The one-mile event, worth £200,000, is the final Group 1 of the British Flat season and is set to be contested on Saturday, Oct. 28. A total of 66 entries remain, including Aidan O'Brien's unbeaten G1 National S. winner Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“We are delighted to be able to support the 2023 Kameko Futurity Trophy, a race that consistently provides one of the highlights of the Flat season by whetting the appetite for the following year's Classics,” David Redvers, Qatar Racing's bloodstock and racing manager and owner of Tweenhills, said.

Recent Futurity Trophy winners Kameko (Kitten's Joy) and Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) both went on to victories in the G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, and this year's G1 Betfred Derby, G1 Irish Derby and G1 Irish Champion winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is the Futurity Trophy's reigning champion.

“Qatar Racing continue to be tremendous supporters of British Racing and we are delighted to secure their support of what is one of the highlights of the season at Doncaster,” David Leyden Dunbar, group director of Commercial Strategy and Partnerships at ARC, said. “Kameko will always have a special connection with the race as 2019's renewal, run at Newcastle Racecourse and won by Kameko, remains the only British Group 1 race to be run on an artificial surface. Our thanks go to them and the entire team at Qatar Racing for their support.”

For tickets to the Kameko Futurity, visit the Doncaster website.

The post ARC, Doncaster Racecourse, Qatar Racing Join Forces For Futurity Trophy Sponsorship appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Love it or loathe it, the Brocklesby carries with it that great sigh of relief from Flat fans that winter is at last over and 'proper racing' can now commence. For the men and women behind the stallions with their first runners this season, it is also an important marker, and four of the 17 runners this year represent three freshman sires.

Magna Grecia (Ire) drew first blood in the first-season sires' title race of 2023 when the Amy Murphy-trained Myconian (Ire) won the Prix du Debut at Saint-Cloud. The 2019 2,000 Guineas winner, whose half-brother St Mark's Basilica (Fr) has since followed him to the Coolmore stallion yard, also features among the sires of the Brocklesby runners, with the Andrew Balding-trained Loaded Gun (Ire) high up in the betting at Doncaster. A half-brother to the dual sprint winner Another Bertie (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), Loaded Gun was bred by Khalid Mishref and Joe Hernon, and is a son of the Cheveley Park Stud-bred mare Temerity (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), won won over seven furlongs at two.

Karl Burke enjoys plenty of success with his juveniles and is represented by Indication Call (Ire), a son of Ballyhane Stud's Soldier's Call (GB), who has had two runners to date in Ireland including Friday's Dundalk runner-up Lightening Army (Ire). Bred by Mcr Bloodstock, Indication Call hails from a family that the trainer knows well, as his dam Queen Elsa (Ire) is a Frozen Power (Ire) half-sister to the Burke-trained G2 Mill Reef S. winner Toocoolforschool (Ire), who is by Soldier's Call's sire Showcasing (GB).

Eyeros (Ire), trained by Stan Moore and bred by Gleann Ard Stud, is another by Soldier's Call in the field and is out of the unraced Aga Khan-bred mare Tildiyna (Ire) (Sinner {Ire}), a grand-daughter of Timarida (Ire) (Kalaglow {Ire}), the winner of three Group 1 races in Ireland, America and Germany, including the Irish Champion S.

Dave Evans will saddle Go To Work (Ire), bred by Tally-Ho Stud, which is also home to his sire Inns Of Court (Ire). The gelding is out of the New Approach (Ire) mare Forgiving Flower (GB), a half-sister to Japanese Grade 3 winner Live Concert (Ire) (Singspiel {Ire}) and to the Listed winner Charleston Lady (GB) (Hurricane Run {Ire}).

Tally-Ho Stud is also now home to last year's Brocklesby winner, Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who went on to win the G2 July S. and finish runner-up to Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never) in the G1 Prix Morny for Amo Racing. The 2021 winner Chipotle (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) also proved to be a smart and hardy campaigner, winning four times at two for Eve Johnson Houghton, including at Royal Ascot, while arguably the smartest recent winner of them all was The Last Lion (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}), whose busy juvenile campaign of 2016 culminated in victory in the G1 Middle Park S.

Amo Racing also has the favourite for this year's contest in the Starspangledbanner (Aus) colt Valadero (Ire). A €250,000 yearling bred by the Irish National Stud, Valadero is trained by Dominic Ffrench Davis.

“Persian Force was obviously an incredibly special horse who was verging on Group 1 standard,” said Tom Pennington, Amo's racing and operations manager. “Valadero is a very nice colt who has been very straightforward to deal with and his work's been good. I wouldn't say we're confident, but he does go there in very good shape.”

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With 26 runners on the night, it was always a given that Japan would feature prominently and, in an exhibition of excellence that we are now becoming accustomed to, they led all comers, just as they had in Riyadh last month. The performance of Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) alone was pretty dramatic, coming from tailed off to a rallying victory in the big race itself, but all else pales when compared to the extraordinary Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}).

There have been some classy winners of the Dubai Sheema Classic over the years but none has cruised over the line with such imperious ease as the 4-year-old, who was Japan's Horse of the Year in 2022. 

We may be only three months into 2023, but Equinox has quickly become almost everybody's horse of this year. His connections appear to have ruled out a bid for the Arc, with the Breeders' Cup Turf a more likely international option for later in the year. Those of us on this side of the pond can only hope they change their mind and consider Ascot in July for the King George and Queen Elizabeth S.

Once again it was a major meeting which showcased the rewards to be reaped when keeping horses in training beyond their 2- or 3-year-old seasons. Leaving aside the  UAE Derby, Equinox was the youngest winner of the night, with horses aged five, six and seven claiming two victories apiece. 

Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Broome (Ire) (Australia {GB}) were born a day apart in February 2016, and have mustered 52 runs and 19 wins between them. Both may be a little under-appreciated, though surely not by their connections, considering that the former has triumphed in exactly half of his 20 starts and accumulated almost £6.5 million in prize-money, largely through his historic hat-trick in the Dubai Turf. The well-named Broome (out of Sweepstake) has taken his connections on a merry dance from Ireland to England, France, America, Japan, Hong Kong, Qatar, and now Dubai. He has also overcome a fractured shin from  a kick by another horse after running in the Japan Cup of November 2021. Quick thinking and treatment by vet Kanichi Kusano, who is now the Japan Racing Association's representative in London, meant that Broome was able to resume racing the following May, winning the G2 Hardwicke S. on his second run back after the break, and now the G2 Dubai Gold Cup.

A chance outing on Sunday took this correspondent to the ancestral home of the original Lord North. Kirtling Tower, not far from Newmarket, is the remaining part of what was once Kirtling Hall and its vast estate across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. A financial advisor and treasurer of sorts to Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell when it came to the dissolution of the monasteries, Lord North, who died in 1564, is entombed at Kirtling Church. Some 14 years later, his son Roger, the second Lord North, entertained Elizabeth I at Kirtling Hall.

Legend has it that the among the long list of food served to the Queen and fellow guests during their three-day stay were 2,316 pigeons, 446 quails, 221 cows' tongues, feet and udders, 110 bitterns, 99 dottrells, 96 rabbits, 67 sheep, 34 pigs, 32 swans, 28 plovers, four stags, and one crane. This was all washed down with 74 hogsheads of beer, six hogsheads of claret and six gallons of spiced wine known as hippocras. It makes the Federation of Bloodstock Agents' annual lunch seem positively abstemious. 

Saudi, Dubai, Next Stop Kentucky

It is hard to get away from Sunday Silence in the Japanese sire lists, and he featured as the paternal great grandsire of both Ushba Tesoro and Equinox. The 1989 Kentucky Derby winner also pops up on the dam's side in the third generation of the G2 UAE Derby winner Derma Sotogake (Jpn), who will now try to emulate his notable ancestor by heading to Churchill Downs on the first weekend of May.

The Shadai-bred Derma Sotogake, who was also third in the G2 Saudi Derby, is the first major international winner from the debut crop of Mind your Biscuits, who ended 2022 as the leading first-season sire in Japan. In his racing days, the 10-year-old son of Posse landed back-to-back runnings of the G1 Golden Shaheen as well as winning the GI Malibu S. at three, and he looks an inspired purchase for the Shadai Stallion Station. His pedigree appears to be a natural fit for mares from the Sunday Silence/Deep Impact line and, as a great grandson of Deputy Minister, his is a sire-line which has succeeded in Japan through French Deputy and his son Kurofune. The latter, himself a grey, features most notably as the sire of the pure white Sodashi (Jpn), winner of the 2021 G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas).

Amo Racing's Season Off to a Flyer

The 2023 Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up was represented by its first winner on Saturday before the sale had even taken place. Formerly known as Lot 153 but now racing as Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the full-brother to G1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner and Haras de Bouquetot sire Wooded (Ire) won Ireland's first juvenile contest of the year at the Curragh.

Bought as a yearling last August at Arqana for €165,000, he was signed for by breeze-up consignor Robson Aguiar, who presumably had plenty of involvement in the colt's preparation for his debut for owners Amo Racing and Giselle de Aguiar and trainer Adrian Murray. The same triumvirate is also involved in Lightening Army (GB), a juvenile from the first crop of Soldier's Call (GB) who has an entry at Dundalk on Friday.

By Saturday evening, Amo Racing had notched its first stakes winner in America when Crispy Cat (GB) (Ardad {Ire}), who had also been selected by Aguiar as a yearling, won the Texas Glitter S. at Gulfstream Park. A decent juvenile last term for Michael O'Callaghan, Crispy Cat won on debut and notched several black-type places, including an unlucky third in the G2 Norfolk S. He later filled the same position in the G2 Flying Childers, and he could well have a fruitful year ahead of him in the States, where is one of a team of around 30 horses for Amo Racing.

The Amo colours could also be seen in Classic action this year as among the entries for the Irish 2,000 Guineas is the G2 Beresford S. winner Crypto Force (GB) (Time Test {GB}), who has moved from O'Callaghan to the Gosdens.

Murphy Skilled in Both Spheres

Amy Murphy has made a habit of targeting French races in recent years and her approach paid dividends across the codes last week with two markedly different winners.

At Saint-Cloud on Thursday, the versatile trainer saddled the first winner for Coolmore's freshman sire Magna Grecia (Ire) when Myconian (Ire) won the Prix de Debut for Daniel Macauliffe and Anoj Don. Murphy's husband Lemos de Souza has been a key part of her training establishment from the outset and he had selected the colt for €27,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

For sheer emotion, however, nothing could top the trainer's second French victory of the week. Now 10, Kalashnikov (Ire) (Kalanisi {Ire}) had been an early star for Murphy and headed into the 2018 Cheltenham Festival with four wins to his credit. He was beaten just a neck when second in the G1 Supreme Novices' Hurdle and went on to become the trainer's first Grade 1 winner the following year in the Manifesto Novices' Chase at Aintree. 

Having had almost two years away from the track while recovering from a tendon injury, Kalashnikov, who races in the colours of Murphy's father Paul, returned to action on Boxing Day. On Sunday, he recorded his eighth victory in the Prix Hubert de Navailles at Auteuil, reducing his trainer, who also rides him every day, to tears.

Globetrotting Murzabayev Off the Mark for Fabre

We may struggle to spell his name correctly but be prepared to hear and see plenty more of Bauyrzhan Murzabayev, the Kazakhstan-born, four-time German champion jockey, who rode his first winner for his new boss Andre Fabre at Fontainebleau on Monday. 

Having race-ridden in both in his native country and the Czech Republic, Murzabayev was initially connected to Andreas Wohler following his move to Germany in 2017. He later joined Peter Schiergen, for whom he won last year's G1 Deutsches Derby on Sammarco (Ire) and G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern aboard Tunnes (Ger). A further breakthrough came during this winter's stint in Japan, where he partnered Dura Erede (Jpn) to land the G1 Hopeful S. among his 21 winners in the country.

Fabre initially called him up ride Mare Australis (Ire) in last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and the 30-year-old was announced as the French trainer's retained jockey earlier this month. On Monday, Palais Du Louvre (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) became the duo's first winner. He is unlikely to be the last.

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Even the greatest handlers of young stock, Malcolm Bastard, Alan McCabe, Joseph O'Brien, Conor Hoban and Dick Brabazon, men who know better than most the folly that comes with predicting 2-year-old talent, are keen to have their say on which up-and-coming stallion can make the biggest splash this season. 

O'Brien is sticking loyal to Ten Sovereigns (Ire) in his prediction for first-season sire championship honours while Bastard, who broke and pre-trained Too Darn Hot (GB), has reported striking similarities between the unbeaten champion 2-year-old and his stock.

Meanwhile, Dick Brabazon, one of the finest horsemen in Ireland who has had Snow Fairy (Ire) (Intikhab) and Exultant (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) through his Curragh base, has taken a swing on Study Of Man (Ire) to come up trumps with a top-notcher.

Welcome to this year's earliest predictions to what the next Mehmas (Ire), Cotai Glory (GB) or Havana Grey (GB) will be. Each opinion is right until proven otherwise and, for starters, Bastard, McCabe and Hoban are in agreement that the bookmakers have found the right favourite in Blue Point (Ire), priced up as a general 5-2 market leader by most firms.

McCabe, who pre-trains for Rabbah Bloodstock, Simon Crisford and Charlie Appleby among others, is particularly keen on Blue Point's stock and said, “I think he will make a big splash. I think that bookmarkers are barking up the same tree as I am with Blue Point as I think he will go well in the first-season sire championship. In fact, there was a very smart Blue Point colt I was dealing with, and he's gone into Simon Crisford's. He was the smartest Blue Point I had and, if he is not winning up at the July Course at Newmarket, I'd be very surprised.”

Bastard agrees.

Malcolm Bastard | Racingfotos.com

He said, “We have six or seven Blue Points and they are nice solid horses who are very good in their minds. They all have nice action about them. They are only just cantering away nicely at this time of year, so it is difficult to say, but the Too Darn Hots and the Blue Points stand out a little bit at the moment. The Blue Points are definitely not early horses, not ours anyway.”

But it's the Too Darn Hots who have set the temperature at Bastard's Wiltshire operation with the renowned handler of young stock particularly impressed by the progeny of the young sire.

“I have about a dozen Too Darn Hots and they are very similar to him. From day one, he cantered like an old pro–he was a beautiful-moving colt–and his progeny seem to be the very same. I think they will be late summer horses, if not autumn horses, like he was. They will be seven furlongs plus and they are not going to be sprinters so he's probably priced right [at 14-1]. You'd expect him to have a really good number of winners by the end of the season and quality horses out of that number as well.”

Hoban may be one of the newest names on the Irish scene but he has made a major impact already. The professional jockey has had two Classic winners, Magical Lagoon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Sonnyboyliston (Ire) (Power {GB}), through his hands and has built up an impressive portfolio working with Barnane Stud, Yulong Investments, Johnny Murtagh, Eddie Lynam, Jessica Harrington and Paddy Twomey.

Along with the progeny of Blue Point, Hoban nominated Invincible Army (Ire) to throw down an early marker this spring, and said, “I have a very nice Invincible Army colt. He'll be going to one of the breeze-up sales and he seems to be doing everything well. He's the only Invincible Army I have but I'd be keen to recruit more of them at the sales as everything about him is promising. He just has a lovely way of going and nothing seems to phase him. I'm very interested in the sire.”

Hoban added, “I don't have a Ten Sovereigns but there seems to be a bit of chat about them, which is interesting, and the couple of Blue Points that I have are really nice. They are forward-going, are strong and seem to have good minds. I've had a couple of Phoenix Of Spain (Ire)s as well and, while they won't be that precocious, they are well-balanced horses who have great attitudes. They will be more for the second half of the year.”

One man who has his fair share of Ten Sovereigns to work with is O'Brien and he likes what he sees.

“It's early days, obviously, but we've been lucky enough to have accumulated quite a few by Ten Sovereigns and we really like what we are seeing from them,” the trainer said.

McCabe has the biggest sample size to choose from given he has broken in the best part of 100 yearlings to go into training for this year and, while he admits a certain amount of luck is needed for a stallion to break through, he identified a broad spectrum of young sires whose stock has impressed him.

Blue Point: favourite for the first-season sire championship | Racingfotos.com

He said, “I'd be very keen on the Masar (Ire)s and the Too Darn Hots as well. The Blue Points are a sharp bunch and they look as though they will be 2-year-old types and the Too Darn Hots are just beautiful horses. They are lovely to deal with and are all very good-looking horses. We like them a lot.

“The Masars are very similar to the first Night Of Thunder (Ire)s. They're very honest horses and I'd imagine he will be pretty successful. Masar won over seven furlongs as a 2-year-old and was no slouch. He'd a great constitution as a racehorse and, like Night Of Thunder, they come in all different shapes and sizes. They seem to have good minds and are easy to work with.

“I only had one Magna Grecia (Ire) colt but I liked him a lot. He looked like he would be a runner. I have a little filly by Intrinsic (GB) and she goes very well. Intrinsic won a Stewards Cup and his trainer Robert Cowell said that, if he didn't get injured, he'd definitely have been a group horse. He's only had a handful of runners and he's had winners, with one of them [Intrinsic Bond (GB)] achieving an RPR of 101 so he may not be a bad sire at all. I know he's not a first-season sire but we've a lovely Kodi Bear (Ire) as well and I'd be a fan of him as a sire.”

On the championship as a whole, he added, “I used to ride Kheleyf and nobody would have predicted he'd have done what he did at stud. You get horses who you think will do well at stud and they don't do it for whatever reason and then you get others who you think will be basement level and they come up with the goods. It's very hard to predict but, if I was a betting man, I'd be rowing in behind Blue Point to get rocking and rolling early. You need a lot of luck.”

One stallion who is a longer shot at ending the year as the champion first-season sire is Study Of Man but, for different reasons, the stock of the impeccably-bred French Derby winner has impressed Brabazon.

He explained, “We deal more with the owner-breeder type of horse, the one that will be slower to mature, but still, when I go through my list, we've got a nice filly by Magna Grecia and another by Phoenix Of Spain. But if I was to nominate one sire that I am particularly interested in the progeny of, it would have to be Study Of Man, as the two that we have by him are very athletic, hardy and tough types. He could be a very interesting sire and it would be great if Deep Impact (Jpn) had a major influence over here given what he achieved in Japan. He's a horse I will follow with great interest this year. His granddam is Miesque so it is one hell of a pedigree. Saxon Warrior (Jpn) has got going in Ireland so it will be really interesting to see how Study Of Man gets on. Now, it's only February, and I might be talking nonsense at this early stage in the year, but these two Study Of Man fillies have really caught our eye.

“We've only just started out on the Curragh gallops with our 2-year-olds now. I am beside the Old Vic gallop and we've only just started with the colts cantering up the Old Vic now. We'll get the fillies going now soon. It's all about education for me. I am not the trainer, so I let the trainer train them and I only educate them. I am always shouting at the riders to remember they are only babies. Sometimes they start scooting around on them if they start showing a bit but I always try to mind them and turn the horses into a career horse for their owners. I am not going to win any Brocklesbys, I am afraid! I have accepted that at this stage in my life. My aim is for the horse to last. I just lay the foundation for the trainers and then follow the horses' careers with great interest.”

He added, “The riders are so important. Tim Carroll is my main rider and he's just super. He just has a natural feel for a horse and can tell exactly how well each horse is going. If he says this is nice, I take note of what he says. He has picked a few already and he is a fan of the Study Of Mans. They don't all go on the right way but you'd have a fair idea at this stage.”

Similarly, Bastard has seen enough from the progeny of Land Force (Ire), Inns Of Court (Ire) and Ten Sovereigns to suggest that their 2-year-olds can achieve good things on the track this season.

He concluded, “We've had a few Land Forces and they've been quite nice to deal with as well. They've got a bit of size and scope about them and plenty of strength. They have good bone, are nice in their minds and are quite forward-going and they look okay. He might be a bit of a surprise package. He could do well. Inns Of Court is another worth mentioning. I must say, we only had one by Inns Of Court, but he was very nice and I expect him to do very well. We have a few by Ten Sovereigns, who go well but, again, the ones we have seem as though they will want a bit of time. There is nothing really early amongst them but they are nice horses. They are quite scopey.”

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At the top end of the market, Kingman (GB) dominated with three foals by the Juddmonte-based stallion selling for a combined €1,540,000 and one of Europe's leading pinhookers Philipp Stauffenberg signing for the €550,000 top lot by the sire. 

Tally-Ho Stud may be best known for being sellers but they pipped Stauffenberg for the biggest spenders title by signing for 19 foals for €1,429,000. Juddmonte, Yeomanstown, BBA Ireland and Camas Park Stud were also on the front foot at Goffs. 

Away from the top end, there were interesting trends to emerge last week that could well impact how this week's December Foal Sale plays out at Tattersalls.

What first-season sires do the buyers want? Who are the emerging forces in the stallion ranks and where might the value lie at Tattersalls? We've examined all of that and more.

Stock In Mehmas And New Bay Is Booming

It's been a breakout year for Mehmas (Ire) and New Bay (GB), who have had their fees for 2023 hiked off the back of memorable campaigns for their respective progeny and, judging by how well their foals went down at Goffs, they can again be expected to play a leading role at Tattersalls.

Let's start with Mehmas, a horse who began his stud career at Tally-Ho in 2017 at a fee of €12,500 and has justified his bump to €60,000 after another memorable campaign, highlighted by Group 1-winning sprinter Minzaal (Ire).

New Bay has done something similar at Ballylinch in that he has climbed the ranks the hard way. He also entered the stallion ranks in 2017, standing for €20,000, but has had his fee for 2023 increased to €75,000 from €37,500 with Bay Bridge (GB), Bayside Boy (Ire) and Saffron Beach (Ire) doing their bit to advertise their stallion's prowess at the highest level this season.

Nine New Bays sold at Goffs for an average of €80,750, headed by colts who sold for €145,000 and €140,000, while Mehmas enjoyed a similarly productive sale with 26 foals selling for an average of €62,455. Four foals by Mehmas broke the €100,000 mark with BBA Ireland going to €160,000 to secure a colt by the stallion.

What's clear about last week's results is that Mehmas and New Bay are the emerging forces in the European stallion ranks. There are 30 foals by Mehmas and 16 New Bays at Tattersalls this week and it will be interesting to see how they perform.

Sergei To Make A Splash?

The Whitsbury Manor Stud team got to dip their toe into the market with some of the first foals by Sergei Prokofiev (Can) going under the hammer at Goffs. How that will prepare an operation who excelled itself with leading first-season sire Havana Grey is hard to know given the amount of foals due to be sold by Sergei Profkofiev at Tattersalls this week. 

The Goffs offering went down well; one colt made €52,000 while the WH Bloodstock team paid €45,000 for another. Of the six foals that sold at Goffs, they averaged at €34,167. Not bad going for a stallion who stood at £6,500 in his first season at stud. 

Indeed, Sergei Prokofiev hails from that Scat Daddy line that is proving so popular. He was clearly quite the looker, too, given he fetched $1,100,000 as a yearling before carving out a decent career without managing to win a Group 1 for Aidan O'Brien. 

There are 60 foals by Sergei Prokofiev at Tattersalls this week. They should provide a better sample size into the standing in which he is held in with the buyers.

Najd Stud Snap Up Foals

We have become accustomed to Najd Stud playing a major role at the horses-in-training sales but it was interesting to see the Saudi Arabian-based outfit sign for four foals at Goffs. Is that a sign of things to come at Tattersalls this week?

Najd Stud didn't shoot the lights out, either, at Goffs. A Ghaiyyath (Ire) colt topped the total spend of €134,500 across five foals. Interestingly, a filly by Shadwell's Commonwealth Cup winner Eqtidaar (Ire), who has his first runners next year, was among the purchases at €36,000 as was a €3,500 Belardo (Ire) colt on the final day of the sale. 

Kildangan-Based Sires Come Up Trumps

Speaking of Ghaiyyath, the Kildangan-based freshman sire enjoyed a rock-solid start at Goffs with 11 of his first foals selling for €824,000 which averages out at €74,909.

Leading pinhookers Pier House Stud bought the top two colts by the stallion for €185,000 and €145,000 respectively and few would be surprised if the offerings by the four-time Group 1 winner go down well at Tattersalls as well. 

Of the 11 foals cataloged by Ghaiyyath at Tattersalls, a filly out of a sister to New York Girl (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}) and a half-brother to Global Giant (GB) (Shamardal) stand out on paper at least.

Fellow Kildangan-based stallions Blue Point (Ire) and Earthlight (Ire) also performed well. Earthlight had 17 foals sell for €942,500 at an average of €55,441 with Tally-Ho, Lynn Lodge Stud, Peter and Ross Doyle among the significant buyers of his progeny.

Even more impressive were figures posted by Blue Point, who had 20 lots sell for €1,011,500 at an average of €56,194. Top of the pops were colts knocked down for €200,000 apiece to Camas Park Stud and Katsumi Yoshida.

Blue Point's yearlings were similarly well-received. Famous for winning the King's Stand and Diamond Jubilee S. in the same week at Royal Ascot in 2019, Blue Point will have his first two-year-olds hit the track in 2023, with yearlings by the sire averaging over €100,000 this year. 

His stats performed favourably against proven sires Dark Angel (Ire), Showcasing (GB), Kodiac (GB), Starspangledbanner (Aus) and Acclamation (GB) in terms of average for a similar number of lots through the ring at Goffs last week. It will be interesting to see if he can carry over that sort of momentum at Tattersalls. 

First-Season Sires

Next year's race to be crowned champion first-season sire is being billed as one of the most exciting renewals for a long time with Too Darn Hot (GB), Blue Point, Waldgeist (GB), Magna Grecia (Ire), Ten Sovereigns (Ire), Calyx (GB), Advertise (GB), Invincible Army (Ire), Land Force (Ire) and Soldier's Call (GB) having their first runners in 2023.

As mentioned above, Blue Point performed well at Goffs while a number of leading pinhookers got behind the progeny of a number of the first-season sires. 

Advertise was one who came out nicely on the figures from a relatively small sample size at Goffs and one would imagine that Tattersalls will provide a more accurate barometer given he has 19 foals there.

But the Goffs results read well. Six foals sold for an average of €32,167 which was more than Invincible Army [14 for €29,773], Ten Sovereigns [15 for €26,833] and Soldier's Call [14 for €26,417]. Those figures could well average out this week. Time will tell.

First Crops Of Note

Along with Ghaiyyath, Earthlight and Sergei Prokofiev, who we have already mentioned, a number of stallions had their first crop go under the hammer at Goffs. 

Some of the more interesting results were posted by Arizona (Ire), perhaps unsurprisingly given he is a son of the sire of the moment, No Nay Never, while King Of Change (GB), Mohaather (GB), Sottsass (Fr) and Without Parole (GB) caught the imagination. 

Peter Nolan paid €60,000 for an Arizona half-brother to Eldrickjones (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) while the Coolmore-based freshman sire, who stands for just €5,000, averaged a respectable €20,192 for 13 foals.

Sottsass was a classier racehorse than most of his first-crop rivals and it told in the figures at Goffs with the former Arc winner posting averages comparable with Mehmas, Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Dark Angel. There were 11 foals by Sottsass at Goffs and they sold for an average of €61,100 and a top price of €180,000. 

G1 Sussex S. winner Mohaather created a good impression with five foals selling for an average of €49,250 including a top lot of €95,000 while Without Parole had four foals sell for an average of €27,000 and a high of €70,000.

King Of Change was subject to a recent transfer after being snapped up by Starfield Stud from Derrinstown and it looks like it could prove to be a decent move given how his first foals performed. 

Peter and Ross Doyle paid €50,000 for a colt by the sire who averaged a solid €24,714 for seven foals sold. That's a good return for a Group 1-winning stallion who is set to stand for just €5,000 next year.

Coolmore Can Count On Wootton Bassett And No Nay Never

Wootton Bassett (GB) and No Nay Never flew the flag for Coolmore at Goffs while demand for the progeny of Saxon Warrior (Jpn) was evidently up off the back of an excellent autumn for the first-season sire. 

Wootton Bassett was bettered only by Kingman and Galileo, who between them accounted for just four foals at Goffs, for the highest averages posted. 

The sire of brilliant G1 National S. winner Al Riffa, Wootton Bassett clearly captured the imagination last week, with seven foals selling for €1,345,000 at an average of €224,167 which earned him a top-three finish in that particular table. 

No Nay Never enjoyed an eighth-place finish in averages posted on €134,800 and, while Saxon Warrior was down on that list at €52,263, he posted a chunky aggregate with 21 foals selling for €993,000. That was the seventh-highest aggregate recorded by any stallion. 

The post Who’s Hot Ahead Of The Tattersalls December Foal Sale? appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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There seems to be a strong whiff of No Nay Never in the air after the devastatingly-good performance of Little Big Bear in Saturday's G1 Phoenix S. at the Curragh.

This, of course, is great news for Coolmore as Ten Sovereigns (Ire), one of No Nay Never's best sons, will be represented by a five-strong draft at the August Yearling Sale at Arqana. 

Hopes are high in the Coolmore camp that Ten Sovereigns, who won Group 1 races at two and three, can lay down a marker in Deauville. 

Mark Byrne of Coolmore said, “Ten Sovereigns has been an extremely busy horse since he retired to stud. He has roughly 140 yearlings in his first crop and we all know how brilliantly-fast he was given he won the Middle Park at two and then came back to win the July Cup as a 3-year-old. 

“We are being reminded of how fast these No Nay Nevers are on an almost weekly basis and we saw one of the best juvenile performances of the past decade from Little Big Bear on Saturday in the G1 Phoenix S. 

“It's fitting that No Nay Never won the G1 Prix Morny in Deauville so we are going back to the scene of the crime with the first crop of Ten Sovereigns. As well as that, Little Big Bear and G3 Albany S. winner Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never) are graduates of this sale so it's a hugely significant place for us to be launching Ten Sovereigns.”

Byrne added, “The whole sire line is on fire and we're lucky to have so much of that blood around us, both here and in America and Australia. Take Justify for an example. He's got off to an incredible start and is responsible for two TDN Rising Stars already with Statuette and Justique. 

“Sioux Nation may not be as high profile as Justify but he just keeps producing the goods and let's not forget there are Caravaggios set to be unleashed in America and his son Maljoom (Ire) was possibly one of the most unlucky horses at Royal Ascot when he got no luck in running in the St James's Palace. I think we're starting to see the influence of that Scat Daddy line which is why we're hugely excited about the future for Ten Sovereigns.”

With Al Shaqab, Ballylinch Stud, China Horse Club, Lady Bamford, Croom House, Juddmonte, the Coolmore partners and the Hyde and Shanahan families having supported Ten Sovereigns, the team has every reason to be optimistic ahead of the yearling sales. 

Byrne revealed, “There's so much excitement involved this week-and a few nerves as well. A lot of effort has been put in by a lot of people, from breeders to everyone here at Coolmore and from Aidan O'Brien and his staff at Ballydoyle for making these horses into stallions in the first place. 

“It's the culmination of a lot of hard work and you just hope that they are received well. No matter how much we like them at home, it will all be decided by the market. Thankfully, the three stallions we're launching have been extremely popular.”

Ten Sovereigns may be the ace in the first-season sire pack at Coolmore but in 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia (Ire) and the blisteringly-fast Coventry S. scorer Calyx, they offer something for everyone.

Both stallions hail from the Invincible Spirit sire line while Magna Grecia's page received a noteworthy boost after he retired to stud thanks to the exploits of his half-brother St Mark's Basilica (Fr).

“It's not often that a stallion receives a pedigree update by being a half-brother to a European Champion 2-year-old and a World Champion 3-year-old,” Byrne joked. 

“It's a beautiful-looking family. We all know St Mark's Basilica was a 1.3 million gns yearling but Magna Grecia cost 340,000 gns as a foal which, at the time, made him the most expensive foal by Invincible Spirit. He's the only Invincible Spirit to win a Classic and he has everything going for him, being out of a Galileo mare.”

He added, “His first crop has been well-received and Jamie McCalmont bought a colt foal by him at Newmarket last December for 210,000gns. Looking at the sales entries, I see that there is a yearling colt out of Maria Lee (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) entered in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale by Clare Castle Stud. That will be exciting to see.

“He has over 130 yearlings to run for him which is a healthy number. A lot of people would have liked to use St Mark's Basilica this year but maybe they had to go in at a different level so Magna Grecia has been quite popular. He represents value and we're looking forward to seeing how the two fillies [lot 81 and 131] are received by him at Arqana. Like Ten Sovereigns, he's been supported by some of the best breeders around as Al Shaqab, Lodge Park Stud, Highclere Stud, Juddmonte, the Coolmore partners and the Niarchos family all supported him massively.”

Calyx may have only graced the track on four occasions but he left a lasting impression. He will be represented by three yearlings at Arqana this week.

Byrne said, “Like Ten Sovereigns and Magna Grecia, Calyx has been well-supported and has a similar number of yearlings to run for him in his first crop. The three of them have 130-140 yearlings this year. Calyx is a slightly different type to Magna Grecia. He's by Kingman and, I will never forget on the morning of the G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois, bumping into John Gosden on the street in Deauville. The one thing he kept repeating was the acceleration that Kingman possesed. We saw that explosive turn of foot that afternoon as he won the race at his ease but we are also seeing it in his stock and Calyx is a perfect example. He had brilliance and hopefully he can emulate what his father is doing as a stallion. 

“Again, when you look down through the breeders who supported Calyx, you have the likes of Adam Bowden, breeder of Onesto (Fr) (Frankel {GB}), Al Shaqab, Monceaux, Juddmonte, China Horse Club, Manister House, Oceanic, Moyglare Stud, Noel O'Callaghan and of course the Coolmore partners have been great supporters.”

It is going to take something special to stand out at Arqana this week given the strength and depth of the catalogue with siblings to Treve (Fr), Wings Of Eagles (Fr), Native Trail (GB), Sealiway (Fr) and Sottsass up for grabs.

Nobody knows this better than John O'Connor, managing director at Ballylinch Stud, who feels he has something buyers will appreciate. The first progeny of the brilliant Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Waldgeist (GB), one of the classiest sons of Galileo (Ire), who is now standing at Ballylinch, will go under the hammer this week and O'Connor is cautiously optimistic about how they will be received. 

O'Connor said, “He has undoubtedly been given a good chance by the syndicate. They have supported him from the start. He has covered six Group 1 winners, the dams of 30 Group 1 horses, 58 stakes performers and 144 producers of stakes performers. He's been given a very good chance and, from what we have seen so far, the market has responded pretty well to him. 

I think you are going to see some really nice yearlings by him, not only at Arqana, but at the rest of the yearling sales. We're consigning one ourselves at Arqana. It's a colt out of a mare called New Revenue (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) [lot 63] and I think he's a very good colt. When people see him, they will be taken by him as he's really powerful and is precocious-looking.”

He added, “One of the things that is very significant for Waldgeist is that he's actually a Group 1-winning 2-year-old. Most people will remember him for winning an Arc, a vintage Arc at that, but he also won the Criterium de Saint-Cloud as a 2-year-old. 

“I actually think he'll surprise some people by how precocious his stock will be. He could get some very nice 2-year-olds because he had precocity, class and soundness as a racehorse–he had the full package.”

Not only does O'Connor have his own Ballylinch resident Waldgeist to promote ahead of the sales, but he could also provide some early entertainment at Arqana with another first-season sire, as his Too Darn Hot (GB) filly out of Janicellaine (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}) is reported to be quite the looker.

Forming part of a seven-strong draft for the stud, the Too Darn Hot filly will be the third horse through the ring at Arqana, and is predicted to fly the flag nicely for the Darley-owned sire by O'Connor.

“It's a family we have been closely associated with down through the years–it's originally the Ingabelle family. This is a really nice filly, she's a really good example of a nice Too Darn Hot. You can see his influence in her–she's a big filly with a lot of quality and power to her. I think she'll be a good advert for the sire.”

Speaking about his draft in general, he added, “It's very strong. We're bringing a balanced bunch to Arqana and I'd encourage everyone to look at them all. There's two there by first-season sires but the rest are by proven stallions, including our own top stallion, Lope De Vega (Ire), of which there are three.

“Whenever we have a nice young stallion like Waldgeist, whose stock we like the look of, it obviously increases your expectation about what they might do. We like the physicals of his horses and they seem to have a really good temperament, which he does himself. They are also nice and sound and he should be a great influence for soundness.

“We've been lucky with our sires in recent times and there's no doubt that New Bay (GB) is emerging as a top-level stallion now. 

“Waldgeist shares a few things with Lope De Vega in that they were bred, either wholly or in partnership with Gestut Ammerland, who are outstanding breeders, and both were trained by Andre Fabre. Waldgeist has been supported by Gestut Ammerland quite strongly, just like Lope De Vega was, so if lightning can strike twice it would be wonderful.”

Too Darn Hot, the unbeaten Champion 2-year-old who won the Dewhurst and the Prix Jean Prat as well as the Sussex S. at three, will be represented by five yearlings this week. Sue Finley took a closer look at the international appeal of the son of Dubawi (Ire) in Sunday's TDN.

That is three fewer than fellow Darley-owned Blue Point (Ire), the awesome sprinter who boasts the rare achievement of winning the G1 King's Stand S. and the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot in 2019. 

Featuring among the draft is the Gestut Ammerland-consigned filly [lot 290] out of triple-Grade 1-winning Golden Lilac (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Advertise (GB) is another speedster whose first yearlings will go through the ring at Arqana. A three-time Group 1 winner, who stands for £25,000 at the National Stud, will be represented by a filly [lot 308] and a colt [lot 118] apiece. 

There will also be appearances made by the progeny of City Light (Fr), Yoshida (Jpn) and Land Force (Ire), all of whom will be represented by just one horse respectively. 

City Light, who stands at Haras d'Etreham, scored twice at Group 3 level as well as finishing second in the G1 Prix de la Foret on his final start as a 5-year-old. His sole representative is a colt [lot 54] out of black-type performer Moisson Precoce (GB) (Lawman {Fr}).

Yoshida, a son of Heart's Cry (Jpn) who stands at WinStar Farm in Kentucky, won twice at Grade I company in America, and will be represented by lot 150, a colt out of an unraced Gio Ponti mare [Spinworthy] from the family of Planchart.

Like City Light and Yoshida, it will be impossible to judge the prospects Land Force has at stud by just one yearling, but the G2 Richmond S. winner, who now stands at Highclere Stud, will be represented by lot 11, a colt out of a sister to Group 3 winner Kenhope (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}).

The post From Ten Sovereigns To Waldgeist – The First Season Sires To Note At Arqana  appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Both of these sires are incredibly deserving of the top of the table. By sire of sires Dubawi and out of the triple Group 1-winning mare Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) from the incredibly deep family of the influential sire Darshaan (GB), Too Darn Hot always had high hopes riding on his shoulders and he delivered from the outset. A 'TDN Rising Star' when winning by seven lengths on debut, Too Darn Hot went on to sweep the G3 Solario S., G2 Champagne S. and G1 Dewhurst S. on his way to champion 2-year-old honours. Too Darn Hot endured a rather not straightforward beginning to his 3-year-old campaign; after a setback caused him to miss the G1 2000 Guineas he was briefly set on the Derby trail, but then re-routed again after he was eclipsed in the G2 Dante S. After placed efforts in the

G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S., Too Darn Hot put it all back together again for wins in the G1 Prix Jean Prat and G1 Sussex S., which earned him divisional honours once again. Too Darn Hot's first crop contains 124 foals and 163 mares returned last year when his fee dipped to £45,000. That is where it stays this year.

Blue Point carries the hopes of Team Kildangan that he will be his sire, Shamardal's, heir apparent at the stallion yard Shamardal called home for 14 years. Shamardal's fastest son, Blue Point was a good 2-year-old, winning the G2 Gimcrack S. and placing in the G1 Middle Park S. and the Dewhurst. He was good, too, at three, winning a pair of Group 3s and finishing third in the G1 Commonwealth Cup. He got quite good at four, winning the G1 King's Stand S. over Battaash. But at five he was exceptional, winning all five starts including the G1 Al Quoz Sprint and the G1 King's Stand-once again beating Battaash-and the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. four days apart. Blue Point's first season resulted in 154 foals, and 183 mares returned last year, giving him the biggest book of any second-season sire. Blue Point stays at €40,000 for the second straight year.

Blue Point is not alone as a top-class sprinter in this sire crop: Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) won the G2 July S. and G1 Phoenix S. at two before adding the G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at three, and he has held his £25,000 fee through his first three seasons at the National Stud. Coolmore's Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never) won the G1 Middle Park S. at two and was fourth behind Advertise in the Commonwealth Cup before running a career-best race to beat that rival in the G1 July Cup. Ten Sovereigns started at €25,000 but is this year down to €17,500. He was third on first-crop sire averages at the foal sales, his 30 sold averaging €59,137/£50,422.

Coolmore also has Calyx (GB), the first son of Kingman (GB) to retire to stud, in this cohort. The Juddmonte homebred won on debut to earn 'TDN Rising Star' status 10 days before beating Advertise in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. After missing the remainder of the season, Calyx roared back with a four-length win in the G3 Pavilion S. at three but retired after being upset by the future dual Group 1 winner Hello Youmzain (Fr) (Kodiac {GB}) in the G2 Sandy Lane S. Calyx started at €22,500 and drops to €12,500 this year.

There is quality speed available, too, in the four-figure price range in this sire crop, like Yeomanstown Stud's four-time six-furlong Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Invincible Army (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (€7,500); Tally-Ho Stud's Inns Of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (€5,000), also a four-time group winner and Group 1-placed; Highclere Stud's G2 Richmond S. winner Land Force (Ire) (No Nay Never) (£5,000); Shadwell's G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Eqtidaar (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (£5,000); and Haras d'Etreham's Group 3-winning, G1 Diamond Jubilee-placed City Light (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) (€7,000).

The highest-rated member of this sire crop stands at Ballylinch Stud for €15,000 (down from an initial €17,500), and that is the four-time Group 1 winner and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe scorer Waldgeist (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). A Group 1 winner at two who was at his best at five, Waldgeist is by the sire of sires Galileo and from an incredibly stout German family. He kicked off his final campaign in 2019 with a defeat of Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the G1 Prix Ganay, and that rival is also in with a great chance at stud. Study Of Man won the G1 Prix du Jockey Club in 2018 and is a grandson of Miesque, and is therefore from the immediate family of sires Kingmambo and Karakontie (Jpn) as well as many, many other Group 1 winners. Being by the great Deep Impact out of a Storm Cat mare, Study Of Man will be easy to mate with much of the European broodmare population. He is down to €12,500 from €15,000.

The Irish National Stud stands the Group 3-winning 2-year-old and G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) for €12,000, down from an initial €15,000. Phoenix Of Spain was the most represented of this group at the foal sales, with 45 going through the ring. Thirty-six sold for an average of €30,713/£26,177.

VALUE PODIUM

Bronze: Soldier's Call (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}) (Ballyhane Stud, €7,500) – Soldier's Call was a top-class, Royal Ascot-winning

2-year-old who trained on at three to mix it with the best older sprinters. He ran eight times at two, with wins in the Listed Windsor Castle S., G3 Prix d'Arenberg and G2 Flying Childers S. the highlights before he ran third, beaten a neck, in the G1 Prix de l'Abbaye against older horses. In his second start at three, Soldier's Call found only the excellent older sprinters Blue Point and Battaash too tough in the G1 King's Stand S., with his Abbaye conqueror Mabs Cross (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}) among those in arrears.

Though Soldier's Call didn't win at three, he put up another excellent performance against elders when second to Battaash in the G1 Nunthorpe S. Out of the listed-winning and Group 3-placed Dijarvo (GB) (Iceman {GB}), Soldier's Call has been popular at Ballyhane Stud; he covered 159 mares in his first season and one more than that last year. He debuted for €10,000 and after standing for €7,500 last year, remains at that fee in 2022.

Silver: Masar (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) (Darley Dalham Hall, £14,000) – A Group 3 winner at two who trained on to win the Derby and from the family of Galileo (Ire) and Sea The Stars (Ire), Masar packs a lot of value into a €14,000 package. Precocious enough to beat Invincible Army to win on debut in May of his 2-year-old season, Masar was third in Royal Ascot's Listed Chesham S. before beating future Classic winner Romanised in the G3 Solario S. and was third in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. The runaway nine-length winner of the G3 Craven S. at three, Masar finished third in the G1 2000 Guineas before stepping up in trip to win the Derby. Masar, by Galileo's high-class son New Approach, is inbred 3×4 to Galileo's blue hen dam Urban Sea, and is therefore from the female family of Galileo himself as well as Sea The Stars and many other Group 1 winners. Masar is the second foal out of Godolphin's dual UAE Classic winner Khawlah (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}), who was also third in the G3 Oh So Sharp S. at two. Khawlah has since produced the Group 3-placed Sayyida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), and she is herself a granddaughter of Galileo and Sea The Stars's listed-winning and dual Oaks-placed half-sister Melikah (Ire) (Lammtarra). Masar covered 138 mares in his debut book at £15,000 and 98 last year at £14,000, the fee at which he remains this year.

Gold: Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (Coolmore Stud, €17,500) – Down to €17,500, St Mark's Basilica's Classic-winning brother, Magna Grecia–who was also a Group 1-winning 2-year-old–looks excellent value. While St Mark's Basilica fills the spotlight on a debut fee of €65,000, it is worth remembering that not only does Magna Grecia bring sparkling racecourse credentials, but is by proven sire of sires Invincible Spirit. Raced by the Coolmore partners in partnership with the Niarchos Family's Flaxman Holdings, Magna Grecia won at first asking at two and finished second to Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB})-beating his stablemate and fellow Value Sire Circus Maximus-in the G3 Autumn S. before beating Phoenix Of Spain in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy. Magna Grecia was a decisive first-up winner of the 2000 Guineas at three, and retired after running twice more with a rating of 120. Magna Grecia and St Mark's Basilica are out of the precocious G3 Silver Flash S. winner Cabaret (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who is herself a sister to black-type 2-year-olds Ho Choi (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Drumfire (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). After covering 159 mares in year one at a fee of €22,500, Magna Grecia covered 127 last year at €18,000 and is available for €17,500 this year.

The post Value Sires Part III: First Yearlings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“We are very excited to welcome Wootton Bassett, a Group 1-winning champion 2-year-old on the track and one of the most exciting sires in Europe, to our roster.” said Coolmore Australia's sales and nominations manager, Colm Santry. “He will join Redoute's Choice's dual Group1-winning son King's Legacy, in a line-up headed by multiple champion sire Fastnet Rock, who is coming off one of the most successful seasons of his illustrious career.”

Wootton Bassett – with a first crop of only 23 foals conceived at a fee of just €6,000 – exploded on the sire scene courtesy of son Almanzor, triple Group 1-winning champion of his generation, whose first Australasian yearlings this year proved a great hit with buyers.

Wootton Bassett has also sired the likes of dual Group 1-winning filly Audarya, conceived at a fee of only €4,000, and Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye (1000m.) winning colt Wooded, from a €6,000 fee, while his 2-year-old crop of last year included Group 2 winner and 2,000 Guineas candidate Chindit.

In such esteem is Wootton Bassett held that in Europe he currently commands a fee of €100,000 (AUS$155,000), highlighting the great value he affords Australian breeders at his introductory fee of only AUS$71,500.

King's Legacy needs little introduction, winner as he was last year of both the Group 1 Sires' Produce and Group 1 Champagne Stakes. The most accomplished juvenile of his generation, with the impeccable good looks to cost AUS$1,400,000 as a yearling, he is also the only son of Redoute's Choice ever to win multiple Group 1 races at two. Closely related to Not A Single Doubt, from the family of successful sire Snippets, King's Legacy will stand his first season at a fee of AUS$33,000.

These two new boys join a roster laden with proven Group 1 sires like Fastnet Rock, Pierro, So You Think and American Pharoah, last-named, along with Justify, U.S. Triple Crown winners at great-value fees.

With a support cast of outstanding sprinters like Yes Yes Yes and Merchant Navy, Group One Guineas winners like Churchill, Magna Grecia and Saxon Warrior joining explosive two-year-old stars like Royal Ascot Coventry Stakes winner Calyx, Blue Diamond winner Pride Of Dubai and Golden Slipper winner Vancouver, the Coolmore Australia roster really does offer a sire to suit every mare at a price for every pocket.

Sire 2021 Fee (inc. GST)

Adelaide – AUS$5,500

American Pharoah – AUS$49,500

Calyx – AUS$13,750

Churchill – AUS$22,000

Fastnet Rock – AUS$165,000

Justify – AUS$55,000

King's Legacy (NEW) – AUS$33,000

Magna Grecia – AUS$19,250

Merchant Navy – AUS$33,000

Pierro – AUS$110,000

Pride Of Dubai – AUS$22,000

Saxon Warrior – AUS$13,750

So You Think – AUS$77,000

Vancouver – AUS$22,000

Wootton Bassett (NEW) – AUS$71,500

Yes Yes Yes – AUS$38,500

• Rubick and Highland Reel will stand at Swettenham Stud in association with Coolmore

The post American Pharoah, Justify To Shuttle To Coolmore Australia For 2021 Southern Hemisphere Breeding Season appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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While it is not always a straightforward task to pinpoint value in unproven sires, the ripple effects of the global pandemic make the exercise a little more interesting this year. While it has become the norm for some young sires to get fee cuts in their second and third years to help mitigate the damages of a market that often judges them before their first progeny has even set foot on a racecourse, almost every member of this sire crop has had its fee trimmed this year. That trend is, of course, set against the backdrop of a bloodstock sales market that was down somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20%. While the sales were remarkably resilient in the face of such major economic uncertainty, it cannot be overlooked that a good many breeders will have suffered in 2020 and fee cuts nearly across the board are likely necessary to help keep the industry afloat.

Editor’s Note: covering figures referenced here are from the Weatherbys Return of Mares. These figures are not final until the supplement is published in February.

While their fees may be down, none of these sires’ credentials have lessened during their first year standing in the stallion barns, and Darley’s pair of champions Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) remain at the head of the pack on fees. Too Darn Hot is trimmed to £45,000 from £50,000 at Dalham Hall, and he covered 172 mares in his debut season including Frankel Light (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), the €1.3-million top lot at last year’s Arqana December sale; Galileo Gold (GB)’s dam Galicuix (GB) (Galileo {Ire}); Masar (Ire)’s dam Khawlah (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}); Time Test (GB)’s dam Passage Of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}); dual Group 1 and Classic winner Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}) and Group 1 winner Sultanina (GB) (New Approach {Ire}). On paper, Too Darn Hot looks about as foolproof a sire prospect as they come, with little to fault on race record or pedigree. Unbeaten in four starts at two culminating in a G1 Dewhurst S. win that was rated even higher than his new barnmate Pinatubo (Ire)’s, Too Darn Hot was named European champion 2-year-old. His 3-year-old campaign admittedly didn’t begin exactly as hoped-after a setback kept him from the G1 2000 Guineas he was beaten in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas (second) and the G1 St James’s Palace S. (third), but he returned to the winner’s enclosure in a big way when dropping back to seven furlongs to win the G1 Prix Jean Prat by three lengths in an effort rated equal to his Dewhurst win on Racing Post ratings (125).

For good measure, Too Darn Hot went back up to a mile to defeat his St James’s Palace conqueror Circus Maximus and elders in the G1 Sussex S. three weeks later. Too Darn Hot was just the latest classy performer out of Watership Down’s triple Group 1 winner Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), herself also a half-sister to three Group 1 winners, and it is also the family of influential sire Darshaan.

Speaking of influential sires, Too Darn Hot’s own sire Dubawi has only furthered his credentials as a sire of sires this year with the continued progression of Night Of Thunder (Ire) and New Bay (GB) showing plenty of promise with his first runners. Too Darn Hot, like Night Of Thunder, is very much in the mould of his sire physically and there appears to be little standing in the way of him following in their footsteps.

Blue Point, the only horse ever to win three Group 1 sprints at Royal Ascot, is down to €40,000 at Kildangan Stud from €45,000. Blue Point’s debut book of 198 mares included Beach Frolic (GB) (Nayef), the dam of this year’s champion 3-year-old Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) who topped the Tattersalls December Mares Sale when bought by MV Magnier for 2.2-million gns. Other mares to visit Blue Point last year included Daily Times (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}), a half-sister to Breeders’ Cup winner Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}); Group 1 producer Danetime Out (Ire) (Danetime {Ire}); triple Group 1 winner Golden Lilac (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}); G2 Queen Mary S. winner Jealous Again, the dam of this year’s standout but ill-fated sprinter Sceptical (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}); Lucky Clio (Ire) (Key Of Luck), the dam of G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}); and Sand Vixen (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), the dam of G1 Jebel Hatta winner Dream Castle (GB) (Frankel {GB}). Blue Point was an exceptionally consistent talent over four seasons who ran six times at two, winning the G2 Gimcrack S., but was undoubtedly at his best at five when he went unbeaten in five starts. He won the G1 Al Quoz Sprint before defending his G1 King’s Stand S. title from the prior year and four days later added the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. In Blue Point’s wake in both his King’s Stand scores was Baattash (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}), the winner of four Group 1s and the world’s highest-rated sprinter in 2019. Like Too Darn Hot, Blue Point carries the weight on his shoulders of being a potential heir to his outstanding sire, and Blue Point ranks high among a wave of young sires looking to follow in the footsteps of Shamardal’s best sire son Lope De Vega (Ire).

Darley’s third player in this sire crop is none other than the Derby winner Masar (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), who is available for £14,000 at Dalham Hall, down from £15,000. For those commercial breeders shaken by the word ‘Derby’, remember that Masar ran five times at two, was a Group 3 winner over the future Irish 2000 Guineas winner and won at first asking in May, beating Invincible Army (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) who went on to be a group-winning sprinter at two, three and four. Masar won the G3 Craven S. in April of his 3-year-old campaign over eventual Horse of the Year Roaring Lion (Kitten’s Joy) and again bested that rival and the Guineas winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Derby. Masar’s dam Khawlah won the G2 UAE Derby and G3 UAE Oaks and is a granddaughter of Melikah (Ire) (Lammtarra), a half-sister to Galileo and Sea The Stars. Masar was laid up with an injury after his Derby win and sportingly brought back for a 4-year-old campaign that unfortunately didn’t pan out to fruition, but as such breeders likely got slightly better value in his first season, when he covered 146 mares.

The Coolmore Trio

Coolmore’s trio in this bunch-Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never), Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB})-all take fee cuts as well.

Too Darn Hot wasn’t the only unbeaten Group 1-winning 2-year-old of his generation; so too was Ten Sovereigns, who went three-for-three in 2018 including scores in the G3 Round Tower S. and G1 Middle Park S. Ten Sovereigns put in his best performance at three when besting the triple Group 1 winner Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and elders in the G1 July Cup, and he is cut to €20,000 this year from €25,000, having covered 214 mares in 2020. Those include Coolmore’s excellent producer Airwave (GB) (Air Express {Ire}), second dam of Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}); G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Banimpire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}); Big Boned (Street Sense), the dam of last year’s German Group 3 winner K Club (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}); Jessica Rocks (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), a half-sister to Group 1 winner and sire Havana Gold (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}); and Night Fever (Ire), dam of last year’s G2 Rockfel S. second Nazuna (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). Ten Sovereigns looks to follow in the footsteps of his own sire as an important outcross to Sadler’s Wells, and he is out of a daughter of Exceed and Excel, who only continues to bolster his record as both an excellent sire and broodmare sire. Ten Sovereigns’s first in-foal mares were well received at the recent breeding stock sales, with 15 sold for an average of €114,262/£104,333.

Magna Grecia is reduced this year to €18,000 from €22,500, and like Ten Sovereigns he was a Group 1 winner at two and three. His class was apparent early as a 340,000gns foal purchase by Coolmore, and it didn’t take him long to display that class on the racecourse for the partnership of Coolmore and the Niarchos Family; he won the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy at two over the subsequent Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain with Circus Maximus in fourth, and followed up with a 2 1/2 length score in the G1 2000 Guineas on seasonal debut. It will certainly help Magna Grecia’s chances, too, that he is a son of sire of sires Invincible Spirit, and his half-brother St Mark’s Basilica gave the pedigree a major boost last year when winning the G1 Dewhurst S. Magna Grecia was visited by 180 mares in 2020 including the Niarchos Family’s standout producer Alpha Lupi (Ire) (Rahy), the dam of four-time Group 1 and Classic winner Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) and last year’s G1 Coronation S. winner Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}); Ghurra, the dam of Group 1-winning 2-year-old and sire Shalaa (Ire) (Invincible Spirit{Ire}); and Sun Bittern (Seeking The Gold), the dam of G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest winner Signs Of Blessing (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). Magna Grecia’s first in-foal mares found favour in the auction rings; five were sold for an average of €114,059/£104,169.

Like Ten Sovereigns, Calyx is an outcross to Sadler’s Wells, being by Kingman out of the Observatory mare Helleborine (GB), herself a Group 3 winner in France and a full-sister to G1 Sprint Cup winner and stakes producer African Rose (GB). Calyx was the first son of Kingman to retire to stud and though his racetrack career was brief, he caught the eye with the electric turn of foot reminiscent of his sire when winning the G2 Coventry S. at two and the G3 Pavilion S. at three. Calyx covered 163 mares last year for €22,500, and is available for €16,000 in 2021. Calyx had 11 in-foal mares offered at the breeding stock sales and all sold, for an average of €76,899/£70,235.

More Quality Speed

The fourth Group 1-winning 2-year-old in this sire class laden with top-class sprinting talent is Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who stays at £25,000 having covered 138 mares at the National Stud in 2020 including 67 black-type performers or producers, like the dams of Group 1 winners Aclaim (Ire), Maarek (GB) and Dick Whittington (Ire), as well as a half-sister to Battaash.

Advertise found only Calyx and Too Darn Hot too good during his five-race juvenile campaign. A first-out winner in May, Advertise was second to Calyx in the Coventry before winning the G2 July S. and the G1 Phoenix S. After a late summer holiday, he split Too Darn Hot and future Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the Dewhurst. Advertise failed to see out the mile trip of the Guineas at first asking at three, but put that defeat firmly behind him next out with a career-best win in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot. Second to Ten Sovereigns in the July Cup, he bounced back once more with a win over elder sprinters in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest. Advertise has plenty of sire power behind him in his pedigree, too, being the best son to date of Oasis Dream’s prolific son Showcasing out of a daughter of Pivotal (GB), whose prowess as a broodmare sire needs no introduction. Advertise had seven in-foal mares sell at the breeding stock sales for an average of £80,091/€87,665.

Middle Distance Stars

Also sticking with his 2020 fee (€17,500) is Waldgeist (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who looks to have been very fairly priced from the outset as a multiple Group 1 and Arc-winning son of Galileo from a stout German family littered with black-type stars. For those not convinced by Waldgeist’s 2019 Arc score over Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), Japan (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), let’s rewind to 2016, when he was a Group 1-winning 2-year-old in the G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Despite finishing a short-head second in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, Waldgeist failed to win at three, but connections’ patience paid off the following year when the chestnut won four straight group races including the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud over the grand mare Coronet (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the G2 Prix Foy over GI Breeders’ Cup Turf scorer Talismanic (Medaglia d’Oro). He won the third of his four Group 1s, the Prix Ganay, over Classic winner Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) on seasonal debut at five and finished third in both the G1 Prince of Wales’s S. and G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. before winning the Foy again and the Arc. Waldgeist was the joint highest-rated horse in the world in 2019 and his official rating of 128 is the highest in this sire crop. He covered 117 mares last year at Ballylinch Stud with plenty of support from Ballylinch as well as his co-owner Gestut Ammerland-it is worth remembering this is the same team that brought us Lope De Vega.

The aforementioned Study Of Man is trimmed to €12,500 from €15,000 after covering 71 mares at Lanwades Stud, many of those from the blue-blooded broodmare ranks of Kirsten Rausing and the Niarchos Family, the latter having bred and raced Study Of Man. Being by Deep Impact and out of a Storm Cat daughter of the great Miesque, Study Of Man’s pedigree is choc-full of stallion-making influences, and he is also an outcross to both Sadler’s Wells and Danehill. Study Of Man won his lone start at two before taking the G2 Prix Greffulhe and the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, and he picked up two Group 1 seconds at four behind Waldgeist in the Ganay and Zabeel Prince (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) in the G1 Prix d’Ispahan.

Another Lope Rising

Another Classic winner in this crop is the Irish National Stud’s Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who stands for €12,500, down from €15,000. Looking to follow in the footsteps of another son of Lope De Vega, Belardo (Ire), who made a promising start with his first runners last year, Phoenix Of Spain covered 148 mares in 2020. The winner of the G3 Acomb S. at two and second to Too Darn Hot in the G2 Champagne S. and Magna Grecia in the Vertem Futurity Trophy, Phoenix Of Spain turned the tables on Too Darn Hot in the Irish Guineas the following spring.

Four-Figure Finds

Taking the prize for the busiest member of this sire crop last year was Inns Of Court (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who covered 218 mares for €7,500 and is this year available for €5,000. Inns Of Court was a winner in his lone 2-year-old outing before winning a pair of seven-furlong Group 3s in France at three and finishing second in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois. He won the G3 Prix de Ris-Orangis at four and was a short-head second to One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the G1 Prix de la Foret, and held his form through his 5-year-old campaign when he won the Listed Prix Servanne and the G2 Prix du Gros-Chene. Inns Of Court’s dam Learned Friend (Ger) (Seeking The Gold) is out of the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio winner Lune d’Or (Fr) (Green Tune) and is a half-sister to dual Japanese Group 1 and Classic winner Fierement (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

Another young son of Invincible Spirit who proved popular in Ireland last year was Invincible Army (Ire), who covered 139 mares at €10,000 and stands for €7,500 in 2021 at Yeomanstown Stud. Invincible Army was a group-winning sprinter at two, three and four, and he was at his best at four when winning the G2 Duke of York Clipper Logistics S. and the G3 Chipchase S. and finishing third in the G1 Flying Five S. Invincible Army is out of the G1 Falmouth S. scorer Rajeem (GB) (Diktat {GB}).

The fourth son of Invincible Spirit in this sire crop is the G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Eqtidaar (Ire), who stand at Shadwell’s Nunnery Stud for £5,000, down from £6,500 in 2020 when he covered 74 mares. Eqtidaar, whose only other win in eight starts was a Nottingham maiden on debut at two, is out of the high-class Madany (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), also the dam of G2 Hungerford S. winner and Guineas-placed Massaat (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and G3 Horris Hill S. scorer Mujbar (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}).

Joining Advertise as a son of Showcasing in this sire crop is Soldier’s Call (GB), who covered 165 mares at Ballyhane Stud last year at €10,000 and is trimmed to €7,500 for 2021. Soldier’s Call won the Listed Windsor Castle S. at Royal Ascot, the G2 Prix d’Arenberg at Chantilly and the G2 Flying Childers S. at Doncaster before being beaten a neck by elders when third in the G1 Prix de l’Abbaye. He ran eight times at two and despite not winning at three, held his form to place in the King’s Stand and the Nunthorpe. Soldier’s Call had just two in-foal mares go through the ring at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale and they fetched 190,000gns and 120,000gns.

Likewise, Ten Sovereigns’s sire No Nay Never has a son available for a four-figure fee, and that is Highclere’s Land Force (GB), who covered 155 mares at Highclere Stud for £6,500 last year and is down to £5,000. Like Soldier’s Call, Land Force ran eight times at two, winning in May and picking up the Listed Tipperary S. and G2 Richmond S. in the summer. A €350,000 yearling, Land Force’s pedigree catches the eye: out of Group 3 winner Theann (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}), he is a half-brother to the dual Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and a grandson of Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), whose daughter Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) has brought us the Group 1-winning Galileo mares Magical (Ire) and Rhododendron (Ire). The top mare at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale–Zain Art (Ire), the dam of Group 2-winning 2-year-old Aloha Star (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus})–was sold in-foal to Land Force (Ire) for €390,000.

While Sottsass (Fr) this year becomes the first Group 1-winning son of Siyouni (Fr) to retire to stud, he was preceded last year by two stakes-winning sons of the French star, City Light (Fr) and Le Brivido (Fr). City Light showed plenty of potential at three, placing in multiple black-type sprints, and he won the G3 Prix de Saint-Georges at three before finishing a short-head second in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. He added another Group 3 sprint, the Prix du Pin, at four before once again being narrowly beaten in a Group 1 when a half-length second to One Master in the Prix de la Foret, and he stays at €7,000 at Haras d’Etreham in Normandy. It is worth noting that with a short head and a half lengths’ difference, that fee could easily have been double.

Le Brivido, meanwhile, moves to Haras de la Haie Neuve in France and stands for €5,000 after covering 56 mares at Overbury Stud in Britain last year at £7,000. He, likewise, came agonizingly close to Group 1 glory, finishing a short head second in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains before winning Royal Ascot’s G3 Jersey S.

Godolphin’s triple Group 1 winner Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) was a welcome addition to the German stallion ranks last year, and he once again stands at Haras Auenquelle for €6,500. Best Solution was, incidentally, second to Waldgeist in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud at two after winning the G3 Autumn S., and while he won the G3 St Simon S. at three he was at his best at four, winning the Grosser Preis von Berlin, the Grosser Preis von Baden and the Caulfield Cup on the bounce. Best Solution’s third dam is Juddmonte’s excellent producer Eva Luna, who left Classic winner Brian Boru (GB) (Sadler’s Wells) and the dam of Derby and Arc winner Workforce among many other stakes winners.

Value Podium

Gold: Masar (£14,000) – a precocious 2-year-old that trained on to win the Derby from the family of Galileo and Sea The Stars.

Silver: Soldier’s Call (€7,500) – a tough 2-year-old who trained on to mix with the best sprinters at three. Has been well supported and should be popular commercially.

Bronze: Advertise (£25,000) – a sprinter of the highest quality at two and three. Plenty of stallion-making influences in his pedigree.

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