‘We Breed Them Tough Here’ – Marnane Brews Up A Storm At Bansha BBQ

Dozens of flights were cancelled, 34,000 homes were left without power, roads were closed due to fallen trees and race meetings were lost as Storm Kathleen raged across Ireland.

Only Con Marnane could organise a BBQ in the middle of one of the worst storms the country has faced in months and it be deemed a success.

The plan to stage Saturday's open morning at Bansha House Stables was first hatched when the Marnane family visited the Magic Millions Sale in Australia and, despite the weather in Tipperary, Con couldn't have been happier with how the idea was recieved by buyers and racing fans alike. 

He said, “We're absolutely thrilled with how the day went. Weather-wise, it was the worst day we've had all year. People were ringing me at seven o'clock this morning wondering if it was going to go ahead or not but I told them that they are bred tough down here. We had about 500 people here this morning and, while the weather was horrendous, we had a lovely time.”

Marnane added, “I was at the Magic Millions Sale in January and they looked after us so well over there–I was blown away by the generosity of the sales company. I said to myself when I came home that we are not doing enough to promote our own industry here which is why I decided to have an open day with a nice BBQ and drink for whoever wanted to visit us. About 20 people–agents and trainers–came over from England and I very much appreciate them giving us their time.”

John and Sean Quinn, Dylan Cunha, Jamie Piggott and Jeremy Brummit are just a few of those who made the trip across the Irish Sea. It was actually the latter, who, in showering Marnane with praise, said, “It's just a pity more British trainers didn't make the trip to see how it's done because the majority of people with a training licence in Britain wouldn't have been able to pull off what Con has done today. It's a bloody credit to him.”

South African native Cunha was happy to have returned to the man who provided him with his big hope for the season. The Newmarket-based handler's El Bufalo (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) was led out unsold at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale by Marnane's Bansha House Stables 12 months ago at 22,000gns. Fast forward to this spring, and the Wolverhampton maiden winner holds an entry for the 2,000 Guineas, albeit he is a 100-1 shot for the early-season Classic. 

Cunha explained, “We bought El Bufalo from Bansha House last year. It's a very good farm. El Bufalo is still in the Guineas and is a horse we like a lot. We got a nice Ten Sovereigns from Con and he is very nice as well. We bought three horses from the breeze-ups last year and they have all done well so we're hoping to buy more this year.”

The trainer continued, “We don't have a big owner behind us so we are trying to find value. Basically, we don't look at the times. We just look for the ones who move nicely. We have to be shrewd–El Buffalo hung in his breeze because he cut his mouth. But we liked how he moved and we ended up buying him pretty cheaply. Hopefully we can find another.”

Cunha was not the only man returning to Marnane in search of more big-race riches. Trainer Ado McGuinness, who snapped up Rush Queen (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) and Tiger Belle (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) from Marnane last year, was busy scouting the barns.

Meanwhile, bloodstock agent Hubie de Burgh, who looks after the interests of Bronson Racing, the buyer of Givemethebeatboys (Ire) (Bungle Inthejungle {GB}), was also making the most of the occasion. 

De Burgh said, “Con is the best in the business at this sort of thing. But, at the end of the day, the results speak for themselves and buyers will return to a place that is having results on the track. We've been working with Con for years and he just keeps coming up with good horses.”

He added, “What's also so impressive about Con is, he doesn't have success by buying a lovely Dubawi (Ire) or something, he does it by going out and buying a bloody good-looking horse by a lesser stallion. We're involved in some small little way with Givemethebeatboys but how on earth did Con buy that horse for what he did as a yearling? I have no idea.

“Not only that but, we're down here in the middle of a hurricane, and not one of those young horses looked like they were going to buck their rider off. I don't know how he does it but it's just pure professionalism and the horses are a credit to him. Long may it last.”

McGuinness was similarly impressed by the professionalism on show, describing the four or five lots of two-year-olds that were put through their paces as “similar to old handicappers” given how not one of the youngsters as much as turned a hair.

But we'd all be kidding ourselves if we came away from the morning without acknowledging the huge degree of poignancy in the air given it is just five months since Theresa, Con's wife, passed away aged 61.

McGuinness said, “We've dealt with Con these past few years and have been successful. When you get results working with somebody, you're always more likely to come back. He's just a great guy.

“Man, he hasn't had an easy year but he's just a top-class man. To be able to pull this all together given what they have all been through in the past few months is incredible. Fair play to them.”

 

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In the Hot Seat: Hubie de Burgh

The bloodstock agent's dinner guests include a Benedictine monk and an Olympic gold medallist, but don't tell Harry Eustace that Hubie de Burgh no longer considers him a youngster.

Proudest moment of 2023?

Reaching 160 stakes races won by de Burgh Equine purchases since setting up the agency.

 What is your biggest ambition for the new year?

Keep on the bright side of life.

Give us one horse to follow and why?

No Knee Never (Ire) (No Nay Never), purchased for Bronsan Racing.

And a young person in the industry to keep an eye on…

Ollie Sangster. A great first season in 2023 without the ammunition of the large stables. Harry Eustace was a close second but I wasn't sure he qualifies as a 'young person' anymore.

Who do you think will be champion first-season sire this year?

If it's European first-season then Hello Youmzain (Fr). If it's just Ireland and the UK then Earthlight (Ire). He was a good two-year-old, and there's plenty of them to run and in good hands.

And the best value stallion in Europe?

Camelot (GB) at €50,000 – a sire who consistently gets real Group-class horses. At a lower end, Bated Breath at £10,000 – a great value sire who upgrades his mares.

What's the one horse you wish you'd bought in 2023?

The Siyouni (Fr)-Lucerne (GB) yearling filly from Arqana. We were underbidder with Craig Bernick to his good friend Ramiro Restrepo of Mage fame.

Biggest regret?

Not being able to sing… I knew I was bad when once at a karaoke night in Hong Kong when I had finished my rendition of American Pie my host jumped up and clapped and then asked me to sing it seriously!

Biggest influence on your career?

My father. Not only a successful breeder but a thinker ahead of his time. He also advised me to take the job with Sheikh Hamdan when I was about to take another.

 If you could sit down for dinner with three people (dead or alive) who would they be and why?

Mark Todd: great company and an even greater equestrian Olympian. Dom Perignon: the benedictine monk whose influence on the early development of champagne production is recognised worldwide. He will guarantee the quality of what we will drink. Sacha Baron Cohen of Borat fame: for a bit of humour if he hasn't already been shot by a disgruntled citizen of Kazakhstan.

 

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‘Days Like This Are Very Special’: Bernick and Etreham Toast G2 Success

DEAUVILLE, France–Les Pavots may translate to poppies, but the winner of this year's G2 Prix du Calvados was named after a wine, and it is fair to assume that a drop or two may have been taken on Saturday to toast the success of a Franco-American partnership. 

The collaboration may be relatively new, but the ownership between Nicolas de Chambure of Haras d'Etreham and Craig Bernick is the blending of two established families of the turf on each side of the Atlantic. Bernick's grandparents Leonard and Bernice Lavin founded Glen Hill Farm in Florida in 1967, while the Chambure family has been at Etreham in Normandy since the 1940s.

Les Pavots (Ire) (No Nay Never), trained by Francis Graffard who took both group contests at Deauville on Saturday, made her winning debut back in May and has earned black type in each of her four starts since then. Bought privately from her breeder Coolmore, she was one of three fillies acquired by the partnership last year through agent Hubie de Burgh, and is the first to run.

“Hubie put it together, and did all the leg work on a few dozen horses,” said a delighted Bernick in the winner's enclosure at Deauville. “We picked some out and we were able to make a deal. The de Chambures are wonderful partners and know exactly what they are doing.”

He added, “The first time she ran she looked like a top filly and the next two races she got run off her feet a little bit. The Listed race was over a shorter distance and in the [G3 Prix du Bois] against Ramatuelle she wasn't as good, but last time over seven furlongs was the first time we took hold of her and she finished it out well, and today again. She's probably learning to run a bit and we are really excited to have her.”

Even without being a group winner Les Pavots has plenty to recommend her on paper, for not only is she a half-sister to the G1 Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) but her granddam All Too Beautiful (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) is a sister to Galileo (Ire) and was runner-up in the Oaks before winning the G3 Middleton S.

Bernick continued, “Francis is a great trainer and he has always said, even when she was getting beat, that he really liked the filly because she's so sound mentally. With No Nay Never over an Oasis Dream mare you wouldn't think distance, but her pedigree goes back to Urban Sea.

“She really lacks nothing. She's a beautiful filly with a great pedigree and now she's a Group 2 winner in her two-year-old year in Deauville. We're just over the moon to have her.”

Bernick also has horses in training in Ireland, notably the Fozzy Stack-trained homebred Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify), who won the GI Belmont Oaks when on her travels in July. He boards mares at Norelands Stud in Ireland as well as in France. 

“We keep a couple of our own and a few together with Etreham and they're great,” he said of his French venture. “My family has been in the business since before I was born and Nicolas's family also has done much more than we have. They're great partners and Hubie has had a long relationship with the de Chambures, and fortunately we were able to tap into their relationship. Days like this are very special.”

Hubie de Burgh added, “It's very hard to buy into families like this. You just can't get your hands on them. They'll never sell her and she'll go to the best stallions in the world. It's the start of a long story.”

Bernick, who said he was “cautiously shopping” at Arqana, bought a Dubawi (Ire) filly on the opening night of the sale for €390,000 through de Burgh. Her dam Right Hand (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) is a half-sister to the Wertheimers' G1 Prix Vermeille winner Left Hand (GB), who is also by Dubawi.

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Bloodstock Agent Martin Buick Up And Running With Group 3 Win In Sweden

Everyone needs that flagship horse. Be it a trainer, jockey or an owner, the common goal is to find a horse capable of competing on the big stage. Well, bloodstock agents are no different, and Martin Buick can now count Admiral De Vega (GB) as his first big-name acquisition. 

Buick has been based with renowned bloodstock agent Hubie de Burgh for almost two years now and in Admiral De Vega, winner of the G3 Stockholms Stora Pris in Sweden last weekend, he has his first headline horse. 

The success is made extra special for Buick, the son of former champion Scandinavian rider Walter and brother to the reigning Champion jockey William, given the success was achieved in a part of the world that means so much to the Norwegian native. 

Buick said, “It is where we grew up and was a part of our life for a long time so, from that perspective, there's an element of proudness that comes with it. I am very lucky in that the first horse I have bought is now a Group winner so the only way from here is downhill, I guess!”

Admiral De Vega is trained by Annike Bye Hansen, a close family friend who is based at Øveroll racecourse in Norway. The gelding was sourced by Buick at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-In-Training Sale in October 2021 for 47,000gns after fitting exactly the brief his owner Hans Sköld was looking for. 

Buick explained, “The owner had enjoyed success with Lope De Vega (GB) before with General De Vega (Fr), a good sprinter who is also trained by Annike Bye Hansen, so the brief was to keep a look out to see if there were any by the sire that we liked. As soon as I sent videos across of Admiral De Vega, Hans and Annike really liked him. 

“He was a raw horse and he was big but there was just something about him. He had lovely size and substance and looked like a nice, honest horse. He came well-recommended by Angus Gold, who Hubie is very close with from his previous employment with Sheikh Hamdan, so we had a bit of an inside track in that respect.”

Buick added, “He had been in training with Owen Burrows, who liked the horse but couldn't do too much with him because he was immature. We had good information and a good pedigree to work with. The cross between Lope De Vega and Dansili (GB) mares, which he is from, is a very good one. There's nearly 18% stakes winners to runners on that line, which is very impressive, and all these things feed into the selection process.”

Formerly the assistant racing manager to the Niarchos family, Buick has quickly established himself on the sale circuit and shared hopes of growing the list of clients in the coming months and years. 

He said, “I've been with Hubie since August 2021, so it's coming up towards two years now. It's been great and I have been learning every day. With this horse now and a couple of others, I am finally getting a bit of a track record, which is important. It takes a while to establish yourself and get up and running so it's good to finally have that big winner. 

“I'm employed by Hubie and help out with his clients, from horse management, breeding, acquisitions privately and publicly, so it's widespread. When I joined Hubie, the aim was to bring some new business to the agency, which is slowly but surely gaining some traction.”

Admiral De Vega's stablemate Hard One To Please (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}), who was sourced by Walter Buick, has been something of a revelation in Scandinavia by winning the Swedish Derby, Norwegian Derby and Stockholm Cup treble for the same owner. 

On that connection, Buick commented, “It's obviously very cool to have a shared interest with Dad and he still works very hard in the industry as a race reader. He watches thousands of races for work and I consult with him for his opinion on a horse and ask him what he thought about any given performance. We've combined on two horses this year at the breeze-ups. We bought a Sioux Nation colt at the breeze-ups at Doncaster on behalf of a Swedish client and then we bought a Summer Front colt at Arqana for Hans Sköld. It's nice to combine, for sure.”

It's safe to say the apple hasn't fallen too far from the tree and, judging by the big-race riches the young bloodstock agent has already enjoyed back home in Scandinavia, it's safe to assume that it's only a matter of time before he secures a flagship winner in Britain or Ireland.

 

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