From Havana Grey To Rajasinghe – Which Freshmen Are Here To Stay?

Not only did Havana Grey (GB) record more individual winners and total wins than any of his first-season sire rivals in Great Britain and Ireland, but he also broke the £1-million marker for total earnings, which is why he deservedly wears the champion freshman stallion crown.

Those earnings were propped up by big sales race winners Shouldvebeenaring (GB) and Eddie's Boy (GB), with the latter going on to bag a Group 3 before selling for 320,000gns at the Tattersalls horses-in-training sale in October.

Havana Grey had 36 winners for 76 runners this year and his progeny recorded total earnings of £1,074,697, which was almost £420,000 more than his nearest rival Sioux Nation could manage in what was a pulsating race for first-season sire bragging rights.

But with four stakes winners and 57 total wins achieved in 2022, Whitsbury Manor Stud's emerging force confirmed himself the undisputed top dog of the young sire brigade, and earned himself a fee rise from £6,000 to £18,500 in the process.

Joe Callan, head of Whitsbury's bloodstock and sales, said, “We knew Havana Grey was going to be popular after what his first runners achieved this season but the demand for him has been unprecedented. It's been crazy and it's got to a stage where we've stopped counting [the number of mares who have been put forward to visit the stallion next year]. You can see why people are so keen to use him. He's had a fantastic season with 13 stakes horses and is operating at 16% stakes horses to runners and almost 50% winners to runners in Britain and Ireland. He has big crops coming through over the next couple of years so he deserves the accolades that he is getting.”

Havana Grey was kept honest all year by Coolmore's Sioux Nation, who had an excellent campaign in his own right and earned a fee rise to €17,500 for 2023. By Scat Daddy, Sioux Nation ended the year with 29 individual winners from 65 runners and his progeny amassed £657,000 worth of total earnings in Britain and Ireland.

Matilda Picotte (Ire) was Sioux Nation's biggest earner having accounted for £124,667, highlighted by victory in the Listed “Bosra Sham” Fillies' S. at Newmarket in October.

That effort came off the back of a busy campaign with Kieran Cotter's star juvenile winning her maiden at the Curragh on debut in May, placing in two Group 2s and finishing runner-up in the valuable Ballyhane S. at Naas. Sydneyarms Chelsea (Ire) also secured Group 3 glory for Sioux Nation at Deauville in August for Charlie Hills.

Little separated Harry Angel (Ire) and Kessaar (Ire) in third and fourth, respectively. The Dalham Hall Stud-based Harry Angel had 21 individual winners from 45 runners and recorded £433,814 in earnings while Tally-Ho Stud's Kessaar made a similarly respectable start with 20 individual winners from three fewer runners and amassed £351,906 in prize-money.

Tally-Ho Stud has enjoyed top honours with Mehmas (Ire) and Cotai Glory (GB) in recent seasons and, while the early signs are that Kessaar is not on that trajectory, he has proven a solid addition to the ranks. A classy sprinter, Kessaar's progeny appear to stay further than he did, which is somewhat surprising, and it will be interesting to track their progression in 2023.

Cracksman (GB) came up trumps with Listed winner Dance In The Grass (GB) along with a host of promising youngsters with a view towards next season. He sired nine winners from 39 runners and one would expect his offspring to build on that next year.

The GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf success of Victoria Road (Ire) obviously doesn't contribute towards the leading freshman sire championship in Britain and Ireland, but it's worth bearing in mind with a view to the results of Saxon Warrior (Jpn).

Coolmore's G1 2000 Guineas-winning son of Deep Impact (Jpn) went from strength to strength this year, building to that almighty crescendo in Keeneland with Victoria Road, but he also enjoyed some major triumphs domestically to finish fifth in the British and Irish first-season sire standings.

Saxon Warrior was responsible for 13 individual winners from 41 runners and £351,906 in prize-money. Joseph O'Brien's Lumiere Rock (Ire), winner of the G3 Staffordstown Stud S., and G2 Debutante S. third Thornbrook (Ire) flew the flag for the stallion in Ireland, while Jim Bolger's Gan Teorainn (Ire) enjoyed notable success on and off the track.

After winning her maiden impressively at Naas in August, Gan Teorainn carried the familiar Ennistown Stud silks to finish second in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac at ParisLongchamp.

That form ensured that one of Saxon Warrior's highest-rated daughters would be in high demand when selling at the December Mares Sale at Tattersalls and so it proved with BBA Ireland paying 1 million gns to secure the filly who is understood to have been bought to continue her career in Australia.

Despite being based in Ashford Stud in Kentucky, Coolmore's Justify enjoyed a notably good first season with runners in Britain and Ireland.

The unbeaten Statuette, successful in the G2 Airlie Stud S., and Group 3 scorer Aspen Grove put the US Triple Crown winner in lights in Ireland this year.

Meanwhile, it was just last week when the Willie Browne-trained Diamondsareforever (Ire) posted a taking debut victory at Dundalk, further solidifying the notion that Justify is a coming force on the international stage. Five winners from just 11 individual runners in Britain and Ireland including £146,963 in prize-money represented a strong start for Justify.

Fellow Coolmore-based US Navy Flag had eight individual winners from 35 runners. It should be noted that two of his best horses enjoyed listed success abroad; Ocean Vision (Ire) in France and Love Reigns (Ire) in America.

Tasleet (GB) is another freshman sire worthy of mention, not least because he sired the brilliant G2 Coventry S. winner Bradsell (GB). Set to stand for just £6,000 at Nunnery Stud next year, Tasleet had a solid 34% winners to runners, which was more than Saxon Warrior, Expert Eye (GB), US Navy Flag, Cracksman (GB) and more.

But the biggest surprise in the first-season stallion ranks came from the figures posted by the largely unheralded Rajasinghe (Ire), who is set to stand for just £3,000 at the National Stud next year.

Winner of the G2 Coventry S. in 2017 for Phil Cunningham, who has been a big supporter of the horse since he went to stud, Rajasinghe had eight individual winners from 10 runners which equates to a whopping 80% strike-rate.

All of this has been achieved with average mares which suggests Rajasinghe could have the makings of becoming a pretty decent sire if provided with the right ammunition.

 

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Prokofiev In Right Key For Huge Tatts Debut

Ed Harper will never forget the time he first encountered Sergei Prokofiev in the flesh. The Whitsbury Manor Stud director was at the Rowley Mile for the G3 Cornwallis S., anticipating a big run from Heartwarming (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), a farm-bred filly leased to the Hot To Trot syndicate with Clive Cox.

“We fancied her heavily,” Harper recalls. “She'd been doing some very smart work, we knew we hadn't quite seen the best of her, today was the day. But then I saw Sergei Prokofiev in the pre-parade ring and thought, 'Crumbs, we could be in a bit of trouble here.'”

After all, the son of Scat Daddy had cost the Coolmore partners $1.1 million at the Keeneland September Sale the previous year, a graduate of David Anderson's exemplary nursery in Ontario. Though out of a Tapit half-sister to a graded stakes-winning juvenile, his overall pedigree was solid rather than sensational–an adjective that instead applied, unequivocally, to his physique.

In the event, Heartwarming found herself hopelessly stuck in traffic. But while Harper was vexed at the time, four years on he can look back at the winner's flamboyant performance as a platform for what has proved the most successful stallion launch in Whitsbury's history.

“Heartwarming got absolutely locked up,” Harper recalls. “I don't think Frankie [Dettori] even raised his whip, he was in a pocket the whole way. But meanwhile Sergei Prokofiev was just sidling out the back as if it were a half-pace spin, took a right-hand turn and overtook them all in three strides. It wasn't just the way he quickened up. He'd almost been tripping over heels, in fact I think he did at one point. It was just flabbergasting. If any of our clients ever asks me, 'Why this horse?' I just say go and watch the Cornwallis, and it answers the question.”

Enough of them did so for Sergei Prokofiev to cover 154 mares in 2021, making him not only the most popular new stallion ever launched by Whitsbury but also the busiest rookie of the intake. Partly that reflected a competitive opening fee of £6,500 (meanwhile trimmed to £6,000), but breeders obviously liked what they saw this spring with as many as 150 mares also crowding into the horse's second book.

As a result, the Foal Sale at Tattersalls this week is a pivotal moment in Sergei Prokofiev's new career. His footprint in the auction is quite staggering, with no fewer than 67 of his debut crop (before withdrawals) equating to nearly 6% of the catalogue.

The horse made a positive sales debut at Goffs last week, six foals all finding a new home at an average €34,167. But Tattersalls obviously promises to be a much headier experience for Harper and his team, not least with six Sergei Prokofiev colts and a filly among their own draft (two others scratched).

“I've been counting down the days, really,” Harper admits. “We know we've some lovely Sergei Prokofievs to sell, and our clients have been telling me likewise. Obviously the odd person has been slightly surprised to see how many he has in there. While he covered a good book in his first season, it was still less than a lot of other stallions cover, and it's really just a symptom of the way our good, regular clients include a very high proportion who sell as foals. Your typical small British breeder, for lots of different reasons, is probably leaning more towards being a foal vendor. And, at that level of nomination, a lot of our clients are among them.”

In fairness, his fee takes a lot of the pressure off those commercial breeders who appreciate the farm's candid orientation towards speed–with stellar results, once again, in the case of leading freshman Havana Grey (GB).

“Goffs went very well for Sergei,” Harper says. “They all sold, which is great, and at a very good average. The thing about his kind of fee is that you're not sweating over it for two years. I always feel that customers who make 30 or 40 grand off a six grand cover are a lot more relaxed than those that have to get massive numbers back.”

Next week is actually the consummation of something close to an obsession for Harper, tracing to long before that memorable exhibition in the Cornwallis. And, for that, he feels indebted to staff he can trust to maintain the smooth functioning of the farm.

“I think a big part of why we've been able to grow is that we have such a fantastic team here, who allow me to watch an awful lot of racing,” he explains. “It almost sounds like I'm shirking my duties, but I've learnt that it's actually the other way round. My job is to know what's happening on the racecourse. A lot of people in our industry only tend to watch races in which they have an interest. But while we're lucky enough to have four stallions with a lot of runners, I do try to watch every single 2-year-old race right through to October, November. That makes me sound like the saddest person on the planet, which I might well be. But it does mean I'm watching every race live, getting information real time, and that way I think it sinks in much deeper. And Sergei Prokofiev was one that hit me between the eyes with his first couple of runs.”

Ballydoyle gave him his debut in early April, when odds-on for a maiden at Dundalk only to be shaded in a photo by Skitter Scatter, likewise by Scat Daddy but with a run under her belt.

“I bet they were very disappointed he got beaten but he wasn't given a hard time and that filly went on to win the [G1] Moyglare Stud S.,” Harper notes. “She was a precocious little rocket, absolutely pin-ready that day. Sergei's a big strapping horse so, with what I know about him now, it's amazing to think that he was debuting as early as that. He went on to win his next race by eight lengths and never looked back. To get that size and stature and pedigree, combined with the fact that he was putting in those serious performances in April, you really don't see that too often. That's why he hit my radar so early.”

With hindsight, Harper is relieved that Sergei Prokofiev couldn't follow up his first stakes win in a strong edition of the G2 Coventry S., settling for third behind Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}): it would have been hard to land the horse, had he won that day. As it was, Sergei Prokofiev only cemented his talent by almost overcoming an awkward draw and a tricky passage from the rear. Similarly, even the rather fitful glimpses of his peak capacity, either side of the Cornwallis, only heightened Harper's interest.

“Because he's all speed, he needed races to fall his way,” he reasons of the 'TDN Rising Star'. “If they went off like scalded cats, he could just trot out the back. If they didn't, he'd pull hard because he wanted to go faster. But all his foals are going to know is that daddy liked to go fast. They're not going to read the form and see that they didn't go quick or whatever. In a perverse sort of way, that only underlined what I wanted to see, which is all speed.”

But there's another important dimension to this horse that needs highlighting. A personal conviction is that an ongoing schism between the American and European gene pools is preventing the kind of cyclical, mutual regeneration historically so critical to the breed's modern development. While Harper would not deny that it is dirt speed–rather than the associated ability to carry it–that primarily interests his farm, he does value the genetic variegation offered to British breeders by a son of Scat Daddy out of a Tapit mare.

“We're going down a black hole, genetically, with the stallion lines,” he says. “Everybody knows that. But it is so difficult to get out of that, when you're trying to buy a commercial stallion prospect. And that's why he was such a good opportunity.”

In those terms, it's a win-win situation. Quite apart from the different brand of speed embodied by Sergei Prokofiev, he's eligible to tap into growing American investment at the European yearling sales while providing a virtually guaranteed outcross for domestic breeders.

“Any time anybody likes the idea of using him, they can,” Harper says. “But the other thing is that very often, when you're putting size and stature into a mare, in Europe you're actually slowing that horse down, pedigree-wise. Whereas this sire-line is working so well, I think, partly because it can put size into that Danzig/Northern Dancer, little, European speed horse, but also maintain the speed. That's particularly useful for our broodmare band, which is full of Green Desert. So we can keep breeding the speed but also put back a bit of size.

“Even two-turn horses in America need speed, they have to get out on the front. And, at the end of the day, gate speed is about fast-twitch muscles. What's amazing with Scat Daddy is that he seems to gel with so many different types of pedigree. When bred to fast mares, Scat Daddy stallions get fast horses; with medium-distance mares, they still get fast horses; but longer-distance mares tend to work just as well. I've been really impressed that Scat Daddy horses get lots of different distances, and also go on lots of different ground.”

While Scat Daddy managed to overcome that transatlantic barrier, achieving widespread recognition in Europe, breeders here don't really have corresponding access to his sons. Caravaggio soon emigrated; Mendelssohn stands alongside his sire's premier performer, Justify, in Kentucky; El Kabeir has departed Ireland for Italy; and No Nay Never's fee has gone way beyond the reach of most. That leaves Sioux Nation, making a promising start in Ireland, plus several young sons of No Nay Never offering a more diluted strain.

So Harper is to be congratulated for spotting a pretty unique opportunity for British breeders. In fairness, he has tried a similar exercise before–again with the son of a stallion that managed to transcend the transatlantic divide primarily through Ballydoyle's enterprising patrons.

“If there is such a thing as a cheap proven horse, Due Diligence is it,” Harper remarks of War Front's son. “His price (£5,000) is governed by the fact that he's had very few runners the last couple of years, simply because he covered very few mares in years two, three and four. But he was champion first first-season sire in Britain by stakes winners–he had three in that first crop, two of them group winners–plus 25 individual winners. Well, if there'd been a first-season sire with those numbers this year, he wouldn't be that far behind Havana Grey and everybody would be talking about him.

“I know we have short memories in this industry, and 2019 seems a long time ago. But if we didn't think he had the right stuff, he wouldn't still be with us. The foals he bred after that first crop are 2-year-olds next year, and they sold very well as yearlings. He actually had his highest average yet. We have a lot of faith in him, we're sending him plenty of mares and I'm really looking forward to next year on the track with him.”

So perhaps Due Diligence could yet slipstream the terrific momentum uniting his studmates: the farm flagship Showcasing (GB) is an established phenomenon, while now there is a real buzz about the two younger guns.

Commercial breeders know how the system works. Fast new stallions will always corral big books, and anyone seeking a Sergei Prokofiev next week will plainly not be short of choice. (His remarkable fertility has contributed: Harper reckons that the farm's busiest ever rookie also had the quietest May of any new stallion, having got most of his mares in foal first time.) The bottom line is that he was priced to give the horse every chance–and he's entitled to capitalise, when you consider the flair of his best performances, his refreshing genes and that knockout physique.

“He's 16.1 and has bone you couldn't ask for,” Harper enthuses. “When he stepped off the lorry and first went into the stable, our stallion manager picked up his leg, just to pick his feet out and have a look at him. And he turned to me with a big smile and said, 'Holy crap, that takes some picking up!' Just the weight of his leg was different gear to the other stallions we have.

“But that just means he offers a different type of physique. I don't want to stand four stallions all offering exactly the same make and shape. At the end of the day, we're a shopkeeper of speed. As long as we're providing that, we want it to come in different shapes and sizes to give people options. He'd be a good 75 kilos heavier than our other stallions. But when you see him on the move, he has a massive, relaxed stride, so he has the athleticism with it–and very soon people are going to see his foals walk as well.

“Watching him in the Cornwallis, I did think that if ever there were a chance to do so, I just had to get involved with this horse–without ever thinking it could actually come off. To cover 150 mares in his second season, we've never been able to touch that. The sky's the limit with this guy.”

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Joe Callan Joins Whitsbury Manor Stud 

Joe Callan has been appointed head of bloodstock and sales at Whitsbury Manor Stud, home of this year's leading first-season sire, Havana Grey (GB) and breeder of G1 Dewhurst S. winner Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

Formerly with the National Stud in Newmarket, Callan has spent the past 12 months as interim general manager at Market Rasen Racecourse.

Stud director Ed Harper said, “I have been waiting a long time to identify the right candidate to help us grow our business and feel that Joe is the ideal person for this role. Joe's industry experience and superb communication skills will be a great asset to our clients, and I cannot wait for him to start. He's going to be busy.”

Having completed both the Irish National Stud diploma course and the Godolphin Flying Start, Callan has also spent time in Australia working for Gai Waterhouse and Arrowfield Stud, and closer to home at Baroda Stud and Colbinstown Stud.

“I am delighted to be joining the Whitsbury Manor team,” said Callan. “Ed and his team continuously produce top-class horses, as demonstrated by Chaldean this season, and they have amassed a very impressive stallion roster which is supported by some of the best breeders in Europe who I look forward to working with. 

“It truly is a very exciting time for the stud as Showcasing consistently proves himself as an outstanding sire, and it is hard to think of a more promising stallion than Havana Grey. Due Diligence provides a consistent source of winners, while I am also very excited to see the first foals by Sergei Prokofiev enter the sales ring in the coming months.”

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Harper Happy with Havana Grey’s Bright Start at Stud

No first-season sire has made an impact with his runners on the track quite like Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) has and, for all that Ed Harper of Whitsbury Manor Stud is petrified to tempt fate, he agreed that the early signs are hugely positive for their up-and-coming stallion.

Havana Grey was a brilliant 2-year-old himself, winning the G3 Molecomb S. before finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix Morny and G2 Flying Childers S., but it wasn't until the end of his 3-year-old campaign until he recorded his greatest day on a racecourse.

That triumph came when he snared the G1 Flying Five S. at the Curragh in 2018 and, while Havana Grey has clearly injected precociousness into his offspring with 10 individual winners in Europe on the board already, the most of any first-season sire, Harper is confident that the stallion's offspring will progress with racing.

He said, “It's still very much early days and we're keeping our heads down but, for a horse who ran his best race at the end of his 3-year-old campaign, it's particularly exciting that his progeny appear to be very easy to get to the track.”

Harper added, “We speak with trainers all the time and the one thing we hear is of how hardy his offspring are. Things that would have upset or derailed a yearling during its prep last year, the Havana Greys seemed to just dust it off, which was quite impressive. I think we are seeing that by how many have made the track already.

“They are like the kids in the playground who fall down and scrape their knee or bang their head but get back up and keep on running. They have a great attitude. We're very happy at the moment and are just happy that our clients will hopefully benefit from his brilliant start.”

Havana Grey's progeny have amassed eight wins between them in Britain and Ireland but it's Amuninni (Ire), who broke his duck in Italy recently, who springs to mind as Harper illustrated how the stallion's runners progress from their debut.

Harper said, “They seem to come on from their first run. No-one will have watched this, but a perfect example of this was a colt [Amuninni] that we sold at the Silver Sale at Doncaster for £11,000. He wasn't perfect but he was a good strong colt who went out to Italy.

“He was a little bit lost on his first run but was slow out the gates, which they can be, and it all looked a bit much for him first time out. Second time up, he was like a bullet from a gun and he'd have won [by] 10 lengths if he wasn't eased down.”

Harper added, “Karl Burke told me of how they expected Havana Grey to win first time out and he didn't. He surprised them by how green he was first time out but he really progressed. They really do come forward.”

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