Tag: Twilight Son

Pinatubo Leads Way At Goffs With 180k Colt To Godolphin

Pinatubo (Ire) hardened his reputation as one of the most exciting young stallions in Europe at the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale when a colt by the freshman sire led the day two trade when selling to Godolphin at £180,000.

With Anthony Stroud and the rest of the regular Godolphin buying team nipping away from Goffs early to make it to Germany for the BBAG Sale at the weekend, Jono Mills was left in charge of securing the Pinatubo colt from Longview Stud. 

Mills said, “He was bought on behalf of Godolphin. The buying team are on their way to Germany. I was just talking to Anthony [Stroud] and David [Loder] on the phone and this colt is obviously a lovely Pinatubo and comes from a good farm. He is a lovely individual and we were very keen on him.”

He added, “The buying team have all been here and liked him and I was just the conduit to wave the finger, basically. He's by a proper young stallion and fingers crossed he will be a good racehorse for us.”

Lot 405 boasts a strong pedigree being a half-brother to Group 3 winner Al Raya (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) and out of listed winner Fig Roll (GB) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}).

Clive Cox landed the second Pinatubo to sell at Doncaster on Wednesday in the shape of lot 428, consigned by Barton Stud, for £90,000. 

The trainer described himself as a fan of the sire after what proved to be a productive two days at Doncaster where he added five two-year-old prospects to his team for next year to the tune of £392,000. 

Cox said, “Really pleased. I liked the Pinatubo colt as an individual and admired the sire when we were racing against him. Hopefully he is a nice athletic horse to look forward to.”

After a strong opening day's trade with notable footfall, the sales ground did clear out from mid-afternoon on Wednesday with many top buyers jetting off to Germany, but the figures remained strong.

Of the 414 lots offered, 355 sold at a clearance rate of 86% while the aggregate was up 2% to £16,262,000. The average also climbed 4% to £45,809 while the median stayed the same on £35,000.

Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent commented, “It's been a fantastic few days in Doncaster with an incredible atmosphere generated by the huge number of people who've visited our vibrant sales complex over the last few days. Vendors have been quick to say that we are missing no one, the car park has been full since the weekend, and our party on Sunday night set the atmosphere nicely for the week ahead.

“In the ring it has been great to see the sale make advances in turnover and average, with the latter growing 4% to £45,809 which is the third-highest figure achieved in the history of this sale. The number of six-figure lots also grew on last year, moving to 28 for the two days, and despite not having an obvious standout lot, the top of the market was very strong with plenty of bidders looking for what they believed to be the best horses on offer and frenzied bidding at the very top.”

He added, “The term 'Donny Rockets' has been widely used in advance of the sale and buyers were quick to congratulate the Goffs team on the selection of horses as that is exactly what they found over the last two days. The rebranded Harry's Half Million sales race at York is something else that has certainly captured the imagination of buyers and we look forward to seeing our rockets contest the £500,000 race next year and we wish everyone the best of luck with their new purchases.”

 

 

Tate Stays Late For Twilight Son Colt

James Tate had reason to stay at Donny for the bitter end on Wednesday and landed himself a Twilight Son (GB) colt (lot 444) from Tally-Ho Stud for £160,000. Tate had to fight off a persistent challenge from Anthony Bromley, an increasingly prevalent figure at the major yearling sales, to land the colt for an existing client. 

The visibly delighted trainer said of the colt, who is the second foal out of black-type Invincible Spirit (Ire) mare Ice Gala (GB), “He's an extremely good-looking horse. Let's hope he's as fast as he looks. I've had one Twilight Son, who was a winner. This is the same cross as Twilight Calls (GB) so, if he was as good as him, that would be good.” 

Elliott And Jackson-Stops Join Forces For New Partnership

Two of the leading agents in Britain, Alex Elliott and Billy Jackson-Stops, combined to land a Mehmas (Ire) colt and a well-bred Mayson (GB) filly for a cumulative figure of £215,000 for a new partnership of owners that will support trainers George Scott, Andrew Balding and possibly Ralph Beckett. 

The Mehmas colt was purchased on day one from Tally-Ho Stud and is out of black-type Kodiac (GB) mare Lady Aria (GB) while the Mayson (lot 359) boasted a big pedigree being a sister to dual listed winner and Group-placed Dance Diva (GB). She was consigned by Luke Barry's Manister House Stud.

Elliott commented, “She has been bought for a new partnership between Billy Jackson-Stops and I. We are buying a couple of horses to go to George Scott, Andrew Balding and potentially Ralph Beckett as well. We got two for George this week, a Mehmas [lot 8 for £95,000] and we got the Mayson, who was our pick. George loved her and we wanted to have a go on her. She's a full-sister to a stakes horse and is a beautiful physical. If she stubs a toe, she's still got residual value with her page.”

Asked if the partnership was one set up with a view towards trading, Elliott said, “No, it's not. It's two owners who will hopefully enjoy a bit of success this year.”

That sale capped a productive week for Barry who sold 11 yearlings for £603,000 and Elliott described trade as being “fair” before explaining that the vendors who brought the right types to the market got well-paid. 

He said, “I think it has been very fair. It's been a very fair market to buy horses at and Goffs have done their usual great job and you can see from the turnout that everybody loves coming here. Some good horses have been on show and vendors are being rewarded if they bring the right horse. “

 

Talking Points

  • Classic-winning owner Phil Cunningham clearly meant business when he snapped up the services of top bloodstock agent Anthony Bromley for this sale. Cunningham, who will forever be associated with 2,000 Guineas winner Cockney Rebel (GB), spent £617,000 on seven yearlings through Bromley this week. 
  • Oliver St Lawrence enjoyed a productive two days at Doncaster and his £570,000 haul across five yearlings was headed by a £170,000 Dark Angel (Ire) colt (lot 338) from Yeomanstown Stud. That colt is a brother to Juliet Capulet (Ire), winner of the G2 Rockfel S., and was bought on behalf of Fawzi Nass. St Lawrence said, “Lovely colt and the mare has done well with Dark Angel. He looks a ready-made two-year-old and could get us to Ascot. A nice type.”
  • Andy Lo made the trip from Hong Kong a worthwhile one by signing for lot 181, a Ten Sovereigns (Ire) colt from Camas Park Stud for £70,000. The young agent signed for the colt on behalf of Hong Kong-based David Fenn, who plans on leaving the horse in Britain before eventually shipping it back to his home country. Lo explained, “This is the first horse I have bought at Doncaster and it is also David's first horse. I used to work in a bank but I have started buying horses for friends and owners back in Hong Kong and enjoy it. I am hoping to go to the Orby as well.” He added, “The plan for this colt is to go into training with George Peckham and then, hopefully, come back to Hong Kong in time.”
  • Peter and Ross Doyle remained as powerful as ever at Doncaster in signing for 17 yearlings for just shy of £1 million. To be precise, the top agents spent £988,000 and interestingly picked up two Kamekos, two by Shaman (Ire) and one more unproven sire in Earthlight (Ire).
  • The Shaman colt (lot 336) that the Doyles bought off Tinnakill House for £36,000 represented a right touch for the stud's Tom Murphy, who bought the horse as a foal for €16,000 at the Goffs February Sale.  

Atomic Racing Reinvests

It has been a banner year for Atomic Racing, the commercial syndicate that has horses in training with Kevin Coleman in Ireland and managed by bloodstock agent Sean Grassick, who purchased his first two yearlings of the season following some notable sales with form horses recently. 

Uluru (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), an impressive winner on debut at Gowran Park in July, netted the syndicate a major payday when selling to Team Valor to be trained by Joseph O'Brien.

Atomic's Churchill (Ire) colt Bladon (Ire) will also continue his career with O'Brien after OTI snapped up the colt after his eye-catching debut at Killarney.

Signing under O'Byrne and Grassick, the bloodstock agent picked up a Golden Horde (Ire) filly (lot 219) for £32,500 from Kildaragh Stud this week and a Masar (Ire) filly (lot 342) for £38,000 from The National Stud. 

Grassick commented, “It's nice to get on the board for Atomic Racing and we bought two lovely fillies. The Golden Horde is a lovely, scopey filly while the Masar is one for the back end and could be a nice trading prospect. That's the type of horse we like to try and buy. We weren't really looking for the early and speedy types.”

He added, “We've had a lot of interest in the syndicate from prospective investors since Uluru won. Uluru and Bladon are gone to Joseph O'Brien and we hope they are lucky because we want to be known for selling good horses.”

Folland-Bowen Bloodstock Continues Donny Love Affair

It was at this sale last year where Folland-Bowen Bloodstock burst onto the scene with a Land Force colt selling for £85,000.

The burgeoning operation eclipsed that figure on Wednesday with a Mohaather (GB) filly out of Blue Geranium (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) (lot 327) selling to Johnny McKeever and Charlie Hills for £105,000 

Natalie Folland, who runs the operation alongside her partner Matt Bowen, said, “She was sold on behalf of her breeder Jane Keir, our former landlord at Elkington Stud, and we're delighted for her. She's a very loyal client. When we left to set up at Fonthill Stud she said she'd close up and send her mares to us as she didn't want anyone else looking after them.”

She added, “The filly prepped beautifully and we thought she might make 40 or 50 thousand, but you never really know what you've got until you bring them to the sales, and she's been showing well all week; she's never put a foot wrong. In fact, the more shows she did, the better she got. We love selling at Doncaster, and that's the second year in a row we've had a bit of a touch.”

Buy Of The Day

There were a couple of interesting fillies to sell on Wednesday, not least the Masar (Ire) that Sean Grassick bought from The National Stud for £38,000.

Masar has yet to catch fire in his debut season at stud and this filly does not look as though she will be bolstering his record with juveniles but she does look like she will be okay in time. 

At the money, Grassick can't have gone too far wrong with a filly who could be worth a lot more than that if she manages to place in a maiden in Ireland at the back end next year or even as a three-year-old. 

She has been bought for the Atomic Racing Syndicate and will be trained by Kevin Coleman. It's an owner-trainer axis that has advertised an uncanny knack at finding value and trading horses with form in recent times. This filly could be the latest smart recruit for the team. 

Away from the Masar, Peter Trainor may well have found himself a bit of value in the Ardad (Ire) filly (lot 423) he bought from Browne Brothers Bloodstock at 22,000. 

At least Trainor will know if he got the value or not pretty soon given that the Ardad's half-sister Graceful Thunder (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) runs in a Group 3 at ParisLongchamp on Thursday. 

Already a listed winner for Amo Racing and George Boughey, Graceful Thunder is a 3-1 chance to boost the pedigree in that Group 3. It could prove an interesting 24 hours for Trainor. 

Thought For The Day

After another strong yearling sale for Havana Grey (GB) with three yearlings selling for six figures or more, one has to wonder what Whitsbury Manor Stud will set the fee at next year. 

It was a question that generated much debate in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the Earl Of Doncaster Hotel  and it seems as though many top judges feel Havana Grey is worthy of a decent bump following another excellent year. 

 

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Peckham Back For More After Successful First Breeze-up Foray

NEWMARKET, UK–Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) may have been overturned in Wednesday's G3 Sagaro S. at Ascot, but the five-time group-winning stayer remains a great advertisement of the diversity of horses on offer across the range of breeze-up sales in Europe.

We've seen plenty of those dubbed as 'Royal Ascot two-year-olds' over the last week or so, and as the British leg of the breeze-up action comes to a close at Tattersalls on Thursday, the focus generally adjusts slightly to more of a later-maturing specimen. It was at the Guineas Sale of 2018 that Trueshan was bought for 31,000gns by Alan King and Anthony Bromley, a duo which is now a regular fixture at these auctions. He was plucked from the draft of Thomond O'Mara's Knockanglass Stables and, as the sun and wind continued to dry the Rowley Mile on Wednesday morning, two of O'Mara's seven juveniles on offer in this year's sale posted times within the top five of the day.

Of course, every vendor and buyer will tell you that it's not all about the time, and indeed there have been some notable examples of slower breezers going on to success at the top, including Derby runner-up Libertarian (GB) and Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris (Ire). But it can help when the clock speaks in your favour, as was seen a fortnight ago at the Craven Sale, when Glending Stables' son of Havana Grey (GB) sold for 15 times his yearling price at 650,000gns after posting the fastest breeze of the session. Roderick Kavanagh's outfit again had one of the fastest breezers on the unofficial times recorded for the Guineas Sale in lot 193, a colt by freshman sire Inns Of Court (Ire).

Last week we spoke to Robbie Mills of RMM Bloodstock about his burgeoning breeze-up and pre-training business, and one of his neighbours on Newmarket's Hamilton Road, George Peckham, is in a similar position. Under the George Peckham Racing banner, the former trainer brings a colt and a filly to the Guineas Sale, only the second and third he has consigned to breeze following an initial foray in 2021 when selling treble winner Straits Of Moyle (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}) to the Cool Silk Partnership for 105,000gns.

“That's our only previous breezer at the sales,” Peckham said. “We did have one last year for the Guineas that had a setback before the sale so we sold him privately to Niels Petersen through Edgar Byrne. He won his first start by eight lengths in Norway and they quite like him, so I'm excited to see what he can do.”

Now a sought-after pre-trainer in Britain's busiest training centre, Peckham's involvement in the breeze-ups remains on the select side at present. 

“It's something that we wanted to give a go,” he noted. “It's never going to be a big business for us. We're flat out with the pre-training, and that's our main business, but we are lucky to have the facilities on the Heath in Newmarket. We'll see what happens but, we're very happy with how they went this morning.”

His two-strong draft currently at Park Paddocks consists of lot 174, a colt by Twilight Son (GB) whose full-sister The Twilight Lady (GB) won twice at two last year. Their grand-dam Confidential Lady (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) won the G1 Prix de Diane for her breeders Cheveley Park Stud.

He is followed by lot 258, a filly by Ardad (Ire) out of Broughton's Secret (GB) (Aqlaam {GB}) whose half-brother Spioradalta (GB) (Rajasinghe {Ire}) was another juvenile to win last year.

Peckham said, “The Twilight Son is a speedy little horse who does what it says on the tin, and the Ardad is a nice, big, rangey filly who will need a little bit more time. She probably wants seven furlongs or a mile at this stage, and the last few weeks it's all just come a little bit quick for her. She has a lovely, big stride on her, so it will be towards the back end of the season and into next year that she'll really come to the fore, I think. But to do what she's doing at the moment, I'm really happy with her.”

For the breeze, both juveniles benefited by being in the experienced hands of Arc-winning jockey Luke Morris.

“Luke used to ride for us when we were training and he's obviously a very hard-working fellow and nice and light as well,” Peckham explained. “We have a good relationship. He rode the one a couple of years ago for us, and we go back a long way.”

He added, “I was a little bit disappointed that they watered the breeze strip. It was just a little bit tacky, which hasn't suited many people, and it was a little bit chopped up after the Craven, but it was the same for everyone.”

George Peckham Racing is based in Yellowstone Stables next-door to trainers Simon and Ed Crisford, and with easy access to the vast expanse of the all-weather and Southfields turf gallops on 'racecourse side', behind the Rowley Mile grandstand. 

“It's been really busy over the winter and still going strong at the moment, which is great. We're very lucky with the people that support us, and we're very grateful to them,” he said.

“Yellowstone is brilliant for doing our job. We've got 50 boxes, and we're looking to expand a bit as well. It's a perfect location with all that grass we have on Southfields.

“I've been using the grass all winter and I'm a big believer in it. I try to stay on it as much as I can. That's a big advantage of being in town here. We tend to target the Tattersalls sales so we have a little bit of home advantage, and it would be silly not to use that. The horses have been over to the flat gallop plenty before they went up the watered gallop this morning.”

After withdrawals, 100 horses in training will take to the ring during Thursday morning, followed by 170 juveniles for the breeze-up session. The action gets underway at Tattersalls at 9.30am.

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Mills Aiming for Double Guineas Success

Last year, Robbie Mills of RMM Bloodstock brought one horse to the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-up Sale and scored a dream pinhooking result. A year on and that same filly, now known as Naomi Lapaglia (GB) (Awtaad {Ire}), is an intended starter in the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas after winning her sole run at two. The dream continues.

But before Mills can look forward to next Sunday on the Rowley Mile, he first has another four breezers to put through their paces for the Guineas Sale on Thursday. The quartet is shaping up nicely just a short hack away from where they will be asked to perform the first proper test of their young lives during Wednesday's gallop session. RMM Bloodstock is based at Bill O'Gorman's Seven Springs stable on Newmarket's Hamilton Road, meaning that the consignor has only to have his horses ridden straight onto the Heath that they have come to know well in recent months. 

He is understandably proud of Naomi Lapaglia, who races for Ed Babington and Phil Cunningham and is trained locally by Richard Spencer.

“Richard said she did a nice piece of work at the Rowley Mile last week and she will go straight to the Guineas,” he says.

Bred by Shadwell, Naomi Lapaglia had been selected by the pinhooker from the operation's reduction of stock at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale for just 2,000gns. Five months later, she was knocked down at 110,000gns to Cunningham, with an extra boost coming when her half-sister Rogue Millennium (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), similarly let go relatively cheaply by Shadwell, won impressively on debut four days before the breeze-up sale. She went on to win the Lingfield Oaks Trial and finish seventh in the Oaks for Tom Clover.

“It was a hot race,” Mills recalls of Rogue Millennium's debut. “So that really helped  the two-year-old, it just put the icing on the cake really, going into the sale. And she did a solid breeze.”

Mills is by no means a newcomer to the breeze-up circuit, but this will be the largest draft he has brought to sale so far. The consigning part of his business, along with breaking and pre-training and some bloodstock agency work, is an area which he is planning to expand.

“Over the last few years we've always had a few to breeze, but then we've either sold them before the sale or the owners have changed their mind. A few years ago, I bought Pocket The Profit as a yearling, and Ed Babington bought him off me privately,” he adds.

The four-year-old Pocket The Profit (GB) (Mayson {GB}), a 10,000gns yearling, has now won six of his 22 starts, earning a rating of 90.

“We also buy some for Qatar, we know some trainers over there,” he says. “This year we won the Guineas and we were fourth in the Derby with a horse called Conflict, who we bought from Andrew Balding.

“We've got good team of people, so we're going to try and do some yearling prep this summer and angle more towards consigning. With the horses is in training as well, with staff shortages it's better for the trainers to ask someone else to do it.  It's something that we're going to build on and we've got a few yearlings already on the books to come. We're lucky to have the most beautiful yard and we're just building every year now.”

Mills is also planning to build on his good contacts in America, where he spent four years as a track rider and was assistant trainer to Michelle Nihei in Florida. 

“I went all over really, from Gulfstream, up to New York, Saratoga, and California to Hollywood Park, when it was open, and Santa Anita. Then I came back here and was riding out, and RMM Bloodstock has been going about eight years now.

“It's working, anyhow, because we're having winners after they've breezed, we've made horses from 10 and 12,000 into 40,000 the last couple of years. And then obviously last year was pretty exceptional, turning 2,000 into 110,000,” he recalls.

“I just scratched my head all winter, I still couldn't believe that I bought her for 2,000 because I couldn't really find a lot wrong with her. Luckily everything just went perfectly in the prep. We knew she had a lot of ability, and she won first time out.”

Mills's own skills as a former track rider have been called upon by American trainers visiting the UK for Royal Ascot. He rode the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome in all his exercise in Newmarket during the spring of 2015, and more recently he partnered with Bucchero, who was fifth in the King's Stand in 2018 and is managed by Harlan Malter of Ironhorse Racing Stable. 

“I bought Harlan a filly called Improvise (Fr), who was the Queen's last runner before she died,” he notes. Bucchero has made a good start as a stallion and this year we've been discussing with Harlan about trying to get some to bring here to breeze.”

In the meantime, the RMM Bloodstock draft heading to Tattersalls next week consists of three colts and a filly by stallions a little closer to home and Mills has drawn extra encouragement from events at Doncaster on Tuesday. Among the group is a colt by young Darley stallion Harry Angel (Ire) and a filly by Cheveley Park Stud's Twilight Son (GB), the same two stallions who provided the top colt and top filly at the Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale.

“I try not to buy a horse just for the sake of having a breezer,” says Mills. “The Guineas Sale has always been good to us and in this year's draft there's four really nice horses.

“The Harry Angel, he speaks for himself when he comes out of his stable. Through the winter we've had to go easy on him really, because he's grown a lot and has been  immature physically, but now he's just come right for us for the sale, which is nice of him.”

Offered as lot 345, the colt is a grandson of a filly who had plenty of top-level experience of the Rowley Mile: Natagora (Fr) (Divine Light {Jpn}), winner of the 1,000 Guineas and the G1 Cheveley Park S.

“I think he's a horse with a lot of ability,” Mills adds. “And again, with the Kessaar colt, he's grown and matured a lot and he really goes well. He's got a good brain on him, which means you're halfway there, especially with the breeze-up horses.”

The colt by Kessaar (Ire) is a half-brother to treble winner Hurry Up Hedley (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and will be sold at lot 294. The consignment also contains a Time Test (GB) colt whose family was seen to good effect on Saturday through the good Newbury maiden winner Klondike (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), whose grand-dam Kithanga (Ire) is the third dam of lot 316.

Mills continues, “Our Time Test is another solid, good-bodied colt and we're expecting them to do good breezes this year. The Twilight Son filly is extremely sharp.”

He adds, “I try, obviously, to buy a good-looking horse, a solid horse. And you want a sire and that'll stand out so they don't get a line put through them, just in the index, when people open their catalogue. 

“We're lucky that, with the results we've been having, Tattersalls have supported us and given us spots to fill and we're taking them there to sell. 

“We haven't got to travel too far. It's a great warm-up from here over to [the Rowley Mile], so if we've got the advantage, we'll use it.”

 

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Value Sires Part IV: Moving On Up

It is perhaps at this level of the market that bookings have not yet been finalised for this year's matings. While a number of those named here have since moved up in fee bracket on the back of success with runners and subsequent market response, there is still plenty of value to be found in the hope that stallions coming through could be similarly upwardly mobile.

The aim of this exercise has been to show the average profit for stallions at each of four different levels of the market according to their yearling prices of last year. Those youngsters were of course conceived in 2020, and the table takes into account the stallions' fees at that time plus a general keep fee for the mare and foal/yearling as well as sundry costs and sales expenses of £20,000. Only stallions showing an average profit with five or more yearlings sold last year have featured in these tables and assessments have already been published for stallions standing at £50,000 and above, between £20,000 and £49,999, and earlier this week for those at £10,000 to £19,999.

Next week we will also consider the value among those sires who have not yet had yearlings at the sales, but for now we will deal with the end of the market that will particularly resonate with a wide range of smaller breeders, involving stallions who were standing at less than £10,000 in 2020.

We can sadly discount the name at the top of the list as Adlerflug (Ger) is no longer with us. The German champion died in April 2021, halfway through covering the mares who will have provided his small final crop. This penultimate crop was not large either, which tends to be the norm for Germany, but his yearling results reflect what was then Adlerflug's growing international status on the track. He was standing at his highest level when he died, but even then a €16,000 fee looked incredibly reasonable. With this class act no longer available we can look instead to his sons at stud, which include the brilliant Arc winner Torquator Tasso (Ger), who is about to embark on his first season at Gestut Auenquelle, and the German Derby winner In Swoop (Ire), who covered a large book at the Beeches Stud in Co Waterford and whose first foals are expected imminently. In Swoop's full-brother and fellow Group 1 winner Ito (Ger) was recently transferred from Germany to stand at Yorton Stud in Wales.

Still very much in active service and now flying high beyond this tier is Mehmas (Ire), a horse we've heard plenty about over the last few years and it is easy to imagine that will continue. The son of Acclamation (GB) actually stood at his lowest fee in 2020 of €7,500 in his fourth season but then his first runners woke everyone up to his prowess and he hasn't looked back, climbing to €25,000 then €50,000 and now €60,000. There will be no trouble encouraging mare owners to use him even at this level, and as our table shows, his first runners helped Mehmas's second crop of yearlings to sell for an average price which was 11.6 times his fee back then.

He will soon face competition from his own sons as three of them — Minzaal (Ire), Persian Force (Ire) and Caturra (Ire) — have already been retired to studs in Ireland and Britain and he can be regarded as one of the most exciting young stallions in Europe.

Ardad (Ire) was a year behind Mehmas in retiring to stud and the yearlings shown here represent his smallest crop of only 19. Once his first runners hit the track in 2021 and started winning early, the mares visiting him at Overbury Stud suddenly increased in number and he has 98 yearlings registered this year. In 2020, Ardad's fee had remained at his opening mark of £6,500 (it dropped to £4,000 in 2021 and is now £12,500) and, like Mehmas, they sold for an average price which was more than 11 times his fee. He too has been joined in the stallion ranks by one of his sons, the treble Group 1 winner Perfect Power (Ire). 

Ardad still looks good value at his adjusted fee, and the same can be said for Havana Grey (GB), who was also standing at £6,500 in 2020 but has risen to £18,500 on the back his first-season sires' championship laurels. The winners came thick and fast for the Whitsbury Manor Stud resident last year and it will be intriguing to see how they fare as three-year-olds. He trained on himself, from starting his campaign as an April juvenile and running eight times each at two and three before landing his Group 1 on Irish Champions Weekend in his second season. With a whopping 81 of last year's yearlings making on average nine times the fee for which they were conceived and showing average profit of £31,871, it was clearly a good move to be in the Havana Grey camp in his second year at stud.

As we can see, and for obvious reasons, not many of the stallions near the top of this table are still covering at fees within this tier, and that is the case for Kodi Bear (Ire), whose lowest fee of €6,000 came in 2019 and 2020 and is now €15,000, while Cotai Glory (GB), who brought more first-season sire glory to Tally-Ho Stud the year after Mehmas, is now €12,500, having previously been €5,000. The Platinum Queen (Ire) was the star for the latter last year and she subsequently fetched 1.2 million gns when sold to Katsumi Yoshida. That obviously doesn't figure in Cotai Glory's yearlings figures which were good nonetheless, at an average nine times his fee and average profit of £17,478 for 47 yearlings sold. That figure was just slightly below Rathbarry Stud's Kodi Bear, whose average profit was £18,247 for 32 sold.

Two sons of Invincible Spirit, Invincible Army (Ire) and Inns Of Court (Ire) have potentially exciting seasons ahead of them with their first runners. The vibes appeared to be very positive about Yeomanstown Stud's Invincible Army, who was dropped from a starting fee of €10,000 to €7,500, where he remains. Given that these yearlings were conceived off that higher opening mark, his average profit of £14,896 is decent from 72 yearlings sold and he is at a level which makes him very attractive if his first crop of runners deliver in the way which appears to be anticipated. 

Similar comments apply to Tally-Ho's Inns Of Court, who had a massive group of yearlings at the sales last year with 122 sold for average profit of £3,052. His fee has been kept at a lower level, dropping from an initial €7,500 to €5,000.

With these two stallions, as with Highclere Stud's Land Force (Ire), who also has his first runners this year, there is of course the chance for things to go very much in the breeeders' favour if they make a promising start and sustain it through to when their later crops are being offered at the sales. The risk involved is often reflected in dips in fees in the third and fourth seasons, though in Land Force's case he started an acceptable level of £6,500 for one year and had been £5,000 since then. Again, there were some favourable comments from yearling buyers, to the extent that 75 of his first-crop yearlings sold for an average price of £32,779, or five times his fee, at average profit of £6,279.

We'll see what the coming months bring for these young stallions as the eagerly anticipated early juvenile races get underway. One whose early results were encouraging on the track last year was Tasleet (GB), one of two sons of Showcasing (GB) to be standing at Shadwell's Nunnery Stud. Considering the increasing focus on success at Royal Ascot, a first-crop G2 Coventry S. winner is just what the doctor ordered for any budding sire, and that is exactly what Tasleet had in Bradsell (GB), one of 16 winners for the sire last season. The Archie Watson-trained colt went amiss when contesting the G1 Keeenland Phoenix S. but is reported to be on the comeback trail. Bradsell clearly has plenty of talent, so let's hope he is able to show that again this year.

Tasleet started out at £6,000 and has returned to that fee after two years at £5,000, but he remains competitively priced to give breeders a return on their investment. His average profit last year was £6,304 for 23 yearlings sold. 

Cheveley Park Stud's Twilight Son (GB) is another who has remained at an accessible price for breeders. He's still at his 2020 fee of £7,000, and his yearlings from that crop made on average five times that fee, with an average profit of £8,942. Both his sire and grandsire, Kyllachy (GB) and Pivotal (GB), were hugely dependable and successful members of the Cheveley Park Stud roster and there is no reason that this dual Group 1-winning sprinter can't develop into a similarly reliable sire capable of getting some fast and commercial offspring if granted enough support. 

VALUE PODIUM

Gold: Tasleet

It is an important year for him but his support is growing and he has been kept at an affordable level to give both him and those who use him a chance.

Silver: Cotai Glory 

Yes, his fee has now crept up into the next bracket but not by much and his star package The Platinum Queen was no fluke. There is some depth to his stakes horses from just two crops to race so far, and he can continue the solid work of his sire Exceed And Excel (Aus) as a dependable source of good sprinters. 

Bronze: Ardad 

He too is now in a higher fee bracket, but his fee remains sensible. This year's crop of juveniles is small, but he covered bigger and better books in the last two years, making it a reasonable proposition to use him now in anticipation of plenty more to come from his offspring on the track.

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