Thoroughbred Owner Breeder

FRANKEL

No stallion has sired more seven-fgure yearlings in Europe in 2024 (6), including the highest-priced yearling in the Northern Hemisphere

4.4 million guineas Tattersalls October Book 1 And the two highest-priced yearlings Gofs Orby Sale

Contact Shane Horan, Henry Bletsoe or Claire Curry +44 (0)1638 731115 | nominations@juddmonte.co.uk www.juddmonte.com

Galileo - Kind (Danehill)

Welcome

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Value-seekers hit their stride while Book 1 makes waves

In contrast to the eye-watering prices made by the choicest yearlings at Tattersalls last month, which helped the Newmarket auction house achieve record turnover at its October Sale, the theme of value bloodstock runs throughout this issue of Owner Breeder

Most owners and breeders couldn’t/ wouldn’t/shouldn’t invest 4 million guineas in a single transaction so it’s heartening to hear how passionate participants have accomplished superb results without breaking the bank.

Cover girl Makarova gave Jeffrey and Phoebe Hobby’s Brightwalton Stud Group 1 glory when proving too good for this season’s star sprinter Bradsell in the Prix de l’Abbaye on Arc day at Longchamp.

Makarova’s dam, Vesnina, was procured from that excellent nursery, Cheveley Park Stud, for 68,000 guineas in 2015. It was Vesnina’s liaison with Acclamation, who has sired some outstanding runners without ever commanding an astronomical fee at stud, that produced Makarova, now retired to take her place within the Brightwalton broodmare band.

James Thomas caught up with Jeffrey Hobby to hear what it meant to him and his operation to produce a homebred top-level winner on one of the most prestigious day’s racing of the European Flat season (see pages 50-53).

The white and green silks of Ahmad Al Shaikh have become a familiar sight in the top races in recent years, not least in the Derby at Epsom, where he has twice finished runner-up – with Khalifa Sat in 2020 and Hoo Ya Mal two years later – while this year his two representatives, Deira Mile and Sayedaty Sadaty, acquitted themselves well in fourth and fifth behind City Of Troy.

Al Shaikh is renowned for sourcing bargains at the sales – none of the quartet mentioned cost their owner more than 50,000 guineas –while the fact that Hoo Ya Mal and Sayedaty Sadaty are now plying their trade in Australia, the former bought at auction for £1.2 million and the latter sold privately, reflects Al Shaikh’s

Edward Rosenthal Editor

ability to turn a handsome profit on his equine investments.

“For six years I’ve not had to put my hand in my pocket – after I sell the horses, the money covers my training costs,” Al Sheikh told me when I spoke with him at Tattersalls during Book 2 (see pages 44-48).

“Lots of people ask me how I do it –including trainers! What can I tell them? It’s my hobby, my luck.

“I came second in a Group 3 at Newmarket with a horse [Green Storm] I bought for €12,000. He is my Derby horse. His dam was a Group 2 winner with a big pedigree. Why didn’t people want to buy him?

“Superb results can be accomplished without breaking the bank”

“After he won his maiden by nine lengths, I had three enquiries about him and decent offers. I had a think about it, but I decided to keep him. Sometimes I prefer not to sell.”

Chris and Martin Dixon, who manage The Horse Watchers syndicate, are also regarded as expert judges in their field. The brothers have compiled an impressive list of runners sourced through horses-in-training sales and James Burn finds out how they manage to keep unearthing talent in such a competitive sector of the market (see The Big Interview, pages 30-34).

The jumps season is cranking up and our expert jury looks at the recent changes to the Cheltenham Festival and discusses whether they have gone far enough in boosting the domestic National Hunt scene (see Think Tank, pages 95-96).

Cover: Makarova and Tom Marquand capture the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp for Jeffrey and Phoebe Hobby’s Brightwalton Stud

Photo: Bill Selwyn

SEA THE MOON

• Sire of 4 Group 1 Winners

• Sire of 19 Group/Stakes horses in 2024 including Gr.1 winner FANTASTIC MOON, Gr.2 and Gr.3 winner

TERM OF ENDEARMENT, dual Gr.3 winner

QUEST THE MOON and Gr.3 winners ASSISTENT and SEA THE BOSS

• In 2023 sire of the Gr.1 German Derby winner and the Gr.1 German Oaks winner

2024 GROUP WINNERS INCLUDE:

Also sire of 11 exciting 2yo winners in 2024 so far including:

TERM OF ENDEARMENT

Gr.2 and Gr.3 winner in 2024

SEA THE BOSS Gr.3 winner in 2024

ASSISTENT

Gr.3 winner in 2024

FANTASTIC MOON

Gr.1 and Gr.2 winner in 2024

SHANDANA dual winner in France & Gr.3 placed

ASHNAK winner at Chantilly

BONNET debut winner at Deauville

ANNIVERSARY debut winner at Newmarket

TRAD JAZZ debut winner at Kempton

DIGNAM at Tipperary

SECRET OF LOVE at Southwell

TAMAM DESERT at Galway

INSTANT FRAGILE debut winner at Lyon-Parilly

QUEBEC debut winner and Listed placed

Also, LOBELIA – an impressive debut winner at Bordeaux on 26th October 2024

Juddmonte homebred 3yo KALPANA wins the Gr.1 British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes at Ascot.

Fit for a king…

“There is a general correlation between racing class and production class in mares, for which reason the better the books of mares a stallion receives, the better his chances of success. Racing class is summarised in a statistic known as the CPI (Class Production Index), which is produced by the US Jockey Club. The analysis shows that Baaeed’s frst two books of mares have the highest-average CPI of any European stallion since Frankel.

Standing at Beech House Stud, UK

The calibre of mares Baaeed has covered is exceptional for a stallion at his stage in his career. Add to this his racecourse performances and stallion profle, he qualifes as one of the most exciting stallion prospects of the last 30 years.”

Bill Oppenheim

Contact Will Wright: +44 (0)7787 422901 | nominations@shadwellstud.co.uk

2nd – 5th December

FROM THE GALLOPS TO GLORY

Join us as we celebrate the brightest stars of 2024

SECURE YOUR SEAT roa.co.uk/awards24

Thursday 5 December 2024

Royal Lancaster Hotel Lancaster Terrace London W2 2TY

Black Tie

Welcome Reception 7pm Carriages 1am

ROA Leader

Time to reset dial on betting and levy status

The report published in October that floated the idea of raising taxes on gambling and gaming to help plug the supposed hole in the public finances was greeted with typical doom-laden rhetoric from bookmakers and racing alike. What was significant was that the ideas behind the report seemed to come as a complete surprise both to the operators and the investment community.

Online casino games and slots do not have the greatest of fan clubs, save for the operators themselves and the punters that play them, and it does not take a genius therefore to understand why the Labour party, when casting around for ways to raise cash, would focus on such a target. We will know shortly whether the tax hike ideas have found their way into the October budget or whether they could form part of the package of tax reform for March 2025. What we have seen yet again is the bookmakers trying to forge the link between racing and sports betting to online slots/casino punting to provide a more robust argument to protect their highly profitable income stream.

For too long racing has downplayed the important distinction between a bet of skill on a horse race and a quick spin on an algorithm-generated slot game that guarantees the house a sizeable win. During the ongoing fight against intrusive affordability checks, racing has played a significant role. Whilst this role was motivated in part by self-protection, it was bound to help other areas of the gambling industry that have much higher incidences of harmful side effects and obviously much greater returns for the operators.

There is no doubt that increasing the direct tax burden on sports betting would heap more pressure on the industry’s stretched finances. However, the debate has given racing a renewed opportunity to emphasise our points of difference and perhaps even offer a solution to our funding crisis. Racing cannot simply rely on the government to deliver the vital levy reform we narrowly missed out on in the early summer, and we also cannot realistically think that the bookmakers will voluntarily return to the negotiating table.

Sports betting generates huge profits for the bookies and allows them to cross sell other higher-margin products. If we can really nail down the distinction between betting on racing and online slots, perhaps we can avoid the onerous tax assault and even take advantage of a levelling of the playing field.

Two years on from making the changes to the governance structure of British racing, which were designed to allow a proper strategic plan to be developed and enacted, we have struggled to make the progress so desperately needed. The two major projects, around tapping into the wider appetites for global sports investment and the identification and development of our

existing consumers and engagement with the next generation, remain stubbornly on the launchpad. We seem to be making little progress against the economic and political headwinds and the industry feels like it is beginning to stagnate, or continue on the never-ending roundabout of doom, as one wag put it.

There exists a real opportunity to make decisions for the sport that can start to generate momentum, but we need to be brave enough to try things and innovate. Getting stuck in a mindset that is somehow based on protecting the future, whilst not offering anything new, will lead to stagnation and eventual decline.

Self-help initiatives should be explored, even if we are deep into the two-year trial of Premier racing. There seems to be

“Racing has downplayed the distinction between a bet of skill on a horse race and a quick spin on a slot”

an overarching fear that if we try something it will become entrenched, and we will not be able to re-engineer the terms. This is such a short-sighted approach and one that is damaging the industry’s prospects. All stakeholders should leave their hats at the door and work together to secure the future, but I am afraid that all too often self-interest and entrenched attitudes inhibit development and stunt progress.

On a positive note, the yearling sales have been rattling along with significant investment from overseas. We have often said that we have the best horses and best courses, and we make stallions like no other jurisdiction. We have the most varied product and still retain a huge audience in terms of attendees and punters. Let’s hope that we can finally get off the roundabout and start to head for our destination.

Charlie Parker President

TBA Leader

Track deals not very rock and roll yet crucial

Imagine you are renowned international rock star Ruby Rocker. Your agent is in discussion with a major venue chain that owns a number of concert arenas throughout the UK. The chain – let’s call them ‘Platform’ – wants you to appear as the principal act in every arena and call the upcoming tour ‘Ruby’s Riot’.

Your agent, Rupert Skipton-Holmes, is negotiating the contract and because you are the headline act you can demand the following:

● Booking fee

● Performance fee

● Media and broadcast share

● Share of ticket revenue

● Share of merchandising revenue

● Share of hospitality income

● Share of exclusive rights and creation of back catalogue

That will all add up to a tidy sum and eclipses what a standard contract might deliver but is only available because of your unique position and appeal to the customer base. The venues incur significant costs whilst they are ‘dark’ and so Platform see the sense of a mutually rewarding arrangement. You bear the costs of set design and build, accompanying musical and sound support, whilst Platform provides the arenas and delivers ticketing, stewarding and stages the shows.

It is a thoroughly sensible and mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties that not only provides valuable returns but if managed well develops a partnership that encourages future tours and concerts, with Ruby and Platform promoting each other positively.

In a nutshell this is exactly what the current proposals for commercial partnerships between the Thoroughbred Group (which represents owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and racing staff) and the racecourses is seeking to achieve. Nobody is reinventing the wheel here – it’s not only Ruby Rocker’s tours that operate upon a similar model, but all sorts of other businesses that rely upon a partner to deliver a complete outcome.

For example, shopping centres, in the main, operate upon turnover lease arrangements between landlord and tenant where growth over certain levels of sales is shared proportionally, reflecting risk and contribution of landlord and tenant alike.

The Thoroughbred Group proposal seeks to measure racecourse investment into prize-money as a percentage of their racing turnover. A racecourse’s investment percentage, and how it compares relative to that of their peers, would

Philip Newton Chairman

then feed into a number of policy areas, acting to reward those venues that invest more in their performers.

It is common sense, therefore, that both parties see a mutually beneficial opportunity, one that provides incentive to grow turnover and participation numbers. Instead of continuing distrust concerning transparency and accountability – which can be put where it belongs, in the past – all shoulders are applied to a critical need of rebuilding an industry together.

It needs also to be made clear that many racecourses

“The Thoroughbred Group proposal would reward those venues that invest more in their performers”

already apply the principles of the proposed commercial agreements while others are continuing to engage positively with the process.

If all sign up, then the sport can focus upon moving forward and if the betting industry is then allowed to join these initiatives as well, suppliers and performers (Thoroughbred Group members), providers (racecourses) and customers (including the betting industry) would all be facing in the same direction for the first time ever, bringing the promise of real progress.

This is the best chance the industry has to reinvigorate and rebuild the domestic market. Yet the door will not remain open indefinitely. Whichever part of the industry you represent, commercial agreements are invaluable to your business, so be sure to give this plan your full support.

Coming to a theatre near you soon – Ruby’s Riot Tour. Don’t miss it!

Mares’ National Hunt programme boosted

Anumber of changes to the mares’ jump Pattern and Listed programme have been unveiled, as racing authorities continue to focus on an area which has yielded major bigger-picture gains over the last few years.

The percentage of mares in the horses-in-training population has grown notably since 2015, along with the number of individual runners and those rated 140-plus.

Adjustments to existing races, three new Listed races at Doncaster, Exeter and Kelso, and the removal of mares’ novices’ handicap chases from the programme to improve competitiveness of mares’ handicap chases were announced last month.

Ruth Quinn, BHA Director of International Racing and Racing Development, explained: “Mares have had a significant impact on British jump racing, accounting for some of our most successful horses and delivering incredible moments that live long in the memory.

“Our ambition is to continually grow the population of quality racemares by incentivising behavioural change and investment in various ways, including with

a strengthened mares’ programme, especially black-type races.

“We’re undoubtedly seeing welcome results in the percentage of mares – and especially high-quality mares – making up our jumping population.”

Trainer Harry Fry, also a member of the Jump Pattern Committee, said: “These are welcome changes that provide improved pathways for racemares over the course of the season, offering better opportunities for progress through the divisions and supporting the retention of higher-quality jump mares in training.

“Strengthening the mares’ programme can have only a positive benefit, not only

Laura Collett MBE saddles up for Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards

Dual Olympic gold medallist Laura Collett MBE has been announced as the guest of honour at the 2025 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, sponsored by Godolphin.

The annual celebration of British racing’s workforce, which will take place at York racecourse on Monday, February 24 will be hosted by leading broadcaster Rishi Persad.

Collett has represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games, winning team event gold medals at Tokyo 2020 and earlier this year in Paris.

These achievements form part of a glittering equestrian CV, which also include an individual bronze medal in Paris and victory at five-star level at the Badminton Horse Trials.

Her lifelong dedication to horses and their welfare, as well as to mental health awareness within the equestrian community, saw Laura awarded an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to equestrianism.

Collett said: “I am delighted to be part of the 2025 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards, which is a wonderful opportunity for horseracing to pay tribute to the people who contribute so much to this incredible sport.

“Having worked closely with horses all my life and through running my own yard, I know the importance of having a strong team, with skilled, passionate and dedicated people that provide our horses with world-class care. It will be a privilege to meet the 2025 finalists and hear their stories.”

Nominations for the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards can be made until Tuesday, November 5 at www.thoroughbredawards.co.uk.

There are six award categories to choose from and £128,500 in prizemoney available to be won.

on performance and competitiveness on the racecourse but also more widely across the racing and breeding industry.”

The new Listed races are a three-mile mares’ hurdle at Doncaster next month, the only race of its type in the first half of the season, the Agatha Christie Mares’ Novices’ Chase at Exeter in February, and another three-mile mares’ hurdle at Kelso in March.

The biggest changes to the race programme in March come at the Cheltenham Festival.

The Grade 1 Turners Novices’ Chase will now be staged as a Grade 2 limited novices’ handicap chase over the same two-and-a-half-mile trip, while the National Hunt Chase becomes a Class 2 novices’ handicap chase, with the amateur rider restriction removed to allow professional jockeys to compete.

The Cross Country Chase has been changed from a conditions contest to a limited handicap, while the penalty stricture in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle has been scrapped, making it a level-weights race.

Prize-money at the Festival has been boosted by £115,000, taking the total on offer at the meeting in 2025 to £4,930,000.

Harry Fry: ‘these are welcome changes’

Guest of honour: Olympian Laura Collett MBE

Clive Smith and Kauto Star beside the statue of the fivetime King George VI Chase hero at Kempton

Stories from the racing world

Tributes to Kauto Star owner Clive Smith

Clive Smith, owner of two of jump racing’s true superstars of the past couple of decades in Kauto Star and Master Minded, died last month aged 82.

Smith’s first horse, a novice hurdle winner trained by Jenny Pitman, Hawthorn Hill Lad, was named for the former Hawthorn Hill racecourse in Berkshire which he sold for £8 million to Japanese investors after its repurposing – Smith had formed a business designing and building golf courses.

David Elsworth and Martin Pipe were also among the owner’s initial trainers, Smith’s horses with Pipe including the Swinton Hurdle winner Rainbow Frontier and Cathcart Chase winner Royal Auclair.

The latter was switched to Paul Nicholls in 2003 and won another couple of decent races for his new trainer, including the Badger Ales Trophy Chase.

Explaining the move to Nicholls in an interview with the Racing Post in 2007, Smith said: “Martin had [leading owner] David Johnson in the yard and David got first chance at the good horses. I wanted to get a bit more serious, increase my number of horses and get some nice ones to see me through my 60s, when I can really get out and enjoy them.

“I wanted a trainer who would be relaxed, friendly and open with me, and from what I’d seen of Paul, I thought he was the right man.”

Owner and trainer would go on to enjoy incredible success, with Kauto Star in particular. He landed 23 races and more than £2.3 million in prize-money, his numerous big-race triumphs including the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2007 and 2009, and a record five King George VI Chases (2006-09 and 2011).

Kauto Star also won the Betfair Chase four times and Tingle Creek Chase twice amid a mind-boggling 16 Grade 1 triumphs.

Smith and Nicholls also combined with another dual winner of the Tingle Creek, Master Minded, though he was to mainly stick at two miles in becoming another of the owner’s leading lights.

Master Minded’s biggest victories came in the Champion Chase at Cheltenham, which he won in 2008 and 2009, while he also landed the Victor Chandler Chase in 2009 and 2011, two Game Spirit Chases (2008 and 2010) and the Melling Chase in 2011. In total, he won 16 times, eight at Grade 1 level.

Smith’s time as an owner came to a close in 2012, though he remained a familiar figure in the sport, attending race meetings and events.

His relationship with Nicholls was to break down, but the 14-time champion trainer was among those who paid tribute to the owner.

Nicholls, also quoted by the Racing

Post, said: “Clive invested heavily in racing and enjoyed a lot of success. He was fond of his horses and they were part of his life. We had some wonderful times and enjoyed some fantastic wins with Kauto Star and Master Minded, plus Royal Auclair was second in the National. They were incredible years and amazing fun.

“It’s terribly sad when someone dies, and it’s a shame that things ended between us as they did, but I think you have to forget the bad times and look back to some wonderful years.”

Master Minded: brilliant two-miler

GEORGE SELWYN

GEORGE SELWYN

Changes People and business

Oisin Murphy

Irishman wins his fourth champion jockey title having secured a 50-plus advantage over runner-up Rossa Ryan.

Roger Fell

Puts his North Yorkshire yard on the market for £1.85 million after his training partnership with Sean Murray comes to an end.

George Rooke

23-year-old decides to continue his riding career in New Zealand, where he will be based in Cambridge on the North Island.

Gay Kelleway

Announces the sale of her Newmarket yard as she moves her operation north to share a licence with North Yorkshire trainer Ann Duffield.

People obituaries

John Long 76

Hertfordshire trainer and former champion point-to-point rider sent out over 100 winners having first taken out his licence in 1973.

Billy Boyers 93

County Sligo trainer sent out Kilcoleman to win the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 1977 under Tommy Kinane.

Irish racing

Sport will receive additional funding of over €3 million from the Irish government in 2025, an increase of 4.3% that takes the total to €79.28m.

Mickael Barzalona

Aga Khan Studs appoints 33-year-old as first jockey for their French-trained horses from the start of 2025.

Jim Allen

Former Racing Director at Arena Racing Company appointed General Manager of Epsom Downs by the Jockey Club, succeeding Tom Sammes.

Jimmy George

Marketing Director at Tattersalls, where he has worked since 1986, will take up new role as Managing Director of the International Racing Bureau.

Clive Smith 82

Owner enjoyed phenomenal success with dual Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Kauto Star and brilliant two-miler Master Minded.

Ronnie O’Neill 74

Trainer ran Whytemount Stud in County Kilkenny where he stood NH stallion Stowaway, sire of Monkfish and Put The Kettle On.

Barry Dennis 83

Bookmaker was a fearless on-course layer who became well known for his appearances with John McCririck on Channel 4 Racing.

Alice Haynes

Trainer moves to Kremlin Cottage Stables in Newmarket with James Ferguson taking over Haynes’ former base at Machell Place Stables.

Rhys Elliott

Apprentice jockey is discharged from hospital after sustaining a punctured lung and fractures to his neck and spine in a fall at Newcastle.

BetMGM

Betting firm signs deal with the Jockey Club and will sponsor the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival until 2027.

Jack Berry

Former trainer and charity fund-raiser is inducted into the QIPCO British Champions Series Hall of Fame along with brilliant mare Goldikova.

Nick Mills

Succeeds Martin Stevenson as Chief Executive of Racecourse Media Group having previously been RMG’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Duran Fentiman

Jockey suffers a broken leg when unseated from a two-year-old at Pontefract in September. The race, and card, was subsequently abandoned.

Jean-Claude Rouget

Plan to merge the five-time French champion trainer’s operation with that of Jerome Reynier is scrapped for logistical and financial reasons.

Callum Shepherd

Jockey set for around two months on the sidelines having fractured two vertebrae and his collarbone in a fall at Kempton in October.

Racing’s news in a nutshell

Racehorse and stallion Movements and retirements

Nashwa

Top-class mare for owner-breeder Imad Alsagar, winner of three Group 1s and over £1.6 million in purses, is retired to the paddocks aged five.

Auguste Rodin

Group 1 winner at two, three and four will retire to Coolmore Stud for 2025. The Derby-winning son of Deep Impact will take in the Japan Cup later this month.

Marie’s Rock

Middleham Park Racing’s top-class hurdling mare, a Grade 1 winner at the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals in 2022, is retired aged nine.

Bradsell

Victorious Racing’s outstanding sprinter, winner of three Group 1s, is to be retired aged four to take up stallion duties at the National Stud next year.

Charyn

Top-class miler, winner of the Queen Anne, Marois and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes this year, will retire to Haras de Montfort et Preaux under the Sumbe banner for 2025.

Palladium

German Derby-winning son of Gleneagles sells for €1.4 million at the Arqana Arc Sale to join Nicky Henderson from Henk Grewe.

Charge It

Son of Tapit, winner of a Grade 2 on dirt, is retired and will begin his stallion career at Gainesway Farm in Kentucky.

Lord North

Three-time winner of the Dubai Turf, also successful in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes for Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed, is retired aged eight.

Al Hakeem

Group 2-winning son of Siyouni is retired aged five by Al Shaqab Racing to commence his stud career at Haras de Bouquetot next year.

Puchkine

Haras de Beaumont will stand son of Starspangledbanner, winner of this year’s Group 1 Prix Jean Prat, in 2025. His opening fee is €8,500.

King Of Steel

High-class son of Wootton Bassett, winner of the 2023 Champion Stakes, is retired aged four and will take up stallion duties at Tally-Ho Stud.

City Of Troy

Outstanding son of Justify, winner of the Derby, Eclipse and Juddmonte International this year, will retire to Coolmore Stud in Ireland for 2025.

Kind Of Blue

Three-year-old sprinting son of Blue Point is sold privately to Wathnan Racing prior to his victory in the Group 1 British Champions Sprint.

Saint Des Saints

Influential French jumps sire, whose best progeny includes Storm Of Saintly, Protektorat and Fastorslow, is retired from stud duty aged 26.

Adare Manor

Five-year-old mare, winner of three Grade 1s including the Clement L Hirsch Stakes, is retired and will be offered at Fasig-Tipton this month.

Horse obituaries

Bindaree 30

Winner of the 2002 Grand National and 2003 Welsh Grand National for owner Raymond Mould and trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies.

Caspian Prince 15

Tough and talented sprinter won 23 races between the ages of three and 12, latterly in the care of Mick Appleby, and earned over £870,000.

The Big Picture

Bluestocking all heart

Juddmonte’s Bluestocking produced a tenacious performance to take the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp and hand jockey Rossa Ryan and trainer Ralph Beckett the biggest victory of their careers. It all looked quite straightforward as Ryan settled the daughter of Camelot in second behind leader Los Angeles, kicked for home two furlongs out and held off three-year-old filly Aventure (obscured) to score by a length and a quarter.

Photos Bill Selwyn

The Big Picture

Charyn digs deep

Winless at three and a superstar at four –Charyn cemented his status as the best miler in Europe with a gutsy success over Facteur Cheval in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot under Silvestre de Sousa. A stud career now beckons for the son of Dark Angel but first he could bid to give his owner Nurlan Bizakov (inset, next to the Princess Royal) and trainer Roger Varian (second left) further top-level glory in the Mile Championship at Kyoto.

Photos Bill Selwyn

The Big Picture

Anmaat has the answers

The Group 1 Champion Stakes was switched to the inner course due to the prevailing ground and space was at a premium with two furlongs to run. Shadwell’s Anmaat and Jim Crowley (blue/white cap) were initially blocked in their run but the jockey managed to reorganise the Owen Burrows-trained gelding and found a passage as the leaders tired, hitting the front near the finish to defeat French raider Calandagan (green/red silks) by half a length.

Photo Bill Selwyn

Faces at the Races

Photos: Steve Cargill

NEWBURY – NICK ROBINSON MEMORIAL RACEDAY

Lynda Ramsden, Zani Robinson, Caroline Ridley, Jack RamsdenJohn Fleming and Giles Anderson with Paddy and Liz Finlason

Alice Berry, Carol Phillips, Max Robinson, Sam Woroneicki and Natalie Robinson

Luke Lillingston, Anna Roseveare, Blake Roseveare and Zani Robinson

Nigel and Jane Baring

Hugh Joseph, Donald Fowler-Watt, Nicky Scott Knight and Maureen Gray

Bridget Garvin and Sam Hoskins

Faces at the Sales TATTERSALLS OCTOBER

Sheikh Juma Dalmook al Maktoum

Lady Lloyd-Webber watched Loving Dream’s son make 1.1m gns

Emma Banks saw Lady Bowthorpe’s Dubawi colt sell for 2m gns

Ed and Simon Crisford

Top US trainer Chad Brown

Ollie Sangster

Donnacha O’Brien, Joseph O’Brien and Sam Sangster

Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation signed for 18 yearlings

Sheikha Hissa and the Shadwell team were busy

Ralph Beckett and Barry Mahon have enjoyed a superb year

Anthony Stroud gets in on the action

Saeed Suhail – has he unearthed another Derby winner?

Charlie Appleby and MV Magnier

Racing around the World

BY MARCUS TOWNEND

Purses and public put Down Under on top

AUSTRALIA

Want a statistic that will make anyone involved with British racing green with envy? Try this for size.

During 2024 there will be 104 races run in Australia that are worth A$1 million or more. That’s one every three and a half days.

Even allowing for an exchange rate of an Aussie dollar being worth just over 50 pence, it is rich pickings and a number that reflects a racing jurisdiction that, although not without its problems, is doing pretty well.

The Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday of November is the race Down Under that attracts most European attention but its A$8m purse doesn’t come close to being the county’s most valuable contest.

That is the innovative A$20m Everest, billed as the richest race on turf, run at Randwick in Sydney in October.

The A$7m first prize this year went to Bella Nipotina, trained by Ciaron Maher. He also had the third Growing Empire and tenth I Am Me, who picked up A$700,000.

On the same day, Maher won the historic A$5m Caulfield Cup and, when other wins and places were taken into account and a conversion done, his horses won just over £6m in an afternoon.

During the entire 2024 British Flat season only champion trainer Aidan O’Brien has won more. No wonder cash-strapped British racing is struggling to halt a dispiriting equine talent drain to Australian connections.

This is a financial playing field that is nowhere near level, with races like the long-established Cox Plate worth A$5m and The Golden Eagle, another relative newcomer in the programme, run for A$10m.

The average race prize-money in Australia is A$50,000. Annual prizemoney is over A$800m, with an additional A$97m provided through bonus schemes.

The big global players, including Coolmore and Godolphin, are deeply involved in Australian racing but it also the home of the syndicate. More people per

capita have at least a small share in a racehorse in Australia than in any other country in the world.

There are around 100,000 owners among a population of around 26 million and Aushorse, the marketing body for Australian racing, reckons one in every 254 people has a stake in a racehorse.

It is hard to argue with the claim that horseracing is ingrained in the Australia psyche.

Tom Reilly, CEO of Aushorse and Thoroughbred Breeders’ Australia, worked for Luca Cumani and Mick Channon before moving into journalism and heading to Australia where he edited the Sydney Morning Herald.

Reilly said: ‘‘One of the biggest differences is the attitude towards racing here. There is a huge amount of engagement from the broader public.

“When I first came to Australia for the 2007 Melbourne Cup, it sounds like a cliche but, as I was taking taxis around Melbourne, twice I had drivers telling me they had a share in a horse.

“Racing in Australia has traditionally

always been part of the everyday person’s life. That, more than anything, is why we have such a high saturation of ownership among people. They just feel they can be part of it.

“There are over 300 racecourses in Australia. As the country was colonised, towns would be built with a pub, a church, a school and a racecourse.

“It is a fundamental thing people may not appreciate when they are looking at Australia.’’

Aussies also love a bet. It is that plus the funding model which underpins the healthy picture.

During the 2021/22 season, A$29 billion was wagered on thoroughbred racing in Australia. That is A$80m a day.

Like other jurisdictions, betting on horseracing is challenged by the increasing popularity of sports betting and government moves to tackle problem gambling. Turnover has fallen but the challenges are faced from a position of strength.

Reilly added: ‘‘We had a huge deregulation of the wagering industry 15 or 16 years ago. The Tote was dominant. It was 85 per cent of turnover so that guaranteed a reasonable return to racing.

‘‘There were still bookmakers but, essentially, they were not allowed to advertise.

‘‘Betfair then came in and won a court case allowing them to advertise so corporate bookmakers could advertise as well.

“Fortunately, there was then another

Craig Williams drives Bella Nipotina to victory in the A$20 million Everest at Randwick

CARNIVAL IS A CELEBRATION OF ALL THINGS EQUINE, LAUNCHING TRACKSIDE ON SATURDAY 4 JANUARY WITH THE NEW MAGIC MILLIONS TWILIGHT RACE MEETING WORTH $6.05M.

The Pacifc Fair Magic Millions Polo & Showjumping is a must attend event on Sunday 5 January. The beauty and power of thoroughbreds thundering along the sands of the Surfers Paradise Foreshore is a not-to-be-missed feature of The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Barrier Draw on Tuesday 7 January, followed by Australia’s best yearlings at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale attracting both national and international buyers for the serious business of selecting a future champion.

Stakes are high trackside at the globally-renowned $14.5 million The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions Raceday on Saturday 11 January. Focus turns to the bursting schedule of a 10 race program, while the Magic Millions VIP Marquee hosts the who’s who in the racing and social scene gathering to celebrate the highlight of the Carnival calendar.

JANUARY 2025 CALENDAR THE STAR GOLD COAST MAGIC MILLIONS CARNIVAL

Racing around the World

court case which basically gave racing the right to charge for its data. If bookmakers wanted to bet on your racing they had to pay. Racing had the authority to set the charge it wanted.

“All PRAs (Principal Racing Authorities) use a turnover-based model with some variations. On Melbourne Cup or Everest day in Sydney, a minimum three and a half per cent of turnover goes back to prize-money.

“On top of that you have money from media rights, international wagering and still the Tote, although it is much reduced.

‘‘Betting turnover has definitely softened – on average we are at least ten per cent from the peak of Covid. It is an issue but not an existential threat.’’

To further embrace syndicate ownership, racecards can carry the names of up 20 part-owners. It is another touch that encourages inclusivity. People like seeing their names alongside their horse.

There have also been significant moves to encourage women into ownership, with lucrative bonuses for horses owned by all-female syndicates.

Australian thoroughbred sales company Magic Millions will offer $750,000 in bonuses to runners owned by women only at its Gold Coast Magic Million raceday, which already carries A$14.5m in prize-money, in Queensland in January.

The 20 female owners of Skirt The Law, 2023 winner of the Star Gold Coast Magic Millions 2yo Classic, won A$1.5m in prize-money and bonuses.

Barry Bowditch, MD at Magic Millions, said: ‘‘It was the brainchild of our proprietor Katie Page-Harvey. She is a trailblazer when it comes to women in sport. She noticed women were coming to the races to enjoy the day but weren’t

actually a part of it.

‘‘We have bonuses on our two- and three-year-old races in January for Magic Millions horses and the first four womenonly owned horses in those races take home a cheque.

‘‘Some of the best racehorses we have sold in recent years have been owned by women on their own.’’

Despite the rosy picture, it would be wrong to present Australia as a horseracing Garden of Eden.

Each Aussie state has its own racing authority and they do not exist in complete harmony.

In recent years, most of the friction has

“Ensuring our best races are recognised internationally is very important”

revolved around the two main racing states, Victoria and New South Wales, some of it thanks to the combative NSW Chief Executive Peter V’Landys, a man responsible for the huge commercial success of Australia’s Rugby League brand, the NRL, which he is still involved in.

Maverick V’landys’s idea of negotiation comes from the Kerry Packer playbook. He is a disrupter but from an NSW point of view, he gets things done.

One of his most controversial decisions was to introduce The Everest, a race in

which contestants pay $700,000 to buy a slot that can then be traded.

Controversially, it is staged at Randwick in Sydney on the same weekend and in direct competition with the Caulfield Cup. In another clash, the Golden Eagle at Rosehill in Sydney now goes up against the Victoria Derby at Flemington.

It has gone down as well as it would if York decided to switch the Juddmonte International to clash with the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Reilly said: ‘‘The competition between states, particularly New South Wales and Victoria, has been very much to the benefit of returns to owners. There has basically been a prize-money war as they try to incentivise owners to race horses in their state.

‘‘But the reverse of that is greater co-operation would probably enable the industry to achieve more of the long-term strategic issues, like making sure the perception of the sport across the country remains good and ensuring we are improving participant and horse welfare.’’

The every-man-for-himself approach also plays a part in the recent plan to controversially upgrade the black-type status of 87 races without going through official channels.

The Everest moving to Group 1 status was an obvious move, yet some feel the main motive is to boost NSW racing, with 12 upgrades in Sydney.

There has been a significant industry backlash, with trainer Gai Waterhouse prominent among the critics amid fears of reputational damage to Australian racing with the validity of the Pattern undermined.

The doomsday scenario is Australia being demoted to book two status by the International Stud Book and being unable to stage international Group races if proceeding without approval from the Asian Pattern Committee, the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers and the powerful International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee.

Bowditch said: ‘‘Ensuring our very best races are recognised and accepted internationally whenever you open a sales catalogue or look at the race results is very important.

“We have to maintain confidence globally because it is now a very small industry worldwide. The best stallions come to Australia during the southern hemisphere season. We are lucky to have those genetics coming in and being recognised globally – that has to continue.”

Skirt The Law’s owners enjoyed a bumper payout following her Gold Coast triumph

Number One

Group 1 Racing Jurisdiction

Each season the world’s offcial handicappers rate the top 100 Group Ones and in 2023, for the fourth year in a row, Australia hosted more of these races than any other country.

10 x Group 1 winner, since sold for $6.6M as a broodmare prospect

The Big Interview

Ones to WATCH

Brothers Martin and Chris Dixon backed their own judgement when moving into racehorse ownership and continue to unearth bargains for their Horse Watchers syndicates

Words: James Burn • Photos:

Bill Selwyn

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last ten years, you will be well-acquainted with the names of Chris and Martin Dixon.

The brothers, who grew up on a farm 12 miles from Beverley, have established an on-screen presence on Racing TV, although the black and tangerine silks of their Horse Watchers ownership group are also increasingly familiar – and so they should be given the success the duo have enjoyed.

It’s been some journey from the first day’s racing the pair experienced as youngsters at Wetherby, which left them besotted with the sport and shaped their childhood, not to mention summer holidays.

“We never went abroad because, if anything went wrong on the farm, Dad [Brian] would want to be able to drive back,” recalls Chris. “So we’d always look at the map and see if a racecourse was close to where we were going, and then check if that track was racing.”

Losing a wallet and its contents – “a couple of quid for my bets” – at Folkestone one afternoon was not enough to scar Martin, who, like his elder brother, was quickly gripped by the attraction of picking winners despite, initially, “having no idea what I was doing”.

“We’d get the Yorkshire Evening Post and every morning, from the age of 12, I’d mark down my selections for every race and then check the results on Ceefax when I got back from school,” he adds.

Chris’s fondness for the formbook led him to the idea of punting professionally at one point, although that was not something their late father favoured. He first became involved in ownership during his time studying sports science at university in Derby through a couple of John Wainwright-trained horses.

A few years later, the boys – who have forged a reputation as diligent, articulate and passionate TV personalities – played a part in securing lightly raced juvenile Miako out of Marco Botti’s yard.

“At the time, I quite liked betting on Southwell,” says Chris, a talented footballer in his youth who dreamed of a full-time playing career until he was released by Hull City after a spell

Martin (left) and Chris Dixon, pictured with groom Mark Bjelland, after Raasel’s victory in the Be Friendly Handicap at Haydock in 2023

The Big Interview

in their academy.

“So we bought this son of Speightstown and the idea was to try to have a decent bet on him there, but, a week or whatever after we bought him, Southwell flooded and the Fibresand was washed away!

“We had to run him at Wolverhampton and Kempton, but Southwell got back up and running and you can find the video of his win - he was quite well backed and won very easily.”

Putting their money where their

mouths were had, through their punting, been an MO of the Dixons, but ownership and Miako, trained by their close ally Mick Appleby, cranked things up a notch.

“It all started from wanting to back our judgement further,” explains Martin, who “scraped” through his linguistics degree before working for the Press Association and Timeform.

“We’d have an opinion on a horse and, if it was available to buy, we’d go for it. A bit like when you’re having a bet, you’re believing in that horse and

we took the same view into ownership.

“Having success as an owner gives you a bigger kick than having a good bet, but usually we’ve had a couple of bets on those success stories as well!

“It’s easy to look from the outside and say people have done a good or bad job with their horses but it’s different when you’re putting your own money down, doing all the hard work that’s involved in buying and placing a horse; we wouldn’t have been able to sustain it for as long as we have and built syndicates if we hadn’t had

Rhoscolyn (right) in action at Goodwood, his favourite track –the gelding, trained by David O’Meara, has won eight times for The Horse Watchers and earned almost £300,000 in his career to date

Chris and Martin Dixon

some success.”

Chris, whose television work was preceded by a broadcast stint at Coral, describes their steps into ownership as educational – ones that helped with his punting and punditry.

“The biggest thing is how many excuses there can be – and genuine excuses,” he says. “You realise just because a horse ran badly, it’s not the end of the world because it can quickly bounce back.

“When you’re looking from the outside, you’re looking for a reason and

assume owners and trainers know, but you realise they don’t always know either. It changed your outlook because you had a broader understanding of what was going on.”

Pearl Nation was another to advertise the Dixons’ growing prowess as talent spotters, while Chris mentions notable money-spinners Big Country, Raasel and Rhoscolyn as highlights and, for Martin, Intervention and Baldomero are memorable purchases for The Horse Watchers, which originally included just the siblings – both married fathers of

two – and Matt Taylor and Richard O’Brien.

A number of factors resulted in the operation becoming more of a commercialised syndicate.

“The idea was to buy a horse, hope you could improve it and, at some point in its first three runs, have a big enough bet on it to pay for your share – and it kind of worked,” continues Chris. “But then bookies got wise to it and Covid happened, prices were going up, so it wasn’t as sensible. We were also getting asked if we’d sell shares in horses. We thought, ‘Sod it, why not’, and that’s when it became bigger.

“You have to forgive things at the sales when you’re on a budget”

“People think they’ve a fair chance of a winner with us, which – without sounding arrogant – I suppose is backed up by our results.”

Achieving those results does not come from a secret sauce recipe according to the 41-year-old Chris, who also wears the hat of agent to Flat riders Cieren Fallon, Jason Watson, Joanna Mason, Ali Rawlinson and Fred Larson, and “would love to help make someone champion jockey one day; that appeals to my competitive edge”.

With his transfer guru hat back on, he outlines: “We’re looking for untapped potential at the sales and a lot of that is based on what they’ve done on the track and what they might be able to go on to do.

“We’ve had Group-class horses and will hopefully have more, but that’s a progression thing – you dream of getting there and most don’t – so the starting point is buying a horse to win races and improve.

“You have to forgive things at the sales when you’re on a budget: there’s a reason people with bigger pockets aren’t buying that horse. That goes back to forgiving bad runs, there doesn’t always have to be a reason for them, but sometimes it can be as simple as thinking a horse just hasn’t had the right conditions to show what he’s capable of.”

The Big Interview

›› Turning base metal cast-offs into gold has been a calling card for the outfit, which has around 20 in training and also plays, albeit to a lesser degree, in the yearling market.

Ten per cent shares in horses is the model they operate on, but, intriguingly, smaller dividends could be offered to see what appetite and demand there is for them.

Growing to the level of other well-known syndicates is not necessarily high on the list of ambitions as Martin says: “It’s more of a business now than it was five years ago when it was just us and the other two fellas and I don’t think we had any grand plans of it evolving to this extent. It’s been step by step, but I’ve enjoyed how it’s grown.

“It’s more enjoyable having the syndicates than when it was just us. If you have a disappointing result, there’s more people affected, but if you have a good result there’s more people to enjoy it with and we take a lot of satisfaction we’ve been able to help provide that.”

Talking horses and the nuts and bolts of which one will run faster than another is the currency the Dixons mainly deal in, but the sport’s politics is not a topic that escapes attention – and nor can it when you’re involved to the extent they are.

“The worry for me is a declining interest,” says Martin, who, at 38, is hardly some old fuddy-duddy.

“They’ve got to engage younger people in the sport in the way I got engaged with it and, whether people like it or not, a lot of people’s interest

“Racing has to acknowledge its direct relationship with bookmakers”

comes from betting on it, so racing has to acknowledge its direct relationship with bookmakers, and not be afraid of it, but fight that corner.

“Nearly everyone I know – friends not in the industry who go for a day out – still enjoy having a bet and the buzz they get from horseracing comes from having a bet, watching the race, and possibly having another buzz if they win. The betting industry goes hand in

‘One of the best’

As the Dixons’ profile has increased, so too has that of Mick Appleby, who has gone from a jump jockey of little note to Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer.

“We wouldn’t take credit for it, you couldn’t, but you take pride in how well he’s done,” Chris Dixon says of Appleby’s rise.

“We were in when others weren’t and people in the press room might remember me saying how good a trainer he was – one of the best in the country – but not everyone knew it.

“Steadily, everyone has realised how good he is, and he’s had a top-level horse in Big Evs, but he’s always been a great trainer. I’m proud we supported him when we did.

“At the time, Mick was unproven, but had potential and it’s nice some of the horses we found with him, whom he improved for us, attracted other owners and then it snowballed.”

Appleby, who has curated the careers of Big Country and Raasel among others for the pair, has hit the 100-winner mark four times in the last five years, and Dixon adds: “The

hand with horseracing and people enjoy betting on it – we shouldn’t run away from that.”

Despite criticising prize-money over jumps – “you have bumper horses who have cost a few-hundred grand running for horrendous sums” – Martin thinks initiatives such as the Racing League should be applauded, pointing out opportunities, particularly on the all-weather, do exist, and can be lucrative.

“That Tony Carroll horse last winter [Mumayaz] is the prime example,” he says, referencing the 60-somethingrated gelding whose two victories and nine placed efforts helped him pocket a £75,000 bonus from Arena Racing Company.

His big brother has a take on the fixture list as well.

“From a point of view of placing our horses, it’s probably great there’s so much racing because you can find your spots to win, but if you had a little less of it and the prizes you won were worth more, that would work as well,” he says.

“I think the danger for the sport is ownership is expensive and is getting more expensive, so there will come a point when people start to think they’re

Chris and Martin Dixon

Mick Appleby: key ally for the Dixons

quality of horse in his yard now is unrecognisable from when we first went.

“The first horse we bought, Miako, cost £6,500 and, at the time, he was the second-most expensive horse Mick had trained in terms of what had been paid for a horse to go to his yard – now he’s got an owner spending 300,000gns at Book 1 for him! It’s miles away from where he was.”

having the piss taken out of them with how much it costs in relation to their returns.

“Finding a way to produce competitive prize-money is important and, for me, there probably is too much racing. I think the programme should be trimmed to increase competitiveness, but then add to the programme when the demand is there.

“I know you can’t reduce the fixtures owned by the racecourses, but why not – apart from cards that have that historic, set programmes, like Royal Ascot –reduce every card to six races, but let it be seven or eight if races can divide?”

Do not expect divisions in the Dixon camp anytime soon given they are extremely close and speak every day, and not just once.

“Perhaps weirdly, I think we had only one fight as kids; we were always together and rarely fell out,” remembers Chris. “The biggest enjoyment of doing this is that I’ve done it with Martin. Nothing was handed to us, there were no legs up, and I think we’ve done well and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved.”

Anyone watching on TV or looking at the results of their horses would surely agree.

First foals Market TEST

Led by champions Baaeed and Flightline, the 2023 intake of sires was one of the deepest for several years – now it’s time for their first foals to come under market scrutiny at the winter sales

Words: Nancy Sexton

Few sectors of the market are scrutinised as heavily as first-crop sires, and for many of them that begins with the foal sales. This year’s collection are a deep group headlined by champion Baaeed, while in the US, Keeneland and Fasig-Tipton play host to the first foals by Horse of the Year Flightline.

Interestingly, many of the stallions in question are extremely well represented this year, meaning that it likely won’t take long for the market to make its judgement.

GROUP 1 STARS BAAEED

Sea The Stars - Aghareed Stands at Beech House Stud 162 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of £80,000

No European first-crop stallion will be as eagerly watched this sales season as Baaeed, a champion backed up by the famous Height Of Fashion family. Officially rated the best European horse since Frankel on a figure of 135, the

Shadwell homebred swept six Group 1 races – the Prix du Moulin, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Lockinge Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes, Sussex Stakes and Juddmonte International – and covered a star-studded first book of mares as a result, among them Group 1 winners and/or producers such as Deirdre, Galicuix, Nazeef, Search For A Song and The Fugue.

Baaeed’s first foal to hit public auction, a colt out of North American Grade 3 winner Fahan Mura, realised the equivalent of $320,000 at the JRHA Select Sale in Japan in July. That’s a high bar to match but there’s no doubt that the 11 representatives across Tattersalls and Goffs will undergo intense scrutiny, especially as they include those out of Groupwinning mares such as Realtra and Waliyak.

BILL SELWYN

Bayside Boy: top miler has been well supported at Ballylinch Stud

BILL SELWYN

All eyes will be on the first foals by Shadwell’s champion Baaeed

BAYSIDE BOY

New Bay - Alava Stands at Ballylinch Stud

134 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €15,000

Having cultivated New Bay’s stud career to such good effect, Ballylinch Stud now turns its attention to one of his best sons, Bayside Boy.

The Kilkenny operation actually bred Bayside Boy and campaigned him in partnership with Teme Valley, in whose colours he won the Champagne Stakes as a two-year-old and the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on his swansong at three.

One of the best two-year-olds of his generation who developed into a Group 1-winning miler at three, Bayside Boy was understandably well supported in his first season, particularly by his home base who sent him around 15 mares.

BLACKBEARD

No Nay Never - Muirin Stands at Coolmore Stud

195 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €25,000

Blackbeard was the busiest first-year stallion in Europe of 2023 and as such is well represented across Goffs and Tattersalls thanks to 38 entries.

There are no fewer than 24 lots catalogued to Goffs, among them the half-brother to this season’s Flying Scotsman Stakes winner Benevento and Grade 2 scorer Eternal Hope, and a filly out of the Classic-placed Princess Sinead. Another 14 at Tattersalls include the halfsiblings to stakes-winning two-year-olds Beckford and Enchanting Empress.

Blackbeard, of course, was a hardknocking, precocious two-year-old who captured the Prix Morny and

Middle Park Stakes for Aidan O’Brien. From the ever-popular Scat Daddy sire line via No Nay Never, he possesses many of the ingredients to capture the commercial imagination.

MINZAAL

Mehmas - Pardoven Stands at Derrinstown Stud

161 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €15,000

At 140,000gns, Minzaal was the second most expensive yearling to sell from the first crop of Mehmas, an outlay that he went on to justify for Shadwell when winning the Gimcrack Stakes as a twoyear-old and Haydock Sprint Cup at four.

Minzaal was a driving force behind the early rise of Mehmas, today regarded as a premier source of juvenile talent. It’s a sire line currently going from strength to

First foals

strength, something which should stand Minzaal in good commercial stead. As it is, he has plenty of opportunity to get the industry chatting as the sire of 54 foal sale entries in Britain and Ireland; 34 in Goffs and another 20 in Tattersalls. They include the half-siblings to Prix Jean Romanet winner Aristia (a filly) and Prix Robert Papin winner Atomic Force (a colt), both of whom are catalogued to Goffs.

NAVAL CROWN

Dubawi - Come Alive

Stands at Kildangan Stud 119 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €15,000

Naval Crown was an extremely quick son of Dubawi who landed his Group 1 victory in the Platinum Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. Also second in the July Cup, he was a versatile performer who was Group 3-placed at two and fourth in the 2,000 Guineas over a mile at three.

From the famous Kilfrush Stud family of Truly Special also responsible for last year’s Oaks heroine Soul Sister, Naval Crown attracted the support of a range of commercial breeders in his first season and is duly well represented at the foal sales, particularly at Goffs, where his 24 entries include a half-brother to the Prix de l’Abbaye winner A Case Of You.

PERFECT POWER

Ardad - Sagely

Stands at Dalham Hall Stud 133 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of £15,000

This admirable son of Ardad was a busy and early two-year-old for Richard Fahey who won the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot before pulling off the Prix MornyMiddle Park Stakes double. He wasn’t just a two-year-old, however, since he returned at three to win the Greenham Stakes over seven furlongs on his seasonal debut before switching back to sprinting to take the Commonwealth Cup.

A fast and precocious horse, Perfect Power is a typical product of the Kodiac line, one of the most commercial of its time, all of which should make him popular with pinhookers; indeed, he has 26 entries in the Tattersalls December Sale.

SEALIWAY

Galiway - Kensea

Stands at Haras de Beaumont 157 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €12,000

Launched by young operation Haras de Beaumont, Sealiway was the busiest

new stallion in France of 2023. Such a response came off the back of a racing career that featured an eight-length win in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and victory in the Champion Stakes at Ascot, in which he defeated the Classic winners Mishriff and Adayar.

Also playing in his favour is the fact Sealiway is the first major son to stud of Galiway, an ascendant stallion under both codes. His immediate family has also been enhanced in the past year or so by the exploits of his full-brother, the Group 1-winning two-year-old and Classic-placed Sunway.

“Such a race record is testament to Stradivarius’ durability”

STATE OF REST

Starspangledbanner - Repose Stands at Rathbarry Stud 115 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €25,000

Few horses have clocked up as many miles in their racing careers as State Of Rest – and then thrived off it. Trained in Ireland by Joseph O’Brien, the hardy son of Starspangledbanner won the Saratoga Derby in the US before

heading to Australia, where he captured the Cox Plate against older horses. At four, he returned to land the Prix Ganay in France ahead of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, in which he defeated Bay Bridge. Indeed, he is the only horse to win three consecutive Group 1 races on three different continents.

State Of Rest has the backing of a powerful group that includes Rathbarry Stud, the China Horse Club and SF Bloodstock. Between them, Rathbarry and the China Horse Club sent around 25 mares to the horse in his first season, while another eight came from his breeder Tinnakill House Stud. There is a particularly well-related group of foals on offer at Tattersalls, including a half-brother to Japan Derby winner Deep Brillante and a filly who is closely related to this season’s Prix de Diane runner-up Survie.

STRADIVARIUS

Sea The Stars - Private Life Stands at The National Stud 120 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of £10,000

There will be plenty of opportunity for onlookers to feast their eyes on the first foals by this iconic performer given he possesses 15 entries in the Tattersalls December Sale, among them a halfsister to Group 2 winner Tour To Paris and a half-brother to Listed winner Biographer, who is a grandson of blue hen Korveya.

Stradivarius was a remarkable horse over the course of seven seasons for

Persian Force: tough two-year-old stands alongside his sire Mehmas at Tally-Ho Stud

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First foals

his breeder Bjorn Nielsen and trainer John Gosden. He won no fewer than 18 Group races, more than any other European horse, of which seven came at the highest level. That septet included three Gold Cups at Royal Ascot, an achievement that placed him among the pantheon of great stayers. Such a race record is testament to his physical and mental durability, while he is backed up by an excellent Wildenstein pedigree that goes back to the Oaks and King George heroine Pawneese. As if that wasn’t enough, he comes with a number of lucrative bonuses attached; for instance, the breeder of any first-crop Group 1 winner in Britain, Ireland or France will receive £250,000, while the breeders of any Group 2 and Group 3 scorers will each be rewarded with £100,000.

Bjorn Nielsen (left) has attached several lucrative incentives to Stradivarius

THUNDER MOON

Zoffany - Small Sacrifice

Stands at Haras de Bouquetot 47 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €6,000

Thunder Moon was an excellent twoyear-old for Joseph O’Brien who scaled Group 1 heights when winning the National Stakes on his second start. Subsequently third in the Dewhurst Stakes, Thunder Moon added a further Group 1 bracket to his record the following year when second in the Prix Jean Prat.

A son of the much-missed Zoffany, he is a member of the Moyglare Stud Farm family of Trusted Partner showcased to such good effect again this year by Kyprios.

Thunder Moon has been very much the

domain of French-based breeders to date, so expect him to be well represented at the Arqana December Sale.

TORQUATOR TASSO

Adlerflug - Tijuana

Stands at Gestut Auenquelle 85 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €20,000

Three-time Group 1 winner Torquator Tasso is arguably the most exciting horse to retire to stud in Germany for many years. A son of Adlerflug, who was just gaining a belated appreciation by the wider bloodstock world at the time of his death in April 2021, Torquator Tasso’s racing record was underpinned by a durability that saw him win six of 16 starts headlined by the Arc, in which he flew home to defeat Tarnawa and

First foals

Hurricane Lane.

Also making him of interest is the fact he hails from the Allegretta clan made famous by the deeds of its stallion representatives such as Galileo, Sea The Stars and Tamayuz. Given that Adlerflug is a grandson of Allegretta’s sister Alya, Torquator Tasso is actually inbred to the family. With all that in mind, perhaps he will be the one to perpetuate the Adlerflug line.

CLASS SPEED

CATURRA

Mehmas - Shoshoni Wind Stands at Overbury Stud 109 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of £6,500

From the team that developed Ardad comes another fast, commercially-bred horse in Caturra.

A precocious and tough two-yearold, Caturra was saddled by Clive Cox to win the Flying Childers Stakes at Doncaster and Rose Bowl Stakes at Newbury, while at three he acquitted himself well against older sprinters when third in the King George Stakes.

He has been well supported by both his connections, who bought a number of mares specifically to go to the horse, and British breeders, and he duly has a good-sized collection of 31 lots to represent him at Tattersalls.

DUBAWI LEGEND

Dubawi - Lovely Pass Stands at Starfield Stud 122 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €6,500

An affordable yet high-class Dubawi option, Dubawi Legend backed up an impressive winning debut for Hugo Palmer by running second in the

Dewhurst Stakes to Native Trail. That performance made him the second highest-rated two-year-old of his generation, and he added further to his record the following year when successful in a German Group 3 sprint.

He’s supported by a strong pedigree, as you would expect for a son of Dubawi, and was understandably one of the more popular Irish-based sires of this intake.

PERSIAN FORCE

Mehmas - Vida Amorosa Stands at Tally-Ho Stud

133 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €10,000

Having developed Mehmas into an international force, Tally-Ho Stud now offer one of his best sons in Persian Force. The Mehmas breed tend to be tough, precocious individuals and that perfectly sums up Persian Force, whose juvenile campaign spanned from March, when he won the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster, to November, when he ran fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Keeneland. In between he emulated his sire by winning the July Stakes and was also placed in the Prix Morny, Phoenix Stakes and Coventry Stakes.

Persian Force has the backing of his owner Amo Racing and Tally-Ho Stud, but outside breeders also threw their weight behind him judging by the entries to the Goffs November Sale, where his 44 representatives include the half-brothers to Italian Oaks winner Tomiko and Group 3-winning sprinter Extortionist.

SPACE TRAVELLER

Bated Breath - Sky Crystal Stands at Starfield Stud 186 mares covered in 2023 at a fee of €6,500

Space Traveller stood his first season at Ballyhane Stud, where he covered close to 190 mares, including plenty belonging to Rathbride Farm, the Irish arm of Steve Parkin’s Clipper Logistics.

Space Traveller carried Parkin’s colours to victory in five of 25 starts, headed by the Solonaway and Jersey Stakes during an excellent season at three. Later transferred to the US, he went on to run Grade 1-placed twice, notably when second in the Frank E Kilroe Mile.

A member of the successful Crystal Spray family, Space Traveller is particularly well represented at Goffs, where he has 35 entries.

American market ready to take flight

Breeders are spoilt for choice when it comes to first-crop sires in North America. The bloodstock world will be watching the reaction to the first Flightline foals but, even without his presence, it is still an extremely deep group that ranges from fellow champion Epicenter to Classic winners Early Voting and Mandaloun.

Flightline retired to Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky as one of the iconic racehorses of the recent era. That reputation was earned despite the fact that the son of Tapit ran just the six times. Yet he was brilliant, reeling off four consecutive Grade 1 victories for trainer John Sadler, capped by a devastating performance in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland. Six lengths was his smallest winning margin in Grade 1 company, while his eight-and-aquarter length victory in the Classic over fellow Grade 1 winners Life Is Good, Rich Strike, Olympiad and Happy Saver is the widest margin ever recorded in the race.

Shortly after his Breeders’ Cup romp, a 2.5 per cent fractional interest in the horse was put up for auction at the Keeneland November Sale. Until then, various industry estimates had placed Flightline’s value at $50-75 million. The sale of the interest changed all that, with Fred Seitz’s winning bid of $4.6m on behalf of Travis Boersma setting the horse’s value at an astronomical $184m.

Flightline stood his first season for $200,000 and mares in foal to him averaged $946,429 at last year’s Keeneland November Sale.

A $1 million yearling himself, expect to see fierce competition for his representatives this month at Fasig-Tipton, where he has three foals catalogued, and Keeneland, where there are six.

As it is, Flightline has already hit the headlines this year thanks to the sale of two foals that sold for the equivalent of $1.3m at the JRHA Select Sale in Japan.

It promises to be a big year for Coolmore’s Ashford Stud division with no fewer than four young horses – all of them Grade 1 winners – to launch commercially.

Sealiway (left): popular in France

BILL SELWYN

Flightline is out on his own in the Breeders’ Cup Classic

The busiest of the quartet was the Uncle Mo horse Golden Pal, a brilliantly fast turf sprinter for Wesley Ward whose eight stakes victories included the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. He covered close to 300 mares at a fee of $30,000 in his first season and is duly represented by no fewer than 54 entries to the Keeneland November Sale.

Travers Stakes winner Epicenter, a son of the hugely popular Not This Time who also ran second in the Kentucky Derby, was another popular horse at his first-year fee of $45,000 as the recipient of 262 mares, as was the multiple Grade 1-winning sprinter Jack Christopher ($45,000), whose debut book featured 247 mares. The latter stands alongside his venerable sire Munnings, to whom he bears a close resemblance.

The quartet is rounded out by a champion two-year-old in Corniche, a son of Quality Road who stood his first season for $30,000.

Coolmore also launched the Preakness Stakes winner Early Voting, a son of the red-hot Gun Runner. He was popular with breeders at $25,000 but ran into fertility problems bad enough to prompt his removal from

service. Taylor Made Stallions have since taken a chance on the sire and have seemingly been rewarded, given his second book consisted of 77 mares. Despite the issues with his debut season, he still has 29 entries to the Keeneland November Sale.

Flightline wasn’t the only six-figure new stallion of 2023. Flamboyant front-runner Life Is Good was well received at $100,000 in his first season at WinStar Farm off the back of a career that featured four Grade 1 wins led by the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. A well-bred son of champion sire Into Mischief, he has an eyecatching collection of 17 foals catalogued across Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland.

Juddmonte Farms, meanwhile, offers another son of Into Mischief in Mandaloun, winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby on the disqualification of Medina Spirit. Another to break the 200-mare barrier in his first season, in his case as the recipient of 211 at a fee of $25,000, he hails from Juddmonte’s Daring Diva family currently in the news courtesy of Bluestocking.

Meanwhile, Gainesway Farm, which is on a high via the deeds of its exciting young stallion McKinzie, compiled

a book of 228 mares for the first book of its next horse in the pipeline, Olympiad ($35,000). A good-looking son of Speightstown who commanded $700,000 as a yearling, Olympiad gained his Grade 1 win in the Jockey Club Cup and also ran second to Flightline in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. With 44 entries to the Keeneland November Sale, there will be plenty of opportunity for him to make an early commercial mark.

Spendthrift Farm is never far away from the action and in Grade 1 winners Jackie’s Warrior ($50,000), the first horse to win Grade 1 races at three consecutive Saratoga meetings, Arkansas Derby and Haskell Invitational scorer Cyberknife ($30,000) and Belmont Stakes hero Mo Donegal ($20,000), they launched three extremely popular horses. Cyberknife, another top son of Gun Runner, has already supplied a sale-topping youngster in a colt who sold for $210,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale.

Darley’s Speaker’s Corner ($20,000) also promises to be popular as a wellbred son of Street Sense who won the Carter Handicap.

BILL SELWYN

Ahmad Al Shaikh

The price is RIGHT

Dubaian owner Ahmad Al Shaikh has forged a reputation for purchasing high-class horses without shelling out huge sums – so what is the secret to his success at the sales?

Words: Edward Rosenthal

How do you buy a Derby horse for under 50 grand – then repeat the trick over and over again?

It’s a question put to Ahmad Al Shaikh, who is discussing his approach to sourcing runners at Tattersalls during Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale.

The previous week’s Book 1 offerings caused a sensation at Park Paddocks, with demand for top-level yearlings helping turnover hit 128.5 million guineas – up 33 per cent – over the three days, while a son of Wootton Bassett made 4.3m gns, in the process breaking the record for a colt at a European auction.

Yet Al Shaikh is not interested in contributing to the stratospheric prices made in the ring. He has a limit – 80,000gns at Tattersalls – and won’t budge on that number. And why should he?

The owner’s Hoo Ya Mal, who chased home the ill-fated Desert Crown in the 2022 Derby, was purchased for just 40,000gns. Khalifa Sat, second to Serpentine in the 2020 Blue Riband, cost €40,000.

efforts. Deira Mile picked up a further £40,000 when fourth in the St Leger.

“I buy the right horses at the right prices in England,” Al Shaikh says, pointing to his sales catalogue, which has 25 lots circled as possible purchases. “That is my strategy. If I enjoy what I do, why would I want to pay £1 million for a horse? I’m not in this for business – it is my hobby and I’m in it for enjoyment.

“If I like a horse here and the bidding stops at 5,000gns, I’ll take it. But if one I like goes to even 81,000gns, I’ll move on to the next one.

“I’m not in this for business –it is my hobby and I’m in it for enjoyment”

“These people who pay so much money – I wish them all the best, but perhaps if Amo [Racing] and others aren’t there, I would be able to buy that horse for 40,000gns! If the big guns are here, the 300,000-guinea horse can become a 2 million-guinea horse.

In June Al Shaikh watched his colours carried by two Derby runners, Deira Mile and Sayedaty Sadaty, as they finished fourth and fifth behind City Of Troy. The duo set the owner back 47,000gns and €30,000 respectively – they collected £125,000 combined for their Epsom

“I study the pedigrees and know what I want. From these horses I will buy something that suits my budget – I’m not just going to see what’s cheap and buy that. If I buy one it will be from my list.”

Tattersalls is an appropriate venue to sit down with Al Shaikh as his ownership journey started at Park Paddocks.

A Dubai native who is a businessman and manages property in the Emirate, Al Shaikh was working for the Dubai

Ahmad Al Shaikh bought three yearlings at Books 1 and 2 of the October Sale at Tattersalls

Ahmad Al Shaikh

High-class two-year-old Green Storm chases home Starzintheireyes in the Zetland Stakes at Newmarket in October

government in its media department when he was introduced to Sheikh Mohammed in the early 1980s.

Having accompanied the Maktoum family on numerous trips to Europe –“I’ve been coming here since the days of Old Vic and Nashwan” – Sheikh Mohammed bought Al Shaikh a Cape Cross yearling filly in 2007.

Named Spirit Of Dubai, she became a Listed winner and later produced Emaraaty Ana, who claimed the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes in Al Shaikh’s silks before taking the Group 1 Sprint Cup at Haydock for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid.

“It all started from there,” relates Al Shaikh, 62, who is married with five children between the ages of 24 and 31, his two sons having accompanied him on his latest visit to Newmarket. “Sheikh Mohammed saw that I liked horses and he gave me Spirit Of Dubai as a gift.

“I still talk to him although I don’t advise him any longer. But he is still my ruler and boss – he is a brilliant man. There’s no-one else like him in the world.”

While being gifted Spirit Of Dubai was a fortunate beginning in the thoroughbred world, Al Shaikh has certainly made his own luck subsequently.

A love of distance races means he eschews speedy, commercial types in favour of staying pedigrees, which has enabled the owner to secure any number of bargains.

Al Shaikh, who makes up his own shortlists ahead of the sales, explains: “I always go back to the third dam – I look at the third dam more than the first and second dam. This is my policy.

“I want to win the Derby – it’s the number one race because of the prestige”

“I don’t like five- and six-furlong races; by the time I drink my coffee, the race is finished.

“I do everything myself – pedigree, physical – and if I like something I’ll ask Federico [Barberini, bloodstock agent] to look at the horse with me.

“When you buy for yourself, you take

more care. You think about how hard you’ve worked to earn your money and so you cannot throw it away. I try to put my money in the right place.”

He continues: “I like Camelot – I have luck with him. Every year I must have a Camelot.

“I want to win the Derby – it’s always the number one race because of the history and prestige. It is my dream. How long it will take I don’t know, but I will win it one day!”

True to his word, Al Shaikh bought a son of Camelot for 18,000gns at Book 2 to add to the two colts by Ghaiyyath and St Mark’s Basilica secured at Book 1 for 60,000gns and 50,000gns.

The Ghaiyyath colt is out of Khalifa Sis, a full-sister to Khalifa Sat, who is now based at Lacken Stud in Ireland.

Ireland is also the destination for Dubai Mile (see next page), who cost the princely sum of €20,000 and provided Al Shaikh with Group 1 glory in the 2022 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. He stood his first season this year at Manton Park.

Al Shaikh’s talent for unearthing high-class staying horses has ensured a high level of interest from overseas buyers, mainly Australian-based owners hoping to bag a potential Melbourne Cup contender.

Dave Stack, Manager +353 86 2314066 Info@Coolagown.ie Coolagown Stud, Fermoy, Co.Cork, Ireland. P61 D320 Breeders will have something to celebrate this November ‘New Stallion Announcement Imminent’

‘New Stallion Announcement Imminent’ ‘New Stallion Announcement Imminent’

Ahmad Al Shaikh

Hoo Ya Mal sold for £1.2m at the Goffs London Sale in 2022 while the likes of Youth Spirit and Hello Deira also commanded impressive sums when returned to the sales ring.

Others, such as Sayedaty Sadaty, have been sold privately, enabling Al Shaikh to continue his love affair with British racing.

He says: “For six years I’ve not had to put my hand in my pocket – after I sell the horses, the money covers my training costs.

“Lots of people ask me how I do it –including trainers! What can I tell them? It’s my hobby, my luck.

“I came second in a Group 3 at Newmarket with a horse [Green Storm, subsequently runner-up in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud on October 27] I bought for €12,000. He is my Derby horse.

“His dam [Banimpire] was a Group 2 winner with a big pedigree. Why didn’t people want to buy him?

“After he won his maiden by nine lengths, I had three enquiries about him and decent offers. I had a think about it, but I decided to keep him. Sometimes I prefer not to sell.”

Al Shaikh, whose runners race in his own name and also under the banner of Green Team Racing, continues: “When I buy, I’m never thinking about selling. I’m buying to enjoy the horses.

“I’m in Britain for two and a half months over the summer. I enjoy this time with my family – it’s more important than money. My children often come with me to the races.”

David Simcock was Al Shaikh’s first trainer, sending out his Listed winner Desert Phantom, while the current roster includes Andrew Balding, Charlie Johnston, Simon and Ed Crisford, Owen Burrows and Kevin Philippart de Foy.

Communication with his trainers is a vital part of the ownership experience and Al Shaikh enjoys regular updates on his string.

“I talk with all my trainers two or three times a week,” he says. “Communication is very important –without it I won’t stay with a trainer.

“I don’t like it when somebody doesn’t answer the phone or call me back. I pay the bills and if they don’t want to talk to me, I’ll go somewhere else. But after you’ve moved the horses, they always call you to say sorry!”

In his other guise, Al Shaikh is also a small-scale breeder, with six broodmares stabled at Dukes Stud in Newmarket. The band includes Princess Salamah, dam of Al Shabab Storm, winner of a Group 3 at Baden-Baden in August.

‘He’s a strong horse and a fighter’

Ahmad Al Shaikh is excited by Dubai Mile’s potential as a stallion. The son of Roaring Lion, who stood his first season this year at Manton Park, will relocate across the Irish Sea for 2025.

In five runs as a two-year-old, Dubai Mile won three times, showing his talent and tenacity with a head victory over Arrest in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. At three he was beaten just over five lengths in the 2,000 Guineas behind Chaldean, finishing ahead of the likes of Charyn and Auguste Rodin.

“Dubai Mile won on good to firm, heavy and on the all-weather,” Al Shaikh says. “As a two-year-old he

“When you win a race with a homebred you feel more enjoyment,” Al Shaikh explains. “You feel something different than when you buy at the sales.

“It’s a good feeling – you took time deciding which sire will suit the mare. You breed them, wait for them, see them improve. He was the first to win from the mare, so it was a very proud moment.

“One of my best days in racing came when Khalifa Sat was second in the Derby – it was like we’d won! Andrew [Balding] didn’t want to run him but I

won a Group 1 – you cannot easily find a horse like him. I hope people recognise that.

“He’s now standing in Ireland and that’s where the better mares are. Irish people like a fighter – and Dubai Mile was a real fighter. I think they will support him. He’s a good-looking, strong horse, and I’m confident he’ll be a success.

“I feel proud to have made a stallion. That’s one of the most important things in this sport. I cannot wait for his first runners in three years’ time and I’m very happy to be supporting him and sending mares to him.”

did. He also had the favourite Kameko in the race and said Khalifa Sat didn’t need to run.

“I pushed him to run my horse – I came second and Kameko finished fourth! I like Andrew, he is one of my best trainers and I always go with what he says, except on that occasion.”

As the old saying goes, racehorses don’t know how much they cost.

Ahmad Al Shaikh’s strategy is proof that backing your own judgement can take you a long way in the Sport of Kings.

Dubai Mile: relocating to Ireland for 2025

Brightwalton Stud Hobby on A HIGH

From the victory of star homebred Makarova in the Prix de l’Abbaye to a sale-ring high at Tattersalls, it’s been a memorable month for Jeffrey and Phoebe Hobby’s Brightwalton Stud

Words: James Thomas

Owner-breeders are, by their very nature, an optimistic bunch. But if they were handing out awards for the most enthusiastic around, Jeffrey Hobby would be a short-priced favourite to collect. The man behind Brightwalton Stud in West Berkshire is rarely seen without a pep in his step, and recent events have given him more reason to smile than usual. If he wasn’t high on life before, he certainly is now.

Hobby and his wife, Phoebe, enjoyed their first taste of homebred Group 1

success when the likeable and steadily progressive Makarova brought the curtain down on her racing career with a clear-cut victory over Bradsell in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp on Arc day. Then, just three days later, a barnstorming renewal of Book 1 at Tattersalls saw Brightwalton realise its biggest ever price in the sales ring when Godolphin gave 750,000gns for a Lope De Vega colt sold through Barton Stud.

And, as if to prove that Hobby could practically walk on water during the first few days in October, sandwiched

Jeffrey Hobby (second left) and connections celebrate Makarova’s win in the Prix de l’Abbaye

Brightwalton Stud homebred Makarova storms to victory in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp

between those two triumphs was another success, albeit at a more routine level, when Fernando, the first foal out of a halfsister to Makarova, opened his account at Yarmouth. Hobby says he does not bet, but he could be forgiven for buying a lottery ticket after such a red-hot run of form.

Most questions throughout the course of this interview are met with an effervescent response. However, when asked what that breakthrough Group 1 victory meant, the reply is uncharacteristically brief. “It’s unbelievable, it means everything,” he says gesturing to the tear in his eye and the lump in his throat. “It’s the whole dream.”

And the dream has been a lifetime in the making. Although Hobby has ploughed his own particularly successful furrow in the commercial property business, he is not some flash Harry who got rich and bought his own farm. He was born into the bloodstock world having grown up at his parents’ Hillwood Stud, meaning he

has ridden enough of the lows to realise just how hard it is to reach that Group 1-winning high.

“I was hunting mad and worked on the stud prepping yearlings and helping the

“It’s unbelievable, it means everythingit’s the whole dream”

mares as a young boy,” he says. “That was my passion and what I was brought up with. My parents bred a good horse called Torus who went on to become a jumps stallion, so as a small kid I had a small share

in him. I got some money from Torus when I was 18 and that bought me my first really good hunter.

“We had a very good stud groom, John Thomas, who took it upon himself to share his knowledge. He always thought I’d take the stud on at home so he took me under his wing and trained me up. I was brought into conversations with the vets, he’d bring me to the sales and send me off when we had a horse by something like Caerleon and make me go look at all the others by the same sire and rank ours against the rest.”

Makarova is not the first instance of Hobby being involved with a top-notch sprinter, as he continues. “Paris House would’ve been one of the last horses I prepped,” he says. “I remember him as a foal – and him jumping the fence as a youngster. His mum was a nightmare! I remember foaling him, and within a few hours the hormones had subsided and she was properly savage.”

BILL SELWYN

››

Brightwalton Stud

Horses may have always been Hobby’s passion, but a connection with one of racing’s most famous families did not just provide company while out hunting, but some formative feedback that shaped his future relationship with the industry. “I was advised that property was a better career than horses,” he continues.

“I think it was Emma Balding that said that to me when I was young and we used to drag hunt together. Ian was a joint master of mine for years, so we used to do a lot of drag hunting with the Baldings. Andrew wasn’t so keen, but Clare and her parents came out a lot.”

Although the crossover between commercial property and breeding Group 1-winning racehorses may, in practical terms, be minimal to non-existent, Hobby says a similar mindset has underpinned success in both spheres.

“I did an estate management degree and ended up with my own business investing in commercial property,” he says. “I’m quite unusual as most people are agents but I buy on my own account and do it myself. I suppose it’s the same with horses as I don’t tend to do syndicates, I tend to invest on my own and do it myself.

“It’s probably a bit mad on both scores but I suppose I’m happy to take a bit of a gamble. I never bet but I’m undoubtedly a risk taker – at least I’m happy to take calculated risks. Buying and breeding horses is a big calculated risk, especially when you start buying nominations. As a mate pointed out to me the other day, he said ‘Trainers worry about buying horses on spec, but we breed them on spec!’

“We pay for stallions on spec in the hope we might get something out at the other end. You’re just hoping that when you get there with a foal or a yearling, or whatever your journey is with them, that there’ll be some success at the end of it. By nature that’s quite a lot of risk. But that’s breeding.”

While Hobby may be comfortable with

Brightwalton Stud today consists of around 230 acres

the idea of calculated gambles, the chain of events that led to the establishment of Brightwalton Stud was more down to serendipity than high-risk strategy.

“My parents always had horses but I went off to London for a few years so they took a back seat as I tried to progress my career,” he says. “I was living in Brightwalton and commuting to London, doing quite serious stuff in property, but still drag hunting every weekend. That was an absolute priority in life. When my family sold the farm at Aldbourne in 2000, the stud went with it, so I had hunters I needed to put somewhere.

“I rang up the man who owned the farm across the road and asked if I could buy a field off him. He said he wouldn’t sell me the field, but then rang up a couple of weeks later and spoke to my wife one snowy evening and said ‘You can tell your husband that I won’t sell him the field but he can buy the farm.’ I looked at it and thought it was a great opportunity. It was around 120 acres at the time, a former dairy farm with a couple of tumbled down barns and nothing else on it. So I set about building a stud farm from scratch.

“I’m a bit of a mad idiot really so I had this vision and just thought ‘Of course it’s going to happen.’”

Suffice to say, things were not quite so simple. But, after some significant wrangling over planning permission, Hobby set about laying the foundations for a high-end boutique thoroughbred nursery with all the mod-cons – and some of mother nature’s finest nourishment.

“It was a huge project,” he says. “It’s a very pretty farm and we’ve done it all from scratch. We’ve just bought the farm next door too, so we’re up to about 230 acres. It’s good chalk downland, which rears horses well. And the grass is the most important thing. Anyone can build some stables and buy a bag of feed, but actually the grass is what it’s about.”

Developing Brightwalton may have been a labour of love, but Hobby says he keeps a firm grip on the financials, along with the more day-to-day happenings.

“I’m not some billionaire, the stud has to work,” he says. “Now it doesn’t necessarily have to produce cash but I want to feel that at the end of the year the stock’s value has gone up and that we have horses that are justifying what we’re doing. It’s not run as a rich man’s toy to pour money into, it’s very much run along commercial lines.

“I’m pretty passionate about it, though,” he continues with some understatement. “I won’t pretend that I go out with a pitchfork and I won’t pretend I get on the tractor, but I’m there looking at the weanlings and the yearlings with the farriers and the vets, looking at the mares, attending the foalings when I can.

“We’re very hands-on and we live right next to the yard so I spend a lot of time there. The main office for the property business is on the farm, in order that I can be there keeping an eye on what’s going on. And we prep all our yearlings at home, which I really enjoy because you get to know the horses so well. I take a great interest in that, then Tom puts them through the ring.”

Tom is Tom Blain of Barton Stud, who has become a key cog in the machine.

“I first met Tom when we were selling in the Highflyer yard [at Tattersalls] around 11 years ago and he was next door,” says Hobby. “We got on well and he used to use me as a bit of a sounding board for a while. Then I started using him as a sounding board, and now we work together.

“I’m getting a bit old and grumpy for standing outside boxes for days on end so it’s easier to let Tom get on with selling our yearlings because he does it incredibly well.”

Another ally is bloodstock agent Matt Coleman. “I linked up with Matt shortly after he came off the Flying Start,” says

JEFFREY HOBBY

Jeffrey and Phoebe Hobby with Makarova

Hobby. “So Matt and I have worked together for a long time. He helps me buy the mares, helps with mating decisions and race planning, and is generally there to keep me on the straight and narrow.”

Coleman was also there when the Makarova story began in earnest back in July 2015 when her dam, Vesnina, was bought for 68,000gns. The mare had a somewhat unusual profile as she was out of a Listed-placed daughter of Russian Rhythm and by Sea The Stars, yet had won and been Group 3-placed over six furlongs as a two-year-old.

“Russian Rhythm was a great mare, and the Tesio theory is that when you have those really good racemares, often the talent skips a generation,” says Hobby. “Vesnina’s dam, Safina, was a decent racemare and was Listed placed, and Vesnina was her first daughter, so we could forgive her being a bit small.

“I liked her and thought she was athletic when I was taken to see her by Matt. Yes, she was slightly too small, but that made her affordable. If they’re perfect, you’ll go in the ring and find they’re too expensive.”

Hobby says he considers a range of factors and opinions when it comes to forming mating plans, although as Makarova, the result of Vesnina visiting Rathbarry Stud stalwart Acclamation proves, he is not afraid to go his own way when the mood strikes him.

“I take advice from Matt Coleman, Tom Blain is very helpful too, and my wife has some strong views as well,” he says. “So

“It’s always a balancing act of physical, pedigree, risk, return and cost”

I usually sit down, distil it all and then do what I like! Acclamation was deemed a bit left field when I came up with that. It’s always a balancing act of physical, pedigree, risk, return and cost.”

Makarova ran 28 times over the course of four seasons in training with Ed Walker. Although she ended up winning at the very highest level, it would be fair to say she was not an instant hit. Her first of five victories came in a Salisbury handicap off an official mark of just 68 on her first attempt at sprinting. Despite those humble beginnings, she never looked back as

her record went on to include wins in the Listed Land O’Burns Stakes and the Group 3 Coral Charge, while she was third in the Flying Five Stakes for good measure.

“She’s a bloody tough filly,” Hobby says. “I loved her as a foal and as a yearling. She went a bit clumpy and had a bit of a growth spurt as a two-year-old. Other people didn’t love her quite so much at that stage, but I kept saying she’s got it in her and I always believed in her. She’s just gradually built and we’ve persevered with her, and what a journey. It means everything to me.”

Some in Hobby’s position might be tempted to move Makarova on in return for a hefty payday. Her breeder won’t hear a word of it, though.

“I’ve been fairly clear I don’t want to sell her,” he says firmly. “I’m not a big trader. In property I don’t sell all that often; in the past I’ve gone 12 years without selling anything. I’m more of a collector by nature. Why sell your dream? I understand there are a number of people who would be keen to buy her but I don’t really want an offer because I don’t want to deal with that.”

All of which leads to the inevitable question about which stallion Hobby has in mind for his Group 1 winner. “I’m going around in circles,” he says. “There are some obvious choices and I know she’d be well received, but I’ve just got to get my head straight and work out a plan. I need to get the filly home and have a good look at her before we make any decisions.”

The Brightwalton broodmare band contained 14 names in 2024, including the homebred Group 3 winner Maid Up. Makarova is not the only new addition for the 2025 breeding season, as Hobby has also retired Sea Of Thieves, who carried home silks to victory in the Listed Prix Maurice Zilber. His portfolio will also include around half a dozen racehorses

spread between his local trainers Walker, Hughie Morrison and Paul and Oliver Cole.

Makarova has already helped Hobby realise one dream, and her presence in the Brightwalton broodmare band may yet define what comes next. Asked what his ambitions are for his operation, he says: “As an owner-breeder I’d love to breed a Derby winner, but it’s unlikely I’d still own the horse. Whereas there’s a chance I might still own an Oaks winner, so that’s what I’d really like to breed. But a winner in a Yarmouth nursery is still exciting to me. A winner’s a winner.”

If this year is anything to go by, more winners is the least Hobby can expect.

“There’s plenty of headwinds and being an owner-breeder is a hard thing to do,” he says. “I’m lucky in so much as I can probably flatter myself and call myself a horseman. So many people have stud farms in Britain and they come to it later in life through racing and don’t really have that basic horse knowledge, but I think you need that because there’s plenty of lows too.”

For a moment his mood appears to darken. “We had a brutal year a couple of years back when we lost a number of mares and foals, we had problems with contracted tendons and colics. It just goes like that sometimes, but it’s still brutal. You have to pick yourself up and remember the good times. And that’s why the good times are so good, because you’ve had enough of the lows. It’s a bit like a drug I suppose! The comedown means you need to go back to it.

“I’ve always had a passion for horses and, fundamentally, that’s what drives it. I love racing, but for me it’s much more about breeding and the horses.”

And with that normal service is resumed. If Hobby is not high on life, he’s certainly high on his horses. And after the season he’s had, who can blame him?

Breeding an Epsom Classic winner is high on the list of ambitions for Jeffrey Hobby

BAYSIDE BOY.

THE RECORD

TOP CLASS AT 3

1st Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes defeating Gr.1 winners MODERN GAMES and INSPIRAL

PRECOCIOUS AT 2

1st Gr.2 Champagne Stakes

3rd Gr.1 Dewhurst Stakes

3rd Gr.1 Futurity Trophy Stakes

GROUP 1 WINNING MILER

with

SPEED TO BURN SPEED TO BURN

THE SPEED

RAN THE FINAL TWO FURLONGS FASTER THAN KINROSS IN THE SPRINT FASTER THAN BAAEED IN HIS QEII & OF THE QUEEN ELIZABETH II STAKES

THE PRECOCITY

Ran the best debut performance of the entire 2019 2yo crop with a of 105 before winning the Gr.2 Champagne Stakes

Don’t miss his First Crop of Foals selling at &

Breeders’ Digest

Nancy Sexton Bloodstock Editor

October spending spree underlines Amo’s intent

Park Paddocks is invariably a bowl of anxiety when it comes to Tattersalls’ flagship October Sale. So when a lighter atmosphere, one of almost joviality, descended upon the grounds ahead of Book 1, there was suddenly the very real possibility that those naysayers, like myself, who believed that the market was on the fragile side would be put back in their box.

The initial positive outlook was fuelled by the number of Americanbased buyers in town. The October Sale has been a happy hunting ground for agent Mike Ryan for several years now but word has it that Tattersalls really pushed the boat out this year to attract other American faces, and as the results ultimately showed, it paid off.

What few people did foresee, however, was the level to which Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing helped drive the top end of the market.

Amo spent just over 19.5 million guineas under its own name at Book 1 and signed for another 2,565,000gns with Al Shaqab Racing. Joorabchian has been a big player for a number of years, especially when it comes to targeting the sharper type of horse capable of perhaps taking them to Royal Ascot. However, such an increase in spending, up from the 1,120,000gns spent through different agents the year before, is a firm signal to the world of the extent of its ambition.

That is particularly true given the collection of new yearlings includes five seven-figure lots, led by the 4,400,000gns Frankel filly out of Aljazzi and 4,300,000gns Wootton Bassett colt out of Park Bloom, whose valuation makes him the most expensive yearling colt ever sold in Europe. Joorabchian also came away with the Frankel sister to Alpinista at 2,500,000gns.

Joorabchian later went on the record to say that he had gone strong for the stock but happily so given their pedigrees would help him compete at the top end.

“We knew we had to pay this week,” he told ITV Racing. “We are competing against people that have been established for many years. A lot of the horses we bought, they were foal shares where people who were bidding against us were bidding 50 cents to the dollar.

And we knew we had to go for it because the only way for us really to compete is to get those high-pedigreed horses and we don’t have that level at the moment.

“It’s great for racing and I hope we’ve managed to trigger something where people go ‘oh wow, we can do that too’. I think it’s a shame always having just two or three people at the top. I hope we managed to lift it for the vendors – they really struggle sometimes – and I’m glad we managed to boost it for the whole market.”

Joorabchian’s participation did indeed trickle down through the market. But so did that from Sheikh Mohammed, whose Godolphin wound up as leading buyer over Amo Racing with 18 bought for just over 22 million guineas.

With Blandford Bloodstock also busy for its various high-profile clients, Zhang Yuesheng’s Yulong active on both sides of the coin as vendor and buyer, trainer Karl Burke signing for 3,015,000gns worth of stock and agent Federico Barberini increasing his spend to close to 3 million guineas, the top end of the market received a fuel injection that few could have predicted going in.

Tattersalls’ decision to cut the catalogue by 16 per cent to 449 horses also played its part. Quite simply, supply for once did not outstrip demand, and in turn that flowed down into Book 2 (where 93 horses made 200,000gns, smashing the previous record of 58 set in the 2022) and the first day of Book 3.

“It’s like being back in the States,” agent Alex Elliott was quoted as saying.”I

was at Saratoga and thought that was the strongest market I’ve seen – but Tatts have come back and said ‘hang on, hold my beer!’” I would concur with those thoughts. This year’s Keeneland September Sale was one of the strongest sales I’d been to in a long time, reminiscent of as far back as 2005 or 2006. However, that market is driven by different dynamics, notably prize-money that actually gives participants a chance to recoup costs, which is why it was so encouraging to see the domestic market, which doesn’t have that support, hold up so well. Books 1 and 2 were certainly the strongest European sales I’ve attended for many years.

“Everyone bashes our product,” commented agent Richard Brown. “But we all go racing all over the world and still the best racing is here, you can’t beat it. We still have the best product on earth and we should be proud of it. Being here has proved all that because there are buyers from all over the world here wanting our horses.”

The hope now is that this demand will trickle down into the foal market. Prior to Tattersalls, it had been a tricky year for some pinhookers and those trying to move on stock during Books 3 and 4 would probably attest to that idea too. On the other hand, huge rewards were forthcoming for those vendors with animals that ‘ticked all the boxes’. Look no further than Clifton Farm’s Sea The Stars colt out of Shahah, whose value rose from €50,000 as a foal to 510,000gns as a Book 1 yearling.

Kia Joorabchian, flanked by his team, in action during the Tattersalls October Sale

By Carl Evans

Amo spending helps fuel record Tatts October returns

Tattersalls October

Yearling Sale Book 1

Adjectives to describe an auction are hardly needed when the figures alone can induce a sense of incredulity.

Against a backdrop of pared-back prices over the past 18 months, turnover at this three-day sale shot up by a third to 128,533,000gns despite 77 fewer horses walking the ring. The average price gained 52 per cent at 370,501gns and the median grew by 39 per cent to a figure of 250,000gns.

Horses with a seven-figure valuation more than doubled year on year from seven to 16, and a son of Wootton Bassett set a European record for a colt at auction when changing hands for 4.3 million guineas.

Yet that was not enough for him to

claim the position of top lot, which fell to a 4.4m gns daughter of Frankel whose valuation was second only to the 5m gns paid for the Galileo filly Al Naamah 11 years earlier. The Wootton Bassett colt came from Al Naamah’s family.

If the three-day auction became a statistical hedonist’s dream it was no less fascinating for the high-end bidding duels, which resulted in a host of horses’ valuations going above and beyond their

TALKING POINT

vendors’ expectations. Invariably in the middle of these bouts, jabbing and weaving and landing a string of knockout blows, was the colourful Kia Joorabchian, who emerged onto the racing scene 20 years ago, but has become a major figure under his Amo Racing banner in the past three years. Known as a footballers’ agent –

• Twelve months ago trade at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale was said to be operating under ‘a lowered ceiling’.

In other words, high prices were not as high as they had been, yet just 12 months later the ceiling was smashed and the roof came off. How much of that was down to a first morning frenzy involving the ebullient buyer Kia Joorabchian and a sequence of hugely enviable pedigrees is hard to judge, but it certainly set the tone for all three days.

although he would have needed superstars Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe on his books to explain his spending at this sale – Joorabchian has enjoyed a share of high-profile racecourse success while maintaining a style of flamboyant conviction. Every sport likes characters, but this has led to a fair amount of jockey and trainer trading as he hired and then departed from a number of leading practitioners.

His sales ring involvement – motivated in part by the success of Amo Racing’s King Of Steel and Bucanero Fuerte who each have a future at stud – saw him go to £7.8m before failing to buy Prix de Diane winner Sparkling Plenty at the Goffs London Sale, while on the first morning of this auction he bought the

This Frankel filly became the most expensive yearling sold in Europe at 4,400,000gns

Zhang Yuesheng: active as buyer and seller

aforementioned Frankel filly top lot for 4.4m gns and a paternal half-sister for 2.5m gns. At the final session, he bought the record-priced Wootton Bassett colt, one of five seven-figure horses bought by Amo at this sale.

Part of Joorabchian’s spending could be explained by partnerships with other high-rollers, and at the sale’s conclusion he had invested just over 19.5m gns on 17 horses in the name of Amo Racing, plus 2.5m gns in a joint exercise with Qatar’s international racing and breeding operation Al Shaqab, and 800,000gns on one horse with that same organisation and Valmont.

Investing in stock on each of the three days meant Joorabchian’s bloodstock advisor Alex Elliott was in big demand from the media, but he is an affable man invariably willing to assist and provide a quote to suit the occasion. He looked as happy as a Derby-winning owner as the succession of big lots were chalked up.

The biggest hailed from Graham Smith-Bernal’s Newsells Park Stud having been foaled by the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes winner Aljazzi, a daughter of Shamardal bought for 1m gns in 2018 when her owners Imad Alsagar and Saleh Al Homaizi dispersed stock they shared. How Alsagar must wish he kept her for his growing Blue Diamond Stud operation on both sides of the Atlantic.

It was later revealed that Prix de l’Arc

de Triomphe-winning trainer Ralph Beckett will take charge of Aljazzi’s daughter, an interesting turn of events for the Hampshire-based handler who trained for Joorabchian, then didn’t when the owner removed ten horses to other trainers in 2021, but who subsequently found himself back in favour.

Another interesting training plan was revealed after Amo had bought a 2.5m gns Frankel full-sister to Arc winner Alpinista from breeder Kirsten Rausing. Sir Mark Prescott, one of Rausing’s longest-serving allies and who trained Alpinista, her dam Alwilda and granddam Albanova, was asked by Joorabchian to handle the yearling’s future and he cheerfully said yes. The pair had met for the first time the day before.

Joorabchian’s forthright views could make for some interesting conversations in Heath House over the next two years – and potentially add more fascinating

F Frankel – Aljazzi Newsells Park Stud

anecdotes to Sir Mark’s entertaining repertoire.

The Wootton Bassett colt gained by Amo at the final session was another utter blueblood, this time from the Burns family’s Lodge Park Stud. Its blue hen Park Express set in motion a train of high-profile sales, starting with the €430,000 exchange of her son New Approach. His top-level victories over ten and 12 furlongs and subsequent success at stud gave his family a wealth of publicity, and his half-sister Alluring Park provided a string of good-looking and

Book 1 Statistics

(including private sales)

Sold: 345 (89% clearance)

Aggregate: 128,533,000gns (+33%)

Average: 370,501gns (+52%)

Median: 250,000gns (+39%)

Amo Racing

C Wootton Bassett - Park Bloom Lodge Park Stud 4,300,000 Amo Racing

F Siyouni – Shambolic Newsells Park Stud 3,700,000 Godolphin

F Dark Angel – Futoon Grangemore Stud 2,900,000 Godolphin

F Camelot - Sense Of Style Camas Park Stud 2,900,000 Amo Racing

F Frankel – Alwilda Staffordstown 2,500,000 Amo Racing

C No Nay Never - Bella Estrella Ballylinch Stud 2,200,000 Godolphin

C Dubawi - Lady Bowthorpe Fittocks Stud 2,000,000 Godolphin

F Wootton Bassett - My Titania The Castlebridge Consignment 1,700,000 William Haggas

F Sea The Stars - Oriental Magic Kildaragh Stud 1,600,000 Godolphin

This son of Wootton Bassett set a new sales record for a colt when sold for 4,300,000gns

Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1

Kia Joorabchian: bought the top two lots

Sales Circuit

successful foals. One of them, Park Bloom, who won twice, foaled the Wootton Bassett colt, although this was not her first big-money foal. Twelve months ago her yearling daughter by Dubawi headed trade at Book 2 when selling to Godolphin for 725,000gns.

Other Amo Racing purchases included a 2.9m gns Camelot filly bred by Ben Sangster and consigned by Timmy Hyde’s Camas Park Stud, and a 1.1m gns Yulong-bred Frankel colt who was raised and consigned by David Cox of Baroda Stud.

To reach this far into a round-up of Book 1 and not mention Godolphin may seem like an oversight, but it is time to redress the balance. Sheikh Mohammed’s operation did finish as top purchaser once again, buying 18 yearlings for just over 22m gns. Twelve months ago Godolphin had bought 20 lots for just over 12m gns, another indication of astonishing trade at the latest Book 1.

Godolphin buys included a 3.7m gns Siyouni half-sister to Fillies’ Mile winner Ylang Ylang from Newsells Park Stud and a 2.9m gns Dark Angel full-sister to top miler Charyn – who landed the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes some ten days later. It is hard to believe their dam, Futoon, was bought for just 3,000gns as a two-yearold, but after a Listed placing was resold for 100,000gns to current owner Guy O’Callaghan of Grangemore Stud.

A 2.2m No Nay Never colt from Ballylinch Stud and a 2m gns Dubawi colt out of famous racemare Lady Bowthorpe

Tattersalls October

Yearling Sale Book 2

Book 1’s tsunami was subsiding when this yearling sale opened the following week, but the backwash was just as impactful. More record trade, a moving walkway of 200,000gns-plus horses and one who made a round seven-figure sum to set a new high for a Book 2 colt were all reflective of the jackpot results seen the previous week. It would have needed a soothsayer to predict such an outcome a

were others among eight seven-figure horses bought by Anthony Stroud on behalf of Godolphin, but the freespending was not limited to major racing/breeding operations. William Haggas’s 1.7m gns investment in a Wootton Bassett filly out of the Tsui family’s mare My Titania was made on behalf of Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy, revealed the Newmarket trainer.

Meanwhile, the Coolmore team who are such formidable buyers at top-end yearling sales were quiet by their standards. MV Magnier was, with Peter Brant, involved in six purchases valued at a total of 2.5m gns, plus another three horses in his own name worth just over 2m gns. At last year’s Book 1, Magnier’s name was attached to sales of 12 horses valued at just over 8.6m gns.

The pinhooking of yearlings is more

month earlier, but once big-spending Book 1 buyers had lit fires under the market, the likelihood of this sale feeling the warmth became an odds-on shot.

A seven points rise in the clearance rate to one of 92 per cent was a delight for vendors, while record turnover of nearly 69m gns was another dream result for Tattersalls. The average price soared into six-figure territory for the first time when settling just past 108,000gns while the median of 70,000gns equalled the

readily associated with Book 2 sales than among the peak-end trade found at the likes of Book 1, but credit must go to Sherbourne Lodge Stud’s Ger and Yvonne Kennedy, who travelled ten pinhooks to this sale and sold nine, with four reaching six-figure sums.

Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony barely needed to reach for superlatives to summarise this incredible sale at which 70 yearlings sold for 500,000gns or more. “The very top of the market has been outlandish,” commented Mahony. He added: “Every breeder, every consignor, every handler and all the teams back at the farms throughout Britain and further afield who have raised these yearlings; they have all played their part and they should be proud of the collective achievement, which is phenomenal.”

Charyn’s sister was one of several high-profile Godolphin purchases at 2,900,000gns

Sheikh Mohammed attended in person

Tony Fry: busy on behalf of Sumbe

record set two years ago.

No fewer than 93 of the 697 offered lots sold for 200,000gns or more – the previous best had been 58 in 2022 –while ten horses sold for 500,000gnsplus, which compares to just one at the sale last year.

Book 1 buyers were again active at the top end, their penchant for putting together partnerships enabling some to create considerable war chests, although that did mean some buyers, particularly pinhookers hoping to secure breeze-up horses, struggled to fill orders.

Yet it was the go-it-alone financial muscle of Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin which trumped rivals when it came to the sale-topper, a million guineas colt by young sire Kameko who headed a triumphant return to yearling consigning by David Redvers’ Tweenhills Farm and Stud. It has risen in prominence with the input of Qatar Racing’s Sheikh Fahad but his “slight change in direction” has led to a restructure in buying and selling.

The Kameko would probably have been retained when the Sheikh was more heavily involved a few years ago, but given that the yearling was destined to

be sold, the top-grade victory of his full-brother New Century in Woodbine’s Summer Mile was a superb update. Andrew Balding, who trains New Century for Qatar Racing, was keen to secure the yearling sibling, but Anthony Stroud had the final say on Godolphin’s behalf. No less poignant for the vendors was that first dam Potent Embrace died foaling this seven-figure colt.

Godolphin also gained a couple of sons of Sea The Stars, headed by one valued at 875,000gns whose sale at the first session continued a memorable tranche of recent yearling trade by Kirsten Rausing’s Staffordstown Stud, and another for 550,000gns, a careerhigh result for consignors Natalie Folland and Matt Bowen of Wiltshire-based Folland-Bowen Bloodstock. They sold the colt on behalf of breeder Fiona Marner.

Stroud Coleman Bloodstock had been leading buyer at this sale last year and it upped its game in terms of money spent and horses purchased when maintaining that position. Its 37 buys, nine more than

C Kameko - Potent Embrace Tweenhills

C Sea The Stars – Bighearted Staffordstown

C Territories - Never Change Oaks Farm Stables

F St Mark’s Basilica - Angelic Light Yeomanstown Stud

F Too Darn Hot - Lola Paige Appletree Stud

F Sea The Stars – Monaawara Stauffenberg Bloodstock

C Sea The Stars – Kitcarina Folland-Bowen Bloodstock

F Sea The Stars – Makawee Harry Dutfield

F Camelot - Fort Del Oro

Ballylinch Stud

C Acclamation – Mohassan Rathbarry Stud

last year, were bought for just over 8m gns, some 3m gns more than at the sale 12 months earlier.

The O’Callaghan family’s Tally-Ho Stud had been leading consignor in 2023, but while it matched its 28 sales on this occasion, it gave best to the Tom Blain-managed Barton Stud, which traded 29 horses for 3,120,000gns.

Night Of Thunder was leading sire by aggregate, narrowly ahead of fellow Darley sire Too Darn Hot, and with a notable average price of 273,000gns. Among the top ten sires that mark was only beaten by Sea The Stars, whose progeny sold for an average of 288,214gns.

Book 2 Statistics

(including private sales)

Sold: 643 (92% clearance)

Aggregate: 68,895,000gns (+26%)

Average: 108,413gns (+26%)

Median: 70,000gns (+13%)

Godolphin

Godolphin

Sumbe

Al Shaqab/Amo Racing

Al Shaqab/Amo Racing

The Thoroughbred Racing Corporation

Godolphin

Jason Kelly Bloodstock

MV Magnier

JS Bloodstock/G Scott Racing

Godolphin swooped for this 1,000,000gns colt by Kameko from Tweenhills Farm and Stud

This Sea The Stars colt sold for 875,000gns

Sales Circuit

Tattersalls October

Yearling Sale Books 3 & 4

‘A record-equalling price for a yearling and bought by Amo Racing’ could be a phrase from Books 1 or 2 of the 2024 October Sales.

In fact it derives from Book 3 at which Kia Joorabchian’s racing entity landed a Havana Grey filly for 200,000gns to equal the price paid for a daughter of Kodiac at the auction eight years earlier. Consigned by Whitsbury Manor Stud, the Havana Grey filly starred during the opening session at which 245 of 278 lots changed hands for a clearance rate of 88 per cent, up one percentage point.

However, at the lower-tier second session, the challenge of selling horses who failed to fit fashion or had weakness in pedigree or conformation was apparent in a 72 per cent clearance rate, which dragged the overall figure for both days down to 84 per cent – and later in the day the reality of trying to sell a Book 4 horse was underlined with a very poor clearance rate. Of 61 Book 4 horses, 33 found a buyer creating a clearance rate of 54 per cent, and no doubt leaving Tattersalls glad it had reduced the catalogue.

Smaller catalogues were the order for all four books, but once turnover of 8,140,200gns (-10 per cent) from Book 3 and 111,500gns (-49 per cent) from Book 4 were added to the sums achieved at the first two books, the aggregate for the October Yearling Sale was one of 204,561,700gns, up a remarkable 29 per cent. Chairman Edmond Mahony summed up the sense of shock that such turnover had been achieved when saying: “Not even the most incurable optimist would have predicted that in a period of two weeks, more than 200m guineas would be spent on yearlings at Tattersalls.”

In a further comment he conveyed sympathy for breeders whose yearlings had been difficult to sell on the final day, saying: “Not every sector of the market has been as robust as we would all like,” but he drew attention to some tremendous clearance rates for horses offered at the first two books and at the opening session of Book 3.

In addition to the aforementioned Havana Grey filly, that session also saw a Blue Point colt from New England Stud sell to breeze-up pinhooker Willie Browne for 150,000gns and a son of Time Test from the WH Bloodstock draft achieve a valuation of 110,000gns. That one was bought for Saudi Arabia’s Najd Stud by Nico Archdale.

Norman Williamson was another

breeze-up consignor who landed one of the higher-end lots, his 90,000gns offer securing a Havana Grey colt from Josh Cameron’s Dorset-based Daymark Stud.

The second session was headed by a National Stud-consigned Al Kazeem colt who was bought for 65,000gns by that stallion’s owner, John Deer of Oakgrove Stud. David Hilton, the stud’s manager, reported that 16-year-old Al Kazeem –whose aspirations to be a commercial stallion were thwarted by fertility issues – continues to successfully cover 15 to 20 mares a year, while the formbook shows he is getting winners, too. Hilton added: “He is a real owner-breeders stallion and a lovely horse to have around.” No doubt many small studs would love to have the

TALKING POINT

son of Dubawi on the premises.

Once Book 3 was completed, the Suffolk-based Barton Stud had taken another top-consignor award by selling 24 horses for 391,500gns, but special mention should go to Whitsbury Manor Stud, which traded seven horses for 353,00gns at an average of just over 50,000gns. Blandford Bloodstock accounted for six lots to become the leading purchaser.

Book 4 was headed by a 20,000gns colt from the first crop of Mickley Stud sire Ubettabelieveit. A son of Kodiac out of a two-year-old-winning daughter of Mujadil, Ubettabelieveit was a sharp juvenile who won a Listed race and then the Flying Childers Stakes.

• What an October Sale to go out on for Tattersalls’ long-serving Marketing Director Jimmy George.

In late September it was announced he was leaving his post at the end of this year to become Managing Director at the Newmarket-based International Racing Bureau, taking over from Alastair Donald. George joined the bloodstock department at Tattersalls in 1986 then moved into racing publishing to work for Thoroughbred Breeder magazine, the Directory of the Turf and later as editor of Pacemaker. In 2001 he returned to Tattersalls and a place on the board.

He has never climbed the steps onto the auctioneer’s podium – a pity, because his impish sense of humour would have made for some interesting moments – but his dedication to the sales company’s brand and his ability to converse with people from every corner of the bloodstock and racing industries (particularly within the world of Flat racing) made him synonymous with the fabled firm of auctioneers.

He leaves to join another important organisation within the sport, but for many he will always be synonymous with Tattersalls, and it is said he will maintain an association with the sales company in its dealings with overseas markets.

Bought for 200,000gns, this Havana Grey filly was another to join Amo Racing

Put those ingredients together and there is a good chance this £5,000 stallion could make a few waves when his first offspring hit the track next year. Breeze-up consignors are proving too shrewd to ignore him, and it was one of their number, FP Bloodstock, which bought the top lot.

Book 3 Statistics

Sold: 409 (81% clearance) Aggregate: 8,140,200gns (-10%)

19,976gns (+5%)

15,000gns (0%)

Book 4 Statistics

Sold: 33 (54% clearance)

Aggregate: 111,500gns (-49%)

Average: 3,379gns (-31%)

Median: 2,000gns (-43%)

Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Books 3 & 4

Goffs Orby Sale

Ireland’s leading yearling sale was the scene of some corking transactions, but after two years of improved turnover the reality of trading in 2024 could not be denied (at least until Tattersalls staged its October Sale with some stunning returns).

Turnover of more than €51m was down five per cent while the median mark of €80,000 was a fall of six per cent and two points were knocked off the clearance rate which achieved a figure of 85 per cent. Yet demand for the cream of the catalogue – which included a son and daughter of Frankel who made seven-figure sums – was strong enough to generate a four per cent increase in the average price to one of €128,027.

Goffs Chief Henry Beeby picked out the Frankel pair for comment at the sale’s conclusion, but added: “The top lots were

not one-offs though, and we have been delighted to see double the number making €750,000 and over, the same for €500,000 plus, and more for €250,000 or above compared to last year.”

Godolphin left with the Frankel duo and a €900,000 Sea The Stars colt – bred by the Tsui family and consigned by Harry McCalmont’s Norelands Stud – who finished third on the top-ten board. Sheikh Mohammed was not present to witness the Godolphin recruitment drive, but he was active as a buyer and in person at the subsequent Tattersalls Book 1 sale. Given events in the Middle East, his presence was an encouraging sign and evidence that,

more than 47 years after gaining his first victory in a race at Brighton, the Sheikh’s passion for racing and breeding remains strong.

Denis Brosnan’s Limerick-based Croom House sold the top lot, a colt by Juddmonte’s super sire and a first foal of the Listed-winner Loch Lein. Brosnan’s Epona Bloodstock bred that mare out of Ashley Hall, a Maria’s Mon filly bought by Brosnan at Keeneland November in 2008 for $825,000. She recouped that investment for Croom House through sales of her yearlings, and while Loch Lein was a 350,000gns buyback at that age in 2019, she has now repaid the decision not to let her go cheaply.

Croom House Stud’s Frankel colt topped the Goffs Orby Sale at €2 million

Imad Alsagar (left) of Blue Diamond Stud and the Irish National Stud’s Cathal Beale

Sales Circuit

Croom House also sold Godolphin a Wootton Bassett colt for €600,000 on its way to claiming top consignor honours through five sales worth an aggregate of €2,930,000.

The Frankel filly who proved best of her sex at €1m was a Kirsten Rausingbred half-sister to the very classy Sandrine having been foaled by the Pivotal mare Seychelloise. Consigned from Rausing’s Staffordstown operation in Ireland, this filly, like the colt, was knocked down to Godolphin’s front-ofhouse bloodstock purchaser Anthony Stroud. This significant sale for a Rausing-bred Frankel filly was a stepping stone to something bigger for the breeder – one and a half times bigger – at Tattersalls’ no.1 yearling sale.

Other notable sales at the Orby saw an €850,000 Blue Point filly join Agrolexica International, a little-known entity registered in Rotterdam and which in December at Arqana bought Gouache,

TALKING POINT

the dam of this year’s King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Goliath. He was but a Listed winner when Agrolexica picked her up for €200,000

• Bonuses attached to sales will always be a source of debate, not least for deciding whether they should be few in number, but very valuable, or numerically plentiful but worth smaller sums. Goffs has tended to go high end in relation to its Orby Sale of yearlings, and ahead of the auction increased the value of the carrot it dangles before buyers.

Its ‘million’ model is now the Goffs Two Million Series involving a €1m race at the Curragh – and won just a week before this year’s sale by Wootton Bassett colt Apples And Bananas from Joseph O’Brien’s stable – and further race bonuses each worth €50,000. This year that involved ten races in Ireland, but next season it will also include ten in Britain.

That might encourage British breeders/pinhookers to send yearlings across the Irish Sea for the Orby. Goffs Group CEO Henry Beeby hopes so, and in his end-of-sale statement said: “The Orby traditionally caters to home grown yearlings, but it is gratifying to see a few ‘swim against the tide’ with increasing numbers of UK vendors choosing the Orby as well.”

Encouraging more to try their luck, he suggested: “. . . especially with those [yearlings] that may be a little bit different.”

Goffs Orby Sale

C Frankel - Loch Lein Croom House Stud

F Frankel – Seychelloise Staffordstown

C Sea The Stars - Holy Amaretta Norelands

F Blue Point – Bloomfield John Connaughton/Church View Stables

C Frankel - Tisa River Blue Diamond Stud

C Lope De Vega - Falling Petals Ballylinch Stud

F Wootton Bassett – Cuff Glenvale Stud

F Night Of Thunder - Sea Mona Irish National Stud

F Night Of Thunder - Model Guest Lynn Lodge Stud

C Wootton Bassett - Pussycat Lips Croom House Stud

in foal to Blackbeard. Now a 12-year-old with a cover by Baeed, she is said by Goffs to be returning to the ring at the company’s November Breeding Stock Sale.

As a daughter of Shamardal with such a cracking update, Gouache is likely to pay for herself and the John Connaughton-bred Blue Point filly, who had an update of her own via halfbrother Bay City Roller. In September he won the Champagne Stakes for George Scott’s yard.

Another who sold well during the first session was a Lope De Vega colt from Ballylinch Stud who joined Juddmonte for €750,000. He was foaled by Falling

Statistics

Sold: 128 (77% clearance)

Aggregate: 1,887,200gns (-42%)

Average: 14,744gns (-14%)

Median: 10,000gns (+25%)

Godolphin

Godolphin

Godolphin

Agrolexica International

Oliver St Lawrence Bloodstock

Juddmonte

West B’stock

Hugo Merry for Blue Diamond Stud

Yulong

Godolphin

Kirsten Rausing pictured with her Frankel filly out of Seychelloise, who sold for €1 million

Petals, who had made a splash at this sale last year when her New Bay yearling was sold to Amanda Skiffington for €1,650,000. Named Goldie Trickett she is in training with William Haggas, but at the time of this sale had yet to race.

Goffs Orby Book 2

This sale is struggling to find a clear identity at a time when buyers are fussy about yearlings below the top level.

Formerly the Sportsman’s Sale, it was renamed last year and the figures took an immediate knock. That will not have been as a result of the rebranding, but Goffs considered converting it into a oneday event with a selected catalogue that would see surplus lots being moved to the company’s Autumn Yearling Sale in November. That idea was shelved, but it may be back on the agenda after further falls in all the categories.

Ten private sales went through after CEO Henry Beeby had released his end-of-sale statement, lifting the clearance rate to one of 74 per cent, just one point down on last year, but lower than vendors would have liked. Fifteen fewer horses walked the ring, but a 17 per cent drop in turnover and falls of 14 per cent and 20 per cent in the average and median figures maintained the trend seen in other catalogues involving horses

whose box-ticking capabilities are found wanting.

A Sioux Nation colt put some gloss on the affair when selling for €135,000 to the O’Callaghan family of Tally-Ho Stud, but that transaction was the sole one involving six figures. Last year three horses managed to reach that mark, and the top lot, a Sea The Stars colt bought by Johnny Hassett, was resold for €430,000 as a breezer at Arqana. Had

he subsequently gone on to win in style from Roger Varian’s yard, Goffs would have had a handy additional marketing opportunity for Orby Book 2, but he had yet to race when the auction got underway.

The aforementioned Sioux Nation who headed trade was bred by Sean Ronan and Caroline Hanly of Orchardstown Stud. They sourced the yearling’s dam, Leoube, for just 8,000gns six years ago

Anthony Stroud, busy for Godolphin, shares a joke with Elaine ‘Legs’ Lawlor

GOFFS/SARAH FARNSWORTH

Johnny Murtagh: a busy sale was led by the purchase of an €80,000 Acclamation colt

Sean Ronan and Caroline Hanly sold this Sioux Nation colt, who topped Orby Book 2

The Croom House Stud team celebrate following the sale of their €2 million Frankel colt

Sales Circuit

after she had won a nursery from Richard Hannon’s yard. Her 2022 Mehmas foal, Diego Ventura, had won twice and finished second in the Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket just ahead of this sale, an

update to the page that could not be ignored.

A recent black-type addition to a catalogue page is a honey trap for buyers, and so it was that the Listed victory of the George Boughey-trained Englemere – who won the St Hugh’s Stakes in August – boosted the value of his Acclamation half-brother, who jointly headed trade on day one. Offered by Clare Manning’s Boherguy Stud, he was sold to Johnny Murtagh for €80,000.

That price was also paid for a filly from the first crop of Yeomanstown Stud sire Supremacy out of the mare Dreamadreamforme, a US-bred daughter

of More Than Ready and a half-sister to sire Daddy Long Legs. That American influence appealed to Kentucky-based outfit Legion Bloodstock and South Carolina trainer Travis Durr, who after making the winning bid said the filly would be campaigned on turf across the Atlantic.

Orby Book II Statistics

Sold: 332 (74% clearance)

Aggregate: €6,706,300 (-17%)

Average: €20,000 (-14%)

Tattersalls Ireland

September Yearling Sale

After important sales at Deauville, Doncaster and Baden-Baden in August, annual trade in yearlings took a short breather before relaunching at this event in the final week of September.

It was to prove more than just an amuse bouche for bigger sales to come in October, holding its own in terms of horses sold, prices achieved, footfall and a general atmosphere of positivity.

Tattersalls Ireland’s Chief Executive Simon Kerins said the auction had “proven itself as a progressive and popular sale, with buyers at every level engaging in competition not witnessed anywhere else this year,” while bloodstock agent Anthony Bromley referred to “a completely different feel and atmosphere here than at some sales I have been to this year”.

The cast of international buyers was headed in terms of numerical purchases by Italians who bought some 100 horses, nearly a quarter of sold lots and no doubt greatly appreciated by breeders and foal pinhookers.

Italian purchases included an Invincible Spirit colt offered from the Irish National Stud and knocked down to owner Fabrizio Cameli for €110,000, while Marco Bozzi Bloodstock bought 19 lots for a total of €347,500 and finished second on the table of leading buyers. Italian interests filled four places among

the top ten names in that list.

The majority of higher-end valuations were sold to end users, although pinhooker Con Marnane bought a Too Darn Hot colt for €115,000 who will be offered at a breeze-up sale. “If he fails to sell we will race him,” said Marnane, who has often been well nourished when taking a second bite at a cherry.

Another pinhooker, Katie Walsh of Greenhills Farm, splashed €95,000 on a Kilbride Farm-consigned Sioux Nation

colt who is expected to be back on the market in the spring. Walsh has form with Sioux Nation having gained €240,000 and €370,000 for sons of his at the two latest Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sales.

Turning back to this sale, top-lot honours went to Castledillon Stud’s Timmy Hillman and a filly bred by Mehmas out of the unraced Showcasing mare Show Me Off, a 140,000gns Tattersalls purchase in 2021. Show Me Off

Goffs Orby Book 2

C Hello Youmzain - Beauty Of Love

House Stud

Oak Tree Farm

Also popular was this Supremacy colt

Rabbah Bloodstock landed this sale-topping Mehmas filly

was carrying a Starspangledbanner filly who Hillman sold for 105,000gns last year, and he was in profit on the purchase of the mare when the Mehmas filly was knocked down to Rabbah Bloodstock for €180,000. To outsiders this breeding lark must seem easy.

Octogenarian Jaber Abdullah, whose blue and white colours have been carried by a host of quality racehorses, is the new owner of the yearling who was knocked down to his nephew, Mohamad Al Kaabi. It is always a good sign when an influential racehorse owner hands down their love of the sport to the next generation.

Rabbah Bloodstock, an entity which looks after the racing interests of a group of UAE businessmen and which went on to become the leading buyers at this sale with ten purchases valued at €586,000, also signed for a Baroda Stud-consigned Starman filly who made €120,000. Her year-older half-sister Cercene had won a Naas maiden just ahead of the sale for trainer Joseph Murphy.

Agent Billy Jackson Stops and trainer

George Scott lifted the session topper on day one, a Sea The Stars colt they bought for €130,000 out of The Castlebridge Consignment. On paper the duo have bought a bargain for the colt looked the part and his sire’s advertised fee in 2022 was €150,000 – and this year had risen to €200,000. This particular colt was bred by the Tsui family’s Sunderland Holding, which owns Sea The Stars.

The Castlebridge Consignment sold 28 lots and added just over €1m to turnover on its way to becoming the sale’s leading vendors.

With 555 catalogued lots this was the biggest September Sale since 2013. After withdrawals, 513 walked the ring, 40 more than last year, yet the market made a good effort to swallow the additional lots. When private sales were factored in, 447 had been sold generating turnover of €12.5m, which was more or less the same as last year – quite a triumph given recent public auction results. The average and median prices were down by nine per cent and 18 per cent respectively.

One day later the single-session Part II of Tattersalls Ireland’s September Sale took place and it too offered a slightly larger catalogue. However, the lesser horse is hard to shift at present and the clearance rate was clipped nine points to 72 per cent.

Breeders also had to swallow an average price of €6,647, which

Part I Statistics

Sold: 447 (87% clearance) Aggregate: €12,552,000 (0%)

€28,081 (-9%)

€23,000 (-18%)

Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling

represents a loss even if a breeder accessed the cheapest stallion cover – two years ago the average price at the sale was €10,400.

Kerins acknowledged the selective nature of trade at the lower end, but maintained a positive stance. He said: “I am confident that today’s sale will yield winners at all levels in the future.”

That is a very likely outcome and will mean some breeders who sold at a loss on this occasion will discover it was merely a blip in their mare’s fortunes, and that an update in the family will lead to a profit in future years.

A son of New Bay headed trade when selling to breeze-up consignor Thomond O’Mara for €36,000, while trainer Andy Oliver gained a Pinatubo colt for €32,000.

Part II Statistics

Sold: 186 (72% clearance)

Aggregate: €1,236,400 (-20%)

Average: €6,647 (-19%)

€4,000 (-33%)

The sale-topper was a triumph for vendor Timmy Hillman of Castledillon Stud

George Scott landed this Sea The Stars colt

Sales Circuit

Arqana Arc Sale

French bloodstock, whether proven or raw material, is enjoying a wave of popularity that led to record-breaking figures at this sale.

Blessed by some highly-desirable racehorses, it produced best-ever figures for turnover, average and median, and while the top price of €1.5m had been bettered twice in the 20-year history of the event, the total of four seven-figure horses was another high.

It was slightly disappointing that the clearance rate fell to a paltry 63 per cent through sales of 25 of the 40 lots, but the wealthy owners who supply HIT catalogues at this level are often happy to keep their horses. Of the 15 lots who failed to sell, 13 had reached a six-figure sum before the auctioneer called a halt, and two had reached or breached €500,000. Interestingly, there were no private sales, a rarity these days.

Turnover was up six per cent at

TALKING POINTS

€10,380,000, the average gained 35 per cent at €415,200, while the median rose 14 per cent to a mark of €280,000.

Three-year-old colt Ramadan made the sale-topping price having a few hours earlier gained his owner-breeder, Nurlan Bizakov of Sumbe, an additional

• The €1.4m purchase of German Derby winner Palladium at Arqana’s Arc Sale, and the announcement that he would be joining former champion jump trainer Nicky Henderson, generated the intriguing prospect that a Classic winner could run over hurdles within a year.

A no-less enticing element of this outcome is the possibility that Palladium, a Gestut Fahrhof-bred entire son of Gleneagles, could become a rare jumper in Britain who then goes to stud. That might seem fanciful, but his half-brother Panjari, a Listed winner on the Flat, won three hurdle races last season for Paul Nicholls’ stable, while first dam Path Wind, a daughter of Anabaa, was a winner on the Flat over 1m3f and out of a sister to Wild Side, a Group 2 winner over 1m4f in Germany.

• Why is it that a horses-in-training sale linked to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe can prove so successful, while one associated with Ascot’s QIPCO Champions Day has failed to gain traction?

It was inaugurated last year by Goffs, a company which has made a success of the London Sale on the eve of Royal Ascot and has achieved good results at its sales of jumpers on big race days, yet it drew just four horses to that initial Champions Day edition. One horse sold for £1m to give the event a notable high with which to entice vendors, but attempts to hold the sale for a second time foundered.

A couple of high-profile horses were apparently lined up for the catalogue, but when they were withdrawn Goffs quietly put the event to bed – for this year at least.

Top lots

Name/age/sex/breeding

Ramadan 3 c Le Havre – Raushan

Palladium 3 c Gleneagles - Path Wind Gestut Ohlerweiherhof

Zarir 3 c Frankel – Zarshana Aga Khan Studs

Trafalgar Square 3 g Kendargent - See You Always Patrice Cottier

Mondo Man 3 c Mondialiste – Moghrama Pia Brandt

€100,000-plus with a victory at Longchamp in the Prix Daniel Wildenstein. Next stop for the Christopher Head-trained Ramadan is Hong Kong, said Vin Cox, who signed for the son of Le Havre on behalf of Ben Kwok’s Lion Rock Bloodstock.

Cox also signed for Zarir, a four-yearold son of Frankel with a runner-up spot in the Prix Ganay on his CV and a €1.3m valuation in the ring. Owned and bred by the Aga Khan and trained by HenriFrancis Graffard, four-year-old Zarir will race on in Australia where staying races will be on his agenda. Cox was acting for Paulins Racing.

The other two seven-figure horses were also sold with an overseas plan in mind. Three-year-old Kendargent gelding Trafalgar Square, a Listed winner for trainer Patrice Cottier, ran on the Longchamp card and finished second in the Prix Chaudenay. With that very fresh update his Libyan buyer, Omar Ismil Sh Ghrghar, had to stretch to €1,150,000, creating a marked profit for joint-owners the Cheboub Family and Pierre Pilarski after they had bought Trafalgar Square as a yearling for €80,000. There is every chance he will remain in France for the time being, but he is certain to be a big draw if plans to run him at a new racecourse in Benghazi come to fruition.

Yet the most intriguing sale for British racing – especially for fans of the jumps – was the €1.4m purchase of this year’s German Derby winner Palladium by Highflyer Bloodstock. A few days later it transpired the son of Gleneagles had been purchased for Lady Bamford and would be joining Nicky Henderson with a dual-purpose plan in mind. Should he run in a maiden hurdle he will become the most expensive jumper sold at auction.

Statistics

Sold: 25 (62.5% clearance)

Aggregate: €10,380,500 (+6%)

Average: €415,200 (+35%)

Median: €280,000 (+14%)

Highflyer Bloodstock

Paulins Racing

Omar Ismil Sh Ghrghar

NBB Racing

Ramadan: heads to Hong Kong

Arqana Arc Sale

John Boyce cracks the code Dr Statz

2020 intake flying high

When assessing young sires it is always advisable not to judge them too harshly after the first year with runners. But by the end of their second year when we have seen their first three-year-olds, the future viability of a sire is usually fairly clear-cut. The latest intake of stallions approaching the end of their second year are an impressive bunch, with two, Blue Point and Study Of Man, siring Group 1 winners on British Champions Day through the sprinter Kind Of Blue and the equally progressive Kalpana.

For Darley’s Blue Point, Kind Of Blue is his sire’s third Group 1 winner from his first crop, which is a feat not experienced by many stallions at this stage of their career. By my reckoning, since the turn of the millennium only one other sire has had more, and there are no prizes for guessing it was Galileo, who had accumulated four Group 1 winners by the end of his second year. But to be strictly accurate, Galileo had only two on the board at the same stage of his second year, his third coming when Red Rocks won the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Only a handful of others have managed three Group 1 winners in their first two years, and they are Montjeu and his son Camelot, plus Henrythenavigator. The appearance of Henrythenavigator in this list behoves me to say that there are no guarantees of longevity even after two years of racecourse-excellent evidence.

In the shape of Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace victor Rosallion, Blue Point has proved that he can be more than just a sire of sprinters, although the majority of his stock will inevitably follow the example of their sire. And in Big Evs (Timeform 121) and Kind Of Blue (121) he has the two best three-year-old sprinters in Europe to go with 127-rated miler Rosallion.

Blue Point’s reward for such a showing in 2023 was another excellent book of mares in 2024. And I say another because breeders have not really deserted him in the intervening years, as is the normal behaviour for the risk-averse commercial investor. He covered 89 mares in his first year that either had black type or are dams of black-type horses, 79 in his second, 65 in his third and 70 in his fourth. This year he served 77 more, so there shouldn’t be any noticeable drop off in the quality of Blue Point’s runners for the foreseeable future.

Another member of the class of 2020 is Too Darn Hot, who together with his fellow Darley sire Blue Point is among the top ten sires by stakes winners to have retired to

EUROPEAN SIRES RANKED BY

SECOND SEASON

TO RUNNERS TO THE

stud since 2013, the year Frankel made his bow. Moreover, all of the other eight retired in different years, which underlines the strength in depth of the class of 2020. Too Darn Hot has added significantly to his first-season efforts with six stakes winners and seven Group performers this year. The son of Dubawi is also flying high with his first crop in Australia, which already features five stakes winners (9.3 per cent) from just 54 runners.

But, for all their many achievements, it is not Blue Point nor Too Darn Hot who leads this group of young sires when we take account of opportunity. That honour goes to Lanwades Stud’s Deep Impact stallion Study Of Man. This Prix du Jockey Club winner has been building a convincing case that he has what it takes to climb to the top if only breeders would support him more.

While it is true that Study Of Man attracted 123 mares this year on the back of the success of his first juveniles, a big improvement on an average of 78 for his first four years, his number of elite mares isn’t high enough for such a gifted sire. Given that his percentages of stakes horses (15.7) and stakes winners (7.1) are higher than the corresponding metrics for Blue Point and Too Darn Hot, Study Of Man

ought to be attracting more quality, particularly when his stakes winner strike-rate climbs to over 14 per cent from elite mares. Moreover, judged on their scores to the end of their second year, Study Of Man’s 4.1 per cent Group winners to runners is a better return than many sires at the same point in time who are now standing for higher fees, including Camelot, this year’s leading European sire by earnings, and Kingman.

It is Frankel who holds all the records for European sires to the end of their second season. There has never been another stallion this millennium that has sired more stakes winners (20) or Group winners (16). His strike-rates were are also off the charts at 15.7 per cent stakes winners and 12.6 per cent Group winners. However, with regard to Group 1 winners, Frankel wasn’t the fastest out of the gate, with only Cracksman and Soul Stirring winning at the highest level. There are no fewer than six European sires with more Group 1 winners after their first two years, headed by his own sire Galileo, who delivered four.

For the record, the most stakes winners delivered by a northern hemisphere sire at the end of their second season was by Uncle Mo with 22.

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Sexton Files

Star fillies keeping Diva family in lights

The Juddmonte brand is today one of the most easily identifiable. That of course is a testament to the depth of Khalid Abdullah’s families, which makes it all the more remarkable to think how the foundations for such an empire were laid within a relatively short space of time. Enable is the crowning achievement of the Fleet Girl family that joined the fold with the purchase of Ferrans Stud in Ireland from Dr Herbert Schnapka in 1982. Frankel hails from the John ‘Jock’ Hay Whitney stock bought on the advice of Jeremy Tree in 1983 as does the Peace family that is responsible for Byword, Proviso and Zambezi Sun. Then there is the remarkable mare Hasili, whose granddam Sookera was purchased from Robert Sangster.

A number of other prolific families – too many to list here – have also been key in Juddmonte’s self sufficiency over the years, and it’s worth noting that plenty descend from accomplished American-bred mares. For instance, agent James Delahooke signed at $350,000 for Razyana, a His Majesty

relation to Northern Dancer who would produce Danehill.

Rather more expensive was the Star Envoy mare Populi, who cost $2 million in 1983 but became the backbone to the family responsible for Group 1 winners Distant Music and Native Trail. Image Of Reality was bought for $500,000 in 1987 not long before producing the future blue hen Toussaud while the family belonging to the Cloudy Dawn mare Lost Virtue, purchased for $375,000 in 1986, has provided top-flight winners such as All At Sea, Passage Of Time and Timepiece; it is currently enjoying a purple patch courtesy of the stakes-winning fillies Time Lock and Topanga to go with the recent exciting juvenile winners Cosmic Year and Supermodel.

Few families have hit such a good vein of form in recent weeks, however, than that belonging to Queen Of Song, the ancestress of Arc heroine Bluestocking as well as Merrily and Cathedral, the first two home in the Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket.

Queen Of Song, by His Majesty, was one

Kodiac starting to thrive as damsire

The influence of the diminutive Rafha has been felt far and wide, primarily through the achievements of her sire sons Invincible Spirit and Kodiac.

Both had to work their way up the ladder from a low enough level. Invincible Spirit, as a Group 1-winning sprinter by Green Desert, had the greater profile when he retired to stud in 2003 yet spent his first four seasons covering at the Irish National Stud for an affordable €10,000. Kodiac, who retired to Tally-Ho Stud in the aftermath of Invincible Spirit’s quick start at stud, never won a stakes race – for all he ran to an official rating of 109 – and accordingly was even cheaper during his early seasons at around €4,000.

Both swiftly became a friend of the smaller breeder before justifying the receipt of better mares. And in a show of longevity, both were still going strong at their respective bases this season, Invincible Spirit at the age of 27 and Kodiac at the age of 23.

As time has gone on, the brothers have also forged reputations as effective sires of sires; Invincible Spirit’s influence

remains in safe keeping through the likes of Kingman and I Am Invincible, while sons of Kodiac such as Ardad, Kodi Bear and the emerging Hello Youmzain are well regarded.

If truth be told, however, Invincible Spirit was slow enough to get going as a broodmare sire. His first Group 1 winner in that department didn’t arrive until 2016 when Sound Freedom won the Premio Lydia Tesio in Italy. They have trickled in around the world since then and there has been a new highlight this year in Notable Speech, the 2,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner. Godolphin’s homebred son of Dubawi is one of six Group/Grade 1 winners out of an Invincible Spirit mare but among 56 stakes winners in all, so matters have improved somewhat in recent years, suggesting that the better books of mares that the stallion covered from 2008 onwards are playing their part.

Better-bred mares will also undoubtedly aid Kodiac’s upward momentum as a broodmare sire. It was in his ninth season at stud, in 2015, that his fee hit €25,000 and it wasn’t until two

of those hard-knocking American mares of another era, winning no fewer than 14 times for Claude ‘Shug’ McGaughey, the highlight coming in the Grade 2 Shuvee Handicap at Belmont Park. A sister to the Jersey Derby winner Cormorant, later sire of Kentucky Derby winner Go For Gin, she was incidentally out of a half-sister to Kentucky Oaks heroine Bag Of Tunes, herself the source of Juddmonte’s family of Prophecy and Showcasing.

Queen Of Song was a ten-year-old when purchased by Juddmonte in 1989 for $700,000 in foal to Seattle Slew. At the time, the mare had a two-year-old Northern Dancer filly on the ground named Ladyago, who became a minor stakes winner. However, the family currently owes its prominence to the Juddmonte-bred Aspiring Diva, a 1998-foaled daughter of Distant View.

Distant View was a top-flight miler who won the 1995 Sussex Stakes for Sir Henry Cecil. However, his conformation in front wouldn’t have been to everyone’s taste and

Kodiac: veteran sire is now making his mark through his daughters

years later that he commanded €50,000. The fillies from those crops are just starting to come through now at stud but he’s turning into a fair broodmare sire nevertheless – that is if this season is anything to go by.

Kodiac’s daughters have so far produced seven stakes winners this year, admittedly the lowest figure within the top 12 leading European broodmare sires, but they are a weighty collection that include star miler Charyn, admirable Group 1 sprinter Believing, Mill Reef Stakes winner Powerful Glory and Group 1-placed

Bloodstock world views

despite being a Group 1-winning son of Mr Prospector, he never covered large books beyond a fee of $20,000 at Juddmonte’s arm in Kentucky. As is typical of Juddmonte though, he was well supported by the operation, who were rewarded immediately through the Group 1-winning colts Distant Music and Observatory.

Listed-placed for Criquette Head, Aspiring Diva was one of those Juddmontebred stakes performers by the sire. And she has gone on to leave a greater mark at stud thanks to a productive partnership with Dansili that yielded the Matron Stakes winner Emulous and Listed scorers Daring Diva and First Sitting. That in itself would be enough to

American Sonja.

Charyn was bred by Guy O’Callaghan’s Grangemore Stud out of the fast Futoon. Remarkably, the mare was once sold for 3,000gns, when bought by Kevin Ryan as a placed two-year-old in 2015. Ryan already trained the filly and evidently knew what he had, as when she reappeared in different ownership she proceeded to win a pair of races and run Listed-placed.

At the end of her career, Futoon was sold to O’Callaghan, who sent her to Dark Angel at his family’s Yeomanstown Stud; the Mill Reef Stakes winner Wings Of War was her first foal and Charyn, whose wins this year for Nurlan Bizakov include the Queen Anne Stakes, Prix Jacques le Marois and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, is her second. The mare’s progeny have understandably been in demand off the back of that fast start, with her fourth foal, a filly by Dark Angel, realising 2,900,000gns to Godolphin at last month’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Futoon is from a fast family that previously threw another Mill Reef Stakes winner in Galeota as well as the quick siblings Burnt Sugar and Brown Sugar,

make her an important part of the Juddmonte broodmare band but it is the subsequent achievements of her daughters that have made this family so fresh.

Emulous, of course, is the dam of the Arc heroine Bluestocking, who has done her bit to keep her sire Camelot in the limelight throughout the season.

Bluestocking’s younger Frankel half-sister War And Peace never made the track and left the Juddmonte fold when sold to Sir Robert Ogden in late 2017. The mare changed hands again last year for 190,000gns to Henry Lascelles as part of the Lady Ogden dispersal at Tattersalls and just under a year on looks extremely well bought

winners of the Molecomb and Sirenia Stakes. However, Futoon was bred when Kodiac stood for €7,500 and is the best performer out of her dam Vermilliann.

Misfortunate, the dam of Believing, hails from the same 2012 crop as Futoon. An accident as a young horse prevented her from making the track – hence her name – but she was a half-sister to Group 3 winner Miss Sally and afforded a chance with Mehmas, another Tally-Ho stalwart, produced Believing, whose 24-race career to date includes a win in this year’s Sapphire Stakes and Group 1 placings in the Prix de l’Abbaye, Flying Five and Nunthorpe Stakes.

The Mehmas - Kodiac cross was always going to be well tried given both stand at Tally-Ho and indeed the likes of Diego Ventura, a recent second in the Tattersalls Stakes, and the well-regarded juvenile West Acre are among the 12 winners already bred on the cross.

Similarly Kodiac mares have also been afforded their share of opportunity with Tally-Ho’s Cotai Glory, another horse who has made his name from an affordable level. Cotai Glory’s first major performer was The Platinum Queen, the Tally-Ho-

given two of her first four foals, Firebird and Cathedral, have been stakes-placed this year. Cathedral, yet another smart one by Too Darn Hot, looks particularly exciting; one of the highlights of the Arqana May Breeze-Up when sold for €800,000 to Amo Racing, she bolted up on debut for Ralph Beckett before finding only the battle-hardened Merrily too good in the Oh So Sharp Stakes.

Adding further lustre to the family is the fact that Merrily is out of Daring Diva’s Listed-winning daughter Caponata. The daughter of Selkirk no longer belongs to Juddmonte, having been sold for 110,000gns to Lynch Bages and Camas Park Stud through Freddy Tylicki in 2020. Juddmonte have two of her talented half-sisters in Brooch, a Group 2-winning daughter of Empire Maker, and Raymonda, a Group 3-placed daughter of Lonhro, making Caponata’s sale understandable, particularly in light of the fact that none of her first four foals had won at the time. In fact, Merrily, her seventh foal, is her first runner of any note.

As many breeders would attest, though, it often pays to persevere with these types of families, especially when they have been developed by breeders as powerful as Juddmonte. Merrily, one of eight juvenile stakes winners so far this year for No Nay Never, is proof of just that and along with Cathedral should add further depth to the Aspiring Diva family next season.

bred winner of the 2022 Prix de l’Abbaye as a two-year-old. Her dam Thrilled was also bred by Tally-Ho and having been sold as a yearling for 460,000gns, was bought back for just €15,000 two years later. The Platinum Queen was her second foal and is followed by this season’s smart two-year-old Seagulls Eleven.

Fast forward two years and Cotai Glory’s leading performer this season, the unbeaten Mill Reef Stakes winner Powerful Glory, is another out of a Kodiac mare. His dam Wouldntitbelovely ran twice at two and there isn’t black type until the third dam, but it’s the good Tally-Ho family of Geht Schnell further back and between them Cotai Glory and Kodiac have evidently gelled to bring this branch of the family back to life.

The Celebration Mile winner Poet Master, Abernant Stakes scorer Washington Heights and Renaissance Stakes victor My Mate Alfie have been others this year to advertise Kodiac’s merits as a broodmare sire. The bulk of those better-bred daughters are still to come through as producers, so it must be short odds that his influence in this department will only strengthen.

BILL SELWYN

Relations Merrily (in front) and Cathedral fight out the finish to the Oh So Sharp Stakes

+ Equine Health

Optimising broodmare health and fertility

Words: Laura Steley

As the sales circuit continues to dominate headlines and indeed our thoughts, attention must be duly paid to the not-so-distant 2025 northern hemisphere breeding season. With mating decisions to be made, stallion fees to be released and choices finalised regarding fillies in training, the broodmares happily living out in herds can easily drop down the ‘mental check list’ at this time of year. Whether you are breeding from a commercial aspect or to race yourself, fostering a meticulous preparation regime for your broodmares alongside promoting optimum fertility is vital.

Body condition and nutritional requirements

Liz Bulbrook BSc (Hons), Director of Nutrition at Baileys Horse Feeds, says: “Maintaining correct nutrition for the mare is important to support fertility and immunity, giving her a better chance of conceiving first time and, potentially, reducing the need for repeat coverings.

“Mares with a low body condition score are least likely to conceive”

“Research has shown that a rising plane of nutrition can benefit conception rates, which simply means that the mare should be improving in condition up to the point of covering. Mares who are significantly over or under weight are less likely to conceive and the aim should be for a body condition score of 5-5.5 [using the American system of 1–9].”

Louise Jones, Nutritionist at Connolly’s RED MILLS, says: “Maidens coming out of training will naturally be fitter and leaner. It is important that these mares gradually gain some body weight prior to covering; we know that mares with a low body condition score are least likely to conceive and require nearly 2.8 heat cycles/conception, while

The circannual clock responds to the lengthening daylight hours

more well-conditioned mares require only 1.4 heat cycles/conception.”

Poorly conditioned maidens also have a later transition from dioestrus to oestrus and carry an increased chance of early embryonic loss or absorption. If a lack of condition is observed following the climatic changes and dip in grass nutrient content, a targeted balancer or hard feed can be implemented. This will usually coincide with the mare being put under lights in November/December time and it mimics what would naturally occur later in the spring when lush grass would result in increased body fat stores. This is also very useful as you can ensure the individual is receiving the offered feed, which is much trickier when feeding outside in a herd setting.

The age of the maiden mare should also be taken into consideration – if she is particularly young a bone supplement may be beneficial to support skeletal development and health. A high-quality protein source, such as soya, will also be advantageous.

Regarding in-foal and subsequently lactating mares, the aim is to maintain optimal body condition throughout the year. They may show a slight crease on the back and a small soft fat pad can be felt at the tailhead. Andy Richardson, Veterinary Director at NAF, comments: “Micronutrient nutritional requirements increase during late gestation to provide enhanced nutrients for the foal in its early life.

“The foetus has the ability to store micronutrients, such as zinc and copper, in its developing liver to support healthy development once born, as the mare’s milk can be deficient in these elements. This makes it important to ensure that the mare’s diet contain adequate levels of key micronutrients, particularly in the last third of gestation, so the foal can store them in its liver to ‘top-up’ once born.”

Copper also contributes towards healthy coats and hooves, as well as maintaining red blood cell function. A deficiency is a causative factor of developmental orthopaedic diseases (DODs) in foals. Zinc is thought to be linked with oocyte development and follicle growth. Richardson continues: “Copper is involved in many nutrientdependant enzymes for processes such as connective tissue, iron store mobilisation, and melanin synthesis. Similarly, zinc is a component for many nutrient dependant processes, including bone and muscle growth.

“Vitamin A is another important micronutrient for late gestation as it regulates gene expression and aids the maintenance of immune responses. As foals are born without a fully developed immune system, the supplementation of this vitamin to the foetus is vital to aid development along with colostrum and the mare’s milk after parturition. The recommended requirement doubles during late gestation and is important to supplement on top of the

GEORGE SELWYN

+ Equine Health

normal forage diet especially if pasture quality is known to be low or not available.

“Vitamin E levels are another important consideration as it is thought to help support colostrum quality and IgG levels. Pasture and forage levels may lack enough vitamin E for the latepregnant mare, so supplementation can be beneficial.”

Bulbrook adds: “Whilst ‘inadequate’ nutrition may not lead to immediate apparent problems, long term shortfalls of nutrients or depletion of internal reserves could affect the development of subsequent foals.”

If a broodmare becomes overweight during gestation, it is important that we don’t restrict their calories too quickly, as this could negatively affect the growth and development of the unborn foal.

Jones continues: “Dietary deficiencies during the final four months of pregnancy can result in the mare utilising her own body reserves, resulting in weight loss, reduced birth weights and potentially an increased risk of DODs in the foal.”

Obesity can be a serious problem and may reduce fertility, increase the risk of problems such as insulin resistance and laminitis, and potentially predispose the foal to developmental orthopaedic diseases after birth. Bulbrook agrees, saying: “It is also important that mares are not allowed to become overweight as this can not only create problems with foaling but ability to conceive efficiently on covering.”

Jones says: “The most appropriate feed for the broodmare will depend on her body condition, the quality of forage available and when she is due to foal. For example, a mare foaling early

in the year [January/February] is likely to require a higher concentrate intake than a mare foaling in May when the availability and nutritional content of the pasture improves.”

The main objective for barren and rested mares is to ensure early cycling thus increasing the chance of early conception. This is not only conducive to producing an early foal, but also efficient running of the stud. Barren and rested mares’ body condition and nutritional requirements will need to be assessed and monitored closely. Younger mares may flourish over the summer months without a foal at foot. Older mares may require extra nutritional support.

Under lights

Due to the restraints of the way we age and race our thoroughbreds, an early birthdate is an advantage and therefore this is what breeders will aim for each year. This is not always an easy task – we are asking our mares to conceive at a time of year which is often very unnatural to them. Mares are polyoestrous, meaning that they have more than one period of oestrus per year/breeding season.

Under natural conditions, mares enter oestrus (begin their heat cycles/ become fertile) in mid-April to early May and transition back to anoestrus (become infertile) around the end of September to early October. The transition from anoestrus to oestrus is controlled by the circannual clock, which responds to the lengthening daylight hours rather than warmer weather conditions (a common misconception).

As seasonal breeders, horses use the changing daylight hours to time

important annual events such as reproductive activity, foaling, growth and lactation. The daily light signal is interpreted by the horse’s circadian system, or ‘body clock’. The body clock is controlled by the daily 24-hour rhythms in light and dark exposure and functions in almost every tissue and organ – the ‘master clock’ is housed in the brain. The duration, quality and consistency of light and dark regulate an important hormone called melatonin, which has far-reaching effects on the mare throughout the year.

By altering the daily signal to the circadian clock, it helps us to regulate a mare’s seasonal reproductive cycle so that they cycle earlier in the year and are ready for cover when the NH covering season begins on February 15. We can essentially trick the mare’s reproductive system into thinking it is time to transition from anoestrus to oestrus earlier, and have been doing this in the thoroughbred industry for many decades.

It is now common practice for maiden and barren mares to be brought in from paddocks and put under standard lights from November/ December time. Also, gestation periods for foaling mares have been known to decrease by up to two weeks via light exposure.

Associate Professor Barbara Murphy, University College Dublin and Founder & CSO at Equilume, explains that many pioneering studies conducted at UCD helped shed light on the powerful effects of blue wavelength light on the regulation of melatonin release and how it is preferable over standard lighting. She comments: “The unique blue-enriched white light produced by the Equilume Stable Light system delivers the optimum spectrum of light to replicate natural summer daylight. It delivers >200 lux of blue-enriched light by day, and dims to red light at night; both colours were scientifically shown in published studies to control melatonin release, strengthening both the horse’s circadian and circannual rhythms.

“The dim red glow in stables at night is ideal for foaling barns to allow mares to relax at night and not feel disturbed by routine checks. The Equilume system also ensures the optimum health of young foals after birth.”

Following exposure to 15-16 hours of light per day on average, which should commence on December 1, mares will ovulate after approximately 70 days.

Lighting can also be fitted with

BILL SELWYN

Ensuring adequate forage is available during periods of stabling is vital

EXTRA SUPPORT FOR YOUNGSTOCK PRONE TO DODS

AIDS SKELETAL DEVELOPMENT

SUITABLE FOR MARES AND YOUNGSTOCK

FOR SKELETAL DEVELOPMENT

Pelleted supplement scientifcally formulated to provide 10 key ingredients necessary to support cartilage and skeletal development of foals in-utero and throughout growth.

> Calcium & Phosphorus – in the ideal ratio of 2:1 to optimise bone development

> Chelated Copper & Zinc - vital throughout pregnancy to maximise the foal’s own stores

> Silicon – a bioavailable source of silica, a critical component to maintain healthy bones, tendon and ligaments

> Vitamin D – necessary for the absorption of calcium and phosphorus

> Vitamin K – to support bone formation and mineralisation

> Chelated Manganese – for the synthesis of chondroitin sulphate, important for healthy joints

> Lysine & Methionine – essential for collagen formation, a key structural protein in bones

+ Equine Health

equal effect in barns that are commonly used where studs may have to restrict grazing due to adverse weather and/or have limited turnout. The research and development of a blue light mask by Dr Murphy at UCD more than ten years ago, which provides timed lighting to just one eye each day after dusk, has proven effective at managing mares on breeding farms globally where mares can remain outdoors with natural shelter.

The masks have proven to be successful in stimulating a mare’s reproductive system for early ovulations and helping mares foal closer to due dates and produce strong, mature foals. “The quality of the light that the mare receives in an artificial lighting programme has a powerful effect on both her health and reproductive physiology”, says Dr Murphy.

Forage quality

The most important nutritional component for any mare, regardless of status, is the availability of good quality ad-lib forage. High quality forage will possess adequate levels of protein, fibre and minerals – calcium, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, copper and zinc. Chemical analysis is an integral part of assessing hay quality and should be a routine tool. It is important that the quality of protein within the diet is evaluated as well as the crude protein. The amino acids lysine and methionine are of the upmost importance – a deficiency can cause abortion or poor milk quality.

Fibre is essential to support gut motility and a minimum of 1.5% of bodyweight per day in dry matter should be consumed. Insufficient fibre intake can lead to a lack of stomach

acid buffering and instability of the hindgut microbiome, causing an increased risk of digestive disturbances.

Maintaining a healthy gut microflora population is essential in ensuring optimal health, fibre digestion and subsequent energy conversion.

Feeding pre and pro biotics are useful in supporting the gastro-intestinal tract during times of stress and/or change. Copper and zinc are often low in UK soils and as mentioned, have far reaching effects if a mare is deficient. Most reputable feed companies will add copper and zinc to their balancers and hard feeds as standard.

Recent research has proven that ensuring forage is available throughout the day/night, and therefore mimicking horses’ natural way of feeding, can help to maximise the chance and efficiency

of conception. It has been proven that horses can experience gastro-intestinal discomfort if deprived of food for only one or two hours and this stress often manifests itself in stereotypical behaviours and gastric ulcers. This can become more of a risk when mares are brought into stables prior to the covering season to be put under lights. Careful consideration should be given to ensure adequate forage is available during this period of stabling.

Enhancing fertility

Ensuring a diet with adequate nutrient content is one of the most important factors for optimising mare reproduction and fertility. However, there has been much research into specific nutrients that we can supplement within a broodmare’s diet

GEORGE SELWYN

Omega 3 fatty acids are known to quicken uterine involution post foaling

to help prevent fertility issues and increase conception rates.

Firstly, providing high-quality protein is essential. Protein is made up of non-essential and essential amino acids (e.g. lysine and methionine). The latter cannot be made in the body and must be provided in the diet.

Jones continues: “Mares fed a diet low in quality protein are more likely to suffer fertility problems including an increased risk of failure to ovulate, and the risk of embryonic loss is increased fivefold.

“Assessing protein quality isn’t always easy as in most cases feed manufactures only legally have to declare the percentage protein. Looking at the ingredients the feed contains can be helpful – ideally high-quality protein sources such as soya should be listed as one of the main ingredients. Bear in mind that ingredients are listed in descending order.”

The benefits of feeding omega 3 fatty acids are well known in the breeding world. They are recognised to aid ovulation, assist maintenance of early pregnancy and quicken uterine

involution post foaling. This essential fatty acid is highly available during the spring and summer months via pasture, but supplementation in the form of linseed or flax oil during autumn and winter may be required.

Jones says: “Studies suggest that supplementing with omega 3 fatty acids improves conception rates during foal heat and may help inhibit prostaglandin production thereby prolonging the maintenance of corpus luteum, which may be particularly beneficial for mares with a history of abortion. The easiest way to add omega 3 fatty acids to a mare’s diet is to supplement with a suitable oil such as Foran Equine Kentucky Karron Oil.”

There is a growing body of scientific evidence that CoQ10 (Coenzyme 10), an antioxidant produced naturally by the body, can have a positive impact on both male and female fertility. Jones continues: “CoQ10 is thought to improve the quality of oocytes because of its role in protecting the mitochondria from oxidative damage and in synthesizing ATP.

“Supplementation with CoQ10 may

be especially beneficial for maiden mares, older mares whose fertility is naturally declining, and mares with a history of problems conceiving or early pregnancy loss. CoQ10 comes in two forms, Ubiquinone and Ubiquinol; the latter is the most bioidentical source of CoQ10 and research has proven that up to eight times more Ubiquinol CoQ10 than ubiquinone is absorbed from the same dose.”

Lastly, antioxidants such as vitamins E and C can help control excessive free radicals. Providing a source of bioavailable or naturally occurring vitamin E in the diet will positively affect a mare’s fertility.

In addition to all the above, the advice and support of your veterinarian regarding a broodmare’s reproductive health is vital. The earlier this can be facilitated for non-pregnant mares, the better. Regular dental rasping and a well thought out and structured worm egg count/worming schedule is crucial to the health and well-being of all thoroughbreds, particularly broodmares who predominantly live out in herds most of the year.

Levy reform in focus at AGM

The 80th Annual General Meeting of the Racehorse Owners Association was held on Thursday, September 26 at The Queen’s Club in London. Members gathered to discuss the future of British racing and pose questions to the ROA Board regarding the progress made over the past year.

In his speech, President Charlie Parker highlighted the importance of a new levy deal, telling the audience: “It is crucial that the much discussed and documented levy reform is put back on the political agenda as soon as possible.

“The BHA and the industry group must deliver a revised deal quickly or we risk seeing real impacts upon prize-money and an inability to make any progress.”

His speech also revealed the launch of the new Owner Services project, led by the ROA in partnership with the BHA and industry stakeholders, which aims to ensure that the owner, as the key participant in the sport, is understood and appreciated at all levels, focusing

on data and insights to ensure each owner’s experiences meet their needs and expectations.

The three resolutions put to the membership were carried unanimously:

• Adoption of the Annual Report and Financial Statements: Members confirmed and adopted the ROA’s Report and Financial Statements for the year ending March 31, 2024.

• Appointment of Auditors: RSM UK Audit LLP was appointed as the ROA’s auditors for the upcoming year, ensuring both continued financial transparency and accountability.

• Approval of New Articles of Association: Members approved the adoption of updated Articles of Association, reflecting the evolving needs of the organisation and the industry.

The President’s speech and lively question and answer session can also be

Social licence to the fore at Racing Foundation conference

A key funder of horseracing’s charitable initiatives, the Racing Foundation staged its seventh annual conference at Ascot racecourse on Wednesday, October 2 to build understanding and prompt collaboration around racing’s social licence challenges.

Over 300 people attended the conference, attracting a wide range of delegates from across the industry and the wider equestrian landscape, from the 47 Chief Executives, Managing Directors and Board Chairs to those starting out in their horseracing careers, whose tickets were funded by the Racing Foundation in a bid to engage the sport’s future leaders.

TedTalk speaker and author Bob Langert, the former Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability at McDonald’s, delivered the keynote address and hosted a discussionbased workshop.

He said: “One central reason for McDonald’s not only surviving, but having continued success and growth, is that it took the importance of having public acceptance, protecting our brand and earning trust, very seriously.

“Horseracing faces similar challenges today in terms of public perception, specifically around whether the sport is safe, the treatment of its equine participants, and its place in society.

“For the sport not just to survive but thrive in the future, it must accept and engage with those challenges, as McDonald’s did previously.”

Joining Langert on the agenda was Jockey Club Chief Executive Nevin Truesdale.

Addressing the delegates in the room on changes the Jockey Club have made to the Grand National, Truesdale said: “It is a race we should all be extremely proud of. It’s a race that is the main shop window of our sport and it’s a race that we need to preserve and protect.

“But it’s also a race for which we need to maintain its acceptability to society because it is one of racing’s, and indeed Britain’s, biggest sporting assets.

“It is our job to preserve it, look after it, evolve it and improve it.”

Youth engagement was a theme that ran along social licence on the agenda. INVADES founder Dom Matcham and

viewed

our website at www.roa.co.uk/ resources/roa-annual-general-meetingheld.html.

Bob Langert: ‘racing must engage with its challenges to thrive in the future’

a diverse youth panel discussed social licence among Gen Z and attracting the next generation of racegoers.

The importance of collaboration was highlighted throughout the conference, particularly during its industry-wide workshop and hearing the experiences of other equestrian disciplines during the World Horse Welfare panel on public acceptance of horse sports, led by its Chief Executive Roly Owers.

Videos of the keynote talks can be found at www.racingfoundation.co.uk/ conference/materials.

Charlie Parker: revealed launch of the new Owner Services project, led by the ROA

Our contact details:

Hayley and Rishi are back for more!

We are delighted to announce that Rishi Persad and Hayley Moore will be returning this year to host the ROA Horseracing Awards on Thursday, December 5 at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. This will be the second year the duo has presented together, and both are excited about crowning the champion performers from this season.

Persad said: “I am delighted to be teaming up with Hayley again to present the 2024 ROA Horseracing Awards. It really is one of the best nights of the year, celebrating the owners who have enjoyed so much success over the season. I’m looking forward to seeing you all there!”

If you would like to join them on the night, tickets are now on sale for £300pp (inc VAT) or £3,000 for a table of ten. The price includes a champagne reception and three-course dinner with wine before the Awards ceremony itself, which is followed by dancing to the ever-popular Chance Band until 1am.

It promises to be another wonderful evening celebrating the best of British racing, with some fantastic performances at Cheltenham and Aintree and standout triumphs on the Flat from the likes of City Of Troy and Bluestocking.

Voting will commence at the beginning of November for all members of the ROA.

The ROA VAT Solution guide to the sales

With the sales season in full swing, it’s a good time to remind members how buying or selling a horse can impact their VAT position. Whether you’re purchasing or selling, understanding the VAT scheme is crucial to comply with HMRC and make the most of potential savings.

How the VAT scheme works

VAT is applied to most goods and services, including horses, when sold by VAT-registered businesses. If you are, or become, VAT-registered, you can reclaim the VAT paid on horses purchased, as long as you have a valid VAT invoice for a qualifying horse. Similarly, when selling a horse, you may need to charge VAT depending on your VAT status and where the buyer is located. Knowing how to handle VAT correctly ensures compliance and helps maximise savings.

If you want to register to reclaim your VAT, move providers, or just want to have a chat about the scheme, please contact Rebecca, Davina or Glen in the ROA VAT Solution team on 0118 3385685, or email vat@roa.co.uk.

Tote sponsorship

VAT registered

Not VAT registered Purchased a horse

Sold a horse

• Ensure the invoice is in the name of the sole owner, partnership, syndicate or club entity.

• If the trainer has purchased the horse on your behalf, ask the sales house to turn over the invoice in the name of the sole owner, partnership, syndicate or club entity.

• You can reclaim VAT on the purchase if the entity owns a minimum share of 50% in the horse.

• Provide the sales house with the entity’s VAT registration number.

• VAT will be charged on top of the sales ring price.

Owners who are not yet taking advantage of their VAT position can apply to join the Tote-backed owner sponsorship scheme.

The scheme provides sponsorship for horses in training which are wholly owned by ROA members. In the case of a racing club or syndicate, all club/ syndicate managers need to be ROA

• Ensure the invoice is in the name of the ownership entity.

• Even though you are not VAT registered, if the seller is, then you will pay VAT on the purchase price.

• Consider registering under the registration scheme for racehorse owners (VAT notice 700/67) if you have purchased 50% or more to reclaim your racing VAT.

• If a horse is owned jointly by a non-VAT-registered entity and a VAT-registered entity, only the portion of the ownership held by the VAT-registered entity will be subject to output VAT. www.roa.co.uk

• Declare the output VAT on your next VAT submission.

members in order for the horse to be eligible, or where the horse is owned in a partnership, all owners need to be ROA members.

We run four schemes throughout the year, with each running for a 12-month period. A sponsorship payment of £100 per horse is made to the owner entity once the particular scheme their horse is sponsored under has closed. This is paid into their Racing Account.

Sponsored horses will need to carry a Tote logo on the chest and collar of the

owner’s colours. There are no provisions for branding on attendants’ clothing or horse rugs.

Sponsorship allows the ownership entity to register for and reclaim the VAT charged on the purchase price of their horse and many associated fees. This can represent an annual VAT recovery of over £4,700 for each horse, collectively benefiting owners to the tune of £7.5 million each year.

To find out more and apply online see roa.co.uk/sponsorship.

Double act return for this year’s event

ROA Forum

MAGICAL MOMENTS

Not So Sleepy bows out on a high for Lord and Lady Blyth

Awinner on his first start as a two-year-old and his final race aged 12, Not So Sleepy provided his owner-breeders Lord and Lady Blyth with a decade of excitement on the racecourse under both codes before his retirement in September.

Trained throughout his career by Hughie Morrison, Not So Sleepy was an exuberant, high-class Flat stayer who proved equally talented over obstacles, taking two renewals of the Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle at different tracks. His final appearance, a gritty success in the Dubai Duty Free Autumn Cup Handicap at Newbury on his beloved heavy ground, showed the gelding retains plenty of enthusiasm despite approaching

his teenage years – so why call time now?

“He’s getting older,” explains Lady Blyth. “He’s always been very sound, and we were just concerned that sooner or later something was going to happen, especially if we kept on hurdling with him. We decided to stop while he was completely sound.

“When he came home and was being unloaded from the box, the first thing he did was stand on his hind legs and then scream his head off!

“It does make me sad to think he won’t be running again. I watched the

Lady Blyth has retired her dual-purpose star Not So Sleepy at the age of 12

before his sale to Hong Kong – the new path was set.

Lady Blyth says: “James decided it was a waste of time breeding jumpers. He’d much sooner breed Flat horses. He said jumpers were forever having something wrong with them and it’s perfectly true.

“The mares we’ve bred from tended to be the ones we bought for racing and for various reasons didn’t go on, like Sleepy’s mother, Papillon De Bronze.

“We bought her through Luke Lillingston, and she was in training with Michael Bell. However, she was unsound, so we put her in foal.

Cesarewitch, which he’d run in for years, and it really brought it home that he wouldn’t be running again.”

Lady Blyth had grown up around horses in Warwickshire – her husband James, a titan of the corporate world who was Chairman of Diageo and Chief Executive of Boots, did not – and her mother had left her two jumps broodmares that produced little of note.

With Lord Blyth deciding it was better to focus on the Flat – Snowstorm was an early success story, finishing second in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot

“Luke also bought Daffydowndilly. I always wanted an Oasis Dream filly, so James asked him to buy her for me.”

Daffydowndilly, a three-time winner at a modest level, has proven far superior at stud, having produced top-class stayer Quickthorn to her mating with Nathaniel.

Confirmed front-runner Quickthorn, a sensational 14-length winner of the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup in 2022, made his breakthrough at the top level the following year when making every yard of the running in the Goodwood Cup, on both occasions partnered by Tom Marquand.

Yet the Blyths also hit the heights

over jumps last year when Not So Sleepy, who dead-heated with Epatante in the 2021 Fighting Fifth Hurdle, won the race outright, this time staged at Sandown.

“We’ve just had a lot of luck,” Lady Blyth says, reflecting on that super run. “We’ve persevered and kept on breeding, hoping to improve as we go along.

“This year hasn’t been anything like as good. Quickthorn hasn’t been completely sound, so he hasn’t run much at all. He’s come home now for a good rest and hopefully we might get another year out of him.”

She continues: “I just love the excitement of breeding. We have them here as babies and we always have them back home for their breaks. We love seeing them in the paddock.

“My husband was a fairly serious businessman, so it was a very good hobby for him to have. It takes you completely out of yourself, doesn’t it?”

The Blyths, whose breeding operation at Lemington Grange in the Cotswolds encompasses some 50 acres, will be looking to point Not So Sleepy, who won 12 races in all and earned over £600,000 in prize-money, towards a new vocation, though exactly what that is remains to be seen.

Lady Blyth says: “We’re not sure what we’re going to do with him. Once he’s settled down, we might do something with Retraining of Racehorses (RoR). But we need to be so careful with him.

“Claire Bonner had him for three

months last year when he was having a break and tried all sorts of things with him to see what he was interested in. He did everything for a few days then said no, I’ve had enough! We might go down the show class route at RoR with Sleepy.

“He’s a nice-looking horse. Hughie trained him very well and I gather they’re

“We only went jumping with Sleepy because he had so much energy!”

missing him at the stable. Local people turned up when we sent the box to pick him up. He always received lots of fanmail. People would come up to us at the races to say they’ve won quite a bit on Sleepy!

“He is so much his own person. He just did as he pleased, and you had to go along with it, or too bad! But it’s horses like him that keep the public interested.

“We only went jumping with Sleepy because he had so much energy! We thought we’d just see what happened –he tended to run through his hurdles, he wasn’t a fantastic jumper, but he really

enjoyed it.”

As for the future, a full-brother to Quickthorn is being broken ahead of his two-year-old season, with Daffydowndilly in foal to Ghaiyyath having not taken to Teofilo.

Daffydowndilly’s daughter, six-time sprint winner Belated Breath, and Astragal, a daughter of Shamardal, complete the Lemington Grange broodmare band.

“We’re not planning to buy any more mares,” relates Lady Blyth, whose daughter, Abigail, also has a couple running in her name in the two-tone blue silks.

“To be honest, we’re not interested in winning at Wolverhampton now. We’re trying to get black type.

“We enjoy stayers because with sprinters it’s all over in a few seconds. If you don’t come out of the stalls well, you haven’t got a chance.”

Asked to pinpoint her most magical moment to date, Lady Blyth plumps for Quickthorn’s Goodwood strike.

“It was just phenomenal the way he won,” she says. “Nobody came near him –it was amazing to watch.

“Tom [Marquand] has ridden him nearly every time. He knows if he can get him into that rhythm he doesn’t stop.

“I was worried about the undulations and bends because he’s a big horse. But as he’s got older, he’s got much better. Tom was so clever – he cut all the corners off and just kept going.”

STRONGHOLDS OF SATAN

Volume ree: e Midlands

• e third part of William Morgan’s de nitive survey of bygone racecourses

• A social history of Britain at play, arranged by county

• 952 pages, hundreds of maps and photos, including new drone shots

• ‘A monumental Tour de Force’ – Chris Pitt

Price £90 + postage Limited print run of 300 copies

Previous buyers – get £10 o with code PRE10. Volumes 1 & 2 are also available

Purchase at www.mainholmpress.co.uk or phone 01576 510347

Sean Bowen: sure to be in the running

ROA backs Welsh Horseracing Awards

The latest renewal of the Welsh Horseracing Awards will take place at the Vale Resort in Cardiff Vale on Thursday, November 21.

The evening recognises excellence in the Welsh racing industry, with categories ranging from leading owner, trainer and jockey of the year to horse, breeder and stable staff awards. The event supports Racing Welfare and is sponsored this year by the ROA.

Tickets are on sale for £75pp. The ticket price includes a welcome drink, three-course dinner with coffee and event programme. The evening will begin with reception drinks at 6.30pm and ends at 11pm, with entertainment both before and after the awards presentations.

To book visit https://www. chepstow-racecourse.co.uk/whatson/welsh-horse-racing-awards.

Epsom Awards

The ROA are once again headline sponsor for the Epsom Awards, which sees the Epsom racing community come together to celebrate the highlights of Epsom’s racing year.

The glittering black-tie event is organised by and raises funds for Racing Welfare. Held at Epsom Downs on November 30, it features an exciting awards ceremony as well as a champagne reception, three-course meal, silent auction and champagne raffle. The awards are followed by a live band.

Tickets are £110pp/£1,100 for a table of ten, or a reduced rate of £65 for stable staff (a copy of stable staff pass must be provided upon booking). To secure your tickets visit www.racingwelfare.co.uk/events or for information about taking a table or donating an auction item please email jwhite@racingwelfare.co.uk.

Retraining of Racehorses champions crowned

Familiar names to racegoers such as Balthazar King, Definitly Red, Duc Des Genievres, Kalashnikov, Lalor and Smad Place all competed at the Jockey Club RoR National Championships held at Aintree in August.

A total of 306 former racehorses were entered to compete at Aintree International Equestrian Centre over the six days in classes for dressage, arena eventing, showjumping and showing at Europe’s largest event exclusively for retrained racehorses.

Gentleman At Arms, ridden by Harriet Edmunds, was awarded the Tattersalls RoR Ridden Showing Supreme Champion title

Gentleman At Arms was trained by Harriet’s father Stuart Edmunds and won six races, accumulating over £90,000 during his racing career. His final win came at Aintree in November 2023 where he has returned to win big in his new career having only retired from racing six months ago.

Harriet, who rode him at home while in training, said: “It’s completely surreal, I’m just enjoying the whole experience. I always dreamt of having him [when he retired], but never thought the day would come.”

The event also hosted the RoR National Dressage Championships. This year’s Hamilton Tarmac RoR Elite Performance Award for Dressage went to Tapaidh Frankie and Tracy Thirlwall.

The 15-year-old mare was formerly trained by Simon West and ran only five times during her racing career, never managing to get her head in front. Tracy purchased her eight years ago and together they have risen through the dressage ranks.

Tracy said: “She’s my first thoroughbred so it was a steep learning curve, I’m totally sold on them now and hooked on dressage. I think I’d be incredibly lucky to find another one like her.”

Rupert Arnold, Executive Consultant for RoR, said: “This was a very special event with an amazing atmosphere. To see so many former racehorses in one place looking so well and competing in such a diverse array of disciplines not only showcases what these horses are capable of outside of their racing careers, but also the love and dedication of their owners.”

Former hurdler Gentleman At Arms triumphed at Aintree on a different stage

THE RACEGOERS CLUB COLUMN

Tony Wells looks at the racing scene

I hadn’t seen Frankel since Champions Day in 2012, so September 19 had been circled on my calendar ever since we’d booked the trip to Banstead Manor Stud back in May. It was a gloriously sunny day as a group of 25 Frankel fans gathered at the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket.

The weather was a complete contrast to the day I first clapped eyes on the two-year-old colt who was to go on to become arguably the greatest of all time. I’d made up my mind that I was going to go to the preparade ring to try and catch a glimpse of Frankel before he made his debut. It was raining when we arrived at the course and was still pouring down when racing started. Sarah and I had found a dry spot in a bar behind the stands and venturing out to watch the first race was not even contemplated.

Despite the incessant rain, I headed towards the pre-parade ring as the second race was in progress. For those that have been to the July Course, you will know what a special place the pre parade ring is. For those that haven’t, put it on your bucket list. It’s the only parade ring I know where you stand in the middle, as the horses walk around you. On a hot day, the tree-lined paddock is the perfect place to get out of the sun. But on this wet Friday night, I was standing there alone when I first saw the horse that was to go on to become one of the highest rated of all time. Even to my untrained eye, he looked impressive. He was bigger and stronger than the other juveniles in the field. The rest as they say is history.

An amusing postscript to his debut – I backed him for the Derby the following day. I must be one of very few to have had a losing bet on Frankel!

Having not seen him for nearly 12 years, the anticipation was growing as we headed out from the centre of Newmarket to Cheveley. During the journey, I remember thinking that of all the sporting greats I’d seen, Frankel is still the one that I’m completely in awe of. I’ve been privileged to see Messi play at the Nou Camp, Federer win at Wimbledon and Usain Bolt sprinting at the Olympic Stadium, but none of

them ever made my spine tingle like Frankel did. The day he won the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot was the best performance I have ever witnessed, and it still gives me goosebumps every time I watch it.

Arriving at Banstead Manor Stud, you are immediately aware you’re in beautiful surroundings, but it also appears a very calm environment.

The walk from the car park, past the paddocks either side of us, towards the stallion stables only heightened our anticipation. At the stables, we were greeted by Frankel’s constant companion since he arrived at the stud – George the cat! Frankel’s fellow stallions were paraded in front of us one by one. Oasis Dream was first, because he always has to be! Then Bated Breath, followed by Kingman.

As Kingman returned to his stable, all eyes, cameras and phones were trained on the stable furthest to our left. From it emerged what we’d all been waiting for. Frankel, with that languid walk, swaggered past us, swishing his tail, as though to say,

“This is what you’ve all been waiting for”. A superstar on the racecourse, he is now undoubtedly a superstar stallion and he looks every inch the part. He looked a little bit tired, but that was understandable as he’d covered his second southern hemisphere mare of the day, just 20 minutes before we arrived! Champion sire last year and the fastest stallion to produce 100 Group-race winners, he is following in his father’s footsteps by leaving his stamp on the breed.

I was impressed by how close we got to Frankel. His stallion handler, Rob, brought him almost within touching distance, so we could get some fantastic shots of the champion. It was another memorable Frankel experience, and I can highly recommend it. With only eight Frankel tours available each year, places get snapped up on the day they are released and they ask that anyone who has been before doesn’t book again, so as many people as possible can get the opportunity to see him. Put it on your bucket list!

Frankel: a popular attraction at Banstead Manor Stud

ROA Forum

OUR PARTNERS SECTION

Exclusive Randox Grand National experience with Bid to Give

ROA members are this month being offered the chance to bid on an exclusive Randox Grand National package through Racing Welfare’s Bid to Give auction. The prize begins with an invitation to the prestigious Randox Grand National Weights Lunch in February, which will be held at Liverpool’s landmark venue, St George’s Hall.

The Weights Lunch is an invite-only event, renowned for attracting the who’s who of racing. Previous guests have included Sir AP McCoy, Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson and Jonjo O’Neill, as well as sporting stars Michael Owen, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Jamie Carragher and Sam Quek.

The Weights Lunch, which is hosted by ITV Racing’s Ed Chamberlin, reveals

The Platinum Club: owners step up to support racing’s workforce

In the vibrant world of racing, the spotlight shines on the horses and their jockeys. However, behind the scenes, there exists a dedicated workforce that plays an essential role in the sport’s success. Recognising this, racehorse owners are stepping up to support those who work tirelessly in the industry through Racing Welfare’s Platinum Club. The club consists of a small number of key donors who can commit to donate between £25k and £250k per year for a three-year period, with the aim of providing longer-term and sustainable support for the work of Racing Welfare.

Among those are former joint business owners Mike Gummerson, Philip Martin and Stewart Williams, who became members of the Platinum Club in November 2023 as a way of giving back to the sport.

They own horses through their own partnership, including Deauville Blue and On The Never, both two-year-olds trained by Charlie Hills.

They are also involved with syndicates and/or have shares in horses including the likes of Cicero’s Gift, the four-year-old bay colt who ran in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot this year, the now-retired Verdana Blue, who won the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton in 2018, and Holloway Queen, a four-year-old filly trained by Nicky Henderson.

Stewart explains: “I’ve had a life-long interest in the sport and it’s wonderful to have come full circle and now be an

owner. I got into horse ownership later on in life, but it’s great to be in a position now where I can enjoy racing as an owner and share in that experience with Mike and Philip.

“I was approached by Gemma Waterhouse, Racing Welfare’s Chief Operating Officer, at Ascot regarding The Platinum Club. At the time we were in the process of selling our business, so I was in a position where I was able to support the charity. I got Philip and Mike on board too, and we’re all really enjoying the experience so far with the opportunities it gives us, knowing our donation is making a difference to those who need it.”

Since becoming a member of The Platinum Club, Stewart has embraced the Racing Welfare way of life, seeing first-hand the difference Racing Welfare makes to the industry, as well as enjoying many of the charity’s events. These include the Aintree lunch where he secured the winning bid for a four-ball with Mick Fitzgerald at the Woburn Golf Day – both of which are highlights in Racing Welfare’s calendar.

As well as enjoying hospitality in support of the charity, Platinum Club members have also embraced challenge events which Racing Welfare hosts, with Mike participating in the Great Racing Welfare Cycle in Newmarket this July. Taking place over a 24-hour period, Mike was joined by more than 50 participants including trainer Kevin Philippart De Foy and Katie Margarson, assistant trainer at George Margarson Racing. The gruelling

challenge saw Mike and his fellow cyclists covering a combined distance of 12,000km and raising a whopping £50,000 for the cause in the process.

Reflecting on the experience, Mike said: “It was great to be a part of the Racing Welfare Team as part of the cycle event and raise much-needed funds. There was a great sense of camaraderie amongst everyone involved – it was just great fun!”

Cycling aside, Mike’s true passion is jump racing and he has fond childhood memories of the pub his dad ran, a place where racing was always on the television.

Mike recalls: “My love of racing goes way back to early childhood, but my passion for the sport was more recently rekindled when I became a member at Cheltenham. Over the years I’ve been involved in many groups and syndicates. My Dad was a member of the Taunton Racecourse Owners Club and I’m a member of Velocity Racing, run by Harry Dunlop, as well as having our own partnership with Stewart and Philip. I’ve also got a 50% share in a mare who is currently in foal and my wife has horses and does eventing too, so we’re both involved with horses in some way.”

Stewart, Mike and Philip all have fond childhood memories of a love of racing and have family to thank for guiding them and fostering that love of the sport. Since becoming a Platinum Club member, Philip has met with retired beneficiaries to see the work the charity undertakes to reduce loneliness and social isolation. At Great

Weights Lunch: invite-only event

the weights that the horses will carry in the world’s greatest steeplechase and includes an expert panel discussion, a two-course lunch with drinks, plus entertainment throughout the day.

Following the event, the BHA’s Head of Steeplechase Handicapping, Martin Greenwood, will host a Zoom call with the prize winner to take them through the fascinating process of how the weights are allocated.

On the day of the race itself, the winning bidder will enjoy exceptional hospitality for two at the exclusive

Chairman’s lunch event. They will be hosted in a luxury setting overlooking the course, before experiencing one of the races on Grand National day from a trackside support vehicle as it follows the runners and riders around the world-famous course.

Bids should be placed at www. bidtogive.co.uk before 5pm on Friday, November 22. All funds raised through the auction help to fund Racing Welfare’s vital work in supporting people working in racing in their times of need.

Yarmouth in June this year, Philip met with beneficiaries who were on a day trip as part of the Racing Welfare Beneficiary Holiday, generously funded by Godolphin.

Philip said: “It was lovely to meet with beneficiaries and see how much they were gaining from spending time together reminiscing with old friends and colleagues or making new friendships.

“Racing is a great sport, which holds so many great memories for people, but it needs to get better at looking after its workforce so it can have a strong future. Racing Welfare is making great strides, but many in the industry are still not aware of what support they offer, which I hope will improve. I got involved with Racing Welfare because I wanted to give something back to racing, and I’ve been very impressed so far.”

Keen to use his skills and knowledge to help shape the way the charity operates, Philip has also joined Racing Welfare’s fundraising and communications committee and is very much looking forward to using his experience in the field of marketing to benefit the charity.

Since becoming members of The Platinum Club, the trio have attended

many events either organised by, or in association with, Racing Welfare, including access to the Royal Box at Cheltenham and the Jockey Club summer picnic. All three are looking forward to using their shared love of the sport of kings for the benefit of the industry’s workforce.

Jane Jackson, Racing Welfare Philanthropy Manager, said: “I love working with our Platinum Club members. They’re fantastic donors who help us plan for the future and are inspirational with their passion for the sport and willingness to support the workforce behind it.

“I’m the first port of call for Platinum Club members and my role is to support them, make them feel a part of the Racing Welfare family and deliver an individually tailored approach to suit their needs. It’s a thoroughly rewarding role and I’m looking forward to seeing the Platinum Club grow for the benefit of the sport we all love so much.”

For more information, or to discuss how you could help to support racing’s workforce, please contact Jane Jackson, Philanthropy Manager, at jjackson@ racingwelfare.co.uk or on 07979 653724.

In Brief

Why not give the gift of membership this christmas?

The Festive period is fast approaching and we have a number of options to give the racing-mad person in your life that perfect present:

ROA

membership

All owners with a financial interest in a horse, whether it be as a sole owner, in partnership or through a syndicate or racing club, can become a member with the ROA and gain the full range of our benefits. The cost is £280pp or £470 for two people living at the same address.

Racegoers Club membership

Experience the thrill of being part of a racing community while also receiving concessions at over 1,000 fixtures a year and access to most of the Racehorse Owners Association events. The cost is £55pp or £80 for two people living at the same address.

Subscription to Owner Breeder magazine

Europe’s leading racing and bloodstock magazine can be subscribed to directly, given all the latest news and views and essential profiles of all the big names in racing.

The cost of a one-year subscription is UK: £60; Europe: £90; Rest of the World: £120.

For more information on these and other gifts please visit ww.roa.co.uk.

Raceday Curtailment Scheme

kicks in

The injury to Duran Fentiman before the fourth race at Pontefract on September 26 saw the ROA’s Raceday Curtailment Scheme called into action for the first time this year.

The scheme provides a payment of £100 to any members who own at least 51% of a horse that had been due to run at a meeting that is abandoned after the first race has taken place and the racecourse in question is not paying a compensation payment or that payment is below £250.

Eighteen horses qualified for this payment from the latest cancellation, and all owners have been contacted by us to ask for relevant bank details in order for us to make the compensation payment.

The cycling challenge is a fixture in the Racing Welfare events calendar

Skelton visit a big hit with members

Over 40 members gathered together in Warwickshire in the middle of September for a day with the Skeltons. The sun shone and attendees were given a warm welcome to the 97-box Lodge Hill Stables, the main yard from where Dan trains. Refreshments were provided under sunny skies before Dan provided an entertaining introduction to the yard, during which he highlighted how important the store horse is to his operation.

Members then wound their way up to the top of the impressive gallop, which has beautiful views across the Warwickshire landscape. Amongst those that attendees got to watch were last season’s Golden Miller Novices’ Chase winner Grey Dawning, Grand Annual Chase scorer Unexpected Party and multiple premier handicap victor Midnight River, amongst a string of 20 or so horses.

Dan talked through the various routines and explained that in addition to the main gallop, a soft sand gallop

had been installed at the stud, whilst a new wood chip gallop, a near straight six furlongs in length, had been put in over the summer. Members were fully engaged and provided many questions. Once work had been observed, a tour of the boxes, seeing who's who, followed, before lunch was taken at the nearby Mother Huff Cap in Great Alne.

Attendees then joined Grace Skelton, Director of Alne Park Stud. Operating in just its fifth season, the stud has impressive facilities, and Grace ran through the history of the stud and how Nube Negre was so influential. A son of Dink, he was bred by former Olympic Showjumper Luis Alvarez Cervera and following the emergence of his young progeny he was purchased by the Skeltons.

The son of Poliglote has since been joined by Ocovango, sire of amongst others the Skelton-trained Langer Dan, and Midnights Legacy, the sole entire son of Midnight Legend. Ahead of the 2024 season the trio were joined by Gold Cup

hero Subjectivist.

All four stallions were paraded in front of attendees in the impressive showing area, before visiting and viewing foals which were in the barns ready for prep ahead of the autumn foal sales.

Entertaining and engaging as hosts, whilst also acknowledging the reality that breeders face, the Skeltons and their teams put on a superb regional day and one that attendees thoroughly enjoyed.

Sunshine greeted TBA members on their visit to the Skeltons' training and breeding operation

Panel revealed for Warwick Breeders’ Day forum

Join the TBA and a panel of industry experts at Warwick for our Breeders’ Day on November 21, which features a NH forum ahead of the afternoon’s racing.

Hosted by Racing TV’s Jess Stafford, an expert panel has been assembled and Jess will be joined on stage by TBA NH Committee Chair and small breeder Simon Cox, young horse producer, pinhooker and point-to-point handler Charlie Poste, Alne Park Stud Director Grace Skelton, expert veterinarian John Spencer, and Molland Ridge Stud owner Jess Westwood.

Given the title ‘Starting Young’, the

panel will discuss a variety of issues facing NH breeders at present whilst providing some suggestions and solutions to overcome those worries. Amongst the areas that will be covered include the sales ring, preparation of the young horse and NH Junior Hurdles.

Based out of the Pavilion, the forum will get underway at 10am with doors opening from 9am providing plenty of time for networking. Refreshments will be provided.

The Pavilion, situated next to the preparade ring, is a base that all attendees will be able to make use of throughout the day.

To attend the forum, attendees will need to book the Breeders’ Package which is available through the events page of the TBA’s website at www. thetba.co.uk. Priced at £35 (TBA member) or £55 (non-member), the ticket includes:

• General admission ticket

• All-day access to a private facility

• Refreshments on arrival prior to the forum (9am–12pm)

• Buffet lunch with a glass of wine and pay bar

Why not bring a non-member friend along and they can be booked onto the day at the member fee of £35?

Don’t miss out on this year’s Stud Farming Course

Book your place now for this year’s TBA Stud Farming Course, taking place on December 10-12 at the British Racing School, Newmarket.

The first day will focus on the management of broodmares delivered by experts from Newmarket Equine Hospital, Rossdales Veterinary Surgeons and the Royal Veterinary College.

Day two covers a broad range of horse management topics including the popular talks on sales preparation, yearling selection at the sales and managing a commercial stallion led by well-known industry representatives. The final day will cover the management of neonatal foals, including talks on foaling, common conditions of the new-born

foal, management of growth defects and limb corrections.

The three days will include behindthe-scenes visits to Rossdales Equine Hospital and Beech House Stud. The course fee for 2024 is £450 (inc VAT) for TBA members or £582 (inc VAT) for non-members. Discounts are available for TBA members sending three or more delegates; please contact the TBA office for more information.

The fee will include all lunches, refreshments, dinner on the first night and online access to some of the course material after the event. Accommodation is not included. The full programme can be found on the TBA website alongside details of how to book your place.

This year's course runs December 10-12

Charlie Poste, Grace Skelton and Jess Stafford will discuss the issues facing National Hunt breeders on November 21

TBA Forum

Worldwide success at the top level

Eight Group 1s at seven different tracks in five different countries on three continents, British-bred horses enjoyed a fabulous September, with the team at Tweenhills recording a top-level double. The Gloucestershirebased stud struck first in the Summer Stakes at Woodbine with the juvenile New Century, the flagbearer for its freshman sire Kameko, and a week later in Australia Buckaroo took the Underwood Stakes at Caulfield. Two weeks earlier the five-year-old had captured the Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes at Randwick.

Another owner-breeder on the mark was Juddmonte and Bluestocking made a very competitive Prix Vermeille her own on Arc Trials Day, before going on and winning Europe’s richest race, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, at the start of October.

All four of Juddmonte’s Pattern winners in September were fillies – Kalpana, a daughter of Study Of Man, was an impressive winner of the September Stakes – she followed up in the Fillies & Mares Stakes on Champions Day – whilst Tabiti (Kingman) won a re-arranged Dick Poole Fillies’ Stakes, and Time Lock (Frankel) retained her Princess Royal Stakes crown by an impressive five lengths.

Four lengths was the winning margin of victory for Shadow Of Light in the Middle Park Stakes, the juvenile being a Godolphin homebred.

Economics, a son of Night Of Thunder bred by Copgrove Hall Stud, defeated Auguste Rodin in the Irish Champion Stakes, whilst Farhh was represented by another top-level winner in the shape of Tribalist, bred by Car Colston Hall Stud, in the Prix du Moulin. The Exceed And Excel gelding Montassib, bred by Shadwell, grabbed the headlines when winning the Haydock Park Sprint Cup.

He wasn’t the only Group 1-winning sprinter as the Deborah O’Brien-bred Bradsell added the Flying Five Stakes to his CV. Holloway Boy, a son of Ulysees bred by Cheveley Park Stud, won the Superior Mile Stakes, and the Coln Valley Stud-bred Luther was an easy winner of the Ascendant Stakes.

Newmarket’s Cambridgeshire meeting witnessed a homebred double for Bill and Tim Gredley’s Stetchworth and Middle Park Studs. Wimbledon Hawkeye, a son of Kameko, won the Royal Lodge Stakes and the following day Burdett Road gained a first stakes success in the Godolphin Stakes.

That gelding’s sire Muhaarar was responsible for three stakes winners, the others being the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap winner Motorious, bred by Kirtlington Stud and Mary Taylor, and the John Musker Fillies’ Stakes scorer Sound Angela, who was bred by Charles Fox.

Hotazhell, the Blue Diamond Studbred son of Too Darn Hot, was a cosy winner of the Beresford Stakes at

the Curragh. Another Group-winning juvenile was the Aga Khan-bred Zarigana in the Prix d’Aumale.

Evergreen Kinross, bred by Lawn Stud, returned to winning ways in the Park Stakes at Doncaster.

At Newbury in the middle of the month, No Half Measures, a daughter of Cable Bay bred by Bumble Mitchell and Sally Nicholls, who has risen through the ranks, gained a maiden Group win in the World Trophy Stakes. Witness Stand, bred by Alvediston Stud, took the Dubai Duty Free Cup Stakes at the track the day before.

The Whitsbury Manor Stud-bred Star Of Lady M (Havana Grey) gained her first stakes victory in the Scottish Spring EBF Fillies’ Stakes, whilst at Longchamp, Jack Channon gained a maiden Group winner thanks to Certain Lad in the Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte.

The Malih Al Basti-bred Village Voice captured the Prix des Tourelles at SaintCloud, whilst at Bro Park in Sweden, the Kingwood Stud-bred Aphelios was the victor in the Sprint Championship.

Further afield in Australia, the Cayton Park Stud homebred First Light, a son of Dubawi, won the Colin Stephen Quality at Rosehill and the Lady Bamford-bred Herman Hesse (Frankel) was the winner of the RM Ansett Classic at Mornington.

In the US, the Fittocks Stud and St Albans Bloodstock-bred No Show Sammy Jo won the All Along Stakes at Laurel Park.

Over obstacles at the Listowel Harvest Festival meeting, the Penhill Stud-bred Frankendael won a Listed hurdle.

Results up to and including September 30. Produced in association with GBRI.

Shadow Of Light and William Buick (nearside) follow up their Middle Park success with victory in the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket

BILL SELWYN

Worker Protection Act: what it means for employers

From October 26, 2024 the new Worker Protection Act creates a positive duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the workplace, writes Rachel Flynn

It is likely that this positive preventative duty will mean that employers need to look afresh at the culture that exists in the workplace. Is there a ‘zero tolerance’ or ’speak up’ culture? Or are employers aware of incidents of workplace sexual harassment that may have previously gone unchallenged? If it is the latter, this preventative duty is something serious and new and just carrying on as is may have a significant financial impact on the business.

Currently the law provides that if an incident of sexual harassment takes place in the workplace, there is a defence available to an employer if it can show that it took “all reasonable steps” to prevent the employee from undertaking the discriminatory act.

A key question for employers is what “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment will look like under the new law. The preventative duty is an anticipatory duty. Employers should not wait until an incident of sexual harassment has taken place before they take any action. The duty requires that employers should anticipate scenarios when its workers may be subject to sexual harassment in the course of employment and take action to prevent such harassment taking place.

If sexual harassment has taken place, the preventative duty means an employer should take action to stop

sexual harassment from happening again. However, if an employer fails to take reasonable steps to comply with the preventative duty, there are consequences.

What is happening now? Many studs and stable yards will have policies on equal opportunities, bullying and harassment but in this instance policies alone are not going to be enough, even if an employer has put them on a noticeboard and given employees access to them on induction.

Training is required to bring the employer’s position to life. But a boxticking training session, which does not adequately address issues that are known to exist in the workplace, won’t be sufficient.

Training needs to leave employees:

1. With a clear understanding of what harassment is. This might be sexual jokes or comments, displaying sexually graphic pictures, sexual gestures or intrusive questions about a person’s sex life or discussing their own sex life. Right up to unwelcome hugging, kissing or touching.

2. With a clear statement of required workplace behaviour – including behaviour at workrelated social events and in online communications.

3. With an understanding of what is appropriate and what isn’t in ‘grey’ areas such as banter.

4. Knowing what to do if they experience harassment.

5. Knowing what to do if they witness harassment.

Benefits of TBA membership

Abortion subsidy

Members are encouraged to notify the TBA of all cases of equine abortion or neonatal foal death. This allows us to monitor disease outbreaks such as EHV-1 for which immediate action is paramount. Preventing the further spread of the disease is vital to our industry and we offer a £200 subsidy towards the cost of a post-mortem to members who meet the criteria.

Full details, including the subsidy application form, can be found in the veterinary section at thetba.co.uk.

Useful documents

Health and safety, employment law and information on foal sharing and boarding stud agreements can all be found on the website. Downloadable templates and guidance documents sit behind the members-only wall (log in required). If

Rachel Flynn: the TBA members' legal adviser explains the new rules

6. Knowing what to do if harassment is reported to them.

7. Knowing what the business will do if they are found to have committed an act of harassment.

The more that the training can be tailored to the reality of working life in your yard or stud the better. And it’s not just what happens at home. Even though liability for third-party harassment isn’t being brought into effect, employers should not ignore complaints by employees about third parties, as a failure to deal with such complaints could undermine confidence.

If interacting with someone else’s staff – including at the sales or a stallion stud – is part of the job, then training on how to handle difficult situations, and signposting where to go for support if an issue arises, might be appropriate.

So, the new law will place a new preventative duty on employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment. What’s the penalty for breach? Where there is a claim, tribunals will have the power to increase compensation by up to 25%, an increase which is significant and unnecessary.

For help with training and support please contact the TBA on 01638 661321.

you can’t find what you are looking for, the team at Stanstead House will be happy to assist.

Racing TV offer

Did you know that TBA members can make considerable savings when reinstating or taking out a new Racing TV subscription? Certain restrictions apply so for more information email info@thetba.co.uk.

TBA Forum

Rain and wind cannot dampen spirits during stud tours

A hardy group of TBA members enjoyed a fascinating northern regional day in County Durham on September 26, courtesy of Nunstainton and Elwick Studs, where despite a deluge of rain, floods and wind, attendees were entertained by two progressive studs which are making their mark across the Flat, dual purpose and NH scenes.

The group convened at Nunstainton Stud, home to stallions Dragon Dancer, Kingston Hill, Cannock Chase and Falco where we were treated to a wonderful ‘hunt breakfast’ under hastily erected gazebos on which the rain fell steadily. Chris Dawson paraded the four stallions nearby, all of whom looked and behaved exceptionally well in the challenging circumstances.

A comprehensive tour of the premises and farm buildings, which have been well adapted into foaling boxes, stocks area and stables, kept us out of the increasingly wild weather, and we also viewed promising prospects in training or pre-training, as the stud retains a few young horses to run under Rules and in point-to-points, and re-train horses post their racing career with the potential to compete in RoR classes.

The highlight of the day was

a tractor and trailer trip out to see youngstock in the field, who despite the tough conditions looked fantastically well and are a great credit to the Dawsons’ stockmanship and feeding regime, as is Chris Dawson’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the pedigrees and performance of relatives. Despite the unrelenting rain, attendees all enjoyed the visit immensely and members were hugely grateful for the time and trouble put in by Rachel and the rest of the family to entertain us.

After a welcome lunch and respite from the weather at the aptly named The Stables Pub at Stockton-on-Tees, we headed over to Elwick Stud, near Sheraton, which was founded by the late Geoff Turnbull MBE, whose influence very much continues through his family and the enthusiastic staff.

Set in over 200 acres of County Durham countryside, the stud has been developed thoughtfully to contain smart and functional facilities including airy boxes set inside well-ventilated barns, three horse walkers, a spacious foaling unit and a large outdoor arena for turnout when the weather and ground is poor.

Sadly, the heavy rain and increasing

wind continued into the afternoon, so we could not fully appreciate the beautifully laid out paddocks, but attendees were treated to a tour of the farm and facilities by stud secretary Charlotte Turner and stud manager Gary Moore, during which we met the globetrotting and dual Group 1-winning Lord Glitters (pictured) now enjoying a happy retirement on the stud, and La Sylphide, or ‘Tinsel’, the stud’s foundation broodmare.

Through the tour of the stud, attendees learnt much about the goals and aspirations of the Elwick Stud team including their plans for growth and the breeding of high-class Flat horses, as well as the expansion into France where stallion Mondialiste is now standing at Haras de Longechaux.

Lively discussions on all topics pertaining to breeding continued over a welcome afternoon tea in the stud office and concluded an excellent day that proved TBA members are game to enjoy themselves whatever the conditions. Our grateful thanks go to our hosts for the day, who made us feel most welcome and put on a fantastic show in exceptionally difficult circumstances.

Transfer of ownership amnesty at foal sales

The TBA, Weatherbys and Great British Bonus (GBB) scheme have collaborated to facilitate transfer of ownership amnesties during the following foal sales:

GOFFS UK – British National Hunt Breeders’ Showcase, November 1

TATTERSALLS – December Foal Sale, November 26-30

Foals purchased during the above sales by British and Irish-based owners will be eligible for free of charge transfer of ownership updates with the General Stud Book (GSB), when submitted on a Defra change of ownership form along with the paper passport, to the on-site

Weatherbys office at Tattersalls or Goffs during that respective sale.

Timely compliance with legislative requirements such as transfer of ownership is vital to the thoroughbred sector in demonstrating transparency of industry processes and the accountability of those responsible for their care. Maintaining correct ownership records with the GSB at each of the GBB registration stages is also required to ensure that any bonuses are being paid to the worthy recipients (i.e. those who own the filly and are making the payment at each registration stage).

Passports for any deceased thoroughbreds should also be returned to Weatherbys with a notification of the date of the death. They can also be handed into the offices at Tattersalls or Goffs.

Breeders are reminded that it is a legal requirement to notify the GSB within 30 days of a transfer of ownership taking place, or a fatality occurring.

The TBA thanks all breeders for their thorough record-keeping, which is crucial for underpinning traceability and allowing the industry to account for thoroughbreds at all life stages.

Members enjoyed their visit to Nunstainton and Elwick Studs in September

Breeder of the Month

Words: Tom Peacock

CAR COLSTON HALL STUD

A Group 1 for Car Colston Hall Stud through Tribalist in the Prix du Moulin could not have arrived at a more pertinent moment.

Earlier this year, Nicholas and Jane Forman Hardy bade farewell to an irreplaceable member of their Nottinghamshire nursery in Wiener Wald, the foundation mare who had reached the venerable age of 32.

As well as producing the former Racing Post Trophy winner Crowded House herself, Wiener Wald is ancestress of Brando, who won the Prix Maurice de Gheest, top two-yearold Reckless Abandon (Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes) and Ticker Tape (American Oaks and Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup).

Adding in Beauty Eternal, who took the Champions Mile in Hong Kong in April, the Woodman mare is now behind no less than six different top-level winners.

Jonathon Smithers, Car Colston’s stud manager, explains: “We’d put in a memorial to Wiener Wald at the entrance of the stud and her ashes went in there on the Friday, Fair Point won on the Saturday at Ascot, and then her full-brother Tribalist won the Group 1 on the Sunday.

“I don’t know whether Wiener Wald was up there pulling the strings or something but it all came together quite nicely.”

Tribalist was the first produce of Wiener Wald’s last filly foal, Fair Daughter, who did not race. Now five, he was sold for 130,000gns at Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and was sent by Godolphin to the patient Andre Fabre.

He is still an entire, so defeat of the mile division’s leading light Charyn under a magnificent front-running ride by Mickael Barzalona at Longchamp gives great credence to a potential stallion career.

Car Colston retained his younger sister, who races for Ralph Beckett in the colours of the Eclipse Partnership, and Smithers feels she could be another slow burner.

“Tribalist was a big brute of a foal, very handsome and walked really well. He wasn’t perfect but we always liked him on the farm,” he recalls. “That’s why we sent Fair Daughter back to Farhh [to produce Fair Point] because he was such a

nice foal and a nice yearling.

“We’d looked at Farhh in the first place because it’s similar breeding to Brando. Argent Du Bois is another daughter of Wiener Wald and Brando is another son of Pivotal, so it’s all worked.

“Tribalist did run in the Guineas in France [third] and was placed in a few stakes races but he didn’t win one until the autumn of his three-year-old career.

“Fair Point is still quite leggy and unfurnished herself. She’s been Listed-placed and will have a few more Listed targets. She’ll stay in training and we’re quite excited about her for next season, she could be a very good four-year-old.”

Wiener Wald, who is from the immediate family of legendary stallion Storm Cat, was bought when the Forman Hardys were planning to start a breeding venture and paid a visit to the Keeneland November Sale in 1995.

She was knocked down to Alex Scrope for $210,000 and has been behind so many other black-type success stories across continents. Another came in the summer through Wiener Wald’s stakes-placed daughter Forest Crown, who bred Wathnan’s Royal Ascot scorer English Oak.

“They’re all really genuine,” Smithers says of the Car Colston dynasty. “They can come in all shapes and sizes, but they’re tough. The fillies can be quite hot, but they’re all tough as old boots.”

The Forman Hardys enjoy racing those fillies and Smithers hopes Faithful Friend, a daughter of Ghaiyyath from the line, should have a future with Nicolas Clement. Fair Daughter’s two-year-old by Make Believe is expected to similarly improve with time while the mare is now in foal to Wootton Bassett.

The memorial to Wiener Wald is in the form of a rose garden, although there is every chance a statue of the beloved mare could be added in due course. For Smithers, and all at Car Colston, there is no real way of overstating her importance to the stud.

“It keeps giving back to us, thankfully,” he says. “We’re very grateful to Wiener Wald, it’s hard to believe that it’s her sixth Group 1 winner that has come from the stud.

“Wiener Wald really was the foundation mare; of the 12 mares on the farm, all bar one can be traced back to her.”

CAR COLSTON HALL STUD

Wiener Wald (right), pictured with daughter Argent Du Bois, laid the foundations of a highly successful family for Car Colston Hall Stud

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Think Tank

Graham Dench asks our jury the big questions: Will the recent changes to the Cheltenham Festival make much difference or does the British jumps programme require a more fundamental reset?

Paul Nicholls 14-times champion NH trainer

“

I think change is good and if things aren’t right, we can go back and change them again. We have to look at the bigger picture so we shouldn’t be looking back and be bound by tradition. The main championship races at Cheltenham are never going to get changed, but they are doing what they can to make the overall programme more competitive. We can’t have any more Grade 1s; what the meeting needs is more competitive betting heats.

The two-and-a-half-mile Grade 1 novice chase was taking horses away from the other two Grade 1 novices, but it can still be won by a good horse and Stage Star would probably have won it as a handicap under top weight. I think that change makes a lot of sense.

The National Hunt Chase was always going to need tweaking and the amateurs have plenty of other opportunities. It should be more competitive now as a handicap and it will take out those top-class novices which should be in the other races.

I’ve thought long and hard about the programme as a whole and the idea of Britain staging something like the Dublin Racing Festival, but I think English and Irish racing are two different worlds. The races are run differently there, and the racecourses are different too. We’ve won the big races in Ireland when we’ve had the right horses but at the moment the balance of power is with them.

I think we need to support our own programme. When I had all those superstars like Big Buck’s, Denman and Kauto Star, I stayed mainly in this country and I never had a problem finding races for them. Kempton is a bit of a festival and we also have Ascot, Newbury and Sandown.

We should always be open to tweaking things, but it’s more a matter of having horses good enough to run in those races than a problem with the programme itself. Hopefully it’s cyclical and those days will return. ”

Tom Scudamore

Multiple Cheltenham Festival-winning former jockey

The way I see it there are two sides to the Cheltenham issue – the sporting side, or the programme itself, and the entertainment side.

Regarding the entertainment side, of course it’s expensive, but no more probably than comparable elite sporting events. But do they look after customers as well as they should? Cheltenham is geographically challenging for access and there’s not a lot that can be done about it, so queues are inevitable, but there is a feeling that consumers are taken for granted somewhat. So far as the programme is concerned, I agree with some changes, but I don’t think they’ve gone far enough. Grade 1 races should be the absolute pinnacle, and it frustrates me that too many at the Festival are

Grade 1 in name only. Cheltenham is where we should be finding champions and I think it’s been watered down too much.

In my view, champions are decided at two miles and three miles plus, and everything should lead to those races. Nowadays there are too many opportunities. Take the Ryanair, which I’ve won. It essentially caters for horses who aren’t quick enough for the Queen Mother and aren’t good enough for the Gold Cup. It shouldn’t be a Grade 1.

We have to be more aspirational, so I agree with the Grade 1 novice over the same trip becoming a handicap, but I’d have made more changes to the mares’ programme. I have no issue with the Grade 1 novice, but once they are out of novice company they should run in open company. The likes of Lossiemouth should be forced into championship races by penalty conditions.

Think Tank

Emma Lavelle

Multiple Grade 1-winning trainer

“

The changes they have made should be supported. They went about it the right way and there’s a logic to what they are doing, but one change I might have done differently is the requirement for novices to have run five times before they can run in a non-novice handicap hurdle there. State Man, I think, was the catalyst for it, but if we have a bad winter you might well not have the opportunity to run a novice

As for fundamental change, I’d say yes, the programme would benefit from it, because it has become less and less aspirational and more and more a race to the bottom. If you’ve got a 100-rated horse you can run every day of the week – but try finding races for a 130 or 135 horse! The programme should be more about trying to improve your horse rather than getting it into a 0-100, and the better horses should be

Simon Sherwood

Clerk of the Course at Ludlow and multiple Cheltenham Festival winner as both a jockey and trainer

“

Sadly, the Turners had become uncompetitive and a turn off not only for the racegoers but also in terms of the betting turnover and media rights that drive racing. As for the National Hunt Chase, with British amateurs in short supply and too many hot favourites, that too was losing public interest and killing betting turnover. I see the changes to both as being pragmatic and I don’t have a problem with either.

There’s no denying racing has evolved, and just a handful of stables of almost unimaginable size now hold nearly all the aces. Inevitably very few smaller yards can compete, and so field sizes are affected. In my second season training, and with only 30 horses, I was lucky enough to have two winners and a third from only three runners at the Festival, but I can’t see that happening again.

We need our stars to run more often. They used to, but I believe the way races are run here nowadays affects the way our horses progress. In France and Ireland races tend to start slowly and horses finish well. That way they enjoy

running for bigger prize-money. Owners should be rewarded for having a better horse, rather than be penalised through lack of opportunity.

They are trying to provide more opportunities for the good horses away from and before the big spring festivals and the new Berkshire Winter Million at Ascot and Windsor is another step in the right direction. I’d love to see more, but the extremes in weather we have these days are a problem. If we have a really wet winter, there are only a limited number of horses who can handle the conditions, on top of which if you race in those conditions it becomes attritional and there’s a limit to how often you can go to the well.

There will never be anything to compare with the prestige of a winner at Cheltenham, but the Betfair Hurdle, for example, is worth way more than the County Hurdle. More and more, I think, people will be looking to the big prizemoney, which is not necessarily at Cheltenham.

themselves and bounce back and improve.

In England all the emphasis is on fitness rather than longevity. As soon as the tape goes up it is ‘pedal to the metal’ – but running horses out of their comfort zone will cause injuries and sour them. Even bumpers, in which many young horses are introduced to the racecourse, have become a betting medium in which they often have a hard race.

As a new amateur I can remember John Francome telling me to never get serious in a novice hurdle at Newbury until jumping the second last. You would see half a dozen horses playing cat and mouse and then it was a case of who could quicken the best. They all had a great experience, and you could run them again ten days later. Nowadays they go too fast and it becomes a slogging match. Perhaps this too affects the numbers filtering through the race programme to reach the Cheltenham Festival’s championship races.

Dubawi, Shamardal, and the dynasties

These are perhaps the f inest sons of breed-shapers Dubawi and Shamardal.* And, it already seems quite possible, the next generation of breed-shapers, giving our sport its Champions, its excitement.

Blue Point Night Of Thunder Too Darn Hot

Shamardal’s record breaker with two first-crop G1 winners.

Dubawi’s best proven sire son and heir.

* So far!

A Classic winner in his first crop, like Dubawi before him.