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Lope De Vega and New Bay Available on Southern Hemisphere Time

Lope De Vega (Ire) (Shamardal) and New Bay (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) will be available to cover on Southern Hemisphere time this year, Ballylinch Stud's Eoin Fives told TTR AusNZ. They will stand for €60,000 (AU$98,957) and €40,000 (AU$65,971) respectively.

In total, Lope De Vega has sired 18 Group 1 winners and 112 individual stakes winners across 12 different countries. From 2011 to 2014, he shuttled to the now-defunct Patinack Farm, and left an indelible stamp on the Australian industry. The result was four elite-level winners of nine Group 1s; Santa Ana Lane (Aus), Vega Magic (Aus), Gytrash (Aus) and Vega One (Aus).

His potency when crossed with Fastnet Rock mares has certainly helped in accruing that total, with the mix firing at a rate of 21 per cent stakes winners to runners. Both Santa Ana Lane and Gytrash fall into that category, with their exploits no doubt driving demand on the other side of the world.

“It's a cross that seems to work very well, and it's definitely pushed an uptake up here in the last few years where we've covered a lot more Fastnet Rock mares,” Fives said. “He's very easy to breed to. He's an outcross for over 90 per cent of the mare population in Europe, so, if you're buying a mare up here, he's very easy to breed to as there are very few things you have to avoid in a pedigree.”

Fives reported that New Bay was also getting the attention of Southern Hemisphere breeders. He received the support of one of Australia's top stables at the Goffs London Sale recently. Landed on by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, the aptly named New Endeavour (GB) was a £260,000 (AU$499,000) purchase for the Tulloch Lodge team, who was previously co-owned by Ballylinch and Teme Valley.

He will remain in training with Roger Varian in Newmarket before eventually making his way down to Australia.

Twice a handicap winner over 1400 metres, New Endeavour was sold in the lead up to Royal Ascot, and subsequently ran second in the high-class Britannia S., earning an official rating of 103, which puts him well in the mix at Listed level in the UK. He appears to be on a neat upward curve and may yet be New Bay's next stakes winner.

Meanwhile, Fives reported a surge of interest following that solid Royal Ascot performance. “Coming back from Ascot, more Australians were asking about him (New Bay) and curious about him,” he said. “We can probably see his profile increasing over the next few years, he's only a young sire.”

“His fee has increased every year since he's had runners. His first crop really dazzled, I suppose, and then the last season was just incredible. “He had a Group 1 winner with Saffron Beach, and then he just totally stole the show on British Champions Day when he took the two feature races with Bayside Boy and Bay Bridge.”

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Ascot Racecourse Announces 2022 Financial Results

Edited Press Release

The turnover at Ascot Racecourse exceeded £100 million for the first time with a strong recovery from COVID-19 last season. The return to profit will allow for record prize money of £17 million set to be returned to the sport in 2023 and a voluntary increased loan repayment will help reduce debt ahead of schedule. The 2022 business summary highlighted several points of improvement:

A return to profit with a pre-tax profit of £3.4m after two difficult years of COVID-19 restrictions. This compares to a pre-COVID profit of £7.3m in 2019, highlighting significantly increased overheads and operating costs in the current economic climate.
Turnover rose by 161% to a record level of £101.4m with hospitality and admission revenues recovering strongly.
Attendance at Royal Ascot 2022 bounced back from COVID disruption to 273,465 with a total for the full year, excluding industry joint venture QIPCO British Champions Day, of 483,424.
Strong broadcast reach: World Pool turnover and international interest helped grow diverse revenue streams. Royal Ascot 2022 was broadcast into over 170 territories including NBC terrestrial coverage in America on the Saturday, reaching 2.5 million unique viewers, up 47% on 2021.
The loan agreement was renewed during the year and the term of the loan was extended by a minimum of three years.
£6m of the loan was repaid in 2022 (a £3m mandatory repayment and a voluntary partial early repayment of £3m) and the revolving credit facility of £5m, drawn down in March 2020, was repaid. Net debt at 31st December 2022 was £17.2m (2020 £25.4m).
The standby loan facility of £20m arranged through the Government CLBILS scheme remained undrawn during the year and matured at the end of April 2023. This was replaced by a revolving credit facility of £12.5m which remains undrawn.
Strong 2022 performance enabled record planned prize money in 2023 with £17m set to be on offer, an increase of £1.33m versus 2022. This excludes the £4.45m on offer at the industry joint venture fixture, QIPCO British Champions Day. Prize money at Royal Ascot 2023 was £9.52m, an increase of 10% over 2022.

Alastair Warwick, Chief Executive Officer at Ascot Racecourse, said:

“The figures for 2022 show that Ascot has recovered strongly from the impact of the pandemic. Last year's performance, headlined by record turnover, gave us the confidence to invest in the business this year, including reaching the £17m prize money mark for the first time.

“Having further reduced our debt, including through a voluntary additional repayment, we are in a good position to continue to improve both prize money and facilities.

“We are particularly encouraged to have seen strong attendance and hospitality metrics at Royal Ascot this year, the first under the reign of King Charles III. We had incredibly competitive, international fields and World Pool betting continues to be strong while viewing figures on ITV were excellent, including a peak of over a million every day and a ten year high for the final day.

“Their Majesties The King & Queen attended on all five days and it proved to be a very special occasion with Desert Hero carrying the Royal silks to victory, whilst Frankie Dettori signed off his Royal Ascot story with a ninth Gold Cup win.

“I would like to thank all our hard-working staff and our commercial and broadcast partners for their continued commitment to Ascot.”

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Khaadem Will Be Supplemented for July Cup, Little Big Bear 50-50

Charlie Hills confirms that G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee S. shocker Khaadem (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) will be supplemented to Saturday's G1 Pertemps Network July Cup. Whether Royal Ascot partner Jamie Spencer will be available will depend on whether the rider can successfully appeal a careless riding ban from his winning effort aboard Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the G1 Pretty Polly S. The massive 80-1 upset came on the heels of a rough trip in the listed British E.B.F. 40th Anniversary Cathedral S. where the Fitri Hay-owned gelding finished third.

“He looked fantastic before the race at Ascot and he'd been in really good form at home, so it wasn't a shock to see him run a big race, though I was a little surprised he won it! It was certainly a nice surprise and it's a great credit to the horse,” said Hills. “I've always maintained he's a Group class sprinter and his career shows that. He's won some really good races like the Stewards' Cup, King George and Palace House and obviously last time in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee at Ascot. He's a very good horse and we're looking forward to Saturday.”

Aidan O'Brien has recently warned Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) is only a “50-50” shot to take a chance at the Cup on July 15 after missing almost six days of cantering due to a foot bruise last week and that a decision will be made in the following couple days. The Ballydoyle master has not ruled out seeking a record-breaking sixth win in the contest with a daughter of No Nay Never, GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf victress Meditate (Ire), who could be given one last chance to shine before retiring to stud.

“Little Big Bear is not definite to run as he had a foot bruise last week and he missed six days without doing any cantering. We might do something in the morning with him to see how he is and whether we decide to run him or not,” said O'Brien.

“We have to decide whether we are going to retire Meditate or not. It is very possible that she could retire. She is obviously in the July Cup and if Little Big Bear wasn't going to run we would give her a chance going back over six before she goes, as she is a filly that has a lot of speed and was always very comfortable going forward over six furlongs.”

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Cancer Trials Ireland to Create Pat Smullen Chair in Pancreatic Cancer

Cancer Trials Ireland, the national organisation dedicated to advancing cancer clinical trials, will create a new position to anchor expertise in pancreatic research in Ireland with the ambition of creating a global centre for treatment and research for a form of cancer with some of the poorest outcomes–the Pat Smullen Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at University College Dublin.

The position will require shared time between clinical work as a treating physician at St Vincent's University Hospital–the national surgical centre for pancreatic cancer–and research work at University College Dublin (UCD). Candidates from Ireland and abroad are expected to apply.

The role is named in memory of Pat Smullen, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in September 2020. Through his efforts, the Irish horse racing and breeding industry over Irish Champions Weekend in September 2019 raised €2.6 million for Cancer Trials Ireland's pancreatic cancer trials and awareness.

“The Pat Smullen Pancreatic Cancer Fund arises from various fundraising endeavours undertaken by champion jockey, Pat Smullen, his family, and the horse racing community, following his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in March 2018. The inaugural fundraising event raised €2.6 million with further fundraising events having raised an additional €367,000 to date,” said Eibhlin Mulroe, CEO of Cancer Trials Ireland. “Sadly, Pat died in September 2020, but his legacy lives on and the fund he created has now provided new treatment options for 174 patients with pancreatic cancer, at no cost to themselves, or to the State.”

For more information on the Pat Smullen Pancreatic Cancer Fund, visit Cancer Trials Ireland.

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