Tag: Ed Sackville

Ward’s Patience Rewarded With Star Quality

If you asked a trainer to design the perfect owner, he or she may well come up with something very close to David Ward. His horses would likely agree, too.

Ward had two runners as York's Dante meeting and they both returned to Ed Walker's stable victorious. The 4-year-old homebred Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) won the G2 Duke of York Clipper Logistics S. on the opening day, followed 48 hours later by the listed success of Primo Bacio (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}). Both now head to Royal Ascot with Group 1 races as targets.

“If we'd come away with one winner we'd have been overjoyed but for it to happen twice with two runners was fabulous,” says Ward, who is of course looking forward to the Royal meeting but is equally happy experiencing everything that goes on behind the scenes with racehorses.

He continues, “It's an honour and a pleasure to have these horses. I enjoy them for the wonderful creatures they are. Whether they can run fast or not fast comes second. Of course we all want them to run fast, and it's great when they do and you have the success, but equally you have to be thankful just to be able to have them.”

It's important for anyone involved in racing to be able to take the lows with the highs. Often the former outweighs the latter. Ward, then, appears to have just the right level of equanimity to be able to cope with the sport's slings and arrows, though for now the champagne moments prevail.

On the Friday of Ascot, the 3-year-old filly Primo Bacio will be aimed at the Coronation S., having finished a good fourth in the G3 Fred Darling S. before capturing her black-type win. 

“She has transformed herself since last year,” Ward says. “She was quite useful and she had showed good form but she has now just got used to racing. I think it's a mental thing as much as anything. It was something we hoped she would do and she delivered. Hopefully I can breed for her eventually–and hopefully with Starman. If he continues to do well this year it's highly likely he will go to stud somewhere and I'd be pleased to send a few mares to him. That's the ultimate dream, if I could get him to be a good stallion and then to see some of his progeny on the track.”

Starman may be a year older than Primo Bacio but he has had fewer starts and has been beaten only once in his five outings when down the field in very soft ground at Ascot on QIPCO British Champions Day. He is engaged in both the King's Stand S. and the Diamond Jubilee S., with a preference for the latter.

His breeder continues, “He's thickened out somewhat in the last year and I think he's more professional. He was a bit of a baby still last year. Tom Marquand rode him in his first race at Lingfield and he said he'd never ridden a horse who had whinnied for the first four furlongs of a race. He was green as grass but he just did it on talent. Then next time out at Doncaster on good to firm ground he broke the track record over six furlongs. That's quite an achievement for a second run.”

Ward adds, “Royal Ascot is the main target for the year as we hope the ground in June will be favourable for him. York was a bit soft for him but he got away with it. We're just hoping the rain keeps away for Ascot. Primo Bacio will also go straight to Ascot and hopefully the mile will suit her in the Coronation.”

This year sees Ward celebrate a decade as an owner, and his first equine purchase has certainly done all she can to fan the flames of his passion for the game, even posthumously.

“It's the usual story,” he says. “I used to go racing with my grandparents and father, and my father always fancied a horse but never got round to buying one. Then I did it about ten years ago now and the first horse I bought was the dam of Starman, Northern Star. She had three foals——Sunday Star, who was a stakes-placed filly, then Starman, and I also have a Kingman filly from her but the mare tragically died two weeks after she was born. So it's just the three of them.”

Northern Star's perfect record of two black-type performers to two runners will be maintained as her Kingman filly, now a 3-year-old known as Lodestar (GB), has taken up residence alongside Sunday Star (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) at Whatton Manor Stud, where Ward's six mares board. 

“Sunday Star was due to go to Frankel this year but she had to have a cyst on an ovary removed so that scuppered this season,” he explains. “So I took the view with the Kingman filly, although she was really promising, I didn't want to take the chance that anything would go amiss so I retired her.”

They say two Eds are better than one, so perhaps three are better still. Ward was introduced to Ed Player of Whatton Manor Stud by his bloodstock agent Ed Sackville, who was responsible for buying Northern Star and Primo Bacio among others, and they work closely with Ward's principal trainer Ed Walker.

“At Christmas time we have a mock AGM in Lambourn and talk about the horses. They deserve a lot of credit. It's not just me rocking up as the owner, they put a lot of work into it and I'm very grateful for that as I'm not under the illusion that I'd know where I am without their help,” Ward says.

“The Players have done a fantastic job–Ed was the second person I called after Starman won because they foaled him and he grew up there.”

Among the sextet of mares at Whatton Manor in Nottinghamshire, some 50 miles from Ward's home in Derbyshire, is New Day Dawn (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}), a winner at three in Ward's colours who received a decent update when her half-sister's son Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) won last year's G1 Sussex S.

“New Day Dawn delivered a Showcasing colt as her first foal this year and she is back in foal to him,” Ward notes. 

Despite the growth of his broodmare band to six, and with Primo Bacio having earned her place among the herd in future, Ward says his aim is to remain an owner/breeder.

“I haven't sold any so far and I will resist that as long as I possibly can because I just breed for my own enjoyment and it's not a commercial activity really,” he admits.

“People have commented that Starman didn't run as a 2-year-old but we like to give our horses time and Ed is a very patient trainer. I think you reap the rewards from that rather than getting them out too early. That's my philosophy. I'd rather hold my breath with them and make sure that we feel comfortable when they are going to the track.”

In addition to Walker, Ward has horses in training with fellow Lambourn resident Brian O'Rourke, a new recruit to the training ranks who has been pre-training the owner's yearlings for some time, and with Tom Dascombe in Cheshire. 

He says, “When you breed your own horses it's an emotional journey. It's like seeing your children in school competitions, and [the trainers] get that. I think the best time I've had is being in Lambourn when the stable is quiet and popping in and spending 15 minutes on my own with the horses. That's the best time of all really, even better than being on the track. They are such magnificent creatures and I just enjoy being with them. It's important to remind yourself just how fortunate you are to have them. That's what it means to me; it's not all about the racing.”

He adds, “I go in to see Starman and he's a very relaxed character. It's heavenly spending some time with him in the stable.”

Starman has so far lived up to a name that was never meant to be his but was inspired by a rock legend and bestowed upon the colt by a twist of fate.

Ward explains, “When Starman was a foal and Northern Star was in foal to Kingman and I was thinking of a name for next year. Being a David Bowie fan I thought Starman would be a good name for a horse by Kingman out of Northern Star, so I reserved the name and the very next day David Bowie died. Then when the foal arrived it was a filly so I couldn't use the name for her and I flicked it across to him, but it has proved pretty apt as it's turned out. It seemed meant to be that he should have this name and he has proved worthy of it.”

Reinforcing his mantra that there is much more to being a racehorse owner and breeder than just winning–or losing–races, Ward adds, “I spend hours thinking up names for them. I'm 60 this year and you don't get to dream about too much at this age but I love dreaming about the horses.”

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A Fresh Look With Ed Sackville

It's that time of year: with just weeks to go to the start of the turf season, thoughts are turning to which of this year's freshman sires will be making a splash with their first runners. With 26 European first-crop stallions to consider, we have asked the views of those who have seen a good range of young stock at the sales. Today we get the thoughts of bloodstock agent Ed Sackville.

“I better put my money where my mouth is, so my choice is Cotai Glory (GB), a track record-breaking 2-year-old,” Sackville said. “Alastair [Donald, partner in SackvilleDonald] bought Cotai Glory as a yearling for an important Hong Kong-based owner. He went on to be our third [G3] Molecomb [S.] winner in a row and was also Group 1-placed at Royal Ascot. Top-class stallion producers Tally Ho bought into him and he stands there alongside champions Kodiac (GB) and Mehmas (Ire).

“Between us Alastair and I purchased six Cotai Glory yearlings and they will be trained by Tom Dascombe, Richard Hannon and Roger Varian. I have such faith that I've even backed him to be leading first season sire.”

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Unique Attractions of Floors Blood

In a sense, every breeder is a legatee. And each, in turn, strives to contribute a legacy of his or her own; to develop families that serve not only a contemporary stable, but also the breed as it evolves through the generations. To that extent, then, perhaps the family and many friends grieving the late Guy, Duke of Roxburghe, can find some comfort even in the poignant part-dispersal of a stud that produced one of the most accomplished Thoroughbreds ever bred in Scotland. For wherever his bloodlines are now transfused, so will the 10th Duke’s skill and enthusiasm be preserved.

There are one or two more concrete consolations. The departure of seven foals and seven mares, through the December Sale at Tattersalls, will not amount to a complete dispersal of Floors Stud. Roxburghe’s widow and youngest son intend to honour his memory by maintaining a modest foothold on the Turf. Along with the venerable Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}), for instance, they will be keeping her daughter Motion (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who had shown much promise on the Middleham gallops before sadly injuring herself on her sole start at Pontefract this summer. The other principal family developed by the late Duke, moreover, will remain represented by Blinking (GB) (Marju {Ire}), a sister to multiple Hong Kong champion Viva Pataca (HK) (known as Comic Strip (GB) before export).

Blinking is largely blind; Attraction is rising 20. There are humane considerations, then, notwithstanding all the difficulties historically inevitable in the inheritance of great estates.

At the same time, the bloodlines cultivated by the late Duke—who died last August, at just 64—will now be further secured by incorporation into other breeding programmes. These may well be much bigger, as we saw at the October Sale when Attraction’s yearling colt by Frankel (GB) (duly a brother to her best son Elarqam (GB)) brought 1,100,000gns from Godolphin in this same ring.

That was an expressive compliment to what was only ever a boutique stud; “a hick operation in the Borders,” as the late Duke himself described it, with characteristic deprecation. And his son George Innes-Ker, who will be maintaining that family connection along with his mother, hopes that these bloodlines will now continue to thrive even when transplanted from Floors—that glorious intervention by humankind among the glorious work of nature all along the banks of the Tweed.

“Mum and I hope we can keep his legacy going, albeit it will be slightly different and with a smaller number of mares,” Innes-Ker said. “Hopefully we can do something where we’ll be able to stand back and say Dad would be proud of our efforts. But we’ll also be very proud if any of the mares and fillies that are being sold, wherever they end up, can go on producing and keep his success going.”

Innes-Ker was still very young, 11 or 12, when his father asked him to choose between polo and the Turf. Happily, he has never regretted his decision.

“I’m the youngest of five siblings but Dad had to wait for me to have one who shared his love of racing!” he said. “I hope that gave him some joy, that he had someone to speak to about a passion to which he gave so much time and thought. I loved to hear him explaining all the decisions he had made: why he had chosen certain matings for certain mares; how he was trying to keep families going, letting colts go but keeping the fillies; and so on. All that has been instilled into me since I was very small.

“The two biggest excitements for him were clearly Attraction being such a wonderful filly on the track, and then also becoming such a good broodmare. That doesn’t always happen, obviously. There’s often that suggestion you should go one step away from those good racemares. But Attraction has been the most incredible mother. She has this amazing ability to produce friendly foals, and Dad was never happier than when standing out there among them, sharing polo mints with the mares.”

Innes-Ker pays tribute to the work of stud manager Chris Gillon and his team in preparing all the stock for sale. So, too, does bloodstock agent Ed Sackville, who has a long association with the farm and is now assisting with this difficult process. At the sale itself, however, the consignment is being entrusted to Kiltinan Castle Stud, the foals in sequence from Lot 900 on Friday and the mares from Lot 1691 next Tuesday.

“The horses have been prepped at Floors,” Sackville said. “That was also the case with the yearlings, and those obviously sold fantastically well. But it’s just a lot of horses, with limited staff, so we thought an outside consignor would take some of the pressure off. Simon Marsh has long been a great friend of both Guy and the Duchess, and he has been a significant help over the last year.”

Sackville himself goes back a long way with the family, having been at school and university respectively with a couple of the children; he also served his own apprenticeship with John Warren, a friend and advisor of the late Duke.

“Guy was a wonderful man,” Sackville said. “He absolutely loved his racing and breeding, and became an integral part of the industry—including, in his last years, as chairman of the National Stud.”

It was in that role that Roxburghe formed a strong regard for Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who is the sire of the first foal [Lot 900] under the hammer, a daughter of the stakes-placed Dusty Answer (GB) (Zafonic)—herself a half-sister to the dam of Zoffany (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) and to the second dam of recent G1 St Leger runner-up Berkshire Rocco (Fr) (Sir Percy {GB}).

“Guy was integral to the purchase of Time Test by the National Stud,” Sackville said. “So this was a mating he was very keen to use. We’ve all seen the success of Night Of Thunder (Ire) and we hope that Time Test can also show Dubawi’s merit as a sire of sires. He has certainly produced some very nice yearlings and, while the mare is relatively exposed [G2 Italian Oaks runner-up among eight winners from 11 runners] by this stage, it’s a lovely back family.”

Time Test also accounts for the foal carried by Lot 1692, Lady Glinka (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), an unraced sister to Group 1-placed juvenile Mikhail Glinka (Ire), their dam in turn a full-sister to Derby winner and champion 2-year-old Sir Percy (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}). Her filly by Zoffany (Ire), meanwhile, is offered as Lot 901.

“This is a foal that’s doing very well physically,” Sackville said. “She has really thrived with every month that has passed. Zoffany has had a good year, with a top Irish 2-year-old in Thunder Moon (Ire). And with a Galileo mare, obviously, anything is possible.”

Another daughter of the perennial champion sire is the 7-year-old Hibiscus (Ire), who will have the benefit of a Siyouni (Fr) cover when last of the draft as Lot 1697. She is a Listed-placed sister to GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Line Of Duty (Ire), the pair out of relegated G1 1,000 Guiness “winner” Jacqueline Quest (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}).

“She’s also a half-sister to Onassis (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who’s a filly going places,” Sackville said, noting her eye-catching performance in the GI Qipco British Champions’ Sprint. “Obviously Hibiscus is out of a Classic winner in all but name, and her Fastnet Rock (Aus) filly made 200,000gns at the October Sale. And we think her Lope De Vega (Ire) colt [Lot 906] will go very well. He’s a really lovely physical, an imposing, good-walking colt.”

A Lope De Vega cover, meanwhile, is only one of the shining attributes of Deep Inside (Fr) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}), a 6-year-old sibling to dual Group 3 winner Chrysanthemum (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}).

“This is an absolute beauty,” Sackville stressed. “She’s a really good-looking mare with a fantastic cover in her. She could go on and be anything, really. And she has a cracking Kingman colt [Lot 946, consigned by West Blagdon Stud] in the sale, too.”

Lope De Vega is also the sire of Lot 903, a filly out of Attraction’s graded stakes-placed half-sister Federation (GB) (Motivator {GB}), who will herself be offered as Lot 1693 carrying a foal by Starspangledbanner (Aus).

“Federation has a pretty smart 2-year-old in Japan, who beat colts in her maiden and then finished second in listed company,” Sackville said. “Obviously the family is very dear to our hearts and Lope De Vega gives the mare a fantastic chance. She has a Muhaarar (GB) colt who’s going to Michael Bell and, as for her Starspangledbanner cover, I think he is unbelievably good value and has had a very good last couple of years.”

Another half-sister to Attraction is Fusion (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) (Lot 1691)—her Siyouni colt sells as Lot 904—while the late Duke’s other trademark family will be represented by listed winner Twitch (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), an 8-year-old daughter of the aforementioned Blinking. She is in foal to Magna Grecia (Ire).

“Yes, this is Guy’s other great family,” Sackville said of Lot 1694. “And it’s all still very current. There are lots of females breeding under the first dam, and Twitch herself has a Siyouni yearling filly and a Kingman colt on the ground.”

The covering sire, Magna Grecia (Ire), also happens to be a half-brother to Prance (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire})—whose daughter by his own sire Invincible Spirit is offered as Lot 905. Prance’s only foal of racing age won at Goodwood in September, but the family has of course received a rather more significant update since the publication of the catalogue in the G1 Darley Dewhurst S. success of St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr})—another sibling to Prance and Magna Grecia.

“Obviously that’s fantastic for the page,” Sackville said. “And Prance’s yearling colt by Lope De Vega made 400,000gns [from Shadwell] at the October Sale, so this is a foal I’d be very excited about.”

Magna Grecia was still only a yearling when Prance was bought by John and Jake Warren for 170,000gns in this sale four years ago. And another of the stud’s developing projects is Merry Jaunt (Street Sense), a daughter of GI Yellow Ribbon S. winner Light Jig (GB) (Danehill) acquired for 360,000gns from Juddmonte in 2013. She has already produced a stakes filly for Floors and only last week her 2-year-old by Kingman, Royal Pleasure (Ire), made a winning debut at Wolverhampton.

“I don’t know what the statistics might be, for Sir Mark Prescott having first-time-out winners, but I would say it’s a pretty rare occurrence,” Sackville remarked. “Obviously we were delighted by that update and, from a lovely young Juddmonte family, this mare [Lot 1695] could be anything—not least with her cover by Night Of Thunder, whose fee has gone up from €25,000 to €75,000 since we sent her to him. We’ll be sad to lose her.”

But that is the kind of bittersweet experience beckoning all involved: a mixture of pride and sadness, with a precious residue of hope for the future of these bloodlines.

A few days ago Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}), co-bred by the late Duke with Highclere Stud, won a Cartier Award as champion 3-year-old. Innes-Ker knew how proud his father would be, looking down. “As Lady Carolyn [Warren] said, she knew that ‘upstairs’ Dad and her own father would be making so much noise about that together,” he said.

Now it is about achieving a balance between a filial aspiration to extend the Roxburghe saga on the Turf, and pragmatic acknowledgement of the constraints.

“Mum lost her own father two weeks after losing her husband, so her world was really turned upside down,” Innes-Ker explained. “So whatever we could do, with the horses, we just wanted to be manageable; something we can love doing, and control.

“It’s wonderful to know that Attraction is carrying a filly (by Kingman). Dad was so unlucky with her first two daughters: one died of grass sickness and the other was stung on the back of her neck, probably by a horsefly, keeled over and broke her neck there in the yard. After so many colts, it’s great to have this filly on the way.”

Those who knew the late Duke only on the Turf may not have realised quite how accomplished he was. The death of his own father had been just as premature, and he inherited his title and estates at just 19—only months after being awarded the Sword of Honour as the top officer cadet of his intake at Sandhurst, where he was also recognised as an outstanding all-round sportsman. He proceeded to show great flair and energy in meeting the challenge of modernising his ancient estates; while all of us who did encounter him on the Turf can attest to his ease and charm of manner.

“Obviously these horses will all be sold with a tinge of sadness,” said Sackville. “It will be an emotional day. But hopefully it will also be a great opportunity for someone else to continue the legacy.”

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Yearling Vendors Start Counting the Cost

DONCASTER, UK–Having put on a brave enough face on the opening day, the first auction of an improvised European yearling sales calendar hastened to its conclusion on Wednesday as though downing a necessary but deeply unpleasant medicine.

Horses were ushered through the ring at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale with a briskness that spoke of a pragmatic willingness, among vendors, to clarify the extent of the damage. The clearance rate for the session was duly maintained at 84% across the two days. Albeit trading a marginally smaller catalogue, it says everything that this session finished well over two hours earlier than had the previous one. As Macbeath says: “If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly.”

Everyone knew it was going to be tough, and that nobody is to blame. All we can do is hope that the tempest in the global economy, in a pandemic year, abates sooner rather than later. As things stood, however, the indices were predictably grim.

Turnover for the second session was down 43% on last year, from £7,889,500 to £4,525,000; yielding a £30,782 average that declined 29% from £43,349, and a median slipping 25% to £24,000 from £32,000. Given somewhat stronger returns the previous day, that equated across the whole sale to a 38% slump in aggregate, to £11,503,500 from £18,468,000; a 27% loss in the £34,034 average from £46,519; and a 23% dip in a £27,000 median from £35,000.

As Goffs UK managing director Tim Kent observed, this had been one of the most anticipated editions of this sale in recent years.

“But not in the way that we normally prepare for a sale,” he said. “And we share everyone’s collective relief that we have been able to conduct the sale, and provide an opening to Europe’s yearling sales circuit during these difficult times.

“There is no doubting that trade across that last few days has not been straightforward, but the important thing is that horses are getting sold and the collective view from vendors and purchasers has been that this was a ‘good’ sale, even though ‘good’ may currently be difficult to quantify. We obviously missed some key faces who were active last year but there were a significant number of success stories over the last two days, including some spectacular pinhooks, and we must remember these moments as we reflect what has been achieved.

“Despite the two days proving predictably difficult, we echo what has been said many times this week, that we are lucky to hold sales and continue to trade despite the challenges that face us and our industry. It has been encouraging to see so many people descend on Doncaster and to see a respectable clearance rate upheld over the two days.

“Full credit to our vendors who have adapted to the market to facilitate trade and we now look forward to the Goffs Sportsman’s and Orby Sale which will take place here at the end of this month.”

As Kent indicated, this auction was always going to be exposed after finding itself shuffled to the front of the calendar. And the fact that it has so flourished in recent years only gave it farther to fall. Last year, it processed 35 six-figure transactions. The three recorded yesterday took the total this time round to just 12.

There will be anxiety, naturally, about the complete absence of the firm that had topped aggregate purchasing here in each of the previous five years. But Shadwell’s boss is a human being like everyone else, and it would be most ungrateful–after decades of priceless support from his whole family–for anyone to forget that the debt is owed to him by the industry, and not the other way round. For all most of us can know, his inaction this week may be governed by factors extraneous to the industry’s present difficulties.

That said, those preparing for elite sales ahead will be hoping that the whole market does not take its lead from the physical appearance of the ring here, with only sporadic green ticks among all the black crosses marking those sections of the benches to be left vacant to keep bidders safely apart.

Some vendors did make a stand, refusing to allow a nice horse to go too cheap–a description that even extended to the highest bid of the day when lot 322, a Cotai Glory (GB) half-sister to multiple Group winner A’Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}), was bought in for £150,000. The new plan? “She’ll win a group race,” promised Daniel Creighton of consignors Salcey Forest Stud. “And they’ll all rue the day they didn’t buy her.”

By the same token, many other vendors will doubtless end up shaking their heads over the derisory reward they had to accept for subsequent high achievers. But one of the most seasoned sages on the circuit put it best. “Look, you couldn’t sell a kid’s bike at the moment,” he said. “Yet people are here selling racehorses. There’s trade, and trade is good.”

That was something you heard a lot. Lady Carolyn Warren of Highclere Stud summed things up well. “Yes, it’s been tough,” she said. “But we ought to be pleased that we’re able to sell horses at all. And with that in mind we must all be respectful of the ‘rules and regs’, going into such a busy sales season. But there are nice horses here, and the trade has been solid.

“Yes, we’ve had to adjust our sights a bit, but hopefully people will realize that the opportunities that are out there now; opportunities, to compete at the top level, that maybe weren’t there before. There could be better value around now than for many years, so we’ve just got to hope that people feel more encouraged to have a go.”

£115,000 Havana Gold Colt Tops Session

The top price of the day was paid by Oliver St Lawrence, who gave £115,000 for the Havana Gold (Ire) colt presented by Mountarmstrong Stud as lot 303.

He is out of Majestic Missile (Ire) (Royal Applause {GB})’s stakes-placed half-sister Majestic Alexander (Ire) (Bushranger {Ire}), whose three previous foals onto the track have all won, two also gaining black-type.

“We’re all looking for a Royal Ascot 2-year-old, of course we are,” St Lawrence said. “And he does look a really strong, sharp type. Actually we hadn’t originally intended to buy him: he was on the radar, and I showed him to Fawzi [Nass] yesterday, but we hadn’t had him vetted. But then the trainer said how much he liked him, and we re-evaluated today. Of course it helps that he comes from breeders who do such a good job.”

St Lawrence diplomatically left the trainer in question anonymous, pending formal confirmation of the horse’s destination. Gentlemanly conduct, from one who described his mask-fetchingly adorned with sports cars–as more suitable for a second-hand car salesman. True to his own profession, however, he professed that even so depressed a market remained challenging.

“It’s still tough enough,” he said. “I know all bloodstock agents say that, and the market overall is a bit down. I’m not sure there are quite the horses here they’ve had in the last couple of years. Doncaster do a great job, and there are some really nice ones here. But I suspect some of the vendors have made a percentage call, with sales moving around and this one ending up first.”

Another Diamond for Middleham Park?

The embers of a cold market were stoked into life when the day’s second and third six-figure sales were achieved from its closing half-dozen lots. First of these was lot 418, a Showcasing (GB) filly bought by Middleham Park for £110,000–a good result for W.H. Bloodstock, having made €58,000 from Peter and Ross Doyle at Goffs last November.

“She was our nap of the sale, really,” said Middleham Park’s Mike Prince. “She just looks a lovely racing filly. Showcasing’s had a great year, and the mare has already produced [a dual winner] by Raven’s Pass. She’ll be going to Mark Johnston, so let’s hope she can follow in the footsteps of Marie’s Diamond (Ire).”

An apt turn of phrase, regarding that daughter of Footstepsinthesand (GB), who achieved a Group 1 podium in the Queen Anne S.

Encouragingly, Prince reported plenty of interest in Middleham Park syndicates from investors looking forward to getting back on the racetrack.

“We’ve bought five here,” he said. “One apiece for Mark, David O’Meara, Keith Dalgleish, Karl Burke and Richard Hannon. Our guys have got a taste for it, and as long as they’re buying, we’re buying.”

“It’s a very resilient industry,” concurred colleague Tom Palin. “We’ve been through two recessions and racing just seems to come back stronger than ever.”

A Brother to Make up for the One That Got Away

The very last horse into the ring, likewise, put a more heartening signature on proceedings. Certainly one of the best pedigrees of the sale had been reserved for last, the Dark Angel (Ire) colt (lot 423) out of multiple stakes winner Swiss Dream (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) being a brother to group scorer Yafta (GB).

That horse had made £280,000 here four years ago, when likewise consigned for breeders Lordship Stud by Highclere Stud. Given that he ended up running for Sheikh Hamdan, whose buying team was absent this time, £100,000 from Ed Sackville arguably represented an equivalent result in this market. Sackville was completing some business-like shopping over the two days for Tom Dascombe.

“It’s a nice story because [Dascombe’s landlord] Michael Owen was under-bidder on Yafta,” said Highclere’s Lady Carolyn Warren. “So I really hope that this one will be just as successful, if not more. He’s a lovely-moving colt who sailed through his preparation.”

Owen, the former England striker, has evidently managed to interest more of the North West’s football community in his Cheshire yard: Burnley midfielder Jack Cork had earlier been standing alongside Sackville when the agent gave £88,000 for another Dark Angel (Ire) colt, presented as lot 350 by Yeomanstown Stud.

This one, too, has a lively page: out of a stakes-placed half-sister to G2 Queen Mary and G2 Prix Robert Papin winner Signora Cabello (Ire) (Camacho {GB}); and the third dam is a half-sister to Classic winner Las Meninas (Ire) (Glenstal).

“It’s a lovely female family, going back to the tremendously fast Kingsgate Native (Ire) (Mujdail), and with a recent Royal Ascot winner on the page,” Sackville said. “SackvilleDonald have always been admirers of Dark Angel, including Art Power (Ire) who’s running for Alastair [Donald] in the GI Betfair Sprint Cup at Haydock on Saturday.”

Dascombe’s partnerships are famously convivial and Sackville confirmed that his clients “have been very loyal and supportive–especially in these difficult times.”

Albeit even this price would represent a fairly marginal gain on Dark Angel’s fee, the mating is certainly paying its way: the colt’s sister realized €275,000 as a yearling at Goffs last October.

Murphy Hopes for New Dawn

This market is a teasing one for breeze-up pinhookers: there’s value, for sure, but they are betting on confidence returning to the economy as soon as next spring. For Mick Murphy of Longways, however, £95,000 for a Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt (lot 346) was too tempting to resist.

“Gorgeous horse,” he said. “For me, the nicest in the sale. I saw him Sunday morning and didn’t think I’d get him. He’s an exceptionally correct individual, for a Night Of Thunder, who’s obviously very much in demand. I just hope he’s fast! He has the pedigree to be.”

The dam, indeed, is an unraced sister to G1 July Cup winner Fleeting Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). In previous years, perhaps, competition from absent friends such as Shadwell would have put a colt like this beyond reach. As it was, he was Murphy’s fifth purchase of the sale.

“But generally the ones you want are still making money,” Murphy said. “The top end looks after itself. There’s always someone to buy a nice horse. I suppose the market is down, without the likes of Shadwell. But let’s just hope they’re buying next April.”

Aguair Upgrading for next Stage of His Odyssey

As the son of a Derby winner out of an Oaks winner, Ulysses (Ire) might not seem the most obvious of the new stallions for the breeze-up pinhookers. But not enough people grasp how class can tell in any environment. Credit to Robson Aguiar, then, for stretching to £92,000 for lot 255, a February colt by Cheveley Park’s rookie out of a winning sister of listed sprinter Feet So Fast (GB) (Pivotal {GB}).

After all, Ulysses won two Group 1 races over 10 furlongs, and his deep Classic pedigree will doubtless gain a bit of commercial spice from some of those zippy Cheveley Park mares. This colt’s dam was a case in point, albeit recently culled from the farm, as she is out of another of its black-type dashers in Splice (GB) (Sharpo {GB}), whose seven winning foals–besides Feet So Fast and her sister–include G2 Lowther S. winner Soar (GB) (Danzero {Aus}).

“He will probably be a horse for later on, for seven furlongs, but he is a very nice and scopey type,” Aguair said. “I’m trying hard to improve the horses, to keep things going forward, and it’s not easy: nicer horses will still sell well. I have tried for a few that I could not get. But I have some people who are investing with me, and I will keep a half.”

The Brazilian has certainly established his eye for a young prospect at a lower level. One graduate of his nursery is Alicestar (GB) (Charming Thought {Ire}), found for just £10,000 as at Tattersalls Ascot last August. She won on debut at Yarmouth in July, and seeks black-type for David Simcock in the G3 Unibet Dick Poole S. at Salisbury on Thursday.

Mother Takes Pride

Anna Sundstrom of Coulonces Sales had another happy tale to tell when following up the top price of the opening day with the £85,000 sale to Hillen-Ryan of a Caravaggio colt, lot 355.

Having co-bred Tuesday’s Starspangledbanner (Aus) sale-topper with head girl Charlotte Hutchinson, she revealed that this one was all the work of her 19-year-old daughter Moa–who, just like Hutchinson the previous day, led up her charge.

“Moa has done an amazing job with her and deserves every penny,” Sundstrom said. “She bought the dam privately the night before [her subsequent group-winning half-brother] Peace Envoy (Fr) (Power {GB}) won first time out. She had obviously done her homework, and now the mare has a lovely Starspangledbanner colt foal and is in foal to Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy).”

“Very well produced colt,” said Kevin Ryan, congratulating her consignor. “Athletic, with a lot of quality.”

The selective cross-Channel raids of Coulonces to South Yorkshire have paid wonderful dividends, both in the ring and on the track, above all through Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). When she won the G2 May Hill S. on the adjacent track in 2017, it was just the first downpayment on the spectacular dividends she achieved as a £220,000 graduate of this sale the previous year.

Lloyd Excels in Premier Sale Debut

Let’s end on a positive note. It would be misleading to construe the figures, severely depressed as they are, as causing universal despair. Horses were brought here by resilient and realistic people, and the skills of their presentation remain undiminished.

Jamie Lloyd of Far Westfield Farm will have been speaking for many, then, when he concluded his first experiment in selling at this sale with the sale of an £80,000 Exceed And Excel (Aus) filly, lot 414, to Richard Brown.

“It’s been great,” he said. “I’m very glad we came. I brought six and sold five, including an Acclamation (GB) for £95,000 and a Showcasing (GB) for £80,000, which was great–we were supposed to sell that one as a foal, but he wasn’t up together enough.”

The mating that produced this filly had been directed by the dam’s half-sister, Group 3 winner Sound Of Silence (GB), also by Exceed And Excel.

“I bought the dam off Darley, off the track for 25 grand, before Sound Of Silence had run,” Lloyd said with a grin, before reiterating his broader satisfaction. “They’ve managed to get lots of people here and, given what the market’s like, they’ve done a brilliant job.”

 

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