Tag: Martin Cooney

Plying Lives Up To Star Billing

KILDARE, Ireland–Four days of foal trade certainly whetted the appetite for a quality auction of breeding stock at Goffs on Friday, and the widely anticipated sale of the Group 1 producer Plying (Hard Spun) (lot 1185) certainly didn't disappoint when the dam of Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) sold to Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland for €825,000. This was the most successful edition of this breeding stock session for a number of years with 13 lots making €250,000 or more; the corresponding number for the past two years was three. At the close of business, the aggregate amounted to €13,913,500, well over twice as much last year's figure of €5,479,600, when the sale was staged in a single session. The clearance rate was 86% while the average came in at €70,627 and the median was €30,000, both major increases on 2020. Last year's aggregate for 173 sold was €5,479,600. The average was €31,674, and the median €14,000.

The tale of the sale topper had been well documented in the build up to the sale, with the mare having been bought by Martin Cooney of Jossestown Farm and Elaine Shaw for just €21,000 at Goffs three years ago. Of course, Plying received the mother of all pedigree updates when Alcohol Free won the G1 Cheveley Park S. last year, but she added further lustre to the family when adding both the G1 Sussex S. and G1 Coronation S. to her CV this year. Offered in foal to one of the best stallions in the business in Lope De Vega (Ire), it was no surprise when the bidding quickly surpassed the €500,000 mark and as it progressed it was Donohoe's BBA Ireland colleague Adrian Nicoll who countered each of Donohoe's bids before Nicoll cried enough at €800,000. As has been the case with many of Donohoe's big ticket purchases, he was acting on behalf of Yuesheng Zhang's Yulong Investments.

“We thought this represented a fantastic opportunity to buy a blue hen mare and I actually think she was good value at that price,” the agent said afterwards. “I think Alcohol Free is a proper champion filly, she is so tough and honest and she stays in training next year as well which is great. The Lope De Vega cover is obviously a big attraction as well as he is a stallion very close to Mr Zhang's heart. We haven't decided who we will cover her with next year, we will take our time before deciding, I'm just delighted to have bought her.”

 

Derrinstown In Demand

The Derrinstown Stud draft provided some rare jewels and one of those, the stakes placed Riqa (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) (lot 1238), commanded the day's second highest price when selling to David & Diane Nagle's Barronstown Stud for €550,000. Part of that premium was due to the fact the 13-year-old was offered in foal to Kingman (GB), but the fact that she is the dam of the very smart triple group winner Tantheem (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) did her prospects no harm.

The quality of the Shadwell mares was evident from early on, and a date with five-time Group 1 winner and exciting young stallion St Mark's Basilica (Fr) is on the cards for the Shadwell mare Aaraas (GB) (Haafhd {GB}) after she was knocked down to John McCormack for €380,000. Lot 1077 had obvious credentials, being the dam already of a top-class performer in Madhmoon (Ire) who won the G2 Golden Fleece S. and was runner up in the G1 Epsom Derby two years ago. After seeing off Jeremy Brumitt to land the 12-year-old mare, McCormack said, “I've bought her for an overseas client but she will stay locally for the time being. There are a number of very exciting young stallions in Europe and after careful consideration we have decided to send her to St Mark's Basilica. He was a wonderful racehorse and I think it will be an excellent marriage. This is a very accomplished mare and to me she was one of the obvious ones to try and buy. She is proven and has already bred one very good horse so there is no reason she cannot do that again. When I saw some very respected breeders follow her into the ring, it persuaded me to go the extra yard to try and get her.”

McCormack returned to the fray late in the evening when purchasing Eylara (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) (lot 1246) for €350,000. The Aga Khan-bred filly won last year for Dermot Weld, attaining a rating of 91 in the process and is a half-sister to Eziyra (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) from a family replete with black-type horses.

A Shadwell mare called Garmoosha (Kingmambo) (lot 1085), who is also the dam of a Group 2 winner in Raabihah (Sea The Stars {Ire}), surpassed the price paid by John McCormack when selling to MV Magnier for €430,000. The 13-year-old had been covered by Sea The Stars (Ire) but is not in foal and is from the immediate family of two Oaks winners in Eswarah (GB) (Unfuwain) and Midway Lady (Alleged).

“She is a lovely mare and she could suit either Wootton Bassett or St Mark's Basilica so we will see. St Mark's Basilica is a very special horse to do what he has done on the track and we will be supporting him strongly,” said MV Magnier.

Another mare that will make Tipperary her new home is Muteela (GB) (Dansili) (lot 1147). She is off to Mountarmstrong Stud after Noel O'Callaghan bought her for €350,000. In foal to Night Of Thunder (Ire), the stakes winner has already bred two smart 2-year-old winners and gave birth to a Night Of Thunder colt earlier this year.

Mags O'Toole was pushed to the same price of €350,000 to secure Zahratty (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}) (lot 1244) from Derrinstown. The 4-year-old, in foal to Lope De Vega (Ire), is a daughter of stakes winner Beach Bunny (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}) and a half-sister to two black type runners.

Games Boosts Sister

One of the pinhook results of the year was pulled off when the Castlebridge Consignment sold Feminism (Ire) (Shamardal) (lot 1192) for €370,000 to Jill Lamb. The 4-year-old was bought four months ago at the July Sale in Tattersalls for 34,000gns by Barry Lynch on behalf of a long-standing Irish client, but at that stage her 2-year-old half-brother Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) had only finished fifth on debut in a maiden. Since then, of course, he has gone on to plunder the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar having won the G3 Somerville S. at Newmarket en route. Add in Feminism's 3-year-old full brother Modern News (GB), who looks a pattern horse in waiting, and it all came together perfectly for her. Having purchased Feminism on behalf of Newsells Park Stud owner Graham Smith-Bernal, Lamb said, “She's a lovely physical with a lot of quality. Obviously the pedigree has blown up but there should be more to come from Modern Games, and Modern News looks like he should get black-type.”

Not content with landing the sale topper alone, Mick Donohoe was on something of a high-end shopping spree throughout the day, and he had earlier gone to €265,000 for Ballylinch Stud's Siyouni (Fr) mare So Unique (Fr) (lot 1153). Stakes-placed in France, the 5-year-old had a colt by Waldgeist (GB) this year and was sold back in foal to the Arc winner. The mare is likely to visit Lucky Vega (Ire), having been bought by Donohoe for Yulong Investments.

“While Mr Zhang's main aim is to support the foals and yearlings by Lucky Vega in the sales ring, he also wanted to buy a few high-class mares to send to him himself and this mare fit the bill,” Donohoe said afterwards.

A few minutes later Donohoe struck for the Aga Khan mare Eytarna (Ire) (Dubai Destination), (lot 1159) for €330,000. The 15-year-old is in foal to Teofilo (Ire) and has bred G2 Blandford S. winner Eziyra (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) as well as the listed winner Eshera (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}). She too will be covered by Lucky Vega when he begins stallion duties at the Irish National Stud in the spring. Donohoe also tapped into the Baroda Stud and The Castlebridge Consignment drafts when paying €225,000 each for Grenadine (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 1181), sold in foal to Wootton Bassett (GB), and Sapphire Ring (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 1188), who is carrying to No Nay Never.

Star Mares For New Sire

Another Aga Khan mare bought to support a young stallion was Ediyva (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) (lot 1158), who was knocked down to Northern Star Bloodstock for €300,000. The mare was bought by David Ward, who is keen to send some high-quality mares to his champion sprinter Starman (GB), who will embark on his new career at Tally-Ho Stud in a few months. Ediyva has the not insignificant task beforehand, though, of delivering a Siyouni (Fr) foal, due in February. “There's been a great reception to Starman and he has been very well received so far,” Ward said. “We are keen to get a number of mares to send to him and it's very exciting.”

Ward had earlier spent €160,000 buying Muraaqaba (GB) (lot 1146) from the Shadwell draft. The Derrinstown mares were a testament to the endeavors of the late Sheikh Hamdan over the last few decades and another to sell well was Albaraah Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}) (lot 1080). The 13-year-old was offered in foal to Blue Point (Ire) and was knocked down to Barronstown Stud for €230,000. Albaraah was a stakes winner herself and she has already produced two stakes winners, while she has a yearling colt by Sea The Stars (Ire) and a filly foal by Lope De Vega (Ire) waiting in the wings.

Four lots later, it took a bid of €210,000 from Summerhill to buy Ajaazah (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) (lot 1084). The stakes-placed filly was sold in foal to Teofilo (Ire) and her colt foal by Exceed And Excel (Aus) sold for €130,000 in Goffs on Tuesday.

Michel Zerolo's Oceanic Bloodstock made its presence felt online when purchasing Moonlight In Paris (Ire) (lot 1099) for €165,000. Consigned by Baroda Stud, the mare was rated 102 on the track and was sold in foal to No Nay Never on her first cover.

Another overseas purchaser to utilise the Goffs online portal was Morinaga Bokujo, who went to €175,000 to buy lot 1119 from Alice Kavanagh's AK Thoroughbreds. Raheeq (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) was an impressive winner of her only start as a 2-year-old for Roger Varian, but never made it to the track thereafter. Purchased by Stroud Coleman for 37,000gns this time last year, she returned in foal to Dark Angel (Ire) which added significantly to her value.

Goffs wraps up its flat sales action for the year on Saturday with another day of breeding stock beginning at 10 a.m.

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Plying A Game-Changer For Jossestown Farm

In life and in bloodstock, the confluence of a few small factors–decisions that may seem minute at the time–can quickly amalgamate into life-changing moments.

Like, for instance, when Martin Cooney and Elaine Shaw opted to raise their hands at €21,000 during the 2018 Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale on an 8-year-old daughter of Hard Spun whose first two foals had not yet found the winner's enclosure; while, simultaneously, another bidder hesitated, and ultimately changed their mind too late.

“Too late, sir,” the auctioneer called, hammering Plying down to Jossestown Farm.

Three years later, Plying will make the return trip from Jossestown Farm in Fethard to the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale on Friday under much different circumstances. Bidders will be much less hesitant on the mare, in foal to Lope De Vega (Ire) (lot 1185), who is now a multiple stakes producer and the dam of triple Group 1 winner Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never). And the final price will be many multiples of what Cooney and Shaw paid for her.

“We'll be sad to see her go,” Cooney admitted. “She's part of the furniture at this stage, but she's worth a lot of money, we hope, and that money could do a lot for us going forward.”

Cooney, who has dabbled in many facets of the business including riding over jumps and working under the likes of PJ Colville-“a great horseman and person to have on your side”–Mouse Morris, Enda Bolger and Harry Fry, has more recently turned his focus back to Jossestown Farm, where he grew up, with hopes of growing his business of breeding and pinhooking a few National Hunt horses to boarding mares and consigning for clients. A Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly and Dandy Man (Ire) colt sold out of Plying have already helped further than dream, and Cooney acknowledged that capital gained from the sale of Plying would take Jossestown Farm to the next level.

“She's one in a million and they're hard to come across,” said Cooney. “As Jossestown Farm is only starting out you'd love to keep her, but if she's to fetch a huge sum of money it could do a lot for us. I'm after putting up a barn and I want to take in horses for clients and do a bit of everything. I like consigning and pinhooking. I have a few mares for boarding, so I want to go down that line. You need a proper facility and I have that just about finished now. That kind of money would finish it off.”

Cooney and Shaw-who currently works at Kiltinan Castle Stud foaling and prepping yearlings after a six-year tenure with Coolmore–arrived at Goffs in November of 2018 “with the idea of buying a mare that would produce you foals and turn over a bit of money.” From an initial shortlist of five they narrowed it down to two, and after the first went above their budget, it was down to Plying.

Bred by Rabbah out of the listed-placed Fairy King mare Nasaieb (Ire), Plying was knocked down to Mark Johnston for $200,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale as a yearling before ultimately going into training with Henri-Alex Pantall for Sheikh Mohammed. Plying started six times at two in 2013, winning twice at Toulouse and once at ParisLongchamp over 1300 and 1400 metres. Offered by Darley at that year's Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale, Plying was bought by Churchtown House Stud through BBA Ireland for €12,000. Michael Gaffney's Churchtown House was, in fact, getting back into the family, having bred Plying's dam Nasaieb and having sold her to Saeed Manana for 100,000gns as a yearling. Gaffney bred Plying's first four foals, Alcohol Free being the last, before putting both Plying and Alcohol Free, as a foal, into the Goffs November Sale of 2018. Plying was bought by Cooney and Shaw for €21,000 in foal to Starspangledbanner, while Alcohol Free fetched €40,000 from Jeff Smith's Littleton Stud the day before her dam sold.

Though Plying's first two foals had not yet won at the time of their dam's third trip through a sales ring, Cooney said it was the quality of her prior coverings that stood out to he and Shaw.

“Plying had had a couple of foals before she went for sale,” he said. “She had had a Camelot, a Zoffany, and Alcohol Free was sold the day before she was. So she had those coverings that we probably couldn't afford, and those sires would have a great chance of producing a winner. That was why she looked inviting, plus she had a Starspangledbanner in the belly, so we were thinking that if she had an any way good-looking foal, and even if it was a filly, she'd nearly pay for the mare quick enough.”

“There were probably five mares we honed in on,” Cooney added. “It came down to two. We went in after one and she made too much money. We went back and looked at Plying again, and it was down to her. Luckily enough the hammer dropped in time; I actually think there was someone else trying to get a bid in.”

Cooney's and Shaw's logic of leaning on Plying's past coverings soon proved out. The mare's second foal, Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), won three times the following season including Chantilly's Listed Prix le Fabuleux. The following February, Plying's Starspangledbanner filly made €40,000 at the Goffs February Sale, having missed her original date at Goffs November after colicking on the day of the sale. She was eventually pinhooked by Knockatrina House Stud for 130,000gns and is now in the care of John and Jess Dance, but the €40,000 she brought for Cooney and Shaw nonetheless covered the cost of both Plying and her next mating, to Dandy Man, “so it was like having a free mare,” Cooney reasoned.

Those results alone would have meant a job well done, but just a few months later along came Alcohol Free to rewrite the entire script.

A debut winner for trainer Andrew Balding in August of 2020, the bay filly was second next out in the G3 Dick Poole S., which would have itself been a welcome result for Team Jossestown. What came next, however, changed their lives in a little more than 1:42: battling the speedy Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) up the Newmarket straight, Alcohol Free took the overall advantage well out in the G1 Cheveley Park S. but nonetheless held off all comers to win by a half-length.

Three months later, Cooney and Shaw sold their Dandy Man colt out of Plying at last year's Goffs November Foal Sale for €80,000 to Joe Foley, who is retaining him to race. They took the word of Balding, who insisted Alcohol Free's Cheveley Park win was not a one-off, and held onto Plying, who was in foal to Gleneagles (Ire). Plying produced a filly this spring–which Cooney described as “probably the best foal she's had so far”-before visiting Lope De Vega.

Balding's prediction proved correct and Alcohol Free held up her end of the bargain, winning this year's G1 Coronation S. and G1 Sussex S. to established herself among the very best of her generation, male or female.

“It's hard to explain,” Cooney said of the excitement of following Alcohol Free. “You're kind of nervous watching, hoping and praying that it might actually happen, but kind of in the back of your mind you're thinking, 'are you half mad? It probably won't happen.' You start doubting it as you get closer.”

Alcohol Free's ascent has also provided solace for the Cooney family, with Martin's father Jim having been tragically killed in a car accident less than two weeks after Alcohol Free's Coronation S. win.

“Dad would have got a huge kick out of that,” Cooney said. “He passed away this year and he was a big part of the whole operation. He would be the reason I got into horses. He was a great horseman and was great with his animals. Even watching him watching, it would give me a huge kick.”

Cooney said that seeing the pride his father took in Plying was as rewarding as anything Alcohol Free accomplished on the racecourse.

“To be honest, watching the big smiling face on him going out to the mare would excite me as much as watching her races,” he said. “He liked breeding National Hunt foals, he had one or two nice ones but he never had anything like that mare. He would have treated Plying as his own; he'd have been watching her like a hawk.”

While one chapter comes to a close with Plying bidding farewell to Jossestown Farm, another is very much being written. Thanks in large part to her contributions, the future looks bright at the Cooney family's farm.

“I suppose I had it in the back of my mind that my father probably wanted me to come home and take over the family farm, so to be honest it was always in my head to come home,” Cooney said. “To be honest I live and breathe Jossestown Farm. I spend night and day on it.

“Myself and Elaine went to buy Plying with the idea of buying a mare that would produce you foals and turn over a bit of money, and it turned out that we bought a queen. She's one in a million and I might never see one like her again.”

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Update Keeps Dream Alive For Small Breeder

Martin Cooney arrived at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale in 2018 with a modest budget and a simple plan: “buy a mare that was in foal, and that could be a quick way to turn our money around with a bit of luck,” the Fethard-based horseman said.

On Cooney’s shortlist the first day of the sale was the 8-year-old Hard Spun mare Plying, in foal to Starspangledbanner (Aus). A $200,000 yearling, Plying had won three times for Sheikh Mohammed and trainer Henri-Alex Pantall before being culled for €12,000 at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale in 2013. By the time she resurfaced at Goffs five years later, Plying had produced the placed 3-year-old filly Saguaro (Ire) and the unraced 2-year-old Alexander James (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). She had a yearling colt by Zoffany (Ire), and her No Nay Never filly foal had made €40,000 at the Goffs foal sale two days earlier.

“We went through a good few mares and it came down to one or two that we liked,” Cooney recalled. “Plying had a great walk and a good girth on her. I thought she had a great head on her. She had the frame of being a strong mare and I thought maybe with us, having a smaller number of horses, that she might improve. She was in foal to Starspangledbanner, which was a plus.”

Cooney followed Plying into the ring and was able to secure her on a bid of €21,000.

“I’d say we were lucky on the day; I think someone else at the last second tried to drop in another bid, but the hammer went down and your man said, ‘too late sir.’ From that day on, in fairness, the mare has been lucky.”

That sir, whoever he is, will doubtless be lamenting not raising his hand quicker, as Plying is now the dam of two stakes winners, including the aforementioned No Nay Never filly who was subsequently named Alcohol Free (Ire) and won this year’s G1 Cheveley Park S. for owner Jeff Smith and trainer Andrew Balding. Alexander James had previously bolstered the page last October with a listed victory in France as a 3-year-old.

Cooney, through his Jossestown Farm, brings Plying’s latest foal, a colt by Dandy Man, to this year’s edition of the Goffs November Foal Sale, and he sells during the premiere Sunday session as lot 698.

“He is a cracker,” Cooney said of the April-foaled bay. “He’s got size, he’s got scope, he’s got the looks. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t make a few quid.”

Expanding on the decision to send Plying to Dandy Man, Cooney said, “Plying is American-bred and has a speedy pedigree. Dandy Man is full of speed but as well as that he isn’t an over-big type of horse. She tends to throw them with size, not in a bad way, but we thought the perfect model might come out with the Dandy Man cross. I thought the match would work well and to be honest, it did. He’s correct and he walks. It’s hard to explain, but he is a bull. I wouldn’t change him in any way. He’s strong in every way and he has a good back end to him, which is important for those speed horses that will run five or six furlongs.”

Cooney admitted that anything the Dandy Man colt brings him is a bonus; the Starspangledbanner filly Plying produced for Cooney covered the cost of her dam as well as the Dandy Man covering fee when she brought €40,000 at Goffs February earlier this year. She was pinhooked by Knockatrina House for 130,000gns at last month’s Tattersalls December Yearling Sale.

“Plying had a lovely filly foal by Starspangledbanner,” Cooney said. “She colicked at the first sale she went to [last year’s Goffs November Foal Sale] and we were a bit unlucky because there were plenty of people on her. She went to the November sale and colicked on the day of the sale. It wasn’t the right thing to do to send her through the ring, so we brought her home and minded her and she went to the next sale and made €40,000, which covered the cost of the mare and the covering fee of Dandy Man. And then the updates happened after that.”

Cooney said he followed Alcohol Free’s progress as she was broken in and sent to Andrew Balding’s Kingsclere Stables.

“I heard through the grapevine that she might be going to Andrew Balding’s after being broken, which is always a plus,” Cooney said. “The manager at [Jeff Smith’s] Littleton Stud told me she was a real nice physical and they really liked her.”

Alcohol Free won at first asking on Aug. 15 at Newbury before running a fine race to be second to Happy Romance (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) in the G3 Dick Poole S. at Salisbury on Sept. 3. Sent off at 7-2 in the G1 Cheveley Park S. three weeks later, Alcohol Free narrowly led Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) through the opening furlongs before drawing further clear at halfway. That rival re-rallied in the closing stages with G3 Firth of Clyde S. winner Umm Kulthum (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) also proving a tough adversary, but Alcohol Free hit the line a half-length the best much to the delight of her connections, not least Cooney.

“To be honest, I nearly had a heart attack watching the Group 1,” Cooney recalled. “I nearly threw the telly out the window watching it. I couldn’t believe it. We were ecstatic. You hope that something will do that, but the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. It doesn’t really happen to an ordinary Joe; usually those pedigrees are always with the bigger operations.

“We have always had horses but we’ve never had a pedigree like that. It’s nice for the small man to get on top.”

Indeed, Cooney said Plying is currently one of two mares in his barn, and he also pinhooks a few foals annually, at both flat and National Hunt Sales. And chances are good he’ll be back at the breeding stock sale next week looking to grow his broodmare band.

“The idea going forward would be to try to find another Plying,” he said. “We’d be interested in going to the sales again and trying to find a gem that maybe we could syndicate, put in foal to a good sire and maybe it just might take off again.”

Cooney acknowledged that sire power was an important aspect of Plying’s page at the time of her purchase, despite the fact she hadn’t yet hit as a broodmare.

“The thing we liked about Plying was that on her page, she had one runner, a High Chaparral that didn’t show much, but after that she had a Camelot, a Zoffany and a No Nay Never, which on any page suggests you have a fair chance for the mare to throw a winner. That really kind of sold us on her.”

Plying is currently in foal to another Coolmore sire in Gleneagles (Ire), and while a 2021 mating hasn’t been set in stone, Plying looks likely to get another upgrade.

“We’re flat out thinking about what would be the right thing to do and where to go,” Cooney said. “I personally would love to go to Kingman (GB). I think she’d have an absolutely gorgeous horse, but there also is the likes of Lope De Vega-he’s another top-class stallion. There’s nothing confirmed yet but we’re thinking the likes of them.”

Cooney began 2020 with a profitable mare in his barn, and is ending the year at the sales with a half-sibling to a 2-year-old Group 1 winner and Classic contender. “The dream is still alive,” as Cooney himself said, but he is nonetheless keeping his feet on the ground.

“The simple and short story of it is that we went looking to buy a mare that could breed winners from,” he said. “She was the one, and it worked out.”

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