And so it proved after the colt was knocked down to Anthony Stroud on behalf of Godolphin. Bought for 125,000gns from the Ogden family's dispersal at Book 1 last year, the already-named Anno Domini (GB) (lot 26) was one of the big eyecatchers from Monday's breeze that took place in some of the most challenging weather conditions that many key stakeholders said they could remember. 

After out-muscling BBA Ireland's Mick Donohoe, who filled the role as underbidder, Stroud explained how he empathised with some of the consignors and even the horses for negotiating such terrible weather conditions during the breeze.

“Struck early, go home early,” Stroud said, referencing the contrasting approach to last year's sale, where he was forced to stay to the bitter end to secure the joint-top lots, including what turned out to be the unbeaten superstar Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}). 

Asked if he saw the colt last year, Stroud answered, “I did see him as a yearling. I probably should have bought him as a yearling, shouldn't I!? But sometimes, it's better to leave them and come back. It's good to keep the whole business rolling on. He is a very nice horse and did a very good breeze. Katie Walsh does a fantastic job. We're delighted to get him.”

He continued, “I thought it was really hard on consignors and mostly the horses [on Monday]. It was really hard. I think I would probably be more flexible in looking at the weather charts but it's difficult when you have people coming in on the Monday for the breeze to go and switch it for another day. I have never seen it that bad.

“Also, I sometimes think the concentration required for that length of time [during the breeze] is difficult. I don't know if you want to go and have them on two separate days but I do think that, if you are breezing 180 horses, it's difficult for everyone. If the weather had been really nice, it would have all worked out.”

The New Bay colt really was one of the big talking horses coming into the sale and he didn't disappoint. Stroud, who did his bidding at the back wall, held off the persistent challenge of Donohoe in the bidders' area, but there was a moment of confusion before the hammer fell.

Double checking with auctioneer John O'Kelly that it was, in fact, he who had placed the winning bid, the bloodstock agent was met with a typically witty response. 

“Don't worry sir, I'm an auctioneer–I'm here to look after you,” O'Kelly joked. 

As for Walsh, topping sales is something she has done in the past, but there was an extra layer of satisfaction to Tuesday's result given she owned a large chunk of the colt. 

“I can't believe it, really,” Walsh said. “But I guess I did dream a little bit as he had cost 125,000gns and he has the pedigree. The people who are into pedigrees couldn't knock him on it. He made sense on paper and then when he breezed well and vetted well, I knew we had a chance of getting a touch.”

She added, “In the moments after a big sale it is all a bit of a whirlwind as the phone is ringing from home, and you want to ring everyone, but it is brilliant–it's great for everyone. We are a family-run business with my sister Jennifer, my Mum and Dad, and my husband Ross. We are all in it together–as well as all the lads at home.”

Anno Domini hails from the Galileo (Ire) mare Alegra, who has produced five winners, including Listed scorers Pythagoras and Blue Gardenia.

Anthony Stroud goes to 525,000gns on behalf of @godolphin for the only New Bay in the #TattsCraven catalogue, consigned by @katiewalsh9's Greenhills Farm.

A ½-brother to Stakes winners Pythagoras and Blue Gardenia, the colt was bought for 125,000gns at #TattsOctober Book 1. pic.twitter.com/elg1Kigv8V

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) April 16, 2024

Collins's Pinatubo Colt Off To Paddy Twomey

Paddy Twomey doesn't hang about. Along with his stable jockey Billy Lee, the leading Irish trainer day-tripped it to Newmarket on Monday before scouting the barns to catch a glimpse of the horses who caught his eye in the breeze.

Back at his base in Golden, County Tipperary on Tuesday, where he opened his yard to the Irish press, Twomey snapped up a colt by exciting first-season sire Pinatubo (Ire) from Johnny Collins's Brown Island Stables for 220,000gns through bloodstock agent Mark McStay. 

The Pinatubo colt proved to be one of the big hits on day one. Bought by Collins for 68,000gns from New England Stud at Book 2, he ended the session as the third highest-priced lot and will carry the colours of Mohammed Al Suboosi on the racetrack.

“It's great,” said Collins. “He's going to a very good trainer and I hope he's very lucky for him. He has a great temperament, he's a straightforward kind of horse. He breezed very well and showed very well all week and was just a pleasure to deal with.”

McStay and Twomey have teamed up with a good degree of success at the breeze-up sales and the bloodstock agent explained how the pair came to land on lot 22. 

The agent said, “He's been purchased for a very good client based in Dubai called Mohammed Al Suboosi who already owns some nice horses with Paddy–Procrastinate (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), another breeze-up horse, and Noche Magica (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), who'll come back for a sprinting campaign this year.”

McStay added, “We had a very select list and combined all our thoughts and this was the horse we hit on. I think the sire could be very promising and the mare has already done it by breeding Mrs Gallagher (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). The colt came recommended by Johnny Collins, who I've known for a long time. His recommendation counts for a lot so I'm delighted to get this colt.”

O'Callaghan Begins With A Bang

Michael O'Callaghan makes no secret about the fact that he prefers to stock his Kildare-based stable with breeze-up horses rather than shopping at the yearling sales. The trainer struck early in the sale for a Mehmas (Ire) half-brother to the Aidan O'Brien-trained Coventry S. winner and Classic hopeful River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) for 300,000gns. 

Consigned by Willie Browne's Mocklershill Stables, lot 6 got the sale off to a roaring start, with O'Callaghan revealing that he was taken by the professionalism of the colt's breeze. 

He said, “The horse has a great pedigree. He's a half-brother to River Tiber and it's a very good cross with Mehmas and an Arcano (Ire) mare–Supremacy (Ire) is the very same. He's been bought for an existing client.”

O'Callaghan added, “He was up early and, not long after he breezed, things were delayed because of the weather. The weather was bad so he was very professional and we're delighted to get him. Hopefully he can be a nice horse.”

The #TattsCraven Breeze Up has started with a bang as @MDOCallaghan goes to 300,000gns for @Mocklershill1's Mehmas ½-brother to the Coventry winner and Prix Morny third River Tiber. pic.twitter.com/d71OOz9iDj

— Tattersalls (@Tattersalls1766) April 16, 2024

Talking Points

• Cormac Farrell told TDN Europe this week that his dream was to emulate top breeze-up handlers Willie Browne, Con Marnane, Norman Williamson and Eddie O'Leary by producing a champion. The Copper Beech Stables-based consignor, who went out on his own under the banner of CF Bloodstock last year, couldn't have wished for a better start to the 2024 breeze-up campaign when his Hello Youmzain (Fr) colt [lot 12] was knocked down to Blandford Bloodstock for 200,000gns. Bought for 58,000gns at Book 2, Tuesday's result represented a respectable profit for the man who sold top-notch prospect Bracken's Laugh (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) at Tattersalls last year.
• The Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners have lit up Park Paddocks in recent times and, in snapping up lot 20, a Havana Grey (GB) filly consigned by Cian Hughes, the American outfit got in on the action once again. Interestingly, the 180,000gns purchase will go into training with Newmarket-based handler, Dylan Cunha. 
• Mick Donohoe may have been out of luck on the day's top lot but he didn't come away from Tattersalls empty-handed after picking up a City Of Light colt for 210,000gns and a Good Magic filly for 65,000gns. Both horses were bought for Saudi Arabian clients. The BBA Ireland agent said, “I bought two horses for Saudi Arabia today and hope to do a bit more business here tomorrow as well. I have been travelling to Saudi Arabia for 20 years now so you could say that the hard yards are paying off. I actually underbid the New Bay that topped the sale. He probably would have stayed in Britain before eventually going to Saudi Arabia but, anyway, we couldn't get it done.” He added, “We're very happy with the two horses we bought today. The City Of Light colt is a brother to a horse [Rational Choice (Candy Ride {Arg})] who has done very well out there and was a very good individual. The Good Magic filly was good value at 65,000gns and she has a good pedigree being a sister to a Group 3 winner. Happy with the day's business.”
• Donohoe wasn't the only man representing Saudi Arabian interests at Tattersalls. Lot 46, a Knockanglass Stables-consigned colt by Munnings, went the way of Marco Bozzi for SBS Global. Bozzi said, “We saw the horse in Ireland last week and really liked him. The Prince likes Munnings and we know the family. So we think he is a good prospect to run in Saudi Arabia. He will go to Ireland for now and then ship over in August.”
• It wasn't all a bed of roses on day one. Of the 75 horses offered, 53 were sold, representing a clearance rate of 71%. The aggregate was down 14% to 5,589,500gns, the median stayed the same at 77,000gns and the average dropped 4% to 105,462gns.

The Golden Touch: Lot 78
Filly by King Of Change (GB) out of Greatest Virtue (GB) (Poet's Voice {GB})
Consigned by Donovan Bloodstock 
Purchased by Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah
Danny O'Donovan and Adam Potts deserve some credit for turning lot 78, who was the cheapest yearling sold at Book 1 at 8,000gns, into a 80,000gns breezer. The filly is from the family of Sole Power (GB) and certainly caught the eye of some good judges by how well she breezed. In the end, the hammer fell the way of Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah [owner of Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire})], securing a healthy profit for the two lads. 

Thought For The Day

Consignors might well have come away from day one of this year's Craven Breeze-Up Sale suffering from a heavy dose of deja-vu. The patchiness that dominated on day one 12 months ago was back again, which was represented in a clearance rate of 71%.

The post Craven Sale: Walsh In Dreamland As Godolphin Goes To 525k For New Bay Colt  appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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

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

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

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

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

Tom Biggs | Tattersalls

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The post “I’m Absolutely Loving It” – Poste Excited By Debut Breeze-Up Consignment appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Havana Grey colt was consigned by Roderick Kavanagh's Glending Stables while the Blue Point hailed from Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm and the latter will chart the same path as Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in joining Charlie Appleby for Godolphin

Williamson said, “There were a lot of people telling me all spring that these Blue Points could fly and I kept my powder dry because I knew I had one that really can fly. I bought him as a yearling off Tradewinds Stud privately and absolutely loved him. He obviously breezed really well but he's also a very good-looking horse. Blue Point is flying and this lad has size and scope and a good pedigree. Fingers crossed.”

Asked if he could envisage the colt rocking into the money that he did, Williamson responded, “Of course you hope that they will make something that you don't expect but, no, we're absolutely thrilled. This is what we do it for. We've had bad days in the past but we've had a great week here. It's been outstanding. We're delighted. The team at home does a great job.”

That sale ensured Williamson cleared 1,185,000gns in total sales across the two days after selling a Mehmas (Ire) colt (lot 2) for 220,000gns and a No Nay Never colt (lot 118) for 340,000gns.

Roderick Kavanagh of Glending Stables enjoyed a similarly productive sale and was visibly delighted after his Havana Grey, who was sourced for 42,000gns as a yearling, capped a memorable two days.

He said, “We hoped he'd do something like that because his homework had been great. The stars aligned with Havana Grey having the winner [Mammas Girl (GB)] of the Nell Gwyn today–and an impressive one at that. It's unbelievable. A great thrill. There were some great judges on him and I think Richard Brown was the underbidder.”

There were 23 lots sold for 150,000gns or more across the two days and the strong trade on Wednesday, along with the 24% increase in lots offered, contributed in the average rising by 5% and the aggregate by 29% to 15,357,500gns.

Lot 198 by Havana Grey | Laura Green/Tattersalls

Edmond Mahony said, “Two Craven Breeze-up Classic winners last year as well as more 2022 two-year-old group and listed performers than any other European 2-year-olds in training sale have been the perfect advertisements for the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale and this year's renewal has attracted leading international buyers in abundance, all of whom have contributed to notably strong demand, particularly at the higher end of the market and a record sale turnover in excess of 15 million guineas.”

He added, “There has been a significant rise in the number of lots of selling for 200,000gns or more and a number of participants new to the Craven Breeze-up Sale, all of which demonstrates the sale's international reputation as a consistent source of horses who go on to prove themselves at the highest level on the global stage. The largest Craven Breeze-up catalogue for more than 15 years, 25% larger than last year, may not quite have matched the impressive clearance rate of last year's sale, but the key indicators of average and median have both held up well and there has been no shortage of outstanding pinhooking triumphs with the obvious highlights being the 625,000 gns sale-topping colts by Havana Grey and Blue Point, consigned by Glending Stables and Oak Tree Farm respectively, and Grove Stud's 600,000 guineas filly who is the second-highest priced filly ever sold at the Craven Breeze Up.

“Year after year, the consignors support the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up with so many of the best breeze-up two-year-olds to be found in Europe and it is wonderful to see their professionalism and confidence in the sale rewarded as it has been over the past two days. Buyers, both domestic and international, have shown similar confidence in the sale and we look forward not only to seeing many of them rewarded with the lucrative Tattersalls bonuses which have proved so popular since their inception, but also to welcoming many of them back to the forthcoming Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale.”

Top Talking Points From Day Two

• It was a remarkable sale for Blue Point with eight lots selling for just shy of 2,000,000gns and four making the top 10.
• Mark Grant, who consigned Coventry S. winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) at this sale 12 months ago, built on a solid opening day's trade when selling his Blue Point colt (lot 110) to Jason Kelly Bloodstock for 250,000gns. Grant had initially broken his own record for his highest-priced sale on Tuesday when lot 1, a well-bred Invincible Spirit (Ire) colt who clocked well, sold to Satish Seemar for 180,000gns.
• Cormac Farrell's strike-rate was pretty hot on Wednesday. After enduring a frustrating start when failing to sell his Mitole filly (lot 79) on Tuesday, he sent out three juveniles to break the 100,000gns mark, headed by a Dark Angel (Ire) filly (lot 168) to Najd Stud for 230,000gns. Farrell also sold a Starspangledbanner (Aus) colt (lot 120) to SackvilleDonald for 160,000gns and a Kodiac (GB) filly (lot 121) to Gaelic Bloodstock for 120,000gns, bringing his total haul to 510,000gns.
• Najd Stud continued its support of the Craven Breeze Up Sale when snapping up a Blame colt (lot 109) from Gaybrook Lodge Stud for 220,000gns to go with the Dark Angel filly they secured from Farrell. The Blame colt is out of an unraced sister to the classy American performer Bombard (War Front) and was sourced by Joseph Burke for $80,000 at the Keeneland September Sale.
• Danny O'Donovan recorded his biggest pay day since branching out on his own last year when his Acclamation (GB) filly (lot 102), the first lot into the ring on day two, was knocked down to Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for 170,000gns. The filly was bought by O'Donovan and Adam Potts for 40,000gns at Tattersalls Book 2 in October.
• Calyx (GB) earned his first TDN Rising Star on Wednesday when Persian Dreamer scored at Newmarket for the Amo Racing team and, just a few hours later, the Coolmore-based sire achieved a good result in the ring when a colt (lot 107) of his sold for 140,000gns. Consigned by Thomond O'Mara's Knockanglass Stables, the Calyx colt was snapped up by Middleham Park Racing.

Night To Remember For Holland

Night Of Thunder (Ire) came up with the goods once again when a filly by the Kildangan Stud resident sold to Kerri Radcliffe for 600,000gns.

That made lot 162, who was consigned by Brendan Holland's Grove Stud, the second most expensive filly to ever go through the ring at the Craven Breeze-up Sale.

The half-sister to G3 Molecomb S. winner Rumble Inthejungle (Ire) had been sourced at the Goffs Orby Sale by Holland for 90,000gns the previous autumn.

Holland said, “It is a great result for the farm. I Ioved her when I bought her as a yearling and Night Of Thunder is a top-class sire–she is from a really fast family. It is very hard to buy something with speed all the way through the page–which she has–and one by such a good sire.”

He added, “I did not dream that we could get a result like that today but we did think at the farm that she was the best filly that we have had since Rosdhu Queen (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

“Her ability all spring was very evident. Even though she is a May filly, and she has to win her maiden, there is a chance she could end up at Ascot–it is big shout for an unraced two-year-old filly but she looks an Ascot horse.

“She has always been able to run–the running bit has been easy for her. On reflection, she was a very good yearling buy, but giving €90,000 to pinhook any yearling is no small price.”

@Ker_Radcliffe sees off Najd Stud to secure this athletic daughter of Night of Thunder at the #tattscraven Breeze Up Sale.

Lot 162 is a half-sister to G3 winner Rumble Inthejungle. She was consigned by @grovestud and is the sale's new top lot at 600,000gns. pic.twitter.com/otFHPPEszl

— TDN (@theTDN) April 19, 2023

Patience Pays Off For Richard Brown

Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock backed his opinion that the better horses were placed in day two of this year's sale and snapped up an Acclamation (GB) filly (lot 102) and a No Nay Never colt (lot 118) for a combined 510,000gns early doors.

The Acclamation filly represented Donovon Bloodstock's best result in the ring to date at 140,000gns while the No Nay Never colt consigned by Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm made 340,000gns after being sourced by Mags O'Toole for €87,000 at the Goffs Orby Sale.

After signing for the No Nay Never colt, Brown said, “I'm delighted because I didn't buy a horse last night. We felt that the better horses were tonight and it's always brave doing that.

“He's a big horse and he'll need some time–he's not even two yet so, to breeze the way he did, I thought it was pretty sensational. He's a big-striding horse and seemed to have a great attitude and came from a very good hotel. Keen to get him.”

The Acclamation filly represented an important result to O'Donovan, who operates just outside Monasterevin in County Kildare, and sourced the majority of his stock alongside Adam Potts last year.

He said, “It's nice to get a result like that in just my second year trading on my own under Donovan Bloodstock. I'm delighted that Richard Brown bought her and I hope she's lucky.”

Brown finished the sale as strong as he started and picked up a Blue Point (Ire) filly (lot172) for 350,000gns from Kilminfoyle House Stud.

He commented, “Blue Point has made a tremendous start, hasn't he? She is gorgeous and obviously did a good breeze. None of the horses we bought are absolute blitzers–she just did it in a really good style. She had a low action and is from a good Juddmonte family.”

Hoban Adds Breeze-up Arm To Operation

Conor Hoban may be best known for running a top-notch breaking and pre-training operation, with Classic winners Magical Lagoon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Sonnyboyliston (Ire) (Power {GB}) having passed through his hands, but he enjoyed a major result in the ring when his Night Of Thunder colt (lot 133) was knocked down to Alex Elliott for 180,000gns.

Hoban said, “We have been pre-training since 2018 and we are slowly developing a breeze-up and consigning arm to run alongside it. We are relatively new to this and were sent this well-bred colt to sell by a client.

“He is a May foal so we think he is just going to get better and better. He has developed a lot in the last few months and we are looking forward to following his progress.”

The Night Of Thunder colt is a half-brother to Barnane Stud's Royal Ascot winner Candleford (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) out of Dorcas Lane (GB) (Norse Dancer {Ire}).

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A number of top American buyers are reported to be making the trip to Newmarket for the Craven Sale in just over a week's time and Miller, best known in Europe for playing a leading role buying for Red Baron's Barn and Rancho Temescal's racing operation at the horses-in-training sales, is looking forward to returning to the breeze-up scene this month.

“Last year was our first year shopping the Craven Sale and we're looking forward to going back,” Miller said. “It's incredibly difficult to buy the horses that you really like at the breeze-up sales in America. If you don't have two hundred to four hundred thousand dollars to spend, it's hard to even get your hand up. 

“My experience of the Craven last year was that, with the horses we bought or even with the horses that we liked but didn't end up buying, you could get a really nice racehorse for much less than you could in America. You can get much better value for your money at the Craven Breeze-Up Sale at Newmarket. If you are shopping at the seventy five thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand mark, you can buy horses that you really like for that money at Tattersalls and you don't have to talk yourself into it either. That's what has really convinced us to go back and do it all again this year.”

Miller bought two horses at the Craven Sale last year, both of whom ended up racing for William Jarvis in England. He is hoping to fill a similar brief when he returns to Newmarket for the sale that takes place on April 18 and 19 but revealed that he would be buying for new investors who are commercially-minded. 

He explained, “We're going to try and buy a few horses there this year with the view towards leaving them in England to race and they may be sold on in the future. We also might buy a couple of horses with the idea of running them a couple of times and bringing them back to America to run at Del Mar. We're going to be looking to do both of those things. The ship and win bonuses in California is a big plus for us. If you run a time or two outside of California before the Del Mar meet and then you ship in, you run for a substantial purse bonus, so that is very appealing to us. We've done so well with these European grass horses that we said we'd try to source them a little earlier in their careers.”

Miller added, “We bought two horses at the sale last year and they ran for William Jarvis. One of the horses was Dandy Man Shines (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}), who William did a great job with. He ran third on debut before finishing fourth in a Group 2 and then shipping out to America. I think it's a very good foundation for a horse to get them started in Britain. He wasn't a particularly expensive horse at 105,000gns and we'll be shopping in a similar price range at the Craven. 

“This is a completely different venture to the Red Baron's Barn operation. Moving forward, Rancho Temescal is going to be in a racing partnership format with Tim Cohen and myself being the managers but we will also be bringing in some outside investors and will be specifically shopping for racehorses privately and at the Tattersalls horses-in-training sales. We're going to be very active at the sales this year on behalf of the Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners racing venture but shopping at the Craven is a different deal this year. There are different people involved and we will be looking at possibly selling some horses further down the road.”

So what do the American buyers look for at the breeze-up sales? The Craven may be billed as the sale where consignors have the opportunity to sell the dream of owning a Royal Ascot two-year-old but, according to Miller, he is hoping to find a horse for the future rather than one who will burn up the track in the early part of the season.

He said, “We are partial to horses by stallions who we have done well with before. But we are just looking for horses with good physicals and ones who we think are going to like firm and fast ground. I'm not too desperate to buy horses who are going to be incredibly precocious and winning in May. I'm looking for horses who will have a future–the ones for further down the road.”

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Little did we know at the time, but that Cheltenham success was to be Walsh's last, as she bowed out on a winner at her beloved Punchestown Festival the following month.

A lot has changed in those five years since. Along with her husband Ross O'Sullivan, a prominent trainer in his own right and just about the friendliest person you could meet in any walk of life, Walsh welcomed daughter Stevie [three] and son Ted [one] into the world. 

Like her own father Ted and more recently her brother Ruby, Katie has proved to be a dab hand as a broadcaster and is now a regular contributor–along with her 2010 County Hurdle hero Thousand Stars (Fr)–on RTE's television coverage of all the major festivals. 

And then there are the breeze-ups. That same competitive spirit that saw Walsh win the Irish Grand National and three Cheltenham Festival races in total has been channeled into producing belters of breezers. 

There was a time where Walsh hummed to a very different tune. A helter-skelter soundtrack that came to a crescendo in the second week of March for over a decade. The buzz that comes with riding a Cheltenham winner will never be replaced but new dreams abound for the 39-year-old who will swap the Cotswolds for preparing her horses for the Dubai Breeze Up Sale this week. 

“It was crazy at one time,” says Walsh on a morning borrowed from the depths of winter at the family yard in Kill, County Kildare.

“When I was riding and doing the breezers, I would be riding at Cheltenham this week for example and then try and manage everything that was going on at home with the breezers. 

“Or, if I was riding at Aintree, you'd be straight into the car and driving down to Newmarket to the Craven afterwards. I'm still working at the big festivals but it's different to what it was.”

She added, “Back five or six years ago, the breeze-up business at home was getting going and the whole thing was getting bigger. I came to a stage where it made sense to retire. 

“Part of me wasn't ready to stop but it made sense. I wanted to have a family and it came to a choice between this or keeping on riding. And for what? Another two or three years at best? Driving all over the country to ride was great craic when you were younger. But that went.”

Katie Walsh with Relegate after winning the Champion Bumper in 2018 | Racingfotos.com

One chapter closes and another begins. Stevie, who was named after Nicks, not Wonder, and inspired Jamie Osborne to name a horse he bought off Walsh precisely that, arrived just in time for the yearling sale season in 2019. Not ideal timing you could say. But typical of Walsh, she made it all work regardless. 

“I had Stevie in September and obviously missed a lot of sales that year. I went to Doncaster and then Arqana in October that year and even that was hard. Stevie is used to it now but, at the start, I did find it quite difficult to leave her. But that's the way this industry is and that's the business I am in.”

She added, “The great thing about this job is that it's seasonal. I am gone from a lot of September through to October but then I'm at home for the rest of the year. Okay, Dubai is next week, but that's only a couple of days. 

“It's definitely more challenging with two small kids around. At night you find that your work is never done but I'm not the only mother in the country who is trying to organise kids and work. It can be difficult at times but I have great help and support. Mam, Dad and my sister Jennifer are brilliant.”

Concentrating fully on the breezers must be made easier when you have a track record like Walsh does. From these famous gallops, where Ted's war horses Commanche Court (Ire), Papillon (Ire), Rince Ri (Ire) and this year's Grand National contender Any Second Now (Ire) have all been trained off, Walsh has blooded her own big names.

Casper Netscher (GB) was the first to put Greenhills Farm in lights and, according to Ted, it was his sale that underpinned the success that followed.

“I'll tell ya how things turn around,” he started. “A good few years ago, we had what I thought was a nice horse and he worked well. We weren't getting enough for him at the sales so we brought him home. He ended up being a grand horse but he didn't go on and be a good horse. We'd have been as well off to have sold him. 

“The following year, we had a nice horse and I said to Katie, 'unless you get a good price for him, don't sell him because he's a good horse.' She says, 'we're selling him no matter what because I'm in the business of buying and selling. I'm not keeping any of them.'

“We arrived at the sales anyway with this little bay horse that I thought was too small but who Katie liked. By God he could fly. She got 65,000gns for him. Who did he turn out to be? Casper Netscher. He won the Gimcrack, the Mill Reef and the German Guineas. He was a great little horse and while she only got 65,000gns for him, she did the right thing in selling him, as it got the word out that she was a seller.”

After Casper Netscher there was Breeders' Cup runner-up East (GB) (Frankel {GB}), G2 Richmond S. winner Asymmetric (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and last year Walsh broke the record for the highest price ever achieved at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-up Sale when her Saxon Warrior (Jpn) filly sold on behalf of James Hanly to Stephen Hillen for €520,000. 

But for all the smiles this game generates, Walsh knows that the scowls can be just as plentiful, given the unpredictable nature of working with horses.

Walsh with her record-breaker at Tattersalls Ireland | Racingfotos.com

“I'm realistic,” she says. “I have been in this game for so long and I know the disappointments. Between horses getting injured, breezers going wrong and different things, that's just the way it is and I'm okay with that. I don't lose sleep at night over it. I understand the game and know the way things go. I've seen it my whole life with racehorses not going the right way or not working out as you hoped they would. Breezing horses is very easy compared to training them.”

She added, “I always had an interest in the breeze-ups. I just got the bug for this from the start and loved it. Okay, the next few weeks will be crazy again, but then I am at home with the kids for the summer. Ross won't be. He'll be heading off to Kilbeggan and Ballinrobe. That's why I said, training horses is much harder than doing the breeze-ups. 

“There's absolutely no let up as a trainer. You need to be a certain type of person to make a trainer. Ross is a very likeable fella and has a good bunch of owners there. I'm not saying I wouldn't handle it, but I do know that I wouldn't have the same patience as other trainers. I have built up a reputation with the breeze-up horses and have a good bunch of people here and some great staff as well. I have no problem calling a spade a spade and owners either like that or they don't. If a horse isn't good enough I'll tell the owners and I wouldn't be putting cherries on top of it either.”

“I'll never come out and say that I think I've an aeroplane. That sort of talk rubs me totally up the wrong way,” – Katie Walsh

What you see is what you get with the Walshes. They don't suffer fools nor do they care too much about what other people think. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but they've gotten this far just fine and Katie is a chip off the block. 

“I'll never come out and say that I think I've an aeroplane. That sort of talk rubs me totally up the wrong way. I'll never really believe it until they go and do it on the track. When you think a horse is going to breeze well and it doesn't, nine times out of 10, that horse will always let you down. But when a horse breezes better than you expected, that's the one who will always deliver for you.

“I think it's so much easier to keep expectations lower than start calling horses good before they have done anything. At the back of my mind, I might be thinking, 'this can bloody rubber,' but I'll never say it. You are on a hiding to nothing if you go telling people a horse is good until it goes and breezes well. If it clocks, well then you can say, he's after breezing like I thought he would, he's a good horse. It's only then that you can stand behind them because you know they are a good horse.”

With that in mind, it might be best to concentrate on what Walsh doesn't say about her Dubai Breeze Up Sale horses, colts by Into Mischief and Tonalist. She got well-paid for an Exceed And Excel (Aus) colt at the inaugural running of this sale 12 months ago and this year's representatives were bought specifically to go back to Dubai.

“They are very big horses so you are just giving them every chance you can. But you are not under as much pressure in Dubai because there are no clocks. The season finishes out there the following week at the Dubai World Cup meeting so that makes it easier. You want them to look the part and go up there in a nice style and, off the back of John Cullinane's Tapiture colt [Go Soldier Go] winning a Listed race at Meydan last week, he only cantered up the straight at the breeze-up. He is a fine big colt and clearly needed all that time. They are the types of horses that they seem to want over there. Obviously, you can bring a bigger, scopier horse to Arqana but you wouldn't be bringing a Craven or a Donny type of horse out to Dubai. I don't think anyone goes to the Craven with a horse for next year. The Craven is where you try to sell the Royal Ascot dream and Doncaster is the same.”

Regardless of how well this year's batch of breezers sell, nothing will come close to the days of Poker De Sivola (Fr), Thousand Stars, Relegate and Thunder And Roses (Ire), horses Walsh will forever be associated with. 

“It's very hard to replace the kick you get riding winners. If you have never experienced it, you don't know what you are missing. To ride a winner, wherever that may be, that buzz is unbelievable. When that stops, you look for something to replace it. I'm not saying it's the same buzz but I do get a great kick out of the breezers. I love finding out which ones are good and bringing him to the sales and for them to behave and breeze the way they should. Regardless of their ability, I take pride in the fact that it's professional. That means a lot to me. Listen, I'd love one of those horses of my own to go and make €500,000. That's the dream and who knows? Maybe some day it will happen. 

She added, “I always hoped and envisioned that it would grow to be as big as it is. I hope it gets bigger. I'd like more horses of my own. This week revolved around Cheltenham for a long time. I was lucky enough to be riding as an amateur for Willie [Mullins] and the whole thing snowballed from there really. 

“Every year, it was all about Cheltenham and trying to get a ride in the bumper and the amateur races over there. I was lucky enough to ride a few winners there, I'd great luck, but now it's different and things change. It's the same for Ruby, who's flat to the boards now with ITV and Racing TV, so it's been a big change for us all over the past few years.”

For all of the change the Walshes have seen in recent times, the results Katie has achieved through her Greenhills Farm operation remains a constant. 

The post ‘I Get A Kick Out Of The Breezers – But It’s Not The Same As Riding Winners’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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1st-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:05 p.m.

Tout Ensemble (Practical Joke) makes her first start here for Chad Brown and the powerful partnership of Peter Brant, Mrs. M. V. Magnier and Mrs. Paul Shanahan. The $185,000 KEENOV weanling topped the Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale this April at 360,000gns (approximately $520,000). Click for more. A half to Group 2-placed juvenile Rebel Tale (Tale of the Cat), the May 4 foal hails from a productive female family of graded/group winners. Her dam is half to European SW/MGSP Arch Rebel (Arch) and to the dam of GSW Customer Base (Lemon Drop Kid). This is the family of Archarcharch, et al.

Woodslane Farm homebred S Oh S (Into Mischief) is out of a half-sister to two-turn MGISW and young sire Tonalist (Tapit). This is also the female family of superstars Havre de Grace and Riskaverse. Dream Lith (Medaglia d'Oro), a $590,000 Fasig-Tipton November buyback as a weanling, is a granddaughter of GISW juvenile Mi Sueno (Pulpit), who in turn is a daughter of GISW Madcap Escapade (Hennessy). Openthegate (Arrogate), a $60,000 KEESEP yearling, is out of a half-sister to MGSW Thiskyhasnolimit (Sky Mesa) from the family of Bernardini.

Trade Secret (Goldencents) and Tap N Glo (Tapiture) each invade off of narrow runner-up outings in Kentucky. TJCIS PPs

6th-SAR, $100K, Msw, 2yo, f, 6f, 3:55 p.m.

   Gal in a Rush (Ghostzapper) debuts in the second division of maiden special weight fillies at Saratoga Sunday for the red-hot Christophe Clement, West Point Thoroughbreds, Chris Larsen and Titletown Racing Stables. The $130,000 KEENOV weanling blossomed into a $375,000 OBS March juvenile off a smooth

:10 1/5 breeze and quick gallop out. Her two-time winning dam, who races exclusively in turf routes, is out of Martha Washington S. winner Miss City Halo (Carson City).

Demandsrespect (Union Rags) was a $195,000 KEESEP yearling out of juvenile stakes winner Walkwithapurpose (Candy Ride {Arg}), who has already produced two stakes horses as well as $575,000 Palm Collage (American Pharoah), who took her debut at Ellis earlier this month as a 3-year-old. Ike and Dawn Thrash homebred Four Dawn (Nyquist) is out of SW Third Dawn (Sky Mesa), who was beaten a nose by Stardom Bound (Tapit) in the 2009 GI Santa Anita Oaks.

Miss Interpret (Street Sense) was beaten a head at second asking downstate June 25. She is out of a half-sister to MGISW sprinters Paulassilverlining (Ghostzapper) and Dads Caps (Discreet Cat). Lemieux (Nyquist) was a well-beaten second on debut at Belmont May 13 to Happy Soul (Runhappy), who returned to romp in the Astoria S. She's out of a half-sister to MGISW Diamondrella (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}). TJCIS PPs

2nd-DMR, $70K, Msw, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:05 p.m.

Bob Baffert and “The Avengers” have three of the seven juvenile colts signed on for this. Carbonite (Union Rags), a $560,000 KEESEP buy, was third in his Los Alamitos debut with minor traffic trouble. He's out of a half-sister to GI Preakness S. hero Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) and now adds blinkers. Barossa (Into Mischief), meanwhile, was a $775,000 September yearling and is out of GSW Bouquet Booth (Flower Alley). Murray (Street Sense), a relative bargain buy at the same auction at $300,000, is out of a half to MGSW juvenile Listen Here (Gulch) and to the GSP dam of GISW grasser La Coronel (Colonel John).

Peachtree Stable homebred Drink the Wind (More Than Ready) is favored on the morning line at 2-1 for the Peter Miller barn. He's out of GSP Crushed Velvet (Malibu Moon), a debut romper as a late season juvenile for Baffert from the family of the Hall of Famer's champion sprinter Midnight Lute. The bay ridgling prepped for this with a :46 1/5 (1/82) bullet from the gate here July 19 and may be a bit of a talking horse.

Sumter (War Front) could be prepping for a future start on the grass–his dam A Little Bit Sassy (More Than Ready) was a SW/MGSP on the infield, and has a year-older full-sister to Sumter named Pizzazz who broke her maiden over a grassy mile here last November and took the California Oaks on Golden Gate synthetic in April. TJCIS PPs

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Half of the bonus will be paid out to the connections of the first Craven Breeze Up winner of any 2-year-old race at Royal Ascot, with £100,000 designated for the owner of the horse and £25,000 for the vendor. The second half of the bonus, with the same owner/vendor split, will be paid to the first Craven Breeze Up winner of a European Group 1 for 2-year-olds. The G1 Nunthorpe S. and G1 Prix de l'Abbaye, which are all-age and open to 2-year-olds, also qualify.

The Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus will be run alongside the current £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus, which rewards owners if their purchase wins a Class 2, 3 or 4 maiden or novice race in Britain or an open 2-year-old maiden in Ireland. There is a £1,000 buy in.

“The new £250,000 Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus reinforces our commitment not only to the flagship Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, but also to rewarding owners in as many innovative ways as we can,” said Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony. “The £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus immediately captured the imagination of owners and trainers and the new £250,000 Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus further enhances the appeal of a sale which annually produces a consistent flow of high class precocious Royal Ascot 2-year-olds as well as Group 1 performers throughout the year. The multiple bonuses will reward numerous owners and in addition, the prospect of an owner winning a £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus, followed by the £125,000 Royal Ascot Bonus and ultimately the £125,000 Group 1 Bonus is also very real.”

Trainer Richard Hannon endorsed the concept, saying, “We have bought some serious 2-year-olds from the Craven Breeze Up with Peter and Ross Doyle over the years and the combination of the new £250,000 Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus with the £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus will make it a compelling prospect for our owners. Mehmas springs to mind, although we will have to do better this time. He finished second in the Coventry at Royal Ascot, second in the G1 National S. and third in the G1 Middle Park.”

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