Goffs Orby 2018 by Ashville Media Group

C L I V E C OX

| J U S T I N Z AYA T

Section Head

| ZHANG YUESHENG

| MARK RICHARDS

2018

ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS THE GLOBAL SYNDICATE HITS THE JACKPOT

FOREVER TOGETHER

QUEEN OF THE RING

URENS WAS ALWAYS A STAR

OAKS WINNER SOLD AT THE ORBY SALE

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Where Where your your gifts gifts of today of today become become thethe heirlooms heirlooms of tomorrow of tomorrow

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S UD

O OT E T C

WE TAKE CARE OF THE LITTLE THINGS...

MOUNT COOTE STUD

COOTE

Bateel, raised and grazed at Mount Coote Stud and now winner of eight races, including the Gr.1 Prix Vermeille; Gr.2 Prix Corrida; Gr.2 Prix de Pomone and Gr.3 Pinnacle Stakes.

... AND THE BIG THINGS TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES!

Situated on 500 acres of prime limestone pasture within easy reach of Shannon and Cork airports and all the major stallion studs in Ireland, MOUNT COOTE STUD is a family-run operation which has a proud tradition of raising and selling top class horses. By giving our young stock the best possible start in life, we ensure that are able to achieve their full potential both in the sales ring and on the racecourse.

Racing Success

Since 1963, the stud has raised and/consigned the winners of 168 Black Type races, many on behalf of clients. These include (to 8th June 2018) 15 Group 1 races • 26 Group 2 races • 44 Group 3 races

Sales Success

O OT E T C

The stud regularly features amongst the leading consignors at the top European yearling sales, and was also responsible for the second highest-priced broodmare ever sold in Europe.

COOTE

We take care of everything Boarding • Breeding Advice • Bloodstock Management Service Luke and Tabitha Lillingston, Mount Coote Stud, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, Ireland. T: +353 (0)63 20330 • M: +353 (0)87 919 5780 (Luke). luke@mountcootestud.com • www.mountcootestud.com

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Welcome

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

Welcome

SUCCESS. How one measures it is dependent on so many factors and from what perspective it is viewed. For a sales company, as for a breeder, should sales prices be the yardstick or the performances of the horses we handle? If we apply both measures to Goffs and Ballylinch Stud over the last 12 months, success can be said to be delivered in either way following a superb edition of the Orby Sale last September, when Ballylinch’s beautiful daughter of Galileo was the highest priced filly realising €1.2 million, and then the stunning Oaks win of Forever Together at Epsom in June, herself also an Orby topping filly at €900,000. “Job done” also applies to the Coulonces Consignment and Goffs UK in a very similar fashion given Laurens’ amazing performance in the Prix de Diane after she had realised £220,000 at the Doncaster Premier Sale. John O’Connor is the master of Ballylinch whilst Anna Sundstrom heads up the Coulonces Consignment, and their interviews in these pages give a fascinating insight into their different, but highly effective approaches that deliver such success. These articles features amongst several that seek to get the inside track on success and how it is measured, and achieved. Bobby and Honora Donworth and Edie Murray Hayden also tell us about their unique approaches and perspectives on the bloodstock sales game, and different views of how they have achieved their goals. Whilst Forever Together races in the colours of one of the giants of the industry, and longest standing major clients of Goffs having been sold to MV Magnier, Laurens is owned by a relative newcomer John Dance who chats all things racing and breeding with Lissa Oliver. Dance is very much a man with a plan, as is Zhang Yuesheng who has made such an impact in the Goffs sales ring in recent years as, almost singlehandedly, he develops a truly

extraordinary racing industry in Shanxi Province in China. The Far East is also home to Mark Richards who has become a very welcome and familiar face at Goffs and Doncaster in his role with the Hong Kong Jockey Club who have very specific requirements at the sales and their own criteria for success. Clive Cox is a regular buyer at both Goffs and Doncaster and he tells Donn McClean about the career of his Champion, Harry Angel and then we find out why Goffs appeals to a newer face, Justin Zayat who made such an impact at Orby 17 when joining MV Magnier to buy the sales topping Frankel colt for €1.6 million as he seeks the next American Pharaoh. Sangster is another name that really resonates when bloodstock and racing success is considered as the late Robert was a true trailblazer in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. His son Sam is certainly living up to his lineage and he is one of several who take part in our quick fire Q&A, alongside another from a successful family, Jake Warren, Moyglare Stud’s bloodstock advisor, Fiona Craig, Kiltinan Castle Stud manager, Donna Vowles, and dentist Richard O’Brien who is also a trainer of increasing repute. Add to all of this news, sales analysis, fashion, property, motoring, a feature on our own “Legs” Lawlor’s hugely successful It’s All About The Girls syndicate as well as the Hot To Trot Syndicate run by Mr Positivity, Sam Hoskins, and I hope you will agree that these pages add up to a feast of information. Whether we have succeeded in our goal of entertaining and informing is for the reader to decide but every page is devoted to success in its many, many guises. As one of our marketing campaigns used to proclaim: Our clients’ success is our success… Henry Beeby Group Chief Executive

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CONTENTS

Contents

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

CLASS OF 2018 Meet some of the Goffs graduates making headlines this year

CLIVE COX Harry Angel’s trainer has had tremendous success with his Goffs’ purchases

FIONA CRAIG Moyglare Stud’s advisor answers our quick-fire questions

FOREVER TOGETHER John O’Connor of Ballylinch Stud on the 2018 Oaks winner sold at Goffs Orby

DONNA VOWLES Getting to know the Kiltinan Castle Stud manager

28 4

BUSINESS & PLEASURE Why the Goffs London Sale has proven such a hit with buyers and sellers

JAKE WARREN Five minutes with the Highclere Stud operator

RICHARD O’BRIEN Meet the Limerick trainer everyone is talking about

ZHANG YUESHENG The Chinese owner who has made a huge impact in Europe and Australia

JOHN DANCE How Classic winner Laurens was discovered at Goffs UK

ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS The European branch of the all-female syndicate strikes gold at Goffs

SAM SANGSTER We catch up with the bloodstock agent and racing manager

ROUNDHILL STUD Bobby and Honora are leading consignors at Goffs Orby

JUSTIN ZAYAT From American Pharoah to Royal Ascot via Goffs

SAM HOSKINS The young bloodstock agent who found a Royal Ascot winner at Doncaster

HONG KONG MARKET Mark Richards tell us what the Hong Kong Jockey Club looks for at the sales

ANNA SUNDSTRUM Is there another Laurens in the Coulonces Consignments this year?

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CONTENTS

HITTING THE JACKPOT How Edie MurrayHayden turned €56,000 into €500,000

CONNECTING WITH CLIENTS Hayley O’Connor is loving her new role at Goffs

101

JACQUELINE NORRIS The leading consignor tells us a bit about herself

102

STORY OF THE SALES A quick look-back at the recent flat sales in Goffs and Goffs UK

115

GOFFS PROPERTY Two beautiful stud farms have come on the market

119

POWER & PERFORMANCE Katie Walsh puts the Jaguar E Pace to the test

124

IRISH FASHION Bring on the style with Brown Thomas

129

PICTURE THIS Racing personalities caught on camera

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14 78 GOFFS COORDINATORS: Niamh O’Hehir; Caoimhe Haughey EDITOR: Mark Costello CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jane Matthews CONTRIBUTORS: Henry Beeby, Niall Cronin, Aisling Crowe, Robert Ehalt, Katie Gorman, Olivia Hamilton, Amie Karlsson, Donn McClean, Ryan McElligott, David Morgan, Hayley O’Connor, Lissa Oliver, Leo Powell, James Thomas, Katie Walsh. COVER IMAGE: Sarah Farnsworth. PHOTOGRAPHY: Healy Racing, Caroline Norris, Sarah Farnsworth, Peter Mooney, Amie Karlsson. EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION MANAGER: Mary Connaughton ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER: Paul Clemenson GOFFS MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY ASHVILLE MEDIA GROUP. Unit 55, Park West Road, Park West, D12. Tel: (01) 432 2200; Fax (01) 672 7100 Email; info@ashville.com. Material printed in this journal is not necessarily endorsed by Ashville Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher is prohibited © 2018. GOFFS NATIONAL HUNT MAGAZINE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN FEBRUARY 2019 PSRA Licence Number: 001833

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news

NEWS & WINNERS RECENT GROUP WINNERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO AN ALREADY SUPERB SEASON FOR GOFFS GRADUATES.

FORCE TO THE FORE 1 LAND AT GOODWOOD

TOM TAAFFE JOINS CLIENT RELATIONS TEAM AT GOFFS GOLD Cup winning trainer Tom Taaffe has been appointed International Client Relations Consultant for Goffs. His is a broad remit focussing on assisting the drive to attract more of the best to Goffs, both from vendors and the leading buyers which he will undertake alongside his training and other equine interests. Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said: “We are delighted to welcome Tom to our team and really look forward to working with him. He is enthusiasm personified and has a proactive approach that absolutely chimes with the Goffs ethos whilst of course he is well known in the industry and has a long list of contacts”.

ORBY Sale graduate Land Force stamped himself as one of the leading two-year-olds in Europe by winning the Group 2 Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on August 2nd. Bred by Evie Stockwell, Land Force was offered at the 2017 Orby Sale by Mark Dwyer’s Oak Farm Stables. He was purchased by M.V. Magnier for €350,000. A son of the exciting first season stallion No Nay Never, Land Force broke his maiden at the Curragh in May for trainer Aidan O’Brien and then finished third in a particularly hot edition of the Marble Hill Stakes at the same venue. At Royal Ascot, Land Force finished fast to take third place in the fivefurlong Group 2 Norfolk Stakes. The colt remained at that distance when running out an easy winner of a Listed race at Tipperary in July, prior to his Goodwood triumph. The form of the Goodwood race looks solid as the runner-up, Marie’s Diamond, had previously won the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes at the Curragh. There are 21 yearlings by No Nay Never in the 2018 Goffs Orby Sale catalogue.

2 CHEVELEY PARK’S CLASSIC

CONTENDER

ANGEL’S Hideaway became the latest Classic contender to come from the Orby Sale when she romped to victory in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Keeneland Stakes at Ascot on July 28th, King George day. The John Gosden-trained filly was jointly bred by Yeomanstown Stud, where her sire Dark Angel stands, and Doc Bloodstock. She was sold for €390,000 at the Orby Sale to her current owners Cheveley Park Stud, who have now bought three Stakes winners in four years at the Orby Sale. Just days after her Ascot win, her own-sister Perfect Angel was sold for £400,000 at the inaugural Goffs UK Goodwood Sale.

BLITZES 3 RUMBLE MOLECOMB FIELD

ONE of the big success stories among the first season sires of 2018 has been Rathasker Stud’s Bungle Inthejungle. By the end of July he had sired 16 individual winners and none better than Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale graduate Rumble Inthejungle. He was bought by Rebel Racing with Bobby O’Ryan for £70,000 at Doncaster last August. Now trained by Richard Spencer, ‘Rumble’ won at Salisbury in May and finished fourth in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot prior to winning the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes over five furlongs at Glorious Goodwood. There are three colts by Bungle Inthejungle in this year’s Premier Yearling Sale.

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IMPORTANT

FLAT

SALES Dates

PAIR SO IMPRESSIVE 4 SPORTSMAN’S THE Goffs Sportsman’s Sale produced two very impressive

Group race winners, Comedy and Sir Dancealot, in July. Sir Dancealot, bought and sold twice at Goffs, has been an absolute star this season for trainer David Elsworth. By the end of July, the four-yearold gelding had won three of his seven starts, including the Group 2 Lennox Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. He also won a Group 3 race at Newmarket and finished a close fourth in the Group 1 Darley July Cup. Sold as a foal at Goffs for €15,000 by Vincent Duignan, Sir Dancealot was consigned to the 2015 Sportsman’s Sale by Forge Stables, where he was snapped up by Joanna Morgan and Kevin Quinn for €30,000. Comedy, winner of the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg at Deauville, was a mere €21,000 purchase at the Sportsman’s Sale last year. The filly by Dandy Man was sold by Duncan McGregor’s Newtown Lodge Stud to Church Farm Stables. She is now jointly owned by Barbara Keller, David Redvers and Alastair Donald. Prior to her Deauville success Comedy had broken the track record at Doncaster while carrying a penalty. There are 16 yearlings by Dandy Man in the Sportsman’s Sale catalogue this year.

PLAYS KEY ROLE 5 GOFFS IN IRISH CHAMPIONS

WEEKEND

RICHARD RYAN JOINS GOFFS UK TEAM RICHARD Ryan was appointed by Goffs UK as its new Horsesin-Training Agent earlier this year. Richard brings a wealth of experience to the newly created position having worked in all facets of the industry from studs and bloodstock to training, where he was assistant trainer to Terry Mills during the years of Where Or When, Bobzao and Mitcham, and more recently to Ian Williams. Richard’s role will see him target entries for Goffs UK’s six HIT sales each year and provide an increased Goffs UK presence on British racecourses throughout the season. Goffs UK Managing Director Tony Williams commented: “We received a huge amount of interest for this new role and Richard was the outstanding candidate so we are delighted he has accepted.”

THE Longines Irish Champions Weekend (September 15th-16th) has quickly established itself as one of the major racing events in Europe, if not the world. Goffs is proud to feature prominently on both days again in 2018. Kicking off the action on Saturday, September 15th, at Leopardstown is the Goffs Champions Sale in association with Brown Thomas. This boutique auction has attracted the interest of some of the world’s top vendors and buyers in recent years. The action moves to the Curragh for the second day of Champions Weekend and one of the three Group 1 races on the card is the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes for two-year-olds. This race is traditionally won by the very best juvenile colt in Europe. Past winners include Dubawi, George Washington, Teofilo, New Approach, Dawn Approach, Gleneagles and Churchill.

AUG 28-29

Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale Record-breaking sale in 2017. Produced Laurens and Harry Angel recently

AUG 30

Goffs UK Silver Yearling Sale Precocious, athletic yearlings.

SEP 15

Goffs Champions Sale, Leopardstown Boutique sale for horses in training

SEP 19

Goffs UK September Horses in Training Sale

OCT 2-3

Goffs Orby Sale Ireland’s premier yearling sale

OCT 4

Goffs Sportsman’s Sale Commercial Yearling & 2YO Types

OCT 24-26

Goffs UK Autumn Horses in Training & Yearling Sale Popular sale moved to new date this year

NOV 5-7

Goffs Autumn Horses in Training & Yearling Sale Strong sale of racing prospects and commercial yearlings

NOV 19-21

Goffs November Foal Sale Part 1 Market Leading Foal Sale

NOV 22-23

Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale Top price of €1.9 million in 2017

NOV 24-25

Goffs November Foal Sale Part 2 Median price was up 33% in 2017.

DEC 7

Goffs UK December Sale New sale of Horses in training, flat mares and foals, and pointto-pointers

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Graduates

A LOOK AT SOME OF THE STARS BOUGHT AT GOFFS AND GOFFS UK WHO HIT THE HEADLINES THIS YEAR

FOREVER TOGETHER

A wide-margin winner of the Group 1 Investec Oaks at Epsom, she has priceless broodmare potential 2015 filly by Galileo out of Green Room (by Theatrical) Breeders: Vimal & Gillian Khosla Sale details: Consigned by Ballylinch Stud to the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale, she was sold for â&#x201A;¬900,000 to M.V. Magnier.

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Graduates

LAURENS

Already a Group 1 winner as a two-year-old, in 2018 she won the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp & Group 1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly 2015 filly by Siyouni out of Recambe (Cape Cross) Breeder: MelchiorFrançois Mathet Sale details: Consigned by Coulonces Consignment to the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale, she was purchased for £220,000 by Salcey Forest Stud on behalf of John Dance

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He followed up his fine Coventry Stakes second placing at Royal Ascot with an impressive success in the Group 2 Arqana July Stakes at Newmarket. The colt then won the Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh in August. The Dewhurst Stakes is the long-term target this season. 2016 colt by Showcasing out of Furbelow (by Pivotal) Breeder: Cheveley Park Stud Sale details: Consigned by Jamie Railton to the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale, he was bought for £60,000 by Dermot Farrington on behalf of Phoenix Thoroughbreds.

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Graduates

LATROBE

Winner of the Group 1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for Joseph O’Brien and Australian owner Lloyd Williams. 2015 colt by Camelot out of Question Times (by Shamardal) Breeder: Sweetmans Bloodstock Sale details: Consigned by Castletown Stud to the Goffs November Foal Sale, he was bought for €88,000 by Margaret O’Toole.

HARRY ANGEL

Already a multiple Group 1 winner, he added the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes in early 2018. 2014 colt by Dark Angel out of Beatrix Potter (by Cadeaux Genereux) Breeder: CBS Bloodstock Sale details: Consigned by Ballyphilip Stud to the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale, he was bought by Clive Cox Racing for £44,000.

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Graduates

KEW GARDENS

A runaway winner of the Group 2 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot, Kew Gardens quickly stepped up to Group 1 company when taking the Grand Prix de Paris in decisive fashion. 2015 colt by Galileo out of Chelsea Rose (by Desert King) Breeder: Barronstown Stud Sale details: His dam Chelsea Rose, a Group 1 winner, was bought at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale for €450,000 by BBA Ireland.

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CLIVE COX

BEHIND

CLIVE COX INVITED DONN McCLEAN TO HIS BEECHDOWN STABLES TO TALK ABOUT HIS GROUP 1 WINNING GOFFS UK PURCHASE HARRY ANGEL AND HIS CAREER AS A TRAINER SO FAR

he horses are here at Beechdown.

Harry Angel just about deigns to turn around to acknowledge your very existence. He’s the boss here, he knows he is and he tells you so. But Perfect Clarity is perfectly personable. Connect is here too, and Crack On Crack On, and Koditime and Koncheck. There is history here too. Golden Miller, quintuple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Golden Miller, still the last horse to win the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same season, was kept fit during the latter stages of his life on the gallop at the bottom of the hill. A little more recently – over 70 years more recently actually – Xtension was trained here. The Xaar colt won the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood in 2009, thereby providing Clive Cox with the first Group 2 winner of his career as a trainer. Xtension is a half-brother to Beatrix Potter, which is part of the reason why Clive Cox paid close attention to the mare’s yearling son by Dark Angel when he saw him at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale in 2015.

RIGHT: A jubilant Clive Cox after Harry Angel’s 2017 Darley July Cup win

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PHOTOGRAPHY: XXX

CLIVE COX

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CLIVE COX Adam Kirby celebrates after the July Cup success

Cox and Kirby raise the trophy aloft after Harry Angel’s win in the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock

“I bought another son of hers, by Nayef, at the Goffs Orby Sale in 2012,” recalls the trainer. “Golden Journey. He wasn’t a bad horse. He won a handicap at Goodwood as a three-year-old. He was a good fun horse, but he was obviously nothing like Harry has turned out to be.” DONCASTER DISOVERY Harry wasn’t Harry when Clive Cox saw him for the first time at Doncaster. He was an unnamed bay colt by Dark Angel out of Xtension’s sister, but the trainer liked him from the moment he saw him. “We didn’t think we’d be buying him. We thought that he would make too much money. So I was very pleasantly surprised when the hammer fell at £44,000.” Cox didn’t have an owner for him at the time, but Peter Ridgers, who had owned his half-brother Golden Journey, was very keen to have him. “I love families that we have a little bit of prior knowledge about. It’s the only benefit of getting older really – you get to know more families!”

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CLIVE COX And Harry was Harry as soon as he got to Beechdown Stables. Beatrix Potter, Harry Potter, it wasn’t a difficult leap, the lads in the yard started calling him Harry straight away. And by Dark Angel. Harry Angel. He almost named himself. “He went very well from early,” recalls his trainer. “He was one of those horses that you knew you’d just have to mind. When he ran first time at Ascot, the last thing I said to Adam (Kirby) as he left the parade ring was, look after him. And thank God he did. We were beaten that day, but only by a nose, and the fact that he didn’t win meant that we didn’t over-face him.” He lined up for another maiden at Glorious Goodwood in July, and he was set to be sent off a short-priced favourite against good horses like Best Solution and Salouen, but he got down in the stalls and had to be withdrawn. After a little break, he went to Newbury and won the Mill Reef Stakes. “He came home from Goodwood fairly bruised and feeling a bit sorry for himself,” says Clive. “Which is why we didn’t run him again until the Mill Reef. He was a maiden going into a Group 2 race, but we didn’t mind that. We thought that the benefit of winning a maiden was out-weighed by how he was going at home. And Ribchester had won the Mill Reef the previous year as a maiden.” Harry was beaten by Blue Point in the Pavilion Stakes at Ascot on his first run as a three-year-old, but Cox knew that that run would bring him forward. And it did. He went to Haydock next time, and smashed the course record in winning the Group 2 Sandy Lane Stakes. After that, he was bought by Godolphin but, crucially, he remained at Beechdown. And just as his first run last year brought him forward, his first run this year should have a similarly positive impact. When Harry went to York to run in the Duke of York Stakes on his 2018 debut in May, Cox hoped that he would win, but he also thought that he would progress for the run. There were only five runners, but it was a proper race, Brando is a Group 1 winner and Harry was carrying a 5lb penalty. But Harry won nicely. That should bring him forward well with the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in mind. ASCOT RECORD Strange thing about Harry Angel: he has run 10 times, he has won five times, and all five of his defeats have been at Ascot. He is unbeaten away from Ascot. He has won a July Cup at Newmarket and a Sprint Cup at Haydock and a Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury and a Duke of York Stakes at York. He has run at Ascot five times and he has been beaten five times. And he has never been beaten anywhere else. “I don’t think that he has an aversion to Ascot. I think that it is just coincidence. He was only beaten a nose there on his racecourse debut, he has finished second three times there, and there were excuses for his defeats. I don’t worry about it, and I would tend to worry about things like that. That said, it would be nice to tick that box.” Clive Cox has ticked many boxes since he took out his trainer’s licence in 1999. Though, truth be told, he never really set out to be a trainer.

From a farming background, when the curtain came down on his career as a National Hunt jockey, during which he rode almost 100 winners – “When the ambulance overtakes you, pull up” – he just wanted to remain in racing. His wife Tina had worked for Jane and Anthony Webber breaking horses when he first came to Lambourn, and it was Jane who introduced him to Mikey Heaton Ellis, so he started there at Barbury Castle as assistant trainer. “I spent a brilliant eight and a half years with Mikey. I couldn’t have hoped to have worked for anybody better. He was a gentleman and he became a great friend. It was a tragedy when he got motor neurone disease.” Mikey died in 1999. Clive and Tina had two young daughters at the time, Lucy and Emily, and they couldn’t afford to stay at Barbury Castle. It just so happened that Richard Philips was moving from John Francome’s Beechdown Stables to Jackdaw’s Castle. “I spoke to John, who was great, and we came here. Elite Racing were actually the leasers of this yard at

FROM TOP: Clive, Adam and Godolphin’s Hugh Anderson receive the Cartier Champion Sprinter Award from Laurent Feniou; Clive at Goffs with former jockey John Reid

“WE DIDN’T THINK WE’D BE BUYING HIM. WE THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY. SO I WAS VERY PLEASANTLY SURPRISED WHEN THE HAMMER FELL AT £44,000” GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018 17

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CLIVE COX

Clive walks the track at Haydock, where the trainer has enjoyed big-race success with Poet, Profitable, Priceless and Harry Angel

“WHEN I GO TO THE SALES, I AM LOOKING FOR VALUE FOR MONEY AND, NOT ALWAYS BUT USUALLY, I CAN FIND THAT IN SPRINTERS”

the time with Richard Philips. I brought 22 horses with me, thanks to the support that we got from Mikey’s owners when poor Mikey died. But our first five years here was linked up with Elite.” NEW SEEKER The first horse that Clive bought for Elite Racing was New Seeker, who won the Britannia at Royal Ascot in 2003, and followed up by winning the big Tote International Handicap back at Ascot the following month. Then in 2005, he won the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot at York, and again landed the Tote International Handicap, which was run at Newbury that year. And the Group 1 winners came along. Cox sent Gilt Edge Girl to Longchamp in October 2010, and they came back with the Prix de l’Abbaye trophy. He went back to France in 2012 and won the Prix Morny with Reckless Abandon, who went on to win the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket. And he won the Diamond Jubilee Stakes and the July Cup in 2013 with Lethal Force. Lethal Force broke the track record when he won the July Cup, and the record still stands. The July Cup’s roll of honour is a Who’s Who of European sprinting: Thatch and Habibti and Chief Singer and Green Desert and Royal Academy and Never So Bold and Oasis Dream. And Lethal Force covered the six furlongs on Newmarket’s July Course in a faster time than all of them. PROFITABLE SPRINTERS It is not a coincidence that there is a preponderance of sprinters at Beechdown Stables. Cox obviously doesn’t concentrate exclusively on sprinters. My Dream Boat’s win in the 2016 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot was special, on the day after the trainer had won the King’s Stand Stakes with Profitable, both beneficiaries of exceptional rides by Adam Kirby, brand new dad Adam Kirby. That was a special week. But the trainer does major on sprinters. Speed excites him. He

understands sprinters. And he can see value in them. He has done unbelievably well with sprinters that he has bought for not much money. “It was nice to have an Oaks filly this year in Perfect Clarity. She just didn’t handle the ground at Epsom, but she’ll be back. She’s a lovely filly. But realistically, I’m not going to have 20 or 30 Derby type horses. So I have learned to manage my expectations and operate accordingly. When I go to the sales, I am looking for value for money and, not always but usually, I can find that in sprinters.” There is an unprecedented depth of talent at Beechdown now. Harry Angel is the headline act, of course, but there is a strong supporting cast. Connect was an impressive winner of the Investec Handicap at Epsom on Derby day in his first-time hood. Crack On Crack On was a good winner of the Silver Bowl at Haydock and should continue to progress. Perfect Clarity was a game winner of the Lingfield Oaks Trial and should be able to put her defeat in the Oaks behind her. Konchek ran well without having the run of the race in the National Stakes at Sandown. Heartache won the Queen Mary and the Flying Childers last year, and hopefully can put her defeat in the Sandy Lane Stakes on her debut this year behind her. “I just want to keep turning up on the right days with a horse, with a chance. And I hope that we can continue to enjoy it all as much as we are enjoying it. I never thought that we would get to this point. I just wanted to make a living. So to go to the big days with a chance, that’s incredible. That’s what drives me. We are lucky that we have assembled a very good team of horses.” The horses are here all right. And the history. It’s a good combination.

Harry Angel was bought by Clive for just £44,000 at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale

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INSIGHT for many of the Moyglare mares and Muharrar, because the physical attributes of his foals.

How and when did you first get involved in bloodstock? I grew up on a farm in Cornwall, rode ponies and exercised point-to-pointers for a local farmer. I graduated from Leeds University with an honours degree in biochemistry and pharmacology. Facing a future in research, I promptly turned left! I eventually went to work for a bloodstock agent, Andrew Sime, in Newmarket. I broke my arm riding out for Sir Mark Prescott and ended up in Kentucky for a summer working on a horse farm. I also worked for the late Richard Galpin, met Stan Cosgrove and linked up with the Haefners’ Moyglare Stud and have been living the gypsy life ever since. Tell us about one of your best Goffs or Goffs UK purchases? Rum Charger for the Firestones too many years ago. She was all pizzazz and class. A fast filly who went to Ascot, she went onto to breed a Group 1 winner for them. Also, the €2m Tocco D’Amore, though I am not sure how much horse skill goes into buying the top lot! Despite being out of an older mare, she had all the power and strength you could ask for plus a great outlook.

What qualities do you look for in yearlings or foals? It is vital to know the profile of horse you are looking for. In most cases these days, it is for a well-pedigreed filly and they are rarely cheap, so you have to go in with your eyes open and be prepared to pay. I love a confident horse, with a “forward looking and forward moving” attitude. Good shape and balance with plenty of strength in proportion to size. Temperament is an enormous factor, often over looked, but they have to cope with so much to be a good horse and remain at that level. Movement and power are vital, if you get the first without the second, it often only produces a beautiful looking slow-ish horse that lacks acceleration.

FIVE MINUTES WITH…

FIONA CRAIG MOYGLARE STUD

“Listen to the best you can get access to, absorb everything and be slow to make judgement on anyone.”

What new stallions are you keen on and why? My stallion preferences are based on trying to breed a horse with speed that carries over a Classic distance, hence class, speed, physique and temperament, linked to racing aptitude, are most important. Though of different aptitudes, Australia and Kingman fit that bill, and I like the profile of Ulysses this year. I like to see them run, to form my own opinion of attitude and strength of mind, New Approach comes to mind as I was there the day he won the Derby. In terms of faster influences, they have to have class not just be fast. I like No Nay Never for his size and strength and hence suitability

What advice would you give to anyone wishing to work in the bloodstock business? Listen to the best you can get access to, absorb everything and be slow to make judgement on anyone. Be around top horses, learn they are not always cosmetically perfect, most have quirks and come in all shapes and sizes, but the good ones all share ‘something’ that sets them apart from the others. Who has been your biggest influence and why? Stan Cosgrove for his humour and ‘writing of the book’ experience; Richard Galpin for showing me a few of the do’s and many of the don’ts in this business; Walter and Eva Haefner for their optimism and trust; John Weldhen, the Cornish farmer for putting me up on his point-to-pointers years ago and showing me how much better a happy horse is as a racehorse, and Dermot Weld, for his ability to see talent early in the less obvious, the giant Casual Conquest, the unsound and enigmatic Forgotten Rules, the fast ground loving Media Puzzle, to name a few.

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15/08/2018 11:26

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10/08/2018 03/07/2018 10:26 16:16

Ballylinch

HAPPILY

FOREVER AFTER

BALLYLINCH STUD HAS BEEN SELLING GROUP 1 WINNERS AT GOFFS ORBY FOR DECADES. JOHN O’CONNOR TELLS DONN McCLEAN ABOUT THE LATEST CLASSIC CHAPTER IN THE STORY, THAT OF EPSOM OAKS HEROINE FOREVER TOGETHER.

John O’Connor was hopeful when Forever Together entered the ring at the 2016 Orby Sale. And there was a solid foundation to his hopefulness. The filly had the looks and she had the pedigree, and all the right people had shown interest. Of course, back then she wasn’t Forever Together. She was Lot 74, a bay yearling filly by Galileo out of the Theatrical mare Green Room, a half-sister to Prix Jean Prat winner Lord Shanakill, a full-sister to

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Ballylinch

Fillies’ Mile winner Together Forever. And, despite the hopefulness and the solid foundation to it, there is still a degree of trepidation when a filly like that goes into the sales ring. “There is only a finite number of buyers for a filly like her,” says O’Connor. “You’d have all your work done, but you’d still just be hopeful that everything would go okay.” John O’Connor had been there before. Many times. Ballylinch Stud had sold many top class fillies in the ring at Goffs, their managing director watching on as the bids are called and the figures on the bid board soar. There is nothing more that you can do at that point. All that can be done has already been done. All you can do is watch and hope, passively, powerlessly, contemplatively. There was precedent too. In 2013 O’Connor had looked on, similarly passively, as Forever Together’s full sister Together Forever had walked around the sales ring in front of him. He was delighted when she was knocked down to MV Magnier for €680,000, and he was more delighted when, just over a year later, she won the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket. “You follow their progress on the racecourse, all of them, and of course you want them to do well. Together Forever didn’t win until her fourth attempt, but she always showed promise and it was brilliant when she won her Group 1. Actually, she beat a horse that we bred ourselves, Agnes Stewart, owned by Clipper Logistics, into second place in the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket that day so, going into the final furlong, we didn’t really mind which one won, as long as one of them did!” Agnes Stewart was also sold at Goffs in 2013. So two fillies from the same Ballylinch consignment, first and second in the Fillies’ Mile. Two weeks before Together Forever won the Fillies’ Mile, her half-sister by Sea The Stars went through the ring at Goffs and was bought by Amanda Skiffington on behalf of Fiona Carmichael for €1.1 million. Named Signe and sent into training with William Haggas, she didn’t race at two or three, but she won her first three races when she started her racing career as a four-year-old last year. Signe is now back at Ballylinch Stud, back with her dam. Full circle.

“WHEN YOU HAVE A TOP CLASS BROODMARE LIKE GREEN ROOM, YOU ARE INVARIABLY HOPING FOR A FILLY. HER FILLIES HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL.” 22

The three fillies, Together Forever, Signe, and the yearling filly in the ring, were bred by Vimal and Gillian Khosla out of their mare Green Room. Green Room didn’t race herself, but she is a half-sister to Spanish Fern, who won the Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Stakes at Santa Anita in 1999 for Juddmonte and Bobby Frankel, and to Rusty Back, the unraced dam of Heatseeker, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. She is out of Chain Fern, a half-sister to the top-class Al Bahathri, winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas and dam of 2000 Guineas winner and Champion Stakes winner Haafhd. And Green Room has proven herself to be a top class broodmare. Her first foal was Lord Shanakill, sold at Keeneland’s September Sale in 2007 for $110,000 – a veritable bargain – and winner of the Mill Reef Stakes as a two-year-old, the Prix Jean Prat as a three-year-old and the Lennox Stakes as a four-year-old. She does not have a twoyear-old this year, but she has a yearling and a foal, both by Galileo, both fillies. “Breeders would be hoping for a colt foal in the normal course of events,” says O’Connor. “But when you have a top class broodmare like Green Room, you are invariably hoping for a filly. Her fillies have been so successful, and it’s great when the family is extended.” Green Room was one of a handful of mares that the Khoslas sent to Ballylinch when they were looking for an Irish base for their small but select broodmare band in 2012.

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Ballylinch

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Forever Together wins the Oaks by a wide margin; Ballylinch Stud manager John O’Connor; Donnacha O’Brien with the Oaks trophy; Together Forever wins the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket from Agnes Stewart

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“I WASN’T THAT CONCERNED THAT SHE DIDN’T WIN AT TWO. SHE WAS ALWAYS GOING TO IMPROVE AS SHE MATURED”

“They are such good people. They enjoy it all, they love their horses and they really appreciate any success that they have.” The Khoslas major in the travel business. They developed their enterprise Travelselect.com to a point at which, in April 2002, it made commercial sense to sell it to lastminute.com. But success in the travel business does not automatically beget success in the bloodstock industry. What works in the former does not automatically work in the latter, and vice-versa. But there are common threads that run between the two: a concentration on quality, on trying to do the correct thing, a patient approach, an ability to get on with people. And the Khoslas’ methodology is working in the bloodstock industry too. In a short question and answer session with The Irish Field in June this year, Vimal Khosla was asked what advice he would give to someone who was thinking of getting involved as a racehorse owner. Be in it for the long haul, he said. The numbers on the bid board rolled as the Galileo filly moved easily around the ring. It took them a little while, but once they got going, the momentum built, slowly at first, then quickly, then slowly again. Through the €300,000 mark, through the €500,000 mark and up to €900,000 before the gavel fell. Mr MV Magnier, thank you very much. It was a great result all round for Ballylinch Stud and for the filly’s breeders. Delight and relief in equal measure. Exhale. The highestpriced filly in the Orby Sale that year. Happy sellers, happy buyers, a job well done, and you knew that the filly was going to a good home. “You always hope that they go to a good home,” says O’Connor. “That’s important. You hope that they will be given every chance to fulfill their potential. To be honest, when you get to that level, to that type of filly, they are invariably going to a good home. Even so, you couldn’t have asked for a better place for her to start her racing career than Ballydoyle, as with her sister three years earlier. You knew that she was going to get the best care, that she was going to be given every chance of succeeding on the racecourse.”

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Ballylinch

CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT: Vimal Khosla; M.V. Magnier bought Forever Together as a yearling; John O’Connor watches the bidding; The hammer is about to fall at €900,000

Named Forever Together, the filly was inevitably sent into training, like her sister three years earlier, with Aidan O’Brien. Unlike her sister, however, she didn’t win at two. She was a slower burn, a late May foal. Indeed, she didn’t make her racecourse debut until early October, when she shaped encouragingly in finishing a running-on fourth in a one-mile maiden at Naas. She raced for the second and final time as a juvenile in late October. By that stage of the season in her juvenile year, her sister had already bagged her Group 1. “I wasn’t that concerned that she didn’t win at two. She was always going to improve as she matured, and we were looking forward to seeing her as a three-year-old.” Her three-year-old season started brightly but unluckily. Sent to Chester by Aidan O’Brien for the Cheshire Oaks on her three-year-old debut, she was held up in traffic at the top of the home straight before finishing off her race well to take second place behind her stable companion Magic Wand. “That was obviously a very encouraging run,” says O’Connor. “Of course, it would have been better if she had won it, a Listed race, but she did show that she had lots of ability. You’d obviously prefer a good but unlucky run like that to a run in which she was well beaten.”

So Forever Together was still a maiden by the time Epsom Oaks day rolled around, but Aidan O’Brien had no hesitation in pitching her into the Classic. It was the race for her, a Galileo filly, a full-sister to a Fillies’ Mile winner, and a running-on runner-up in the Cheshire Oaks over a mile and three and a half furlongs. It was some way to break your maiden, in a Classic, powering clear under Donnacha O’Brien up the stands rail and winning by four and a half lengths. “That was a great day,” recalls O’Connor. “A Classic winner, an Oaks winner. That’s what Ballylinch Stud is all about.” Ballylinch Stud have a deep history of Group 1 winners with Goffs. It was back in 1993 that they sold a yearling colt by Keen out of the Caerleon mare Immediate Impact to Johnny McKeever for £25,000. That’s £ Irish punts. That’s how long ago 1993 is. That colt was named River Keen, and he went to America as an older horse and won the Grade 1 Woodward Stakes and the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup for Bob Baffert. There was Eva’s Request, who won the Group 1 Premio Lydia Tesio at Capannelle in 2009, and High Heeled, who finished third in Sariska’s Oaks in 2009 and won the Group 3 St Simon Stakes, and Red Rocks, who won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf in 2006 and the Grade 1 Man o’War Stakes in 2008, as well as the Group 3 Gordon Richards Stakes in the interim. And last year there was the Galileo filly out of the Dansili mare L’Amour De Ma Vie, whom Ballylinch sold to Godolphin for €1.2 million. That was significant, not only because she was the highest-priced filly in the Orby Sale – two in a row for Ballylinch – but because her purchase by Godolphin, a Galileo filly, represented a change in policy by Sheikh Mohammed’s operation. “I wasn’t surprised,” says O’Connor. “She is a really nice filly and all the right people were interested in her. She made the headlines because she was bought by Godolphin, but we were just delighted that she did so well and that she had been purchased by a top operation”. Ballylinch will inevitably have a strong consignment at the Orby Sale again this year, headed up by the Khoslas’ Galileo filly out of Green Room, an own sister to Together Forever and Forever Together. “I know that you’d expect me to say so, but she is a lovely filly. Really. Not unlike Forever Together. She has a lovely way about her and she has done very well this year. We are looking forward lots to seeing how she does in the sales ring and, in time, on the racecourse.” There’s that hopefulness again. Well-founded, as ever.

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WHAT A RUN! IN 2017-18* MAGIC MILLIONS GRADUATES WON COX PLATE G1 CAULFIELD CUP G1 VRC DERBY G1 SPRING CHAMPION STKS G1 TURNBULL STKS G1 GEORGE MAIN STKS G1 QUEEN ELIZABETH STKS G1 x 2 GEORGE RYDER STKS G1 x 2 CHIPPING NORTON STKS G1 x 2 DARLEY STKS G1 RAILWAY STKS G1 WINTERBOTTOM STKS G1 CF ORR STKS G1 WILLIAM REID STKS G1 ATC SIRES’ PRODUCE G1 DOOMBEN 10,000 G1 SANGSTER STKS G1 QUEEN OF THE TURF G1 CHAMPAGNE STKS G1 JJ ATKINS STKS G1 ROSEHILL GUINEAS G1 AUSTRALIAN DERBY G1 and the

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14/08/2018 06/06/2018 15:49 15:40

INSIGHT toughness to develop into those special racehorses who really want to win. When I think back to some of the most successful racehorses I have worked with as foals or yearlings the majority of them had strong characteristics and you can usually remember difficult days with the good ones growing up!

El Kabeir is a son of Scat Daddy to watch

How and when did you first get involved in bloodstock? I have been working with horses since I was in my early teens in one discipline or another from teaching to eventers but I was a relatively late starter in the thoroughbred industry. I always had an interest in the breeding side so after several years of managing an event yard I applied to do the Diploma course at the National Stud (Newmarket) which was my first experience of the bloodstock industry. I was lucky enough to be awarded the Tim Dunlop Scholarship which gave me the opportunity to travel with the assistance of Simon Marsh and Watership Down Stud which helped further my experience in America. That was probably the making of me and what helped me realise this industry was where I wanted to be. Tell us about one of your best Goffs or Goffs UK purchases? The most important Goffs purchase that Kiltinan/Watership Down Stud made was buying one of the stud’s foundation mares, Darara, in 1994. What new stallions are you keen on and why? With the tremendous success of Scat Daddy I would be keen to

FIVE MINUTES WITH…

DONNA VOWLES MANAGER, KILTINAN CASTLE STUD

follow the new stallions El Kabeir and Caravaggio and, of course, first crop sire No Nay Never. Ulysses would be another young stallion to catch the eye with his classic pedigree and performance on the race track. “The majority of successful racehorses I have worked with had strong characteristics.”

What qualities do you look for in yearlings or foals? When looking at young stock I like to see an athletic walk with a fluidity to the gaits, sound conformation with good balance, and nice big ears is always a good thing. I think temperament is also key in an individual as, although you want a horse who is going to be trainable and accepting of all that is going to be asked of them, they also need to have that little quirk or

What advice would you give to anyone wishing to work in the bloodstock business? I would say to anyone looking to work in the bloodstock business to throw themselves 100% into experiencing and learning every aspect they can from the ground level up, work hard and keep smiling even when it’s tough going. Surround yourself with experienced people to learn from. There are some great courses available both in Ireland and Britain which can really give you an insight into the world of bloodstock. Who has been your biggest influence and why? I have been blessed to work for and alongside some amazing people over the years who have all been influential in some way or another in my learning and developing a passion for our industry, too many to mention. But there are two people that really stand out for influencing and pushing me to be where I am now and that would be Terry Doherty, stud manager of Watership Down Stud, and Todd Claunch, assistant farm manager of Lanes End Farm in Kentucky. Outside of racing and sales what are your interests? Away from work I spend the majority of my time with my own riding horses who I compete through the summer months before the yearling sales start, mainly in Ridden Hunter classes. I always look forwards to my annual week away at the Dublin Horse Show. I am also a member of the newly formed Rock of Cashel Riding Club which has a great social side to it as well as the horses.

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16/08/2018 10:19

London Sale

JAMES THOMAS OF THE RACING POST CHATS TO CON MARNANE ABOUT WHY THE GOFFS LONDON SALE IS THE PERFECT VENUE TO MIX BUSINESS AND PLEASURE

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London Sale

ever mix business with pleasure, so the saying goes. In essence we are told that matters of the head and the heart should be kept separate. But, while this may ring true in certain walks of life, goings on within the racing and bloodstock world routinely defy such perceived wisdom. In the realms of racing and breeding it is entirely possible to form deep and lasting attachments to your stocks and shares, and there’s no doubt that the intense enjoyment the thoroughbred can deliver can also come with untold financial reward. And nowhere is racing’s ability to marry business and pleasure more apparent than at the Goffs London Sale, held in association with QIPCO in the grounds of Kensington Palace on the eve of the world’s biggest race meeting, Royal Ascot. The flagship meeting may be what brings racing royalty from far and wide to Ascot, but it is at the Goffs London Sale where you will find them relaxing before the action gets under way.

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London Sale Sale topper Belle Josephine, in foal to Siyouni, and her Pivotal colt

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Alastair Donald signing the docket; David Redvers and Eimear Mulhern; Auctioneers Nick Nugent, Henry Beeby and Andrew Nolan

“IF YOU EVER WANTED TO CAST YOUR EYE OVER A WHO’S WHO OF THE WORLD OF RACING, THE LONDON SALE WOULD BE THE PLACE TO GO” 30

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London Sale

Arrive at the sale and you are just as likely to find Gai Waterhouse rubbing shoulders with John Gosden as you are to see Willie Mullins or Wesley Ward enjoying a glass of Pimm’s and a canape in the chic central London setting. If you ever wanted to cast your eye over a who’s who of the world of racing, the London Sale would be the place to go. Among those on the grounds this year was the master of Bansha House Stables, Con Marnane, who has been responsible for nurturing the formative days of 22 top-flight winners and who may well have reached a century of stakes performers by the time you are reading this. The man known to many simply as ‘King Con’ knows better than most the appeal of Royal Ascot, having produced the likes of Norfolk Stakes winner Prince Of Lir and Albany Stakes heroine Different League to win at the meeting in recent years. And with an insider’s understanding of the global draw that Royal Ascot possesses, Marnane also recognises the significance of an event like the London Sale on the eve of such a year-defining race meeting. “It kicks off the Royal Ascot meeting in very good style,” he says. “It’s fantastic that Goffs have had the initiative to go ahead and establish a sale - and an event - like this. “The sales day experience doesn’t get any better. There’s a real party atmosphere and Goffs do a great job of entertaining their clients, who come from all over the world to be at this sale. I sold one lot to someone from Thailand and interests from America and China were there among the underbidders, so it really is international. “It’s fantastic PR for racing and it’s great that everyone can come together and generate such a feel good factor at the start of a highpressure week,” he continues. “And you can have a runner at the races if you decide to buy, and that’s a massive draw.” Marnane’s last point is a particularly pertinent one, as, while the London Sale may appear like a garden party held exclusively for the great and the good of racing, at its core is the most boutique and utterly unique auction, with the gentle clinking of champagne flutes chiming in harmony with the thud of the auctioneer’s gavel.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Con Marnane; Rachel Hood and John Gosden; inspections in full swing; Wesley Ward, Gatewood Bell, MV Magnier, Justin Carthy and Paul Shanahan

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London Sale LEFT: Henry Beeby talks to Sky Sports ahead of the 2018 London Sale

“LOOK AT POCKET DYNAMO, HE CAME UP FOR AUCTION AT THE SALE AND ENDED UP BEING BEATEN A HEAD IN THE NORFOLK STAKES” 32

Graduates of the sale include St Leger hero Harbour Law, bought for just £30,000 by Kiltown Bloodstock in 2015, and Madame Dancealot, who, despite costing just £100,000 when bought by Kern/Lillingston back in 2016, has gone on to win two Grade 2s and was denied by just a nose in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes. And the Bansha House man was among those who sold Royal Ascot runners at the latest renewal of the London Sale, with No More Regrets and Junius Brutus, both of whom previously raced in the silks of his wife Theresa when running in France for Matthieu Palussiere, coming under the hammer in Kensington. Both the £130,000 No More Regrets and the £300,000 Junius Brutus went the way of Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, whose runners operate under the King Power Racing banner. “It’s been very difficult to sell breeze-up horses this year so we’ve had no choice but to race them - so now we’re selling racehorses instead,” says Marnane. “We sold two of our horses at the London Sale this year and we were very happy with the prices we got. The Kodiac filly, No More Regrets, went there Listed-placed and she’s worth what she made as a broodmare and will win plenty of races as well. “Junius Brutus ran in the Windsor Castle and he wasn’t beaten far at all. He ran his heart out to finish sixth and was staying on like a trooper. He’s one for the future.” Also among this year’s London Sale offerings was Pocket Dynamo, who must have left potential buyers kicking themselves for letting the son of Dialed In go unsold at just £170,000, as just three days after being offered in central London the colt ran a huge race to be second in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes. Pocket Dynamo was subsequently sold to the rapidly emerging Phoenix Thoroughbreds. “Look at Pocket Dynamo, he came up for auction at the sale and ended up being beaten a head in the Norfolk Stakes by a Wesley Ward horse,” says Marnane when asked about the quality on offer at the London Sale. “I’m sure his new owners paid a lot more for him after he put in that performance than if they’d have bought him at Kensington a few days earlier.”

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15/08/2018 14:25

GUTAIFAN DARK ANGEL EX ALIKHLAS

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13/07/2018 10:28 12:17 10/08/2018 16/07/2018 08:52

London Sale

The Archie Watson-trained Rockin Roy (above left) is a two time winner since being bought for £70,000 by BBA Ireland for Zhang Yuesheng in London. Pictured above are Michael Donohoe, Eric Koh and Zhang Yuesheng. Pocket Dynamo (centre)

Runner up by a nose in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot after being offered at the London Sale.

No More Regrets

Sold by Con Marnane’s Bansha House Stables to SackvilleDonald for £130,000 and has subsequently been placed three times for King Power Racing.

Junius Brutus

Ran a great race in the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot having been sold by Bansha House for £130,000 at the London Sale.

Those fortunate enough to attend the lavish event will undoubtedly find themselves in good company, and the same can be said for the lots that come up for offer, with the London Sale catalogue the very epitome of quality over quantity. This year’s sale was topped by Belle Josephine, the dam of the smart Mildenberger, who was offered with her Pivotal colt foal at foot. She was consigned by Salcey Forest Stud and it was Sackville Donald who signed the docket at £720,000. There have also been three seven-figure lots sold at the London Sale since its inauguration in 2014, including the sale of Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Jet Setting to the China Horse Club for £1,300,000 in 2016. The same price was also paid by Sheikh Fahad Al Thani for Cappella Sansevero, who came up for grabs less than 24 hours before he finished second to The Wow Signal in the Coventry Stakes. “The boutique market is very strong,” says Marnane. “And at the London Sale you’re just dealing with top-end products, it’s as simple as that.” But even form in the book does not guarantee a page in the London Sale catalogue, as Marnane explains. “The vetting process that these horses go through is unbelievably strict,” he says. “The horses I sold there this year went through about three and a half hours of vetting, that includes X-rays, tendon scans, scopes, the physical inspections. It’s so thorough.” So if you’re on the hunt for a good horse or good company - and let’s face it, who couldn’t use more of both - then keeping the Monday before Royal Ascot free is highly recommended. Whether you’re buying, selling or merely there to enjoy the occasion, the Goffs London Sale really is all about possibilities. And, as the previous renewals have highlighted, when you mix business with pleasure, the possibilities really are endless.

“THERE’S A REAL PARTY ATMOSPHERE AND GOFFS DO A GREAT JOB OF ENTERTAINING THEIR CLIENTS”

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

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ABEL TASMAN, 1st, 2017 G1 Kentucky Oaks 2017 G1 Acorn Stakes 2017 G1 Coaching Club Oaks 2017 Crowned Eclipse Champion 3 yo ﬁlly 2017 G1 Ogden Phipps 2018 Horse In Training Purchase

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10/08/2018 03/07/2018 10:30 08:46

THE AGA KHAN STUDS Success Breeds Success

Discover your star this Autumn... In the last 3 years, horses bred and sold by the Aga Khan Studs, or bred out of mares sold by the Aga Khan Studs include:

Almanzor – Triple Gr.1 winner Capri – Dual Gr.1 winner Harzand – Dual Gr.1 winner Vadamos – Dual Gr.1winner Librisa Breeze – Gr.1 winner Mont Ormel – Gr.1 winner Shakeel – Gr.1 winner The Pentagon – Gr.1 placed Flag Of Honour – Gr.2 winner Hunaina – Gr.3 winner Shahroze – Gr.3 winner Don’t miss our consignments at Goffs this year

Dual Gr.1 winner and sire, Harzand

www.AgaKhanStuds.com

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23/07/2018 11:43 13/08/2018 23/07/2018 13:44 12:26

LONDON SALE

PERFECT PARTNERS Goffs London Sale in association with QIPCO was the place to be on the eve of Royal Ascot as the who’s who of international racing gathered at Kensington Palace Gardens. Goffs wish to extend our thanks to Sheikh Fahad Al Thani and his brothers for the continued support of QIPCO as the sale’s title partner, which has brought so much to the success of this truly unique event. Selfridges provided delicious canapes and afternoon tea, perfectly complemented by glasses of Love Rose from Château Léoube. Also among the luxury brand partners, Goffs welcomed back Select Mobile and JetSmarter, while two new additions to London in 2018 were No.1 Rosemary Water and Bowland Brewery

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INSIGHT

Luminate is a Group winner at two and three in France and was bought at the 2016 Goffs Orby Sale by John and Jake Warren

What qualities do you look for in yearlings or foals? I think it depends on what type of horse you’re trying to buy as criteria for sprinters differs significantly to that of middledistance types. I suppose the common denominator across the board is that we always buy a horse with natural strength and a good action, we have also never been inclined to buy a horse with a narrow hip. How and when did you first get involved in bloodstock? Growing up with both parents, uncle and grandfather heavily involved in the sport there wasn’t much getting away from it at home. However I suppose what really hooked my interest was when I started to pinhook a few foals on advice from Dad [John Warren] at university with Ed Sackville. We had some early luck and it pricked my ears to the investment opportunities within the industry. Tell us about one of your best Goffs or Goffs UK purchases? Over the past few years we have unearthed some lovely horses from both Goffs and Goffs UK including Foundation, Johnny Barnes, Pamona, Beacon, Chartreuse and Nargys, but probably the most exciting is Luminate who was an unbeaten stakes winning two-year-old last year and a Group 3 winning threeyear-old this year. What new stallions are you keen on and why? From a breeding point of view there is a host of very likeable and talented first season sires this year such as Almanzor, Ulysses, Ribchester, Postponed and Highland Reel, all of which we have

FIVE MINUTES WITH…

JAKE WARREN HIGHCLERE STUD

“I think developing knowledge in rearing stock is immensely valuable. That is the foundation to it all.”

sent mares to. In relation to this year’s yearling crop we have been seriously impressed with the Cable Bays, they have terrific strength and balance and look to be very sharp types indeed. We and the breeding right holders piled another heap of mares back into him this year and the market supported him too which was great to see in the third year. In regard to sires with runners for the first time, I was very fond of the Australias and we bought a number of yearlings by him last year. Progeny by No Nay Never, Kingman and Sea The Moon caught the eye in that crop too.

What advice would you give to anyone wishing to work in the bloodstock business? I think developing knowledge in rearing stock is immensely valuable. That process is, in my view, the foundation to it all as knowing about stallions and mares, developing young conformation, understanding land, veterinary and the sales market are where it all begins. I imagine there are breeders still learning and changing their rearing techniques at twice my age but for anyone starting off this area is where I would invest as much time as possible. Who has been your biggest influence and why? Both my parents, without question. Being a family-run business we all work extremely closely. I’ve been fortunate enough to have two incredibly experienced teachers with a vested interest in passing their knowledge on. Outside of racing and sales what are your interests? My wife [Zoe] and I are big music fans, but being a father of three little ones now, our interests seem to be deferring back to buckets and spades!

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

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16/11/2017 11:35 16:01 13/08/2018 25/07/2018 14:01

ZHANG YUESHENG

ZHANG YUESHENG IS QUICKLY BECOMING A MAJOR FIGURE IN INTERNATIONAL RACING AND BLOODSTOCK. HE TELLS LEO POWELL ABOUT HIS LOVE FOR THE SPORT AND APPETITE FOR FURTHER EXPANSION

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ZHANG YUESHENG

BELOW: Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland, Zhang Yuesheng and Kelsey Wang secure another Goffs purchase

definition of passion is that it is ‘an intense desire or enthusiasm for something’. Passion is the most appropriate word to use when it comes to describing Zhang Yuesheng’s feeling towards thoroughbred racing and breeding. In an interview two years ago with The Irish Field, Mr Zhang was asked, as a parting question, what race he would most like to win as an owner. His reply was swift and succinct: “I would love to win the Irish Derby.” This year he had a horse good enough to line up for Ireland’s premier Classic, though bad luck in the starting gate meant that the challenge was effectively over before it began. Thankfully, Mr Zhang’s lifetime involvement with horses has taught him to savour the good days and forget the rest, because owning racehorses is inevitably something of a rollercoaster ride. The €200,000 Goffs yearling purchase Platinum Warrior, his Curragh Classic contender, will have many more opportunities to build on his victory earlier this year in the Group 3 Airlie Stud Gallinule Stakes, a race in which the son of Galileo had the

“HE HAS THREE STUD FARMS IN AUSTRALIA AND IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS HOPES TO HAVE THREE MORE”

eventual Irish Derby hero Latrobe more than two lengths in arrears. In the relatively short space of six or seven years, Zhang Yuesheng has become a wellknown name, not just in Ireland but also in Australia, America, Singapore and naturally enough in his native China. In the last-named he is seen as quite the trailblazer, with his vision for racing and local investment certain to become a template for others to follow. He is setting a high standard. Mr Zhang has built very strong ties with Ireland and this has happened quickly and with lots of success. When did he first become aware of Ireland and its proud thoroughbred tradition? “That was in 2011, the first time I came to visit Ireland and started to get involved in purchasing Irish thoroughbreds. It was the promotion by Irish Thoroughbred Marketing and BBA Ireland that brought Ireland to my attention and I started buying then,” he said. “I grew up on the back of a horse you could say. At the beginning I was more involved with the world of eventing but, through ITM and BBA Ireland, I got to know more about the Irish

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ZHANG YUESHENG

ABOVE: Winning connections of Yulong Baobei following the Listed Excelebration Stakes at Tipperary. BELOW: Mr Zhang leads in Johnny Murtagh aboard Curragh winner Yulong Bauju in 2013

thoroughbred and developed my passion and my love for them,” he added. Ireland holds a special place in Mr Zhang’s heart, even though his interests have spread worldwide. He currently has three stud farms in Australia and in the next three to five years hopes to have a quality stallion station, a well populated breeding farm and a third stud where his runners will be spelled and young stock raised. Ambition and energy are qualities Mr Zhang has in abundance, and Ireland could yet benefit in the future from his growing equine empire. “With the expansion of our global operation, it is likely that in the same timeframe we will have a stud farm in the northern hemisphere. Ireland could be an obvious candidate for such a place,” Mr Zhang explained. Fuelling Mr Zhang’s deepening connection with Ireland is the strong relationship he enjoys with BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe. He is quick to point out the important qualities that make Donohoe his trusted advisor in Ireland. “Michael is a great help and a great friend. Importantly his connection to a horse doesn’t end after the purchase. He constantly

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Elwick Stud Breeding and Rearing Success. Standing Dual Gr.1 winning son of Galileo, MONDIALISTE.

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13/08/2018 09/08/2018 13:46 15:01

ZHANG YUESHENG

ABOVE: Yulong Gold Fairy lands the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Race at Naas last October. LEFT: The impressive set-up at the Shanxi Province facility

phones up, giving us updates and news. The follow up he provides is very important,” he explained. A hugely successful businessman and entrepreneur, Mr Zhang surrounds himself with the best people and advisors, thus allowing him to spend as much time as he does indulging in his passion for racing. Horses are far from being his core business. However, he devotes as much time as he can to learning more about the business, and this is not an easy task given his lack of English. What might well be a deterrent to most is no hindrance to Mr Zhang in his pursuit of knowledge. “Mr Zhang possesses an amazing photographic memory for horses, pedigrees, lot numbers and more,” says Eric Koh. Mention any horse in his ownership and Mr Zhang can reel off all the information you want to know. “At the beginning [2012] I was only starting to learn about Irish racing, but through years of equine related globe-trotting experience I have learned a great deal more.” On the day of our interview Mr Zhang received news of a victory in Australia for the David Hayes-trained Sikandarabad, a five-year-old Aga Khan-bred son of Dr Fong who was purchased by Michael Donohoe at last year’s Goffs Champions Sale in Leopardstown for just €50,000. The improving five-year-old will now have his sights set on some lucrative prize money down under. In a further update since the interview, the Darren Weir-trained Haripour became the latest winner for Mr Zhang’s Yulong Investments in Australia. Haripour was also bought through Donohoe from the Aga Khan Studs at the Goffs Champions Sale 2017. Sikandarabad and Haripour are not the first Aga Khan-bred horses that Mr Zhang has done well with. Embiran, bought for just €35,000 at the 2016 Goffs Horses In Training Sale, was crowned the 2017 Horse of The Year in China by the Yulong Jockey Club. The winner is chosen by a combination of racing performance and a popular vote among racing fans. When he was trained in Ireland by Dermot Weld the Curragh maiden winner was also placed in the Listed Tetrarch Stakes. Having won six of his 12 starts in China, the Shamardal five-year-old Embiran headlined the first thoroughbred sale held on the mainland in China this past May, selling for the equivalent of about €180,000. The following day he added to his tally of victories with success in the fivefurlong Irish Adult Sprinters Stakes on the sand track.

Innovation is a byword of Mr Zhang’s modus operandi, and having the first ever thoroughbred sale is typical of the type of project he is happy to become involved with. Even more ambitious is the fact that he built and runs a racecourse at Youyu, Shanxi Province in China. This is a first-class facility which has been in operation now for two years since a total rebuild and refurbishment. Vitally, and strategically, the enterprise receives great support from the local government. Mr Zhang expanded on this. “The local government has been very supportive, especially when they see the benefits that accrue to the economy from tourism generated by visitors to our racetrack. Therefore they are helping to promote the sport and we have seen officials from other regions coming to see our model.” Though just in its infancy, racing there is attracting a growing audience to the track and on television, recently broadcasting live to an audience of 4.8 million people. The Yulong racing centre development, in the province of Shanxi, is now home to more than 600 horses and has been seeing increasing number of new racehorse owners. In January 2017 a plane landed in China with 76 horses on board, a €3 million airlift, months after Mr Zhang - assisted by

“EVEN MORE AMBITIOUS IS THE FACT THAT HE BUILT AND RUNS A RACECOURSE AT YOUYU, SHANXI PROVINCE IN CHINA”

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ZHANG YUESHENG

FROM TOP: Mr Zhang and Eric Koh at the 2018 Goffs London Sale; Goffs Chairman Eimear Mulhern presents Mr Zhang with his award for Whitefountainfairy at the AIRO Awards 2017

Michael Donohoe - bought 39 yearlings over two days at the Goffs Open Yearling Sale. With utmost transparency, Mr Zhang offers all owners the first choice of the horses he imports, never keeping the best for himself. While most of these sales take place privately, he also intends to hold at least two public auctions a year. Racing in Shanxi, China takes place from May to about mid-October and races usually attract average fields of about 10 runners. Conscious of the burgeoning nature of the racing product in China, most of the international names associated with the industry are keen to sponsor races at Yulong and the Irish day in August is a particularly successful initiative. “In China the racing industry is just starting to move forward and the last few years have seen growth and development. Several major racecourses in China are hosting racing seasons and the future is bright. “I think it is important to say that racing that will be the major growth area and not betting. The Chinese government is very cautious about introducing betting and it is not allowed presently. The Chinese market is huge and that is why I believe it will grow rapidly without betting,” he explained. In Ireland Mr Zhang has horses in training with

a large number of trainers, including Michael Halford, Dermot Weld, Sheila Lavery, John Oxx, Jessica Harrington and Willie McCreery. In the past he has also used Eddie Lynam, Johnny Murtagh, Joseph O’Brien and Robbie McNamara. Mr Zhang has enjoyed group race success with Platinum Warrior, Yulong BaoBei, trained by Michael Halford gave him his first Stakes victory at Tipperary two years ago, while Yulong Gold Fairy landed the valuable Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Race Final at Naas last October. “I was thrilled and delighted that Yulong BaoBei gave me my first stakes win, and it was in Ireland,” Mr Zhang said. What are the qualities he looks for in a trainer? “It all boils down to chemistry and how they bring out the best in the horses under their charge. With larger numbers of horses now in training I want to find the right trainer for the right horse. Results are very important alongside the well-being of my horses.” Mr Zhang says that first impressions count highly when it comes to choosing a horse, just as it can do with people. “It is like first love – fate and destiny play a big part. Yes, there are certain minimum requirements to be a successful runner, and a pedigree is very important.” Is it significant that the Zhang racing silks are green, the colour most often seen as representative of Ireland? “Well, green is the corporate colour of my company and that is why when we designed the silks we chose it. When I first came to Ireland I also studied some of the culture of the country and it all clicked with green also being a colour of the Irish!” As an international owner, with vast experience now of racing in many different jurisdictions, what advice does Mr Zhang have for the Irish racing authorities? He is unequivocal in his reply. “It is essential that prize money levels are not only maintained but that they are increased. Compared with Australia, America, Singapore and Hong Kong, they are relatively low. “I believe you will attract more owners to race on the flat in Ireland if prize money levels are improved. Yes, owners want fun but they also don’t want to lose too much money. If you reward owners it will increase their motivation, and that becomes a positive circle.” In 2017 Mr Zhang travelled to Ireland to receive a Goffs-sponsored award at the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners’ annual dinner. This recognised the fact that he had purchased the smart Whitefountainfairy as a yearling for €3,000 at the Goffs Sportsman’s Sale and the subsequent Fairyhouse maiden winner was sold nine months later for a whopping £300,000 at the Goffs London Sale. The sale also showed that the astute owner keeps a sharp eye on the commercial side of his business. “I guess I’ve been advised enough over the years to be open to selling. Owning racehorses started as a hobby but, as I expand into wider aspects of the industry, and in particular the breeding side of things, I also have to be commercially driven,” Mr Zhang says. Zhang Yuesheng is becoming more and more familiar at the ringsides of sales companies and racecourses throughout the world, not least in Ireland, and the successful start he has made is likely to mushroom to greater in the years to come. Who knows, that much coveted Irish Derby triumph might well become a reality soon.

“THE CHINESE MARKET IS HUGE AND THAT IS WHY I BELIEVE IT WILL GROW RAPIDLY WITHOUT BETTING”

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16/08/2018 16:17 16:08

We have consigned/bred the winners of 82 Group 1 races including 20 Classics!

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| ZHANG YUESHENG

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2018

ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS THE GLOBAL SYNDICATE HITS THE JACKPOT

Most recently…

FOREVER TOGETHER

QUEEN OF THE RING

URENS WAS ALWAYS A STAR

OAKS WINNER SOLD AT THE ORBY SALE

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14/08/2018 16:07

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| MARK RICHARDS

2018

ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS THE GLOBAL SYNDICATE HITS THE JACKPOT

CAPRI, 2 Classics including 2017 St Leger Stakes-G1 QUEEN OF THE RING

FOREVER TOGETHER

URENS WAS ALWAYS A STAR

OAKS WINNER SOLD AT THE ORBY SALE

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14/08/2018 16:07

C L I V E C OX

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Section Head

| ZHANG YUESHENG

| MARK RICHARDS

2018

ALL ABOUT THE GIRLS THE GLOBAL SYNDICATE HITS THE JACKPOT

FOREVER TOGETHER

QUEEN OF THE RING

URENS WAS ALWAYS A STAR

OAKS WINNER SOLD AT THE ORBY SALE

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14/08/2018 16:19 14/08/2018 16:19

john dance ABOVE: A delighted John Dance and Daniel Creighton sign the docket on the future Classic winner Laurens at Doncaster.

THE

OWNER JOHN DANCE REFLECTS ON THE DAY HE BOUGHT LAURENS AT THE DONCASTER PREMIER SALE, AND TELLS LISSA OLIVER OF HIS HOPES FOR THE BRILLIANT FILLY

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JOHN DANCE

he thrill of the racecourse isn’t quite beyond compare, for some it can be matched by the thrill of the sales. The glorious uncertainty that tempts gamblers into speculating on horses is part and parcel of the sales ring, where future champions

are found. It’s rather fitting that champion filly Laurens, bought at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale in 2016 for £220,000, went to a speculator of a different sort who knows better than most the buzz of the marketplace. John Dance is a self-confessed financial geek, a wizard with figures and investments and fast gaining quite a magical touch with horses, too. Laurens is one of many horses he has in training, but the filly has taken ownership to a new level for him and wife Jessica. Laurens (by Siyouni out of Recambe, by Cape Cross) broke her maiden on her debut in July last year, appropriately at Doncaster. The esteem she was held in became apparent when she stepped straight up to the Group 3 Prix du Calvados at Deauville, finishing a close second to Polydream. She went on to win the Group 2 May Hill Stakes at Doncaster and the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket, to establish herself as one of the leading Classic prospects for 2018. This year she was touched off by just one and three-quarters of a length by Billesdon Brook, whom she had previously beaten in the May Hill Stakes, in the 1000 Guineas, before plundering France to claim the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary and Group 1 Prix de Diane. What led John Dance to Classic glory? “I had a small interest in horseracing inherited from my father,” he says of his initial interest. “We would watch the racing together regularly on a Saturday afternoon, when it used to be on ITV first time around.” A lucky job placement put his passion for mathematics to good use and, after gaining valuable experience in the banking and finance world, in 2010 John founded Vertem Asset Management, an independent stockbroker company based in

Newcastle upon Tyne, which later led him back to horseracing. “In the investment world an interest in racing is quite common, there’s a similarity with gambling,” he explains. “Market-makers love to gamble on anything. I followed racing closely and developed an interest in form analysis, watching it more closely and learning to look at physical attributes as well. “When I set up my own business, I got involved with race sponsorship and there is only so much prize giving you can do without wanting to be on the receiving side. It didn’t matter how small the race, the sheer joy of the winning owner was obvious and the buzz that they got out of it, I couldn’t help but be attracted to it.” John bought his first horses in 2014 and was shrewd enough to spread the risks. “Our first horse was Arcossi, she was a lovely little thing and a spectacular mover, but the problem was that she knew it! Her main focus was on “look at me” rather than going fast. Had she been our only horse, she might have put us off owning any more. As it was, we ended up with six horses and two of them won on debut, and that got us hooked.” It’s a passion he shares with wife, Jessica, who also works in investments, managing the investment management operations at Vertem’s sister company, Sapia Investment Services. The couple enjoy spending mornings watching their horses work on the gallops in North Yorkshire, seeing the progress of each

Karl Burke (l), PJ McDonald and John Dance (r) receive their Prix de Diane Longines trophies following Laurens’ Chantilly victory.

IN THE INVESTMENT WORLD AN INTEREST IN RACING IS QUITE COMMON, THERE’S A SIMILARITY WITH GAMBLING,” 50

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JOHN DANCE

Classic glory for Laurens in the Group 1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly.

individual horse, and how much dedication, hard work and effort it takes just to get them to a racecourse. As John points out, “Racing is also important to me as a mental distraction. It can be very hard to switch off from work, but racing and visiting the horses allows that.” Together, John and Jessica have developed a good eye and clear ideas of what they look for in a horse. “Our best success has come from Jess and I going to the sales ourselves and making our own selections,” John says. “We get help from bloodstock advisor Dan Creighton and like to get a second opinion from bloodstock agent Ed Sackville. I like to know which of the horses the trainers like. If all three don’t like it, then it’s time to panic, but if only one doesn’t like it then that’s just a matter of opinion and I don’t worry so much.” Opinions were in perfect harmony when it came to Laurens, the pick of the 2016 Premier Yearling Sale. “We would have picked Laurens ourselves regardless, but she was already named and, as our youngest daughter is called Lauren, we had to go and look at her,” John reveals. “We absolutely fell in love with her, she is certainly the finest specimen I’ve seen at that age and we ended up spending more on her than we had intended. “Prior to seeing her, Dan had sent a text to say he’d just seen the best-looking horse in the sale and by far the best he had ever seen at the sales. He says now, that for him, Laurens has ruined buying horses, because no one else compares to her.” Going over budget had looked a worthy risk on the day and hindsight now shows the filly to be quite some bargain. As connections talk about her, the buzz she has provided from day one is obvious. John recalls, “Moving to a

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JOHN DANCE

ABOVE: Classic potential - Laurens pictured before going under the hammer at the Premier Yearling Sale 2016.

new environment, and the sales and preparation, can be quite stressful on a horse and we knew Laurens wouldn’t be an early two-year-old, so we sent her to Rebecca Menzies’ yard initially. Rebecca has nice paddocks and horses in training there, so Laurens could get some proper down time for six or eight weeks with other racehorses around her. “Then she went to Karl Burke and we all went to see her that first weekend at Karl’s. We knew then she was good. She had an aura. It was in her persona, she knew she was special, you could see it in her demeanour.” Karl is a master at not rushing a horse and took his time with Laurens, so it was only at the end of May last year, when she stepped up in work, that those feelings were confirmed. By the end of the season, all of Europe knew a star had been born. “Racing UK did a feature on her and the producer fell in love with her,” John tells us. “The way she wins counters excitement, but she’s tough and brave and knows to do enough to win, that’s just her way.” To date, a neck has been her widest winning margin, she’s a filly who relishes a battle and going eye-to-eye with her opponents. At the time of writing, her next target was due to be the Yorkshire Oaks (August 23rd), at a meeting dear to John and Jessica’s heart. “She has run in three Group 1 races in a six-week period and deserves a break,” he says. “If she stays the mile and a half then we’ll go for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, with a stepping stone in the interim. We’re also toying with the idea of the Breeders’ Cup and Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong.” Meanwhile, thoughts are already turning to the Premier Yearling Sale (August 28th-29th). “We have

bought a few elsewhere, such as Goffs in Ireland, but the only sale we get to ourselves is Goffs UK at Doncaster and that is our happy hunting ground. We’re heavily reliant on the Premier Yearling Sale. It marks our wedding anniversary, so we go to the Ebor meeting at York to celebrate it and then on to the sales to extend the event. “We’ve had a lot of luck at Goffs UK and, as well as Laurens, most recently with Cosmic Law (No Nay Never – Dhamma, £90,000), who won the Woodcote Stakes in June. Family favourite, Marsh Pride (Stimulation – Peneia), was our first ever breeze-up horse, bought at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up for £14,000.” A couple of days after this interview, John and Jessica had another win with a Goffs UK purchase, when the two-year-old Koduro (£40,000, by Kodiac) won a novice race at Ayr. Time will tell who the successor to Laurens may be, but John and Jessica Dance still have the remainder of the season to enjoy her and an array of big race opportunities to perhaps seal her place in the Hall of Fame. The big question, of course, is will they retain her after the close of her racecourse career? “We do breed horses, but we never imagined we’d have the chance to breed from a Group 1 winner,” John admits. “The future with her is a dilemma for us. She’s quite valuable and we could achieve more by banking an asset and reinvesting. That’s a problem to worry about in the future, we’ll just enjoy her for the rest of the year.”

“WE ABSOLUTELY FELL IN LOVE WITH LAURENS, SHE IS CERTAINLY THE FINEST SPECIMEN I’VE SEEN AT THAT AGE”

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MOST PRECOCIOUS SON OF OASIS DREAM

COACH HOUSE

Oasis Dream ex Lesson In Humility (Mujadil) FIRST 2YOS IN 2018 Over 70 in training, first winners include I Believe In You, More Than Likely, etc. Yearlings realised up to 125,000gns. ROYAL ASCOT 2YO SPRINTER 5f Stakes winner. BY A CHAMPION SPRINTER AND SIRE Out of a Gr.1 sprinter. In partnership with Whitsbury Manor Stud and Trickledown Stud

HELLVELYN

Ishiguru ex Cumbrian Melody (Petong)

PROVEN SOURCE OF 2YO SPEED

SIRE OF TOP 2YO FILLY MRS DANVERS As well as 2yo Stakes winners/performers Ardenode, Bonnie Grey, Hellofahaste, La Rioja, Mister Trader, etc. Plus Quench Dolly, Bengal Lancer, etc. 7.7% BLACK-TYPE 2YO WINNERS TO RUNNERS Better than Kodiac, Dark Angel, Acclamation, Lope de Vega, Exceed And Excel, Teofilo, Showcasing, Shamardal, etc. (2016-2017) Mrs Danvers - Unbeaten 5-time 2yo winner including Cornwallis Stakes Gr.3

PEARL SECRET

Compton Place ex Our Little Secret (Rossini) CONSISTENT 5F STAKES WINNER Won 3 Group/Stakes races and twice Gr.1 placed, all over 5f. Beating 64 Group winners, including 16 Gr.1 winners. OUT OF A 5F STAKES WINNING MARE From the family of Dutch Art. HIS SIREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NATURAL SUCCESSOR AT STUD Cracking first foals in 2018.

GR.2 WINNING SPRINTER BY SPEED SIRE COMPTON PLACE

BUCKLANDS FARM & STUD Oridge Street Corse, Gloucester Gloucestershire GL19 3DA

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10/08/2018 30/07/2018 10:43 14:59

WHERE THE BEST IN THE WORLD MEET 15 SEPTEMBER LEOPARDSTOWN 16 SEPTEMBER THE CURRAGH BOOK THE CURRAGH THOROUGHBRED TRAIL Begin Day 2 of Longines Irish Champions Weekend by going behind the scenes at many of the leading training yards and stud farms.

TO BUY TICKETS OR TO BOOK YOUR TRAIL VISIT

www.irishchampionsweekend.ie

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Insight Barraquero, who won the Group 2 Qatar Richmond Stakes, was bought by Sam Sangster Bloodstock for £30,000 at the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale in 2016

in some areas when you really like the individual. Obviously budget dictates that I can’t always buy the obvious horse so I like to try and think outside of the box when I first see them.

How and when did you first get involved in bloodstock? It has always been a part of my life but it was only when I was banished to the colonies in my early 20s to grow up that I got going. I met agent Peter Ford working at Flemington Racecourse, in between working with my brother Adam at Swettenham Stud, and I was lucky enough to travel to a lot of the sales in Australia, USA and Europe with Peter who showed me the ropes. Tell us about one of your best Goffs or Goffs UK purchases? This year will only be my fourth year buying at Goffs and Goffs UK but my highlight has to be Barraquero who won the Group 2 Richmond Stakes last year, it was extra special as it is for a syndicate I run called Manton Thoroughbreds who race in my father’s colours. What new stallions are you keen on and why? I think Charm Spirit is probably an obvious one from the results so far, I have sent a mare to him this year so I’m hoping he continues as he has started. I really liked the Australias but as

FIVE MINUTES WITH…

SAM SANGSTER SAM SANGSTER BLOODSTOCK

“I always try to conduct myself as I think my father, Robert, would. Calm, levelheaded and respectful.”

expected they were hard to come by. This year I’ll be looking out for the Muhaarars and Golden Horns although not many went through the ring. From the ones I saw they were very nice individuals. The Golden Horn colt we bought last year from Goffs is a lovely horse who will go to Brian Meehan at the end of this year. What qualities do you look for in yearlings or foals? I like to see a well-balanced individual, who commands a bit of presence standing in front of you. A good walk is important, I think you have to be forgiving

What advice would you give to anyone wishing to work in the bloodstock business? Try and work in as many aspects of the business before you choose your path, there are lots of brilliant courses on offer now which allow you to explore this huge industry. When I first returned to the UK I was originally running Sirecam Europe with Stuart and Alice Boman which is still very much a big part of my business. Who has been your biggest influence and why? Outside of my brother and Peter in Australia, I have spent the last seven years working alongside Brian Meehan who encouraged me to start on my own. Brian to me is one of the better judges of a yearling and has taught me a lot over the years and it has been a joy to work with him. Most of all, my father, Robert. I always try to conduct myself as I think he would, calm, level headed and respectful. Outside of racing and sales what are your interests? I am a very keen artist. I have a studio at home where I could spend hours in the evenings. Jonno Mills also convinced Brian and I to do a triathlon this year which I think will become an annual event though we may have to work a little on our time. I am also incredibly excited to be marrying Maddy at the end of this year. I’m pretty sure this will add plenty of new interests for me along the way.

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THE THOROUGHBRED BREEDERSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH AFRICA

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13/08/2018 29/06/2018 11:39 14:33

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THE OWNING A TRIPLE CROWN WINNER, MANAGING A RACING EMPIRE AND MEETING THE QUEEN. JUSTIN ZAYAT TELLS BOB EHALT HE CAN SCARCELY BELIEVE HIS LIFE RIGHT NOW

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“WINNING THE TRIPLE CROWN IS SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T EVEN POP UP IN YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. AND WHEN IT HAPPENS, YOU THINK, WHY ME? WHY THIS HORSE?” 58

pace as he strives to maintain the stable’s standard of excellence while working in a lead role as the President and CEO of Racing and Bloodstock for Zayat Stables. “There’s pressure in my job but it doesn’t come from my father,” said Zayat, who served as the stable’s racing manager during American Pharoah’s unforgettable 2015 campaign. “My dad pushes me to my limits, but he’s always there to support me. The pressure all comes from within. I put pressure on myself because I want to win all the time.” That drive for success has been noticed by many of the knowledgeable people who work closest with him. “Justin is a young man, yet he’s learned an awful lot about the sport. He’s learning how to manage the stable and how to look at horses and how to sift through all the information he gets from the trainers. He’s certainly taken a more active role in running the stable lately,” said Hall of Famer Bill Mott, one of about 10 trainers the stable employs. “He’s been very good to deal with, and I’ve always found him to be very considerate and respectful of his elders.” For 55-year-old Ahmed Zayat, there’s been nothing but pride in watching his oldest son play a more visible leadership role.

Justin and Michelle Zayat enjoyed their first Royal Ascot runner this summer.

PHOTOGRAPHY: XXX

n Justin Zayat’s resume it shows that he received a degree in economics from New York University in 2015 and was honoured for his leadership qualities at a youthful age when he was included in Forbes Magazine’s 2017 list of “30 under 30.” Yet his education in the intricacies of running a major thoroughbred racing stable comes from a completely different type of education which ranks at the same level as a Masters degree from Oxford. It hails from first-hand experience at the highest levels of the sport. Since his early days as a New Jersey teenager growing up in the northeast region of the United States, Justin Zayat has been at the side of his father, Ahmed Zayat, absorbing a vast amount of knowledge and experience as the family patriarch built Zayat Stables into one of horse racing’s most successful outfits. Now 26 years-old, he witnessed the amazing growth of the family stable in the last decade. What was once a family stung by the hard luck of three runner-up finishes in four runnings of the Kentucky Derby, has become best-known for owning the homebred American Pharoah, the first American Triple Crown winner in 37 years, and building a prosperous racing and breeding operation that has created an astonishing 25 stallions since entering the sport 13 years ago. When it comes to learning how to manage a major racing stable, Justin Zayat has been a straight-A student who has risen to the head of his class. “I never could have imagined everything that has happened to me,” he said. “Horse racing is my passion and I always wanted to be involved in it.” Years earlier, a young Ahmed Zayat made his fortune in the business world by building a successful beverage company in his native Egypt. Yet now, his oldest son’s attention is focused solely on horse racing and it is his youthful exuberance and love of the sport that motivates him to keep moving at a dizzying

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Profile CLOCKWISE FROM BELOW LEFT: The Zayat’s Triple Crown superstar American Pharoah wins the 2015 Kentucky Derby; a jubilant Justin Zayat after American Pharoah’s win in the 2015 Preakness Stakes; the Zayat family gather in the Royal Ascot parade ring.

“I am super-biased and every father thinks the world of his son, but Justin is truly level-headed, polite, calm, deliberate, analytic, patient and passionate. All of these are traits that are important if you want to be a successful horse owner,” said Ahmed Zayat, the Chairman and CEO of Zayat Stables. “Justin knows what the stable needs to be successful and he keeps learning and learning some more from so many of the world’s best trainers. I’m very proud of him and the work he is doing.” While he puts in long hours keeping tabs on the day-to-day operation of the stable and divisions of horses that stretch from New York to California, Justin Zayat has also been at the forefront of its push to become more active in international racing and breeding. “We want to spend significantly to enhance our band of broodmares. We want to get good European bloodlines and send them back to the United States,” Ahmed Zayat said. “We have been very fortunate in the last two years buying from sales like Goffs. We have been very happy with the quality of horses we bought.” In 2016, Justin Zayat attended the Goffs Orby Sale in September for the first time and bought four yearlings at prices ranging from a high of €475,000 to a low of €70,000. At the high end of the purchases was a son of

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LEFT: Joyous scenes following American Pharoah’s Kentucky Derby victory in 2015

“WE HAVE BEEN VERY HAPPY WITH THE QUALITY OF HORSES WE BOUGHT AT GOFFS.”

Declaration Of War out of Sleeping Giant who was named Irish Territory and turned over to Mott. Now three, Irish Territory broke his maiden on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs and most recently was fifth in the $200,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park. He also bought a Zodiac filly for €360,000, a High Chapparal filly for €340,000 and a Kyllachy colt for €70,000. The following year, Justin Zayat returned to the Goffs Orby Sale and joined forces with Coolmore Stud to buy the sale-topper, a handsome €1.6 million son of the undefeated Frankel. At the time of the purchase, Justin Zayat told the Racing Post, “I’m looking for a rock star that can start our global expansion.” Now two, the Frankel colt is preparing for his racing career with Europe’s leading trainer, Aidan O’Brien. Another vivid sign of Zayat Stables’ increasing interest in European racing came on June 22nd, when Justin Zayat, resplendent in top hat and a morning suit, joined his wife, Michelle, to watch their USbased three-year-old colt Gidu finish sixth in the £500,000 Group 1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. His first taste of the spectacle of racing at Royal Ascot and the unparalleled thrill of talking with the Queen in the parade ring was so uplifting that it left him with a burning desire to make many more overseas trips in the future. “It was an unbelievable experience. Meeting Queen Elizabeth is something that I will never forget for the rest of my life,” he told Thoroughbred Racing Commentary that day. “It’s completely different from American racing. There’s so much pageantry. It truly feels like the Sport of Kings here. Being at Ascot is like getting your first taste of the Kentucky Derby. It makes you want to go back for more and win

it. If we ever have another horse capable of racing at Ascot, we’ll be here for sure. I’d love to come back.” As much as European bloodlines are largely associated with turf racing, the Zayats stress that the horses they acquired can also be useful on dirt tracks, the surface that gave the stable its greatest measure of fame. It was American Pharoah who took the Zayats on the ride of a lifetime in 2015. A homebred son of Zayat’s 2009 Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof The Nile, American Pharoah earned a permanent spot among America’s greatest horses by becoming the long-awaited 12th Triple Crown champion and the first to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes since Affirmed’s hat trick in 1978. During those whirlwind five weeks, Justin Zayat graduated college and became enmeshed in a moment in time that was as colourful and celebrated as any racing had seen in the last few decades and turned the Zayats, trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Victor Espinoza into national heroes. In perhaps the best example of the way fans embraced American Pharoah, a crowd estimated at 15,000 jammed Saratoga Race Course to watch him gallop around the historic track at 8.45am the morning before he finished second to Keen Ice in the Travers Stakes, his only loss at three. Yes, that’s right. Some four hours before the day’s first race, a simple morning gallop attracted 15,000 people who watched and cheered for American Pharoah for a just few minutes before leaving the track to return home, head to work, or simply eat breakfast. Now imagine being a recent college graduate at the centre of all that excitement. Welcome to Justin Zayat’s world. “That was a crazy time for me. I was graduating college and getting engaged. It was a wild, wild period,” Justin Zayat said. “It was something I never even dreamed about it. Winning the Triple Crown is something that doesn’t even pop up in your wildest dreams. And when it happens, you think, why me? Why this horse? “We all knew that American Pharoah was a special horse. He was a champion for us at two. But after coming so close and finishing second in the Kentucky Derby three times, to get it done in the Derby and then win the whole Triple Crown was an unbelievable experience.” As much as sweet memories of 2015 and American Pharoah’s Triple Crown and season-ending win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic will never leave him, Justin Zayat said he was delighted this spring to re-live

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those glorious days through Justify’s sweep that made Baffert only the second trainer to have two Triple Crown champions in his barn. “Justify’s Belmont Stakes was an amazing race to watch and it brought back so many good memories. My heart was pounding as he came down the stretch. It was so exciting to see him do it. You have to tip your hat to him. He’s such a great horse,” said Zayat, whose younger brother, Benjamin is also an NYU student who aspires to become a member of the stable’s management team once he graduates college. “I’m only 26 and seeing Justify showed me how much I want to get back to the Triple Crown and win one of the races. I don’t want to wait forever to get there. I saw Bob do it again with Justify and it makes you want to do it again. You want to get that amazing feeling back again, but it is also makes you realise what a one in a million horse American Pharoah was for us.” In a year’s time, the Zayats will have a new bond with American Pharoah. The 2015 Horse of the Year’s first crop of offspring are now yearlings and will begin making their racing debuts at two in 2019. With the Zayats retaining a 25% share of all their stallions at various farms, a group that includes Pioneerof The Nile, Bodemeister and Paynter, it will be American Pharoah’s turn to produce the well-bred runners that can fuel any owner’s dreams of winning racing’s most famous races. “I can’t wait to see the sons and daughters of American Pharoah get to the racetrack,” Justin Zayat said. “I’m sure some will look like him and I hope we get some who run like him. It’s such a great thrill to race horses like Pioneerof The Nile, Bodemeister and American Pharoah and then get to watch their offspring run.

“For me, it was awesome to see Zayat Stables transform from a racing stable to a breeding operation. We have 25 stallions and that’s what we like to do: buy yearlings, create stars and be able to breed them. It’s our goal and hopefully we can continue doing it. When you breed horses like Pioneerof The Nile and then American Pharoah, it shows we’re moving in the right direction.” Moving forward and learning from every step of the journey. It’s a way of life for Justin Zayat, who personifies both youth and experience and illustrates how the future can indeed be now.

ABOVE: The famous racing silks of Zayat Stables. BELOW: Justin Zayat and Bob Baffert at Churchill Downs

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16/08/2018 10:25

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FLYING FORM RENOWNED EQUINE SCULPTOR AND PAINTER, CHARLIE LANGTON, REVEALS HOW SOME OF RACINGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SUPERSTARS HAVE INSPIRED AND INFLUENCED HIS WORK.

My inspiration is the horse. More specifically, the thoroughbred. In particular, the difference in attitude, character and physicality that sets the champion racehorse apart. The thoroughbred horse is a truly breath-taking sight. Powerful yet graceful, athletic, balanced, fit, fast, stunningly beautiful and yet oblivious to the impact that this mesmerising combination can have on the observer, the thoroughbred could maintain my interest in the horse as a subject for a lifetime. However, it is in searching for the components that make a champion a

champion that I find myself drawn into each subject with a fresh excitement. Every champion horse has something unique or, more likely, a unique combination of attributes that will set it apart from the herd. It is the process of trying to establish what these are, and attempting to capture them, that I find so alluring. My ambition with every work is to sculpt the character, the presence, the movement and the likeness of the horse so that that fleeting spark of excitement, passion and beauty can endure. How has the breed evolved in the last 300 years? How interesting

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not specific to any racehorse in particular but allowing me to reflect the aspects of the horse that I find so alluring. To capture the life, the energy and the willingness of spirit in clay and bronze is a huge, never-ending challenge to which I am becoming increasingly addicted. I hope that my involvement with these amazing animals and in this thrilling sport continues for many years to come. For more information visit www.charlielangtonart.com or phone +44 (0)7818034494

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MARK RICHARDS

MADE FOR

HONG KONG 64

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MARK RICHARDS

MARK RICHARDS, HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB’S EXECUTIVE MANAGER, IS A FAMILIAR FACE AT GOFFS AND GOFFS UK WHERE HE AIMS TO BUY UNTRIED ‘HONG KONG TYPES’ FOR RESALE. INTERVIEW BY DAVID MORGAN

Panama hat mismatched with orange-trimmed blue running shoes is hardly a classic look. But it is prudent to go with what works when showing horses beneath a searing sub-tropical sun, when the midday mercury is pushing close to 35°C. Mark Richards has been in Hong Kong long enough to know that going with the unconventional is often the best approach in these parts. A rumpled sky blue polo shirt, faded navycoloured shorts, and sunglasses wedged against the hat band complete the look. He holds a sale catalogue, a handy thing to have when presenting auction-bound stock to inquisitive journalists: good, too, for when a powerful Charge Forward gelding lives up to its sire’s name and tries to bully a groom through one of Sha Tin Racecourse’s unbending running rails. Richards holds the book above his head and approaches: “Woah, da baba,” he says. The unraced three-year-old acquiesces. The catalogue trick is not needed for a tidy bay gelding, listed as Lot 7 at the June Hong Kong International Sale for which the baking-hot media event has been staged at a point close to the top of the track’s five-furlong chute. Richards, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s (HKJC) Executive Manager, International Sale, purchased the son of Camacho for €100,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale in 2016. The former jump jockey has been in his current role for eight years and is a familiar face around the world’s auction houses. His remit, along with the HKJC team, is to buy untried ‘Hong Kong types’ for resale to Hong Kong owners at the Club’s own auctions - conceptually, a not-for-profit form of pinhooking. For years Richards was greatly assisted by consultant Nick Columb, who very sadly passed away in August. The March 2018 Hong Kong International Sale sold 26 lots for HK$135.3 million, (€13.9 million) at an average of HK$5.2 million (€536,756). The top lot, a Holy Roman Emperor half-brother to Wings

Of Eagles, fetched HK$11 million (€1.1 million), which was a fine return on the €130,000 he cost when bought in Europe in 2016. But Richards says the auction is a service to Hong Kong’s owners - all of whom must be HKJC members - rather than a money-making enterprise. “We’re about buying the best horses for our owners, it’s not about turning a big profit in our sale ring,” he says. “Obviously, there is a lot of investment from the Club’s side when you consider what we pay initially and factor in the cost of things like pre-training and shipping, but the money they make at the Hong Kong Sales is a secondary consideration.” With that in mind, the Club earlier this year dipped deeper into its coffers than ever before, venturing above the middle-market to secure a couple of seven-figure buys. Richards says the Club is always reassessing its place in the market. “We weren’t getting our first buying choices very often, so we’ve been given a slightly changed budget that we hope will help us,” he explains. “The home market is strong and we feel we need to give the owners access to individuals that match up to the prices they’ve been prepared to pay at our Sale.” Richards must work within tighter parameters than the average agent, trainer, pinhooker or racing manager. A Hong Kong profile is everything. “It’s a big horse,” Richards says. “Over the scales more than in height, about 1,100 pounds or so when they’re ready to race but nothing less than 15.3hh.” There are certain specifics he does and does not want to see. Typically, he’s after a horse with a loose, fluid walk that covers ground: “A-framed quarters” are out; good width across the hip “suggests speed,” he says. And while indefinable “presence” is important, it is not the be-all. “They must be a well-balanced athlete with a powerful back-end; good gaskin [part of the hind leg between the stifle and hock], too, is particularly significant for a Hong Kong horse that has to be able to deal with racing at speed on firm tracks. Most northern hemisphere sprinters have no problem stretching out to a mile in Hong Kong and that’s what we want,” he adds. Sprinter-milers are Hong Kong’s bread and butter.

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mark richards Designs On Rome was a €10,500 Goffs Orby purchase. He was Group 1 placed in Ireland as a twoyear-old before moving to Hong Kong where he won four Group 1 races

“MOST NORTHERN HEMISPHERE SPRINTERS HAVE NO PROBLEM STRETCHING OUT TO A MILE IN HONG KONG AND THAT’S WHAT WE WANT.” Of the 807 races calendared at Sha Tin and Happy Valley in the 2017/’18 season, 618 were between six furlongs and a mile; 81 were over five furlongs; 69 at nine furlongs and only 36 were staged at 10 or 11 furlongs. The circuit has just three mile and a half races, a Group 3 handicap and two Group 1 contests, notably the end-of-year Hong Kong Vase. “We don’t have the luxury of running a horse over two miles if it turns out to be slow, and we don’t get soft ground. It’s a much more precise end-market that we’re buying for and therefore we have to cross out as many of the complications as possible,” he says. Richards has noticed, though, that Hong Kong’s reputation as an arena for speed has led to a misconception. “People are under the illusion that we’re looking for sharp two-year-old types and we’re not,” he says. “We’re actually more drawn to a late foal that has the potential to fill its frame.” Youngsters by what are deemed ‘Hong Kong sires’ are most desired. Holy Roman Emperor is a classic example; while the Coolmore stallion has struggled

generally to make his mark, his niche in Hong Kong is well-established thanks to Horse of the Year Designs On Rome and fellow Group 1 winners Beauty Only and Rich Tapestry. By contrast, the incredible Galileo is practically worthless with a 6.5% win strike rate in the lower grades from his 15 Hong Kong-trained starters – overseas raiders such as two-time Vase winner Highland Reel are excluded from those figures. “We’re always very aware of how certain sires perform within the Hong Kong environment,” Richards says. “When we get hold of a catalogue, we start by putting down our ‘A-List’ sires – Kodiac, Dark Angel, Invincible Spirit, Acclamation, Exceed And Excel, Holy Roman Emperor – all the obvious speed influences and sires that have proven themselves in Hong Kong.” He notes that first-season and unproven sires are not desirable, but there are exceptions, such as that first ever Hong Kong-bound Camacho from Goffs and a Noble Mission picked out of a breeze-up sale in May. “They were both good individuals and I’m very respectful of what Juddmonte has done. And if Frankel’s such a superstar at the start of his stallion career, Noble Mission, as his brother, has to have a better than average chance of being a success. We’ll take a chance on exceptions like that,” he says. When Richards and his team arrive at a sale, they view all of the colts whose pages fit the bill, add any

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17/08/2018 12:51

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MARK RICHARDS

more that look the part, and then meet with their advance scouts, the “short-listers”. “We put our heads together and see what’s missing, see where we can build on our first list – because often the short-listers will flag up individuals by sires we wouldn’t have had down to look at. We talk about it and draw up a list of second looks. That is when we start the vetting process.” Vetting for Hong Kong is stringent and every Sha Tin trainer has a tale of how a good one got away. Richards is no different. “That’s the worst time,” he says. “It is what it is – we miss so many successful horses but that’s not to say they would have been had we brought them to Hong Kong. Our vetting protocols are in place to try and ensure we bring in horses that do not develop problems quickly – durability is important.” He observes that the win strike rates of Hong Kong International Sale graduates in the past two years are 71% and 67%: “This year we’re only 35%, of what sold last year, but it’s judged on a three-year basis, we give horses the time.” Since 2010, HKJC has bought 23 horses at Goffs Orby, which has proven to be a source of winners out east. Among the youngest of that bunch to have raced are two bought at the Orby Sale in 2015, this year’s

Sha Tin 1,600m winner Smart Charade and the thrice raced maiden Impeccable Fellow. That sale will be on Richards’ agenda as usual this autumn. Last year, when visiting Ireland, Richards had a rare opportunity to cast his eyes on Coolmore’s impressive stallion band. “Being in Hong Kong, I don’t get to see many stallions and it’s very hard for me to make judgement on stallions that I’ve never seen in the flesh,” he says. One young sire caught his eye and he is hoping to snare one or two of his progeny when the time is right. Tight lips, upturned in boyish glee, would not impart the stallion’s name: “An impressive great thing with a huge set of quarters,” he lets slip, before adding the all-important: “He looks like a Hong Kong horse.”

“OUR VETTING PROTOCOLS ARE IN PLACE TO TRY AND ENSURE WE BRING IN HORSES THAT DO NOT DEVELOP PROBLEMS QUICKLY – DURABILITY IS IMPORTANT.”

Military Attack cost €40,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale and went on to become a Group 1 winner in Hong Kong and Singapore

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MARK RICHARDS

more that look the part, and then meet with their advance scouts, the “short-listers”. “We put our heads together and see what’s missing, see where we can build on our first list - because often the short-listers will flag up individuals by sires we wouldn’t have had down to look at. We talk about it and draw up a list of second looks. That is when we start the vetting process.” Vetting for Hong Kong is stringent and every Sha Tin trainer has a tale of how a good one got away. Richards is no different. “That’s the worst time,” he says. “It is what it is we miss so many successful horses but that’s not to say they would have been had we brought them to Hong Kong. Our vetting protocols are in place to try and ensure we bring in horses that do not develop problems quickly - durability is important.” He observes that the win strike rates of Hong Kong International Sale graduates in the past two years are 71% and 67%: “This year we’re only 35%, of what sold last year, but it’s judged on a three-year basis, we give horses the time.” Since 2010, HKJC has bought 23 horses at Goffs Orby, which has proven to be a source of winners out east. Among the youngest of that bunch to have raced are two bought at the Orby Sale in 2015, this year’s

“OUR VETTING PROTOCOLS ARE IN PLACE TO TRY AND ENSURE WE BRING IN HORSES THAT DO NOT DEVELOP PROBLEMS QUICKLY DURABILITY IS IMPORTANT.”

Military Attack cost €40,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale and went on to become a Group 1 winner in Hong Kong and Singapore

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Insight

Alans Pride, who cost just €2,000 at the Goffs Horses-inTraining Sale, has won four races for O’Brien

the pedigree is important. All the horses that we have done well with have huge energy and a great outlook. It’s a hard thing to quantify but if it’s there they’re worth pursuing.

How and when did you first get involved in bloodstock? My Dad always had a broodmare and the odd horse in training so the bug took hold from an early age. I rode out in a variety of places as a youngster and always wanted to pursue a career in racing. A stint pointto-pointing cured me of the riding option and training was the next obvious step. It took a while to get going but we’re there now. Hopefully we can stay progressing. Tell us about one of your best Goffs or Goffs UK purchases? It has to be Alans Pride. He was bought for €2,000 at the Horses in Training sale. I can’t take credit for his purchase. That goes to Charlie Maguire and Alan Devine, his current owners. He has gone from a mark of 51 to 80 in the period of time we have had him. He has won four races including two 30-runner Curragh handicaps. He’s responsible for putting us on the map and I have received several horses as a result of his exploits. What new stallions are you keen on and why? We have a lovely colt by The Gurkha. He was a solid racehorse

FIVE MINUTES WITH…

RICHARD O’BRIEN RACEHORSE TRAINER

“All the horses we have done well with have huge energy and a great outlook. If it’s there they’re worth pursuing.”

and the reports on his stock are positive. He is a horse with plenty of depth and class I’d be optimistic about him. We bought a Slade Power breezer filly recently. She looks uncomplicated and if she had a hint of her Dad’s gears we’d be happy. What qualities do you look for in yearlings or foals? I have never bought a foal and it’s a specialised area that I’m happy to leave to the experts. When it comes to yearlings our budgets are limited and we’re compromising as a result. A horse with a touch of class in

What advice would you give to anyone wishing to work in the bloodstock business? If you’re lucky enough to get hands on experience as a youngster it’s a huge help. No matter the role, everything should be about the horse. Being close to them and familiar with them is something that can be developed at any age but you’ve a bit of time as a youngster and can learn a bit quicker. I’d also say you can’t achieve anything alone. Make contacts and engage with your heroes. You’d be surprised, some are incredibly kind and more than willing to help. Who has been your biggest influence and why? My father. Growing up he was all about family, work and racing. In that order. He has been hugely supportive and none of what’s happening at present would have been possible without him. He’s a huge enthusiast. He’s worn out from going racing but appears to be getting a huge kick from it these days. He nearly expired at the Curragh’s opening meeting this year! Outside of racing and sales what are your interests? I work as a dentist on a part-time basis. Our three kids are still little. Between the yard, work and family life my interests are few and far between. Racing can consume you and it’s something I have to guard against. I’m failing at present but if we grew to a reasonable size perspective may follow.

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syndicate success

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s All About

THE ALL-FEMALE SYNDICATE IS FLYING HIGH IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. LEGS LAWLOR TELLS AISLING CROWE HOW THE EUROPEAN WING GOT OFF TO A DREAM START WITH THEIR ORBY PURCHASES

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syndicate success PREVIOUS: Elaine “Legs” Lawlor leads in Sparkle’n’Joy and Colm O’Donoghue after winning at Naas. BELOW: The girls celebrate Chicas Amigas’ win at Naas

s a mission statement for It’s All About The Girls it comes close to encapsulating what the group is about, as the moniker for the allwoman syndicate’s star filly in the northern hemisphere it is perfect. The syndicate, run in Ireland by Goffs’ International Director Elaine ‘Legs’ Lawlor, has enjoyed an exciting start to its existence with a Group 1 winner in Australia and a Royal Ascot filly but the experience of It’s All About The Girls is pointing the way forward for increasing diversity and inclusion in the sport by giving women the opportunity to join together as owners. “We are having so much fun,” Legs states. “I think a lot of women believe racing is a man’s game or a man’s sport and they feel they can’t get involved but for us, these are our horses. Syndicates like this is the way forward for getting women involved in racing.” It’s All About The Girls is about female ownership and empowerment in racing but the magic ingredient in the syndicate is the element of fun and friendship. “There are other events that we can all bring one another to – from fashion shows to the London Sale to Royal Ascot – so it is a great social syndicate and a way to meet people and develop friendships. We have a WhatsApp group and everyone gets involved, so it makes my job very easy,” she smiles. Proving her point, syndicate members were treated to a private reception and stallion show at the Irish National Stud just before Royal Ascot this year, the stud shrewdly capitalising on the attention generated by the ladies to showcase Dragon Pulse, sire of Chicas Amigas During her career Legs has garnered extensive knowledge and experience of running syndicates but it is the passion, and fun, the opportunity for enjoyment and friendship that owning a racehorse can uniquely provide which she wants to share with others.

Chicas Amigas

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syndicate success

“IT IS A GREAT WAY TO GET GIRLS TOGETHER TO GO TO DIFFERENT EVENTS OUTSIDE OF RACING AS WELL.” She says: “The main thing is I get a lot of fun out of racing and one looks at racing and thinks it is so expensive, you can’t get involved but doing it with a syndicate cuts the costs, you can gather a group of mates together and have a lot of fun for not a lot of money. There are only 30 girls in this syndicate and we have a lot of fun together, it is a great way to get girls together to go to different events outside of racing as well. But it is brilliant to have a winner with friends.” GROUP 1 WINNER It’s All About The Girls was born in Australia and their first horse, Global Glamour, has brought them joy beyond their wildest imaginings. In training with Gai Waterhouse, the first lady of Australian racing, the five-year-old filly has so far won two Group 1s and been placed in another, earning prizemoney in excess of Aus $1.5 million. Legs decided to expand the syndicate to Ireland in 2017 and as the group is all about the girls, there was only one trainer that could possibly be entrusted with the syndicate’s horses – Gold Cup and Irish 1000 Guineas winner Jessica Harrington. Teaming up with Patrick Cooper of BBA Ireland, Legs and Jessie found the ideal fillies for the first Irish syndicate at the 2017 Goffs’ Orby Sale. The daughter of Dragon Pulse, subsequently named Chicas Amigas, and a Sepoy filly who would be called Sparkle’n’joy were chosen to carry the girls’ silks. “We originally did the first syndicate in Australia in 2015 where we had great success so I thought I would test the water over here and see how it would go,” explains Legs. “There are 30 members in the syndicate from four different countries but predominantly Irish-based and there are two fillies in this syndicate.” When Chicas Amigas was entered to make her debut on the all-weather at Dundalk in May, an ordinary two-year-old maiden garnered international attention as the 30 women who own the filly tuned into the Louth track from across the globe. For the first-time owners amongst them, the excitement when she crossed the line in first place was infectious.

The success of Chicas Amigas and Sparkle’n’joy this year has been one of the great feel-good stories of the racing season

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syndicate success

Syndicate members enjoying themselves at Royal Ascot with bloodstock agent Patrick Cooper in the foreground

FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE “A lot of them are having their first experience of owning a racehorse so it is a fantastic experience for them. It was wonderful for them to have their first winner with their first runner. I think when you go to the races with no expectations really, running a filly first time out against colts you’re not thinking that you’re going to win so when Chicas Amigas won it was amazing. We were hooting and hollering in the winners’ enclosure and around the world because we were all in different time zones,” Legs laughs. That is what Legs and Anna Seitz Ciannello [of the American sales company Fasig-Tipton] wanted to share when they came up with the idea on a visit to the Magic Millions Sale on Australia’s Gold Coast three years’ ago. The thrill of owning a racehorse is multiplied when it is shared with friends. “Anna started this concept a number of years’ ago in America and it’s really all credit to her,” Legs says. “It’s amazing how it has snowballed but once you get a taste for racing it’s impossible to go back. When you have a winner and you’re in the winners’ enclosure on your own it can be a lonely place but when you have a group of pals with you it is brilliant.” Royal Ascot is another venue that has played host to the ‘Girls’ when they attended in June to cheer on Chicas Amigas in the Albany Stakes. The filly ran a cracker at Ascot and was back in the winner’s enclosure at the Curragh in August.

“IT’S AMAZING HOW IT HAS SNOWBALLED BUT ONCE YOU GET A TASTE FOR RACING IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO GO BACK”

MORE FILLIES Such has been the reaction to the syndicate during the season, Legs is returning to the Orby Sale once more this October in search of more fillies to sprinkle some more joy. “This is the first syndicate I have put together in Ireland and I am delighted with how it filled so I hope to continue and do many more,” she beams. “Absolutely, Absolutely! We’re going to buy more fillies. With Jessie and Patrick Cooper, the plan is to go back to the Orby Sale to select more fillies. Having Jessie and her daughters Emma and Kate involved is fantastic too. We work very well together which is brilliant.” Chicas Amigas in racing. It really is all about the girls.

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

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Roundhill Stud

ABOVE: The Roundhill Stud team of Tim, Honora and Bobby Donworth at Goffs

REGALLY BRED FOR THE

RACECOURSE

LISSA OLIVER CAUGHT UP WITH HONORA DONWORTH AHEAD OF THE ORBY SALE AND FINDS OUT WHY THE PICK OF THE ROUNDHILL STUD YEARLINGS ARE GOING TO GOFFS.

As the thoroughbred marketplace becomes ever more commercial, it is refreshing to find one commercial stud still focused on producing for the racecourse rather than the dictates of fashion. Honora and Bobby Donworth purchased Roundhill Stud, set in the peaceful surrounds of Patrickswell in County Limerick, as newly-weds 35 years ago, and they have steadily grown and nurtured a regally-bred broodmare band over that time, forging their own path. “We didn’t have much money and only boarded mares for other people,” reveals Honora of those early years, “but we gradually bought one or two mares of our own and grew the stud, and now we only board the mares of close friend, the Duchess of Bedfordshire.” They currently have 20 mares, some in partnership with Trevor Stewart, and aim to sell between 15 and 18 yearlings each year. “We do a little bit of pin-hooking, but mainly breeding,” Honora tells us.

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Roundhill Stud LEFT: Roundhill Stud’s Sea The Stars colt ex Evensong that sold for €850,000 to the China Horse Club at the 2014 Orby Sale.

Star of the stud is Princess Serena (Unbridled Song – Serena’s Sister), out of a half-sister to the US Champion, Serena’s Song. “We gave £150,000 for her and she was in foal to Thunder Gulch, but sadly she had a dead foal, which was not a good start,” Honora recalls. “She has more than made up for it and has bred many Group winners now, including Puissance De Lune, as well as Serena’s Storm, the dam of Rizeena. We retained her third daughter, Princess De Lune (by Shamardal), and she is carrying her first foal, by Oasis Dream.” The Roundhill Stud yearlings primarily sell in the major UK sales and Goffs, who seem to have the pick of the crop, thanks to the sheer determination of Henry Beeby. “Henry is the reason we sell at Goffs,” Honora says frankly. “He is such a good judge of a horse and he harangues and harasses you to get the horses he wants! He walks in and says, ‘What’s that?’ and it’s always the best-bred horse on the farm. Once he’s seen it and wants it, he’ll hound us until he gets it! “If he does that to us, then he does that to the buyers to get them in there. We’ve confidence he’s doing the marketing thing on our behalf. One thing about Henry, he gets the job done. If you’ve got the right horse, you can get a big pot at Goffs.” To illustrate that point, Roundhill Stud sold the full-sister to Rizeena, October Queen (Iffraaj – Serena’s Storm), for €410,000 at the 2016 Goffs Orby Sale, and a Shamardal half-brother to Bow Creek for €333,000 at last year’s Goffs Orby Sale, where

their Sea The Stars colt out of Evensong, Edinburgh Castle, made €130,000 and is now in training with Andrew Balding. His full-brother fetched €850,000 for Roundhill Stud three years earlier at the same sale. This year, Bow Creek’s Exceed And Excel halfbrother, out of Beneventa, will be joining a Lope De Vega filly out of Pure Symmetry, a full-sister to Sophisticat and a daughter of Serena’s Song. Once again, they caught the discerning eye of Henry Beeby, and Honora and Bobby therefore didn’t have too much choice in which sale the pair would grace! It is not just about the sales ring, though. Having bred stars like Rizeena and Bow Creek, Roundhill Stud is no stranger to the winner’s enclosure and that remains the motivational focus point. “Definitely

“NOTHING COMPARES TO HAVING A EUROPEAN CHAMPION”.

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Roundhill Stud

LEFT: Joyous scenes at the Curragh following Rizeena’s win in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes in 2013

Rizeena is the best horse we’ve bred and quite honestly nothing compares to having a European Champion,” Honora admits. “That’s what we aspire to every year.” Building Roundhill Stud to its current stature has taken care and planning, but neither Honora nor Bobby have any wish to expand the stud further and are passionate about growing quality above quantity. The thorny subject of over-production greatly concerns them. “We would actually like to downsize even more and we are only covering our top quality mares,” says Honora. “I worry that there is currently too much choice in the sales place and over-production is a huge issue to us. Unless you start cutting back yourself, you’re doing nothing to help by simply worrying about it. “Five or six of our mares have not been bred this year and will come out of the system. They’ll remain with us, we owe them a good home in retirement, but our aim is to produce top class racehorses and maintain a high-quality broodmare band.” Their focus on quality obviously doesn’t stop at the mare. Roundhill Stud prefers to use proven sires whenever possible. “We might throw in a new boy occasionally, it might work,” says Honora, “but with a young mare like Princess De Lune, a super filly who’s now four, we wanted to go to a proven stallion to give her a good start. We were very lucky to get her to Oasis Dream, who used to stand for £70,000 and is now £30,000, which is incredibly good value.

“Sadly, the market often reflects a big lack of imagination. It has become so commercial now and I question, are people breeding racehorses? Hopefully, over-production will be dealt with by everybody and the market will level out, but I view it as a hero to zero situation – there are more horses in the zero column than the hero column and everyone wants the same horse. In consequence, at the top end of the market people pay too much and at the lower end of the market horses are not fetching enough.” It’s always good to talk with someone who takes such a concern in, and has such a passion for, the thoroughbred industry. The families at Roundhill Stud have been selected and nurtured and improved with just one aim – the racecourse. If you are fortunate enough to buy one of the yearlings en route, then you will have the pleasure in sharing that journey. “We nurture family, daughters and daughters. You have to formulate a plan and stick with it as much as you can afford,” concludes Honora. But, ultimately, she knows that the best-laid plans and advice are dependent on just one thing: “The horse has the last laugh!”

“IF YOU’VE GOT THE RIGHT HORSE, YOU CAN GET A BIG POT AT GOFFS”

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

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Heartache won the 2017 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot

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GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

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17/08/2018 13:02

SAM HOSKINS

DESPITE only being 32 years of age, Sam Hoskins, manager of the Hot To Trot Racing and Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds syndicates, has already carved out his own niche within the racing industry. As well as running syndicates whose horses have enjoyed success on some of flat racing’s grandest stages, he is also a breeder, pinhooker, ROA board member and sits on the BHA’s National Hunt Pattern committee. But far from having these lofty titles handed to him, Hoskins began putting the hard yards in at a very early age, and now has the CV to prove it. He did, however, grow up with family ties to racing, as his grandmother’s brother was Dante Stakes-winning trainer Martin Tate. Despite his links to the Tate-trained Trasi’s Son, who claimed the Knavesmire’s Classic trial long before Hoskins was born, the horse that really captured his imagination was, in fact, a prolific handicap chaser. “My granny had a horse that she bought from Doncaster Sales called Errant Knight,” says Hoskins. “He ran in points and graduated to running under rules for Martin Pipe - my granny’s partner didn’t want him going into training with her brother! “He ending up winning 16 races under rules - I was only 10 or 11 at the time and that’s what really got me hooked on the sport. My roots are in the jumping game, I didn’t go flat racing until I was about 16.” Having been bitten by the bug at such a young age, Hoskins always had designs on making a living in the thoroughbred industry. “I never thought of doing anything else, probably wrongly, as I’ve always loved racing,” he says. “I love the form side of things and rode when I was younger so I used to attack it from both angles. I wrote for my local paper and would send in tips from school when I was 17 too.” Once school was over though, Hoskins set about broadening his

“MAGICAL MEMORY HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR KENNET VALLEY. WE LOVED HIM AS A PHYSICAL WHEN WE FIRST SAW HIM AT GOFFS.” GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018 83

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SAM HOSKINS

Sam at work on the sales ground

horizons. He completed the Irish National Stud course and spent time at Darby Dan Farm in the US and Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand through the Joss Collins scholarship, and later spent an enlightening two and a half years working for the Niarchos family. But for all the big names he worked under while on his way up, Hoskins always harboured ambitions of going it alone. They say the harder you work the luckier you get, and having immersed himself in the industry, Hoskins got his just rewards when, at the age of just 23, he won the Racing Post’s Ten To Follow competition. And in a neat piece of symmetry, the horse that netted Hoskins nearly half a million pounds was Madison Du Berlais, who was, of course, trained by David Pipe, whose father’s handling of Errant Knight over 10 years earlier had first ignited Hoskins’ passion for racing. “That’s what enabled me to set up Hot To Trot,” he says of his Ten To Follow windfall. “It’s amazing looking back but at the time I was quite embarrassed about it all really. I was so lucky it’s ridiculous.” With an unmistakable enthusiasm for all things racing and bloodstock, there can be few better qualified than Hoskins to recruit the next generation of owners into the sport. But Hot To Trot is by no means a one-man show, as the vastly experienced and hugely respected Luke Lillingston works alongside Hoskins in managing the syndicate, which is currently comprised of 12 horses split into two groups of six. “I met Luke through the sales,” explains Hoskins. “We’d talked about working together and wanted to do something that was going to help get people into racing and introduce an affordable entry into ownership. We felt there was a gap in the middle market to provide people with that personal involvement without it costing a bomb.” Hot To Trot, whose first runners hit the track in 2012, enjoyed a breakthrough moment when Heartache, a filly leased from Whitsbury Manor Stud, readily saw off the Wesley Ward-trained Happy Like A Fool to land the Queen Mary Stakes at last year’s Royal Ascot. And if Heartache storming clear of the field wasn’t enough to pique people’s interest in Hot To Trot, then the scenes of wild celebration afterwards

certainly did the trick. “We’ve been so lucky finding Heartache,” says Hoskins. “There were amazing scenes after she won the Queen Mary, that was a very special day. It was amazing what that’s done for the business - we’ve basically doubled the size of Hot To Trot since she took off. “We’re so lucky to have such a great group of people involved, everyone really enjoys it together and it’s become a real social group, which is really cool. Even though there’s so many different individuals everyone has one thing in common and that’s that they love their racing.” Hoskins and Lillingston have also teamed up to good effect with Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds, whose colours have been carried to some memorable successes by the likes of dual Group 2 winner Tullius and the hardy and high-class sprinter Magical Memory, who won the Duke of York Stakes and the Stewards’ Cup having been sourced from Goffs for a mere €35,000 in 2013. “Magical Memory has done so much for Kennet Valley. We loved him as a physical when we first saw him at Goffs when he was one of the early lots at that year’s Orby Sale,” says Hoskins. “Luke and Charlie [Hills] thought he really stood out and thankfully he came within our price range.” Needless to say, Hoskins and Lillingston will be back at this year’s Orby Sale searching for the next generation of Kennet Valley Thoroughbreds talent. “Having a Group 1 winner with Kennet Valley or Hot To Trot is the dream,” says Hoskins. “They’ve both had Group 2 winners but to be able to take more of our members to big meetings would be a lot of fun, and ultimately that’s what this game is all about.” Hoskins has already made headway in the industry beyond his relatively tender years, and with time still very much on his side, there appears to be no limit to what his future holds.

Group 2 and Stewards’ Cup winner Magical Memory cost a mere €35,000 at Goffs

“WE FELT THERE WAS A GAP IN THE MIDDLE MARKET TO PROVIDE PEOPLE WITH THAT PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT WITHOUT IT COSTING A BOMB.” 84

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13/08/2018 14:03

PHOTOGRAPHY: SARAH FARNSWORTH AND AMIE KARLSSON

ANNA SUNDSTRÖM

“To be honest, the plan wasn’t to do what we are doing today. We were just going to breed a small number of horses and prep them ourselves: Mum, Dad and I.” Anna Sundström smiles when she talks about the journey from a small breeder in the south of Sweden to one of the leading thoroughbred consignors in France. In 2004, the Sundström family decided to move their small breeding operation from Sweden to Normandy in France. Their stud farm had outgrown the Swedish market, and the family was keen

to try something new. They were aware that it was a challenging move. Things don’t happen overnight – or at least that is what Jan and Maja Sundström and their daughter Anna thought. “We had just the mares that we brought from Sweden, and we knew that it would be difficult, and take time, to enter into the French market. But we had a goal, or a dream, to sell a yearling for €100,000 within five years.” It didn’t take that long. A year after the move, that box could be ticked off the list,

FROM SCANDINAVIA TO NORMANDY, AND NOW TO THE GOFFS’ SALES GROUNDS IN BOTH IRELAND AND THE UK, ANNA SUNDSTRÖM, THE NORMBREAKING SWEDE BEHIND COULONCES SALES, SPOKE WITH AMIE KARLSSON.

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when a homebred filly by Xaar was knocked down for €100,000. The achievement was repeated a year later, this time with a smart Noverre colt, also a homebred. He was later named Le Havre, and went on to win the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club. Today, he is one of the most popular sires in France. The French industry started to notice the Sundströms, and not least Anna, who managed to have her family’s horses so well turned out at the sales. Now responsible for selling more than 100 horses per year, of which a majority are yearlings, Anna Sundström and her Coulonces Sales have become known in France for their impeccably prepared horses. This year’s Prix de Diane winner Laurens, Avenir Certain, Home Of The Brave, Camprock, and Havana Grey are some of the well-known names that has gone through the ring under the Coulonces banner. Most people would have settled with being one of the biggest and best-known consignors in

Laurens in the Goffs UK sale ring

“AT THE TIME OF THE SALE, SHE HAD BECOME A SWAN. SHE WAS JUST THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING EVER. VERY TALL, CLASSIC-LOOKING, AND A TREMENDOUS MOVER” 88

France, but not Anna Sundström. A few years ago, Anna and her team decided to start going abroad to sell. “I kept my eyes on Goffs UK for a couple of years, researched the market, and looked at who was selling and who was buying, and what kind of horse they were after. For me, things must be planned in detail. I wouldn’t go there to have a failure.” In 2016, it was time for the team to venture to Doncaster. With three yearlings in the lorry, they set off to England. The small Coulonces draft included a colt by Le Havre and a filly by Siyouni (“I wanted to break the rules and come with horses by French stallions”). The Siyouni filly had already been named Laurens by her breeder. “I liked her from the beginning. And at the time of the sale, she had become a swan. She was just the most beautiful thing ever. Very tall, classic-looking, and a tremendous mover”, Sundström says with pride in her voice. The word about the beautiful filly quickly spread across the Doncaster sales area. “People started coming to our boxes saying, ‘we’re here to see the Queen’”, Sundström recollects. “We knew she was going to make some money, but we couldn’t believe it when the hammer fell on £220,000.” With multiple Group 1 victories on the CV, including the Group 1 Prix de Diane on June 17th, it proved an equally good affair for purchaser John Dance and his Salcey Forest Stud. Consigning the most expensive filly in the sale gave Sundström and her team confidence to continue, and to think even further. “We are travelling over with nine yearlings to Goffs UK this year. Seven are going to the Premier Yearling Sale and two to the Silver Yearling Sale. They are all bred by the family or were bought by us as foals.” The Doncaster visit in August will be followed by a trip across the Irish sea at the beginning of October. For the first time, Anna Sundström’s Coulonces Sales will offer yearlings at Goffs in Ireland. “We tried with a mare a couple of years ago and it went well. It’s a long journey and I wanted to have tried it with an older horse before we did it with yearlings. How tired will they get? How many days before should we arrive? There are so many things to think about.” From a farm based in the heart of Normandy, it would be a lot easier to focus on the French sales. Deauville is only an hour down the road. But Anna Sundström, who moved to France without being able to speak a word of the language, is not known for following the easy paths. “The idea behind doing this is not to make as much money as possible. Money does not make horses win races. It’s the next team, with the trainer in the centre, that will make a horse a good horse. My family and I wanted to reach out to other trainers and owners that otherwise won’t get to race our horses. And also, because we are breeders, we want our pedigrees to have British and Irish form.” “France is a fantastic place – it is my base and it is where

PHOTOGRAPHY: SARAH FARNSWORTH AND AMIE KARLSSON

ANNA SUNDSTRÖM

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ANNA SUNDSTRÖM

TOP: The Coulonces sales team attends to every detail. LEFT: John Dance has just bought his first Classic winner. ABOVE: Laurens was known as ‘the Queen’ at the Premier Sale

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ANNA SUNDSTRÖM LEFT: Charlotte Hutchinson with Laurens at Goffs UK

“WE ARE TRAVELLING OVER WITH NINE YEARLINGS TO GOFFS UK THIS YEAR. SEVEN ARE GOING TO THE PREMIER YEARLING SALE AND TWO TO THE SILVER YEARLING SALE”

we sell most of the horses. But a lot of buyers don’t come to France. So, our idea is that we must go to where they are and say, here you go, here are the horses that I believe so strongly in.” A trip from Normandy to Doncaster or Kildare requires attention to detail. Anna Sundström leaves nothing to chance. “For a trip like that, it is important to keep them very healthy. We make sure to take blood tests to check for any infections. You have to have them a little bit fat, in case they will lose condition on the trip over. But not all of them do…!” “We always plan ahead. If everything is organised, it is less stress. We have a lorry just for our horses, so there is no stress of other horses coming in and out. My head girl, Charlotte Hutchinson, travels with them. We are not afraid to leave very early. We bring our own hay if we can, and our own feed. Some may not like the taste of the water. We have the salt blocks with us, which encourages them to drink.” “We also work very closely with our team. We don’t want to just leave without having anyone meeting us on the other side. Our acupuncturist sometimes come with us, and in England, the osteopath will meet us when we arrive. Our vet from Rossdales knows when we are leaving and when we are arriving. And our nutritionist, who lives in England, can organise a delivery of a different feed in a couple of hours if for some reason a yearling does not want to eat.” “We also try to have the same sales staff every year, if possible. They’re great and have worked for us for many years. They know exactly what to expect and they will remember the brothers and sisters.” Over the years, the aim of Coulonces Sales has changed slightly. “In a way, we have done it all – we have been the biggest consignor at sales, we have topped sales. Today, our goal is different. It is very

important for us where the horses go. We try to do an even better job with the yearlings than before, so that the new team can hit the ground running.” Anna Sundström wants her graduates to have every possibility to succeed as racehorses. Horses like Moravia, another Siyouni filly sold at the 2017 Premier Sale for £80,000 to Gaelic Thoroughbreds. Trained by Ger Lyons, she won a hot Leopardstown maiden in June impressively. “A vital factor is of course well-bred horses that have been reared well. Most of the horses that we sell are either bred by me or my parents, or by clients with big farms.” “Feed is incredibly important. And grass. All yearlings are turned out every day during preparation. We aim to keep the yearlings as healthy as possible, and focus a lot on prevention. We work with acupuncturists, osteopaths and masseurs.” Other important components of yearling prep at Coulonces Sales are tractors, dogs, noises, rugs, and anything else that most yearlings tend to have objections to. Sundström believes that getting the youngsters used to different impressions will help to keep them calm during the sales and prepare them for their future lives in busy racing yards. There might be a lot of things going on for a yearling at Coulonces Sales, but not as much as is going on in Anna Sundström’s own life. Once one season finishes, another season starts. The foaling season is followed by sales preparations and yearling sales, and continues with the mare and foal sales in the late autumn. On top of that, Anna Sundström is a mother of two: Moa, 18, and Lillie, 8, who often accompanies her to races and sales. “It is only doable with the fantastic team that I have. I am lucky to be surrounded by very loving people, and when you are, there is no need to take a break or go away for holiday.” Even Anna Sundström needs a holiday sometimes, but common destinations with beaches and palm trees have not tempted her as of yet. Instead, Goffs November Sale has been the traditional family break since many years. “When we started breeding horses in Sweden, Goffs in Ireland was one of the first sales that we went to. I remember how much I enjoyed the first time there. People were so friendly, and we felt very welcome. When we moved to France, we continued buying mares at Goffs. Through the years we have bought many good horses. It is difficult to name them all, but one is Blissful Beat, the dam of Home Of The Brave.” “Now it has become a tradition, because it is my father’s birthday during the November sale. We always go to celebrate his birthday and to get ourselves some early Christmas presents – horses, of course.”

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13/08/2018 11:48

EDIE MURRAY-HAYDEN

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EDIE MURRAY-HAYDEN

EASILY one of the most memorable moments from the 2017 Orby Sale, or indeed any yearling sale of recent years, came when an outstanding Dabirsim colt from Edie MurrayHayden’s Gormanstown Stud was snapped up by agent Alastair Donald for €500,000. The colt was by no means the highest priced lot to come under the hammer at the Orby but his price represented a pinhooking coup of truly epic proportions. It was the type of transaction that those buying to resell can only dream of and what made it even more remarkable was that the colt was the only foal that his vendor bought at Goffs the previous November for €56,000. “I’m a one-woman operation and I’d usually buy one or two thoroughbred foals a year but it just happened that in 2016 the Dabirsim colt was the only one I did buy,” reflects Edie Murray-Hayden whose Gormanstown Stud is split evenly between thoroughbreds and sport horses. “When I bought the Dabirsim the foal market was really hot. It’s hard trying to make a profit from foals that cost €20,000 or €30,000 and that year I knew I wasn’t going to get near the likes of the Dark Angels

and Kodiacs so I felt I had to do something different. “I’d often try to buy a horse by a proven sire and it’s quite risky taking a chance on a sire who is going to have their first runners the following year but when I saw the colt I really liked him. He was a lovely, athletic individual with an outstanding walk. “His dam was a Stakes winner and I was very taken with Dabirsim’s profile. He added up as a stallion that could do well. Even if the sire hadn’t worked out he was that nice that he would have sold. I also felt that there wouldn’t be many by the

RYAN MCELLIGOTT TALKS TO EDIE MURRAY-HAYDEN ABOUT HER SPECTACULAR PINHOOKING SUCCESS AT THE GOFFS ORBY SALE

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EDIE MURRAY-HAYDEN

BELOW: The magic moment when Edie’s Dabirsim colt sold for €500,000

“I’M A ONE WOMAN OPERATION AND I’D USUALLY BUY ONE OR TWO THOROUGHBRED FOALS A YEAR BUT IT JUST HAPPENED THAT IN 2016 THE DABIRSIM COLT WAS THE ONLY ONE I DID BUY” sire for sale as yearlings and it turned out that there was just two of them at the Orby.” As it happened the stars aligned in spectacular style with Dabirsim’s first crop of runners being headed by the Royal Ascot heroine Different League. “I suppose it was plenty of money to spend but you can often be a little braver if you are spending money that has rolled over from other horses as opposed to having to put your hand in your pocket to come up with the price of the foal.” A highly accomplished three-day event rider, who represented Ireland at international level in that discipline, Edie spent time with Godolphin and Coolmore before a stint with the late Brian Grassick sparked her pinhooking activities. “When I was with Brian we started pinhooking and we got lucky very quickly. The first horse we pinhooked was a Desert Style colt who went from €20,000 to €62,000. Then out of him we bought an Acclamation colt who went from around €60,000 to 180,000gns. The last horse we bought together was Approve who didn’t actually make money but did go on to become a high class two-year-old.”

For the last eight years Murray-Hayden has been pinhooking on her own and her results both in the ring and on the track speak for themselves. Her first outright pinhook was former Orby graduate Sir Prancealot. He cost €52,000 as a foal before fetching €140,000 at the 2011 Orby Sale and subsequently became one of the leading two-yearolds of his generation. Former Cheltenham Festival winner and Goffs Land Rover Sale graduate Black Hercules is another who spent his formative years at Gormanstown. Back to last autumn and the vendor was more than hopeful that her Dabirsim colt had the potential to be a six-figure yearling. “When you go to any sale it’s hard to know what is going to happen. I probably would have been disappointed if he didn’t make around €120,000 but when you go to a sale everything has to go right. From the moment he got to Goffs he did everything right. He ticked a lot of boxes and he vetted very well. By the time he went into the ring I he had nine vets and all of the major players were on him.” Such popularity was the catalyst for a truly memorable few minutes as the colt’s price went into orbit before the hammer eventually came down at €500,000. “Usually I would have a good idea as to who is bidding but there were that many people bidding that I got a little lost as to what was going on. It will probably never happen again but it was great to be able to enjoy a moment like that. Things need to go your way at any sale and happily they did for me last year.” Asked to sum up her approach to pinhooking, Edie replied: “I just like nice horses, be they thoroughbreds or sport horses and I don’t mind trying something different if it’s a nice horse.” Well before last year’s Orby, Edie’s prowess as a pinhooker was already widely acknowledged but the events of last September were of such magnitude that her name is firmly and forever more etched into Orby Sale folklore.

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HAYLEY’S

DIARY TEN MONTHS INTO HER NEW ROLE, HAYLEY O’CONNOR PROVIDES AN INSIGHT INTO HER TIME WORKING IN INTERNATIONAL CLIENT RELATIONS FOR GOFFS

tarting work at Goffs on the week of the 2017 November Foal Sale, the company’s longest sale of the year, was a bit like being a two-year-old horse making its debut in Group company. There was no quiet run in an evening meeting maiden to get me used to the occasion. But having walked the barns at Kildare Paddocks many times since my youth, it wasn’t entirely new territory. Becoming part of the team and seeing what goes on beyond the auditorium has given me a whole new perspective on the business. Although there are just shy of 30 days of Goffs sales, both in Kill and offsite, the work to make them a success happens throughout the year and this spring I visited the US and Dubai, meeting existing and potential clients, and attending some world class racing. The growth of turf racing in America means European bloodstock is becoming increasingly relevant stateside and so the Big Apple was my first international port of call. Top of my list of people to meet were successful businessmen and racehorse owners John Breslin and Maurice Regan. I knew their names from my time at Ladbrokes, when they had well-backed Galway Festival winners trained by Tony Martin. Regan’s Newtown Anner Stud has since become synonymous with elite thoroughbreds such as Ascot Champion Stakes winner Fascinating Rock, Group 1 challenger Beckford and their co-owned Breeders’ Cup and Eclipse Award-winning filly Caledonia Road. Both Maurice and John are among the biggest names in the construction business in New York but, when I met the pair for lunch, they were great fun, and both possessed charm, forthrightness and brains in equal measure.

RIGHT: Tony Martin and John Breslin

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Linda Rice, Marc Holliday, and Sheila Rosenblum (l) and Iris Smith (r)

ITALIAN LUNCH

A visit to the Empire City wouldn’t be complete without an Italian meal befitting Tony Soprano, and I had the delight of having lunch with New York’s multiple leading owner Mike Dubb. The softly-spoken Long Islander has been a gift to racing and has given back beyond what he has received through his construction of the Belmont Childcare Association and staff accommodation, which has significantly improved the living standards of workers. His success on the track extends throughout America and his passion for racing is intoxicating so it was a thoroughly enjoyable chin wag. A few more meetings completed my visit, which included a sit-down in Stamford with Brian Spearman, the chairman of the all-powerful Eclipse Thoroughbred partners, and later Mark Dobbin, who is fast developing a successful band of thoroughbreds under the guidance of Cathy Grassick and Joseph O’Brien. By the end of my trip I concluded that, as far as Irish bloodstock is concerned, America is definitely a land of opportunity and I hope some of my new connections will visit these shores.

2 GRAND CENTRAL

My next meeting was more intimidating on approach. Getting out of my yellow cab, I looked up at a building that stretched beyond the clouds; 420 Lexington Avenue is a 31-storey tower covering 1.5 million square feet that sits over Grand Central station and I had a meeting right at the top with the CEO of the company that owns it, property giant SL Green. The austere surroundings were a stark contrast to the busy boss man, Marc Holliday, who made me feel welcome and was generous with his time. Our 15-minute meeting turned into an hour and as he deferred one call after the next from his secretary while we discussed his Blue Devil Racing operation. It struck me how quickly we had gone from being perfect strangers with totally different backgrounds to sharing an engaging conversation about racehorses. That’s what horse racing does so well – it allows people from all walks of life to connect like old friends, sharing stories and opinions. Away from the skyscrapers, I got to meet some of America’s home-grown talent on a visit to Belmont Park where America’s most decorated female trainer, Linda Rice, gave me a tour. Although small in size, Linda is a force of nature, the kind of person you’d love to sit beside at a dinner party. Her work ethic and charisma makes you understand why she’s the go-to trainer for Manhattan’s high society, which includes a syndicate headed by former ballerina Sheila Rosenblum and philanthropist Iris Smith who have made multi-million dollar investments with Rice in bloodstock. When I hit the ‘big time’ I might join.

DUBAI WORLD CUP

My next long haul was a whistle-stop trip to the Dubai World Cup and I was blown away with every aspect of the occasion. Arriving near midnight, it wasn’t until the next morning that I got to appreciate the view of the spectacular track from the opulent Meydan Hotel. The vision it must have taken to create what feels like a verdant oasis in the midst of the Middle East is remarkable. Our Chairman Eimear Mulhern was also representing Goffs and she arranged a fabulous lunch attended by local trainer Satish Seemar, his nephew Bupat and owner Bobby Kapoor. The restaurant was awash with famous faces of international racing and the atmosphere and excitement for the racing ahead was palpable. For the main event, we had the honour of being guests of His Highness, the Aga Khan, hosted by his representatives Georges Rimaud and Nemone Routhe. Trainer Alain de RoyerDupre was also at the table and, as I’m super fan of his Arc heroine Zarkava, it took a lot of restraint from me not to badger him with questions about the great racemare. If only my French was better! A great evening turned into a brilliant one when our host’s colours were carried to victory by Vazirabad in the Dubai Gold Cup for a staggering third time, making him the first ever thoroughbred to win three times at the meeting. Being in such close proximity to the victory and celebrations was the icing on the cake to a perfect trip.

Vazirabad takes the Dubai Gold Cup for H.H. The Aga Khan

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Profile

CITY CONNECTION

With London being my second home, it has been fantastic to connect with City-based horse racing and bloodstock enthusiasts. Lots of business people, particularly in the financial services industry, have a passion for or an involvement in the sport, which makes our Goffs London Sale in association with QIPCO such a fantastic event in the beating heart of London. Chelsea Thoroughbreds have been a pleasure to get acquainted with. The success and treatment of syndicates in Australia holds lot of lessons for us in the northern hemisphere and professionallyrun syndicates, such as Chelsea Thoroughbreds, present a really rich experience with all aspects of racing embraced by the team. From their stable visits, dinners, events, shooting parties and racing, members are spoilt for choice. Being a ‘horsey’ Irishwoman half-living in London, it has been a pleasure to get to know fellow Irish women based in the UK making strides (excuse the pun) in the industry. Eileen Harte and her husband operate Keith Harte Bloodstock from the magnificent Woburn Stud. It is one of the biggest equine Enterprise Investment Schemes for broodmares and pinhooking in the UK. Visiting their place was like stepping into a Turner painting and it was so interesting to hear how their schemes have provided an entry point for new owners into the game. Kildare native Sophie Buckley and her husband Charles, who look like they’ve been snapped out of a Ralph Lauren advert, have worked immensely hard on the stunning renovation of their rural estate, Culworth Grounds to build what is becoming a world class equine facility near Banbury. Despite having to fend off a big dose of house envy on my afternoon there, my visit was as informative as it was enjoyable and I’m convinced their success will only spiral upwards.

ABOVE: Eileen and Keith Harte at the beautiful Woburn Stud. BELOW: Forever Together’s Epsom

6 FROM DANTE TO DERBY

Further north I was delighted to attend my favourite track, York, for the Dante meeting, during which I had the pleasure of having a tour of David O’Meara’s yard which he has completely redesigned since arriving in 2016 to provide an optimal environment for all aspects of training. York, however, has a bit of competition as I was completely taken by Epsom on my first visit for the Derby meeting. The unique track, cosily-sized surroundings and electric atmosphere made for a great two days and Orby graduate Forever Together’s Oaks win enhanced the experience all the more. It was back then to headquarters for the Goffs Land Rover Sale, our flagship jumps sale, before returning to London, this time Kensington Palace, for the Goffs London Sale. The eve of Royal Ascot Sale is a fantastic gateway to introduce new connections from the London business world and further afield to Goffs and to the excitement of buying, selling and owning racehorses. In time I hope many will also become familiar faces at the Orby Sale. At Goffs on sales days there is a great team of people on hand to ensure the highest standards of biosecurity, integrity, safety and customer care are upheld, and my duty within that is to look after our clients. That means listening and sometimes doing a lot of talking which, funnily enough, comes quite easily to me. But I do love to take a breath to watch the excitement of the ring, or admire the passing lots parade, and so far it’s been a real privilege to be a part of it all.

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B O A R D I N G 07/07/2017 16/07/2018 10:39 09:43

13/08/2018 14:21

Insight

FIVE MINUTES WITH…

Jacqueline Norris JOCKEY HALL STUD

How and when did you first get involved in bloodstock? I did not have a conventional route into the bloodstock world. Spending two yearling preps at Ballysheehan Stud in the late 1980s got me hooked, working with top class people and horses. Tell us about one of your best Goffs or Goffs UK purchases? In 2010 I purchased a mare called

“Aim to work with nice people and nice horses. Life is too short.”

Sioduil at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale for €21,000 and she has been very lucky for me. What new stallions are you keen on and why? I really liked Caravaggio when I saw him, a very talented racehorse by Scat Daddy who was such a major loss. Of the sires with their first runners this year, I like Slade Power. He was a very tough racehorse and is getting very nice stock. I am delighted to see Es Que Love get off to a good start for Rathasker Stud and Peter Kelly. What qualities do you look for in yearlings or foals? I deal mainly in foals and the qualities I look for are pretty simple - correct limbs, good attitude and presence and, most of all, an easy-moving athletic walk, a bit like a supermodel!

What advice would you give to anyone wishing to work in the bloodstock business? Aim to work with nice people and nice horses ... life is too short. Who has been your biggest influence and why? I was lucky to have the opportunity to spend time with Brian Grassick. He had great knowledge of the bloodstock business internationally, a wonderful eye for a nice horse and tremendous integrity. Outside of racing and sales what are your interests? I enjoy walking my dogs, music, cooking for friends and family and the occasional bit of retail therapy.

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Premier Sale

KEY NUMBERS

Percentage of lots sold

£270,000 Top price at the 2017 sale

£50,687 average price paid jumped 15%

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Premier Sale Joe Foley signs for the top lot at the Premier Sale, a son of Bated Breath for €270,000.

PREMIER RECORDS TUMBLE The 2017 Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale saw records broken for the fourth consecutive year. The average price topped £50,000 and 42 yearlings sold for £100,000 or more (up from 32 in 2016). The top-priced colt, a Bated Breath colt who fetched £270,000, is named Victory Day and has been entered in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes. Of the top five lots, two had already made the racetrack by midJuly. Fanaar (£240,000 to Shadwell Estates) won his maiden and Fox Champion (£260,000) was beaten by a nose on his debut. Goffs UK Managing Director Tony Williams commented: “To see the number of six-figure horses grow from 32 to 42 clearly demonstrates that this sale is very much competing for Europe’s best yearlings.” Doncaster Premier Sale 28 - 29 August 2018

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Orby Sale

KEY NUMBERS

€1,600,000 top priced colt

€1,200,000 top priced filly

Frankel heads the flagship sale The 2017 Goffs Orby Sale saw two yearlings surpass the €1 million mark. Godolphin purchased a Galileo filly for €1.2 million and the sale topper was a Frankel colt bought by Justin Casse on behalf of Zayat Stables for €1.6 million. The clearance rate of 86% was an increase on the previous year. Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said: “It is very clear that Orby competes with any sale at the top of the market as we saw on so many occasions with titanic six-figure bidding battles very much the norm on both days.” Goffs Orby Sale 2 - 3 October 2018

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LEFT: Justin Casse signs for the sales-topping Frankel colt, pictured above, at €1.6m

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Orby Sale

KEY NUMBERS

120

Number of horses who sold for €100,000 or more

€40,702,500 Total amount spent at the Orby Sale

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November Sale

KEY NUMBERS

43%

Rise in turnover at Part 1 of the 2017 November Foal Sale

Number of foals that made €100,000 or more

new format proves a winner A change in format helped the 2017 Goffs November Sale produce hugely successful figures. For the first time the premier foals and broodmares were sold in adjacent sessions, primarily to make viewing easier for visiting buyers. The two stars of the 2017 sale were undoubtedly Inca Princess and her Galileo filly foal. Dam of Group 1 winner and 2017 Melbourne Cup runner-up Johannes Vermeer, Inca Princess was sold for €1.9 million to Laurent Benoit. She was one of four mares in foal to Galileo in the catalogue. Her Galileo filly foal was bought by agent Hugo Lascelles for €1.1 million. Part two of the foal sale followed the mares, with spirited bidding for the more commercial foals on offer and an improved clearance rate. November Foal Sale (Part 1) 19 - 21 November November Breeding Stock Sale 22-23 November November Foal Sale (Part 2) 24 - 25 November

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Inca Princess was purchased by Lauren Benoit for €1.9 million at the Goffs November Sale. Inca Princess’ Galileo filly, below, topped the Foal Sale selling for €1.1 million.

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November Sale

KEY NUMBERS

85%

Clearance rate at the opening session of the Breeding Stock Sale

â&#x201A;¬1.9 million Top price paid at the November Breeding Stock Sale

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Breeze Up Sale

KEY NUMBERS

Lots sold for six figures

Horses sold to new Scandinavian buyers

Â£220,000 Top price paid at 2018 sale

buyers

from america, asia, middle east, europe

Con Marnane of Bansha House Stud was the happy vendor of the top lot

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Breeze Up Sale

Impressive breeze by the sale topping Kyllachy colt bought by Michael O’Callaghan

New faces breeze into town Buyers from America, Asia, the Middle East and throughout Europe descended on Doncaster for the 2018 Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale in early April. Over £5.5 million was spent at the one-day sale, with 182 horses offered finding a buyer. Irish trainer Michael O’Callaghan bought two of the top four lots, which included top lot Mega Force who has been entered for the Group 1 Goffs National Vincent O’Brien Stakes in September. Charming Kid who sold for £105,000 finished a fine third in the Group 2 July Stakes at Newmarket for Richard Fahey behind Premier Sale graduate Advertise. Phoenix Thoroughbreds purchased a Pivotal colt for £140,000; named Dubai Dominion he impressed when winning at Newmarket in July.

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Goodwood SALE

KEY NUMBERS

£400,000 Top Price

£237,500 Average Price

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Goodwood SALE

STRONG START FOR GOODWOOD SALE The inaugural Goffs UK Goodwood Sale, held after racing on Sussex Stakes day at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, got off to a positive start with horses in training making up to £400,000. That top price was achieved by Mildmay Racing’s four year old Dark Angel mare Perfect Angel, a Group placed own-sister to Group 3 winning two year old Angel’s Hideaway, who sold to SackvilleDonald.

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ADVERTORIAL

IF YOUR FIELDS COULD TALK, WHAT WOULD THEY SAY TO YOU! SOBAC BACTERIOSOL AND BACTERIOLIT IS HELPING TO IMPROVE SOIL FERTILITY AND INCREASE ITS NATURAL STORAGE CAPACITY. SOBAC is a French company bases in the south of France specialising in organic soil amendments. SOBAC’s products Bacteriolit and Bacteriosol are made up of a complex of microorganisms which improves the level of micro-life in the soil, allowing the soil to fulfil its full natural cycle. It was developed by Marcel Mezy, a French farmer, in the 80’s. It also helps to transform organic matter into humus. The illustration on the right shows that any positive charged element is naturally fixed on to the clay humic complex via the law of attraction as the clay humic complex is negatively charged. The more humus you have in your soil, the more minerals you will fix and prevent from leaching. Animals get more from the forage in the field than they do from the bought in bag. It is important to have the field right and working well so field can have the opportunity to have the nutrition in the plants. The autotrophic microorganisms trap carbon and nitrogen from the air and carbon is the base of humus. Humus is the natural storage capacity of the soil and the humic micro-organisms transform organic matter into humus. Humus is the evolution of organic matter; organic matter can evolve in two ways – either into humus or rot. Rhizospherical micro-organisms around the roots enable the exchange between the roots and the humus layer, by making all of the elements available to the plants

we are offering them the possibility to feed on what the really need instead of overdosing them with one element like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium or calcium, for example. KIM MCCALL: Kim has been farming since 1986 and has produced thoroughbreds until 1994. “I started using Bacteriosol in 2012 and since I started using Bacteriosol I have seen higher biological soil fertility which ultimately improved the quality of my pastures and therefore the health of the animals. As I don’t use chemical weed killers one of the things I was most impressed about after applying Bacteriosol was that I noticed

THE MORE HUMUS YOU HAVE IN YOUR SOIL, THE MORE MINERALS YOU WILL FIX AND PREVENT FROM LEACHING. ANIMALS GET MORE FROM THE FORAGE IN THE FIELD THAN THEY DO FROM THE BOUGHT IN BAG. 112

a significant reduction in the number of weeds, such as docks, thistles and nettles. You still have weeds but they don’t flourish.” GEORGE COYLE: Commercial Hay Producer. “I do keep some stock and because I have paddocks fertilised with either chemicals or Bacteriosol I can compare the difference. The stock always seems to prefer Bacteriosol grass, grazing the paddock out evenly. When it comes to making hay the process is definitely easier. The grass isn’t pumped with nitrogen and excess moisture. I’ve had the hay tested and the results show that protein and dry matter content is higher in the hay cut from a field where I have spread Bacteriosol and my customers want that hay. We have way more worms with Bacteriosol. Worms are so important for soil health”. For more information contact SOBAC’s distributor P & T Stapleton Limited bacteriolit@gmail.com or call Tom on 087-2328051

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13/08/2018 29/06/2018 14:17 14:20

Property

CORBALTON Hall, a stunning Georgian villa on 348 acres in Co Meath that has been completely upgraded and refurbished, is on the market. Just 35km from Dublin city centre, Corbalton Hall was owned by the Corbally-Stourton family for over a century and a half until it was sold in 1951. It changed hands again a few years later and, after being left vacant, it became somewhat dilapidated. It was then bought by a German couple who set about restoring it. It was subsequently sold again in 1999 to its current owner who undertook the major restoration of the property. A distinctive two-storey Georgian villa, designed by the notable Irish architect Francis Johnston, known for his work on Áras an Uachtaráin, Armagh Palace, Killeen and Slane Castles, Charleville Forest and Townley Hall, Corbalton Hall was built in the early 19th century. The residence has a handsome three-bay façade, a breakfront centre and a Wyatt window above a single storey Ionic portico. The house is dominated by a grand entrance hall with ornate plasterwork on the ceiling and a fine marble fireplace. It has an inner hall with a cantilevered staircase lit by a large stained glass window and there are two elegant reception rooms on either side of the entrance hall and upstairs various bedroom suites. Features include a garden room, library, cinema, a gym, bar and wine and beer cellars. The walled garden cottage, coach house and apartment and extensive garaging and outbuildings add to the appeal of the property. The house is surrounded by parkland and there is a large, walled garden, beautifully laid out with immaculate hedges. The stable yard is built of cut stone and is exceptionally well maintained, as is the entire property.

A GEM OF A GEORGIAN VILLA CORBALTON HALL IS DESIGNED BY NOTABLE IRISH ARCHITECT, FRANCIS JOHNSTON, KNOWN FOR HIS WORK ON ÁRAS AN UACHTARÁIN

CONTACT ANDREW NOLAN OF GOFFS PROPERTY ON +353 45 981048 EMAIL: PROPERTY@GOFFS.IE WEB: GOFFSPROPERTY.COM

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quot

Property

GORGEOUS GRANGECON

HISTORIC ESTATE COMPLETE WITH SUPERB EQUESTRIAN FACILITIES, AN EXCEPTIONAL BREEDING RECORD FOR RACEHORSES AND A CHARMING TUDOR RESIDENCE ON ABOUT 256 ACRES. RACEHORSE owner and breeder Rick Barnes has placed his 256-acre Grangecon Stud on the market with an asking price of €15 million. Andrew Nolan of Goffs Property is handling enquires on the property. The American currency and commodity trader purchased the Co Wicklow property in 2000 when it was a dairy farm. He invested heavily in developing it as a stud farm and, building up a broodmare band of 25, he has bred and raced a long list of blacktype performers. Barnes explained: “I plan to remain in racing, purchasing yearlings at the sales and continue as an owner. Breeding takes so long and I prefer the racing part of the business. I have no children to pass along the farm and breeding operation to - they have no interest - so my hope is to retire from breeding and continue racing. I haven’t considered selling any stock as yet.” Among the best racecourse performers produced in recent

years at Grangecon are Grade 1 winners Heatseeker and Sarah Lynx, plus Group 2 winners Astrophysical Jet and Universal. The property includes 33 post and railed paddocks, and 56 boxes with rubberised flooring and CCTV. Ideally laid out, the farm has top-class grazing land, excellent facilities, beautiful, mature, deciduous trees and hedgerows that provide valued shelter for livestock. Located close to the Nagle family’s Barronstown Stud, Grangecon demesne dates back to Tudor times when it was the seat of the O’Mahony family. Part of the house was destroyed in a fire in the 20th century but was restored by Barnes into a lavish residence with seven reception rooms and five bedroom suites. As well as the 13,000-square feet residence, the property includes three gate lodges, a three-bedroom manager’s house and a groom’s apartment. There are also extensive gardens which include mature trees and a trout-filled lake.

CONTACT ANDREW NOLAN OF GOFFS PROPERTY ON +353 45 981048 EMAIL: PROPERTY@GOFFS.IE WEB: GOFFSPROPERTY.COM

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We have been shipping horses across Europe for over a decade. As part of our latest expansion plan we have a modern up to date fleet of vehicles driven by staff who are experienced & qualified to look after your horses while in transit. Our services are fully insured & compliant with all relative authorities. We now offer weekly services through Ireland, UK & into Mainland Europe. We can offer shared loads or dedicated loads from 1 to 11 horses. Arrangements can be made at short notice to travel to Race Meetings, Sales, Shows etc to suit your requirements. Air Travel Worldwide is now part of our portfolio all paperwork, documentation, quarantine etc can be arranged by us. Competitive rates apply.

For more info call Kildare Ireland +353 87 260 9448 / +353 87 744 6558 Newmarket UK +44 1638 389859 ROAD - SEA - AIR 245351_1C_Jackson_JM_Goffs_V5.indd 1

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Jaguar

Katie with the Jaguar E-Pace at the Powerscourt Hotel in Co Wicklow

DRIVING

SEAT The last few months have been a bit different to say the least! Hanging up my racing saddle at the Punchestown Festival was the end of a massive chapter of my life but one that I felt I couldn’t really add to any more. Winning championships or turning professional was never something that appealed to me so apart from winning the Aintree Grand National there was no other race that I really wanted to win and I just felt the time was right. Although it

might have been a lot easier travelling to the summer bumpers at Ballinrobe and Roscommon if I was behind the wheel of this fabulous Jaguar E-Pace every day! Retirement from riding probably took a bit longer to adapt than I would have expected and of course I miss it, but it was certainly the right decision to make and it was time to put more focus into the bloodstock side of the business. I haven’t been in bloodstock very long but there are so many people I admire who

RECENTLY RETIRED FROM A REMARKABLE CAREER AS AN AMATEUR JOCKEY, KATIE WALSH SWAPPED THE RACING SADDLE FOR THE DRIVER’S SEAT AS SHE TOOK THE NEW JAGUAR E-PACE FOR A TEST DRIVE AND TOLD US OF HER PLANS FOR THE ROAD AHEAD.

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Jaguar Katie with proud dad Ted following her final race at Punchestown

Katie on the car… Who hasn’t dreamed of driving a Jaguar? It was a thrill to be able to take the all new Jaguar E-PACE for a drive and experience this iconic brand for myself. The model I was lucky enough to try out was an automatic and it was lovely and smooth and really solid on the road at the same time. It goes without saying that people in the racing industry spend a lot of time on the road so having something like this to sit into every day when you are going racing would suit perfectly. The Jaguar E-PACE is a compact SUV, offering ample space for all my gear but it’s also extremely comfortable, a pleasure to drive and nice and easy to park. The higher driving position is great and any additional feature I could think of was already present. Racing is very lucky to have some longstanding sponsors and partners and the bloodstock industry is no different with the Land Rover brand being synonymous with Goffs’ major National Hunt Sale and Jaguar a longstanding associate of the Orby. The Jaguar E-PACE range starts at €38,060.

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have been in this industry for decades. It was a natural progression for me and I’m very lucky to be doing something I absolutely love for a living. We had a good year in 2018 with a few horses that breezed very well and as a result sold well for some of our clients. I was delighted with that. It was just a pity some of them weren’t my own! I still had a couple of them to offload and it was hard enough in that way, but you are always learning in this game and I’m excited for the sales season to come around again. Hopefully next year can be better again and you are always hoping to attract more people to the middle market because that is the category where most of the horses will fall into. Without a shadow of a doubt, if anyone ever came to me and asked where to buy a flat horse I would send them to the breeze-ups. When we go to the sales it is all about opinion and personal taste, which is the beauty of it. It’s like going to the races all dressed up… some people will love the outfit you are wearing and other people will think it is ridiculous. The sales ring is no different, in that people won’t always see the same thing. It is easy to pick out the perfect page and lovely mover but you need to try and find the value yourself. I’ll go around the Orby and Sportsman’s Sales and see what horses catch my eye and look a bit of value. As ever I’m sure there will be lots of nice horses and I just hope one or two might fall within my budget. It is very important that you like what you are buying because you are going to be working with that horse every morning for the next six months. There’s not much room for doubt. Caspar Netscher was undoubtedly the horse that put me on the map and only for him I don’t know what road we’d have gone down. I was only buying yearlings a couple of years at that stage and went to the sales with a small budget. I only bought three horses but Caspar was one of them and he went on to be a great horse for Charles and Zorka Wentworth.

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DAR15795 Goffs full page TheLine 8AUG18.qxp 18/07/2018 08:30 Page 1

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13/08/2018 18/07/2018 14:14 10:35

Jaguar

“THE SALES ARE ALL ABOUT OPINION AND PERSONAL TASTE, WHICH IS THE BEAUTY OF IT.” Within a month of selling Caspar Netscher at the sales he had won his maiden and then a short time later he was placed at Royal Ascot, won a Gimcrack and a Mill Reef Stakes and that is the readymade sort of horse you get when you go to the breeze-ups and is why I’m such a big fan of them. Every yearling I buy is for sale, I don’t buy some and keep more at home, I think the main aim has to be to reproduce everything at the sales and sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t but that is the nature of it. I’ve never bought foals but it is something that I wouldn’t mind having a go at this year. It is a very specialised field but there a lot of great people to learn from in this industry so you always have to keep your head firmly on your shoulders and eyes wide open to see what you can pick up but foals are definitely something I’d like to get involved with more. Growing up only a stone’s throw from Goffs I remember going there as a child with Dad, and obviously I had an interest in horses for as long as I can remember. I worked for Goffs as a bid spotter for a good few years and really enjoyed it - although Nick Nugent would keep you on your toes! Goffs are renowned for attracting a lot of nice stock and the aim is that I can get my hands on some nice yearlings for the breeze ups this year. TOP: Katie and husband Ross O’Sullivan at Goffs. ABOVE: Going out on a high, Katie rides her final winner aboard the Willie Mullins trained Antey at the 2018 Punchestown Festival.

Party in the Pavilion After the first busy day of the Orby Sale each year, Jaguar host a reception in the Jaguar Pavilion at Goffs where buyers can unwind and reflect on the trade so far. Natasha Mann of Honeydew Events provides delicious eats while Jaguar’s jazz trio add to the ambiance. This year the new electric Jaguar I-Pace will be on display on the lawn at Goffs alongside the full Jaguar fleet, and as ever our official car partner will provide the courtesy vehicles to chauffeur our international visitors.

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The Westgrove Hotel and Spa, Clane, Co. Kildare.

At the Heart of The Thoroughbred County.

The Westgrove Hotel in Clane is the hotel of choice when visiting Kildare for racing and sales. With preferred rates for those attending Goffs Sales, Race and Stay Packages, and with great access to The Curragh, Punchestown and Naas racecourses we really are at the centre of the action. To book your next stay with us please call reservation on 045-989 900 or e-mail reservations: reservations@westgrovehotel.com

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29/06/2018 14:09

LOOKING FOR AN EQUESTRIAN CAREER? T eagasc K ildalton College

QQI CertiďŹ cate in Horsemanship Level 5 & 6 in Equitation or Stud Management STUD MANAGEMENT Equine Breeding Prepping for sales Work placement in top studs - making industry contacts Reproductive Anatomy and Physiology Stud Business Planning EQUITATION Breaking and Training Young Horses Coaching - Training for BHS and HSI exams Riding - Dressage, Showjumping and Cross Country Equine Anatomy and Physiology Equine Business Planning GREEN CERT Making you eligible for grants and schemes as a Young Trained Farmer

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: Website: www.teagasc.ie Email: kildalton.college@teagasc.ie Tel: 051-644400

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Shane Roche Kildalton Graduate Level 6 Certificate in Horsemanship Champion gentleman rider in southeast England in 2016/2017 & 2017/2108

13/07/2018 14:10

14/08/2018 15:59

Brown Thomas

NINETIES D N A S IE T EIGH IA WITH NOSTALG T CHECKS N PROMINE T COLOURS H AND BRIG STRONGLY D FEATURE UMN WINTER T AT THE AU PARIS, NEW YORK, SHOWS IN ND MILAN. A LONDON

BROWN THOMAS, OFFICIAL PARTNER TO THE GOFFS ORBY AND CHAMPIONS SALES AND IRELANDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOME OF LEADING LUXURY BRANDS, SHOWCASES AUTUMN WINTER 2018 DESIGNER TRENDS FOR A VIBRANT NOSTALGIC SEASON REMINISCENT OF THE 1980S AND 1990S. 124

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Brown Thomas

OKE NEW BESP ES ACUTE S SHOWCA AND G SCULPTIN DRAPING N PRECISIO ES OF N E WITH SC BLACK AND E ABSOLUT GANCE, E L FEMME E ULLY F WONDER AT THE E REVEAL D NAL SHOWS. IO INTERNAT

AUTUMNAL HU AND BLACK ES OF GREY, CAMEL EM STRONG LIN PHASISE THE EAR PROPOR EXECUTIVE TAILORING, TIONS OF AN KEY TREND F OR 2018, WH OTHER FOLKLORIC ILE PATTERNS B R IN LIFE THE WIN TER NOMAD G TO THEME.

SHOP IN STORE OR BUY ONLINE: BROWN THOMAS IS LOCATED ON DUBLIN’S GRAFTON STREET, JUST 30 MINUTES FROM GOFFS. The wonderful Brown Thomas personal shopping team, led by Caroline Hanratty and Michelle Curtin, is on hand to help you choose the perfect outfit. To book your complimentary personal shopping appointment, please call +353 (0)1 617 1161 or email personalshopping@brownthomas.ie

Transport to Brown Thomas during your Orby Sale stay, or on Irish Champions Weekend, can be arranged by contacting barbarabashford@goffs.ie. You can also shop online at www.brownthomas.com

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BROWN THOMAS

RIGHT: JULIAN BENSON and DERVILLE MEADE. BELOW: MICHELLE CURTIN, EIMEAR MULHERN and KATIE MCGRATH

RACING

IN STYLE BELOW: ROLLINE Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;CALLAGHAN. BELOW RIGHT: KEIRA KENNEDY and TAMSO DOYLE

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The Brown Thomas personal shopping team kicked of the summer racing season with a fabulous brunch and fashion show in The Restaurant by ohnnie ooke on the top oor of their Grafton Street store. As title partner to the Goffs hampions Sale at Leopardstown on September 1 th, some stunning looks were presented with plenty of ideas for the upcoming rish hampions eekend.

ABOVE: SARAH McGOVERN, MARIA BOARDMAN and ABBY HARRIS. BELOW: MARION CODY

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

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BROWN THOMAS

LEFT: KELLEY BURKE and CHANELLE McCOY. BELOW: SOPHIE and ANTOINETTE KAVANAGH RIGHT: FIONA SHERIDAN and FIONA HENRY

BELOW LEFT: ANN CUNNINGHAM and NICOLA Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;NEILL

LEFT: HEATHER FITZPATRICK. ABOVE: HILARY FORDE and HILARY FORDE. ABOVE RIGHT: SARAH MORRISSEY and YOMIKO CHEN

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018 127

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Your future winners deserve a winning service

Award Winning Service, Advice & Research  Extensive range of diagnostic tests  Bespoke equine probiotics  Expert veterinary advice  Nutrition & water quality analysis  OIE Reference Laboratories  Yard biosecurity advice Irish Equine Centre Johnstown, Naas, Co. Kildare Tel: +353 (0)45 866266 Email: iec@irishequinecentre.ie / www.irishequinecentre.ie 245107_2L_IEC_JM_Goffs.indd 1

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PROVIDING A FULL RANGE OF BLOODSTOCK SERVICES

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LONDON BELOW: ANOJ DON and JOEY CULLEN

ABOVE: ANNIE DUNNE, ANN MARSHALL, JOHNNY MURTAGH and ORLA MURTAGH

A SALE

NO OTHER

ABOVE: KARIN and PETER LEIDEL

ABOVE: THERESA and MADELEINE BURNS BELOW: TIM and WILLIAM EASTERBY

Goffs London Sale in association with P celebrated its fth year in 2018. eld in the stunning Kensington Palace Gardens, the boutique sale was the perfect opening event to Royal Ascot week. ABOVE: JOSEPH Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;BRIEN and TARA ARMSTRONG BELOW: PHINEAS PAGE and LADY SABRINA PERCY

ABOVE: LEE WESTWOOD and HELEN STOREY

ABOVE: TOM and KATIE RYAN RIGHT: THOMAS and CHARLOTTE VELIN

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20/08/2018 10:47

Professional rug laundry service to: Racing Yards - Stud Farms Hunting Yards - Leisure Riders

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Providing a regular service in Counties: Meath, Dublin, Wicklow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Kildare, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow.

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15/08/2018 16:56

Specialists in En Primeur wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône Valley

Contact: Jeff Corbett T: +353 (0)1 280 0405 E: shop@searsons.com W: www.searsons.com 10A Monkstown Crescent | Monkstown Village | County Dublin A94 FW11 | Ireland

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15/08/2018 16:52

15/08/2018 17:02

ORBY SALE

LEFT: TEDDY GRIMTHORPE and PAT DOWNES.

INTERNATIONAL

ORBY

ABOVE: SHAWN DUGAN.

Buyers from around the world ocked to o Kildare for the 201 Goffs rby Sale, a racted by a stellar catalogue and the saleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proven record in producing Group 1 winners. ibrant trade was topped by 1. million for a beautiful Frankel colt and 1.2 million for a stunning Galileo lly.

ABOVE: JUSTIN ZAYAT. BELOW: SHEIKH HAMDAN AL MAKTOUM

ABOVE: ALAN COOPER BELOW: DAVID LODER, JOHN GOSDEN and ANTHONY STROUD

ABOVE: TEO AH KHING and MICK FLANAGAN

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018 131

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13/08/2018 11:50

MICHAEL DILLON Murals • Fine Art • Decorative Painting Painted Furniture

Ph: +44 (0) 7708 281 279 │ Email: michael.dillon@talk21.com │ www.dillonmurals.com 245758_2L_MichaelDillon_JM_Goffs.indd 1

22/06/2018 15:16

EQUINE DENTISTRY Sarah Taggart BAEDT Qualified with the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) & British Veterinary Dentistry Association (BVDA) Member of the British Association of Equine Dental Technicians (BAEDT)

Nationwide Service Web: www.baedt.com NI: +44 (0)7835 194 762

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29/06/2018 15:32

13/08/2018 14:20

K CLUB BELOW: BRENDAN HAYES and KIRSTEN RAUSING

ABOVE: SIR MARK PRESCOTT and MARK PLAYER

ABOVE: ANTHEA GIBSON FLEMING and FIONA CARMICHAEL

FIVE

STAR

WELCOME As is customary at the Orby Sale, Ireland’s premier yearling sales week began in style with a welcome reception for buyers and vendors at the five star K Club close to Goffs. ABOVE: SU-ANN KHAW

ABOVE: BARBARA KELLER, CHARLES O’NEILL and NICK LUCK. BELOW: ROBERT COWELL and KEVIN BUCKLEY

ABOVE: HEIKE BISCHOFF, NIKO LAFERENTZ and EIMEAR MULHERN BELOW: MATTHIAS SEEBER, ANDREAS LÖWE and ANNE LÖWE

ABOVE: ROGER VARIAN, HANAKO VARIAN and JOHN FERGUSON

ABOVE: JACK CHANNON, THADY GOSDEN and TOM CHARLTON RIGHT: RONAN GRIFFIN and HAMISH ALEXANDER

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018 133

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The Home of Racing Legends Just 20 minutes from both the Curragh & Punchestown racecourses, The K Club in Straffan, Co. Kildare is the perfect destination for those who want to learn the origins of the Sport of Kings!

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL +353 (1) 601 7200 Email: sales@kclub.ie www.kclub.ie

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10/08/2018 09/04/2018 15:34 10:43

BREEZE-UP BELOW: MARTIN SCHREINERS, FILIP ZWICKY and NIELS GIESMANN

LEFT: DAVID REDVERS

ABOVE: WILLIE BROWNE and MICHAEL BROWNE. BELOW: STEPHEN HILLEN and RICHARD HUGHES

EASY BREEZY he Goffs K ree e p s cons stently urope s best sale for two year old w nners. ollow n a record brea n sale n th s year s ree e p produced an avera e pr ce of ust over .

ABOVE: NICK NUGENT and MAGS O’TOOLE

LEFT: MICHAEL O’CALLAGHAN RIGHT: ROSS DOYLE

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018 135

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PREMIER SALE LEFT: PETER DOYLE and TONY NERSES RIGHT: FIONA CARMICHAEL and AMANDA SKIFFINGTON

THE

PREMIER CREW ABOVE: BOBBY and AIDAN ‘MOUSE’ O’RYAN. BELOW: SARA THORMAN

T he D oncaster P remier Sale most certainly liv ed up to its name in 2 0 1 7 , with the sale achiev ing record fi ures across the board including a 1 5 % increase in av erage to top £ 5 0 ,0 0 0 . An outstanding catalo ue comb ned w th results on the track f rom the likes of B arney oy and arry n el a racted lead n buyers n the r droves.

ABOVE: JOHN and JAKE WARREN.

RIGHT: MICHAEL OWEN with ED SACKVILLE

LEFT: GER LYONS, ANNA SUNDSTRÖM and JOHN CULLINAN. RIGHT CHARLIE KING and DERMOT FARRINGTON

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ABOVE: ANGUS GOLD of Shadwell

GOFFS MAGAZINE 2018

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DELIGHTED WITH THE RESULTS

Bill and Tara Dwan, Castlebridge Stud

We feed GAIN Equine Nutrition and find that our horses always reach their full growth and development potential. Their general health is excellent and when it comes to sales time, they are always in peak condition.

LoCall 1890

321 321 International +353 56 883 6600 info@gainanimalnutrition.com

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08/05/2018 15:34 10/08/2018 23/05/2018 15:35 16:00

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*EV Range up to 480km (298 miles). Fuel consumption: N/A. CO 2 Emissions: 0 (g/km). EV range figures are based upon production vehicle over a standardised route. Range achieved will vary dependent on vehicle and battery condition, actual route and environment and driving style. **Using 150kW DC fast charger. Actual charge times may vary according to environment and battery condition and available charging installation.

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10/08/2018 30/07/2018 15:36 14:36 26/07/2018 12:42