Tag: Katie Walsh

Craven Sale: Walsh In Dreamland As Godolphin Goes To 525k For New Bay Colt 

Nobody could accuse Katie Walsh of going around with her head in the clouds but, in the case of Tuesday's 525,000gns top lot, a colt by New Bay (GB), the leading breeze-up consignor revealed that she felt she had something worth dreaming about in the build-up to this year's Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale. 

And so it proved after the colt was knocked down to Anthony Stroud on behalf of Godolphin. Bought for 125,000gns from the Ogden family's dispersal at Book 1 last year, the already-named Anno Domini (GB) (lot 26) was one of the big eyecatchers from Monday's breeze that took place in some of the most challenging weather conditions that many key stakeholders said they could remember. 

After out-muscling BBA Ireland's Mick Donohoe, who filled the role as underbidder, Stroud explained how he empathised with some of the consignors and even the horses for negotiating such terrible weather conditions during the breeze.

“Struck early, go home early,” Stroud said, referencing the contrasting approach to last year's sale, where he was forced to stay to the bitter end to secure the joint-top lots, including what turned out to be the unbeaten superstar Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}). 

Asked if he saw the colt last year, Stroud answered, “I did see him as a yearling. I probably should have bought him as a yearling, shouldn't I!? But sometimes, it's better to leave them and come back. It's good to keep the whole business rolling on. He is a very nice horse and did a very good breeze. Katie Walsh does a fantastic job. We're delighted to get him.”

He continued, “I thought it was really hard on consignors and mostly the horses [on Monday]. It was really hard. I think I would probably be more flexible in looking at the weather charts but it's difficult when you have people coming in on the Monday for the breeze to go and switch it for another day. I have never seen it that bad.

“Also, I sometimes think the concentration required for that length of time [during the breeze] is difficult. I don't know if you want to go and have them on two separate days but I do think that, if you are breezing 180 horses, it's difficult for everyone. If the weather had been really nice, it would have all worked out.”

The New Bay colt really was one of the big talking horses coming into the sale and he didn't disappoint. Stroud, who did his bidding at the back wall, held off the persistent challenge of Donohoe in the bidders' area, but there was a moment of confusion before the hammer fell.

Double checking with auctioneer John O'Kelly that it was, in fact, he who had placed the winning bid, the bloodstock agent was met with a typically witty response. 

“Don't worry sir, I'm an auctioneer–I'm here to look after you,” O'Kelly joked. 

As for Walsh, topping sales is something she has done in the past, but there was an extra layer of satisfaction to Tuesday's result given she owned a large chunk of the colt. 

“I can't believe it, really,” Walsh said. “But I guess I did dream a little bit as he had cost 125,000gns and he has the pedigree. The people who are into pedigrees couldn't knock him on it. He made sense on paper and then when he breezed well and vetted well, I knew we had a chance of getting a touch.”

She added, “In the moments after a big sale it is all a bit of a whirlwind as the phone is ringing from home, and you want to ring everyone, but it is brilliant–it's great for everyone. We are a family-run business with my sister Jennifer, my Mum and Dad, and my husband Ross. We are all in it together–as well as all the lads at home.”

Anno Domini hails from the Galileo (Ire) mare Alegra, who has produced five winners, including Listed scorers Pythagoras and Blue Gardenia.

 

Collins's Pinatubo Colt Off To Paddy Twomey

Paddy Twomey doesn't hang about. Along with his stable jockey Billy Lee, the leading Irish trainer day-tripped it to Newmarket on Monday before scouting the barns to catch a glimpse of the horses who caught his eye in the breeze.

Back at his base in Golden, County Tipperary on Tuesday, where he opened his yard to the Irish press, Twomey snapped up a colt by exciting first-season sire Pinatubo (Ire) from Johnny Collins's Brown Island Stables for 220,000gns through bloodstock agent Mark McStay. 

The Pinatubo colt proved to be one of the big hits on day one. Bought by Collins for 68,000gns from New England Stud at Book 2, he ended the session as the third highest-priced lot and will carry the colours of Mohammed Al Suboosi on the racetrack.

“It's great,” said Collins. “He's going to a very good trainer and I hope he's very lucky for him. He has a great temperament, he's a straightforward kind of horse. He breezed very well and showed very well all week and was just a pleasure to deal with.”

McStay and Twomey have teamed up with a good degree of success at the breeze-up sales and the bloodstock agent explained how the pair came to land on lot 22. 

The agent said, “He's been purchased for a very good client based in Dubai called Mohammed Al Suboosi who already owns some nice horses with Paddy–Procrastinate (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), another breeze-up horse, and Noche Magica (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), who'll come back for a sprinting campaign this year.”

McStay added, “We had a very select list and combined all our thoughts and this was the horse we hit on. I think the sire could be very promising and the mare has already done it by breeding Mrs Gallagher (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). The colt came recommended by Johnny Collins, who I've known for a long time. His recommendation counts for a lot so I'm delighted to get this colt.”

O'Callaghan Begins With A Bang

Michael O'Callaghan makes no secret about the fact that he prefers to stock his Kildare-based stable with breeze-up horses rather than shopping at the yearling sales. The trainer struck early in the sale for a Mehmas (Ire) half-brother to the Aidan O'Brien-trained Coventry S. winner and Classic hopeful River Tiber (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) for 300,000gns. 

Consigned by Willie Browne's Mocklershill Stables, lot 6 got the sale off to a roaring start, with O'Callaghan revealing that he was taken by the professionalism of the colt's breeze. 

He said, “The horse has a great pedigree. He's a half-brother to River Tiber and it's a very good cross with Mehmas and an Arcano (Ire) mare–Supremacy (Ire) is the very same. He's been bought for an existing client.”

O'Callaghan added, “He was up early and, not long after he breezed, things were delayed because of the weather. The weather was bad so he was very professional and we're delighted to get him. Hopefully he can be a nice horse.”

 

Talking Points

  • Cormac Farrell told TDN Europe this week that his dream was to emulate top breeze-up handlers Willie Browne, Con Marnane, Norman Williamson and Eddie O'Leary by producing a champion. The Copper Beech Stables-based consignor, who went out on his own under the banner of CF Bloodstock last year, couldn't have wished for a better start to the 2024 breeze-up campaign when his Hello Youmzain (Fr) colt [lot 12] was knocked down to Blandford Bloodstock for 200,000gns. Bought for 58,000gns at Book 2, Tuesday's result represented a respectable profit for the man who sold top-notch prospect Bracken's Laugh (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) at Tattersalls last year.
  • The Rancho Temescal Thoroughbred Partners have lit up Park Paddocks in recent times and, in snapping up lot 20, a Havana Grey (GB) filly consigned by Cian Hughes, the American outfit got in on the action once again. Interestingly, the 180,000gns purchase will go into training with Newmarket-based handler, Dylan Cunha. 
  • Mick Donohoe may have been out of luck on the day's top lot but he didn't come away from Tattersalls empty-handed after picking up a City Of Light colt for 210,000gns and a Good Magic filly for 65,000gns. Both horses were bought for Saudi Arabian clients. The BBA Ireland agent said, “I bought two horses for Saudi Arabia today and hope to do a bit more business here tomorrow as well. I have been travelling to Saudi Arabia for 20 years now so you could say that the hard yards are paying off. I actually underbid the New Bay that topped the sale. He probably would have stayed in Britain before eventually going to Saudi Arabia but, anyway, we couldn't get it done.” He added, “We're very happy with the two horses we bought today. The City Of Light colt is a brother to a horse [Rational Choice (Candy Ride {Arg})] who has done very well out there and was a very good individual. The Good Magic filly was good value at 65,000gns and she has a good pedigree being a sister to a Group 3 winner. Happy with the day's business.”
  • Donohoe wasn't the only man representing Saudi Arabian interests at Tattersalls. Lot 46, a Knockanglass Stables-consigned colt by Munnings, went the way of Marco Bozzi for SBS Global. Bozzi said, “We saw the horse in Ireland last week and really liked him. The Prince likes Munnings and we know the family. So we think he is a good prospect to run in Saudi Arabia. He will go to Ireland for now and then ship over in August.”
  • It wasn't all a bed of roses on day one. Of the 75 horses offered, 53 were sold, representing a clearance rate of 71%. The aggregate was down 14% to 5,589,500gns, the median stayed the same at 77,000gns and the average dropped 4% to 105,462gns.

 

The Golden Touch: Lot 78
Filly by King Of Change (GB) out of Greatest Virtue (GB) (Poet's Voice {GB})
Consigned by Donovan Bloodstock 
Purchased by Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah
Danny O'Donovan and Adam Potts deserve some credit for turning lot 78, who was the cheapest yearling sold at Book 1 at 8,000gns, into a 80,000gns breezer. The filly is from the family of Sole Power (GB) and certainly caught the eye of some good judges by how well she breezed. In the end, the hammer fell the way of Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah [owner of Haatem (Ire) (Phoenix Of Spain {Ire})], securing a healthy profit for the two lads. 

Thought For The Day

Consignors might well have come away from day one of this year's Craven Breeze-Up Sale suffering from a heavy dose of deja-vu. The patchiness that dominated on day one 12 months ago was back again, which was represented in a clearance rate of 71%.

The post Craven Sale: Walsh In Dreamland As Godolphin Goes To 525k For New Bay Colt  appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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‘I Get A Kick Out Of The Breezers – But It’s Not The Same As Riding Winners’

Five years ago this week, Katie Walsh took Relegate (Ire) from going nowhere to the Cheltenham Festival winner's enclosure when galvanising the mare to come from last to first to take the Champion Bumper in pulsating fashion. 

Little did we know at the time, but that Cheltenham success was to be Walsh's last, as she bowed out on a winner at her beloved Punchestown Festival the following month.

A lot has changed in those five years since. Along with her husband Ross O'Sullivan, a prominent trainer in his own right and just about the friendliest person you could meet in any walk of life, Walsh welcomed daughter Stevie [three] and son Ted [one] into the world. 

Like her own father Ted and more recently her brother Ruby, Katie has proved to be a dab hand as a broadcaster and is now a regular contributor–along with her 2010 County Hurdle hero Thousand Stars (Fr)–on RTE's television coverage of all the major festivals. 

And then there are the breeze-ups. That same competitive spirit that saw Walsh win the Irish Grand National and three Cheltenham Festival races in total has been channeled into producing belters of breezers. 

There was a time where Walsh hummed to a very different tune. A helter-skelter soundtrack that came to a crescendo in the second week of March for over a decade. The buzz that comes with riding a Cheltenham winner will never be replaced but new dreams abound for the 39-year-old who will swap the Cotswolds for preparing her horses for the Dubai Breeze Up Sale this week. 

“It was crazy at one time,” says Walsh on a morning borrowed from the depths of winter at the family yard in Kill, County Kildare.

“When I was riding and doing the breezers, I would be riding at Cheltenham this week for example and then try and manage everything that was going on at home with the breezers. 

“Or, if I was riding at Aintree, you'd be straight into the car and driving down to Newmarket to the Craven afterwards. I'm still working at the big festivals but it's different to what it was.”

She added, “Back five or six years ago, the breeze-up business at home was getting going and the whole thing was getting bigger. I came to a stage where it made sense to retire. 

“Part of me wasn't ready to stop but it made sense. I wanted to have a family and it came to a choice between this or keeping on riding. And for what? Another two or three years at best? Driving all over the country to ride was great craic when you were younger. But that went.”

Katie Walsh with Relegate after winning the Champion Bumper in 2018 | Racingfotos.com

One chapter closes and another begins. Stevie, who was named after Nicks, not Wonder, and inspired Jamie Osborne to name a horse he bought off Walsh precisely that, arrived just in time for the yearling sale season in 2019. Not ideal timing you could say. But typical of Walsh, she made it all work regardless. 

“I had Stevie in September and obviously missed a lot of sales that year. I went to Doncaster and then Arqana in October that year and even that was hard. Stevie is used to it now but, at the start, I did find it quite difficult to leave her. But that's the way this industry is and that's the business I am in.”

She added, “The great thing about this job is that it's seasonal. I am gone from a lot of September through to October but then I'm at home for the rest of the year. Okay, Dubai is next week, but that's only a couple of days. 

“It's definitely more challenging with two small kids around. At night you find that your work is never done but I'm not the only mother in the country who is trying to organise kids and work. It can be difficult at times but I have great help and support. Mam, Dad and my sister Jennifer are brilliant.”

Concentrating fully on the breezers must be made easier when you have a track record like Walsh does. From these famous gallops, where Ted's war horses Commanche Court (Ire), Papillon (Ire), Rince Ri (Ire) and this year's Grand National contender Any Second Now (Ire) have all been trained off, Walsh has blooded her own big names.

Casper Netscher (GB) was the first to put Greenhills Farm in lights and, according to Ted, it was his sale that underpinned the success that followed.

“I'll tell ya how things turn around,” he started. “A good few years ago, we had what I thought was a nice horse and he worked well. We weren't getting enough for him at the sales so we brought him home. He ended up being a grand horse but he didn't go on and be a good horse. We'd have been as well off to have sold him. 

“The following year, we had a nice horse and I said to Katie, 'unless you get a good price for him, don't sell him because he's a good horse.' She says, 'we're selling him no matter what because I'm in the business of buying and selling. I'm not keeping any of them.'

“We arrived at the sales anyway with this little bay horse that I thought was too small but who Katie liked. By God he could fly. She got 65,000gns for him. Who did he turn out to be? Casper Netscher. He won the Gimcrack, the Mill Reef and the German Guineas. He was a great little horse and while she only got 65,000gns for him, she did the right thing in selling him, as it got the word out that she was a seller.”

After Casper Netscher there was Breeders' Cup runner-up East (GB) (Frankel {GB}), G2 Richmond S. winner Asymmetric (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and last year Walsh broke the record for the highest price ever achieved at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-up Sale when her Saxon Warrior (Jpn) filly sold on behalf of James Hanly to Stephen Hillen for €520,000. 

But for all the smiles this game generates, Walsh knows that the scowls can be just as plentiful, given the unpredictable nature of working with horses.

Walsh with her record-breaker at Tattersalls Ireland | Racingfotos.com

“I'm realistic,” she says. “I have been in this game for so long and I know the disappointments. Between horses getting injured, breezers going wrong and different things, that's just the way it is and I'm okay with that. I don't lose sleep at night over it. I understand the game and know the way things go. I've seen it my whole life with racehorses not going the right way or not working out as you hoped they would. Breezing horses is very easy compared to training them.”

She added, “I always had an interest in the breeze-ups. I just got the bug for this from the start and loved it. Okay, the next few weeks will be crazy again, but then I am at home with the kids for the summer. Ross won't be. He'll be heading off to Kilbeggan and Ballinrobe. That's why I said, training horses is much harder than doing the breeze-ups. 

“There's absolutely no let up as a trainer. You need to be a certain type of person to make a trainer. Ross is a very likeable fella and has a good bunch of owners there. I'm not saying I wouldn't handle it, but I do know that I wouldn't have the same patience as other trainers. I have built up a reputation with the breeze-up horses and have a good bunch of people here and some great staff as well. I have no problem calling a spade a spade and owners either like that or they don't. If a horse isn't good enough I'll tell the owners and I wouldn't be putting cherries on top of it either.”

“I'll never come out and say that I think I've an aeroplane. That sort of talk rubs me totally up the wrong way,” – Katie Walsh

What you see is what you get with the Walshes. They don't suffer fools nor do they care too much about what other people think. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but they've gotten this far just fine and Katie is a chip off the block. 

“I'll never come out and say that I think I've an aeroplane. That sort of talk rubs me totally up the wrong way. I'll never really believe it until they go and do it on the track. When you think a horse is going to breeze well and it doesn't, nine times out of 10, that horse will always let you down. But when a horse breezes better than you expected, that's the one who will always deliver for you.

“I think it's so much easier to keep expectations lower than start calling horses good before they have done anything. At the back of my mind, I might be thinking, 'this can bloody rubber,' but I'll never say it. You are on a hiding to nothing if you go telling people a horse is good until it goes and breezes well. If it clocks, well then you can say, he's after breezing like I thought he would, he's a good horse. It's only then that you can stand behind them because you know they are a good horse.”

With that in mind, it might be best to concentrate on what Walsh doesn't say about her Dubai Breeze Up Sale horses, colts by Into Mischief and Tonalist. She got well-paid for an Exceed And Excel (Aus) colt at the inaugural running of this sale 12 months ago and this year's representatives were bought specifically to go back to Dubai.

“They are very big horses so you are just giving them every chance you can. But you are not under as much pressure in Dubai because there are no clocks. The season finishes out there the following week at the Dubai World Cup meeting so that makes it easier. You want them to look the part and go up there in a nice style and, off the back of John Cullinane's Tapiture colt [Go Soldier Go] winning a Listed race at Meydan last week, he only cantered up the straight at the breeze-up. He is a fine big colt and clearly needed all that time. They are the types of horses that they seem to want over there. Obviously, you can bring a bigger, scopier horse to Arqana but you wouldn't be bringing a Craven or a Donny type of horse out to Dubai. I don't think anyone goes to the Craven with a horse for next year. The Craven is where you try to sell the Royal Ascot dream and Doncaster is the same.”

Regardless of how well this year's batch of breezers sell, nothing will come close to the days of Poker De Sivola (Fr), Thousand Stars, Relegate and Thunder And Roses (Ire), horses Walsh will forever be associated with. 

“It's very hard to replace the kick you get riding winners. If you have never experienced it, you don't know what you are missing. To ride a winner, wherever that may be, that buzz is unbelievable. When that stops, you look for something to replace it. I'm not saying it's the same buzz but I do get a great kick out of the breezers. I love finding out which ones are good and bringing him to the sales and for them to behave and breeze the way they should. Regardless of their ability, I take pride in the fact that it's professional. That means a lot to me. Listen, I'd love one of those horses of my own to go and make €500,000. That's the dream and who knows? Maybe some day it will happen. 

She added, “I always hoped and envisioned that it would grow to be as big as it is. I hope it gets bigger. I'd like more horses of my own. This week revolved around Cheltenham for a long time. I was lucky enough to be riding as an amateur for Willie [Mullins] and the whole thing snowballed from there really. 

“Every year, it was all about Cheltenham and trying to get a ride in the bumper and the amateur races over there. I was lucky enough to ride a few winners there, I'd great luck, but now it's different and things change. It's the same for Ruby, who's flat to the boards now with ITV and Racing TV, so it's been a big change for us all over the past few years.”

For all of the change the Walshes have seen in recent times, the results Katie has achieved through her Greenhills Farm operation remains a constant. 

 

The post ‘I Get A Kick Out Of The Breezers – But It’s Not The Same As Riding Winners’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Major Talking Points From The Premier Yearling Sale At Doncaster

The first major yearling sale of the autumn in Britain or Ireland, the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale provided entertainment from the beginning to the end, but most importantly, boasted impressive figures. Brian Sheerin was in attendance and discusses the major talking points from the sale.

Figures on the up

The team at Goffs UK could hardly have wished for a better start to the Premier Yearling Sale. The day one figures were off the charts. Of the 218 lots offered on Tuesday, 199 were sold, representing a clearance rate of 91%. 

The aggregate was up 28% to £8,954,500, the average rose 15% to £44,997 and the median climbed 27% to £38,000.

There were noticeably less people around the sales complex at Doncaster on day two. While the figures failed to match what took place on Tuesday, there were some impressive numbers recorded on Wednesday, with an 87% clearance rate on a day where the aggregate climbed 11% to £7,003,000. 

The average on Wednesday went up 0.5% while the median fell by 4% to £32,000. That came despite the fact that there was some late drama in the ring with three of the last seven lots making six figures. 

All told, the sale went well. Of the 406 yearlings catalogued, 363 were sold, translating to a clearance rate of 89%. The aggregate was up 20% to £15,987,500 while the average was up 8% and the median rose by 9%.

Big Results From Small Numbers For Fitzgerald

Alice Fitzgerald knows what she is doing. It was at the Premier Yearling Sale in 2021 when Fitzgerald sold her homebred Basil Martini (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}} out of 10,000gns purchase Under Offer (Bated Breath (GB) to MV Magnier for £160,000.

Fast forward 12 months and Fitzgerald, who never brings more than one or two to the sales, bagged another big pay-day by selling her Kodiac (GB) colt out of Night Queen (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) to Manor House Farm for £160,000. 

What's even more impressive about Fitzgerald? This isn't even her day job. 

John and Jess Dance Stock Up

Given John and Jess Dance bought six-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) at this sale in 2016, it's only natural that the owners would have an affinity towards Doncaster, which was evident in the results. 

Under Manor House Stables, they signed for nine different yearlings at a total of £837,000, which was only bettered by the £1,162,000 that Peter and Ross Doyle spent across the two days on a whopping 17 different horses. 

However, of the top 10 spenders at the Premier Yearling Sale, nobody boasted a better average than John and Jess Dance. 

The couple spent an average of £93,000 on their nine lots, illustrating that they are seeking quality over quantity more so than ever before. 

High Praise From Doyle

Ross Doyle is renowned for being one of the best judges in the game. Along with his father Peter, he has sourced Mehmas, Barney Roy, Limato, Japan, Fairyland, Magna Grecia, Olympic Glory and much more. 

Therefore, when he praised Goffs for attracting the best bunch of yearlings that he has seen for some time, it reflected well on the quality of the sale.

Doyle signed for two of the top lots in the sale, a colt by New Bay (GB) [211] for £200,000 on day one, and a lovely Dark Angel (Ire) colt [251] the following day for the same figure. 

Grangemore signed for the Dark Angel colt at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sales for 40,000gns and the sale to the Doyles, who didn't reveal where the horse would be trained, secured a tidy pinhooking profit. The New Bay colt will be trained by Richard Hannon. 

Two Top-Notch Pinhooks

There were a number of good pinhooks over the course of the sale but two stood out. The first was that of lot 21, a gorgeous Ten Sovereigns (Ire) filly that Jamie Railton bought for €26,000 off Ballybin Stud at the November Foal Sales at Goffs last year before selling to Richard Hughes for a cool £110,000 on Tuesday.

The second was an even greater piece of inspiration as Violet Hesketh and Mimi Wadham, who run WH Bloodstock, and transformed lot 171 from a €38,000 purchase back in February to a £120,000 yearling just six months later. 

A colt by Kuroshio (Aus), lot 171 was tipped to do well after a number of shrewd judges got him vetted and, in the end, he was knocked down to Mark McStay and it's understood the colt will be sent to Fozzy Stack to be trained. 

Kuroshio Holding His Own

Kuroshio has been around the world and back but this year represented the classy Australian's first crop of runners since he took up residency at Starfield Stud in 2020. After a slow start to the season, Dontspoilasale (Ire) has come along and won for the stallion in Ireland, and looks potentially progressive, while Jessica Harrington's Panic Alarm (Ire) should be winning races for the stallion when he gets softer ground conditions. 

All told, anyone who has backed Kuroshio will be a lot happier now than ever before as last week's figures were respectable. Away from the headline-maker, lot 171, the Baroda Stud-drafted filly [lot 258] also secured a solid sale for the stallion, and changed hands to join John and Jess Dance for £48,000. All four yearlings by the stallion were sold. 

Force Behind Highclere Stallion

Some will argue that Land Force (Ire) is riding the crest of a No Nay Never wave, and that may have been an entirely plausible summation of the situation had his yearlings not been so impressive in the flesh. 

Top judges Clive Cox-who went to £85,000 to secure lot 71-and Oliver St Lawrence bought progeny by the stallion. Some of the best in the breeze-up business, Katie Walsh, Longways Stables and Con Marnane, also rowed in behind Land Force this week. 

Jake Warren even tipped the Highclere-based stallion for first-season sire honours and, while there is a lot of water to pass under that particular bridge, the early signs are promising for anyone with a Land Force in their stable. 

Of the 17 offered this week, 14 were sold at an aggregate of £510,000, which averaged out at £36,429.

Noteworthy Buyers

A number of top agents, trainers and breeze-up buyers relayed how footfall had increased at the sale and, as a result, it was going to be even harder to smoke out a bargain. 

Well, buyers also had to contend with major competition from afar as Wesley Ward also got in on the action, signing for lot 200, a Lynn Lodge-consigned £82,000 daughter of US Navy Flag. 

Ward is clearly a fan of the stallion and why wouldn't he be? The Patrick Grogan-bred Love Reigns (Ire), whose only defeat in three starts for the American-based trainer, came when she finished fourth in the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot. Time will tell if Ward has bagged himself another Royal Ascot filly. 

It should be said that, for all that Eddie O'Leary has a host of international clients, he still made time for his neighbour at Goffs. At one point in the afternoon on Wednesday, Nick Nugent on the rostrum announced, 'from one corner of Mullingar to the other,' when Roger O'Callaghan of Tall-Ho purchased a Mehmas colt [lot 349] for £45,000 off his fellow Westmeath native. 

O'Leary's Lynn Lodge Stud ended proceedings with 11 yearlings sold for £677,000 at an average of £61,545, making the operation the fifth most successful across the two days. 

Tally-Ho Dominate

It was an excellent sale for Tally-Ho. Not only was the stud responsible for the top lot, the Blandford Bloodstock-bought Night Of Thunder (Ire) filly [lot 278] out of five-time winner and listed-placed Thiswaycadeaux (Thewayyouare), but they also ended proceedings as the leading consignors with 24 yearlings making £1,544,000 in total.

That was needed, according to Roger O'Callaghan, who revealed that there were 60 more yearlings standing in the field at home in Westmeath, with 40 needing to be broken in and prepared for the breeze-ups.

Away from the excellent results posted by their own stock, Tally-Ho will have been delighted by how all the progeny of their resident stallions were received with yearlings by Kodiac, Cotai Glory, Kessaar, Galileo Gold, Mehmas and young sire Inns Of Court doing well. 

Night Of Thunder Stars

But the star of the show, without question, was Darley's Night Of Thunder. Along with Tally-Ho's sales-topping filly, the Mountarmstrong Stud-drafted Night Of Thunder [170] colt out of Pious Alexander, which ended day one on top at £230,000, ensured it was a memorable sale for the sire.

Mark McStay landed the day one leader, after which, the leading agent labelled Night Of Thunder, the sire of last week's spellbinding G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Highfield Princess (Fr), as a solid source of top-class talent. 

Classy Siblings On Show

Some pedigrees leapt off the page. The Galileo Gold half-brother [280] to Nunthorpe runner-up The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) made £170,000 to join Richard Spencer, the Ulysses (Ire)  half-brother [213] to Coventry S. winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) was knocked down to Dance Thoroughbreds for £150,000 and Whitsbury Manor's Havana Grey (GB) half-sister to Sandy Lane S. scorer El Caballo (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) was all the rage at £230,000 with Jack Warren of Highclere doing the buying. 

Havana Grey Shines

Of the 22 horses offered by Havana Grey, all bar one were sold for a total of £1,089,000, averaging at £51,857. Whitsbury's Ed Harper revealed that his performance is exceeding the wildest dreams but, with nine individual black-type horses in his first crop, perhaps buyers were cottoning on to the fact that they have been witnessing something special.

Soldier's Answers The Call

This game is all about looking towards the future and the early signs are that Joe Foley has another real one at Ballyhane Stud in Soldier's Call (GB). 

The man knows how to launch a stallion and must have taken great credit about how Soldier's Call cleared £563,000 from 13 yearlings sold at an average of £43,308. 

What's more, Foley was prepared to put his money where his mouth is, and bought the top lot [212] by the sire for £105,000 off Tinnakill House Stud for Steve Parkin. 

The post The Major Talking Points From The Premier Yearling Sale At Doncaster appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Walsh Has High Hopes for Invincible Spirit Colt at Tattersalls

Of the seven horses Katie Walsh offers under the Greenhills Farm banner at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale on Thursday, none jump off the page quite like lot 42, an Invincible Spirit (Ire) half-brother to dual Group 1 winner Banimpire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), who the leading consignor has high hopes for.

Goresbridge has been a good sale for Walsh, who sold GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf runner-up East (GB) (Frankel {GB}) at Ireland's only breeze-up sale when it was last held at Gowran Park in 2018, and she is upbeat about the prospects of continuing that trend at Fairyhouse this week.

The Invincible Spirit colt may be the ace in the pack, but Walsh says she has “something for everyone” at Tattersalls and expects trade to be strong after another profitable sale for her operation at Arqana last week.

She said, “Miss O'Kelly of Kilcarn Stud owns the Invincible Spirit and I'm delighted to be selling one for her. She is a great supporter of Irish racing and, as she doesn't keep her colts, she decided to breeze him when he missed the yearling sales. Hopefully he will do a nice breeze on Wednesday and will sell well for them on Thursday.

“The Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (lot 151) filly is pretty smart as well and I have a Brazen Beau (Aus) (lot 73) colt who I think is pretty sweet, so I am looking forward to the sale. There's a nice mix of horses there and I have something for everyone. From a smaller-priced horse right up to the Invincible Spirit with a really good pedigree, and everything in between, we have a nice team.”

Walsh added, “It's been a good year for us without having anything off the charts. We had a good sale at Arqana last week. Dad [Ted Walsh] bought an Almanzor colt as a yearling for €12,000 and he made €65,000 last week. That was a good result.

“We'd an Acclamation (GB) filly with a good pedigree, who Peter Nolan bought for me as I was just after having a baby at the time, and she cost 38,000gns as a yearling and we turned her into €120,000. That was super.

“I also bought a Showcasing colt for 50,000gns and he only made €55,000. I thought going to Arqana that he was the best one I had but that's the way the sale went, and hopefully he can be lucky for his new connections.”

Matching the right horses for what buyers want in each sale is hugely important and Walsh revealed that the Invincible Spirit colt was entered for Goresbridge on the basis that it would give him a maximum opportunity to shine.

Speaking about her approach to the breeze-up sales, Walsh explained, “You set out at the start of the season to try and buy the best physical with the best pedigree for the right money. Sometimes you get lucky and it just happens for you but more often than not you have to dig a bit deeper to make it happen.

“Every horse that I bring to a breeze-up sale, they are there to be sold and the main objective is to come home with empty head collars, win, lose or draw. My business model is to get them sold and to start with a clean slate when the yearling sales start.

“What determines what sale I go to, I suppose it's driven by physical and by pedigree, and sometimes it's better to be a big fish in a smaller pond. When it comes to Goresbridge, it's always been a good sale for me down through the years, and I am lucky enough to be bringing the nice Invincible Spirit colt this year with a big pedigree. He looks like he might be a big fish in a small pond along with the Saxon Warrior filly. I'm lucky to have two big pedigrees there and they are nice physicals as well.”

Reflecting on preparing East, who was knocked down to Stephen Hillen for €315,000 at this sale in 2018, Asymmetric (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) and Caspar Netscher (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), who have flown the flag for Walsh with great distinction in this sphere, she added, “East was sold on behalf of a client but it was fantastic to get her. She was a very good filly, extremely fast and forward, and by a fantastic sire. I was lucky to get the phone call to prepare a Frankel filly for Goresbridge. I was absolutely over the moon. It was a lovely thing to do and lovely to be associated with a really good filly like that.

“I prepared Asymmetric  last year and he was a very good colt who went on to win a Group 2 but the one who got me going was Caspar Netscher.”

Walsh's seven-strong team will be among the 217 horses to breeze at Fairyhouse at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The sale kicks off at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.

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