From The Experts: Craig Bernick

On the back of the eagerly anticipated stallion fee announcements in Europe, we spoke with a number of leading industry figures about value. Today we hear from Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm.

TDN: Who have you identified as a first-year stallion at an appealing opening fee?

CB: Pinatubo (Ire) was a top-class 2-year-old and his introductory fee of £35,000 is probably very fair compared to where similar horses have started off over the years. Shamardal is the sire of Lope De Vega (Ire) and he comes from the female family of Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB), so it all looks promising.

TDN: Best value proven stallion, and why?

CB: Showcasing’s fee has come down this year to £45,000 which looks very fair as he has proven that he can get top-class horses. To me, Mohaather (GB)’s G1 Sussex S. was the most impressive race I saw all year, and I almost chose him as the first-season stallion I was excited about.

TDN: Who would you consider to be an under the radar stallion?

CB: Starspangledbanner (Aus)’s percentage of winners and stakes performers to runners compares favourably to many other stallions that are double his price or more. His quality of mares has been improving every year as he has done a better job getting them in foal and to me there’s a good chance his fee of €22,500 could look like a huge bargain in a few years.

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Lope De Vega Colt Tops Second Day At Tattersalls October Book 2

A son of Lope de Vega was the star turn when selling for 675,000 guineas (US$916,770) on a remarkable second day of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, which saw nine lots sell for 300,000 guineas (US$407,451) or more, taking the two-day total to 14, three more than last year's three-day total.

Anthony Stroud continued his buying spree on the second day of Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, securing the Lope de Vega colt out of the Galileo mare Loch Ma Naire for 675,000 guineas (US$916,770).

“He is bred on a successful cross – Lope De Vega ex Galileo – he is an attractive horse and beautifully bred, and Lope De Vega has done incredibly well,” said Stroud, after buying on behalf of Godolphin.

The colt's dam is a half-sister to the dual Group 1 winner Simply Perfect and was offered by Newsells Park Stud on behalf of breeder Andrew Stone's St Albans Bloodstock.

“The team did a great job prepping him but we have only had him for eight or nine weeks, so credit must go to Andrew Stone of St Albans Bloodstock who bred him and the farm that raised him,” said Julian Dollar of Newsells Park Stud.

“In this climate we did not think it would be at all easy, but the market seems to have taken off incredibly this week. I keep thinking there was value last week, but I am not complaining, it is fantastic. Thanks to all the people prepared to take their hands out of their pockets and spend big money on racehorses, long may it continue.”

The colt, who Stroud secured at the expense of underbidder Andrew Balding, is the fifth highest priced colt in the history of the October Book 2 sale.

Glen Hill Farm Strikes for Frankel Filly at 460,000 Guineas

Fairway Thoroughbreds' John Camilleri, breeder of wondermare Winx, enjoyed a second consecutive day in the limelight when the Frankel filly out of Love is Blindness was sold to Hubie De Burgh for 460,000 guineas (US$624,757) on behalf of Craig Bernick's Glen Hill Farm. Like yesterday's 400,000 guineas (US$543,267) Kingman colt, Camilleri's filly was offered by Harry McCalmont's Norelands Stud.

“She has been bought for Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm to go into training with Fozzy Stack,” said de Burgh. “We tried all week through Book 1 and could not get anything. This filly is by one of the great sires of the modern era and there are classic winners in her page, she could be a Guineas or an Oaks filly.

“On top of that she is a beautiful looking filly from a top farm where I keep a lot of stock, and I've known her since she was foaled. I watched her and every time I have seen her she gets better and better and better. As you can see, she is a queen. Now we keep our fingers crossed and hope she is going to be as good as we think she is going to be!”

Of the buyer Craig Bernick, De Burgh added: “Craig is a great lover of the horse industry and is going to be a great breeder, he has got some wonderful stock in Europe already. He wants to collect this quality of bloodstock because he is thinking 20 years ahead, hopefully she will be one of the foundation mares in the broodmare band. Craig is developing an Australian operation, European and American, it is very exciting.”

De Burgh rounded off by saying; “You just don't get your hands on fillies like this. She has a bit of Frankel about her, she really walks, has a really good hind-quarter, she is just all quality.”

The Sir Percy mare Love is Blindness is a half-sister to the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Reliable Man and a granddaughter of the English and Irish Oaks winner Fair Salinia.

White Birch Farm Strike for Showcasing Colt

Agent Demi O'Byrne secured two of the lots to sell for 300,000 guineas (US$407,451) or more on the second day on behalf of Peter Brant's White Birch Farm, the first of which was the Showcasing colt consigned by Kenilworth House Stud. The son of the Acclamation mare Harlequin Twist was knocked down to O'Byrne for 310,000 guineas (US$421,039), a substantial return on the 70,000 guineas (US$95,073) that Kenilworth House Stud manager Gerry Ross and “a couple of mates” paid for him at last year's Tattersalls December Foal Sale.

Ross said: “He had a good walk – as auctioneer Alastair Pim said he was one of the best-looking walkers he had seen through the two weeks. A foal will never lose its walk. Hopefully he will go on to fulfil his potential, he has been flat to the board here all week and his last show was as good as his first. He has been a pro so far, hopefully he will continue.”

Of the prospects ahead of this sale for a profitable result, Ross said: “A week ago I would never had dreamt of that sort of money, but once you have a couple of big players involved you never know where it is going to end.

“Yesterday's trade was the best trade there has been all year. There was no vendor going into the ring with their chest out, but at least you've a bit more confidence.”

Little more than 30 minutes later, O'Byrne struck again when securing a daughter of first season stallion Ribchester for 300,000 guineas (US$407,451). Out of the Teofilo mare Hint of Pink, the filly was another success story for Harry McCalmont's Norelands Stud who bred the filly in partnership with Patrick Robinson, author of the famed bloodstock novel “Horse Trader: Robert Sangster and the Rise and Fall of the Sport of Kings”.

“Her half-brother winning in the last week or so was a big plus, timing is everything in this business,” said McCalmont. “I am very pleased because she belongs to my good friend Patrick Robinson. A couple of years ago Patrick wrote a book called 'Lone Survivor' which became a blockbuster movie. Patrick decided to retire and take up breeding horses and gave me a few quid to spend on them. I am delighted for him.”

Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale continues with the third and final session at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The post Lope De Vega Colt Tops Second Day At Tattersalls October Book 2 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Italian and Irish Farms Make Deauville Debut

DEAUVILLE, France—In a yearling sales season which has had more reshuffles than the British government’s cabinet, the caravan has finally started rolling in the last week and has now pitched up in Deauville for Arqana’s headline event of the year. As it is taking place three weeks later than usual, it is no longer the August Sale but the Select Sale, though there is a more than familiar feel to the catalogue, which features plenty of France’s leading equine families.

Two consignors have taken advantage of the sale’s later date to try their hand with a debut Arqana draft. Though new to this particular sale, both are familiar names on the wider circuit: Italy’s Allevamento Le Gi and Baroda Stud of Ireland. They also each have a Dubawi filly to sell from just six yearlings in total in the catalogue by the revered Darley stallion.

From Tuscany to Normandy
Giovanni Parri is representing Le Gi in France while his father Massimo has remained at the family’s beautiful farm in the shadow of the Tuscan Hills to oversee a draft of 15 going to their home country’s SGA Sale on Sept. 19.

As the head of Italy’s Thoroughbred breeders’ association (ANAC), Massimo Parri is understandably keen to support the sale in Milan but the family has also succeeded in recent years when selling abroad. Notably, they topped Tattersalls October Book 2 in 2017 when selling a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt out of Biz Bar (GB) (Tobougg {Ire}) for 850,000gns to Shadwell, and it is the Dubawi (Ire) half-sister of this colt who makes up half of Le Gi’s select Arqana draft. Selling within the first two hours of the opening day of the sale on Wednesday, lot 34 is also a half-sister to the G1 Gran Premio do Milano winner Biz The Nurse (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}) and fellow stakes winners Mysterious Boy (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}), Bullish Glory (Ire) (Roderic O’Connor {Ire}) and Biz Power (Ire) (Power {Ire}). Furthermore, the progeny of Biz Bar have delivered three updates since the catalogue went to press, with the mare’s Golden Horn (GB) 3-year-old Presidential Sweet (ITY), having won her maiden in Italy by seven lengths, and the 99-rated aforementioned Book 2 topper Alfaatik (GB) having returned to winning ways at York’s Ebor meeting.

“The Dubawi filly has a really nice temperament and she’s been doing everything very well since she arrived here,” said Giovanni Parri at Arqana on Sunday. “We took her to be lunged this morning and she behaved just as if she was still at our farm.”

He continued, “We have sold at Tattersalls for the last three years and we decided to come here when Arqana announced that the sale would be moved to September. When we made that decision, Great Britain was in a worse condition than France with Covid and so we through that probably it would be easier for us to come here to Arqana from Italy.

“Also, last year there were a lot of Dubawi yearlings in Tattersalls, so it might have been too much competition. She was born in February so it’s a good time now for her to come to a sale. The family is going well. Alfaatik won again for John Gosden, and the 3-year-old won her maiden well and was then second yesterday [Saturday] in a good conditions race.”

It’s not just this family that has been going well for Le Gi, which has celebrated two Classic winners in Italy this year. Cima Emergency (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) won the G3 Premio Parioli (Italian 2000 Guineas) and Auyantepui (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) landed the G2 Oaks d’Italia. Formerly trained in Italy by Nicolo Simondi, the latter is co-owned by the Parri family with OTI Racing and is now with Chantilly-based young Italian trainer Mario Baratti. She is entered in Thursday’s Listed Prix Joubert at ParisLongchamp.

Parri said, “It has been an exciting year as we won the Oaks as breeder and owner, and also the Guineas, both with the offspring of our young mares, so we are very happy. We are going to sell a Kodiac (GB) half-brother to the Guineas winner in Milan and we are very excited about him.”

The SGA draft also includes yearlings by Pride Of Dubai (Aus), Churchill (Ire) and Mehmas (Ire), while at Arqana, the pair of offerings is completed by a colt by Camelot (GB) (lot 76) out of the four-time winner Dweezil (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), a half-sister to Derby Italiano victor De Sica (Ire) (Sri Pekan).

“The Camelot is a horse for someone who likes to dream: he’s not a 2-year-old type but more a Classic type,” noted Parri. “He’s a first foal but he doesn’t look like a first foal because he is a good size and strong.”

Baroda Branches Out
The second Dubawi filly to take to the ring on Arqana’s opening day, lot 61 is the only one in the sale to have arrived from Ireland, though she started her life in Germany. Bred by Janet Leve-Ostermann’s Gestut Haus Itlingen, the daughter of the G3 Hamburger Stutenpreis winner Daytona Bay (GB) (Motivator {GB}) was a 300,000gns pinhook from the Tattersalls December Sale and she will be the first Baroda-consigned yearling to be offered in Deauville.

“We’ve been coming here for years and we usually sell through Monceaux, but it’s great to have our first draft here,” said stud owner David Cox. 

“The timing of the sales all being on top of each other now, especially with the American sales as well, is difficult, but Arqana has done a very good job of helping to get as many people over here as can come. The statistics for the online facilities so far this year have been very interesting as well.”

He added of the Dubawi yearling, “She’s a lovely filly with scope and she’s a great mover. She’s an exciting one to be selling. Dubawi has enjoyed enormous success with mares by Sadler’s Wells-line stallions: Ghaiyyath (Ire) is out of a Galileo (Ire) mare as is Dubawi’s young stallion son Night Of Thunder (Ire). European champion 2-year-old Too Darn Hot (GB) is out of a daughter of Singspiel (Ire), likewise Group 1 winners Wuheida (GB) and Old Persian (GB), while Barathea (Ire) is the broodmare sire of Dubai World Cup winner Monterosso (GB), Juddmonte International heroine Arabian Queen (GB) and Hunter’s Light (GB).”

Just six lots later, Baroda will be back in action with lot 67, a daughter of another popular British-based stallion, Showcasing (GB). The March-born filly is out of the dual winner Deux Saisons (GB) (Chineur {Fr}), who is herself a half-sister to G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner Tin Horse (Ire) (Sakhee), while the family also includes last year’s Horse of the Year in Germany, Rubaiyat (Fr) (Areion {Ger}).

“She is a fast-looking filly and hopefully she’ll be popular,” said Cox. “It’s a case of finding the right sale for the right horse and we’ve a few Showcasing yearlings so we thought she would suit this market with some good French winners in her pedigree. With the prize-money being so strong in France it’s a great place to be selling horses and it was a natural progression for us as a consignment to come here. It was a last-minute move to come to Arqana but everyone has had to be flexible this year. The breeze-up boys started it and had to move horses around but they showed that it can be done, and we all have to adapt in a difficult year.”

Following the French sale, Baroda turns its attentions to shipping its drafts for the relocated Goffs Orby Sale to the UK, swiftly followed by those for the Tattersalls October Sale.

Cox added, “We will also be welcoming clients to the farm in a socially-distanced manner if they would like to see the Goffs Orby yearlings and Tattersalls yearlings ahead of the sale, especially if they can’t travel to the UK.”

The post Italian and Irish Farms Make Deauville Debut appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Mohaather Retired From Racing

Mohaather (GB) (Showcasing {GB}-Roodeye {GB}, by Inchinor {GB}), a group winner at two, three and four who earned his first Group 1 victory last out in the Sussex S., has been retired to stud due to bone bruising in his near hind fetlock joint.

“Towards the end of last week it was noticed that Mohaather was not moving as well as he had been immediately after the Sussex S.,” said Angus Gold, racing manager to owner Sheikh Hamdan. “Precautionary x-rays were taken over the weekend which have revealed significant bone bruising in his near hind fetlock joint. Unfortunately this will put paid to the rest of his campaign, and as a result Sheikh Hamdan has taken the decision to retire the colt to stud.

“Mohaather won group races as a 2-, 3- and 4-year-old and reserved his best effort for his last outing, where he beat the winners of this year’s English and Irish 2000 Guineas, together with dual Group 1 Royal Ascot winner Circus Maximus, quickening from an impossible position inside the last two furlongs in the manner of a top-class miler. While it is sad that he will not get the chance to take on the best of the milers in the Queen Elizabeth II at Ascot and the Breeders’ Cup at the end of this year, he retires at the top of his game, and on behalf of HH Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum I would like to thank Marcus Tregoning and his team for the outstanding job they did with him.”

Bred by Gaie Johnson Houghton, Mohaather was bought by Shadwell for 110,000gns during Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale in 2017. Sent to Marcus Tregoning, he was spotted three times at two, winning twice including the G3 Horris Hill S. He showed promise on debut at three with a victory in the G3 Greenham S., but was not seen again until running fifth in the Queen Elizabeth II S. on Champions Day. Seventh behind Circus Maximus (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Queen Anne S. at Royal Ascot first up this year, he then took the G2 Summer Mile by 3 3/4 lengths prior to the Sussex.

Mohaather is a full-brother to Prize Exhibit (GB), winner of four graded stakes in the U.S., and is a half to the dam of Johnson Houghton’s G1 Queen Anne S. winner Accidental Agent (GB) (Delegator {GB}).

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