“Crying Shame” – Tally-Ho Pays Tribute To Record-Breaker After Freak Accident

Tally-Ho Stud's Roger O'Callaghan has paid tribute to the record-breaking Harry Angel colt who sold for £500,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale on Tuesday but died less than two days later in a transport accident.

The Harry Angel colt was sold to trainer Michael O'Callaghan, who held off the persistent challenge of Amo Racing's Kia Joorabchian as underbidder.

Roger O'Callaghan told TDN Europe on Saturday morning, “It's a crying shame but accidents happen. We'll never know how good he really was.”

The horse was pinhooked by Tally-Ho Stud for €38,000 at the 2021 Goffs November Foal Sale before breaking the record for the most expensive breeze-up horse ever purchased at Goffs UK.

His dam won the Listed Stonehenge S., and her half-sister is responsible for dual group winner Twilight Jet (Ire) (Twilight Son {GB}). Michael O'Callaghan also signed for Twilight Jet from Tally-Ho Stud two years prior.

 

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‘We Back Them Up To The Hilt’: The O’Callaghans on Making Stallions

It is not exactly a state secret that the team at Tally-Ho Stud, to use that old phrase, prefer their horses to do the talking. This could be misconstrued as a lack of friendliness but if you talk to other members of the bloodstock community about Tony and Anne O'Callaghan and their sons Roger and Henry, you will almost certainly hear variations of the phrase “lovely people”.

Indeed, within the family kitchen at the stone farmhouse just a short stretch up from the stallion yard a warm welcome is issued from all four members of the immediate family. Anne has a stroganoff ready for lunch and takes her place at the head of the table as if to referee the debate. But there's no need for that. 

“Well done for getting into the engine room,” she says with a laugh. In a week or so, the covering shed, with its full schedule of mares visiting the farm's seven stallions, could perhaps be judged to be the engine room, but the Tally-Ho kitchen, fittingly bedecked with hunting scenes, is clearly where all the important decisions are made.

As Tony talks, directly behind him sit two large monitors with grids of images showing CCTV footage of the foaling boxes and the farm. Twenty-five foals were on the ground by Jan. 27, almost one a day, and that rate will only pick up as the season progresses. 

To an extent, Tally-Ho Stud is known now as a commercially successful stallion operation. But that is only one facet of the place. The O'Callaghans' sizeable broodmare band of course plays an important part in supporting those stallions, and the two combined have been responsible in creating some notable names, with the farm having been on a particular roll in recent years. 

Group 1 winners Campanelle (Ire), Fairyland (Ire), The Platinum Queen (Ire), Perfect Power (Ire) and Ebro River (Ire) are backed up by Malavath (Ire), Knight (Ire), Kessaar (Ire), Ardad (Ire), Lusail (Ire), and Caturra (Ire). All bar one of those named are by the Tally-Ho stallions Kodiac (GB), Mehmas (Ire), Cotai Glory (GB), and Galileo Gold (GB), though the latter has just moved to Haras de Bouquetot for this season. The exception in the list is Perfect Power, who is by Overbury Stud's Ardad, but as his sire was bred at Tally-Ho, the bragging rights remain strong.

You won't hear a lot of bragging in this corner of Co Westmeath, however. As the conversation begins, naturally the first subject is Kodiac, the de facto king of Tally-Ho. Of his arrival at the stud some 17 years ago, Tony reflects, “I'd say we've been lucky. Then we kind of followed Danehill big time. And I suppose that was a result of Kodiac coming in.”

While Roger adds sagely, “And we've learned from our mistakes.”

Their selection of stallions, Tony says, is “A gut feeling as much as anything. We always like the 2-year-olds. The 2-year-olds only have to compete against themselves, which makes it easier.”

Recruiting the non-stakes winning but well-bred Kodiac in the year his half-brother Invincible Spirit made a lighting start with his first 2-year-old runners, was, in hindsight, an easy decision.

“When he came out the door, we liked him straight away. I'll always remember that,” says Roger, recalling a visit to John Dunlop's Arundel stable.

“Big arse on him, and square,” adds Tony. 

“He'd shown nice form. He was competing in very good races. He'd only been beaten two lengths in a Group 1 [Prix Maurice de Gheest]. We paid what they asked for him on the day. We didn't haggle one bit; we just said we'd take him. And John Dunlop was very disappointed at the time because he wanted another year to compete in Group 1s.”

There follows a brief debate as to the number of 2-year-old winners Kodiac had in one year when setting a new world record. The answer is 61, in 2017, seven more than Deep Impact (Jpn) notched in that same year. Kodiac's reputation has been hewn by his tendency to produce precocious offspring, and Anne points to another important factor.

“His temperament,” she says. “And the fact that the trainers hooked onto him very early on, and the breeze-up boys. [His stock] were so biddable, and winning, and wanted to give that extra inch.”

Presently, at least 10 sons of Kodiac are at stud around the world, one as far afield as Maryland, USA, another right on the doorstep in the homebred Kessaar, who is now up to 25 winners as his first crop of runners turn three. 

Kodiac has had an emphatic influence on Tally-Ho Stud. “He built most of this,” says Roger, wafting his arms around the yard during an earlier stallion parade. At 22, he is the venerable veteran of the team, with another upwardly mobile stallion now snapping at his heels. It has been hard to ignore Mehmas (Ire), who set his own record when becoming the most prolific European first-season sire with 55 winners in 2020, a tally that puts him only behind Kodiac as the most successful sire of juveniles. 

“Incredible,” is how Tony describes the son of Acclamation (GB), a graduate of the breeze-up system which plays such an important role in spruiking young stallions, and sometimes the opposite.

“The breeze-up boys do all the promoting,” says Anne. “And the jungle drums do most of the talking for you. I mean, if the Chinese whispers are good, you don't need to say any more.”

Her husband is quick to remind us that for every successful stallion, there are plenty that don't work out. “They hated Bushranger,” he states. “And we suffered for it. His career ended by 15 April. Ten of them had run, eight of them had started favourite, and not one finished in the first three. He covered mares for the rest of the season and he didn't get one the following year. Not one mare. It's like you turned off the tap.”

We back the stock in the sales, too. We go and look at them often. If we like them any bit at all, we try and buy them. Sometimes too much. But the heart is stupid

As one who has been around horses all his life, he takes a fatalistic view to the inevitability that not every stallion that walks through the gate will end up being held in the same regard as Kodiac. Plenty will end up quietly moving on. Some, sadly, such as Danetime (Ire), Red Clubs (Ire) and Society Rock (Ire), will die young. 

“If they haven't enough mobility, you have to accept it,” says Tony. “You just have to agree, and then you have to look at the next three years' work out in the field. You go to the sales and people just walk past the door. We had it with Morpheus and with Bushranger. That's the hardest part.”

He adds, “But we like to back them. Oh, we back them up to the hilt until they…”

“Kick us in the arse,” interjects Roger.

Tony continues, “We back the stock in the sales, too. We go and look at them often. If we like them any bit at all, we try and buy them. Sometimes too much. But the heart is stupid.”

Often enough, the O'Callaghans will find themselves in competition either at the sales or in the running to buy a stallion with members of their own family. Tony's brother Gay and his wife Annette run another highly successful stallion business at Yeomanstown Stud with their sons David and Robert, with two more sons, Peter and Guy, at the helm, respectively, of Woods Edge Farm in Kentucky and Ireland's Grangemore Stud. Another two of Tony's brothers, Noel and Pat, are also successful breeders. 

Anne, meanwhile, brings a classy distaff lineage to the operation. Her late father Tom Magnier owned Grange Stud, home to the great National Hunt sire Cottage (Ire), and her mother Evie Stockwell was a committed breeder in her own right until her passing last September. Most readers of this publication will be aware of the significant role Anne's brother John Magnier has played within the business for many years.

“We go into the sales and we bid away,” says Tony in his matter-of-fact manner. “We could be bidding against brothers. There's no doubt about it, in-laws and brothers are always sure to be the opposition.”

The commercial feel of the stallion roster, which also includes the promising Cotai Glory, Inns Of Court (Ire), who is about to have his first runners, Starman (GB) with first foals, and new arrival Persian Force (Ire), is largely matched by the profile of the broodmare band.

Tony explains the necessity of this situation. “Look, the Classics are all basically between Coolmore, Juddmonte, Darley, Shadwell, the Aga Khan, and a few others. It's very hard to compete. We just step outside that and work away grand.”

He adds of his farm, which was the birthplace of the 1972 Prix du Jockey Club winner Hard To Beat (Ire) among others, “The Classic winners were bred in Tally-Ho before we got it. There could've been 60 mares here back in the '50s or '60s. There was, I think, three or four Leger winners bred here, Guineas winners, 1000, 2000. I don't know if there was the Derby winner, but there was a whole heap of good horses bred here.”

It is a situation that persists.

“We just keep reinvesting in mares, trying to get better mares. That's all there is. Some work, and some don't,” says Anne modestly. She is considered to have a sixth sense when it comes to the mares being about to foal and is, like her husband and sons, fully immersed in every aspect of the business.

“It's all hands to the pump, should it be needed,” she adds. 

Roger illustrates the point with a recent anecdote. He says, “A mare foaled the night before last, and the foal was coming backwards. So there was Mum, Dad, Henry, myself, my wife, and the night girl, and the vet. We were all there. We got it out, but we were all involved.”

His mother continues, “It's all about a team, it's not just one person. It's a team effort and we try and weave our way through.”

Henry, widely known as 'the quiet one' but very much worth listening to, temporarily escaped that team. Depending on which of his parents you listen to, he did and didn't enjoy his seven-year stint in the world of banking and insolvency. 

“He didn't like it one bit,” says Tony, while Anne counters, “It was interesting,” and Roger chimes in with, “He keeps an eye on us now.”

Henry himself says, “Ah, sure, I didn't mind it either.” But it is easy to see that he is happy to be back among the fold. 

The team ethos referenced by Anne starts with the matings.

“There'd be a debate at the stocks for about 10 seconds,” Roger says.

Instinct, it would seem, rules over scholarly research, but then information gleaned from decades of working hands-on with the stock leads to its own special brand of knowledge; the kind which can't be read in books.

“We try and match what we think would be right,” notes Tony. “But we wouldn't spend two days discussing it now.”

Anne, as intuitive as any member of the team, adds, “It's like when you see a horse coming out of the stable, it's your first impression really. And if it doesn't float your boat…And it's the same with the coverings, they make up their mind that they're going to cover it with X.”

Roger admits that from time to time disagreements can occur, but one senses they are quickly dissipated. 

His mother, in her calm way, adds, “When you still have to work together, and we're so involved, it's up to all of us to give a little bit, take a little bit.”

And Henry agrees. “Ultimately, we only want what's best and we treat every horse like it's our own, so it's only coming from a good place.”

They all admit that the horse business – from mares, to foals, yearlings, breezers, and stallions – is their sole focus. 

“It's all we do,” says Tony. 

Fortunately, they do it rather well. Last year Anne joined her brother in the ITBA Hall of Fame when she was inducted alongside her husband. It was an award widely applauded by those who do business with Tally-Ho Stud, year in, and year out.

“Well, we like breeding winners, sure, we like that,” says Tony, still looking a little embarrassed at such public recognition. 

Anne adds, “It was most unexpected. It was a good feeling, and it makes you realise that the effort you put in has been worth it. To get a proper winner, or even the award. But as I said it was most unexpected. It's nice to be acknowledged by your peers, though, isn't it?”

It is almost certainly not the last time that the name Tally-Ho Stud will be listed among award winners, especially with a burgeoning roster of young stallions to complement the older guard, along with well-stocked fields of mares. However successful Mehmas or any of those following through become though, it will be hard to topple Kodiac in the family's affections.

“He'll always be king,” says Tony. “He would be our king, anyway. We'll be forever grateful.”

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New Breeze-up Alliance Of Halpin And Davis Enjoys Early Success At Dundalk

The spotlight was cast on the burgeoning breeze-up operation of jockeys Gary Halpin and Sean Davis, best known for riding winners rather than producing them, when their graduate Song For Whoever (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) ran out an impressive winner of the opening six-furlong maiden at Dundalk on Friday evening. 

Song For Whoever, who Halpin and Davis bought for €28,000 at the Goffs Sportsman's Sale last year before selling to Howson & Holdsworth Bloodstock for £42,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale, was getting off the mark at the third attempt for trainer John O'Donoghue in the colours of Genesis Thoroughbreds. 

Although he was consigned by Tally-Ho Stud at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale, Song For Whoever was sourced and produced by the riders, who will be consigning under the name GS Bloodstock from their new base at Ulundi Lodge on the Curragh next year. 

“Your judgment is on the line–you are telling people what you think the horses can do and it's important that they back you up,” – Gary Halpin

A delighted Halpin said on Friday evening, “We bought him at the Sportsman's Sale under Rushway Stables for €28,000. We were looking for something that could breeze and he looked sharp enough to do that. We had him on our list and Roger O'Callaghan, who we have worked closely with for a number of years, had seen him as well. It was a help that he liked him.”

He added, “I prepped him at Kevin Prendergast's yard in Friarstown on the Curragh. He was there all winter and did most of his early work while I was riding out in Kevin's and he went from there to Doncaster where he sold to Matt Holdsworth for Noel Hayes. We were very fortunate that Tally-Ho were happy to consign him for us. 

“He was actually popular enough to a point at the sales. George Boughey and Mark McStay had a go on him. I think George was the underbidder and I'm pretty sure that Mark was on him for a long while as well. The right people were interested in him, thankfully.”

Halpin enjoyed his best ever season as a rider in 2016 when partnering 36 winners domestically while his biggest success came aboard the Ross O'Sullivan-trained Rocky Sky (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) in the Listed Salsibil S. at Naas last term. 

Davis has returned to Ireland after a successful spell in Britain, where he rode 56 winners in 2019, and alongside Halpin, will continue to ride whilst preparing the breezers. 

However, the name Halpin will not be seen on a racecard anytime soon, with Friday's victory proving a timely tonic for the man sidelined with a fractured jaw.

He explained, “We've 11 in at the moment but there are a few more due back to us in the next few days and we will add another one or two in January. We are looking at having around 15 2-year-olds to breeze next year.

“Sean and I will consign under GS Bloodstock next year. It's exciting. Especially now that everything is cantering and broken in, we can see them progress. Unfortunately, I'm not riding them myself at the minute because I'm out of action with a fractured jaw, but I'm getting to see plenty on the ground.

“I think we've amassed a bunch of horses who are going to get to a good level. The Inns Of Court (Ire) colt that we bought at Doncaster has had three updates since we got him. He's now a half-brother to Believing (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), who has done really well to be multiple stakes-placed for George Boughey and Highclere Thoroughbreds. 

“She's one we'll be keeping a close eye on next year. Mick Fitzpatrick sold her for 115,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale in April so, all things being equal, we'd be hoping to get our own lad to the Craven safe and sound.”

On the rest of the breeze-up battalion, he added, “We've a lovely Cotai Glory (GB) colt who we gave €65,000 for at Tattersalls Ireland. He was consigned by Tally-Ho and is out of a half-sister to Fairyland (Ire). He's going to be exciting. 

“We've been sent a Kodiac (GB) filly who's out of a half-sister to Middle Park S. winner Supremacy (Ire) and there's a nice Dandy Man (Ire) colt from the family of Slade Power (Ire). We've a nice bunch and there's a couple of others there as well.”

Asked how riding winners compares with producing them, Halpin said, “It's totally different. It's a different feeling altogether. Your judgment is on the line–you are telling people what you think the horses can do and it's important that they back you up. As a jockey, your judgment has to be right when you ride a horse work or ride it in a race, your feedback has to be good. This is a little bit more added pressure. It's a different sort of pressure.”

 

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Persian Force To Stand Alongside His Father Mehmas At Tally-Ho Stud

Less than a week after his owner Kia Joorabchian announced that leading juvenile Persian Force (Ire) would be retired to stud, Roger O'Callaghan confirmed that the Group 2-winning speedster would be heading back home to Tally-Ho Stud, where he will stand alongside his father Mehmas (Ire) in 2023. 

Tally-Ho snapped up Persian Force at the November Foal Sales at Goffs in 2020 for €75,000 from Ringfort Stud before selling the colt the following year at the Orby Sale to Peter and Ross Doyle for €225,000.

Last seen finishing a gallant fourth in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, Persian Force won three of his eight starts for Richard Hannon, with the clear highlight coming when he landed the G2 July S. at Newmarket in good style. 

That effort came off the back of a smart second to Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) in the G2 Coventry S. at Royal Ascot. Persian Force also placed three times at the highest level, including when narrowly beaten by Blackbeard (Ire) (No Nay Never) in the Prix Morny at Deauville. 

Confirming the news at Tattersalls, O'Callaghan said, “It will be nice to have Persian Force standing alongside his father Mehmas at Tally-Ho next year. Persian Force was a lovely horse when we bought him as a foal, a lovely horse when we sold him at the Orby and he is still a lovely horse.

“He was bought by a very shrewd judge in Ross Doyle at the Orby and was a very good horse from start to finish with Richard Hannon, who did a brilliant job with him. He showed his class when winning the G2 July S. at Newmarket and I think breeders will be keen to use him. We haven't decided on a fee yet.”

Persian Force retires to stud with £289,012 in career earnings under his belt and a rating of 112. When revealing the news on Sunday that the colt would be retired this season, Joorabchian said that Persian Force compared favourably to Mehmas, who has emerged as one of the leading sires in Europe after beginning his career at Tally-Ho at €12,000. He will stand for €60,000 next year. 

Speaking on Luck On Sunday, Joorabchian said, “He's followed the footsteps of his father, he's done everything Mehmas has done. 

“Arguably, according to Richard Hannon, who trained both, he's a better looking version of his father and he's got a better pedigree. He started in March and ran in everything.”

He added, “He's never had a bad run, he's followed the footsteps of his father from start to finish and his father retired at the end of his 2-year-old career and has had a fantastic career in stud as a stallion.

“His father will stand at €60,000, so looking at that he can definitely follow in the footsteps of his father, if not better, because your son is always better than you.”

 

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