The sire of 67 stakes winners, he covered 62 mares this term. In 2023, the 24-year-old sired five stakes winners, including G1 Cox Plate winner and Hong Kong wunderkind Romantic Warrior (Ire). Other stars include Group 3 winners Garrus (Ire) and Orne (Ire), in the G3 Abernant S. and G3 Horris Hill S., respectively.

Joining Acclamation is second-year sire State Of Rest (Ire), who will stand for a slightly lower fee of €20,000. The globetrotting multiple Group 1 winner–who won the G1 Cox Plate–bred 115 mares this year at €25,000. Group sire Kodi Bear (Ire) remains at €15,000 after covering a roster-best 161 mares this term.

Rounding out the Rathbarry roster is new recruit Bouttemont (Ire) at €5,000. The 2022 G3 Prix de Meautry hero won the Listed Prix Hampton earlier this year and ended his campaign with a second in the G3 Mercury S. at Dundalk.

The post Rathbarry Roster And Fees Announced appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Wherever Go Bears Go heads over seven furlongs at Royal Ascot for the group 3 Jersey or heads to the course-and-distance group 1 for which this is named, his tenacity will stand him in fine stead. Loughnane was quick to pay tribute to his stable star's chief quality. ” He is honest as the day is long and he would run through a brick wall for you,” he added. “We've done enough to make sure we could get the job done today, but he is still not fully furnished. We believe he is a group one horse and he's entered himself now as a future stallion. He's won on soft ground and he's won on fast ground, so I don't care what the ground is. I have so much faith in this horse it is not even funny.”

It is unsurprising that Go Bears Go looks as if he will comfortably go further than sprint trips, given that he hails from a family with stamina over middle distances. He is the last known foal out of In Dubai (Giant's Causeway), a daughter of the G2 Ribblesdale S. and G3 Musidora S. winner and G1 Epsom and Irish Oaks-placed Bahr (GB) (Generous {Ire}). She produced the G1 Prix de l'Opera and GI Flower Bowl Invitational heroine Nahrain (GB) (Selkirk), who is in turn the dam of the G1 Dubai Turf, G1 Caulfield S. and G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis hero Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). One speedy member of the family is Bahr's descendant, the G3 Palace House S. winner Far Above (Ire) (Farhh {GB}).

Wednesday, Ascot, Britain
MERRIEBELLE STABLES COMMONWEALTH CUP TRIAL S. (REGISTERED AS THE PAVILION S.)-G3, £80,000, Ascot, 4-27, 3yo, 6fT, 1:12.46, g/f.
1–GO BEARS GO (IRE), 127, c, 3, by Kodi Bear (Ire)
     1st Dam: In Dubai, by Giant's Causeway
     2nd Dam: Bahr (GB), by Generous (Ire)
     3rd Dam: Lady of the Sea, by Mill Reef
(£50,000 Ylg '20 TATIRY; 150,000gns 2yo '21 TATBRE). O-Amo Racing Limited & P Waney; B-Micheal D Ryan (IRE); T-David Loughnane; J-Rossa Ryan. £45,368. Lifetime Record: GSW & G1SP-Ire, GSP-US, 8-3-2-1, $376,101. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Hierarchy (Ire), 127, c, 3, Mehmas (Ire)–Cheworee (GB), by Milk It Mick (GB). (€5,000 RNA Wlg '19 GOFNOV; £9,000 RNA Ylg '20 TATIRY; 105,000gns 2yo '21 TATBRG). O-Mr David Howden & Qatar Racing; B-Mountain View Stud & Tally Ho Stud (IRE); T-Hugo Palmer. £17,200.
3–Ehraz (GB), 127, c, 3, Showcasing (GB)–Exrating (GB), by Exceed and Excel (Aus).
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GROUP TYPE. (135,000gns Wlg '19 TATFOA; 180,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT). O-Shadwell Estate Company Ltd; B-Whitsbury Manor Stud (GB); T-Richard Hannon. £8,608.
Margins: 1HF, 1 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 1.25, 8.50, 3.30.
Also Ran: Wings of War (Ire). Scratched: Space Cowboy (Ire). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

The post Go Bears Go Back To Business In The Pavilion appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

The 21-year-old Kodiac has every chance of establishing a sire line under his name, as he is the younger half-brother to Group 1 winner and Irish National Stud kingpin Invincible Spirit (Ire), himself a noted sire-of-sires globally, Kingman (GB) and I Am Invincible (Aus) being just two examples. Although he did not win a stakes race, Kodiac did place second in the G3 Hackwood S. before embarking on a stallion career at Tally-Ho Stud in 2007 at a fee of €5,000. He is priced at €65,000 for 2022-his fourth year at that level-and his sons are now stepping into the limelight.

It was the Rathbarry Stud stallion Kodi Bear, a winner of the G2 Celebration Mile and G3 Sovereign S. and also runner-up in the G1 Dewhurst S., who led the intake at €10,000. Kodi Bear's grandsire Danehill was famed for the versatility of his progeny, and it appears Kodi Bear could be headed that direction.

By the end of 2021, Kodi Bear had sired five black-type winners total, his three 2020 black-type scorers joined by another two in 2021. Across both crops he has thus far come up with 10 black-type horses. The smart filly Mystery Angel (Ire) won the Listed Pretty Polly S., and outstayed her pedigree when finishing second in Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn})'s runaway G1 Cazoo Oaks. The dual stakes winner Measure of Magic (Ire) also earned a Group 1 placing with a third at the other end of the distance spectrum in the G1 Commonwealth Cup.

Kodi Bear's trio of Group 1 horses-tops for his stallion intake barring Tally-Ho's rising star Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB})-was rounded out by G2 Railway S. hero Go Bears Go (Ire). Besides placing in the G2 Norfolk S. at the Royal meeting, the colt from Kodi Bear's second crop ran third in the G1 Phoenix S., fourth in the G1 Middle Park S. and bounced back with a close second in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Kodi Bear is from the family of three-time Group 1 winner Esoterique (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), and his 2022 fee has risen to €15,000.

Fellow Irish-based stallion Coulsty has already ticked the Group 1-winning box with his progeny, as has 2021 first-season sire Ardad (Ire), who stands at Overbury Stud. Although his opportunities have been more limited, Coulsty–the G3 Prix de Meautry hero–is advertised at €4,000 this year at Rathasker Stud in Ireland. Also runner-up in the G2 Hungerford S., Coulsty's quartet of black-type winners is led by last autumn's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup heroine Shantisara (Ire) in the States and Santosha (Ire), who struck in the G3 Princess Margaret S. His seven black-type horses match another 2022 third-crop sire-Adaay, who started his career at Whitsbury Manor Stud.

Relocated to Allevamento di Besnate in Italy this term at €4,500, the dual group-winning Adaay sired four black-type horses in 2020 led by G3 Premio Primi Passi third Doctor Strange (GB). Last year marked his first group winner, with G3 Prix de Cabourg victress Have A Good Day (Ire) and second-crop listed winner Honey Sweet (Ire).

Similar to Coulsty, Prince of Lir's 2022 fee at Ballyhane Stud is €4,000. Represented by fellow Norfolk S. hero The Lir Jet (Ire), the 8-year-old's star progeny also ran second in the G1 Phoenix S.

But, it appears Kodiac isn't done consolidating his tail-male impact in pedigrees, as the aforementioned Ardad was the 2021 leading first-season sire in Britain and third in his class in Europe.

Through Jan. 30, the 8-year-old has sired 23 first-crop winners, his crowning glory the dual Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire), winner of both the G1 Prix Morny and the G1 Middle Park S. In between those victories was the G3 Sirenia S. tally of Eve Lodge (GB). Vintage Clarets (GB) also completed the trifecta in Royal Ascot's G2 Coventry S. Out of a half-sister to the dam of G1 Prix de l'Abbaye victor Maarek (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), Ardad commanded an opening fee of £6,500 in 2018, and Overbury has bumped him up to £12,500 for 2022.

Next in Line

Kessaar (Ire), a G2 Mill Reef S. and G3 Sirenia S. hero, is next to see if he can make a similar mark with his first 2-year-olds this year. Located at the sire-making Tally-Ho Stud, the 6-year-old has 77 juveniles in his first crop bred at €8,000 and they averaged £33,919/€40,575 for 37 sold of 41 offered at the yearling sales. His fee is currently €5,000.

The most accomplished son of Kodiac on the racecourse is new Gestut Lunzen resident Best Solution (Ire). A triple Group 1 winner in Germany and Down Under, the Australian champion stayer and top older horse in Germany relished trips well beyond the reach for the majority of his sire's stock. That is no doubt as a result of his staying female line: Best Solution's third dam Eva Luna produced the group-winning stayers Brian Boru (GB) and Sea Moon (GB). Starting out at Gestut Auenquelle at €6,500, the former Godolphin colourbearer and G1 Caulfield Cup victor's first foals are yearlings of 2022. His fee remains unchanged. It would also be no surprise to see his full-brother El Bodegon (Ire) enter the stallion ranks at some stage after winning last season's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud for James Ferguson to become Kodiac's first Group 1-winning juvenile colt.

Hello Youmzain (Fr) captured the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte as a juvenile and built on that early promise with wins in the G2 Sandy Lane S., a third in the G1 Commonwealth Cup and a tally in Haydock's G1 Betfair Sprint Cup in October of 2019. Haras d'Etreham's bay marked 2020 with a victory in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot and a second in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest. He commanded €25,000 in 2021 and, his fee is unchanged for his second season, while the group-placed Flash Gordon (Ire) took up stud duties at Meelin Stud last year.

The intriguingly bred Nando Parrado (GB) will begin covering mares at the Irish National Stud for €6,000 in 2022. The son of Argentinean Group 3 victress and Group 1-placed Chibola (Arg) (Roy) broke his maiden by a length in the G2 Coventry S. in 2020. He promptly ran second in a pair of Group 1s-the Prix Morny to future G1 Commonwealth Cup heroine Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and to subsequent G1 Champion S. victor Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

The 2020 G2 Flying Childers S. hero Ubettabelieveit (Ire) calls Mickley Stud home and stands for £5,000. Also third in the 2020 GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, he landed the Listed National S. earlier in his juvenile campaign.

Kodiac's most accomplished and best-bred sons are yet to be represented by their progeny on the racecourse-none of the first four to retire to stud were out of black-type mares. The future, therefore, looks bright for Kodiac and his heirs aplenty.

The post The Heirs of Kodiac appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“We were obviously thrilled with the horse, especially after going so close at Royal Ascot,” said trainer David Loughnane.

“We've got six weeks until the Phoenix and I think that's where we'll go. He's had a busy 10 days now, so we'll give him a quiet couple of weeks and then we've got three and a half to four weeks to get him ready for the Phoenix. That's the most logical step, I think.”

The post Phoenix on the Docket For Go Bears Go appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Successful from the front on debut over five furlongs at Ascot May 8, Go Bears Go was the winner on his side as the stand's-side runner Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) swooped late in the Norfolk, so he has yet to be beaten when directly engaged in a race. Rossa Ryan was understandably delighted to mark his return from recent injury with the high-profile win. “He ran a super race in the Norfolk–he was just the wrong side,” he said. “We were so positive that he'd stay six furlongs and it was a big toss-up before Ascot between the Norfolk and the Coventry. Dave [Loughnane] took a massive risk coming here a week later, so we're glad it's paid off. He's a top-class sprinter in the making, I think. He's got the best attitude and a big up to Robson Aguiar and his team, who did prep this lad for the breeze-ups and they prep a good few of our yearlings. They did a fantastic job with him. To David Loughnane and all his team, they've been rock-solid. I have the easy job of steering them and I can only say thanks to everybody. I have to give a massive thanks to my boss Kia [Joorabchian] and everyone at Amo Racing, because they had the faith in me to get back on these on such a big weekend and do it.”

Go Bears Go is the last known foal out of In Dubai (Giant's Causeway), a daughter of Bahr (GB) (Generous {Ire}) who captured the G2 Ribblesdale S. and G3 Musidora S. and was runner-up in the G1 Epsom Oaks and third in the G1 Irish Oaks. She was responsible for the G1 Prix de l'Opera and GI Flower Bowl Invitational heroine Nahrain (GB) (Selkirk), who in turn produced the G1 Dubai Turf, G1 Caulfield S. and G1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis hero Benbatl (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). Bahr is also the ancestress of the G3 Palace House S. winner Far Above (Ire) (Farhh {GB}).

Saturday, Curragh, Ireland
GAIN RAILWAY S.-G2, €100,000, Curragh, 6-26, 2yo, 6fT, 1:12.80, gd.
1–GO BEARS GO (IRE), 131, c, 2, by Kodi Bear (Ire)
1st Dam: In Dubai, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Bahr (GB), by Generous (Ire)
3rd Dam: Lady of the Sea, by Mill Reef
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN; 1ST GROUP WIN. (£50,000 Ylg '20 TATIRY; 150,000gns 2yo '21 TATBRE). O-Amo Racing Ltd & P Waney; B-Micheal D Ryan (IRE); T-David Loughnane; J-Rossa Ryan. €60,000. Lifetime Record: GSP-Eng, 3-2-1-0, $104,216. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Castle Star (Ire), 131, c, 2, Starspangledbanner (Aus)–Awohaam (Ire), by Iffraaj (GB). O-Craig Bernick & Antony Beck; B-Churchtown Bloodstock, Grouseridge & Carhue (IRE); T-Fozzy Stack. €20,000.
3–Masseto (GB), 131, c, 2, Territories (Ire)–Never Change (Ire), by New Approach (Ire). (62,000gns Wlg '19 TATFOA; 65,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT). O-Leonard Green; B-Ciaran Paterson (GB); T-Donnacha O'Brien. €10,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 1 1/4, NK. Odds: 8.50, 3.50, 7.50.
Also Ran: Dr Zempf (GB), Twilight Jet (Ire), Andreas Vesalius (Ire), Cadamosto (Ire), The Acropolis (Ire), The Entertainer (Ire), Pinar Del Rio (GB), Albion Square (GB), Dukebox (Ire), Strapped (Ire), Arges (Ire). Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

The post Kodi Bear’s Go Bears Go Wins the Railway appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Embarking on the European yearling circuit was always going to be extremely challenging for an industry so exposed to catastrophic loss of momentum in a global economy reeling under the pandemic. Sure enough, as an auction that had been on a tremendous roll in recent years, the opening session of the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale registered some sobering returns—and a very sobering absence, too, with no sign of Shadwell after a five-year streak as leading buyers.

An average of £36,687 was down from £49,202 on the opening session last year—but should perhaps be less randomly measured against the £46,519 average across both days. The £30,000 median compared with £38,000 on day one (and £35,000 overall) last year. Turnover was down by one-third to £6,970,500, from £10,578,500. But perhaps the most instructive index was the number of six-figure sales. In last year’s opening session, there were 19—topped by the £440,000 Kingman colt who set a new record for this auction. This time round there were nine, with the session topped at £170,000.

Certainly the most conspicuous keynote from these opening skirmishes was the fact that Shadwell appeared to have taken “social distancing” to an unwelcome extreme. Needless to say, the absence of Sheikh Hamdan’s buying team caused alarm among those consignors whose perennial and pervasive debt to the Maktoum family had been measured, at this particular auction in 2019, by 17 yearlings at an aggregate just shy of £2 million.

It would be premature for those preparing yearlings for elite sales to leap to conclusions about the broader intentions of the various Maktoum concerns. Yes, the industry finds itself in grievous need of its greatest benefactors. But if we have learned anything from the travails of 2020, it is to repent of our complacency in so much that we have always taken for granted.

But things could always be worse. As Guy O’Callaghan of Grangemore Stud wisely remarked, after selling a Dark Angel (Ire) colt well towards the end of the session, “Obviously it isn’t as strong a market as in recent years but the world’s in a different place compared with six months ago. We’re lucky to have a market at all. Isn’t it good that at least we’re able to turn up and trade?”

Speaking to TDN on the eve of the sale, Goffs Group Chief Executive Henry Beeby had said that planning for a financial year that opened with the start of the coronavirus lockdown was predicated on the firm’s lowest turnover in recent years. In the case of its British sales, that was 2013—when turnover at the Premier Sale stalled at £13,310,250 for an average of £32,464 and median of $25,000. Some breathing space, there, if day two maintains Tuesday’s levels of business.

So not only could things be worse; they have been, not so long ago. We all know that plenty of very productive racehorses will be picked up cheaply this week. And so, however painfully, the next cycle begins.

Another Banner Sale for Coulonces with £170k Star

When signing a £115,000 docket for lot 160, an Acclamation (Ire) colt, Richard Ryan found himself responsible for the top price of the day to that point. Nonetheless he promised that somebody would be spending a good deal more within the next few minutes. Sure enough, Ryan himself promptly gave £170,000 for lot 165, a January colt by Starspangledbanner (Aus) imported over the Channel by Anna Sundstrom of Coulonces Sales.

This was a happy reunion for vendor and purchaser alike, Ryan having been forced to £280,000 in last year’s buoyant market for the Wootton Bassett (GB) colt now known as Legion Of Honour (GB). Trained for Teme Valley 2 by Roger Varian, he was a promising second on his Haydock debut this summer. Both of these colts were bought in the same interest and will likewise head to Varian.

“He was the star of the show,” Ryan enthused of the session-topper. “The best in the sale in our opinion, and in the opinion of the trainer. We also bought a very nice horse here last year from the same vendor, for whom we have high hopes. Starspangledbanner gets winners out of all sorts of mares and all sorts of pages, but only very rarely will they have that kind of look at this age: that scope and quality, backed up by a top-class pedigree. It’s a beautiful family.”

It certainly is, with a distinct stamp of Classic quality for a catalogue that typically majors in speed and precocity. The colt’s Classic-placed third dam Agathe (Manila), herself a half-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Arcangues (Sagace {Fr}), is the dam of two elite winners in Artiste Royal (Danehill) (dual Grade I scorer in the U.S.) and Aquarelliste (Fr) (Danehill), who won the G1 Prix de Diane and chased home Sakhee (Bahri) in the Arc.

Sundstrom was ecstatic that her Doncaster migrations had once again proved so lucrative. This colt was co-bred with Charlotte Hutchinson as the first foal of a Dalakhani half-sister to G2 Grand Prix de Deauville winner Ziyad (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), cheaply culled by the Wertheimer brothers at the Arqana Autumn Sale of 2017.

“Charlotte is my head girl and was leading him up,” said an emotional Sundstrom. “She bought the mare out of training, she only cost €16,000. We love Starspangledbanner, we’ve had a lot of luck with him, so he was an obvious choice for Dalakania.

“It’s the most fantastic thing that he’s going to Roger Varian. And a fantastic result in a market like this. It just shows that there are people there for good horses. It’s difficult to know when things are like this, we knew he had a lot of people interested, but I didn’t think he could make this much. It’s incredible.

“Goffs has been very good to us. The results on the track from horses we sold here include Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Nickajack Cave (Ire) (Kendargent {Fr}), so it’s easy to come back.”

Laurens was the top filly of this sale in 2016, at £220,000, and went on to become one of its all-time poster girls with multiple Group 1 success; while Nickajack Cave made £65,000 the following year and last month won his first group race at The Curragh.

Equally delighted was Dermot Cantillon of Tinnakill House after selling the Acclamation colt so well—due reward for his breeders (Tinnakill Bloodstock and Ian Thompson) holding their nerve when he was bought in for 40,000gns as a foal at Tattersalls last December.

“That’s our first horse through and a really good start at a difficult time,” said Cantillon. “He just did really well, foal to yearling, and Acclamation has had a very good year—including with [G2 Prix Robert Papin winner] Ventura Tormenta (Ire), who we sold here last year.”

Ryan described this as “the best Acclamation I’ve seen in the ring in recent times: a very tidy, well presented colt.”

4,000gns Mare Proves a Hidden Bounty

The first lot to break six figures represented a splendid dividend for Ken Carroll and Tom Wallace, of Lewinstown Farm and Lemongrove Stud, respectively. Their Kodi Bear (Ire) colt (lot 30), who made £110,000 online from Phil Cunningham, was acquired in utero with his dam, an unraced Bahamian Bounty (GB) mare named Usem (GB), when she changed hands for just 4,000gns at Tattersalls December in 2018.

Two Sayif (Ire) fillies she had previously delivered both did well, one winning four times and the other listed-placed in France, and the quality of this colt had meanwhile persuaded her new owners to upgrade her coverings.

“She has a Galileo Gold (GB) filly who’s a queen, and she’s in foal to Invincible Spirit (Ire)—so what would you say we think of her?” said Carroll, who has “12 to 15” mares on his farm. “To be fair, Invincible Spirit was a Kodi Bear once upon a time.”

Carroll learned the ropes with Eddie O’Leary at Lynn Lodge, up the road from his base in Co. Westmeath, while Wallace has experience both in the United States and at another highly astute outfit in Tally Ho.

“It’s the centre of racing, is Westmeath,” Carroll said with a smile. “But he was one of the easy ones. He had six or seven vettings. Good horses sell, don’t they?”

Doyles Trust in Happy Fortunes with Redpender

One team that wasn’t missing the competition from Shadwell was Peter and Ross Doyle, always purposeful participants at this sale. They stuck to a tried-and-trusted formula when giving £105,000 for lot 49, an Acclamation (GB) colt presented by Redpender Stud—both in terms of his Co Kilkenny origins and his breeding.

“We’ve had a wonderful relationship with Redpender over the years,” Ross Doyle observed. “Jimmy [Murphy] and his family do a wonderful job and have sold us two champions in Canford Cliffs (Ire) (Tagula {Ire}) and Toormore (Ire) (Arakan), as well as Estidhkaar (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). And last year they sold us Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) here.”

That filly cost just £25,000 at this sale and won her second valuable prize in the associated Goffs UK Premier Yearling S. at York, taking her earnings past £175,000 already. She now seeks some black-type in the G3 Dick Poole S. at Salisbury on Thursday.

Doyle’s interest was further stimulated by his team’s record with the sire of this colt, who actually achieved only a marginal gain having been pinhooked for €94,000 as a foal at Goffs November. “We’ve been very lucky with him with our clients and the Hannons, with Mehmas (Ire) and Harbour Watch (Ire),” he said. “Oh This Is Us (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) is under the second dam, so they’re closely related, and this one reminded us very much of him.”

Oh This Is Us, who includes two listed prizes among his 13 wins for the Hannon stable, is out of the Group 3 winner Shamwari Lodge (Ire), herself out of a half-sister to that flying filly Pipalong (Ire) (Pips Pride {GB}).

Doyle signed another six-figure docket minutes later when giving £100,000 for lot 56, a filly by another “Donny” standing dish in Kodiac (GB). Bred and consigned by Loughtown Stud, she was acquired in utero when her stakes-placed dam Zvarkhova (Ire) (Makfi {GB}) made 125,000gns through Emerald Bloodstock at Tattersalls December in 2018. Zvarkhova’s granddam is an unraced sister to champion Mark Of Esteem (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}).

Alice’s Looking Class

For someone who speaks so modestly of an operation confined to “mornings, evenings and weekends”, Alice Fitzgerald is producing horses of which any 24/7 professional would be proud. Previous sales through this ring include Hey Jonesy (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}), who won the Wokingham H. at Royal Ascot this summer; star hurdler My Tent Or Yours (Ire) (Desert Prince {Ire}); and Weatherbys Super Sprint winner Ginger Nut (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}).

And Jake Warren was in no doubt that the Mehmas (Ire) half-sister to Ginger Nut he bought for £100,000 as lot 78 has the potential to emulate their example. “We’re thrilled with her,” the agent said. “She has a very nice pedigree and is a real athlete, a wonderful mover, and looks a real summer 2-year-old. She’s for a private client and likely to go to Richard Fahey.”

Fitzgerald, known to many in the Co Tipperary racing and breeding fraternity through her day job in advertising, has three yearlings in this sale; two in the Orby; and one in Book III at Tattersalls. “We thought this was a very nice filly, but couldn’t have hoped that she would do quite so well,” she said. “But the sire is flying, of course, and she’s a half-sister to a very fast filly.”

Fitzgerald emphasized the role of partner Michael Doyle; and also deserving a mention is Royal Applause, who is not only sire of this filly’s unraced dam but also grandsire of Mehmas.

Warren, meanwhile, was acting for the same client when giving £140,000 late in the session for a Dark Angel (Ire) colt (lot 219) bred and presented by Guy O’Callaghan of Grangemore Stud in Co Kildare.

“Cracker of a horse,” Warren said. “A terrific mover with a lot of substance who should make a cracking 2-year-old. I would think he’ll stay in the U.K.”

He is the first foal of Futoon (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), purchased by O’Callaghan for 100,000gns at Tattersalls December in 2017 after she had achieved serial stakes placings for Kevin Ryan. With 19 yearlings spread across a variety of sales, O’Callaghan has his biggest draft of yearlings to date—a tough year to be growing your business, but we have already cited his admirable breadth of perspective and he saluted this as “a champion of a horse.” Here, plainly, is another young talent worthy of a remarkable dynasty of horsemen.

Sackville Shows Faith in Fast Families

Tom Dascombe is to welcome a couple of brisk-looking colts picked out by SackvilleDonald: one by Dark Angel (Ire) for £105,000, offered as lot 162 by Yeomanstown Stud; and one by Acclamation (GB) for £120,000, presented by Eugene Daly of Longview Stud as lot 186. Both are related to star sprinters. The Acclamation colt’s dam is a full-sister to Slade Power (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}); and the Dark Angel is out of a Verglas (Ire) half-sister to champion Pipalong (Ire) (Pips Pride {GB}).

He is also a full brother to G2 Robert Papin runner-up Frozen Angel (Ire). “He was a very good horse for us and was sold on to Hong Kong for 335,000gns,” Ed Sackville said. “We thought this one was a very similar type. So it’s not only a stallion we’ve been lucky with, but also a family.

“Acclamation is another sire we’ve been very lucky with, including with a nice 2-year-old called Lauded (GB), who runs in the G3 Unibet Sirenia S. this weekend. This looked a similar model: strong and precocious-looking. He’s from a very good farm that we know well, just down the road in Chasire, and we hope to have a lot of luck with him.”

As for trading conditions, Sackville gave a shrug. “It’s a typical Donny catalogue and there are nice horses here,” he said. “We just haven’t been as strong as in recent years—for the obvious reasons.”

Undaunted, most people will be back for another go when the sale concludes on Wednesday. Selling opens at 10 a.m.

The post Predictably Hesitant Start to Yearling Sales appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Friday, Salisbury, Britain
IRISH STALLION FARMS EBF STONEHENGE S.-Listed, £23,500, Salisbury, 8-21, 2yo, 8fT, 1:43.76, g/s.
1–COBH (IRE), 127, c, 2, by Kodi Bear (Ire)
1st Dam: Arbeel (GB), by Royal Applause (GB)
2nd Dam: Waafiah (GB), by Anabaa
3rd Dam: First Waltz (Fr), by Green Dancer
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN. (€66,000 Wlg ’18 GOFNOV; €100,000 Ylg ’19 GOFOR). O-China Horse Club International Ltd; B-Awbeg Stud (IRE); T-Clive Cox; J-Adam Kirby. £13,327. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $28,280.
2–Fancy Man (Ire), 127, c, 2, Pride of Dubai (Aus)–Fancy (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). (€30,000 Ylg ’19 GOFOR). O-Michael Pescod; B-Longfield Stud (IRE); T-Richard Hannon. £5,053.
3–Surprise Exhibit (GB), 127, c, 2, Showcasing (GB)–Astonishing (Ire), by Galileo (Ire). O/B-Apple Tree Stud (GB); T-Archie Watson. £2,529.
Margins: HF, 3 1/4, 4 1/4. Odds: 2.75, 6.00, 28.00.
Also Ran: Seventh Kingdom (GB), Knight Salute (GB), Coul Queen (Ire), Sugauli (Ire). Scratched: Bowland Park (GB). Click for the Racing Post result.

The post Cobh First Black-Type Winner For Kodi Bear appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post