Market ‘Really Hot’ but Keeneland Lure is Strong for Europeans

In this time of back-to-back yearling sales, the logistics for bloodstock agents and trainers may be one of the biggest concerns, but one thing that appears not to be a worry is the strength of the market. 

From America to Europe, the yearling season has started in bullish fashion. A proper staying pedigree is required to last to the end of Keeneland's September Sale, which is now well into its second week, while at Fairyhouse, the Tattersalls Ireland September Sale is also in full swing. Plenty of breeze-up pinhookers have attempted the double, while some have remained in Kentucky in the hope of unearthing a bargain in the later books, no doubt mindful of the fact that Keeneland has generally been a happy hunting ground for a variety of buyers from the sector.

So far, Willie Browne, Tom Whitehead, Brendan Holland, Eddie O'Leary, Roger O'Callaghan, Katie Walsh, Roderick Kavanagh, Jim McCartan, Jerry Horan, and Matt Whyte are among the Irish breeze-up pinhookers to have appeared on the buyers' sheets at Keeneland, as well as Mick Murphy of Longways Stables, who was working in tandem with agent Ted Durcan. 

“I was intending to stay to the end of Book 4 but we got wrapped up a little bit earlier so I came home sooner,” said Durcan after arriving back to Newmarket before packing his bags again for Ireland and next week's Orby Sale at Goffs.

“I thought it was an extremely healthy market. It looked healthy at all levels and any nice horse was not being missed at all, which you'd expect, and that's worldwide now,” he added of trade at Keeneland. 

“I helped Mick last year and he bought seven. This year he bought four nice horses, all to go breezing. Three colts by Quality Road ($150,000), American Pharoah ($225,000) and Speightstown ($90,000), and then he bought a very nice Blame filly ($85,000) as well.”

Last week it was announced that the Goffs Dubai Breeze-up Sale, which is held in conjunction with Dubai Racing Club just ahead of the World Cup meeting at Meydan, was being paused as it coincides with Ramadan in 2024. Introduced two years ago, it is a sale which has been populated predominantly by Irish pinhookers selling American-bred juveniles. 

Durcan continued, “There were a lot of people out there looking at horses with that sale in mind, but in fairness to everyone involved, the announcement came before any horses had been bought. It altered out numbers a bit. We ended up buying four but I think Mick and Sarah [O'Connell] would have ended up buying a few more for that sale, but we just scaled back.”

Durcan also teamed up with an old colleague from his days of riding for Sir Henry Cecil, the Kentucky-based Irishman David Lanigan, to buy a yearling for $750,000 for owner Scott Heider. They struck early on the opening day at Keeneland for lot 31, a filly by Nyquist whose half-brother Conclude (Collected) won the GII Del Mar Derby just ahead of the start of the sale.

“David does a lot of work for Scott and he asked me to help him just because trying to have everything viewed on your own is not easy,” Durcan said.

“There's such a huge amount of horses that you can find value out there. It's not easy and it's hard work, but there definitely is value out there with the volume of horses being offered. The sale is run extremely well. Tony Lacy and his team run a very slick operation.”

Durcan expects to see plenty of reverse track, with American buyers likely to be out in force at the forthcoming sales at Goffs and Tattersalls over the next few weeks.

He said, “In recent years there's been a big appetite for people in America looking for horses from over here, especially fillies to race on the grass. You only have to look at last week and the meeting at Kentucky Downs on turf. The money on offer there was absolutely phenomenal.”

He continued, “It's a hectic few months and the sales just roll from one to the other. But it's nice to see that, from the older horses in the July Sale, then onto the first yearling sale in France, the market just looks very healthy at all levels. With the amount of horses being sold to Australia, and the expansion in the Middle East, there is a huge demand for older horses as well as yearlings. 

“I haven't been to a sale yet where I think the market is softening. If anything it's the opposite.”

Nancy Sexton has long been a regular at the Keeneland September Sale in her role as the European representative for the Kentucky-based Schumer Bloodstock agency. Along with Chad Schumer, Sexton has worked closely with a number of breeze-up pinhookers in that time and she says that the participation from Europeans buyers is as high as ever, with the news about the absence of the Dubai breeze-up failing to dent enthusiasm.

“The news that Goffs wasn't going to go ahead broke just as Book 2 was starting and that didn't affect them at all because the market to sell to places like Saudi Arabia, Dubai, is so big now and you are looking for more of a dirt-bred horse for that. I didn't see anybody pull back on investment. Looking at what's coming home [to Ireland and Britain], I'd say numbers are on a par,” she said.

“A lot of people began in Book 1, but there seem to be more people here this year working the later books, having arrived in during Book 3 and working through to the end of Book 6.”

Sexton added, “We've seen how well these dirt horses do at the European breeze-ups if they hit, and that's translating to the activity here. I also saw quite a few more trainers this year that I haven't seen here before, like Ralph Beckett and Richard Hughes. 

“[The buying] is not just restricted to yearlings by the likes of Speightstown either; Roderick Kavanagh had a good result with Catalina Cruiser last year and Tom Whitehead with a World Of Trouble, and he gave $310,000 for a Maclean's Music colt this time. They're spending plenty and the horses are hard to buy. The market is really hot.”

 

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Ted Durcan Joins MyRacehorse As Bloodstock Consultant

Former Classic-winning jockey Ted Durcan has been appointed as the UK and Ireland bloodstock consultant for MyRacehorse.  Durcan will select horses for the microshare syndicate from both public auctions and privately.

Durcan, who runs Durcan Bloodstock, said, “I am delighted to have been asked to join MyRacehorse to help the team source some exciting and fun horses for the season ahead.

“MyRacehorse gives everybody the chance to see how this amazing sport works from the inside out rather than the outside in. This is something that normally would not be achievable for most people, but MyRacehorse makes it happen.

“Being involved in racehorse ownership is fun, exciting and social. There are highs and lows but it's the whole journey that makes this sport special, and it's important to find new ways to share that journey.”

Kate Hardy, Director of Operations at MyRacehorse, added, “We are thrilled to have Ted working with MyRacehorse as we grow our stable here in Ireland and the UK.

“His extensive knowledge of the sport, and the unique perspective he has as an ex-jockey when it comes to evaluating form and conformation are invaluable to MyRacehorse.

“Ted's track record and reputation speaks for itself, and we are extremely fortunate to have him join our team.”

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Pat Smullen Honoured At The Craven Meeting

The first day of the new season of racing at Newmarket will feature a race named in honour of the multiple Irish champion jockey Pat Smullen, who died last September at the age of 43.

The Pat Smullen Memorial H. is a Class 2 contest for 4-year-olds and up on the opening day of the Craven meeting on Apr. 13. It is to be run over the Rowley Mile, where Smullen recorded his first British Classic victory aboard Moyglare Stud's Refuse To Bend (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) in 2003.

The race has been sponsored in Smullen's name by his great friend and Newmarket resident Ted Durcan, one of the nine retired stars of the weighing-room to have ridden in the Pat Smullen Champions Race which contributed significantly to the late jockey raising more than €2.5 million for Cancer Trials Ireland.

“There were a lot of people in England at the time of Pat's funeral who weren't able to pay their respects with all the Covid restrictions,” Durcan said. “I know many of us would have liked to have been able to hold a memorial service, which we weren't able to do, and this is just hopefully a nice way to remember Pat.”

He continued, “The Craven meeting is always a very exciting time and Pat had huge success over the years at the Rowley Mile. The team at Newmarket Racecourses were extremely helpful and only too happy to stage a race in Pat's name.”

Durcan's sponsorship also ensures that each member of staff leading up a horse for the Pat Smullen Memorial H. will receive a bonus of £25.

He added, “Rather than have a best-turned-out prize we decided that everyone who leads up will get £25 rather than just one person getting £50. Pat was always very well liked and respected by racing staff, and we all respect how much effort from the staff goes into getting the horses to the racecourse. It isn't a large sum but it is just a token of our appreciation.”

Sophie Able, the general manager at Newmarket Racecourses, said, “We're greatly looking forward to The Pat Smullen Memorial H. on the opening day of the bet365 Craven Meeting and our 2021 season. Pat was no stranger to big-race success here at Newmarket and we hope the race can mark his achievements both in and out of the saddle and bring back some happy memories for his family and many friends across the British and Irish racing industries.”

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