‘We Back Them Up To The Hilt’: The O’Callaghans on Making Stallions

It is not exactly a state secret that the team at Tally-Ho Stud, to use that old phrase, prefer their horses to do the talking. This could be misconstrued as a lack of friendliness but if you talk to other members of the bloodstock community about Tony and Anne O'Callaghan and their sons Roger and Henry, you will almost certainly hear variations of the phrase “lovely people”.

Indeed, within the family kitchen at the stone farmhouse just a short stretch up from the stallion yard a warm welcome is issued from all four members of the immediate family. Anne has a stroganoff ready for lunch and takes her place at the head of the table as if to referee the debate. But there's no need for that. 

“Well done for getting into the engine room,” she says with a laugh. In a week or so, the covering shed, with its full schedule of mares visiting the farm's seven stallions, could perhaps be judged to be the engine room, but the Tally-Ho kitchen, fittingly bedecked with hunting scenes, is clearly where all the important decisions are made.

As Tony talks, directly behind him sit two large monitors with grids of images showing CCTV footage of the foaling boxes and the farm. Twenty-five foals were on the ground by Jan. 27, almost one a day, and that rate will only pick up as the season progresses. 

To an extent, Tally-Ho Stud is known now as a commercially successful stallion operation. But that is only one facet of the place. The O'Callaghans' sizeable broodmare band of course plays an important part in supporting those stallions, and the two combined have been responsible in creating some notable names, with the farm having been on a particular roll in recent years. 

Group 1 winners Campanelle (Ire), Fairyland (Ire), The Platinum Queen (Ire), Perfect Power (Ire) and Ebro River (Ire) are backed up by Malavath (Ire), Knight (Ire), Kessaar (Ire), Ardad (Ire), Lusail (Ire), and Caturra (Ire). All bar one of those named are by the Tally-Ho stallions Kodiac (GB), Mehmas (Ire), Cotai Glory (GB), and Galileo Gold (GB), though the latter has just moved to Haras de Bouquetot for this season. The exception in the list is Perfect Power, who is by Overbury Stud's Ardad, but as his sire was bred at Tally-Ho, the bragging rights remain strong.

You won't hear a lot of bragging in this corner of Co Westmeath, however. As the conversation begins, naturally the first subject is Kodiac, the de facto king of Tally-Ho. Of his arrival at the stud some 17 years ago, Tony reflects, “I'd say we've been lucky. Then we kind of followed Danehill big time. And I suppose that was a result of Kodiac coming in.”

While Roger adds sagely, “And we've learned from our mistakes.”

Their selection of stallions, Tony says, is “A gut feeling as much as anything. We always like the 2-year-olds. The 2-year-olds only have to compete against themselves, which makes it easier.”

Recruiting the non-stakes winning but well-bred Kodiac in the year his half-brother Invincible Spirit made a lighting start with his first 2-year-old runners, was, in hindsight, an easy decision.

“When he came out the door, we liked him straight away. I'll always remember that,” says Roger, recalling a visit to John Dunlop's Arundel stable.

“Big arse on him, and square,” adds Tony. 

“He'd shown nice form. He was competing in very good races. He'd only been beaten two lengths in a Group 1 [Prix Maurice de Gheest]. We paid what they asked for him on the day. We didn't haggle one bit; we just said we'd take him. And John Dunlop was very disappointed at the time because he wanted another year to compete in Group 1s.”

There follows a brief debate as to the number of 2-year-old winners Kodiac had in one year when setting a new world record. The answer is 61, in 2017, seven more than Deep Impact (Jpn) notched in that same year. Kodiac's reputation has been hewn by his tendency to produce precocious offspring, and Anne points to another important factor.

“His temperament,” she says. “And the fact that the trainers hooked onto him very early on, and the breeze-up boys. [His stock] were so biddable, and winning, and wanted to give that extra inch.”

Presently, at least 10 sons of Kodiac are at stud around the world, one as far afield as Maryland, USA, another right on the doorstep in the homebred Kessaar, who is now up to 25 winners as his first crop of runners turn three. 

Kodiac has had an emphatic influence on Tally-Ho Stud. “He built most of this,” says Roger, wafting his arms around the yard during an earlier stallion parade. At 22, he is the venerable veteran of the team, with another upwardly mobile stallion now snapping at his heels. It has been hard to ignore Mehmas (Ire), who set his own record when becoming the most prolific European first-season sire with 55 winners in 2020, a tally that puts him only behind Kodiac as the most successful sire of juveniles. 

“Incredible,” is how Tony describes the son of Acclamation (GB), a graduate of the breeze-up system which plays such an important role in spruiking young stallions, and sometimes the opposite.

“The breeze-up boys do all the promoting,” says Anne. “And the jungle drums do most of the talking for you. I mean, if the Chinese whispers are good, you don't need to say any more.”

Her husband is quick to remind us that for every successful stallion, there are plenty that don't work out. “They hated Bushranger,” he states. “And we suffered for it. His career ended by 15 April. Ten of them had run, eight of them had started favourite, and not one finished in the first three. He covered mares for the rest of the season and he didn't get one the following year. Not one mare. It's like you turned off the tap.”

We back the stock in the sales, too. We go and look at them often. If we like them any bit at all, we try and buy them. Sometimes too much. But the heart is stupid

As one who has been around horses all his life, he takes a fatalistic view to the inevitability that not every stallion that walks through the gate will end up being held in the same regard as Kodiac. Plenty will end up quietly moving on. Some, sadly, such as Danetime (Ire), Red Clubs (Ire) and Society Rock (Ire), will die young. 

“If they haven't enough mobility, you have to accept it,” says Tony. “You just have to agree, and then you have to look at the next three years' work out in the field. You go to the sales and people just walk past the door. We had it with Morpheus and with Bushranger. That's the hardest part.”

He adds, “But we like to back them. Oh, we back them up to the hilt until they…”

“Kick us in the arse,” interjects Roger.

Tony continues, “We back the stock in the sales, too. We go and look at them often. If we like them any bit at all, we try and buy them. Sometimes too much. But the heart is stupid.”

Often enough, the O'Callaghans will find themselves in competition either at the sales or in the running to buy a stallion with members of their own family. Tony's brother Gay and his wife Annette run another highly successful stallion business at Yeomanstown Stud with their sons David and Robert, with two more sons, Peter and Guy, at the helm, respectively, of Woods Edge Farm in Kentucky and Ireland's Grangemore Stud. Another two of Tony's brothers, Noel and Pat, are also successful breeders. 

Anne, meanwhile, brings a classy distaff lineage to the operation. Her late father Tom Magnier owned Grange Stud, home to the great National Hunt sire Cottage (Ire), and her mother Evie Stockwell was a committed breeder in her own right until her passing last September. Most readers of this publication will be aware of the significant role Anne's brother John Magnier has played within the business for many years.

“We go into the sales and we bid away,” says Tony in his matter-of-fact manner. “We could be bidding against brothers. There's no doubt about it, in-laws and brothers are always sure to be the opposition.”

The commercial feel of the stallion roster, which also includes the promising Cotai Glory, Inns Of Court (Ire), who is about to have his first runners, Starman (GB) with first foals, and new arrival Persian Force (Ire), is largely matched by the profile of the broodmare band.

Tony explains the necessity of this situation. “Look, the Classics are all basically between Coolmore, Juddmonte, Darley, Shadwell, the Aga Khan, and a few others. It's very hard to compete. We just step outside that and work away grand.”

He adds of his farm, which was the birthplace of the 1972 Prix du Jockey Club winner Hard To Beat (Ire) among others, “The Classic winners were bred in Tally-Ho before we got it. There could've been 60 mares here back in the '50s or '60s. There was, I think, three or four Leger winners bred here, Guineas winners, 1000, 2000. I don't know if there was the Derby winner, but there was a whole heap of good horses bred here.”

It is a situation that persists.

“We just keep reinvesting in mares, trying to get better mares. That's all there is. Some work, and some don't,” says Anne modestly. She is considered to have a sixth sense when it comes to the mares being about to foal and is, like her husband and sons, fully immersed in every aspect of the business.

“It's all hands to the pump, should it be needed,” she adds. 

Roger illustrates the point with a recent anecdote. He says, “A mare foaled the night before last, and the foal was coming backwards. So there was Mum, Dad, Henry, myself, my wife, and the night girl, and the vet. We were all there. We got it out, but we were all involved.”

His mother continues, “It's all about a team, it's not just one person. It's a team effort and we try and weave our way through.”

Henry, widely known as 'the quiet one' but very much worth listening to, temporarily escaped that team. Depending on which of his parents you listen to, he did and didn't enjoy his seven-year stint in the world of banking and insolvency. 

“He didn't like it one bit,” says Tony, while Anne counters, “It was interesting,” and Roger chimes in with, “He keeps an eye on us now.”

Henry himself says, “Ah, sure, I didn't mind it either.” But it is easy to see that he is happy to be back among the fold. 

The team ethos referenced by Anne starts with the matings.

“There'd be a debate at the stocks for about 10 seconds,” Roger says.

Instinct, it would seem, rules over scholarly research, but then information gleaned from decades of working hands-on with the stock leads to its own special brand of knowledge; the kind which can't be read in books.

“We try and match what we think would be right,” notes Tony. “But we wouldn't spend two days discussing it now.”

Anne, as intuitive as any member of the team, adds, “It's like when you see a horse coming out of the stable, it's your first impression really. And if it doesn't float your boat…And it's the same with the coverings, they make up their mind that they're going to cover it with X.”

Roger admits that from time to time disagreements can occur, but one senses they are quickly dissipated. 

His mother, in her calm way, adds, “When you still have to work together, and we're so involved, it's up to all of us to give a little bit, take a little bit.”

And Henry agrees. “Ultimately, we only want what's best and we treat every horse like it's our own, so it's only coming from a good place.”

They all admit that the horse business – from mares, to foals, yearlings, breezers, and stallions – is their sole focus. 

“It's all we do,” says Tony. 

Fortunately, they do it rather well. Last year Anne joined her brother in the ITBA Hall of Fame when she was inducted alongside her husband. It was an award widely applauded by those who do business with Tally-Ho Stud, year in, and year out.

“Well, we like breeding winners, sure, we like that,” says Tony, still looking a little embarrassed at such public recognition. 

Anne adds, “It was most unexpected. It was a good feeling, and it makes you realise that the effort you put in has been worth it. To get a proper winner, or even the award. But as I said it was most unexpected. It's nice to be acknowledged by your peers, though, isn't it?”

It is almost certainly not the last time that the name Tally-Ho Stud will be listed among award winners, especially with a burgeoning roster of young stallions to complement the older guard, along with well-stocked fields of mares. However successful Mehmas or any of those following through become though, it will be hard to topple Kodiac in the family's affections.

“He'll always be king,” says Tony. “He would be our king, anyway. We'll be forever grateful.”

The post ‘We Back Them Up To The Hilt’: The O’Callaghans on Making Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

“Everyone Is Welcome,” – Opportunity Knocks On La Route Des Etalons

Is it just me or should France be known as the bloodstock land of opportunity? This is the country that saw Wootton Bassett (GB) and Walk In The Park (Ire) pull themselves up by the bootstraps after entering the stud book at relatively modest sums. There are few serious racing nations that provide as much of a chance for a stallion to flourish than France does.
Take Kauto Star (Fr), the greatest staying chaser of the modern era, as an example. He hailed from the largely unheralded Village Star (Fr) but the cream was still provided with the right chance to rise to the top here.

A similar story was shared on one of the final stops of this year's Route des Etalons at Haras de Montaigu as the stud's Mathieu Leffray, along with his brother and father, sourced a mare by the name of Idaho Falls (Fr) for the miserly sum of €500 from the French equivalent of Done Deal.


What has that got to do with anything, you might ask? Because it was Idaho Falls who went on to produce multiple Grade 1-winning chaser Allaho (Fr), the highest-rated son of Haras de Montaigu's No Risk At All (Fr), who played a starring role on the Route des Etalons.

No Risk At All has proven his versatility as a jumps sire given he is also responsible for Champion Hurdle-winning mare Epatante (Fr) and, as he stood proud in the French sunshine, another high-class prospect, Allegorie De Vassy (Fr), hardened her reputation for Cheltenham Festival honours when winning by a street at Thurles.

Opportunity does not just knock for the National Hunt breeder alone at Haras de Montaigu, either, with G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Dabirsim (Fr) new to the roster, as Emma Berry highlighted in her preview of La Route.

Along with the opportunities available to Flat an National Hunt breeders in France, another thing that quickly became apparent whilst touring through Normandie was how interconnected the breeding sector is, with every stud playing host to a foreign-registered vehicle and many of the same faces who toured the Irish Stallion Trail a week previously spotted in attendance.

One man in particular who reported an increased level of international traffic, largely down to young sires Persian King and Hello Youmzain, was Nicolas de Chambure of Haras d'Etreham. A strapping son of Kingman (GB), the French 2,000 Guineas winner Persian King is quite the contrast to the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain (Fr), but both stallions, whose foals sold well in 2022, compliment each other at stud.

“We have great expectations for them,” de Chambure said. “We put in plenty of work in getting Persian King and Hello Youmzain purchased and then by putting the syndicate together to support them.

“When the foals arrived, it was the first step towards seeing a little bit more of them, and obviously the breeders had high expectations and they've met those expectations so we are very happy.
“Persian King and Hello Youmzain are very different horses. That is also why we took the risk to retire two horses in the same year because they have very different profiles and are from different sire lines.

“The foals also looked different and were what you'd expect from their stallions. We will keep a good eye on them throughout the spring and right up to the yearling sales. That's going to be very important for them and then hopefully they will be spread out among good trainers around Europe. We will be supporting them as well.”

De Chambure added, “The fact that British and Irish breeders can see that these good French sires have appeal to the main pinhookers and trainers in the industry, I think that will give them the confidence to increase their trust in these French stallions on the whole. It has been very positive.”

Etreham also has the first 2-year-olds by City Light (Fr), a smart miler by Siyouni (Fr), to look forward to in 2023 while, interestingly, de Chambure revealed that breeders are now adopting a different approach to the mares they are sending to Almanzor (Fr).

He explained, “City Light has over 90 2-year-olds to run this season and, being a son of Siyouni, there is a bit of a buzz about him. The first reports are positive. His 2-year-olds are quite racey and, by the end of the year, we can expect them to be showing what they can do because they should be 2-year-olds.

“Almanzor has four or five exciting horses who have just turned three. He has an important year ahead of him but I think he has the numbers coming and breeders have adapted in the mares that they have been sending him. We are going to continue to see him improve and his next big horse is just around the corner, I am sure of that.”

That horse could well be the Aga Khan's Rajapour (Ire), unbeaten in three starts at two and, crucially, hailing from the smart Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) mare Raydara (Ire), who is exactly the type de Chambure will be encouraging breeders to send Almonzor going forward.

“We were all a bit surprised that Almanzor had been throwing some size and, from his first crop, we got a few who were a bit big and backward. We all realised that and, even though they were like that, he showed that he can sire a really good horse. They can quicken and they have a turn of foot. Most of the breeders, the mares they have sent him now have a bit more speed and are more short-coupled, and we have seen the difference in the progeny.”

a half an hour down the road from Etreham, some of the finest National Hunt sires standing in France were on show Haras de la Hetraie , including Gold Cup-producing Kapgarde (Fr), whose Fakir D'Oudaires (Fr) took the feature G2 Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles on Sunday.

The sire of last year's Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard (Fr) was joined in parade by fellow accomplished National Hunt stallion Great Pretender (Ire), best known for being the sire of Benie Des Dieux (Fr) and Greaneteen (Fr).

But it wasn't all about the stallions at Haras de la Hetraie, as not only did the stud offer top-notch entertainment when For Fun (Fr) lived up to his name by trying his hardest to break away from his handler, but the spread on offer was not bettered on the trip.

If it's French onion soup made by the boss himself, Pascal Noue, a fine selection of cured meats and enough oysters to feed a small village, Haras de la Hetraie was worth the trip even for those who hadn't got a mare in tow.

However, the majority of the people who made the trip to Sumbe were there in a professional capacity, according to Mathieu Le Forestier, nominations and racing manager at the stud, who reported that a lot of business had been done across the two days.

Easy to see why. Horses like Mishriff (Ire) don't retire to stud very often and, despite the fact that his debut season will be interrupted due to a slight setback, Le Forestier explained how interest in the stallion has not dwindled in the slightest because of it.

He said, “We envisage him covering 140 mares this year, which is a good number. The Prince [Faisal] will send him 35 to 40 mares of his own, which leaves about 100 nominations in Mishriff. “There have been virtually no cancellations from breeders after we announced his setback and the interest in him did not wane. We expect that he will resume covering on Mar. 15 and we don't see it being a big issue, except maybe for in the case of maiden mares.


“There aren't many alternatives to a horse of the quality Mishriff has in France and we have waited a long time to have a freshman with credentials as good as he has in the stud book here. Selling him is not the hardest job in my life.

“The good thing about Mishriff and Golden Horde (Ire) here at Sumbe is that they do the talking. We have done a lot of business over the past two days. There have not been many passers by and most of the people that have come here have been serious breeders.”

On the 2020 G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde, who stands for €8,000, he added, “Golden Horde has been popular. He'll have good numbers but, most importantly, the right blend of people who breed to race and those who breed to sell have used him. We have 15 yearlings by him that we plan to race and they will be divided up between Andre Fabre, Jean-Claude Rouget, Roger Varian and Clive Cox.”

The sentiments shared by Le Forestier about Mishriff were be echoed by Mathieu Alex at Haras de Beaumont about G1 Qipco Champion S. winner Sealiway, set to stand for €12,000 this season, and very much the pride and joy of Pauline Cheboub's operation.

Asked if there had been much international interest at Haras de Beaumont on Saturday and Sunday, Alex said, “Yes, German, Irish, English, Swedish, Danish, American–we have had plenty of interest. This is business but also, and this is very important, the Route des Etalons gives us a chance to open our doors to the public and the industry needs that. Tourists, neighbors, it doesn't matter, everyone is welcome and we have to open the doors and explain our game. We have to show them that we love our horses. We have a mission.”

He added, “Sealiway was a champion two-year-old, which is extremely important nowadays. He won a Group 1 in England, the Champion S., where he beat three Classic winners, so he is a serious horse for France. That type of horse usually retires somewhere else. This place is for him. If it wasn't for him, none of this would be here. He's an extremely important horse and stallions like him are extremely important for this country. You've seen it with Le Havre (Ire), Siyouni (Fr), Wootton Bassett (GB), the whole country is propped up by them because they attract breeders from abroad. Also, they prop up the sales. So we need stallions like that.

“There has been a short-supply of top-class stallions in France and then we had three or four good ones at the same time. I don't know why that is. Siyouni is getting old, Le Havre is dead and now Wootton Bassett is gone. There is an opening and we need new good ones coming through. French people know that and, without mares, it doesn't matter how good Sealiway is, we need the mares. We are in the process of sorting out the mares for him this year and the important thing is numbers.”

If La Hetraie boasted the best food of the tour, well then the biggest crowd was recorded at Haras de Bonneval, where over 100 people turned out to see Siyouni and co strut their stuff during one of the afternoon sessions on Saturday.

Siyouni may have been the star attraction but Zarak (Fr), one of the hottest properties the country has to offer and set to stand for €60,000 this term, sent tongues wagging. Even Alain De Royer-Dupre turned out to say a few words about his Group 1-winning son of Dubawi (Ire) who has quickly made his mark at stud.


One of the more famous studs in France, Haras de Bouquetot, were provided with an opportunity to showcase some of its newbies, with Galileo Gold (GB) having made the move from Tally-Ho to stand alongside fellow newcomer Thunder Moon (Ire). Armor (GB) should make plenty of appeal to breeders, being a speedy son of No Nay Never, but there was no doubting the star attraction, as Wooded (Ire) wowed everyone in attendance and makes plenty of sense at €12,000.

Whether you are a high-end breeder on the Flat, want to produce the next big jumping star or are in search of a bit of value over both codes, the 2023 Route des Etalons confirms that there is something for everyone in France.

Three takeaways from the Route des Etalons
After a helter-skelter two days touring some of the best studs in France, here are some takeaways from a memorable trip.

Important Newbies
Mathieu Alex obviously has a vested interest in seeing Sealiway succeed but he spoke frankly and honestly about the need for another superstar stallion in France.

Siyouni is obviously operating at his pomp and, if Zarak continues on the trajectory that he is on, he could well take over the mantle but the importance of horses like Sealiway and Mishriff entering the stud book in France cannot be understated. Let's hope they are a success as there is clearly an opening there.

Exciting Times For Haras d'Etreham
Haras de Etreham managed Wootton Bassett from a €6,000 freshman to becoming a €40,000 stallion after just seven seasons before Coolmore swooped in and secured a deal for him to stand in Ireland in 2021 where he stands to this day for a cool €150,000.

Have Etreham uncovered the next Wootton Bassett in either Persian King or Hello Youmzain? That is obviously an exceptionally high bar to aim for but the early signs are promising.

In Persian King, Etreham can offer breeders a quality son of Kingman who has plenty of size while Hello Youmzain is exactly what you'd expect one of the fastest sons of Kodiac to look like.
The first foals by both stallions went down well in 2022, with some notable names signing for the progeny of the two, and it appears as though the future is bright for everyone at the famous French stud.

Dominance Of The Jumps
The dominance of the French-breds over jumps in Britain and Ireland is nothing new and a major highlight of the trip was getting the chance to see Kapgarde and No Risk At All in the flesh.
On Saturday, the Willie Mullins-trained It's For Me (Fr) (Jeu St Eloi {Fr}) shot to the head of the Champion Bumper betting when bolting up in a Navan bumper for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

Jeu St Eloi is more or less an unknown as a stallion in Britain and Ireland, which goes back to the point made about France's ability as a nation to churn out top-class horses time and time again from relatively obscure origins.


Beaumec De Houelle (Fr) could be the next sleeper of a stallion for National Hunt breeders to take note of. One of the only sons of Martaline (GB) to stand in France, he won five of his six starts, including the G1 three-year-old hurdle at Auteuil in 2018.

Of course, jumps horses retiring to stud is nothing new in France, with Balko being another example, whereas it is quite rare in Ireland. Apart from Nickname, few entires have competed at the highest level, although who's to say what heights Sir Eric would have reached had he not suffered a fatal injury.

The French do things differently, that's for sure, and they are all the better for it. The proof, as they say, is in the eating, and there was a lot to digest on this trip.

The post “Everyone Is Welcome,” – Opportunity Knocks On La Route Des Etalons appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Value Sires Part I: Profitability from the Top

Value is relative. A homebred yearling by a lowly stallion who goes on to reap rich rewards on the track, or one by a more fashionably expensive name who brings a bonanza return in the sale ring could each be considered to have offered 'value' for their breeders.

In a slight departure from the norm for this annual series, we will be looking at the profitability of stallions in four key price brackets according to their yearling sales returns of 2022 set against their fees at the time of covering, in this case 2020.

The average profit has been determined by the stallion's fee plus a figure of £20,000 for keep fees. The profitable stallions featured must have had at least five yearlings sold in 2022 to make the list and prices have been converted to sterling from Euros according to the conversion rate on the day of the sale.

If we are to start anywhere, it may as well be at the top, with those rarefied specimens who have usually earned the right to stand for a fee of the equivalent of £50,000 or more.

Unless you've been sleeping through the last few years of sales, then it will not come as a newsflash that if you have a correct yearling by Dubawi (Ire) or Frankel (GB) then the likelihood is that you will be well paid. And you deserve to be: after all, they are the two most expensive stallions in Europe, covering only the glitterati of the equine world. At last year's Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale, nine of the 10 most expensive yearlings were by one or the other (the top four by Frankel), and that extended to 20 of the top 30, with sales from the stock of those two stallions (once all yearlings are paid for) amounting to almost 29% of the turnover of Book 1.

Dubawi is currently king of the hill, the newly crowned champion sire of 2022, and his sale-ring results reflect his excellence on the track with an average yearling price from the 28 sold last year of £796,481, giving him an average profit in excess of £500,000 when factoring his 2020 fee and keep for the mare and yearling. Of these elite stallions tabled here, Dubawi had the smallest number of offspring at the sales, and that will likely reduce further still in the years to come with his book being wisely limited by Darley as he enters his 18th season at stud.

For stallion watchers, one of the most interesting elements of the next few years will be to see how many times the champion sire baton is passed between Dubawi and Frankel. It has happened once so far, and with Frankel's assured ascent as both racehorse and sire, it will be hard to keep him off the top spot. Forty-three of his yearlings made him the only other stallion with an average price north of half a million at £584,192, which was 3.3 times his 2020 fee of £175,000 (which has now risen to £275,000).

Breeders who have supported Siyouni (Fr), Kingman (GB) and Lope De Vega (Ire) were generally well rewarded for yearlings sold last year. Siyouni has never shuttled but his popularity extends to both hemispheres, and the demand for his yearlings was stronger than ever last season. With a whopping 63 sold he showed an average profit of £173,792, and his 2020 fee of €100,000 has subsequently risen to €150,000.

Kingman was already at £150,000 in 2020 but he still shows a tidy return, with his average sales price of £328,787 translating to average profit of £158,787. Lope De Vega is another who has won over plenty of international buyers with a sterling reputation across the Atlantic and Down Under. That truly global appeal is of huge benefit when the elite sales of Britain, Ireland and France boast increasingly diverse buying benches, and the swaggering son of Shamardal pulled in an average yearling price of £245,561 last year, which was 2.7 times his fee and gave him an average profit figure of £134,439.

Of course it is hard to determine exact profit margins. Keep fees vary from farm to farm, as do consignors' charges, and any vet bills ensued are unknowable beyond the horse's owner at the time. The latter can change as well, with a number of horses having previously gone through foal sales, and some of the youngsters will have been bred under foal-share arrangements. The basis of this exercise, however, is on the assumption that each yearling is being sold by its breeder and was the product of a nomination sold at the advertised fee.

Sea The Stars (Ire) doesn't have quite the cachet attached to him as some of his rivals, which remains both surprising and disappointing as he is unquestionably a top-drawer stallion. Now 17, he had a sizeable number of yearlings at the sales last season. Of his 91 offered, 79 were sold, and on the face of it their £237,965 average price amounted to average profit of £81,282.

The only new boy in this list was Dubawi's son Too Darn Hot (GB), who started out at exactly £50,000 with an average price of £118,304, generally putting breeders who supported him in credit, with his average profit weighing in at £48,304.

No Nay Never had perhaps the biggest break-out year of any stallion in 2022. He topped the Orby Sale with a €2.6million filly, though as we know, she is one of the horses who remains unpaid for by her buyer. However, as a full-sister to his dual Group 1 winner Blackbeard (Ire), she is unlikely to fall much below that level, if and when she is re-evaluated by interested parties.

These yearlings were conceived in the year that No Nay Never's fee had shot up to €175,000 from as low as €17,500 three years earlier, so there was already much confidence behind him from the Coolmore team, and that certainly appears to be justified. An average price of £226,671 gave him average profit £47,207, and one of his biggest problems in the years to come could be the competition he will face from his own sons. Blackbeard has joined him at Coolmore this season, and Ten Sovereigns (Ire) will have his first juvenile runners in 2023, while Little Big Bear (Ire), Meditate (Ire) and Trillium (GB) are among No Nay Never's enticing 3-year-old prospects.

And then to the brothers. What a pair of stalwarts Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB) have been for the Irish National Stud and Tally-Ho Stud respectively. Now 26, Invincible Spirit's fee is listed as private this year and he stood at €100,000 when his current 2-year-olds were conceived, with a 2022 yearling average of £124,293, while Kodiac, a proper blue-collar stallion, grafted his was up from a starting fee of €5,000 to his four-year high of €65,000 which was eased for this season. The latter is now 22, and both horses have helped plenty of breeders along the way. The number of their sons and grandsons at stud stands testament to both their popularity and their success.

With some exciting young stallions on the rise, the likes of Night Of Thunder (Ire), Baaeed (GB), New Bay (GB) St Mark's Basilica (Fr), Mehmas (Ire), Zarak (Fr) and Palace Pier (GB) will be represented in this bracket in the years to come, some having been pitched straight in at this level on the back of a stellar racing career, others gradually working their way up thanks to the results of their progeny.

They say it's tough at the top, and it is even tougher to get there, which is why my pick of this celebrated bunch is Ballylinch Stud's Lope De Vega. It is easy to be wise in hindsight, but a dual Classic winner retiring to stud at a fee of €15,000 looks very good value indeed. After a dip to €12,500 in his third and fourth seasons, he set about marching up the price list and has commanded a six-figure fee for the last four seasons. That puts the 16-year-old out of the reach of many, but for those who are able to avail themselves of his services then, as this table shows, Lope De Vega is still the breeder's friend, just as he has been throughout his career, and especially for those shrewd enough to have bought a breeding right in him at the start.

The post Value Sires Part I: Profitability from the Top appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Mr Prospector Line Boosted Among Europe’s Busiest Stallions

Covering numbers are more an indication of fashion than of success but, this being, as we so often hear, “a numbers game”, it is worth having a closer look at the Flat stallions in Britain and Ireland who have been gifted books into three figures this year. We will also be looking in more depth at the French covering numbers in the coming days.

According to the statistics recently published by Weatherbys in the annual Return of Mares, there were 62 stallions who covered 100 or more mares in 2022, and that is not taking into account sires such as Crystal Ocean (GB), who covered 338 mares and can legitimately be considered a Flat sire (as can so many in his bracket) but is advertised on the Coolmore National Hunt roster.

As the accompanying table (below) shows, no Flat sires breached the 300-mark, but the four busiest, all standing in Ireland, reached around 250. In Britain, last year's leading first-season sire in that country, Ardad (Ire), was the only horse to pass 200. He covered 205 mares at Overbury Stud, having been sent only 26 mares in 2020. His first set of juveniles were swift enough out of the blocks for him to have a surge of late bookings in 2021, when his book numbered 146.

But how do these numbers break down into sire-lines within sire-lines? It is of course hard to get away from Northern Dancer, whose sons have been so dominant that they now possess their own strong branches within that division. Among these sires tabled, and there are of course other representatives with smaller books, only 10 of the 62 do not have Northern Dancer as a male-line ancestor.

The Mr Prospector line, always far more celebrated in America, has been given a massive boost in this part of the world largely thanks to his great grandson Dubawi (Ire), who will be champion sire in Britain and Ireland for the first time in 2022 and features on this list along with six of his sons – Time Test (GB), Night Of Thunder (Ire), New Bay (GB), Ghaiyyath (Ire), Too Darn Hot (GB), and Space Blues (Ire). It was Mr Prospector's son Seeking The Gold who was responsible for Dubawi's sire Dubai Millennium (GB), while another two sons of Mr P, Machiavellian and Gone West, lead us, eventually, to two names near the very top of this list, newcomer Starman (GB) – a crack sprinter who interestingly has Montjeu (Ire) as his damsire – and Wootton Bassett (GB), who stand at Tally-Ho Stud and Coolmore, respectively.

The only outlier among the group of 62 is Saxon Warrior (Jpn), who, along with Study Of Man (Ire), was one of only two sons of Deep Impact (Jpn) standing in Britain and Ireland. That number has now increased by one with the news that Tosen Stardom (Jpn) is to shuttle from Australia to stand at Ireland's Lemongrove Stud. Saxon Warrior was himself recently represented by a first-crop Grade I winner at the Breeders' Cup in Victoria Road (Ire), and Deep Impact's son Auguste Rodin (Ire) had his trainer Aidan O'Brien and the media ablaze following his victory in the G1 Vertem Futurity. The Sunday Silence line, so dominant in Japan, may yet take root in Europe.

To cover Northern Dancer's influence, in this group at least, we must break it down into five of his sons: Danzig, Sadler's Wells, Try My Best, Storm Bird, and Nureyev.

Of those, the name packing the biggest punch is Danzig, chiefly through his dominant sons Green Desert and Danehill. Sixteen of these busy sires listed here stem from Green Desert and 11 from Danehill.

Notably, from each of those two spring the veteran half-brothers Invincible Spirit (Ire), who has six sons and a grandson on this list, and Kodiac (GB), who has four sons. Arguably, their extraordinary Classic-winning dam Rafha (GB) must take much of the credit for this pair, along with a dynasty which includes new Sumbe recruit Mishriff (GB), but their longevity is also remarkable, with Invincible Spirit listed as having covered 106 mares at the age of 25 this year, while the 21-year-old Kodiac covered 63.

Think Danzig and your mind generally wanders towards speed, but he is also responsible for the Derby winners Sea The Stars (Ire) and Golden Horn (GB), the two best sons of his late grandson Cape Cross (Ire), who is of course also the sire of the recently deceased brilliant dual Oaks winner Ouija Board (GB). That fact in turn makes Cape Cross the damsire of another Derby winner, Australia (GB). All three of those had covering numbers in excess of 150, though Golden Horn had a strong National Hunt contingent in his 2022 book and he has since moved from Dalham Hall Stud to Overbury Stud, where that trend will continue.

Almost half of the stallions on this list – 28 in total – stem from Danzig, and that is surely owing to the speed and precocity more generally associated with this line, which is so much in demand from breeders these days. These include newcomers Palace Pier (GB), A'Ali (Ire), Soldier's Call (GB), Mohaather (GB), Alkumait (GB) and Nando Parrado (GB).

Conversely, the Sadler's Wells/Galileo (Ire) axis is more usually associated with middle-distance performers, though we do have a notable exception in this area at the moment in Europe's leading first-season sire, the G1 Flying Five S. winner Havana Grey (GB), who is the sire of 42 winners and five stakes winners this year and is a great grandson of Galileo. In total, seven of the 10 representatives of the Sadler's Wells line tabled here descend via Galileo, with the other three including Kitten's Joy's son Kameko.

The expanding influence of the Storm Bird/Storm Cat line in this part of the world, chiefly through the latter's sons Giant's Causeway and Hennessy, is highlighted by the fact that nine make this list, with Lope De Vega (Ire), Lucky Vega (Ire), Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), Pinatubo (Ire) and Blue Point (Ire) all representing Giant's Causeway through Shamardal. (Earthlight {Ire} is just bubbling under with a book of 92). No Nay Never, by Hennessy's son Scat Daddy, is becoming increasingly widely represented, but Scat Daddy's Sioux Nation was narrowly the busiest of all this year. No Nay Never will have six sons at stud in Europe in 2023, including Ten Sovereigns. Sergei Prokofiev, the only Scat Daddy stallion in Britain, has been well supported and stands alongside Havana Grey at Whitsbury Manor Stud.

Nureyev's line is hanging in there through Pivotal (GB), whose son Farhh (GB) has compromised fertility, which is a shame as he looks as though he could have made far greater inroads in the stallion tables if he had been able to cover the numbers required to compete these days. His son Far Above (GB) covered a three-figure book in his first year, while of course Pivotal's greatest sire son, Siyouni (Fr), is arguably the most popular stallion in France. Because of his location, his full book is not listed in the Return of Mares for Britain and Ireland, but he is reported by the Aga Khan Studs to have covered 132 mares this year, while his two Coolmore-based sons Sottsass (Fr) and St Mark's Basilica (Fr) covered 126 and 176, respectively.

Finally, Try My Best's branch, via the perhaps unlikely source of the former Coolmore then Shadai resident Waajib (Ire) and his son Royal Applause (GB), has started to flourish through Acclamation (GB). Though the latter, now 23, was just shy of 100 mares himself this year, his sons Mehmas (Ire) and Dark Angel (Ire) covered 249 and 193 mares, while Mehmas's son Supremacy (Ire) was also high on the list with 187.

As the record-breaking first-season sire of 2020, and having backed that up last year by leading the second-crop sires' list, Mehmas's popularity continues to be in the ascendant and not just via his male offspring. In the last few weeks, his daughter Malavath (Ire) topped the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale at €3.2 million, while another, the Grade I winner Going Global (Ire), sold for $2.5 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in Kentucky.

With Supremacy one year ahead of them, three more young sons of Mehmas join the ranks for 2023: G1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner Minzaal (Ire) is on Shadwell's Derrinstown roster, with Persian Force (Ire) retiring to stand alongside his sire at Tally-Ho Stud, and Caturra (Ire) becoming the first to stand in England, at Overbury Stud.

As we have seen in the recent past with such notable examples as Kendargent (Fr) and Wootton Bassett, starting out with small books of mares does not preclude success, and in fact it can be a breeder's worst nightmare to have one of many of a stallion's offspring if the fickle market suddenly turns its back. But as a guide to who's hot and who's not in the eyes of the commercial sector, the figures in the Return of Mares are always fascinating to peruse. And for those breeders simply with an eye on the racecourse with no sale-ring concerns in between, there are still plenty of options when it comes to well-bred and well-performed stallions which require simply the courage of your own convictions. Blood will out.

 

British and Irish Flat stallions with three-figure books in 2022

Name  No. Mares   (Sire)

Sioux Nation 255 (Scat Daddy)

Starman (GB) 254 (Dutch Art (GB))

Mehmas (Ire) 249 (Acclamation (GB))

Wootton Bassett (GB) 249 (Iffraaj (GB))

Ardad (Ire) 205 (Kodiac (GB))

Starspangledbanner (Aus) 202 (Choisir (Aus))

Saxon Warrior (Jpn) 199 (Deep Impact (Jpn))

Kodi Bear (Ire) 194 (Kodiac (GB))

Dark Angel (Ire) 193 (Acclamation (GB))

New Bay (GB) 193 (Dubawi (Ire))

Frankel (GB) 188 (Galileo (Ire))

Supremacy (Ire) 187 (Mehmas (Ire))

Time Test (GB) 181 (Dubawi (Ire))

Night Of Thunder (Ire) (180 Dubawi (Ire))

No Nay Never 178 (Scat Daddy)

St Mark's Basilica (Fr) 176 (Siyouni (Fr))

Cotai Glory (GB) 176 (Exceed And Excel (Aus))

Ten Sovereigns (Ire) 173 (No Nay Never)

Australia (GB 173 (Galileo (Ire))

Lope De Vega (Ire) 168 (Shamardal)

Havana Grey (GB) 166 (Havana Gold (Ire))

Dubawi (Ire) 165 (Dubai Millennium (GB))

Too Darn Hot (GB) 164 (Dubawi (Ire))

Galileo Gold (GB) 163 (Paco Boy (Ire))

Sea The Stars (Ire) 161 (Cape Cross (Ire))

Ghaiyyath (Ire) 161 (Dubawi (Ire))

Space Blues (Ire) 160 (Dubawi (Ire))

Camelot (GB) 159 (Montjeu (Ire))

Pinatubo (Ire) 159 (Shamardal)

Coulsty (Ire) 158 (Kodiac (GB))

Gleneagles (Ire) 155 (Galileo (Ire))

Palace Pier (GB) 154 (Kingman (GB))

Elzaam (Aus) 153 (Redoute's Choice (Aus))

Golden Horn (GB) 152 (Cape Cross (Ire))

Lucky Vega (Ire) 152 (Lope De Vega (Ire))

Sea The Moon (Ger) 152 (Sea The Stars (Ire))

Kingman (GB) 150 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Showcasing (GB) 150 (Oasis Dream (GB))

Sergei Prokofiev 150 (Scat Daddy)

U S Navy Flag 144 (War Front)

Ulysses (Ire) 143 (Galileo (Ire))

Blue Point (Ire) 142 (Shamardal)

Inns Of Court (Ire) 141 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Invincible Army (Ire) 138 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Dandy Man (Ire) 137 (Mozart (Ire))

Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) 134 (Lope De Vega (Ire))

Nathaniel (Ire) 133 (Galileo (Ire))

Nando Parrado (GB) 130 (Kodiac (GB))

Sottsass (Fr) 126 (Siyouni (Fr))

Oasis Dream (GB) 125 (Green Desert)

Magna Grecia (Ire) 120 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Profitable (Ire) 118 (Invincible Spirit (Ire))

Far Above (GB) 117 (Farhh (GB))

Bated Breath (GB) 115 (Dansili (GB))

Bungle Inthejungle (GB) 115 (Exceed And Excel (Aus))

Waldgeist (GB) 115 (Galileo (Ire))

A'Ali (Ire) 114 (Society Rock (Ire))

Soldier's Call (GB) 112 (Showcasing (GB))

Churchill (Ire) 108 (Galileo (Ire))

Mohaather (GB) 108 (Showcasing (GB))

Invincible Spirit (Ire) 106 (Green Desert)

Alkumait 105 (Showcasing (GB))

Kameko 102 (Kitten's Joy)

 

The post Mr Prospector Line Boosted Among Europe’s Busiest Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights