Niarchos Draft: ‘We’re Not Cutting Ties With Any of the Top Families’

One of the reasons that the Racing League has struggled to catch on is that the organisers have underestimated the attachment that regular racegoers and viewers have to certain sets of silks. We all have our favourites, often depending on when we were born and who the leading lights were at the time. 

Some have now faded from everyday use, and for this fan the Ballymacoll Stud colours are much missed. Certain silks have such resonance that one almost doesn't need to have a race card handy to have an educated guess at the standard of certain races about to happen, and if the colours of the Niarchos family are spotted in the parade ring then it's a safe bet that there's a classy maiden or Pattern race in store. 

Happily, those distinctive colours are not about to disappear, though the restructuring of the family's bloodstock operation has brought about a proper 'bloodstock event', and one which offers a mouthwatering opportunity for other breeders to buy into some of the best Niarchos pedigrees. 

Forty of their fillies and mares will be offered at Goffs next week. Friday's session is likely to be the liveliest of the November Breeding Stock Sale since the Wildenstein Stables dispersal of 2016 or the Paulyn dispersal a decade ago when Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), sold for €6 million to Coolmore, became the most expensive horse ever to sell in Ireland.

“We had a big draft last November at Goffs but this one is exceptional because the offerings include three homebred Group 1 winners,” says Alan Cooper, who has been the Niarchos family's racing manager for almost 40 years.

He adds with no little understatement, “It's a very special gathering of the family's stock.”

Before we run through some of the bluebloods on offer, it is worth emphasising that the Niarchos family will still be developing these equine families through the young stock being retained. More than 100 horses, including those in training, remain within their ownership.

“It's not a dispersal,” says Cooper. “These are going to auction but from each of the core families, we've got several fillies who are either foals, yearlings, or two-year-olds of this year going forward. We're not cutting the tie with any of the top families. That is important because Maria and her father and her brothers have built this up, and it's still ongoing.”

Stavros Niarchos, the Greek shipping tycoon, made a significant impact on the world of Thoroughbred breeding in the second half of the twentieth century, and his passion for the sport was shared by his daughter Maria Niarchos-Gouaze, one of his five children, who took on the running of the bloodstock sector of her father's empire following his death in 1996. 

Earlier this year, Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard, the Normandy farm bought by Stavros Niarchos in 1979, was put up for sale. It had previously been home at different times in their lives to such luminaries of the turf as Nureyev, his incredible daughter Miesque, and her influential son Kingmambo (Mr. Prospector). Other top names include Hernando (Ire) (Niniski) and his son Sulamani (Ire), both of whom were winners of the Prix du Jockey Club, and the Breeders' Cup Mile victrix Six Perfections (Fr) (Celtic Swing {GB}).

Members of those families and more are included in the draft for next week's sale. As referred to above, three Group 1 winners form the cornerstone of that elite group. 

Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), the Prix Marcel Boussac winner whose first foal by Wootton Bassett (GB) sold for €460,000 as a yearling this season, is offered as Lot 1212 from Baroda Stud and is in foal to St Mark's Basilica (Fr). She also has a weanling filly by Dubawi (Ire) on the ground. 

Later, as Lot 1240 from Kiltinan Castle Stud, comes Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), the G1 Coronation S .winner who was runner-up in the G1 Prix de Diane, G1 Jacques Le Marois ad G1 Prix de l'Opera. She is in foal to Frankel (GB) and had a colt foal by the same stallion.

It remains to be seen which of the draft becomes the jewel of the crown in broodmare terms, but as a racehorse it is easy to argue the case for Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), who sells last of all as Lot 1263 from Norelands and is in foal to Sea The Stars (Ire), carrying what will be her fourth offspring. On the track she was both the European champion three-year-old filly and champion three-year-old miler of 2018, when her wins included the Irish 1,000 Guineas, Coronation S., Falmouth S., and Prix Jacques Le Marois, which ran under the long-term sponsorship of the Niarchos family. 

Alpine Star and Alpha Centauri are half-sisters and daughters of the Rahy mare Alpha Lupi, representing the family which has become synonymous with the name Niarchos. Their granddam was another Jacques Le Marois winner and dual Classic heroine, East Of The Moon (Private Account), herself a daughter of one of the most revered mares of the modern era, Miesque. The latter's many Group/Grade 1 triumphs included back-to-back wins in both the Jacques Le Marois and Breeders' Cup Mile, as well as victories in the 1,000 Guineas, Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, Prix Marcel Boussac, Prix de la Salamandre, and Prix d'Ispahan. And that was just the entree to Miesque's celebrated career at stud.

The Hall of Famer produced the aforementioned Classic winners Kingmambo and East Of The Moon, as well as the Group 3 winners Miesque's Son (Mr. Prospector) and Mingun (A.P. Indy), Listed winner Moon Is Up (Woodman) and stakes-placed Inventing Paradise (Mr. Prospector). Another daughter, Second Happiness (Storm Cat), is the dam of  the Prix du Jockey Club winner and young sire Study Of Man (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), while another, Kingmambo's full-sister Monevassia, is the dam of Group 1 winner Rumplestiltskin (Ire) (Danehill).

Along with the aforementioned Group 1 winners, Miesque's direct line is also represented in the three-year-old Frankel filly Humankind (Lot 1104). Meanwhile, another branch of the family appears through Miesque's half-sister Yogya (Riverman), the dam of Six Perfections whose daughter Raja Ampat (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) features as Lot 1259 and is carrying a member of the first crop of Baaeed (GB). 

Six Perfections's unraced four-year-old granddaughter See (War Front) is Lot 1105, and that filly's full-sister La Fiamma is Lot 1181, and is sold in foal to Mehmas (Ire).

Another family which has stood the operation in great stead is that of Coup De Folie, the Halo mare bought from her breeder EP Taylor as a yearling who went on to win the G3 Prix d'Aumale. She later become the dam of Machiavellian (Mr. Prospector), his fellow Group 1 winner and full-sister Coup De Genie, and Exit To Nowhere (Irish River {Fr}), who was yet another winner of the Jacques Le Marois in the Niarchos silks.

That line thrives still, notably through Coup De Genie's daughter Moonlight's Box (Nureyev), the dam of Arc winner Bago (Fr) (Nashwan), dual Group 1 winner Maxios (GB) (Monsun {Ger}) and Listed-placed Malicieuse (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose Deep Impact daughter Bold As Love (Ire) gets the ball rolling when offered as Lot 1102, the first of the draft.

Worldwide influences loom large among the Niarchos broodmare band, which has ties beyond Europe, to America, South Africa, and Australia. Significantly the family has long had strong links to Japan, before other major owner-breeders caught on to this fertile source of class. 

“Maria was definitely a precursor of the modern age on that,” says Cooper. “And thanks to the good relations we built up with Teruya and Chizu Yoshida, which came through Hector Protector going over [to stud in Japan]. We sent him mares and then sent mares to Sunday Silence and then Deep Impact as well. And we branched out every now and again, we took mares to Bago, of course, and Lord Kanaloa, Daiwa Major.”

He continues, “And we've even got some Australian influence in the draft, with Dawn Wall [by Fastnet Rock] in there and Provocateuse by Pride of Dubai. It's truly global.”

One of those mares sent to the Classic-winning homebred Hector Protector, who was later sold to Zenya Yoshida of Shadai Farm for his stallion career, was Lingerie (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}), a daughter of another important founder of a dynasty in Northern Trick (Northern Dancer), winner of the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Prix Vermeille. 

Lingerie's daughter Shiva was foaled in Japan and exported to Europe where she won the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. Her half-sister Light Shift (Kingmambo), also trained by Henry Cecil, later won the Oaks. Five members of Lingerie's family are catalogued, including Shiva's Listed-winning daughter That Which Is Not (Elusive Quality), the dam of Group 3 winner Piz Badile (Ire), who is by another Niarchos-bred stallion in Ulysses (Ire).

The 40 mares are spread between the drafts of Norelands, Baroda and Kiltinan Castle Studs, and are also dotted evenly through the Friday of the catalogue in groups of five or six. 

“All those studs have boarded mares for us,” Cooper explains. “With this number of horses we thought it was best to divide them up between these teams, who all do a wonderful job. We thought it was very manageable that way for us, too. It would be too much for everybody to sit and watch 40 horses go through together.”

Cooper arrived at the Niarchos family's London office in February 1984 to work as assistant to Sir Philip Payne-Gallwey, the former racing manager to Stavros Niarchos who played such a key role in the operation's success through his purchase of Miesque's sire and dam, Nureyev and Pasadoble, as well as Northern Trick, as yearlings in Kentucky.

“He went back to the BBA in 1987 and I've been here ever since,” says Cooper. “Karen Clark was here before me, and she's still very much part of the original team.”

Of the draft itself, he adds, “It goes back to the yearling fillies purchased in the 80s: you've got Pasadoble, the dam of Miesque; Coup De Folie, the dam of Coup De Genie, and so much has come down from those two alone. But then you spread out and another branch of Miesque's family was Yogya, the dam of Six Perfections, another family goes back to Rare Mint, and we've got a great-granddaughter of hers, Celestial Lagoon, represented through several of her daughters. Then you've got Lyrism, the dam of Whakilyric, who is the third dam of Nature Spirits.

“So there's a lot of families that we've had for generations. It's quite a history.”

 

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Europe’s Finest Bloodlines On Offer: Three Sales, Three Weeks, Three Countries

Sales of breeding stock are just as much a feature of the final couple of months of the year in Europe as they are in North America. In fact, the European sales have been an important fact of American bloodstock life since the early days of the sport, with many breed-shapers having been recruited in Europe before heading west to make history.

Perhaps the most famous graduate of Tattersalls's December Sale remains La Troienne (Fr) (Teddy {Fr}). After a racing career in which, without winning, she notched up some minor placings in both France and England (and, strangely, contested the Poule d'Essai des Poulains) she was sent to the December Sale in 1930 by Marcel Boussac. Bought by Colonel Bradley of Idle Hour Farm in Lexington for 1,250 guineas, she was brought to America, where she became arguably the greatest matriarch the country has ever known.

Almost as influential was Rough Shod (GB), bought at the December Sale in 1951 for 3,500 guineas, in foal to My Babu (GB), by Arthur 'Bull' Hancock of Claiborne Farm, where she went on to change the course of bloodstock history, most obviously as third dam and fourth dam respectively of the legendary Northern Dancer horses Nureyev and Sadler's Wells.

A similarly significant purchase came in 1952 when Martin Benson, proprietor of Beech House Stud in Newmarket, offered the Hyperion mare Lady Angela (GB), a winning great-great granddaughter of Pretty Polly (Ire) who was in foal to the stud's resident stallion Nearco (Ity). She topped the sale, bought by George Blackwell on behalf of E. P. Taylor of Windfields Farm in Ontario. Taylor came to an agreement with Benson that Lady Angela could visit Nearco again the following spring. She was then exported to Canada, in foal, after that subsequent covering. The resultant foal was born at Windfields. As Nearctic (Can), he went on to make an indelible mark on the Stud Book as the sire of Northern Dancer (Can).

It might be asking a bit much to hope that there will be a La Troienne, a Rough Shod or a Lady Angela coming out of the forthcoming round of mares' sales at Goffs in Ireland, at Tattersalls in England and at Arqana in France, three world-class auctions which follow on conveniently one after the other. It could happen, though. What definitely will happen is that some of the fillies and mares sold at the three auctions will go on to breed top-class horses all around the world.

Reduction and Dispersals at Goffs

Goffs' November Sale kicks things off on Nov. 24, immediately after a four-day foal sale whose catalogue includes over 1,000 lots. Lasting two days, the mares' catalogue is more streamlined but the concentration of quality is intense. There are always some notable offerings at this sale, with recent treats having included a Wildenstein dispersal in 2016. The particular treats this time include a mouth-watering draft offered as a result of the restructuring of the Niarchos family's studs and the dispersal of the stock of Gestut Hony-Hof, over and above the usual drafts from such proven sources of class as Ballylinch Stud, Godolphin, HH Aga Khan Studs and Moyglare Stud.

Horses bearing the colours firstly of the late Stavros Niarchos and subsequently of his heirs have been a feature of top-class racing for half a century. In the early days, Stavros Niarchos's champions, such as the aforementioned Nureyev, were bought as yearlings but by the time that the great Miesque (Nureyev) came along in the late 1980s it was very much an owner/breeder enterprise. Numerous champions have borne the family's livery since then and the current on-going restructuring provides a special opportunity for other breeders to tap into the bloodlines which have been developed by this world-class operation over the decades.

Goffs November Kicks off Nov. 24 | Goffs

Consigned variously by Norelands, Baroda and Kiltinan Castle Studs, the 41 Niarchos fillies and mares form a mouth-watering bunch. Daughters of world-class stallions such as Galileo (Ire), Deep Impact (Jpn), Frankel (GB), Dubawi (Ire), Sea The Stars (Ire) and Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) and boasting suitably exalted coverings, the bunch is made up entirely of blue-bloods and includes the G1 winners Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) and Albigna (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), in foal respectively to Sea The Stars, Frankel and St Mark's Basilica (Fr).

A less-heralded landmark at Goffs this year will be the dispersal of the stock of Gestut Hony-Hof, whose 11 mares form part of the Castlebridge Consignment. The nucleus of Gestut Hony-Hof's broodmare band has stemmed from Salve Regina (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) who carried the Hony-Hof colours to victory in the G1 German Oaks in 2002 before finishing second in the G1 German Derby four weeks later. As a full-sister to the German Derby winners Samum (Ger) and Schiaparelli (Ger) as well as to the dam of 2014 German Derby winner Sea The Moon, Salve Regina was a perfect candidate to develop into the great matriarch which she became. The majority of the Hony-Hof mares descend from her, although the best horse whom the stud has bred most recently, 2020 G1 Prix du Cadran heroine Princess Zoe (Ger) (Jukebox Jury {Ire}), comes from another family. Besides Salve Regina's descendants, the draft includes Princess Zoe's half-sister Palace Girl (GB) (Areion {Ger}).

Any Godolphin reduction draft is worth making a long journey to inspect. The operation's consignment at Goffs is no exception, with the G1 winners Ambivalent (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), Lyric Of Light (GB) (Street Cry {Ire}) and Be Fabulous (Ger) (Samum {Ger}) being of obvious interest. Ambivalent makes particular appeal as she has already bred a Group 1 winner, being the dam of 2021 Prix Vermeille heroine Teona (Ire), and she becomes of even greater interest as she is currently back in foal to Teona's sire Sea The Stars.

Tattersalls Kicks Off Sale With Sceptre Sessions

Tattersalls make it easy for would-be buyers to home in on many of the the most obvious prospects in the December Mares' Sale (Dec. 4-7) by highlighting some of the choicest lots in the two 'Sceptre Sessions', which are named after one of the greatest horses ever to pass through the ring at Park Paddocks, Sceptre earning immortality by contesting all five British Classics in 1902 and winning four of them.

Sceptre went through Tattersalls's ring as both a sale-topping yearling and as a proven Classic winner. Many Classic heroines have graced the arena since then and another will do so this year as last year's 1,000 Guineas victrix Cachet (GB) (Aclaim {Ire}) will be one of the star lots of the second of the two Sceptre sessions.

It is often the case that the ring is subdued immediately before and immediately after a stand-out lot but that won't be the case in this instance. Cachet will be preceded by this year's G2 Lowther S. winner Relief Rally (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and followed by this year's G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. heroine Rogue Millennium (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}). All three of these starlets provide a reminder that many of the future broodmares on offer still offer plenty of racing potential. Last year one of the best fillies to go through the ring was 1,000 Guineas place-getter Fev Rover (Ire) (Guitaifan {Ire}) and she has illustrated the point perfectly. She is now looking a bargain at the 695,000 guineas which Tracy Farmer paid for her 12 months ago following her wins this season in the G2 Nassau S., G1 Beverly D S. and G1 E. P. Taylor S.

Cachet is set to sell during Tattersalls's Sceptre Sessions | Scoop Dyga

Other smart fillies straight off the track due to be offered the Sceptre Sessions include the Group 1 winners Lezoo (GB) (Zoustar {Aus}), Prosperous Voyage (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), Via Sistina (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Poptronic (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}). The latter comes in particularly good form as her most recent run was her best, ie her victory last month in the G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. Another recent Group 1 winner in the second Sceptre Session is Teona (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), successful in the G1 Prix Vermeille in 2021 and now offered in foal to Frankel (GB). Via Sistina features particularly prominently in the catalogue as her dam Nigh (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is also on offer, in foal to Too Darn Hot (GB).

It would be wrong to focus too much on the Sceptre Sessions, however, as each year one of the highlights of the December Sale is the Juddmonte draft. This will again be the case this year. None of the Juddmonte horses are included in a Sceptre Session, the draft being split into two parts with the first part coming immediately before the first day's Sceptre Session and the second part preceding the Sceptre Session the following evening.

Arqana December Gets Underway Dec. 9

It would also be wrong to have exhausted one's budget by the end of the December Sale because following hot on that auction's heels is the Arqana December Sale in France (Dec. 9-12). This invariably provides some superb racing and breeding prospects. Over the years it has proved to be a particularly fruitful source of fillies who have gone on to achieve notable success in the USA. G1 Prix de l'Opera heroine Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}), sold for €3,000,000 in 2021 and subsequently the winner of the G1 E. P. Taylor S. in 2022, is a classic example.

The sale is even more notable as a source of broodmares worldwide. Top-level winners in 2023 whose dams came out of this sale include Feed The Flame (GB), Iresine (Fr) and Trueshan (Fr) in France; Sol Oriens (Jpn) in Japan; Via Sistina (Ire) in Ireland; India (Ger) in Germany; and Gold Trip (Fr) in Australia. Obviously appealing mares on offer this year include the 2019 G1 Prix de Diane heroine Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}), offered in foal to Wootton Bassett (GB), and 2022 G2 Prix du Muguet winner Sibila Spain (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), offered in foal to Dubawi (Ire).

Furthermore, the draft of HH Aga Khan Studs is always a feature of the Arqana December Sale. This consignment is invariably a rich source of notable broodmares for countries all over the world. Another particularly interesting offering in this year's sale is the dispersal of the stock of world-renowned German nursery Gestut Ammerland, the owner/breeder of numerous champions including Hurricane Run (Ire), Lope De Vega (Ire) and Borgia (Ger). A particular treat from that source will come when it offers as consecutive lots Sea The Moon's stakes-winning four-year-old full-sister Sea The Sky (Ger); Lope De Vega's G3-winning Frankel (GB) half-sister Lady Frankel, in foal to New Bay (GB); and Lady Frankel's three-year-old daughter Lightning Lady (Ire) (Kingman {GB}).

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Niarchos Family To Receive International Award Of Merit

The Niarchos Family will be honoured with the Longines and IFHA International Award of Merit for 2021. The award recognises distinguished horsemen and horsewomen for lifelong contributions to Thoroughbred racing, with previous winners including the Magnier Family and Aidan O'Brien; the Romanet Family, Jim Bolger, Alec Head and Seth Hancock.

The late Stavros Niarchos, a Greek naval officer in World War II who made his fortune in the shipping business, first became involved with Thoroughbred racing in the 1950s before taking a break and returning with a major commitment in the 1970s. The Niarchos Family has bred and/or raced 125 Grade and Group 1 winners around the globe.

One of the Niarchos Family's first notable horses was Nureyev, who they purchased at the 1978 Keeneland July Sale. Nureyev went on to be a highly influential sire, and among his best progeny was the Niarchos Family's homebred Miesque, a champion in England, the U.S. and France, a dual GI Breeders' Cup Mile winner, Hall of Famer and influential broodmare, her progeny perhaps highlighted by the Group 1-winning sire Kingmambo. Miesque's influence is still felt today through numerous branches, including the one that has produced Group 1-winning sisters Alpha Centauri (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), Alpine Star (Ire) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) and Discoveries (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) for the Niarchos Family.

Stavros Niarchos was leading owner in France in 1983 and 1984, and leading breeder in 1989, 1993 and 1994. Niarchos died in 1996, at which point his daughter Maria Niarchos-Gouaze took over the family's Thoroughbred business.

The Niarchos Family has been strong supporters of the Breeders' Cup since the meeting's inception and has won seven Breeders' Cup races with six homebreds: Miesque, Spinning World, Domedriver (Ire), Six Perfections (Fr), Karakontie (Jpn) and Main Sequence. The Niarchos Family will be honoured during a ceremony on Nov. 5 in Del Mar during the Breeders' Cup, where Niarchos-Gouaze will accept the Award of Merit on behalf of the family.

Other prominent horses raced by the Niarchos Family include Bago (Fr), Divine Proportions, Light Shift, Ulysses (Ire), Alpha Centauri (Ire), Study Of Man (Jpn) and Circus Maximus (Ire). They also bred War Of Will, the 2019 GI Preakness S. winner.

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