Song For Whoever, who Halpin and Davis bought for €28,000 at the Goffs Sportsman's Sale last year before selling to Howson & Holdsworth Bloodstock for £42,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale, was getting off the mark at the third attempt for trainer John O'Donoghue in the colours of Genesis Thoroughbreds. 

Although he was consigned by Tally-Ho Stud at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale, Song For Whoever was sourced and produced by the riders, who will be consigning under the name GS Bloodstock from their new base at Ulundi Lodge on the Curragh next year. 

“Your judgment is on the line–you are telling people what you think the horses can do and it's important that they back you up,” – Gary Halpin

A delighted Halpin said on Friday evening, “We bought him at the Sportsman's Sale under Rushway Stables for €28,000. We were looking for something that could breeze and he looked sharp enough to do that. We had him on our list and Roger O'Callaghan, who we have worked closely with for a number of years, had seen him as well. It was a help that he liked him.”

He added, “I prepped him at Kevin Prendergast's yard in Friarstown on the Curragh. He was there all winter and did most of his early work while I was riding out in Kevin's and he went from there to Doncaster where he sold to Matt Holdsworth for Noel Hayes. We were very fortunate that Tally-Ho were happy to consign him for us. 

“He was actually popular enough to a point at the sales. George Boughey and Mark McStay had a go on him. I think George was the underbidder and I'm pretty sure that Mark was on him for a long while as well. The right people were interested in him, thankfully.”

Halpin enjoyed his best ever season as a rider in 2016 when partnering 36 winners domestically while his biggest success came aboard the Ross O'Sullivan-trained Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) in the Listed Salsibil S. at Naas last term. 

Davis has returned to Ireland after a successful spell in Britain, where he rode 56 winners in 2019, and alongside Halpin, will continue to ride whilst preparing the breezers. 

However, the name Halpin will not be seen on a racecard anytime soon, with Friday's victory proving a timely tonic for the man sidelined with a fractured jaw.

He explained, “We've 11 in at the moment but there are a few more due back to us in the next few days and we will add another one or two in January. We are looking at having around 15 2-year-olds to breeze next year.

“Sean and I will consign under GS Bloodstock next year. It's exciting. Especially now that everything is cantering and broken in, we can see them progress. Unfortunately, I'm not riding them myself at the minute because I'm out of action with a fractured jaw, but I'm getting to see plenty on the ground.

“I think we've amassed a bunch of horses who are going to get to a good level. The Inns Of Court (Ire) colt that we bought at Doncaster has had three updates since we got him. He's now a half-brother to Believing (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who has done really well to be multiple stakes-placed for George Boughey and Highclere Thoroughbreds. 

“She's one we'll be keeping a close eye on next year. Mick Fitzpatrick sold her for 115,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale in April so, all things being equal, we'd be hoping to get our own lad to the Craven safe and sound.”

On the rest of the breeze-up battalion, he added, “We've a lovely Cotai Glory (GB) colt who we gave €65,000 for at Tattersalls Ireland. He was consigned by Tally-Ho and is out of a half-sister to Fairyland (Ire). He's going to be exciting. 

“We've been sent a Kodiac (GB) filly who's out of a half-sister to Middle Park S. winner Supremacy (Ire) and there's a nice Dandy Man (Ire) colt from the family of Slade Power (Ire). We've a nice bunch and there's a couple of others there as well.”

Asked how riding winners compares with producing them, Halpin said, “It's totally different. It's a different feeling altogether. Your judgment is on the line–you are telling people what you think the horses can do and it's important that they back you up. As a jockey, your judgment has to be right when you ride a horse work or ride it in a race, your feedback has to be good. This is a little bit more added pressure. It's a different sort of pressure.”

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It is no surprise that New Approach and Dawn Approach, as well as Bolger's “favourite sire” Teofilo (Ire), will feature prominently in his 2022 mating plans. But Bolger is also mixing in some young, fast sires to inject some speed into his families.

Bolger, who on Christmas Day celebrated his 80th birthday, explained that while he “would have a good idea” at this point as to his mating plans, he doesn't set them in stone until after his mares foal.

“Because I have access to so many stallions, and some of them we would have used in the last covering season, we're waiting to have a look at the foals first,” he said.

Looking for “speed up to a mile”, Bolger said, he will send eight mares to leading third-crop sire Mehmas (Ire) in 2022. Also fitting that bill on his list are Profitable (Ire), Galileo Gold (Ire), Blue Point (Ire), Belardo (Ire) and Space Blues (Ire).

“We used to be told–though I don't hear so much about it in recent years–that when you're breeding staying horses you need to go back to speed every now and then,” Bolger said. “It may not get you a great result in the first instance, but the progeny of the progeny of the speed attempt could be capable of getting you a Classic horse. In recent years some of the owner/breeders have been sending their Oaks winners to Derby winners and they seem to be making out alright. Whether that will continue now or not, I just don't know. I suspect that sometime in the future with those sorts of families that those breeders will be going back and trying to inject some speed.”

Darley's G1 King's Stand S. winner Profitable was fourth on last year's first-season sires' table and sired three stakes winners, including the G2 Queen Mary S. scorer Quick Suzy (Ire).

“Profitable doesn't have a terribly strong pedigree himself except that he's by a very good sire and a sire of sires,” Bolger said. “He's a gorgeous horse and a very good mover, and was a very good racehorse himself.”

G1 Dewhurst S. and G1 Lockinge S. winner Belardo got off to a fast start in 2020, siring four first-crop stakes winners. The Kildangan Stud resident was quieter in 2021, with just one black-type winner, but the son of Lope De Vega has started 2022 on the right note with Bellabel (Ire) winning the Listed Blue Norther S. at Santa Anita.

“He's a nice horse,” Bolger said of Belardo. “I trained some of his family and I liked them. I felt he was a horse with a chance, so much so that I bought a share in him, and I'll continue to use the share.”

Another young Kildangan stallion that will get Bolger's support this year is the four-time middle-distance Group 1 winner and 2020 world's highest-rated horse Ghaiyyath (Ire). Bolger said he has selected the son of Dubawi (Ire) based on his racecourse merits, and also to save face with Ghaiyyath's breeder.

“He's a world champion, so why wouldn't you use him?” Bolger reasoned. “Plus, if I don't use him, Dermot Weld won't talk to me again.”

Bolger will also support a pair of young Newmarket-based stallions in Time Test (GB), the sire of four first-crop stakes winners last year, and Masar (Ire), the son of his Derby winner New Approach who has his first yearlings next year. Bolger said he has earmarked a mare by Sea The Stars he purchased at the December Sales for Time Test.

“I'm doing something that I don't tend to do, and I'm going with the mob,” Bolger said. “Time Test is one of the talking horses at the moment, and he has got off to a great start, so it would seem to be not a very big risk, and he's a great-looking horse.”

Masar won the G3 Solario S. at two and was a first Derby winner in the Godolphin blue at three, in addition to winning the G3 Craven S.

“He's a very good-looking horse himself and a very good-moving horse,” Bolger said. “You don't need me to tell you about his racing achievements, but I think he's a horse that could do very well. I'm very happy to use him; I'll be guaranteed to get horses that will be effective beyond a mile.”

Bolger will send 12 mares to his former star pupil New Approach, who like his son Masar resides at Dalham Hall Stud. Bolger is responsible for breeding and training New Approach's only two multiple Group 1 winners, Dawn Approach and Mac Swiney, and Dawn Approach, who started his stud career at Kildangan, was brought back to Bolger's Redmondstown Stud last year just months before Poetic Flare recorded his Group 1 double. Despite that, Bolger said there hasn't been much outside interest in Dawn Approach, a reality that suits him just fine.

“I don't know the reason for that, but I don't mind having the sole rights, so to speak,” he said. “It suits me fine to be able to send so many mares to him.” Bolger said he is expecting 2022 to be another good year for Dawn Approach; he has 12 to 15 homebred 2-year-olds by him in the yard, as well as others for clients. “I have a nice crop by him so I'm expecting him to do well,” he said.

The same goes for Teofilo, who will get 25 Bolger mares at Kildangan.

“He's given me two Classic winners already and I'm expecting to do well with his progeny this year,” Bolger said. “I have 2-year-olds by him and some 3-year-olds that didn't get the business done at two, so I'd be looking forward to a very good year with them.”

Bolger's stallion selections for 2022 are completed by Parish Hall (Ire), Vocalised and Verbal Dexterity (Ire), who stand at Redmondstown alongside Dawn Approach and will get “a few mares each.” And given Bolger's habit of drawing the very best from his stock as both a breeder and a trainer, any of them are fair game to produce the next big horse from Coolcullen.

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With the numbers for 2021 tallied, this group actually appears to be a deep one, with plenty of them having done enough to go into their second years with a legitimate shot to still make it as a sire. While the last two cohorts produced runaway leaders in Mehmas (Ire) and Night Of Thunder (Ire), this year the riches were much more spread out among a group of promising young horses.

Cotai Glory (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) was leading first-season sire of 2021 by winners (35), wins (55), black-type horses (8) and earnings in Europe (£796,103), just shading the expatriated Caravaggio (Scat Daddy). The latter's four stakes winners were headed by the G1 Cheveley Park S. victress Tenebrism (Ire), and also included the G2 Debutante S. and G3 Silver Flash S.-winning and G1 Moyglare Stud S. second Agartha (Ire). Caravaggio has two more Irish-conceived crops to come; he was expatriated to Coolmore's Kentucky satellite Ashford Stud last year and will stand for $35,000 in 2022.

Overbury Stud's Ardad (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) was quick to make his mark last season, and he wrapped up the year with 23 winners and two stakes winners: the G1 Middle Park S., G1 Prix Morny and G2 Norfolk S. winner Perfect Power (GB), and the G3 Sirenia S. scorer Eve Lodge (GB). Ardad also had the G2 Coventry S. third Vintage Clarets (GB). It will be interesting to see how Ardad's progeny develop: he himself won the G2 Flying Childers S. at two but failed to flourish at three. His dam only ran at two but her sire, Red Clubs (Ire), was a Coventry winner who trained on to be a group winner at three and a Group 1 winner at four. Should Ardad's progeny continue their upward trajectory, the breeders who sent 138 mares to him last year at a fee of £4,000 could be handsomely rewarded at the sales. Ardad is up to £12,500 this year.

The nod for leading European-based first-season sire by stakes winners last year went to the National Stud's Time Test (GB) with four. Two of those four were group winners, but Time Test's highest-rated runner thus far is actually the group-placed Sunset Shiraz (Ire), who was placed in the G1 Moyglare Stud S., G2 Debutante S., G3 Park S. and Listed Staffordstown Stud S. last year before breaking her maiden in her seventh start. She is clearly a filly with plenty of ability, and Time Test himself, like his damsire Dansili (GB), was an excellent runner without being a Group 1 winner. A triple group winner and dual Group 1-placed, Time Test stood his first four seasons at the National Stud for £8,500, and is up to £15,000 this year.

Time Test was one of two outstanding sons of Dubawi in this cohort, the other being the Aga Khan's homebred G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud scorer Zarak (Fr). France's leading first-season sire, Zarak sired two stakes winners last year but like Time Test, his highest-earning horse is not yet a black-type winner: that is Purplepay (Fr), who was third in the G1 Criterium International last year before selling to American owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson for €2-million at Arqana's December Sale. After standing his first four seasons for €12,000, Zarak jumps to €25,000 for 2022 and is booked full. Standing for the same fee is Coolmore's Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who sired three listed winners last year. And though the four-time Group 1 winner and dual Classic winner has not yet provided a pattern-race winner, there is reason to believe there is more to come: Churchill sired more runners rated 100+ by Racing Post ratings last year (6) in this cohort, with an additional four rated 90+.

Profitable (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), as his name suggests, was fast out of the gates with his first runners last spring, and he wound up the year with three stakes winners-and two stakes placed–and 29 overall winners, headed by the G2 Queen Mary S. winner Quick Suzy (Ire). Profitable has been one of the busiest sires of this group and after dipping slightly to €10,000 last year, is up to a career-high €12,500 for 2022.

G1 Prix de la Foret victor Aclaim (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) was busy churning out winners last year, his 27 leaving him not far from the top of the table, and he is available for £6,000 at the National Stud. Ribchester (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) turned out a noteworthy three 'TDN Rising Stars' in his first year with runners, in addition to the Listed Doncaster S. winner Flaming Rib (Ire), and the four-time Group 1-winning miler is down to a career-low €12,500 in 2022.

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze – El Kabeir (Scat Daddy): Caravaggio wasn't the only son of Scat Daddy to jump up in this group: there was also El Kabeir, Yeomanstown Stud's American purchase who made a big early impression with three stakes winners among his 14 winners. Those were headed by the G2 Gran Criterium scorer Don Chicco (Ire), and El Kabeir also had Harrow (Ire) and Rerouting (Ire) placed respectively in the G3 Tattersalls S. and G3 Solario S. last year. Another indication of the quality of El Kabeir's stock is that he had four runners rated 100+ by RPR last year; a number bettered only by Churchill and Galileo Gold in this group. A Grade II winner at two who trained on to win a Grade III at three, El Kabeir remains at €6,000 in 2022, the same fee at which he stood last year and down slightly from the €8,000 he cost his first three years.

Silver – Galileo Gold (Ire) (Paco Boy {Ire}): In addition to his studmate Cotai Glory, Galileo Gold has provided Tally-Ho Stud with a formidable duo in this sire crop. Like Ardad and Time Test, Galileo Gold provided two group winners last year, and he, Ardad and Caravaggio were the only sires in this group to provide a Group 1 winners in their first season with runners, his being the hardy and admirable G1 Phoenix S. winner and G1 National S. third Ebro River (Ire), while the filly Oscula won the G3 Prix Six Perfections and was placed in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac, G2 Rockfel S., G2 Prix du Calvados, and G3 Albany S.-those two started a noteworthy nine and 10 times, respectively, last year. Galileo Gold won the G2 Vintage S. and was third in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at two before winning the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S. at three, and his stock look like they have the scope to train on, with five achieving RPRs of 100+ already. A close relative of the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Goldream (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) from the family of Montjeu (Ire), Galileo Gold stands for €7,000, having dipped to €5,000 in 2021.

Gold – Cotai Glory (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}): this year's leading first-season sire by earnings, winners, wins and black-type horses gains another plaudit by picking up the gold medal on the TDN Value Sires Podium. Cotai Glory melds influences of class and toughness, being by Exceed and Excel out of a daughter of Elusive Quality-also the broodmare sire of successful sires No Nay Never and Deep Field (Aus)-and Cotai Glory exhibited those traits himself, running 30 times across four seasons. He won black-type races in each of his first three seasons and was Group 1-placed at four and five, including when a neck second to Profitable in the G1 King's Stand S. In addition to having three runners rated 100+ by RPR, Cotai Glory has seven rated 90+, providing hope that they, like he, will train on. Cotai Glory is up to a career-high, but still highly reasonable, €8,500 for 2022.

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Bought by Michael Aguiar for just 4,000gns at Book 4 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year, Oscula has made 10 starts this year in the Nick Bradley Racing silks, finishing off the board just twice. In addition to her aforementioned highlights, Oscula also won Epsom's Woodcote S. and was placed in the G3 Albany S., G2 Prix du Calvados and G2 Rockfel S.

Oscula is from the family of G2 Mill Reef S. winner Galeota (Ire), as well as the Group 3-winning siblings Brown Sugar (Ire) and Burnt Sugar (Ire), and this year's G2 Mill Reef S. winner Wings Of War (Ire).

Breeze Easy was a 30,000gns Tattersalls October Book 2 yearling and was pinhooked for £240,000 at Goresbridge in June. She broke her maiden going six furlongs at Carlisle in August and has since placed in York's Listed Rockingham S. on Oct. 9 and Newbury's Listed Radley S. on Oct. 23.

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A shade over €3-million was added to the coffers on Friday when 150 of the 162 yearlings offered sold, bringing the two-day aggregate to €6,967,300. The cumulative average jumped 41% to €20,674, while the cumulative median rose 45% to €16,000. Last year at Doncaster, 67.7% of the offerings sold for an aggregate of £2,468,900, an average of £13,345 and a median of £10,000. The sale was up, too, on the 2019 renewal, the last time it was staged at Kildare Paddocks and before the pandemic hit: that year, 283 were sold for €4,854,900, at an average of €17,155 and a median of €13,000.

British-based agent Alex Elliott and American-based agent Ben McElroy were active at both Orby and Sportsman's, and they were the purchasers of Friday's most expensive lot, lot 719, a €100,000 colt by Belardo (Ire) who is bound for the U.S.

“He's going to Wesley Ward and the aim will be Royal Ascot so expect to see him at Keeneland next April,” said Elliott. The first foal out of the winning Tough Spirit (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}) was offered by his breeder Denis McDonnell's Parkway Farm. McDonnell had purchased Tough Spirit carrying this colt for €40,000 at Goffs November in 2019.

The strength of the sale continued through to the very end, with the third-last lot through the ring commanding the session's second-highest price of €95,000. That was lot 854, a colt by Galileo Gold (Ire) from Vinesgrove Stud, and he was bought by Peter Nolan Bloodstock with trainer Noel Meade. Nolan outbid Tally-Ho Stud, which stands the young Group 1 sire Galileo Gold.

“We thought he was the outstanding horse of the day but we didn't intend giving that for him,” Nolan admitted. “We took on Tony O'Callaghan so we knew we were in the right ballpark then. He's a beautiful horse and the second one by the sire we have bought this year and we love him. He's for an existing owner in Noel's and hopefully he'll be lucky.”

All horses sold through the Sportsman's Sale were eligible for the 2022 €100,000 Goffs Sportsman's Challenge, which will be run at Naas over six furlongs in September, and that is the race trainer Johnny Murtagh is targeting for lot 831, a New Bay (GB) colt he picked up on behalf of Tony Smurfit for €75,000. The colt is a half-brother to two listed-placed horses, including this year's Coral Distaff and Flying Fillies' S. third Glesga Gal (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

“He is a brother to a good horse and we are excited by him,” Murtagh said. “He looks a sharp 2-year-old type and one we will aim at the Sportsman's Challenge race. He comes from a good farm and we are very happy with the horses we have bought here this week.”

Upon conclusion of the Sportsman's Sale, Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby said, “And it rolled on. We are delighted that the Sportsman's Sale continued the vibrancy and tone of the Orby Sale with two days of strong, vibrant and lively trade. Once again we are indebted to our vendors who backed the sale with a really good commercial catalogue and were rewarded by a huge crowd of potential purchasers hungry to buy from start to finish. They were attracted by the individuals, the addition of the €100,000 Sportsman's Challenge and the added bonus of the superb new IRE Incentive Scheme that provided €10,000 vouchers only redeemable at Irish yearling sales to the winners of a bunch of races throughout the season. This excellent initiative has made a major impact and encouraged trainers in particular to engage with the Sportsman's Sale which is to the benefit of Irish breeders who chose the second part of The Irish National Yearling Sale for their yearlings.

“Once again this week has clearly demonstrated that Goffs can and will provide a vibrant market for every level of yearling from the blue bloods at the top across the spectrum to the sharp commercial types often referred to as 'trainers' yearlings.' Of course, Orby was headed by the millionaires but it is equally pleasing to see Sportsman's topped by a trio of six figure lots which drove the huge rises in each statistic. We are grateful to every vendor and each purchaser and have been so pleased to welcome new faces here for the Sportsman's Sale to join those who stayed after Orby. All of them have been enticed by the Purchaser Attraction Team at Goffs, our network of international agents and the proactive team at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing. These three groups combine sale after sale in a way that is quite unique and ensures that our clients are able to conduct their business in the most customer friendly sales complex whilst enjoying the kind of welcome that can only be found in Ireland.”

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Any amount of time spent on the Knavesmire is time well spent indeed, and you really could have picked any of the days of the Ebor meeting to be able to enjoy a proper feature race with intrigue and stars aplenty. Even the queue for the bus to the track from the train station provided a level of fun. A group of men of advanced years huddled together like schoolboys, copies of the Racing Post tucked under their arms, clearly relishing the prospect of a midweek day at the races. When the bus arrived, they rushed for the long bench seat at the back, always the preserve of the naughtiest in class, and with a full load of passengers chattering about their fancies for the day, our chariot trundled off to the track. 

Clarehaven Resurgent

Thady Gosden's name was added to his father's training licence just ahead of the start of the turf season in Britain and though the stable played a less prominent role in the Classics than is usually to be expected, it has now clicked into top gear. 

A stellar run was launched eight days ago in Deauville, where Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) landed his second G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois, swiftly followed by the G3 Prix Minerve victory for George Strawbridge's Free Wind (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Further big guns were wheeled out for York, with the mighty Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) sparking endless 'Is he the best in the world?' debates with his visually impressive first Group 1 victory in Britain in the Juddmonte International. 

Whether he is the best or not will be settled at the end of the year in the international rankings–and even then the debate will likely rage on. What can be said with some certainty is that Mishriff is the most versatile at the highest level, with his wins coming on the Riyadh dirt track over nine furlongs in the Saudi Cup, the Meydan turf over 12 furlongs, and now 10.5 furlongs at York, not forgetting his Classic win at Chantilly last season. Victory at the Breeders' Cup–or even in Japan, as has been mooted, with that tempting $3 million bonus on offer–would go a long way to settling the argument once and for all.

While Palace Pier and Mishriff have strong claims to being the best in their divisions, the king of the stayers is still Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). It is to be hugely regretted that the half-brothers Subjectivist (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Sir Ron Priestley (GB) (Australia {GB}) are both sidelined with injuries as this has undoubtedly weakened the staying division in the second half of the season. But the 7-year-old stallion Stradivarius proved that even if the years have blunted his game a little, he has lost none of his will to win. Arguably, he's at his best when he has to knuckle down and fight, and this is exactly what he did when dispatching the Yorkshire Cup winner Spanish Mission (Noble Mission) on his return to the Knavesmire. 

With a race record that now includes three Ascot Gold Cups, four Goodwood Cups, three Lonsdale Cups, two Yorkshire Cups and a Doncaster Cup, Stradivarius is truly one of the modern wonders of the Flat scene. We must continue to enjoy him while we can.

Arise, Sir John?

We already have Sir Mark and Sir Michael in Newmarket; could Sir John be next? If the Gosdens manage to turn the impressive G3 Solario S. winner Reach For The Moon (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) into a Classic winner for his breeder The Queen in her Platinum Jubilee year then surely a further mention in the honours' list could be on the cards for Gosden senior, who was awarded an OBE in 2017.

The Queen was just 25 when she acceded to the British throne in  February 1952. Her coronation took place the following June, on what would have been Derby day, with the great race moved back to the Saturday to allow for the royal festivities. The celebrations within the royal household would have been greater still had the Queen's Derby contender Aureole (GB) not been beaten into second by Pinza (GB). More recently, the Queen's colours have been carried in the Derby by the Darley-bred Carlton House, a gift from Sheikh Mohammed, who was third behind Pour Moi (Ire) in 2011. Who would begrudge racing's greatest patron a Derby winner in the year she celebrates her extraordinary longevity as monarch? 

Bred on the Sea The Stars-Sadler's Wells cross, Reach For The Moon's pedigree echoes that of the former Gosden trainee and Oaks winner Taghrooda (GB), and the Solario has good form of late for being won by some pretty special horses, including the Gosden-trained trio of Raven's Pass, Kingman (GB) and Too Darn Hot (GB), not to mention the 2018 Derby winner Masar (Ire).

Next June is an awful long way off in racing terms, but the prospect of Reach For The Moon giving the sport widespread publicity during the year-long jubilee celebrations is an enticing one.

The form of the Chesham S. now has a pleasingly solid look to it, with Reach For The Moon and Great Max (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who finished second and third to Point Lonsdale (Ire) (Australia {GB}), each finishing one place better in the Solario, while the Chesham winner continued his unbeaten passage with victory in the G2 Galileo Irish EBF Futurity S., having previously landed the G3 JRA Tyros S. The Chesham fifth Masekela (Ire) (El Kabeir) has gone on to win the Listed Denford S., and the seventh-placed New Science (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) subsequently returned to Ascot to win the Listed Pat Eddery S.

Power Play

Fillies filled four of the first six places in the G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S., and while Suesa (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) was favoured to follow up on her Goodwood triumph, it was Winter Power (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}) who went the early pace with Wesley Ward's Golden Pal (Uncle Mo), surging straight as an arrow down the centre of the track. As the American raider weakened and wobbled from his early blitz, Winter Power continued to blast home unchallenged to set the seal on a memorable week for her trainer Tim Easterby at one of his local tracks.

There was doubtless much celebration across the Irish Sea in various households of the Burns family, too. For her breeder Patrick Burns it was both a wonderful triumph and huge update for the full-brother to Winter Power that his Newlands House Stud is preparing to send to the Goffs Orby Sale. And for Patrick's brother Maurice, Winter Power became the first Group 1 winner for her speedy sire Bungle Inthejungle, who stands at the family's Rathasker Stud.

Good Week For Coolmore Clan

Wootton Bassett, who lent his name to the Nunthorpe, also enjoyed some success on the Knavesmire with two stakes-winning juveniles. Royal Patronage (Fr) may have been the least fancied of the quintet who lined up for the G3 Tattersalls Acomb S. but he has progressed nicely from his novice win at Epsom to give trainer Mark Johnston back-to-back wins in the race following the victory of Gear Up (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) last year.

On Saturday it was the turn of Steve Parkin's homebred Attagirl (GB), conceived while Wootton Bassett was still standing in France but born and trained in Yorkshire. She bounced out of her narrow defeat the previous week in the listed St Hugh's S. at Newbury to land the listed Julia Graves Roses S., doubtless giving her breeder extra cause for celebration at his favourite meeting of the year. 

Wootton Bassett's week was just a nostril away from ending on a high when his star daughter Audarya (Fr) was denied her second win in the G1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet when Grand Glory (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) snatched victory from her on the line in Deauville.

Caravaggio moved from Coolmore's Irish base to Ashford Stud for the most recent stud season but he is creeping up the freshman sires' table in Europe with three stakes winners to his name already, including Saturday's smooth G2 Debutante S. winner Agartha (Ire).

He's not the only son of Scat Daddy on a roll as No Nay Never is enjoying a terrific season, with Alcohol Free (Ire) as his 3-year-old poster girl and the increasingly impressive G2 Lowther S. winner Zain Claudette (Ire) the star of his juvenile crop.

Ho Ho Ho

Tally-Ho Stud is an unstoppable force this season, both as breeder and stallion master. Having had the record-breaking champion first-season sire of 2020 in Mehmas (Ire), who was represented by another top-flight winner over the weekend in the Nicky Hartery-bred GI Del Mar Oaks winner Going Global (Ire), Tally-Ho must now be odds-on to have this year's leading freshman sire.

Whether it will be Galileo Gold (GB) or Cotai Glory (GB) is hard to say. The latter is forging ahead with 23 winners, but Galileo Gold was the first of his peers to notch that all-important Group 1 winner. His leading son Ebro River (Ire), winner of the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S., was bred by Tally-Ho Stud, as was Lusail (Ire), who gave Mehmas back-to-back winners of the G2 Al Basti Equiworld Gimcrack S. and is owned, like Ebro River, by Al Shaqab Racing, which also campaigned the sires of both youngsters.

Further top-level success came on Sunday in the G1 Darley Prix Morny with the Tally-Ho-bred Perfect Power (Ire), who became a first Group 1 winner for his sire Ardad (Ire). Though Ardad is not a Tally-Ho stallion–he stands at Overbury Stud in England –he was however bred by the O'Callaghan family and reflects further glory on the Tally-Ho team as he is a son of its headline stallion Kodiac (GB).

The latter in turn is the sire of the Tally-Ho-bred G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Campanelle (Ire), who was also the winner of last season's Prix Morny. It is a race which has been a particularly successful one for Tally-Ho Stud, which also bred the 2008 winner Bushranger (Ire) and Unfortunately (Ire), who landed the 2017 running of the Morny. Those two colts were also by Tally-Ho stallions, the late Danetime (Ire) and Society Rock (Ire) respectively.

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He now leads the second-season sires' list in Europe and has accrued progeny earnings almost double his nearest rival, Territories (Ire). A further nine black-type winners have been added this year, including Saturday's G3 Anglesey S. winner Beauty Inspire (Ire) and Going Global (Ire), who has doubtless broadened Mehmas's international appeal by winning three graded stakes in California. 

Almost certain to try his hand next in stakes company will be Gubbass (Ire), of whom we will hear more in tomorrow's TDN, the unbeaten winner of the Weatherbys Super Sprint.

Mehmas's fee rose in line with that burgeoning reputation from his 2020 low of €7,500 to €25,000 (he began his career at €12,500). By all accounts, his book was not difficult to fill at that price. Quite the opposite in fact.

Cotai Glory (GB) joined the Tally-Ho roster the following year and, of the 85 named foals from his first crop, more than half of them have already made it to the racecourse: 46 at the time of writing, of which 21 are now winners.

Six of those winners came in an eye-catching week for the 9-year-old stallion, which also included a second group victory for Atomic Force (Ire), who has now landed the G2 Prix Robert Papin and G3 Prix du Bois from his two French forays. Trained by Kevin Ryan for Siu Pak Kwan, the juvenile was gelded after his runner-up finish on debut at Musselburgh and has won all three subsequent starts. Naturally, he is now ruled out of a stud career himself but that only means that, like his sire, Atomic Force could potentially have a fairly lengthy career, whether he remains in Europe or heads to Hong Kong, where his owner is also heavily involved.

Cotai Glory himself raced for four years, winning the G3 Molecomb S. in his debut season. The son of top dual-hemisphere sire Exceed And Excel (Aus) had the G2 Flying Childers S. at his mercy on his next start, only to jink within the final furlong and unship his rider George Baker. An out-and-out sprinter, he raced beyond the minimum trip only five times in his 30 starts, and ran his fellow freshman sire Profitable (Ire) to a neck when second in the G1 King's Stand S. as a 4-year-old.

Over the last few years, there has been a concerted push by French racing to encourage more British owners to race in France for improved prize-money. How much the pandemic and onerous restrictions have acted as a deterrent for owners who would be unable to travel to see their horses is unknown, but undoubtedly the double whammy of Covid and Brexit has led to a significant drop in horse movements between the UK and France. 

Ryan is one of those trainers who has persisted with travelling horses and now has two group wins to show for it, while Charlie Appleby landed last week's G1 Grand Prix de Paris in scintillating fashion with the Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}). 

Remarkably, the Robert Papin has been won by British-based trainers in nine of the last 10 years, and has only gone to a French trainer in 11 of the last 30 years. The first three home this time around were all trained outside France, with Italy's Vincenzo Fazio sending out the runner-up Baghed (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}) and George Boughey continuing his good season with the third-placed Hellomydarlin (GB). The latter represents another young Tally-Ho Stud resident, Galileo Gold (GB), who is alone among his peers in having sired two first-crop stakes winners to date in the listed winners Ebro River (Ire) and System (Ire). Both Hellomydarlin and Ebro River were bred by the O'Callaghans at Tally-Ho, as was Saturday's Redcar novice winner Uncs (Ire)–another from the Boughey stable.

Tally-Ho Stud can also claim some reflected praise from Cotai Glory's nearest challenger in the freshman sires' table, Ardad (Ire). The Overbury Stud stallion is currently leading the British charge and has similarly encouraging statistics in that he had only 63 named foals, 31 of which have run to date providing him with 14 winners including the G2 Norfolk S. winner Perfect Power (GB). He is trained by Richard Fahey, who also has Ardad's G2 Coventry S-placed Vintage Clarets (GB). Ardad was himself bred and breezed by Tally-Ho and is a son of the stud's flagship stallion Kodiac (GB), who is now in danger of being upstaged by some of his barn-mates.

Japan's Global Outlook

On the back of a strong Tattersalls July Sale in Newmarket, the JRHA's dominant Select Sale also returned a clearance rate of 93% and some eye-watering figures for its consecutive sessions of yearlings and foals in Hokkaido. The equivalent of roughly £150 million (€175 million) was spent across the two days, and though international participation is not necessarily a theme of the sale, particularly during the pandemic, there is no shortage of global interest when it comes to the bloodlines on offer. 

Even among just the top ten lots on each day, the foals and yearlings represented mares who had been recruited, usually by the Yoshida brothers, from around the world, including America, Australia, Argentina, Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.

Katsumi Yoshida also contributed last week to a new world record for the pandemic-inspired boom market of digital sales when buying the Australian Group 1 winner Funstar (Aus) (Adelaide {Ire}) for A$2.7 million. This made her the second highest-priced broodmare sold in Australia this year whether online or in person.

Yoshida's Northern Farm is also home to Funstar's fellow Group 1-winning half-sister Youngstar (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}) whom he acquired for A$1.4 million. Another of their half-sisters, the minor winner Baggy Green (Aus) (Galileo {Ire}), is the dam of the treble Group 1 winner Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}), and the family traces its way back through the first two generations at least, to Ireland and Britain.

The sisters are grand-daughters of Bill Gredley's User Friendly (GB) (Slip Anchor {GB}), who won the Oaks, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and St Leger and was second in the Arc through her outstanding Classic season. She was sold at the end of her racing career at Keeneland for $2.5 million to Kazuo Nakamura and her first two daughters, User History (Mr Prospector) and Lady Venus (Kingmambo), both ended up as broodmares in Japan. Resold four years later to Barronstown Stud for $1.7 million, User Friendly went on to produce seven winners in Europe, including Funstar's dam Starspangled (Ire) (Danehill).

The family has also been represented in Europe in recent seasons by the Gredleys' 2018 champion juvenile filly Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a grand-daughter of User Friendly's half-sister Friendlier (GB) (Zafonic).

Pure Anticipation

This Friday may provide a first chance to witness the latest runner from Ecurie des Monceaux's high-class broodmare Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

The chestnut filly Pure Dignity (GB), a Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to Arc winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and multiple Grade 1 winner Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), topped Arqana's Select Sale last September when sold to Fawzi Nass and Oliver St Lawrence for €2.5 million. She is now in training in Newmarket with Roger Varian for her owners HH Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa and KHK Racing and has her first entry at Ascot in the John Guest Racing British EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes on the opening day of the King George meeting.

Meanwhile, ongoing changes to restrictions, particularly between France and England, continues to make planning for the early part of the sales season a little fraught. Arqana's flagship August Yearling Sale had to be delayed last year until September and was thus renamed the Select Sale. The British government's announcement on Friday that travellers returning from France will have to undergo 10 days' quarantine and PCR testing threw a spanner in the works just ahead of so-called Freedom Day.

It is possible to attend both Arqana and the Goffs UK Premier Sale, which starts a week after the end of the August Sale and six days after Arqana's V.2 if taking up the test-to-release option after five days of quarantine, which of course comes at another extra cost. However, the rules are set to be reviewed once more at the beginning of August, so there is still hope that the 10-day quarantine, which does not apply to other countries on the UK's 'amber list' of foreign destinations, is removed before the European sales season gets underway. 

At least there is now free movement between Britain and Ireland. Long may that last, especially when it comes to offering some sort of stability for those sales companies and consignors trying to finalise yearling plans.

Royal Flush

The Queen may have only made it to her beloved Royal Ascot for the final day of the meeting but her horses are ensuring that she is enjoying a throughly decent season even if she cannot be on track. Tactical (GB) (Toronado {Ire}), King's Lynn (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) and Light Refrain (GB) (Frankel {GB}) are all homebred listed winners in the royal silks this year, with the latter also winning the G3 Summer S. on her latest outing on July 9.

On Friday, The Queen was represented by three runners from three different stables at Newbury and Newmarket, and all returned victorious, including Portfolio (Jpn), a daughter of Japan's late champion sire Deep Impact (Jpn) out of the listed winner Diploma (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) who has won her last two starts for Sir Michael Stoute. 

McCain Girls Chip In

Donald McCain may have trained a Grand National winner of his own and been closely connected to the most famous Grand National horse of all time through his father's training of Red Rum (GB), but a Class 6 handicap and a maiden hurdle on July 14 nevertheless combined to provide an equally special day.

McCain's two daughters, Abbie and Ella, have both pursued a career in the saddle, with Abbie currently riding as a conditional over jumps and Ella as an apprentice on Flat. Last Wednesday, the stable's two winners at Uttoxeter and Ripon were each ridden by a McCain.

The trainer tweeted, “2 daughters, 2 rides, 2 codes, flat and jumps, 2 winners!! A very proud day.” Rightly so.

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As Roger O'Callaghan of Tally-Ho Stud said on Thursday afternoon, “Royal Ascot is very important. This week can make the horses.”

And the O'Callaghan family has reason to be doubly pleased with the way the races have fallen so far this week. Their own first-season sire Cotai Glory (GB), who has already notched 10 individual winners, has had two black-type performers this week, with Eldrickjones (Ire) finishing second in the G2 Coventry S. and Dig Two (Ire) taking the same spot in the listed Windsor Castle S. Tally-Ho Stud also featured as the breeder of G2 Norfolk S. winner Perfect Power (Ire), the first Group winner for Overbury Stud's freshman Ardad (Ire), himself a Royal Ascot winner who was also bred by the O'Callaghans and is yet another exciting young sire son for the Tally-Ho stalwart Kodiac (GB).

“It went from being a nearly week to a very pleasing week,” O'Callaghan added. “It's very satisfying to see all the hard work bearing fruit.”

There could yet be more excitement to come for the team as Cotai Glory's stud-mate Galileo Gold (GB)–the first of this season's freshmen to post a stakes winner with the Tally-Ho Stud-bred Ebro River (Ire)–has two runners in Friday's G3 Albany S. in the Woodcote S. winner Oscula (Ire) and Hellomydarlin (Ire).

Meanwhile, Ardad continues to heap reflected glory on Tally-Ho as well as bringing big smiles to the faces of the team at Overbury Stud in Gloucestershire. The winner of the Windsor Castle S. in 2016, followed by the G2 Flying Childers S., Ardad is out in front in the table and his week started with a 12th individual winner in the debutant Najat at Thirsk on Tuesday for the stallion's racing owner Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah. This was followed by a third-place finish an hour or so later from dual winner Vintage Clarets (GB) in the G2 Coventry S. Better was to come on Thursday, however, with Perfect Power's determined last-gasp victory in the Norfolk. The latter result also brought a touch of deja vu for Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock, who bought Perfect Power from Tally-Ho Stud at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale, just as he had done with Ardad.

“Ardad has covered 145 mares now this season and 100 of those have been booked since the beginning of April,” said Overbury Stud's Simon Sweeting. “It's beyond our imagination that he could have started as well as this and he has another good chance at Ascot tomorrow [Friday] with Eve Lodge.”

Darley's Profitable (Ire) was represented in impressive fashion by Quick Suzy on Wednesday, who became his first Group winner in the G2 Queen Mary S. when leading home Twilight Gleaming (Ire), an American-trained daughter of the Irish National Stud's National Defense (GB).

Still to come at Ascot this week are the Albany S., which features the aforementioned Eve Lodge, Hellomydarlin and Oscula, as well as the impressive recent Newmarket winner Cachet (GB), by the National Stud's Aclaim (Ire), and Elliptic (Ire), a daughter of Coolmore's Caravaggio.

Among the line-up for Saturday's listed Chesham S. are Goodwood novice winner Masekela (Ire), a colt by another young son of Scat Daddy in the Yeomanstown Stud resident El Kabeir, as well as Withering, by the now French-based Mondialiste (Ire).

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As he continues his retirement, so does his legacy gain momentum. A few months before Pivotal was retired, his son Siyouni (Fr) had been crowned champion sire in his native France for the first time. The Aga Khan Studs stallion had only missed out on earning that title in the two previous seasons to Galileo (Ire) and Nathaniel (Ire), respectively the sires of the high-earning Arc winners Waldgeist (GB) and Enable (GB) in those two years. Then Siyouni got his own Arc winner, Sottsass (Fr), augmenting a profile which already had a properly classy look to it.

In each of the last four seasons, Siyouni has been responsible for a French Classic winner. His first-crop daughter Ervedya (Fr) had actually got the ball rolling in 2015, winning the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches for her and her sire's breeder the Aga Khan. A little gap ensued, but Le Brivido (Fr) was soon knocking on the door, and was only a short-head away from claiming the Poule d'Essai des Poulains two years later when being so narrowly beaten by Brametot (Ire).

Then came Laurens (Fr) to claim the Prix de Diane as one of her six Group 1 victories in France, Britain and Ireland, starting a Classic run which was continued by Sottsass in the Prix du Jockey Club of 2019, Dream And Do (Fr) in last year's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches before the 2020 European champion 2-year-old St Mark's Basilica (Fr) made good on his juvenile promise to land the Poulains for Aidan O'Brien and the Coolmore team. 

Of course Siyouni can't take all the credit here, as St Mark's Basilica's Group 3-winning dam Cabaret (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has already shown herself to be a producer par excellence for Australian breeder Bob Scarborough via her son Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), winner of the 2000 Guineas in 2019. This repeats the cross seen to good effect in Sottsass, who is out of arguably the most celebrated active broodmare in France, Starlet's Sister (Ire). 

Doubling up on Danzig has done no harm in the case of Laurens and Dream And Do, while Siyouni's other top-level winner, the GI EP Taylor S. victrix Etoile (Fr), is out of a mare by Authorized (Ire) and is, like Laurens, inbred 4×4 to Danzig. A similar cross to this is found in the Siyouni 2-year-old Kaltham (Fr), a daughter of dual Arc winner Treve (Fr), who is by another Derby-winning son of Montjeu (Ire) in Motivator (GB).

Like Pivotal before him, Siyouni started out at stud standing for a relatively small fee of €7,000, which has gradually climbed to €140,000, making him the most expensive stallion in France, just as his own sire was in Britain when Pivotal's covering price climbed to £85,000 in 2007 and 2008. In both cases, lofty reputations look to be well earned.

Spanish Super Sub

For Basque-born jockey Ioritz Mendizabal, the Covid-19 pandemic has been both a blessing and a curse. Last July, when travel restrictions meant that neither David Egan nor Frankie Dettori could make the trip to Chantilly, he won his first Classic aboard Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club for Britain's champion trainer John Gosden.

Mendizabal's good season continued when he rode Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) to victory in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet for James Fanshawe, but he was then prevented from travelling to Keeneland to ride her in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf after testing positive for Covid. The now-suspended Pierre-Charles Boudot picked up the winning ride on Audarya in America, but fortune swung back in Mendizabal's favour when Ireland's champion Aidan O'Brien came calling on Friday for him to take the ride on St Mark's Basilica. 

“Winning the Guineas is fantastic,” the jockey told Jour de Galop. “But you cannot know the emotion of even having your name in the same line in the race card as Aidan O'Brien. He is the best trainer in the world. I knew I was going to ride St Mark's Basilica on Friday at 2pm and it was extremely satisfying that Aidan O'Brien called on me.”

Wow Takes A Bow

In his short racing career, The Wow Signal (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), an early star of the now-defunct Ascot Breeze-up Sale, went from winning an Ayr maiden to success in the G2 Coventry S. and G1 Darley Prix Morny, to finishing last in the G1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and then out. 

His stud career was similarly short-lived. From covering 40 mares at Haras de Bouquetot in 2017 and 12 the following season, The Wow Signal's poor fertility meant that he had only 15 registered foals in France before he died from laminitis in the spring of 2018.

From a family which includes Shadwell's Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Ta Rib (Mr Prospector), The Wow Signal now has his own posthumous winner of that same race despite his seriously limited opportunities. Coeursamba (Fr) was bred by three members of the Mestrallet family, including Julie Mestrallet, who consigns at the French sales under the name of her Haras de l'Aumonerie. She owns only two broodmares, with the Quesnay-bred Marechale (Fr) (Anabaa), the dam of Coeursamba, being the first bought by Mestrallet from a claiming race in the French provinces. 

When The Wow Signal won the Coventry he was following something of a Royal Ascot tradition for his sireline. His sire Starspangledbanner won the G1 Golden Jubilee S. on his second start for Aidan O'Brien after moving from the Australian stable of Leon Corstens, and in turn his father Choisir (Aus) had been the poster boy that opened the floodgates for Australian sprinters heading to the Royal meeting, having won both the King's Stand and the Golden Jubilee back in 2003.

Starspangledbanner was also famously subfertile in his early years at stud but a combination of patience and good management has seen him continue his stallion career while remaining popular with commercial breeders. 

He too was represented among the stakes winners over the weekend when the Fozzy Stack-trained juvenile Hermana Estrella (Ire) landed the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies' Sprint S. on debut, with the horses in behind her including favourite Contarelli Chapel (Ire) (Caravaggio), who had earned a TDN Rising Star for her own impressive debut success three weeks earlier.

Bred by Mark and Aisling Gittins at Castlefarm Stud from The Last Sister (Ire), a daughter of the Gittins family's G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Lord Shanakill, Hermana Estrella had been sold as a foal for just 2,500gns. She transpired to be a profitable pinhook for Timmy Hillman of Castledillon Stud, who resold her as a yearling for £42,000 to her trainer and Hubie de Burgh at last year's relocated Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

The family has worked well with that sireline in the past as The Last Sister's half-sister Lady Springbank (Ire) is a dual Group 3-winning daughter of Choisir. Hermana Estrella may now be given her own chance at Royal Ascot in the G3 Albany S.

Snowfall On The Knavesmire

We usually expect to see something special at York in the spring and indeed both formal Classic trials threw up decent winners. Galileo was the broodmare sire of yet another European Classic winner at ParisLongchamp on Sunday and he could yet chalk up further success in this realm in the coming weeks with Snowfall (Jpn), who was highly impressive in winning the G3 Tattersalls Musidora S. Like Saxon Warrior (Jpn) before her, she is bred on the Deep Impact (Jpn)-Galileo cross. Her mother fell somewhat short of her lofty name of Best In The World (Ire), and in fact she herself finished last in the Musidora in 2016. She did, however, later collect the G3 Give Thanks S. As a full-sister to Arc winner Found (Ire) and a daughter of Group 1 winner Red Evie (Ire) (Intikhab), Best In The World of course had plenty to recommend her, and her first foal is now second-favourite behind stablemate Santa Barbara (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) for the Cazoo Oaks.

The Dante meeting also proved to be a highly successful one for trainer Ed Walker, who has a crack sprinter on his hands in Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}). The 4-year-old is still lightly raced and has been beaten just once in his five starts for owner/breeder David Ward, who bought his dam Northern Star (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale for €50,000 through Ed Sackville. She won just once but has already produced two stakes performers with her first two foals. Sadly, the mare died after producing a Kingman (GB) filly, named Lodestar (GB), in 2018.

Northern Star's first foal, Sunday Star (GB) (Kodiac {GB}), is a dual winner with multiple stakes placings, including finishing third in the G3 Summer Fillies' S. at York last season. Starman is smarter still and now has two Group 1 sprint entries at Royal Ascot.

Sackville also did Ward a favour when selecting Primo Bacio (Ire) at Tattersalls October Book 1 two years ago from her breeder Kildaragh Stud. A winner last December on her fourth start for Walker, the daughter of Awtaad (Ire) has taken major strides forward in her 3-year-old season and, following a first-up fourth in the G3 Fred Darling S., she now has bold black type thanks to her three-length win in the Oaks Farm Stables Fillies' S., which is run in memory of the late racing journalist Michael Seely.

Primo Bacio's victory not only completed a double for Walker and Ward, but also initiated a stakes double last week for her Derrinstown Stud-based sire Awtaad. Both she and the Sir Edmund Loder homebred Bellosa (Ire), who won the listed Betway King Charles S. at Newmarket on Saturday, are members of the Irish 2000 Guineas winner's first crop, as is last season's Leopardstown winner Ebeko (Ire). The latter was subsequently exported to California, where she won the listed Zuma Beach S. for trainer Peter Miller.

Rising Stars Of The Stud Ranks

There has been plenty of activity in the European first-season sires' table over the last week. Overbury Stud's Ardad (Ire) doubled his tally of winners to eight, with Beautiful Sunshine (GB) and Superior Force (GB) among those to have added to the impressive run for the partnership of trainer George Boughey with Amo Racing and breeze-up consignor/pre-trainer Robson Aguiar.

The National Stud duo of Aclaim (Ire) and Time Test (GB) both got off the mark on Saturday, with Aclaim's first winner, Cachet (Ire), another breeze-up graduate trained by Boughey, being awarded a TDN Rising Star for her Rowley Mile debut.

Galileo Gold's first winner, Ebro River (Ire), struck at Doncaster on Saturday and, appropriately, the colt is trained by Galileo Gold's former trainer Hugo Palmer in the colours of his former owner Al Shaqab Racing, and was bred by Tally-Ho Stud, where the 2000 Guineas winner now stands.

Ribchester (Ire) was another freshman to be represented by a TDN Rising Star in the last week in the form of Gisburn (Ire), the facile winner of a Newbury maiden on Friday for Richard Hannon and owners Michael Kerr-Dineen and Martin Hughes. He is likely to head next to the Coventry S. 

Meanwhile at the head of the table presently on progeny earnings is Ribchester's fellow Darley sire Profitable (Ire). His four winners include the Gavin Cromwell-trained Quick Suzy (Ire), who was runner-up to the aforementioned Hermana Estrella in the Group 3 at Naas on Sunday. Events at Royal Ascot will surely bring further clues as to the prowess of the latest crop of young stallions.

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Whatever the ups and downs that inevitably still await, make no mistake. This was a huge day not just for the breeze-up sector, not just for the auction house, but for the whole bloodstock industry in Europe. Even in the absence of important recent investors, the prospect of a return to the racetrack appears to have opened the sluice gates on pent-up demand for one of the great joys of the life we all want to retrieve: the Thoroughbred racehorse.

Of course, there has never in history been a horse sale where every single vendor skipped away like Morecambe and Wise at the end of the show, and there were duly one or two consignors still grumbling about their fortunes. As prospectors and vendors basked in glorious spring sunshine, however, only the deserted benches around the sales ring told of the lingering impact of Covid. For if obliged to keep their distance indoors, then bidders were found themselves frantically congested in terms of competition.

Comparisons with the auction salvaged here last July (amalgamated with Arqana) would be pretty pointless, but the fact is that this sale outpunched even the buoyant returns of the preceding couple of years, when the sector overall had been riding a sustained bull run.

Perhaps most heartening of all, as at the Tattersalls Craven Sale which last week opened the European calendar, was the median. There really was a solid spread of business, and those perennial complaints about the soft centre of the market were silenced here. A median of £34,000 compared with £26,000 in 2019, and £25,500 the year before. The £48,590 average, equally, exceeded £45,750 two years ago and £40,058 in 2018. And if it's the home run you're after, then the 15 six-figure sales notched on Thursday compared with 11 in 2019 and 13 the year before. Overall business of £6,219,500 represented a 22% gain on 2019 while the clearance rate, as has become commonplace in the Covid economy, was again very purposeful at 89%.

Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent was rightly ecstatic. “This is an incredible business and today has been an amazing day,” he said. “To have the ability to hold the sale on its original date and at its intended location was the first success. To then smash all records is something that we couldn't have envisaged in the lead-up to this sale, and the results are very positive for the industry and for our loyal vendors who really backed us with some very nice horses.

“This sale has a brilliant record on the track and has produced five Royal Ascot winners since 2016, a fact that was not lost on buyers at any point today. We would like to extend a sincere thank you to everyone who purchased today, and we are sure that we will see many of them at Royal Ascot in eight weeks' time. In 2016, we saw two colts who shared the sale topping price–Prince Of Lir (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Ardad (Ire) (Kodiac {GB})–who went on to win the G2 Norfolk S. and Listed Windsor Castle S. that year.

“We hope that that is a good omen for this sale and we would also like to extend a big thank you to our vendors, who provided us with a catalogue of real depth to market to our international audience, whilst we would also like to thank Doncaster Racecourse who produced superb ground to show our breezers to maximum effect.”

Tally Ho Splits Top Lots

Horses run no faster or slower because of their price, as we know, and the petrified 2020 market here duly produced a £28,000 winner of the G3 Molecomb S. And it was the man responsible for that coup, Michael O'Callaghan, who for a long time topped proceedings here with the £210,000 he gave for lot 118, a colt by Twilight Son (GB) presented by Tally Ho Stud.

But the consignors, who had a remarkable day even by their standards, had an equivalent trick up their sleeves with the very last animal into the ring: a son of Galileo Gold (GB) who joined his draft companion at the head of the day's business with a £210,000 docket signed by Armando Duarte.

Both were apt measures of the Tally Ho genius. The Twilight Son colt was picked up for just €28,000 from Olive O'Connor Bloodstock as a short yearling at the Goffs February Sale of 2020. If you think about everything that has happened since, this really was a “touch” that seemed to bring things full circle.

“He was my pick of the sale, by a long way,” said Michael O'Callaghan, who credited namesake Roger for his endorsement of the colt. “He's from a great hotel that we've been extremely lucky with. I saw him at home three weeks ago, loved him, and he couldn't have come more highly recommended. He took the preliminaries so well, he walked round the parade ring like an old handicapper. Though hopefully that's the last time he looks like one of those.”

The Curragh trainer, back on a happy hunting ground, laid out over £500,000 for six purchases in all, including a £140,000 Footstepsinthesand (GB) colt presented as lot 151 by Woodtown House Stud. He had failed to meet his reserve at €29,000 at Goffs only last autumn. “He's a lovely horse, I saw him at the Curragh three weeks ago and have been admiring him since the online sale at Goffs,” O'Callaghan said. “I probably should have bought him then. But he did an excellent breeze here.”

Duarte, for his part, had saved his best until last. His purchase will be staying in England, but no more could be disclosed at this point. Though he conceded that Galileo Gold has achieved limited commercial traction, this lad belongs to his first crop and he clearly retains every right to make himself fashionable where it counts.

“And the mare has produced quite a good stakes horse,” he noted, referring to Acklam Express (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who had actually supplied a Group 1 update when placed in the Al Quoz Sprint since the publication of the catalogue. “He breezed very well, looks ready to run, and fits the bill as one that might have Ascot potential.”

Through the card Tally Ho sold 15 animals for £985,000 at an average £65,667.

McGivern Deserves Pinhook Of The Day

It's not hard to see where the Kodiac (GB) filly who came here from Derryconnor Stud might have found the resources to punch above her wait. Consignor Katie McGivern has been in the wars this spring but her fighting spirit evidently rubbed off on lot 154, who she bought for just £13,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Yearling Sale and turned into the fastest of all the breezers clocked here on Tuesday. That earned her a £180,000 docket signed by Oliver St. Lawrence on behalf of KHK Racing.

“I'm speechless, even though I can't stop talking,” said McGivern with an excited laugh. “I couldn't believe it when they kept going after £100,000. This is a life-changing result. I had no-one call and ask me for a half, so I actually own her outright. We're desperate for a straight gallop, so I suppose it'll have to go towards that.

“I love a Kodiac filly anyway and the first dam was two-for-two, one rated 90 and one rated 80, so she was a no-brainer if nobody wanted her on looks. She was a little small, and I had her vetted–which I never do–just to know that it was only her size that would be against her. Her homework has always been very good and consistent, but you still need luck on the day, you need them to keep straight and so on, and the rider did a great job.”

She may be indebted to the wit of auctioneer Nick Nugent for goading an extra bid or two as the impetus began to slow. “Come on,” he chided from the rostrum. “Do you want to be Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin?”

Mission control will now be the yard of Robert Cowell, whose brief was intimidatingly simple. “A fast, sharp Ascot 2-year-old,” St Lawrence said. “Katie says five or six furlongs, so we have a choice between the Queen Mary and the Albany. She's not the biggest but she's built like the proverbial brick 'outhouse', looks like a colt, and Robert loved her the moment he saw her. Times are important but I couldn't care whether they're first or 20th, you're only talking hundredths and what counts is that they look the business when they're doing it.”

Nay, Not Too Bad

An opening bid of £150,000 appeared to suggest that all the pre-sale talk about lot 74, a No Nay Never colt presented by Willie Browne, was going to be matched by ringside deeds. In the event, then, Browne permitted himself mild disappointment when Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock was able to secure an animal he prized so highly for 'just' £200,000.

“A little bit of an anti-climax, with all the action I had on him,” admitted the Mocklershill maestro, who presented the colt for breeders Meadowcourt Stud. “In a real strong market maybe he could have made a bit more. Listen, it's a fine price, but he's potentially very good. I haven't had one as good for a couple of years. Hopefully he's the real deal: he has lots of speed, but he'll stay too.”

If he's right, then what kind of bargain did Paul Nataf strike when acquiring the dam, an unraced daughter of Mastercraftsman (Ire), for just €11,000 through Baroda Stud at Goffs last November? Besides this colt she has just a yearling filly by Gleneagles (Ire), and she was sold with a Ten Sovereigns (Ire) cover.

“He's for a new owner who asked for one good colt out of the breeze-ups,” explained Brown, before putting in a call to John Gosden. “I thought he did a phenomenal breeze. There are some nice horses here, very forward, and for me he was the pick. Because while I think he can be a good summer 2-year-old, he has plenty of scope and I think he can train on as well. To be fair to Willie, he saw me drooling over the horse on Monday and he was very high on him.”

Cowell Sticking To Royal Formula

Robert Cowell is hoping that history will repeat itself after giving £170,000 for a Kodiac colt consigned as lot 52 by Bansha House Stables. That is precisely what he did here five years ago, virtually to the day, and two months later he had won the G2 Norfolk S. with Prince Of Lir (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}).

The Newmarket trainer signed for the colt in the company of Tim Palin of Middleham Park, who will race him in partnership with another client, Tom Morley. Whether or not he can emulate Prince Of Lir at Ascot, the hope is that he will prove a longer-term project.

“Ascot is the dream, but it's not the be-all and end-all,” Cowell said. “He has plenty of size and substance. He's not just a little 2-year-old, I hope he would have a lot more to him than that. We were looking for a nice fast horse that can hopefully repeat the kind of success we had with Prince Of Lir. We know he comes from a very good outfit, and he's a lovely specimen, with a good walk on him, and a great action. So all the stars aligned.”

It's certainly a brisk pedigree. The dam, a daughter of sale graduate Dream Ahead, has made a good start with her only runner to date being Operatic (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), a dual winner at two last year; while the second dam is dual Group-winning sprinter Lidanna (GB) (Nicholas)–who holds down the same spot in the pedigree of G1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner Wizz Kid (Ire) (Whipper).

Con Marnane was delighted by the dividend on his £46,000 investment in the same ring last September.

“Over the moon,” the Bansha House consignor said. “We bought him off Plantation Stud and he's turned into a gorgeous horse, and it's a proper page. The sister is very talented, she was impressive in her two wins and the ground was very heavy when she was well beaten in the listed race at Newmarket after that. She could still be a very nice filly this year.”

As one of the stalwarts of the sector, Marnane was relieved by the buoyancy of trade, having candidly drawn in his horns in restocking.

“We're way down [in numbers],” he said. “We were just too scared and said we would only buy really nice yearlings. And thank God we did. I must thank our regular customers, because it's them that are coming back to us again and again. England is going to be back to normal way before other countries, so it's a pleasure to be here. In Ireland we've hardly sharpened the needles yet.”

Dance Continues Comeback Spree

The same family produced a good yield on lot 96, a May colt by New Bay (GB) who made £120,000 for Gaybrook Lodge Stud having been found by M.C. Bloodstock in Book 1 at Tattersalls last October for just 40,000gns. He's a half-brother to Wizz Kid, whose relationship to Robert Cowell's new Kodiac is noted above, and joins the team of breeze-up recruits being dynamically assembled by Manor House Stud.

That historic Middleham farm, freshly acquired for the revamped John Dance operation, was the top buyer at the Craven Sale last week with eight lots for an aggregate 1,035,000gns. The Classic quality of this colt's sire obviously balances out the family speed and the purchasing strategy duly looked consistent with the £140,000 acquisition of lot 76, who was certainly not a standardised, sharp-and-early type off the “Donny” conveyor belt.

This was a colt by Kingman (GB) out of a sister to Group 1 winner Jan Vermeer (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), therefore a half-sister to another Ballydoyle high achiever in Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). He was pinhooked by Mags O'Toole out of Book 2 last October for 87,000gns.

“He was just very young-looking,” explained Oak Tree's Norman Williamson. “But he's a May foal and it's very hard to get your hands on a Kingman. He took his prep extremely well. He'll be a horse for later, maybe you'd see him September time, but to me he has a big future: we can all see how well-bred he is, and he's a tall, beautiful horse that should grow into something special.”

Manor House Stud ended the day with half a dozen new recuits at an aggregate £690,000, and the others did fit the traditional profile for this sale: a £120,000 Kodiac (GB) filly consigned by Powerstown Stud as lot 140, great work on a £33,000 punt here last year; a £100,000 Dark Angel colt from Malcolm Bastard, lot 166, found at the Orby for £45,000 by Richard Ryan; and, within the space of five minutes, £120,000 and £90,000 for two sons of the ubiquitous Mehmas (Ire) respectively consigned as Lots 124 and 126.

Mehmas is a prolific young stallion in every sense, duly the most represented in the catalogue with 17 entries. The market's pick at £150,000 turned out to be lot 41, the first foal of a Shamardal half-sister to Signoff (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), a dual group winner in Australia, the pair out of another group winner in Circle Of Gold (Ire) (Royal Academy). This is the family of G1 St Leger winner Rule Of Law (Kingmambo), and Tom Goff duly hopes that this filly, presented by Glending Stables, will have more in her favour than the trademark precocity of her sire.

“She's from an extremely good farm,” the Blandford agent stressed. “And I thought her the best filly here by a country mile. She did a lovely breeze and I'd be very hopeful that besides having the class and speed to be a good 2-year-old, she would also have the scope and quality to go on next year. So I hope she won't just be one of those one-hit wonders, while I also hope she can be precocious enough too. The sire's obviously on fire, and she's out of a Shamardal mare, and goes back to a lovely Robert Sangster family.”

Goff could be no more specific of her destination than to say that she would be trained in Newmarket.

Roderick Kavanagh, her delighted consignor, has expanded to a draft of 14 breezers in his fifth year since inaugurating the Glending wing of his family's Kildaragh Stud. “She had great motion,” he said of a filly recruited via the Sportsman's Sale here for £25,000, signed for by Peter and Ross Doyle. “And she has been a joy ever since, straightforward all the way through. The Shamardal mare has been a great help and, though you dream of it, this was beyond all expectation.”

Collins Glad To Take The Blame

Pinhooking from the American market continues to yield great results for those of sufficient enterprise and this was an especially good day for Johnny Collins of Brown Island Stables.

He pulled off one of the touches of the day with a colt by Blame signed for by Chad Schumer at Keeneland last September for just $14,000. Here he realised £175,000 from Rabbah Bloodstock, who had earlier given £78,000 for a filly (lot 90) by the same sire in the same draft. Rabbah have proved a conspicuous inconvenience to anyone trying for nice American types at both the breeze-up sales in Europe so far.

“This was the last horse into the ring in Book 3,” Collins remembered of lot 172. “Travel was obviously difficult last year, but maybe that meant there weren't quite as many people going. But I've been going a long time and could hardly miss it, could I? I have sold two G2 Norfolk winners from America, Bapak Chinta (Speightstown) and South Central (Forest Camp). This was a nice square horse when I bought him and he's a nice square horse now.”

One of the best judges in the business had marked out the Jimmy Creed colt in the same draft as his pick, and Edgar Byrne was of like mind in giving $135,000 for lot 158, a $30,000 yearling at Keeneland. The colt will be joining Soren Jensen in Denmark.

“I've waited all day for him, so on a nice sunny day I've been walking my box,” said Byrne. “He's an extremely nice horse that came highly recommended by Johnny. They will have the dirt option out there if they need it, because Malmo is only down the road, but he obviously breezed very well on the turf here.”

Another transatlantic success, albeit in a much lower register, was a colt from the fourth crop of Carpe Diem picked up by Jim McCartan of Gaybrook Lodge for just $3,000 at Fasig-Tipton in Lexington last October. True, this was scarcely in the league of McCartan's legendary coup with Willie Browne at Arqana four years ago, when a $15,000 Street Sense colt evolved into a €1.4-million juvenile. But $52,000 from David Redvers for lot 21 still represented a fine percentage yield.

“It cost more to get him home than to buy him,” McCartan said. “I bought him at the end-of-year sale there and he was just a little bit backward, he needed to furnish a little. But he took his preparation very well and developed all the way through and turned out a very nice horse who could gallop well.”

Bringing American pedigrees into a notoriously parochial market has its obvious dangers, but the devotion of so many prospectors to breeze data means that the way the model functions can redeem any uncertainty even about dirt stallions. But then Carpe Diem is the only son of Giant's Causeway to have won a Grade I on dirt, and damsire More Than Ready resembles that legend in having established his versatility in different racing environments.

“He was a very good individual, to be fair, with a lot of More Than Ready about him-and I've been lucky with that horse,” McCartan said. “Most of the time you do need a [familiar] sire but there are an awful lot of horses to choose from, 4,000 or so at Keeneland, and if you're prepared to work hard you might come across one or two.”

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