Tom Pritchard-Gordon | Horse Racing Free Tips

Letter to the Editor: Heed Stark Sales Warnings

With the Arqana sales closing out our breeding stock sales season, there were some very stark warnings for the industry in Europe. Plenty have highlighted the dire situation at the lower end of the market with a frightening number of mares failing to sell for even the covering fee of the foal inside them. However, it is also far from rosy at the top end of the market for our domestic product.

Analysing the 143 mares/fillies that sold for £200,000+ at the three main sales (Goffs November, Tatts December and Arqana), over half will be leaving European shores and travelling to Japan, Australia or America.

Obviously this is not an exact science as a number of lots were knocked down to agents or aliases. However, I'm fairly confident to within a 10% error margin with the figures.

Just 10 years ago (2013), over 74% of the 136 fillies/mares that sold at the corresponding sales stayed in Europe with 32% staying in England. The UK industry must reverse this trend if we want to continue playing at the top table… pic.twitter.com/1fmeOHYoDD

— Badgers Bloodstock (@badgersbs) December 11, 2023

Australian entities (including all Yulong pseudonyms) signed for the most number of £200k+ lots (35 in total over 24%) and spent over £20.1 million (21%).

The Japanese were stronger than ever and bought 17 lots (12%) and spent over £13.3 million (14%). The Americans bought 20 lots (14%) and spent over £9.2 million (10%).

English Studs bought 29 lots (20%) for a total of just over £20 million (21%). Were you to take out Juddmonte's two major purchases, Godolphin's sole purchase and Graham Smith-Bernal's continued significant support, this would look even more dire with only a little over £11 million spent.

Coolmore, as ever, reinvested heavily and helped keep Ireland high up in the list. In total, 23 (16%) of the £200k+ lots look likely to head to Ireland for an outlay of over £24.9 million (26%).

French interests bought 17 (12%) lots for £6.1 million (6%) while German studs bought just two.

While these figures alone are highly worrying, when comparing them to just ten years ago, you realise that we could be well past the tipping point.

Back then over 74% (in comparison to just 49% now) of the 136 fillies/mares that sold at the corresponding sales stayed in Europe. Furthermore, over 32% stayed in England whereas only a tick over 20% will stay in England from this year.

Such a rapid trajectory in the wrong direction needs to somehow be halted or we will lose our seat at the top table of the racing world. The BHA and all factions of the racing hierarchy need to put self-interest to one side and work in cohesion to address the issue. Not only will we not be producing enough horses to fill the racing programme, but the quality will continue to slide in comparison to our counterparts in other jurisdictions.

Tom Pritchard-Gordon, Badgers Bloodstock

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Havana Grey Breeding Right Tops Tattersalls Online

A breeding right in leading first-season sire Havana Grey (GB) (lot 57) brought 115,000gns from Badgers Bloodstock to top the Tattersalls Online November Sale on Thursday. Offered on behalf of a partnership, the Whitsbury Manor Stud stallion's breeding right proved popular. The grey has already sired 13 group/listed performers, and his top-priced yearling went for 325,000gns this season. His stud fee has risen to £18,500 for 2023.

Tom Pritchard-Gordon of Badgers Bloodstock said, “Havana Grey is a very exciting young stallion who continues to exceed expectations. He is the sire of 13 stakes performers from 83 runners which is remarkable; 16% stakes performing 2-year-olds to runners off a stallion fee of £8,000. Whitsbury Manor Stud have been very conservative with their pricing this year, standing at £18,500 and I predict that in a couple of years he will look remarkably cheap.”

Listed winner Willesee (GB) (Gleneagles {Ire}) (lot 34) was the second dearest lot of the day at 90,000gns. Sent through the ring by Jessica Harrington's Commonstown Stables, the 3-year-old filly went to Mountarmstrong Stud. Her second dam is G3 Prix d'Aumale heroine Helleborine (GB) (Observatory), the dam of G2 Coventry S. winner and sire Calyx (GB) (Kingman {GB}).

Rounding out the top three was lot 43, Consensus De Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), from Roger Varian's Carlburg Stables consignment. Armando Duarte shelled out 24,000gns for the winner, who hails from the family of Artiste Royal (Ire) (Danehill).

Breeding rights in Harry Angel (Ire) (lot 56) and Territories (Ire) (lot 54) went for 18,000gns and 17,500gns, respectively, to Bearstone Stud and Sophie Buckley's Culworth Grounds Farm.

Overall, 38 lots changed hands for a gross of 446,500gns and a clearance rate of 67%. The average was 11,750gns and the median was 5,500gns.

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TDN Q&A With Tom Pritchard-Gordon

With the yearling sales now in full swing, TDN quizzes industry figures on past purchases, life during lockdown and their perspective on the sales for the next few weeks. Today, Tom Pritchard-Gordon answers our questions.

TDN: What was your best yearling purchase over the last few years? And your favourite?

TPG: We only purchased six yearlings last year and, to date, the best appears to be Zoetic (GB) (Kodiac {GB}) who won the Listed St Hugh’s S. at Newbury last time out. She has been trained impeccably by James Ferguson, who looks to be a trainer going places and hopefully she runs with plenty of credit in the G1 Cheveley Park S. on Saturday.

Our favourite, at the time of purchase, was a Galileo (Ire) colt we purchased off Newsells Park at Tattersalls Book 1. Named Pleasant Man (GB), he won impressively on debut at Haydock last month for Roger Charlton and might take up his place in the G2 Royal Lodge on Saturday as well. He could be a very exciting horse next year.

TDN: Are there any positives you have taken from how the sales have been conducted this year?

TPG: The main positive that can be taken from the sales season so far is the cohesion and solidarity shown throughout the bloodstock industry. From sales companies through to agents working in unison, there has been a far greater emphasis on working for the common good than there has been in the past. If only this were applied to the wider field within the industry, then we might make some headway with regard to the issue of prizemoney.

TDN: How has your business adapted?

TPG: We have always tried to be frontrunners when it comes to the tech side of our business and that has certainly helped in keeping our heads above water during the pandemic. Obviously Zoom and WhatsApp have played a far greater role in our daily lives than we would like in an ideal world. However, the main difference this year has brought is that we have had time to focus heavily on data analysis and finding angles through big data to help give us an edge.

TDN: In general what are your thoughts on the 2020 yearling catalogues? And what new stallions’ progeny are you most looking forward to?

TPG: As always, Book 1 at Tattersalls has some mouth-watering pedigrees on offer and the inspection days leading up to that sale are some of the most enjoyable of the year. Being able to view so many beautifully bred yearlings all in one place really is a privilege. However, not being able to afford the majority of them does tend to put a dampener on things.

Regarding new stallions, we have always had a soft spot for Caravaggio and have loved what we have seen at our farm inspections. We were lucky enough to pick up a foal by him in December for 80,000gns and he sold at Keeneland last week for $200,000. He obviously has the profile to be a leading 2-year-old sire next year.

TDN: Did you develop any new interests or hobbies during lockdown?

TPG: The News played a big part of our lives during lockdown, and with all the opinion pieces shown on Sky and the BBC, I moved over to watching Bloomberg. Through osmosis more than anything, I seem to be more aware of the financial markets and how crazy and illogical they appear to be, much like the bloodstock world.

TDN: Who is the most interesting person you know?

TPG: The honest answer is John Magnier. However, no doubt he has been used a number of times. Therefore, I would have to plump for using the past tense and say Bobby Frankel. He knew every one of his horses far better than I know my kids and was kind and gentle on his charges but was still able to get the very best out of them. He also had the ability to turn swearing into an art form.

TDN: What’s one mistake (if any) you have made in your career, and what did you learn from it?

TPG: I’ve certainly made plenty of mistakes to date and will surely make plenty more going forward. The one I regret the most financially is not listening to Barry Mahon and investing in Kodiac (GB) when he retired to stud; what an idiot I am.

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