Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale | Horse Racing Free Tips

Guineas Weekend Begins In The Sales Ring

NEWMARKET, UK–The profile of breeze-up sales has changed over the years, and perhaps nowhere is this more obvious than at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up, which can count top-class stayers Trip To Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}) and Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) among its graduates. There will doubtless be a helping of whizz-bang juvenile types but, overall, the sale is better known as one at which you might find a horse with a more progressive outlook who still has the potential to take you to all the best places, just perhaps a year or so later.

As has already been well documented in these pages we are in the middle of a stellar year for the breeze-up sector, with graduates Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) and Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}) having all recently won formal Classic trials and about to line up for the Guineas this weekend in Newmarket. Underlining the truly international aspect of the bloodstock industry more generally, next week's Kentucky Derby line-up is likely to feature Summer Is Tomorrow (Summer Front). Bred in the U.S. by Brereton C Jones, the colt was bought privately by Mickey Cleere when unsold at $14,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Exported to Ireland, he was then presented in Cleere's draft for last year's Arqana Breeze-up Sale, which was held in Doncaster as Covid restrictions continued to make travel tricky. The multiple UAE champion jockey Tadhg O'Shea visited the sale on behalf of trainer Bhupat Seemar and signed for the colt for the Burke family at £120,000. Following yet another move for the horse, this time to Dubai, O'Shea subsequently rode Summer Is Tomorrow in his first five starts at Meydan but was aboard his better-fancied stable-mate when Summer Is Tomorrow took second in the G2 UAE Derby, thus earning crucial points for a trip 'back home' to Churchill Downs.

It was only just over a month ago that the breeze-up season kicked off in Dubai, with Cleere faring well from the off when selling two of that sale's six top lots. Two more sales have been consigned to the books since then, and his M.C. Thoroughbreds operation is represented again at Tattersalls on Thursday by three juveniles, including another colt picked up in America. Lot 167 is from the first crop of Spendthrift Farm's dual Grade I-winning juvenile Bolt d'Oro, a son of the widely popular Medaglia d'Oro, and he was bought inexpensively at the Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale for $5,500.

“He's a nice horse and I hope someone good gets him because he's very genuine,” said Cleere of the half-brother to Grade III winner Take Charge Paula (Take Charge Indy). “I try to base myself on getting horses together without bursting the clock. It's a fine line, but I like to get them to point their toe.”

Casting his mind back to his star graduate of last year, Summer Is Tomorrow, Cleere added, “He had a great mind in everything he did. He was such an intelligent horse and a good ride. He was one of those horses that you were hoping he had a bit of speed because he had the mind to match.”

He continued, “It's absolutely brilliant that he's going there. I've been in touch with everyone and the horse has now been in Kentucky for a few days. I'm told he travelled well.

“You could't write it really, and if he ran well it will just be fantastic. It's great for the breeze-up industry.”

As for the prospects of this week based on the season so far, Cleere said, “There's definitely an appetite still for good horses. As always the middle market is more difficult. The prize-money really needs to improve and until that happens it will be harder. There'll be plenty of nice horses at this sale but I feel it will be a buyers' market.

“I had a great sale in Dubai and it was great to get off to a good start. It relieves some of the pressure.”

Another half-brother to a stakes winner is set to pass through the ring just ahead of Cleere's colt. Lot 161 is offered by Roderick Kavanagh's Glending Stables and is by Time Test (GB) out of the Listed-placed Noah's Ark (Ire) (Charnwood Forest {Ire}), and thus a sibling to the Listed Prix Herod winner Temps Au Temps (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). The colt's half-sister After (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) also earned black type when placing in three Group 3 races and now features as the dam of dual Group 2 winner Armory (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

Street Cry (Ire) has featured as the broodmare sire of at least two stakes winners worldwide in the last week, and he performs that role for Lot 168, a daughter of leading young sire Mehmas (Ire) offered by Tally-Ho Stud. The filly's unraced dam Peronism is a half-sister to one of the best older horses in training in Europe, the treble Group 1 winner Lord North (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}).

In Platinum Jubilee year, the monarchists among the buyers at Tattersalls on Thursday may feel like treating themselves to a colt from one of the Queen's families, and they need look no further than Lot 182, from the A. C. Bloodstock draft. The first-crop son of Cracksman (GB) is a half-brother to Listed Fairway S. winner Peacock (GB) (Paco Boy {Ire}) and his dam Rainbow's Edge (GB) (Rainbow Quest) is a half-sister to Her Majesty's Royal Ascot winner Free Agent (GB) (Dr Fong).

Bushypark Stables claimed the top spot at last week's Goffs UK Breeze-up when turning a 14,000gns Tasleet (GB) yearling into a £230,000 breezer, and Matt Whyte's team has brought two juveniles to Tattersalls this week, including a filly with justifiably Classic pretensions. Lot 212 is from the first crop of the 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and is a grand-daughter of the champion racemare Pride (Fr) (Peintre Celebre), whose finest moment also came on the Rowley Mile when winning the G1 Champion S.

As ever, the Guineas Breeze-up Sale is preceded by a morning session of horses in training, with around 80 set to go under the hammer from 9.30am. A further 190 breezers will follow during the afternoon and evening.

The post Guineas Weekend Begins In The Sales Ring appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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WC Equine Building On Positive Beginnings

Ellie Whitaker and Tegan Clark clearly remember the empty silence that followed an email blast out to the industry upon the launch of WC Equine.

“We had a list of trainers' emails,” recalls Clark. “And we put together an email saying we're here, this is what we're doing, along with background of what we've done before, and emailed 93 of them.”

Whitaker takes up the story. “We got three responses, all saying good luck! It's about selling a product at the end of the day and we didn't have a product to show people. We had all our social media set up but nothing to show for it. We just needed one person to send us one horse.”

It is to the pair's credit, however, that they had already secured the regard of trainer Roger Varian as well as Brendan Morrin of Pier House Stud. A base at Robert Cowell's Bottisham Heath Stud in Six Mile Bottom also had plenty to recommend it, allowing Whitaker and Clark to take advantage of Newmarket's facilities without being in the hustle and bustle of the town itself. And so with a barn and the hope of a handful of horses to come, WC Equine was launched.

“We started with no horses,” says Whitaker. “Then Kevin Philippart de Foy, who is a good friend of Tegan's, sent us our first yearling.

“We had also worked with Brendan Morrin at Pier House Stud and I would joke with him at the sales. If something good didn't sell, we'd keep asking 'can we breeze it, can we breeze it?'”

If you don't ask, you don't get, so the saying goes, and so it was with two Pier House Stud-bred fillies that WC Equine entered the breeze-up sector at last year's Tattersalls Guineas Sale. In the meantime, Varian had stuck to his word and sent a group of youngsters to the pair for pre-training. Their gratitude is tangible but it works both ways and Varian was evidently impressed enough to send another sizeable batch of young horses to them this season.

“I worked for Roger around the time he had Postponed, and he had always said 'give me a call when you set up',” says Clark. “And so I rang him to say we had a few boxes and he said, 'I'll definitely support you'. He basically kept us afloat that first year–he was very good to us, and we've done a few more for him this year.

“But then I think the breeze-ups really motored us forward and sparked a bit of interest.”

Of course, there is no better place to advertise than the public arena and while Clark and Whitaker were gaining respect as for their pre-training ability, it was arguably their debut effort at last year's Guineas Sale that drew greater attention to their name.

WC Equine headed to the sale with two fillies on behalf of Pier House Stud, namely a first-crop daughter of Aclaim (GB) and another from the first-crop of Galileo Gold (GB). Both found new homes but particularly impressive was the Aclaim filly, who changed hands for 60,000gns to Rabbah Bloodstock.

“We liked her and we knew she was the better of the two,” says Clark. “You'd pull up after a gallop and think, yes this is nice.”

Whitaker adds: “We thought she was a nice filly but we went there thinking we'd be happy at 30,000gns. We kept her under wraps for the majority of the winter. The horse physically was always going to get there but it was about training her mind as much as anything else.”

Sent to James Tate and named Royal Aclaim (Ire), she made a smart winning debut against colts less than a month later over 5f at Newcastle where her victims included none other Perfect Power (Ire) (Ardad {Ire}), subsequently winner of the G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park S. who is now around a 10-1 shot for the 2000 Guineas, and Fearby (Ire) (Havana Gold {GB}), who would go on to run second in the G3 Molecomb S.

“The money wasn't the be all and end all,” says Whitaker. “It was a bonus but it was seeing her go out and win, and saying the proof is in the pudding, we've done the job essentially. That was more rewarding than having a bit of cash in your pocket.”

Fast-forward a year and WC Equine is thriving. By mid-March, the pair had broken in 60 yearlings in batches, with a waiting list of others to come in. Included in the mix are five breeze-up horses slated to fly the flag at this week's Tattersalls Guineas Sale in Newmarket.

It is the result of a deep grounding within the business allied with an appreciation of hard work and love of the animal.

“I was two when my mother first sat me on a horse,” says Whitaker. “I did a lot of hunting and eventing. I sort of fell into racing.

“I was about 15 when I went to work for Mark Dwyer and I was there for about four years. I did the sales circuit for a year and then went to Roger Marley's [Church Farm Stables]. I went in as a head girl, I was 18 and chucked in at the deep end but I learnt a lot in a short space of time. I think you take a piece out of everything and put it into your own. You learn in abundance with people like that–and also how not to do it. They both work extremely hard. Both him and Mark rode out back then. They'd get up, muck out, feed and ride out.

“Roger has been very helpful to us, and Mark and Blarney [Brendan Holland of Grove Stud] would be the same. They're always there to help. It's so competitive but they've been there to help and assist, and congratulate as well.”

She continues, “I was with Roger for about a year and a half and from there I went to Newmarket and to the Godolphin pre-training yard on Hamilton Road, which was a whole different way of doing things. When they dispersed, I went to Charlie Appleby's at a time when he had good horses like Cross Counter and Line Of Duty. I broke in Pinatubo–it was year of some seriously good 2-year-olds there. It's not often you get on every lot and you go 'wow, that's ok'. It was a real eye-opener.

“And after that I came here to Robert's [Cowell]. I did two and a half years as a work rider and then launched WC.”

South African-born Clark has a similarly deep background in racing.

“My first job in racing was with Olly Stevens and before we started here, I had worked in Newmarket for about four years,” she says. “I did a season with Roger Varian and then worked the rest of time for Simon Crisford, who gave me the opportunity to go out to Dubai.

“I've been very lucky to be involved with some lovely horses. I remember riding Lightning Thunder, who was second in the 1000 Guineas. I took her up the canter and remember thinking 'this is a different class'. There was a real class to her, she did it so easily and professionally.

“Postponed was at Roger Varian's when I was there, and just to be involved with a horse like him was amazing. When I was at Simon Crisford's, he had [G2 winner] Ostilio and [G1 miler] Century Dream. Ostilio was in my section, I had a couple of spins on him, and he was a lovely horse to deal with. I also did a couple of seasons breaking in some horses with Richard Morgan-Evans. It's a seriously good operation, they work so hard, and he was very willing to help and teach.”

Whitaker and Clark today operate at Bottisham Heath out of two barns and a stable block. They have access to a variety of gallops but also the luxury of being able to work the horses in town if needed.

“They will go into town for an educational canter,” says Whitaker. “They'll do three or four bits in town but they'll do most of their work here. We've proven that we can get them fit here.

“We've got walkers and we put in a lunge pit ourselves, which works well as an arena. We can put them in the dummy stalls, which are great, and there's the opportunity to turn them out as well.”

Clark adds: “It's a good place to chill out, they can relax coming from town.

“This is something that we've always wanted to do. It's pretty basic but it works. They're really healthy barns. And we ride them all ourselves. When we had 15, we did everything pretty much ourselves–muck out all morning and ride all afternoon. Now we've got two riders coming in. So between all of us, we'd do five or six lots each.”

This year's WC Equine Guineas draft kicks off with Lot 146, a first-crop daughter of Sioux Nation. By a sire quick off the mark with his runners, she is a half-sister to four winners and out of Luxie (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), a half-sister to the fast Listed winner Mister Manannan (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}).

A real feather in the cap of their draft is the presence of a Zarak (Fr) filly. Catalogued as Lot 198, she is the only filly to be catalogued to the sale by her sire, one of the most exciting young stallions in Europe, and is a granddaughter of G2 May Hill S. winner Nasheej (Swain {Ire}).

She is followed immediately into the ring by a Starspangledbanner (Aus) colt (Lot 199), who is a half-brother to three winners and a member of the Doff The Derby (Master Derby) dynasty.

The draft is rounded out by a colt from the second crop of Caravaggio (Lot 227), who is closely related to G1-winning sprinter The Right Man (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), and a colt from the first crop of Cracksman (GB) (Lot 313), who is a half-brother to Listed winner Panstarr (GB) (Pivotal {GB}).

“We started with seven this season but that's down to five, which isn't bad although we'd like to have more,” says Clark.

“It keeps us really busy. If you start expanding, what you do can be diluted and we're very hands-on, and we want to keep enjoying it. Yes we'd like to expand more but definitely not over the 50 mark overall. We're lucky to have a fantastic client base, they're very good to us and have been very supportive.”

Whitaker concurs. “We'd be comfortable if the breeze-up side keeps expanding,” she says. “We've gone from two to five. It's a big jump for us but still not as many we'd like.”

She adds: “I think we have a nice bunch. But you've got to be realistic, you've got to know what you're galloping next to. We're riding them and that's an advantage as we know when they feel a bit off and you've got to take a pull, or if they're a bit fresh and you have to give them more. You've got to manage your expectations. Everything will happen on the day and we'll just have to see.”

The post WC Equine Building On Positive Beginnings appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Third-Highest Turnover At Strong Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale

The Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale concluded with the third-highest turnover in the sale's history with 150 2-year-olds changing hands for just short of 4.5 million guineas, an average of almost 30,000 guineas, a median of 24,500 guineas and a clearance rate of 82 percent. The Guineas Horses in Training Sale had earlier seen 24 horses in training exchange hands for 262,500 guineas.

Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown secured the top-priced lot of the Guineas Breeze Up Sale when going to 135,000 guineas to land the son of the first crop sire and multiple Group 1 winner Postponed. The colt is out of the Malibu Moon mare Micalea's Moon, a half-sister to the dam of Champion 2-year-old and exciting stallion No Nay Never. Brown secured the colt despite the persistence of underbidder Anthony Bromley, stood alongside trainer Alan King.

“He is for my resale syndicate Never Say Die, and will be trained by David Simcock,” said Brown. “A client bred Postponed so I have followed him all the way through and I am giving him a big chance.

“I don't see this horse running until August or September, he is a horse for the future. I just thought he is a smashing horse.”

Explaining the ownership syndicate, Brown said: “The syndicate is all about resale. We aim to sell as 3-year-olds. There are great people involved in the syndicate and I think they will be really excited with this horse.”

Of the colt's breeze, Brown enthused: “He did a cracking breeze. He just showed a great action, it wasn't a speedy breeze but it was the style he did it in, he has a good attitude.”

The sale represented a great success for Glending Stables' Roderick Kavanagh, with the colt having been purchased at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale for just 20,000 guineas.

“He was bought by my Dad (Peter Kavanagh) and Michael Downey, and we've always really liked him,” recalled Kavanagh. “He's a racehorse and he was such a good pull-out outside the boxes. He did an impressive breeze for his size and the date of birth he has, and he really fills the eye. He was very popular and he never let us down from start to finish.”

He added of the son of Postponed: “He is a lovely horse and all the agents were on him, all the big dogs as you'd expect. I think there were five or six bidders on him.”

The Mehmas colt out of the Milk It Mick mare Cheworee for was the second lot to sell for a six-figure value when knocked down to David Redvers for 105,000 guineas on behalf of Sheikh Fahad.

The colt's sire, who stands at Tally Ho Stud, has enjoyed a sensational start to his stud career and the successful purchaser David Redvers said of his plans: “He will be trained in Newmarket, Sheikh Fahad [who lives in Newmarket] wants to see him trained locally and close by. The horse did a very good time, he is by a very good sire and he is a lovely model, it is a great touch for the vendor.”

The vendor was Irish-based National Hunt jockey Ian McCarthy who owned him with two friends, the trio purchasing him as a foal for €3,000 as a yearling pinhook prospect but that plan failed to come to fruition.

“Gerry McCormack pinhooked him as a foal for €3,000, it is lucky enough now that he was not sold as a yearling!” smiled McCarthy. “I prepped him for us, he has been very straightforward. As time went on he just developed, he got much stronger and through the last eight weeks he has really turned a corner – he takes his work well.”

“He is a horse who has had a great preparation and we've liked him all along,” continued McCarthy. “We've had plenty of interest in the last couple of days, he did a lovely breeze ridden by Micky Cleere and he is by the right sire, isn't he?”

At the conclusion of the 2021 Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;

“A median bettered only once this decade at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale combined with an average and turnover which both compare favorably with the 2019 and 2020 renewals are all positives to take from today's sale, as has been the consistent domestic demand at all levels of the market. Similarly, while not quite matching the unprecedented levels at the recent Craven Breeze Up Sale, the clearance rate has also held up well, especially considering a significantly larger catalogue than usual and the disruption to overseas participation owing to the current widespread travel restrictions.

“We can also reflect on a Guineas Breeze Up Sale which has produced numerous impressive pinhooking triumphs, as ever reflecting the expertise of the consignors, and another sale which has underlined the importance of the Tattersalls live internet bidding platform which has yet again proved to be invaluable, particularly for overseas buyers unable to attend the sale. COVID continues to test us all, but once more we have experienced trade of remarkable resilience and a collective determination from all involved to explore every avenue to provide as vibrant a market as possible in the face of considerable obstacles.”

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King And Bromley Breezing Into Cheltenham

There was very little that was normal about last year. A late start to the Flat season, no spectators at the races and the breeze-up sales held after Royal Ascot, which was one of the few early meetings to be held in its traditional slot.

An extra twist to the Royal meeting was that one of the dominant trainers of the week was a man better known in jumping circles: Alan King. It is always worth taking note, however, when the master of Barbury Castle sends out a Flat runner, and those who followed Scarlet Dragon (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}), Coeur De Lion (GB) (Pour Moi {Ire}) and Who Dares Wins (Ire) (Jeremy) will have enjoyed the week all the more.

All three of those horses are winners not just on the Flat but, as one might expect from King, also over hurdles. Subsequently, their stable-mate Tritonic (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}), who embellished King's Ascot record with a close second in the Golden Gates H., has followed their example with two unbeaten runs over hurdles this season. He heads to the Cheltenham Festival as current second-favourite for the G1 Triumph Hurdle.

Tritonic, owned by the McNeill Family and Ian Dale, can be considered the perfect flagbearer for a project which King has worked on successfully with bloodstock agent Anthony Bromley of Highflyer Bloodstock in recent years. While the boutique sales for horses with form in point-to-points or bumpers have seen prices skyrocket for some of the best National Hunt stock, Bromley and King have explored another avenue for to recruit youngsters with the potential to go jumping: the breeze-up sales.

“The second-hand market is remarkably strong for the staying horse and they do hold British and Irish staying form on a pedestal,” says Bromley of the increased overseas participation at the horses-in-training sales, which were once an obvious port of call for National Hunt trainers looking to convert a horse from the Flat with enough stamina on the page.

He continues, “It doesn't suit Alan's system to buy too many Flat yearlings in October. We have done but because he is dual purpose and his boxes are full through the winter with the jumpers, it does suit him really well to come to the breeze-ups. Initially it was always just the Guineas Sale in May but we have also come to the Craven in April in the last few years. That's a time when a lot of the winter jumpers are going for their breaks and it's good to bring the 2-year-olds in as it keeps the staff busy. It has worked really well.”

He adds, “We do buy a few yearlings every year but we tend to buy between six and 10 at the breeze-ups, depending on the demand.”

In some ways, the coronavirus pandemic actually worked in the favour of Bromley and King when the breeze-up sales were delayed. What had looked like being a lean year for orders suddenly perked up as the Ascot winners rolled in.

“Having the sales in July meant that the horses had been got ready for an April or May breeze then they had to be let down again for a time. By the time we bought them we didn't have to give them too much of a break, which suited Alan's system very well as they'd already had a sort of mini-break,” Bromley says.

“It was a worry for the breeze-up fellas with more precocious types but it wasn't a worry for us with the type of horses we were after and we enjoyed those sales last year. If they had gone ahead in April or May we may not have had any orders.”

Tritonic, who was bred and sold by Kirsten Rausing as a foal, was pinhooked for the breeze-up sale by Tally-Ho Stud, with Bromley signing for him at the Tattersalls Guineas Sale of 2019 at 55,000gns. Though trainer and agent typically look for a progressive type who might at their best at three and up, Tritonic was ahead of the curve and showed early promise, winning a Ffos Las novice race on his second start at two, followed by victory in the Haynes, Hanson & Clark Conditions S. a month later. Last season, he was runner-up in the listed Glasgow S., achieving a Flat rating of 99.

Bromley says, “Alan hasn't got the clients with the cheque books to really try to buy leading prospects for the Triumph Hurdle but that is a race that we like to target, and a horse like Tritonic is a dream horse. He was placed at Royal Ascot as a 3-year-old, won a graded race over hurdles the next spring and is second-favourite for the Triumph Hurdle. That is a dream purchase for us and you could say he is the poster boy for what we have been trying to do.”

Tritonic's most recent outing last Saturday resulted in a 10-length triumph in the G2 Close Brothers Adonis Juvenile Hurdle—undoubtedly his most polished performance to date.

“He was very impressive,” Bromley agrees. “Alan had made no secret of the fact that he wanted to get two runs into him before Cheltenham and it was a little bit of a rush to get him to the first [hurdles] run at Ascot. He felt that there was a lot of improvement to come in the horse and that was apparent on Saturday.”

Now it's all systems go for the Triumph Hurdle, a race King has plundered in the past with the former Flat winners Penzance (Ire) (Pennekamp) and Katchit (Ire) (Kalanisi {Ire}). The latter went on to glory in the following year's Champion Hurdle.

Whatever Tritonic achieves at the Festival, he has a strong challenge to his poster-boy claims from Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}), a 31,000gns purchase from the previous year's Guineas Sale who usurped all of his aforementioned current stable-mates at Ascot in October when winning the G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup.

“Trueshan has almost achieved too much to go jumping,” says Bromley. “They have big plans for him this season as a 5-year-old. Hurdling could have been on the agenda for him but it has now been taken off. There were enquiries made for Trueshan and Tritonic at different stages of their careers but their owners have stuck with them and they are reaping the pleasure of that. Even if they are not reaping the big prize-money, they are reaping the pleasure of having a good horse in their own country.”

The two current stars are by no means the only success stories from the breeze-up project. King also won the Adonis Hurdle back in 2017 with Master Blueyes (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), a 42,000gns purchase and an 85-rated dual Flat winner. Rainbow Dreamer (GB) (Aqlaam {GB}), still on the go at the age of eight and a winner on his last start on Feb. 6 off a mark of 110, has now won eight Flat races and twice over hurdles.

One of the early purchases at 20,000gns, Chatez (Ire), won seven races, two of which were over hurdles—a rare feat for a son of Dandy Man (Ire). He, like Trueshan, was a graduate of Thomond O'Mara's Knockanglass Stables.

“I get quite excited when the catalogue arrives and I pick out a long list to look at,” Bromley explains. “I will look at sprint sires as long as the female family has got some stamina in it. We are looking for something to run over a mile and a quarter as a 3-year-old, and if it can do that you have a horse who can go over jumps if things didn't work out.

“Last year we bought a horse by The Last Lion (Ire),” he says of juvenile winner Rafiki (Fr), another Knockanglass breezer. “We like him a lot and he's a big stamp of a horse, but being by a son of Choisir he wouldn't necessarily jump out at you as being one for Alan. But he's going to be a nice horse who we think can do all sorts of jobs. You need to have bit of stamina on the female side. And then obviously the physique of the horse is the main thing once we actually get to the sales. They have to have some sort of scope. I've bought for Alan since he started training and I know exactly the sort of horse he's after. We're not trying to buy a National Hunt store, we still do need to have a Flat racehorse there as well. We're looking for an athlete with a bit of scope about him.”

Trueshan, who has “all the big targets that you'd imagine” could yet emulate another star of the Guineas Breeze-up Sale, the Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}), whose relatively lowly price of 20,000gns was doubtless connected to the fact that he didn't clock a particularly fast time when breezing on the Rowley Mile.

“I don't bother with the times,” says Bromley. “Many moons ago, before it got really professional, I had an assistant for the sales and we got the times. It was the worst breeze-up sale I ever bought at because I was referring to the times and I think it stopped me buying some horses because they hadn't clocked a good time. I think it clouded my opinion of the horse I saw with my eyes.”

He continues, “When I get one out that I've liked in the gallop and then the vendor says he clocked in the top ten of the day I always groan. One, the horse is going to be expensive, and that's not good for me if I haven't got the big money to spend, and more importantly, with the individual's pedigree and physique I don't want to be hearing that he had clocked a good time as it might mean that we are going to have to take a lot of time to unwind the horse. A horse not bred to do that may have been pushed to record a fast time.”

More important to Bromley is the trust he has built up with vendors with whom he has had past success. “It's not done us any harm just to go with our gut feeling, and as we've been doing it year after year we do like to go back to vendors we've done well with before,” he says. “You go with your own eyes and you go a little bit on vendors' recommendations—and they have to see you again next year.”

A number of King and Bromley's breeze-up purchases have been for Max McNeill, the co-owner of Tritonic whose previous high-class horses with Alan King include Grumeti (GB) (Sakhee), the archetypal dual-purpose performer with his wins in the Cesarewitch and the G1 Anniversary Hurdle at Aintree.

“Fair play to Max McNeill as there have been a lot of enquiries about Tritonic throughout his career, right from when he won the Haynes, Hanson & Clask as a 2-year-old, and again after his run at Royal Ascot last year,” Bromley says. “It's very good for them to support Alan, who is desperate to keep the horse, but you can't argue if the owner is being offered a serious amount of money for a horse.

“Max has been a great supporter and he's bought a couple of 2-year-olds every year and has had plenty of winners, but this has been the best we've had going this route.”

While Cheltenham is the major focus for every big jumps stable at this time of year, King and Bromley may well have to accept that they will be donning their morning suits as frequently as they reach for the tweed these days.

“The Flat didn't use to be the main day job for Alan but it is becoming part of his daily life now,” Bromley admits. “Alan is a dual-purpose trainer in the old-school style and I think he really punches above his weight because we rarely have six figures to spend on any horse for jumping or the Flat, and in this day and age that's what everyone is trying to achieve at the top table.”

He adds, “It isn't easy to keep playing in the big races with smaller budgets. This is still quite a lot of money, don't get me wrong, but when you are trying to get to the Cheltenham Festival it can be tough. The breeze-up route is one angle that we tried a few years back and it's exciting for everyone.”

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