‘I Wouldn’t Swap Him’ – Hannon Has Confidence In Guineas Hope Rosallion

Richard Hannon has said there is not one horse that he would swap Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) for and reported the Group 1 winner to be firmly on course for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 4. 

Previously described as “right up there with the best we've ever had” by his handler, Rosallion is a general 8-1 chance for Classic glory at Newmarket. 

His big day in the sun last year came when storming to G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere glory and confidence is clearly high in the camp that Rosallion can give short-priced 2,000 Guineas favourite City Of Troy (Justify) something to think about. 

Hannon said, “Rosallion is in great form and he's had a canter upsides Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire}) on the grass. Timmy Murphy rides him every day and was delighted with him. It wasn't a massively informative piece of work but it was just one of those where we thought we would give him a little bit while it was a nice morning and the grass is nice.”

He added, “I would like to give him a trial, but I won't run him anywhere where there is soft ground. He could just go straight to the 2,000 Guineas. I'm going to take him to either Kempton or Newbury two or three weeks before the trials, so if he does go straight to the Guineas, he will be plenty quick enough. My view of him hasn't changed–there is not a horse I would rather have other than him.”

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Justify and O’Brien Dominate Guineas Entries

The entries for the first two Classics of the season have been released, with 49 horses entered in each of the Qipco 2,000 Guineas and Qipco 1,000 Guineas.

The colts will line up at Newmarket on Saturday, May 4 when it is likely that much of the attention will focus on the unbeaten City Of Troy (Justify), who at this stage is the ante-post favourite for the 2,000 Guineas. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, he has left Ireland for two of his three starts to win the G2 Superlative S. at Newmarket's July Course followed by the G1 Dewhurst S. on the Rowley Mile.

City Of Troy's stable-mate Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), a son of the 1,000 Guineas winner Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), is currently second-favourite and is one of eight entries in the race for the Ballydoyle stable. The other two Irish-trained entries are the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S. winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), trained by Adrian Murray, and Jim Bolger's unraced Clean Energy (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}).

The G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Rosallion (Ire) could become an important first Classic runner for his sire Blue Point (Ire) and represents Richard Hannon Jr., who won the race 10 years ago with Night Of Thunder (Ire) and also has Son (GB) entered this year. He too is by a second-season sire in Too Darn Hot (GB). In that same category is Sons And Lovers (GB), by Study Of Man (Ire), who is one of four entries for Jane Chapple-Hyam, two of which are owned by former trainer Peter Harris.

Charlie Appleby has three colts entered led by the G1 Kameko Futurity Trophy winner Ancient Wisdom (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Saaeed Bin Suroor, who won last year's 1,000 Guineas with Mawj (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), has one of the Godophin quartet, Olympic Candle (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}).

Eve Johnson Houghton has entered Mister Sketch (GB) (Territories {Ire}) for Wathnan Racing and the G3 Acomb S. winner Indian Run (Ire) (Sioux Nation) for the Bronte Collection, while David Menuisier has three colts entered including the G1 Criterium International winner Sunway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}).

Aidan O'Brien is also the trainer of the favourite for the following day's 1,000 Guineas, Opera Singer. Like City Of Troy, she is by Coolmore's American-based sire and Triple Crown winner Justify, and she won last season's G1 Prix Marcel Boussac. 

Opera Singer is one of 16 Irish-trained fillies engaged in the race, including eight from her own stable, while Paddy Twomey could have two runners, Purple Lily (Ire) (Calyx {Ire}) and One Look (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), and Natalia Lupini has her first Classic entrant in Kitty Rose (Ire) (Invincible Army {Ire}). 

Ollie Sangster is another young trainer with a frost Classic hope in Shuwari (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), along with Amy Murphy, the trainer of Needlepoint (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}).

The G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Fallen Angel (GB) is currently the leading British-trained hope and is one of two entries for her trainer Karl Burke along with Darnation (Ire). Both fillies are by Too Darn Hot. Fallen Angel represents Steve Parkin's Clipper Logistics, which also has the William Haggas-trained Love Dynasty (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) engaged in the 1,000 Guineas.

Among the four fillies entered from the John and Thady Gosden stable is Cheveley Park Stud's Listed winner Regal Jubilee (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

Christopher Head is the sole French trainer with an entry and she is another daughter of Justify, Ramatuelle, who was only narrowly beaten by Vandeek (GB) in the G1 Prix Morny. 

 

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“I’m Absolutely Loving It” – Poste Excited By Debut Breeze-Up Consignment

Respected point-to-point handler and ex-jumps jockey Charlie Poste says that he is “absolutely loving” his first endeavours into the breeze-up business and looks forward to consigning his first draft at the upcoming Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up and Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze-Up sales. 

Poste trained over 100 winners between the flags in Britain, including talented chaser Third Time Lucki, but explained how the broad international market for breeze-up horses compared to the parochial feel to the point-to-point game made it a no-brainer to try his hand at the former. 

The early indications are that Station Yard, the banner in which Poste consigns under and where he is based near Stratford-upon-Avon, is here to stay in the breeze-up game such is the level of enjoyment he has got out of the Flat additions to the stable. 

He explained, “I'm very excited about the whole thing. We have two in the Craven, two in Donny and then another couple for the Guineas Sale. There is a saying in life that a change is as good as a rest and that is certainly true in this case. The horses have been very well received by Jerry McGrath, Matt Prior and Freddy Powell during inspections and Gordon 'Flash' Power, who is going to ride them at the breeze-ups, came over on Sunday to give them all a little bit of a twist. We had a little away day and 'Flash' was very happy. Being completely honest, this is a new project for Francesca [Poste's wife] and I. We are not going to pretend that we have all of the answers, but I have been very encouraged by having respected people coming in and being complimentary about how the horses are looking and with 'Flash' being very happy with how the away day went, so that gives us a lot of confidence.”

Poste, who operates Station Yard alongside Francesca, will be represented by a filly and a colt by Blue Point (Ire) at the Craven Sale. The couple will also consign fillies by Calyx (GB) and Kodiac (GB) at Doncaster and expect to be represented in the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale as well. 

Speaking to TDN Europe at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale last year, Poste explained how he had gathered up a team of 10 investors to attack the yearling sales with the help of Blandford Bloodstock's Tom Biggs, and how he planned on putting his own stamp on how he produced the horses for the breeze-ups. 

Tom Biggs | Tattersalls

He elaborated on Wednesday, “The similarities between the point-to-point and breeze-up projects is that you are working with young, inexperienced athletes who are expected to perform to a high level without the benefit of match practice. Where there are massive similarities between the two disciplines is that you need to do all that you can to get as much life experience into the point-to-pointers and the breezers so that, when they go to there without any prior experience, they are streetwise enough to show whatever ability they have in their race or their breeze, whether that be good, bad or indifferent. What you don't want is a good horse not being able to showcase its talents because they are too green to deal with the occasion. With that in mind, we have done a lot of cantering around the farm with the breezers and have brought them to a lot of different places.”

He added, “We're fortunate enough that we rent a farm that offers us the ability to do a lot of different things and, beyond that, they've been in the lorry and have had away days. It's all about going to different places, introducing them to different scenarios and making sure that they can mentally adjust and cope with everything. That way, when they get to the breeze they can adapt and help 'Flash' do what he needs to do to make them go quickly.”

The decision to branch out into the breeze-up market could prove to be a timely one. At the Cheltenham February Sale just gone, all of the key figures took a hit, and Poste says that the flimsiness of the middle tiers in the National Hunt game in Britain is what ultimately forced him to change course.

He said, “We're definitely seeing a correction in the National Hunt market. Yes, there's no doubt that if you are in that top five per cent, you're still going to get well paid and people are falling over each other to buy those. But if you are in the middle market which, invariably, as the industry builds, the British point-to-point sector is in, it becomes tricky. It is definitely becoming tougher to know where you are at and to get those horses away for what, maybe three or four years ago, you'd be expecting them to make. In that respect, we are very happy to have a new potential revenue stream for the business with the breeze-up horses. The excitement, and maybe even the nerve-wracking part of it all, is the finality of the whole project. There is only one day, really, and you are preparing them for that day alone. There are no excuses.”

He added, “But I'm absolutely loving it. The changes in these horses in just a week or 10 days is very different to dealing with a store horse. These Flat horses seem to transform within a blink of an eye, which is really exciting for all of us.”

Poste was keen to heap praise on Biggs for helping source a rock-solid debut draft of breeze-up horses and says “he couldn't be more chuffed” by the quality of the horses he is working with.

He said, “Tom is immensely professional and is well-respected, hence why we asked him to come on board and help buy these horses. We couldn't be more chuffed by what he selected and bought for us. Fingers crossed, given he works closely with the Blandford Bloodstock group, who are big buyers from the breeze-ups, he may even put some of these horses up at the other end of this scenario.”

Poste added, “We've got fillies by Calyx and Kodiac for Doncaster. The Calyx looks very quick–everything has come very naturally to her. The Kodiac filly has a scopier action and has been shaping up very well at home. Neither of those have missed a beat. Both appear to be quick and should be ideally suited by the sale that they are in.

“With Blue Point, the sire speaks for himself. It's very exciting to have a filly and a colt by him going to the Craven Sale in our first draft and hopefully that shows people that we are serious about this venture moving forward. The Blue Point colt seems to be a really quick, professional horse who has thrived with work while the filly exudes class. Again, it's probably credit to Tom with the horses he's bought but everything just seems to come very naturally to all of them.”

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‘I Came To Ireland With Nothing – Now, Winning A Classic Is The Dream’

Out from the cloudy backdrop on a morning borrowed from winter comes a sight so good that it serves to remind that spring has in fact sprung and the Flat season is not as far away as it seems. 

There is Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) leading Derby entrants Mr Hampstead (Galileo {Ire}) and Padesha (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}). And who's that lobbing along in behind? Potential Dubai World Cup runner Elegant Man (Arrogate) and Qipco Champion S. hero King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) add to what is a star-studded string. 

There are days where you might head to the racecourse and not see one horse as good as any of those mentioned above. But this is just a normal day in the life of Robson Aguiar, leading breeze-up handler, pre-trainer and more recently assistant trainer to Adrian Murray. 

A man of many hats is Aguiar, who is in no way short of ambition. He came to Ireland in 2006 with nothing and, after cutting his teeth at Ballydoyle followed by Tally-Ho Stud, quickly established himself as one of the best judges of equine talent in the business. 

The buying and selling of horses like The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}), Star Of Emaraaty (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}), Summer Sands (GB) (Coach House {Ire}), Queen Jo Jo (GB) (Gregorian {Ire}), Shantisara (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire}) and more got Aguiar's name in lights. It didn't take long for Kia Joorabchian of Amo Racing to take stock of those achievements and, in a little over three years working together, the pair has achieved Royal Ascot success with G2 Norfolk S. winner Valiant Force (Malibu Moon) and a breakthrough Group 1 victory with Phoenix S. scorer Bucanero Fuerte. 

The best may yet be come for the operation with Bucanero Fuerte facing a crucial gallop in a fortnight's time to determine whether he goes straight to Newmarket for the 2,000 Guineas or reverts in trip for races like the Commonwealth Cup, while the team is well-stacked in the fillies' department with Ornellaia (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) and Persian Dreamer (Calyx {GB}) firmly on course for the 1,000 Guineas. 

“The money I got for him and then Star Of Emaraaty is the money I used to buy this farm. Those two horses paid for this place,” – Robson Aguiar

Aguiar said, “I brought Bucanero Fuerte away to the Curragh last Sunday. It was only a light canter but he went well and we will bring him back there in about two weeks' time where he will work on the grass. After that, we will make a decision on whether he goes for the 2,000 Guineas or the Commonwealth Cup but I think he will get the mile no problem. That's what I hope. If we think he's a Guineas horse, he will go straight there.

“The favourite City Of Troy (Justify) is a very good horse and will be hard to beat. But, if you look at Bucanero's best form, it is very good as well. He beat genuine Group 1 horses in Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio) and Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the Phoenix Stakes. City Of Troy hasn't beaten a Group 1 horse by four lengths but Bucanero has. But I respect City Of Troy a lot. To be honest, he looks like he will be hard to beat.”

On the fillies, Aguiar added, “I think Ornellaia and Persian Dreamer will run in the 1,000 Guineas. The 1,000 Guineas looks a bit more open than the 2,000 Guineas and we are happy with both fillies.”

There are so many lots to be ridden this morning that Aguiar says he's lost count but the number is said to be somewhere between 10 and 14. That's before making a mad dash to Dublin airport in order to catch a flight to England where he will meet up with Joorabchian for dinner before having a sit on some of the youngsters coming through the Amo Racing system in other yards the following day. 

Along with Murray, Aguiar may be overseeing the careers of a galaxy of young stars at his base just outside Mullingar, but there is nothing fancy about how he gets the job done with Dunlop wellies the order of the day.

“When you go to Newmarket, you will find a lot of fancy riding boots, but they cannot ride,” Aguiar jokes about his footwear of choice. “Yes, they have nice boots, but they cannot ride. It's like a soccer player with fancy football boots. They're not the good players.” 

That's not the only football reference throughout the morning with Joorabchian, who first shot to prominence in the sporting pantheon as the agent who looked after Argentinian soccer stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, being said to be sometimes guilty of viewing racing as “one big football game.” 

However, Aguiar is quick to point out that even in football, the amount you spend in the transfer market does not have a direct correlation to getting results on the pitch with big spenders and serial underachievers Paris Saint-Germain put forward as the most glaring example of that.

One thing Aguiar cannot be accused of is spending over the odds. It was the small-money buys that got his business off the ground and, while he does not plan on sending many horses to the breeze-up sales this year, there is no shortage of trade being done at this place with Natalia Lupini, Middleham Park Racing and Nick Bradley buying privately from him in the past couple of weeks alone. 

“I will have a few horses in the Craven Sale and we will see how that goes but I won't have as many for the breeze-ups this year. I am able to get good money for horses on the private market and I have a lot of my own clients that I need to keep happy every year. Some people will ring me looking for a 75-rated filly and I will ask for a 75-rated filly's price and other people will ring asking for a good colt and I will charge what I think the horse is worth. You need to earn people's trust but we've sold a lot of nice horses privately-Kitty Rose (GB) (Invincible Army {Ire}) to Natalia Lupini, Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) to Nick Bradley and Brave Emperor (Ire) (Sioux Nation) to Middleham Park Racing. They've all bought horses off me this year again.”

Back out on the gallops, it's Aguiar in the plate aboard Bucanero Fuerte while his brother-in-law Jose-a dead ringer for David Loughnane-who has the pleasure of steering King Of Steel through his morning paces. Aguiar reports the Group 1 winner to be “very strong” and suggests he will be ready to return to trainer Roger Varian in the coming weeks.

He explained, “King Of Steel looks well. He did very well for us last year and he has come back very strong. He should return to Roger Varian very soon and he can decide what he wants to do with the horse this year.”

Fellow four-year-old Elegant Man, who has been earning his stripes quietly on the all-weather during the winter, could be another older horse to follow this season, according to the 42-year-old.

Aguiar said, “He is entered in the Dubai World Cup but I don't know if he will get in or not. His form is working out well. He was second to Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) at Kempton in December and that horse has won a Group 3 in Qatar since. Elegant Man is still a big baby but I think he could be a very special horse in time. If he doesn't go to Dubai, we might run him in the Devoy Stakes at Naas at the end of March and start his campaign for the year on grass. I think he will handle the grass. If he does, he could end up being a Group 1 horse. Arrogate is dead so, if Elegant Man could win a Group 1 race on the grass, he could be a very interesting stallion prospect. That's the dream.”

It wasn't always this way for Aguiar. He's had to work hard to get to where he is now, working closely with stallion prospects and black-type fillies, but there were times where he doubted if it may happen at all. 

He explained, “I came to Ireland in 2006 with nothing. It was not easy and it took a lot of hard work. I had to go to the sales and buy whatever it was that everybody else didn't want and then try to make a good horse out of what was left over. Now, I go to the sales and buy whatever I think is the best horse at the right money. But before, I could only buy the ones that other people didn't want. 

“The Lir Jet and Star Of Emaraaty, they changed everything for me. I think I would have been f****d without them because I sold them during Covid. There were no sales, barely any racing and I had 25 horses who I had to pay rent for and everything else on top of that. I got The Lir Jet going and sent him to Michael Bell. We got him sold privately before he made his debut but he failed the vet. I said to myself, 'oh my God, this can't be happening.' 

“We entered him at Yarmouth and I asked Silvestre [de Sousa] to ride him for me. I told him to treat the horse like a three-year-old and he did. He broke the track record first time out. Two minutes later, I have about five missed calls from agents trying to buy him because in that year, you had to nominate your horses for the two-year-old races at Royal Ascot. Michael Bell nominated him and he was one of the favorites for the Norfolk Stakes, which he went on and won for Qatar Racing. That was very important for me. The money I got for him and then Star Of Emaraaty is the money I used to buy this farm. Those two horses paid for this place.” 

The one constant in Aguiar's progression has been his close association with Tally-Ho Stud's Roger O'Callaghan. The Brazilian native refers to the O'Callaghans, whose famous farm is less than 10 minutes of a drive away, as being “like family” to him.

He said, “Roger O'Callaghan helped me a lot, I have to be honest about that. At that time, when there was no racing, no nothing, I told him I had no more money left. He told me not to worry about that and to put my head down and get to work. He told me, 'whatever you need, I'll support you.' That was a big help to me, to have someone like Roger in my corner helping me. It gave me a lot of confidence. The O'Callaghans are like family to me and have helped me a lot. 

“I learned a lot at Ballydoyle but Tally-Ho is where I got a lot of confidence to go and practice what I learned. Every day you are learning in this game. Aidan O'Brien was the same. Every year, he would train the horses a different way. He changes every year. He is learning as well as us. As soon as you think you know everything about a horse, you are gone.”

That's the sort of drive that sustains an operation as big as this. The hunger in Aguiar is palpable, borderline inspirational, and you have to take your hat off to a man who has grabbed every opportunity that has ever been presented to him and left nothing but crumbs on the table. 

He said, “I have always been ambitious but the younger generation don't want to work nowadays. They want to sit on their phones all day. When I was younger, we didn't have phones, we had to play outside. Nowadays, all we get is lazy people and soft people. Everybody is getting this and that. We never had time to think about such problems. We had to work to survive. Things come too easy to people now. If you give a person of 14 or 15 years of age a job, you'll get jail.”

What age did you start to work?

“When I could walk! When I was six or seven years old, I was already helping out on the farm. Seriously. My Dad used to milk cows back home in Brazil. At that time, everything was done by hand. You could get 150 litres of milk every day by hand. It was a lot of work. In the evenings, I used to go and separate the calves from the cows with my brother. Even at six or seven, you needed to use your brain because, if you made a mistake, there was trouble.”

Through his association with Amo Racing and now Murray, Aguiar has had a taste of what it is like to dine at the top table. Make no mistake, he's hungry for more. 

“I have a very good relationship with Adrian,” he says. “We trust each other and, at the moment, his strike-rate is very good so I'd like to think I have been able to help him because he came to me a few years ago saying that he was thinking about not renewing his licence but I told him not to panic and to sit tight. I have known Adrian for a long time now. I bought Shes Ranger (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}) for him at the breeze-ups back in 2016 and I rode her to win for him on the Flat at Dundalk. Before that, he didn't even have his Flat licence. Shes Ranger went on to finish third in a Group 3 at Leopardstown before being sold.”

He added, “I think we are only just starting. We need to start selling a few more at the horses-in-training sales and qualifying horses better as well. A lot of horses will go to the horses-in-training sales in July and October. There is no point in us having a horse rated 90. What are you going to do with a 90-rated horse? We want Group 1 colts and black-type fillies. We don't want handicappers. We will have between 50 and 60 two-year-olds in training in Europe and America this year. My big aim is for us to become more competitive in Ireland. You look at the Group races in Ireland and it's Aidan O'Brien, Joseph O'Brien, Donnacha O'Brien and then Paddy Twomey. My ambition is to help Kia and Adrian to take our horses to those big races.”

And what will it mean to them if they achieve that Classic dream?

“One day we will do it,” he says without flinching. “When I first started working with Kia, the main thing he wanted was a winner at Royal Ascot. He also wanted a Breeders' Cup winner and a Group 1 winner. We nearly got all three last year. Now, we want a Classic winner. That's the dream and hopefully one day we can do it.”

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