2nd-GP, $89K, Msw, 3yo, f, 1mT, 12:39 p.m. ET.
SF Racing's MONT SAINT MICHEL (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) makes her inaugural voyage for Brendan Walsh after she started her work regimen at Turfway in early December and then moved to Palm Meadows. The homebred is out of SP Black Dahlia (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who is also responsible for third place GI Breeders' Cup Mile runner Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}).
Also making the post is Alpha Delta homebred Highland Light (Uncle Mo) for trainer Chad Brown. The dark bay's dam GSW Summer Raven (Summer Squall) produced GIII Holy Bull S. champ Winslow Homer (Unbridled's Song) and his full-brother GSW Misconnect. Her most successful offspring is MGSW/MGISP Lewis Bay (Berandini), who earned over $1.1 million on the racetrack. TJCIS PPS
9th-GP, $91K, OC25k/N1X, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 4:07 p.m. ET.
Just before the Sunday finale in Hallandale, Paramount Prince (Society's Chairman) returns to the races after he took home last year's King's Plate S. at Woodbine. Trained by Mark Casse, the Sovereign 3-year-old male nominee is out of a stakes-placed dam who counts U.S. based sire Army Mule as a half-brother. TJCIS PPS
Exciting young sires A'Ali (Ire), Caturra (Ire) and Stradivarius (Ire) will feature among the galaxy of stars on show at the 2024 Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Flat Stallion Parade at Tattersalls in Newmarket on Thursday, February 1.
The parade is typically limited to first- and second-year stallions, but breeders will have a wider range of sires to view this year with the invitation being extended to those whose advertised fee sits at £15,000 or less. Breeders who purchase a nomination will also be entered into a free prize draw thanks to a new incentive launched by Tattersalls in support of the parade, giving them the chance to win one of five complimentary foal entries at the 2025 December Foal Sale.
To be entered into the prize draw, breeders need to sign a service contract for one of the stallions within 24 hours of the parade. All of the stallions can be viewed from 11 a.m. in the sales ring, as well as in the Left Yard and Terrace Yard after the parade hosted by racing broadcaster Gina Bryce and Shirley Anderson-Jolag of Tattersalls.
Along with A'Ali, Caturra and Stradivarius, the stallion show will also feature El Caballo (GB), Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), Midnight Sands, Mutasaabeq (GB), Soldier's Call (GB), Twilight Son (GB) and Ulysses (Ire).
Tattersalls associate director and TBA trustee, Matt Prior said, “We are delighted to be once again supporting the TBA Flat Stallion Parade and the revised format along with the new incentive scheme we are offering alongside the TBA will hopefully encourage breeders to come along and purchase a nomination.”
TBA chief executive, Claire Sheppard added, “It is important for us to continuously enhance what we do to support the British thoroughbred breeding industry, especially at this current time. The Flat Stallion parade is a key event which offers a great opportunity to promote an array of British-based stallions to breeders and to suit all mares and budgets. We are very grateful to all those studs bringing stallions along as well as Tattersalls for their ongoing support of the event.”
There is no denying that the stallion market is becoming increasingly difficult with appetites for stud prospects growing. There is also no questioning that the support a young stallion receives in their first few years is paramount to their success. Most stallions are an easy sell in their first year with many being oversubscribed and then numbers falling off in the years leading up to that first crop hitting the track. However, one stallion whose numbers and support could very likely stay consistent throughout those primitive years is Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), given the number of influential breeders that are involved in his ownership.
Although standing at The National Stud in England, Lope Y Fernandez is owned by Whitsbury Manor Stud, Nick Bradley and the Newmarket-based operation as well as Coolmore, for whom the horse raced, retaining an interest. It may seem a slightly unusual set up given that Whitsbury Manor Stud have a successful stallion operation themselves, but as Ed Harper explains, when the right prospect presents itself you cannot let it pass you by.
“We really weren't planning on buying a new stallion last year,” said Harper. “We were having a busy year at Whitsbury and we wanted to give Sergei Prokofiev another year in the limelight. But when I went and saw Lope Y Fernandez, I just thought, 'this is a horse we need to get involved with.'”
At a similar time, Bradley, who is best known for his successful racing syndicate, was seeing a worrying trend in the British stallion ranks.
“The year prior to Lope Y Fernandez being available, I was noticing a post-Brexit trend that all of these top racehorses were going to stand, primarily, in Ireland,” noted Bradley. “I spoke to a lot of UK breeders and I said, 'Come on, we need to get ourselves organized here.' And Ed Harper was listening.”
Once it became apparent that the Group 1-placed son of Lope de Vega was available to buy the wheels were set in motion.
“I got talking with The National Stud and Nick Bradley and thought, 'you know, can we put a group together,'” explained Harper. “So we are the major shareholder, the National Stud owns 25% and Nick Bradley owns a nice portion as well, with Coolmore staying in too.”
From The National Stud's perspective this structure seems a no brainer with Joe Bradley citing, “We're stronger together,” when asked about being involved. “To incorporate really prominent breeders such as Whitsbury Manor, who have had the most unbelievable year, and Nick Bradley to really support the stallion means he will have every chance.”
In the last few weeks, we have seen several foals by the stallion on social media platforms and it appears that Lope Y Fernandez is passing on his good looks.
“One of his best qualities is the way he walks,” said Joe Bradley. “He's such an athletic horse. He stands over 16hh and physically he's just a very imposing horse.”
Of the first few that have hit the ground Nick Bradley has a number that have had his team “waxing lyrical,” with one colt in particular having “a great shoulder, great hip and a great action to go with it.”
Aside from the mares that will be sent to Lope Y Fernandez by his owners as well as the wider breeding population, it may not be surprising to hear that all the operators are already looking ahead to the foal and yearling sales.
“We're probably going to send in more mares this year, his second season,” said Harper. “I think we've got 25 on the list to send him this season and we'll be buying foals as well the in the ring.
All three entities were busy at the recent Tattersalls February Sale buying mares to send to Lope Y Fernandez, but Bradley is thinking further down the line.
“I'll be out there trying to buy the best fillies for Nick Bradley Racing,” said Bradley. “Last year, we had seven stakes winners, so if a couple of them could be by Lope Y Fernandez in years to come, that'd be great.”
This unique situation is not lost on those involved with it as Harper points out, “I've never been involved in a stallion that's not just had the supply side of the mares helping him, but actually the demand side buying the progeny as well, which is fairly unique for a commercially priced horse.”
As the old sayings go, there is strength in numbers and teamwork makes the dream work. For Lope Y Fernandez both sayings seem to be meeting each other in the middle. As the breeding season rolls on, it is not inconceivable to expect Lope Y Fernandez's foals to stand out during a social media scroll or to imagine his second and future books being just as large as his first.
It is almost unimaginable to think that this year's Yorkshire Cup, Ascot Gold Cup, Goodwood Cup or Lonsdale Cup will be run without Stradivarius (Ire). His appearance in those races had become a near constant occurrence for the past number of years and in an industry where retiring a stallion prospect at two is not out of the question we should count ourselves lucky that we were able to witness the striking son of Sea The Stars (Ire)'s prowess on the racecourse for so long. Having now swapped Newmarket Heath for the green pastures of The National Stud, as he begins his stallion career, the draw of Bjorn Neilson's superstar has not been lost.
“Everybody across the world knew about Stradivarius,” says Joe Bradley, the recently appointed Head of Bloodstock Operations at the stud. “But here in Newmarket in particular, he was a huge personality on the heath and he's a very important horse to a lot of people.” It may seem a daunting task to take on a celebrity of the racing ranks and maybe even more so when a horse whose career like Stradivarius's may not necessarily be what every breeder is after but the team at The National Stud are confident in the horse, allowing his credentials to speak for themselves.
“We don't shy away from what he achieved,” said Bradley when reminiscing on Stradivarius's racing career. “We're proud of it. He finished races in a way that most horses couldn't. People understood the quality he has. He's by an amazing stallion, he's got a fantastic pedigree. He's got the race performance, and physically he's an exceptional animal.”
By allowing the facts to do the talking Stradivarius has been well received so far with “a range of breeders that provide mares from a range of distance, from six furlongs right up to a mile and a half,” booking a nomination. Given the mix of owner-breeders and commercial breeders that have expressed interest in Stradivarius, the team behind the horse have every reason to be optimistic for his future at stud with a book of over 100 mares coming together nicely.
“It's been such an interesting process and it's been great seeing the confidence that breeders have for Stradivarius,” Bradley added.
There is no doubt that launching a new stallion brings fresh enthusiasm and excitement, but it is hard to imagine that The National Stud has been lacking in those departments given the other stallions on their roster. Time Test (GB)'s first crop made a huge impression on the track and “he covered 160 mares in 2021.” There were a few key performers for the stallion last year with one of note in particular.
“He's got some leading horses for the big races in the summertime,” said Bradley. “What we're really looking forward to is Crypto Force (GB), who is with John Gosden now, making his seasonal return.”
Another on the roster who impressed with his first, albeit small, crop was Rajasinghe (Ire).
“He has been an amazing horse for Phil Cunningham,” said Bradley. “He won the G2 Coventry [S.] in the fastest time. And now, I think people are starting to connect those dots because he's had an amazing first crop with 80% winners to runners with horses that have really shown a good turn of foot.”
Rounding off the quartet is Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) who has his first crop of foals this year. Of course, that is not the only interesting fact about the son of Lope De Vega (Ire).
“Lope Y Fernandez is a horse that we're hugely excited by,” said Bradley. “We are in a great partnership with Nick Bradley and Whitsbury Manor. And what we're doing is combining what we have, to give him every chance to be a very successful stallion.”
Of his first-born foals, so far, Bradley remarked, “They are exactly what we thought they would be. We've been telling breeders that Lope Y Fernandez will put plenty of bone and quality into your mare and into the progeny and that's exactly what we've got.”
Like the stallions around him, Bradley seems very at ease in his new role which “incorporates a variety of things that are directly related to the farm and also dealing with clients, sales and nominations.”
Starting at a time with the promise of so much growth is not lost of the Irish native who cited it as “very poignant” to be working alongside the likes of Stradivarius. As both embark on what should hopefully be a long and fruitful career, perhaps going the distance isn't such a bad thing after all.
9th-GP, $91K, OC25k/N1X, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 4:07 p.m. ET.