Unlike America, the foal crop in Britain and Ireland has been gently on the rise in recent years, up to 13,438 in 2023, compared to 12,778 in 2020, though within that combined number for last year, the Irish crop rose by 4% to 9,082 while the British number was down by 4% at 4,356. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues this year.

Those behind the stallions will be all too aware of the dilemma faced by some of their clients. In Monday's TDN, Coolmore's Mark Byrne said, “Now more so than ever breeders will need to steady the ship and use the good stallions that they can afford.” 

As we discussed in Part II of this series, which looked at stallions under the £/€10,000 mark, for those attempting to breed commercially and second-guess which way the winds of fashion and favour will blow, it truly is a game of chance. As we go up another tier in price, we will try to offer some perspective on both up-and-coming and established stallions which could offer value. This will not include any of the stallions standing their first season this year who were dealt with in Part I of the series.

Proven sires

While for many breeders the Juddmonte high-flyers of Frankel (GB) and Kingman (GB) are out of reach, it is hard to look past two stalwarts of the roster in this division. Bated Breath (GB) had a quieter year in 2023 by his own standards but he has the offspring of his strongest crop on paper to run for him this year and he's a stallion we will surely be hearing plenty more from. Having spent a couple of years at £15,000, he is back down to £10,000 and when considering his yearling average in 2023, of £48,300 for 60 sold, this does look a very workable price for a horse who generally gets good-looking sprinter-milers.

Then there is his fellow resident Oasis Dream (GB), who has been a friend to the British breeding industry for 20 years now and last year had a yearling average of just over £55,000. Yes, he's 24, but at his lowest fee of £15,000 (his career high having been £85,000 ten years ago) he's a decent choice to get a young mare off to a good start. We all know what Oasis Dream can do: his best horses among his 18 Group/Grade 1 winners include his champion two-year-old son Native Trail (GB), who has recently retired to Kildangan Stud, the brilliant Midday (GB) and top sprinter Muhaarar (GB). Oasis Dream is versatile as a sire and increasingly influential as a broodmare sire – from brilliant juvenile sprinter Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) to talented stayer Quickthorn (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). 

And that brings us to Nathaniel, who some now seem to consider a National Hunt sire but that's sheer madness. With a Derby winner and an Oaks winner already in his portfolio, Nathaniel added another two Group 1 winners to his list last year in the Champion Fillies and Mares S. winner Poptronic (GB) and the aforementioned Quickthorn. Both of these horses raced for their breeders, and I guess Nathaniel has a proper owner-breeder profile, but look at how the Blunts and the Blyths have been rewarded for their patience: Poptronic was sold for 1.4 million gns after her Champions' Day success, having also racked up racecourse earnings of £459,815, and Quickthorn has earnings knocking on the door of £800,000.

Nathaniel's fee has gone up again a little this year. After spending three years at £15,000, he is now back at £17,500, but he's still worth it. 

Golden Horn (GB) is another with a National Hunt label around his neck since his move to Overbury Stud but again, if you're an owner-breeder with a bit of patience, he really should not be forgotten. Admittedly, it remains a disappointment that from his early expensive books he has still not produced a Group 1 winner. That is surely coming, but it didn't happen soon enough to stop his fee dropping from £60,000 to £10,000 (having been at £8,000 last year when he covered 162 mares). Sure, plenty of breeders have had their fingers burnt, but he is now at a price which is workable. He had nine stakes winners in 2023, including three Group 2 winners, putting him ahead of some fairly big names, and he certainly should not yet be considered solely a jumps sire.

On the rise

Territories (Ire) is quietly compiling a decent record and is one who could easily be overlooked in the rush for the new stallions. He shouldn't be. Haydock Sprint Cup winner Regional (GB) became his second Group 1 winner last year after the Prix de l'Opera heroine Rougir (Fr), and he was represented by another seven stakes winners in Australia, Britain, Italy and Germany last year. His fee has been pretty consistent: £12,000 for his first four years and £10,000 for the next four. Territories is not necessarily flashy but, from the family of Shamardal and Street Cry (Ire), he has a solid feel to him.

There's a lot of love for Kodi Bear (Ire), particularly in our house, because he is from the family of Roy Rocket (Fr). But that pointless fact aside, he made a decent start with his first crop which included the Group 2 winner Go Bears Go (Ire) and Oaks runner up Mystery Angel (Ire). He needs to build on that, but he has some bigger and more expensive crops on the way through following his early success. This season's two-year-olds were conceived from his lowest fee of €6,000. He's been at €15,000 for the last two seasons and remains at that figure in 2024. Crucially, the market seems to retain faith in his stock.

Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) caught a few people by surprise with the early results of his first two-year-olds, his 18 winners including the G2 Vintage S. winner Haatem (Ire) and giving him a 36% winners to runners strike-rate. His fee for 2024 has been reduced by a third from his opening price of €15,000, and €10,000 seems a reasonable level for this good-moving Classic winner.

Heading into the second season

In France, Sealiway (Fr) was the busiest new stallion of 2023 and, a good juvenile himself, it would be no surprise to see him make a reasonably fast start with his runners. That won't be until 2026, but considering the leap his own increasingly popular sire Galiway (GB) has made, from €3,000 to €30,000, Sealiway's fee of €12,000 may look reasonable in years to come, and he has certainly been lent some support to get his career off to a decent start.

For his personalised breeder bonus scheme alone, which returns for his second year at stud, it is worth taking a chance on Stradivarius (Ire), who covered 120 mares in his first year and remains at £10,000. He's unlikely to get you the Brocklesby winner but if he sires horses in a similar mould to himself, there could be plenty of fun and rewards to be had down the line.

TDN Value Podium

Bronze: Gleneagles (Ire), Coolmore, €17,500

From a top-drawer family, Gleneagles had weighty expectations on his shoulders from the start. While he may not have quite lived up to that level, and his fee has come down accordingly, he has steadily proved himself to be more than useful and was represented by nine group winners last year, while his daughter One Look (Ire) was the easy winner of the Goffs Million on debut, having been picked up for €65,000 as a yearling. In the last two years another three of his daughters have sold for in excess of 500,000gns at the December Mares Sale.

Silver: Ardad (Ire), Overbury Stud, £12,500

Ardad could have a big year in store. From being the leading first-season sire in Britain in 2021, when his son Perfect Power (Ire) won the G2 Norfolk S., G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S., his numbers dropped off keenly to just 18 foals in his third crop, but the success of his first runners meant that his book soared to three figures, and he has 101 two-year-olds in 2024, with 144 yearlings to follow those. From a lowest fee of £4,000 in 2021, he has since then stood at £12,500, which keeps him in a commercial bracket, with a yearling average last year of almost seven times his fee.

Gold: Study Of Man (Ire), Lanwades, £12,500

One of the best-bred stallions in Europe, this son of Deep Impact (Jpn) made a really promising start with his first two-year-olds last year and is another who could be set for a big season. His most obvious Classic prospect from his nine winners at a strike-rate of 35% is Deepone (Ire), winner of the G2 Beresford S., a race whose previous winners include Sea The Stars (Ire), Saxon Warrior (Jpn), and Luxembourg (Ire). But there are others who could well step up on impressive performances last season, including the French-trained Birthe (Ire) and Newmarket winner Sons And Lovers (GB). One would expect his stock to be progressive and there's a number of well-bred youngsters yet to make an appearance, not least a half-brother to the Derby winner Desert Crown (GB).

Breeder's perspective: Tom Whelan, Church View Stables

Gold: Kodi Bear (Ire)

Silver: Supremacy (Ire)

Bronze: Space Blues (Ire)

Breeder and pinhooker Tom Whelan says, “I've had great luck with Kodi Bear so I'd have to put him forward as being the best-value stallion in this bracket. He gets great-looking horses and they all have a great attitude and lovely size for a son of Kodiac (GB). He's just very hard to knock. I'm a huge fan.  

“I have been very taken by some of the progeny of Supremacy. He looks to have a real chance. Another one who had his first foals last year was Space Blues and, while I might be a bit biased here because I got decent money for one, I'd be happy to use him going forward. I better give a mention to two others, Phoenix Of Spain and Lucky Vega (Ire), as they are producing the goods at this level as well.”

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Trickledown made its first public offering back in 1990 and has seen a kaleidoscope of change in the industry ever since. 

The Thormans will forever be associated for having back-to-back 2,000 Guineas winners–George Washington (Ire) and Cockney Rebel (Ire)–through their hands in the early noughties

George Washington was sold by Trickledown on behalf of his breeder at Tattersalls in 2004, where he topped Book 1 when selling to Demi O'Byrne on behalf of Coolmore for 1,150,000gns. 

Meanwhile, Cockney Rebel, who was bought as a foal by Trickledown for 15,000gns, turned a pinhooking profit when selling to Bobby O'Ryan for £30,000 as a yearling. George Washington won the 2,000 Guineas in 2006 while Cockney Rebel followed up the following year.

Amazingly, Thorman's association with back-to-back Guineas winners does not rank as his greatest day in the sport. Instead, it was the pinhooking of Dutch Art's dam–12,000gns into 710,000gns in less than a year–which towers above everything else. 

In this week's Q&A, Thorman reflects on some of those great days as well as his concerns for the sport and future ambitions. 

You brought the curtain down on the Trickledown consignment at Tattersalls in December. Was the much emotion involved in that process?

It wasn't so much emotion but more relief. Sara got hurt at Book 3 and when I went to see her in hospital that night I said, 'right, that's it, we'll finish now.' I'd been pushing out the retirement and I know Sara was ready for it as well. You know, when there is a yearling or a foal misbehaving, you are the one who has to grab a hold of it. There comes a time where that is no longer the sensible thing to do and we were ready to retire. We have been the luckiest people in this industry and had the most amazing staff. Some of the staff have been with us since they were 15 or 16 and came back to us after they've had a family. We've also had some brilliant owners, the likes of Chris Mills and Ray Townsend, who have been with us for 30-odd years. No outfit can operate and survive without good owners and staff and we have been blessed with both.

The consignment business has changed a lot since you and Sara started. Trickledown would have been one of the first major consignors in Britain back in 1990. What have been the biggest changes that you have seen since you started?

Since we have started, we have seen the likes of Castlebridge, Barton and similar outfits become huge. We've had our loyal bunch of supporters but, as they have gotten older, some have dropped away. Young people like to work with young people and that's why maybe Castlebridge and Barton consign major numbers. I mean, when we started, we used to consign 80-odd foals and we had the best owners that anyone could ask for. We consigned over 1.5m gns worth of foals three years running at one point. This year, the same group of owners were down to just 30 foals to consign. We haven't have a new client for five years. Certainly not a major client. But things evolve and we certainly hadn't been looking for that same volume of work as we were. It has dwindled down without us doing anything and things move on. It was time.

I know you've had a lot of good horses through your hands but, in many ways, you have been the champion of the smaller breeder. With that in mind, how tough was it to watch on at the breeding stock sales last year?

Oh, for sure. We gave, and I mean gave, two mares and two foals away. These are animals that, five years ago, they would have made five or six grand to Italy or wherever. I had to work hard to give those horses away and, I promise you, they weren't wrecks. You can very quickly work out if a foal is a wreck and if it is never going to be worth anything but these were not wrecks. The two mares we gave away would certainly have been viable three or four years ago. These mares and foals belonged to smaller breeders who have been great clients of ours and it was bloody hard turning to them to explain what was going to happen. Now, we did telegraph it a long way out because the horse were all by stallions who had fallen off a cliff. But, even when you put no reserve on the horse and you don't even get a bid in the ring, that takes a shine off things. Fashion has never been stronger. We used to be able to sell yearlings by unpopular stallions. If they were good-looking horses out of reasonable mares, they'd find a level and sometimes that level was quite good. Sir Mark Prescott, Peter Makin, the likes of those people would always buy a good-looking horse by an unfashionable sire. Now, if you have picked the wrong sire, there is nobody for it. Stallions are never as good or bad as fashion says they are.

Dutch Art: Thorman pinhooked the horse's dam for major profit | Racingfotos.com

Will fashion play much of a role in your pinhooking? I suppose it will have to. 

The only thing about fashion when pinhooking is that you have a year for things to change. You couldn't buy a Havana Grey (GB) at Tattersalls in December unless you had a big budget but there were some stallions out there that you felt still had mileage in them so you were happy to buy a foal out of those horses. The most expensive foal we bought was an Ardad (Ire). He had 108 foals two years ago so he has plenty of runners to represent him this year. He was also one of the leading first-crop sires two years ago so he must still have a chance, mustn't he? This foal was a dinger. Now, if Ardad doesn't come off, we might be lucky to get thirty grand for him. But if Ardad comes back into fashion, this could easily be a one-hundred grand yearling. It's buying a lottery ticket, isn't it? There are several horses you could have said would have had the makings of being a decent first-crop sire last year. There are probably four of those stallions who have absolutely been canned already. I mean, you cannot get a bid if you are by any of those stallions. But they are not that bad. Fashion has multiplied their disappointment. 

Getting back to the foal sales, have you any other thoughts as to why things were so bad for your clients?

There weren't any foreign buyers at Tattersalls. I got talking to one of the transport men and, I don't know if he was spinning a yarn or not, but he told me that between Brexit and the English paperwork, it costs the foreign buyers on average one thousand pounds more to get a foal home from England compared to Ireland. That has certainly made a difference. There was more of a market at the lower end at the foal sales at Goffs in Ireland. But at the other end of the spectrum, we had a decent order to go and buy a foal. We were prepared to spend fifty, sixty or seventy grand but, everything we liked, we just kept on getting blown out of the water. We weren't even finishing second or third on these nicer foals. 

Your broodmare band is down to four. How hard has it become to breed commercially? It's obviously a lot more expensive to produce the horses and perhaps now more so than ever you have to be very careful about what stallions you choose. 

Our philosophy to breeding has changed a lot but that is due to circumstances. We don't have the farm anymore. When you have a farm, whether you've six mares in a field or eight mares in a field, it doesn't make a fat lot of difference. You can kid yourself that you are keeping them for nothing so, that chancy mare, you might sit with her an extra year or two. When we gave up the tenancy of the farm, we looked at our mares very critically and decided that, if they had two runners that were no good, we shifted them on. Again, I wanted to buy a decent mare in December but didn't because my want list was bigger than my budget. The mares I have are getting a bit older and I could do with some new blood in there. But it's funny, all the good mares I have bought down through the years, I've almost bought them by mistake. The cliche is that the good mare finds you and that you don't find the good mare.

You've had your fair share of good touches. Is there one result that towers above another?

It would have to be Halland Park Lass (Ire) (Spectrum {Ire}), the dam of Dutch Art (GB), because, again, I bought her by mistake. I had no intention of buying her. I had a bunch of friends who told me that, if I saw a cheap mare, they'd like to come in on one with me. They were two veterinary surgeons from Newmarket and an auctioneer [Ollie Fowlsten]. Every mare I tried to buy for us, I got blown out of the water. A friend came up to me to tell me about Halland Park Lass and said 'she won't do you any harm.' I couldn't find a reason not to buy her so I bought her. I had seen Dutch Art at Doncaster and, although he wasn't the best-looking yearling, I remember being taken by how athletic he was. That was a great story because the two vets bought houses on the proceeds of her sale, as did the auctioneer. I sold a foal out of the mare to my daughter when Dutch Art won his maiden and that ended up helping her to buy a house. For me and Sara, the biggest thrill of all was the fact we did it for relatively small people. When we sold George [Washington], yes it was great and he was the only yearling that year to make over a million, but the owner was already a millionaire and had a big reserve on the horse. So, it was almost a relief when he sold rather than a slap on the back moment. Anybody could have sold George. Well, maybe not anybody, as he wasn't the simplest fella to deal with. The bulk of the fun we had at Trickledown was when people got a touch and it really mattered to them. 

Given everything you achieved–being associated with back-to-back Guineas winners and that massive profit with Halland Park Lass–is there more left to tick off?

I'd love to own a very good racehorse. We've had plenty of fun with the horses we've raced but never had a real one. But then again, we tend to race what we're left with rather than what we really like. There might be an opportunity to keep one that we really like going forward. Sara and I are very much into our point-to-pointing and we've got two pointers in training with Chris Barber, one of which we know is only going to be a fun horse. We went to 17 or 18 points last year and had so much fun. If I was to ever win one of the big races, the Foxhunters at Cheltenham or Aintree would be top of my list. Could you imagine the buzz? That would be a dream. 

And who will consign your horses going forward?

David Hegarty, who has just set up on his own, and Robbie Mills, who is actually the son of Chris Mills, who we have sold horses for for over 30 years. He's trading as RMM Bloodstock. You watch them over the next year or two. Both are exceptional talents. They'll find it easy following us!

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Golden Horn, who covered 173 mares this spring, stood his first season at Overbury Stud in 2023, having moved from Dalham Hall Stud after his purchase by Jayne McGivern. His fellow new recruit was Caturra (Ire), a son of Mehmas (Ire), who has been cut to £5,000 from an opening fee of £6,500. He covered a book of 110 mares in his first season.

Caturra's fellow Flying Childers winner Ardad has 101 juveniles to run in 2024. His current crop of foals numbers 144 and he covered a further 154 mares in 2023, his increased numbers being a result of a successful first crop of runners åwhich included the treble Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire). 

Simon Sweeting, manager of Overbury Stud, said, “We are very lucky to have such popular stallions who are achieving plenty and yet have even more to look forward to. Ardad's young stock from his excellent 2022 book of mares includes many quite outstanding individuals, and so many breeders have bred back to him to get more of the same. These big books he's had really do stand him in great stead. Meanwhile, Golden Horn has had a really tremendous year: nine Stakes winners, five at Group level – he's outperforming many stallions at far higher fees.”

The fees for Overbury's other stallions, Jack Hobbs (GB), Frontiersman (GB) and Schiaparelli (Ger), will be set later in the year.

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We've seen plenty of those dubbed as 'Royal Ascot two-year-olds' over the last week or so, and as the British leg of the breeze-up action comes to a close at Tattersalls on Thursday, the focus generally adjusts slightly to more of a later-maturing specimen. It was at the Guineas Sale of 2018 that Trueshan was bought for 31,000gns by Alan King and Anthony Bromley, a duo which is now a regular fixture at these auctions. He was plucked from the draft of Thomond O'Mara's Knockanglass Stables and, as the sun and wind continued to dry the Rowley Mile on Wednesday morning, two of O'Mara's seven juveniles on offer in this year's sale posted times within the top five of the day.

Of course, every vendor and buyer will tell you that it's not all about the time, and indeed there have been some notable examples of slower breezers going on to success at the top, including Derby runner-up Libertarian (GB) and Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris (Ire). But it can help when the clock speaks in your favour, as was seen a fortnight ago at the Craven Sale, when Glending Stables' son of Havana Grey (GB) sold for 15 times his yearling price at 650,000gns after posting the fastest breeze of the session. Roderick Kavanagh's outfit again had one of the fastest breezers on the unofficial times recorded for the Guineas Sale in lot 193, a colt by freshman sire Inns Of Court (Ire).

Last week we spoke to Robbie Mills of RMM Bloodstock about his burgeoning breeze-up and pre-training business, and one of his neighbours on Newmarket's Hamilton Road, George Peckham, is in a similar position. Under the George Peckham Racing banner, the former trainer brings a colt and a filly to the Guineas Sale, only the second and third he has consigned to breeze following an initial foray in 2021 when selling treble winner Straits Of Moyle (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) to the Cool Silk Partnership for 105,000gns.

“That's our only previous breezer at the sales,” Peckham said. “We did have one last year for the Guineas that had a setback before the sale so we sold him privately to Niels Petersen through Edgar Byrne. He won his first start by eight lengths in Norway and they quite like him, so I'm excited to see what he can do.”

Now a sought-after pre-trainer in Britain's busiest training centre, Peckham's involvement in the breeze-ups remains on the select side at present. 

“It's something that we wanted to give a go,” he noted. “It's never going to be a big business for us. We're flat out with the pre-training, and that's our main business, but we are lucky to have the facilities on the Heath in Newmarket. We'll see what happens but, we're very happy with how they went this morning.”

His two-strong draft currently at Park Paddocks consists of lot 174, a colt by Twilight Son (GB) whose full-sister The Twilight Lady (GB) won twice at two last year. Their grand-dam Confidential Lady (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) won the G1 Prix de Diane for her breeders Cheveley Park Stud.

He is followed by lot 258, a filly by Ardad (Ire) out of Broughton's Secret (GB) (Aqlaam {GB}) whose half-brother Spioradalta (GB) (Rajasinghe {Ire}) was another juvenile to win last year.

Peckham said, “The Twilight Son is a speedy little horse who does what it says on the tin, and the Ardad is a nice, big, rangey filly who will need a little bit more time. She probably wants seven furlongs or a mile at this stage, and the last few weeks it's all just come a little bit quick for her. She has a lovely, big stride on her, so it will be towards the back end of the season and into next year that she'll really come to the fore, I think. But to do what she's doing at the moment, I'm really happy with her.”

For the breeze, both juveniles benefited by being in the experienced hands of Arc-winning jockey Luke Morris.

“Luke used to ride for us when we were training and he's obviously a very hard-working fellow and nice and light as well,” Peckham explained. “We have a good relationship. He rode the one a couple of years ago for us, and we go back a long way.”

He added, “I was a little bit disappointed that they watered the breeze strip. It was just a little bit tacky, which hasn't suited many people, and it was a little bit chopped up after the Craven, but it was the same for everyone.”

George Peckham Racing is based in Yellowstone Stables next-door to trainers Simon and Ed Crisford, and with easy access to the vast expanse of the all-weather and Southfields turf gallops on 'racecourse side', behind the Rowley Mile grandstand. 

“It's been really busy over the winter and still going strong at the moment, which is great. We're very lucky with the people that support us, and we're very grateful to them,” he said.

“Yellowstone is brilliant for doing our job. We've got 50 boxes, and we're looking to expand a bit as well. It's a perfect location with all that grass we have on Southfields.

“I've been using the grass all winter and I'm a big believer in it. I try to stay on it as much as I can. That's a big advantage of being in town here. We tend to target the Tattersalls sales so we have a little bit of home advantage, and it would be silly not to use that. The horses have been over to the flat gallop plenty before they went up the watered gallop this morning.”

After withdrawals, 100 horses in training will take to the ring during Thursday morning, followed by 170 juveniles for the breeze-up session. The action gets underway at Tattersalls at 9.30am.

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Monday's breeze took place on testing ground, with some two-year-olds handling it better than most, which will all be taken into account by the buying bench, according to Blandford Bloodstock's ace scout. 

As if to remind the strike-rate Blandford Bloodstock has enjoyed at this sale in recent years, posters of previous purchases Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}), last year's Coventry S. hero, and the multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Perfect Power, hang proud either side of the rostrum. 

Describing what that sight meant to the team of international bloodstock agents upon arriving at the sale ground, Brown said, “It was epic. We left Newmarket at five o'clock on Sunday morning for the practice breeze and, when we walked into the ring, it was very cool to see Bradsell and Perfect Power either side of the rostrum. They are two really good horses who have come out of this ring. This place has been very lucky for us in the past. I watched Perfect Power's breeze over the weekend just to refresh the memory for what we are looking for so fingers crossed we can find another one.”

Perfect Power | Scoop Dyga

He added on the conditions, “It's very soft ground. I actually thought that times came into it less than ever at the Craven Sale. The fastest horses in the breeze are very often not the best horses to come out of the sale. There are so many different things that go into the melting pot.

“The great thing about the breeze-up sales is that lots of people use different methods to buy horses out of these sales. There are so many purchasers using different methods that it provides a great spread to the buying bench and that bore out last week. There were plenty of horses who did very little in terms of time at the Craven and they still made plenty of money.”

In searching for the next star, Brown explained that the Blandford team marries up many strands of information and evidence before playing on certain horses. 

He said, “If you went to the breeze-up sales and just went by the timesheet and bought the fastest horses, you really would spend a lot of money and do very badly. 

“Time is a factor but there are a lot of other factors to it as well–the style of the breeze, the horse's action and its attitude. The horse's attitude is something we place a huge amount of emphasis on as the whole process is a massive test.”

He added, “On top of all that, you've still got to like the horse physically. There are plenty of horses who breeze well and, if I don't like the look of them, I won't buy them. I'm not just going to buy an ugly horse who does a fast time. 

“But it usually adds up. When a horse breezes well, moves well and shows some speed at some point in the breeze, you usually look at the horse and say, 'yea, I get it.'”

Brown, who was crowned Bloodstock Agent Of The Year for the second year running in 2022, bought four horses at last week's Craven Sale at Tattersalls from 65,000gns to 350,000gns and a total spend of just under 1 million gns. 

He labelled himself as pleasantly surprised by the buoyancy of the first domestic breeze-up sale of the year, especially in terms of the clearance rate, and predicted the top end to remain strong this week at Goffs UK.

Brown said, “I have some clients who want colts, some people looking for fillies only, others looking to get going–in terms of that they are looking for sharp two-year-olds–and I also have orders for back-end horses as well. I wouldn't say the brief changes from sale to sale, because different types can come from any sale, and actually, Light Infantry (Fr) (Fast Company {Ire}), who came from this sale and got as close to Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) as anything in the Jacques le Marois, can do something big up here this year before going back to Australia. He wasn't in any way a whizz bang horse and, in actual fact, is getting better with every run.

“Obviously Donny has set its stall out to be a good source of two-year-olds and we expect to see those but that doesn't mean that if a nice big and backward horse comes up there, that we don't have orders for those types as well.”

He added, “The top is very strong and I imagine that will continue to be the same. I actually thought that the clearance rates were better than I was expecting them to be at the Craven and that the market was pretty buoyant. I bought four horses but got beaten on more than that in the middle market and at the top end as well.”

One consignor facing into the Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale off the back of a productive Craven Sale is Cormac Farrell. Consigning under the banner of C.F. Bloodstock for the first year, Farrell sold three horses for just over 500,000gns at Tattersalls and is hoping to keep the momentum going this week. 

“The Craven was amazing,” Farrell started. “They were all very professional and it was a great sale. I have to say, the results were down to a team effort and everyone plays a role. Rory Cleary is a huge help to us, in fairness. He's a top-class judge and a great horseman. Rory broke most of our horses and rode them all work so it wouldn't have been possible without him.”

Farrell's Footstepsinthesand (GB) colt [lot 80] clocked particularly well given the conditions and makes up a three-pronged draft for the Curragh handler who has also achieved some notable success selling point-to-point horses. 

He said, “The Footstepsinthesand colt cost 20,000gns here at the Premier Yearling Sale and, from day one, he has been very straightforward. We were expecting him to breeze well so we are delighted. Visually, it looked very good and I have since heard that it is up there with some of the fastest times. Regardless of the time, though, I have no doubt that he is going to go on and be a good horse. Hopefully we have a good sale and get them all sold and to good homes. That's important because you need to get a name for selling nice horses.”

The sale kicks off at 10am on Tuesday where 191 horses will go under the hammer at a sale that has produced seven Royal Ascot winners in as many years. 

The post Brown On The Search For Next Perfect Power At Goffs UK appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“The response has been tremendous,” says Overbury Stud's Simon Sweeting, who may well be giving serious consideration to installing a revolving door on the covering barn. “He has got some super mares. His owner, Saeed bin Mohammed Al Qassimi, has really got behind him and he's bought some lovely mares, especially for him. And obviously he is determined that he succeeds, like we all are. But we've got some tremendous support from people that I would consider to be really good breeders. Nick Bradley is sending at least six mares, Fiona Denniff is supporting him, Whatton Manor Stud, Richard Kent, Paul Shanahan has a share in him. Byerley Stud and Houghton Bloodstock are also sending a lot. Good, sensible breeders who produce winners have got behind him, so hopefully that's going to give him a chance.”

The saying goes that if something ain't broke, don't fix it, and for the team at Overbury, it was well worth taking a chance on Caturra so soon after the early success of Ardad (Ire), who was Britain's leading first-season sire in 2021, and whose stand-out son, the treble Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire), has recently joined Darley's team of stallions at Dalham Hall Stud. 

It is easy to join the dots: Ardad, Caturra, and Perfect Power were all bred by Tally-Ho Stud, where Ardad's sire Kodiac (GB) has stood with distinction for years, and which is also home to Mehmas. Furthermore, both Ardad and Caturra won the G2 Flying Childers S. Ironically, this was also the race that was seemingly at the mercy of Cotai Glory (GB) when he jinked and unseated George Baker. Seven years later, Cotai Glory, who also stands at Tally-Ho Stud, edged out Ardad to be the leading freshman sire of Europe.

“It's extraordinary how Tally-Ho keep producing horses like this, but they do. And we're very lucky to be the beneficiaries further down the line,” admits Sweeting. 

This week scientists at University College Dublin and PlusVital have published research which has identified genes associated with stress in the racehorse, and it serves as a timely reminder as to the importance of that magical ingredient in a horse's make-up which is every bit as important as ability: temperament. This is a trait which has often been spoken about in regard to Mehmas himself, who was famously so laidback as an early juvenile in his days with breeze-up pinhooker Roger Marley that he barely paid the son of Acclamation (GB) any attention–until he started galloping.

Caturra hails from the second crop of Mehmas and, according to his former trainer Clive Cox, and now to Sweeting, he appears to have adopted a similar no-nonsense approach to life. 

“He's absolutely brilliant. He really is just a very straightforward horse,” Sweeting says. “He enjoys the routine. He's very relaxed about the way that we do things with him, seeing a lot of the other horses like mares and foals in the same yard as him, and the other stallions. He's quite happy and relaxed out in the paddock, and he's taken to the covering tremendously. He's everything, in fact, that Clive Cox said he would be. He does what you want, as he did when he was in training.”

He continues, “He's getting more than his fair share of mares in foal. It's obviously the slower part of the season, so he is not under pressure. But he's getting them in foal with great regularity. So we are really pleased with the early results. He's very virile, and he's got a great libido.”

Sweeting adds, “Temperament is obviously such an important thing because, I keep saying it to people: if the trainers like them, then you've got half a chance. But if the trainers don't like them, if they haven't got a good attitude, they can very quickly turn against them and then you are sunk before you even start.”

Caturra is out of the Sleeping Indian (GB) mare Shoshoni Wind (GB), a decent handicapper over five and six furlongs, with three wins to her name and a runner-up finish in the Listed Empress S. at Newmarket. Though he has predominantly speed influences close up in his pedigree, the four-year-old's third dam, Pat Or Else (GB) (Alzao), is a half-sister to the St Leger and Gold Cup winner Classic Cliche (Ire) (Salse) and to Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille victrix My Emma (GB) (Marju {Ire}). With around 115 mares currently booked to him, Caturra clearly will be given a good chance to try to emulate the start made by his own sire in Ireland, and by his fellow Overbury resident, Ardad, whose popularity continues with 145 mares booked in to date. 

“We did wonder when we started him how Caturra would impact on Ardad or vice versa,” Sweeting says. “But actually they're in two different brackets. One is proven and one is not. And they are two very different things for breeders to pick out and reasons for them to use either one. 

“Caturra at the moment is a good level below [Ardad] in price, although a very similar type of horse at the start. But Ardad, he just feels very established now, and particularly having another stakes winner at the weekend, he just feels like he's done it and people can rely on him. You know you're going to get a good-looking horse, you know you've got the potential of a racehorse, and you know that people are going to like them at the sales. Whereas Caturra, you're paying a lot less money, but of course he has to prove himself, so they are in two different places in the market.”

While the two young sprint stallions are clearly going to be kept busy this covering season, busier still will be the Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn. He is listed as having covered 152 mares in his final year at Darley, and his book will be just as full this time around, with the Cheltenham Festival winner Concertista (Fr) (Nathaniel {Ire}) among a line-up of smart jumping mares to be paying him a visit.

“He is going to be busier than all of the others,” Sweeting notes. “We're lucky. We've got a great covering team. We've got a good system and it works pretty well. It is a busy time of year but I am certainly not going to complain about that. When you've got three or four horseboxes there, three times a day, it's a good sign.”

The post ‘He’s Everything Clive Cox Said He’d Be’: Caturra Takes To The Ropes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The aim of this exercise has been to show the average profit for stallions at each of four different levels of the market according to their yearling prices of last year. Those youngsters were of course conceived in 2020, and the table takes into account the stallions' fees at that time plus a general keep fee for the mare and foal/yearling as well as sundry costs and sales expenses of £20,000. Only stallions showing an average profit with five or more yearlings sold last year have featured in these tables and assessments have already been published for stallions standing at £50,000 and above, between £20,000 and £49,999, and earlier this week for those at £10,000 to £19,999.

Next week we will also consider the value among those sires who have not yet had yearlings at the sales, but for now we will deal with the end of the market that will particularly resonate with a wide range of smaller breeders, involving stallions who were standing at less than £10,000 in 2020.

We can sadly discount the name at the top of the list as Adlerflug (Ger) is no longer with us. The German champion died in April 2021, halfway through covering the mares who will have provided his small final crop. This penultimate crop was not large either, which tends to be the norm for Germany, but his yearling results reflect what was then Adlerflug's growing international status on the track. He was standing at his highest level when he died, but even then a €16,000 fee looked incredibly reasonable. With this class act no longer available we can look instead to his sons at stud, which include the brilliant Arc winner Torquator Tasso (Ger), who is about to embark on his first season at Gestut Auenquelle, and the German Derby winner In Swoop (Ire), who covered a large book at the Beeches Stud in Co Waterford and whose first foals are expected imminently. In Swoop's full-brother and fellow Group 1 winner Ito (Ger) was recently transferred from Germany to stand at Yorton Stud in Wales.

Still very much in active service and now flying high beyond this tier is Mehmas (Ire), a horse we've heard plenty about over the last few years and it is easy to imagine that will continue. The son of Acclamation (GB) actually stood at his lowest fee in 2020 of €7,500 in his fourth season but then his first runners woke everyone up to his prowess and he hasn't looked back, climbing to €25,000 then €50,000 and now €60,000. There will be no trouble encouraging mare owners to use him even at this level, and as our table shows, his first runners helped Mehmas's second crop of yearlings to sell for an average price which was 11.6 times his fee back then.

He will soon face competition from his own sons as three of them — Minzaal (Ire), Persian Force (Ire) and Caturra (Ire) — have already been retired to studs in Ireland and Britain and he can be regarded as one of the most exciting young stallions in Europe.

Ardad (Ire) was a year behind Mehmas in retiring to stud and the yearlings shown here represent his smallest crop of only 19. Once his first runners hit the track in 2021 and started winning early, the mares visiting him at Overbury Stud suddenly increased in number and he has 98 yearlings registered this year. In 2020, Ardad's fee had remained at his opening mark of £6,500 (it dropped to £4,000 in 2021 and is now £12,500) and, like Mehmas, they sold for an average price which was more than 11 times his fee. He too has been joined in the stallion ranks by one of his sons, the treble Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire). 

Ardad still looks good value at his adjusted fee, and the same can be said for Havana Grey (GB), who was also standing at £6,500 in 2020 but has risen to £18,500 on the back his first-season sires' championship laurels. The winners came thick and fast for the Whitsbury Manor Stud resident last year and it will be intriguing to see how they fare as three-year-olds. He trained on himself, from starting his campaign as an April juvenile and running eight times each at two and three before landing his Group 1 on Irish Champions Weekend in his second season. With a whopping 81 of last year's yearlings making on average nine times the fee for which they were conceived and showing average profit of £31,871, it was clearly a good move to be in the Havana Grey camp in his second year at stud.

As we can see, and for obvious reasons, not many of the stallions near the top of this table are still covering at fees within this tier, and that is the case for Kodi Bear (Ire), whose lowest fee of €6,000 came in 2019 and 2020 and is now €15,000, while Cotai Glory (GB), who brought more first-season sire glory to Tally-Ho Stud the year after Mehmas, is now €12,500, having previously been €5,000. The Platinum Queen (Ire) was the star for the latter last year and she subsequently fetched 1.2 million gns when sold to Katsumi Yoshida. That obviously doesn't figure in Cotai Glory's yearlings figures which were good nonetheless, at an average nine times his fee and average profit of £17,478 for 47 yearlings sold. That figure was just slightly below Rathbarry Stud's Kodi Bear, whose average profit was £18,247 for 32 sold.

Two sons of Invincible Spirit, Invincible Army (Ire) and Inns Of Court (Ire) have potentially exciting seasons ahead of them with their first runners. The vibes appeared to be very positive about Yeomanstown Stud's Invincible Army, who was dropped from a starting fee of €10,000 to €7,500, where he remains. Given that these yearlings were conceived off that higher opening mark, his average profit of £14,896 is decent from 72 yearlings sold and he is at a level which makes him very attractive if his first crop of runners deliver in the way which appears to be anticipated. 

Similar comments apply to Tally-Ho's Inns Of Court, who had a massive group of yearlings at the sales last year with 122 sold for average profit of £3,052. His fee has been kept at a lower level, dropping from an initial €7,500 to €5,000.

With these two stallions, as with Highclere Stud's Land Force (Ire), who also has his first runners this year, there is of course the chance for things to go very much in the breeeders' favour if they make a promising start and sustain it through to when their later crops are being offered at the sales. The risk involved is often reflected in dips in fees in the third and fourth seasons, though in Land Force's case he started an acceptable level of £6,500 for one year and had been £5,000 since then. Again, there were some favourable comments from yearling buyers, to the extent that 75 of his first-crop yearlings sold for an average price of £32,779, or five times his fee, at average profit of £6,279.

We'll see what the coming months bring for these young stallions as the eagerly anticipated early juvenile races get underway. One whose early results were encouraging on the track last year was Tasleet (GB), one of two sons of Showcasing (GB) to be standing at Shadwell's Nunnery Stud. Considering the increasing focus on success at Royal Ascot, a first-crop G2 Coventry S. winner is just what the doctor ordered for any budding sire, and that is exactly what Tasleet had in Bradsell (GB), one of 16 winners for the sire last season. The Archie Watson-trained colt went amiss when contesting the G1 Keeenland Phoenix S. but is reported to be on the comeback trail. Bradsell clearly has plenty of talent, so let's hope he is able to show that again this year.

Tasleet started out at £6,000 and has returned to that fee after two years at £5,000, but he remains competitively priced to give breeders a return on their investment. His average profit last year was £6,304 for 23 yearlings sold. 

Cheveley Park Stud's Twilight Son (GB) is another who has remained at an accessible price for breeders. He's still at his 2020 fee of £7,000, and his yearlings from that crop made on average five times that fee, with an average profit of £8,942. Both his sire and grandsire, Kyllachy (GB) and Pivotal (GB), were hugely dependable and successful members of the Cheveley Park Stud roster and there is no reason that this dual Group 1-winning sprinter can't develop into a similarly reliable sire capable of getting some fast and commercial offspring if granted enough support. 

VALUE PODIUM

Gold: Tasleet

It is an important year for him but his support is growing and he has been kept at an affordable level to give both him and those who use him a chance.

Silver: Cotai Glory 

Yes, his fee has now crept up into the next bracket but not by much and his star package The Platinum Queen was no fluke. There is some depth to his stakes horses from just two crops to race so far, and he can continue the solid work of his sire Exceed And Excel (Aus) as a dependable source of good sprinters. 

Bronze: Ardad 

He too is now in a higher fee bracket, but his fee remains sensible. This year's crop of juveniles is small, but he covered bigger and better books in the last two years, making it a reasonable proposition to use him now in anticipation of plenty more to come from his offspring on the track.

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According to the statistics recently published by Weatherbys in the annual Return of Mares, there were 62 stallions who covered 100 or more mares in 2022, and that is not taking into account sires such as Crystal Ocean (GB), who covered 338 mares and can legitimately be considered a Flat sire (as can so many in his bracket) but is advertised on the Coolmore National Hunt roster.

As the accompanying table (below) shows, no Flat sires breached the 300-mark, but the four busiest, all standing in Ireland, reached around 250. In Britain, last year's leading first-season sire in that country, Ardad (Ire), was the only horse to pass 200. He covered 205 mares at Overbury Stud, having been sent only 26 mares in 2020. His first set of juveniles were swift enough out of the blocks for him to have a surge of late bookings in 2021, when his book numbered 146.

But how do these numbers break down into sire-lines within sire-lines? It is of course hard to get away from Northern Dancer, whose sons have been so dominant that they now possess their own strong branches within that division. Among these sires tabled, and there are of course other representatives with smaller books, only 10 of the 62 do not have Northern Dancer as a male-line ancestor.

The Mr Prospector line, always far more celebrated in America, has been given a massive boost in this part of the world largely thanks to his great grandson Dubawi (Ire), who will be champion sire in Britain and Ireland for the first time in 2022 and features on this list along with six of his sons – Time Test (GB), Night Of Thunder (Ire), New Bay (GB), Ghaiyyath (Ire), Too Darn Hot (GB), and Space Blues (Ire). It was Mr Prospector's son Seeking The Gold who was responsible for Dubawi's sire Dubai Millennium (GB), while another two sons of Mr P, Machiavellian and Gone West, lead us, eventually, to two names near the very top of this list, newcomer Starman (GB) – a crack sprinter who interestingly has Montjeu (Ire) as his damsire – and Wootton Bassett (GB), who stand at Tally-Ho Stud and Coolmore, respectively.

The only outlier among the group of 62 is Saxon Warrior (Jpn), who, along with Study Of Man (Ire), was one of only two sons of Deep Impact (Jpn) standing in Britain and Ireland. That number has now increased by one with the news that Tosen Stardom (Jpn) is to shuttle from Australia to stand at Ireland's Lemongrove Stud. Saxon Warrior was himself recently represented by a first-crop Grade I winner at the Breeders' Cup in Victoria Road (Ire), and Deep Impact's son Auguste Rodin (Ire) had his trainer Aidan O'Brien and the media ablaze following his victory in the G1 Vertem Futurity. The Sunday Silence line, so dominant in Japan, may yet take root in Europe.

To cover Northern Dancer's influence, in this group at least, we must break it down into five of his sons: Danzig, Sadler's Wells, Try My Best, Storm Bird, and Nureyev.

Of those, the name packing the biggest punch is Danzig, chiefly through his dominant sons Green Desert and Danehill. Sixteen of these busy sires listed here stem from Green Desert and 11 from Danehill.

Notably, from each of those two spring the veteran half-brothers Invincible Spirit (Ire), who has six sons and a grandson on this list, and Kodiac (GB), who has four sons. Arguably, their extraordinary Classic-winning dam Rafha (GB) must take much of the credit for this pair, along with a dynasty which includes new Sumbe recruit Mishriff (GB), but their longevity is also remarkable, with Invincible Spirit listed as having covered 106 mares at the age of 25 this year, while the 21-year-old Kodiac covered 63.

Think Danzig and your mind generally wanders towards speed, but he is also responsible for the Derby winners Sea The Stars (Ire) and Golden Horn (GB), the two best sons of his late grandson Cape Cross (Ire), who is of course also the sire of the recently deceased brilliant dual Oaks winner Ouija Board (GB). That fact in turn makes Cape Cross the damsire of another Derby winner, Australia (GB). All three of those had covering numbers in excess of 150, though Golden Horn had a strong National Hunt contingent in his 2022 book and he has since moved from Dalham Hall Stud to Overbury Stud, where that trend will continue.

Almost half of the stallions on this list – 28 in total – stem from Danzig, and that is surely owing to the speed and precocity more generally associated with this line, which is so much in demand from breeders these days. These include newcomers Palace Pier (GB), A'Ali (Ire), Soldier's Call (GB), Mohaather (GB), Alkumait (GB) and Nando Parrado (GB).

Conversely, the Sadler's Wells/Galileo (Ire) axis is more usually associated with middle-distance performers, though we do have a notable exception in this area at the moment in Europe's leading first-season sire, the G1 Flying Five S. winner Havana Grey (GB), who is the sire of 42 winners and five stakes winners this year and is a great grandson of Galileo. In total, seven of the 10 representatives of the Sadler's Wells line tabled here descend via Galileo, with the other three including Kitten's Joy's son Kameko.

The expanding influence of the Storm Bird/Storm Cat line in this part of the world, chiefly through the latter's sons Giant's Causeway and Hennessy, is highlighted by the fact that nine make this list, with Lope De Vega (Ire), Lucky Vega (Ire), Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), Pinatubo (Ire) and Blue Point (Ire) all representing Giant's Causeway through Shamardal. (Earthlight {Ire} is just bubbling under with a book of 92). No Nay Never, by Hennessy's son Scat Daddy, is becoming increasingly widely represented, but Scat Daddy's Sioux Nation was narrowly the busiest of all this year. No Nay Never will have six sons at stud in Europe in 2023, including Ten Sovereigns. Sergei Prokofiev, the only Scat Daddy stallion in Britain, has been well supported and stands alongside Havana Grey at Whitsbury Manor Stud.

Nureyev's line is hanging in there through Pivotal (GB), whose son Farhh (GB) has compromised fertility, which is a shame as he looks as though he could have made far greater inroads in the stallion tables if he had been able to cover the numbers required to compete these days. His son Far Above (GB) covered a three-figure book in his first year, while of course Pivotal's greatest sire son, Siyouni (Fr), is arguably the most popular stallion in France. Because of his location, his full book is not listed in the Return of Mares for Britain and Ireland, but he is reported by the Aga Khan Studs to have covered 132 mares this year, while his two Coolmore-based sons Sottsass (Fr) and St Mark's Basilica (Fr) covered 126 and 176, respectively.

Finally, Try My Best's branch, via the perhaps unlikely source of the former Coolmore then Shadai resident Waajib (Ire) and his son Royal Applause (GB), has started to flourish through Acclamation (GB). Though the latter, now 23, was just shy of 100 mares himself this year, his sons Mehmas (Ire) and Dark Angel (Ire) covered 249 and 193 mares, while Mehmas's son Supremacy (Ire) was also high on the list with 187.

As the record-breaking first-season sire of 2020, and having backed that up last year by leading the second-crop sires' list, Mehmas's popularity continues to be in the ascendant and not just via his male offspring. In the last few weeks, his daughter Malavath (Ire) topped the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale at €3.2 million, while another, the Grade I winner Going Global (Ire), sold for $2.5 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in Kentucky.

With Supremacy one year ahead of them, three more young sons of Mehmas join the ranks for 2023: G1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner Minzaal (Ire) is on Shadwell's Derrinstown roster, with Persian Force (Ire) retiring to stand alongside his sire at Tally-Ho Stud, and Caturra (Ire) becoming the first to stand in England, at Overbury Stud.

As we have seen in the recent past with such notable examples as Kendargent (Fr) and Wootton Bassett, starting out with small books of mares does not preclude success, and in fact it can be a breeder's worst nightmare to have one of many of a stallion's offspring if the fickle market suddenly turns its back. But as a guide to who's hot and who's not in the eyes of the commercial sector, the figures in the Return of Mares are always fascinating to peruse. And for those breeders simply with an eye on the racecourse with no sale-ring concerns in between, there are still plenty of options when it comes to well-bred and well-performed stallions which require simply the courage of your own convictions. Blood will out.

British and Irish Flat stallions with three-figure books in 2022

Name  No. Mares   (Sire)

Sioux Nation 255 (Scat Daddy)

Starman (GB) 254 (Dutch Art (GB))

Mehmas (Ire) 249 (Acclamation (GB))

Wootton Bassett (GB) 249 (Iffraaj (GB))

Ardad (Ire) 205 (Kodiac (GB))

Starspangledbanner (Aus) 202 (Choisir (Aus))

Saxon Warrior (Jpn) 199 (Deep Impact (Jpn))

Kodi Bear (Ire) 194 (Kodiac (GB))

Dark Angel (Ire) 193 (Acclamation (GB))

New Bay (GB) 193 (Dubawi (Ire))

Frankel (GB) 188 (Galileo (Ire))

Supremacy (Ire) 187 (Mehmas (Ire))

Time Test (GB) 181 (Dubawi (Ire))

Night Of Thunder (Ire) (180 Dubawi (Ire))

No Nay Never 178 (Scat Daddy)

St Mark's Basilica (Fr) 176 (Siyouni (Fr))

Cotai Glory (GB) 176 (Exceed And Excel (Aus))

Ten Sovereigns (Ire) 173 (No Nay Never)

Australia (GB 173 (Galileo (Ire))

Lope De Vega (Ire) 168 (Shamardal)

Havana Grey (GB) 166 (Havana Gold (Ire))

Dubawi (Ire) 165 (Dubai Millennium (GB))

Too Darn Hot (GB) 164 (Dubawi (Ire))

Galileo Gold (GB) 163 (Paco Boy (Ire))

Sea The Stars (Ire) 161 (Cape Cross (Ire))

Ghaiyyath (Ire) 161 (Dubawi (Ire))

Space Blues (Ire) 160 (Dubawi (Ire))

Camelot (GB) 159 (Montjeu (Ire))

Pinatubo (Ire) 159 (Shamardal)

Coulsty (Ire) 158 (Kodiac (GB))

Gleneagles (Ire) 155 (Galileo (Ire))

Palace Pier (GB) 154 (Kingman (GB))

Elzaam (Aus) 153 (Redoute's Choice (Aus))

Golden Horn (GB) 152 (Cape Cross (Ire))

Lucky Vega (Ire) 152 (Lope De Vega (Ire))

Sea The Moon (Ger) 152 (Sea The Stars (Ire))

Kingman (GB) 150 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Showcasing (GB) 150 (Oasis Dream (GB))

Sergei Prokofiev 150 (Scat Daddy)

U S Navy Flag 144 (War Front)

Ulysses (Ire) 143 (Galileo (Ire))

Blue Point (Ire) 142 (Shamardal)

Inns Of Court (Ire) 141 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Invincible Army (Ire) 138 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Dandy Man (Ire) 137 (Mozart (Ire))

Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) 134 (Lope De Vega (Ire))

Nathaniel (Ire) 133 (Galileo (Ire))

Nando Parrado (GB) 130 (Kodiac (GB))

Sottsass (Fr) 126 (Siyouni (Fr))

Oasis Dream (GB) 125 (Green Desert)

Magna Grecia (Ire) 120 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Profitable (Ire) 118 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Far Above (GB) 117 (Farhh (GB))

Bated Breath (GB) 115 (Dansili (GB))

Bungle Inthejungle (GB) 115 (Exceed And Excel (Aus))

Waldgeist (GB) 115 (Galileo (Ire))

A'Ali (Ire) 114 (Society Rock (Ire))

Soldier's Call (GB) 112 (Showcasing (GB))

Churchill (Ire) 108 (Galileo (Ire))

Mohaather (GB) 108 (Showcasing (GB))

Invincible Spirit (Ire) 106 (Green Desert)

Alkumait 105 (Showcasing (GB))

Kameko 102 (Kitten's Joy)

The post Mr Prospector Line Boosted Among Europe’s Busiest Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The 3-year-old will be available for viewing in Newmarket this week from Sunday to Wednesday at Crockfords, opposite the rear entrance of Tattersalls.

The arrival of Caturra at the Gloucestershire stud has echoes of Ardad (Ire), the leading first-season sire in Britain in 2021. Both horses were bred by Tally-Ho Stud and won the Flying Childers, having been bought by Brown as youngsters–Ardad at the breeze-up sales and Caturra as a yearling for 110,000gns from Tattersalls October Book 2.

Caturra was trained by Clive Cox for Saeed bin Mohammed al Qassimi and won as early as the May of his juvenile season before going on to land the Listed Rose Bowl S. at Newbury and gaining his Group 2 success. This season he has added further group placings in the G3 Prix Sigy at Chantilly and the G2 King George S. at Goodwood.

“He's got everything a top juvenile needs: great physical maturity–and he's an outstanding model–but also a wonderful mind. From the moment he stepped in the yard, he was a natural for Royal Ascot,” said Cox.

“The Flying Childers win was very special. To be able to accelerate off fast sprinting pace like he did–that really takes some doing. I loved the way he'd really get his head down to gallop. And so straightforward: I've never had a sprinter with such a sober attitude. Caturra had a lie down at the races when he arrived at Doncaster. That's rare! He saves all his energy for when he needs it, and he's a lovely, kind horse to work with. I am very confident he'd have been competitive at the highest level again at four.”

Caturra is a member of the second crop of Mehmas, who set a new world record in 2020 with 56 first-crop juvenile winners.

Richard Brown commented, “Caturra is the fastest son of Mehmas, and he won the same big race as Ardad. Those are two of the biggest names in the commercial market, and Caturra– who's a particularly good-looking horse–has every chance of joining them. He's just like Ardad.”

Overbury Stud will be offering a number of breeding rights in Caturra. Manager Simon Sweeting said, “We are keeping things simple: these are the same terms Ardad started at, and if ever there was a second Ardad, this is this horse. A fast and notably precocious Flying Childers winner by a top commercial stallion, just like Ardad. And, if anything, Caturra is even better looking, with a most lovely head and bags of strength and quality. We're really looking forward to showing him to breeders during the December Sales.”

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The brilliant G1 Derby winner and European Horse of the Year in 2015, Golden Horn joined Overbury Stud in July after being sold to new investors from Darley and Anthony Oppenheimer.

He will stand alongside 2015 Irish Derby hero Jack Hobbs (GB), whose fee has not been decided upon, and Frontiersman (GB), who will once again stand for just £1,000. Also on the Overbury team is Schiaparelli (Ger) at £2,000.

Overbury Stud's manager Simon Sweeting said, “I think we've got stallions for most ambitions and most tastes–certainly they are all showing they can sire horses you'd be proud to have bred. 

“We're really looking forward to talking to breeders about their mares and we'll be doing our best for them in the season ahead. I hope we can have as lucky a run in 2023 as we've had in the past year or two.”

The post Ardad Heads Overbury Roster As Golden Horn Set At 8k appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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