Liam O'Rourke | Horse Racing Free Tips

First-Crop Yearling Previews: Audible

The 2022 class of first-crop yearling sires features a diverse batch of Kentucky-based young stallions including a pair of Breeders' Cup champions, two sons of reigning top sire Into Mischief, five graded stakes winners at two and five Grade I winners on turf. Throughout the course of the yearling sales season, we will feature a series of freshman sires as their first crop points toward the sales ring. Check out the first few editions of our series here.

WinStar Farm's Liam O'Rourke vividly recalls the day that breeders got their first look at Audible (Into Mischief – Blue Devil Bel, by Gilded Time) just after the new stallion moved into the stud barn.

“We had a little party here to welcome him to the WinStar stallion barn and when we brought him out in front of breeders, there was an immediate draw to him,” O'Rourke explained. “He's just such a eyeful and is among the very best of the physicals by Into Mischief. From that point, people started shouting for seasons.”

Demand to breed to the 2018 GI Florida Derby winner was so high that Audible was the most popular first-year stallion in WinStar's history, breeding just over 220 mares in his debut season with a $25,000 stud fee.

“Demand for him has been extremely strong through all three years he's been here,” O'Rourke reported. “Right from the get go, there was a buzz around town on Audible.”

A $175,000 New York-bred yearling pinhook and a $500,000 2-year-old purchase for WinStar Farm and China Horse Club, Audible broke his maiden as a juvenile for Todd Pletcher and returned at three to take the GII Holy Bull S. by over five lengths and the GI Florida Derby by three. He ran third to Justify in the GI Kentucky Derby and later added another victory in the Cherokee Run S. Audible retired at four with over $2 million in career earnings.

As Audible's first crop of foals arrived last year, O'Rourke said that he quickly found several common trends in the youngsters.

“They're a very consistent group,” he noted. “He throws great substance, plenty of length, great quality and good bone. They're a robust, muscular type but with lots of length and they look like they can stretch out. The feedback from breeders was very positive from the start and we realized pretty early on that he was going to have a big November.”

Audible ranked second in his class with his first crop of weanlings. His progeny averaged $103,813 with 43 of 53 sold, including 16 six-figure weanlings led by a $360,000 filly out of Nagambie (Flatter) named Cosmic Thread and a $200,000 filly out of Safwah (Medaglia d'Oro).

With his first yearlings at the Fasig-Tipton July Sale, Audible's progeny continued to trend upward. Seven of his nine lots sold for six figures, led by a colt out of I'm Guilty (Verrazano) that brought $220,00 to Bradley Thoroughbreds and a second colt out of Wonder Stone (Super Saver) that sold to Gus King for $200,000.

“Some of the best judges were on the Audibles in July, including Donato Lanni, Peter Bradley, Travis Durr and Nick de Meric,” O'Rourke said. “He has seven entered at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale, which is more than any other freshman sire, so we think that's a great sign.”

Machmer Hall's Audible filly sells as Hip 43 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale | Sara Gordon

One filly bound for Saratoga will represent the Machmer Hall consignment as Hip 43. The yearling out of Patsy's Kim (Dixie Union) was bred by Teresa Little and was a private purchase for Machmer Hall Sales. Carrie Brogden said that the youngster is the type of yearling that their consignment hopes to offer in Saratoga.

“She's big and fancy and two-turn, but looks like she'll have speed,” Brogden said. “She vets, she's correct and she's got a classy brain. Our farm has a share in Audible. I was a big fan of him as a racehorse and obviously WinStar has an incredible track record making stallions. We had two Audibles in July and they were more of a pinhooker-style horse. Both of them looked very speedy. This [Saratoga-bound] filly has a lot more scope and stretch.”

Of the Audibles that have been on her farm, Brogden said that all have shared one trait that she has also noticed in Into Mischief's progeny and the offspring of other sons of the champion sire.

“They all have the Into Mischief brain,” she said. “When you're pushing the feed cart, they're always whinnying and beating down the door for feed. For me that's a wonderful sign of a racehorse because it means they're not going to back out of their feed tub. It's a common theme that I see again and again.”

Another yearling slated for the sales ring in Saratoga is a colt out of Peter Blum's homebred Tapit mare Sundown. The gray will sell as Hip 97 with Bridie Harrison.

“We like this colt a lot,” Harrison reported. “He's tall with a lot of leg and great length. Audible added a lot of size and scope to Sundown. This is certainly one of her bigger foals. He's a very nice mover and has a great temperament.”

After the Select Sale in Saratoga, nine Audible yearlings will go through the ring at the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Sale.

As Audible's progeny soon begin making their way to the racetrack, O'Rourke said to look for them to come out in force early next year.

“He was a precocious horse,” he noted. “He breezed fast and then went out and performed as a 2-year-old on the racetrack. His sire line has precocity so I do think there's going to be precocity there, but with the way he's built, I think they are built to carry that speed a route of ground. They'll be able to go around two turns with their length, but do so in a front-running fashion.”

The post First-Crop Yearling Previews: Audible appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

First-Crop Yearling Previews: Yoshida

The ever-growing depth and caliber of the Japanese breeding and racing industry was on full display at last year's Breeders' Cup World Championships when Japan captured its first two Breeders' Cup victories in a span of just a few hours.

One year before future champions Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) were both foaled, WinStar Farm's Elliott Walden and SF Bloodstock's Tom Ryan attended the 2015 Japan Racing Horse Association's yearling and weanling sale. They came home with a group that included Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn} – Hilda's Passion, by Canadian Frontier)–a ¥94 million (approximately $850,000) yearling purchase, eventual multiple Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star', and now, a WinStar Farm sire with his first crop of yearlings pointing for the sales ring.

Bred by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm, the grandson of the Japanese breed-shaping sire Sunday Silence is the second foal out of Hilda's Passion, a multiple graded stakes winner who culminated her career with a victory in the 2011 GI Ballerina S. and then sold to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.225 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

“Yoshida is very prototypical of the Japanese breeding program,” said WinStar's Liam O'Rourke. “He's out of an elite American race mare and he is by a son of Sunday Silence. We've seen it come to fruition in recent times that in the Japanese program, they breed for class and versatility. Those are two of the big qualities that Yoshida represents.”

Campaigned by WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and Head of Plains Partners, Yoshida raced from age two through five under Bill Mott's tutelage, claiming four stakes wins headlined by the GI Old Forester Turf Classic S. on turf and the GI Woodward S. on dirt.

Debuting in his career at stud with a fee of $20,000 in 2020, the durable earner of $2.5 million bred 148 mares in his first year at WinStar. With a $15,000 stud fee, he saw another 84 mares last year.

“His first book was ranked third by CPI among [incoming] sires that year,” O'Rourke noted. “We're very proud of the types of mares that he has gotten. He's been supported by a variety of breeders, both commercial and racing types.”

As Yoshida's yearlings now work through their sales prep, O'Rourke said that he has heard optimistic reviews from breeders.

“They have a lot of his physical qualities,” he reported. “They have that class and strength. In watching them as foals early on out in the field, you could see that they were high energy. They were assertive types, kind of rambunctious, and were really aware of their surroundings. The one really common piece of feedback that I get as I've been visiting farms is that you can't give them enough work. That's a great quality when they have the desire to work and to be competitive.”

O'Rourke said that Yoshida's ability on multiple surfaces, along with Japan's growing success on a global scale, has retained breeders' interest throughout the stallion's first three years at stud.

“It's unique that he was so successful on dirt and turf,” he said. “I think he brings a different dimension to the stud barn that we're very proud to offer breeders. He was a very convincing winner of the Woodward, which is a great sire-producing race. In the Old Forester Turf Classic on Derby Day, [he beat] a great field. I think there was eight graded stakes winners in that field. He also beat Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar in the GIII Hill Prince S.”

Last year, Yoshida was represented by 36 weanlings and short yearlings at the fall and winter breeding stock sales. 23 youngsters sold to average $38,279. His colt out of GIIISW Catherinethegreat (Uncaptured) sold for $150,000 at the Keeneland November Sale while in Japan, a colt out of Curlins BFF (Curlin) brought $181,235.

Yoshida has seven yearlings cataloged for the upcoming Fasig-Tipton July Sale on July 12, including a colt out of Moon and Stars (Orb) that sells as Hip 19 with the Shawhan Place consignment.

“He's very strong with tons of bone, good hip and a strong shoulder,” said Shawhan Place's Director of Sales Courtney Schneider. “He's built like a bull; he's just so strong. He's very easy to work with and he's a little bit more forward than our others so that's why we wanted to showcase him a bit earlier in the July Sale.”

Shawhan Place has a special connection with Yoshida as the birthplace of his dam. Bred by Shawhan partner Ted Kuster, Hilda's Passion did not meet her reserve as a weanling, but was sold early in her racing career and went on to claim five graded stakes for Starlight Racing.

“Yoshida was a stallion we were really excited to support here on the farm,” Schneider said. “He was a dual-surface Grade I winner and has all the qualifications of bringing back the Sunday Silence line. We have several on the farm that we're really excited about.”

The post First-Crop Yearling Previews: Yoshida appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

From The Breeders At ParisLongchamp

PARIS, France–When Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) beat Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) to give Godolphin a one-two in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, it was the perfect finishing order for the operation as breeders, with Coroebus representing three generations of Darley/Godolphin breeding. He is also out of a mare by Teofilo (Ire) and from a family which had already given Sheikh Mohammed a dual winner of his beloved Dubai World Cup.

In Paris on Sunday, another son of the Darley lynchpin Dubawi, Modern Games (Ire), added a French Classic to his success in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar. His victory in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains brought the week to a resounding climax for his dam, the New Approach (Ire) mare Modern Ideals (GB). On Monday her 4-year-old son Modern News (GB) (Shamardal) won the Listed Fitzdares Royal Windsor S., followed on Saturday by the easy debut success of juvenile Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in a Newmarket novice contest.

Godolphin's stud director Liam O'Rourke was at Longchamp to welcome back the operation's most recent Classic victor. He said, “The family really came alive last year when this lad showed his colours, and he went on and won a Breeders' Cup and kept on improving. [Saturday] was a nice surprise as well. It didn't immediately look obvious as Mawj was the outsider of our three runners in the race, but there's nothing wrong with her. She's an Exceed And Excel and they love fast ground, and the mare is by New Approach so it's all homegrown. It's very satisfying.”

Modern Ideals, who was trained in France by Andre Fabre, ran only twice without winning, but she is a half-sister to Godolphin's former champion 2-year-old and young French-based stallion Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}), the pair being out of Epitome (Ire) (Nahswan), who was bought by Sheikh Mohammed from the late owner/breeder Gerald Leigh.

New Approach, a long-term resident of Dalham Hall Stud along with Dubawi, has already provided Godolphin with Classic winners Masar (Ire) and Dawn Approach (Ire), and he is now branching out in the sphere of broodmare sire.

O'Rourke continued, “We've invested heavily in him, he's our version of Galileo (Ire) and he's really proving his worth now as a broodmare sire.

“And what more can you say about Dubawi? This is going to be his championship year, I hope, and he is well on how way to it. It's long overdue–and take nothing away from Galileo, who has been a wonderful sire forever–but hopefully now Dubawi's time has come.”

Of Godolphin's start to the season, he added, “We have to pinch ourselves. The team in Ireland deserve huge credit because Coroebus and Modern Games are both Irish-bred, but the team across the board plays its part. We're very proud of them, they work very hard, and now the results are coming.”

Two Studs Celebrate Success Of Mangoustine

There was much to enjoy in the success of Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) in the G1 Emirates Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. A return to the big time for the classy double act of Mikel Delzangles and Gerard Mossé, and a first Classic winner for the 17-year-old Dark Angel (Ire), whose top-level success as a sire has hitherto predominantly been seen in the sprint division.

There were Classic clues in the pedigree of Mangoustine, whose dam Zotilla (Ire) (Zamindar) is a half-sister to Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast), also trained by Delzangles and the winner of this same race nine years earlier.

Mangoustine was another feather in the cap for Henri Bozo and his partners involved in Ecurie des Monceaux. In this particular case, the filly was bred by Monceaux, Qatar Bloodstock, and Lordship Stud. The latter also feature as co-breeders of the Oaks prospect Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).

“It's amazing,” said Bozo, whose Ecurie des Monceaux has been responsible for such top-class names as Sottsass (Fr), Sistercharlie (Ire), Magic Wand (Ire) and Chicquita (Ire). “She's a really good filly. She showed class at two but you never know how they will improve at three. Mikel was very confident that he had her right at home. It is fantastic to own her and have bred her in partnership–it's a good advertisement for racing.”

The Monceaux draft regularly tops the Arqana August Yearling Sale. The one in which Mangoustine appeared in 2020 was rebranded as the Deauville Select Sale when Covid forced it to be delayed by a month. Mangoustine was retained by the farm at €46,000 when failing to reach her reserve, and the team will obviously be relieved still to have her, not just because she is now a Classic winner, but also because her dam was sold later that year to Blue Diamond Stud at the Arqana December Sale for €75,000.

“But we have Mangoustine and we are so happy to have her,” said a smiling Bozo.

Blue Diamond's owner Imad Al Sagar bought two mares that same day, the other being Manasarova (More Than Ready) from Haras de Saint Pair, and her daughter Sicilian Defense (Fr) also ran in the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, finishing seventh, just over two lengths behind the winner.

Blue Diamond Stud's bloodstock and media advisor Nancy Sexton reported at Longchamp that Zotilla has a “very nice” Too Darn Hot (GB) filly foal and is now in foal to Dubawi. The mare's 2-year-old colt from the first European crop of Zoustar (Aus) was bought by Sam Sangster for 35,000gns at Tattersalls last October.

Al Sagar has a potential Classic star of his own to look forward to in the coming weeks following the impressive success at Newbury on Saturday of homebred Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

The post From The Breeders At ParisLongchamp appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Independence Hall: A Son of Constitution at WinStar

As Tapit's list of Grade I winners quickly approaches 30 constituents, his sons are now proving their worth in the stud barn. Constitution leads the charge of Tapit sons at stud with an $85,000 fee. The WinStar sire concluded 2021 with a fifth worldwide Group 1/Grade I winner in Cigar Mile H. victor Americanrevolution and his 20th black-type winner in GII Santa Anita Mathis Mile S. winner Law Professor.

While WinStar Farm hopes that Constitution, whose first crop was foaled in 2017, could one day become a foundation sire at WinStar, this year they checked off the next goal for their promising stallion by adding one of his sons to their stallion roster.

Independence Hall, a graded stakes-winning member of Constitution's first crop along with MGISW Tiz the Law, will stand alongside his sire this year for a fee of $10,000.

“We're super excited to have Independence Hall came home to WinStar and begin his stud career,” said WinStar's director of bloodstock Liam O'Rourke. “We've had a great history at WinStar over the past 21 years and Constitution really represents the next generation of what WinStar is going to be. He's had such an electric start and with what he has coming down the pipeline, we're very excited and very bullish on his future. [Reaching] the next step of having one of his sons retire to WinStar is very rewarding.”

Bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds, Independence Hall was an easy debut winner for Robert and Kathleen Verratti and trainer Mike Trombetta. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stables joined in the ownership before his next start, a stunning 12 1/4-length score in the 2019 GIII Nashua S. in record time.

“He came on our radar very early,” O'Rourke said. “After his first start, when he came back in the Nashua to run a 101 Beyer speed figure–the fastest 2-year-old performance of the year–we started to realize that he was going to be a very special horse.”

The dark bay colt remained undefeated in his sophomore debut in the Jerome S. and was then runner-up in the GIII Sam F. Davis S. After an unplaced finish in his next start, he was given time off and returned to the starting gate at the end of his 3-year-old season under the care of trainer Michael McCarthy.

At four, Independence Hall was competitive against top company with WinStar joining his partnership at the beginning of the season. He ran third to future GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go (Paynter) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., placed second to the same rival later in the GIII Lukas Classic S. and then earned a final career victory in his next start in the GII Hagyard Fayette S.

“He held form with [Knicks Go] through most of the year and the season was culminated by what was I think one of the talking performances of the Keeneland meet when he came out and won the Fayette S.,” O'Rourke recalled. “He beat some outstanding horses in that race and really showed what a brilliant horse he was.”

Independence Hall retired with earnings of almost $900,000, running in the money in six graded starts with three stakes wins to his credit.

Independence Hall's breakout performance in the GIII Nashua S. | Chelsea Durand

“I think he was a really great racehorse because of that high cruising speed,” O'Rourke explained. “We love that 2-year-old form, that brilliance, and when they can come back and be an elite older horse and knock heads with the best of the best in the country, that's something that we find really strong.”

O'Rourke said that the new stallion's physical helps explain the high cruising speed he was able to display on the track.

“Physically, he's a very impressive horse. He's a big, beautiful, smooth walker. He's balanced, but he's masculine. He has that size, scope and frame that I think Constitution has been able to produce and he put it all together in the way he could get over the ground.”

A son of the winning Cape Town mare Kalahari Cat, Independence Hall is a half-brother to Grade III winner Black Onyx (Rock Hard Ten) and two more graded stakes-placed siblings in SW Francois (Smarty Jones) and Quality Council (Elusive Quality). His family also includes Desert Stormer (Storm Cat), winner of the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and the granddam of MGISW Better Lucky (Ghostzapper).

O'Rourke explained that while Independence Hall has been popular with breeders since arriving at WinStar, he already has a solid support system built in with a large syndicate group that includes Woodford Thoroughbreds, Twin Creeks, Kathleen and Robert Verratti, Eclipse Thoroughbreds, China Horse Club and Machmer Hall.

“It's really a 'who's who' of syndicate members,” O'Rourke said. “Along with that, we offered Independence Hall in our Dream Big program, which virtually sold out overnight, so we have some really good folks supporting the horse and he will have some really nice mares in those first couple of years.”

WinStar's Dream Big program allows breeders the opportunity to acquire a lifetime breeding right to the stallion.

“Independence Hall proved that he was a special horse as a 2-year-old and he proved it again as an older horse,” O'Rourke said. “He has the pedigree and the looks and I think we priced him to where he's very attractive to breeders. We've had a huge response to him so far and it's so rewarding to have a son of one of our sires come home and join our stallion roster.”

The post Independence Hall: A Son of Constitution at WinStar appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post