Biggs ideas

Martin Stevens chats with bloodstock agent Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock about his move into the bloodstock business and forging a successful buying partnership with trainer Archie Watson

THERE HAVE BEEN SOME formidable trainer and bloodstock agent partnerships down the years. Peter Doyle and Richard Hannon snr, and the second generation pairing of Ross Doyle and Richard Hannon jnr, immediately spring to mind. Then there have been the fruitful associations between Adrian Nicoll and Barry Hills, Stephen Hillen and Kevin Ryan, and Gill Richardson and Mick Channon.

A more recent addition to that list, but one that promises to be equally as powerful, is the crack team of young Blandford Bloodstock representative Tom Biggs and shooting star trainer Archie Watson. Recent Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup runner-up Glen Shiel and stakes winners Absolute Blast, Isaan Queen, Maystar, Shumookhi and Snowy Winter are among the smart performers sourced by the pair and have been sent out by Watson through his first five seasons at Saxon Gate, Upper Lambourn.

Every self-respecting industry aficionado is now well aware of Watson’s talents, but less is perhaps known about his trusted talent scout, despite him becoming an increasingly familiar face on the sales scene.

“My dad kept the occasional mare at home when I was growing up and I started going racing a lot with him in my mid-teens,” says Biggs, outlining his background. “As a result I became quite keen on pedigrees and spent a lot of hours flicking through the stallion book.

“I was halfway through completing a degree in architecture when my dad and I came across a filly for sale online who was a half-sister to a decent Salisbury maiden winner named Look Here.

“We bought her and a few months later Look Here won the Oaks! We sold our filly for a really good profit the same summer and I was pretty much hooked after that.

“The year after I finished my degree, I managed to get a place on The National Stud course and from there I went to work on a few stud farms around the UK; Darley, Watership Down and Highclere.”

Two-man team: trainer Archie Watson (left) and bloodstock agent Tom Biggs

“The year after that, I asked Richard if I could do the full sales season with him and, luckily, he agreed. “I must have done something to impress him because he offered me a job...

Biggs had accumulated excellent horsemanship skills and knowledge of stud life but he was, by his own admission, a little green when it came to the sales.

“I was working the breeding and yearling seasons at Whitsbury Manor and didn’t have anything lined up for the winter,” he explains. “I was thinking about whether to do a season in Australia or the US but [stud manager] Phil Haworth said I should probably get some sales experience and he set me up shadowing Richard Brown for the Tattersalls December sales.

“I didn’t really have any experience of how the sales worked, so it was a real eye-opener. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. The year after that, I asked Richard if I could do the full sales season with him and, luckily, he agreed. I must have done something to impress him because he offered me a job shortly after!”

Biggs has now been working at Blandford Bloodstock for six years and heads up the agency’s research department, putting in hard work behind the scenes with his nose buried in the form book and re-watching race results.

“Outside of the sales season, I spend some time each day looking over the form and trying to find horses in training to buy privately,” he says. “This takes up a lot of hours and can be a bit of a fruitless task but it’s worth the effort when a deal comes off. I also keep a lookout for fillies related to potentially smart racehorses and black-type fillies who have lost a bit of form.

“I managed to find a Siyouni mare called Mango Tango in Qatar a couple of years ago. She was a high-class filly in France but hadn’t quite shown the same level of form in Qatar. The deal seemed to drag on forever, but we managed to get her back and she sold for 535,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale last year in-foal to Showcasing, which was a great result for the client.”

He adds: “Sales will be taking up the majority of my time now. September to December is a very intensive period in a normal year, but due to some of the sales moving around it’s going to be even more hectic this year. Any days I’m not at a sale I’ll be spending researching the next one.”

Biggs also devotes much time to statistical study in a bid to gain a competitive edge, and unsurprisingly isn’t going to give away his secrets easily.

“I suppose I can’t say too much on that,” he laughs. “I’m really just trying to highlight patterns – whether they be based on pedigree, breeder, the month the horse was born or the sale it comes from.

“You get through a lot of stats and most of them don’t really tell you much but occasionally it will flag up something

“I’ve recently spent a lot of time looking back over the last few yearling seasons assessing how sales, vendors and stallions have compared against one another. You get through a lot of stats and most of them don’t really tell you much but occasionally it will flag up something of note. I guess, like anyone, I’m just looking for an edge.”

Explaining how the association with Watson came about, he says: “Archie was another of Richard Brown’s sales ‘gofers’ and has had an association with Blandford since he was in his teens.

“I’d just started buying a handful of horses around the time he set up training and it all just sort of fell into place.

“We’re a similar age and have similar views on racing, so I think we work very well together. We keep things quite simple, I handle the buying and he handles the training.”

The best advertisement for the WatsonBiggs axis is arguably Glen Shiel, bought from Godolphin for £45,000 from last year’s Goffs UK Spring Horses in Training Sale. The gelded son of Pivotal and Princess Elizabeth Stakes winner Gonfilia has won four races for Watson, including the Group 3 Phoenix Sprint Stakes in August, and recently found only Dream Of Dreams too good in the Haydock Sprint Cup (G1).

Gael Shiel (far left) just missed giving Watson, Biggs and jockey Hollie Doyle debut Group 1 successes in the Haydock Sprint Cup

“It is probably the highlight so far,” says Biggs. “Archie and I bought him as a horse in training from André Fabre having shown some good form in France over nine and ten furlongs. He has quite a lot of speed in his family so we thought he could be a horse that does well over slightly shorter distances. I don’t think either of us expected he would turn into a 6f horse though.

He’s amazing really and still seems to be improving as a six-year-old.”

The purchase that has brought Biggs most professional gratification, however, is Snowy Winter. And no wonder, when the Elusive Quality mare was bought for buttons and resold for many multiples of her purchase price.

“I bought her from the Goffs February Sale as an unraced three-year-old for €7,500,” recalls Biggs. “I had gone to the sale to buy a couple of mares for a breeding client but that didn’t work out and all I ended up doing was buying her for Archie. She just about paid for my trip to Ireland!

“Within the space of about a year, she went from being a 62-rated handicapper to winning a Listed race and eventually getting Group 1-placed. She sold for 725,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale last year in-foal to Kingman.

“I don’t think that could really happen in any other industry and it’s what makes this one so special.”

SHUMOOKHI, a Listed-winning daughter of Society Rock, is another fine representative of the Biggs and Watson double act.

“We bought her from TallyHo Stud at the Tattersalls Ascot Breeze-Up Sale in 2018 for £11,000,” recalls Biggs. “She won the St Hughs Stakes at Newbury a few days after Snowy Winter scored her Listed in Ireland.

“Ascot has been quite lucky for me. I bought another filly there named Crystal River who was still a maiden at the time. She won her maiden by 13l on her first start for William Haggas before going on to win a Listed race in France.

“I take pleasure in seeing anything I have bought win a race, as that’s the name of the game. Thankfully, the majority of them are with Archie so it happens pretty often!”

Are there any secrets to success at the sales that Biggs is willing to share?

“We buy all sorts across a range of budgets,” he says. “We buy almost as many horses in training a year as yearlings. Not for any particular reason other than the fact that you can often buy a slightly nicer type for a bit less money.

“We don’t have the financial firepower to compete buying well-bred expensive yearlings, but we might be able to buy a nice ‘second-hand’ horse with a good pedigree.

“Whatever the sale, we try to buy something that looks athletic and we’ll forgive a little fault here or there to get one that has a bit of class.”

Biggs and Watson’s ascendant profiles have ensured they have, to a degree, been insulated from some of the woes caused by the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Not many will be able to claim in this chaotic year that orders are up.

“I think we’re in about the same situation as we normally are at this time of year, which is fantastic considering what’s going on in the world,” says Biggs. “The breezeups went quite well too. We managed to buy six, which is a couple more than last year.

“Thankfully, we already have a smart one in Devilwala, whom we bought in partnership with Alex Elliott at the Tattersalls Craven Sale. He finished second in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes.

“We don’t buy a huge number of yearlings each year, but we have a few very good owners such as Hambleton Racing and Ontoawinner, whom we know we can buy a few for each year. The likes of Will Nash and Arjun Waney have also been great supporters of ours in recent years.

“We appreciate how important they are and we’re very grateful to have them on board. We would love to have a few more yearlings to buy.”

Biggs’ ultimate ambition in the industry is one that looks like being accomplished sooner rather than later; if Watson’s training career continues on its steep upward trajectory.

“Obviously I’d love to buy a Group 1 winner – I think that’s the aim for anyone in the industry,” he says. “I wouldn’t be too fussy about which one it was, but the Epsom Oaks would be particularly nice for sentimental reasons.”

Watson on Biggs

“When I was coming through the industry I worked with Blandford Bloodstock at all the sales, so when I started training it made sense to buy horses with Tom as we’re a similar age.

“One of the first horses we bought together was Alkashaaf at the horses in training sale, and he was among my earliest winners. From there we progressed through breeze-up horses and yearling sales and now there aren’t many sales we wouldn’t attend.

“We’re very much like-minded when it comes to horses and I trust him implicitly. In fact, there would be many times now when I can’t make it to the sales and I’m more than happy for him to work away on his own.

“Tom has a very good eye and has an excellent handle on form. A lot of people ask me what I saw in some of our successful horses who were bought inexpensively at the yearling or horses in training sales and the answer is usually that Tom just spotted something in the pedigree or previous runs.

Archie Watson

“He’s helped us become a versatile stable, too. People tend to pigeonhole me as a twoyear-old trainer but in fact we’ve had winning middle-distance three-year-olds, stayers and even hurdlers as well as the babies. Tom’s good at spotting talent across all disciplines and distances.

“In truth, there is no idea of his that is too weird and wonderful that I won’t have a crack at it. There have been one or two times when I look at one of his plots and I’ve said ‘Really? Are you sure that horse has done enough?’ But when he says he’s seen something and I’m happy to follow him.

“I have the final say on all purchases but we’re very much a partnership at the sales. We’ve done very well together so far and long may that continue.”