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More Freshman Glory For Tally-Ho

It was extremely unlikely that any first-season sire this year would even get close to the record-breaking 56 winners for Mehmas (Ire) in 2020. That feat was made all the more remarkable by the fact that the start of the Flat season was delayed for several months by the pandemic-induced shutdown of racing.

Leaving this huge tally aside, in any other year 35 first-crop winners at a strike-rate of 40% would be more than respectable, and it is this number, and £788,531 in progeny earnings in 2021, that sees Mehmas's fellow Tally-Ho Stud resident Cotai Glory become the leading freshman in Europe. The son of Exceed And Excel's eight black-type performers were led by the G2 Prix Robert Papin winner Atomic Force (Ire), while Purciaretta (Ire) won a Listed contest in Italy and Eldrickjones (Ire) was runner-up in the G2 Coventry S.

On the prize-money front, Cotai Glory only narrowly shaded Caravaggio, who spent three years at Coolmore in Ireland before being relocated to Ashford Stud in Kentucky for the 2021 covering season. He remains there and now has some bragging rights from a first-crop Group 1 winner in the lightly-raced but unbeaten Cheveley Park S. victrix Tenebrism. The G2 Debutante S. winner and G1 Moyglare Stud S. runner-up Agartha (Ire) was another smart performer for Caravaggio, who had 24 winners in Europe overall.

The former breeze-up graduate Ardad (Ire) was third in Europe and is the leading freshman in Britain, with his 23 winners including the dual Group 1 hero Perfect Power (Ire) and G3 Sirenia S. winner Eve Lodge (GB), as well as the G2 Coventry S. third Vintage Clarets (GB). Ardad's popularity rose accordingly at the yearling and foal sales this year which will have made up for the fact that his 2021 foal crop consisted of just 18 members. He covered a three-figure book of mares at Overbury Stud in 2021, however, and that will be repeated this covering season.

While Tally-Ho Stud can enjoy some reflected glory in having bred both Ardad and Perfect Power, greater enjoyment will doubtless be derived from the start made by another of the farm's stallions, the 2000 Guineas winner Galileo Gold (GB). He too had a Group 1 winner, from his former stable of Hugo Palmer, in Ebro River (Ire), as well as Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Oscula (Ire) and the Listed winner System (Ire) among six stakes performers and 24 winners.

The G2 Queen Mary S. winner Quick Suzy (Ire) was the star of the first crop of Darley's Profitable (Ire), who amassed a decent haul of 28 winners, with two Listed scorers among them.

In sixth in Europe and leading the French contingent was the regally-bred Zarak (Fr), whose 2022 book was full early on the back of his 17 winners, led by the Arqana sales race winner and G1 Criterium International third Purplepay (Fr), who subsequently sold for €2 million in December to race on in America. Zarak was also represented by the German Group 3 winner Lizard (Ger) and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Times Square (Fr).

A trio of Listed winners and the Group 2-placed Unconquerable (Ire) and The Acropolis (Ire) led a bunch of 25 winners for Coolmore's Churchill (Ire), while Yeomanstown Stud's El Kabeir has the champion juvenile in Italy in Group 2 winner Don Chicco (GB), as well as Listed winners Sa Filonzana (Ire) and Masekela (Ire), the latter having also been runner-up in the G2 Superlative S.

Behind him in ninth was the National Stud's Aclaim (Ire), who steadily compiled a list of 26 winners, the leading light of which was Cachet (Ire), with four stakes places including third in the G1 Fillies' Mile.

Completing the top ten on prize-money was the Queen's son of Galileo (Ire), Recorder (GB), who stands in France under the Sumbe banner and had Listed victrix Hot Queen among his eight winners.

Just outside the European top ten, Time Test (GB), like Zarak a son of Dubawi, caught plenty of people's attention with his quartet of stakes winners from 11 winners in total.

Dream Ahead's son Al Wukair (Ire) made a pleasing start in France at Haras de Bouquetot with 15 winners, while similar comments apply to his stud-mate Zelzal (Ire), by Sea The Stars (Ire), who notched 11 winners.

Towards the end of the season there were some decent maiden winners being posted by two sons of Galileo (Ire) whose stock can be expected to progress: Ulysses (Ire) and Highland Reel (Ire), who ended the year with 16 and 12 winners respectively.

The Irish National Stud's National Defense (GB) was represented by only 14 runners, but they included five winners, with the standout being the French Listed winner and G2 Queen Mary S. runner-up Twilight Gleaming (Ire), who went on the win the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint for Wesley Ward and Stonestreet Stables.

The aforementioned Zarak headed the first-season sire lists in his native France and also in Germany, where he has one of the best juveniles in the country in Lizaid, while El Kabeir's Don Chicco ensured that he topped the list in Italy.

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Jackson Named National Stud Nominations Manager

Jamie Jackson has been appointed nominations manager for The National Stud.

Jackson gained work experience at Whitsbury Manor Stud and New England Stud before joining the BHA graduate programme, during which he was placed at the National Stud for eight weeks, after which he stayed on. Jackson takes over from Joe Callan, who remains within The Jockey Club has interim general manager of Market Rasen Racecourse.

The National Stud's Stud Director Tim Lane said, “Jamie came to us in July 2019 and showed real potential and determination. He has been a brilliant asset to the team and has grown and progressed exceptionally over the last two years. He has built a good client-base here and has been a huge part of the progress the stud has made”

Jackson added, “It's a really exciting time here at the stud, and I am very lucky to be in the position I'm in. Having seen Time Test and Aclaim foals through the summer and in the sales ring when I first started, to now being successful racehorses, has been amazing. The stallion roster is at its highest standard it has been for quite some time, and Tim and I [and co] hope to further evolve it over the coming years.

“Personally, I am very excited to launch Lope Y Fernandez for the 2022 breeding season. He is a hugely exciting horse to be the only son of Lope De Vega standing in England. Also, I feel very lucky to be working alongside Ed Harper, who helped kick-start my career at Whitsbury Manor Stud.”

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Overbury And Tally-Ho Studs Share The Ardad Joy

ASCOT, UK–There's nothing quite like Royal Ascot to inject some interest into the first-season sires' championship and, with three days down and two to go, there will be several stallion masters with an extra spring in their step following the results of this week's juvenile contests.

As Roger O'Callaghan of Tally-Ho Stud said on Thursday afternoon, “Royal Ascot is very important. This week can make the horses.”

And the O'Callaghan family has reason to be doubly pleased with the way the races have fallen so far this week. Their own first-season sire Cotai Glory (GB), who has already notched 10 individual winners, has had two black-type performers this week, with Eldrickjones (Ire) finishing second in the G2 Coventry S. and Dig Two (Ire) taking the same spot in the listed Windsor Castle S. Tally-Ho Stud also featured as the breeder of G2 Norfolk S. winner Perfect Power (Ire), the first Group winner for Overbury Stud's freshman Ardad (Ire), himself a Royal Ascot winner who was also bred by the O'Callaghans and is yet another exciting young sire son for the Tally-Ho stalwart Kodiac (GB).

“It went from being a nearly week to a very pleasing week,” O'Callaghan added. “It's very satisfying to see all the hard work bearing fruit.”

There could yet be more excitement to come for the team as Cotai Glory's stud-mate Galileo Gold (GB)–the first of this season's freshmen to post a stakes winner with the Tally-Ho Stud-bred Ebro River (Ire)–has two runners in Friday's G3 Albany S. in the Woodcote S. winner Oscula (Ire) and Hellomydarlin (Ire).

Meanwhile, Ardad continues to heap reflected glory on Tally-Ho as well as bringing big smiles to the faces of the team at Overbury Stud in Gloucestershire. The winner of the Windsor Castle S. in 2016, followed by the G2 Flying Childers S., Ardad is out in front in the table and his week started with a 12th individual winner in the debutant Najat at Thirsk on Tuesday for the stallion's racing owner Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah. This was followed by a third-place finish an hour or so later from dual winner Vintage Clarets (GB) in the G2 Coventry S. Better was to come on Thursday, however, with Perfect Power's determined last-gasp victory in the Norfolk. The latter result also brought a touch of deja vu for Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, who bought Perfect Power from Tally-Ho Stud at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale, just as he had done with Ardad.

“Ardad has covered 145 mares now this season and 100 of those have been booked since the beginning of April,” said Overbury Stud's Simon Sweeting. “It's beyond our imagination that he could have started as well as this and he has another good chance at Ascot tomorrow [Friday] with Eve Lodge.”

Darley's Profitable (Ire) was represented in impressive fashion by Quick Suzy on Wednesday, who became his first Group winner in the G2 Queen Mary S. when leading home Twilight Gleaming (Ire), an American-trained daughter of the Irish National Stud's National Defense (GB).

Still to come at Ascot this week are the Albany S., which features the aforementioned Eve Lodge, Hellomydarlin and Oscula, as well as the impressive recent Newmarket winner Cachet (GB), by the National Stud's Aclaim (Ire), and Elliptic (Ire), a daughter of Coolmore's Caravaggio.

Among the line-up for Saturday's listed Chesham S. are Goodwood novice winner Masekela (Ire), a colt by another young son of Scat Daddy in the Yeomanstown Stud resident El Kabeir, as well as Withering, by the now French-based Mondialiste (Ire).

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A Fresh Look With Ross Doyle

It's that time of year: with just weeks to go to the start of the turf season, thoughts are turning to which of this year's freshman sires will be making a splash with their first runners. With 26 European first-crop stallions to consider, we have asked the views of those who have seen a good range of young stock at the sales. First in the hot seat is bloodstock agent Ross Doyle.

He says, “We have a system where we see every single horse at the foal sales and the yearling sales amongst our team, so we get a very good overview on what stallions are throwing, and types and temperaments. Obviously we buy for other people but when we're buying for Richard Hannon, we're often buying horses on spec, so our budget is limited to a point.

“So we are able to take a bit of a gamble on a physical by a stallion that we like the look of, where other agents might be tied down a bit to instructions, or an owner wanting a specific established stallion. And we've been lucky over the years with first-season sires—and don't get me wrong, it's a big gamble—but Mehmas's sire Acclamation (GB) is a good example. From the first crop of Acclamation I think we bought seven yearlings. Thinking back, at the time, they weren't expensive horses—[dual listed winner and Group 3-placed] Cake (Ire) was £13,000, and that's the way we roll, we have to take a punt on certain horses every year.

“We bought close to 100 yearlings last year and that includes four by Ribchester (Ire), four by Profitable (Ire), three or four by Ardad (Ire), a couple by Aclaim (Ire), and a couple by Churchill (Ire). As far as physicals go, all those horses were stamping their stock in their own way, and in the way you'd like them to. They are all getting a consistent type of horses that we liked.

“I see there are an awful lot of Ardads in the breeze-ups, which is interesting. The breeze-up men must have liked the look of them. As a racehorse, he was hard-knocking all year long at a very good level, and he's a good-looking horse with a good pedigree, by one of the outstanding sires in Europe in many years. It would also be no surprise if Aclaim did well—he's by Acclamation with a very good pedigree, from Montjeu's family. He got a very nice type and I really liked the way the Aclaims improved with time, even from the foal sales to yearlings. I think that's a great sign in young stock. They were grand types as foals but they really came back as very good yearlings.

“It's the first time in a good couple of years that we have really seen five or six horses that potentially have a solid chance on the types they are getting or on how they're bred. That makes it an extremely competitive first-season sire list. If I was to tip one, I think Ribchester has a good chance on the types he got, and I know the feedback coming from Hannon's and other places that have them is that they've got lovely temperaments and they carry themselves well. They seem to be showing all the right signs. Churchill is probably going to be a slower burner but we liked his stock as well.”

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