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Hollie Doyle Named Sportswoman of the Year

Jockey Hollie Doyle has been named The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year for 2020. Doyle holds the record for most winners in a calendar year by a female jockey, and booted home her first Group 1 winner when Glen Shiel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) won the G1 British Champions Sprint S. in October. The reinswoman was also successful at Royal Ascot with Scarlet Dragon (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}) earlier this year.

“I am blown away to have won the Sunday Times Sportswoman of The Year award,” said Doyle. “It’s been an unusual year in so many ways and I feel very grateful to have been able to do what I love day in, day out.

“Seeing my name compared to the previous winners of the award with the likes of Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Dame Kelly Holmes, is pretty crazy and very humbling.”

The British Horseracing Authority’s chair Annamarie Phelps paid tribute to Doyle, and said, “I am delighted that Hollie’s record-breaking success in her jockey career has been recognised at a national level. This accolade is richly and truly deserved and she joins a stellar list of past winners of this award.

“In one of the few sports where men and women compete on equal terms, Hollie is living proof of the fact that female jockeys can be more than a match for the men. However, this is about far more than just the boundaries Hollie has broken as a female athlete. Through her dedication, professionalism, bravery, focus, athletic ability and level-headedness Hollie sets the template that all young sports people should aspire to, regardless of sport or gender.”

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Bizakov To Unite Studs Under Sumbe Banner

Nurlan Bizakov will unite his British and French studs, Hesmonds Stud and Montfort et Preaux, under the same name: Sumbe, for his birthplace in Kazakhstan.

Bizakov said, “To understand this decision, you have to go back in time. I was born in Kazakhstan in the city of Sumbe. Nestling at the foot of the country’s highest mountain, it’s a region famed for its agricultural produce and the quality of its horse breeding. I think that these ‘country’ roots–embedded in an environment where the horse was very present–naturally influenced my decision to breed racehorses.

“At Hesmonds Stud, I was initially able to rely on a very high-class team. Over a period of around ten years, and under the stewardship of stud manager Tony Fry, it became one of the most modern studs in Britain. Further down the line, but in Normandy, I had the opportunity to acquire Montfort et Preaux: a stud farm run by another man of repute, Mathieu Alex. There is a very good rapport between my British and French teams and they work together. After this, I wanted to go one step further by grouping together all my racing interests under one name: Sumbe. I think it’s important to ensure a coherent approach to my racing project, in the form of a single entity that unites two teams working in unison. It’s also, of course, a reference to my birthplace. There’s also no escaping that it’s a catchy name which is easy to remember. Finally, it has always brought me luck. We are in it for the long haul: I think that sums up Sumbe’s underlying philosophy.”

Bizakov will introduce G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde (GB) (Lethal Force {Ire}) to breeders in France in 2021 alongside Le Havre (Ire) and Recorder (GB), and Bizakov said of Golden Horde, who also won the G2 Richmond S. at two before being twice Group 1-placed, “He was a very smart juvenile, before confirming that he had trained on as a 3-year-old when exposed to very high class opposition, and that is what I think the French and European breeders are looking for. He was a very good sprinter and precocious at that. Bred in the purple, he’s a magnificent horse and a very good mover.

“In the context of the French stallions’ division, a horse with the Golden Horde’s profile can find his niche. Bearing the strong imprint of Pivotal (Polar Falcon)–his dam’s sire–he’s a Group 1 winner who instantly proved a big hit with Tony, Mathieu and myself. We’re very sold on the idea of making the Commonwealth Cup winner available to breeders, in addition to supporting him with some very good mares. I would encourage everyone to either replay the videos of his races, or to see him in the flesh at stud, as he’s a very impressive individual.”

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Pinhookers’ Paradise As Foal Season Begins

NEWMARKET, UK—The popularity of first-season sires is no new phenomenon but it is a feature of the market which apparently gains more and more traction, and three freshmen were responsible for four of the top ten lots as pinhookers wasted no time in assembling their prospective yearling drafts for next season.

The first session traditionally represents a quieter start to the four-day auction, which builds towards the better pedigrees on Friday. With shorter sessions throughout the sale this year, there were 135 foals sold on Wednesday, compared to 168 on the same day last year, meaning that the aggregate of 1,585,100gns, which was down by just 7%, actually represented an improved performance from 2019. Indeed, both the average and median were up, by 16% and 60% respectively, at 11,741gns and 8,000gns, while the clearance rate of 67% was just one point lower.

Selwood Out In Front
The established names of Iffraaj (GB) and Oasis Dream (GB) led the session when consecutive colts from James Read’s Selwood Bloodstock sold for 57,000gns and 50,000gns respectively.

Anita Wigan bred this year’s G2 Coventry S. winner Nando Parrado (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) and is also responsible for the Iffraaj colt (lot 442), a son of the dual-winning Shamardal mare Soryah (Ire) whom she bought from the Godolphin draft at last year’s December Sale for 18,000gns. The session-topper was bought by Ross Doyle on behalf of the Morrin family’s Pier House Stud.

“He is a good-looking horse out of a Shamardal mare and by a top stallion,” said Doyle, who added that the colt would likely return to neat year’s October Sale.

The next lot into the ring (443) was prepared by Read for his breeder Lady Hardy and is a half-brother to treble winner Stylianekkos (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}). By Oasis Dream, he was the selection of Flash Conroy of Glenvale Stud at 50,000gns.

With three foals sold for an average of 39,000gns, Selwood Bloodstock was the leading consignor on day one.

Iffraaj was also on the list of another accomplished pinhooker, Paul McCartan, who bought the most expensive filly of the session, his daughter out of the unraced Royal Applause (GB) mare Posh Claret (GB).

Among McCartan’s recent foal purchases is the aforementioned Nando Parrado, and the Ballyphilip Stud owner went to 40,000gns for lot 402, whose half-sister, a yearling filly by Ardad (Ire), is heading into training with Archie Watson.

“I haven’t had many foals by [Iffraaj], but I have a mare by him and she is the dam of Imperial Force, who was third in the Norfolk Stakes. He is a good sire and he gets a good filly,” said McCartan, who is also the breeder of Harry Angel (Ire), whose first foals are selling this week.

Bred by the late Kevin Mercer of Usk Valley Stud, Posh Claret is a daughter of Welsh Anthem (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), a half-sister to Trans Island (GB) (Selkirk) and to fellow Group winner Welsh Diva (GB) (Selkirk).

National Treasure
No fewer than 24 stallions are represented by members of their first crops at Tattersalls this week and it was the National Stud’s G2 Coventry S. winner Rajasinghe (Ire) who led the way during the opening session.

A colt bred in Devon by Richard Tucker and offered through the National Stud was the pick of Jimmy Murphy of Redpender Stud, whose final bid brought the hammer down at 46,000gns.

Lot 453 is out of the winning Verglas (Ire) mare Louya (Ire), who was bought by Tucker for €7,000 at Arqana and hails from the family of G2 Royal Lodge S winner Mons (GB) (Deploy {GB}).

Rajasinghe’s first foal through the ring had been one of the early leaders of the day when knocked down to agent Larry Stratton at 37,000gns. Sold by Whitwell Bloodstock on behalf of breeder Alice Walton, lot 256 is out of the unraced Lucia De Medici (GB) (Medicean {GB}), herself a daughter of the listed Middleton S. Winner Jalousie (Ire) (Barathea {Ire}).

“Rajasinghe is a horse I have always followed since he won the Coventry Stakes because I bred the runner-up, Headway (GB), in a partnership,” said Stratton. “Rajasinghe’s sire Choisir (Aus) is a good influence. This is a nice colt who has been bought for a partnership and is for resale.”

Rajasinghe stood his first two seasons at £5,000 and has had his fee cut to £3,000 for 2021. He has six foals for sale this week, with the first three sold having returned an average of 30,667gns, making him the leading first-season sire at the sale after the first day.

Expert View
Juddmonte’s GI Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Expert Eye (GB) was also among the leading freshmen when a half-brother to GIII Bewitch S. Winner Cay Dancer (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) was bought by Michael Fitzpatrick in the name of JC Bloodstock for 41,000gns.

Consigned by Charlie Wyatt’s Dukes Stud and bred in partnership by Wyatt with Simon Sweeting of Overbury Stallions, lot 369 is a son of the George Strawbridge-bred White Cay (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}), whose three winning offspring include listed Grand Prix de Fontainebleau victrix Dynamic (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}).

Fitzpatrick, an accomplished pinhooker through his Kilminfoyle House Stud, said, “This is a quality, attractive foal. He is from a good breeder, and is one of the few today who is a half-brother to two stakes horses. He has a nice back pedigree, too, and will be back for resale.”

White Cay’s half-sister is the G1 Coronation S winner Balisada (GB) (Kris), while the further family also includes Inchinor (GB), GI EP Taylor S winner Miss Keller (Ire), and the St Leger winner Harbour Law (GB).

Dukes Stud often has a stand-out foal or two during the Saturday session, but Wyatt explained that in this unusual year it was “time to mix it up a little bit”.

He said, “Saturday has always been good to me but I felt it was the year for a change. [The colt] has been a lovely foal throughout. I think he is good representative for the sire, I have seen a few of them, they look nice sorts.”

A Sixties Hit
Standing for just £1,000 in 2021 on pay-up-front terms, Sixties Icon (GB) has to be one of the best-value stallions in Britain and his sole representative in the foal sale, a colt out of the G1 Moyglare Stud S runner-up Silca Chiave (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), hit the first-day leader-board when selling for 42,000gns.

Offered by Norman Court Stud, which is co-owned by Mick Channon and is also home to Sixties Icon, the colt (472) is a half-brother to the listed-placed Strictly Silca (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) and was bought by John Troy. His dam’s illustrious siblings include the full-sisters Golden Silca (GB) (Inchinor {GB}), whose eight victories include the G2 Mill Reef S., and G1 Prix Morny winner Silca’s Sister (GB).

Bearstone Rookie
Terry and Margaret Holdcroft of Bearstone Stud have enjoyed a terrific season on the racecourse with their GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint heroine Glass Slippers (GB) (Dream Ahead) and a colt from her family by the stud’s recent stallion recruit, Washington DC (Ire), featured among the day’s leaders.

Offered as lot 320, the colt’s dam is the unraced She Mystifies (GB) is a daughter of the stud’s former resident Indesatchel (Ire) and a half-sister to Glass Slippers, who is now a treble Group/Grade 1 winner. Another half-sibling is the listed Radley S. winner Electric Feel (GB), who is also by a former Bearstone stallion, in this case Firebreak (GB).

Sold to Y&R Engineering, whose bids were taken over the phone by Tattersalls’ marketing manager Jason Singh, the colt fetched 35,000gns.

The December Foal Sale continues on Thursday at 10am, an hour earlier than the published time.

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Arqana Adds Wild Card Quartet

A quartet of wild cards, to be auctioned on Dec. 5, have been added to the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale. There is a 1/50th share in young stallion and champion Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) (lot 190) on offer.

Three fillies have also joined the Dec. 5-8 sale, with Petite Folie (GB) (Australia {GB}) being offered by La Motteraye Consignment as lot 150. She is a half-sister to Classic winner and MG1SW Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). Andrea Marcialis sends Listed Prix de la Vallee d’Auge heroine Bonita Queen (Fr) (Arcano {Ire}) (lot 180) through the ring. Rounding out the quartet of wild cards is lot 200, Marly (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). Also consigned by Marcialis, she ran third in a German listed race earlier this year and is from the extended family of GSW Louve (Irish River {Fr}).

The Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale will begin at 10 a.m. local time each day in Deauville.

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