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Belardo’s Elysium In Weld Upset

Runner-up to the subsequent G2 Beresford S. third Snapraeterea (Ire) (Buratino {Ire}) in an extended seven-furlong conditions event at Roscommon last time Aug. 18, The London Racing Partnership’s Elysium (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}) stepped up to spring a surprise in Sunday’s G3 Weld Park S. at The Curragh. In training with Noel Meade who is best known for his exploits in the jumping sphere, the 12-1 shot was held up in rear early by Billy Lee and when given the green light inside the final two furlongs swamped Aunty Bridy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) with 100 yards remaining en route to a 1 1/2-length success, with Thinking of You (American Pharoah) 3/4 of a length away in third. “Believe it or not, I had said to Billy [Lee] beforehand that although a lot of people thought she has no chance I wouldn’t be surprised if she wins,” Meade said of the €15,000 Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale purchase. “I told him to ride her to get some money and hopefully you’ll get more than that and he rode her beautifully.”

Introduced in the five-furlong Naas maiden won by TDN Rising Star More Beautiful (War Front) and from which the subsequent group winners Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) and Aloha Star (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) also emerged on the first day back after the lockdown June 8, Elysium was an uneventful 10th there. Off the mark next time when Miss Amulet was fourth over another 164 yards at Navan June 23, the bay was third on her first try at this seven-furlong trip in Leopardstown’s Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Race Final July 16 before her runner-up placing in another of that series of races in deep ground at Roscommon. “I’ve always thought a lot of her–she has shown us oceans of toe at home and I was a bit disappointed at Leopardstown, but Colin [Keane] said she didn’t really understand what it was all about as she’d never been as quick as that before. She certainly seems to have held her form very well and we’ll have to see where we are now. She’s not in anything coming up except a sales race and that was where we were thinking of going after this, but now I don’t know. There are three of us involved in the ownership and we thought we’d buy a few cheap ones with a view to selling. I bought four and I think they are okay.”

In a remarkable year for bargain-buy juveniles, Elysium was joining a growing club of domestic group-race winners alongside the €8,000 sensations Minaun (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Laws of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}) and the high-class Cadillac (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) who fetched just €40,000. Elysium is the second individual pattern-race winner for her Kildangan Stud-based first-season sire and follows two days after his other, Isabella Giles (Ire), lit up Newmarket in the G2 Rockfel S. The dam is the Listed Chesham S. runner-up Sonning Rose (Ire) (Hawk Wing), who is kin to three black-type performers headed by the G3 Premio Carlo Chiesa runner-up Universo Star (Ire) (Excellent Art {GB}). This is the family of the three-times group 1-winning Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Gold River (Riverman). Sonning Rose’s filly foal is by Sioux Nation.

Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
WELD PARK S.-G3, €50,000, Curragh, 9-27, 2yo, f, 7fT, 1:28.17, yl.
1–ELYSIUM (IRE), 128, f, 2, by Belardo (Ire)
1st Dam: Sonning Rose (Ire) (SP-Eng), by Hawk Wing
2nd Dam: Shinkoh Rose (Fr), by Warning (GB)
3rd Dam: Sandpiper’s Dream, by Lyphard
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. (€15,000 Ylg ’19 GOAUTY). O-The London Racing Partnership; B-Tullpark Ltd (IRE); T-Noel Meade; J-Billy Lee. €30,000. Lifetime Record: 5-2-1-1, $59,453. Werk Nick Rating: C+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Aunty Bridy (Ire), 128, f, 2, Camacho (GB)–Benedicte (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). O-David Granville; B-Karis Bloodstock Ltd & Rathbarry Stud (IRE); T-Jim Bolger. €10,000.
3–Thinking of You, 128, f, 2, American Pharoah–Fabulous (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). O-Michael Tabor, Susan Magnier & Derrick Smith; B-Orpendale/Chelston/Wynatt (KY); T-Joseph O’Brien. €5,000.
Margins: 1HF, 3/4, NO. Odds: 12.00, 4.50, 3.30.
Also Ran: No Speak Alexander (Ire), Sense of Style (Ire), A Ma Chere (Ire), Keeper of Time (Ire), Angel Palm (GB), Star Image (GB), Halla Rince (Ire). Scratched: Monday, No Stopping Her (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Family Ties Propel Arvin Through Uncharted Waters

The last few weeks have been a series of ‘firsts’ for Shannon Bishop Arvin. Named Keeneland’s President-elect on Sept. 1, she will officially transition to President and CEO once the calendar turns to 2021, and in doing so, become the first woman to take on the position at the storied racetrack.

Soon after Arvin was named President-elect this month, Keeneland conducted the first as-scheduled auction following the Coronavirus pandemic with the annual world-renowned September Yearling Sale.

Arvin’s first weeks on the job have been a unique situation to navigate, to put it mildly, but the trailblazer has taken it in stride. For her, family legacies have propelled her through these uncharted waters.

She spoke on the legacies she hopes to carry on in the new position.

“Hard work is definitely one, as well as perseverance,” Arvin said. “Things aren’t always easy-especially in this business, especially in the middle of a pandemic. But I think we have to continue to work to make the best decisions we can with the facts we have and make those decisions for the right reasons. The other big legacy is integrity. It’s doing the right thing for the right reasons. That’s not always easy and it’s not always popular, but it’s important.”

Arvin’s family ties go back to Keeneland’s inception– when her grandfather, W.T. “Bish” Bishop, was the track’s first General Manager upon its opening in 1936.

“My grandfather passed away when I was in high school,” she recalled. “But I have a lot of great memories with my grandparents at Keeneland as well as at Oaklawn Park, which is another great track that was really important to my grandfather.”

Her father, William T. “Buddy” Bishop III, grew up roaming the Keeneland grounds when his family lived in what is now the administrative offices.

“My mom remembers coming out here for Christmas and recalls where the tree was set up,” Arvin said. “My dad grew up playing on these grounds, which is such a special connection. The place has always been so important to my dad. I’d say that a calling of his life was to do what was right for Keeneland.”

Buddy Bishop’s services to Keeneland included acting as Director, Secretary, Trustee and Counsel. He was also a partner at Lexington law firm Stoll Keenon Ogden (SKO).

Growing up in Lexington, Arvin learned to appreciate the culture of Central Kentucky, while gaining essential connections within the horse community.

“My first experience at Keeneland came in working the switchboard in the general offices,” she explained. “I got to know a lot of people that are still here today through that experience. Rogers Beasley, Geoffrey Russell, Nick Nicholson and Ted Bassett, I’ve grown up knowing these people.”

Arvin attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, before working a stint in Washington, D.C. She then returned home and graduated from the University of Kentucky’s College of Law in 2002. From there, she took on the roll of partner at SKO, working alongside her father until his passing in 2008.

While practicing, she has represented many prominent industry participants and has served as corporate counsel to Keeneland since 2008 and as Secretary and Advisory Member of Keeneland’s Board of Directors since 2015.

Arvin recalled the relationships that she developed while working with her father.

“I got to practice with my dad for seven years before he passed away, which was a great experience,” she said. “It’s funny, Geoffrey [Russell] tells a story that the one time he offended my dad was when he called him an attorney instead of a counselor. I’ve tried to follow that role in being a trusted advisor.”

Backed by her two daughters and husband, Arvin said that in many ways, the transition into her new role has felt very natural.

“I think my professional life and my personal life has always been so tied together,” she said. “I’m really fortunate about that. It’s those relationships that you build. Certainly a lot of people have told me that my dad would be so proud, and I hope so.”

Keeneland and Arvin will be back in the spotlight with the start of the October race meet followed by the second running of the Breeders’ Cup at the Lexington location.

Going forward, Arvin said that the organization hopes to highlight the iconic track’s many traditions while searching for new methods to evolve the company and the sport.

“Our tradition is what makes us great,” she said. “We have to be sure that we build on that tradition in the right ways, but at the same time find ways to innovate and draw more fans to the sport and also be committed to safety and integrity. We’ve been committed to that really since 1935, as that’s part of being a model racetrack. But there’s more technology and science available now to be more sophisticated.”

In the past months, Keeneland has displayed a renewed spirit of inclusion and lack of tolerance for hate speech. Arvin said she expects a continued focus on diversity within the organization.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” she stated. “I think that as a community in Lexington and certainly at our company, we realize how important diversity and inclusion is and we’re going to keep working to make sure we’re more representative of a broader community than we have been in the past. It won’t happen overnight, but we’re committed to doing it.”

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The Cream of Ireland on Offer in Doncaster

A different venue is not the only deviation from the norm as the Goffs Orby Sale takes centre stage in the European yearling sales calendar at Doncaster this week. On the last three occasions she has been represented in this sale Galileo (Ire) has been the sire of the star offering out of stellar producer Green Room (Theatrical), but on this occasion it will be Gilltown Stud’s Sea The Stars (Ire) who has the honour of aiming to continue the mare’s spectacular sales results. As usual consigned by Ballylinch Stud on behalf of breeders Vimal and Gillian Khosla, the bay filly (lot 176) has a lot to live up to as the mare’s progeny have yielded just shy of €9 million in the ring at Goffs over the years as well as, more importantly, excelling on the racecourse. While the pedigree needs little introduction some new names have added even further depth to the page this year. Military Style (War Front), a son of this filly’s half-sister Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), won the G3 JRA Tyros S. at Leopardstown in August while another half-sister Do You Love Me (Ire ) (Galileo {Ire}), herself a €3.2-million purchase at this sale two years ago, obtained some valuable black-type when third in a listed race at Newmarket. While the mating with Sea The Stars is a slight deviation, there is a successful precedent with Green Room’s daughter by the same sire Signe (Ire) fetching €1.1 million at this sale in 2014, so overall the case for more of the same seems fairly airtight.

Of course the sale is not at all about just one or even a handful of horses. Last year’s edition unearthed this year’s G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Lucky Vega (Ire), a €175,000 purchase by BBA Ireland for Yulong Investments as well as that horse’s Group 2- winning stablemate Cadillac (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), a bargain at €40,000. There is equal strength in depth throughout this year’s catalogue and Henry Beeby’s usual optimism and infectious enthusiasm show no signs of abating despite these trying times.

“As usual we have had great support from vendors and we’ve assembled another strong Orby catalogue as a result,” Beeby said. “Just as much work has gone into creating an environment that will allow as many potential purchasers from around the world get involved with the sale and while we were unable to have as much person-to-person contact with owners, trainers and agents as we would normally have had, our phones have been working non-stop and we have been direct mailing people. Thankfully we’ve had a lot of interest from all over the world and while it will manifest itself in a lot less people being at the sale we are confident that between our online bidding and through the use of agents on the ground people will have no trouble buying horses. The online platform is very customer- friendly and it has been used successfully now at several sales here at Goffs UK. We have also organised for videographers to go to as many farms as possible so there are up-to-date videos of most lots available as well as having videographers on site at the sales complex. It’s a case of being adaptable and finding a way through this.”

Beeby continued, “Of course we will be doing our very best to achieve the maximum price for each lot but the metric we will look at most will be the clearance rate and to provide as vibrant a marketplace as is possible at the moment. The top of the market has held up well at Arqana and Keeneland so we are hoping we can replicate that kind of activity. We are fortunate to have a sales complex that rivals anywhere and we have added even more facilities to cater for people. Also Irish Thoroughbred Marketing are treating this as an Irish sale so will be providing support to buyers coming from Ireland, which is another great help. Doncaster is also a very accessible place within England between the motorway network and the train line from London so that is in our favour too. So between the strength of the catalogue we’ve assembled and the record of Orby graduates on the track this year and in the past we are as confident as we can be in this ever-evolving situation that things will go well. There will be no lack of effort from everyone involved so please god we can get a reasonable result.”

Galileo has been prolific at the top end of this sale, siring the highest-priced yearling the last two years and indeed the top two last year headed by the €3-million filly out of Green Room now named Espania (Ire) who is in training with Aidan O’Brien. When crossed with sprinting mares Galileo has produced some top-class horses, notably Cape Blanco (Ire) and Churchill (Ire) to name just two and buyers will have that in mind when inspecting lot 122, one of eight by the sire in the catalogue. The Castlebridge-consigned filly is grey like her very fast dam Easton Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) who won two listed races over the minimum trip for trainer Mike Dodds before being sold for 500,000gns in 2017.

Luke Barry offers a Galileo half-sister to G1 Irish Derby winner Trading Leather (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) through his Manister House Stud as lot 311, while Baroda Stud’s lot 305 is out of Australian Group 1 winner Nechita (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). Having topped one yearling session already this season Baroda has a strong hand to repeat that feat and their draft, which is the second-largest numerically, also features a colt by Kingman (GB) out of the German champion 2-year-old Monami (Ger) (Sholokhov {Ire}). Lot 291 has added appeal as a half-brother to this year’s G1 Preis de Diana winner Miss Yoda (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Another Baroda yearling with a close Classic connection is lot 211, a Dark Angel (Ire) colt out of G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) while few boast a better page than Baroda’s lot 458. This colt by Frankel (GB) is a half-brother to six-time Group 1 winner Moonlight Cloud (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and his third dam is Doff The Derby (Master Derby), dam of the mighty Generous (Ire) et al.

At the time of writing Dubawi (Ire) was sitting at the top of the table of the leading European stallions of 2020 based on worldwide earnings and Darley’s flagship stallion is represented by just the one offering in the Orby Sale, lot 17 from Kirsten Rausing’s Staffordstown Stud. The February-born colt is out of All At Sea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a winner of three stakes races in France and a daughter of champion Albanova (GB) (Alzao). All At Sea’s first produce, a 3-year-old filly called A La Voile (GB), has proved quite progressive for Sir Michael Stoute this year winning her only three starts and is now rated 88 with the promise of more to come.

Whether a homebred or a pinhook, stock from Timmy Hyde’s Camas Park Stud demand the utmost attention and hopes will surely be high for lot 102, a colt by Gleneagles (Ire). The son of Daneleta (Ire) (Danehill) is closely related to Group 1 winners Intense Focus and Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy) and his foal price tag of €155,000, when purchased from breeders Airlie Stud at Goffs last year, suggests he looks the part too. Camas Park also offers a full-brother to last year’s champion European sprinter Ten Sovereigns (Ire) as lot 388. The No Nay Never colt’s two older full-sisters have made €600,000 and 320,000gns, respectively, the last two years so his credentials are obvious.

Last year’s G1 Prix de Diane Longines winner Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) slipped through the net at this sale three years ago when sold to Meridian International for just €18,000 but one imagines a bit more attention will be paid to lot 253. This Sea The Stars (Ire) filly, offered by The Castlebridge Consignment on behalf of Pat O’Kelly’s revered Kilcarn Stud, is a half-sister to Channel and comes from a fantastic fillies family with her granddam being the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Magical Romance (Ire) (Barathea {Ire}).

Lot 114 from Michael O’Flynn’s Rockfield Farm is one that’s certainly bred for speed. The No Nay Never filly is out of Double Fantasy (Ger) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), who has already bred two stakes winning fillies including the Fozzy Stack trained Piece Of Paradise (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). This April-born filly’s year-older full-brother brought 320,000gns as a yearling last year and although unraced so far for Roger Varian and Sheikh Mohammed Obaid, his name Jet Engine (Ire) suggests he is showing some pace at home.

Another speedily bred filly with high residual value is lot 223 from Yeomanstown Stud. The Dark Angel filly is a full-sister to the classy and durable 15-time winner Sovereign Debt (Ire) and a half to another stakes winner in Puff (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) while her 3-year-old full-sister Darkest (Ire) broke her maiden at Limerick recently.

The Bolger family have been quite fortunate with updates this year and lot 180 from Clare Manning’s Boherguy Stud got a timely boost when his half-brother Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) won the G2 Futurity S. at The Curragh. The Vocalised yearling colt is closely related to high-class Bolger performers Light Heavy (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Parish Hall (Ire) and buyers should be reminded that Bolger sold this year’s G3 Acomb S. winner Gear Up (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) at this sale last year for €52,000 to Mark Johnston.

International buyers are vital to the success of this sale and one that could appeal to various overseas markets is lot 259, a colt by Caravaggio from the Castlebridge Consignment. The colt is a half-brother to both Royal Ascot winner Beauty Flame (Ire), (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) who went on to have a successful career in Hong Kong, and Roca Roja (Ire) (Strategic Prince {GB}), who also parlayed her smart Irish form to be a successful stakes winner in America. Another half-sister Roca Roma (Ire) (Australia {GB}) is a 97-rated 3-year-old filly that looks potentially stakes class for Ger Lyons.

With such quality packed into the two days there are dozens more yearlings that will no doubt command a premium while Jessica Harrington’s Cadillac (Ire) proves that there will be plenty of horsepower to be found at all levels of spending.

The sale will begin at 10 a.m. each morning.

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Morrin Optimistic About Orby Draft

The Morrin family’s Pier House Stud has been doing business at Goffs for decades and the Curragh-based farm’s current custodian Brendan Morrin is continuing the family tradition by sending a strong draft of seven yearlings, a mixture of homebreds and pinhooks, to the Goffs Orby Sale on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. Buyers can be spurred on by the fact the farm is a proven producer of quality, high-class racehorses such as Group 1 winner Capla Temptress (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and multiple stakes winner Shamwari Lodge (Ire) (Hawk Wing).

The first of the Pier House draft that will enter the ring at Doncaster will be lot 58, a colt by Le Havre (Ire) who is a full-brother to a stakes winner in Havre De Paix (Fr), who was a 230,000gns broodmare purchase two years ago by Deerpark Stud. The colt was purchased by Pier House for €72,000 at Goffs last year and Morrin said, “He is a lovely big, scopey horse with great action. There are only a handful by the sire in the sale so hopefully he might stand out a bit. His full-sister is a stakes winner so the mare is a proven producer and this is a very good individual.”

Morrin’s draft lacks nothing in sire power and next up is lot 71, a homebred daughter of No Nay Never from the family of champion 2-year-old filly Damson (Ire) (Entrepreneur {GB}). The catalogue states the dam Castle Cross (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) has yet to breed a winner but that omission was rectified very recently when her Zoffany (Ire) 2-year-old Minsky (Ire) landed a novice event at Yarmouth in impressive fashion.

“She is a nice filly and the half-brother winning was a good boost to get just before the sales,” Morrin said. “He looks like he could go on to better things too so that augurs well for the filly, who is a good type and moves well.”

Morrin was even more effusive in his praise of lot 165, a filly by first-crop stallion Ribchester (Ire) from a family replete with black-type performers. The dam, Galley (GB) (Zamindar), has already bred two stakes winners in Portage (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Cape Magic (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) and the €100,000 Goffs pinhook hails from a family that has already been kind to the Morrin.

“We sold her half-brother by Sea The Stars (Ire) last year to Richard Hannon and did well out of him so we decided to go back to the same source,” Morrin said. “The colt last year was a big horse and while he hasn’t been out yet the reports are good. We sold a Ribchester at Goffs UK and we like what we’ve seen of them so far; they have lovely temperaments. This is a proper filly with a great big stride to her and we really like her.”

Day two of the Orby sees Pier House kick off with a Gleneagles (Ire) colt (lot 265). The sire has been represented by some smart looking 2-year-olds this year including Star Seeking (Ire), who earned ‘TDN Rising Star’ status earlier this month. Bought for 62,000gns as a foal at Tattersalls last year the chestnut is out of dual winner Magic Art (Ire) (Nayef) from the extended family of Group 1 winners Kirklees (Ire) (Jade Robbery) and Mastery (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}). “This is a big horse so he may not be a typical 2-year-old type,” Morrin said. “That said, he doesn’t lunge like a backward horse. He moves lovely and whatever he does as a juvenile he should make up into a lovely 3-year-old.”

Fans of Starspangledbanner (Aus) will be keen to hear that Morrin’s lot 365, a son of the Coolmore stallion, is built very much in the mould of his father.

“This is a very strong colt, a real bull of a horse, just like his sire,” Morrin said. “He wasn’t over big when we bought him but he has grown into a fine horse and we are very pleased with him.”

Pier House offers a filly from the first crop of Irish National Stud stallion National Defense (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) as lot 437, and Morrin said he could not be happier with how the homebred out of Thames Pageant (GB) (Dansili {GB}) has developed.

“She’s probably one of the best-looking yearlings on the farm,” he said. “The National Stud actually took a video of her to use to promote the stallion and she’s an absolute queen to look at. We think Invincible Spirit is a very interesting sire of sires; you just have to look at how the likes of Kingman (GB) and Cable Bay (Ire) are doing and the Profitable (Ire) yearlings look nice too, so we thought National Defense was worth supporting. This filly looks fast and there has been very little prepping on her; she just looks a natural racehorse.”

With a Kodiac (GB) filly withdrawn, the Pier House draft is completed by lot 440, a homebred filly by Caravaggio out of a half-sister to G1 Al Quoz sprint winner The Right Man (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}). “She wouldn’t be quite as big as the previous filly but she is a nice type, a good mover with a lovely temperament; she should be an early 2-year-old,” Morrin said. “We have a few by Caravaggio to sell this year and they’re nice horses. They look fast and my late father used to say you can never have enough speed in a family and that is something we strive for when breeding.”

Pier House Stud is very much a family affair, something that is quite evident at the foal sales when there could be three or four members of the Morrin clan following one into the ring.

“I live on the home farm here which is 120 acres and my brother Ger, who used to manage Swordlestown Stud for the late Cathal Ryan, has his own farm near Ballymore Eustace,” Morrin explained. “He keeps all the mares and foals and the foals then come over to me when they’re weaned. I have another brother, John, who helps out here and invests in the business while my other brother, Tom, is a vet and he does all our work. He also does the veterinary work for Ballyhane Stud.

“It’s a big enough enterprise and everyone does their bit, but we all get on well together and it runs quite smoothly. My partner Carol is also a huge help and ensures everything runs smoothly when I’m away at sales.”

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