Enable's first foal, the two-year-old colt by Kingman (GB) named Encompass (GB), will be trained by John and Thady Gosden at Clarehaven Stables, the former home of both his sire and dam. Enable's two-year-old full-brother Concert Tour (GB) has not yet been allocated to a trainer. 

Juddmonte's champion sire Frankel (GB) can naturally rely on plenty of support from his home camp, with 27 of the operation's stakes winners and/or producers on his book for 2024. These include the Group 1 winners Announce (GB) (Selkirk), Emollient (Empire Maker), who is the dam of Frankel's stakes-winning daughters Raclette (GB) and Ardent, Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Proviso (GB) (Dansili {GB}), Viadera (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}), and Special Duty (GB) (Hennessy), whose Frankel colt Task Force (GB), trained by Ralph Beckett, is a potential Classic campaigner for this season. Juddmonte purchased Teona (Ire) (Sea the Stars {Ire}) at Tattersalls in December for 4.5 million gns when carrying to Frankel and she will return to him this year. 

Bird Flown (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), the dam of Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Siskin (First Defence), is another on the list for Frankel along  with Portodora (Kingmambo), the dam of GI Arlington Million winner Set Piece (GB) (Dansili {GB}), and Repose (Quiet American), who has produced the treble Group 1 winner State Of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}).

Frankel's winning full-sister Chiasma (Ire) (Galileo {Ire) returns to Dubawi, and his Listed-winning half-sister Joyeuse (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) heads to Ireland to be covered by Wootton Bassett (GB) at Coolmore. She is the dam of the 2023 G2 Mill Reef S. winner Array (Ire) (No Nay Never), who is trained by Andrew Balding and is her fourth black-type performer. 

Strong Book for Kingman

Kingman's intended mates for 2024 will include return visitor Helleborine (GB) (Observatory), who has already produced the G2 Coventry S. winner and sire Calyx (GB) and Listed winner Coppice (GB) from previous matings with him.

The Group 1 winner and Group producers African Rose (a sister to Helleborine) and Passage Of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}) are also booked to Kingman, along with Scuffle (GB) (Daylami {Ire}) and Nimble Thimble (Mizzen Mast), the dams of Group 1 winners Logician (GB) and Quadrilateral (GB) respectively. 

Group winners Brostaigh (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), Dandhu (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), Fount (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and  Pocket Square (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) are also on the list along with Midday's Group 3-winning half-sister Sun Maiden (GB) (Frankel {GB}).  Trojan Queen (Empire Maker) is another returning to Kingman having producing the Group 3 and dual Listed winner Sangarius (GB) to him.

Seventeen for Chaldean

Banstead Manor Stud's new recruit to the stallion ranks, Frankel's 2,000 Guineas-winning son Chaldean (GB), will receive 17 mares from the Juddmonte broodmare band. Twelve of these are black-type performers or producers, while the other five are either half-sisters to Group 1 winners or daughters of Group 1 winners. 

Exemplify (GB) (Dansili {GB}), the dam of the GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner Expert Eye (GB), will visit Chaldean, along with proven producer Deliberate (GB) (King's Best), whose five black-type performers include the Group 2 winners Projected (GB) and Headman (GB), and Shared Account (GB) (Dansili {GB}), the dam of dual Group 3 winner Pocket Square. 

Flare Of Firelight (Birdstone), the dam of G2 Gimcrack S. winner Threat (Ire), is also in his first book along with Group winners Timepiece (GB) (Zamindar), Hot Snap (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Modern Look (Zamindar), who is already the dam of Group 3 winner Grand Jete (GB).

Venturing Farther Afield 

A hallmark of Juddmonte's matings, and indeed its success over the years, has been the operation's strong support of its own roster of stallions, which also includes Oasis Dream and Bated Breath. A selection of the Juddmonte mares to be venturing outside the fold this year includes Emulous (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who visits Camelot (GB) to replicate the mating that produced the G1 Irish Oaks runner-up Bluestocking (GB). Grade I winner daughter Capla Temptress (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) visits Dark Angel (Ire), and Frankel's G1 Fillies' Mile winner Quadrilateral will be going to Wootton Bassett.

Romantica (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), a Group 1-winning daughter of Banks Hill (GB), will visit Zarak (Fr) at the Aga Khan Studs, where the G3 Aston Park S. winner Haskoy (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) and her dam Natavia (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) are both set to be covered by Siyouni (Fr). 

Sacred Shield (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}), the dam of GI Matriarch S. winner Viadera, will become the first Juddmonte mare to visit Whitsbury Manor Stud's Havana Grey (GB). Group 3 winner Juliet Sierra (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) heads to Darley's Too Darn Hot (GB) while multiple Group winner Zarinsk (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) will be covered for the first time at Coolmore by No Nay Never.

The post Enable Returns to Dubawi as Juddmonte Outline 2024 Matings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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He was born in one of the old brick boxes which should be granted special sporting heritage status on February 11, 2008. It is hard to believe that his 16th birthday is looming. Backing on to his foaling box is the one where Kingman (GB) entered the world, also in the month of February but three years later, and along the row is the birthplace of Dansili (GB), whose extraordinary mother Hasili (GB) is commemorated in bronze close to that illustrious foaling wing.

In almost every instance, the Juddmonte stallions go and then they come back to live across the vast expanse of lawn from where their lives began in the lavish yard that was built 100 years ago initially to house the 2,000 Guineas and Derby winner Manna (GB).

An outlier in this regard is this year's new recruit, another winner of the 2,000 Guineas, Chaldean (GB). Laying down an important marker as the first son of Frankel to retire to Banstead Manor, Chaldean was the result of a foal-share by Juddmonte with his breeders, the Harper family of Whitsbury Manor Stud. 

When the chestnut colt appeared at the December Foal Sale of 2020, the Juddmonte inspection team liked what they saw, so much so that Simon Mockridge duly bid 550,000gns to buy out the Harpers. It was a sound decision. 

Chaldean was still four days shy of his third birthday when he became a Classic winner. Still technically three, he now strides across the stallion yard like he owns the place: a proud, strong and correct young stallion. To the manner born, if not at the manor born.

As he struts his stuff before posing without the hint of a fidget, Chaldean already has the professionalism of a stallion who has been putting on such a show for years rather than months. He certainly looks the part, but then the big, bay head of his father appears over the door of his stable as if to remind us that so far the bragging rights are all his. 

One of the plaques at Banstead Manor Stud's foaling unit | Emma Berry

Frankel became the champion sire of Britain and Ireland for the second time in 2023. The Andrew Balding-trained Chaldean, who had also won the previous year's G1 Dewhurst S., just as his sire had done, was one of his 11 Group 1 winners. That list includes the Oaks winner Soul Sister (GB), Nashwa (GB), a Classic heroine herself a year earlier, and the brilliant six-time Group 1 winner Inspiral (GB). Remarkably, all three of those fillies reside in John and Thady Gosden's stable and have remained in training for the coming year.

Chaldean's dam Suelita (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) had already dropped hints that she was something a bit special when her first two foals, The Broghie Man (GB) (Cityscape {GB}) and Gloves Lynch (GB) (Mukhadram {GB}), each earned black type. Her record improved again when her fourth foal became the G2 Mill Reef S. winner Alkumait (GB), by Whitsbury Manor Stud's home stallion Showcasing (GB), who was himself bred by Juddmonte. Alkumait is now at Capital Stud in Ireland.

Then came Alkumait's full-sister Get Ahead (GB), a Listed winner who was runner-up in the G1 Flying Five S. last season before being bought by Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavey for 2.5 million gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale. By then of course she was also a half-sister to a Classic winner. The next one to look out for, and once again in the Juddmonte silks, is the mare's two-year-old filly by Kingman (GB), who topped the foal sale of 2022 at a million gns. She has been named Kassaya (GB), after a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar II, one of the rulers of the Chaldean Empire. A classy touch by a classic operation.

Shane Horan, Juddmonte's nominations manager, says of Chaldean, “He put together a very good sequence of wins following his maiden. He won three very prestigious two-year-old races in the Acomb at York, the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster and the Dewhurst Stakes. The Dewhurst is obviously the crowning race of the year for the two-year-old season, and he won that in the second-fastest time ever. And straightaway we knew we had a stallion prospect, even just based on that.

“But then obviously he trained on as a three-year-old and won the 2,000 Guineas. That solidified his stallion career, and then with the credentials of being a son of Frankel out of a very fast mare who's a proven producer of fast two-year-olds and sprinters, we knew we had an exciting package to deal with.”

Horan recounts how the interest in Chaldean “snowballed” as breeders came to view him during the December Sales. 

“I think just going back to people remembering what he was like as a foal and the commercial breeders, they're trying to produce foals like that. If he can throw [foals] like himself, there's the precocity on his dam side. She is by Dutch Art out of a Green Desert mare, so there's a lot of speed there,” he says. 

Horan reflects on another stellar year for Chaldean's sire in 2023, which has been followed up at the start of this new year by Inspiral winning the Eclipse Award for the Top Female Turf Horse, and Measured Time (GB) becoming his latest big winner in the G1 Jebel Hatta last Friday.

“Frankel's first big son to stud was Cracksman,” Horan says. “And from his first crop, he gets an unbeaten French Derby and an Arc winner in Ace Impact. So that's very encouraging. And then throw in the fact that Chaldean was a very good two-year-old, and that's what people really want. So it is encouraging and fingers crossed.”

However much crossing of fingers takes place, it will all be up to the magic of genetics now. Chaldean will certainly be served up a decent book of mares, even considering the competition he faces for blue-blooded females from within his own stable yard.

He stands now in the box once occupied by Rainbow Quest, and he is the charge of Elliott Body, who proudly shows him off while vouching for how easy he has been to handle since his arrival at the stud late last year. 

Once stabled, Chaldean has to his right his own imposing father and the venerable Oasis Dream (GB), still covering at the age of 24 and with a record as both sire and broodmare sire that deserves plenty of respect. To his left is Bated Breath (GB), in the stable once occupied by his late sire Dansili and with a potentially big year ahead of him, and Kingman (GB), who is swiftly compiling his own solid line-up of sons at stud. 

The competition naturally continues beyond the walls of Banstead Manor, too. In Newmarket alone there are three new Group 1-winning sons of Frankel at stud this year – with Triple Time (GB) having joined Darley and Mostahdaf (Ire) at Shadwell – as well as Onesto (Ire), from one of Juddmonte's top families, in France. Farther afield, Adayar (Ire) and Westover (GB), have joined the stallion ranks in Japan, while Hurricane Lane (Ire) has a jumps berth in Ireland. 

It is too early to be talking about succession when it comes to Frankel: he's still king of the hill and likely to be for years. But often the heir comes from within, and Chaldean has plenty in his favour to give him a chance to succeed.

The post Chaldean Ushers in a New Age at Juddmonte appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Like David, Tally-Ho Stud has taken years of hard chiseling but you must be living in Lalaland if you think Tony O'Callaghan is a man for slowing down and taking in all that has been achieved. 

If there's one thing O'Callaghan hates more than arrogance it's idleness. With 200 mares on the farm, considerably more yearlings and foals coming through the system, a sizable breeze-up consignment and, of course, the bread and butter that are the stallions to tend to, there isn't a whole pile of time left over in a day for slacking. 

But what drives a man, who has an uncanny knack of avoiding questions he doesn't want to answer–including those about his age–to attack each morning the same as his sons Roger, 43, and Henry, 41?

“I like action,” he says, unapologetically. “I do. They say there are two chairs you should never sit in; the electric chair and the armchair. They're not putting me into a bin any time soon! Why do some people live to do nothing? I can never understand it.”

The O'Callaghans live for the game. When Kodiac, the horse Roger describes as being “the man who paid for the place” strides out of his box, the lads wear a smile that neither sex nor drugs could supply. 

Tony O'Callaghan: “When the bad year comes, suck it up and move on.” | Tattersalls

Apparently “there's a queue of breeders” wanting to use Kodiac's Group 1-winning son Good Guess, who is new to the roster for 2024, but it wasn't always like this. Before Kodiac, Mehmas, Cotai Glory, Inns Of Court, Persian Force, Starman and now Good Guess, there were tougher times at Tally-Ho.

Blues Traveller and Mac's Imp are some of the earliest hard luck stories. Both stallions met a premature end just as their stock were starting to get going. Danetime, too, was on the cusp of becoming a proper stallion when he died whilst covering on Southern Hemisphere time in Australia. Red Clubs and more recently Society Rock are others who never got a fair crack.

“Danetime was when things started to happen for us,” Tony explains. “Then we got a list of them. Society Rock was doing well when he died and Sir Prancealot did okay as well, but Kodiac was the one who really took off.”

He added, “Danetime might have done the same thing, you know. He was only nine when he died. He had the winner of the Prix Morny two years running—Myboycharlie and then Bushranger. That was a shock when he died.”

So you could say it has been a triumph of perseverance?

“Oh we've kept at it. We've never changed direction. When the bad year comes, suck it up and move on.”

For many people in this industry, 2023 will go down as a bad year. The smaller breeder, who has been a huge part of the success story here, struggled on the whole. But if it's sympathy you're after at the O'Callaghan family's kitchen table, or as Tony's wife Anne describes it, “the engine room,” you've come to the wrong place. 

“It's up to you as a breeder to correct things and not go around blaming everyone bar yourself,” Tony says. “Some people will switch off and become disillusioned. I never get disillusioned no matter how bad the sales are. I never come home disillusioned. I come home blaming myself.”

There may be a lack of sympathy on offer but there's no shortage of encouragement. The business model is simple; try to make everyone–big or small–a winner.

Henry explains, “We're in this for the long haul and we don't take shortcuts. We try to treat people right and, if we both win, that's how you really succeed. There can be repeat business if that happens.”

It is an honourable way of conducting business. And it is one of the reasons why Ger Lyons named Tony The Gent after the man himself. A Whatsapp message to the trainer confirmed as much.

“He was, because in the dictionary beside the word gentleman, you see a picture of Tony O'C,” comes the reply from Lyons, swiftly followed by, “lovely family that.”

There can be a price to be paid when only dealing in facts, though. Some will confuse the no-nonsense approach to business as being cold but the reality is the complete opposite. 

It was this scribe's great pleasure to kill more than a few hours with Roger in Cincinnati Airport during a layover on the way home from the Breeders' Cup a couple of years back.

When a young couple across the bar endured a nightmare episode when both of their cards declined, it was Roger who thought nothing of jumping into action to settle the bill of the two people he'd never set eyes on before in order to prevent further blushes.

'That's my good deed done for the year,' he chirped, before sitting back down at the table. A chip off the old block.

The similarities between Roger and his old man was clear to be seen at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale last year as well. Less than 48 hours after Tally-Ho and Archie St George turned a $550,000 Into Mischief colt foal purchase into a $1.8-million yearling, O'Callaghan was back to the grindstone.

A simple, 'well done in America, Roger,' was met with a, 'now on to the next one,' in that inimitable droll tone. Insatiable. 

Tony and Anne O'Callaghan | Tattersalls

Anne comments on what drives her boys, “We're the lucky ones. We're the ones who have something to achieve and to look forward to every day. Imagine grinding your way to work behind the wheel after having dropped your kids to creche. You're having your cup of coffee, or maybe a cigarette, and listening to the droning bad news on the radio. We get out of bed, roll down the hill, step out into the yard, and bingo. Light on. Let's get at it.”

Henry concurs and provides his own insight into the motivation behind this winner-producing machine, when saying, “You have a chance of a bit of magic. That's the great thing about this business. When you're involved with a good horse, there's no better feeling.”

The hope is that Good Guess, who claimed the notable scalp of 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean when storming to Prix Jean Prat glory at Deauville last summer, can be the latest good horse that the O'Callaghans will be associated with. 

The horse had been on Tally-Ho's radar ever since Cheveley Park Stud flagged that they had a good Kodiac at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Yearling Sale in 2021. They were right. 

Good Guess went on to make 420,000gns to Sebastien Desmontils and the O'Callaghans have been tracking his progression ever since. In fact, so sure they were that Good Guess would be a good fit at Tally-Ho, a deal was done not long after he had crossed the line in front in that Group 1. 

“Sure he'd be whipped from underneath you,” says Tony, explaining why there wasn't even time to hop on a plane to get the deal done. Instead, it was trashed out on the phone. “These things are done quickly.”

Good Guess | Scoop Dyga

It has been well-reported that, in order to secure Good Guess, a lot of money needed to change hands. 

“You've got to try and win the lottery. Pay your money, take your chance,” is how Roger sums up the transaction. Henry adds, “It's grand when you're right. There's never a bad time to buy a good horse but then there's never a good time to buy a bad horse. If you can buy a good horse, what you pay for it ultimately doesn't matter. The economics of this game, it's unique, isn't it?”

He adds, “Given how much stallions are costing at the moment, you need them to work in order for the whole thing to make economic sense. It's a big test of how bad you want a horse if you are prepared to send it a clatter of your own mares.”

Good Guess, along with the rest of the stallion roster at Tally-Ho, won't be lacking in that department. 

Tony explains, “When the stallions do well, it's huge. But, when the stallions do bad, it's an absolute nightmare. When they don't click, you suffer. There's a queue up for Good Guess but we'll support him as well. It's very simple; back your own.

“The way it works is, you look after everyone else first. Whenever we can get a slot for him, we'll send him a mare. We'll send him between 30 and 50 of our own mares but we won't know how many until the end of May. “

On what makes Good Guess an attractive stallion proposition, he adds, “Sure you could see below, his action and his physique. The bone structure is there and he has a nice big eye and a nice head. He floats around the yard there. Those are his strong points. Everyone who has come to see him, they all love him.”

Could he be the heir to the throne?

“Never,” says Tony, half-insulted. “I don't think we'll ever get an heir to that horse. We'd love one. But I don't think we'll ever find another Kodiac.”

And with that, the master of Tally-Ho leaves the table to tend to more pressing duties in the yard. He's not one for sitting, you know. But was he always like that?

“I'll never forget I was covering a mare with Dad,” Roger recalls. “He was holding the mare and I had Danetime. When Danetime went to get up on the mare, she reared. Dad had the lead rope wrapped around his thumb and the thumb went with the lead rope. Severed it. Straight off. 

“I'll never forget it. And then, when he went into the hospital, all he was telling me was, 'I'm really sorry.' I was saying, 'what are you sorry for?' 

“Anyway, he did a night in hospital but was back in the yard the following morning. He had a big bandage on his hand out cleaning water troughs that day. But what happened next? Didn't the f**king bucket fall over and of course he went to grab it. Bang. It bounced off the thumb. 

“Oh Jesus, I'll never forget it. The poor f**ker nearly died with the pain. But as soon as he could get back going, he was out in that yard. You can count the number of days on one hand that Dad has taken off work in his life. Seriously. He just loves it.” 

And that, ladies and gentleman, is the difference. 

The treasure that is KODIAC, holding court at @HoStud He is 23 this year. #IrishStallionTrail

@BrianSheerin91 pic.twitter.com/EJLi8FJu3d

— TDN (@theTDN) January 12, 2024

Tony O'Callaghan on…….

Caught U Looking

I'd been watching her going around the back ring at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale and was wondering whether or not I should bid for her. Next thing, she went into the ring and Peter Nolan bought her for Noel Meade. I said I'd take her. They told me the most I could have was a half, so I took half. She's a nice filly. I'm hoping she will go on this season but we'll see, won't we? I'm hoping she'll stay a mile plus. We could have sold her 10 times over but we'll roll the dice. I'd be hoping she can stay a mile-and-a-half. That's what I'd like. She has plenty of size and scope. It would be nice to have a runner in the Oaks. 

Working the sales

There are people giving out about the industry but, when they go to the sales, they are fiddling around and they wouldn't do any homework. A lot of the trainers are like that. Willie Mullins started with eight or nine horses. Gordon Elliott started with one or two. When you go to the sales, do you go to zone in or you go to be sociable for the day? You can only do one or the other. You can't do both. If you want to buy something, you have to pay attention, not be in and out of the bar. I've nothing against that but it's gone a bit like that. The sales are competitive. We're there to work.

National Hunt

We always had National Hunt horses going back years ago. I quite like National Hunt horses. As the fella says, what do you do in January? I always felt the first day of Spring was Thyestes Day. Long ago, when we were young, Thyestes Day marked the start of Spring. 

Polarisation

It is gone polarised but you can always sell a nice horse. It's always been the model first for me. If you can get the sire as well, then you are away. The model will always get you out of trouble, though. 

The post An Endless Pursuit Of ‘A Bit Of Magic’ For The O’Callaghans At Tally-Ho Stud appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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One can't blame breeders either for showing such interest in the new stallions at stud, for they have yet to be judged (though they will be, just as soon as their first foals hit the sales grounds) and have therefore “done nothing wrong”.

Let's not forget that in almost all cases, for a stallion to be at stud in the first place he was a decent racehorse. But there are degrees of decency, from the downright jaw-dropping bred-in-the-purple Classic winner to the Group 3 winner whose precocity and speed are really all he has going for him unless he can throw a nice type in the first place, and then those nice types can go on to do as their father did. That can be enough these days, and there's a separate and lengthy debate to be had about whether that really should be enough. But for breeders trying to sustain their business through a commercial approach, the first thing that matters is how likely you are to be able to sell a foal or yearling well, no matter how much we all know that breeding for the racecourse is what really counts in the long run, as long as that run isn't too long a run, if you know what I mean.

Aye, there's the rub. The long-term view can be rewarded with the greatest riches. Breeding a 'Cup horse', for example. Big prizes on big days, or perhaps a big offer from another nation that has already lost its way on the stamina front, or indeed from a major jumps owner if things haven't quite worked out on the Flat. Increasingly, through, few breeders can or want to wait that long. And as one breeder remarked at the recent foal sales, “At least if you have a horse by a first-season sire you know that every pinhooker is going to look at him.” 

So as we begin our Value Sires series in Europe for the season ahead, we will tackle the newcomers first before we head on, in price brackets, to those stallions who may or may not be suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, which in the bloodstock business often merely means they are no longer this year's 'it boy'.

How anyone can base a business plan on such an unpredictable collective whim is beyond me, but that's the challenge faced by breeders when deciding on matings each year. If you are using a currently popular stallion who will cover a large book then you'd better pray extra hard for a corker of an individual if there are any holes in your mare's pedigree or production record. 

From Paddington (GB) at €55,000 to a handful of sires at €5,000, with just about everything in between, there is a huge range in both price and talent of this year's intake. We are not including a full list of new sires here, and the three which we consider to represent the best value in this division feature on the podium at the conclusion of this piece.

Value is relative, of course, and the fee for Paddington is punchy enough but then he was superb last year in his somewhat unusual progression from the Madrid Handicap in a bog at Naas through to that string of four Group 1 victories on summer ground at the Curragh, Ascot and Sandown and then back to more give at Goodwood. You can't really argue with a record that includes the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James' Palace S. (beating Chaldean), Eclipse S. and Sussex S. Mostahdaf (Ire) and Nashwa (GB) had his measure at York in the International but by then Paddington had won six on the bounce, at a rate of a race pretty much every month since late March.

His first three dams all earned black type on the track, and we like to see a bit of Montjeu (Ire) on the page, through his Listed-winning dam Modern Eagle (Ger), providing a variation on a theme of Coolmore's other two sons of Siyouni (Fr), Sottsass (Fr) and St Mark's Basilica (Fr), who are both out of Galileo (Ire) mares. Paddington's granddam Millionaia (Ire) (Peintre Celebre) was runner-up in the G1 Prix de Diane and great granddam  Moonlight Dance (Alysheba) was third in the G1 Saint-Alary. But his fourth dam Madelia (Fr) (Caro {Ire}) outpointed them both by winning the Diane, Saint-Alary and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, so there is plenty on the page to reinforce his claim to future greatness. 

It is up to each breeder to decide whether or not €55,000 is a price they can swallow, but it is a pretty safe bet that Paddington, himself a €420,000 yearling, will already have plenty of takers.

Coolmore is big on bears this year, and in fact Paddington and his fellow new recruit Little Big Bear (Ire) both hail from Wildenstein families, with the latter being a great grandson of the Hall-of-Famer All Along (Fr) (Targowice). Reinforcing  the No Nay Never blood in Tipperary, he did as he was expected and was fast and early. At three, he added the G2 Sandy Lane to the previous year's win in the G1 Phoenix S. in which he was injured. He was then beaten by Shaquille (GB) in the G1 Commonwealth Cup and a further injury incurred in the July Cup brought about his early retirement. Little Big Bear starts out at €27,500.

Putting on the Rizz

The Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year for 2023 was 'Rizz'. No, me neither, but apparently if you're a regular TikTokker, you will already know that this means “style, charm, or attractiveness, and the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner”, or put more simply is a shortened version of charisma. 

I don't know the French translation of rizz, but let's go with 'ooh la la', and it's something which Ace Impact (Ire) has in spades. Who among us did not marvel at the way he chewed up and spat out the otherwise brilliant Big Rock (Ire) down the Chantilly straight in the Prix du Jockey Club? Could he stay a mile and a half? Could he ever, just as soon as the afterburners were engaged to propel him past Westover (GB) and Onesto (Ire) in the Arc.

Jean-Claude Rouget told TDN in October that he watched Ace Impact's six races through again after he was retired, perhaps to remind himself that, though brief, his career really did burn brightly. Always leave them wanting more, they say, and he certainly did after six perfect races. It's a shame but understandable, as when it comes to launching a Prix du Jockey Club and Arc winner at an almost brand new stallion operation, the time to strike is when he is unbeaten and his last sensational run is still emblazoned on breeders' memories. 

In contrast, we saw plenty of Modern Games (Ire), who holds that rare bragging right of being a Group 1 winner at two, three and four, and a dual Breeders' Cup winner to boot.  He's a proper miler, a Classic-winning one, and it'll cost £30,000 to send him a mare, but good luck if you've been dawdling as it was reported at Darley's open morning on Tuesday that he was full before Christmas. 

It's not hard to see why as Modern Games is a lovely individual with balance and scope, who joins his sire Dubawi (Ire) on the Dalham Hall Stud roster. His family is one which is increasingly repaying Sheikh Mohammed, who bought his granddam Epitome (Ire) (Nashwan) from her breeder Gerald Leigh. She has given the Godolphin operation the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}) among her 10 winning offspring. Modern Ideals (GB) (New Approach (Ire) did not make that list of winners, running only twice unsuccessfully in France, but she has more than atoned in her second job as the dam of not just Modern Games but also his fellow Classic winner Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and Listed winner Modern News (GB) (Shamardal).

Son has also followed father in the case of Chaldean (GB), who is now at Banstead Manor Stud alongside Frankel (GB) and, like his sire, won the 2,000 Guineas and G1 Dewhurst S. If there were two buzz names during the December Sales among those touring the stallion studs of Newmarket then they were Chaldean and Shaquille (GB), whom we will come on to a bit later. Chaldean is at £25,000, which is significantly more that two other sons of Frankel retiring to Newmarket studs with higher ratings this year but, as Patrick Cooper pointed out in yesterday's TDN, he has plenty going for him on the commercial front. Chaldean was a relatively early two-year-old, carrying decent form through wins at Newbury then the G3 Acomb S., G2 Champagne S. and finally that year's Dewhurst before claiming his Classic laurels on his return to Newmarket. 

We wait to see what his Group 2-winning half-brother Alkumait (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) can achieve with his first runners this year, but certainly Chaldean's family has been much in the news for his breeder Whitsbury Manor Stud. Five of his dam's offspring have now earned black type, including the Group 1-placed Get Ahead (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who sold for 2.5 million gns at Tattersalls in December. It's a family going places, and Juddmonte will doubtless lend the might of its broodmare band to help Chaldean get off to the best possible start at stud.

France Blessed with Enticing Names

Had Vadeni (Fr), who was featured last week, been retired after his impressive three-year-old season, it is easy to imagine that he would be standing for more than €18,000 but that is his opening mark now at Haras de Bonneval which could well represent value about a horse who romped to victory in the “stallion-making” Prix du Jockey Club before also landing the Eclipse against his elders. 

His fellow Aga Khan Studs newcomer Erevann (Fr) can't match Vadeni on performance but he can on pedigree and this son of two Classic winners, with a good helping of 'rizz', really does look excellent value at €8,000. 

France is not short of new and enticing stallion prospects this year and three worthy of mention here are Mishriff (Ire) at €17,500, Onesto at €12,500 and Bay Bridge (GB) at €6,000.

In some respects Mishriff is both fortunate and unfortunate. A badly-placed kick to the wall of his stable last winter meant that he missed all of what should have been his debut covering season. His price has been trimmed from what was his planned opening fee of €20,000, and you get an awful lot of performance and physique for the price he is now. He was a terrific racehorse who moves like a dream. Then of course there's his family, which includes those not insignificant stallions Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB). Go and have another look at Mishriff at Haras de Montfort & Preaux if you're in France for the Route des Etalons. You won't be disappointed, especially as that extra year of letting down before embarking on his stud duties means that he now looks like a man among boys when compared to fellow new recruits.

Onesto is a new Frankel for France at Haras d'Etreham. A compact horse whose breeze-up fractions at Ocala belied his middle-distance pedigree, he sent agent Hubert Guy into a similar rush to buy him for $535,000 and bring him back to Europe where he duly won the G1 Grand Prix de Paris.

After winning the G1 Champion S. of 2022, Bay Bridge had a frustrating time of it last year. He did win the G3 September S. to bring his tally to seven victories from 16 starts, giving a solidity to his record, which included a close second to Luxembourg (Ire) in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. A later-maturing and powerful individual, the son of New Bay (GB) joins Haras du Mesnil, a stud with an excellent track record. He really should be given some consideration at his bargain fee. 

Your Guess is as Good as Ours

If Mehmas (Ire) is the next Kodiac for Tally-Ho Stud, then who will be the next Mehmas? Could it be a son of Kodiac in the farm's latest stallion, Good Guess (GB)? His trainer Fabrice Chappet thought plenty of him from his earliest days in training, and it wasn't just because he was an expensive yearling at 420,000gns. He won his first two races as a juvenile but it wasn't until his three-year-old season that we really saw him flourish when Good Guess won the G1 Prix Jean Prat and G3 Prix Djebel, both over seven furlongs. Bred by Cheveley Park Stud, he's a grandson of their 1,000 Guineas winner Russian Rhythm (Kingmambo) and he's a well-made individual. At €17,500, he will have the Tally-Ho faithful, not to mention a decent number of the home mares, in his corner. 

Triple Time (Ire) very nearly made the podium below, but I'm only allowed three spots and it was a competitive field in this division. At £10,000, he has been fairly priced for his opening season at Dalham Hall Stud. Like Chaldean, he is a Group 1-winning miler by Frankel from a family that is clearly going places. Triple Time, winner of the Queen Anne S. last season, was actually rated 2lbs higher than Chaldean but his significantly lower fee reflects the fact that his top-level win didn't come until he was a four-year-old, though he was a Listed winner at two. He was lightly raced, making only two appearances in each of his last two seasons, but he was clearly no slouch and is one of two Group 1 winners from his dam Reem Three (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}), who has so far produced seven black-type runners. The family could be boosted further still this year by Classic prospect Rosallion (GB)  (Blue Point {Ire}).

Like Tally-Ho Stud in Ireland, England's Whitsbury Manor Stud has a loyal following of commercial clientele along with its own sizeable band of mostly speedily-bred broodmares. With Showcasing and Havana Grey (GB) the stud has had two of the most talked-about stallions in Britain in recent years, which is why one can't overlook the farm's latest recruit Dragon Symbol (GB), who was also bred at Whitsbury Manor. By Cable Bay, he appeared to be a Group 1 winner for a few agonising moments when finishing first past the post in the Commonwealth Cup. The race was awarded to Campanelle (Ire) in the stewards' room and he was demoted to second. Dragon Symbol has won five sprints in total as well as finishing second in the G1 July Cup and third in the G1 Nunthorpe. Could this bridesmaid become the bride, or even better the groom, in his next career, which he starts at a fee of £8,000?

There has been a lot going on at the National Stud stallion yard in recent years with the arrival of Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) in 2022 being followed the next year by Stradivarius (Ire). Now comes the Shadwell-bred Mutasaabeq (GB), a son of Invincible Spirit from a solid stallion family which includes Nashwan, Unfuwain and Deep Impact (Jpn), with Baaeed (GB) in the wings. Mutasaabeq, a treble Group 2 winner whose pedigree was discussed in more detail in these pages recently, is introduced at a very reasonable £6,500. 

The shuffling of the pack which has brought Soldier's Call (GB) to Dullingham Park for his first season in England has meant that there was room for another son of Showcasing at Ballyhane Stud in Ireland. Step forward Asymmetric (Ire), the G2 Richmond S. winner and Morny third of 2021, who returned from a stint in America to win a Listed contest at Deauville last year on the same card that his half-brother Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) claimed his first stakes victory. Speed is what it says on his tin, and there will doubtless be plenty of breeders signing up for that at €7,000.

TDN Value Podium

Bronze: Mostahdaf (Ire), Beech House Stud, £15,000

As a good-looking winner of both the G1 Prince of Wales's S. and G1 Juddmonte International and a well-bred son of Frankel, it's hard not to think that Mostahdaf is a snip at £15,000. His dam Handassa (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a Listed winner who has already bred another dual Group 1-winning miler in Nazeef (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) while granddam Starstone (GB) (Diktat {GB}) is a half-sister to Goodricke (GB) and Pastoral Pursuits (GB), who were both Group 1-winning sprinters by Bahamian Bounty (GB). It's a classy pedigree which really should be pretty commercial. 

Perhaps the fact that Mostahdaf didn't race at two has moderated his fee, and he was undoubtedly at his best at five, but if durability and soundness count against horses these days then we are in the fast lane of the highway to disaster.

Silver: Angel Bleu (Fr), Sumbe, €9,000 

Sumbe has a trio of Group 1-winning newcomers, with the aforementioned Mishriff as well as Belbek (Fr), who should not be overlooked at €7,000. But Angel Bleu at his opening price of €9,000 really smacks of value. On the track he was an extremely likeable individual. Fast, early, but most importantly, hardy. He ran eight times at two for five wins from five furlongs to a mile, including the G2 Vintage S., G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International. He may have been written off when a setback curtailed his three-year-old season, but the son of Dark Angel (Ire) was back at four to win the G2 Celebration Mile and Listed Spring Trophy.

He's a strong and bonny individual with an international pedigree of broad appeal. His dam, by Galileo, is a sister to Group 1 winners Highland Reel (Ire) and Idaho (Ire), while the achievements of his Australian third dam Circles Of Gold (Aus) (Marscay {Aus}), on the racecourse and at stud, are worthy of their own book.

Gold: Shaquille (GB), Dullingham Park, £15,000

Of course none of this matters until we can see what their runners are capable of, but it was hard not to fall for Shaquille when he sauntered out to the new stallion showing ring at Dullingham Park during the December Sales. He was one of the talking points of that week, with many favourable comments from a range of breeders from all over Europe and he thus receives our first gold medal of this series.

Shaquille doesn't really look like a sprinter, but that's what he was, and a very good one at that, winning the G1 Commonwealth Cup and then downing the colours of his older rivals in the G1 July Cup. He too can call on Galileo as his broodmare sire, and he is by a long way the best son of Charm Spirit (Ire), who was a multiple Group 1-winning miler himself. Grand-dam Danehurst (GB) (Danehill) was more than useful for Cheveley Park Stud and also very fast, as was the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Hooray (GB) who is from the same family and, being by Invincible Spirit, bred on a similar pattern.

If Shaquille's youngsters look and move like him then he'll be off to a good start in the sales ring, and that, as we know, is a first important marker which can then determine his level of support down the line. 

The post Value Sires for 2024 Part I: New Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Last year they had two Group 1-winning Frankel colts with stud potential. Both have similar profile dam-lines and both are good-looking colts. One was rated seven pounds superior to the other. 

You can't get in to the winner of the less-than-vintage renewal of the 2,000 Guineas the 119-rated Chaldean (GB) at Banstead, meanwhile the 126-rated Irish Derby winner Westover (GB) was quietly shuffled off to Japan without a whimper and I would suspect at a fraction of the €12million Prix du Jockey Club winner and his Arc conqueror Ace Impact is being syndicated for in France. Frankel's last son to win the Irish Derby is standing at Coolmore's National Hunt division for €6,000. There's your valuation.

Juddmonte know they would hardly get a Flat mare to Westover and certainly not at £25,000 because he is a mile-and-a-half horse and Flat breeders aren't interested in them, but the Champion two-year-old and Guineas winner is a different  proposition altogether. We can also assume that Juddmonte believe that Chaldean is the better stallion prospect and they would prefer to use him for their own mares rather than Westover, who was by far the better racehorse. 

Would Westover have won the same Irish Derby at 10 furlongs? As he only beat a Group 3 winner and a horse that never even won a Listed race (sadly the norm these days) we can assume so. Would he then have been worth considerably more? Yes.

So because the race is run at a distance that no longer interests European mare owners and, after all they are the ones that decide a stallion's value, Juddmonte's racing arm has missed out on the extra millions that a potential bidding war between European and Japanese interests would have attracted, and Japan has ended up with the better of the two Frankels.

The Prix du Jockey Cub is without any doubt the preeminent stallion-making race for middle-distance horses in Europe. The reason is simple. It is a 10.5-furlong race and a proven success in the stallion-making business since it became so. St Mark's Basilica (Fr), Vadeni (Fr) and Ace Impact (Ire) are the next three in line. All will be given a proper shot.

Westover is just the latest example of an Irish Derby winner who was both unloved and unwanted by European breeders. The present format makes no sense for owner, breeder, fan or even for the breed in Europe.

Shorten the Irish Derby. 

Patrick Cooper, BBA Ireland

Do you agree or disagree with this view? Please let us know your thoughts by emailing emmaberry@thetdn.com.

The post Letter to the Editor: A Tale of Two Frankels appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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There is plenty, still, to look forward to next year, with fellow Whitsbury-based stallion Sergei Prokofiev set to be represented by his first crop of runners and Dragon Symbol taking up his position on the roster. 

From all things Whitsbury to reflecting on the breeding stock sales, the ever-engaging Harper makes for required reading in this week's Q&A.

You must look back on 2023 pretty fondly with Whitsbury Manor Stud homebred Chaldean winning the 2,000 Guineas for Juddmonte?

We wouldn't have a lot of runners in Classic races because of the types of stallions we stand but, obviously, we use a few outside stallions every year. When you use the best stallion around [Frankel], you hope to provide yourself with a chance to step up on quality. It couldn't have worked out any better with Chaldean winning the 2,000 Guineas. 

Where would that rank?

A great milestone. It ranked very highly but I don't feel as though it was a whole heap of hard work that produced the result. For example, producing a stallion like Showcasing or Havana Grey, that takes five or six years of hard work from every team member pulling in the same direction. A result like Chaldean is a piece of good judgement in the sales ring to buy the mare by Dad, which isn't to be underestimated, but even he would admit that there is a lot of luck involved. So, you get yourself a diamond mare in Suelita, what are you going to do with her? You're going to send her to a diamond stallion. It's brilliant, and it's fantastic, but it's not comparable to the whole Whitsbury machine working together for years to make a stallion. I see the two things very differently. 

You must have got a lot of pleasure at seeing Chaldean's half-sister Get Ahead, a talented mare in her own right, selling for 2.5m gns to Ian MacAleavy's First Bloodstock? 

I'd have rathered if we didn't have to sell her! We have to remind ourselves that the function of Whitsbury is not to have a small, uber broodmare band sending mares to the best stallions on the planet. Our job is to keep small breeders alive in England because, without them, there is no breeding industry in this country. If we can sell Get Ahead and support the business in areas that help, such as the grassroots by making stallions, then that's our job. Effectively, weighing up the sale of Get Ahead, we can't be everything to everyone. You can't be brilliant at everything. It doesn't work like that for anybody. So weighing it up, we ask ourselves what our priority is. Is it looking out into the paddock and seeing the occasional super mare going to the super stallion or is it making the next stallion? We effectively prioritised the buying of Dragon Symbol over keeping Get Ahead. That's the choice we made. 

I'll go on to Dragon Symbol in a second but, when you mentioned Whitsbury supporting the grassroots players in England, I just wonder how you would look back on the breeding stock sales on a personal level taking into consideration how many smaller breeders took a kicking?

The most satisfying thing for us this year was the 20 to 30 smaller breeders who really benefited from Havana Grey. That means that some of those breeders can reinvest and possibly step up the next rung up the ladder, which is great, or, on a slightly scarier level, it means some will survive another two or three years. Without stallions like Havana Grey, that doesn't happen. I'm not pretending to have the answers as to why this is but, culturally, when smaller breeders in England stop, they stop for good. They don't come back. When small breeders in Ireland stop because, say there's a dip in the market or maybe there's overproduction, for whatever reason, they seem to have the ability to come back when times get better. I feel like we have to be the lifeboat throwing the vests out to keep some of the smaller breeders alive and, when you get it right and you help a load of people, it's very satisfying. Obviously, we're trying to run a profitable business as well, we're not a charity, but we need a thriving industry and we have to provide our clients with a chance to make money. It's very satisfying when it happens. 

Did you listen to this month's Jamie Railton podcast where Roger O'Callaghan was the guest? Roger singled out Whistbury for high praise. A lot of people would say there are similarities between how Whitsbury and Tally-Ho Stud is run. What would those similarities be?

I listened to it, yes. There's lots of other places in England who had good years, so we don't have a monopoly on that. But what do we do similar? For starters, we don't really worry what other people are doing and Tally-Ho certainly don't worry either. The one thing that we would agree on is that we need to see success scattered around the business from time to time. It can't be for one outfit all the time because that's not how a sport works. I've a few friends and connections who have never been involved in the breeding industry who have started to ask me questions about getting involved for the first time. I've known some of these people for 20 years and they've never asked me that so it's nice to think we have just pricked the interests of a few new players because we can't just have people going out of the market. We need new people as well. 

For me, one of the stories from the mares sale was your neighbour Katrina Yarrow getting 52,000gns for Havana Grey foal with the first mare she ever bought.

Exactly. And that was someone who was brave enough to listen to us when we recommended the mare. Fair play to Katrina for giving it a go. You're only ever going to find out by giving it ago and, if you don't risk too much and keep top of what you are prepared to invest, it can be a lot of fun.

Getting back to the Railton podcast, when Roger said that some breeders need to look themselves in the mirror over some of the poor results in the ring, rather than blaming the game, did you think that was fair comment?

Yea, I would agree with Roger completely. We're all good at seeing the difficulties in our game but the skill is figuring out how to combat it. Sending back the same mares, who are a year older, year after year, and then saying, 'oh, it hasn't happened for me,' is not the approach. If you asked that same person what they have done to give themselves a chance, what have they actively gone and done, they often don't have any answer for you. Some will say, 'oh, well I can't go out and buy a new mare, I had to play it safe because the foal sales didn't go well or the yearling sales didn't go well.' Well, the answer to that is no, when the foal or yearling sales don't go well, that's when you have to go out and buy a new mare! You almost have to be more active when things aren't going well. People tend to almost go back into the shell when things aren't working for them. Everyone should be trying to improve all the time. I mean, I read Emma Berry's piece with Peter Kavanagh in the TDN on Tuesday, and he made some excellent points. The bit I would completely agree with is that, part of the puzzle, and the piece of the game that we rarely talk about, is horse husbandry. It's arguably the most important part of the puzzle. From choosing stallions, to buying mares or even sending horses into training, it's all completely irrelevant if the horse husbandry hasn't been good enough. That is the area that is slipping in Britain; the horse husbandry is going the wrong way a lot of the time. Obviously there are plenty of people doing a good job but, in general, the slide is in the quality of husbandry, and that's difficult to get around. When husbandry slides, the rest of it becomes irrelevant. 

What are we talking about here? Just poorly presented foals at the sales with regards to lack of bone, poor feet etc?

Everything. The quality of the land, management of the pasture, the attention to detail on the stock, general care of the stock; it's everyday stuff. Thinking that you can just turn out horses and forget about them, be it mares, foals, whatever, horse husbandry is an everyday job. If you are not on it every day, it slips. 

I was at the pinhookers panel at Tattersalls on the evening before the foal sales where you came out with a great line when referencing a conversation you had with your accountant. I think he was questioning one of your decisions and you said something along the lines of, 'you don't get to have a say, you just keep the score!' With that in mind, and I know you won't mind me saying this, but I would say there were a few people questioning the decision to stand Dragon Symbol at Whitsbury. Lucky you don't care what other people think!

We had the same reaction with Showcasing and Havana Grey. When we bought Showcasing, I was told that the Gimcrack wasn't a stallion-making race. You had to go back to Mill Reef when a Gimcrack winner became a good stallion. What a load of rubbish that was. With Havana Grey, people were saying, why are we getting excited about a son of a stallion who was standing for eight or 10 grand, or whatever it was at the time. That made no sense to me either because, first of all, Havana Gold had already proved himself as a bloody good stallion and, also, you could give 10 examples in about three seconds of horses who were more successful than their sires. In terms of Dragon Symbol, he's very easy to defend. He was five pounds a better racehorse than Havana Grey ever was and it's about standing a quality racehorse at the end of the day. To be first past the post in a Commonwealth Cup, with himself and Campanelle six lengths clear of the rest, and to then go and be beaten just a neck behind Starman in a July Cup as a three-year-old, those are serious performances. I happened to think Cable Bay was a bloody good stallion as well. He just didn't have the rub of the green in terms of fertility and soundness, in that he had one or two issues that held him back, which was nobody's fault. He got eight black-type two-year-olds in his first crop which is better than ninety per cent of stallions and that allowed them to double his fee to 15 grand, which nobody batted an eye over. He absolutely deserved it. 

Dragon Symbol (right) | Racingfotos.com

Is it extra special bringing Dragon Symbol back to where he was bred or does it even matter?

The answer to that is I couldn't give a monkeys who bred him! It's a nice thing to talk about but it had zero influence on the decision. In fact, I think it could have the opposite effect as people might get the wrong end of the stick in thinking Dragon Symbol was a vanity project when the reality is that it couldn't be further from the truth. We're far too business-minded and commercial to worry about that sort of thing. 

And what's the vibe ahead of Sergei Prokofiev's first runners next year?

I don't even want to hear things from trainers in February, let alone December, but all I would say is that the Sergeis are very easy customers to deal with. They are relaxed and compliant. As we were saying earlier, sadly with the staffing in the industry, we don't have the time to deal with difficult horses compared to back in the day, so having a stallion who produces even-tempered and nice horses is a step in the right direction. 

We almost got to the end of the conversation without waxing lyrical about Havana Grey. I know you find it boring to continue to heap praise on him but even you must have been punching yourself over the continued support behind him at the foal sales?

It's fantastic but my pulse doesn't raise much at the sales. When we're selling our own stock for good money, we need to do that to keep the cogs turning in the right direction and to reinvest in the industry, but it's not something I get excited about. What excites me most is watching our horses win on the track. I do get nervous watching a two-year-old we thought a lot of make its debut. Even if it's a Class 5 at Wolverhampton, I'll be far more nervous about that than a horse going through the ring. The other thing that makes us happy is trying our best to help and advise people and, when it works out even better than what we'd hoped it would, that is very satisfying. Celebrating the result of our clients is more satisfying. 

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“[The] 2023 [season] has been another outstanding [one] for the Juddmonte stallions. A season which sees Frankel poised to win his second Champion Sire title in the last three years and a year where the Juddmonte roster was the leading stallion farm at Royal Ascot,” reflected Simon Mockridge, General Manager, Juddmonte UK. “The roster has been further strengthened by the exciting addition of Frankel's most precocious son Chaldean. His physique, conformation, and classic credentials should give him every opportunity to succeed. We look forward to welcoming breeders to the farm to view the stallions by appointment.”

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Bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud, Chaldean was a 550,000gns foal purchase by Juddmonte and one of five black-type horses out of the Dutch Art (GB) mare Suelita (GB). The winner of four of his five starts at two, the Andrew Balding-trained colt landed the G3 Acomb S. and G2 Champagne S. before emulating his sire by signing off last year with victory in the G1 Dewhurst S.

His intended first start at two in the G3 Greenham S. ended in ignominious fashion when Frankie Dettori was unseated on exiting the stalls, but the duo quickly made amends when landing the 2,000 Guineas. Chaldean became the 18th horse since 1874 to complete the Dewhurst-Guineas double, joining a list of great names such as Nijinsky, El Gran Senor, Zafonic, Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire), and of course Frankel, making this a unique father-son double.

“Chaldean is just a dream horse; the most professional, uncomplicated, and beautifully balanced horse we have had during his time at Kingsclere,” said Balding. 

“He showed unusual improvement through his unique sequence of prestigious wins in the Acomb Stakes, Champagne Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes at two years old only to improve again to win the 2000 Guineas before his turning three.”

Simon Mockridge, general manager of Juddmonte UK, added, “We would like to extend special thanks to Andrew Balding and the teams at Kingsclere and Juddmonte for guiding and skilfully developing the racing career of Chaldean.

“We look forward to welcoming our Classic winner Chaldean as the first son of Frankel to stand at Banstead Manor Stud, further strengthening Juddmonte's European stallion roster.”

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Dettori will miss the ride after receiving a nine-day careless riding ban at Royal Ascot last month and that suspension will also rule him out of riding Emily Upjohn in the Coral-Eclipse on Saturday. 

Murphy has never ridden Chaldean in public before but Barry Mahon, racing manager for Juddmonte, the owners of the top-notch colt, said once the Irishman was available to replace Dettori, connections were left with a straightforward decision.

“If everything is going okay with the horse and Andrew [Balding, trainer] is happy with him, the plan will hopefully be to run at Deauville and, as far as I am aware, Oisin Murphy will take the ride,” Mahon told the Nick Luck Daily Podcast.

He added, “Oisin is a top-class jockey and is part of Andrew's stable and we'll be delighted to have him on board. [Chaldean is] good, he came out of Ascot in great form and has only had two runs this year so is relatively fresh and he's in good shape.”

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Frankie Dettori attempted to make all the running aboard Andrew Balding's Juddmonte-owned colt, who had no answer when Paddington swooped by early in the straight at Ascot, but those associated with the colt are far from downbeat after the performance. 

Juddmonte's Barry Mahon said, “He ran a great race, to be fair. The winner is obviously a very good horse who is improving quickly and we were happy with our lad.

“We would have probably liked a lead. The early pace was pretty frenetic, I think Frankie just felt he couldn't get a breather into him the whole way and it just cost him when he turned in. All told, it was a nice run and we look forward to taking on the winner again some day.”

O'Brien nominated the Sussex as a potential target for Paddington in the immediate aftermath of his Ascot triumph and Mahon also views the Group One contest as the obvious next port of call for Chaldean.

“That looks the next obvious target,” Mahon said. “Let's see how he bounces out of it, Andrew said to me the next day he was in good shape but I haven't really touched base with him since.

“He's not in the Prix Jean Prat, but that could be an option if Andrew thought it was the right thing to do. He's a top-class horse. I suppose it's more disappointing when you're beaten if you have an unbeaten record, but luckily we were beaten in our maiden and Frankie fell off him in the Greenham at Newbury! We know he's still a nice horse to look forward to for the rest of the year.”

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