Tag: Good Guess

An Endless Pursuit Of ‘A Bit Of Magic’ For The O’Callaghans At Tally-Ho Stud

When Michelangelo sculpted David, you'd imagine he took the time to stand back, blow the dust off of his brow and marvel at his masterpiece, wouldn't you?

Like David, Tally-Ho Stud has taken years of hard chiseling but you must be living in Lalaland if you think Tony O'Callaghan is a man for slowing down and taking in all that has been achieved. 

If there's one thing O'Callaghan hates more than arrogance it's idleness. With 200 mares on the farm, considerably more yearlings and foals coming through the system, a sizable breeze-up consignment and, of course, the bread and butter that are the stallions to tend to, there isn't a whole pile of time left over in a day for slacking. 

But what drives a man, who has an uncanny knack of avoiding questions he doesn't want to answer–including those about his age–to attack each morning the same as his sons Roger, 43, and Henry, 41?

“I like action,” he says, unapologetically. “I do. They say there are two chairs you should never sit in; the electric chair and the armchair. They're not putting me into a bin any time soon! Why do some people live to do nothing? I can never understand it.”

The O'Callaghans live for the game. When Kodiac, the horse Roger describes as being “the man who paid for the place” strides out of his box, the lads wear a smile that neither sex nor drugs could supply. 

Tony O'Callaghan: “When the bad year comes, suck it up and move on.” | Tattersalls

Apparently “there's a queue of breeders” wanting to use Kodiac's Group 1-winning son Good Guess, who is new to the roster for 2024, but it wasn't always like this. Before Kodiac, Mehmas, Cotai Glory, Inns Of Court, Persian Force, Starman and now Good Guess, there were tougher times at Tally-Ho.

Blues Traveller and Mac's Imp are some of the earliest hard luck stories. Both stallions met a premature end just as their stock were starting to get going. Danetime, too, was on the cusp of becoming a proper stallion when he died whilst covering on Southern Hemisphere time in Australia. Red Clubs and more recently Society Rock are others who never got a fair crack.

“Danetime was when things started to happen for us,” Tony explains. “Then we got a list of them. Society Rock was doing well when he died and Sir Prancealot did okay as well, but Kodiac was the one who really took off.”

He added, “Danetime might have done the same thing, you know. He was only nine when he died. He had the winner of the Prix Morny two years running—Myboycharlie and then Bushranger. That was a shock when he died.”

So you could say it has been a triumph of perseverance?

“Oh we've kept at it. We've never changed direction. When the bad year comes, suck it up and move on.”

For many people in this industry, 2023 will go down as a bad year. The smaller breeder, who has been a huge part of the success story here, struggled on the whole. But if it's sympathy you're after at the O'Callaghan family's kitchen table, or as Tony's wife Anne describes it, “the engine room,” you've come to the wrong place. 

“It's up to you as a breeder to correct things and not go around blaming everyone bar yourself,” Tony says. “Some people will switch off and become disillusioned. I never get disillusioned no matter how bad the sales are. I never come home disillusioned. I come home blaming myself.”

There may be a lack of sympathy on offer but there's no shortage of encouragement. The business model is simple; try to make everyone–big or small–a winner.

Henry explains, “We're in this for the long haul and we don't take shortcuts. We try to treat people right and, if we both win, that's how you really succeed. There can be repeat business if that happens.”

It is an honourable way of conducting business. And it is one of the reasons why Ger Lyons named Tony The Gent after the man himself. A Whatsapp message to the trainer confirmed as much.

“He was, because in the dictionary beside the word gentleman, you see a picture of Tony O'C,” comes the reply from Lyons, swiftly followed by, “lovely family that.”

There can be a price to be paid when only dealing in facts, though. Some will confuse the no-nonsense approach to business as being cold but the reality is the complete opposite. 

It was this scribe's great pleasure to kill more than a few hours with Roger in Cincinnati Airport during a layover on the way home from the Breeders' Cup a couple of years back.

When a young couple across the bar endured a nightmare episode when both of their cards declined, it was Roger who thought nothing of jumping into action to settle the bill of the two people he'd never set eyes on before in order to prevent further blushes.

'That's my good deed done for the year,' he chirped, before sitting back down at the table. A chip off the old block.

The similarities between Roger and his old man was clear to be seen at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale last year as well. Less than 48 hours after Tally-Ho and Archie St George turned a $550,000 Into Mischief colt foal purchase into a $1.8-million yearling, O'Callaghan was back to the grindstone.

A simple, 'well done in America, Roger,' was met with a, 'now on to the next one,' in that inimitable droll tone. Insatiable. 

Tony and Anne O'Callaghan | Tattersalls

Anne comments on what drives her boys, “We're the lucky ones. We're the ones who have something to achieve and to look forward to every day. Imagine grinding your way to work behind the wheel after having dropped your kids to creche. You're having your cup of coffee, or maybe a cigarette, and listening to the droning bad news on the radio. We get out of bed, roll down the hill, step out into the yard, and bingo. Light on. Let's get at it.”

Henry concurs and provides his own insight into the motivation behind this winner-producing machine, when saying, “You have a chance of a bit of magic. That's the great thing about this business. When you're involved with a good horse, there's no better feeling.”

The hope is that Good Guess, who claimed the notable scalp of 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean when storming to Prix Jean Prat glory at Deauville last summer, can be the latest good horse that the O'Callaghans will be associated with. 

The horse had been on Tally-Ho's radar ever since Cheveley Park Stud flagged that they had a good Kodiac at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Yearling Sale in 2021. They were right. 

Good Guess went on to make 420,000gns to Sebastien Desmontils and the O'Callaghans have been tracking his progression ever since. In fact, so sure they were that Good Guess would be a good fit at Tally-Ho, a deal was done not long after he had crossed the line in front in that Group 1. 

“Sure he'd be whipped from underneath you,” says Tony, explaining why there wasn't even time to hop on a plane to get the deal done. Instead, it was trashed out on the phone. “These things are done quickly.”

Good Guess | Scoop Dyga

Good Guess | Scoop Dyga

It has been well-reported that, in order to secure Good Guess, a lot of money needed to change hands. 

“You've got to try and win the lottery. Pay your money, take your chance,” is how Roger sums up the transaction. Henry adds, “It's grand when you're right. There's never a bad time to buy a good horse but then there's never a good time to buy a bad horse. If you can buy a good horse, what you pay for it ultimately doesn't matter. The economics of this game, it's unique, isn't it?”

He adds, “Given how much stallions are costing at the moment, you need them to work in order for the whole thing to make economic sense. It's a big test of how bad you want a horse if you are prepared to send it a clatter of your own mares.”

Good Guess, along with the rest of the stallion roster at Tally-Ho, won't be lacking in that department. 

Tony explains, “When the stallions do well, it's huge. But, when the stallions do bad, it's an absolute nightmare. When they don't click, you suffer. There's a queue up for Good Guess but we'll support him as well. It's very simple; back your own.

“The way it works is, you look after everyone else first. Whenever we can get a slot for him, we'll send him a mare. We'll send him between 30 and 50 of our own mares but we won't know how many until the end of May. “

On what makes Good Guess an attractive stallion proposition, he adds, “Sure you could see below, his action and his physique. The bone structure is there and he has a nice big eye and a nice head. He floats around the yard there. Those are his strong points. Everyone who has come to see him, they all love him.”

Could he be the heir to the throne?

“Never,” says Tony, half-insulted. “I don't think we'll ever get an heir to that horse. We'd love one. But I don't think we'll ever find another Kodiac.”

And with that, the master of Tally-Ho leaves the table to tend to more pressing duties in the yard. He's not one for sitting, you know. But was he always like that?

“I'll never forget I was covering a mare with Dad,” Roger recalls. “He was holding the mare and I had Danetime. When Danetime went to get up on the mare, she reared. Dad had the lead rope wrapped around his thumb and the thumb went with the lead rope. Severed it. Straight off. 

“I'll never forget it. And then, when he went into the hospital, all he was telling me was, 'I'm really sorry.' I was saying, 'what are you sorry for?' 

“Anyway, he did a night in hospital but was back in the yard the following morning. He had a big bandage on his hand out cleaning water troughs that day. But what happened next? Didn't the f**king bucket fall over and of course he went to grab it. Bang. It bounced off the thumb. 

“Oh Jesus, I'll never forget it. The poor f**ker nearly died with the pain. But as soon as he could get back going, he was out in that yard. You can count the number of days on one hand that Dad has taken off work in his life. Seriously. He just loves it.” 

And that, ladies and gentleman, is the difference. 

Tony O'Callaghan on…….

Caught U Looking

I'd been watching her going around the back ring at the Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale and was wondering whether or not I should bid for her. Next thing, she went into the ring and Peter Nolan bought her for Noel Meade. I said I'd take her. They told me the most I could have was a half, so I took half. She's a nice filly. I'm hoping she will go on this season but we'll see, won't we? I'm hoping she'll stay a mile plus. We could have sold her 10 times over but we'll roll the dice. I'd be hoping she can stay a mile-and-a-half. That's what I'd like. She has plenty of size and scope. It would be nice to have a runner in the Oaks. 

Working the sales

There are people giving out about the industry but, when they go to the sales, they are fiddling around and they wouldn't do any homework. A lot of the trainers are like that. Willie Mullins started with eight or nine horses. Gordon Elliott started with one or two. When you go to the sales, do you go to zone in or you go to be sociable for the day? You can only do one or the other. You can't do both. If you want to buy something, you have to pay attention, not be in and out of the bar. I've nothing against that but it's gone a bit like that. The sales are competitive. We're there to work.

National Hunt

We always had National Hunt horses going back years ago. I quite like National Hunt horses. As the fella says, what do you do in January? I always felt the first day of Spring was Thyestes Day. Long ago, when we were young, Thyestes Day marked the start of Spring. 

Polarisation

It is gone polarised but you can always sell a nice horse. It's always been the model first for me. If you can get the sire as well, then you are away. The model will always get you out of trouble, though. 

 

The post An Endless Pursuit Of ‘A Bit Of Magic’ For The O’Callaghans At Tally-Ho Stud appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Hitch Your Wagon for the Stallion Trails

There is an undertone of negativity surrounding horseracing these days, almost all of which is generated by its participants and followers, and greatly exacerbated by the increasingly unpleasant arena that is social media. Where once Twitter was fun and we all gained excellent insight into trainers' yards and, for some, their sense of humour, now X marks the spot at which we should perhaps consciously uncouple from twits and trolls.

Let's get out more. And where better to start than by hitching a ride on the stallion trails? This Friday marks the tenth anniversary of the two-day ITM Irish Stallion Trail which was started in response to the rising popularity of Normandy's La Route des Etalons, which made its debut in 2011 and this year takes place on January 20 and 21.

A recent house move by my old Pacemaker boss Julian Muscat meant that I was gifted a huge pile of Stud & Stable magazines dating back to the 1960s. I've always held firmly to the belief that time spent reading is never time wasted, and only daily deadlines have dragged me away from this pile which has so far been a source of delight and education in equal measure. After all, the best way to avoid present unpleasantness is to bury oneself in the past. It's not only a great diversion, but also a reminder that the problems we face now are not that much different to those faced 50 or 100 years ago. Open up any edition of the Bloodstock Breeders' Review and you're likely to find someone bemoaning the fact that stallions are covering too many mares, though too many 50 years ago was 60 instead of 40. There may well be some grave-spinning at the current book sizes.

In the May 1968 edition of Stud & Stable, at the price of seven shillings and sixpence and with a rather nice cover painting of Lord Leverhulme on a hunter surrounded by mares and a lurcher, there can be found a report by Michael Ross on what was perhaps the first unofficial 'route des etalons'. Ross's tour of Normandy was a bit more of a beano than this correspondent's has been in recent years. He spent a whole week driving around with two pals, visiting 32 studs and inspecting 66 stallions. Impressive. 

Some of those mentioned are now no longer in operation as Thoroughbred studs but, comfortingly, a good number of them live on. We hear of Mme Couturié's Haras du Mesnil, where the French Guineas winner Blue Tom (Fr) had recently taken up duties alongside the farm's most famous resident and fellow Classic winner, Right Royal (Fr). These days, Couturié's grandson Henri Devin and his wife Antonia keep the Mesnil name in lights and they have recently taken charge of the G1 Champion S. winner Bay Bridge (GB) to stand alongside the popular Doctor Dino (Fr).

Ross also calls in at Haras de Mortrée, which he describes as “one of the principal vendors at Deauville each year”. He is shown around by the young stud manager Antoine Bozo. Sound familiar? Bozo, who later managed Haras du Mézeray and died in 2020 at the age of 83, was the father of Henri Bozo of Ecurie des Monceaux, which can also be described as one of the principal vendors at Deauville each year.

I can almost hear you thinking “get to the point”, so let's try. This Friday and Saturday 37 farms in Ireland will throw open their doors to visitors, with 156 stallions on show, from the properly established to the up-and-coming, and of course the latest intake, which includes Paddington (GB), Good Guess (GB), Pyledriver (GB) and Native Trail (GB). If you've missed Authorized (Ire), sire of the wonderful Tiger Roll (Ire), since he left Britain for France then Turkey, he has recently been repatriated to the land of his birth and you can call in to see him at Capital Stud, one of Ireland's newest stallion operations. 

It is certainly worth checking out the informative Irish Stallion Trail pages on the ITM website to plan your route. Registration is suggested, and is compulsory for visitors to Coolmore, and not all studs are open both days. You will find opening hours under the listing for each stud. 

They say that there is no point getting older if you don't get a little wiser. I don't have an abundance of wisdom to impart generally but as a veteran of stallion trails I would say that less is more (and by that I don't necessarily mean when it comes to the generous hospitality on offer).

When these initiatives first started I took the view that I had to try to see as many studs as possible all in one weekend. Big mistake. Approach this weekend as if it's merely part one: you can always return next year. Study the map and try to pick a few within reasonable proximity to each other so you can properly appreciate not just the stallions, but also the farms and their surrounding countryside, chatting with fellow visitors, and of course the aforementioned hospitality. 

In previous years I have toured with Nancy Sexton in Ireland and Alix Choppin in France, and far be it from me to question my dear friends' navigation skills but we spent an awful lot of time attempting to find Ballylinch Stud and Haras de Bonneval respectively. Let's just say we had them surrounded.

The time wasted negotiating three-point turns in country lanes in Co Kilkenny in particular happened to be in the year that the stallion trail coincided with the Bacchanalian gathering otherwise known as the ITBA Awards. The long hours on the road, culminating in a dram or two of Maurice Burns's whiskey during our last port of call at Rathasker Stud, meant a shamefully early departure from the dance floor, though in our defence the dancing at the ITBA Awards never really starts until the wee small hours at the earliest.

If you manage to see Workforce (GB), Waldgeist (GB) and Sottsass (Fr) in Ireland this weekend, in France a week later you can view the latest winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Ace Impact (Ire), who drew plenty of visitors during Arqana's Breeding Stock Sale in early December. He is the most expensive new stallion in the country and is bound to ensure that Haras de Beaumont remains busy during the route des etalons, which includes 20 studs and 97 stallions. 

The French TBA has compiled another excellent website with a full list of farms and stallions, as well as that all-important map. Depending on which studs you would like to visit there is often quite a bit of driving to be done, but even in gloomy January a tour through Calvados country and beyond does wonders to lift the spirits.

Back on that first official route des etalons in 2011, Elusive City topped France's list of stallions at a covering fee of €15,000. It is not simply this initiative which has helped to revive the French breeding industry, though it is easy to believe that it has helped. That was also the first year Siyouni (Fr) stood on the Aga Khan Studs roster, at an introductory fee of €7,000. Now he's top of the pops and commands the lofty nomination price of €200,000. They were shrewd breeders who backed him in the early days. 

Guessing who will follow in his wake is all part of the fun of being involved in the breeding industry. So let's leave the naysayers to their doom-scrolling and take to the great outdoors to see if we can narrow it down ourselves with some important research on the stallion trails.

 

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Rafha’s Influence Prevails Through Her Dominant Sons

It has been a basic tenet of bloodstock since the early days that Classic form is to be respected when a colt or a filly retires to stud. Some Classic results stand out, with the 1984 Prix du Jockey-Club often cited thanks to Darshaan (GB) leading home Sadler's Wells and Rainbow Quest in a trifecta of future superstar sires. As regards fillies, the 1990 Prix de Diane takes some beating, with Rafha (GB) coming home ahead of Moon Cactus (GB) and Colour Chart. All three ended up breeding at least one Group/Grade 1 winner, but ultimately the significance of the result goes way beyond merely first-generation success.

Rafha and Moon Cactus were both daughters of Kris (GB) (Sharpen Up), an outstanding miler who became champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland in 1985 when his oldest offspring were 3-year-olds, thanks largely to the terrific season enjoyed by Britain's Fillies' Triple Crown heroine Oh So Sharp (GB). Oh So Sharp became an excellent broodmare, responsible for Rosefinch (Blushing Groom {Fr}) who edged out Dancing Brave's full-sister Jolypha in the G1 Prix Saint-Alary in 1992. Rafha and Moon Cactus, though, did even more to advertise Kris's talent as a sire of broodmares.

Moon Cactus bred four stakes winners including the 1995 G1 Oaks heroine Moonshell (Sadler's Wells) and her younger full-brother Doyen, who excelled on firm ground in the summer of 2004 when firstly breaking Ascot's 12-furlong track record in the G2 Hardwicke S. at the Royal Meeting and then following up over course and distance five weeks later with a superb win in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S.

Ultimately, though, Rafha has proved the most influential of these eminent matrons. Her legacy continues to expand, 33 years after her Prix de Diane triumph, and she is now even more revered than she was on that glorious summer's afternoon when she galloped to Classic glory at Chantilly.

It is not unfair to say that Rafha did not produce a racehorse of the distinction of either Moonshell or Doyen (or, indeed, of Colour Chart's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies-winning daughter Tempera), but four of the seven black-type performers whom she produced were stakes winners. Easily the pick of these was Invincible Spirit (Ire) (Green Desert). Trained, as his mother had been, for owner/breeder Prince AA Faisal by John Dunlop, Invincible Spirit was a tough sprinter who raced for four seasons, winning a listed race as a 2-year-old and at Group 3 level at four before enjoying his best campaign as a 5-year-old in 2002, taking the G3 Duke of York S. over six furlongs in the spring and the G1 Haydock Park Sprint Cup over the same distance in the autumn, putting in his best performance on the 17th and final start of his career.

A first-season stud fee of €10,000 was fair for Invincible Spirit when he started out at the Irish National Stud as a 6-year-old in 2003. He had maybe lacked some of the precocity that a lot of the breeders who patronise sprinting stallions like to see, but he was a Group 1-winning sprinter and had shown himself to be a durable one at that. Furthermore, it helped that he was a son of Green Desert (Danzig) who was very popular at the time, buoyed in part by his superb son Oasis Dream (GB), who had been an outstanding 2-year-old in 2002, most notably breaking Newmarket's six-furlong juvenile track record when winning the G1 Middle Park S.

Green Desert, himself formerly an outstanding sprinter, was already on the way to being respected as a sire of sires, not least because his Group 1-winning son Cape Cross (Ire) was starting to do well.  Curiously, Cape Cross ultimately became best known for his Derby and Oaks winner Sea The Stars (Ire), Golden Horn (GB) and Ouija Board (GB) but that slight anomaly shouldn't deflect attention away from the fact that Green Desert was a terrific conduit of Danzig's speed. Oasis Dream has been much more typical of the Green Desert line, becoming an absolute stalwart of the ranks of British-based sprinting sires over an extended period, just as his father was before him.

Invincible Spirit was an immediate success as a stallion. He had his first runners in 2006 and got off to a flying start when his first runner Spoof Master (Ire) won Britain's first 2-year-old feature of the new season, the Brocklesby S. Invincible Spirit continued to churn out winners as the year went on, so much so that his fee rose from €10,000 to €35,000 for the 2007 season.

Invincible Spirit's position was further consolidated in 2007 when his first 3-year-olds included the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club hero Lawman (Fr), whose Classic triumph was instrumental in Invincible Spirit's fee shooting up again to €75,000 in 2008.  Also running for Invincible Spirit in 2007 was the very fast 2-year-old filly Fleeting Spirit (GB), winner of the G3 Molecomb S. and G2 Flying Childers S. as well as being runner-up in the G1 Cheveley Park S. and G2 Lowther S. She subsequently developed into a wonderful sprinting mare, arguably her sire's second-best daughter behind Moonlight Cloud (GB), and her finest hour came when she won the G1 July Cup as a 4-year-old. With his career thus heading onwards and upwards, Invincible Spirit ultimately had his fee peaking between 2016 and 2019, when his nominations cost €120,000.

The six seasons 2015 to 2020 inclusive were particularly good ones for Rafha with both Kodiac and Invincible Spirit featuring in the top ten every year.

Although Rafha ended up as the dam of four stakes winners, her second most-distinguished child was not one of them.  Kodiac (GB) can be described as a three-parts brother to Invincible Spirit, as each is by a son of Danzig, Kodiac being by Danehill. Like Invincible Spirit, Kodiac was a tough sprinter, but unlike his superior sibling, he couldn't quite manage to score in stakes company, his four wins (from 20 starts) consisting of a maiden-race success and three triumphs in handicap company.  He did at least manage a couple of minor placings in stakes company, finishing second in the G3 Hackwood S. over six furlongs at Newbury and fourth in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over 1300m at Deauville as a 5-year-old in 2006.

Under normal circumstances, Kodiac's achievements would perhaps not have been enough to secure him a place at stud.  However, there's nothing quite like being in the right place at the right time. As the 2006 racing season drew to a close, it was clear that Invincible Spirit was about to be priced out of reach of many of the Irish small breeders who had used him so satisfactorily in his early years. At the time Danehill was at the peak of his popularity as a sire of sires, so it made sense for Tally-Ho Stud to take a chance that Invincible Spirit's fast three-parts brother by Danehill might appeal to many breeders and might become a successful sire.

That was the theory and, happily, it proved to be a sound one.  Kodiac started out at a fee of €5,000 in 2007 (which had to be lowered to €4,000 a couple of years later), but once he began to have runners in 2010, he soon started to pay back many of those who had put their faith in him.  He quickly established himself as an ultra-reliable source of tough, precocious and very fast horses, both colts and fillies. In a pleasing piece of symmetry, 10 years after retiring to stud, he was standing at a fee 10 times higher than it had been at the outset. The price subsequently continued to rise after that and, now aged 22, he is still churning out fast, precocious horses such as 2023 G2 Lowther S. heroine Relief Rally (Ire), who recently sold for 800,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

It is frequently noted that the 1993 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Urban Sea (Miswaki) usually has two sons in the top five of the General Sires' Table of Great Britain and Ireland.  The 2019 season was her piece de resistance, as her two Derby-winning children Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and Sea The Stars (Ire) occupied the first two places in the championship.  Under the circumstances, the fanfare justly directed at Urban Sea possibly takes some of the spotlight away from Rafha, whose feat of also having two sons consistently in the upper echelons of the sires' championship should not be underestimated.

The six seasons 2015 to 2020 inclusive were particularly good ones for Rafha with both Kodiac and Invincible Spirit featuring in the top 10 every year. Kodiac in particular has been remarkably consistent. He first broke into the top10 of the sires' table in 2015, having finished 15th in 2014 (in which year Invincible Spirit achieved his best position, finishing second to Galileo).  From 2015 until this current season Kodiac has never been out of the top 10, and he regularly tops the table for the most number of winners in a season.

In one sense, Rafha's sons merit even greater respect than do Urban Sea's stars. Galileo and Sea The Stars were Derby winners who started out covering high-class mares from the outset but Invincible Spirit and Kodiac did not have that luxury, having instead had to 'make their own luck' as stallions. Despite these relatively humble beginnings at stud, the influence of both Invincible Spirit and Kodiac will not end when they cease to have runners because they have already started to establish their own sire lines.

Just as Lawman was Invincible Spirit's first headline-maker as a racehorse, so he was his first successful son at stud. Lawman's first crop included G1 St James's Palace S. winner Most Improved (Ire) and the star of his second crop was G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and G2 Rockfel S. winner Just The Judge (Ire). G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Marcel (Ire) and G1 St Leger winner Harbour Law (Ire) followed, although–disappointingly–Lawman seems subsequently to have fallen out of commercial favour, notwithstanding that he is still in action at Haras du Mazet in France (having started out in Ireland at Ballylinch, where his fee peaked at €25,000).

The popularity of Invincible Spirit's best son Kingman (GB), winner of four consecutive Group 1 mile races as a 3-year-old in the summer of 2014, shows no sign of waning. An immediate hit at stud with his first-crop son Calyx (Ire) winning the G2 Coventry S. in June 2018, Kingman has gone from strength to strength and consistently posts eye-catching statistics when measured by totals of individual stakes winners or black-type ratios. With, to name but three sons, Calyx at Coolmore, four-time Group 1 winner Palace Pier (GB) at Dalham Hall and three-time Group 1 winner Persian King (Ire) at Haras d'Etreham, Kingman could well become a notable sire of sires.

Calyx currently lies in third place in the 2023 first-season sires' table for Britain and Ireland. Invincible Spirit's grandson thus sits ahead of three sons of Invincible Spirit with their first juveniles this year: Inns Of Court (fourth), Invincible Army (eighth) and 2019 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia (12th). All have a chance to become established as long-term residents of the stallion ranks in this part of the world, joining their elders Territories (Ire) and Mayson (GB) and Swiss Spirit (GB).

The 2011 crop which featured Kingman also contained Charm Spirit (Ire), winner of three Group 1 mile races during the 2014 season. He, too is currently in vogue thanks to his very fast son Shaquille (GB), winner during the summer of the G1 Commonwealth Cup and the G1 July Cup. Shaquille looks sure to be popular at Dullingham Park, where he will have a first-season fee in 2024 of £15,000. Another likely future flag-bearer for Invincible Spirit's line is his three-time Group 2-winning son Mutasaabeq (GB) who starts off at the National Stud in 2024 at a fee of £6,500.

Kodiac, too, is well represented by sons and grandsons at stud.  As was the case with their father, Ardad (Ire), Kodi Bear (Ire), Prince Of Lir (Ire) and Coulsty (Ire) all started out without any significant blaze of publicity. Each has done plenty to raise his profile since starting to have runners, while Ardad's three-time Group 1-winning first-crop son Perfect Power (Ire) is about to stand his second season at Dalham Hall Stud. The one drawback for the furtherance of the line is that Prince Of Lir's fastest son, G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Live In The Dream (Ire), is a gelding.

Being represented by a 2,000 Guineas winner at the age of 27 would be unusual, but for the redoubtable Invincible Spirit it may well happen.

Sons of Kodiac who have yet to have runners include the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain (Fr), G2 Coventry S. winner Nando Parrado (GB) and G2 Flying Childers S. winner Ubettabelieveit (Ire). Furthermore, this year's G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Good Guess (GB) will join his father on the Tally-Ho roster in 2024 at a fee of €17,500.

Elsewhere, Best Solution (Ire) had his first 2-year-old runners this year in Germany, in which country he recorded two of his three Group 1 victories (at, untypically for the progeny of Kodiac, 2400m). International stud success for stallions sired by Rafha's sons is, of course, commonplace. Most notably, Invincible Spirit briefly shuttled to Australia early in his career and there produced the tough sprinter I Am Invincible (Aus) who has become astonishingly prolific sire of stakes winners of all ages. He deservedly became Australia's champion sire in 2021/22, retained the title last term, is currently leading the standings this season, and is already respected as a sire of sires. The Invincible Spirit horses Cable Bay (Ire), National Defense (GB) and Shalaa (Ire) have all enjoyed success at stud in both hemispheres, while Cable Bay is about to get under way as a sire of sires with his fast son Dragon Symbol (GB) retiring to Whitsbury Manor Stud.

Invincible Spirit's G1 King's Stand S.-winning son Profitable (Ire) has headed out to Turkey ahead of the 2024 season, notwithstanding that he started out well on the Darley roster in Ireland with his first crop of juveniles containing 2021 G2 Queen Mary S. heroine Quick Suzy (Ire). Looking to spread Rafha's influence even farther afield will be the Invincible Spirit horse Digital Age (Ire), a Grade I winner in the USA in 2020 of the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic S. over nine furlongs on a firm turf track at Churchill Downs. Digital Age stands in South Africa at Mauritzfontein Stud. It should also be mentioned that the treble Group 1 winner Mishriff (Ire), a great grandson of Rafha through his female line, and successful on turf and dirt, is about to make his belated debut at Sumbe in France.

To return to Invincible Spirit and Kodiac, their success at stud has been one of the most heartening bloodstock stories of the 21st century to date. The sire-sons of each look set to ensure that this story will run and run, not to mention that each has plenty of good racehorses still to come. Most obviously, Invincible Spirit's unbeaten 2-year-old son Ghostwriter (Ire) stamped himself as a serious Classic prospect for 2024 when he extended his winning run in the G2 Royal Lodge S. at Newmarket at the end of September. Being represented by a 2000 Guineas winner at the age of 27 would be unusual, but for the redoubtable Invincible Spirit, it may well happen.

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Tally-Ho Introduces Good Guess At €17,500 – Mehmas To Stand At €50,000

Tally-Ho Stud has announced that new recruit Good Guess will stand at €17,500 in 2024 while Mehmas has ben dropped €10,000 to a fee of €50,000.

The stud's flagbearer Kodiac, the sire of Good Guess, has also had his fee relaxed from €40,000 to €35,000 for 2024.

A statement published on Monday read, “We are delighted to announce that G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Good Guess will stand his first season in 2024 at a fee of €17,500.

“A 420,000gns yearling from the family of Classic-winning miler Russian Rhythm, Good Guess retires as the winner of four races highlighted by this season's G1 Prix Jean Prat, in which he defeated G1 performers such as Chaldean, Hi Royal and Meditate.

“Good Guess is the first G1-winning son of Kodiac to stud in Britain and Ireland and shares his sire with successful sons such as Ardad, Coulsty, Kodi Bear and Prince Or Lir, all of whom have been represented by G1 performers in the past two seasons.”

It continued, “Kodiac himself will stand for €35,000. Now the sire of close to 200 stakes performers, Kodiac enjoyed another excellent year on the track highlighted by the G1 achievements of Good Guess in addition to Relief Rally, his fourth winner of the G2 Lowther Stakes, G2 Minstrel Stakes winner Zarinsk, and the exciting G3 Killavullan Stakes winner Atlantic Coast. 

“Yearlings by Kodiac sold for up to €430,000. Leading young sire Mehmas will stand for €50,000 following a year highlighted by the top American miler Chez Pierre, winner of the G1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland, G2 Buena Vista S. winner Quatroelle, and G1 sprinter Believing. Yearlings by Mehmas sold for up to €500,000.”

Cotai Glory, already a proven sire of top-notch talent, will remain at €12,500, champion sprinter Starman will stand for €10,000, Persian Force will stand his second season at €8,000 while Inns Of Court has been set at €5,000. 

Tally-Ho Stud's 2024 Fees

MEHMAS: €50,000

KODIAC: €35,000

GOOD GUESS: €17,500

COTAI GLORY: €12,500

STARMAN: €10,000

PERSIAN FORCE: €8,000

INNS OF COURT: €5,000

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