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National Stud Diploma Graduation

Edited Press Release

The 2022 Diploma cohort from the National Stud graduated on Friday 24th of June with family, friends and industry guests in attendance at the Joan Westbrook Lecture Theatre.

“This group of students come from a wide variety of backgrounds and are all going onto full time roles within the industry.” said CEO Anna Kerr. “It has been one of our busiest seasons to date with a record number of mares covered and the experience they have gained will give them an excellent foundation to build from. Industry recruitment and giving our students the best possible start to their careers is a key focus, and we are continually looking at how we can expand and develop our education programme.”

Champion Trainer John Gosden was the key note speaker and shared experiences from the early days of his career in California, he also highlighted the international career opportunities available for those willing to work and learn.

The Tim Dunlop Memorial Award for Top Student was presented to Rosanna Rushworth from Surrey, who is going to join the team at Watership Down Stud for the sales season. “The course covers such a broad spectrum of topics, so you can develop your interests but also build on your weaknesses too. It's great working alongside people like Rob who have worked in Australia, as you learn from them too.”

The Watership Down Stud Best Practical Award was presented this year to Rob Moss from Wigan. Rob is also the recipient of the Sandra Llyod Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Far Westfield Farm. He is now travelling to Kentucky for a sales season with Taylor Made. “The short term aim is to keep on travelling and learning from other people, so I'm grateful for this opportunity.” said Rob. “I've already seen different ways of doing things to achieve the same success at Eureka Stud and the National Stud, so I'm looking forward to seeing how they do it at Taylor Made. I'd also like to gain experience of how things are done in a training yard at some point, but I see myself working on studs in the long term.”

The Alborada Trust Most Improved Student is awarded to the individual that has made the greatest and most consistent progress throughout the course. This was awarded to Shona Murphy from Kildare who is going on to join the marketing team at Darley.

The John Pearce Foundation Award of Merit was won by Jonathan Smith. This prize is given to the student who demonstrated a commitment to a career in the breeding industry. Jonathan is going to be doing the sales season with Whitsbury Manor before taking up a position with WinStar in Kentucky.

Each year the Gerald Leigh Trust award a bursary for professional development–this year it proved too difficult to split the candidates and so two bursaries were generously awarded to Rob Moss and Dylan Williams.

Jamie Smith from Bolton is going straight from the National Stud onto the Godolphin Flying Start. “The course is amazing,” says Jamie. “The lecture program is second to none and I've not missed one. It's not just about the opportunities, I feel I've learned as much from other students in the same way they think they've learned from me about racing.”

Applications for the 2023 Diploma course are now open, contact students@nationalstud.co.uk for more information.

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Arqana August Catalogue Online

The catalogue for the Aug. 13-15 Arqana August Yearling Sale is online and can be viewed at www.arqana.com. Having already produced the likes of Angel Bleu, Hello You, Mangoustine, Rougir, Sealiway, Noble Truth, Meditate and Skalleti, the 2022 renewal is comprised of 313 yearlings which will be sold over three days, a departure from the two-day format previously. The sales times are as follows:

Saturday, Aug. 13: 2p.m. – lot 1 to 145
Sunday, Aug. 14: 5.30p.m. – lot 146 to 230
Monday, Aug. 15: 5.30p.m. – lot 231 to 313

Stallions represented this year include Adlerflug, Arrogate, Camelot, Churchill, Dark Angel, Dubawi, Frankel, Galileo, Galiway, Justify, Kingman, Kodiac, Lope De Vega, New Bay, Night Of Thunder, No Nay Never, Sea The Stars, Shamardal, Siyouni, War Front, Wootton Bassett and Zarak.

The catalogue, which features 17 siblings to Group 1 winners, includes:

lot 10: a brother to Sealiway, Champion S. and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère winner, offered from Haras de Colleville
lot 21: the second foal by Shamardal out of group winner Lady Frankel, a 3/4 brother to Lope De Vega, from Gestüt Ammerland
lot 62: a half-sister by Siyouni to the champion Native Trail, last year's Champion 2-Year-Old and the winner of the G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas this season, from Haras d'Haspel
lot 66: a daughter of Too Darn Hot out of dual group Winner Night Music, from the family of Classic winner Night Magic, from Haras du Cadran
lot 93: a half-sister by Decorated Knight to Nashwa, winner of the G1 Prix de Diane Longines, from the first ever consignment from Blue Diamond Stud at Deauville;
lot 154: a brother to Sottsass (Siyouni), also a half-brother to Sistercharlie and My Sister Nat, from Ecurie des Monceaux
lot 171: a half-brother by Intello to dual Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine TREVE, from Haras du Quesnay
lot 220: a half-brother by Too Darn Hot to Classic Winner Beauty Parlour, from the close family of MIGHT AND POWER, from Baroda Stud
lot 234: a daughter of Sea The Stars, the first foal out of Channel, the Prix de Diane Longines winner, from La Motteraye Consignment
lot 276: a brother to G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp scorer WOODED (Wootton Bassett), from Haras d'Etreham.

For more information, visit www.arqana.com.

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Why Redvers Forgave Conformation Issues to Buy Lion Of War for Just 7,000

Lion Of War (GB) (Roaring Lion) became a TDN Rising Star after bolting up at Newcastle on Thursday but David Redvers, who signed for the colt on behalf of Qatar Racing for just 7,000gns, revealed how he called on the opinion of co-trainer Mark Johnston in a bid to ascertain if he would stand up to training or not.

Redvers revealed he was surprised that Lion Of War was knocked down to him for just 7,000gns at Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Sale, however, he admitted that the colt's front leg was far from the prettiest, which may go some way to explaining the basement sum.

But after getting the seal of approval from Johnston, Redvers was convinced Lion Of War was worth pursuing, and what a bargain he is turning out to be.

Redvers said, “Obviously he had the benefit of a previous outing but he has clearly surprised Charlie and Cieren [Fallon, jockey] by how much he has leapt forward from his debut win which is fantastic. He's bred to get 10 furlongs so, to be doing what he did today at Newcastle so well, it gives us great hope that we might have something a bit special.”

Lion Of War looked a colt of immense promise at Newcastle. His win was tinged in sadness, however, given the Qatar Racing team lost Roaring Lion prematurely due to colic in 2019.

“It's well documented how gastly the whole thing was when we lost Roaring Lion. From Sheikh Fahad down to the lad who looked after Roaring Lion, everyone adored the horse as he had such character,” Redvers said.

“You can see lots of him coming through in his stock and you can see lots of him in Lion Of War with the way that he gallops. When he pricked his ears in the last furlong or two as he was being let down, he looked exactly like his old man. It's obviously quite sad but we are equally blessed to have raced at least one good crop of Roaring Lions and, if it's not this fellow, there will be one in there who will replicate what he did or at least go close to it. He looks the best of them so far and it's just extraordinary that it happens to be from the cheapest purchase.”

Recalling Lion Of War as a yearling, Redvers said that it was the colt's front legs that put most people off. However, Johnston gave him the confidence to buy the horse and now stakes races await.

He said, “It's really quite fascinating. From the side view, he was an absolute miller, a 150,000gns horse. But when he walked towards you, his front legs were not terribly pretty.

“I asked Mark Johnston for his opinion as to whether he could train it and as you can imagine Mark said he most definitely could.

“You could never have imagined that we would get him for that money and it was interesting that we were allowed to by the vendor and the opposition.”

Redvers added, “Conformationally, there was definitely a risk element but what's really fascinating is that Kevin Darley was in Mark's yesterday and took a head-on video of a horse. “We compared the videos to see how he has shaped up and it's amazing how his leg has straightened up. They are still not perfect knees but they are within the acceptable limit.

“They are not slowing him down. I worked for Mark many moons ago and his words to me were, 'I would rather a Ferrari with worn tyres than a Mini Cooper with Pirellis.' We have had hundreds of horses in training over the years and the common denominator between the lame ones and the sound ones was rarely their front-leg conformation.”

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Galway Excited by Next Crop of Alpha Racing Runners After Cadillac Sale

Just over a week after selling the syndicate's flag-bearer Cadillac (Ire) (Lope De Vega) for a cool £500,000 at the Goffs London Sale on the eve of Royal Ascot, Alpha Racing are concentrated on sending out the stars of the future at the Curragh on Derby weekend, headed by G2 Airlie Stud S. contender It's Showtime Baby (GB) (Showcasing {GB}).

A winner of a Dundalk maiden on debut back in April, the Jessica Harrington-trained It's Showtime Baby achieved black type when running third in a Group 3 at Naas last month.

Connections opted to sidestep the royal meeting in preference for the Curragh this weekend and Richie Galway, who set up the commercially-driven Alpha Racing Syndicate with Harrington, is optimistic about the next batch of 2-year-old coming through.

He said, “We have It's Showtime Baby (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) to look forward to in the G2 Airlie Stud S. at the Curragh on Sunday. We decided against going to Royal Ascot with her because we thought this race would suit. She has won her maiden and has black type. She looks progressive.

“We have two nice colts running at the Curragh as well. We bought them at the breeze-ups. National Emblem (Ire) (National Defense {GB}) looks to be a lovely horse and he runs on Friday. The First And Last (Ire) (No Nay Never) runs on Sunday so it's a very exciting weekend for the group.”

Galway added, “We try to make Flat racing accessible and give people an opportunity to spread their risk. The syndicate is somewhat commercial. We have fun but we also trade and have been very conscious about that in the four years we've been up and running.

“Everything we run is for sale at a price. When we go to the yearlings sales, we have a limit and we try to limit the syndicate to 20 people at around €50,000 apiece. We all take a share ourselves; myself, Jessica [Harrington] and Patrick [Cooper] so we are all invested in it.”

Cadillac was the last of the yearlings bought in 2019 on behalf of the syndicate. His sale ensured that the owners recorded an overall profit and, according to Galway, the current crop of 3-year-olds in training with Harrington are on course to ensure it will be another lucrative investment for the 20 or so people who make up the syndicate.

He said, “Cadillac's sale was the highlight. He has been a flagship horse for the syndicate and has brought us all over the world. He ran brilliantly at the Breeders' Cup, got us to Bahrain and won at Leopardstown a few times as well. We were sorry to see him go but the objective of the syndicate is to trade.”

Galway added, “In this year's 3-year-olds, we have Nectaris (GB), who ran well in a Listed race at Longchamp, and she's a lovely filly by Sea The Moon (Ger).

“We also have Viareggio (Ire) (Caravaggio) and she has been third now in two Listed races and Cowboy Justice (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) who is another solid horse. We also had an unraced Zoffany (Ire) colt in that year. I'd be disappointed if that syndicate doesn't make a profit on their initial investment as well.”

Excitement levels are on the rise among the syndicate members as Harrington lifts the wraps on the next batch of runners this weekend and Galway is cautiously optimistic about the future, outlining an ability to sell horses all over the world after they show a level of ability in Ireland.

He said, “It's an exciting weekend. But it's been an exciting couple of weeks with the sale of Cadillac and the two runners–Nectaris and Viareggio-at Longchamp.

“The benefit of having a small stake in all of these horses is that you get consistent and regular action. There are people involved from all over the world–Asia, America, Britain and Ireland.”

He added, “Last year for example, we bought a horse called Pioneering Spirit (American Pharoah) at the breeze-ups. We paid 100,000gns for him and ran him four weeks later in a Curragh maiden.

“He finished fourth and we got him sold straight after that. The syndicate owned the horse for six weeks and got a nice return on the purchase price in that short space of time. Irish racing is held in high regard all over the world. If you can win or be placed in a maiden here you have a pretty good commodity on your hands.”

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