Cup Contender Justifies Tinkler’s Belief

LEXINGTON, KY-With the breeze-up sales having been thrown into turmoil in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic this spring, Yorkshire trainer Nigel Tinkler found himself with an important decision in his hands. Breeze-up consignors Roger Marley and John Cullinan, like others in the sector, had begun offering some of their pinhooks privately in an effort to soften the financial blows of the global economic crisis, and Tinkler was offered his choice of colts by Kodiac (GB) and Dandy Man (Ire) for his clients Martin and Lisa Webb.

“We had the choice of two horses and I actually rode them myself, and the Kodiac gave me a good feel so we made the purchase,” explained Tinkler, a former jockey who took out his trainers license in 1982. The Kodiac colt, bred by Derek and Gay Veitch’s Ringfort Stud and bought by Marley and Cullinan for 50,000gns at Tattersalls October Book 1 last year, is now named Ubettabelieveit (Ire), and on Friday he will become the first Breeders’ Cup starter for both Tinkler and the Webbs when he lines up in the five furlong GII Juvenile Turf Sprint.

“If it hadn’t been for Covid we probably wouldn’t have been able to afford him and he’d have made a lot more money at the bloodstock sales,” Tinkler reflected.

Martin Webb, who is visiting Kentucky for the first time this week with his wife Lisa, added, “Nigel picked this horse; there were four horses and two of them sold. There were two left, a Dandy Man and a Kodiac, and I said to Nigel, ‘you ride them and tell me what you like. I want your opinion.’ He got off the Kodiac and said, ‘this is the horse.'”

Tinkler’s premonition, over the last five months, has proven to be spot on. Ubettabelieveit finished fourth on debut at Doncaster over good to soft ground, but has won three of his four subsequent outings over better surfaces. He broke his maiden two weeks later in a Doncaster novice race under Oisin Murphy before taking the Listed National S. at Sandown under the same rider. He was disappointingly eased down to be last of nine when tackling six furlongs for the first time in the G2 Gimcrack S. at York on Aug. 21 after traveling freely early on, but put that blip behind him when reunited with Scott and dropped back down to five for the G2 Flying Childers S. at Doncaster on Sept. 11, winning by a head at 40-1 and giving his trainer his first Group 2 winner on the flat. Lisa Webb said they hadn’t even reached the winner’s enclosure that day before the Breeders’ Cup plan began to come to life. Tinkler said, “we got a text message from Max Pimlott, who works for the International Racing Bureau, to say the horse would definitely get an invite to come here. We could have run him in Newmarket in the [G3] Cornwallis [on Oct. 9] but we chose to take the chance and come here.”

“I’ve been training just under 40 years and it’s great to come here,” Tinkler added. “It’s sad there’s not a lot of people here but I’m still thrilled to be here. We’ve been very well looked after; we’ve been around to quite a few of the stud farms and found it very interesting. The place is just out of this world.”

The circumstances that saw Tinkler and the Webbs-who live in Cheshire and are in the business of road painting–develop a working relationship as well as a friendship were nearly as serendipitous as the ones that saw them wind up with Ubettabelieveit. About six years ago, the Webbs were at a charity dinner where a stable tour was among the auction items. With Martin having had a longtime interest in the game, the Webbs bid on and won the item. The tour was not for Tinkler’s yard, but when the trainer involved was unable to fulfill the engagement the event organizer connected the Webbs with another trainer he knew: Tinkler.

“They’ve been owners with me for five or six years now and we’ve been very fortunate,” Tinkler said. “We’ve had some nice horses, horses that have won at Ascot and Chester; they’ve been very lucky. They’re a lovely couple, they support me 100% and I support them and it’s great we’ve got this relationship.”

“Nigel and his wife, Kim, were both jockeys and Nigel’s father Colin was a trainer and a jockey, so it’s in their blood, as they say, and they live and breathe horses,” Lisa Webb said. “There are a lot of trainers we could have chosen, but with Nigel and Kim, we’re great friends. We’ve had some good times, we’ve been to Italy, to the Palio, with them.”

Martin added, “we’ve been very lucky, to be fair. Some people have these horses for years without having any joy. We’ve basically put all our faith in Nigel, and we can’t knock him; Northern trainers don’t seem to carry the same esteem as the Southern ones in the UK, but he’s done us proud.”

The Webbs and Tinkler are also keeping the faith in Ubettabelieveit’s young rider Rowan Scott, who got the ride back on the horse in the Flying Childers while Oisin Murphy was sitting out a suspension.

“Rowan gave the horse such a great ride [in the Flying Childers], so he deserves the ride here,” Martin said. “We want to support these people coming through. We could have had the pick of the jockeys; Hollie Doyle has won twice for us, Tom Eaves who is here riding Glass Slippers, he’s won for us. But Rowan deserves the ride. It’s a great opportunity for him and he’ll do exactly what you ask him to do. It’s not just another ride to him; he’ll give it everything.”

Tinkler said he thinks Ubettabelieve it has improved since his last run, and that he relies on the horse to tell him what he wants to do.

“He hasn’t had many races this year,” Tinkler said. “Our season basically finishes on Nov. 5; if it had continued a bit longer in England he might have had another run, but on the other hand he really needs good ground. He flew over last Friday and he’s been in tip-top form. He’s grown up a bit since the Flying Childers; he’s grown in height, but he’s also grown mentally. He’s a complete professional now. People have said, ‘what are you going to do with him?’ And I’ve said, ‘I’ll let him tell me what to do with him.’ He’s actually helped me to train him.

“He worked on the turf course [on Wednesday] and went around the bend really well, better than we actually expected, so we’re really looking forward to it. We’ve got a great draw in stall six; the favourite [Wesley Ward’s Golden Pal] has drawn 14 but he’s a very good horse and he’ll still take all the beating. But it gives us a little more of a chance him being drawn out there.”

In the meantime, the Webbs seem set to have plenty more fun in the racing game. Martin spoke of how they just recently retired the very first horse they bought and have kept him, and how they are following another of their former fillies in her new career as a polo horse. Still in their racing stable are the likes of Kaeso (GB) (Excelebration {Ire}), a winner of eight races who ran at Royal Ascot this year; and the 2-year-old gelding Isla Kai (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}), who is named for their grandchildren and who won a Redcar maiden at second asking in September. The Webbs bought two yearlings this fall, including Isla Kai’s half-brother by Fast Company (Ire).

The Webbs said they are enjoying themselves so much on their first Breeders’ Cup visit that they’re already looking ahead to 2021.

“For us in England, Royal Ascot is our big meeting, but now the world is our oyster,” Lisa said. “The Breeders’ Cup is at Del Mar next year, so we need a horse to take there, too.”

Martin acknowledged that, as of Thursday morning, the pre-race excitement had already taken hold.

“I normally get nervous on the morning of the race, getting a few butterflies and that, but I’m already getting it now,” he said. “It’s that sort of occasion.”

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Churchill Filly Leads SGA Yearling Sale

Italy’s Societa Gestione Aste held its one-day select yearling sale in Milan on Saturday, with two fillies bringing six figures. A total of 147 youngsters were catalogued with 130 offered after outs, and 84 of those sold for a clearance rate of 64.6% and an aggregate of €1,651,000. The average was €19,655, and the median €11,000. Predictably given the economic climate, figures took a hit from 2019 when 83 yearlings grossed €2,423,000. The average and median had both experienced huge jumps last year to €29,193 and €18,000, respectively.

A first-crop daughter of Churchill (Ire) led the way at €120,000. Lot 74 was offered by Razza del Velino and purchased by Alfalasi Mohamed Saeed Ali. She is a half to a pair of local stakes winners in Sweet Gentle Kiss (Ire) (Henrythenavigator) and Sunset Key (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), and the dam herself was third in the G3 Italian 1000 Guineas.

Churchill’s Coolmore barnmate Australia (GB) has been experiencing a purple patch as of late, including a new Group 3 winner in Epona Plays (Ire) at Gowran Park on Saturday, and leading local owners Scuderia Incolinx paid €100,000 for a filly by the son of Galileo (lot 14) early in the sale. She is likewise a half to two stakes winners: the G3 Premio Elena e Sergio Cumani scorer Candy Store (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Group 3 winner The Conqueror (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}) and out of the listed-placed March Madness (GB) (Noverre). Lot 14 was also offered by Razza Del Velino.

The highest-priced colt of the sale was Allevamento Le.Gi.’s Kodiac (GB) half-brother to this year’s G3 Premio Parioli (Italian 2000 Guineas) winner Cima Emergency (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) lot 89. He was bought by Andrea Marcialis for €90,000. Another young Coolmore sire to feature was No Nay Never; he had a half-brother to listed winner Clockwinder (Ire) (Intikhab) (lot 59) sell to trainer Alduino Botti for €77,000.

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Wildcards Added To Goresbridge

Twenty-three wildcards have been added to the July 24 Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale which, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, will take place at Park Paddocks in Newmarket this year rather than Fairyhouse in Ireland. The breeze is scheduled for the Rowley Mile on July 22.

Among the wildcards are lot 227, a No Nay Never half-brother to stakes winner We Are Ninety (Ire) (Thewayyouare); lot 230, a filly by red hot second-season sire Night Of Thunder (Ire) out of a full-sister to G3 Gladness S. winner Sruthan (Ire) (Arakan); lot 248, a Kodiac (GB) filly whose dam is a half-sister to the Listed Hilary Needler Trophy winner Geesala (Ire) (Barathea {Ire}) and the listed-placed Tomintoul Singer (Ire) (Johannesburg); lot 250, a Shalaa (Ire) colt whose dam is closely related to Dabirsim (Fr) (Hat Trick {Jpn}) and is also from the family of Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and her slew of over-achieving sisters; lot 251, a Siyouni (Fr) brother to two listed-placed winners; lot 253, a filly by exciting young sire Make Believe (GB); and lot 254, an American Pharoah filly who is the second foal out of the listed-winning Innocent Love (Grand Slam).

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Excelebration Colt Tops Guineas Sale

NEWMARKET, UK—Alan King may be best known for his exploits with top-class jumpers such as Voy Por Ustedes (Fr) and My Way De Solzen (Fr) but he has been making an increasingly notable impact on the Flat scene in recent years. His 2020 Royal Ascot treble is undoubtedly the highlight of his diversification to date and, with the assistance of his regular agent Anthony Bromley, he added another four Flat-bred horses to his string on Wednesday, including the day’s top lot, a colt by Excelebration (Ire).

“He was our favourite horse of the sale,” said Bromley after being pushed to 140,000gns for lot 108 by underbidder David Redvers. “We don’t go on times, we go on the individual, their stride and general way of going, but inevitably the vendors end up telling you the times. We knew he had breezed well and that he would be expensive but we didn’t think we’d have to go that high.”

The colt was bought for Niall Farrell and Max McNeill, the latter being the co-owner of another of King’s Royal Ascot team, Tritonic (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), who was beaten half a length when second in the Golden Gates H. and was bought at the Guineas Sale of 2019 for 55,000gns.

Out of the Mark Of Esteem (Ire) mare Open Book (GB), the April-born Excelebration colt, bred by Chapel Lane Farm, represented a significant pinhooking coup for Brian Slattery of Meadowview Stables who bought him for €18,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

The regular participation of King and Bromley at this breeze-up in particular over the years perhaps typifies the sale, at which one can expect to find a scopier and later-maturing individual than those generally catalogued for the earlier sales at Ascot or Doncaster. That is certainly what Jake Warren will be hoping to see from lot 87, the first son of the former German champion Lucky Lion (GB) to be sold at Tattersalls. Bought from Tally-Ho Stud, the son of the Galileo (Ire) mare Livia’s Wake (Ire) was pinhooked by Matt Coleman from the BBAG Yearling Sale last August for €21,000 and is from the further family of recent G2 King Edward VII S. winner Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}).

“He could be a Derby horse,” said Warren after signing the docket on behalf of Highclere Thoroughbred Racing at 95,000gns. “It is unique for a horse like this to be at a breeze-up sale. He has size and scope, so to have breezed as well as he did has to be very positive. He should make up into a lovely middle-distance type, and the bulk of his career will come next year.”

The colt is a member of the first crop of G1 Grosser Dallmayr Bayerisches Zuchtrennen winner Lucky Lion, a son of High Chaparral (Ire), who also landed the G2 Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen (German 2000 Guineas) before finishing runner-up in the G1 Deutsches Derby. He stands at Gestut Graditz for a fee of €4,500.

Referring to the trade for breeze-up horses this season, Warren, who bought six in total, added, “It has been a bit up and down, but without some of the key players in the market it has presented some opportunities for us.”

Trade Holds Up Despite Delays
Some regular top-end buyers have indeed been either absent or low key during the last fortnight of rearranged breeze-up sales. Godolphin, for example, bought seven horses at last year’s Craven Sale for 2.94 million gns and a filly at Arqana for €800,000, but this year signed, through Anthony Stroud, for just one filly at last week’s relocated Arqana Breeze-up for £380,000.

The Guineas Breeze-up, like all sales before it in the sector this season, had a high number of withdrawals and only 116 of the 157 catalogued lots made it to the ring on Wednesday. Of those, 94 were sold at a clearance rate of 81%. Trade had a reasonably buoyant if unflashy feel to it throughout the day and, while the median was down by 28% at 17,250, the average was just about static at 28,511gns. Turnover, from 27 fewer horses sold compared to last year, stood at 2,680,000gns (-23%).

“In the current climate we are all looking to accentuate the positives and I think we can reflect on solid if unspectacular trade at this year’s renewal of the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up,” said Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony. “This is, however, a year where ‘solid if unspectacular’ is a positive outcome and we would like to thank all those who have participated at today’s sale for their contribution. The buyers have worked incredibly hard and the breeze-up consignors have had to endure uniquely difficult conditions in the run up to the 2020 breeze-up sales season, but ultimately everyone can look back on sales which have largely exceeded expectations.”

A feature of this season’s sales conducted amid travel and quarantine restrictions has been the introduction of online bidding platforms by the sales houses. At the Guineas Sale, eight lots were bought by internet bidders for a total of 177,500 gns, while another five lots were underbid online.

Make Believe For Real
Just one lot before the top-priced colt entered the ring, Richard Brown had signed for the other six-figure horse of the day and the most expensive filly at 105,000gns. Like Sunday’s G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner, lot 107 is by Ballylinch Stud resident Make Believe (GB) and was bought as a yearling for a tenth of her breeze-up price at Tattersalls Ireland by Justin Timmons and Danny O’Donovan of Kildare-based Dolmen Bloodstock, who consigned the filly to the breeze-up.

“She has an engine and we were very happy with her breeze. She has been very busy, but it is always hard to gauge, though we had the right people on her,” said Timmons of the first foal of three-time winner Olivia Pope (Ire) (Lilbourne Lad {Ire}).

Four years ago Katie McGivern of Derryconnor Stud was responsible for the top-priced filly of the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale when the subsequent G3 Nell Gwyn S. winner Daban (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) sold for 260,000gns and she was to the fore again on Wednesday with a daughter of Kodiac (GB). The more modest price of 90,000gns was given for the fastest breezer of the sale (lot 47) by trainer James Tate on behalf of Rabbah Bloodstock. She is out of the champion Italian galloper Fair Nashwan (GB) (Nashwan), the winner of the G3 Premio Federic Tesio and producer of Italian listed winner Fair Dubawi (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), and was bought back by her breeder Nafferty Stud for 42,000gns at last year’s October Sale.

“She has loads of ability, and is very easy. She was always a powerful filly and looked like a colt, and she still does,” McGivern said. “She is ready to crack on with. The coronavirus didn’t stop her as she is actually a middle-of-the-summer filly, a six-furlong or seven-furlong filly.”

She added. “I have sold everything I have offered so far. There has been a great sale at every sale I have been at, no different from any other year apart from the precautions we have had to take. For me there is a good solid market at every level.”

James Tate, who will train the filly for Sheikh Juma Dalmook Al Maktoum, said, “She did a very fast time, I thought she was a stand-out filly in the catalogue. I thought she was decent value at that. I hope she will be running in July.”

Kodiac is a routinely popular sire at the breeze-ups and he was also represented among the day’s top lots by 138, a colt out of the unraced Bahamian Bounty (GB) mare Smart Bounty (GB) who was bred and consigned by Tally-Ho Stud.

Micheal Orlandi of Compas Equine was the buyer at 82,000gns.

Trainer John Quinn won the G1 Darley Prix Morny and G2 Coventry S. with former breeze-up purchase The Wow Signal (Ire) and he understandably has a fondness for that horse’s sire Starspangledbanner (Aus). The trainer’s son Sean went to 77,000gns for another colt by the Coolmore shuttler (lot 6) early in the session.

Thomond O’Mara bought the son of the 3-year-old winner Adore (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) for 16,000gns at Book 3 of the October Sale from breeder Fergus Anstock.

“He did a very pleasing breeze and what I liked is that he got stronger as the breeze went on,” said Sean Quinn. “I didn’t have any intention of buying a breeze-up horse, but when I saw him he caught my eye and I discussed it with dad and said he might be a good addition to the team.”

He continued, “Starspangledbanner is a very good stallion. This is a very late April foal so we will get him home, but there is no rush with the horse, we will let him tell us.”

Over To The July Sale
Selling continues at Tattersalls on Thursday and Friday with the mixed July Sale, which includes broodmares, fillies out of training and horses in training.

At the conclusion of the breeze-up, Edmond Mahony commented, “It has been challenging staging events of this nature with the prevailing COVID-related regulations still in place but, despite continued travel restrictions, today’s Guineas Breeze-up has seen demand from throughout the world, including Australia, Bahrain, Dubai, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Kuwait, Qatar and Spain. The international demand has been accompanied by spirited bidding from the domestic British and Irish buyers and has resulted in some notable pinhooking successes, while the overseas buyers have made use of every possible means at their disposal to participate in the sale, including extensive use of our new live internet bidding platform as well as telephone bidding. It is a tribute to the resilience of the global bloodstock market that we continue to experience this level of international demand and we expect to see further widespread use of the live internet bidding platform at our two-day July Sale which commences [Thursday] morning at 10am.”

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