Tag: Breeze-up

Brown On The Search For Next Perfect Power At Goffs UK

Top bloodstock agent Richard Brown has done his bit to alleviate any stresses vendors may have been feeling on the eve of the Doncaster Breeze Up Sale by explaining that he will be using a raft of metrics other than just times in an effort to find the next Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) at this year's sale. 

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.

Source of original post

Johnny Collins: ‘I Bounce Out Of Bed Every Morning – I Love This Job’

No shortage of hard work and bundles of perseverance lie behind Johnny Collins's achievement in turning his Brown Island Stables into one of the finest nurseries of equine talent there is.

It is all the more remarkable in that he achieved this with no racing background and just his own eye and pocket to get the whole thing off the ground.

Competitive and ambitious, the 46-year-old counts several million euros worth of stock at his County Cork base, which is the culmination of over 15 years producing top-class horses over both codes.

And when it comes to identifying young stock, few do it better. Mshawish (Medaglia d'Oro), a dual Grade I winner and the best Flat horse that Collins has had through his hands, cost just $10,000 as a yearling at Keeneland but rocked into €170,000 at the Arqana breeze-up sale the following summer in 2012.

“You have to experience the disappointment for when they don't work out to appreciate the satisfaction for when it does,” – Johnny Collins

Then there has been mammoth success over jumps as well. Irish Champion Hurdle winner Petit Mouchoir (Fr) (Al Namix {Fr}) and Champion Bumper winner Relegate (Ire) (Flemensfirth) were the first big names to fly the flag in that sphere for Collins, who is now a regular sale-topping consignor at the major breeze-up and store sales in Europe.

With this year's breeze-ups on the horizon, Collins can count 24 2-year-olds to represent him from Dubai to Deauville. But it's not a case of just turning up. Oh no. Last year was forgettable to say the least as Collins took a haircut on a lot of his breezers and it was the stores that came to his rescue later in the spring.

It takes a certain amount of resolve to make this game pay. A great deal more of the stuff is required when things aren't exactly going your way. Taking his medicine is something Collins became accustomed to in the early days and, while success has been more plentiful in recent times, he has dealt with the disappointments the same right the way through: by building back bigger and stronger.

“My horses weren't good enough last year,” says Collins, straight to the point. “Even in tough years, if we had good horses and they performed well, we never had any trouble selling them. It's when your stock is below average, that's when you'll suffer.

“But, every now and then, you need a shake to keep yourself focussed in this game. That will open your eyes and remind you that it's not that simple. If it was only a matter of going around and buying them with your eyes closed, well then anyone could do it.”

He added, “You can get complacent at this job. You could think you can walk on water sometimes and that everything you touch will turn to gold. We didn't have a good year last year. Our first sale was our best sale at the Craven and after that we probably just held our own. I probably just about washed my face with the breezers. But then I'd a very good year with the stores.

“The one thing you wouldn't want to do when you've had a bad year is to go and change too many things. What we've done in the past few years in developing horses and the system here, it works, so there's no point in changing that. All that part of it is fine. We just didn't have enough good horses last year. It's all about the horses.”

An operation the size of Brown Island Stables is only ever a few bad years away from hitting the rocks. This is a ship that navigates the most unpredictable of waters and one that carries millions of euros worth of cargo. With so much at risk, one would forgive Collins for resembling a German Shepard with a headache on a mid-February work morning, but he and his loyal bunch of staff are unfailingly helpful.

One by one, 20 2-year-olds whizz up the grass gallop close to Collins's base, with crucial notes made on the closest thing he has to hand, which in this case is a white envelope.

“I like to see them dropping their heads there now and going about their work,” says Collins in between lots. “If they are doing that and trying for you, there's a good chance they will go the right way because they'll do the same in their races.”

In the group of workers we have colts by Twirling Candy and Blame, who are bound for the first breeze-up of the year in Dubai on Mar. 21. There's six for the Craven and the same number will go to Doncaster with the remainder being divided up between France, Fairyhouse and Newmarket.

Johnny Collins and Norman Williamson | Tattersalls

“When I started breezing horses, we were buying ready-to-rock 2-year-olds. They were little five and six-furlong horses. It's changed an awful lot now. Look at last year for example, an Irish Guineas winner [Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB})] and a St Leger winner [Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire})] came through the breeze-ups. It's amazing really.

“The yearlings were a great trade last year and it was hard to get them. I bought five at Book 2, two at Fairyhouse, two at the Somerville Sale, two at the Orby and the lads helped me out with six from America.”

The lads, as referenced by Collins, are international bloodstock agent Chad Schumer and his European representative Nancy Sexton, who have helped him to source stock from America while he was unable to travel to the States.

He continued, “I like a horse with a bit of strength and a bit of movement. There probably are sires who I wouldn't buy the progeny of because they haven't been lucky for me or they aren't commercial enough but I do try and go to the sales with as open a mind as possible. I'd cast a broad net and would look at as many as I could at a yearling sale.

“You can't overthink it, either. When you've your bundle of horses bought, you can only do the best with the horses you have. Of course it gets to you when they're not progressing the way you'd like them to be. For me, the beauty of it with the breezers is that I have a bunch of National Hunt horses to sell every year as well. So, even if you didn't have a great year with one code, you would be hoping to have a better year with the other. I'd be telling you a lie if I said that, coming close to the sales, there isn't an odd night where I'd be lying awake in bed thinking about it all. Of course there are.”

Collins endured his share of sleepless nights at the start. Whilst riding trackwork in America, he began to trade a few horses on the side but, by his own admission, was forced to learn by his mistakes.

“I went buying horses not really knowing what I was doing,” he explains. “I knew how to ride a horse but that was as far as it went. I had to make all of my own mistakes. I was at this a good while before I started making money. But, if you can sustain it, you won't keep making those mistakes. It would sharpen up your ideas and you won't make the same mistake twice. You get to look at your mistakes all year. Now, I wouldn't always buy a horse with perfect conformation but I'd know now what I could live with and what I could work with.”

So, when did the tide turn?

“For the first five or six years I really struggled. Even though I sold a couple of good horses, I was only barely making ends meet. The year I sold Mshawish, I also sold a horse by Street Boss, who made around €260,000. That really got the thing going.”

He added,  “I was only making enough to survive and that was with no staff. Hopefully we can keep it going now. It takes a while to break into it. You've to make a lot of mistakes and you need connections, too. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to build up a relationship and a bit of trust. It's easy to break it then as well.

“With the best will in the world, you can never be sure what a horse will do when it's put to the pin of its collar. You could have a horse working well but he might not deliver on a racecourse. That happens to trainers as well. You could genuinely think you have a good one but they let you down. Horses have a habit of doing that.

“When push comes to shove, they might not have the heart or the mind to go through with it. That's why it's so satisfying when they work out because, you know, everything is on the line as a trader. You have to experience the disappointment for when they don't work out to appreciate the satisfaction for when it does.”

Like most people who are good at what they do, Collins lives for his work and that passion fuels a hectic but rewarding lifestyle surrounded by horses.

“I love it. I enjoy this job, I must say. I like bringing on young horses and watching them progress. Even the National Hunt horses, I love bringing them on as well. And if they go on to do well for the next man, it's just a great feeling. That's what defines success for me but, at the same time, you can't do it if it's not financially viable.

“Especially when you start off, you need to have good results in the sales ring to keep the whole thing going and to develop the business. Luckily enough, we've sold a few nice horses but you're always looking for the next Cheltenham winner or the next good horse on the Flat.”

He added, “When you have the operation built up, bar you have it in your head to scale down, you have to buy the same amount of stock each year if you want to keep the same number of staff and the thing going the way you have it.

“Look it, I'm happy with the way I have it. As long as I have enough help, I've no interest in scaling back. I wouldn't see myself slowing down ever, as long as my health allows, because I do live for it. I could retire if I sold all my stock but it wouldn't make me happy.

Johnny Collins with his son Daniel | Barbara Collins

“You could kick up your feet but what would you do then? I'm a late starter with regards to my family. My wife Barbara and I have a son, Daniel, and he's only 18 months old.

“I've a lot of friends working in jobs they don't like. They get up every morning to go to work and it's a struggle. I bounce out of bed every morning to go at this. It's not like work at all. It's very enjoyable.”

Facing the reality that comes with preparing over 120 horses for resale and the need to clear a couple of million euros annually to keep the business afloat would be enough to make most people baulk. Not Collins, whose search for a star–and to make a few quid along the way–sustains him.

“There was an old man I used to drink with below in the pub in Middleton, Denis Twomey was his name. He's since passed away but he used to have a great saying, and it stuck with me.

“He'd say, 'There are 20 years to come and there are 20 more to back it, now where is the man who can tell the man who wore the ragged jacket?' Every time I'd see Denis, I'd ask him to say it for me. No matter how many times I'd heard it before, I loved listening to it. It's a great saying, you know, and it's very true.”

The post Johnny Collins: ‘I Bounce Out Of Bed Every Morning – I Love This Job’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

New Breeze-up Alliance Of Halpin And Davis Enjoys Early Success At Dundalk

The spotlight was cast on the burgeoning breeze-up operation of jockeys Gary Halpin and Sean Davis, best known for riding winners rather than producing them, when their graduate Song For Whoever (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) ran out an impressive winner of the opening six-furlong maiden at Dundalk on Friday evening. 

Song For Whoever, who Halpin and Davis bought for €28,000 at the Goffs Sportsman's Sale last year before selling to Howson & Holdsworth Bloodstock for £42,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale, was getting off the mark at the third attempt for trainer John O'Donoghue in the colours of Genesis Thoroughbreds. 

Although he was consigned by Tally-Ho Stud at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale, Song For Whoever was sourced and produced by the riders, who will be consigning under the name GS Bloodstock from their new base at Ulundi Lodge on the Curragh next year. 

“Your judgment is on the line–you are telling people what you think the horses can do and it's important that they back you up,” – Gary Halpin

A delighted Halpin said on Friday evening, “We bought him at the Sportsman's Sale under Rushway Stables for €28,000. We were looking for something that could breeze and he looked sharp enough to do that. We had him on our list and Roger O'Callaghan, who we have worked closely with for a number of years, had seen him as well. It was a help that he liked him.”

He added, “I prepped him at Kevin Prendergast's yard in Friarstown on the Curragh. He was there all winter and did most of his early work while I was riding out in Kevin's and he went from there to Doncaster where he sold to Matt Holdsworth for Noel Hayes. We were very fortunate that Tally-Ho were happy to consign him for us. 

“He was actually popular enough to a point at the sales. George Boughey and Mark McStay had a go on him. I think George was the underbidder and I'm pretty sure that Mark was on him for a long while as well. The right people were interested in him, thankfully.”

Halpin enjoyed his best ever season as a rider in 2016 when partnering 36 winners domestically while his biggest success came aboard the Ross O'Sullivan-trained Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) in the Listed Salsibil S. at Naas last term. 

Davis has returned to Ireland after a successful spell in Britain, where he rode 56 winners in 2019, and alongside Halpin, will continue to ride whilst preparing the breezers. 

However, the name Halpin will not be seen on a racecard anytime soon, with Friday's victory proving a timely tonic for the man sidelined with a fractured jaw.

He explained, “We've 11 in at the moment but there are a few more due back to us in the next few days and we will add another one or two in January. We are looking at having around 15 2-year-olds to breeze next year.

“Sean and I will consign under GS Bloodstock next year. It's exciting. Especially now that everything is cantering and broken in, we can see them progress. Unfortunately, I'm not riding them myself at the minute because I'm out of action with a fractured jaw, but I'm getting to see plenty on the ground.

“I think we've amassed a bunch of horses who are going to get to a good level. The Inns Of Court (Ire) colt that we bought at Doncaster has had three updates since we got him. He's now a half-brother to Believing (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who has done really well to be multiple stakes-placed for George Boughey and Highclere Thoroughbreds. 

“She's one we'll be keeping a close eye on next year. Mick Fitzpatrick sold her for 115,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale in April so, all things being equal, we'd be hoping to get our own lad to the Craven safe and sound.”

On the rest of the breeze-up battalion, he added, “We've a lovely Cotai Glory (GB) colt who we gave €65,000 for at Tattersalls Ireland. He was consigned by Tally-Ho and is out of a half-sister to Fairyland (Ire). He's going to be exciting. 

“We've been sent a Kodiac (GB) filly who's out of a half-sister to Middle Park S. winner Supremacy (Ire) and there's a nice Dandy Man (Ire) colt from the family of Slade Power (Ire). We've a nice bunch and there's a couple of others there as well.”

Asked how riding winners compares with producing them, Halpin said, “It's totally different. It's a different feeling altogether. Your judgment is on the line–you are telling people what you think the horses can do and it's important that they back you up. As a jockey, your judgment has to be right when you ride a horse work or ride it in a race, your feedback has to be good. This is a little bit more added pressure. It's a different sort of pressure.”

 

The post New Breeze-up Alliance Of Halpin And Davis Enjoys Early Success At Dundalk appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘The Dream Is Alive’ – Willie Browne on TDN Rising Star Sakheer

Breeze-up king Willie Browne, who sold G1 1000 Guineas heroine Speciosa (Ire), G1 Ascot Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris (Ire) and many more top-notchers, is allowing himself to believe that recent graduate Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) could be the real deal after he coasted to an effortless victory at Haydock on Thursday.

The 76-year-old bought Sakheer for $65,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sales in 2021 before producing the colt to top the Arqana Breeze-up Sale in May of this year.

Sakheer was bought by Oliver St Lawrence for €550,000 on behalf of KHK Racing Ltd. and went some way in justifying that price tag when bolting up by six lengths second time out at Haydock under David Egan for Roger Varian.

It was a performance that left tongues wagging, with the G1 Middle Park S. entrant earning himself a 'TDN Rising Star'  badge in victory, and Browne hopes that Haydock triumph can prove a launchpad for Sakheer's career.

He said, “Visually, it looked very good and we'd like to think he's smart. The third horse was a winner and the time looked good considering he could have gone faster if he [Egan] pressed a button.”

Browne added, “He was always a nice horse and he breezed very well for us. I think he breezed in the top four or five at Arqana and obviously we got well paid for him. He looked a special horse and hopefully he will go on and be that for his connections.”

Operating under the Mocklershill banner, Browne has been breezing horses since 1978 and described the current landscape of the profession as the best it's ever been.

 

“We're getting old but sure we'll try to keep going for as long as we can. It's hard to stop,” – Willie Browne

Thursday represented a good day for his renowned Tipperary-based operation, not only because Sakheer lived up to the high opinion he had always been held in by Brown, but because fellow Arqana graduate Ensued (Lemon Drop Kid) posted an encouraging debut at Salisbury.

He said, “We get it right a fair bit but we have also had quite a lot of horses through our hands so we need to produce a few good ones. Sakheer is one of them.

“I went out and bought him by chance at Keeneland last year. He was an expensive foal [80,000gns] in Europe and then the vendors brought him to America to re-sell him for whatever reason.

“He did have a sibling [half-sister Lemista (Ire) (Raven's Pass)] who did well out there so maybe that was part of the thinking in bringing him to America but he didn't make his reserve in the ring and we got him outside it [for $65,000].”

Browne added, “He was a beautifully put together horse and it wasn't rocket science. The fact that he could gallop, though, there was a certain amount of good fortune in that. Sometimes you can buy beautiful-looking horses and they might not be able to gallop. He could.

“The plus about Arqana is, even though this horse breezed very well and we got well paid, we'd another horse there, a Lemon Drop Kid, and we got well-paid for him even though he didn't break the clock.

“He [Ensued] actually ran yesterday, was a very good third on debut at Salisbury for James Fanshawe, and he's a good middle-distance horse going forward. He breezed like a middle-distance horse but the people who buy in Arqana can see beyond speed and that's a plus for us.”

 

Browne has been breezing horses ever since it was a thing and Mocklershill is recognised as one of the premier consignors of 2-year-olds in Europe. He has overseen a kaleidoscope of change in the industry and admits that, in order to get well paid, you don't always need to break the clock anymore.

He explained, “A fast horse will always get you money, no matter where you go, but the Lemon Drop Kid was a good example of a middle-distance horse making good money at the breeze-ups, as we got €260,000 for him.

“If yesterday's run is anything to go by, he's also an exciting horse in his own right, so there's two horses at the opposite end of the stick. The fast horse, Sakheer, who showed up well, and the middle-distance horse, Ensued, who may not have been as fast, but showed different qualities and made a good price.

“It's a great thrill opening the paper every morning and seeing the percentage of 2-year-old winners who are graduates from the breeze-ups. It's just off the charts. It's unbelievable what's going on in the breeze-ups at the moment. There's a lot of good people breezing horses and they know what they're doing.”

Asked where Sakheer may rank in the pantheon of top-notchers to have graduated from Mocklershill, he replied, “When he wins a group race, come back to me. He needed to do what he did yesterday. It gives you great satisfaction when you produce a good horse, it's as much relief as anything else, but when they cost what Al Sakheer did, you like to see them go on and be good.

“Sometimes it happens and other times it doesn't but the dream looks well and truly alive right now. If he goes and wins a group race, maybe we'll be able to put our chest out a little bit more.”

Browne has already been making his presence felt at the yearling sales and has been busy re-stocking for next year's breeze-ups.

He said, “I didn't go to the August Sale at Arqana this year. Maybe I should have, but I didn't. We went to Doncaster and bought a few there alright.

“We gave a good few quid for a Showcasing (GB) horse, we gave 140,000gns for him, which is plenty of money for a breeze-up horse, but he looks a fast horse to me. I'm hoping the money is well spent.

“We bought a Ten Sovereigns (Ire) for 50 grand as well, so that's the start of it all. We're getting old but sure we'll try to keep going for as long as we can. It's hard to stop.”

The post ‘The Dream Is Alive’ – Willie Browne on TDN Rising Star Sakheer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights