Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Magazine by BarnesThompson

THE OCTOBER YEARLING SALE YEARS

2015

速

Yearlings to be offered at the 2015 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale COLTS

Requinto x Distant Skies Dream Ahead x Jamary Teofilo x Looby Loo Mastercraftsman x Mary Boleyn Zamindar x Veiled Beauty FILLIES

Arcano x Classical Air Arcano x Sablonne Paco Boy x Sunday Bess Mastercraftsman x Waldena

MOHAB (Sir Percy x Princess Aurora) winning his maiden by 8 lengths (04/08/15) Sold by Chasemore Farm at the 2014 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale

Chasemore Farm LLP, Bookham Road, Downside, Cobham, Surrey KT11 3JT 01932 860856 studoffice@chasemorefarm.co.uk

chasemorefarm.co.uk

Welcome I can seldom remember more excitement ahead of an auction than leading up to this year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. A catalogue of extraordinary quality representing the best pedigrees from both hemispheres, underscores the industry’s opinion that Tattersalls October Book 1 is arguably the best yearling sale anywhere in the world. And, this year, there is also Frankel. Finally, the bloodstock world will have an opportunity to see the hugely anticipated first crop of yearlings by a horse that continues to draw intense media attention – as Julian Muscat explains with typical verve within these pages. We’re fortunate to have writers such as Julian, Tony Morris and Bill Oppenheim contributing to this first edition of the Tattersalls Preview. I hope you’ll agree that they, along with leading industry commentators such as Emma Berry, Lee Mottershead and Nancy Sexton have provided you with an interesting selection of articles that illuminate the global significance of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. Finally, huge thanks must go to all our advertisers. Valued clients old and new were quick to see the potential of the Tattersalls Preview. Together, we’ve produced a publication that is an engaging and interesting read for the Tattersalls international client base - an audience that is surely among the world’s most influential. Simon D. Thompson - Publisher (on behalf of Tattersalls)

The October Yearling Sale Contributors

EMMA BERRY

JOHN BERRY

TONY MORRIS

LEE MOTTERSHEAD

JULIAN MUSCAT

Bloodstock editor of Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder and European correspondent for TDN, Inside Racing and NZ Thoroughbred. @collingsberry

Newmarket-based trainer since 1995. Correspondent for www.thoroughbredinternet. com, Winning Post (Aus), Al Adiyat (UAE). Mayor of Newmarket. @johnwathenberry

Among the most respected bloodstock commentators of his, or any, generation. Sadly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, Tony is not on Twitter. #getmorrisontwitter

Award-winning Racing Post journalist and writer, author of three books and regular contributor to TV and radio. @leemottershead

After six years working on stud farms, Julian Muscat took up journalism in 1987. He spent 17 years at The Times and now contributes to a broad range of publications, principally Racing Post.

BILL OPPENHEIM

NIGEL REID

NANCY SEXTON

SIMON THOMPSON

Bill is a columnist for Thoroughbred Daily News and a leading analyst of the thoroughbred business. He is based in Scotland. @billoppenheim

One-time racing manager, bloodstock writer and racing editor, Nigel writes on a wide range of subjects. He divides his time between Vancouver and England. @nigelreid10

Bloodstock reporter, consultant and European representative for leading American bloodstock agency Schumer Bloodstock. @nancygsexton

Publisher, and founder of Barnes Thompson Ltd, Simon's career has been closely linked to Tattersalls since he walked his first yearling through the ring at Park Paddocks in 1984.

Thanks to: Nigel Reid - Editorial Consultant; Alexandra Calvert – Production Manager; Charlotte Mitchell – Advertising Manager; Peter Staples – Design; Joanne Greet – Design; Steve Cheney – Production Facilitator; David Ward – Printer. Pictures by Chris Bourchier, Trevor Jones, Matthew Lloyd, Sean Popke, etc. October 2015

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6 October 2015

61 Contents 8

Tension mounts - Frankel's first crop is causing a stir

In conversation with Edmond Mahony

Enormously attractive and gloriously simple – the Tattersalls Book 1 Bonus Scheme

22 Distance left to run – there’s life left yet in the middle-distance bloodlines 30

Trending at Tatts - Sire power and stability underpinning Tattersalls’ pre-eminence

Aussie buzz – a strong crop of freshman, including a few from down under

Mutually beneficial – Investec sponsorship works both ways

Over here – strength in depth a big lure to our American cousins

A lasting bond - an indispensible ally in the shape of Naohiro Goda

Ticket to ride – the Trip To Paris bandwagon stopping at all stations

Where, who and how much – Tattersalls’ auctioneers reveal all

Off to a flyer – the next generation of racing’s movers and shakers

Racing’s future history – a new permanent home for the British Horseracing Museum

250 years – the story of a bloodstock institution

October 2015

Tension mounts Julian Muscat gauges vendors’ stress levels ahead of the bloodstock market’s verdict on the most eagerly anticipated crop of yearlings in British racing history Anticipation will crackle like a high-voltage cable when representatives of Frankel’s first crop come under the hammer at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in October. There has never been anything like it. Few refute the assertion that Frankel was the best racehorse in our lifetime, yet he was more than that. He became an iconic thoroughbred who was celebrated well beyond the sport’s parish. His every deed was chronicled by myriad media outlets, from purist trade publications through to television networks as diverse as the BBC, Al Jazeera and Bloomberg, which was fascinated by the financial equation. That financial equation will now come under scrutiny at Park Paddocks. The fate of Frankel’s debut sales yearlings will offer an insight into whether this unbeaten winner of 14 races can enhance a sire line that has dominated the contemporary scene for more than four decades. The prices they fetch will reflect the thoughts of hard-nosed bloodstock experts on Frankel’s prospects of matching his outstanding sire Galileo, the omnipotent heir to his own sire Sadler’s Wells, the son of Northern Dancer who was champion sire in Britain and Ireland a record 14 times. Even Tattersalls’ director of marketing, Jimmy George, is enthralled by the prospect. “I don’t remember there being quite so much excitement over yearlings of a first-crop sire than there was for Sea The Stars in 2012,” he says, “but the focus on Frankel’s first crop will surely exceed that.” The portents for giant headlines are certainly encouraging. A draft of 18 Frankels is expected to congregate at the Book 1 sale. Most are colts, which is encouraging for those allimportant, post-sales returns. Yet while expectation runs amok, Frankel’s glittering racecourse achievements mean the risk-toreturn ratio for commercial breeders is high. His first crop was conceived at a fee of £125,000. For this reason, another fresh chapter in Frankel’s unblemished fairy-story is not assured.

8 October 2015

October 2015

However, what he has in abundance is the “Frankel Factor”. It is a powerful asset, too, as outlined by Ted Voute, who is due to consign a Frankel colt in October. “The scenario is unbelievable and unprecedented,” Voute says. “Every time people came to the stud the first thing they asked is whether we have any Frankels – and that includes the postman and the paper boy. “I guess excitement levels were similar when Secretariat’s first crop of yearlings went to the sales in the US (in 1976), but this has never happened here. It has been a new experience for us, and it’s great for the industry.” This novelty factor is so acute that consignors of Frankel yearlings could be excused for feeling the heat in bringing their produce to market. Not so. “Book 1 yearlings do that to you anyway,” Voute says. “If anything, it has the opposite effect. There’s an element of extra pride, and it’s a great catalyst for the rest of our consignment. You’d think the Frankel colt is bound to bring people to our sales patch.” In other words: If it is a problem, it’s a nice problem to have. The theme is expressed by Charlie Vigors, who runs Hillwood Stud with his wife, Tracy. In its capacity as agent, Hillwood is due to present a Frankel filly that was pin-hooked for €460,000 as a foal. “Any professional outfit will prepare all its sales yearlings in the same way,” Vigors says. “If you try to wrap a yearling up in cotton wool it is more likely to do something untoward. It must also have the level of fitness to cope with the demands of (presale) showing at Tattersalls.” Like Voute, Vigors says the Frankel Factor is plainly discernible. “It’s great to be a part of the whole buzz, and it’s good for the stud’s profile,” he says. “It will certainly be exciting to see his yearlings as a group come sales time.” Vigors has deliberately adopted an understated profile in the build-up. When clients have visited the farm to see their yearlings stock, the Frankel filly has been allowed to run anonymously alongside them in the paddock.

“We have decided on a low-key approach,” he said. “We have tried not to over-hype it. There’s always a danger when that happens. Anything less than fireworks and it can be almost anti-climactic.” Although Vigors’s reservations are valid, arresting the hype surrounding Frankel’s evolving story is like trying to stop a runaway train. The momentum is inexorable. And while general news reporters will be largely uninterested in the fact that great racehorses do not necessarily make great sires, the scrutiny in October will come from seasoned professionals who will only buy into the Frankel dream if they like what they see. There is no doubting this is a seminal moment for Frankel. And in this respect, Voute’s earlier reference to Secretariat is poignant. Secretariat’s debut yearling sales crop in 1976 featured Canadian Bound, the first yearling ever to sell for seven figures when he fetched $1.5 million. That equates to more than $6 million in today’s money, yet while Secretariat would sire one Horse of the Year in Lady’s Secret, his stud record paled in comparison to the best of his contemporaries. Indeed, the aspirations of general news reporters in respect of Frankel were ambushed by his four catalogued offerings at the Tattersalls December Foal Sales. One was withdrawn and the other three failed to find buyers, although one of those was sold outside the ring for 150,000 gns. This introduced a balancing caveat to previous Frankel offerings: the £1.15 million given last year for the colt foal together with his dam Crystal Gaze, who was back in foal to Frankel; and the €1.8 million given for a weanling out of Finsceal Beo. But the consensus is that those four Frankel weanlings were largely unrepresentative of their sire. “I suppose it was a bit of an anti-climax but Frankel still has that magic attached to him,” says Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud, which was forced to withdraw its Frankel weanling from the Tattersalls foal sale when it developed a problem. Cheveley Park Stud is due to consign another colt by Frankel in the Book 1 yearling sale. “The market has seen very few of them so far,” Richardson says. “It will give everyone a better chance to view and assess them. Financially, it could be quite tricky (for consignors). Some work on the basis that a yearling should fetch three times its covering fee, which raises the bar quite significantly.” It certainly does. Strictly by that formula, investment in Frankel’s first crop will be deemed to have “broken even” if the yearling sells for 350,000 gns. Even for the cream of his sales crop at Book 1, it is quite a daunting prospect. When yearlings from the aforementioned Sea The Stars were offered in Book 1 three years ago, the 19 sold (from 24 offered) averaged out at 269,474 gns. That represented a small profit on the three-time multiple of his €85,000 covering fee at conception time.

10 October 2015

A man with such thoughts on his mind is Julian Dollar, director and general manager of Newsells Park Stud, which is scheduled to consign three Frankel yearlings. He is concerned the attendant hoopla might prove counter-productive. “That’s half the difficulty with it,” he ventures. “Expectations are so high that sometimes it’s hard not to be disappointed with the reality. I’m sure there will be some nice ones that will make a lot of money, but there will also be disappointed vendors. I’m expecting the Frankel draft to be like any other. It will be feast or famine, depending on what each one looks like. “The difference between these yearlings and the foals offered last December is that the yearlings are there to be sold,” Dollar continues. “With the foals, I think some were offered by people who were interested to see how it turned out. They were happy enough to take them home.” In consigning three of them, Dollar is in the rare position to be able to compare yearlings by Frankel. He says each of them has different physical qualities, a theme consistent with that expressed by breeders who saw the collection of Frankel foals paraded at Juddmonte Farms earlier this year.

“Every time people visit the stud the first thing they ask is whether we have any Frankels – and that includes the postman and the paper boy!” TED VOUTE

Although it is too soon to be cast in stone, early indications suggest that Frankel is throwing physically to his mares. Time will tell, but there may not be a classic Frankel prototype of the stockstamping kind. None of this will be relevant once he is represented on the racecourse, which remains the ultimate litmus. In the meantime, however, prospective buyers will look for any clue, however relevant, to Frankel’s likely prowess as a sire. As with all things of similar hue, when soaring anticipation must be reconciled with harsh reality, perhaps the key to a satisfactory resolution between expectant consignors and Book 1 buyers with no inclination to sentiment rests in allowing some room for manoeuvre. It is an aspiration urged by agent Jamie Railton, who is due to offer a Frankel colt. “It’s important that the bar isn’t set too high,” he says. “Vendors have to be realistic with their valuations or buyers could be put off. “The worst scenario is for buyers to be made to feel as though they can’t afford a Frankel,” Railton adds. “If that happens, value gets missed. But one good thing about this year is that we are all anticipating a healthy market. That would be a big help.” Even then, market principles will almost certainly prevail. Consignors expecting even slightly flawed goods to buck the trend may be expecting the Frankel fairy-story to stretch just a little too far.

October 2015

In conversation with Edmond Mahony Julian Muscat sits down with the Tattersalls Chairman ahead of what promises to be another landmark October Yearling Sale Were you always going to make your career in the racing and breeding business? It was always an ambition of mine. It was probably an unrealistic expectation but my love of the horse was the over-riding thing that brought me into racing. I can remember watching Red Alligator’s Grand National on a black-and-white television in 1968, which marked the start of my real interest in racing. Being brought to Point-To-Points at home in Ireland was another factor. The Easter Monday meeting at Fairyhouse, eight or nine miles from home, was part of my childhood.

When did you join Tattersalls? I started in 1981 at Ballsbridge Tattersalls, as it was then. I’d done a bit of work there during the sales in the school holidays. Running and spotting at the sales was my introduction to the business. Then in 1987 Tattersalls bought Fairyhouse and I took over from Willie O’Rourke (as managing director of Tattersalls Ireland) in 1990 before I moved to Newmarket to become chairman (of Tattersalls) in April 1993.

You were just 32 then. Were you apprehensive about taking on the role? It was not a good moment. We were in the midst of a dreadful recession and there was an awful lot of uncertainty surrounding the VAT (registration of owners). I was pitched into that early on; I had a lot of difficult negotiations with people I didn’t really know that well. I remember being told I was going to meet the-then Prime Minister, John Major, for 10 minutes to explain our position. There was huge uncertainty about whether we were going to move to Ireland or not, and what would happen to our headquarters in Newmarket. It was quite a baptism.

12 October 2015

What is the single, biggest change you have seen since you started working at Tattersalls 34 years ago? In the bloodstock business generally, the biggest change has been the move away from small breeders towards big consignors. In 1981 there were hundreds of small breeders with two or three mares, and they were replaced rapidly by outfits with 20 to 30 mares. In those days a big draft of yearlings was eight or ten; now that’s a small draft. When we looked at yearlings in Ireland we’d go to 20 or 30 places within a single county. Now you go to two or three. And within Tattersalls, the company has transformed from what was quite a small business into a multi-national concern selling to 50 different countries. It always had an international element to it but it is much more so now. Also, we do so much more marketing and promotion of our sales now. That didn’t really exist when I joined in 1981. We didn’t even have a marketing department back then. In the early 1980s there were a handful of pin-hookers like Frank Flannery (of Egmont Stud) who made their living out of bloodstock. They were probably the first generation to do so. Everyone else was more of a hobby breeder.

Which development at Tattersalls are you most proud of in your tenure as chairman? I’m just very proud of the company. I think the staff working here are the real engine of the company. We have some very talented young people here. And the company dynamic has changed, particularly in the last 10 years. It has become much more professional, much more open, we’re much more approachable than we were in years gone by. There’s a “can-do” mentality about the team here, sometimes to the point where I hear them on the phone talking about some problem I would probably have given up on when I was 20. I’m also very proud of Parks Paddocks: all we have done here, the improvements that have been made over the last 25 years.

“Tattersalls has transformed from a relatively small business into a multi-national concern selling to 50 different countries” Significant gains were also posted in Book 3 last October. What does this say about the middle and lower tiers of the market? A lot of the equivalent sales rose across the board as well. I think people got fed up with sitting on their hands and not enjoying themselves, and sales races are little carrots that appeal to small owners. It’s still possible to go into a small syndicate, spend four or five grand and have a bit of craic. During the recession those horses were very hard to sell, but now you see people like Mark Johnston setting up syndicates of four horses to win those sort of races and involve the smaller owner. I think the fun element has returned at that level. People in this business are incredibly resilient, and nobody knows where the next champion is coming from.

Mahony on Frankel: Frankel’s first yearling crop is bound to set the agenda at Book 1 in October. What are you expecting?

A succession of records at Tattersalls have tumbled in recent years. Has there ever been a better time to sell a top-end yearling? Probably not, although on the flip side, I think there’s probably never been a more difficult time to produce one. People are so sensitive about stallions and a lot of agents are quite critical of horses. They all want the perfect animal. And now the veterinary issues, which we never had before, are much more stringent. It has become harder to get the horse that ticks all the boxes. But to answer your question: there have never been more buyers at the top end. I don’t remember a climate like it. People talk about the 1960s and 1970s, but it was at a different level. There are a lot of big owners chasing classic types, or foundation broodmares.

Obviously there will be a lot of interest in them, but I hope not too much. High expectations can kill off a lot of interest, but there are some interesting pedigrees among the ones we have here. The reality among people who buy bloodstock is that they are pretty hard-nosed. That also applies to top-flight owners; they know what they are looking for. They are not going to buy a Frankel unless they really like it. October 2015

Group 1 Winners Sold...

Authorized Aqlaam Bosra Sham (Champion) Chachamaidee Count Dubois (Champion) Crack Regiment Made In Japan

Majestic Roi Milan Mozart Mus-If Paita Reverence Pearl of Love

Prince Kirk Polar Falcon Pure Grain Russian Rhythm Shamardal Tessla Timboroa

This year’s pearls inc: A Bay Colt A Bay Colt A Bay Colt A Ch. Colt

Cacique x Bourbonella (Rainbow Quest) Kitten’s Joy x Granny Franny (Grand Slam) Oasis Dream x Last Second (Alzao) Exceed And Excel x Anna Amalia (In The Wings)

Half brother to Group 1 winner AQLAAM, etc., Own brother to Group 1 winner KITTEN’S DUMPLINGS, etc., Half brother to Group 1 winner AUSSIE RULES, etc., Half brother to Group 1 winner AVE, etc.,

Sires Include: Acclamation, Cacique, Canford Cliffs, Cassemento 2, Cape Cross 2, Dutch Art, Exceed And Excel 2, Excelebration, Fastnet Rock 2, Frankel, Hat Trick, Helmet, Henrythenavigator 2, Holy Roman Emperor 3, High Chaparral, Kitten’s Joy 4, Lawman, Lope de Vega, Mastercraftsman, Mayson 2, Nathaniel 2, New Approach, Notnowkato, Oasis Dream, Paco Boy, Poets Voice 2, Pivotal, Poet’s Voice 3, Pour Moi, Power, Raven’s Pass 2, Redoute’s Choice, Rip Van Winkle, Royal Applause, Sayif, Sea The Stars, Sepoy 4, Shamardal, Sixties Icon 6, Street Cry, Zamindar.

+44 (0) 7836 671 571 (UK mobile) www.voutesales.com

Voute SALES THOROUGHBRED CONSIGNMENTS INTERNATIONAL

Mahony on the £25,000 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 1 Bonus Scheme: Why is Tattersalls replacing the five-race Tattersalls Millions Series with the Book 1 Bonus? It has been a process of evolution. We went from having a “million” race to having a series of races. Now we have the Bonus Scheme. People always point to what happened in Australia, and with the Bonus Scheme, I think we have followed the trend in trying to get as much money as possible into as many pockets as we can. Originally that was the point of the Millions Series and that worked for a while, but like all these things, after a period of years you end up with more losers than winners. The Bonus Scheme spreads the money thinner but I’m hoping it will be attractive to owners and trainers. I still believe restricted sales races are an important marketing tool but the Millions Series was a bit like buying lottery tickets. People will do it for a while but if they don’t collect every now and then, they stop. I honestly think it’s as simple as that. It has also been about listening to client feedback – particularly trainers, who told us it was becoming increasingly hard to maintain owner enthusiasm when they weren’t winning.

Yearlings that are bought in or unsold are still eligible for the Bonus Scheme. Why is that? Because they will have been available to be purchased. Their owners have paid the entry fees and the fee to enter the scheme, so they should get the benefit. In a way, it’s putting added value on a horse even if it doesn’t sell in the ring. But the horse needs to appear in the ring to qualify. It has to be there to be bought.

You have often said that prize-money is the lifeblood of the sport. How has Britain maintained its prominent position in the world order when prize-money continues to lag so far behind that of competing nations? Well, we’re incredibly lucky: the whole heritage thing is what’s keeping it there. It’s a combination of having amazing racecourses – which are very well run, despite what everyone says – through to the Jockey Club and the BHA. The sport is very well run and it has the royal family’s involvement. We’re also incredibly lucky to have a huge fan base. There probably isn’t another country in the world that has the same fan base as Britain and Ireland. Having said that, I think it’s still incredibly important to tackle the prizemoney imbalance. We can survive on all the other ingredients but at the end of the day someone has got to pull out their cheque-books and pay for all these horses in training. They are expensive to buy and even more expensive to keep, but until there’s some sort of contribution to their losses I don’t think we can afford to lose focus on that. One of the areas in which I think prize-money is crucial is in these Class 4 maiden races. In this category the prize-money differential is more stark compared to other countries. Let’s face it: if you have a horse capable of running in big Saturday handicaps or in listed races, you’re not doing too badly. You can probably pay your way. But it’s below that, you get three grand for winning a good maiden, it’s not really very encouraging. That was our target audience when we introduced the Book 1 Bonus Scheme. From 2016, if you win one of those maidens, you will get a meaningful sum of money. From the top: Ballsbridge, the original home of Tattersalls Ireland; Tattersalls, Park Paddocks; William Inglis & Sons, Sydney & Osarus at La Teste Racecourse. October 2015

Are there any issues that thoroughbred auction houses need to address collectively? Well, we have the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers (SITA), which we are all members of. We meet twice a year to discuss industry-type topics. I think it’s important to have standardisation in things like cataloguing, conditions of sale, and other details that govern the whole industry. I also think that the integrity of bloodstock sales is absolutely crucial. It’s a subject dear to my heart. If we lose that, we won’t be in business for very long. I think SITA is a very good forum but it probably needs a bit more teeth. The founders of SITA had a vision for it; I’m not sure that has been achieved. Personally, I would like to see SITA have increased influence over bloodstock sales. There are a lot of areas important to the industry as a whole. It requires a bit more focus on the part of those of us involved.

You meet the small breeders, the young breeders who become the drivers of the industry in time. It’s slightly what Tattersalls did in Ireland: it invested in a small, fledgling company, Ballsbridge Sales, that has become Tattersalls Ireland. I’m not saying history will repeat itself but Osarus gives us the opportunity to interact with French breeders and the French industry. They have a very healthy racing industry in the south-west. We like the people, the venue and the idea of it, but to be honest, it will be a very long game.

Do you believe the revamped Future Champions Weekend at Newmarket addresses the shortcomings of its predecessor?

As for Brightwells, we have never really been involved in the National Hunt market in Britain – although my predecessor (as chairman), Michael Watt, was the first person to try sales at Cheltenham around 30 years ago.

It sounds better from Newmarket’s perspective, which is what I am interested in. It has a better feel in terms of fitting into the international calendar, what we at Tattersalls are trying to do, and for the town itself. You change things at your peril in racing. People are so accustomed to dates, accustomed to things happening in a certain order. It’s true of any sport, but you ran into people at the Rowley Mile who didn’t know what races were on that day. It felt completely out of synch. So now I hope there is a period of stability. It’s virtually impossible to promote anything when it changes year to year.

We had an abortive flirtation with getting involved with National Hunt sales then, but the opportunity arose because the people at Brightwells basically wanted to sell it. We decided that strategically, National Hunt racing was a good thing for us to be in, and this seemed the right opportunity - not so much in selling stores but young horses in training, point-to-pointers and fledgling horses for the future. They have a winning formula and it is a mature business, so I can’t see us changing too much.

Tattersalls has spread its wings of late. The recent takeover of Brightwells’ bloodstock division came after the acquisition of a majority stake in the French auction house, Osarus – and before that, a minority stake in William Inglis and Son Ltd. Is further diversification from the company’s core in Newmarket and Ireland on the cards? Dealing with William Inglis first, the southern hemisphere was always something we’d identified with getting involved with. There are a lot of synergies: William Inglis is a very similar company to Tattersalls structurally, it has a very similar ethos, and also, I have known the people there for a long time. So it seemed a natural fit. Osarus is basically a fledgling sales company which we started assisting. Now we are in partnership with a small but enthusiastic French team primarily focused on the south-west of France. People ask me where it is leading to, and I’m not entirely sure other than that I am always attracted to something at grass-roots level.

5 for fun. Favourite racehorse? Red Rum, for what he was, what he achieved, and for saving the Grand National at Aintree virtually single-handedly. Ideal evening out? The King’s Head at

Dullingham. That’s about as far as we get these days.

Holiday? Holiday from what? I suppose the Greek islands; we go virtually every year. First-crop sire to excel at the yearling sales this year (Frankel apart)? Sepoy Will a first-crop yearling by Frankel top the Book 1 sale in October? That’s a hard one, but I’d probably put my money on a Galileo or a Dubawi.

16 October 2015

Watch out for THE perfect storm The highest rated 2yo son of Acclamation Unbeaten Timeform Champion 2yo From the sire line of top 2yo sires Dark Angel and Equiano

+44 (0)1452 700177 www.tweenhills.com

A new initiative of real merit, the ÂŁ25,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 Bonus Scheme is set to change racing. Lee Mottershead reports

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18 October 2015

The good racing people of Newmarket who frequent the town’s most admired supermarket are well used to receiving a bonus. It comes in the form of a free tea or coffee when a shopping trip is completed. This is a most welcome act from that renowned purveyor of quality comestibles, but at the other end of the High Street, Tattersalls has unveiled a bonus that makes a milky cappuccino seem like nothing more than froth. Going way back to a time when Messrs. Piggott, Carson and Eddery still fought out finishes, Tattersalls have provided chunky financial rewards to those who have supported its premier yearling sale. Inevitably, though, such contests have provided a relatively limited number of chances to land some of the bonus booty. Aware of this, there has been a growing desire to offer many more chances to many more people. That ambition is coming to fruition through the inauguration of the £25,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 Bonus Scheme. It is gloriously simple and enormously attractive. All yearlings sold, bought in or who fail to make their reserve during this year’s October Book 1 Sale will become eligible for the scheme - plus any lot withdrawn but then offered at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale - providing a one-off payment of £1,000 is made. Should a qualified horse then in 2016 win a class 2, 3 or 4 maiden in Britain, or an open two-yearold maiden in Ireland, the successful owner will receive £25,000. That would come in addition to the owner’s £7,500 share of any Plus 10 cash earned and, with the slice of prize-money also taken into account, it means a winning owner in a maiden could pocket at least £35,000. Moreover, there will be in excess of 300 maiden races in the scheme. “It’s more evolution than radical change,” says Tattersalls marketing director Jimmy George. “We’ve been staging sales races for a quarter of a century, and in that time even those races have evolved. We were always conscious we wanted to give as many opportunities to win good money to as many people as possible, so in relatively recent times we’ve had as many as eight races in the series worth over £2 million combined. “The Book 1 Bonus Scheme takes us to the next level. We want to keep participation in any scheme as affordable as possible and think that £25,000 maiden race bonuses really fit the bill and fulfil all the requirements we have.”

George continues: “With sales races you tend to have one shot at the money. But the £25,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 Bonus is different. The beauty is you can be beaten in your maiden and then run in another. First time out you can go to a maiden with high hopes, finish second and think, ‘ah, well’. Then two or three weeks later you can run in another maiden. If you win it you’ve died and gone to heaven.” There is, of course, the potential for the money to make a real difference. For a start, as almost everyone seems to say when asked about the Book 1 Bonus, it provides a successful owner with the chance to, in effect, keep the horse in training for a year for nothing. Also important, though, is to note that for a significant number of the yearlings who go through the ring during Britain’s most select sale, £25,000 can represent a not inconsiderable percentage of the purchase price. For example, an inspection of the results from last year’s Book 1 sale shows that 52 of the 414 lots offered were sold for 50,000 gns or less, equivalent

“This is a fantastic added incentive to buy” TIMMY HYDE Jnr. to 13 per cent. In 2013 the corresponding number was 88 of 450 lots offered while in 2012 it was 115 of 514. Go back to 2013 and among the potential bargains that could have been snapped up was subsequent Queen Mary Stakes winner Anthem Alexander, bought in for 48,000 gns. En route to Royal Ascot she won a Tipperary maiden that, as of next year, would have yielded connections in excess of €40,000.

October 2015

One of those likely to be charged with targeting some of those races for his own owners is Andrew Balding. “I’m a supporter and would have thought most trainers would think the same,” says the master of Kingsclere. “Any incentive is good news as long as it isn’t too expensive for the people buying the yearlings. I think what this scheme succeeds in doing is it spreads around the money in a fairer way than the sales races did. It also doesn’t slant prize-money statistics in the way sales races have done. One big sales race could have been worth the same as three Group 1 races, which seems unfair.

Enthusiasm also comes from those who will be selling the horses and those who will be trying to buy them. Leading consignor Tim Hyde Jnr from Camas Park Stud, for instance, says: “The best horses usually come out of Book 1 and this is a fantastic added incentive to buy from that sale. With the Plus 10 bonus as well it means eligible maidens are now racing for a very significant pot. I really think it will make a difference. “Any contribution to prize-money levels has to be welcome, so you’ve got to say congratulations to Tattersalls. Having a sales race was good, but I’d say this is better as the pot gets spread across many more races.”

“This will pay a year’s training fees. Whether you’re Sheikh Mohammed or someone buying a single horse out of Book 1, that must make a difference.”

From all corners, the thumbs are up. Widespread support has been won. Tattersalls now hope momentum builds.

Likewise, Malton trainer John Quinn says: “What it does is gives people more incentive to buy at the sale. Not everyone can buy the Galileos, the Shamardals and the Dubawis, but there are a lot of nice horses across Book 1 and this would be a big plus for anyone thinking of buying one of them.”

“These are the best yearlings in Europe and now they will also be the best rewarded,” says George. “It’s about paying for training fees and more in one hit. It’s the holy grail of racehorse ownership. British prize-money is very competitive if you have a good horse and you’re competing at Listed level and above.

20 October 2015

Added value Clockwise from top left: The Aidan O’Brien-trained top 2yos Alice Springs & Waterloo Bridge (centre); David Wachman’s Group 3 winner Most Beautiful & the Al Shaqab duo Shalaa & Eltezam are all graduates of the 2014 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Group 1. Collectively, this nap hand of top-class performers earned connections £33,000 by winning their respective maidens. Next year, five similarly-qualified juveniles will add north of £155,000 to their owners’ kitties.

However, at maiden level it is poor. This is where this scheme can help. People who win these bonuses can earn more than the person who wins a $90,000 maiden at Saratoga. We think we have a figure in mind for how many bonuses will be won, but it’s possible we have devised a scheme that could alter the way people campaign their horses. “We feel it is a scheme of huge merit that will catch the imagination of owners, trainers and bloodstock agents, and indeed everyone who, like us, wants to see people owning racehorses in Britain and Ireland and being rewarded in an unprecedented way.”

October 2015

Galileo

Distance left to run 22 October 2015

According to Tony Morris, industry concerns over dwindling stamina among Europe’s elite middle-distance brigade may be overstated The world of racing and breeding into which I was introduced in the early 1960s might be cited as confirmation of L.P. Hartley’s observation: “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” Those of a younger generation might find it hard to relate to racing as more sport than business, run by a Jockey Club dominated by ex-Army officers and peers of the realm, where women were graciously allowed to be owners, but could not be licensed in a professional capacity, and where greyhound racing and the football pools provided the sport’s only serious competition as a betting medium for the masses. As for breeding, that was a pastime dominated by well-heeled private operators who sought glory rather than profit, with the classic races as their prime target, while stallions, generally syndicated among that same group of breeders, were limited to books of mares that rarely exceeded forty. For all that, while there are elements of the sportcum-industry that might serve to indicate that nothing stays the same for ever, there are others that illustrate the opposite cliché, suggesting that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Most of my generation deplores the fact that a lot of power in racing now rests with bodies who don’t recognise the value of tradition, and who don’t understand either racing or the horse. The changes they have made have largely been just for change’s sake, and no visible benefits have accrued. How have they improved the racecourse experience for Joe Public? Rhetorical question. I have lived through a number of perceived crises, the longestlasting being that concerning prize-money, which seems to have been going on for most of my time in the game. In fact, the purse structure at Pattern level, which is where it really matters, because it impacts significantly on the breeding industry, strikes

me as perfectly adequate now. While we are constantly being told that the sport needs a wider fan base, we regularly learn of increased attendances at the major meetings; it is unrealistic to imagine that low-quality racing can attract – or even deserves to attract – stronger patronage. The BHA’s assertion that we need 1,000 more horses in training by 2020 is a patent nonsense, as undesirable as it is undeliverable. If there are genuine crises in the business, they are about racing’s dwindling percentage of the betting revenue on sports and the labour shortage in stables, each an item that the powers that be in racing are unable to correct or control. Betting firms now offer so many opportunities for wagering on so many aspects of a huge variety of events that the outcome of a horserace is no longer an obvious preferred medium for betting. Government policy on immigration is clearly the most significant factor in the failure to attract sufficient stable staff. The latest scare story suggests that there is a threat to the production of the staying horse in Britain and Ireland, and that changes to race programmes will be necessary to halt a perceived decline. Are we really to believe that our industry is moving in the direction of Australia’s, concentrating so much on speed that stamina will become lost to our breed? The idea, to my mind, is utterly far-fetched. Britain’s programme for the staying horse has long been – perhaps has always been – the best in the world. We have preserved the integrity of the classic races by keeping them at their traditional distances, so that in recent years the St Leger has enjoyed a renaissance and the concept of the Triple Crown has become meaningful again. It is clear that Ireland erred by throwing open its St Leger to older horses and admitting geldings, but it has otherwise stayed faithful to its time-honoured schedule, while France, having devalued its St Leger, the Prix Royal-Oak, has done tremendous damage to both the Prix du Jockey-Club and the Grand Prix de Paris by changing the conditions which made them hugely important for more than a century. What the doomsayers are bleating now is that we should be providing more incentive to buyers of foals and yearlings by amending the autumn programme for two-year-olds, to the extent of framing juvenile events restricted to horses sired by winners over at least a mile and a quarter. They reckon that is what is needed if we are to benefit the breed. Well, I grant that plenty of investors in bloodstock are looking to purchase early-maturing types, and that stallion studs are only too willing to stand horses who promise to sire precocious stock. But that has been the case for at least the last century, October 2015

Cradle of the ‘Classic’ Thoroughbred • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA • JUST SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM • MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING • DEUCE AGAIN • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA • JUST SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM • MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING • DEUCE AGAIN • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH BOOK ONE TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA Bay Colt – Pivotal x Zee• Zee Gee • MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • • JUST SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA KISSOGRAM STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE Colt TOP •–TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA • CROESO Chesnut Mastercraftsman x Avon LadyCARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING • DEUCE AGAIN • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THEChesnut FRONT • Colt POET –• Shamardal ONE SO WONDERFUL • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE x Celestial Girl SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA JUST– SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM • Bay •Colt Nathaniel x Dash to the Front MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA Bay Filly – Exceed & Excel x Dylanesque • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING • DEUCE AGAIN • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL • Bay Colt – Foxwedge x Italian COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL Connection • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA • JUST SPECIAL • NECKLACE • Bay Colt –•Oasis Dream x Izzi Top • STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • Brown/Grey Colt – Sepoy x Likeable MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING • DEUCE AGAIN • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL Bay • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE Colt – Dansili x One So Marvellous DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA • JUST SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM • MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • Bay Colt – Champs Elysees x Ventura Highway STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • MARSH DAISY • JAZZIBOOK TOP • SPEEDY TWOBOARDING • DEUCE AGAIN • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • Bay• Colt Sir Percy x Strictly Lambada• MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA JUST–SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINSBay BAY Colt • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA – Henrythenavigator x Wonderful Desert • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING • DEUCE AGAIN • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • BOOK THREE SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA • JUST SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM • MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA Bay Filly – Rail Link x Island Vista TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • Brown Filly AGAIN – Sixties Icon x Kinetix MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING • DEUCE • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA • JUST SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM • MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • AllTAP yearlings are eligible for SEBASTIAN PLUS TEN• RELATIVELY Bonus Schemes STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING • DEUCE AGAIN • ALESSANDRO VOLTA • OPERA HOUSE • ZEE ZEE TOP • DASH TO THE FRONT • POET • ONE SO WONDERFUL • COLORSPIN • MILLIGRAM • NOUSHKEY • SOMEONE SPECIAL • YOUR OLD PAL • YANKEE DOODLE • LADY CARLA • IZZI TOP • SUEZ • SUN BOAT • FRANCE • ALKAADHEM • KAYF TARA • MONA LISA • PHOTOGENIC • BALALAIKA • JUST SPECIAL • NECKLACE • UNSCRUPULOUS • MUDEER • HYABELLA • KISSOGRAM • MOVIEGOER • CEZANNE • DYNASTY • STAGECRAFT • CHESA PLANA • RAPPA TAP TAP • PICK OF THE POPS • SAN SEBASTIAN • RELATIVELY SPECIAL • MULLINS BAY • HAVANE SMOKER • CASPAR NETSCHER • DASH TO THE TOP • TORCH ROUGE • BELLA COLORA • CROESO CARIAD • SHIROCCO STAR • COQUET • HIPPY HIPPY SHAKE • MEDIA HYPE • MARSH DAISY • JAZZI TOP • SPEEDY BOARDING

Tattersalls October Yearling Sales 2015

1983 – 2015 MEON VALLEY STUD have bred the winners of 793 races (including 50 stakes winners of 102 stakes races) £14,027,961 (approx)

www.meonvalleystud.co.uk

“The BHA’s assertion that we need 1,000 more horses in training by 2020 is a patent nonsense” TONY MORRIS

and it has not inhibited the production of more slowly-developing quality runners capable of excelling over longer distances. And I take the point that the over-patronage of sprinter-sires is no way to benefit the breed; the sprinter who gets nothing but sprinters will rarely achieve any lasting impact. But we have known since The Tetrarch and Phalaris that sprinters who can sire stock endowed with the capacity to thrive over middle and/or staying distances may prove hugely influential. Most of the British and Irish sprinting sires over the last half-century ultimately achieved nothing more than to supply runners to the racing industry for a while. The likes of Ahonoora and Danehill were different, getting stock – including Derby winners – who were not strictly limited in terms of their distance capacity or their impact on pedigrees. Breeders recognised that there was more to them than the evidence of their racing careers disclosed, and trusted them to sire progeny effective over a wider range of distances. We might cite Oasis Dream as one in the current stallion ranks who can get top-class performers at a mile and a half, such as Midday, as well as the conformist Muhaarar, this season’s outstanding sprinter. I am afraid I can give no credence whatsoever to the scare-mongering suggestion that we are pandering too much to the sprinter and neglecting the stayer. As my examples above show, it is naive to assume that like invariably begets like in terms of distance capacity. Let’s not forget Le Levanstell, the miler who got Levmoss,

Muhaarar, winning the July Cup over 6f October 2015

winner of a Gold Cup and an Arc de Triomphe. We can add one more when remembering that the sire, grandsires and great-grandsires of Golden Horn comprised six milers and a sprinter; it was understandable that his owner-breeder omitted to enter him for the Derby, and equally understandable that he should supplement him after York, where he won the Dante, effectively out-running all those ancestors. But perhaps the most telling counter-argument to the idea that we need to provide more incentive for buyers to look for young stock likely to be seriously raced in the second half of their two-year-old season lies in Book 1 of Tattersalls’ October Yearling catalogue, which is regularly comprised almost entirely of such individuals. Nobody goes shopping for a Brocklesby winner there; the sale is all about quality offerings with the accent on potential classic performance. Most are the products of parents who have come through the traditional European racing regime, and precocity is rarely to be found in their make-up. Anyone who wants to compete on the racecourse with the likes of Khalid Abdullah and the Aga Khan needs to be on hand, and although they will not form part of the opposition in the ring, the Coolmore party, the Qataris and the Dubaians will. It is an occasion that brings out the crème de la crème of the breed, competition is fierce, and we routinely hear about higher averages, medians and aggregates, a sure indication that in Tattersalls' premier auction for the age-group there is no lack of incentive for buyers.

Is that situation likely to change in the years to come? I see no reason why it should. It does not matter that no Gold Cup winner has headed the sires’ list since Alycidon in 1955, nor that Bustino, successful in 1974, was the last St Leger winner to make much of a mark in his second career. We have become used to such details while still producing stock who stay well and make significant contributions to the welcome diversity that has characterised our racing through the generations. Not so long ago our sires’ list was routinely dominated by American-based horses, providing fuel for the prophets of doom. There was a period lasting over 20 years – after Shirley Heights – when all our Derby winners turned out to be comparative or total disasters at stud; normally sane people were advising that the distance of the race should be reduced to ten furlongs. Mere phases. Keeping calm and carrying on worked out in the long run. America now has few stallions of any interest to European breeders, and it is unthinkable that one might make a major impact here. As for the idea that winning the Derby represented the kiss of death for a potential stallion, Galileo put paid to that, and several of his successors have been doing quite nicely, thank you. Long experience has taught me that knee-jerk reactions to perceived ills rarely make sense.

Oasis Dream

October 2015

FUTURE IN MIND

Sales preparation, with the future in mind. For that extra bit of back up and support during sales preparation, Saracen are here to help. A combination of the correct feeds introduced at the right moment, and a fresh pair of eyes at regular intervals is all part of the service we offer. Consignors & Owner Breeders know they can rely on it.

Call a member of our dedicated specialist Thoroughbred team. POLLY BONNOR Tel: +44 7973 802 210 CLARE ROBERTS Tel: +44 7714 768 250 or contact the Thoroughbred Office Tel: +44 (0) 1488 73 456 or visit www.saracenhorsefeeds.com/thoroughbred

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FEED THE DIFFERENCE

Trending at Tatts Since 2010, the October 1 gross has increased by 64% while the average has more than doubled OCTOBER YEARLING SALE, Book 1 Year

30 October 2015

Cat.

Off. Sold

Aggregate

Average Median

2014 472

414

336

79,274,000

235,935

150,000

2013 513

450 339

70,343,000

207,501

130,000

2012 577

514

418

68,102,500

162,925

100,000

2011 508

446

364

51,634,000

141,852

100,000

2010 689

595

449

48,243,000

107,445

70,000

2009 676

609

474

53,735,000

113,365

78,000

2008 611

532

410

49,821,000

121,515

85,000

2007 733

639

510

64,922,000

127,298

80,000

2006 652

563

432

55,035,000

127,396 82,000

2005 688

592

499

59,635,000

119,509 70,000

623

Since 1999, 14-time Champion Sire Sadler’s Wells and his two sons, Galileo and Montjeu, have supplied 623 yearlings that have sold in Tattersalls’ flagship yearling sale

As Bill Oppenheim discovers, sire power and stability in uncertain times have underpinned Tattersalls’ pre-eminence By 1993, when then 32-year-old Edmond Mahony was elected Chairman of Tattersalls Sales Company, the seeds had already been sewn which would result, twenty years later, in Tattersalls’ flagship October 1 Yearling Sale being recognized as the world’s most important yearling sale. It’s a given that having the biggest representation by the top sires is what makes horse sales, and for the last twenty years the world’s best sires – first Sadler’s Wells, and then his son, Galileo – have stood at Coolmore Stud, in Ireland, and the cream of their crops, every year, have sold at Tattersalls’ best yearling sale. Up until 2003, that was known as the Houghton Sale, with a brief interlude as the Highflyer Sale, but since 2004 it has been the sale, now colloquially known the world over, as ‘October 1’.

Sadler’s Wells retired to Coolmore in 1985, thirty years ago now. At the time, it was a bold move: Kentucky had dominated the world breeding scene probably for forty years before then. In the aftermath of World War II, American stallion operations had been importing top European sires and sire prospects, ranging from Nasrullah, imported in 1950 and five times Champion Sire in North America (and sire of Bold Ruler, seven times Champion Sire) and the immortal, undefeated Ribot, imported in 1959, to the heady days of the 1970’s, when the likes of Riverman, Lyphard, Nureyev, and Blushing Groom were all imported to Kentucky. Through the late 1970’s and early 1980’s Keeneland’s storied July Yearling Sale had the flashbulbs popping, culminating in one of the greatest pieces of theatre ever seen in the world of sports, the sale of Seattle Dancer, Seattle Slew’s half-brother by Nijinsky II, for $13.1-million – a record price for a yearling which still stands – at the 1983 July Sale. By the first years of the 21st century the picture had changed, both in the markets and in the shift of sire power from America back towards Europe. The super-select, two-session sales were October 2015

proving problematic, as breeders and consignors found it was ‘feast or famine’ at those sales; if you didn’t have one of the top lots it could get pretty sticky. By 2003, Keeneland’s September Sale, especially September Book 1, had cannibalized the July Sale; similarly, at Tattersalls, Houghton gave way to October Book 1 in 2004. A four-day sale in 2007, October 1 that year saw 510 yearlings sell for 64,922,000 gns, and average 127,298 gns; in dollar terms, the sale had grossed $109-million and averaged about $213,680. But Keeneland September Book 1 still ruled the roost: 337 yearlings sold there in 2007, grossing $145.3-million and averaging $385,615. The 2008 World Financial Crash changed all that, and though everyone in North America and Europe was hit hard, America was hit hardest. In 2008, as the crash was happening, Keeneland September Book 1 still saw 300 yearlings sell for $113.3-million and average $377,856. But in 2009 only 222 yearlings brought $58.7-million – barely half of the previous year’s gross – and the average dropped by over $100,000 also, to $264.667. In 2010 and 2011 only 127 and 129 horses sold in September Book 1, grossing $44.3-million and $45.6-million respectively, though the averages were well above $300,000. In 2012 only 75 horses sold for $30,290,000 in September’s remaining ‘select’ session.

“Tattersalls October 1 really does rate now as the world’s most important yearling sale” BILL OPPENHEIM

Meanwhile , Tattersalls October 1 had declined, but the format remained much more stable than at Keeneland. Adjusting to market conditions, as sales companies are relatively quick to do, Tattersalls had reduced October 1 from four days to three in 2008, and 17% fewer horses were catalogued than in 2007. Tattersalls again trimmed the numbers in October 1, by a further 26% between 2010 and 2011. Still, 508 yearlings were catalogued; 364 sold (72% of the catalogue, a very high percentage for a select sale), and the gross still increased by 7%, while the average shot up by 32%, to 141,852 gns. The gross shot up by another third in 2012, surpassing the 2007 four-day gross.

32 October 2015

In 2013, of 513 catalogued, 339 yearlings sold in October 1 for 70,343,000 gns., an average of 207,501 gns., and last year 336 yearlings grossed 79,274,000 gns., for another record average of 235,935 gns. Since its 2010 low, the October 1 gross has increased by 64% while the average has more than doubled. Meanwhile, Keeneland reconfigured their September Sale to a four-day Book 1 in 2013, grossing $153-million and averaging $280,424 in 2013, and grossing $142-million and averaging $300,534 in 2014. In both years, October 1 recorded a higher average, converted to dollars – about $348,600 in 2013, and $396,000 in 2014. That’s one reason why Tattersalls October 1 can now claim the mantle of the world’s most important yearling sale. The other reason is the single most important constituent factor of all sales – the sires. Since 1999, 14-time Champion Sire Sadler’s Wells and his two sons, five-time Champion Sire Galileo, and Montjeu, have supplied a total of 623 yearlings that have sold in Tattersalls’ flagship yearling sale, Houghton (through 2003) and October 1. They have generated 185,792,000 gns in revenue – 23% of the total revenue for all those sales – and averaged 298,221 gns. In 2013, Galileo’s 30 yearlings sold in October 1 grossed 18,120,000 gns.; converted to dollars, that was actually more than the 75 yearlings Keeneland sold in that Book 1 in September, 2012. That’s sire power. Just in the last three years, Galileo has had 81 yearlings sell in October 1, for a total of 45,175,000 gns., an average of 577,716 gns., or an average of over $936,000 in U.S. dollars. It’s not all about Galileo, either. In 2014 Darley’s Dubawi had an even higher average than Galileo at October 1, where he had 10 yearlings sell for an average of 654,500 gns. The year before Juddmonte’s Oasis Dream had eleven October 1 yearlings average 415,909 gns. Gilltown Stud’s Sea The Stars has averaged over 300,000 gns for the last two years. The likes of Dansili, Pivotal, Invincible Spirit, Shamardal (and Frankel’s first yearlings to see this year) clearly demonstrate that Europe has tremendous depth of sire power - that’s why Tattersalls October 1 really does rate now as the world’s most important yearling sale. Bill Oppenheim is an industry analyst and columnist for Thoroughbred Daily News.

This year’s Catalogue features own or half brothers & sisters to 37 Group 1 & Classic winners & 248 Group/ Listed winners

October Classic Winners since 2012 2015: Legatissimo, 1000 Guineas, Golden Horn, Derby, Jack Hobbs, Irish Derby 2014: Night of Thunder, 2000 Guineas, Australia, Derby, Kingston Hill, St Leger 2013: Leading Light, St Leger 2012: Camelot, 2000 Guineas, Derby, Samitar, Irish 1000 Guineas, Power, Irish 2000 Guineas, Was, Oaks.

Book 1 Yearlings by current top 10 active sires in 2015 GB/Ire 13

Da rk

13 20

Fa s t n e t Ro ck

16 5

awi Dub

Oasis Dream iac d Ko

l da

Cape Cr oss

gel An

Sha ma r

filo Teo

leo ali G October 2015

Invin cib l e Sp ir

34 October 2015

Aussie buzz As Nancy Sexton reports, Tattersalls is set to feature the first yearlings from a strong team of freshmen sires, including several who forged their racing reputations in the Southern Hemisphere As if the huge pull of Frankel wasn’t enough, there is added interest for first-crop fans at Tattersalls this autumn with the likes of Coolmore’s So You Think and Darley’s Helmet heading a fascinating collection of freshmen with strong Australian connections. A son of High Chaparral, So You Think (2013 fee: €17,500) was an icon in his native Australasia, winning the Cox Plate as a three-year-old and a quartet of Group 1 races at four. Transferred to Aidan O’Brien, he went on to land another five Group 1 races including the Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes. Coolmore is also home to triple Group 1-winning miler Excelebration (2013 fee: €22,500), whose first foals sold for up to 220,000. The son of Exceed And Excel returned a foal average of 52,983 gns and has a large group of well-connected yearlings to represent him this year. Another son of Exceed And Excel well received last year was Darley’s triple Australian Group 1 winner Helmet (2013 fee: €10,000). “Helmet has that big, rangy stride that saw him be such a force to be reckoned with at up to a mile,” says Sam Bullard, director of stallions at Darley, “and he has put that scope into his progeny. Although he raced in Australia he is from a hugely successful European family that continues to flourish in both hemispheres.” In what could be a strong year for Darley, the operation also houses the brilliant Australian two-year-old Sepoy (2013 fee: £15,000). The son of Elusive Quality made headlines earlier in the year in Australia thanks to a A$1.6 million colt at the Inglis Easter Sale. “Sepoy has really stamped his stock in his own image, with that powerful sprinter’s physique,” says Bullard. “He was pure speed himself and breeders will be looking forward to seeing his progeny follow in his footsteps next year.” A further Australian flavour is added by the first northern hemisphere crop of champion sire Redoute’s Choice (2013 fee: €70,000). The sire of 27 Group 1 winners, he shuttled for two seasons to Haras de Bonneval and a first strong European crop includes the half-siblings to Legatissimo, Virtual and Tante Rose.

October 2015

One of Redoute’s Choice’s early European flag-bearers, the quick Elzaam (2013 fee: €4,000), also promises to be popular given his first foals sold for up to €82,000. Then there’s top Australian sprinter Foxwedge (2013 fee: £7,500). The first son of Fastnet Rock to stand in Europe, he is already a buzz horse in Australia where four of his first yearlings sold for over A$400,000. Exotic Australian fare apart, there is little doubt that most of the focus will be on the first yearlings by Frankel. Rarely have any first yearlings been more keenly anticipated than those by Frankel. The outstanding performer was guided by Sir Henry Cecil through an unbeaten 14race career that included devastating performances in the 2,000 Guineas, Queen Anne Stakes and Juddmonte International. He was the first horse in 60 years to be crowned champion at two, three and four years and was awarded a Timeform rating of 147. As befits a racing legend, he covered Nathaniel an outstanding first book at (2013 fee: £20,000) £125,000 at Banstead Manor Stud, among them 38 Group 1 winners. His first foals averaged 648,000 gns and he will have a double-figure representation in Book 1. Joining Frankel with a select first-crop representation at Tattersalls is his Kentucky-based three-parts brother Bullet Train (2013 fee: $7,500). First foals by the son of Sadler’s Wells sold for up to $75,000 last year. Frankel isn’t the only son of Galileo with an eagerly awaited first crop. Newsells Park Stud’s Nathaniel (2013 fee: £20,000) retired to stud with victories in the King George and Eclipse Stakes to his credit. Strongly supported by some of Europe’s leading breeders, his first crop were well received, selling for up to 300,000 gns. “Nathaniel’s stock seem to be very much a type,” says Julian Dollar, general manager of Newsells Park Stud, which will offer a Nathaniel half-sister to Speciosa in Book 1. “From the ones I have seen and have bred, they have size, strength and scope and also plenty of quality. They all seem to have a great swing to their walk and love their work.” Dansili’s sire line has taken root this year through Zoffany, which bodes well for his next sons. They include Juddmonte’s high-class sprinter Bated Breath (2013 fee: £8,000), who had nine foals realise over 50,000 gns, and Group 2 scorer Famous Name (2013 fee: €4,000), who boasts a record of 21 wins. Two

36 October 2015

other fast sons, Delegator (2013 fee: £5,000) and Requinto (2013 fee: €5,000), were well supported in their first seasons. Famous Name was represented by a €105,000 colt last year while Requinto’s foals sold for up to €85,000. While Danehill’s sire line goes from strength to strength, so does that belonging to Green Desert. Invincible Spirit has made notable inroads as a sire of sires and next on the list could be the Tsui family’s Classic-placed Born To Sea (2013 fee: €10,000), the half-brother to Galileo and Sea The Stars. Four of his foals hit the six-figure mark at auction in 2014 led by a €220,000 filly. “We loved his first foals as they were so athletic with a lot of quality and scope,” says John Clarke, advisor to the Tsui family. “The Tsui family bought some of them but were underbidders on a few others. Hopefully, they will be able to buy some of his yearlings.” Hopes are also high for another son of Invincible Spirit in July Cup winner Mayson (2013 fee: £8,000), who stands at Cheveley Park Stud. The stud will be showcasing several Maysons at the October Sale, including a three-parts-brother to Group 1 winner Hooray.

Sires with first crop yearlings represented at Books 1 & 2, Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Stallion

Book 1

Book 2

Bated Breath 3 24 Born To Sea 5 21 Bullet Train -- 1 Campanologist 1 2 Casamento 3 23 Delegator -- 3 Dragon Pulse -- 8 Elzaam -- 4 Excelebration 8 15 Famous Name -- 1 Foxwedge 3 8 Frankel 18 -Harbour Watch 2 31 Helmet 8 18 Jukebox Jury 1 2 Mayson 3 8 Nathaniel 18 23 Power 3 3 Redoute’s Choice 8 1 Requinto 1 6 Sayif 2 -Sepoy 16 28 Sir Prancealot 4 5 So You Think 1 6 Stay Thirsty 1 -Tin Horse -- 1

Harbour Watch (2013 fee: £7,500)

“We are delighted with the impression Mayson is creating,” says Chris Richardson, managing director of Cheveley Park Stud. “He continues to have some eye-catching foals who appear neat, balanced, quality sorts with lovely outlooks. This was highlighted at the December Sale, where Mayson’s foals averaged just under 30,000 gns with a top price of 90,000 gns.”

Another high-class juvenile whose first foals caught the imagination was the unbeaten Richmond Stakes winner Harbour Watch (2013 fee: £7,500). The stallion, who shares his sire Acclamation with Dark Angel and Equiano, returned a foal average of 32,563 gns for 45 sold led by a filly who was knocked down for 240,000 gns to Shadwell.

Coolmore’s Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Power (2013: €12,500), by Oasis Dream, will also have his supporters given he was a top-class juvenile and miler from the family of successful sire Footstepsinthesand.

Finally, there was also a good word for the first foals by Group 2-winning juvenile Dragon Pulse (2013 fee: €6,000). Yeomanstown Stud went to €95,000 for a filly by the son of Kyllachy who is just one more intriguing aspect of this year’s yearling newcomers.

Group 2-winning sprinter Sayif (2013 fee: £3,000) is another grandson of Green Desert who should get early sorts. Shamardal already has a leading sire son to his credit in Lope De Vega and hopes must be high that another Group 1-winning son, Darley’s Casamento (2013 fee: €5,000), will follow suit judging by the response to his first foals. “Casamento was a real hit at the foals sale last autumn and it is easy to see why when you view his stock as they are lovely strong individuals, just like himself,” says Sam Bullard of the stallion, whose first foals sold for up to €220,000. “Shamardal has made such an impact at stud that it is very exciting to have such a bright young prospect coming up.” Precocity should be one of the hallmarks of the progeny belonging to the Mr Prospector-line stallion, Sir Prancealot (2013 fee: €6,000). Buyers warmed to the Flying Childers Stakes winner’s first foals, which included a 120,000 gns filly.

Mayson: creating an impression October 2015

38 October 2015

Mutually beneficial Investec and the Epsom Derby is the perfect example of a symbiotic sponsorship arrangement. Nigel Reid finds out why

Racing has sometimes struggled through the years to attract suitable commercial partners. All too often, the need for financial support has outweighed concerns of being able to bask in the reflection of the sponsor company’s own, hard-won image. Through understandable necessity, it’s been more a case of “show me the money” rather than “what can you do for us?” Fortunately, there are companies out there who not only understand the benefits high-class British racing can add to their business, but which also fit racing’s need to be associated with organisations that underline its own core brand values – “high-end”, “prestige”, “investment” and “success”, to name just a few. Investec, sponsors of the Epsom Derby, represent perfectly the type of organisation that not only makes a huge contribution to the sport, but which also lends racing a gilt-edged image profile of its own. Investec began their association with the Derby in 2009 and, following a ten-year extension of the relationship in 2012, it is fair to assume that the international specialist bank and asset management company is not only happy with the arrangement, but is also content that it works for them in terms of their overall marketing strategy. As a marketing medium, British racing and, particularly, the Epsom Derby makes perfect sense to a company such as Investec. The long established reputation of the sport has probably assisted in accelerating awareness of Investec's brand image credentials. The most quintessential of English days out, the Epsom Derby enables those associated with it to tap in to informational cues which can be shortcuts to brand image creation. Furthermore, while the company currently backs the Cape Derby in its home market, it is not positioned as a South African company per se and so potential links with relevant events (such as cricket, football and women’s hockey) in the different areas of Investec’s international operation hold significant appeal. October 2015

40 October 2015

Obviously, the Epsom Derby generates an image of prestige and wealth in the UK and Europe, but the race also straddles the Middle East and Australia through the strong racing connections British racing and bloodstock enjoys. Investec’s marketing team is continually evaluating the performance of its relationship with all its sponsor partners. Epsom is no different. Immediately following each running of the Blue Riband, Investec sits down with all of the great race’s stakeholders to analyse every aspect of the two-day festival – what worked, what didn’t, what needs improvement. And the Epsom Derby sponsorship is working. So far, Investec has been impressed by the brand awareness figures that have found their way back to them following detailed research. As Investec’s Global Head of Marketing Raymond Van Niekerk pointed out over the line from South Africa recently, the investment house’s brand has become synonymous with the world’s most storied horse race. “We have been fortunate, blessed and down right lucky,” he revealed with typical modesty. “Any sponsorship relationships can be fragile at best and hostile at worst, but we have had a very good relationship with Epsom and the Jockey Club since day one.” The long established reputation of British racing and the Derby may have assisted in heightening Investec's brand image credentials and notions of trust, reliability, success and striving to be the best, but there remains more work to do. Investec’s sports property portfolio also includes soccer and, most recently and gloriously to Englishmen, the Ashes cricket series between England and Australia. Comparing the sports is, explains Van Niekerk, neither feasible nor desirable, but racing is generally seen as holding its own against the rest of the firm’s sponsorship portfolio.

“In 2009, the hashtag #investecderby appeared 7.8 million times,” Van Niekerk said. “In 2015, it was 54.4 million.” As for racing, the benefits of being associated with Investec are many and obvious. The “good fit” criteria applies equally to racing’s requirements. Investec and racing are both high-class operations with heavy emphasis on prestige and “winning”. Similarly, the sponsor's positioning of integrity, corporate social responsibility and innovation all reflect positively back on racing, making Investec’s involvement with the sport something to be nurtured and appreciated in equal measure.

“It’s definitely a two-way street & is no longer simply about receiving a cheque” RAYMOND VAN NIEKERK Van Niekerk said: “It’s definitely a two-way street and is no longer simply about receiving a cheque for having your name printed at the two-furlong marker. Both parties have been working closely since day one on making the Derby Festival bigger and better. There are many common interests and both Investec and the Jockey Club and Epsom have been upfront about what we all wanted. “We are wonderfully happy with the relationship.” Investec and the Epsom Derby might be the most mutually beneficial racing sponsorship relationship in quite some time – what’s that line about being known by the company one keeps?

The Epsom Derby and Tattersalls: October Book 1 yearlings have won six Epsom Derbies since 2002.

He said: “It’s a little apples and pears to compare the sports and, in reality, we are looking for different things from each of the relationships.” However, the growth in awareness of Investec as a brand through the Derby is perhaps best illustrated through the huge leap in social media exposure.

October 2015

42 October 2015

Over here American owners and breeders are “pond-hopping” again in significant numbers, according to Nancy Sexton, attracted to the outstanding pedigrees on offer at Tattersalls A distinct American flavour has become increasingly prevalent within the range of buyers at recent editions of the Tattersalls October Sale. American owners such as Jon and Sarah Kelly, Bobby Flay, Marc Keller and Andrew Rosen have established themselves as regular and powerful buying forces at the sale, but last year’s renewal also broke new ground in terms of American expenditure, with agents Alex Solis and Jason Litt making their first trip to the October Sale worthwhile by going to 700,000 gns for a Dansili sister to Zoffany. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay went to 1.125 million gns through James Delahooke for a Galileo half-sister to Pour Moi, now named White Hot, while Californian-based agent Shawn Dugan paid a total of 1.32 million gns for four yearlings, all of whom are now in training in France with Rod Collet. Leading the way was a 400,000 gns Galileo colt out of a sister to Tapit. For Californian-based former TV executive Jon Kelly, his participation in Europe helps satisfy a passion for horse racing which began when he scaled fences to attend the state fairs in his home town of Sacramento as a young boy. Today, approximately 70 horses are under his ownership, including ten in Europe. All bar one of his European string are with Luca Cumani in Newmarket, with the sole exception, a colt by Zebedee, under the care of Roger Charlton at Beckhampton. They include this year’s Sagaro Stakes winner Mizzou, bought for 275,000 gns through his advisor Jamie McCalmont out of Book 1 in 2012.

October 2015

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have more horses to look at when I come to Tattersalls than at any other sale in the worldâ&#x20AC;? JON KELLY

Bobby Flay

Andrew Rosen Jon & Sarah Kelly 44 October 2015

“There are some outstanding pedigrees on offer,” says Kelly of his attraction to Book 1. “In my opinion, Europe has the best stallions. So the quality of those pedigrees in that sale is amazing - I find I have more horses to look at when I come to Tattersalls than at any other sale in the world.” That is a strong statement coming from a man who has raced American Grade 1 winners such as Borrego and Vacare and serves as a member of the American Jockey Club. He is also on the board of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club and National Museum of Racing. However, particularly important to Kelly and his wife Sarah is their membership of the Water, Hay and Oats Alliance (WHOA), a grass-roots movement that supports the passage of federal legislation to prohibit the use of performance-enhancing drugs in American horse racing.

Rosen hit the headlines at Tattersalls last year when selling a War Front filly out of Icon Project for 950,000 gns to John Ferguson. However, he was also an active buyer at Book 1, spending a total of 540,000 gns on fillies by Sea The Stars, Oasis Dream and Raven’s Pass through his long-time advisor and agent Hugo Merry. “I like to race horses in Europe and the US,” says Rosen, who first started buying at Tattersalls in 2005, “and I think it’s good to have some diversification of blood. Part of it came about because I developed working relationships with Hugo Merry and Brian Meehan. But there are some amazing pedigrees in Europe and I want to take advantage of them. “There are so many incredible stallions in Europe and to have the opportunity to access those horses is an important part of my racing programme. Plus, you see so many European horses come over here and do well.”

“With WHOA we’re trying to address the medication issue in racing and it’s gaining momentum,” he says. “So I appreciate the tougher rules on medication in Europe, especially the tough stance that Germany takes. What I like to see in racing is a level playing field.” In Mizzou, Kelly is in possession of a young, progressive stayer who was able to compete at this year’s Royal Ascot meeting. Although he ran seventh in the Gold Cup, it was an experience that Kelly says he will never forget. “I’ve had some fantastic experiences in racing,” he says. “I had a horse, Borrego, who ran tenth in the Kentucky Derby, which was fantastic. “And Mizzou running at Royal Ascot is right up there. It was a real honour to be in the race and a fantastic experience even though we didn’t win. I had never been to Ascot - I took my wife, daughter and granddaughter - and we had a blast. They are moments that will never be forgotten.” Kelly is also looking forward to the career of Beautiful Morning, for whom McCalmont signed at 650,000 gns last year. Bred and sold by Newsells Park Stud, the daughter of Galileo is out of the Listed-placed Date With Destiny, the only foal sired by George Washington, and recently ran an encouraging fourth on her debut for Cumani at Newmarket. “Beautiful Morning could be special,” he says. “Her pedigree is outstanding and she is a lovely, correct individual, but what impressed me most is that she’s so well mannered. A lot of yearlings can be fractious at the sales but the head groom [Gerry Meehan] would bring her out and she was always very composed. For me, that was very impressive - so you could say it was Gerry and his handling of that filly that made me go the extra mile to buy her!” Kelly has already pencilled in a return to trip to Park Paddocks in October as has Andrew Rosen, founder of the fashion label Theory. A successful owner-breeder in the US, Rosen also maintains a select string with Brian Meehan, who handled the early careers of his Grade 1 performing fillies Icon Project and First Passage, as well as his Group 1-placed homebred Theysken’s Theory.

While Rosen’s European horses begin their careers with Meehan, a number are later campaigned in the US. Current runners include Fashion Fund (above), an Oasis Dream halfsister to Park Hill Stakes winner Silk Sari purchased out of Book 1 by Merry for 155,000 gns. Fashion Fund was placed in both the £100,000 Tattersalls Millions Fillies’ Median Auction Stakes and £300,000 Tattersalls Millions 2yo Fillies’ Trophy at Newmarket before transferring to Shug McGaughey in the US, for whom she has been stakes-placed at Saratoga. Marc Keller, meanwhile, is another American owner to have fared well with horses sourced out of Book 1. Keller, who buys through Fiona Shaw, went to 400,000 gns to purchase the Galileo colt Soluble in 2013. Trained by Marco Botti, Soluble is a winner and has yet to finish out of the frame in four starts. Botti also handles Le Notre, a 105,000 gns son of Champs Elysees who recently landed his second start for Keller, while Ed Walker saddled Stoked, a 75,000 gns Fast Company half-brother to Dominant, to win for the owner at Nottingham last year. With another selection of high-profile pedigrees on offer, not to mention a healthy representation of the first yearlings by Frankel, there is every reason to believe that the scene is set for further American representation again this October.

October 2015

A lasting bond Years of expert advice in an oftencomplicated marketplace has made Naohiro Goda an indispensable ally, as Dominic Barnes finds out Without question a fascinating and enchanting land, Japan can also be both mysterious and a little bemusing - unless, of course, you have Naohiro Goda at your side. If you have Naohiro, doors will open, appointments with all the right people are made and lasting relationships with the leading horsemen in Japan can be forged. In the extensive list of Tattersalls overseas representatives, Goda-san may not be the oldest, but he is very much amongst the longest serving having been appointed in 1991 by the then Tattersalls Chairman Michael Watt. Since then, Goda has provided a seamless service, liaising primarily with the Tattersalls marketing team in Newmarket whilst quietly extolling the virtues of Tattersalls to Japanese owners, breeders, trainers and bloodstock agents. “It has always been a pleasure to work with Tattersalls” says Goda, whose command of the English language is one of many assets that makes him indispensable.

Commenting on Goda’s role, Tattersalls Marketing Director Jimmy George said: “Naohiro is hugely respected in Japan and he is a pleasure to work with. I would normally visit Japan twice a year on promotional visits and I genuinely enjoy each visit, although I suspect I would be a little less enthusiastic without Naohiro’s assistance. Japan is a fascinating country and you learn plenty every time you visit, either culturally or about the racing and breeding industries. Because of all the challenges facing British racing, it is tempting to assume that all is rosy in everyone else’s gardens, but Naohiro is very interesting on the dynamics of Japanese racing and breeding.” Goda explains: “There can be so many different things to take into account when trying to promote sales at Tattersalls to Japanese owners and breeders. An important factor is always the strength or weakness of the Yen against sterling, and of course the state of the general economy is equally significant. The Japanese economy was very slow for a long time and the 1990s and 2000s are known as ‘the two lost decades’, so for most of the time I have worked with Tattersalls, our economy has not been great. Nevertheless, Japanese owners and breeders like to buy at Tattersalls and have had plenty of success which makes them return.”

“It still gives me great pleasure to bring Japanese horsemen to Tattersalls and to see Tattersalls purchases do so well in Japan.” NAOHIRO GODA

“I lived in London for three months way back in 1988 and ever since I have enjoyed everything to do with Britain, in particular the racing and breeding which is second to none. I was very proud to be appointed as the Tattersalls representative back in 1991 and I hope that Regent Company (Goda’s Tokyo based firm) will continue in the role for many more years.” As well as possessing an encyclopaedic knowledge of all facets of the Japanese racing and breeding industries, Goda is himself a highly respected figure in the sport in Japan. As a long time presenter on Japan’s Green Channel (the primary broadcaster of racing in Japan), Goda is one of the best known faces in Japanese racing and when not on duty at the races, regularly greeted by racegoers who regard him as something of a celebrity. As is common throughout the world, there can be drawbacks to having a public personna, as Goda discovered when boldly pronouncing prior to the 2005 Japan Cup, that if three overseas

46 October 2015

horses did not finish in the first five he would shave his head on air. Goda’s delight that Tattersalls purchase Alkaased had won the race was diminished by the other underperformers, and the dramatic new look was a bit of a shock for loyal Green Channel viewers. It was widely felt within Japanese racing circles that the popular presenter looked better with hair.

The fortunes of the global thoroughbred industry are inextricably linked to wider economic factors and Goda goes on to demonstrate the difficulties experienced in the Japanese thoroughbred business during ‘the two lost decades’. “Our economy is definitely improving now, but racing people outside Japan probably do not realise that our industry was on a downward path for a long time. Our prize money is fantastic but, for example, 2012 was the first year since 1997 that saw a rise in wagering on JRA races, although even that was not particularly significant as wagering in 2011 was hit badly by the terrible earthquake here. The reality is that JRA wagering declined more than 40% from 1997 to 2011.

“Similarly, racecourse attendance at JRA tracks has fallen dramatically in the last 40 years. In 1975 nearly 15 million people went racing at JRA racecourses and in 2011 this figure was down to 6.2 million. The foal crop has also declined steadily through the 90s and 00s. In 1991 15,287 mares were covered and this figure was down to 9,400 in 2011.” All of the above paints a distinctly gloomy picture, but Goda is keen to point out that while most of the key indicators have been disappointing, the reputation of the Japanese thoroughbred industry is probably at an all time high on the world stage. There may not be as many of them, but the Japanese thoroughbred is a force to be reckoned with, especially over middle distances, and the game changer was Sunday Silence. “Perhaps there has never been an individual stallion with a greater influence on the breeding industry of a country than Sunday Silence. He transformed breeding in Japan and his legacy lives on through the likes of Deep Impact. Japanese thoroughbreds are now respected and admired throughout the world and we have Sunday Silence to thank for that.” Returning to his role with Tattersalls, Goda continues: “Japanese breeders have always recognised the need to introduce top class international families to the broodmare band and Tattersalls has long been a favourite option, particularly Book 1 of the October Yearling Sale and the December Sale. “Probably the best Japanese racemare of recent years, Gentildonna, was out of Donna Blini who was bought at the Tattersalls December Sale, this year’s Japanese Oaks winner Mikki Queen is out of a December Sale purchase, 2010 Japanese Derby winner Eishin Flash is another, and going further back, the great stallion Narita Brian and his champion brother Biwa Hayahide were out of Pacificus who was purchased at the 1989 December Sale.” Goda smiles as he mentions Pacificus: “That was before I started working for Tattersalls, so I cannot take much credit for that, but it still gives me great pleasure to bring Japanese horsemen to Tattersalls and an equal amount of pleasure to see Tattersalls purchases do so well in Japan. Sales at Tattersalls have had a huge influence on racing and breeding in my country and I hope I can help to continue that.” 24 years after his appointment the commitment and enthusiasm from the esteemed Goda – san is as strong as ever.

October 2015

Get Cover Amlin Plus will tailor a policy to your requirements including: - Fall of Hammer - All Risks of Mortality and Theft - Unsoundness of Wind - Life-Saving Surgery - Colic Costs Extension - Transit Insurance Contact an expert to discuss your requirements. HORSE INSURANCE SPECIALIST Telephone: +44 (0)845 6050233 | Email: askapl@amlin.com | www.amlinplus.com Amlin Plus is a trading name of Amlin Underwriting Services Limited Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

48 October 2015

Ticket to ride By Emma Berry

October 2015

Trainer Ed Dunlop and a band of his most loyal supporters are all aboard for a journey that may yet end in a land down under Trip To Paris’s five careers wins, including the Chester Cup, had already earned the La Grange Partnership around £130,000 when the seven members of the syndicate decided to reinvest £35,000 to supplement their progressive staying handicapper for the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup. If this bold move had been questioned at the outset, any doubts were swiftly dispelled as the field turned for home in the oldest race of the Royal Meeting and the battling bay made his move along the rail to overhaul Kingfisher and Forgotten Rules. Trip To Paris’s trainer, Ed Dunlop, has won all manner of high-profile races and has one of the most beloved stayers in his La Grange Stables, the veteran Red Cadeaux, but the aftermath of the Gold Cup left little doubt as to the importance of this win to the man who is very much ‘old school’, despite being only 46. “I said at the time how I’d grown up with my father’s Ascot Gold Cup as the centrepiece to our dining table, now I have one of my own sitting in the dining room and it is a really big deal. It’s a huge race and to win it for a partnership with a horse that cost 20,000 gns and to receive our trophy from the Queen, who spoke to every owner, was just fantastic,” says Dunlop, whose father John trained Ragstone to win the 1974 Gold Cup for owner-breeder the Duke of Norfolk. It would be easy to overlook Trip To Paris in the Dunlop string, which contains some imposing individuals. The fouryear-old is not particularly big and he goes about his daily exercise in a decidedly languid manner. But once he is singled out, the eye is drawn to the powerful, long stride, which enables him to cover the ground so effortlessly. A slightly scaled down version of his beautifully balanced sire, Champs Elysees, Trip To Paris’s white blaze and wall eye, which never quite seems to stop watching you, are reminiscent of another talented forebear, his damsire Fantastic Light. Dunlop, who part-owns him along with Sir Anthony PageWood, Malcolm Franklin, Dave Roberts, Andy White, Philippa Higgins and Mark Newcombe, is naturally one of his biggest fans. He says: “He’s a good-moving horse and a good-bodied horse.

50 October 2015

Although he’s not the biggest he always moved like a real athlete. I loved him when I saw him at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale. Federico Barberini helped me to buy him – he was by a first-season sire and I thought he was worth taking a chance on at 20,000 gns. “I had a partnership when I started training called the Serendipity Partnership and some of those are in this horse and have been with me from the start – they were owners with my late boss Alex Scott and they’ve stayed loyal to me.” Though none could have dreamt just how richly that loyalty would be repaid, Trip To Paris wasn’t slow to hint at his prowess, becoming one of his sire’s early winners in the July of his juvenile season. “He disappointed us enormously in his first race at Sandown and then I put a pair of blinkers on him and he won his second start at Lingfield,” the trainer recalls. “He ran well in other races after that but last year as a threeyear-old we only campaigned him up to a mile and a half. He

“I had a gut feeling that he would stay because of the way he carries himself in his races – he tends to be a little bit lazy but then has a turn of foot, which allowed him to win over seven furlongs as a two-year-old. The fact that he’s so laidback has really helped him, especially this year. He won impressively at Ripon then went on to win the Chester Cup, but at that stage we hadn’t even fathomed that he would be going to the Ascot Gold Cup and that’s why we had to supplement him.” Having landed Europe’s most prestigious staying prize, as well as finishing a valiant half-length third to Big Orange in the Goodwood Cup when carrying a 4lb penalty, Trip To Paris may yet head to Australia for the Melbourne Cup, which his trainer has come within pixels of winning with Red Cadeaux. “The owners are very keen to go to Melbourne,” admits Dunlop. “We’ll take a view and see whether he’s still in the same sort of form by that time as he’s had a busy season. But his constitution is very good, he has a turn of foot and he likes fast ground – all of which should help him out there.” Dunlop’s long-term employee Steve Nicholson, who has travelled the world with Red Cadeaux, is in the enviable

“Trip To Paris is a wonderful story. It gives every owner hope that it’s possible to have a good horse for not a huge amount of money” – Ed Dunlop was a colt then so we decided to geld him and put him away, so he went to Longholes Stud for a few months over the winter.” Whether the ‘unkindest cut’ made the difference or if it’s simply a matter of the horse progressing with maturity as his breeding would suggest, Trip To Paris’s 2015 season will live long in the memory of all those connected with him. “He has surprised me in a very nice way,” says Dunlop, whose globetrotting victories with Ouija Board and Snow Fairy, not to mention agonising near-misses with Red Cadeaux, entitle him to know a good horse when he sees one. “We’ve all seen morning glories who disappoint us when they get to the races but this horse is the opposite. I’ve always liked him and everyone who has ridden him has always liked him but not to the level we’ve reached now – at the moment he’s the leading stayer in the country and he’s a very young horse in the staying division.

position of looking after both him and Trip To Paris and the trainer is quick to acknowledge the role played by Nicholson and also Trip To Paris’s veteran rider, Paul ‘Darkie’ Beschizza. He says: “If both horses go to Melbourne they couldn’t be in more experienced hands. Darkie has done a terrific job with Trip To Paris – he just does everything properly – and much of the credit must go to him.” Whether Trip To Paris has a trip to Melbourne this year or next remains to be seen, but he has already achieved more for his owners than they would have dared to believe possible when joining the La Grange Partnership. “This is just a wonderful story,” says Dunlop with justifiable pride. “I believe it gives every owner in the game hope that it’s possible to have a good horse for not a huge amount of money.”

October 2015

Where, who and... Tattersalls’ auctioneers, the men who do so much to instigate the intense drama of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, lift the lid on their first, most expensive & weirdest gavel-banging exploits.

HARVEY BELL I conducted a charity auction during Paul Nicholls’ open day in Ditcheat, when I sold a horse called Persian Delight for £60,000. He was purchased by a syndicate of eight, mainly first time, owners under the name ‘Hypnotised’. I was lucky enough to sell American Hope for Mike Murphy at the 2015 July Sale for 210,000 gns to Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland. He had just run 6th in the Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot and is headed to the Dubai Carnival. I used to practice selling at Fabian Eagle auctioneers near Mildenhall. An array of poultry and deadstock was always on offer and when I was asked to help out at one of their larger auctions a couple of years ago a tray of hatching Emu eggs came up. Unfortunately they didn’t meet the reserve. I did once however, take home an empty oil drum for some friends for £5, which was swiftly turned into a BBQ for the summer. 52 October 2015

“...a couple of years ago a tray of hatching Emu eggs came up. Unfortunately they didn’t meet the reserve”

OLLIE FOWLSTON

JOHN O’KELLY

A yearling by Rock Hopper that made 3,200 gns and my father was underbidder. The eventual buyer was the vendor and he approached my father to see if he was really interested in buying him. It took a while for my father to explain that he had absolutely no interest in the horse and that he was in fact only trying to help his son out with his first ever auctioned horse.

Hi Soldier for Ir3,000 gns to the Curragh Bloodstock Agency¹s Anthony Stroud.

Top lot is 1.7 million gns for a Shamardal x Cassandra Go colt at Book 1, 2014. He was purchased by John Ferguson. I have sold in various countries including Sweden, Arab horses in Poland, Australia and Jamaica to name a few. I cut my teeth selling bits and bobs at an auction house in St Neots in Cambridgeshire and items included Wallace and Gromit pencil case, bags of fertiliser and small antiques … oh, and a chicken.

53 October 2015

Al Naamah, a filly by Galileo - Alluring Park for 5.0 million gns at Tattersalls Book 1 October Yearling Sale 2013 to Mandore International. Greyhounds at Shelbourne Park and calves in Kilmallock.

...how much?

SIMON KERINS

ALASTAIR PIM

First Sale I sold at was in an August Sale (at Goffs!)) 1997. Sold for 1,700 gns!

First horse I sold was in a farm dispersal sale in Toowoomba, Australia. I cannot remember what it made.

Top lot I sold was the Galileo colt, half brother to Harbinger that topped the Sale at Book 1 in 2014. The most unusual item Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ever sold was a round bale of straw at a charity auction in Monasterboice Inn in County Louth It made ÂŁIR30.

54 October 2015

Most expensive horse I have sold is Rosdhu Queen at the 2013 December mares sale for 2.1 million gns to Stephen Hillen Bloodstock. The strangest thing was probably the first coloured horse to be sold at Tattersalls, which made around 8,000 gns.

TODD WATT

MATT PRIOR

The first horse I tried to sell was lot 15 at the Autumn Horses In training Sale in 1989. The consigner was Hackness Villa Stables, but did not reach the reserve and was lead out unsold at 700 gns. Lot number 16 for the same consigner was the first horse I ever sold and made 6,400 gns to Brickfield Stud.

First sale February 2014 - 4,000 gns unnamed filly Ad Valorem ex Riva Royale sold by Chestnut Tree Stables (Rae Guest) to Dr Sedrati.

The most expensive lot I have sold is Satwa Queen at the 2007 December Sale from Jean de Roualle to John Ferguson for 3.4 million gns. The oddest lot I have sold was at a charity auction in 1987, which was a load of logs to be delivered within a 20-mile radius of Newmarket. The winning bid was £110 to Eddie O’Leary from County Westmeath, Ireland.

Highest Price - Autumn HIT 2014 - 350,000 gns Magnolia Beach sold by Jamie Railton (Agent) to Mohammed Alattiyah. I used to practice my selling every Saturday at Eriswell Hall Barns near Lakenheath, where I once sold a Gareth Gates signed framed picture display. Unsurprisingly, it only made the minimum bid of £2!

Distance: Newmarket to County Westmeath 412 miles

October 2015

A comprehensive review of the year in bloodstock Posted FREE via the Racing Post mailing list of over 15,000 industry and bloodstock professionals

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Off to a flyer Racing’s future is in safe hands if the Darley Flying Start Class of ’15 is anything to go by. Dominic Barnes reports

Darley Flying Start is a unique management and leadership-

Accredited by University College Dublin Michael Smurfit

training programme that specialises in the international

Graduate Business School, Darley Flying Start is already

Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry. It is the brainchild

making waves thanks to the high-calibre alumni working across

of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

many sectors of the industry.

The programme’s mission is to recruit the most talented people

Here, we asked the Class of ’15 to give us their views on what

worldwide, give them the unmatched professional training and

might best improve racing and, to have some fun, whose skin

experience and to let them soar.

they might best like to inhabit for their perfect racing day.

Q1 ‘What one thing would you change in the thoroughbred industry?’

Q2 ‘If you could be one person in racing for a day, who would it be?’

October 2015

BRYCE BEVAN

CAOIMHE DOHERTY

Improve media coverage and content availability. I believe a significant opportunity exists to improve the way racing is delivered to the general public on television and also online.

More opportunities in the industry for young people in Ireland and the UK. We’re very privileged to be on Darley Flying Start but we all understand how tough an industry we’re in and how hard we all have to work to make it.

Q2 If I could be one person in racing for a day I would be Frankie Dettori. If in that day I could win a Group 1 and master the trademark “flying dismount”, it would be a pretty awesome day.

Q2 I’d be Frankie Dettori but it would have to be on the 4th of July 2015! I’d very much have liked to have that much talent to have ridden the Eclipse winner!

Caoimhe Doherty says she would love to be Frankie - just for the day.

SAM HARTE

LAUREN DUNNING

The traditional mind-set that is prevalent throughout the industry. When I analyse other sports and see what they are doing, I often wonder why racing can’t easily implement some of their ideas. We are fortunate to have such a unique sporting product, it’s about time we capitalised on it!

I would like to see more initiatives to improve consumer confidence and transparency.

Q2 John Gosden - A true ambassador for the sport.

58 October 2015

Q2 It would be Queen Elizabeth II so I could see just how many colourful outfits and hats she has to choose from each year for her week at Royal Ascot!

STEVEN HAMPSON

VIOLET HESKETH

MIMI WADHAM

FANNY CYPRES

The implementation of uniform drug medication and testing worldwide.

To encourage the good colts to race on at age four and even five. I feel we really don’t get to see the best of our horses due to their impending stud careers.

The handicap system in UK racing doesn’t work. It could be replaced by a tiering system where success involves promotion from one tier to another.

Have the big racing days in France on Saturdays, instead of Sundays.

It would have to be Tom Queally aboard Frankel in the 2011 2,000 Guineas.

I would love to have been Gai Waterhouse at the 2013 Melbourne Cup when she became the first Australian woman to train a Cup winner. I hear the celebrations went on for weeks!

EMMA PUGSLEY

JOHN ROWE

DANE ROBINSON

HALLIE HARDY

If I could change one thing I would get more people involved in the grass-roots of the industry and sport of horse racing from youth, I think that is where the passion is instilled for life.

To see the racing industries of each country completely “selffunded”. To be able to call ourselves truly successful I feel that this should be our goal.

The international collaboration between racing jurisdictions. At the end of the day, we all should work together.

Darley’s Joe Osborne. Getting to spend at least part of my day thinking of ways to “challenge” 12 Darley Flying Start trainees would be an ideal role reversal!

A few negative stories on horse welfare and drugrelated issues damage our sport’s reputation. I would like to see more emphasis on the hard work so many people do to make this a better sport for all its participants.

Q2 I would be The Queen. She is perhaps the only person in the world that can go racing, make the crowd cheer and go home happy.

If I could be one person for a day I think I would be The Queen. She’s a great ambassador for the sport.

Q2 Adrian Beaumont, of the International Racing Bureau, or Martin Mitchell, the absolute hero.

Q2 I’d be Victor Espinoza who rode American Pharoah and wrapped up the first Triple Crown victory in 37 years.

Q2 To spend a day as successful jockey Rosie Napravnik when she was racing. She did women in racing proud and that is a feeling I would love to experience.

October 2015

Racingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future history John Berry reports on a new permanent home for the British Horseracing Museum

61 October 2015

It is strange that Newmarket, the home of horseracing since the 17th century, did not have a racing museum until 1983. In that year, though, that omission was rectified in magnificent style when the National Horseracing Museum was opened by the Queen on the morning of 2,000 Guineas Day in its site adjacent to the Jockey Club Rooms on the High Street, occupying what had previously been known as the Subscription Rooms. The Subscription Rooms already held a notable place in racing history as they had seen some legendary wagering in the early days. However, for the past 32 years they have been even more linked to the heritage of the sport, because they have housed the most comprehensive collection of racing memorabilia on display anywhere in the world. The inspiration for the National Horseracing Museum was provided by York Racecourse, where a small museum was opened in 1965 when a new grandstand was built. We know that mighty oaks from small acorns grow, so it should be no surprise that the acorn which led to this mighty oak was one solitary item: the whip carried by John Osborne when he won the 1869 Derby on Pretender, who to this day remains the most recent Yorkshire-trained horse to win the Derby at Epsom. Needless to say, Osborne’s whip was soon joined by many other items. Space was soon at a premium – and when the Royal Academy showed what could be done by staging a ‘Derby Day 200’ exhibition in 1979 to celebrate the 200th running of the premier Classic, York decided that the time was right to expand the display, turning it from a largely local collection into a national racing museum.

“Director Chris Garibaldi estimates the new museum will welcome in the region of 50,000 visitors a year” York Racecourse Chairman Lord Halifax duly approached the Senior Steward of the Jockey Club to seek the Club’s blessing for York’s museum to be designated as the National Horseracing Museum – only to be told that, if we were to have a National Horseracing Museum, it should be at Newmarket. Jockey Club handicapper Major David Swannell had been closely involved with York’s museum. Having moved from Yorkshire to Northamptonshire, he decided to take up the challenge which the Senior Steward had thus implicitly issued. Recruiting the assistance of his friend and neighbour David Oldrey, Swannell put the wheels in motion. At one point it seemed as if the site would be a disused Tote building on the Rowley Mile, clerk of the course Nick Lees having made it available once the Tote had decided that it was now surplus to its requirements. However, when the Jockey Club’s agent Robert Fellowes announced the impending availability of the Subscription Rooms in 1981, the decision about the location more or less took itself. There was plenty to be done to get the National Horseracing Museum ready for its opening on 30th April 1983. The organising committee – on which Swannell, Oldrey, Lees and Fellowes had been joined by the likes of Lord Halifax, the Marquess of Tavistock, Lt-Col Douglas Grey, Wyndham Rogers and Dana Brudenell-Bruce, as well as Lord Howard 62 October 2015

Palace House Rothschild yard in 1939

Palace House King’s yard in 1935 de Walden and his stud manager Leslie Harrison – recruited a curator: Richard Kilby, who had formerly set up a museum commemorating the Venerable Bede at Jarrow in Northumberland. The museum duly opened its doors right on schedule, and the rest is history. Both its collection and its reputation have continued to grow, to the extent that it, like its York-based forebear, has become a victim of its own success.As the problem of the National Horseracing Museum outgrowing its own space began to develop, so did another problem, situated barely a furlong away: the future of the world’s oldest training yard, Palace House. Happily, two birds have been killed with one stone, the solution to one problem being the solution to the other. Palace House dates from the 1660s, built at the behest of King Charles II. The property did not remain in royal ownership indefinitely, but it did retain its position as one of the foremost training stables in both the town and the world. During the 19th century, Newmarket suffered a lull in popularity as training horses on downland in the south of England came into vogue. Happily, the victory of Macaroni, trained in Palace House by James Godding, in the Derby in 1863 re-established Newmarket’s position of eminence, a position which it retains to this day. When Godding retired a few years later, the Rothschild family bought the property, installing Joseph Hayhoe (who had been training in Exeter House since 1857) as their trainer. Joseph Hayhoe was succeeded in turn by his son Alfred Hayhoe. Between them, the Hayhoes sent out three Derby winners from Palace House in a decade: Favonius (1871), Kisber (1876) and Sir Bevys (1879).

Gallery 3, The Thoroughbred - Concept Design by Mather and Co. © 2012 The Rothschilds retained ownership of Palace House into the 20th century. In 1966 the property was leased to a company put together by Jim Phillips, Tom Blackwell, Jocelyn Hambro and David Wills, who installed Bruce Hobbs as their trainer. Hobbs remained one of the town’s leading trainers for 20 years, enjoying arguably his finest hour when Tyrnavos won the Irish Derby in 1980. However, the stable has not been used since Hobbs’ retirement in 1986, subsequent to which it changed hands and faced up to an uncertain future. Happily, the uncertainty is now over. Forest Heath District Council was the first saviour of Palace House, lodging a compulsory purchase order to head off the threat of developers. That the property was not going to be re-developed did not, however, solve the problem of what was going to happen – but now we are finally on the verge of a bright new dawn. Thanks to the generosity of various benefactors including the Heritage Lottery Fund as well as many of the racing community’s most generous philanthropists, the National Horseracing Museum will relocate next year to Palace House, the culmination of a project which will have cost in the region of £15 million. The new site will also house extensive galleries for the British Sporting Art Trust as well as a stable of exracehorses, which will allow the public to see some equine heroes up close and personal whilst providing a flagship home for the Retraining of Racehorses charity.

Palace House in 2014 The NHRM’s director Chris Garibaldi estimates that the new museum will welcome in the region of 50,000 visitors each year, offering a treat which will continue to delight racing enthusiasts while also appealing to a wider audience. This ranks as a huge boon not only for the heritage of the world of horseracing, but also for the entire community of Newmarket, shedding light on the town’s past while simultaneously brightening its future.

October 2015

Martin Mitchell takes a fascinating look at the history of one of racing’s most iconic companies When in 1766 Richard Tattersall decided to set up a firm of horse auctioneers at a site on the outskirts of London, he could have little dreamt that in 250 years the company he founded would become one of the great equine auction-houses in the world with an annual turnover exceeding 250 million gns. Richard had left his native Lancashire as a young man and worked for a while at Beevors Horse Repository in St Martins Lane, where he learnt the finer points of both horsemanship and auctioning. After a spell gaining further experience as a stud groom, he felt confident enough to rent some land off the Grosvenor Estate at Hyde Park Corner and to set about the business of auctioning all types of horses as well as hounds and carriages. The Sales took place twice weekly and quickly became a magnet for society, so much so that in time the necessity arose to build a place of refreshment for those attending. The Subscription Room, as it was called, was a coffee-house where grandees and nobility could meet and where a basic form of wagering could take place. As the wagering became more serious it became essential for Tattersalls to establish some form of code of practice and hence the name became linked with gambling – a link which still exists, now in name alone, through Tattersalls Enclosure on a racecourse and Tattersalls Committee, which adjudicates on betting disputes. In succeeding decades Tattersalls flourished and heirs of the founder managed the company and ensured its growth. After a century the lease on the site expired and, as in the intervening years it had become prime building land, was not renewed. A move was thus essential and a new site was found at Knightsbridge Green, opposite what is now Harrods. As well as its London base, Tattersalls was expanding elsewhere and in the 1870s acquired the Park Paddocks in Newmarket, which today has become its home. Here, under the direction of a small number of dedicated chairmen, the original rather shabby buildings have been replaced with a magnificent sale ring (built to commemorate the firm’s bicentenary), fine dining-rooms and over 800 stables. In recent years the company has expanded with the founding of Tattersalls Ireland and shareholdings in Inglis in Australia and Osarus in France. Within the last two years Horsezone – a website for dealing in horses and all types of equine products has been established and in July the purchase of Brightwells bloodstock division was announced. To celebrate the completion of Tattersalls’ first 250 years, the Board invited me to produce a book, in which many of the personalities, who have guided the company over the years, could be remembered, along with some of the legendary horses sold in the Ring and a few of the people, past and present, who have formed the essential client-base of the firm. In part the book will trace the history and development of the company, but it will also aim to offer a snapshot of Tattersalls, as seen through the eyes of its auctioneers, its staff, the correspondents of media organisations, who sit for long hours in the Ring, observing all that happens, and most critically through the eye of the camera; nothing can reveal the evolution of Tattersalls over the past 60 years as tellingly as a comparison of photos taken in the 50s and 60s and those taken in recent years. The commemorative book will be published in the early part of 2016.

64 October 2015

YEARS

Richard Tattersall had two golden rules when he was guiding the company through its infancy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; know your client base and act in all you do in business with total integrity

Richard Tattersall, founder of a racing institutionOctober 2015 65

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