Tag: Night of Thunder

Highfield Princess Returning in Duke of York

Star sprinter Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}) will return in the G2 Duke of York S. on May 13, following a similar path this year as her 2022 campaign, trainer John Quinn said. The 6-year-old Trainers House Enterprises homebred won last year's Duke of York before taking the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest, the G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe S. and the G1 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Flying Five S. She has not run since finishing fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Keeneland Nov. 5.

“I'm very happy with her,” Quinn said. “She's been back in for a while, she's in good nick and we'll start her off at York in the Duke of York. She came back in towards the end of January, so she's been in a while and York will soon come round. We'll see how we go, but after York you'd be looking at Royal Ascot and on from there.

“With a bit of luck we'll roll the dice with her as it's her last year.”

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Sottsass Colt Leads The Way For Baroda Stud At Goffs February Sale

Baroda Stud were responsible for two of the three six-figure lots on day one of the Goffs February Sale, including the €115,000 top lot, a colt by Sottsass (Ire), who was purchased by Tally-Ho Stud.

Of the 2017 lots offered, 128 were sold, which represented a clearance rate of 59% and an aggregate spend of €2,056,250. The average for day one of first sale for 2023 at Goffs was €16,064 with Cox explaining that the nice horses had no trouble in finding new homes.

He said, “A few people said to me that the horses we had here stood out. The Sottsass was a good, straightforward colt who had good X-rays and a good scope. He was a homebred of China Horse Club and sold very well to Tally-Ho Stud. He'd plenty of fans–he had six or seven vets and there was plenty of action on him.”

Baroda offered 11 horses on Wednesday, of which nine were sold to the tune of €321,000 at an average of €35,667. They included another China Horse Club homebred by New Bay (GB) (lot 186), knocked down to Camas Park for €85,000, and a Magna Grecia (Ire) filly (lot 200) snapped up by MAB Agency for €58,000.

Cox added, “The New Bay was another homebred by China Horse Club and the sire is flying so he definitely attracted plenty of attention before selling to Camas Park. The Magna Grecia filly was lovely. She's a homebred by the Niarchos family and the half-sister [Burning Topic (Ger) (Ulysses {Ire})] is doing well in France.”

He added, “This is a sale where, if you put a good foal in here, it will stand out and sell well. We're happy with how the day went.”

 

Rogues Snap Up Night Of Thunder Colt

One of the major subplots to the 2022 sale season was the strength of Night Of Thunder (Ire)'s progeny at public auction and the Rogue's Gallery Syndicate, best known for owning listed winner Rogue Millennium (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), gave €110,000 for a colt by the Darley sire.

The Night Of Thunder colt was consigned by Ringfort Stud and signed for by the syndicate's Tony Elliott, who was standing alongside bloodstock agent Billy Jackson-Stops. Elliott revealed that lot 109 would be offered for resale later in the year.

He said, “This horse has been bought to pinhook. We had three for pinhooking last year and we've three this year as well. We've got some nice horses.”

Elliott added, “We thought he was the standout and it was exactly what we wanted to give for him. That would have been our last bid I reckon.

“We're really pleased to get him because he's a lovely-looking horse and, being by Night Of Thunder, he could be anything. Sometimes we buy them back into the syndicate, which we did last year with a Zoustar (Aus).

“If we really like this lad and he's going the right way we could look at buying him back into the syndicate. There's two syndicates–a pinhooking syndicate and a racing one. We've got some nice horses for the coming years.”

 

Shared Wish For Shamrock Thoroughbreds And Team Valor

The Joseph O'Brien-trained Dundalk winner Tosen Wish (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) (lot 35) provided some early interest when selling for €100,000 to Shamrock Thoroughbreds and Team Valor.

Tosen Wish overcame a 469-day absence to win a seven-furlong handicap off 82 at Dundalk last week, justifying 9-4 favouritism in the process.

The 4-year-old, who is now two from three, boasts a rating of 89 and will be aimed at a turf campaign by Ado McGuinness, according to the trainer's assistant Stephen Thorne.

He said, “Tosen Wish won well on the polytrack at Dundalk last week. He'd been off for a good while but we made plenty of enquiries about him and put the picture together and I think he's a nice lightly-raced horse moving forward. We've partnered up with Team Valor on this one so it is an exciting new partnership and hopefully he will be lucky for us.”

Asked how the new partnership with Barry Irwin's Team Valor came about, Thorne added, “We made contact with him and we've had a few conversations with him. He's obviously seen the success Ado has had on the track. He's a dual Group 1-winning trainer now and we're delighted to have Team Valor on board. We were waiting to find the right type of horse to pitch to Barry and he obviously liked him. He was a standout at this sale by a mile. I thought we'd get him a little cheaper but there was strong competition in the ring. We've no major plans but I think he'll be a nice horse for the turf.”

Tosen Wish was consigned by Castlebridge, who also offered the placed Arabian Legend (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) (lot 37), sold for €48,000 to Italian owner Mr. Ciampoli to be trained by Grizzetti Galoppo.

Another horse with form, the Cormac Farrell-trained and consigned Seven Hills (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) (lot 40C), who placed a couple of times at Dundalk, sold for €40,000 to the New Racing Factory.

 

Walk In The Park Colt Comes Up Trumps

The Flat-bred weanlings may have dominated but once again the progeny of Walk In The Park (Ire) proved to be in high demand with Coolmore's Gerry Aherne going to €56,000 to secure a well-bred colt (lot 209) by the sire from Thistledown Stud.

The colt is out of a sister to Felix Desjy (Fr) (Maresca Sorrento {Fr}), a classy performer for Gigginstown House Stud and Gordon Elliott at one point, and was the highest-priced National Hunt-bred lot through the ring on Wednesday.

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Value Sires Part II: The Middle Ground 

Continuing our series on the profitability of stallions, this week we are looking at those who stood between £20,000 and £49,999 in 2020. Three of the top four in this table have subsequently graduated to the higher-fee bracket outlined in Part I of this series last Thursday. 

As previously stated, we will be examining sires in four key price brackets according to their yearling sales returns of 2022 set against their fees at the time of covering. The average profit has been determined by the stallion's fee plus a figure of £20,000 for keep costs. The profitable stallions featured must have had at least five yearlings sold in 2022 to make the list and prices have been converted to sterling from Euros according to the conversion rate on the day of the sale.

Just as Dubawi (Ire) headed the list of those in the most expensive fee bracket, so does his son Night Of Thunder (Ire) claim top honours here in this second tier when his fee was €25,000, having been as low as €15,000 for two years before that. It stepped back up a notch after the Kildangan Stud resident's stellar first crop of two-year-olds demonstrated just what their sire was capable of and, since that time, his price has kept climbing to a current high of €100,000. Yes, that's expensive, but the clamour for Night Of Thunder's yearlings was such that 90 were sold (84 of which were in profit) last year for an average of more than eight times his fee at £197,346, with an average profit of £154,565. 

Clearly it will be hard to maintain such a level from a higher fee, but it is fair to assume that with the price rise comes an uplift in the quality of mares he is covering, and he was no one-crop wonder. With a top-rated sprinter in Europe to his name last year in Highfield Princess (Fr) and 32 stakes winners from four crops of racing age, Night Of Thunder is fast reaching the elite bracket at only 12 years of age.

Wootton Bassett (GB) has been an incredible success story for Haras d'Etreham, where his stud career started at a lowly €6,000 fee, which dropped to €4,000 in 2014 and 2015 and rose in line with his achievements from relatively small books of lowly mares in his early years. The figures shown on this table represent his final crop bred in France at €40,000. He has subsequently taken another two big price leaps following his move to Coolmore in Ireland – to €100,000 and now €150,000. That, predictably, has been accompanied by strong support from plenty of big breeders. His upward rise will need to continue but, given the mares he has covered in recent years, it would be staggering if it doesn't. Like Dubawi and his sons, Wootton Bassett provides a useful outcross option for many via the Mr Prospector line, in this instance through Mr P's extremely influential son Gone West, who is Wootton Bassett's great grandsire. 

Wootton Bassett has at least one top Classic prospect in the Group 1-winning juvenile Al Riffa (Fr), who provides an early example of just what his sire of capable of when crossed with Galileo (Ire). His 83 yearlings sold in 2022 returned an average price of £151,427, giving him a profit margin of £94,978.

Starspangledbanner (Aus) had noted poor fertility at the outset of his career but this appears to have been largely overcome, which is a bonus to breeders. From 121 mares covered in 2020 at a fee of €22,500, 62 of his yearlings were sold with a decent profit margin of £70,801. This year marks the 16-year-old's career-high fee of €50,000, which means that unlike Night Of Thunder, Wootton Bassett and Camelot (GB), Starspangledbanner will remain in this bracket for now. He is joined at stud this season by his high-flying son State Of Rest (Ire), a Group 1 winner in four different countries, and is responsible for one of the most exciting sprinter/milers in Hong Kong, California Spangle (Ire), who recently downed the colours of the outstanding Golden Sixty (Aus). It is easy to see why Starspangledbanner's popularity has been consistently high, just like his fellow Coolmore-based forefathers Choisir (Aus), Danehill Dancer (Ire), and Danehill. 

Then there's Camelot, the horse who should be a Triple Crown winner and the sole remaining son of Montjeu (Ire) in the Flat division in Britain and Ireland (his fellow Derby winner Authorized (Ire) is still plying his trade in Turkey).

Camelot may divide opinion but as the sire of ten Group/Grade 1 winners in five different countries he is unquestionably a good stallion, and one who has piqued the interest of Australian buyers thanks to the exploits of Cox Plate winner Sir Dragonet and dual Group 1 winner Russian Camelot (Ire), who is now at Widden Stud. His two highfliers of last year, Irish Champion S. victor Luxembourg (Ire) and Deutsches Derby hero Sammarco (Ger), remain in training and the yearlings of 2022 posted average profit of £54,918 from the 45 that were sold. That crop was conceived at €40,000, and Camelot's fee rose to €60,000 the following year, where it is again now after a brief high of €75,000.

With Night Of Thunder out in front, there is plenty for the Darley team to like about this list and they have another three in the top ten at varying stages of their career: Blue Point (Ire), Teofilo (Ire), and Cracksman (GB). Much will be expected of Blue Point this year, and with 98 of his first-crop yearlings offered in 2022 it is clear that breeders viewed him as a commercial prospect from the outset. He is after all made in the image of his late and celebrated sire Shamardal and his race record had that intoxicating blend of precocity and speed which is catnip to modern-day breeders.

Having started out at €45,000, he is now down to €35,000 for his fourth season at stud, and his first yearlings returned average profit of £36,872. Of course this season is crucial for him as we start to see his first runners but you can bet that Charlie Appleby has a few smart juveniles up his sleeve by the sire who lit up Royal Ascot not once but twice in a week with a Group 1 double. A two-year-old winner at the same meeting this year for Blue Point would be just the ticket to get his secondary career off to a similarly fast start.

Cracksman took a few people by surprise last year with a spate of relatively early winners which has grown to a list of 18 to date, including the G2 Premio Dormello winner Aloa (GB) and Listed Star S. victrix Dance In The Grass (GB). His opening fee of £25,000, gave average profit of £25,201 on the 34 yearlings sold from his second crop. Cracksman is now available at £17,500 and, given his own racing profile, there is cause to believe that his offspring take another step forward in their Classic season and beyond.

Cracksman's fellow first-season sires of 2022, Zoustar (Aus) and Saxon Warrior (Jpn), were also buoyed by solid results from their debutants. Zoustar is of course several seasons ahead in the southern hemisphere. G1 Cheveley Park S winner Lezoo (GB) was the stand-out of his European runners, prompting a fee rise to £30,000 this year from his opening mark of £25,000. From 67 yearlings sold, his average profit margin was £23,951. 

Saxon Warrior gives renewed hope of the Deep Impact sire-line taking root in Europe and from his first runners, Victoria Road (Ire) flew the flag for him with a Breeders' Cup victory, while the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Gan Teorainn (Ire) has now spread her wings even farther through being exported to Australia after being bought for 1,000,000gns by Yulong Investments. From a starting fee of €30,000, which dipped to €27,500 in 2020, his yearlings averaged almost £67,000 last year, showing average profit of £21,938.

My pick from this list, however, is the dependable Nathaniel (Ire). There are few stallions in the world who will ever sire a filly of the calibre of Enable (GB), but the brilliant light of his stud career shines well beyond that obvious beacon. A Classic heroine in France and Grade 1 victrix in America, backed up the top-class British-trained duo of God Given (GB) and Lady Bowthorpe (GB), could have had Nathaniel pegged as a fillies' sire, but then Desert Crown (GB) breezed down the hill at Epsom to win the Derby with consummate ease. 

Nathaniel's success extends beyond the Flat to some smart jumpers, including Zanahiyr (Ire) and Concertista (Fr), and the offers to Newsells Park Stud from National Hunt stallion operations in recent years have surely been numerous. 

The average price of the yearlings conceived from Nathaniel's 2020 fee was £66,259, leading to average profit of £21,259. Good on the team at Newsells Park for hanging on to this extremely useful stallion, who surely represents excellent value at his current fee of £15,000.

Value podium

Gold: Nathaniel

Silver: Cracksman 

Bronze: Starspangledbanner

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‘The Past 12 Months Have Not Been Easy But Minzaal Has Provided A Buzz Again’

Out and about on the opening day of the Irish Thoroughbred Stallion Trail

One of the early highlights of the year for pedigree buffs and casual observers, the Irish Thoroughbred Stallion Trail, got underway with a bang on Friday with heavy footfall reported at over 30 of the stallion farms taking part in the two-day extravaganza. 

The TDN Europe team were out and about in the Kildare area on Friday and visited Kildangan Stud, The Irish National Stud, Yeomanstown Stud and Derrinstown Stud before venturing further south on Saturday. 

Don't let the sunny snaps fool you, Friday was another bitterly cold day, but Night Of Thunder (Ire) warmed the cockles followed by emerging forces Earthlight (Ire) and Ghaiyyath (Ire) at Kildangan Stud. 

In fact, such was the quality on show at Kildangan Stud, nominations manager Eamon Moloney described the current collection of stallions on offer at the Irish arm of the hugely-powerful Darley operation as the best he's seen during his time at the helm.

Moloney said, “We've had good horses here in the past but we have a mix of stallions who are operating at the top of their game, like Teofilo (Ire) and now Night Thunder climbing his way to the top-and you don't know how far he might go-right through to Ghaiyyath, Earthlight and Blue Point (Ire) with his first runners this year. I don't think we've ever had a more exciting roster. “

It was not just the seasoned breeders who turned out in their droves, either, on Friday. Moloney reported a good mixture of industry stakeholders and families searching for an alternative day out to be coming through the gates at Kildangan and predicted Saturday to be even busier. 

He said, “The Thoroughbred Stallion Trail is a very important initiative. It provides you with an opportunity to showcase your new horses and gives everyone a chance to see them in the flesh. A lot of breeders have been here already but they love coming back to see the stallions a second time. There's also a social aspect to the whole thing and the amount of new people who come through the gates for the Thoroughbred Trail-we've even attracted clients who had never been involved in this industry prior to the initiative, so it's very important. “

It won't take a genius to sell Ghaiyyath to breeders. He may be a Dubawi (Ire) and his dam was no giant, but this boy commands attention wherever he goes, with his giant stride and powerful makeup clearly capturing the attention of those in attendance on Friday. 

Moloney commented, “I don't think we had one negative comment on a Ghaiyyath or Earthlight foals. Not one. The Earthlights are just so sharp and strong. I really think they have a huge chance. With Ghaiyyath, people seem to stop and stare at him in silence. His foals are the same-they are very athletic. I think we are in very good shape, to the point that Ghaiyyath will cover his biggest book of mares in his third season, which isn't the normal trend. He's not your typical Dubawi-he has this big walk and has great presence. Those great horses seem to have presence.”

He added, “We've had a good mixture of breeders who are going to be sending us mares and families who are making a day of it viewing the stallions. There are plenty of racing enthusiasts as well, and they love coming to see the horses up close in the flesh, so there's a great mix. It's brilliant.”

“We're very pleased and it has provided us all with a lift here at Derrinstown. He's a Group 1-winning sprinter and was an absolute flying machine as a racehorse so we're all very excited about him,” – Joe Behan. 

Geographically, Kildangan is just over 10 minutes from the Irish National Stud, and many of the same faces made the short journey to see Invincible Spirit (Ire), Lucky Vega (Ire), Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) and more. 

Lucky Vega | INPHO/Morgan Treacy

At 26 years young, Invincible Spirit has been there and done that and is widely recognised as one of the best producers this country has to offer. But standing on the opposite side of the long row of boxes at the beautiful Irish National Stud could be the heir to Invincible Spirit's throne, the powerhouse that is Lucky Vega, who has done extremely well since he retired from racing and is letting down into a bull of a stallion. 

Lucky Vega showed top-class form at two, including when carrying the colours of Yuesheng Zhang to victory in the G1 Phoenix S., and his owner's pursuit of top-class broodmares to support the young stallion was one of the major stories to emerge from 2022. He certainly won't lack for support. 

Nor will Minzaal (Ire). Derrinstown Stud manager Joe Behan admits that the past 12 months have not been easy for anyone working with the operation after the man he affectionately refers to as 'the boss,' Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, passed away. 

However, Group 1-winning sprinter Minzaal is proving a beacon of hope at Derrinstown and is understood to be oversubscribed already such is his popularity among breeders.

Behan explained, “Minzaal is going down very well with all the breeders. There has been nothing but positive comments on him today and he's taking everything in his stride. He's a good model, very correct and makes great use of himself. He has a great walk and has a nice bit of length and scope to him as well. 

“We're very pleased and it has provided us all with a lift here at Derrinstown. He's a Group 1-winning sprinter and was an absolute flying machine as a racehorse so we're all very excited about him.”

He added, “There is a buzz around the place. The past 12 months have not been easy since the boss passed away so, to get that buzz back and have everyone rowing in behind Minzaal now, it means an awful lot. It's great.”

Great, too, is the confidence behind Invincible Army (Ire) at Yeomanstown Stud. Dark Angel (Ire) is still very much the daddy of them all at Yeomanstown but, despite the fact they are facing into one of the hottest years one can remember in terms of the fight for first-season sire honours, the O'Callaghans are predicting big things from Invincible Army this year.

Rob O'Callaghan said, “We're very confident with Invincible Army. He's got great stock coming through and has a lot going for him with over 130 2-year-olds this year. They are well-bred horses and they've got the strength, the action and they have gone to the right homes as well. Karl Burke, Richard Hannon, Ger Lyons, Richard Fahey and Clive Cox have all bought yearlings by him and he's got as good a chance of any of the first-season sires to make a big impression this year. You've got to remember that he was a top-class racehorse and was a Group winner at two, three and four.”

Friday was the only day that Yeomanstown opened their doors to the public and O'Callaghan labelled the initiative as a success before pointing to the fact that many breeders visited with a view towards getting a glimpse at some of the younger sires the stud has to offer. 

He added, “Technically, this is our only day on the Thoroughbred Stallion Trail but we are open every day of the year. We've plenty of shows booked in for tomorrow [Saturday] and the past few weeks have been very busy with showing. We'd a busy morning today with a lot of people starting the Trail here and working their way on to other studs. 

“It's been a good day and we've had a good mixture between breeders and casual visitors. We're glad to have them and it's good to see people enjoying their day. When you have a new stallion it's always busier. Also, a lot of people like to come and see a stallion in his second year at stud to see how they have progressed during the summer.

“These stallions change so much from year one to year two. It's amazing and I think it's important for breeders to come back to see a horse in his second year at stud to get a proper viewing. It's hard to judge a horse straight out of training because they are fit and go to stud off the back of a hard two or three years galloping. When they have had that first year's covering and a summer of grass under their belt, they change a lot.”

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