Yeomanstown Team Hope Shaman Can Lay Down Marker At Goffs

Dark Angel (Ire) and Invincible Army (Ire) may not be the only exciting stallions at Yeomanstown Stud with David O'Callaghan outlining his hopes that Shaman (Ire) can lay down a marker at Goffs this week when some of the Group 2-winning son of Shamardal's first foals go through the ring.

A colt foal by Shaman fetched €22,000 at the inaugural Tattersalls Ireland Sapphire Sale on Saturday and O'Callaghan thinks the best is yet to come from a sire who is due to have 22 foals go through the ring over the next four days at Goffs. 

It was at this sale last year where Yeomanstown enjoyed a fruitful start with Invincible Army. The Group 3-winning juvenile, whose first runners will hit the track next year, averaged a respectable €34,350 for 20 foals sold. 

Top of that list was Ballyduane Stud's colt by the sire who was knocked down to top judges Peter and Ross Doyle for €85,000. That same colt was then re-sold at Book 1 at Tattersalls last month for 100,000gns to leading breeze-up handler Robson Aguiar. 

O'Callaghan is hoping for a similarly fast start with Shaman, and said, “Goffs is always an interesting sale for the first-season sires-it's where they get to lay down a marker. We'll get an idea into how the progeny of the first-season sires will be received for the rest of the year this week. We have some very good Shaman foals at home and I hope that the ones at Goffs are similar. If they are, it will set a good benchmark. I think people will like them.”

He added, “Last year, Invincible Army had a good sale at Goffs. One after the other, they were like peas in a pod. People seemed to fall in love with the idea of using Invincible Army and followed them the whole way through to the yearling sales this year. We'd be hoping that something similar can happen with Shaman. He breeds nice horses so hopefully he can get the ball rolling.”

Shaman was bred and raced by the Wertheimer family. He won five times in France for Carlos Laffon-Parias, the highlight coming in the Group 2 Prix d'Harcourt at ParisLongchamp where he had Way To Paris (GB) and subsequent Arc winner Sottsass (Fr) behind him. 

He also showed enough precocity to win his maiden over seven furlongs on debut as a juvenile and won a Group 3 and was twice a runner-up at the highest level as a three-year-old. 

For those reasons, O'Callaghan says that he thinks Shaman, who will stand for €5,000 next season, has been priced fairly and is backing him to be a success. 

“He covered over 100 mares in his first crop. People bought into the idea of him. He went in at small money, standing at just €6,000, but he is a very good-looking horse by Shamardal and won a Group 2 over a mile-and-a-quarter and is multiple Group 1-placed.” 

O'Callaghan added, “He has an excellent pedigree. He was just shy of being a top-class racehorse and was priced appropriately. Between his physical, his sire and his damsire, and his race record, there's no reason why he won't make it. He ticked an awful lot of boxes without winning a Group 1. He has a lot going for him so fingers crossed.”

With El Kabeir sold to join the stallion ranks in Italy, Yeomanstown's four-strong roster for 2023 is completed by G1 Middle Park S. winner Supremacy (Ire), whose first foals will arrive next year. That's not to say that the O'Callaghans have not been trying to add to that roster.

O'Callaghan explained, “El Kabeir was literally just sold last week. It's very hard to buy stallions. The reason is not just got to do with the marketplace but also it comes down to who owns these top-class horses. The way it worked out this year, Shadwell and Godolphin had control of pretty much all of the stallion prospects. On top of that, the Aga Khan had Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) and it was a rare year where Coolmore did not have any top three-year-olds to retire. They had Luxembourg (Ire) but he is staying in training. It was a rare year with nothing in independent hands.”

He added, “You could say that we are somewhat victims of our own success at times. It's important for us that there is a strong market when it comes to selling yearlings but, when the big boys buy these horses, like Shadwell and Godolphin have been doing for years, then they are the ones who get to reap the rewards with the stallion prospects. They breed a lot and they buy a lot. The big outfits have control of all the top horses and they deserve to because of all the investment that they put into the game. It just means that there are less and less of these potential stallion prospects to go around for independent stallion farms like ourselves. We are always looking but there was nothing on our radar this year.”

One stallion the O'Callaghans will be hoping can continue for many more years to come is Dark Angel (Ire), who at the age of 17, sired his first Classic winner this season courtesy of French 1,000 Guineas winner Mangoustine (Fr). 

“God bless him. He has quite a lot of foals in the next couple of weeks and we'll buy a few of them ourselves. Hopefully they sell well for their breeders. He's had another great year with a top five finish in Europe and he's just uber-consistent. He's been in the top five sires list in Europe for the past eight years and hopefully he will keep going that way. 

“He's rock solid and gets good two, three and four-year-olds, sprinters, milers, colts and fillies, it doesn't really matter. He's just a great sire. He is 17 years of age but looks better than ever. He doesn't shuttle and he's very fertile so he has an easy life. He spends his summer out in the field with the cattle and comes in at the end of October to get ready for the season.”

Dark Angel will be represented by 21 foals at Goffs this week while fellow Yeomanstown Stud-based sire Invincible Army has a massive representation of 30. The sale kicks off at 10am on Monday. 

 

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Yeomanstown’s Star Sire Dark Angel Stays at 60k

Leading sire Dark Angel (Ire) will remain at €60,000 for 2023 as Yeomanstown Stud released fee details on Friday. 

Battaash (Ire) and Harry Angel (Ire) flew the flag for Dark Angel at the highest level in recent seasons and the 17-year-old broke new ground with French Classic scorer Mangoustine (Fr) this term. 

First-season sire Invincible Army (Ire) remains at €7,500 while Supremacy (Ire) has been dropped to €10,000 from €12,500. Shaman's (Ire) first foals sell this autumn and he remains at €5,000.

Gay O'Callaghan said, “Dark Angel has had another sensational year at stud, proving himself once again as the Group 1 champion sprinter-miler sire for the third consecutive year and a champion two-year-old sire. 

“He is now the sire of 13 individual Group 1 winners, including his Classic-winning daughter Mangoustine, a decisive winner of  the Poule d'Essaie des Pouliches.”

“It's been exciting watching Invincible Army's yearlings sell this autumn. The exceptional son of Invincible Spirit (Ire) was a Group winner at two, three and four and his progeny have been well supported in the sales ring by trainers, agents, and owners alike who were impressed by the excellent quality of his stock which share his attributes of strength and class. In total he had 57 yearlings sold at auction for an average of €57,680.”

He added, “We look forward to the first foals of Supremacy to be born this spring.  As a Group 1-winning son of champion sire Mehmas (Ire), he is an exciting prospect and a wonderful-looking individual who showed a high level of ability and toughness on the track.  

“Shaman had his first foals in 2022 and produced an exceptional first crop, so we are looking forward to seeing them in the sales ring this winter.”

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New Sire Power For Yeomanstown

Shaman (Ire) represents the first of his sire line to stand at Yeomanstown Stud, being a son of the late Shamardal. The Group 2 winner and Classic-placed 3-year-old was raced by his owner/breeders Wertheimer et Frere, and Robert O’Callaghan of Yeomanstown tells TDN why he is an exciting acquisition for the Irish stud.

TDN: Robert, Shaman is the first son of Shamardal to stand at Yeomanstown Stud. Why was it important for you to have a son of his join the roster?

ROC: Shamardal has been such a sensational sire for a number of years and obviously has some very good sire sons like Lope de Vega (Ire). We have been trying hard for a number of years to acquire a son of Shamardal, but it hasn’t been easy. That’s why we are extremely excited to get Shaman. The sire line is just so prolific.

TDN: He was a sound, tough racehorse. What were some of his best races?

ROC: He was a top-class performer at two, three and four. He won his debut at two and was third in a Group 3 before running a credible race in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. As a 3-year-old he won two Guineas trials, including the G3 Prix la Force. That was when he really caught our attention. He went on to finish second in the [Poule d’Essai des Poulains]–which is a real stallion-making race–behind Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). It was a huge turning point and really made us try hard to acquire the horse.

At four, he got even better again, with a win in the G2 Prix d’Harcourt, beating future Arc winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). He was a very consistent racehorse, running at the highest level and running with credit in every race.

TDN: How has he settled in at Yeomanstown and what can you tell us about his conformation?

ROC: He is settling in great and he is so easy to deal with. He hasn’t put a foot wrong since he came, nothing fazes him. He’s getting to know his new stablemates, Dark Angel (Ire), Camacho (GB), El Kabeir and Invincible Army (Ire). He walks like a pure champion and he is a beautiful-looking horse. He’s just shy of 16.2hh. He is very correct, has a great shape and great hindquarter to him. If he breeds them like himself, it will make life very easy for us.

TDN: How do you think he fits into the Irish stallion ranks?

ROC: I think he fits in very well to the Irish stallion ranks. He is well priced at €6,000 which gives all breeders a chance to use him. Everyone loves Shamardal and wants to use a son of his and add to that Shaman’s exceptional pedigree and I think he is probably Shamardal’s best value son out there.

TDN: What support have you had from breeders so far?

ROC: He has been going down really well. There are a lot of breeders across Europe keen to use him, with a lot of French breeders booking nominations to him already. A number of high-profile Irish breeders have bought breeding rights in the horse and they’re all very excited to use him. We have a strong broodmare band here too and we will support him strongly with some good mares. We have acquired a few more mares from the sales in the last couple of weeks which will visit him also. Wertheimer et Frere have kept a percentage in the horse and will support him. They’ve got some of the best broodmares in the world and it is a huge advantage for a young stallion going to stud to have their support. Naturally, we are very excited for the season ahead.

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