6 minute read
Weatherbys Stallion Scene: Part 2
Awtaad not to be underestimated
Shadwell Stud’s son of Cape Cross has been enjoying a resurgence in the covering shed after Group 1 and Grade 1 successes in 2023, and his progeny have maintained their top-quality form on the racetrack this summer, headlined with two top days in August.
Kildaragh Stud is offering the only lot by Awtaad in Tattersalls October Book 1, Peter Kavanagh tells us why he has always been a strong supporter of the sire
NOT MANY YEARLINGS, produced off a £5,000 covering fee get a place in the Tattersalls October Book 1 catalogue, but that is just what Kildaragh Stud has achieved with its bay colt by Awtaad (Lot 430) out of Sovana (Desert King).
The Kavanagh family farm did not breed the yearling – that achievement is down to Ringfort Stud, the colt having been pinhooked by RC Bloodstock at the Goffs November Foal Sale for €18,000 – but Kildaragh has been involved with the wider pedigree for some years through the late Gerry Oldham’s Citadel Bloodstock.
The Kavanaghs bred the Listed winner and the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes fourth-placed Primo Bacio out of a Suvenna, an Arcano half-sister to this year’s Book 1 yearling.
Primo Bacio is also by Awtaad and was sold by Kildaragh for 100,000gns as a Book 1 yearling in 2019, a member of the stallion’s first crop, produced off a nomination fee of €15,000.
Her valuation was upgraded to 1,100,000gns at the end of her racing career when she joined the Hillwood Stud broodmare band.
Awtaad enjoyed two days of days this August, progeny performances backing up a respectable body of work that he has been putting together over the last 12 months.
At Haydock on August 10, the sire’s 2023 Group 1-winning Prix d’Ispahan son Anmaat returned to victorious action in the Rose Of Lancaster Stakes (G3). He now has Group 1 entries firmly printed on his agenda.
There was also a Listed third place for the four-year-old filly Naomi Lapaglia in the mile Irish Stallion Farms EBF Dick Hern Stakes. She also has top level targets ahead.
The following day Awtaad’s three-time Grade 1 winner Anisette, winner of last August’s Del Mar Oaks (G1) on just her second Stateside start after leaving the Newmarket-based trainer Kevin Philippart de Foy, maintained her winning run in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap. The filly has now won five races in the US, and finished second twice and third once from eight stakes race starts.
Awtaad has endured some time away from the fashionable ranks, and consequentially his fee has dropped to €5,000, but his two top-level winners in 2023 have put him now firmly back in vogue – this spring he saw his biggest book of recent years at 128, breeders realising just what an opportunity the Derrinstown Stud stallion offers.
It is something that the Kavanaghs have long recognised, and right from producing Primo Bacio the family has kept the faith in the son of Cape Cross.
“He is such a good influence for looks, temperament, for durability, soundness, there’s so many things in the equation that he meets,” admires Peter Kavanagh.
“Until this spring, he was just a bit of a sleeper – for whatever reason the pinhookers turned their back on him a bit, it can then be difficult for a stallion to get the traction he deserves.
“But each spring we have sent him two or three mares – after all you don’t want these ‘flash Harries’ who just appear for a year or two. Before you know it you are trying to find out where have they gone.”
With his usual wise counsel, Kavanagh adds: “If you want to take a view of a proper business and breeding operation, you need to use stallions who are sound and durable, who have a bit of a shelf life, whether you’re trying to do a favour to your mare, or trying to produce a horse for whom there is a market out there for, the international market.
“The short-running sprinter can be very limited – that stallion can have a short shelf life.”
Kavanagh recalls his decision to send Suvenna to the newly retired Awtaad in 2017.
“We’d had some luck before with Cape Cross, and we think he’s a very good influence,” outlines the breeder.
“And then Shamardal, he’s great top or bottom in a pedigree. His horses tend to be very durable, they want to win and he’s had a major impact with his broodmares.
“You just must try and find potential and Awtaad was a Classic winner, trainer Kevin Prendergast always rated him highly, he is a well-bred horse, a good-looking horse and with good motion.
“And, finally, affordability is always one of the foremost things in our minds – we can’t put it all into the hands of the stallion man every year. If you do that, you’ll have a short life yourself!”
Kavanagh dons his sale’s hat when he talks about the farm’s yearling heading to Newmarket.
“He is a very athletic horse, he is bay brown, like most of them – Awtaad does stamp his stock – and he just has this remarkable motion, too,” he enthuses. “He is out of a proven mare, but you can disregard any worries about broodmare age.
“Secretariat was out of a 17-year-old mare and if a mare has done it once, then there is a fair chance she can do it again, as long as the progeny’s physical doesn’t resemble an old mare’s produce.
“And the pedigree also goes back to a Citadel family that we looked after for a number of years, so we’ve got a very soft spot for that family.
“We know a lot of their attributes, qualities and which stallions will suit. All those mares were kept for specific reasons – they were genuine, tried, had racing ability and survived years of selection. There’s not too many
Awtaad also has just one lot due to go through the Tattersalls October Book 3 catalogue –a colt out of the Listed winner and Oaks Stakes (G1) fourthplaced Vow to be consigned by breeder Lodge Park Stud.
The one thing in common with the Book 1 colt?
Despite the stallion having been shunned by some of the “commercial” market for a time, these top level breeders and producers Ringfort Stud, Lodge Park Stud and Kildaragh Stud have continued their support, these bloodstock influencers well aware what the stallion can offer.
