Ardad’s Perfect Power Takes The Commonwealth Cup

Confirming his position as the chief three-year-old sprinting colt, Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum's Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) came out on top in a highly-competitive G1 Commonwealth Cup on Friday. Successful in the G2 Norfolk S. at last year's meeting, the subsequent G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. winner had been seventh in the 2000 Guineas following his success in Newbury's seven-furlong G3 Greenham S. Apr. 16 and started as the 7-2 joint-favourite back sprinting. Settled halfway down the field initially by Christophe Soumillon racing far side, the Richard Fahey-trained bay gave his familiar surge to take over from TDN Rising Star Flotus (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) passing the furlong pole and win by 1 1/4 lengths from Flaming Rib (Ire) (Ribchester {Ire}) who denied Flotus by half a length.

 

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The Heirs of Kodiac

Kodiac (GB) (Danehill) has long been a sought-after source of precocity, and as he has risen toward the upper echelon of proven stallions, the hunt is now on for his heir. Or heirs, as the case may be, because just as Kodiac's winners are legion, his sons' foals are starting to display that same vaunted quick-maturing zest for racing: a quartet of group-winning sons of Kodiac retired to stud in 2017-Kodi Bear (Ire), Adaay (Ire), Coulsty (Ire) and Prince of Lir (Ire)–and all have sired group winners with only two crops of racing age.

The 21-year-old Kodiac has every chance of establishing a sire line under his name, as he is the younger half-brother to Group 1 winner and Irish National Stud kingpin Invincible Spirit (Ire), himself a noted sire-of-sires globally, Kingman (GB) and I Am Invincible (Aus) being just two examples. Although he did not win a stakes race, Kodiac did place second in the G3 Hackwood S. before embarking on a stallion career at Tally-Ho Stud in 2007 at a fee of €5,000. He is priced at €65,000 for 2022-his fourth year at that level-and his sons are now stepping into the limelight.

It was the Rathbarry Stud stallion Kodi Bear, a winner of the G2 Celebration Mile and G3 Sovereign S. and also runner-up in the G1 Dewhurst S., who led the intake at €10,000. Kodi Bear's grandsire Danehill was famed for the versatility of his progeny, and it appears Kodi Bear could be headed that direction.

By the end of 2021, Kodi Bear had sired five black-type winners total, his three 2020 black-type scorers joined by another two in 2021. Across both crops he has thus far come up with 10 black-type horses. The smart filly Mystery Angel (Ire) won the Listed Pretty Polly S., and outstayed her pedigree when finishing second in Snowfall (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn})'s runaway G1 Cazoo Oaks. The dual stakes winner Measure of Magic (Ire) also earned a Group 1 placing with a third at the other end of the distance spectrum in the G1 Commonwealth Cup.

Kodi Bear's trio of Group 1 horses-tops for his stallion intake barring Tally-Ho's rising star Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB})-was rounded out by G2 Railway S. hero Go Bears Go (Ire). Besides placing in the G2 Norfolk S. at the Royal meeting, the colt from Kodi Bear's second crop ran third in the G1 Phoenix S., fourth in the G1 Middle Park S. and bounced back with a close second in the GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Kodi Bear is from the family of three-time Group 1 winner Esoterique (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), and his 2022 fee has risen to €15,000.

Fellow Irish-based stallion Coulsty has already ticked the Group 1-winning box with his progeny, as has 2021 first-season sire Ardad (Ire), who stands at Overbury Stud. Although his opportunities have been more limited, Coulsty–the G3 Prix de Meautry hero–is advertised at €4,000 this year at Rathasker Stud in Ireland. Also runner-up in the G2 Hungerford S., Coulsty's quartet of black-type winners is led by last autumn's GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup heroine Shantisara (Ire) in the States and Santosha (Ire), who struck in the G3 Princess Margaret S. His seven black-type horses match another 2022 third-crop sire-Adaay, who started his career at Whitsbury Manor Stud.

Relocated to Allevamento di Besnate in Italy this term at €4,500, the dual group-winning Adaay sired four black-type horses in 2020 led by G3 Premio Primi Passi third Doctor Strange (GB). Last year marked his first group winner, with G3 Prix de Cabourg victress Have A Good Day (Ire) and second-crop listed winner Honey Sweet (Ire).

Similar to Coulsty, Prince of Lir's 2022 fee at Ballyhane Stud is €4,000. Represented by fellow Norfolk S. hero The Lir Jet (Ire), the 8-year-old's star progeny also ran second in the G1 Phoenix S.

But, it appears Kodiac isn't done consolidating his tail-male impact in pedigrees, as the aforementioned Ardad was the 2021 leading first-season sire in Britain and third in his class in Europe.

Through Jan. 30, the 8-year-old has sired 23 first-crop winners, his crowning glory the dual Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire), winner of both the G1 Prix Morny and the G1 Middle Park S. In between those victories was the G3 Sirenia S. tally of Eve Lodge (GB). Vintage Clarets (GB) also completed the trifecta in Royal Ascot's G2 Coventry S. Out of a half-sister to the dam of G1 Prix de l'Abbaye victor Maarek (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), Ardad commanded an opening fee of £6,500 in 2018, and Overbury has bumped him up to £12,500 for 2022.

 

Next in Line

Kessaar (Ire), a G2 Mill Reef S. and G3 Sirenia S. hero, is next to see if he can make a similar mark with his first 2-year-olds this year. Located at the sire-making Tally-Ho Stud, the 6-year-old has 77 juveniles in his first crop bred at €8,000 and they averaged £33,919/€40,575 for 37 sold of 41 offered at the yearling sales. His fee is currently €5,000.

The most accomplished son of Kodiac on the racecourse is new Gestut Lunzen resident Best Solution (Ire). A triple Group 1 winner in Germany and Down Under, the Australian champion stayer and top older horse in Germany relished trips well beyond the reach for the majority of his sire's stock. That is no doubt as a result of his staying female line: Best Solution's third dam Eva Luna produced the group-winning stayers Brian Boru (GB) and Sea Moon (GB). Starting out at Gestut Auenquelle at €6,500, the former Godolphin colourbearer and G1 Caulfield Cup victor's first foals are yearlings of 2022. His fee remains unchanged. It would also be no surprise to see his full-brother El Bodegon (Ire) enter the stallion ranks at some stage after winning last season's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud for James Ferguson to become Kodiac's first Group 1-winning juvenile colt.

Hello Youmzain (Fr) captured the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte as a juvenile and built on that early promise with wins in the G2 Sandy Lane S., a third in the G1 Commonwealth Cup and a tally in Haydock's G1 Betfair Sprint Cup in October of 2019. Haras d'Etreham's bay marked 2020 with a victory in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot and a second in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest. He commanded €25,000 in 2021 and, his fee is unchanged for his second season, while the group-placed Flash Gordon (Ire) took up stud duties at Meelin Stud last year.

The intriguingly bred Nando Parrado (GB) will begin covering mares at the Irish National Stud for €6,000 in 2022. The son of Argentinean Group 3 victress and Group 1-placed Chibola (Arg) (Roy) broke his maiden by a length in the G2 Coventry S. in 2020. He promptly ran second in a pair of Group 1s-the Prix Morny to future G1 Commonwealth Cup heroine Campanelle (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and to subsequent G1 Champion S. victor Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere.

The 2020 G2 Flying Childers S. hero Ubettabelieveit (Ire) calls Mickley Stud home and stands for £5,000. Also third in the 2020 GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, he landed the Listed National S. earlier in his juvenile campaign.

Kodiac's most accomplished and best-bred sons are yet to be represented by their progeny on the racecourse-none of the first four to retire to stud were out of black-type mares. The future, therefore, looks bright for Kodiac and his heirs aplenty.

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Powerful Start A Boost For Ardad

It could be said that there's a stallion to suit all types of breeder at Overbury Stud, and the farm that was for so long synonymous with Britain's perennial leading National Hunt sire Kayf Tara (GB) now has a budding star of a very different type.

Ardad (Ire) finished 2021 as the leading first-season sire in Britain and was second overall to Cotai Glory (GB), who stands at Tally-Ho Stud, where Ardad was himself bred and where his sire Kodiac (GB) has long been king of the hill. 

Now eight, Ardad has so far pretty much done what could have been expected of him. On the track he was fast and early, with the high point of his racing career being his victory in the G2 Flying Childers S. From what we have seen of his progeny so far, they appear to be following suit: so much so that when the first bunch of runners from Ardad's first crop turned into a number of early winners, his book for last year suddenly leapt by around an extra 100 mares. 

If rock bands suffer from that 'difficult second album' syndrome, it's fair to say that the stallion equivalent is the difficult third book. Or fourth. In Ardad's case, however, those winners coming so early in the season meant that breeders were still able to take the opportunity of the final month of the covering season instead of waiting until this year either to renew their support or to use Ardad for the first time. But a graph plotting his covering numbers in his short stud career to date would clearly highlight the precarious nature of the stallion business. From 132 mares in his first season of 2018, Ardad then dipped to 70 in 2019 before slumping to 26 and then shooting back up to 156 last year. This year he will cover approximately 175 mares. 

Casting his mind back to last spring, Overbury Stud's Simon Sweeting says, “We had 60-odd mares booked before the racing season started and we actually had got through a lot of those mares and then [his offspring] started winning. He had that four or five quick bursts of winners and the mares started coming in. We booked another hundred and he got through those, got them covered well through the second half of the season. So we are confident that he will be able to cover plenty of mares, but also equally determined not to over-face him and to try to keep the quality of the mares as high as we possibly can. And we're very fortunate that he is being sent some really super mares.”

He adds, “My figure is 175. It may be a little bit more, it won't be 200 though. I'm absolutely determined that we won't do that.”

It has been noted on a number of occasions by those who have been associated with Ardad's stock that they are gifted with an agreeable temperament which allows them to switch on when work is required and quickly switch off again once it's over. His dual Group 1-winning son Perfect Power (Ire) appears to be an almost textbook example of this if photos of him flat out asleep in racecourse stables ahead of major assignments are anything to go by. Sweeting notes that it is a trait common to their sire.

“He's one of those that can be relaxed one moment, cover a mare and be relaxed straight away after,” he says. “So he hasn't been a moment's problem with us in doing anything really. He's got great libido, but a horse can have great libido and still be fairly easy to handle.”

He continues, “He was always the same. To look at, he was exactly what you expected, apart from the fact that he's got this fabulous stride and it is passed on to his foals too.”

A quartet of sons of Kodiac had retired to stud the year before Ardad, with Prince Of Lir (Ire), Kodi Bear (Ire) and Coulsty (Ire) all standing in Ireland and Adaay (Ire) standing principally in England before being relocated to Italy. Another six of his sons have joined the ranks since 2019, with Ubettabelieveit (Ire) being the only new recruit in England at Mickley Stud.

Sweeting says, “A few years ago, you'd look at the list of stallions available in Britain and there just wasn't a proven sire below £15,000. In that bracket, if you are sending a mare to give her a first go, to a horse that's got a very good chance of throwing you a winner, you don't want to spend £25,000.

“They just were not about but now there's Time Test, there's Ardad, Havana Gold, and Havana Grey might turn into that sort of horse. So there is a lot more for a UK-based breeder to choose from rather than having to go to Ireland for that inexpensive, but decent quality horse. They were either here unproven or way out of most people's price range.”

Ardad himself started out at £6,500, a fee that remained in place for three seasons until it was dropped to £4,000 in 2021. For this season his price has gone up, but at £12,500 it is not an eye-watering rise.

“There's got to be something left for the breeder,” says Sweeting when asked if he was tempted to give Ardad a heftier hike. “And also I know from bitter experience that if people pay a lot of money for a horse who then has a couple of disappointing years, they will never forgive that stallion, however things turn out down the line. I don't want to have to pull his price back down again. And I always want people to think that he's been a fair price. We want our customers coming back in four or five years' time and that's really had a strong effect on how we set it. Yes, it could have been £15,000–I don't think it sensibly could have been much more than that–but I think with the balance of the quality of mares that we have and the numbers, we've got it just about right, with hopefully the chance of breeders still being able to make some money.”

Certainly the returns for Ardad's stock have risen in line with his profile, and a lot of the early buzz can be attributed to a number of breeze-up pinhookers taking a chance on his first yearlings and being well rewarded when selling them the following year. His yearling averages rose from 15,327gns in 2020 for 49 sold to 53,133gns last year for 30 of the 31 to have passed through the ring, while foal averages climbed from 9,696gns to 14,400gns to the 2021 high of 32,636gns.

Continuing to deliver horses of the quality of Classic prospect Perfect Power also won't hurt him, and though there may rightly be a question mark over the ability of Ardad's offspring seeing out the mile, Perfect Power is out of Sagely (Ire) (Frozen Power {Ire}), herself a winner over 10 furlongs, while granddam Saga Celebre (Fr) is not only the daughter of an Arc winner in Peintre Celebre but a half-sister to another, Sagamix (Fr), who also stood for a time at Overbury. Another of Saga Celebre's half-siblings is Shastye (Ire) (Danehill), the dam of Japan (GB) and Mogul (GB).

The number of foot soldiers for Ardad, who was also represented last year by the Group 3-winning filly Eve Lodge, will of course dip in the coming seasons, with his current crop of yearlings numbering just 18.

“Most of the trainers that have got the Ardads that have just turned three, they were saying at the end of last year, 'actually I think this horse is going to train on', and they wouldn't be saying that if they didn't have good reason for it,” says Sweeting.

“So, yes, he's got two smaller crops to come, but luckily not a third. If he hadn't had his first winners until the middle of May, which he could have done and still have been a very good stallion, he would've only covered 65 mares last year.”

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Foals Keep Up Market Momentum at Tatts

by Chris McGrath

NEWMARKET, UK — The world certainly looks a different place from when these babies slithered into the straw. A less frightening one, thankfully, to many breeders, who have been relieved by a remarkable strength and depth in all levels of the market after the global economy absorbed the shock of Covid. So while the Tattersalls December Foal Sale opened in the customary low register, business on Wednesday unequivocally maintained the buoyant morale established in other sectors. Indeed, the clearance rate of 84% was a session record, and likewise the 16 transactions of 40,000gns or more.

In fact, even if you set aside a sale that performed rather better than anticipated last year, business comfortably outstripped even the pre-Covid levels of 2019. Year on year, meanwhile, a virtually identical offering (204 entered the ring, three more than 12 months ago) yielded turnover of 2,624,800gns, up no less than 66% on 1,585,100gns. That translated into a giddy 15,350gns average, up 31% from 11,741gns (10,091gns in 2019); and a 10,000gns median up from 8,000gns (a mere 5,000gns in 2019). Just 33 lots failed to find a new home, compared with 66 last year.

And these figures, in a way, perhaps represent a more instructive harvest than those recorded at the top end. For it is days like this that can tell you most about horses and horsemen alike, and how they respectively cope with the attrition of the market's lower reaches. Many more “obvious” foals will doubtless be offered on Thursday, but the real judges were already at work and their acuity and diligence should, if only the wind keeps blowing behind them, find due reward many of these animals return to market next autumn.

Passing Every Test…

Time Test (GB) is the only rookie stallion in Europe to have mustered four black-type winners from his debut crop but here he owed his latest headlines to the people who stand his rival Ardad (GB), who has matched him with two group scorers.

For it was Overbury Stud who presented a son of the National Stud stallion to achieve the top price of the opening session, at 75,000gns, from Redpender Stud. And Time Test must share the credit for Lot 362 with his dam, Wild Mimosa (Ire) (Dynaformer), who had further decorated what is already an excellent family when the result of their first mating, Love Interest (GB), made a stylish winning debut for David O'Meara at Newcastle since the publication of the catalogue.

Wild Mimosa was confined to a single start in a frustrating career for the Lloyd-Webbers and was culled for 52,000gns to Blandford Bloodstock in this ring four years ago–despite a productive start as a broodmare, and counting two Group 1 winners (Compton Admiral (GB) (Suave Dancer) and Summoner (GB) (Inchinor {GB}) and the dam of champion The Fugue (GB) (Dansili {GB}) among her siblings. It is not difficult to understand why, however, judging from the testimony of Simon Sweeting.

“She's a mare we have to take the foals off straightaway as she savages them,” explained the Overbury Stud manager. “She has done it twice. So we were told not to let her see the foals, and to raise them on foster mares: we have one organised every time now. But she's been a huge success.”

Indeed, her yearling colt by Ardad brought six figures at the October Sale here.

“The 2-year-old looks like she might be okay,” said Sweeting. “She'll go back to Time Test. She was in foal to Ardad, but sadly lost it at 42 days.”

Sweeting declined to be partisan about Ardad's rival, describing him as a very different sire–while “almost” as good. In fact, he has a breeding right in Time Test. “He's a fabulous stallion,” he said. “And he's got a lot farther to go, we're very excited about him. It's great that the National Stud has such a good horse, I'm thrilled about that.”

The new owner of this colt, Jimmy Murphy of Redpender Stud, said: “He's a nice-looking horse by a promising young sire. I've never had a Time Test before, but this one is well-made, so we'll hope for the best. There's a bit going on in the pedigree. I thought less would buy him, but you have to keep bidding if you want one.”

Time Test had another colt stoke up the embers of the session when one of the very last into the ring, presented by his home farm as Lot 433, brought 66,000gns from Michael Fitzpatrick. This is another pinhook project, interestingly about an Apr. 25 foal, but he was certainly an elegant one.

“Time Test is a son of Dubawi and they're doing well,” explained Fitzpatrick, after signing as Good Will Bloodstock. “It's a trend that is becoming apparent. I'd like to have a Time Test to sell next year as I think his first crop will go on again as 3-year-olds.”

 

Hoping For the Stars To Come Out…

The market is gradually waking up to the gift made by Tweenhills in introducing the Australian sensation Zoustar (Aus) at such an inviting fee, and if his first Northern Hemisphere crop lives up to expectations next year then he may prove a very fertile pinhooking medium.

Sure enough, the March colt consigned by Highclere Stud as Lot 355 brought one of the top prices of the day from Billy Jackson-Stops.

“This is for a new pinhooking venture for Tony Elliott's Rogues' Gallery,” the agent explained, after signing a 70,000gns docket as JS Bloodstock/RGS. “He's a good physical, and hopefully there will be good upside with Zoustar. He's likely to be prepped for next year's sales back here.”

His dam is also entitled to contribute, of course, as a listed winner on both sides of the Channel. Making Eyes (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) is catalogued as Lot 2067 in Highclere's mare consignment here next week.

Railton Boards The Ulysses Bandwagon…

As the son of a Derby winner and Oaks winner, Ulysses (Ire) appears eligible to do better still as his debut crop benefits from maturity and middle distances next year. That obviously makes his achievements already still more auspicious, with 16 juvenile winners from 37 starters including G3 Eyrefield S. runner-up Piz Badie (Ire).

Some pinhookers were ahead of the curve, as they would hope to be, most notably Hegarty Bloodstock in converting a 4,000gns punt on a colt by the Cheveley Park stallion in this ring 12 months ago into a bumper payout of 150,000gns in Book 3. Demand has risen accordingly, and Jamie Railton was obliged to pay 60,000gns–the highest price of the morning–for a colt offered as Lot 279 by Bearstone Stud.

“We will just have to see how Ulysses turns out, but he has certainly made a promising start,” Railton said. “I've not been fortunate enough to have one yet, but he was a top 10-furlong horse so looks a sire with a future. Let's hope this horse matures and develops and goes the right way: I just thought he was a nice, attractive individual–and that is what they cost.”

There should be an injection of extra speed from the dam, as one would expect from a speed-oriented nursery like Bearstone. A five-furlong winner by Indesatchel (Ire), she has already managed to produce a stakes-winning sprinter in Vintage Brut (GB) (Dick Turpin {Ire}). That horse is clearly the best by his own sire, on ratings, and the mare has also produced winners by Firebeak (GB) and Equiano (Fr) from her only surviving foals so far on the track. As such, Railton is entitled to hope that Ulysses, with ripening stock to fly the flag in the meantime, will appear a real upgrade by the time he returns this Feb. 8 foal to the yearling sales.

The young stallion still has an awfully long way to go, of course, before he can aspire to the status of farm legend Pivotal (GB), whose death in peaceful retirement, aged 28, was mourned five days before the sale. Pivotal was a sprinter whose progeny often had more stamina than expected, but in threatening to reverse that paradox Ulysses is playing a commercially useful game.

The Force Is With Rookie Sire…

Needless to say, a lot of the energy in this market traces sooner to a newer cycle; to the search for a future Time Test, Ardad or Ulysses. And plenty of rookies predictably prompted an early roll of the dice.

One was Land Force, the G2 Richmond S. winner by No Nay Never who, after a single start at three in Australia, returned to Europe to cover 155 mares at Highclere Stud. That gave him quite a footprint here and he landed a couple of breakthrough punches in his home farm draft–both ending up in the day's top six transactions.

“They look runners,” said Con Marnane, such a good judge of the evolving physical, after giving 65,000gns for a February colt (Lot 380). “This is a lovely, quality colt, and we had to go an extra bid or two to get him. But I think the stallion could have some quality yearlings next year. Of course, he was a very good racehorse himself.”

But the dam could certainly contribute in that respect, too, having been placed in the G3 Princess Margaret S. and herself being out of a stakes-placed half-sister to dual Classic winner Finsceal Beo (Ire) (Mr. Greeley). She was bought by Avenue Bloodstock at the end of her career with Paul Cole, at the December Sale here three years ago, for 190,000gns.

Lot 356, similarly, had the benefit of a young dam with a useful page: she's an unraced Redoute's Choice (Aus) half-sister to G1 Haydock Park Sprint Cup Regal Parade (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and G3 Acomb S. winner Entifaadha (GB) (Dansili {GB}). Farther back, this is the famous Juddmonte family of Zafonic (Gone West), Reams Of Verse (Nureyev) and Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). That steeled Alex Elliott's resolve in giving 60,000gns for this February colt.

“I'm a huge fan of the Scat Daddy line,” the agent said. “And a big admirer of Land Force. But this colt has a lovely pedigree all round, I've always loved the family. And he's a lovely horse, a good early foal with a lot of upside to him. He's bred to be fast, and should be easy to place in any sale next year. I buy for a few [resale] syndicates and he'll probably go to Ireland in the meantime.”

 

Tested Methods Opens New Territories…

Pinhookers seeking motivation through the toil of the months ahead will keep in mind the inspiring touch pulled off by John Foley of Ballyvolane Stud with a Time Test colt picked up in this ring a year ago for 56,000gns. Having elevated his value to 400,000gns in Book 2 of the October Yearling Sale, Foley was back to play up his winnings on a Mar. 5 foal by Territories (Ire) offered as Lot 234 by Hungerford Park Stud.

“He's a lovely horse with good updates,” Foley remarked after signing a 50,000gns docket as GHS Bloodstock. “He'll be for resale, I doubt we can repeat what we did but we'll try.”

Those updates concerned the colt's half-brother Wentwood (GB) (Pour Moi {Ire}), who has been in productive form in Australia, notably in winning the G3 Bendigo Cup H. last month. Among those disappointed to see the colt head off to Co. Limerick was Matt Coleman, who gave Foley sporting congratulations as underbidder.

Having kept that powder dry, Coleman was later able to give 55,000gns for the solitary offering [Lot 410] this week by Zarak (Fr), who has shown such promise in beginning to recycle one of the world's greatest pedigrees. He was acting for Daniel Macauliffe and Anoj Don, previously partners in the Group 2-winning juvenile Fighting Irish (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).

“He has been bought to race, and they were very keen to buy one by the sire,” explained Coleman. “From here he'll probably go to Culworth Grounds and will race in Britain.”

The February foal, sold by Stauffenberg Bloodstock, represents a rising tide in the Haras de Bonneval sire, who retired at €12,000 but rises to €25,000 next spring after including two Group 1 performers among 17 winners from only 32 starters.

 

Tide Remains Strong For Ocean…

Being every bit as brilliant as he was hardy, the designation of Crystal Ocean (GB) as a National Hunt sire offers a depressing commentary of the state of commercial breeding today. So it's good to see that some prospectors have their wits about them sufficiently to grasp that he has every right, as a top-class son of Sea The Stars (Ire), to add to the proliferation of stakes performers in his family tree.

Matt Houldsworth, for instance, gave 46,000gns for a February colt from an excellent German family, presented by Castletown Stud as Lot 365 and now on his way to Aughamore Stud.

“He has been bought for resale,” the agent confirmed. “He's just a really quality individual, a very good-moving horse. I haven't seen many by the stallion, but he was a very good racehorse. I know he's standing as a jumps sire, but that's not to say he won't be a good sire of Flat horses. Hopefully he can go to something like Book 2 here.”

Guy O'Callaghan of Grangemore Stud was another clear-sighted enough to give 30,000gns for Lot 268, a colt who can count none other than Doff The Derby (Master Derby) as fifth dam.

“This is a great-looking foal, by a champion racehorse out of a good, proven Shamardal racemare and with a good back family,” he said. “What's not to like? Simple as that. Crystal Ocean was a top racehorse by a brilliant stallion.”

Crystal Ocean has made a strong start in his “day job” and ended the recent Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale third in the averages at €35,257 for 30 lots sold, with a top price of €120,000.

A more conventional commercial newcomer to register a decent early strike was Tally-Ho's Inns Of Court (Ire), whose son out of a half-sister to Ivawood (Ire) (Zebedee {GB}) from Highfort Stud [Lot 431] made 49,000gns from Trev Group.

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