective of the dam’s diet. Therefore, your mare’s nutrition during pregnancy and lactation will have a direct impact on this key stage of development.” When sales-bound foals do start showing an interest in solids, Fradl advises that breeders would do well to consider each horse as an individual rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach. “Foals are usually all brought in for sales prep at the same time, when some have been born in early January and others in late May,” she says. “Feeding according to age, type, and body condition will help you get the best out of your foal. “Big, early foals can often become overtopped if fed too strongly and may be better suited to lower feeding rates alongside a stud balancer. Later or more backward foals may benefit from a non-heating, high-calorie feed which can

balanced in good quality stud and prep feeds, so try to avoid adding in lots of additional supplements without consulting your vet or nutritionist first.” Breeders should, of course, be wary of pushing foals while they are still in the very early stages of their physical development, though. “It’s a fine balance between feed and exercise,” says Fradl. “Too much exercise can cause permanent structural damage and soundness issues down the line. Overfeeding calories and under supplying key vitamins and minerals will increase the risk of developmental orthopaedic diseases.

THE OWNER BREEDER

››

TATTERSALLS

Equine nutrition

‘Fit not fat’ - getting the feed programme right can be crucial to a yearling ahead of its date in the sale ring

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“It should be recognised that each foal will be capable of different levels of exercise and equally each foal will have different nutritional requirements based on their age, body condition and stage of development.” All foals should be fed little and often throughout the day, regardless of their body condition, but Fradl says backward foals that need to gain condition should be given a high-calorie, lower starch cooked feed to maximise digestibility and support weight gain. “Prebiotics and probiotics can also be supplemented as another way to increase feed utilisation and support gut health,” she adds. “Fussy eaters may benefit from a B-vitamin supplement to encourage appetite. On the other end, foals that are too keen on their feed should be fed small meals with an obstacle such as a salt rock in their feed pots to slow down feed intake and prevent them bolting their feed.” For foals that are ‘good doers’, it is important to manage their calorie intake without reducing the intake of key micronutrients. “This can be achieved very effectively using a stud balancer,” says Fradl. “Stud balancers have lower feed rates

52 THE OWNER BREEDER

than typical stud feeds but are high in essential amino acids and key vitamins and minerals to support sound growth and development. They can be used as a sole feed or to top up the existing diet.” Breeders with an eye on achieving a beautifully glossy coat for their foal should consider adding additional oils

“Good weight distribution through their bodies is important” rich in omega-3 fatty acids. “Copper deficiencies are common in many areas of Britain and Ireland,” says Fradl. “If the foal has been out on good quality grazing and up until sales prep commencing has required little or no feed, supplementing with a copper paste at the beginning of the prep can help restore reserves and improve tinged coats.

“A worm count and forage analysis may also be useful to rule out parasites and contaminants that can also affect coat condition and thrift.” When the foal gets to the sales, maintaining a sense of regularity is key to minimising the stress of the experience. “Make sure the feed and water pots are clean before using them,” says Fradl. “There’s no need to change your foal’s feeding routine but do ensure you give him enough time to eat his morning feed before showing begins. “Keep meal sizes small and evenly spaced out throughout the day and monitor his water intake. If you’ve travelled from overseas, administer an electrolyte once the foal has arrived and is settled in the sales complex. Always ensure he has access to water.”

Producing the perfect sales yearling

Getting the feed programme right is crucial to a yearling showing itself off to best effect when it gets to the sales, stresses Polly Bonnor, director of thoroughbred nutrition at Saracen Horse Feeds. “As with all youngstock, we’re feeding to show positive progression in body condition and muscle mass,” she says.

TATTERSALLS

“We work hard with the consignors to accentuate the positives and to bring out a yearling’s best features to show that the stallion has stamped his stock as best we can. “We can design a programme to target specific areas of their bodies in different ways to achieve the sleek, racy outline that is expected by utilising suitable combinations of feed materials (carbohydrates, protein, fermentable fibres and oil) and extending the use of those nutrients to add top-line, condition and muscle tone appropriately to the horse’s body. “Using multiple energy sources in a single meal has really helped to streamline feeding practices significantly during sales prep, which is a very intense period in a young horse’s life, when they need maximum support. We’ll make the necessary modifications to the fibre levels fed throughout to help them to cope with their new environment and exercise regime.” There is no how-to manual for feeding yearlings because each individual needs its own tailored programme, which can be modified as necessary. “We take a multi-faceted approach to both the nutrition and exercise programmes planned for each individual so that feed and workload are a good matching pair for each other,” says Bonnor. “Just increasing the hard feed significantly and too quickly won’t give the desired result. Extra care would have to be taken to avoid any compensatory growth spurts, and the way that they are exercised is key. “Our goal is to have the yearlings in the correct shape, body condition and outline to appeal to a wide cross-section of buyers without putting extra strain on immature joints by overworking them or aiming for very high ADGs [average daily gains of bodyweight] just to get them to the sale. “Enough time is needed to cater for a good nutritional environment, and it can also depend on whether we’re dealing with homebreds being prepared by their breeders or if the yearling has arrived with a consignor eight weeks before the sale, when the timeframe to get them ready is much tighter. Selecting the feeds and supplements best suited to these scenarios is really important.” Bonnor says that breeders’ focus should be on the yearling gaining body condition evenly, from front to back with an equal balance. “Good weight distribution through their bodies is important to help them to look stronger and more mature,” she

streamlined shape than others. Some can get too bulky, so their weight gain will have to be controlled, and for those lighter framed individuals who can run up a bit light, we use more fermentable fibre sources as a solution – diets higher in beet pulp, alfalfa or soya hulls, for example.” The ambition should be to take a yearling that looks typical of its sex to the sales, and the feed programme can help here too. “We want to keep fillies looking feminine, and not over muscled, and the colts do need to look like colts,” says Bonnor. “Fit, not fat, is what we’re aiming for – a body condition score of 6 is the ideal maximum for a sales yearling, with enough muscle definition and top-line to suit their gender so that they look fit but not soft.” Nutrition experts will be able to recommend any number of supplements or adjustments to feed that can enhance muscle tone, coat condition, hoof health and so on, but they might also be of assistance for mental issues. “It’s possible to change behaviour by the type of energy that’s fed – modern nutrition really is a balancing act sometimes, and there are some nutritional connections,” says Bonnor. “We’re trying to get maximal performance but at the same time, it’s a balance against behaviour. “Some horses can react adversely to high cereal and starch levels, and are more inclined to show excitable or stressed behaviour. For that type of horse, they can be fed more sympathetically by reducing the starch levels in their feed and raising the fat profile. Utilising a feed low in cereals, or even cereal-free, will alter the horse’s system and make them less reactive and more focused. “These preferred energy sources are highly digestible and tend to be longer lasting as the ingredients are mainly ‘super-fibres’ and oils. If they then have a more even and manageable temperament, that makes handling and educating them much easier for all concerned. “Re-Leve is a cereal-free feed designed specifically to help them to have a calmer demeanour and lower heart rates. It can also be really useful for Polly Bonnor: ‘a body youngsters with physitis, condition score of 6 is as the cereal-free nature the ideal maximum of the feed will support for a yearling’

adds. “It’s always worth assessing the frame size you’re dealing with at the start and feed accordingly; tall, leggy yearlings need to achieve a look of greater depth, and smaller, more compact types need to have a look of greater length. “Using growth monitoring software like Kentucky Equine Research’s Gro-trac programme can be hugely helpful to support their development and to ensure that their growth rates are suitable for their birth date and intended sale date. Spotting changes early can prevent problems later on, and we can be a fresh pair of eyes to make sure that the correct feed is applied at the most opportune moment in their prepping routine.” Nutrition should suit each yearling’s body type, so that a precocious yearling destined to be an early speedball will be fed differently to a later developer who will run over longer distances as a threeand four-year-old. “You have to match the right horse with the right feed,” says Bonnor. “Sprinters will usually muscle easily and can get heavy-topped, so it’s often a matter of toning and tightening them up – holding their condition rather than adding to it too much. Middle-distance types tend to be taller and rangier and their frames take more filling up, so we design programmes with higher oil levels for greater caloric density. “We have the flexibility to tailor their diets, and some yearlings will have a naturally more athletic,

THE OWNER BREEDER 53

››

Equine nutrition ›› rather than aggravate their immature,

active joints and ease pressure on their growth plates.”

The care and attention given to correctly feeding the future equine athlete at the foal and yearling stages will stand it in good stead when it enters training, says Baileys Horse Feeds nutrition adviser Katie Grimwood. She continues: “As the young horse starts to be broken in, a specific prepping feed may be used. These types of feeds will help to maintain condition as their level of exercise starts to increase. They typically contain good levels of oil for supporting slow-release energy as well as producing a fantastic coat shine, along with good levels of quality protein and key nutrients to support continued growth and development. “Lower energy ‘light’ racing feeds may also be used in the pre-training stages and these are formulated for those in early fitness work or on the easy list. It’s important to choose a feed that provides good levels of quality protein to support growth and muscle development, as well as providing controllable calories for the early stages of training. “Once regular canter work has started, it’s then typically recommended to gradually introduce a more energy-dense traditional racing ration, formulated for horses in full training.” Grimwood reiterates our other experts’ exhortations to treat horses as individuals when it comes to nutrition. “A common misconception is that all horses must be fed the same feed, in the same amounts,” she says. “It’s difficult to make generalisations regarding feeding programmes for racehorses, as there is no one single programme or recipe that guarantees success. Feeding racehorses involves a combination of scientific and practical feeding skills and individual requirements definitely come into play. “Both Flat-bred and National Hunt racehorses require enormous amounts of energy to fuel the rapid muscle activity during racing. In addition to meeting the energy demands for the race itself, the horse can expend large amounts of energy when travelling and coping with raceday nerves. “When feeding two- and three-yearold racehorses, allowances must also be made for continued growth and development as well as for performance.” Fully grown horses have their own individual needs, too, Grimwood goes on to say.

54 THE OWNER BREEDER

BAILEYS HORSE FEEDS

Designing the diet of a horse in training

Katie Grimwood: ‘feed horses as individuals’

“Although they aren’t using nutrients for growth, they must still have a diet that meets the demands of performance, provides for the ongoing maintenance of muscle and tissue integrity and repair, guards against fatigue and aids stamina,” she explains. “High energy traditionally comes from carbohydrates – starch and sugars – but, if horses are fed very high carbohydrate diets, there are increased risks of digestive upsets, so other nutritional factors must be taken into consideration. “For example, if the horse is prone to gastric ulcers or muscle disorders like tying up, a more specialist, lower starch ration may be required. As a result, fuelling the equine athlete becomes a delicate balancing of nutrients to provide as much energy as is necessary, while minimising the risk of carbohydrate overload. “Things are further complicated by the fact that not all athletes are created equal, and the metabolic pathways by which a distance horse will fuel his performance can be different from that of a five-furlong sprinter.” Another common error made in feeding horses is to restrict their fibre intake, due to the misapprehension that an increase in gut-fill can reduce performance. “However, fibre is an essential part of the horse’s diet, as it supports the way that the horse has evolved to graze, thereby helping to maintain digestive health,” says Grimwood. “The horse evolved as a trickle feeder, eating little and often throughout the day and gaining the majority of their nutritional needs from the slow digestion of fibre obtained from forages. “The quality of the forage is as

influential on gut-fill as the actual amount fed, so it’s recommended that racehorses should receive high quality forage, which as well as being clean with minimal dust is leafier and softer to the touch and more digestible, so will spend less time in the hindgut, minimising the impact of gut-fill and contributing towards optimum performance.” The right choice of diet for a horse can not only help achieve peak physical condition and general wellbeing, but better behaviour too, as Grimwood goes on to describe. “For those horses that can be a bit too sharp or highly strung, more traditional cereal-based racing rations may be best avoided because cereals like oats, maize and barley are high in starch, which is one of the main sources of energy in the feed,” she says. “Digestion breaks the starch molecule down into separate glucose molecules, which are absorbed straight into the bloodstream in the small intestine. Cereals are therefore known for supplying quick-release energy, as they are easily digested and can be used much quicker than energy from fats and fibre.” Your feed merchant can help advise on products that allow energy to be released to best effect in the highly strung horse. Grimwood says: “Fortunately, there are a number of lower starch racing rations available nowadays, where the energy primarily comes from the inclusion of oils and fibre, with a muchreduced cereal content in contrast to starch and sugar, fats/oils and fibre, and provide more slow-release energy. “This is largely because the structure of fibre is more complex, so it takes longer for the bonds between the molecules to be broken and the fibre to be digested in the hindgut. Similarly, the process of digesting and metabolising oil takes some time so it is also referred to as a slow-release energy source. “These types of feeds are ideal for highly strung types as they still provide the energy requirements for performance, while being less likely to exacerbate excitable temperaments. They’re also preferable for those needing a lower starch ration for clinical reasons – for example, for those prone to gastric ulcers or tying-up.” Breeders and trainers requiring further assistance in formulating feed programmes need look no further than their merchants, who have a wealth of education and experience to draw upon when giving advice.

THE OWNER BREEDER 55

Breeders’ Digest

Nancy Sexton Bloodstock Editor

Year of the homebreds - a Royal Ascot to be savoured

BILL SELWYN

n a year where three British stud farms have already been put on the market, namely Lavington Stud, Fonthill Stud and Soulcombe, where Kirtlington Stud is based, it was heartening to see an array of domestic owner-breeders celebrate success at Royal Ascot. British-breds struck in seven of the Group races staged across the meeting; among the Group 1 scorers were Palace Pier (bred by Highclere Stud and Floors Farming), Oxted (bred by Homecroft Wealth Racing) and Subjectivist, one of three current stakes horses bred by Mascalls Stud out of its high-flying mare Reckoning. Numerically, it was an excellent meeting for Cheveley Park Stud, and poignantly so following the death of its co-owner David Thompson late last year. The Newmarket-based stud was connected to three winners, including as the breeder of Coventry Stakes scorer Berkshire Shadow and owner of Duke Of Cambridge Stakes heroine Indie Angel. Satisfaction will also have been taken from the bold showing of its stallion Mayson as the sire of Oxted and Rohaan, successful in the King’s Stand Stakes and Wokingham Handicap respectively. Mayson also featured as the damsire of Significantly, another successful Cheveley Park Stud graduate who struck

in the Palace Of Holyroodhouse Stakes. For Kirsten Rausing, there was the pride of watching Sandrine, a fourth generation Lanwades Stud homebred, land the Albany Stakes and become the first stakes winner for her resident stallion Bobby’s Kitten. Rausing purchased Sandrine’s fifth dam Sushila in 1976 and starting with the 1985 King George hero Petoski, himself from the first crop of former Lanwades bedrock stallion Niniski, has gone on to breed numerous stakes winners out of the family. “Everything on her catalogue page from top to bottom, we have bred at Lanwades Stud,” said Rausing. “All my animals are homebred, so it gives me tremendous pleasure to keep the continuity.” Meanwhile, Loving Dream’s win in the Ribblesdale Stakes also supplied Trevor and Libby Harris of Lordship Stud with a landmark moment. “We’ve never had a homebred Royal Ascot winner, so that is amazing,” said Libby Harris following the race. “It’s a very, very special moment, it really is.” Loving Dream’s dam Kissable joined the stud in 2013 and had already proven her worth prior to this year as the dam of Amandine, a Grade 1-placed filly in the US. Another foal out of the mare, Spanish Kiss, would also appear to be worth following in light of his impressive win at Newmarket just days after Loving Dream’s Ascot success. The popular success of Quickthorn in the Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes also has his connections hopeful of a successful leap into stakes company. Owner Lady Blyth, who bred the son of Nathaniel out of Daffydowndilly, and trainer Hughie Morrison have had to be patient with the gelding, but with two wins in the bag from as many starts so far this year, are now reaping deserved rewards. Asked to reflect on the meeting’s owner-breeder successes, Lady Blyth commented: “Great - I don’t quite know why, but it’s our year! “It’s different when you have bred them yourself. Absolutely different.” Sandrine: Albany Stakes winner represents multiple generations of breeding by Kirsten Rausing at Lanwades Stud

56 THE OWNER BREEDER

MERCER TRIBUTE

Harbour Watch would be a receding memory for many were it not for his hard-knocking son Pyledriver, who handed Willie Muir and Chris Grassick a popular first Group 1 success in last month’s Coronation Cup. Bought back for 10,000gns as a Tattersalls December foal by breeders Roger Devlin and brothers Guy and Hugh Leach in 2017, Pyledriver is one of the feel good stories of his generation. An important element to the story, however, is the foresight shown by the late Kevin Mercer. A breeder who was no stranger to success at his Usk Valley Stud, he encouraged Devlin and the Leachs to breed from their mare La Pyle following an unproductive spell over hurdles, and recommended sending her to Harbour Watch, then standing at Tweenhills Farm and Stud. The resulting foal was Pyledriver. From market cast off to Group 1 winner, it is a tale that resonates with racing’s audience and one that is made all the more poignant by the involvement of Mercer, who died in the summer of 2017 not long after Pyledriver’s birth. There is no doubt that he would have taken immense satisfaction in the end result, especially as it flies in the face of market fashion. Remarkably, Mercer’s successful association with Harbour Watch doesn’t end there. On the same day that Pyledriver went unsold, Usk Valley offered up another colt by the stallion. The fact that he belonged to the stud’s noted Khubza family made little difference; with Harbour Watch well into cold territory, he sold for just 3,500gns to Lech Racing and Sussex Stud. The horse in question has turned out to be Baron Samedi, whose rapid progression from 65-rated handicapper to Pattern race performer for Joseph O’Brien hit a new high last month with a successful raid on the Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup at Belmont Park. His win came just hours following Pyledriver’s victory in the Coronation Cup and sealed an excellent few hours for the late Harbour Watch. The fact that the pair are two of only four Group winners left behind by the stallion adds further to Mercer’s legacy.

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THE OWNER BREEDER 57

Sales Circuit • By Carl Evans

Records at Arqana as strong breeze-up season closes

A Medaglia d’Oro colt became the most expensive breezer of 2021 at £675,000

visitors to earlier breeze-up auctions this year. There was also pride for Malcolm Bastard, the Wiltshire-based consignor who took charge of the colt following his sale in October for $175,000 at Fasig-Tipton.

ARQANA

Arqana’s breeze-up sale has become number one in Europe, and even the upheaval of moving it yet again from France to Doncaster – and selling in sterling – failed to dent its appeal. Covid caused the switch, and meant some French buyers and vendors were absent, but given that the catalogue was dominated by consignors based in Ireland – who were prepared to travel to France – the move to Yorkshire had little impact. It was the second time Doncaster had been used for the event, which in 2020 shared a July 1 date with Goffs UK’s breeze-up sale. The figures proved a triumph for Arqana, which recorded a record aggregate equivalent to just over €15 million, a median fractionally over €100,000 and an average of more than €140,000. Freddy Powell, Executive Director of Arqana, acknowledged that vendors had “been amazing to adapt again”, not least when you consider the value of their stock and the need to keep horses at a fitness pitch suitable for breezing. Powell’s company could also take pride in selling the year’s top breezer, a £675,000 colt by Medaglio d’Oro, to Godolphin, the world’s biggest racing and breeding empire but cautious

ARQANA

Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale

Bought for £45,000 as a yearling, this Ribchester filly resold for £590,000

58 THE OWNER BREEDER

No fewer than three sons of Darley America stallion Medaglia d’Oro reached the top ten board, and three other horses breached the half-million pounds mark, including fillies by Ribchester (£590,000) and Night Of Thunder (£500,000). The first-named was sold to Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown having been offered by John Cullinan and Roger Marley, who bought her for £45,000 at last year’s Goffs UK Premier Sale, while the Yeomanstown Stud team behind the Night Of Thunder filly had bought her back for 50,000gns at the Tattersalls October Book 2 Sale. That decision looked uber-shrewd after Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock brought the hammer down at a ten-fold higher price, buying her for German-based racehorse owner Jurgen Sartori who will send her to Andreas Suborics. Completing the £500,000-plus lots was a Kingman colt who rewarded a lumpy 340,000gns investment in him as a foal when selling for £500,000 from Grove Stud. Singaporean racehorse owner Kuldeep Singh was the buyer.

Arqana May Breeze-Up Sale Top lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

C Medaglia d’Oro – Shelbysmile

Malcolm Bastard

675,000

Godolphin

F Ribchester - Cheap Thrills

Church Farm & Horse Park Stud

590,000

Blandford Bloodstock

C Kingman – Monami

Grove Stud

500,000

Kuldeep Singh

F Night Of Thunder – Catchline

Yeomanstown Stud

500,000

Blandford Bloodstock

C Dubawi - All At Sea

Oak Tree Farm

480,000

Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock

C Lope De Vega - Anna’s Rock

Mocklershill

350,000

Stroud Coleman

C Medaglia d’Oro – Paige

Gaybrook Lodge Stud

325,000

Voute Sales/Nawara (P/S)

C Medaglia d’Oro - Crowley’s Law

Grove Stud

315,000

BBA Ireland

C No Nay Never - Mona Vale

Grove Stud

300,000

Elliott & McCalmont

C Distorted Humor - Listen

Church Farm & Horse Park Stud

260,000

Peter & Ross Doyle Bloodstock

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Average (€)

Median (€)

Top price (€)

2021

108

15,171,100

140,473

101,500

783,000

2020

9,754,670

152,417

83,600

715,000

2019

119

15,046,000

129,798

75,000

1,100,000

Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale

TATTERSALLS IRELAND

Moving this sale back ten days and relocating to Newmarket did it no harm. The changes, brought about by ongoing Covid-related travel restrictions in Ireland, mirrored events in 2020, but vendors and buyers were unfazed and some corking results were achieved from a bigger catalogue. Of 193 lots who walked the ring, just 17 failed to find a buyer, achieving a superb clearance rate of 91%, up from the very worthy 2020 figure of 85%. The average of just over £32,000 was a 22% rise while the median gained four per cent. That average increase – and a hefty

TATTERSALLS IRELAND

Sold in the ring for a sale-topping £410,000, this Dark Angel colt was later resold privately

Alex Elliott: stepped in to purchase the sale-topper on behalf of Amo Racing

71% rise in turnover to £6,539,427 – was achieved with some impressive topend prices, most providing yearling pinhookers with substantial returns on their investment. None were greater than the Dark Angel colt bought for €6,000 at Arqana in October, and whose value on this occasion soared to £410,000, a record for the sale and a remarkable pinhook in any market. Consigned by Justin Timmons and Danny O’Donovan of

Dolmen Bloodstock for his yearling buyers Jerry Horan and Katharina Irmer, the horse at the centre of this epic piece of trade was knocked down to Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, who said William Haggas would train the youngster for an unnamed client. However, a week later it was announced the sale had fallen through, only to be scooped up by agent Alex Elliott, who had been underbidder in the ring at £400,000 on behalf of

THE OWNER BREEDER 59

››

Sales Circuit undisclosed deal had been agreed under Tattersalls Ireland terms and the colt had become Amo Racing’s property. Elliott was also responsible for purchasing a daughter of Bated Breath who at £240,000 headed the sale’s list of fillies. She had been bought for 30,000gns by Brendan Holland of Grove Stud at Tattersalls’ October Book 2 Sale, while fellow pinhooker Johnny Collins of Brown Island Stables landed a nice touch when selling a Belardo colt for £185,000 having bought him for £40,000 at last year’s Goffs Orby Sale in Doncaster. The Belardo colt’s buyer was Curragh trainer Michael O’Callaghan, whose bold approach to buying breezers this year has included the £210,000 Twilight Son colt who jointly headed the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale. Subsequently named Twilight Jet, he has since won at Tipperary and was just two-and-a-half lengths behind winner Perfect Power in the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot. Another £185,000 sale revolved around a Dark Angel colt out of Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Jet Setting. Curiously, the same horse had failed

TATTERSALLS IRELAND

›› Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing. An

Alex Elliott signed at £240,000 for this Bated Breath filly, a 30,000gns yearling pinhook

to pass £150,000 when unsold at the previous week’s Arqana May Sale in Doncaster, but a better breeze in Newmarket prompted Adam Driver to step up to the plate and the colt changed hands, leaving Star Bloodstock in the process. Helped by the top lot, Dolmen Bloodstock headed the consignors, selling four lots for £543,000, while

Blandford Bloodstock was the leading buyer, being listed as the purchasers of seven lots worth a total of £787,000. Ireland has not staged a breeze-up sale since this event was moved from Goresbridge to Fairyhouse and staged by Tattersalls’ Irish division in 2019, but in his closing statement the company’s CEO, Simon Kerins, reiterated it would be back on home soil in 2022.

Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale Top lots Name/age/sex/breeding

Vendor

C Dark Angel - Venturous Spirit

Dolmen Bloodstock

Price (£)

F Bated Breath - Polar Circle

Grove Stud

C Belardo - Prudent Approach

Brown Island Stables

185,000

Michael O’Callaghan

C Dark Angel - Jet Setting

Star Bloodstock

185,000

Global Equine Consultant Services

C Point Of Entry - Cynical Storm

Church Farm & Horse Park Stud

160,000

Blandford Bloodstock

400,000* 240,000

Buyer Blandford Bloodstock Alex Elliott, agent

* later resold privately to Alex Elliott after sale fell through Figures Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Average (€)

Median (€)

Top price (€)

2021

176

6,539,427

37,156

22,989

478,238

2020

125

3,816,490

30,532

21,978

256,678

2019

179

5,010,500

27,992

18,000

175,000

Goffs UK Spring Store Sale

Record average and median prices at this two-day sale of store horses in Doncaster underlined the popularity of jump racing and the pinhooking of young jumpers. Similar strength was to be witnessed at Goffs’ Land Rover Sale as buyers tucked in to the three-year-old fledgling jumpers on offer. Some were destined for racehorse owners who would

60 THE OWNER BREEDER

place them with trainers, others fell to pinhookers who were eyeing a point-topoint or bumper run before re-offering their purchases next year or in 2023. The result was an overall clearance rate at this event of 83% and an average in excess of £32,000, up 21% on the 2019 sale. The median gained 29%. Last year’s sale had to be postponed due to Covid, and took place in August when it was rolled into a three-day

auction including Derby and Land Rover Sale horses – who could not be travelled to Ireland – plus August Sale stores. That the 2021 sale could take place on schedule and at its venue of choice was a big step towards normality, although some Covid restrictions were still in place. The catalogue may also have benefited from a few Derby and Land Rover horses who were instead sent to Doncaster to sell while the

GOFFS UK

opportunity arose, rather than risk being sidelined by another Covid flare-up. Either way, a market which saw 41 horses sell for £50,000-plus had clearly moved up a gear from two years ago when 21 horses achieved such a valuation. Four horses made six figures, headed by a Kayf Tara gelding offered by Lulham Bloodstock’s father-anddaughter team of George and Libby Snell. They are neighbours of breeder Scarlett Knipe, who sold them the gelding after he had failed to change hands as a foal at the Tattersalls December Sale in 2018. Assuming they bought him for a sum similar to the 28,000gns at which he was led out unsold from the ring, there was a superb profit for the Snells when agent Tom Malone and trainer Paul Nicholls combined to purchase him for £165,000. Malone and Nicholls also gained a

At £165,000, this Kayf Tara gelding headed the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale

£150,000 son of Mount Nelson offered by Johnny Collins of Brown Island Stables, while agent Aiden Murphy lifted sons of Kayf Tara (bought for £100,000)

and Saint Des Saints (for £105,000). The first-named was bought in partnership with his son Olly while the second was for Kim Bailey.

GOFFS UK

TALKING POINT

George and Libby Snell: sold the saletopper, having purchased him as a foal

• While sage minds question British racing’s future and position on the world stage due to the lack of prize-money, the talent keeps coming. Further evidence arose at this sale when trainers Simon Earle and Nick Mitchell secured high-value stores. Not that the purchase of a horse proves much about an industry’s health, for the two men might have been buying to sell, which at present seems to be the most common way an owner can find a profit out of British racing. However, Earle’s £80,000 Walk In The Park filly and Mitchell’s £70,000 Soldier Of Fortune gelding were destined for careers in yards which they are developing, including the building of new stables and gallops. Earle is based in Wiltshire and Mitchell in Dorset. Mitchell’s yard and its expansion is being funded by racehorse owner Syd Hosie, who heads a drainage and utilities business, while Earle said his filly would race “for some people who live near my yard and are new to racing”.

Goffs UK Spring Store Sale Top lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

G Kayf Tara - Gaye Sophie

Lulham Bloodstock

165,000

Tom Malone/Paul Nicholls

G Mount Nelson – Eoz

Brown Island Stables

150,000

Tom Malone/Paul Nicholls

G Saint Des Saints - Nomad Attitude

Rathmore Stud

105,000

Aiden Murphy/Kim Bailey

F Kayf Tara - Whoops A Daisy

Goldford Stud

100,000

Olly Murphy/Aiden Murphy

G Montmartre - Vista Palma

Oak Tree Farm

95,000

Ian Ferguson

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

Top price (£)

2021

225

7,215,500

32,069

26,000

165,000

179

4,737,800

26,468,

21,000

105,000

2020 No comparable sale 2019

THE OWNER BREEDER

››

Sales Circuit Following on from its sale of stores, Goffs UK’s Doncaster venue staged its traditional end-of-the-jumps season opportunity to shift jumpers and pointto-pointers. The results were little short of remarkable given the way Covid continues its march around the globe, but less so when put against other healthy bloodstock sale results in all sectors of the market. Comparisons with last year were not made, for the sale had been delayed until August and involved a single session mixed up with some stores, but when set against the 2019 edition the figures looked particularly good. The latest median price gained 23% at £12,250 while the average price was up two per cent at £23,169. That average rise may be small, but when you consider the top price at this sale was £195,000, while five horses made more than £200,000 in 2019 – when the 28-strong Grech and Parkin dispersal was a notable element – the gain is notable. Add in that the top price two years ago was the remarkable sum of £620,000, a world record for a jumper in training, and the small increase in average at this sale gains importance. Turnover of £6,348,200 was also up – garnered from 296 offered lots, of which 274 were sold – and the largest sum since 2007 when 763 horses were offered and the average price was £16,000. Four-year-old filly Happy D’Ex, a winning point-to-pointer offered by County Wexford trainer Denis Murphy, headed trade when selling to agent Aidan O’Ryan and trainer Gordon Elliott for £195,000. Elliott has been restocking ahead of his return to racing following suspension, and while a number of recent

GOFFS UK

Goffs UK HIT and P2P Sale

Winning pointer Happy D’Ex will join Gordon Elliott after selling for £195,000

purchases have been for his committed owners Noel and Valerie Moran of Bective Stud, Happy D’Ex was secured for KTDA Racing, aka Dave Page and Dave Rabson, the owners of this year’s Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase winner Mount Ida. A €57,000 Land Rover Sale purchase who had won on debut at Dromahane, Happy D’Ex led a string of profitable pinhooks from the pointing field. The Player Queen, a £12,000 Spring Sale store, became another when selling to trainer Rose Dobbin for £140,000, although her route to the ring also involved a Cheltenham bumper win. After winning her point-to-point debut for Shropshire trainer Mel Rowley at a track in Gloucestershire in October, she was led from the ring unsold at Goffs UK’s November Sale when bidding halted at £42,000. Rowley subsequently gained a licence, ran the five-year-old in the aforementioned bumper, and when she

ran out an impressive winner, her return to a Goffs UK ring proved a far more profitable affair. The pick on price among older horses who have been running under Rules was Hold The Note, part of a small draft owned by Tim Radford and consigned from Mick Channon’s stable. Hold The Note realised £130,000 when bought by veteran owner Brian Jordan, who said Scottish borders trainer Alistair Whillans would be the seven-year-old’s new trainer. Radford’s better-known chaser Mister Whitaker, a regular on the big stage, could be heading for the biggest – the Grand National – after selling to Donald McCain for £70,000, following which it was revealed that Radford and his son Harry are in the process of creating a new stud in Lincolnshire with the aim of breeding jumpers and racing fillies. Another grain of positive news for the industry.

Goffs UK HIT and P2P Sale Top lots Name/age/sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Happy D’Ex 4 f Saddler Maker - Soiree D’Ex

Ballyboy Stables (Denis Murphy)

195,000

Aidan O’Ryan/Gordon Elliott

The Player Queen 5 m Yeats - Seductive Dance

Poplar Cottage Stables (Phil Rowley)

140,000

Gerry Hogan/Rose Dobbin

Hold The Note 7 g Jeremy - Keys Hope

West Ilsley Stables (Mick Channon)

130,000

Brian Jordan

Constitution Hill 4 g Blue Bresil - Queen Of The Stage

Bernice Stables (Warren Ewing)

120,000

Seven Barrows

Super Survivor 5 g Shantou - All The Best Mate

Monbeg Stables (Donnchadh Doyle)

115,000

Buyer

Tom Malone/Jamie Snowden

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

Top price (£)

2021

274

6,348,200

23,169

12,250

195,000

2020

304

5,908,850

19,437

14,000

400,000

2019

405

9,143,400

22,700

10,000

620,000

62 THE OWNER BREEDER

Call Her Now: winning relative of Denman headed proceedings at £240,000

Ffos Las before his ring appearance. The five-year-old son of Yorgunnabelucky was described by buyer David Minton as “a big old-fashioned type who could make a helluva chaser”. Eckley, who farms and trains horses from a base in the Brecon Beacons, suffered a heavy fall while riding out in January, and while reluctant to go into hospital eventually relented and spent three days in intensive care. He said: “There was a lot of Covid about at the time and people were dying around me.” Fortunately the genial Eckley did not succumb, and having recovered his health, he has a Proconsul three-yearold half-brother to Timeforatune who is his next project. In a world of rapid change and a narrowing of the power

base it is uplifting to think that a permit holder from a rural backwater can still box among the big boys.

TATTERSALLS CHELTENHAM

This event, held in Newmarket due to Covid restrictions, provided point-topoint trainers with a chance to clear horses with recent form before the summer recess. All but four of the 56 offered lots came from the pointing field, and of those 48 were travelled in from Ireland. The journey proved well worthwhile, as a 95% clearance rate (53 sales) confirms. Trade was headed by the four-yearold filly Call Her Now, whose sale for £240,000 helped turnover reach a figure of £2,923,000, a rise of 24% on the same auction in 2019. The average price of just over £55,000 was up eight per cent, while the median lost one per cent at £45,000. Call Her Now was offered by Monbeg Stables’ Cormac Doyle, who bought her privately from Kieran Cotter as a three-year-old and travelled her from his County Wexford yard to Necarne in Northern Ireland to win a point-to-point on debut. The fact that she was a close relative of Gold Cup winner Denman, who like her was by Presenting, added to her appeal, and she was knocked down to Andrew Hickman on behalf of a client of Lorna and Harry Fowler’s Rahinston Stud. Denis Murphy, who sold Happy D’Ex for £195,000 at the Goffs UK Spring Sale, was back on the leaderboard at this event when trading his Tralee maiden point winner City Chief for £210,000 to a client of Nicky Henderson, while Welsh farmer and permit holder Brian Eckley enjoyed the £175,000 sale of his homebred bumper winner Timeforatune, who romped in at

TATTERSALLS CHELTENHAM

Tattersalls Cheltenham May Sale

The Highflyer Bloodstock team were leading buyers, spending £500,000

Tattersalls Cheltenham May Sale Top lots Name/age/sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

Call Her Now 4 f Presenting – Denwoman

Monbeg Stables (Cormac Doyle)

240,000

Rahinston Stud

City Chief 4 g Soldier Of Fortune - Galant Ferns

Ballyboy Stables (Denis Murphy)

210,000

Highflyer Bloodstock

Timeforatune 5 g Yorgunnabelucky – Timeforagin

Closcedi Farm (Brian Eckley)

175,000

Highflyer Bloodstock

Pimlico Point 4 g Flemensfirth - Royale Flag

Milestone Stables (Colin Bowe)

160,000

Kerry Lee

Knowsley Road 4 g Flemensfirth - Rowanville Lady

Milestone Stables (Colin Bowe)

135,000

Tom Malone/Paul Nicholls

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

Top price (£)

2021

2,923,000

55,151

45,000

240,000

2,341,000

50,891

45,500

170,000

2020 No sale 2019

THE OWNER BREEDER 63

››

Sales Circuit

This Shantou gelding will carry the colours of Bective Stud after selling for €230,000

As ever the buyers were a mix of pinhookers looking to buy a future pointer or bumper horse to spin back

GOFFS

Upping the ante, Goffs chose to make this two-part auction of unbroken store horses a three-day affair, and it rose to the challenge. The bigger catalogue led to record turnover – in excess of €16m – at the two-sessions which comprised Part 1, but despite no fewer than 112 more horses than in 2019, the clearance rate of 88% was two points higher. Not surprisingly the average and median prices – €46,282 and €40,000 respectively – were up on the disrupted 2020 sale’s returns, but they were down four per cent and 11% on the 2019 figures. Part II’s catalogue was reduced in size, with 61 fewer lots than in 2019, but the 118 sales from 160 lots was a clearance rate of 74%, down six points on the figure achieved two years ago. On that evidence the buyers loved the quality at Part 1 rather more than the lesser horses available at Part II.

GOFFS

Goffs Land Rover Sale

JJ (left) and Dick Frisby of Glenwood Stud with their €230,000 Walk In The Park gelding

into a ring over the next two years, and end-users looking to buy a racehorse. Into the latter category dropped the top lot after Eddie O’Leary lowered the gavel for a son of Shantou with a bid of €230,000 on behalf of Bective Stud’s Noel and Valerie Moran. Gordon Elliott will train the youngster – a full-brother to the very talented jumping mare Airlie Beach – who was consigned by Peter Nolan. The Morans are not the only married couple who have emerged as significant buyers of talented jumping stock in the past couple of years. Andy and Gemma Brown, property and groundwork specialists who head the Stoke-onTrent-based Caldwell Construction, have horses in training on both sides of the Irish Sea. Their purchases at this sale included geldings by Walk In The Park for €220,000 and Martaline for €200,000, and a €150,000 Champs Elysees filly. All three were bought in partnership with Joey Logan and are likely to join Gordon Elliott’s burgeoning string of young talent.

Goffs Land Rover Sale Top lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (€)

Buyer

G Shantou - Screaming Witness

Peter Nolan Bloodstock

230,000

Bective Stud

G Walk In The Park - Tempest Belle

Glenwood Stud

220,000

Andy & Gemma Brown/Joey Logan

G Martaline – Matnie

Sluggara Farm

200,000

Andy & Gemma Brown/Joey Logan

G Milan - Beautiful War

Kilmoney Cottage Stud

165,000

Tom Malone/Paul Nicholls

F Champs Elysees – Wurfklinge

Peter Nolan Bloodstock

150,000

Andy & Gemma Brown/Joey Logan

G Authorized - Leah Claire

Brown Island Stables

145,000

Michael Shefflin/Paul Holden

G Camelot - Septembers Hawk

Ballincurrig House Stud

145,000

Michael Shefflin/Paul Holden

64 THE OWNER BREEDER

The top ten board developed quite a distinctive look for it was dominated numerically by the Brown/Logan duopoly and the team of Paul Holden and Michael Shefflin, pinhookers who traded Douvan’s brother Jonbon for a point-to-point record £570,000 at Goffs

singled out leading buyers David Minton, Anthony Bromley and Tessa Greatrex of Highflyer Bloodstock for their contribution to the sale – 42 lots for €2,093,000 – while Peter Nolan led consignors with 32 sales for just over €1.5m.

UK’s November Yorton Sale. Geldings by Authorized and Camelot who realised €145,000 were the pick of the Holden/ Shefflin trio of top-ten buys, the pair set to join Holden’s trainer/daughter Ellmarie at her Kilkenny yard. Goffs Group CEO Henry Beeby

Figures Part 1 Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Average (€)

Median (€)

Top price (€)

2021

354

16,346,500

46,282

40,000

230,000

2020

189

7,956,500

42,098

36,000

185,000

2019

242

11,709,500

48,386

45,000

185,000

Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Average (€)

Median (€)

Top price (€)

2021

118

1,953,300

16,553

15,000

65,000

2020

117

1,850,000

15,812

14,000

43,000

2019

177

3,602,500

20,353

17,000

90,000

Figures Part 2

This was Tattersalls’ fourth online sale and it produced a personal best for the sales company when trading Classical Wave for 240,000gns. That was the best result to date for a colt or gelding in training, second only to the £420,000 gained for the three-year-old filly West End Girl at the first, exclusively-online sale, held in June last year (an event where trade was conducted in pounds). Classical Wave, a four-year-old son of Gleneagles, was knocked down to Oliver St Lawrence on behalf of Bahrain’s Fawzi Nass, although he was subsequently registered as being owned by his countryman, Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad al Khalifa, who

TALKING POINT

TATTERSALLS

Tattersalls May Online

Oliver St Lawrence: bid 240,000gns for Classical Wave on behalf of Fawzi Nass

• The first Tattersalls online sale was held 12 months ago – in the midst of the Covid pandemic – and was titled the ‘Ascot June Sale’. That sale is back in the schedule (June 29), but there is no mention of Ascot, raising questions as to whether that Berkshire venue will ever be revived for bloodstock sales. Tattersalls has made no specific statement on the matter. Popular with vendors in several areas of the market, it appeared to be in good health after being acquired by Tattersalls several years ago, and its early breeze-up sale held in May and September yearling sale achieved good racecourse results. No less importantly, Ascot had provided vendors and buyers of inexpensive jumpers and pointers – particularly those from southern and West Country yards – with a platform over many decades before Tattersalls took over. Should Ascot not return what would be the future for selling such horses? Online? To Doncaster? Or will another auctioneering company see it as an opportunity to take a toehold on the bloodstock market?

had placed him in training with Roger Varian. The sale of Classical Wave reaped a ten-fold pinhook profit for Charlie Pigram and James Clutterbuck, who had bought him at last year’s July Sale out of Henri-Francois Devin’s stable and sent him to Peter Charalambous’s yard. From there he won twice and was second twice (on one occasion disqualified from first for interference), his rating leaping from a mark of 70 to 91. Of 26 lots offered 19 found a buyer, a clearance rate of 73% which has to be classed as very satisfactory for a type of sale which is finding its feet. They don’t suit everyone, but they do seem to appeal to international buyers, the top lot’s sale being an example, for he was knocked down to MiddleEastern interests with Australians as underbidders. However, the six-year-old Getaway mare Vegas Blue went the way of an Irish buyer in the shape of Kieran Mariga of Coolmara Stables in County Cork. Mariga and his son Cathal are clearly comfortable with the online process for they gave £125,000 for the mare Buck’s Bee at Goffs UK’s January Online auction. Vegas Blue had the form in the book while racing for Nicky Henderson and she came with a Nathaniel cover and a winning pedigree – with that sort of profile she could be traded at any type of sale.

››

THE OWNER BREEDER 65

Sales Circuit Tattersalls May Online Top lots Name/age/sex/breeding

Vendor

Classical Wave 4 g Gleneagles - Very Good News

Highfield Bloodstock

Price (gns)

Vegas Blue 6 m Getaway - Bella Venezia

Crimbourne Bloodstock

240,000

Buyer Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock

75,000

Coolmara Stable

Moneykenny 3 g Kendargent - Divine Touch

Park House Stables (Andrew Balding)

26,000

Olly Murphy Racing

Cover Drive 3 c Mukhadram - Perfect Cover

Park House Stables (Andrew Balding)

20,000

Valfredo Valiani

Stardayz 3 f Camelot - Red Avis

Baroda Stud

19,500

Charlestown Racing

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (gns)

Average (gns)

Median (gns)

Top price (gns)

2021

493,800

25,989

10,500

240,000

Goffs London Sale

While some sales have coped with the vicissitudes of Covid implications, this one is yearning for a return to normality. Created as an eve-of-Royal Ascot garden party in 2014, it sailed from harbour in flamboyant style on its maiden voyage, when 51 lots were offered and £7m was turned over. As a branding exercise for Goffs and the bespoke sponsors who backed the event it was a winner, the location of Kensington Palace Gardens clearly adding an element of kudos, and the alignment with the royal meeting gave the date a focus. For overseas visitors to the races it was a natural stoppingoff point and several impromptu purchases were made accordingly. By 2019 it had evolved into a smaller catalogue, shorn of the breezers who had bulked up the event in the early days, concentrating on horses in training, and securing ten sales from 22 lots at an aggregate of just over £3m.

In 2020 it was a high-profile casualty of Covid, and the latest rendition comprised just 11 lots who were offered at an online event, cleverly choreographed by Goffs with Henry Beeby doing the selling and Nick Nugent analysing each lot with tipster Kevin Blake. All the horses had form and Royal Ascot entries, but just three found a buyer. Clearly the goal of returning to a live auction in London could not be more desirable, and while Goffs Group CEO Beeby was pleased to offer clients a chance to sell Royal Ascot horses, he said: “Of course next year we hope and pray to be back in the beautiful setting of Kensington Palace Gardens, sipping Chateau Léoube and rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of international thoroughbred racing.” Goffs had nothing like the overheads it would have incurred in running a bloodstock auction in central London, and the trio who sold turned over £680,000. Ironically they were headed

by a horse purchased with a jumping career in mind by a new client of Cheshire trainer Ollie Greenall named Steven Beetham. Greenall and Dan Astbury teamed up to buy Zinc White, a three-year-old son of Vadamos, winner of two races this year for Ralph Beckett’s stable and bought with a Queen’s Vase entry. He skipped that engagement to be given a summer holiday and a career over hurdles later this year. Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International bought trainer John Quinn’s dual two-year-old winner Tipperary Sunset for £200,000, while Johnny McKeever secured threeyear-old Military Mission with a bid of £170,000 on behalf of leading Australian trainer Gai Waterhouse and her colleague Adrian Bott. Three days later their horse was saddled by Hugo Palmer and finished fifth of 17 runners in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot, beaten one and a half lengths by the winner Surefire.

Goffs London Sale Sold lots Name/age/sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

Zinc White 3 g Vadamos – Chinese White

Kimpton Down Stables (Ralph Beckett)

310,000

Dan Astbury/Oliver Greenall

Tipperary Sunset 2 c Ardad – Cherubic Bellwood

Cottage Stables (John Quinn)

Military Mission 3 g Mastercraftsman – Atlantic Isle

Kremlin Cottage (Hugo Palmer)

200,000 170,000

Mandore International McKeever/Waterhouse/Bott

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

Top price (£)

2021

680,000

226,667

200,000

310,000

3,150,000

315,000

332,500

520,000

2020 No sale 2019

66 THE OWNER BREEDER

Happy birthday, GBB! One year down and already £2.5 million in bonuses It has been a whirlwind few months with sales, bonuses and birthdays. We have paid out £2.5 million in bonuses in just 12 months. These have gone to 136 fillies, including 25 multiple-bonus winners. When we break it down, that’s 101 breeders, 110 owners, 68 trainers, 84 jockeys and 68 stable staff teams. Recent successes include our 100th winner on the Flat, COUP DE FORCE, who secured a bonus at Chepstow for her owner/breeder/trainer Stuart Kittow. And already this season, two fillies – BELLARENA LADY (trained by Ed Dunlop) and ELLADE (Mark Johnston) – have landed two bonus wins each. Of course, it’s not all about the bonuses; the scheme supports British breeders. We are starting to see some excellent results in the sales ring. GBB-registered fillies sold for an average of 40% more than non-registered fillies at the Goffs Spring Store Sale. Now I am permanently based with the TBA, if you ever have any questions or queries about GBB, please do not hesitate to contact me. Charlie Newton, operations executive

2021 foal registration opens 15th July 2021 GBB Jumps winners:

GBB Jumps bonus payments:

GBB Flat winners:

100

£880,500

GBB Flat bonus payments:

Total bonus payments:

£2,538,500

£1.658m

Could GBB surprise you too? We have been using GBB as a tool to try to sell horses. It’s early days, but people are really latching on to how they can benefit from it. I’ve had emails from breeders for whom we’ve won bonuses and, because they are beginning to win something, it’s starting to snowball. It’s reached the stage where you almost wouldn’t look at a filly that doesn’t have GBB registration, because you’d be missing out on a huge gap in the market. George Boughey, winner-a-minute trainer. Trained two multiple-bonus winners, including BEAUTIFUL SUNSHINE who is aimed at Ascot.

Climbing the mountain Flat bonuses won Charlie Appleby

Mark Johnston

Karl Burke John Gosden Ralph Beckett Roger Varian William Haggas Bryan Smart Hugo Palmer David O’Meara

Jumps bonuses won

For more information on eligibility, visit greatbritishbonus.co.uk TBA GBB TOB Mailers A4_July.indd 1

8 7 6

Fergal O’Brien Harry Fry Alan King

Dan Skelton Lucy Wadham

Ian Wiliams Jamie Snowden Henry Daly

Information correct at time of going to press

16/06/2021 13:00

Caulfield Files

Galileo never far away as Epsom Classics add gloss to proven nicks Approach. Then there’s Mac Swiney, the Irish 2,000 Guineas hero whose sire is Galileo’s son New Approach and dam a daughter of Teofilo, another of Galileo’s champion sons. Only the 1,000 Guineas and its French equivalent escaped the Galileo clan’s grasp. The fact that Mac Swiney is inbred 2 x 3 to the 12-time champion sire will no doubt ease any fears that breeders might have of inbreeding to Galileo, as will the 2021 Group success of Night Of Thunder’s daughter Thunder Kiss, who is inbred 3 x 3. These two come from little more than 50 runners with two lines of Galileo. Adayar’s victory means that Frankel’s first five crops have produced winners of the Derby, Oaks and St Leger, and he is also sire of winners of the Japanese Oaks and Australian Oaks. Adayar’s win also points to the potential of Frankel’s partnership with daughters of Dubawi, which combines the two most successful British-based stallions of the Pattern-race era. We have already seen Dubawi’s association with Galileo’s daughters produce the likes of Night Of Thunder, Ghaiyyath, Dartmouth, Thunder Drum, Secret Advisor, Mashael, UAE Jewel and Nashirah, giving this Dubawi/Galileo cross eight black-type winners from its first 51 runners. Now Dubawi’s daughters are shining with two of Galileo’s champion sons, coincidentally both out of Danehill mares. Teofilo has done extremely well with these Dubawi mares, siring several good winners with high Racing Post ratings, including Tantheem (118), Festive Force (114), Mildenberger (113), Dubai Fountain

BILL SELWYN

Adayar: a first Derby winner for Frankel

BILL SELWYN

ack in 1963, as an impressionable schoolboy, I was left wondering whether Classics were always going to be won so easily, after Relko stormed home six lengths clear in a 26-runner Derby and Noblesse was even more impressive in the Oaks two days later. The Irish-trained filly cantered home by a ten-length margin which her rider claimed she could easily have doubled. Of course, I soon learned that performances of this quality were rather unusual, but we were treated to two more imperious displays in this year’s Epsom Classics, with Snowfall rewriting the record books with her 16-length trouncing of the opposition in the Oaks, a day before Adayar took the Derby by four and a half lengths. In between the two Classics, ITV aired a tribute to Galileo and the Derby in which Aidan O’Brien described the 2001 winner as “the ultimate racehorse, the ultimate stallion and he’s the ultimate influence on pedigrees and will be for a long, long time, for generations and generations.” Although Galileo failed to add to his tally of five Derby winners this year, he has continued to exert a major impact on 2021’s major European Classics. Snowfall is out of a daughter of Galileo, whereas Adayar was sired by Frankel, Galileo’s most extraordinary son. Another daughter of Galileo is responsible for St Mark’s Basilica, winner of both the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and Prix du Jockey-Club Galileo is himself the sire of Empress Josephine, winner of the Irish 1,000 Guineas, and Joan Of Arc, winner of the Prix de Diane, while 2,000 Guineas winner Poetic Flare is by Galileo’s grandson Dawn

Anna Salai (second left) fell only a nose short of Bethrah in the 2010 Irish 1,000 Guineas

68 THE OWNER BREEDER

(111), Without A Fight (111) and Key Victory (109). These six very useful performers come from a sample of 11 winners from 13 starters. Although Frankel began his stallion career five years after Teofilo, he too has had 13 runners out of Dubawi mares, with Adayar following the Jebel Hatta winner Dream Castle as the partnership’s second Group 1 scorer. The small sample also includes Mostahdaf, who was winning for the third time in as many starts when he landed the Heron Stakes in May. Mostahdaf was also running well in the St James’s Palace Stakes when badly hampered. Frankel has no fewer than 13 northern hemisphere 2021 two-year-olds out of daughters of Dubawi, including Dream Castle’s sister With The Moonlight, so there must be a good chance of further good winners from this cross. There are also seven yearlings bred this way, including a brother to Adayar and fillies out of those high-class racemares Sobetsu and Left Hand. Needless to say, the Godolphin-bred Adayar is also out of a very talented racemare in Anna Salai, who looked to have the 2010 Irish 1,000 Guineas in her pocket until Bethrah’s late lunge denied her victory. That edition of the Irish 1,000 Guineas acts as a reminder that breeders should strive to acquire fillies which possessed a lot of talent. The first five fillies crossed the line separated by a total of less than a length and among them were three who have gone on to produce at least one Classic winner. In addition to Anna Salai they were Lillie Langtry, dam of 1,000 Guineas and Oaks heroine Minding

and this year’s Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Empress Josephine, and Remember When, dam of the unexpected 2020 Derby winner Serpentine. Of course access to stallions like Galileo and Frankel also helps! Adayar owed his Derby success partly to his superior stamina, which no doubt stems from his third dam Anna Of Saxony, who shared the same sire – Ela-Mana-Mou – as those grand stayers Double Trigger, Snurge and Double Eclipse. Anna Of Saxony stayed well enough to win the Park Hill Stakes. However, with Dubawi and Caerleon as the sires of his first two dams, there is no reason why Adayar shouldn’t continue to shine at a mile and a half. Remember, his sire never tackled more than a mile and a quarter and his dam appeared best at a mile. Moving on to Snowfall, this exciting filly is another who demonstrates the value of first-rate bloodlines. Not only was her dam Best In The World a Group 3 winner over a mile and a half, in the Give Thanks Stakes, but Best In The World is also a sister to the Arc-winning Found and to two other talented fillies in Divinely and Magical Dream. It was Divinely who filled a remote third place behind her relative in the Oaks. It is hard to imagine that Red Evie, the dam of this distinguished collection, started at 100-1 when she made little show on her only juvenile start. Fortunately, her second season was very different and she was winning for the seventh consecutive time when she used her impressive

“Deep Impact has five blacktype winners out of Galileo mares” acceleration to land the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown in 2006. Although Red Evie was entered in the Tattersalls December Sale at three, she was withdrawn, to stay in training as a four-year-old. Although her winning sequence had come to an end on her final start at three, she resumed winning ways on her reappearance at four, when she defeated males to land the Lockinge Stakes. This time Red Evie met her engagement at the December Sales and it was disappointing when she was led out

BILL SELWYN

Bloodstock world views

Snowfall: granddaughter of Red Evie represents the Deep Impact - Galileo cross

unsold at 1,000,000gns. Fortunately for the Coolmore partners, they stepped in to buy her privately and she has never given them cause to regret this decision. It is an indication of their faith in Galileo that all of Red Evie’s ten foals have been by the perennial champion sire, including a June-foaled two-year-old filly and a 2021 filly foal. Snowfall is Best In The World’s first foal. The mare stayed in Japan for a second mating to Deep Impact, which resulted in a colt named Newfoundland, and then returned to Europe to visit Dubawi, sire of her yearling colt. Three of the other sisters are based in the US, including Found, whose first foal, the smart War Front colt Battleground, ran third in the St James’s Palace Stakes. As with Adayar, Snowfall represents a cross which had already enjoyed Group 1 success. With Deep Impact as her sire and a Galileo mare as her dam, she is bred to the same cross as the tough Saxon Warrior, who was unbeaten when he landed the 2,000 Guineas and subsequently lost little caste in defeat, twice running Roaring Lion to a neck in first-rate mile and a quarter events. Sadly Deep Impact’s death in July 2019 means that there won’t be many more representatives of his partnership with Galileo’s daughters, but his final crop has the potential to make a major splash in Europe. The Coolmore partners have yearlings out of those outstanding performers Minding (a filly), Hydrangea (a colt) and Rhododendron (a colt), and there is also a brother to Saxon Warrior, out of champion two-year-old Maybe. Deep Impact’s much larger 2019 crop also includes several out of Galileo mares, including colts called Cougar and Navajo Warrior and a filly named Only, who has

the distinction of being a daughter of that excellent dual Classic winner Winter. As things stand, Deep Impact has five black-type winners from 31 starters out of Galileo mares, including this year’s Prix Cleopatre winner Harajuku and the Japanese Group 2 winners Cantabile and Vanquish Run. There is therefore good reason to expect Deep Impact’s impressive tally of Group 1 winners to increase still further. He has already added four more this year, taking his total past 50, with the most significant being Shahryar, who became his sixth winner of the Japanese Derby, the Tokyo Yushun, a few days before Snowfall’s Oaks success. A brother to the 2017 Japanese 2,000 Guineas winner Al Ain, Shahryar is out of Dubai Majesty, who was bought by Katsumi Yoshida for $1,100,000 in 2010, days after her success in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. So Deep Impact has a pair of 2021 Classic winners over a mile and a half, one out of a middle-distance mare, the other out of a sprinter. In this he is similar to Galileo, who so often passes on his stamina. However, these exceptional sires are by no means one dimensional. I have pointed out before that Galileo’s name appears in the pedigrees of nine of the last 11 winners of the 2,000 Guineas and it was two of his daughters, Empress Josephine and Joan Of Arc, which fought out a very tight finish to this year’s Irish 1,000 Guineas. Empress Josephine is his fourth winner of this mile Classic in the last five years. Deep Impact was also very capable of siring high-class milers, a fine example being his daughter Gran Alegria, who landed the Sprinters Stakes in addition to being one of his five winners of the Oka Sho, the Japanese 1,000 Guineas.

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ROA Forum

The special section for ROA members

BILL SELWYN

Tracks offer free entry to ROA members

Sandown Park is one of the Jockey Club tracks offering complimentary tickets in July

e are delighted to share details of complimentary raceday admission for members without a runner to an increasing number of fixtures. Early interest has been strong following the re-introduction of this benefit in May. In order to meet track and trace requirements, members need to apply directly for any tickets and will not be granted entry on the day without having pre-registered. Badge schemes remain suspended and bronze PASS cards will not provide admission. Details of fixtures where complimentary admission can be enjoyed are outlined below and updated in the daily Inside Track ebulletin.

Jockey Club Racecourses JCR are generously offering ROA

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members and a guest a number of complimentary general admission tickets for fixtures through to the end of July. Members can complete an online form in the members’ area to apply for tickets. Names and contact details of members and guests are required at the time of application in order to fulfil track and trace obligations. Applications need to be made by 4pm, 48 hours before the meeting and applications are processed Monday to Friday. Please note that the Newmarket July Festival on July 8-10 is excluded from this offer.

Arena Racing Company

The 16 ARC racecourses are providing members with one complimentary general admission ticket at fixtures at

which spectators are allowed.

Newbury

Newbury racecourse is allocating a quantity of general admission tickets to ROA members for specified fixtures.

Cartmel

An allocation of complimentary tickets for remaining fixtures this year will be issued on a first come first served basis. Discount codes and links to racecourse booking pages can be collected from the ROA members’ area. We are grateful to JCR, ARC, Newbury and Cartmel for their support in providing complimentary admission and hope to expand on this list further. To sign up to receive the daily ebulletin to ensure you receive latest updates and offers email info@roa.co.uk.

The National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket is offering visitors an exciting array of summer exhibitions, new and updated learning programmes and increased community events at weekends for families. The Moller Gallery plays host to an exhibition entitled ‘Mud, Sweat & Tears: a History of Jump Racing’. This exhibition explores the excitement and unpredictability of National Hunt racing. Among the highlights will be a Cheltenham Gold Cup and rare prints showing the first Grand National. The exhibition ‘Sporting Talk: the forgotten history of everyday speech’ has been moved to the second floor of Palace House. It will remain on display until October. This exhibition showcases the linguistic legacy of sporting pursuits from the 17th to 19th century. The museum has been loaned a significant collection of GD Armour’s drawings dating from his childhood until the 1930s. ‘George Denholm Armour: a lifetime of drawings’ will be on display in the Thompson Gallery from early June until August 2021. This exhibition will explore his wry humour, social commentary and skill in capturing animals. The museum is planning its first virtual exhibition from September 2021 with Fred Astaire at Newmarket, an online exhibition about Fred Astaire’s love of horseracing and his connections to Newmarket. The National Horseracing Museum is open six days a week throughout the year. For bookings and details see nhrm.co.uk.

STEVE DAVIES

Museum gems

Owners can make use of the templates if they are involved in syndicates or clubs

Template agreements for syndicates and racing clubs The BHA recently introduced a number of measures designed to support public confidence in syndicates and racing clubs. These measures were announced in March following a consultation around shared ownership and are designed to provide a solid platform for the growth of shared ownership. A key measure that forms part of a phased implementation is a new Code of Conduct for syndicates, effective from May 1, 2021. The code applies where a syndicator is paid for their role, or the method of attracting participation in the syndicate includes invitations to the public. It replaces a previous code originally introduced in February 2017. The ROA, in collaboration with the National Trainers Federation and BHA, has now created three template agreements aligned to the new Code of Conduct, which we hope will prove helpful to those setting up and running syndicates and racing clubs.

One template is for a syndicate with one horse, another version applies to a syndicate with more than one horse, and a third is tailored for a racing club. The templates can be utilised and modified by those who already run syndicates and anyone setting up a new syndicate or club. The template can be modified to suit the syndicate model, whether members pay a oneoff upfront fee or monthly instalments, provided the agreement complies with the BHA Syndicate Code of Conduct. The templates can be found on the ROA website and members can access a word version of the agreement in the members’ area at roa.co.uk. Our online resources include links to the Code of Conduct and a list of frequently asked questions compiled by the BHA. Syndicate managers who operate syndicates and racing clubs set up before May of this year will be required to comply fully with the updated Syndicate Code of Conduct by April 2022.

Newmarket hospitality offers We are pleased to be able to offer ROA members access to a new hospitality package at Newmarket, with two autumn highlights added to our programme for this year. Members can take advantage of special offers in the Champions Gallery restaurant for both the Cambridgeshire and Future Champions Weekend

fixtures (September 23 to 25). There are three different packages available on each day, described as Classic, Premier and VIP. All the packages include: • Meal • Racecard • Admission for Premier Enclosure and restaurant facility

• Drinks service to your table • TV showing live racing • Tote betting facilities Full details of the components of the three packages can be found at roa. co.uk/events. Members are required to book directly with the course to aid the track and trace element of attending race meetings.

THE OWNER BREEDER

ROA Forum

Racing League kicks off A new format of team racing kicks off later this month with 12 teams participating in the Racing League, which will consist of 36 handicap races, taking place over six weeks in a series of Thursday evening meetings. All 36 races will be broadcast live on Sky Sports and the series will have online streaming partners. The series offers £1.8m in prize-money, with £50,000 prize-money per race. There will be a bonus prize for the winning team. The six evening meetings are: Newcastle, July 29; Doncaster, August 5; Lingfield, August 12; Windsor, August 19; Lingfield, August 26; and Newcastle, September 2. Each team will comprise: • Between two and four trainers (one acting as Racing Manager) • 30 horses • Owners • Three jockeys When a horse participates in the Racing League, the jockey will wear a team branded jockey jersey. Horses may still run in all other races as normal throughout the competition. Being part of a squad will allow owners to access the following benefits: • £50k prize-money per race • Share of bonus prize if part of winning team

The teams for the new competition that begins later this month

• No race entry fees • No jockey riding fees • Complimentary tickets to all six meetings • Team hub at the racecourse Competition format • Each trainer must have a minimum of five horses to be a part of a racing team • Racing squads (horses and jockeys) selected prior to the start of the competition • A transfer window will occur after week four when up to three horses may be replaced in each squad The competition will follow a familiar league format with points awarded per race, forming a competition league table.

Teams from Newmarket, Lambourn, Yorkshire, the south, Ireland and France will compete against each other. Jockeys and horses for each team and updates on racing squads and ticketing can be found at racingleague.co.uk.

Race conditions: • Six races per meeting open only to the 12 teams • Each team to provide one runner in

Goffs offer

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can be spent on a new yearling purchase and the value will equal the previous year’s average price at the Goffs UK Premier Sale. • The winning trainer will receive a free six-month lease of a twostall horsebox from the leading horsebox manufacturer Theault Horseboxes. GOFFS

A ‘free horse’ will be among the additional premier prizes linked to success in the £200,000 Goffs UK Premier Yearling Stakes at York racecourse. This new initiative is offered in association with York racecourse and Theault Horseboxes and means that, from 2021, when the race will be run on Thursday, August 21, the winning connections from the Premier Yearling Stakes will also win: • The winning owners will receive a

each race • Each team will enter three horses at the six-day entry stage and will declare one horse at the 48-hour declaration stage • All horses run in team colours rather than owner’s colours • Associated sponsorship under SFRO does not apply to the 36 Racing League races • All races will be 0-90 handicaps for three-year olds and older • Races to be run over 5f, 6f, 7f, 8f, 10f and 12f • Trainers, jockeys and horses can only be associated with one team for the duration of the competition • Owners may have horses in more than one team

Goffs: incentivising owners

voucher from Goffs UK to redeem at the following week’s Premier or Silver Yearling Sale. The voucher

The winning owners will also receive owners’ badges, lunch and a bottle of champagne for up to six people on a raceday at York within the year following their success in the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Stakes.

GEORGE SELWYN

The new series will start at Musselburgh on July 25

Sky Bet Sunday Series announced The newly-announced Sky Bet Sunday Series is set to receive a major cash injection with the introduction of £200,000 in bonuses. The funds will be part of the ITV4 coverage of three meetings over the summer months, which already offer £600,000 in prizemoney Courses that will stage the Sunday Series are Musselburgh on July 25, Haydock on August 8 and Sandown on August 22. Any owner of a horse who wins at each fixture of the series will be entitled to a £100,000 bonus, with the money split in the case of multiple winners. A further £100,000 will also be offered to any jockey who rides seven

winners across the three racedays. Trainer George Boughey said: “I fully support new initiatives such as the Sky Bet Sunday Series, which is boosting prize-money, as well as facilitating better Sunday fixtures. “I definitely have some candidates for the £100,000 Sunday Series bonus and we will be trying our hardest to win races at all three of these fixtures.” A £10,000 bonus will be extended towards stable staff, with the series offering £250 for the best-turned-out of each race. Jockey Paul Hanagan added: “Sunday racing is a real opportunity to get more people interested in racing and it’s great to see the industry working

together on the Sky Bet Sunday Series. The £600,000 prize-money across the series is extremely welcome, as are the bonuses. “It’s going to be a big ask to ride seven winners at the three fixtures, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility, and you can be sure a £100,000 bonus will concentrate the minds of us jockeys!” The pilot series was announced in May in a bid to promote Sunday racing across Britain and increase racing on terrestrial television into 2022. ITV Racing host Oli Bell will provide coverage that seeks to shine a spotlight on smaller trainers, owners and jockeys, as well as showcasing behind-the-scenes elements of the sport.

ROA AGM – change of date Please note that following the announcement from government confirming the extension of lockdown, the ROA AGM has been delayed and will now be held on Wednesday, September 1. In light of this delay

the ROA will continue to keep you updated on the arrangements and the ways in which you can participate in this year’s AGM. The result of the ROA board election has been shared with members through

our online channels. We would like to thank all members who voted in this year’s election. To subscribe to receive our free daily ebulletin for members please drop a line to info@roa.co.uk

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ROA Forum

MAGICAL MOMENTS

JOHN GROSSICK

Gary White is in the midst of a Beautiful run on the racecourse

Just Beautiful and Joey Haynes are not for catching in Musselburgh’s Listed contest for fillies and mares on June 5

rainer Ivan Furtado and owner Gary White will always remember Derby day 2021 – but it had nothing to do with Epsom. Instead, well over 400 miles north at Musselburgh, the Nottinghamshire trainer was registering his first stakes victory, having first held a licence in 2015, when Just Beautiful carried her owner’s red and white silks to success. In winning the Listed Maggie Dickson Stakes, the three-year-old daughter of Pride Of Dubai was extending her unbeaten record to four, all at seven furlongs. Her first three outings had been on the all-weather, two at Kempton and then Chelmsford, and it would therefore have been particularly pleasing for connections to see her transfer that form to turf under regular partner Joey Haynes. She beat ten rivals at Musselburgh, all of whom’s owners would have been keen as mustard for the black type, but it was the “little filly with a big heart” who kept on best over the seven furlongs to score by a length and a half.

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Her trainer added: “It’s so good for the yard, we don’t get many horses like this coming through so it’s great for all her connections.” The importance of horses like Just Beautiful to a stable not used to limelight would not be lost on their owners, who probably take as much – if

“She has black type – we feel like we’ve got a Group horse on our hands” not more – pleasure in what it means to the whole stable than it does to themselves. It was another Gary who was part of White’s journey towards racehorse ownership, while rather unusually his

interest in the breeding side of the sport was present pretty much from the word go. He explains: “Gary Wood, one of my best friends, had a share in a horse called Dark Opal, who actually won with Joey Haynes on board, at Ayr in October 2013. “She fractured her knee but the rest of the syndicate let Gary keep the horse as he wanted to breed from her. She was covered by Swiss Spirit, and I became interested in what Gary was doing when the foal she had was entered in the Ascot yearling sale in September 2017. “I rang Gary and said if she does not make the £12,000 he wanted I would buy half and we would go and have some fun racing. “We sent her to John Weymes and named her Spirit Of Opal. Phil Dennis rode her on her debut at Carlisle, and the picture I provided is of myself, Gary and Phil wearing my colours of my local football team, Middlesbrough.” The north-east town is also the base of James Paul Services, the largest

News in brief Richmond Enclosure badges

Gary White (right) with co-owner Gary Wood and jockey Phil Dennis

suspended and partition company in the area, and of which White is Managing Director. Boro have spent only one of the past dozen seasons in the Premier League, a situation White and his fellow fans will be hoping changes sooner rather than later – and up rather than down from the Championship! – and, much like with owners being able to attend racing, hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel and supporters will be properly back next season. White was delighted to be at Musselburgh to see Just Beautiful win her Listed race, describing it as “unreal”. He adds: “I was there with my wife Donna and it was a fantastic day. I’ve actually missed only one of her races, at Chelmsford, as I had something on I couldn’t get out of. “She’s been winning easing up; every time, Joey has got off and said she’s got more in hand. She’s not really felt the whip or been put under pressure yet, and she might get another furlong.” Royal Ascot was under consideration but the filly will be given a bit more time. Connections, however, are minded to have a crack at a Group 1 this year if she continues to progress,

with Royal Ascot 2022 a longer-term dream. “We’ll do what’s in the best interests of the horse, and going to Ascot wouldn’t have been,” explains White. “She does need a bit of time between races but hopefully we could do it next year. We’ve been very patient so far and will continue to be. “The aim this year was to get black type on her page. She’s done that, which was also great for the profile of the yard, and the next step would be to try for Group-race black type. We feel like we’ve got a Group horse on our hands.” Spirit Of Opal and Just Beautiful book-end a sizeable number of horses that White has been involved with, albeit as all owners will know only too well, just getting a horse to the racecourse to carry your silks is no mean feat. He says: “I’ve owned circa 15 to 20 in all, but obviously some don’t become racehorses, at least not for you – you do, as an owner, give away a lot of two-year-olds.” Two of Just Beautiful’s four victories to date came as a juvenile for White and Furtado, and the owner continues: “The facilities at Ivan’s are fantastic; they have two gallops, a swimming pool, and they are very friendly and always keep you updated with videos, etc.” For both trainer and owner, racing will always be a game in which you are frequently learning something new, and one of White’s very early lessons, while harsh at the time, has been taken on board. Asked to provide a less than rosy example of an owner’s experience, he answers: “On Spirit Of Opal’s first run, at Carlisle, she got injured. The ground was too hard but we ran her anyway. It was a big mistake and one we have definitely learned from.” Just Beautiful’s first four runs could hardly be a bigger contrast to the four that Spirit Of Opal had, and hopefully she can continue to carry her owner’s Middlesbrough-themed silks with distinction, perhaps all the way to the premier league of racing.

We are delighted to offer members an exclusive opportunity to book Richmond Enclosure badges for all five days of the Qatar Glorious Goodwood Festival. This has been a popular benefit for many years, and we are delighted that members can enjoy access to the stylish Richmond Enclosure, which provides a fantastic view of the racing action and access to a range of bars and dining options on course. Access to the Richmond Enclosure is only available to ROA and Goodwood annual members or owners and trainers with runners at the meeting, and is sure to be popular, so book early. Tickets are priced at £89 for adults, £40.50 for juniors (18-24) while under 18s are free. Car park labels: car park 8 is £12 if booked in advance and £15 on the day, while car park 9 is free. To book, please contact Patrick Nagel on 01243 755055 or email hospitality@goodwood. com mentioning that you are an ROA member and quoting your membership number. Your application will be verified to confirm your ROA membership.

ROA VAT Solution

We are pleased to announce that the ROA is launching its own inhouse ROA VAT Solution, adding another service available to members alongside the ROA benefits suite. From next month ROA members will be able to use our new fully digital VAT Solution, saving you over £4,500 of VAT in racing-related expenses*, and creating a one-stop shop for your VAT needs. For full details of the new ROA VAT Solution visit roa.co.uk/vat or email vat@roa.co.uk. *Saving is based on average racingrelated expenses for an owner.

Raceday feedback

When you next have a runner, please do get in touch with the ROA and let us know about your experience, either by email or by completing the feedback forms found on each racecourse page at roa.co.uk. Feedback can also be sent to info@roa.co.uk.

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ROA Forum

MY DAY AT THE RACES

With Jon and Julia Aisbitt at Salisbury on June 8

Amy Beach scores at Salisbury for Jon and Julia Aisbitt in May – the three-year-old filly finished fourth at the same track on June 8

on and Julia Aisbitt have been involved in ownership for 16 years. Notable successes have included the Listed winners Gallic Star, Sandreamer, Kassia and Elidor, and two Group 3 wins with Malabar at Goodwood in the Prestige Stakes (2014) and Thoroughbred Stakes (2015). They have horses in training with Mick Channon and William Haggas. The couple enjoyed a notable start to this Flat season, with five wins from four runners in a period of just six weeks. The achievement with the quartet Hurndres Isles, Lilac Road, Storting and Amy Beach was particularly significant as each winner was a homebred. How did you find availability of general guidance for owners? Very good. Staff went out of their way to help Did you receive information as an owner in advance of the raceday? Yes, by email, and it was clear guidance. How was the arrival experience? Very good. We were greeted by a young lady in the car park who pointed out the entrance and how to exit

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without being asked. How did you find the provision for owners on the day? Very good. We didn’t avail ourselves but the racecourse offered table service of complimentary hot bowl food, sandwiches, wraps, salads, muffins, and tea and coffee in both hospitality bars. There was plenty of seating and owners were well catered for. What were your thoughts on the location, comfort and provision of the owners’ zone? Good. Owners and trainers had access to the Wessex Bar and the Owners’ Bar in the Wiltshire Stand. What were your thoughts on viewing your horse in the parade ring? All went smoothly and again the staff were extremely obliging. How did you find the race-viewing zone for owners? We did not use it and walked down to the big screen. My husband thinks the screen could have been bigger. How was the post-race experience and

location/provision of the debrief area? Again good and easy to access. Were you able to review a replay of your race easily on the course? We could see on the screen. How were you treated as an owner on the day? We felt it was the one of the best days at a racecourse in terms of how we were looked after. What was your overall lasting feeling of the day, based on your racecourse experience? We felt well treated by the racecourse and it was a good experience.

HOW IT RATED

Entry ★★★★★ Viewing ★★★★★ Atmosphere ★★★★★ * Racing behind closed doors Owners’ facilities ★★★★★ Food N/A Overall score

Champions Day boost Prize-money for this year’s QIPCO British Champions Day will be £4 million, cementing its position as the richest raceday in the British calendar. The QIPCO Champion Stakes is set to be the richest race in the UK this year with £1.2 million in prize-money, with the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (sponsored by QIPCO) also run for in excess of £1 million, and the three remaining Pattern races on the card each offering a prize fund of £500,000. In all, prize-money across the card will increase by 60% on 2020 levels, which were impacted by the Covid pandemic. Sheikh Fahad bin Abdullah Al-Thani, Director of QIPCO Holding, said: “We are proud to sponsor QIPCO British Champions Day, the most valuable day in the British racing calendar and are pleased that this year’s raceday, which marks the tenth anniversary of our sponsorship, will be run for £4 million. The day has established itself at the pinnacle of the global racing calendar and it is only fitting that the prizemoney reflects that.” Rod Street, Chief Executive of British Champions Series Ltd, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have restored prize-money on QIPCO British Champions Day to £4 million. It is

crucial to the long-term future of British racing that we are able to offer globally competitive prize-money and are hugely grateful to our sponsors, QIPCO, for making this a reality and for their continued support and commitment “Champions Day has always attracted the world’s finest racehorses and with such a valuable racecard we look forward to welcoming the sport’s superstars back to Ascot once more on October 16.” This year’s QIPCO British Champions Day takes place on Saturday, October 16 at Ascot racecourse and marks the tenth anniversary of QIPCO’s sponsorship of the event and the wider QIPCO British Champions Series. Prize-money on the day will increase by 60% across the card compared to 2020. Tickets to this year’s finale are on sale at britishchampionsday.com. For more info on the QIPCO British Champions Series visit britishchampionsseries.com. Pontefract prize-money Following the promising return of a limited number of spectators, Pontefract racecourse has announced that it will be increasing its level

of executive contribution to prize-money for the rest of the 2021 season. Managing Director, Norman Gundill MBE, said: “We have been thrilled to welcome back both an increased number of owners and a limited number of spectators to the racecourse. We are acutely aware of the huge part that owners play in racing and that they, like every part of the industry, have had their own severe financial difficulties. “From June 20 onwards we have raised the minimum value of each class of race, increasing our overall prize-money for the season to over £1.1 million. While our revenue remains severely compromised until the public are able to return in full, racegoers are now providing a limited income stream and we want to play our small part in helping owners, trainers and jockeys.” Pontefract has also been able to increase the number of owners able to return to the track. For more information please view the course’s website at www.pontefract-races.co.uk or call the administration offices on 01977 781307.

Racehorse Welfare Update: National Racehorse Week As reported in last month’s magazine, the UK’s first National Racehorse Week will take place from September 12-19. National Racehorse Week, an initiative being led by Great British Racing, is a fantastic opportunity to help promote the focus of British racing, namely, the racehorse. Whilst trainers are being actively encouraged to open their yards during this week, owners can also play their part in engaging with the public to showcase the best of what our sport has to offer. National Racehorse Week is all about people coming together in support of the British racehorse. This celebration is not simply about marking a single point in the year,

but an opportunity to show the outstanding care and attention that racehorses receive for 365 days of the year and the commitment of their owners in looking after them. We all know we love and care passionately for our horses and now is the time to show people first-hand the genuine bonds that exist between racehorses and the professionals and owners that care for them. There is a train of thought that racing often fails to put its best foot forward on matters of promoting equine welfare or feels dismay that the wider public is not given the chance to understand our sport. Let this not be the case. This is your moment to play a part in helping us all do a better job of it. National

Racehorse Week is a positive moment for racing to hold its head up with pride in celebration of the racehorse. Please do come forward and get involved by either registering online at www.nationalracehorseweek.uk or contact Claire Cuff, GBR’s Head of Equine Welfare Communications, at ccuff@greatbritishracing.com.

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Breeding industry report published

The special section for TBA members The pandemic has exacerbated the problems faced by the British breeding industry

ADAM SMYTH

n late May the TBA published a report on the future of British thoroughbred breeding, which put forward recommendations to stem the potentially catastrophic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on British racing in the medium and long term. Amongst the recommendations that the report makes is Britain’s international reputation for breeding and racing must be capitalised on, the race programme is competitive and diverse, and that the viability of the British breeding industry is improved. It also recommends ensuring united industry action in achieving urgent reform of the levy system, getting behind industry-wide efforts aimed at increasing racehorse ownership, and considering initiatives that have been shown to work in other countries. The report, which has drawn on data from sales, a comprehensive survey of breeders and industry reports, as well as information provided by the secretariat at Weatherbys, measures the state of health of the British breeding industry between the publication of the TBA commissioned Economic Impact Study in 2018 and the immediate aftermath of coronavirus consequences. Its underlying finding is that the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is highly likely to accelerate the projected scale and rate of decline of an industry

that was already facing serious challenges. Collating various sources of data, the report, which provides informed forecasts of the potential consequences on the British racing and breeding industries of the Covid-19 pandemic, on the basis of what happened in the last major economic downturn in 2008, notes: “Whilst in the immediate aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic the impact on racing will arise from its effect on owners, unable to support as many horses in training, and by the exodus of horses in training to France and Ireland, where prize-money levels have been more resilient, the long-term damage is most likely to be caused by its impact on breeders.” It adds: “This could be exacerbated by changes in the ownership structure of three of the five major breeding operations, due to the loss of their founders in the early months of 2021. As a result, there will simply not be enough horses to sustain a racing programme in Britain of the scale the sport has grown used to.” TBA Chairman Julian Richmond-

Join us in celebrating the best of British Tickets are on sale for both of the TBA’s annual awards events. The first in the calendar is the NH Breeders’ Awards, supported by Goffs UK. Set to take place on Wednesday, August 4 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Doncaster, the event will celebrate success from the 2020-2021 jump racing season. Tickets for the dinner and awards ceremony have been priced at £65 per person The rescheduled Flat Breeders’ Awards will now take place on

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Thursday, September 2 following the recent government announcement of the extension of lockdown restrictions. Taking place at Chippenham Park near Newmarket, tickets are priced at £80 per person and include a drinks and canapes reception, before a two-course meal and then the awards ceremony. Tickets for both events, which will be subject to government guidelines, can be purchased from the events page on the TBA website.

Watson said: “Since the publication of the TBA Economic Impact Study of 2018, we have delivered a number of projects as part of our strategic plan to improve the environment for British breeders and the breed. It was great to see the Great British Bonus implemented in time for the return of racing in June last year to provide the much needed support to investors of British bloodstock. “Throughout 2020 we actively monitored the situation, collecting data from various sources to assess the potential impacts on our industry. This report provides evidence that some of the trends first highlighted in the 2018 study have unfortunately been accelerated by the events of the last twelve months. Although the GBB scheme is showing early signs of success, it alone cannot resolve all of the industry’s issues. The report provides recommendations for future recovery and we hope that our industry partners will support us for the long-term benefit of the sport, its horses and people.” The full report can be found on the TBA website.

The Flat Breeders' Awards takes place on September 2

ADAM SMYTH

TBA Forum

Discount available for TBA members on TB-Ed courses Members of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association are reminded that they can view TB-Ed resources for free and receive discounts on courses purchased. To sign up, visit www.tb-ed.co.uk. The new online learning platform is an education and training initiative which offers a range of courses and resources that provide essential knowledge and guidance to new and existing industry participants.

Delivered by experts, the courses are accessible and affordable, enabling flexible learning at a time to suit everyone. The resources that are available include videos on a range of diverse topics, covering areas from yearling preparation, to traceability and the e-passport, and understanding pedigrees, which is a conversation between TV presenter Lydia Hislop and The Owner Breeder's Bloodstock Editor Nancy Sexton.

Weatherbys ePassport goes live Weatherbys’ technology has also helped trace the movement of breeding stock during the breeding season – working alongside the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. Weatherbys also continues to work closely with both HRI and the BHA regarding the rollout of the ePassport, which HRI has made the central digital recording and data repository tool within its five-year welfare strategy. The ePassport includes stallion, mare and foal registration functionality, pre- and post-racing vaccinations and medications, along with ownership updates and full identification. Having downloaded the ePassport App, breeders will simply have to register by entering their mobile number and will receive a text message (or email confirmation) with a six-digit number. Once this code is entered breeders can then follow on-screen instructions. From the ePassport home page

breeders will be able to find their horse’s details and interact through the ePassport functionality. You can also use the smart card that, along with the traditional printed passport, will be issued for all British and Irish thoroughbred foals born this year. Alternatively, breeders will be able to scan the QR code on the back of the card or search for the horse by entering the microchip or passport number. Through the ePassport screens individuals can view the horse’s passport pages, assign a vet, upload vaccination details, log movements and notify of new ownership details. Vets will be able to update medical information via the medical section. More details will be released in the next month. Any questions in the meantime can be emailed to Rachael Rotea at Weatherbys on rrotea@ weatherbys.co.uk

WEATHERBYS

The Weatherbys ePassport – the world's most advanced equine digital passport – went live for the British and Irish thoroughbred markets in June. In its simplest form, the Weatherbys ePassport is a single, secure platform for all regulatory and legislative requirements relating to identification, health, welfare, movement and ownership. The ePassport is available through both the Android and iPhone App stores and Weatherbys will be in contact with breeders over the coming weeks with more detail around functionality and registration. Elements of the Weatherbys ePassport are already in use in Britain, Ireland and other jurisdictions. These include vaccination and movement functionality to support the British Horseracing Authority and Horse Racing Ireland with their ‘Return to Racing’ protocols last year. As many breeders will know,

The ePassport is a secure platform for all regulatory and legislative requirements

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TBA Forum

Palace rules supreme in Lockinge

BILL SELWYN

Outstanding miler Palace Pier and Frankie Dettori capture the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes

Having made a successful reappearance at Sandown in late April, Palace Pier entered the first Group 1 of the British season, the Lockinge Stakes, in fine form and the son of Kingman, who was bred by Highclere Stud and Floors Farming, comfortably landed his third top-level victory in the hands of Frankie Dettori. He went on to make it four Group 1s in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. Second home in the Lockinge was the Nathaniel mare Lady Bowthorpe. Prior to her career best effort, the Scuderia Archi Romani-bred five-yearold had won the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes on 1,000 Guineas day at Newmarket. The preceding day on the Rowley Mile, the Susan Hearn-bred Sir Ron Priestley had made all for victory in the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes. The David Ward-bred Dutch Art colt Starman enhanced his reputation on the Knavesmire at the Dante meeting when landing the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes. Another sprinter to garner their biggest win in the month was Liberty Beach. The daughter of Cable Bay, who was bred by Philip Wilkins, won the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park. The Newsells Park Stud-bred Japan, out of the fine producer Shastye, got his five-year-old season off to the perfect start with victory on the Roodeye in the Group 3 Ormonde Stakes.

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In the prestigious Group 3 Brigadier Gerard Stakes at Sandown Park, the gallant eight-year-old Euchen Glen, bred by William Johnstone, won for the eleventh time in his career, powering away in the closing stages for a dominant success. Having broken through at stakes level in April, La Lune took her form to another level with a win in the Group 3 Pinnacle Stakes. The daughter of Champs Elysees was bred by Pamela and Clive Brandon of Haddenham Stud Farm. The same afternoon at Haydock Park and the Lawn Stud-bred Kinross, a son of Kingman, made his breakthrough at Pattern level in the Group 3 John of Gaunt Stakes over the specialist distance of seven furlongs. Another to secure her first Group triumph was the Littleton Stud-bred Tribal Craft, who was victorious in the Group 3 Bronte Cup, while the Cheveley Park Stud-bred Pivotal colt Earlswood gained his maiden Pattern win in the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh. There were stakes wins in the month for the Cable Bay siblings Collinsbay and King’s Lynn. Bred by HM The Queen, Collinsbay was an impressive winner of the Group 3 Premio Tudini at Capannelle, while King’s Lynn scored in the Listed Achilles Stakes at Haydock Park. The Queen also witnessed the

three-year-old Frankel filly Light Refrain win the Listed Kilvington Stakes at Nottingham against older horses. Cheveley Park Stud resident Twilight Son was on the mark with a pair of Listed-winning daughters in May. At Haydock Park, Twilight Spinner, bred by T K & P A Knox, made the leap from maiden winner to stakes scorer with ease, taking the Cecil Frail Stakes by over six lengths. In Italy, the Razza del Sole-bred Aria Importante notched another stakes win, this time in the Premio Nogara. There were a pair of stakes winners in the month for Nunnery Stud-based Muhaarar. His four-year-old daughter Albaflora, bred by Kirsten Rausing, took the Listed Buckhounds Stakes at Ascot in impressive fashion, while his threeyear-old daughter Eshaada, a Shadwell homebred, won the Listed Fillies’ Trial Stakes at Newbury. Other Listed winners in the month included Illykato, bred by P de Warren Johnson & Northmore Stud, in the Conqueror Stakes at Goodwood, the Sheikh Mohammed Obaid-bred Third Realm in the Derby Trial Stakes at Lingfield Park, Nymphadora, who broke her maiden in the Marygate Fillies’ Stakes at York, the Norman Court Stud-bred Ad Infinitum (Golden Horn) in the Height of Fashion Stakes and

AGM update Due to the recent government announcement of the extension of lockdown restrictions, this year’s TBA Annual General Meeting will take place at 10:30am on Wednesday, July 14 via Zoom. The virtual meeting will include formal matters of business, followed by updates from a number of trustees and guest speaker Sarah Wynn from ADAS, who will give a presentation on environmental sustainability. To register, visit the events page of the TBA website.

TBA National Hunt Stallion Statistical Awards for 2020-21 With Kayf Tara having been retired from duties last summer, it meant that there would be new names on both the Whitbread Silver Salver and the Horse and Hound Cup after nine and six years respectively. Whitbread Silver Salver

NATHANIEL

NEWSELLS PARK STUD

Given to the leading active British-based stallion by earnings achieved in Britain and Ireland, this year’s recipient is Newsells Park Stud-based Nathaniel. Sire of the brilliant Enable, Lockinge Stakes runner-up Lady Bowthorpe and promising French Group 2 scoring colt Bubble Gift, the son of Galileo is equally capable of supplying quality horses that have gone on to flourish over obstacles. A Cheltenham Festival winner in 2020, Concertista started her new campaign with a pair of comfortable victories, proving that she stayed beyond the minimum distance. A Group 2 win at Fairyhouse was followed by an easier win in Grade 3 company at Leopardstown over Christmas. Victory in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle was only lost in the final strides. Navajo Pass won the Grade 2 Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock Park, while Zanahiyr was a Grade 2-winning juvenile hurdler. It was not all about hurdles. Kitty’s Light showed precocious talent over fences. Having started his chase run off an official mark of 109 last August, he ended the season rated 142. Four wins over fences, he was mightily unlucky not to end the season a Grade 3 winner. Having suffered interference in the season ending highlight, the bet365 Gold Cup, he was placed second. This was not the first time he had been unlucky, for he had been hampered at a crucial time in the Listed Badger Ales Chase last November. Horse & Hound Cup

SCHIAPARELLI

While the stallion might be different, the destination of the Horse & Hound Cup remains the same, Overbury Stud. Awarded to the leading active Britishbased stallion by individual chase winners in Britain and Ireland, the 2020-21 title holder is Schiaparelli. The chesnut son of Monsun was represented on the track by the likes of multiple winners Benevolentdictator and Numitor, as well as the winner Tea Time On Mars, who was narrowly denied his biggest day to date by a neck in February’s Devon National at Exeter. Schiaparelli’s biggest winner of the season in terms of prize-money over fences was his admirable son Whatmore. Restricted to just a pair of starts in the 2020-21 campaign, he was runner-up in the Grade 3 Sodexo Gold Cup on the final day in October and then filled the same position a month later behind a rejuvenated Yorkhill in the Listed Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle. Statistics provided by www.nhstallions.co.uk

THE OWNER BREEDER

JOHN REARDON

Stormy Antarctic, bred by East Bloodstock, in the Festival Stakes, both in consecutive days at Goodwood. In France, Listed wins were achieved by the Juddmonte-bred Petricor (Frankel) in the Prix Finlande, the Dayton Investments-bred Burgarita in the Prix de la Seine and the Car Colston Hall Stud-bred Erasmo (Oasis Dream) in the Prix de Pontarme. Away from Europe and on the international stage, British-breds were winning across the world. The Kirsten Rausing-bred Zaaki has taken his form to another level in Australia since being bought from the Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale last year. The son of former Lanwades Stud resident Leroidesanimaux won the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes on the Gold Coast on May 8 and backed up two weeks later in the Group 1 Doomben Cup, running clear and winning by seven lengths. On the first day of the month, the Rausing and BBA 2010 Ltd-bred Wyclif (Archipenko) took the Listed Port Adelaide Cup at Morphettville. Also in Australia, Nathaniel’s son Spirit Ridge gained a second Group 3 of his career when taking the Premier’s Cup at Eagle Farm. He was bred by Juddmonte. On Kentucky Derby day, the Dansili mare Blowout, bred by Dayton Investments, gained a deserved first Graded success in the Grade 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes. Also at Churchill Downs but at the end of the month, the Juddmonte-bred Dansili gelding Set Piece took the Douglas Park Overnight Stakes by four lengths. Over obstacles, the fast-improving Kayf Tara gelding Copperless, who was bred by Aiden Murphy and Alan Peterson, won the Grade 3 Swinton Handicap Hurdle by over eight lengths. Results up to and including May 31. Produced in association with GBRI.

TBA Forum

Regional days return

The TBA looks forward to welcoming members back to the popular regional days later in the year

The TBA’s ever popular regional days will return later in the summer where three events have been planned. Saturday, August 14 – Yorton Farm Stud with lunch Located on the Leighton Estate in 300 acres of beautiful Powys countryside is David Futter’s Yorton Farm Stud, home to Arrigo, Gentlewave, Linda’s Lad, Masterstroke, Pether’s Moon and Scalo. The morning will be spent on the stud with a stallion parade and tour of the stud, before a delicious lunch at a local pub. Tuesday, September 21 – Overbury Stud and Kim Bailey The first part of the morning will see members visit Overbury Stud, which is leased by Simon Sweeting from the Holland Martin family. The stud is home to Ardad, Cityscape, Frontiersman, Jack Hobbs and Schiaparelli, while perennial NH champion sire Kayf Tara

members will spend the morning in the company of dual purpose handler Tim Easterby, who has gained toplevel success both on the Flat and over jumps. Members will be given a tour of the stables and gallops. Lunch will be served at a local pub. This year’s regional days will be limited to 30 guests, and are available to TBA members and associates on a first come, first served basis, with priority given to those in the local region.

is also seeing out his retirement at the Gloucestershire-based outfit. Following this members will make the short journey to Kim Bailey’s Thorndale Farm for a behind-the-scenes tour, including a trip to the gallops, to see the horses put through their paces, and an informative stable tour. A late lunch will be served at a local pub. TBC – Tim Easterby Based at Great Habton, North Yorkshire,

Small breeder Pippa Ellis benefitted from a combined £3,000 bonus through the exploits of her mare Latenightfumble. The daughter of Malinas, who had won a mares’ maiden point-to-point at Dingly in April, contested the final two qualifying races for which the TBA’s 3-2-1 Point-to-Point bonus was attached. Running at Aintree in the middle of the month, Latenightfumble, who is trained by Pippa's son Tom, finished third, which meant a £1,000 bonus was won, while at Stratford two weeks later, she was the runner-up, for which Ellis received £2,000. Ellis said: “For a small breeder, it is a wonderful thing, a great incentive. It wasn’t my plan to go under Rules, but she is a bit of a thinker and wasn’t settled in the prelims at her point-topoint, so Tom thought it would be best to get some experience into her.” Latenightfumble is the second foal out of the three-time winning pointer Latenightdip (Midnight Legend), whose

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NEALE BLACKBURN

Bonus time for Latenightfumble and Ellis

Pippa Ellis with son Tom (middle) receive their TBA 3-2-1 Point-to-Point bonus from the Point-to-Point Authority’s Adam Hurley

first foal is Latenightpass. The son of Passing Glance won a Warwick hunter chase in February before attempting to make all in the Foxhunters’ at the Cheltenham Festival, where he finished fourth. His season ended when he finished second in the Aintree version over the National fences. “This season has been completely unexpected,” says Ellis. “Pointing is my

greatest love and when we couldn’t do that, Tom said to run at Warwick. He ran very well in terrible conditions and beat some good horses. We then had to go to Cheltenham, but he is tiny, barely 16 hands, but jumps like a bunny. “I was reluctant to go to Aintree, but as he was in such good form, we had to go and Gina [Andrews] said it was one of the best spins she had had. “It has been a real family thing. Tom rode Latenightdip when she was racing and now Gina, my daughter-in-law, rides Latenightpass. At Warwick and Cheltenham, when amateurs weren’t allowed to ride, Bridget, Gina’s sister, rode him.” Ellis has just two mares, including Latenightdip, who produced a fullbrother to Latenightpass earlier this year. Latenightfumble picked up the bonus through being the highest placed mare in the top three, carried a GB suffix and was owned by a member of the TBA.

Breeder of the Month Words Howard Wright