The stud's own line-up of Windstoss (Ger), Millowitsch (Ger) and new recruit Iquitos (Ger) will be joined by visiting sires Best Solution (Ire) and Accon (Ger) from Gestut Lunzen, and Gestut Fahrhof's Alson (Ger). Also in attendance will be Japan (GB), who stands at Gestut Etzean, Destino (Ger) from Gestut Westerberg, Gestut Hof Ittlingen's homebred Neatico (Ger), and Rubaiyat (Ger), who will make the journey from Gestut Ohlerweiherhof ahead of his second season at stud.

New to the German ranks this year is Alter Adler (Ger), a Group 2-winning son of Adlerflug (Ger) who was also runner-up in the G1 Deutsches Derby, and who is standing at Gestut Erftmuhle. Another Derby second, Nerik (Ire), by Ruler Of The World (Ire), completes the line-up of 13 stallions. 

Following the parade, renowned stud vet Fred Barrelet, who has for many years been attached to the Rossdales practice in Newmarket, will deliver a talk entitled 'Is inbreeding nowadays a problem?'.

The parade gets underway at 12 noon.

The post Gestut Rottgen Hosts German Stallion Parade appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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This is the territory inhabited by many small breeders, and in plenty of cases the margins between operating at a profit and a loss are very tight indeed. 

I am reminded here of a particularly interesting quote from Paul Thorman in the interview with Brian Sheerin which appeared in these pages earlier this week. 

Thorman said, “Fashion has never been stronger. We used to be able to sell yearlings by unpopular stallions. If they were good-looking horses out of reasonable mares, they'd find a level and sometimes that level was quite good. Sir Mark Prescott, Peter Makin, the likes of those people would always buy a good-looking horse by an unfashionable sire. Now, if you have picked the wrong sire, there is nobody for it. Stallions are never as good or bad as fashion says they are.”

This does rather underline just why first-season sires are so popular, with their stock often given plenty of benefit of doubt at their first few rounds of sales. It can also be of benefit to breeders to have hit upon the 'right sire' in his second or third crop if his first-crop runners make an impression. Look how well some breeders have done from using Havana Grey (GB) in the seasons in which he was £6,000 before he shot up to £55,000, or Ardad (Ire) at his lowest price of £4,000 in the year that his first runners took to the track.

There are educated guesses to be had if this is your modus operandi and if you've seen enough of a young stallion's stock at the sales to have given you a favourable impression of how well his runners might fare. But even the finest minds and best stockmen have been flummoxed by the unpredictability of the soaraway success for some stallions and perceived failures of others. It's all part of the beauty – and the frustration – of the breeding industry.

Take Your Chance 

These selections mean that you are spinning the wheel of chance with stallions who have runners this year or in the next two years. We will start with Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), who is at the National Stud at a fee of £8,500. Lope he's called and lope he does, this good-walking son of the highly successful Lope De Vega (Ire) who had 40 first-crop foals sell for an average just shy of £22,000. He also has a strong syndicate behind him, with the National Stud teaming up with Coolmore and Whitsbury Manor Stud. He covered 134 mares in his first crop, followed by 152 in 2023, so should have a decent representation of runners next year.

Some sons of Kodiac have been quick to make an impression and it will be interesting to see if the Flying Childers winner Ubettabelieveit (Ire), who stands at Mickley Stud for £5,000, will follow suit. He has first yearlings this year from an initial season in which he covered 96 mares, a figure which increased slightly to 105 in 2023. Breeding a mare to him this year means you will have a foal in the year of his first runners. Richard Kent and his family support their stallions, and that has been the case again with this horse. They breed plenty of winners at Mickley Stud, and it would be no surprise to see Ubettabelieveit represented by some early sorts.

In A'Ali (Ire) and Caturra (Ire) we find two more winners of the Flying Childers, both of whom were bred by Tally-Ho Stud by their home stallions Society Rock (Ire) and Mehmas (Ire) respectively (and don't forget that this was also the team behind 

Ardad and his son Perfect Power). They are a year apart in their retirement to stud with A'Ali having joined Newsells Park Stud in 2022. He also won the G2 Norfolk S., G2 Prix Robert Papin and G2 Sapphire S., and there were favourable comments and results for his first foals, which averaged £23,200 for the 14 sold.

Caturra is now alongside the aforementioned Ardad at Overbury Stud and, like A'Ali, stands for £5,000. He covered 109 mares in his first season and his foals will be appearing in the coming months. Mehmas's sons are appearing thick and fast, with Minzaal (Ire), Persian Force (Ire) and Supremacy (Ire) all at stud in Ireland, and Lusail (Ire) new to France. Caturra is his sole representative in Britain.

Ballyhane Stud's Sands Of Mali (Fr) is a horse with a very interesting profile. He was the co-second top lot at the now-defunct Tattersalls Ireland Ascot Breeze-up Sale and his unheralded sire Panis had a few people scratching their heads. But he had impressed a notable judge in Con Marnane at the Osarus Yearling Sale and then Matt Coleman took a chance on him as a breezer when buying him for the Cool Silk Partnership for £75,000. It was money well spent. He won the G2 Gimcrack S. and the next year followed up with victories in the G1 QIPCO Champion Sprint, G2 Sandy Lane S. and G3 Prix Sigy (the race named after the champion sprinter who appears in the fourth generation of his pedigree), as well as being a close second in the G1 Commonwealth Cup. 

Sands Of Mali is a good-looking horse with a lot more scope than some sprinters. Through his grandsire Miswaki he brings in a different strand of the Mr. Prospector sire-line than that more readily seen in these parts now through Dubawi (Ire), and his is a pedigree which should be open to plenty of mares. Indeed, plenty did visit him in his first book, but that 152 dropped to 74 and 56. His first runners this year could help to put him back on a similar upward curve to Ardad and at a fee of €5,000.

Don't You Forget About Me

It is hard to believe that Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) is now 20, and don't policemen look young these days? He's a grand horse, who in my mind is still that neat two-year-old who went down valiantly and so narrowly to the prize fighter Teofilo (Ire) in the Dewhurst, having already won the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. His stud entrance was hastened by the poor fertility of George Washington (Ire), so we only saw Holy Roman Emperor at two, and in his now-lengthy stud career he has assembled an impressive portfolio that makes his current fee of €8,000 very enticing.

It feels like Dream Ahead has spent most of his stud career being quietly good and not really gaining the recognition and support he deserves. He has two sons at stud in France, where he stood himself for four years after spending his first five seasons at Ballylinch Stud. Now he is at the speed-orientated Bearstone Stud, a sensible place for this top sprinter to be, and the farm is also home to his best daughter, the treble Group 1 winner Glass Slippers (GB). At £6,500, he is at his lowest fee yet and he is far better-credentialed than many younger sprinters at stud. If you have a fast, young mare, why wouldn't you take a chance on a horse who was an excellent racehorse and who has already shown that he can get a good one?

Mayson (GB) is in a similar boat. A July Cup winner who has sired a July Cup winner, he is standing in Ireland for the first time this year at Springfield House Stud for €4,250. Mayson has never covered big books – 90 in his first year, dropping down to 71, 54 and 41 in the last three seasons – but he has the potential to give you a speedy two-year-old who will train on and, as Oxted (GB) and Rohaan (Ire) have shown, he can get a classy individual too.

Owner-Breeder Selections

If you have the luxury of being an owner-breeder with a penchant for middle-distance and staying horses then there is plenty of value to be found by the top-class gallopers who have been recruited by National Hunt studs but could very clearly do a good dual-purpose job. I'd include former Horse of the Year Crystal Ocean (GB) in this bracket at €8,000, along with Haras de la Hetraie's gorgeous liver chestnut G1 Prix Ganay winner Mare Australis (Ire) at €4,500, and the Adlerflug (Ger) full-brothers In Swoop (Ger) and Ito (Ger), at The Beeches Stud and Yorton Farm respectively for €3,500 and £3,000.

And let's not forget an old favourite, Sixties Icon (GB), at Norman Court Stud, with his first-class pedigree and value fee of £3,000. He's far from one-dimensional as a stallion and gets winners across the distance range.

Interesting First Impression

Talking of Adlerflug, his son Iquitos (Ger) made a notable impression last year with only five runners from a total of seven foals in his first crop. His two winners from that set were both stakes winners, including the Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed Mr Hollywood (Ire), a TDN Rising Star who is worth following again this season. Iquitos, a treble Group 1 winner over 10 and 12 furlongs, covered a larger book of 32 mares in 2023 and has subsequently moved from Gestut Graditz to Gestut Rottgen, where he stands for €6,000 and should gain some extra support.

Breeder perspective: Fiona Denniff

Fiona and Mick Denniff of Denniff Farms have focused their attentions on breeding speedily-bred horses with notable success, much of which has stemmed from the purchase of Hill Welcome (GB) (Most Welcome {GB}), ancestress of Beat The Bank (GB), Chil Chil (GB), and Kachy (GB) among a raft of decent winners.

Typically, Fiona provides a pragmatic approach in considering this year's mating plans and admits that she has reduced her broodmare numbers.

She says, “I always add on £20,000 to the stud fee to think about whether I will break even. So if you're using a stallion at, say, £10,000, they've got to make £30,000 before I've made a profit selling them as a yearling, so really to make money and call them good value they've got to make £40,000.

“GBB has been fantastic for improving the lot of fillies but you still have to think very carefully about whether you would get £40,000 if your mare produced a filly.

“There will come along another Havana Grey at some point and those who are astute enough to use that stallion will make their money but you have to consider the flipside. I have sat outside stables waiting for people to come and I know what it's like when nobody does come. Last year was very difficult. I feel that the bottom market has gone and the middle has slipped down.

“Hopefully in this new year some of the factors which affected the sales in 2023 will go, but they won't all go. I'm pulling back on breeding because it's not as commercial at the moment, and I have always been very much in the commercial field.”

Denniff adds,”The reason I never went for middle-distance horses is firstly that I love the look of a sprinter, I love the shape of them. Secondly, when I first started, I couldn't get into a middle-distance pedigree for £3,000, which is what I bought Hill Welcome for. It wouldn't have bought me a good enough pedigree to get going, but for a sprinter it was a good enough pedigree.”

“I am sure among this group of stallions there will be another Havana Grey lurking there, but quite which one it will be is hard to say.

“I don't want to put people off breeding, because we need young blood coming in, and there is nothing better than the feeling of having bred a winner. I'd say that money can't buy that feeling, though of course money does buy it, but it is the best feeling in the world.”

TDN Value Podium

Bronze: Awtaad (Ire), Derrinstown Stud, €5,000

Awtaad remains one of the best value sires in Europe. The son of Cape Cross (Ire) had five black-type winners last year, putting some other much more expensive stallions to shame, and these included G1 Prix d'Ispahan winner Anmaat (Ire) and dual Grade I winner Anisette (GB). His global reach was extended by two Group 3 wins in Sydney for Diamil (Ire). 

His Listed-winning daughter Primo Bacio (Ire) sold for 1.1 million gns at Tattersalls in 2023 and while he had only a handful of yearlings sold last year, the previous season the returns had been decent enough, with 28 sold for an average just over £40,000.

Having dropped to 38 mares covered in 2022, Awtaad was back up to 79 last year, so someone loves him, and rightly so.

Silver: Intello (Ger), Haras de Beaumont, €8,000 

Intello spent his early years at stud alternating between Cheveley Park Stud and Haras du Quesnay, and he is just about to embark on his second season across the road from the latter at Haras de Beaumont. 

From his initial feel of £25,000 he has been at €8,000 for three seasons and that of course tells its own story, but he is clearly a capable sire, and while he may fall more into the owner-breeder category his yearling prices weren't too shabby last year: the 12 sold from 13 offered at Arqana October returned an average of €43,417 and a top price of €135,000. 

That may have been helped by Intello's five black-type winners last year, with Junko (GB) ending his year on a high with victory in the G1 Hong Kong Vase.

Gold: Without Parole (GB), Newsells Park Stud, £8,000

There is a growing surge of Frankel's stallion sons in the pipeline but Newsells Park Stud's Without Parole (GB) was among the first and the fastest, as the winner of the St James's Palace S. in 2018. He's now at £8,000 having opened at £10,000, and he has physical refinement to match his lovely pedigree. His half-brother Tamarkuz (Speightstown) preceded him at stud and won the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, while his dam, who brings some Lemon Drop Kid blood to the equation, was a half-sister to the GI Travers S. winner Stay Thirsty (Bernardini).

Thirty of Without Parole's first yearlings sold for an average of £35,700. His book size actually rose to 92 last year, after he covered 83 then 75 mares in his first two seasons. That is hopefully a sign that breeders were encouraged by his youngsters. He could surprise a few people this year and if he does, his fee would likely rise again. It could be a good time to jump aboard. 

The post Value Sires Part II: Under 10,000 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The results of the Bavarian farm speak for themselves but let us offer a reminder here. At one stage Ammerland was home to around 50 mares, but generally the average number has been closer to 30: not quite boutique but also not behemoth. 

Over the last 30 years or so, 60 group race wins have come their way, including 17 at Group 1 level, and not just any old Group 1s either. First Hurricane Run (Ire) and then Waldgeist (GB) won the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Hurricane Run had won the Irish Derby in his breeder's colours before being sold to Michael Tabor, who had also raced his sire and fellow Arc winner Montjeu (Ire). And though von Boetticher must have been smarting when Hurricane Run had been beaten a neck in the Prix du Jockey Club, his conqueror Shamardal would later do the breeder a huge favour as the sire of Ammerland's dual French Classic winner Lope De Vega (Ire), who is now one of the most important stallions in the world. 

Crispin de Moubray, who has been helping Ammerland as a consultant for the last 25 years, says of von Boetticher, “He's been passionate about winning big races. His passion has always been for top racehorses and his policy has been to use them as stallions, even if they're not particularly fashionable, and to set up a breeding operation where everything is carefully worked out using the same trainers, the same staff.”

With the breeder now in his 80s, the decision has been taken to wind down the Thoroughbred breeding activities at Ammerland. It has been a gradual process over recent years and now comes the first part of the official dispersal at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale, where 12 fillies and mares and one colt foal will be offered for sale on Saturday. 

He adds, “There have only been three stud managers in the 25 years since I've been involved. Daniela Nowara, Nicolas Schenke, who arrived when Bernried was bought, and then the last 10 years there's been Steffi Fuchs. 

“Steffi is staying until the end of August next year when we'll sell the eight yearlings in Arqana in August. There is one Almanzor [foal] in the sales because he's big and he's strong and we're selling the mare, and we just thought it made sense to sell them next to each other. The other eight foals are being raised at Ammerland and the plan is for them to be sold in the August sale next year.”

Gestut Ammerland was founded in 1989 on Lake Starnberg, outside Munich, the year after von Boetticher won the Deutsches Derby with Luigi (Ger), the first racehorse he bought. He later purchased Gestut Bernreid on the other side of the lake, which for a time was home to the stallions Hurricane Run (after his return from Coolmore), his homebred G1 Coronation Cup winner Boreal (Ger), Ito (Ger), and most recently Iquitos (Ger), who subsequently moved to Gestut Graditz and has now been transferred to Rottgen ahead of the 2024 season. Iquitos has made an eye-catching start from his first crop of only five foals. Two of them are stakes winners, both out of Hurricane Run mares and both bred by Ammerland. His son Mr Hollywood (Ire) is a Group 3 winner who was second in the G1 Deutsches Derby and G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, while daughter Drawn To Dream (Ger), a Listed winner and Group 3 runner-up, will be sold in training as Lot 208. Her half-sister, the GI Beverly D S. winner Dalika (Ger) (Pastorius {Ger}), was recently sold in foal to Flightline at Keeneland for $1.65 million.

Most of their horses, they breed to top racehorses, and a horse that doesn't stay a mile is basically of no interest whatsoever

“If you look at Ammerland over the last 25 years, they have averaged 20% black-type horses to foals,” says de Moubray. “If you take this year's three-year-old crop, for example, there were 18 and 16 of them have run, which is astonishing. Fourteen have won and four are stakes winners: Mr Hollywood, Drawn To Dream, Chesspiece and Sevenna's Knight.

“If you don't breed for the market, but you breed for the racecourse, in my opinion, you have a much better chance of producing racehorses. They're raised in the same paddocks in Ammerland. It's great land, they have great staff, everything about it is carefully managed. They all go through the same regime. They didn't go to the sales as foals, yearlings. They have gone to be pre-trained and then they go to Peter Schiergen or John Gosden or Andre Fabre. They were never sold until recently. It's been a well-run small operation based around the idea of producing top horses.”

From such good foundations, the mares and fillies offered this weekend should clearly be coveted by other breeders. It is hard to look past Lady Frankel (GB) as the potential star of the draft. The Group 3-winning daughter of Frankel (GB) is a half-sister to Lope De Vega and is offered as Lot 172 with an April 9 cover by New Bay (GB). Her second and third foals  by Shamardal and Camelot (GB) have sold for €1.6 million and €850,000 respectively. 

Similarly, the five-year-old Wildfeder (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), the full-sister to Waldgeist (GB) and half-sibling to Group 3 winners Waldkonig (GB) (Kingman {GB}) and Waldlied (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), will be presented with a Siyouni (Fr) cover as Lot 202. Form an orderly queue.

Borgia's Best (Ire), whose parents are both Ammerland-bred Classic winners, Lope De Vega and the Deutsches Derby-winning filly Borgia (Ger) (Acatenango {Ger}), is another to be sold in foal to New Bay (Lot 98). The eventual product of that mating will be a full-sibling to the dual winner and 94-rated three-year-old  Liftoff (Fr).

Despite these mares being sold and the prospect of a batch of yearlings appearing next August, the distinctive red-and-green silks will still be seen on racecourses for a while at least.

“What's in the sale, apart from the eight foals, that's it,” says de Moubray. “We have put three yearlings into training with Andre Fabre because they were always going to be kept for various reasons, so we haven't changed our mind. There's still a couple of two-year-olds with Fabre and the three yearlings that have just arrived.

“Dietrich is going to be 82 in March and Annabel does like racing, and they will carry on. They've got a dressage stable at Ammerland, which will also carry on.”

He continues, “If we'd had this dispersal three years ago, it would've been really big. But it has been winding down for the last five years.”

Of the rare purchases made by Ammerland, the most recent, Sea The Sky (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), a sister to Sea The Moon (Ger) from an outstanding family of multiple German Classic winners, is also catalogued for Arqana as Lot 171. Now four, the Listed winner and Group 3-placed filly topped the BBAG September Yearling Sale at €820,000.

“Sevenna was a mare that I bought for €50,000 as a yearling in Baden-Baden, and now Dietrich has a whole lot of that S-line, which before he didn't have,” de Moubray says.

“Then there's the Lope De Vega family and there's the Waldgeist family and the Borgia family. That is an advantage, if you're breeding and you know the grandmothers, you know what to look out for, so when you're doing your matings, you're thinking, 'This family tend to do this. So let's see if we can balance it out by doing that.' And also managing them to race, not to sell, makes such a difference.”

De Moubray also signed for the Monsun (Ger) filly who would become known as Waldlerche (GB) when agreeing a private sale for her with breeder Newsells Park Stud as a yearling. The two operations formed a partnership which would result in the G3 Prix Penelope winner breeding Waldgeist among her six winners, along with his aforementioned sister. 

He says, “Waldlerche went through the August Sale and no-one liked her apart from me and she didn't sell. So I called Dietrich afterwards and said, 'You should buy her.' Andreas [Jacobs] took my phone and walked off and came back half an hour later and said, 'We've agreed that Dietrich pays €50,000 for half and we'll race her together'.”

Another significant association for Ammerland was formed with Ballylinch Stud, which is now home to Lope De Vega and Waldgeist.

“Ballylinch has been a great partner,” says de Moubray, “And Andre Fabre, obviously, over the years, as has Peter Schiergen, who won the Coronation Cup with Boreal. There are some headline horses really.”

He continues, “It's one of those rare operations in the last 35 years that has been set up by someone new, and those Ammerland colours, they've won races in America, Hong Kong, England, Ireland, and particularly in France. Lope De Vega won the Guineas and the Derby and the following year, Golden Lilac won the Guineas and the Oaks in France. That was in successive years, they won those four Classic races.

“Ammerland don't go for fashionable stallions and they don't go for typical German stallions. They're not really interested in precocious speed at all. Most of their horses, they breed to top racehorses, and a horse that doesn't stay a mile is basically of no interest whatsoever. It's a Classic breeding operation looking to produce Classic winners.”

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In case any of you were similarly distracted by nuptials, holidays, or binge-watching The Dry, here's a handy TDN overview as to who's up, who's down, and who's new on the stallion scene. (And a tip to those of you entrusted with sending out press releases: try to send them well before 6pm. Certain members of the European desk get a little tetchy if the pouring of the first gin is delayed.)

The Big Boys

Some things in life remain reassuringly expensive, and that can certainly be said for the top stallions in Europe. In this elite sector, it is not usually a case of finding enough breeders to stump up the money, more a worry for the stallion owner as to how not to offend those who won't make the cut for said horse. 

Dubawi (Ire) became the most expensive stallion in the world earlier this year when his fee was raised to £350,000, and he remains at that level for 2024. He is now joined by Frankel (GB), who has gone up from £275,000 and is about to wrestle the champion sire trophy back from his Newmarket neighbour. 

While the rock-solid trio of Wootton Bassett (GB), Sea The Stars (Ire) and Siyouni {Fr) have all had their fees increased after yet more notable results on the track this season, some of the others in this higher bracket have been held at 2023 prices. 

We're including Invincible Spirit (Ire) in this section. He was at his highest price of €120,000 between 2016 and 2019 and dropped to €60,000 in 2022. He has been listed as private since this start of the 2023 covering season, but by dint of seniority (he will turn 27 in January) and influence, he deserves to be included here.

Dubawi £350,000 (-)
Frankel £350,000 (+ £75,000)
Wootton Bassett €200,000 (+ €50,000)
Sea The Stars €200,000 (+ €20,000)
Siyouni €200,000 (+ €50,000)
No Nay Never €150,000 (- €25,000)
Kingman £125,000 (-)
Lope De Vega €125,000 (-)
Night Of Thunder €100,000 (-)
Baaeed £80,000 (-)
New Bay €75,000 (-)
Invincible Spirit PRIVATE (-)

The Middle Ground

Those on the rise in this sector include this season's three 'buzz' sires, the freshmen Too Darn Hot (GB) and Blue Point (Ire), each of whom has been represented by at least one Group 1 winner, and leading second-season sire Havana Grey (GB), who shows no signs of stopping after his breakthrough season in 2022.

We also have the three most expensive new arrivals, led by the four-time Group 1 winner Paddington (GB).

Various press releases from studs last week referred to the challenging yearling sales in 2023 when announcing reduced fees. Often the top end of the market is immune to this, but that wasn't the case this year and there were retractions in most sales sectors, though it has to be said that these came after a frankly extraordinary 2022, the first fully normal season post-pandemic. 

There have been some notable reductions in fees at most levels of the market, and the results of the foal sales will no doubt determine how many deals there are to be done.

Too Darn Hot £65,000 (+ £25,000)
Havana Grey £55,000 (+ £36,500)
Blue Point €60,000 (+ €25,000)
Dark Angel €60,000 (-)
Zarak €60,000 (-)
Paddington €55,000 NEW
Camelot €50,000 (- €10,000)
Mehmas €50,000 (- €10,000)
St Mark's Basilica €50,000 (- €15,000)
Palace Pier  £45,000 (- £5,000)
Showcasing £45,000 (-)
Starspangledbanner €45,000 (- €5,000)
Ace Impact €40,000 NEW
Pinatubo £35,000 (-)
Sea The Moon £32,500 (+ £7,500)
Kodiac   €35,000 (- €5,000)
Modern Games £30,000 NEW
Churchill €30,000 (-)
Galiway €30,000 (-)
Teofilo €30,000 (-)

Twenty-Somethings

Sioux Nation is a big climber in this bracket but he too has had some fine representatives in his second season with runners. Congratulations are due to Caroline Hanly and Sean Ronan for breeding a horse as tough as his son Brave Emperor (Ire), whose 15 outings in two seasons have resulted in nine wins, including four group wins.

There's a number of young stallions here on the verge of being loved or loathed, depending on how their first runners fare. (Mind you, those decisions are now often made as early as the foal sales, with some later having to admit they were wrong to judge so harshly so soon.)

It is good to see the dependable Nathaniel (Ire), who had another Group 1 winner this year in Poptronic (GB), given a little boost, and similar comments apply lower down the fee scale to Golden Horn (GB), who has risen from £8,000 to £10,000. In both cases, however, they have covered plenty of National Hunt mares. 

By the way, Nathaniel and Cracksman are on the list as their sterling-to-euro price conversion elevates them to just beyond the 20,000 mark.

Chaldean £25,000 NEW
Little Big Bear €27,500 NEW
Sioux Nation €27,500 (+ €10,000)
Acclamation €25,000 (- €2,500)
Ghaiyyath €25,000 (-)
Persian King €25,000 (-)
Saxon Warrior €25,000 (- €10,000)
Sottsass €25,000 (-)
Hello Youmzain €22,500 (-)
Blackbeard €20,000 (- €5,000)
State Of Rest €20,000 (- €5,000)
Torquator Tasso €20,000 (-)
Cracksman £17,500 (-)
Nathaniel £17,500 (+ £2,500)

A Bit of Value

We won't name every stallion in the lower fee brackets here as Oliver St Lawrence provides the excellent service of a full list every year and we are reliably informed that his cards are already being printed in time for the sales.

It is worth remembering that bloodstock journalists generally have lemonade pockets, even if they have champagne tastes. In solidarity with small breeders, we are looking here at a selection of stallions whom we consider to offer value for a variety of reasons. 

Vadeni, €18,000 NEW
Let's not forget how brilliant he was at three.

Shaquille, £15,000 NEW
Extremely fast horse who is introduced at a level which is bound to have breeders beating a path to the new Dullingham Park stallion yard. 

Oasis Dream, £15,000
Tremendous value for a horse of this class. Yes, he's rising 24, but it was only two years ago that he was represented by the champion two-year-old Native Trail (GB), who joins Kildangan Stud this year at €17,500.

Mostahdaf, £15,000 NEW
A whole lotta horse who had a humdinger of a season and is rated only one pound behind Equinox (Jpn). And he's by Frankel, no less.

Earthlight, £15,000
Not all sons of Shamardal will take off in the way that Blue Point did with his first runners, but Earthlight's stock have been popular as foals and yearlings, and it's worth sticking with him at this unchanged fee at what could turn out to be his cheapest level.

Study Of Man, £12,500
His fee has also been held at his 2023 price after a year in which a number of people sat up and took notice of his first runners, led by the G2 Beresford S. winner Deepone (Ire). Classily bred, and as a son of Deep Impact (Jpn) his stock should only improve with age.

Erevann, €8,000 NEW
Failed narrowly to notch his Group 1 win, but he was a solid performer. By Dubawi out of Siyouni's first Classic winner Ervedya, Erevann has the pedigree to succeed and is pitched in at a reasonable starting price.

Dream Ahead, £6,500
He remains woefully underrated and should not be overlooked at his lowest price in 12 seasons at stud in three different countries. 

Iquitos, €6,000
A horse that produces two stakes winners from his first crop of only five foals is going to get noticed, and this treble Group 1-winning son of Adlerflug (Ger) has moved from his home farm of Gestut Ammerland to Gestut Graditz and now Gestut Rottgen. His fee is up from €4,000 last year but remains enticing. 

Awtaad, €5,000
The Irish 2,000 Guineas winner remains at the same fee he's been for the last two seasons even after notching two Group/Grade 1 winners this year. Awtaad may not be prolific but he is more than capable of siring a good horse. 

King Of Change, €5,000
He has been clipped in from €6,000 ahead of his first runners hitting the track in 2024. It remains deeply regrettable that his sire Farhh (GB) does not have better fertility because he is plainly a good stallion. Time will tell if King Of Change can pick up the baton but he's a Group 1 winner from a decent enough family and it's worth taking a chance at this price.

The post Stallions Fees: That Was The Week That Was appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Benoit de la Sayette has already achieved plenty in his nascent career. Now 20, he had his first ride in November 2020 and became the first apprentice attached to John Gosden's stable in almost 30 years. 

On Saturday he won the Lincoln for the second time in three years aboard the David Menuisier-trained top weight Migration (Ire) (Alhebayeb {Ire}). Last October, de la Sayette was crowned champion apprentice, a title that could probably have been his a year earlier if he had not been banned for six months after testing positive for cocaine not long after his first Lincoln victory on Haqeeqy (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).

Chasing him up in last year's apprentice race was Harry Davies, who has just turned 18 and is attached to the powerful Kinsgclere academy which has produced so many good apprentices over the years. Currently on 70 winners, it won't be long before Davies loses his 3lb claim and, as he demonstrated nicely on Saturday evening, he's every bit as good without it. Charlie Appleby was swift to notice Davies's talents and has used the young jockey with some frequency, including in the Cardinal Conditions S. at Chelmsford, in which he was unable to claim but still got the job done nicely to win aboard Bold Act (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who heads next to a Classic trial.

While Davies was wintering in Bahrain then preserving what's left of his claim, a new name came to the fore on the all-weather circuit: Billy Loughnane. Now with 42 wins to his credit, 36 of which have come this year, the youngster only turned 17 last month and is currently lying in third in the overall jockeys' standings. Returned from a stint riding in America, he won the first turf race of the season, the Brocklesby S., in which he too was unable to use his claim. 

Loughnane's winning mount, Doddie's Impact (GB), is named after the late rugby star Doddie Weir, who died from motor neurone disease (MND) last November. The son of Pearl Secret (GB) was bred by Ciaran and Nicola Paterson and was bought for £6,000 as a yearling by his trainer Robyn Brisland, who is now dreaming of Royal Ascot.

Cross Channel Racing, which owns Doddie's Impact, has pledged 50% of his prize-money and any sale proceeds to the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation which raises funds towards vital research into MND. There will be plenty of people willing this colt to keep winning.

Honourable mentions must also go to apprentices Jonny Peate, who won the Lincoln consolation race, the Spring Mile, on Harswell Duke (GB) (Garswood {GB}), and to Connor Planas, who landed both divisions of the apprentice handicap at Doncaster in a rare Flat double for Grand National-winning trainer Lucinda Russell. 

Hold That Thought

In the centenary year of the Wildenstein family's racing and breeding operation, a Classic winner would certainly be fitting, and there would arguably be no race more appropriate for Diane Wildenstein to win than the Prix de Diane. 

The owner-breeder, who races under the name of Ballymore Thoroughbred, is currently in pole position for the 'French Oaks', with her unbeaten filly Pensee Du Jour (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who progressed from her facile victory in the Listed Prix Rose de Mai to take Saturday's G3 Prix Penelope with similar ease. 

Pensee Du Jour's family has already been represented by a winner of the Prix de Diane in the 1976 victrix Pawneese (Ire) (Carvin {Fr}), who also won the Penelope en route to victories in the Oaks at Epsom and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S.  in her sensational season for Angel Penna Sr. Pawneese was a half-sister to Pensee Du Jour's third dam, the Group 3 winner Petroleuse (Fr) (Habitat). The celebrated dynasty also includes the Arc winner Peintre Celebre (Nureyev) and star stayer Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), who is a great grandson of Pawneese. 

Brazen Doncaster Double 

Sunday's results at Leopardstown had a largely familiar feel to them with Aidan O'Brien winning both Guineas trials courtesy of Hans Andersen (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Never Ending Story (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). 

At Doncaster on the first day of the British turf season, results were more evenly spread with some notable results for smaller stables and less-heralded stallions.

Australian sprinter Brazen Beau (Aus) hasn't stood in the northern hemisphere since 2019, but fillies from his second and third crops, Vadream (GB) and Astral Beau (GB), gave him a stakes double. The former, who has also won the G3 Bengough S. at Ascot, was the comfortable winner of the Listed Cambridge Trophy in her preferred muddy conditions for Charlie Fellowes, while Astral Beau took a major step forward to notch her first stakes victory in the Listed Doncaster Mile for trainer/breeder Pam Sly.

The Sly family has enjoyed much success with Astral Beau's family. Her grand-dam Speciosa (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) pulled off a famous triumph in the 1,000 Guineas 17 years ago and has produced five winners, including Asteroidea (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), the dam of Astral Beau, and Specialty (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}), whose daughter Eileendover (GB) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) won a Listed bumper and later scored on the Flat at Newmarket.

The trainer now plans to return to Newmarket's Guineas meeting, with the aim of running Astral Beau in the G2 Dahlia S.

Birch Flying

Cheveley Park Stud, who were once more celebrating victory at the Cheltenham Festival last month, will be turning their attention towards the Flat even though a few juicy jumping targets remain this season. 

With the treble Group 1 winner Inspiral (GB) (Frankel {GB}) set to headline this year's Flat team, several colts bred by the stud got the ball rolling in other owners' colours. Arguably most pleasing of all for the Cheveley Park team was the victory of White Birch (GB), who provided his sire Ulysses (Ire) with back-to-back winners of the G3 Ballysax S. after Piz Badile (Ire) last year. 

White Birch, who really should be owned by Peter Brant, is out of the 98-rated Dutch Art (GB) mare Diagnostic (GB). He made his first two starts in the colours of his trainer John Joseph Murphy until being sold privately to race for Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez.

Another grey colt from the same Cheveley Park Stud crop, Theoryofeverything (GB) Frankel {GB}), made a striking debut on Sunday when winning a Doncaster novice race by six lengths in ground that had dried overnight from heavy to soft.

Now owned by Prince AA Faisal, Theoryofeverything had a yearling price tag of 325,000gns, reflecting his breeding. His dam Persuasive (Ire (Dark Angel {Ire}) won the G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. and her Dubawi (Ire) juvenile colt is now with Godolphin, having fetched 1 million gns at last year's October Sale.

Amazing Both Sides of the Atlantic

There was a Franco-German one-three in Saturday's GIII Orchid S. at Gulfstream when French ex-pat Christophe Clement saddled Amazing Grace (Ger) (Protectionist {Ger}) to win on her American debut, with fellow German-bred and stable-mate Atomic Blonde (Ger) (The Grey Gatsby {Ire}) in third.

Both mares went through the ring at Arqana last December, when Dr Christoph Berglar's homebred Amazing Grace sold to Moyglare Stud for €850,000 and a private sale of €340,000 was agreed for The Atomic Blonde. Breeder Michaela Faust, who owns Gestut Karlshof with husband Bruno, has retained part-ownership of the latter and now races the Italian Group 3 winner with West Point Thoroughbreds and Heather Winter. Incidentally, Amazing Grace and The Atomic Blonde had filled the same two places when racing against each other in last year's G2 T von Zastrow Stutenpreis at Baden-Baden. 

The winner wasn't the only high-profile purchase for Moyglare Stud at Arqana last year. Malavath (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), winner of the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte and runner-up to Clement's Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, has also now joined the Clement barn to race for Moyglare's Eva Maria Bucher-Haefner.

Closer to home, the Irish-based, Swiss-owned operation can look forward to the return of last year's Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Homeless Songs (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in Wednesday's Heritage S. at Leopardstown.

Starstruck by Mr Hollywood

Germany placed itself on the TDN Rising Stars list early for the season when the glitzily-named Mr Hollywood (Ger) was pushed out with just hands and heels by Leon Wolff to win on debut for Henk Grewe at Mulheim. 

There was a lot to like about the race. Firstly, who doesn't love a flag start on the Flat? Far better than the angst of starting stalls. And Mr Hollywood, as pointed out by Tom Frary, did indeed add some movie star sparkle to a grey day in Mulheim. 

His sire Iquitos (Ger), who signed off from his racing career at the age of six with victory in the Grosser Preis von Bayern to add to his two previous Group 1 wins, is a son of Adlerflug (Ger), the stallion who sadly died just as the rest of Europe suddenly realised he was really rather good. The only other Adlerflug sire remaining in Germany is the more widely known Torquator Tasso (Ger), now in his first season at Gestut Auenquelle.

Iquitos stood for two seasons at Gestut Ammerland before moving last year to Gestut Graditz, south of Berlin, where he covers for €5,000. Mr Hollywood was the first of only five foals born in his debut crop. The following year that number dropped to two, and he had 13 registered foals last year. It's fair to say that Iquitos has not exactly been well supported in his stud career to date. Perhaps Mr Hollywood might prompt a rush of late bookings this season. 

Let's Get Quizzical

Two members of the TDN Europe team were lured to Co Carlow last week to take part in the the Mark O'Hanlon Memorial Racing and Breeding Quiz at the famous Lord Bagenal Inn.

The last time this quiz had taken part in 2020 was just before the Covid shutters came down on the world. One can normally expect to find Willie Mullins on a team in his local, and it can only be presumed that his absence this time around was as a result of the lingering embarrassment at having answered one of the questions about himself incorrectly three years ago. 

There was no such shame for the trainers in attendance last week. Richard Fahey remembered that he had trained 235 winners in 2015, Pat Fahey was able to name his winner of the November Handicap, and Joseph O'Brien recalled the name of his brother's first Classic winner, guiding his team of JJ Slevin, Kevin Blake and Mark Hackett into a dead-heat for second with Luke Barry, Nancy Sexton, Brian Sheerin and myself. 

I had hoped to sign up a ringer when I saw Ryan Moore waiting in the queue for my flight to Dublin. I swiftly thought the better of it as I passed him by and could have sworn that I saw his look of vague recognition change in a heartbeat to one of horror at the thought that he might have to spend the flight sitting next to an annoying member of the Fourth Estate. 

Fortunately for Moore, our seats were far apart. He disembarked to go and do what he does best, and rode a winner at Navan that afternoon. I headed to Leighlinbridge and followed that time-honoured tradition observed by racing journalists of starting an argument in a pub quiz and staying up drinking into the early hours. We all have our calling. 

A brave person might say that quiz organiser Joe Foley is something of a control enthusiast. His own version of 'the umpire's decision is final' was read out at the start and went along the lines of 'the answers are the answers even if they are wrong'. A few bold quizzers approached the front desk to challenge Foley through the evening but were swiftly sent packing, and almost certainly docked several points for the audacity of the challenge.

I'm not usually a favourite-backer, but the identity of the winning team was never really in doubt. The unimpeachable Ryan McElligott, who had turned down several large bungs to jump ship, lifted the trophy along with Bobby and Mouse O'Ryan and Ger Connelly.

Richard Fahey was less fortunate than Ryan Moore when he was obliged to share his breakfast table the next morning with two journalists and the indefatigable Foley, who had presumably overseen at least three covers at Ballyhane Stud across the road before returning to the Lord Bagenal.

Foley spent much of breakfast looking at videos of various horses on Fahey's phone. The words “rocket” and “Queen Mary filly” were uttered in hushed tones and when an enquiry as to the identity of this speedball was issued, the stallion master wasted no time in replying with a grin, “She's by Soldier's Call”.

Fahey rashly promised to allow the TDN to visit his yard, but only on the proviso that I muck out ten boxes before being granted an interview. Happily, along with arguing in pub quizzes, mucking out is one activity at which I'm fairly proficient. In the coming weeks, I'll head to Yorkshire, pitchfork in hand, with the aim of extracting the name of this year's Queen Mary winner.

The post Seven Days: All The Young Dudes appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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