Tag: Mickey Cleere

Mickey Cleere: ‘I Was Never As Nervous – Big Evs Is The Fastest I’ve Ridden’

Top breeze-up handler Mickey Cleere has shared how he breathed a huge sigh of relief after Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), a horse he describes as the fastest he has ridden, bounced right back to form to run away with the G2 Flying Childers S. at Doncaster. 

That win provided Cleere with an added pep to his step ahead of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, where he picked up the similarly smart juvenile Ballymount Boy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) for just €8,000, before turning him into a €110,000 breezer some eight months later.

But the Mick Appleby-trained Big Evs is something out of the ordinary in the eyes of Cleere. And that is saying something given the talented operator prepared 2019 G2 Norfolk S. winner A'Ali (Ire) (Society Rock {Ire}) for the breeze-ups on behalf of Star Bloodstock. 

“I've never been as nervous,” an ecstatic Cleere admitted after the race on Friday. “It was such a bad run in the Nunthorpe, I was only hoping that he could bounce back to what I thought he could do, and it's just great that he showed people what he's made of.”

He added, “Big Evs is the fastest horse I have ever been associated with and I breezed A'Ali for Star Bloodstock. It's fantastic to have been involved with a horse as good as him. It's the best feeling in the world. I can't even describe how good it is to have been involved with a two-year-old as good as Big Evs. 

“Everyone is after a Royal Ascot two-year-old these days and it's a dream to have found one. It makes you trust your own judgment. Hopefully it will be good for business as well. We'll find out next year I suppose.”

Cleere's judgment was bang on the money about Ballymount Boy as well. Despite being light on pedigree, the colt was judged to have been such a looker by Cleere that he rolled the dice on him at Tattersalls Ireland almost a year to the day, and it is a decision that has paid off in spades. 

“We're all basically like sheep in the breeze-up game and are following the fashion. At the same time, you are kind of forced to, aren't you? The day you buy is the day you sell,” – Mickey Cleere

From a humble price tag of just €8,000 from Ridge Manor Stud, Ballymount Boy then fetched €110,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale in the spring to Danny Hussy on behalf of trainer Adrian Keatley. 

The colt was snapped up on the private market by the emerging force of Wathnan Racing in between runner-up efforts in the G2 Richmond S. and the G3 Acomb S. and will bid to further illustrate Cleere's talents at spotting top-class runners when lining out for the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at ParisLongchamp.

“I didn't even have Ballymount Boy on the list of horses I wanted to see at the sale last year,” Cleere recalled. “I'd binned him, to be honest, purely because he was by Camacho. They can be hard horses to re-sell in my game. 

“It's completely the wrong way of doing things and I know that. We're all basically like sheep in the breeze-up game and are following the fashion. At the same time, you are kind of forced to, aren't you? The day you buy is the day you sell and you have to be guided by fashion somewhat.”

Cleere added, “One thing I will say about Ballymount Boy is that I went down to look at another horse who was stabled beside him but, when I saw this Camacho colt out showing for a different person, he just caught my eye. I followed him over to his stable door and he was a cracking yearling. 

“I thought he was as good as I saw on the day–a man among boys, really. His pedigree was okay without being savage but I was prepared to go to around €25,000 for him because I liked him so much.”

In many ways, horses like Ballymount Boy capture the philosophy of what Cleere's business model is all about; finding race horses, first and foremost. He has tried following fashion in the past, but to his detriment, and says he is happy to continue to ply his trade as he feels best.”

He explained, “I started out on my own under MC Thoroughbreds in 2019 and I'm trying to go the opposite way to most people by just buying a nice horse, rather than the horses by the nice stallions. 

“I've bought the Kingmans and the ones by fashionable sires and you're just never getting a good enough horse for the money that I want to spend so that's why I am going the other direction now. I'd prefer to forgive the pedigrees a small bit and buy the nicer physicals.”

In Big Evs, Cleere managed to secure a horse by one of the hottest young sires in the business in Blue Point, but the Killenaule man reveals that the speedster required some outside-the-box-thinking at 50,00gns from Houghton Bloodstock at the Tattersalls Book 2 Sale.

Cleere said, “I'd say if Big Evs was a couple of inches bigger I wouldn't have gotten near him. When I bought him, he was handy enough but he was very strong with a good enough walk. For a small horse, he walked like a big horse. He'd have made somewhere between seventy and a hundred grand if he was a bit bigger.”

He added, “I was never so sure about a horse than Big Evs, though, and we got him sold privately without going to any sale. For me, he was quicker than A'Ali, and I was confident of that. I'm just glad he's proving us right.”

With Big Evs and Ballymount Boy among last year's graduates, Cleere could have been forgiven for hitting this year's yearling sales hard. However, he revealed that he has not started shopping yet, and that he plans on adding the first of next year's two-year-olds to the team at Tattersalls Ireland next week. 

He said, “I haven't started shopping yet. I always let them power away early on before jumping in a bit later. I just find it is harder to buy at the earlier sales. There's plenty of early and speedy horses at Fairyhouse and even Book 2 at Tattersalls, so there's no real panic. 

“We hope to get 20 yearlings over the next few weeks and I'm looking forward to Tattersalls Ireland. The place has been very lucky for me. I've bought plenty of winners there and hopefully that continues next week.”

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Guineas Weekend Begins In The Sales Ring

NEWMARKET, UK–The profile of breeze-up sales has changed over the years, and perhaps nowhere is this more obvious than at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up, which can count top-class stayers Trip To Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) among its graduates. There will doubtless be a helping of whizz-bang juvenile types but, overall, the sale is better known as one at which you might find a horse with a more progressive outlook who still has the potential to take you to all the best places, just perhaps a year or so later. 

As has already been well documented in these pages we are in the middle of a stellar year for the breeze-up sector, with graduates Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) and Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) having all recently won formal Classic trials and about to line up for the Guineas this weekend in Newmarket. Underlining the truly international aspect of the bloodstock industry more generally, next week's Kentucky Derby line-up is likely to feature Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front). Bred in the U.S. by Brereton C Jones, the colt was bought privately by Mickey Cleere when unsold at $14,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Exported to Ireland, he was then presented in Cleere's draft for last year's Arqana Breeze-up Sale, which was held in Doncaster as Covid restrictions continued to make travel tricky. The multiple UAE champion jockey Tadhg O'Shea visited the sale on behalf of trainer Bhupat Seemar and signed for the colt for the Burke family at £120,000. Following yet another move for the horse, this time to Dubai, O'Shea subsequently rode Summer Is Tomorrow in his first five starts at Meydan but was aboard his better-fancied stable-mate when Summer Is Tomorrow took second in the G2 UAE Derby, thus earning crucial points for a trip 'back home' to Churchill Downs.

It was only just over a month ago that the breeze-up season kicked off in Dubai, with Cleere faring well from the off when selling two of that sale's six top lots. Two more sales have been consigned to the books since then, and his M.C. Thoroughbreds operation is represented again at Tattersalls on Thursday by three juveniles, including another colt picked up in America. Lot 167 is from the first crop of Spendthrift Farm's dual Grade I-winning juvenile Bolt d'Oro, a son of the widely popular Medaglia d'Oro, and he was bought inexpensively at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale for $5,500.

“He's a nice horse and I hope someone good gets him because he's very genuine,” said Cleere of the half-brother to Grade III winner Take Charge Paula (Take Charge Indy). “I try to base myself on getting horses together without bursting the clock. It's a fine line, but I like to get them to point their toe.”

Casting his mind back to his star graduate of last year, Summer Is Tomorrow, Cleere added, “He had a great mind in everything he did. He was such an intelligent horse and a good ride. He was one of those horses that you were hoping he had a bit of speed because he had the mind to match.”

He continued, “It's absolutely brilliant that he's going there. I've been in touch with everyone and the horse has now been in Kentucky for a few days. I'm told he travelled well.

“You could't write it really, and if he ran well it will just be fantastic. It's great for the breeze-up industry.”

As for the prospects of this week based on the season so far, Cleere said, “There's definitely an appetite still for good horses. As always the middle market is more difficult. The prize-money really needs to improve and until that happens it will be harder. There'll be plenty of nice horses at this sale but I feel it will be a buyers' market.

“I had a great sale in Dubai and it was great to get off to a good start. It relieves some of the pressure.”

Another half-brother to a stakes winner is set to pass through the ring just ahead of Cleere's colt. Lot 161 is offered by Roderick Kavanagh's Glending Stables and is by Time Test (GB) out of the Listed-placed Noah's Ark (Ire) (Charnwood Forest {Ire}), and thus a sibling to the Listed Prix Herod winner Temps Au Temps (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). The colt's half-sister After (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) also  earned black type when placing in three Group 3 races and now features as the dam of dual Group 2 winner Armory (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Street Cry (Ire) has featured as the broodmare sire of at least two stakes winners worldwide in the last week, and he performs that role for Lot 168, a daughter of leading young sire Mehmas (Ire) offered by Tally-Ho Stud. The filly's unraced dam Peronism is a half-sister to one of the best older horses in training in Europe, the treble Group 1 winner Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

In Platinum Jubilee year, the monarchists among the buyers at Tattersalls on Thursday may feel like treating themselves to a colt from one of the Queen's families, and they need look no further than Lot 182, from the A. C. Bloodstock draft. The first-crop son of Cracksman (GB) is a half-brother to Listed Fairway S. winner Peacock (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) and his dam Rainbow's Edge (GB) (Rainbow Quest) is a half-sister to Her Majesty's Royal Ascot winner Free Agent (GB) (Dr Fong).

Bushypark Stables claimed the top spot at last week's Goffs UK Breeze-up when turning a 14,000gns Tasleet (GB) yearling into a £230,000 breezer, and Matt Whyte's team has brought two juveniles to Tattersalls this week, including a filly with justifiably Classic pretensions. Lot 212 is from the first crop of the 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and is a grand-daughter of the champion racemare Pride (Fr) (Peintre Celebre), whose finest moment also came on the Rowley Mile when winning the G1 Champion S. 

As ever, the Guineas Breeze-up Sale is preceded by a morning session of horses in training, with around 80 set to go under the hammer from 9.30am. A further 190 breezers will follow during the afternoon and evening.

The post Guineas Weekend Begins In The Sales Ring appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Stage Set For Inaugural Dubai Breeze-Up Sale

DUBAI, UAE–The interesting thing about talking to trainers from different parts of the world is that one man's gallop is another man's breeze, or indeed another woman's canter. Even within the specialised sector of the breeze-up sales, a Donny breezer may set a different pace to a Guineas breezer, often deliberately so, and for the inaugural Dubai Breeze-up Sale the focus is more on letting the 2-year-olds stretch out and show their moves over the two furlongs rather than rousting them along at a searing pace.

Not one for the clock-watchers, then, but that's no bad thing, and the 69 horses set to sell on Wednesday evening at Meydan racecourse weren't exactly hanging around as they skipped across the dark Tapeta all-weather surface of the Meydan training track.

As we have come to expect from this seasoned band of breeze-up vendors from Ireland and Britain, an impressive array of young bloodstock was on show on Tuesday morning. The consignors flitted to and fro, some looking a little more pensive than others, but they will have been heartened by the group of potential buyers perched trackside on steps and benches to witness this inaugural venture laid on by the Dubai Racing Club in association with Goffs. Among them was Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, proudly supporting a baseball cap with the name of his dual Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire), who is a shining example amid the breeze-up graduates of 2021. Sitting alongside the sheikh was Richard Brown, the man who bought not only Perfect Power but also his sire Ardad (Ire), another classy breezer, both from their breeder Tally-Ho Stud.

The man in the driving seat for much of the project has been Goffs' Tom Taaffe, who not so long ago could have been found around this time of year sending strapping steeplechasers to Cheltenham. The former trainer appears to have a pretty breezy attitude to life in general, and he must have drawn some satisfaction watching on as the canters, gallops – call them what you will – were conducted without incident. 

Up on the balcony of the track's watch tower was 'the voice' of Goffs, group chief executive Henry Beeby, who must have felt almost at home, as if he was on his elevated rostrum in Ireland, only this time a little warmer and brighter. To Beeby's mellifluous backing track the 2-year-olds appeared one by one, around the turn and down the straight, cantering off into the distance with the vast Meydan grandstand as a backdrop. On Wednesday evening they will be auctioned off in its shadow, with the business end of the sale taking place in the Meydan winner's enclosure – a place to which many of their eventual buyers will no doubt hope to return one day.

“It went like clockwork,” said Beeby after the breeze show. “As a group the horses breezed exceptionally well. I think the breeze-up vendors have really risen to the challenge and given us a lovely bunch of horses. It's a new venture and they have taken a chance but the conditions that the Dubai Racing Club has put in place have given them confidence.”

The general consensus among those who put their money into finding horses to bring to Dubai at last year's yearling sales is that the operation has run smoothly so far, with plenty of vendors having reported being very busy through the viewing sessions. Time will tell if that interest turns into a decent return for them on this first date in the 2-year-old sales calendar, but present indications are encouraging.

Mickey Cleere of MC Thoroughbreds was the guinea pig, both as consignor and rider, when breezing lot 1, his colt by Gun Runner, the stallion who was runner-up to Arrogate in the Dubai World Cup five years ago. The bay colt is out of the 10-time winner Bank Audit (Wild Rush), whose victories include two at Grade II level.

“We're absolutely delighted to be here and to be a part of this sale,” said Cleere, who has three juveniles catalogued, including the only one by America's champion sire Into Mischief. “The horses travelled over great, the facilities are top class and all the right people seem to be here looking. I think it should be a success looking at the quality of horses here. There seem to be a lot of people with very nice horses, and we think we have nice horses too. The three of them are very different but they are nice and by the right sires with decent pedigrees.”

Cleere's fellow breeze riders included an accomplished gang of Irish jockeys, featuring Gary Halpin, Pat Dobbs, Andrew Slattery and Rory Cleary, while Louis Steward, who is set to ride Volcanic Sky (GB) for Saeed Bin Suroor in Saturday's Dubai Gold Cup, also took to the saddle. And for National Hunt fans of a certain vintage, there was the chance to see Norman Williamson gather up his reins again aboard two horses to be sold under his Oak Tree Farm banner. For all his success at Cheltenham and beyond, Williamson is just as well known in these circles as the vendor of War Of Will (War Front) and last season's European champion 2-year-old, Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

Among his offerings in Dubai is a French-bred colt who will become the first son of Godolphin's Group 1 winner Cloth Of Stars (Ire) to be offered at a breeze-up sale. Slated as lot 29, he looked very professional in his breeze on Tuesday morning and hails from a family deep in European black type, his dam Mediteranea (Fr) being a Smart Strike half-sister to the Group/Grade 1 winner and young sire Erupt (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) as well as Listed winner Marie De Medici (Medicean {GB}).

American-sired juveniles outnumber their European counterparts in the catalogue, which intriguingly also includes a colt by Shadai stallion Daiwa Major (Jpn) out of the former champion filly Peeping Fawn (Danehill), who owns a pedigree to match her sparkling race record. A three-parts-brother to the Chesham S. winner and G1 Moyglare S. runner-up September (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), he is consigned by Willie Browne's Mocklershill as lot 31.

Looking ahead to Wednesday'a main event, Henry Beeby added, “We're very hopeful. With a new venture you never know but I think the conditions we find ourselves in now, with quality horses, the interest pre-sale and at the breeze-up, it's looking in good shape.

“We are very grateful to Sheikh Rashid at the Dubai Racing Club for appointing us. It was a big vote of confidence in Goffs and we appreciate it.”

Uniquely for a Thoroughbred auction, all buyers have to pre-register and, in the style of fine art auctions, will be issued with a paddle with which to bid. The sale is set to commence at 5pm local time. At the time of writing, there have been three withdrawals (lots 7, 35 and 58). For the full catalogue and to view the breeze-up videos, please click here.

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