Tag: Royal Ascot

The Major Talking Points From The Premier Yearling Sale At Doncaster

The first major yearling sale of the autumn in Britain or Ireland, the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale provided entertainment from the beginning to the end, but most importantly, boasted impressive figures. Brian Sheerin was in attendance and discusses the major talking points from the sale.

Figures on the up

The team at Goffs UK could hardly have wished for a better start to the Premier Yearling Sale. The day one figures were off the charts. Of the 218 lots offered on Tuesday, 199 were sold, representing a clearance rate of 91%. 

The aggregate was up 28% to £8,954,500, the average rose 15% to £44,997 and the median climbed 27% to £38,000.

There were noticeably less people around the sales complex at Doncaster on day two. While the figures failed to match what took place on Tuesday, there were some impressive numbers recorded on Wednesday, with an 87% clearance rate on a day where the aggregate climbed 11% to £7,003,000. 

The average on Wednesday went up 0.5% while the median fell by 4% to £32,000. That came despite the fact that there was some late drama in the ring with three of the last seven lots making six figures. 

All told, the sale went well. Of the 406 yearlings catalogued, 363 were sold, translating to a clearance rate of 89%. The aggregate was up 20% to £15,987,500 while the average was up 8% and the median rose by 9%.

Big Results From Small Numbers For Fitzgerald

Alice Fitzgerald knows what she is doing. It was at the Premier Yearling Sale in 2021 when Fitzgerald sold her homebred Basil Martini (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}} out of 10,000gns purchase Under Offer (Bated Breath (GB) to MV Magnier for £160,000.

Fast forward 12 months and Fitzgerald, who never brings more than one or two to the sales, bagged another big pay-day by selling her Kodiac (GB) colt out of Night Queen (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) to Manor House Farm for £160,000. 

What's even more impressive about Fitzgerald? This isn't even her day job. 

John and Jess Dance Stock Up

Given John and Jess Dance bought six-time Group 1 winner Laurens (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) at this sale in 2016, it's only natural that the owners would have an affinity towards Doncaster, which was evident in the results. 

Under Manor House Stables, they signed for nine different yearlings at a total of £837,000, which was only bettered by the £1,162,000 that Peter and Ross Doyle spent across the two days on a whopping 17 different horses. 

However, of the top 10 spenders at the Premier Yearling Sale, nobody boasted a better average than John and Jess Dance. 

The couple spent an average of £93,000 on their nine lots, illustrating that they are seeking quality over quantity more so than ever before. 

High Praise From Doyle

Ross Doyle is renowned for being one of the best judges in the game. Along with his father Peter, he has sourced Mehmas, Barney Roy, Limato, Japan, Fairyland, Magna Grecia, Olympic Glory and much more. 

Therefore, when he praised Goffs for attracting the best bunch of yearlings that he has seen for some time, it reflected well on the quality of the sale.

Doyle signed for two of the top lots in the sale, a colt by New Bay (GB) [211] for £200,000 on day one, and a lovely Dark Angel (Ire) colt [251] the following day for the same figure. 

Grangemore signed for the Dark Angel colt at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sales for 40,000gns and the sale to the Doyles, who didn't reveal where the horse would be trained, secured a tidy pinhooking profit. The New Bay colt will be trained by Richard Hannon. 

Two Top-Notch Pinhooks

There were a number of good pinhooks over the course of the sale but two stood out. The first was that of lot 21, a gorgeous Ten Sovereigns (Ire) filly that Jamie Railton bought for €26,000 off Ballybin Stud at the November Foal Sales at Goffs last year before selling to Richard Hughes for a cool £110,000 on Tuesday.

The second was an even greater piece of inspiration as Violet Hesketh and Mimi Wadham, who run WH Bloodstock, and transformed lot 171 from a €38,000 purchase back in February to a £120,000 yearling just six months later. 

A colt by Kuroshio (Aus), lot 171 was tipped to do well after a number of shrewd judges got him vetted and, in the end, he was knocked down to Mark McStay and it's understood the colt will be sent to Fozzy Stack to be trained. 

Kuroshio Holding His Own

Kuroshio has been around the world and back but this year represented the classy Australian's first crop of runners since he took up residency at Starfield Stud in 2020. After a slow start to the season, Dontspoilasale (Ire) has come along and won for the stallion in Ireland, and looks potentially progressive, while Jessica Harrington's Panic Alarm (Ire) should be winning races for the stallion when he gets softer ground conditions. 

All told, anyone who has backed Kuroshio will be a lot happier now than ever before as last week's figures were respectable. Away from the headline-maker, lot 171, the Baroda Stud-drafted filly [lot 258] also secured a solid sale for the stallion, and changed hands to join John and Jess Dance for £48,000. All four yearlings by the stallion were sold. 

Force Behind Highclere Stallion

Some will argue that Land Force (Ire) is riding the crest of a No Nay Never wave, and that may have been an entirely plausible summation of the situation had his yearlings not been so impressive in the flesh. 

Top judges Clive Cox-who went to £85,000 to secure lot 71-and Oliver St Lawrence bought progeny by the stallion. Some of the best in the breeze-up business, Katie Walsh, Longways Stables and Con Marnane, also rowed in behind Land Force this week. 

Jake Warren even tipped the Highclere-based stallion for first-season sire honours and, while there is a lot of water to pass under that particular bridge, the early signs are promising for anyone with a Land Force in their stable. 

Of the 17 offered this week, 14 were sold at an aggregate of £510,000, which averaged out at £36,429.

Noteworthy Buyers

A number of top agents, trainers and breeze-up buyers relayed how footfall had increased at the sale and, as a result, it was going to be even harder to smoke out a bargain. 

Well, buyers also had to contend with major competition from afar as Wesley Ward also got in on the action, signing for lot 200, a Lynn Lodge-consigned £82,000 daughter of US Navy Flag. 

Ward is clearly a fan of the stallion and why wouldn't he be? The Patrick Grogan-bred Love Reigns (Ire), whose only defeat in three starts for the American-based trainer, came when she finished fourth in the G2 Queen Mary S. at Royal Ascot. Time will tell if Ward has bagged himself another Royal Ascot filly. 

It should be said that, for all that Eddie O'Leary has a host of international clients, he still made time for his neighbour at Goffs. At one point in the afternoon on Wednesday, Nick Nugent on the rostrum announced, 'from one corner of Mullingar to the other,' when Roger O'Callaghan of Tall-Ho purchased a Mehmas colt [lot 349] for £45,000 off his fellow Westmeath native. 

O'Leary's Lynn Lodge Stud ended proceedings with 11 yearlings sold for £677,000 at an average of £61,545, making the operation the fifth most successful across the two days. 

Tally-Ho Dominate

It was an excellent sale for Tally-Ho. Not only was the stud responsible for the top lot, the Blandford Bloodstock-bought Night Of Thunder (Ire) filly [lot 278] out of five-time winner and listed-placed Thiswaycadeaux (Thewayyouare), but they also ended proceedings as the leading consignors with 24 yearlings making £1,544,000 in total.

That was needed, according to Roger O'Callaghan, who revealed that there were 60 more yearlings standing in the field at home in Westmeath, with 40 needing to be broken in and prepared for the breeze-ups.

Away from the excellent results posted by their own stock, Tally-Ho will have been delighted by how all the progeny of their resident stallions were received with yearlings by Kodiac, Cotai Glory, Kessaar, Galileo Gold, Mehmas and young sire Inns Of Court doing well. 

Night Of Thunder Stars

But the star of the show, without question, was Darley's Night Of Thunder. Along with Tally-Ho's sales-topping filly, the Mountarmstrong Stud-drafted Night Of Thunder [170] colt out of Pious Alexander, which ended day one on top at £230,000, ensured it was a memorable sale for the sire.

Mark McStay landed the day one leader, after which, the leading agent labelled Night Of Thunder, the sire of last week's spellbinding G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Highfield Princess (Fr), as a solid source of top-class talent. 

Classy Siblings On Show

Some pedigrees leapt off the page. The Galileo Gold half-brother [280] to Nunthorpe runner-up The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) made £170,000 to join Richard Spencer, the Ulysses (Ire)  half-brother [213] to Coventry S. winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) was knocked down to Dance Thoroughbreds for £150,000 and Whitsbury Manor's Havana Grey (GB) half-sister to Sandy Lane S. scorer El Caballo (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}) was all the rage at £230,000 with Jack Warren of Highclere doing the buying. 

Havana Grey Shines

Of the 22 horses offered by Havana Grey, all bar one were sold for a total of £1,089,000, averaging at £51,857. Whitsbury's Ed Harper revealed that his performance is exceeding the wildest dreams but, with nine individual black-type horses in his first crop, perhaps buyers were cottoning on to the fact that they have been witnessing something special.

Soldier's Answers The Call

This game is all about looking towards the future and the early signs are that Joe Foley has another real one at Ballyhane Stud in Soldier's Call (GB). 

The man knows how to launch a stallion and must have taken great credit about how Soldier's Call cleared £563,000 from 13 yearlings sold at an average of £43,308. 

What's more, Foley was prepared to put his money where his mouth is, and bought the top lot [212] by the sire for £105,000 off Tinnakill House Stud for Steve Parkin. 

The post The Major Talking Points From The Premier Yearling Sale At Doncaster appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Haggas and Boughey: The Deadly Duo on Buying, Selling and Winning

George Boughey is rarely seen without his right-hand man, Sam Haggas, and the pair sat down with Brian Sheerin at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale at Doncaster this week.

   From making the Classic breakthrough with Cachet in the 1,000 Guineas, to recruiting Missed The Cut and Inver Park for relatively small money to win at Royal Ascot, Boughey and Haggas provide a fascinating insight to what goes on behind the scenes at one of the most impressive outfits in Britain and Ireland. 

Brian Sheerin: I saw this week that you are expanding–you have come a long way in a short space of time. 

George Boughey: We're still in the same place but just rented some more boxes out the back and built a hole through the fence between the two yards so we've just over 100 boxes now with that new yard. What we're doing is still the same but having those extra boxes is great. There have been possible chances to move to bigger yards but we're very happy doing what we're doing and it seems to be working. 

BS: Would a move to a big yard be on the horizon? It's no secret that you are one of the most ambitious people in the game.

GB: I've never been one to make quick decisions. I don't really like to jump at things and prefer to apply a pretty measured consideration to what I do. There's not many yards in Newmarket that have the capacity for us to move on to. I'm pretty intent on staying in Newmarket for the moment as it seems to be working for us. I've been very lucky to have assembled a great team of staff. To up sticks and move is a big thing, especially when you are growing. When you are stable, it's a different matter, but our business is changing as we go as we are buying and selling at every sale. If the right yard became available, it would be something to think about but that opportunity hasn't presented itself as of yet. 

BS: There have been plenty of examples of trainers experiencing massive growth spurts but they are unable to sustain it. There is definitely an element of getting too big too quickly for some people in this game. How have you managed to sustain your massive growth in such a short period yet maintain, and actually improve, results?

GB: The biggest thing for us is that we have employed the right people. We've just taken on a new person to run the new yard and my head lad, Adi Rogers, worked for Sir Michael Stoute and Sir Henry Cecil for years. We worked together in Hugo's [Palmer] and he came and worked for me when I decided to set up on my own. In the past few weeks, I've been to Arqana, York and now Doncaster, but the place keeps rolling on. We can do so much over the phone these days and the training charts are all online for me as well. I have good people; good farriers, vets, riders, feed people and general staff. That's what has enabled us to grow.

BS: When you burst onto the scene, you won a lot of 2-year-old races and clearly had them fit and ready. A lot of people were quick to pigeon-hole you as a trainer of early 2-year-olds. For that reason, did it give you extra satisfaction when Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) trained on and won the 1,000 Guineas as it proved your doubters wrong?

GB: One hundred per cent. And also, one of the Dixon brothers picked up on it the other day on Racing TV and I said it in an interview with him. If I wanted to bang out a load of 2-year-old winners, I'd be buying 20 yearlings here at Donny this week. The horse that I want to train is the nicer type of horse, not just early 2-year-olds, but one who can get you to the Classics. When I started, I realised we needed to buy some sharp, short-runners to go and win with, because otherwise, you get forgotten. If you just buy the slow-maturing horse, which is ultimately the one I want to train, nobody knows about you. You end up training for three years before you get going. We had a nice filly win on debut the other day by chance. They are not asked to win on debut and we've only had two first-time out juvenile winners this year. They win on their second and third starts and, because we have a strong pool of horses running for us now, we have been able to apply a different approach. 

 

BS: So it's interesting to hear that you were quite conscious of all of that when you were starting out. You were aware that people were labelling you as a trainer of early 2-year-olds. 

GB: I bought more older horses than 2-year-old starting out and Sam was a huge part of that. You could say we got lucky at the start because we bought four horses and three of them won. A few of them racked up sequences as well and we continue to do that. It's a conscious effort. For example, we'll be buying at the August Sale next week. We've had 75 winners this year and a lot of them have been sourced at the tried sales. We've bought some decent unraced horses from those sales as well and we will continue to do that. That's just as big of a part of our operation. I don't just want to be a trainer of early whizz bang 2-year-olds. I'd have gone a different way if I wanted to do that. If I wanted to do that, I don't think I'd have set up in Newmarket. 

BS: On Sam's involvement in the operation. I found it fascinating to watch the two of you in action at the July Sale at Newmarket. I saw Sam walking around with a folder full of speed figures. Can you provide us with some insight on that?

Sam Haggas: I look for quite a few things. I like looking at different stats, metrics and I just try not to miss anything. I believe that, the more information you have at your disposal, the better informed your decision will be when it comes to buying one. I just try not to miss anything and put a lot of things together about each horse in the catalogue. 

GB: But the one that's changed in the past three years, and granted it's a small sample size, but I used to have an opinion at the horses-in-training sales. Now, I don't even look at the catalogue. Sam does all of that and he will then give me a list of a sixth of the sale, or whatever it happens to be, and then I will go and look at them. We used to buy horses that I didn't like as a physical just because they came up well on Sam's stats and speed figures. Invariably, what we worked out was, the ones who did not have good physicals were anomalies, in that they put up a freak figure somewhere. They were never the successful ones that we bought so, now, what we do is, I have to like the physical before we buy them. You know, I have to look at them every day at home in training and what we've found is, the poor physicals, even on Sam's numbers, have been the ones who rarely work out. I like to have a sound and sturdy horse. We have won over £1.5 million in prize-money this season, including in France, and that is probably because I like to run my horses a lot. Oscula (Ire) (Galileo Gold {GB}) has won something like £300,000 in prize-money this year alone so they need to be able to take their racing. I don't do a huge amount at home with them but, matching the physicals with Sam's data, that has been a huge turn for us. 

BS: Whose decision has it been to run Oscula 20 times this season? Yourself or Nick Bradley's [owner]?

GB: Probably Nick for the 20th! I was pretty keen for most of them. I was very keen to back up quickly at Goodwood when she won the Group 3 there. My girlfriend Laura, who rides Oscula at home, was pretty keen as well. Oscula is actually the heaviest she's ever been right now. I thought she was cooked when I picked her up off the sand in Saudi Arabia but she responded incredibly well. She went for a good break after that-she never really had one before-and she developed. She's not an overly big horse but she's just looked better and better all summer. She literally spends most of her time in the paddock and goes for a trot-she only had the saddle on her back about four times in between three runs. 

BS: There are some excellent trainer-agent combinations, for example Archie Watson has Tom Biggs. What sets you two apart?

Sam Haggas: There's also Jason Kelly and David O'Meara, Joseph O'Brien and Kevin Blake, Ado McGuinness and Stephen Thorne. Personally, I have been lucky to work with a few very diligent people who have helped me get the list to where it needs to be for George. Equally, George is very disciplined and he has a very good team around him. When a horse goes through the ring at a H-I-T sale, we have a value on every one of them. We bid to their value and, if we miss, it's a case of them making too much and us walking away. There's a bit of that involved and discipline as well. We have good people on our side in every facet of the operation and I don't think that there's one secret.

GB: I think the valuing of the horses is a big thing. It would be great to go out and buy every horse that we want but we've never spent a lot of money–I don't think we've ever bought anything for more than £50,000. I think discipline is important. We could go and buy these 103-rated horses but they're just too obvious and anyone can buy those.

BS: Have you found yourselves re-evaluating budgets at the yearling sales yet because Arqana was extremely competitive and there doesn't appear to be anything slipping through the net here at the Premier Yearling Sale.

SH: The thing with H-I-T Sales is, the range of what sort of value a horse has is much more narrow compared to yearlings. You have a fair idea about what you are going to be paying for a horse in training.

GB: Yea, at those sales you don't have a horse that you think will make £25,000 go on to make £125,000, but that can happen here. If that happens at the H-I-T Sale, you're doing things wrong. 

SH: There's a bit more rationale to the H-I-T sales.

GB: What we buy now has changed to what we bought when we started out. Before, we were just trying to buy a horse to win a race. The first order I ever gave Sam was to go out and find me a horse to win a 0-50 handicap. He found every single horse rated 47-50 who could run between seven furlongs and a mile-and-a-quarter. I still have the What's App messages between myself and Sam on this, when he came back to me and said, 'I think the one you want is Three C'S (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}). He's won six or seven races for us and we paid next to nothing for him privately. He was the type of horse we were trying to buy back then. Now, we're trying to buy a horse to win the Buckingham Palace at Royal Ascot, which is what Sam did. He bought Inver Park (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) without seeing him but he came out so well on his figures that he just had to have him. I can remember sitting in my kitchen when we bought him. We had to give about 10 grand more than we wanted to but Sam wouldn't let me not buy him. It's very rare that Sam pushes me to buy a horse and, when we bought him, he said Inver Park would go on and win the Buckingham Palace. We gelded him and then worked backwards from the race. Amazingly, he had to go all the way up to Hamilton to win at 8-11 to win under a penalty to guarantee that he'd get in at Ascot. William Buick flew up there to ride that horse especially for us and it won us the race at Ascot because we snuck in. For that to work out as Sam said it would, it was just amazing.

BS: Missed The Cut (Quality Road) was also an inspired buy.

SH: If George is going to give me the credit for Inver Park, I'm going to have to give him the credit for Missed The Cut. He was unraced. A completely blank canvass so, how much data can you gather on an unraced horse? He came out of his box and, straight away, George declared him the NAP of the sale. That was that. The horse walked into the ring and I don't think George was going to be beaten.

GB: He was so big and backward. He was a much different physical back then to what he is now. In actual fact, he was a big, raw slop of a thing, really. It was the middle of February and I can remember, he took three strides out of his box and I told them to pop him back in. Sam was saying, 'you can't do that,' but he was such a lovely horse that you could see it straight away. He was a $400,000 [Shadwell-bought] foal at Keeneland in November 2019 and I would have been happy to give more than we did [40,000 gns]. We bought Diamond Ranger (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) a couple of lots before that and he's won two and is rated 91. There was a big gap in the market and I can remember saying to Sam on the Shadwell horses, 'we need to buy as many of these as we can.' They had twice the pedigrees of any of these horses here at Donny today, yet they cost half the price. Diamond Ranger cost us 26,000gns. He was a 110,000gns yearling at Book 1 at Tattersalls in 2020. 

BS: Those results at Ascot must be up there with the best days you both have had in racing. I know Sam has had good touches in the past, including with a filly he sourced from Ireland, Miss O Connor (Ire) (Roderic O'Connor {Ire}), but those Ascot triumphs must have been something different.

SH: It was right up there with my best days in racing, for sure. To be there on the day, and to have the owners there as well, it was amazing. These were inexpensive horses winning at the biggest meeting in the world. 

GB: Missed The Cut and Inver Park are amazingly owned by great friends of ours. Ed Babington owns a share of Missed The Cut and he also has a share in Inver Park. Charlie Rosier and Allison Jackson are also big supporters of the yard. They've cobbled together for horses a few times and, yes they've had winners which has been great, but to put their top hats on and win races at Royal Ascot, that's their dream. It's also our dream so it's great that we could live it. We're lucky to have lots of horses to have a chance to do it but, to actually go and do it was great. 

BS: There has been a lot of doom and gloom in the media about trainers being forced to retire due to an inability to make the game pay. The flipside of that is, there are people like yourself coming through showing that, yes, while this is an extremely difficult profession to make a living at, it can be done.

GB: We had 87 winners across Europe last year and, at the start of this season, I looked at the pool of horses we had and thought, 'how the hell are we going to get anywhere near that.' But, with Sam's help, I mean every single sale, we're active. We keep buying and selling horses. If I started and finished the year with the same pool of horses, I wouldn't do anything like the numbers that we do. You have to keep the wheel turning and, yes, there are times when it's tricky for us. The old-fashioned thing to do is, you buy a yearling around this time of year and you see everyone again at the next yearling sale the following autumn. That's a long way away from what we do. A lot of trainers see H-I-T sales as clearouts but we use them to re-stock. It's an opportunity to elevate the quality in your yard.

BS: But it's also an opportunity for you to let go of horses you feel have reached their ceiling?

GB: We've actually sold a lot of winners there over the past few years. That's a big thing for us. I want people to feel like they can buy winners from us. In the August Sale next week, there's absolute winners waiting to happen for the next person. Paddy Brunty (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}) and Rock Girl (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}) for example, there's a bundle of them. They'll be winning races in three weeks' time but we need to be turning them over and putting money back in our owners' pockets rather than running the horses into the ground. 

BS: There's not many trainers who would be so commercially driven at your level.

GB: I wouldn't say so. You see it all of the time, a lot of the horses at these H-I-T sales are taken out at the last minute. That's what makes it so frustrating for Sam. You see a horse two weeks out from the sales and you want to buy it. Then, two days before the sale, it's scratched because trainers want to keep a hold of them. We have a different view.

BS: Sam, you may have cut your teeth with the form horses, but you've become equally as busy at the yearling sales. Do you enjoy that?

SH: I'd love to do more on the yearling sales. First and foremost, horses with form is the priority and I want to keep it that way. I can't let that slip. But I'd love to do more on the yearling side of things. Equally, it's a different sphere but I'm interested in both arenas. I don't see why a data and form approach can't be applied to a certain degree to these yearling sales. They may just provide us with something of an edge or just something extra to what we are seeing with just our eyes. 

BS: We all know the Mark Johnston approach to buying yearlings at these sales. Is yours different or what is your approach?

SH: There may not be something printed in the catalogue page and it will be my job to know about that. There could be many underappreciated things there and I will bring it all to the table for George to consider. 

GB: There's been a number of times when Sam has flagged up something. He'd say to me, 'you better go and see that,' and I wouldn't have had it on the list. He might see a horse run well at Carlisle or some place, and it could look like a potentially nice horse or a future winner, and it may be an update that not many people will have spotted. It's another tool. I certainly would miss that if I was going looking by myself. 

BS: Speaking about the horses in your yard, where can we expect to see Missed The Cut next? Were you disappointed with him in the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano at Deauville?

GB: He's still very raw and, I said it before the race, it's very rare that a horse goes from winning a maiden to running in the top group races, which is what he did in France. He did come up a little bit short but he was possibly racing on the worst part of the track that day and finished off his race a little flat. We won the following race with Oscula and, after telling Ryan Moore to come down the middle the previous race on Missed The Cut, I told him to hug the rail on Oscula, and it worked. Anything that came off the rail seemed to be treading water so I don't think that helped us. But the winner, Al Hakeem (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), is a very good horse and we retain a lot of faith in Missed The Cut. He's come a long way already and is owned by some very patient people so we'll do the right thing by him. 

BS: And is there a plan for Cachet?

GB: The Breeders' Cup is the plan and she's training away. She's a Classic winner and you can't take that away from her. We'll have a meeting with Highclere soon and make a plan but things are up in the air a little bit at the moment. 

BS: I find it quite interesting that Sam must look at things through a different prism than most given his background working with Paddy Power. 

SH: I definitely learned a lot at Paddy Power and I apply a lot of what I learned there to bloodstock. It was a very good education. There were some talented people in that building in Dublin and I learned a lot during my two years over there. There's an ex-colleague of mine at Paddy Power's, a guy called Feidhlim Cunningham, and he's done very well with Gavin Cromwell. They've had a lot of success together. There's a skillset that you gained at Paddy Power that was definitely applicable to bloodstock.

BS: And what about backing them? Everyone knows the Boughey yard is to be feared when the money arrives. That must provide you both with a lot of fun when it goes well?

GB: It is a bit of fun but, the more horses you have, the more it distorts your view. I used to punt, I mean it makes the world go around but now I have over 100 horses in training so we don't do it as much. Yes, if we fancy one, we might support it but a lot of the time, I think the gambles on our horses comes more from the general public. When they snowball, they snowball.

The post Haggas and Boughey: The Deadly Duo on Buying, Selling and Winning appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Karakontie’s Spendarella Wins For Fun in Del Mar Oaks

Gainesway Stable's Spendarella (Karakontie {Jpn}), a huge second in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot June 17, put on a show in Saturday evening's GI Del Mar Oaks.

Favored at 6-5 after suffering her first career defeat overseas, the New York-bred stalked the early leaders in third, hit the gas while three wide on the far turn, and kicked clear impressively in the stretch to win for fun by 4 1/2 lengths over Bellabel (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}).

Spendarella began her career with three straight victories, including Gulfstream's GIII Herecomesthebride S. Mar. 5 and Keeneland's GII Appalachian S. Apr. 9.

Pedigree Notes:

Spendarella is the first Grade I winner for GI Breeders' Cup Mile victor Karakontie, who resides in her owner/breeder Gainesway's stallion barn. She is a half-sister to GI American Oaks winner Spanish Queen (Tribal Rule) and a full to MSW & MGSP Spanish Loveaffair. Gainesway acquired her dam Spanish Bunny for $130,000 at the 2015 KEENOV sale. Spanish Loveaffair was her second foal for Antony Beck's operation and she brought $775,000 at the 2021 KEENOV sale. Spendarella came next and was followed by the now 2-year-old filly Spanish Destiny (Destin). Spanish Bunny failed to get back in foal to Destin for 2021, but had an Uncle Mo colt Feb. 17 of this year. She was bred back to both Quality Road and Karakontie.

Saturday, Del Mar
DEL MAR OAKS-GI, $304,000, Del Mar, 8-20, 3yo, f, 1 1/8mT, 1:47.09, fm.
1–SPENDARELLA, 122, f, 3, by Karakontie (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Spanish Bunny, by Unusual Heat
                2nd Dam: Spanish Beam, by El Gran Senor
                3rd Dam: Solar Beam, by Majestic Light
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($220,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Gainesway
Stable (Antony Beck); B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd. (NY);
T-H. Graham Motion; J-Tyler Gaffalione. $180,000. Lifetime
Record: 5-4-1-0, $596,459. *Full to Spanish Loveaffair, MSW &
MGSP, $284,090; 1/2 to Spanish Queen (Tribal Rule), GISW,
$423,600. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Werk Nick Rating: A+.
2–Bellabel (Ire), 122, f, 3, by Belardo (Ire)
                1st Dam: Fashion Line (Ire), by Cape Cross (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Shadow Roll (Ire), by Mark of Esteem (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Warning Shadows (Ire), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB)
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (€33,000 Ylg '20 TATFB). O-Agave Racing
Stable, Benowitz Family Trust, CYBT, Michael Nentwig & Ray
Pagano; B-Fergus Cousins (IRE); T-Philip D'Amato. $60,000.
3–Cairo Memories, 122, f, 3, by Cairo Prince
                1st Dam: Incarnate Memories, by Indian Charlie
                2nd Dam: Witness Post, by Gone West
                3rd Dam: Most Likely, by Fappiano
'TDN Rising Star'. ($50,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-David A.
Bernsen, LLC & Schroeder Farms LLC; B-Brereton C. Jones (KY);
T-Robert B. Hess, Jr. $36,000.
Margins: 4HF, 1 1/4, NK. Odds: 1.20, 3.70, 4.60.
Also Ran: Tezzaray (GB), Ballet Dancing, Lucky Girl (Ire), Lady Clementine (GB), Sixteen Arches (Ire), Island of Love (Ire), Txope (Fr), Gold Dragon Queen, Lady T, Gracelund Gray. Scratched: Rhea Moon (Ire).
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Britannia Winner Thesis Bound For Hong Kong After Sale

Thesis (GB) (Kingman {GB}), the winner of the Britannia S. at Royal Ascot last month, has been sold and will race on in Hong Kong. The Roger and Harry Charlton-trained runner was previously owned by his breeder, Juddmonte. Third to subsequent G2 Queen's Vase second Zechariah (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) when unveiled at Sandown last July, the colt ran second three times at Newbury, Lingfield, and Doncaster from April to June of this year prior to his Royal Ascot heroics.

Roger Charlton said, “Thesis has been sold to race in Hong Kong. We half expected it, as Britannia winners and those who finish close up are invariably sold to race there.

“Where else do you go over here? You can tell owners they will win a group race, but there are not too many of them for horses rated like him and the prize money is greater over there.

“It is a shame, but there we are. What can you do.”

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