Sean Woods | Horse Racing Free Tips

Basement Trade Shows Solid Core at Tattersalls

NEWMARKET, UK — “Trickledown” felt rather too contentious, given what was meanwhile happening to its proponents out there in the real world. In this environment, after all, the original label of “horse-and-sparrow economics” would always have conveyed the theory rather more intelligibly. Some alternative word was required on Friday, then, to describe how a rampant market at the front end of the Tattersalls October Sale was filtering somewhat more quietly into the base of the pyramid.

In the end, the second half of Book 3–in which momentum reliably ebbs relative to the catalogue's opening session–perhaps suggested “percolation” sooner than an outright “overflow”. But there was no mistaking the wholesome depth of a market far more vital, to many professionals, than the giddy transactions of the opening books.

In contrast with Thursday, when the median had remained unchanged on last year, a gain to 13,000gns from 10,000gns attested to really solid trade through this lower tier, backed up by a strong clearance rate of 83 percent. The average was also up, by 11 percent to 17,349gns, with overall turnover on the day up 17 percent to 3,903,600gns.

Combined, the two Book 3 sessions registered robust performance across the board. Total business advanced nine percent to 11,554,600gns, producing a corresponding gain in average to 24,428gns.

But the real neon number is the one posted for total business at the October Sale, with just Saturday morning's Book 4 to go. Trade to this point last year had reached 151,474,150gns. By last night it had soared 31 percent to approach a symbolic landmark at 199,006,100gns.

Woods Hangs In There For Joint-Top Lot

This was a day when trainers and their agents could finally attempt some old-fashioned “on spec” recruitment. Nonetheless a couple of fillies, respectively by Ten Sovereigns (Ire) and Aclaim (Ire), forced their purchasers as far as 90,000gns at either end of the day.

The Aclaim, consigned by Bearstone Stud as Lot 1959, was acquired by Dwayne Woods on behalf of his brother Sean. She's out of an unraced Kodiac (GB) half-sister to G1 St Leger runner-up The Last Drop (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose son Washington Heights (GB) (Washington DC {Ire}) had earned his first black-type at Ripon shortly before the sale. But her most conspicuous genetic distinction is perhaps the fourth dam, Irish Classic winner Sarah Siddons (Fr).

“The update was nice but much more importantly she's just a fabulous filly,” Woods said. “She'll make a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, so it's all pretty good.”

The agent was speaking for many prospectors when adding: “It's been hard work this week. I'm happy with everything we have bought, but every time I got up to a big one I was underbidder—at least five of them over 200,000gns.”

Ten Out of Ten For Oakgrove Filly

The Ten Sovereigns filly [1708] that topped the morning trade arrived from John Deer's Oakgrove Stud and, with the docket signed by Jo Stone of Rabbah Bloodstock, will be joining local trainer Ismail Mohammed. She's out of Listed scorer Lady Grace (Ire) (Orpen), one of the farm's more mature mares who has produced a couple of stakes operators.

“We're delighted with the price, but she deserved to make it,” said Oakgrove manager David Hilton. “She could have been earlier in the sale and was a bit of a stand-out today. She has a pedigree, she's a good physical, moves well. We've been very happy with her all the way through. We wanted to get back to speed. Mr. Deer really likes the stallion, thought what he did at Newmarket was exceptional. We've used him again and I'm sure he's going to make it.”

On a busy day for the Chepstow farm, perhaps its outstanding page was offered by a Golden Horn (GB) colt [1704] out of a Kingman (GB) half-sister to its champion Al Kazeem (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). He was another purchase, at 40,000gns, by Dwayne Woods.

As for Ten Sovereigns, he registered another good sale for this grade when a filly from Deer Forest Stud made 50,000gns from Amanda Skiffington as Lot 1878. She will be joining Jane Chapple-Hyam.

Another Zoustar Breeze Project for Tally-Ho

The booming market has naturally raised the stakes uncomfortably for pinhookers, who were duly relieved to be active at this more accessible tier. One for whom the breeze-ups are on the agenda is the daughter of Zoustar (Aus) brought here as Lot 1930 by Jamie Railton, acquired for 77,000gns by Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock on behalf of Tally-Ho Stud.

“She's a lovely filly,” the agent said. “She's from a very fast, precocious family and that seems to be what is working best with the Zoustars. She's also a half-sister to a pretty decent and precocious horse in [juvenile stakes-placed] Lambeth Walk (GB) (Charm Spirirt {Ire}).”

Tally-Ho found one of the high achievers of the last breeze-up cycle in this catalogue last year, when Hamish Macauley Bloodstock signed an identical docket for a filly by the same stallion. Sold on to Atlas Bloodstock at Arqana for €110,000, she is now celebrated as GI Cheveley Park S. winner Lezoo (GB).

This lady's prospects of emulating that success are enhanced by granddam Roo (GB) (Rudimentary), responsible for a series of black-type performers and/or producers including the dam of G1 Sussex S. winner Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}).

Clodovil Bows Out

A touching footnote was the sale of the last yearling to come under the hammer by Clodovil (Ire), now enjoying his retirement at Rathasker Stud. The daughter consigned by his home farm as Lot 1798 was bought for 37,000gns by Julie Wood's Woodstock, doubtless with a view to emulating Manderley (Ire)–another of his greys, who ran a close fourth in the G1 1000 Guineas at 100-1 after Wood bought her from Rathasker in Book I of the 2012 sale.

“She's a lovely filly,” said Rathasker's Maurice Burns. “She had the same way of going as all of Clodovil's progeny. They have a bit of spark and are very genuine. People who had any of his stock always returned and came to the door at the sales to see his stock. It was just age that caught up with him.”

Clodovil's legacy at Rathasker is in the hands of his son Gregorian (Ire), while his record as a broodmare sire has recently been topped off by G1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}).

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Record Session Kicks Off Tattersalls Book 2

NEWMARKET, UK-the middle market has flourished at the yearling sales transatlantically thus far in 2021, and that trend proved out again on Monday during the first of three sessions of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, where figures were not only well up on the remarkably strong 2020 renewal staged in the midst of the pre-vaccine pandemic, but at this stage also trending ahead of 2019's record edition. The first day of Book 2 saw records for turnover, average and median for a session at Book 2. Of the 247 yearlings offered, 212 found new homes (86%) for an aggregate of 18,935,500gns that was up 24% on last year's corresponding session. The average jumped 27% year on year to 89,318gns, while the median climbed 35% to 70,000gns. The average for the whole of Book 2 in 2019 was 78,224gns, and the median 55,500gns.

Sean Woods made his return to the Newmarket training ranks this season after nearly 20 years in Hong Kong. He has notched 10 wins this season and will have a serious bullet to fire sometime next year in the form of a Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt (lot 604) picked up by his brother Dwayne Woods for 375,000gns on Monday.

“He was stunning; to me he was the best colt in the sale,” Dwayne Woods said after signing the ticket. “He's very strong, probably the cleanest Night Of Thunder I've ever seen– conformationally, strength, everything. Night Of Thunder is a wonderful sire, but they are a little bit incorrect in front as he is. This was the most beautiful model. I see him as being a six furlong horse to a miler, or more like seven furlongs to a mile-a Guineas horse if I ever saw one, and hence we went that strongly on him.”

Sean Woods added: “he'll have a bit of time now and come to us in January. He's for one of my existing owners.”

Bred by Cranford Bloodstock, the colt was offered by Rathbarry Stud. He is out of Harlequin Girl (GB) (Where Or When {Ire}) and his 2-year-old full-brother Hanaady (Ire), who was bought by Shadwell for 110,000gns at this sale last year, won on Sept. 29 for trainer Ed Dunlop. Harlequin Girl is a half-sister to three stakes horses, including G2 Gimcrack S. scorer Blaine (GB) (Avonbridge {GB}), and also to the dam of this year's G3 Chester Vase winner Youth Spirit (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).

There is perhaps nothing to keep buyers around until late into the evening quite like a Galileo (Ire) filly out of a young stakes-winning mare, and that is exactly what materialized when Manister House Stud's filly out G3 Cornwallis S. winner Mrs Danvers (GB) (Hellvelyn {GB}) (lot 768) strolled into the ring four lots from the end of the session. Bids flew from throughout the ring, but the final blow was at last landed online by BBA Ireland/Yulong Investments at 320,000gns.

It would be rare indeed to see a mare who couldn't find a home for £1,000 as a 2-year-old among Galileo's mates, but Mrs Danvers has punched remarkably above the weight of her page. Unsold at the Tattersalls Ireland Ascot February Sale four months before making her racecourse debut for owner/trainer Jonathan Portman, Mrs Danvers soon caused her value to skyrocket when winning at first asking at Lingfield by 3 1/4 lengths. She would proceed to sail unbeaten through a five-race juvenile campaign culminating in Newmarket's Cornwallis. Mrs Danvers has visited Galileo in her first three seasons at stud, and with her first foal, a colt, having unfortunately died, this filly will be the first to try to bolster the black-type on the page.

“She was an exceptional filly, especially for her age,” said Manister House Stud's Luke Barry in reference to the fact that the filly is a May 4 foal. “She had all the qualities of her sire but most importantly she very much looked like Mrs Danvers. Even for a May foal she looks sharp. We brought her here to stand out and we're thrilled that she sold very well. She has great quality, as will come with a Galileo, but Mrs Danvers has put a lot of strength and sharpness into her.”

New Frontier For Kingman

Kingman (GB) has enjoyed another fruitful season domestically and in the meantime he has begun to build up an admirable record in Hong Kong, with six winners from seven runners in that nation. Another son of the Juddmonte supremo is bound for Hong Kong, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club's representative Mick Kinane going to 300,000gns for lot 617 from Ballyhimikin Stud.

“He's by a great stallion and he's a lovely, correct model, which is what I want,” Kinane said. “I liked him from the first day I saw him and when he settled in up here he was a lovely colt.”

Commenting on the market, Kinane added, “It's like anything, good horses are hard to buy. This is the first one I've tried on today. We bought five last week, so we were happy.”

Lot 617 is the first foal out of Hunaina (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), who was bred by the Aga Khan Studs and raced by the Aga Khan through her first two seasons on the track. She was bought by Trevor Stewart through Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €140,000 from the 2017 Goffs November Mares Sale, and went on to win the Listed Snowdrop Fillies' S. and G3 Prix Bertrand du Breuil Longines in Stewart's colours for trainer Henri Devin. This colt, her first foal, was bred by Stewart with James Hanley and Anthony Stroud. Hunaina is from the family of the dual Derby winner Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and this year's G1 Irish Derby, G1 St Leger and G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

“We bought the mare as a 3-year-old in training and sent her to trainer Henri Devin and she won a listed race and a Group 3,” said Stewart. “We are very happy with the result. He is a really nice first foal; a good walking, strong individual. It is a nice start for the mare, who is at Ballyhimikin, and she had a colt by Sea The Stars this spring.”

There were seven Kingmans offered during the opening session of Book 2 and they filled two of the top three spots on the leaderboard. A filly by Kingman (lot 739) joined Ballyhimikin's colt late in the session at the 300,000gns mark when bought by Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown standing alongside John Gosden, who trained the sire through his Horse of the Year campaign.

Lot 739 was offered by breeder Appletree Stud, a Gloucestershire-based nursery run by former leading National Hunt rider Robert “Choc” Thornton that brought a three-horse draft to Book 2. She is the fifth foal out of the Moyglare Stud-bred Midnight Thoughts, who is unraced and was a high-profile buyback at the 2014 Keeneland November sale when led out unsold at $975,000. That valuation was based on the fact that Midnight Thoughts is a daughter of G2 Ribblesdale S. victress Irresistible Jewel (Ire) (Danehill), the dam of G1 Irish St Leger winner Royal Diamond (Ire) (King's Best), Ribblesdale winner Princess Highway (Street Cry {Ire}) and G3 Gladness S. winner Mad About You (Ire) (Indian Ridge).

Midnight Thoughts was acquired by Appletree Stud privately thereafter, and her third foal, Tomorrow's Dream (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}), was a winner and placed in Newmarket's Listed Rosemary S. while racing as an Appletree homebred with trainer William Haggas. Midnight Thoughts has a foal full-brother to Tomorrow's Dream, and was covered by Pinatubo this season.

“It's a fantastic result, in the region of double what we thought,” Thornton said. “Going into the ring, we knew we had good people behind us but we didn't expect that. It's a complete credit to Jonny Sutton, the stud groom. He has done a hell of a job with her and turned her inside out. If you look at the pictures of her online, and look at her now, they were only taken 10 days ago; she has really changed. She is by far the best daughter out of Midnight Thoughts and, as this is a business, we have put her in the sale and we have got a great result.”

Brown said after signing the ticket, “She was an extremely attractive filly. She's come from a very good, young farm in Gloucestershire. She had a fantastic shape. I've seen her quite a lot; she put on a great show out there. I bought her for John Gosden for a client of ours and we were both extremely keen to get her. John thought she was the outstanding Kingman filly in the sale and so did I. He probably knows more about Kingman than me. She's a lovely, classy, elegant filly by a proper stallion and it's a proper page.”

Brown, who picked up a daughter of Gleneagles two lots later, admitted the strength of the market had made for a difficult start to the day.

“We had to go strong, but the market has been very strong today,” he said. “It was a very frustrating morning; I bid on a lot of horses before lunch time and it wasn't going very well, but we got a couple there and she was at the top of the list.”

It's A Yes For No Nay Never Filly

Andrew Balding has trained one of the best yet by ascendant young sire No Nay Never in this season's G1 Coronation S. and G1 Sussex S. winner Alcohol Free (Ire), and Balding secured another by the Coolmore sire for Kingsclere when going to 260,000gns on Monday for lot 561, a colt from Newsells Park Stud.

“We thought he was a lovely colt and we've had some success with the stallion,” Balding noted, saying the purchase was made on behalf of an undisclosed client. “We're thrilled to get him.”

As detailed last week in the TDN, Balding is assisted at the sales by the formidable team of Emma Balding, his mother, and racing manager Tessa Hetherington, and Balding noted the colt passed inspection by each of his discerning team members.

“He was one of our top picks of the ones we've seen over the three days, so we're delighted to have him,” he said.

Jeff Smith's Alcohol Free, who also won last year's G1 Cheveley Park S., is entered in Saturday's G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. on Champions Day at Ascot, and Balding said it is “all systems go” for the 3-year-old filly. Alcohol Free looks to bounce back from a sixth-place finish behind Mishriff (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in the G1 Juddmonte International, and she drops back to her favoured mile trip.

Balding has enjoyed a remarkable season with the likes of Sandrine (GB), Spanish Mission, Berkshire Shadow (GB) and Bangkok (Ire) also among his group winners. Balding lost his top spot in the trainers' championship to Charlie Appleby after a great last weekend for latter, but Balding was philosophical about the demotion.

“It was inevitable, I am afraid,” he smiled. “We were probably punching above our weight for a good while there, but it is what it is and natural order has been restored. We have had a wonderful season.”

Lot 561 is the first foal out of Fleeting Fancy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a placed daughter of the G3 Derrinstown Stud 1000 Guineas Trial winner and G1 Irish Oaks and G2 Ribblesdale S.-placed Just Pretending (Giant's Causeway). Fleeting Fancy is likewise a full-sister to the black type-placed Persia (Ire) and Visage (Ire). She was bought for €480,000 at Arqana December in 2019, carrying this colt, by Dean Hawthorne on behalf of the Australian-based Jonathan Munz of GSA Bloodstock, who bred him.

Wilson Broadening His Racing Horizons

Lope De Vega had two yearlings feature among the top eight on Monday and one of those is headed Down Under, with owner Noel Wilson signing the docket on lot 657, a colt from Ballyhimikin Stud, at 250,000gns while seated alongside his French-based trainer Eoghan O'Neill.

Wilson, who is based in Kent and is a former Sun racing editor who is also involved in property and other investments, has horses in training with O'Neill as well as Francis Graffard and Christophe Ferland under his Just Wow Ltd. banner and has taken shares of horses in Australia to get his feet wet in the business there. Wilson also bought an Australia (GB) colt out of G3 Sweet Solera S. winner Nations Alexander (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) from Book 1 last week for 200,000gns, and said he hopes to send his new purchases to British-born, Australian-based trainer Annabel Neasham.

Of the Lope De Vega colt, Wilson said, “He's very classy. He vetted superbly, he was a standout at the sale. I'm just looking for a good horse. There is quite a bit of stamina in the two I've bought-this one has a bit more speed, maybe a mile and a quarter. You never know.”

“I live in Kent but I've never had a horse in England,” Wilson said. “I've had horses in Australia come tenth and pick up 1500-quid. That's not the deciding factor, but it's indicative of what's going on. If you look at Australia, I've seen 90-rated horses place in Group 1s, and the money–if you have a horse that does have ability, you only have to look at some of the examples recently. I'm not really rich enough to support British racing.”

The complication of not being able to regularly see his runners isn't a problem, either, for Wilson.

“I set the alarm and I can see them,” he said. “I have Equidia in the kitchen. I don't need to go and watch them physically. When they lose its nice to turn around and make a cup of tea rather than having to get in a car and drive to a different country to get home.”

“He's come to see me once in 15 years,” O'Neill confirmed.

Wilson's Lope De Vega colt continued a good day for Ballyhimikin Stud and co-breeders James Hanley, Trevor Stewart and Anthony Stroud, who also sold lot 617, the 300,000gns Kingman colt, to the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The Lope De Vega colt is out of the listed-winning and Group 3-placed Kambura (Fr) (Literato {Fr}), who was bought by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €220,000 at Arqana December in 2016. She is a half-sister to four stakes horses and the Lope De Vega colt is her third foal. She produced a colt by Night Of Thunder this year and was covered by Pinatubo (Ire).

New England Stud and partners picked out the Intello (Ger) mare Ionic (GB) in foal to Lope De Vega for 450,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale of 2019, and the mare's first foal, a filly (lot 635), went some way toward repaying that investment when making 270,000gns from SackvilleDonald at Tattersalls on Monday. While Ionic was but a minor winner in France, her considerable value stems from the fact that her immediate family is steeped with high-quality black-type winners and producers. Ionic is a half-sister to listed winner Prudenzia (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), who is now best known as the dam of Group 1 winners Chicquita (Ire) and Magic Wand (Ire) as well as current Group 3-winning and Classic-placed 3-year-old Philomene (Ire). Another half-sister, Pacifique (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), has left behind the G3 Prix de Lutece victress Paix (Ire), while the listed winner and former Derby favourite English King (Fr) is also a sibling to Ionic. The proficiency of the line appears already very much to be trickling down to the next generation; Chicquita's first two foals are group placed, including this season's G1 Irish Oaks third Nicest (Ire) (American Pharoah).

Ionic produced a filly by Too Darn Hot this spring, and was bred back to Night Of Thunder.

Ed Sackville signed the ticket on behalf of SBA Racing, which campaigns the stakes-winning Kodiac (GB) fillies Frenetic (Ire) and Geocentric (Ire) with trainer Ger Lyons. The daughter of Ionic goes to William Haggas.

Star Filly For Winning Partnership

The stakes-placed Fasliyev mare Greenisland (Ire) has been a very useful producer for the Jennings Family's Stonethorn Stud. The 15-year-old mare is the dam of the listed-winning Boerhan (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Shamshon (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), who has run a remarkable 102 times for 16 wins, mostly for trainer Stuart Williams, winning as recently as August as a 10-year-old. Three of her progeny have sold for six figures at the sales, including a filly foal by Sea The Stars bought by SackvilleDonald for €350,000 at Goffs November in 2019, and her latest filly by Starspangledbanner (Aus) was added to that list on Monday when Hugo Merry went to 220,000gns for lot 600. The agent was acting on behalf of Andrew Rosen, who will partner with Andrew and Madeleine Lloyd Webber's Watership Down Stud, who consigned the filly. Rosen and the Lloyd Webbers currently race the winning 3-year-old filly Theory Of Music (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) together with trainer Jessica Harrington. Theory Of Music is a full-sister to triple group winner Turret Rocks (Ire), whose Kingman colt was among the leading lights at Book 1 last week when selling to MV Magnier and Peter Brant's White Birch Farm for 1.1-million gns. Theory Of Music cost 290,000gns at Book 1 last year.

“She's been bought for my very good client Andrew Rosen to partner with the Lloyd Webbers,” said Merry. “We bought a filly last year that's won and [Rosen] is a longstanding friend and client of the farm, so we've seen this filly around. She's bred by the Jennings' who have bred a lot of good horses. We were just trying to find a really nice filly who might work out, then have some residual value to go back to the farm to breed together.”

“The flaxen mane,” Merry quipped when asked what about the filly appealed to him. “Our sight is deteriorating, so the instruction was to get one we could see out in the field.”

“She was just a lovely shape,” he added. “The sire has had a great year. We would have liked to have had her for a bit less but it wasn't to be. The good ones are making the money.”

Le Havre Colt A Pinhooking Home Run

Jamie Railton enjoyed a pinhooking homerun courtesy of his Le Havre (Ire) colt out of Lady Francesca (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}) (lot 676), who was signed up by John Warren under the Highclere Agency banner for 230,000gns. Railton purchased the colt from this ring last year for 58,000gns under his Cill Dara Bloodstock banner.

“Some of these foals turn around, and some don't,” Railton said. “I particularly liked him as a foal and some of them work and some of them don't. The life of a pinhooker is not a straightforward one, and I am incredibly lucky to be surrounded by some exceptional people who keep me upright. I feel very privileged to have the people around me that I do. It is the people who show faith in us as a company and our organization. We have some loyal supporters, both involved in this horse and other horses. I am very grateful for all the people who support us in the good times and the bad times.”

It was 14 years ago at this sale during Book 1 that breeder Floors Stud parted with Lady Francesca for 21,000gns. She was scooped up by David Joseph, who raced her to one win and a pair of listed placings with trainer William Muir. Newsells Park Stud plucked her out of the 2009 Tattersalls December Mares Sale, and bred the Le Havre colt out of her before selling her for 40,000gns back at Park Paddocks last year, where she was bought by John Hammond. The page, meanwhile, had continued to improve, with Lady Francesca's half-sister Purr Along (GB) (Mount Nelson {GB}) winning Group 3s in Ireland and France and another sister Katawi (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) winning at listed level.

Siyouni To The Fore

Five-time Group 1 winner St Mark's Basilica (Fr), the world's current co-highest rated horse, has been one of the poster children for the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale having cost 1.3-million gns at Book 1 two years ago, and a pair of colts by his sire Siyouni (Fr) featured among the leading lights early in Monday's session when selling for 200,000gns apiece.

First up was lot 537, Whatton Manor Stud's first foal out of Faay (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). The 6-year-old mare was placed on the racecourse herself, but holds plenty of residual value being a full-sister to the speedy pair of Mecca's Angel (Ire) and Markaz (Ire). The former won the G1 Nunthorpe S. twice, while Markaz was a multiple Group 3-winning sprinter. Faay was a 400,000gns purchased by Charlie Gordon-Watson on behalf of Abdullah Saaed al Naboodah at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, and her first foal appears bound for the breeze ups, having been bought by Mick Murphy of Longways Stables. Murphy has already had success re-selling Siyounis; he and his partner Sarah O'Connell pinhooked Al Raya (GB) and Le Brivido (Fr) by the sire, and both went on to be Group 3 winners.

Lot 576, meanwhile, has already provided an excellent pinhooking return. The son of the placed Fusion (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) was the selection of Liam and Jenny Norris at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sale for 92,000gns, and he rewarded that roll of the dice with a winning bid of 200,000gns from John Dance's Manor House Stud on Monday. Fusion is a half-sister to the champion and multiple stakes producer Attraction (GB) (Efisio), with a further two of her sisters having produced stakes horses. Fusion's 2-year-old filly Atomic Lady (Fr) has won twice this season and has been listed-placed since the catalogue was printed. The Siyouni colt was bred by Floors Farming.

“He's been a very straightforward horse and we're absolutely delighted for the client,” said Jenny Norris. “He's a very good mover and a beautiful individual. He vetted well and he's been going down well right from the start and he's behaved impeccably. There are some nice little updates in the pedigree too. So those all help and it's good to see trade is strong.”

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The Weekly Wrap: Fools Rush In

If there was a lesson to be learned in the last week, it is not to issue press releases on April Fool's Day.

The great news that the Derby has a new multi-year sponsor, after being dropped by Investec last year as the pandemic took hold, was sidetracked by its release date. It can be hard to tell real news from fake news these days but Cazoo, an online car dealership with an amusing name but serious credentials, is indeed the new sponsor of the 'Derby festival' (if we must—I still prefer the word meeting) and it can only be seen as a welcome development, despite sniffiness in some quarters as to the company's line of business.

Frankly, though, who cares? Of far greater concern is that racing regularly fails to attract big-name sponsors beyond the betting and breeding industries. Investec was an excellent partner for the Derby and was a huge loss to one of the most important meetings in Britain, as was Magners to the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which was run last month without a sponsor.

The fact that Cazoo, which was recently floated on the New York Stock Exchange with a value of $7 billion, wishes to add racing to its sports sponsorship portfolio of two Premier League football clubs, the forthcoming Rugby League World Cup, cricket and snooker can only be good news. Only a fool would think otherwise.

The Look Of Eagles Again?

The Prix Tourbillon was named after the 1931 winner of the Prix du Jockey Club, and heading to that French Classic this year could well be this year's Tourbillon winner Baby Rider (Fr) (Gleneagles {Ire}).

His family has already claimed a European Classic in recent years when Wings Of Eagles (Fr) Pour Moi {Ire}) delivered a 40/1 shock in the Derby in the hands of Padraig Beggy. Like that colt, Baby Rider was bred by Gilles and Aliette Forien of Haras de Montaigu from a half-sister to Wings Of Eagles. His listed-placed dam Gyrella (Ire) is among a growing band of good broodmare daughters of Oasis Dream (GB), who was advertised even more flamboyantly as a damsire over the weekend by Sir Dragonet (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) in the G1 Tancred S. in Sydney.

Trained by Pascal Bary, who has won the Jockey Club six times, most recently with Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), Baby Rider has done little to disappoint his owner Jean-Louis Bouchard to date. He was second to subsequent G3 Prix Thomas Bryon winner and Group 1-placed Normandy Bridge (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) on debut last September before winning his only other start last year at Fontainebleau.

Havana Good Time

Havana Gold (Ire) made a decent impression with his first crop of 2-year-olds back in 2017, when his 24 winners were led by Havana Grey (GB), winner of the G3 Molecomb S. and runner-up in the G1 Prix Morny at two before going on to land the G1 Flying Five the following season.

As his support dwindled in ensuing years at stud—as is so often the case for young stallions—those crucial juvenile winners started to dry up. From 11 in 2018, Havana Gold had eight 2-year-old winners in 2019 and just one last year. The good news for his supporters is that he has already doubled that tally in 2021, from his only two juvenile runners of the nascent season and from his biggest crop of foals since year one.

Chipotle (GB) was fast out of the blocks for trainer Eve Johnson Houghton to win the Brocklesby S., and Anadora (GB) followed up by striking on her debut on Friday at Newcastle, where Havana Gold was also represented by 3-year-old novice winner Havagomecca (GB).

Twenty-four hours later, Crohanne (GB), bred on the same Havana Gold-Makfi (GB) cross as Chipotle, set a smart standard when winning the Prix Durban at Saint-Cloud for her young trainer Mario Baratti, a former assistant to Marco Botti and Roger Varian. The first five fillies who finished behind Crohanne all hold entries for the G1 Prix de Diane.

Havana Gold's sire Teofilo (Ire) enjoyed an outstanding year in 2020 with six Group 1 winners in France, Germany, Hong Kong and Australia. Perhaps this year it will be the turn of the son to rise.

Little Money For Jamm

Last year's G1 South Australian Derby winner Russian Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) was recently retired with a tendon injury following his runner-up finish in the All-Star Mile at Moonee Valley on March 13. Another globetrotting son of Camelot, the aforementioned Sir Dragonet, finished ninth behind him that day and has been kept busy since. A fortnight later he was beaten just over two lengths when fourth in the G1 Ranvet S., and he bounced out a week later to win Saturday's G1 Tancred S. back at Rosehill. This of course follows his victory in the 100th running of the G1 Cox Plate last October for the Anglo-Australian training partnership of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace.

Camelot's day improved later on in the northern hemisphere when the Paddy Twomey-trained Moll (Ire) got the better of the statuesque Flor De La Luna (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) in the listed Noblesse S. at Cork. The 4-year-old was notching her third win from seven starts and this first black-type success, coupled with a decent pedigree, makes it all the more surprising that she raised a bid of only €3,000 when sold by Coolmore though the Castlebridge Consignment at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

Her 9-year-old dam Jamm (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade (Ire}) didn't make it to the racecourse but she is the only blot on the record of her own dam, Starship (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Mated exclusively with Danehill-line sires, the treble winner Starship is a half-sister to the brilliantly fast and precocious Superstar Leo (Ire) (College Chapel {GB}). The family has provided much success for William Haggas and his father-in-law Lester Piggott, who bred Starship and Superstar Leo with Tony Hirschfield.

Starship's seven multiple winners are headed by the G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Rivet (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and, notably, they have made 160 starts between them, with Booming Delight (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Packing Tycoon (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) both being Group 3 winners. The pair were formerly known as Out And About and Alexander Pope before being exported to Hong Kong, where Rivet also ended up and is now known as Rivet Delight.

A few months after Moll was sold as a yearling, Jamm went to the Goffs November Sale and was sold in foal to War Command to Oakley Stud for €7,000. That same season, Superstar Leo's grand-daughter One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) posted the first of her three wins in the G1 Prix de la Foret. A relatively small investment in a family with such depth means there is always the chance of jam tomorrow.

Out Of The Woods

Sean Woods spent most of the lockdown in 2020 refurbishing Shalfleet Stables in Newmarket, which he bought from Jeremy Noseda following his return from Hong Kong.

The trainer has restarted his career in Britain with a team of 23 horses, mostly juveniles, and he certainly has them in good form. His first runner, the Woods family homebred General Panic (GB) (Outstrip {GB}), impressed on debut at Southwell on Sunday, and 24 hours later Meng Tian (GB) (Territories {Ire}) was denied by just a nose when lining up for the first time at Kempton.

One of the stable's few older representatives, the 4-year-old Caspian Queen (Ire) (Sepoy {Aus}), is declared to make her first start for the trainer at Lingfield on Wednesday and she will be partnered by his nephew, Sebastian Woods, son of former leading jockey in Hong Kong, Wendyll Woods.

One For The Team

From July 29, the Racing League will commence its inaugural six-week run. The competition, which will be staged at the Arena Racing tracks of Newcastle, Windsor, Doncaster and Lingfield, features 12 teams made up of 30 horses from the stables of between two and four trainers, with three assigned jockeys and a manager.

Eleven of the teams of jockeys were announced last week, with the ongoing Covid-related travel restrictions meaning a delay in the announcement of the three French jockeys who will comprise the final team.

With £1.8million in prize-money up for grabs—or £50,000 for each of the 36 races—the competition is a significant addition to the calendar, despite the fact that racing in teams is somewhat against the ethos of the sport. However, the jockeys involved, which include Frankie Dettori, Hollie Doyle, James Doyle, Oisin Murphy and Jim Crowley, will doubtless face some tough decisions right from the start of the competition, particularly if the rule of riding at only one meeting per day is upheld as the British lockdown eases.

The first leg of the Racing League at Newcastle on July 29 clashes with the Thursday of Glorious Goodwood, that day's racing including the G1 Nassau S., G2 Richmond S., and G3 Gordon S. The fourth of the six meetings, at Windsor on Aug. 19, is on the same day as the G1 Yorkshire Oaks and G2 Lowther S. at York's Ebor Meeting.

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Woods Comes Full Circle In Newmarket Return

In straitened times for British racing's finances, there has already been one trainer leave Newmarket for Kentucky, but the balance has been restored somewhat by the return to the town of Sean Woods, some 20 years after relinquishing his licence in the UK.

The trainer bought the historic La Grange Stables at the age of just 26 and, 10 years later in 2002, left British racing's headquarters to train in Hong Kong where, among his rival trainers, was his cousin Caspar Fownes. There he remained until 2016, but in the intervening years Woods has been planning his return.

It's a homecoming of sorts, except that Woods and his elder brothers and fellow former jockeys, Dwayne and Wendyll, grew up in India, where their father Barney was a leading Flat jockey and their maternal grandfather Eric Fownes was the champion trainer.

Woods himself took to National Hunt racing for the first stage of his career in the saddle, riding more than 80 winners over jumps before turning his hand to training. If his own pedigree already had strong racing links on both the top and bottom line, so does that of his son Max, as the trainer's wife Lucy is the daughter of former trainer Tony Hide and niece of Derby-winning jockey Edward Hide. Her brother Philip is the former jockey and trainer who is now clerk of the course at Fontwell and Brighton, while another brother, Tim, is assistant trainer to Chris Dwyer in Newmarket.

Racing is most certainly etched in the Woods family DNA and it is clear from the way the trainer bounds around his new premises at Shalfleet Stables, bought last year from Jeremy Noseda, that he is relishing the chance to get back to doing what he knows and loves best.

“To train here, I see it as an honour rather than a pleasure,” he says of his operation on Newmarket's Bury Road, nestling alongside Godolphin's Stanley House Stables. In the game of Newmarket Monopoly, Woods has certainly landed on a valuable square.

He is effortlessly cheerful and is one of the few people to have relished the imposed lockdown last spring as it gave him the opportunity to undertake some extensive renovations at Shalfleet, the yard from which its former incumbent sent out the Classic winners Sixties Icon (GB) and Araafa (Ire) and Breeders' Cup victor Wilko among a host of high-profile winners.

Woods continues, “I walk 10 yards and I'm on the Heath. I have every facility I want. To be able to do that within the eight months of when there were no horses here, was fantastic. [Lockdown] was the best thing that could have happened. It was the best therapy I could have had, because I had 16, 17 years in Hong Kong, which was full-on pressure of producing what I needed to produce. To come back and just be myself, put a pair of shorts on and paint for 10 hours or 12 hours a day, steam clean, take fences down, take trees down and put something back and rebuild, it was amazing. It was family around me, because we were in lockdown, and it has been the most phenomenal therapy.”

During his first training stint in Newmarket, Woods saddled Mistle Cat (Storm Cat) to win the G1 Premio Vittorio di Capua, and in his final year before Hong Kong beckoned had Lucayan Stud's talented juvenile Atlantis Prince (GB) (Tagula {Ire}), who provided Frankie Dettori with his first ride and first winner following the plane crash which nearly claimed his life. Less than two months later, the colt rounded off his unbeaten juvenile season with victory in the G2 Royal Lodge Stakes, his final run for the trainer before he joined Godolphin, and Woods joined the training ranks in Hong Kong. During his time there, he trained 279 winners and garnered prize-money just shy of £25 million, but his licence was not renewed by the HKJC when the tally of winners he saddled in his final season did not meet the club's performance target.

“What we've got now is everything, every tool I need to train a horse,” he says of Shalfleet, which has 93 stables, two new walkers, turn-out pens and Equilux lighting among its refreshed facilities.

He continues, “I owned La Grange at a very young age and I had the best 10 years of my life here [in Newmarket]. We were very fortunate, very successful, in a very short period of time. It goes without saying that it was everybody around me that allowed that to happen. I was fortunate enough to train a Royal Lodge winner. I was fortunate enough to train for people that I really appreciated training for. With La Grange as our base, it was a stepping stone to what I wanted to achieve, and I was very excited about it. I had probably 50 per cent of my owners based in Hong Kong. The offer came from Hong Kong and at that time I was flattered to be offered this job that everybody else was cutting their hands off for, and I went.”

He adds, “I had got to the stage where I was having to sell horses, really good horses, and advising my owners to sell them to other people, whereas we should have been keeping them and making them stallions and making broodmares. We should have seen the bigger picture. That forced my hand into going to Hong Kong at the time.”

Through the prism of hindsight, greater maturity and perhaps relentless optimism, he now views that decision as both good and bad. On one hand it interrupted a career on the up in Britain, and on the other, the sale of La Grange and his parents' Thormanby Stud, along with the more lucrative returns on offer abroad, brought some financial stability that can often elude trainers. It also allowed Woods and his family to purchase Brook Stud just outside Newmarket, which is run successfully by Dwayne and Wendyll, the latter having retired from a successful riding career in Hong Kong in 2006.

“When Brook came up, and I was leaving for Hong Kong, I sold La Grange. We sold [Thormanby] stud and we amalgamated,” he says. “That goes back to a history of being born and brought up in India. You have that family push rather than individually pushing. We were fortunate to buy a stud farm like that, which is 200 acres of the most beautiful land in the middle of Cheveley, three miles outside Newmarket.”

Woods adds, “We were able to work as brothers. Wendyll came back and retired there. He runs the stud on a day-to-day basis. Dwayne does all the managerial side of it and the matings. We have a great working relationship. Dwayne and myself always looked at the horses together. We always did everything that we could together.

“While they have their own business to run, Dwayne is also very much instrumental in what I buy at the sales, because he works for me as an agent. We are brothers and we are of the age now where we appreciate it much more.”

The brothers were back in action together through last season's yearling sales, gathering together the team of 30 horses with which Woods has restarted his training career. And, as an indication of the regard in which he was held by his former Newmarket staff, several members of that team have returned to work for him two decades on.

“It was fantastic to be back with Dwayne and Wendyll,” he says of his return to the British sales scene. “It was like we hadn't left, because that's what I missed for the last 20 years. That's what you get up to work for. Now we only have 30 horses in, and 23 of them are babies, 2-year-olds, and hopefully one of them might be alright. I have phenomenal support from people that haven't had to support me for a long, long time because I've been in Hong Kong and I've been completely away from it. I specifically set out to only have a small team, so that I could then pick my staff. I haven't gone out and tried to sell everything. I haven't done anything. I've just sat quietly and built a team of people first, then horses.”

He adds, “It's taken me three, four years to be back full time, just helping on the stud and enjoying my life, and reconnecting with my friends and family, then to be able to find this place.”

At 55, Woods claims to have “fifteen good years of work, then I'm buggered”, but it is a line delivered with a large grin, and the relish with which he discusses his return is akin to the legion of his fellow trainers who are just starting out.

“I don't recognise probably 30 new trainers here,” he admits. “They're young and they have the dream. That's fantastic to see. There are so many new trainers and new people which can only say that it's good for racing, good for the environment, and good for the hub of what we have. It is an absolute honour to be back where I know, and where I cut my teeth.”

He may now be slightly longer in the tooth than some of his colleagues who have recently embarked on their training careers, but harnessing his experience to his enthusiasm will give Woods every chance of a successful Newmarket relaunch.

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