Market ‘Really Hot’ but Keeneland Lure is Strong for Europeans

In this time of back-to-back yearling sales, the logistics for bloodstock agents and trainers may be one of the biggest concerns, but one thing that appears not to be a worry is the strength of the market. 

From America to Europe, the yearling season has started in bullish fashion. A proper staying pedigree is required to last to the end of Keeneland's September Sale, which is now well into its second week, while at Fairyhouse, the Tattersalls Ireland September Sale is also in full swing. Plenty of breeze-up pinhookers have attempted the double, while some have remained in Kentucky in the hope of unearthing a bargain in the later books, no doubt mindful of the fact that Keeneland has generally been a happy hunting ground for a variety of buyers from the sector.

So far, Willie Browne, Tom Whitehead, Brendan Holland, Eddie O'Leary, Roger O'Callaghan, Katie Walsh, Roderick Kavanagh, Jim McCartan, Jerry Horan, and Matt Whyte are among the Irish breeze-up pinhookers to have appeared on the buyers' sheets at Keeneland, as well as Mick Murphy of Longways Stables, who was working in tandem with agent Ted Durcan. 

“I was intending to stay to the end of Book 4 but we got wrapped up a little bit earlier so I came home sooner,” said Durcan after arriving back to Newmarket before packing his bags again for Ireland and next week's Orby Sale at Goffs.

“I thought it was an extremely healthy market. It looked healthy at all levels and any nice horse was not being missed at all, which you'd expect, and that's worldwide now,” he added of trade at Keeneland. 

“I helped Mick last year and he bought seven. This year he bought four nice horses, all to go breezing. Three colts by Quality Road ($150,000), American Pharoah ($225,000) and Speightstown ($90,000), and then he bought a very nice Blame filly ($85,000) as well.”

Last week it was announced that the Goffs Dubai Breeze-up Sale, which is held in conjunction with Dubai Racing Club just ahead of the World Cup meeting at Meydan, was being paused as it coincides with Ramadan in 2024. Introduced two years ago, it is a sale which has been populated predominantly by Irish pinhookers selling American-bred juveniles. 

Durcan continued, “There were a lot of people out there looking at horses with that sale in mind, but in fairness to everyone involved, the announcement came before any horses had been bought. It altered out numbers a bit. We ended up buying four but I think Mick and Sarah [O'Connell] would have ended up buying a few more for that sale, but we just scaled back.”

Durcan also teamed up with an old colleague from his days of riding for Sir Henry Cecil, the Kentucky-based Irishman David Lanigan, to buy a yearling for $750,000 for owner Scott Heider. They struck early on the opening day at Keeneland for lot 31, a filly by Nyquist whose half-brother Conclude (Collected) won the GII Del Mar Derby just ahead of the start of the sale.

“David does a lot of work for Scott and he asked me to help him just because trying to have everything viewed on your own is not easy,” Durcan said.

“There's such a huge amount of horses that you can find value out there. It's not easy and it's hard work, but there definitely is value out there with the volume of horses being offered. The sale is run extremely well. Tony Lacy and his team run a very slick operation.”

Durcan expects to see plenty of reverse track, with American buyers likely to be out in force at the forthcoming sales at Goffs and Tattersalls over the next few weeks.

He said, “In recent years there's been a big appetite for people in America looking for horses from over here, especially fillies to race on the grass. You only have to look at last week and the meeting at Kentucky Downs on turf. The money on offer there was absolutely phenomenal.”

He continued, “It's a hectic few months and the sales just roll from one to the other. But it's nice to see that, from the older horses in the July Sale, then onto the first yearling sale in France, the market just looks very healthy at all levels. With the amount of horses being sold to Australia, and the expansion in the Middle East, there is a huge demand for older horses as well as yearlings. 

“I haven't been to a sale yet where I think the market is softening. If anything it's the opposite.”

Nancy Sexton has long been a regular at the Keeneland September Sale in her role as the European representative for the Kentucky-based Schumer Bloodstock agency. Along with Chad Schumer, Sexton has worked closely with a number of breeze-up pinhookers in that time and she says that the participation from Europeans buyers is as high as ever, with the news about the absence of the Dubai breeze-up failing to dent enthusiasm.

“The news that Goffs wasn't going to go ahead broke just as Book 2 was starting and that didn't affect them at all because the market to sell to places like Saudi Arabia, Dubai, is so big now and you are looking for more of a dirt-bred horse for that. I didn't see anybody pull back on investment. Looking at what's coming home [to Ireland and Britain], I'd say numbers are on a par,” she said.

“A lot of people began in Book 1, but there seem to be more people here this year working the later books, having arrived in during Book 3 and working through to the end of Book 6.”

Sexton added, “We've seen how well these dirt horses do at the European breeze-ups if they hit, and that's translating to the activity here. I also saw quite a few more trainers this year that I haven't seen here before, like Ralph Beckett and Richard Hughes. 

“[The buying] is not just restricted to yearlings by the likes of Speightstown either; Roderick Kavanagh had a good result with Catalina Cruiser last year and Tom Whitehead with a World Of Trouble, and he gave $310,000 for a Maclean's Music colt this time. They're spending plenty and the horses are hard to buy. The market is really hot.”

 

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‘It’s Been A Hard Time But We’ll Get Through It – The Horses Give Everyone A Lift’

At first there are tears and then the words come tumbling out. 

“We got a bit of bad news before the Curragh,” Con Marnane explains. “Theresa's cancer is back again. That's why the whole thing was so emotional.”

Theresa is Con's wife and it is her yellow and black silks, made famous by Different League (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) winning the Albany, that were carried to that stirring victory in the G3 Marble Hill S. by Givemethebeatboys (Ire) at Irish racing's HQ.

He is one of two Royal Ascot-bound Bungle Inthejungle (GB) colts that the family have in training with Jessica Harrington, the other being the speedy Supersonic Man (GB), and never has there been more significance behind a Marnane runner at the meeting they adore.

“It's still very raw,” Con starts. “Theresa had cancer 10 years ago but unfortunately it's back again. We only got the news the day before the Goresbridge Sale and then we had to go and face into that at Fairyhouse. 

“That's why Givemethebeatboys winning at the Curragh was so amazing because we had only found out that week. It was very emotional, especially with what Jessie is going through as well. “For some of us, it's been a very, very hard time. But I'll tell you something, those animals are amazing, those horses are just so special. They give everyone a lift.”

It's not just the horses that Con can count on to lift spirits. Similarly to when the industry rallied around Harrington after she shared the news of her breast cancer battle, the outpouring of well wishes and support to the Marnanes has been overwhelming. 

“I have so many top-class friends in this business. It's special. There are some great people in this game and it's a massive help. But we'll get through it. Theresa is very tough and she works as hard as anyone else does here in the yard. We'll get through it.”

Con may be the face of Bansha House Stables, and you won't find many better or more enthusiastic about what he does, but make no mistake, this is a family-run operation and daughters Amy and Olivia are no bit-part players. 

“It touches at the heartstrings and it's great to have the family unit involved. Amy does the buying and Olivia does the riding out in Jessie's. It was Amy who picked out Givemethebeatboys at the sales. 

“She absolutely loved him as a yearling and he was actually our pick of the Goffs Premier Yearling Sale at Doncaster. Unfortunately the horse had a foot abscess at the sales and the Brickley brothers [Tom and David of Ard Erin Stud] had to withdraw the horse. 

“We tried to do a deal there and then but it didn't happen. But then the horse turned up at the Autumn Yearling Sale at Goffs and we bought him there for €11,000.”

Marnane added, “Olivia started working at Jessie's last year. She's in college in Dublin and wanted somewhere to ride out in the mornings. I said to her, 'why don't you try Jessie?' She fell in love with the place when she went in there and the Harringtons have been so good to her. I said we'd send them up a couple of horses as a result and one of those turned out to be Funny Money Honey (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}). She was a revelation. She won a listed race and was third in another listed race up at the Curragh. We sold her very well to America and did the same again this year by sending up a few two-year-olds for Jessie to train for us.”

Funny Money Honey cost just €11,500 as a yearling and fetched 165,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale last year. Givemethebeatboys and Supersonic Man are also now worth many multiples of what the Marnanes handed over for the colts and the excitement is building for their appearance at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of the royal meeting. 

“The Goffs London Sale is effectively a shop window for us,” Marnane explains. “Henry [Beeby] and his team do a great job in making it all happen. They move mountains in order to let horses run in their new owner's colours at Royal Ascot and it's a sale that has been lucky for us in the past. We sold Forever In Dreams (Ire) (Dream Ahead) there [for £430,000] in 2019 and she came out and finished second in the Commonwealth Cup just a few days later. There will be a lot of emotion at Ascot next week and a lot of people will be very interested in these two horses at the sales because they are so special. They are going there with serious chances.”

Givemethebeatboys and Supersonic Man will be joined at the Goffs London Sale by Bansha House graduates Rush Queen (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) and Tiger Belle (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}), both of whom have won maidens for trainer Ado McGuinness after their purchase at the breeze-up sales by Stephen Thorne on behalf of the Shamrock Thoroughbred Syndicate. 

Rush Queen cost 50,000gns at the Craven while Tiger Belle fetched £70,000 at Doncaster. In the grand scheme of things, it's not what you'd call breaking the bank for two Royal Ascot contenders, and in many ways their sale prices illustrate an up-and-down year for Marnane at the breeze-ups. 

Fleeting Spirit (Ire), Prince Of Lir (Ire), Rio De La Plata and Sands Of Mali (Fr) are just a handful of recognisible names that have graduated through Marnane's system but the leading source of talent says that he is paying a penalty for the fact that his horses don't break the clock in their breeze. 

He explained, “The breeze-ups have gone very difficult. Our horses are not drilled to do two furlongs. I'm sorry, they're not. But it's amazing, their last two furlongs are usually their best! 

“There's too much emphasis on times. It's not my way of doing it. Call me old-fashioned. Maybe I'm an old-fashioned horseman or something like that, but that's the way we do it and I'm not changing. I want our horses to be racehorses. I want them to go into their new trainers and new owners and to be lovely and relaxed. And when they are asked to go, they go. 

“But fair play to Ado and Stephen, they stood up and they bought those horses. There was a big shortage of trainers at the sales but look what can happen when they do turn up. If you want to go to Royal Ascot, and there's only one Royal Ascot, you need to turn up at the sales.”

Givemethebeatboys has shortened into a general 8-1 chance for the Coventry with the news Frankie Dettori has been booked to take the ride. Supersonic Man will take his chance in the Windsor Castle rather than the Norfolk and, if either colt was to enter the winner's enclosure, chaos is guaranteed. 

“There is just no feeling like Royal Ascot,” Marnane says. “It's a pure adrenaline rush to have a runner over there and it would be so exciting for everybody involved if the horses were to run well. 

“It's not just for me, it's for my team here. There's a core group of people who have been with us for 30 years, the likes of Mike O'Brien, John Crosse, who breaks in all the horses, Danny and Emma in the office. 

“Then we have our operation in France and the guys in France come over here for the spring to get the horses ready so it's a big team effort. And for Jessica and Kate and the whole Harrington team, there will be a lot of emotion at Ascot next week. It would be just out of this world if it were to happen. Hopefully we can give everyone something to shout about.”

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‘Top Strong But Everything Else Was Tough This Year’ – Breeze-Up Market Reflections

Alice Haynes and Ado McGuinness, who have emblazoned the value on offer at the breeze-up sales by hitting the ground running with their respective purchases this season, have described shopping in that market as a hugely important aspect of their business. 

Well-known breeze-up consignor Eddie Linehan of Lackendarra Stables agrees with Haynes and McGuinness that the value has favoured the buyer when it has come to shopping at the middle to lower tiers of the market due to the amount of choice in that sector.

However, Linehan, who admitted that a lot of consignors were forced to overspend on yearlings last year, reported the top end of the European breeze-up market to be as lucrative as it ever has been after selling a Land Force (Ire) colt at Arqana for €250,000.

Eddie Linehan | Tattersalls 

He said, “The top end was good but everything else was tough this year. The middle to lower end of the market is very selective because buyers have so much choice and people are gone so time-based that, if you are not in the top 20 times, it's very difficult to get paid for a horse no matter how well you recommend it or like it.”

Linehan added, “We'd a couple of nice sales, sold some nice horses and horses who I think will turn out to be nice for small money, and then we'd a couple in between. But from our perspective, it's definitely a numbers game. I worked it out, four horses have basically paid for our year. Four out of 14 made a profit so far.”

There have been eight juvenile winners in Britain and Ireland who have been sourced at the breeze-ups already this season. Of the eight, Haynes has been responsible for three, including her Royal Ascot bound Golden Arrow (Ire) (Havana Grey {GB}) and Majestic Beauty (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}). 

McGuinness is the sole Irish trainer to have registered a winner with a juvenile purchased at the breeze-ups this season with Tiger Belle (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) successful on debut at Cork last week. 

One of three juveniles that McGuinness picked up along with his nephew and assistant trainer Stephen Thorne for a new commercial arm of the Shamrock Thoroughbreds syndicate, the £70,000 purchase from Con Marnane's Bansha House Stables will run at Royal Ascot if she's not sold beforehand. 

McGuinness said, “We've had someone come to look at her already and, if we can sell her to keep her in the yard, that would be brilliant. We also had a call about the Goffs London Sale before Ascot, and that's a great sale, so all options are open at the minute. 

“Stephen runs the Shamrock Thoroughbreds syndicate and it was his idea to set up an investments syndicate to target the breeze-up sales. We didn't buy many yearlings last year, purely because we haven't had much luck at that down through the years, whereas we were very lucky with the few breezers we bought last year. So there has been a bit of a change of plan.

“Out of the three breezers we bought last year, we won with two and got one [Ti Sento (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire})] away for an awful lot of money within a very short space of time.”

Ado McGuinness (left) and Stephen Thorne (right) | Tattersalls

He added, “We are looking for the very sharp two-year-olds and Donny and the Craven is where you'll find them. Everybody has the Ascot dream in their heads when they go to these sales and we're the same. 

“But we have a limit on what we are going to spend–like, €300,000 on a breeze-up horse, sure if he wins a maiden he might not be worth that. We haven't got the clients who are going to give that type of money for a horse where, win, lose or draw, it makes no difference to them. 

“We have to try and buy the horse that will be a realistic price and one we can sell on afterwards. When you set up an investment syndicate, you have to sell when the money is on the table and, if the next person makes more money than you afterwards, the best of luck to them.

“It's important for business because, say if you win a premier handicap worth €100,000, the trainer's share is only about €7,000. Then you have to go and pay tax on that. There's not a lot of money left over. We will still have our premier handicap horses and they are extremely important for our yard but selling is where it's at.”

While McGuinness admits that the backward three-year-old type is a much more valuable prospect in the long run, he described the earlier and speedier two-year-olds who are ready to rock and roll a much easier sell to owners.

He said, “In our situation, we want to get in and get out. That's our angle and it seems to be working so far. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a nice big immature horse for the backend, and you'd get well-rewarded if you can produce a nice horse that way, but it will take time. A lot of owners are not prepared to put in that time and money into a later developing type of horse and the Ascot dream is a much easier sell.”

Like McGuinness, Haynes goes looking for the horses who are ready to run at the breeze-ups. She also buys at every level and is therefore in the unique position to comment on the overall strength of the market this year. 

“It was nice to get Golden Arrow, who was an expensive breezer at Goffs UK for £200,000,” the trainer said. “You're not always that fortunate to get that type of an order. Normally I try to look at horses who haven't breezed as well as that because of the ground, or maybe they finished a little jarred up from the breeze, so I am usually finding a way in to secure a better price. 

“I find buying from the breeze-ups relatively straightforward and I like to buy the horses who are ready to go. That's been our policy and we've definitely done that this year, especially with our horses from Doncaster, with Hala Emaraaty (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) winning as well. 

“He was the opposite end of the spectrum to Golden Arrow given he cost just £14,000 and then we had one in the middle in Majestic Beauty, who cost £90,000 from that same sale.”

Alice Haynes | Tattersalls

She added, “Day one at the Craven felt like a good time to be buying. There were also a few bargains to be had in the first few hours of the Guineas Sale as well. I know that a few consignors were at a loss because they had spent so much money on the yearlings that the value probably was with the buyers. Looking back now, I think there were too many horses in the Craven and it was the nice horses who made the money.”

Given the success Linehan enjoyed at Arqana, the Cork native admitted that he would love nothing more than to recruit a team of Arqana-type horses, but he knows that is an unrealistic business model. However, Linehan has vowed to be more selective at the yearling sales this year.

He said, “We were happy with the year as a whole. Having said that, I was banking on Arqana going well for us. Whether we were to finish up or down for the year, it all depended on the Arqana horses selling well, and I was just lucky that one of them clicked. 

“But, to be honest, the Land Force was as good a horse as I've ever had anything to do with. He breezed well and he's a gorgeous-looking horse. I'd say he's very good.”

Linehan added, “You'd love to be buying Arqana types at the yearling sales every year but, if you did that, you'd have some amount of money on the line and it would only take one bad year to break you. 

“But looking back on last year, I think everyone overpaid a little for yearlings. We probably gave 10 or 15 grand for too much for some horses last year but, at the time, you probably thought that they were worth it because everyone else was doing the same. 

“The main thing I have in my head going forward with the yearlings is that you have to be very selective. You have to really want the horse and pay as little as you can for it. That's the basic law of it all.”

The year is far from over for a lot of buyers and consignors with the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale taking place at Fairyhouse this week and Linehan is expecting a good trade. McGuinness and Haynes also reported that they plan on being active.

Linehan said, “I think Goresbridge will be a good sale. I was speaking with Paul Harley, who works for Tattersalls Ireland, and he said that there will be a lot of buyers from Scandinavia at the sales. 

“They played at that sale last year, so hopefully they will be back again, and that should help the middle to lower level and ensure a good clearance rate, which is needed. 

“A few very good horses have come out of Goresbridge and we sold a very nice filly called Coralillo (Ire) (Havana Grey {GB}) so hopefully it goes well. I'm looking forward to it.”

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Breezers At Stud Testament To Quality On Offer

The European breeze-up sector prides itself as a source of quality, a notion that held particular weight in 2021 as graduates Native Trail (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) signed off their juvenile campaigns with victories in the G1 Dewhurst S. and G1 Middle Park S.

Added to that, various graduates are currently more than holding their own at stud. This isn't a new development–older representatives such as Society Rock (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) and Paco Boy (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}) each sired Group 1 winners in their first crops–but it is one that has gained real momentum in the past few years and, as such, the breeze-up industry heads into 2022 on a particularly strong footing when it comes to advertising itself as a source of successful stallions.

Of course, a horse good enough to take up a place at stud can come from anywhere, whether it be as the product of an owner/breeder or a purchase at auction. However, there are some factors at play that may explain the breeze-up sector's growing influence.

Firstly, pinhookers naturally target horses that will come to hand relatively early, or at least stand up to the rigours of early training. They are widely regarded as excellent judges of young horses; after all, they are often spending their own money, making the need for a good-looking, well-balanced horse imperative.

As a result, a number of the horses that go through the breeze-up system will be bred to be quick and/or possess the early physical strength to hold commercial appeal. Graduates such as A'Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), Ardad (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), Dream Ahead (Diktat {GB), Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), Prince Of Lir (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), Sands Of Mali (Fr) (Panis) and Ubettabelieveit (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), all of whom shone over sprint distances at two, fall into that category as does Far Above (Ire) (Farhh {GB}), who captured the G3 Palace House S. as a 4-year-old before retiring to Starfield Stud.

As we know, such precocity and speed is coveted by the stallion market. Throw in the likelihood of the horse in question being a correct and athletic individual and the opportunities are immediately there for him to take up stallion duties as a commercial prospect.

Kodiac in Demand

That is also particularly true if the horse is a son of Kodiac (Danehill). The Tally-Ho Stud stalwart is a favourite among breeze-up buyers for his ability to throw sharp, fast individuals and given his recent emergence as an accomplished sire of sires, it is no surprise to see several of his stakes-producing sons sit at the forefront of the breeze-up sire movement, notably Ardad, Prince Of Lir and Adaay (Ire). Of Kodiac's others sons, Kodi Bear (Ire) has been represented by the talented breezers Go Bears Go (Ire), himself surely in line for a place at stud as a Group 2-winning 2-year-old, and Mystery Angel (Ire), while Coulsty (Ire) is sire of the top American filly Shantisara (Ire), another breezer.

It was arguably the emergence of Ardad as Britain's leading first-crop sire for Overbury Stud last season that set the seal on Kodiac's arrival as a noted sire of sires.

Winner of the G2 Flying Childers S. for John Gosden following his purchase for £170,000 by Blandford Bloodstock at the 2016 Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale, it stood to reason that Ardad would throw fast runners and so it proved, with Perfect Power and G3 winner Eve Lodge (GB) contributing to an excellent first crop that currently contains 23 winners.

As such, last season's sales saw him return a yearling average of 53,516gns–a rise of 246% from 2020–while the stallion himself earned a fee increase to £12,500 from £4,000.

There are shades of Ardad in Mickley Stud's new recruit Ubettabelieveit, another Kodiac breezer who won the G2 Flying Childers S. Ubettabelieveit was a 50,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase by the dynamic duo of Roger Marley and John Cullinan of Church Farm and Horse Park Stud. All was going well for them with the colt until Covid hit and ravaged the 2020 breeze-up season. Consequently, Ubettabelieveit was sold privately to trainer Nigel Tinkler on behalf of Martin Webb Racing.

“I'd seen the horse in Book 1 but had left to go home,” recalls Cullinan. “Roger rang me and said that this horse seemed to be falling through the cracks and that we should have a go. I'd no problem buying a Kodiac, as he's been very good to us, and this horse had a fast look to him.

“He showed plenty of boot from an early stage. I remember Nigel rang looking for something so he went to Roger's, rode two of them himself and picked Ubettabelieveit.”

Webb and Richard Kent of Mickley Stud were busy at the sales stocking up on mares to send to Ubettabelieveit, who stands for £5,000. However, he has also attracted plenty of outside interest.

“He's gone down very well,” says Kent. “Some shrewd Irish breeders have bought into him.

“Every day you open the paper and a son of Kodiac has had another winner. They seem to have this unusual aspect where they have loads of speed and a very good temperament. The two don't often go together–it's more speed and lunacy. We'll be supporting him with 40 mares of our own. It's stuck with me how they have always done it at Tally-Ho. I remember Tony O'Callaghan saying that if you can't support them yourself, then how can you expect others to do so?”

Speed aligned with a sober temperament is also a major key to Mehmas. Like Ubettabelieveit, the son of Acclamation is a graduate of Church Farm and Horse Park, having been sourced as a yearling for 62,000gns. He went on to resell for 170,000gns to Peter and Ross Doyle on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing at the Tattersalls Craven Sale and sent to Richard Hannon, won less than a month later at Chester. Victories in the G2 July S. and G2 Richmond S. followed as well as placings in the G1 National S. and G1 Middle Park S. before his retirement ahead of his 3-year-old year to Tally-Ho Stud.

Today, Mehmas boasts 16 stakes winners headed by the Group/Grade 1 winners Supremacy (Ire) and Going Global (Ire), and is the champion first- and second-crop sire of his generation. A revelation at stud, his success has been achieved off fees of €10,000 and €12,500, and he will stand for €50,000 in 2022.

“Mehmas never gave any impression that he was smart when I had him as he was so laid back,” says Cullinan. “When I sent him over to Roger, I said to him that I thought there was some improvement to be had but it was hard to tell as he was completely horizontal. Then when he was first asked to quicken, he went whoosh.

“Hannon asked me when he'd bought him whether he should give him a break but I said no, kick on and run him. He ran him at Chester about only 20 days afterwards, which he won, and then he won again about ten days after that at Newbury.

“I remember seeing him the day after he won the Richmond and it was like he was out on a pony trek. It's that attitude that he puts into his stock. If there's three in a line with a furlong to go, I know I'd like to be backing the Mehmas because they put their head down and try for you.”

Support for A'Ali

Tally-Ho is rarely far from the action as far as breeze-ups are concerned, whether as the home of Mehmas or the vendors of such accomplished runners as Ardad, Perfect Power and Dream Ahead, himself the sire of four Group 1 winners who has relocated to Bearstone Stud for 2022.

The stud also bred A'Ali, another fast horse who is new to Newsells Park Stud at a fee of £7,500. Like his sire Society Rock, A'Ali was a breeze-up purchase by Anthony Stroud, in his case for £135,000 from Star Bloodstock at Goffs UK in 2019. Sent to Simon Crisford, he swept the G2 Norfolk S., G2 Prix Robert Papin and G2 Flying Childers S. at two and trained on to win the G3 Coral Charge and G2 Sapphire S. at three.

“He really was an admirable performer,” says Julian Dollar, general manager of Newsells Park Stud. “He's a neat, straightforward horse and I'm told he was well recommended at the breeze-ups by Matt Eves and Byron Rogers [of Star Bloodstock], where he set a good time.

“He danced every dance at two and turned up again at three. He's got an excellent temperament, he's a very enthusiastic character, and if he throws that, his progeny will have a fighting chance.

“He'll be well supported. We're planning to send Maureen, a fast Group 3 winner, as well as My Special J's, who won the Debutante and is a stakes producer, and Pelerin, a stakes-winning Shamardal mare. We also bought a mare last year called Pretty In Grey–she is a listed-placed half-sister to Lady Bowthorpe and she will go to A'Ali as well.”

Outside mares slated to visit A'Ali also include the listed scorers Riskit Fora Biskit (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Fig Roll (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}), herself dam of Group 3 winner Al Raya (Siyouni {Fr}).

Bansha Gems

A productive association between Stroud Coleman Bloodstock and the breeze-ups also includes Group 1-winning sprinter Sands Of Mali, one of the highlights of the 2017 Tattersalls Ascot Breeze-Up Sale when purchased by the agency for £75,000, and G2 Norfolk S. winner Prince Of Lir, who sold for £170,000 at Goffs UK in 2016. Both were purchased on behalf of the Cool Silk Partnership, sold by Bansha House Stables and now form part of the roster at Ballyhane Stud.

Prince Of Lir sired G2 Norfolk S. winner The Lir Jet (Ire) in his first crop while Sands Of Mali covered 152 mares in his first season in 2021 at €6,500.

“I just loved Sands Of Mali,” says their consignor Con Marnane. “I'd had his brother Kadrizzi, who had been very fast, so I knew the family, and then Sands Of Mali was this big, gorgeous yearling, very imposing.

“I remember he was one of the first ones to breeze that day at Ascot. It was very bad weather and he had hail stones hitting his head, yet he still did a very good breeze.”

He adds, “I've sent a couple of mares to him. I'm a big fan and if they have anything like his temperament and will to win, they'll be ok.”

Marnane is also looking forward to seeing how another former graduate Robin Of Navan (Fr) (American Post {GB}) performs at stud. Also purchased by Stroud Coleman, in his case as an Arqana breezer, he went on to win the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud for Harry Dunlop and now stands at Haras de la Barbottiere in France alongside fellow Group 1-winning breezer Donjuan Triumphant (Ire) (Dream Ahead), a graduate of Lynn Lodge Stud.

French breeders also have access to G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner The Grey Gatsby (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), a graduate of Grove Stud who threw last year's German listed winner Mylady (Ger) from his first crop for Haras du Petit Tellier, and G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains runner-up Le Brivido (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who holds court at Haras de la Haie Neuve.

France was also formerly home to The Wow Signal (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}). Compromised by fertility problems, the ill-fated stallion sired last year's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Coeursamba (Fr).

American Influence

European breezers have traditionally fared well in the US–think War Of Will (War Front), Ete Indien (Summer Front), Rockemperor (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire) and Mr. Monomoy (Palace Malice)–and in return, they now exert a growing presence within the American stallion ranks.

Chief among them is Claiborne Farm's War Of Will. Bred in Kentucky by Flaxman Holdings Ltd from their famous Aviance family, War Of Will was pinhooked by Norman Williamson out of the Keeneland September Sale and reoffered at the Arqana May Breeze-up, where he was sold to Justin Casse on behalf of Gary Barber and returned to the States.

Under the care of Mark Casse, he developed into a top-flight and versatile performer, winning the GI Preakness S. on dirt and GI Maker's Mark Mile on turf.

He sits among a clutch of top-class performers to pass through the hands of Williamson's Oak Tree Farm, which hit Group 1 heights again last year as the vendor of unbeaten champion 2-year-old Native Trail. Williamson also pinhooked and sold Australian Group 1 winner Contributor (Fr) (High Chaparral {Ire}), now a young Group 1 sire at Mapperley Stud in New Zealand.

“War Of Will was a half-brother to Pathfork, a very good 2-year-old in Ireland, and so I thought the pedigree might translate well over here,” recalls Williamson. “He had a backward look to him as a yearling but I still thought he would make plenty. When he didn't sell, I went straight back to them and luckily was able to come to a deal.

“He was a big horse even then, very well-balanced with a good shoulder and a big stride on him. Even though he was big, he still packed a fair bit in as a 2-year-old–he was second in the Grade I in Canada [Summer S.] and beaten only three lengths in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, so that just tells you how good he was. And then of course, he went on to win his Grade Is as an older horse.”

War Of Will was very popular in his first season at $25,000, covering 143 mares–a Claiborne record–to place him in a strong position to extend Danzig's legacy at the farm.

“We had been looking for the heir apparent to War Front and we believe War Of Will could fill that void,” says Walker Hancock, president of Claiborne Farm. “War Front has 15 sons who have sired stakes winners and War Of Will is arguably his most accomplished son with the strongest pedigree.

“He also fits my grandfather's criteria to a tee; he showed precocious juvenile form by being a Grade I performer at two, he won an American Classic at three, trained on to win a Grade I at four, has a fantastic pedigree and is a strong physical to match.

“It's amazing how similar he is to War Front. They have the same physical from the side, with War Of Will being half a hand taller at 16.2. We expect his offspring to be just bigger models than the normal War Fronts, which is often his only critique.”

Grade I versatility also underpins the race record of Taylor Made Stallions' Mshawish (Medaglia d'Oro). He was a good pinhook for Johnny Collins of Brown Island Stables, blossoming from a $10,000 yearling into a €170,000 breezer and, like War Of Will, pulled off the notable feat of scoring at the top level on dirt and turf as winner of the GI Donn H. and GI Gulfstream Park Turf H.

That theme of versatility is now shining through at stud, with his first crop headlined by French Group 3 winner Bellharbour Music, another European breezer, and G3 Pennine Ridge S. winner Sainthood. He also boasts a promising British-based runner in three-time scorer Mobashr, fittingly also a Brown Island pinhook.

New York, meanwhile, is home to the Mocklershill graduate Mr. Monomoy. Another Arqana May breezer, the half-brother to Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) returned to the U.S. upon a bid of €180,000 from Mandore International and went on to win the 2020 GII Risen Star S. at Fair Grounds. He is about to commence his second season at Waldorf Farm.

There was an era when breeze-ups, certainly those in Europe, were viewed primarily as a last chance to move young stock on, an idea that today firmly lives in the past. However, it is also a testament to the relentless improvement in the quality of horses on offer that they today are viewed as a legitimate source of successful stallions. Who knows, perhaps another Mehmas or Ardad is lurking within this year's collection.

The post Breezers At Stud Testament To Quality On Offer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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