Tom Whitehead | Horse Racing Free Tips

Caravaggio Colt Tops Second Day Of Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale

The Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale continued in robust fashion during the second and final session with a son of Caravaggio lighting up the sale ring when selling for 240,000 guineas. The clearance rate remained a feature of the sale, finishing on 88 percent, whilst the turnover of 10,408,500 guineas was the fourth highest for the sale since 2008.

SackvilleDonald's Alastair Donald secured the attractive colt by first-season sire Caravaggio for 240,000 guineas after seeing off the efforts of Irish trainer Michael O'Callaghan. The son of the Galileo mare Bright Sapphire is a half-brother to the group-placed colt Wall of Fire.

“He is for a new Hong Kong client, he will go out to Hong Kong at the end of the season,” revealed Donald. “He will be pre-trained in England, he is a lovely big horse and he has a nice pedigree. He breezed well for a big horse and looks the type to do well in Hong Kong.”

Donald added: “They don't race until they are 3-year-olds, so don't want a 'here and now' horse. The sire looks like he has got a very nice 2-year-old already and this is the first I have bought by the sire. I did like the yearlings – they are particularly good walkers, and this horse's movement is very good.”

The colt was sold by Yeomanstown Stud, who bought the colt at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale for 155,000 guineas. Yeomanstown Stud's David O'Callaghan commented;

“He is a beautiful colt, he breezed really well and has a great attitude. We're very pleased, he was always a lovely horse and he hasn't missed a day.”

Kuwaiti buyer Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah bought the second highest priced lot for the day when going to 185,000 guineas to secure the Union Rags colt out of Careless Jewel. Named Tattered Flag, the February born colt was bought last September by Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stud for $115,000 and was part of a three-horse draft that included lot 90, a colt by the fellow U.S.-based sire Practical Joke. He made 140,000 guineas and was bought by trainer Michael O'Callaghan.

“I am very pleased,” said Whitehead. “They are two nice horses, and the Union Rags will be a lovely horse later in the year.”

Whitehead's 2020 buying mission took place during the real depths of the COVID pandemic with travel restrictions and problems, but he is now obviously delighted that he managed to make the journey stateside;

“It was touch and go whether we'd get to the U.S. last year. That has been a great start, but we are only halfway there – we've another seven or eight to sell”

At the conclusion of the 2021 Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony commented;

“We introduced the £250,000 Craven Royal Ascot/Group 1 Bonus this year, in addition to the lucrative £15,000 Craven Breeze Up Bonus and it is clear that owners have embraced these unprecedented bonuses. We have seen solid and diverse demand at all levels of the market from start to finish which has produced the best Craven Breeze Up clearance rate since 2000 and key indicators which have held up well, especially when taken in the context of the COVID – related challenges and restrictions which we are all still grappling with and which continue to hinder international travel.

“Nevertheless, to hear consistently positive feedback from owners, trainers, agents and consignors about the bonuses has been gratifying, and reinforces our commitment to exploring as many innovative ways as possible to reward owners who buy at Tattersalls with extra prize money. There is no doubt that we will see plenty of this crop of Craven Breeze Up graduates performing at a high level and it would be even more pleasing than usual if the Royal Ascot and Group 1 bonuses were won in the coming months.

“Despite the prolonged difficulties with international travel, overseas buyers have again demonstrated their appetite for high class Tattersalls breeze up 2-year-olds. Buyers from America, Bahrain, Dubai, France, Italy, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Singapore have all been active, many of them using the live internet bidding platform, and as well as paying tribute to the consignors who have as ever presented an outstanding collection of two year olds, we must again commend everyone for their patience with the regulations and determination to overcome the obstacles we continue to face. We are still having to conduct sales under strict guidelines, but as well as looking forward to the forthcoming Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale, we are also looking forward to returning to more normality in the not too distant future.”

The next chance to buy a 'breezer' at Tattersalls is at the Guineas Breeze Up and Horses in Training Sale which takes place from April 28-30, with all lots breezing on the Rowley Mile at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, April 28 before the sale on Friday, April 30.

The post Caravaggio Colt Tops Second Day Of Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Chantilly Double For Powerstown Breezers

As Covid travel restrictions prompted delays and relocations, last season's breeze-up sales were anything but plain sailing for many consignors. Some consolation was found on Thursday at Chantilly for Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stud, who celebrated two first-time-out winners with Keeneland yearling purchases.

The first race of the day, the Prix du Rond du Manege, went to Bellharbour Music, a May-foaled colt from the first crop of Mshawish, bought in September 2019 from Brookdale Sales for $30,000. Now trained in Chantilly by Alessandro and Giuseppe Botti, Bellharbour Music is still in Whitehead's ownership having picked up a small injury prior to his intended appearance at the Arqana Breeze-up, which last year was held at Doncaster in July.

He is the first runner and winner in France for his second-crop sire, who was himself a breeze-up graduate from the Arqana sale having been bought in Kentucky by Whitehead's friend and colleague Johnny Collins for just $10,000. A profitable pinhook, Mshawish was then resold at two to Nicolas de Watrigant on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing for $170,000 and went on to win a listed race in Deauville before becoming a dual Grade I winner in America.

After his victory in the GI Donn H., Mshawish closed out his career by running sixth to California Chrome in the Dubai World Cup of 2016 and both stallions then retired to Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky the following year. Their names were linked again at Chantilly when, two hours after Bellharbour Music's win, California Chrome's 3-year-old daughter Injera made a similarly impressive debut. The filly, trained by another French-based Italian, Gianluca Bietolini, triumphed in the Prix de la Croix Vaillant to become the first European winner for her sire, who is now at Arrow Stud in Japan.

“The colt just had a minor setback and he couldn't go to the sale. I sold the filly privately when we didn't know if the sales were going to go ahead,” explained Whitehead. who is based in Co Kilkenny, Ireland.

“I sent them both over to France around Christmastime so they've been there around six weeks. They weren't worked hard at home but by jockey bookings and betting they were both fancied so they must have been doing some nice work. I know it's only February but it's never easy winning in Chantilly.”

Whitehead is a regular at Keeneland and works the yearling sales in tandem with Nancy Sexton. He bought last season's GII Fountain of Youth S. winner Ete Indien (Summer Front) at the September Sale for $80,000 before reselling him at Arqana to Patrick Biancone for €240,000.

Casting his mind back to the purchase of Bellharbour Music, he said, “I knew the stallion Mshawish when Johnny sold him at the breeze-ups and I followed him through his racing career. When the first crop came up for sale in America I knew he was a good horse and I thought why not buy one. He won on dirt and turf and he was tough, racing until he was six.”

Whitehead's Powerstown Stud will have a team of 25 juveniles to offer at the forthcoming breeze-up sales. He added, “We're happy enough for now but the next month or two will tell. They are roughly half and half American and European horses. Now we just need lockdown to end and to get people back racing.”

The post Chantilly Double For Powerstown Breezers appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Tattersalls In Spotlight As Breeze-ups Begin

NEWMARKET, UK—The first British breeze-up sale will be staged in Newmarket on Thursday when the curtain rises on the Tattersalls Craven Sale, which will be swiftly followed that same afternoon by the Tattersalls Ascot Breeze-up.

Horses catalogued for both sales breezed on the Rowley Mile on Monday and extended, staggered viewing periods have been in operation at Park Paddocks over the last few days to allow agents, trainers and other prospective purchasers ample time for inspections within the confines of social distancing.

Earlier in the week Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the two-metre distance rule between people in Britain has been reduced to one metre, and steadily businesses are opening, with many pubs and restaurants serving take-aways but not yet fully operational. Strict health protocols remain in place at Tattersalls, where visitors to the sales grounds have their temperature checked on arrival having submitted medical questionnaires in advance.

As one of the largest companies in Newmarket, Tattersalls, which has been in operation for more than 250 years, has withstood the ebb and flow of financial tides over those years, but it is fair to say that such a juddering disruption to its business has not been seen before. It is a great credit to the respective teams behind its Newmarket, Ascot and Irish sales that the breeze-ups are taking place at all, as well as to the flexibility shown by its fellow sales houses Goffs UK and Arqana, which stage a combined breeze-up sale in Doncaster next Wednesday.

At the Craven Sale last year, traditionally held over two post-racing evening sessions in mid-April, a total of 85 juveniles were sold for a total of 10,343,000gns and at an average price of 121,682gns. The breeze-up consignors, whose restocking accounted for more than £20 million of expenditure at last year’s yearling sales, are generally relieved to be able to hold sales at all following the bleak outlook earlier in the spring. Many have been proactive in selling horses privately ahead of the delayed sales, meaning that the number offered through the ring is significantly down. Indeed, 65 have been withdrawn from the original 145 catalogued for the Craven. The mood now is, understandably, one of nervous anticipation ahead of Thursday’s results and for the trading fortnight to come.

“Tattersalls have done a great job and there are some nice horses here but we just have to hope that it’s going to be sensible trade,” said long-time consignor Malcolm Bastard. “They are trying to be safe so it spreads everyone out and gives people more of a chance when it comes to seeing the horses, which is sensible. There have been a lot of viewings, especially on Monday after they breezed, and it’s been trickling on ever since. But we’re going into the unknown and no-one knows what is going to happen [on Thursday].”

Of his eight originally catalogued, Bastard has brought five to Newmarket, including a colt with one of the most eye-catching pedigrees in the catalogue, the Kingman (GB) half-brother to the dual Group 1 winner Poet’s Word (Ire), who is offered as lot 42.

The Craven also includes one son of American Pharoah, a $170,000 Keeneland September purchase out of the Colleen S. winner Harlan’s Honor (Harlan’s Holiday). Offered by Star Bloodstock as lot 51, the March-born colt was one of the fastest breezers on Monday.

Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stud has one colt remaining in each of the Craven and Ascot sales, from six originally catalogued, including a colt by Iffraaj (GB) (lot 75) out of a half-sister to the G1 Prix Jean Romanet runner-up and listed winner Princess Loulou (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).

He said, “There have been plenty of local people viewing horses and the local agents are working hard. The few top horses are busy and I would say the rest of the market is going to be tricky but I don’t think anyone is expecting anything else. The middle to lower end is going to be very difficult, I would imagine, that’s the feeling I’m getting. That’s not Tatts’ fault, it’s not anyone’s fault, it’s just the world we’re in at the moment. We didn’t even expect to be able to hold a sale at one point and Tatts have done well to get a sale organised.”

The Ascot Breeze-up, first held in 2016, has become the traditional starting point for the season in early April and generally includes a more precocious type of horse. The Tattersalls Ascot wing can enjoy some reflected glory in the fact that its original catalogue included last week’s G2 Norfolk S. winner The Lir Jet (Ire) within the consignment of Aguiar Bloodstock. He was sold on privately by pinhooker Robson Aguiar, who still has four 2-year-olds to sell on Thursday. There are also another five by The Lir Jet’s first-crop sire Prince Of Lir (Ire).

He is just one of 17 freshman sires with juveniles in the Ascot section of the sale, including Cheveley Park Stud’s Twilight Son (GB), who is represented by lot 9, a colt out of a half-sister to the storied GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Belvoir Bay (GB) (Equiano {Fr}).

The Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale gets underway at 11am, and is followed by the Ascot Breeze-up at 3pm.

The post Tattersalls In Spotlight As Breeze-ups Begin appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post