BROODMARE SIRES
WEATHERBYS STALLION SCENE: Irish National Stud stallions and Rathbarry Stud’s Kodi Bear
It has been a great first season for Irish trainer STEPHEN THORNE
SELWOOD BLOODSTOCK offering its biggest and best foal draft
In the
Calandagan, the four-year-old by Gleneagles, took himself to the top in Europe with victory in the British Champion Stakes
NEW FOR 2026
Lead Artist
The Group 1-winning miler by Dubawi, from the iconic stallion-making family of Hasili
Won the Group 1 Lockinge Stakes in the second-fastest time in history — defeating Guineas winners Rosallion, Notable Speech and Fallen Angel
Contact Ed Sackville, Shane Horan or Tom Parry +44 (0)1638 731115 | nominations@juddmonte.co.uk www.juddmonte.com
Dubawi - Obligate (Frankel)
“A very powerful and well-balanced miler, from a superb family”
JOHN GOSDEN, CO-TRAINER
NEW FOR 2026
“
The winner looks an absolute monster. He looked a superb horse in the paddock.
KARL BURKE ON IRISH CHAMPION STAKES DAY
CHRISTOPHE SOUMILLON “
his turn of foot is just something unbelievable
“ “
At 2:
1st Autumn Stakes-Gr.3, Newmarket
1st Maiden, Curragh H TDN RISING STAR H
2nd Futurity Trophy Stakes-Gr.1, Doncaster, beaten a head
At 3:
1st Irish Champion Stakes-Gr.1, Leopardstown
1st Eclipse Stakes-Gr.1, Sandown (PICTURED), defeating Ombudsman
1st Derby Trial Stakes-Gr.3, Leopardstown
1st Ballysax Stakes-Gr.3, Leopardstown
2nd International Stakes-Gr.1, York
What he did at Sandown, you don’t see horses do that—I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horse do what he did
AIDAN O’BRIEN
, TDN, 14/9/25
The Leading European second-season sire
by earnings and Group winners-runners
NEW CENTURY
1st 2024 Summer Stakes, Gr.1
1st 2024 Stonehenge Stakes, Listed
3rd 2025 American Turf Stakes, Gr.1
FIVE WAYS
1st 2025 Sirenia Stakes, Gr.3
*of sires with >50 runners as of 24/09/2025
2000 Guineas winner
WIMBLEDON HAWKEYE
1st 2024 Royal Lodge Stakes, Gr.2
1st 2025 Nashville Derby, Gr.3
3rd 2024 Futurity Trophy Stakes, Gr.1 AMERICAN GAL
1st 2025 Prix des Lilas, Listed
52 Weatherbys Stallion Scene 2
Our man enjoys a fabulous weekend in Paris, bumps into an old friend with a wonderful story and is bursting with pride at his latest acquisition – his new dog
The Lloyd Report
Jamie Lloyd chats with agent Joe Miller to discover whether US tariffs affected American buying at the October Yearling Sale
20 Girls Aloud
Cathy Grassick reports from the yearling sales where there was good money at the very top, but it was far from plain sailing through the lower ranks 28 200-1!
Amy Bennett looks back on British Champions Day which saw shocks aplenty and Calandagan consolidate his position as the best middle-distance horse in Europe
Luck of the draw?
Jocelyn de Moubray believes the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Daryz and runner-up Minnie Hauk to be the best of their generation, but something needs to be done about the unfair draw bias
48 Weatherbys Stallion Scene 1
The Irish National Stud’s Phoenix Of Spain is now a Group 1-winning sire, it has been a good summer, too, for freshman sires
Nando Parrado and Lucky Vega, while new sire Shouldvebeenaring had a strong first booktheir
Rathbarry Stud’s Kodi Bear is quietly forging himself an impressive set of high quality performers and is very much on an upward trajectory.– his colt Lifeplan an impressive winner of the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes
56 European Stallion Statistics
Featuring leading sires, leading broodmare sires and leading two-year-old sires, from Weatherbys
62 Thorne’s growing
Stephen Thorne has only been training for a year, but the Irish handler has sent out 17 winners this season, writes Ronan Groom
66 The green, green grass of home
James and Fiona Read’s Selwood
Bloodstock will be sending its largest-ever draft to Tattersalls Foal Sale this December. We chat with Read who is a man proud of the farm’s West Country heritage
76 Criss cross
Ciaran Doran delves into the stats for some of the leading European nicks
88 Stakes-winning broodmare sires
Our unique list of European stakes-winning broodmare sires in 2025
96 The main event
Catherine Austen reports on the inaugural Racehorse to Eventing class at the Cornbury Horse Trials
102 Mare of the month
Amy Bennett dives deep into Qabala’s pedigree, a mare making waves on the racetrack and the sales ring
106 Photo finish
Juddmonte’s homebred new sire for 2025 Lead Artist – a Group 1 winner bred on the highly successful Dubawi/Frankel cross
Calandagan by Debbie Burt
the team
editor sally duckett
publisher declan rickatson design thoroughbred publishing
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00 44 (0)7767 310381 declan.rickatson@btinternet.com
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debbie burt
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courtesy of stud farms
france galop courtesy of tattersalls the
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amy bennett
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The autumn season with Leo
Leo enjoys the top racing in Paris... and then adopts a dog
ARC WEEKEND IN PARIS was special for many reasons, but particularly for one unforgettable highlight. It was the thrilling victory for Daryz in the weekend’s feature, and this despite there being so many other wonderful stories of success over two days of the best racing imaginable at ParisLongchamp.
One can only imagine the emotions felt by Princess Zahra Aga Khan, in company with her daughter Sara and son Iliyan, as she and the team from the Aga Khan Studs watched the son of Sea The Stars gallop to a famous win in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, crediting her and her family with a new record for triumphs in the race.
That Princess Zahra is embracing her father’s legacy, and even embellishing it, is a godsend for racing and breeding.
I had to smile when Matt Chapman doorstepped Princess Zahra after Calandagan won at Ascot on Champions Day, and questioned her about the win.
What I first understood to be an uneasy silence was anything but, as the winning owner whispered to the exuberant presenter that he was wrong in his statement that the gelding was winning a second Group 1, and proudly reminding Chapman that it was his third such win.
Princess Zahra is not a trophy owner, but rather
Princess Zahra is not a trophy owner, but rather one who knows intimately the families that she and the teams in France and Ireland are propagating. She has also demonstrated great sportsmanship by deciding to race Daryz on at four
one who knows intimately the families that she and the teams in France and Ireland are propagating. She has also demonstrated great sportsmanship by deciding to race Daryz on at four.
Victory for Daryz was written in the stars. “He was bred to win the Arc”, an emotional Princess Zahra said. There is no need for me to state the obvious. Daryz won the Arc 16 years after his sire ended a brilliant racing career with victory in the iconic race, and that win was also 16 years after Urban Seat, the dam of Sea The Stars, achieved the feat, too
What a year to remember for Princess Zahra, and to acknowledge the years of groundwork laid by her father. In addition to Daryz winning the Arc, Calandagan’s three Group 1 wins have come in the Grand Prix de Paris, the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Champion Stakes, Zarigana is a Classic winner of the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, Candelari landed the Group 1 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier and Sibayan triumphed in the Group 1 Preis von Europa.
That haul could yet be added to before the year is out, and could well be with Calandagan in Japan.
Should have listened the night before... Friday night before the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is always a special one. Apart from last year, it has been
The Aga Khan Studs-bred son of Sea The Stars Daryz sticking his nose out for Arc glory
the occasion for a reception in the Irish Embassy in Paris, this year hosted by Ambassador Niall Burgess who is familiar with the sport of kings. What an omen it proved to be that he welcomed, as guest of honour, Princess Zahra Aga Khan.
For as long as I have had the pleasure of being on the invitation list for this evening, Aga Khan IV, and latterly his daughter, have either attended individually or together. This is an important recognition of their ties to Ireland.
In hindsight, I should have picked up on something Pat Downes, manager of the Aga Khan Studs in Ireland, said to me during our conversation at the reception. I queried him about how many runners they would have over the two days, and the number ran into double figures. Nine of them raced in Pattern races, and they won a Group 1 and 2, provided three placed horses in Group 1 races, and another who placed in a Group 2. Quite a haul!
Downes did mention, albeit in passing, Daryz’s chances in the Arc, and it seems clear to me now that the team was very much looking forward to his participation in the main race of the two days.
At a post-Embassy dinner, with thanks to Irish Thoroughbred Marketing’s Charles O’Neill and David Burns, I was not sitting close enough to Nemone Routh to quiz her further. The aim all year was to have a strong challenger for the Arc, and with Calandagan ruled out by virtue of his being a gelding, Daryz was their main hope. A plan, hatched early in the season, to target the race resulted in a winning outcome, and continued the amazing year being enjoyed by the French champion trainer-elect, Francis Graffard.
I tried to second guess after Paris what the view of Princess Zahra would be regarding the issue of barring geldings from Europe’s premier middledistance autumn race. The same question was posed by Matt Chapman after Calandagan’s Ascot win, and she showed her class and diplomacy by claiming that the question was “above my pay grade!” The rule certainly worked in her favour this time.
A story of stud farming success in India “Grit, Grace & Glory – The Usha Story” is a book that I have been meaning to get my hands on for some time, and I fell on my feet during my Paris trip. On the day after the Arc, I attended the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) conference.
It is always an informative event, though this
Major Mehra founded Usha Stud in 1973, with a handful of mares, and developed it into one of the major breeding and stallion farms in India. His daughter has carried on his work, and the family’s record as breeders is unsurpassed
year it largely focused on betting, or wagering, and associated issues, and while the subjects are important, they largely left me daydreaming of other matters.
I cannot claim to know India’s Ameeta Mehra exceptionally well, but I have had a few occasions to spend time in her company, and find her to be one of the most knowledgeable people about breeding and racing, and she has a charismatic presence that makes one warm immediately to her. She also has fond memories of Ireland, and counts many Irish men and women among her friends. Her family story is one of great success, unimaginable tragedy, and yet great hope for the future.
January 2, 2001 is forever etched in her memory and heart as that was the day on which her dear parents, Major Pradeep and Veena Mehra, together with Ameeta’s only sibling, her younger sister Radhika, were killed when their helicopter crashed.
Displaying unbelievable strength, Mehra took an immediate pledge to carry on her father’s work, and her spiritual belief empowered her. A month later, she sold all the stud’s foals that her father had planned to offer at auction in Pune.
Major Mehra founded Usha Stud in 1973, with a handful of mares, and developed it into one of the major breeding and stallion farms in India. His daughter has carried on his work, and the family’s record as breeders is unsurpassed.
In a breeding column I had published the weekend of the Arc, I mentioned Mehra. Imagine my delight when 24 hours later I ran into her on leaving the paddock at ParisLongchamp after Daryz’s win. The former Irish National Stud course graduate was in a state of excitement herself, as a colt from the first crop of her stallion Deauville (Galileo) had just won a Classic in India.
I mentioned that I had not yet obtained a copy of the book Mehra published in 2023 to celebrate 50 years of Usha Stud, and quickly she put a smile on my face when saying that she had a single copy in her possession, and I was getting it. I have read it, and what a story. The success she has enjoyed is phenomenal, and the story continues.
Cathy Grassick secured a bargain when she bought the Pivotal mare Brioniya for just €20,000 at the 2023 Arqana Breeding Stock Sale for Mehra, who is a longtime client.
The mare was carrying a colt, born in India, by Zelzal who stood that year at a fee of €15,000. However, it is the mare’s two-year-old who makes the purchase look like incredible value indeed. She is
Zanthos (Sioux Nation), a €48,000 yearling purchase who caused a sensation in the Arqana sale ring in May when she sold for €1 million.
Now a leading Classic fancy for 2026 after her victory in the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes, Zanthos is the fourth winner for Brioniya, who has an interesting back story. She won three times, all in Poland, but after she moved to France, she was twice runner-up in Listed races, at ParisLongchamp and Chantilly. Lost to the breeding programme in Europe, she will hopefully prove to be a Classic producer at Usha Stud.
A masterpiece on point-to-pointing In October 2022 I sat down with Dr Frances Nolan, a university academic, and the then senior steward of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee, Martin O’Donnell. They shared with me the news that Nolan had been commissioned to write a book, the history of NH and point-to-point racing in Ireland.
Nolan has produced a beautiful book, and presents it in a format that is enjoyable to read. Broken into six periods of time, it is easy to dip in and out of too. A special mention to whoever helped to source the book’s illustrations. I have rarely encountered a book that is so lavishly strewn with photographs, each with a story to tell.
Nolan clearly has a love for the sport, thanks to a couple of connections going back in time. Her grandmother worked as a cook for trainer Dan Moore at Old Fairyhouse Stud, now the site of the Tattersalls Ireland sales complex. This is across the road from the racecourse, and it was at Fairyhouse, home to the Irish Grand National, that Nolan’s grandfather was foreman for more than half a century.
A launch of the book took place at Punchestown Racecourse, and Robert Hall interviewed Nolan and O’Donnell, alongside Ted Walsh and Barry Geraghty, and it was at Barry’s family home that Nolan learned to ride.
Frances Nolan has produced a masterpiece. In an age when people rely too much on Google to provide answers, this is a book that will be referenced for many decades to come.
Horses, people, places and races are recalled, alongside a commentary on what was happening socially and politically from 1752 up to 2022. The sport of NH racing and the world of point-topointing might not be a global phenomenon, it is arguably more colourful than its Flat counterpart. Available on the Four Courts Press website.
Apparently, to grow your social media following, or to grab the attention of perennial scrollers, you have to include a picture of a dog.
A new member of Leo’s household
With only one month to cover for this diary issue, I was worried that I would not have much to say. I know that friends will be whispering to themselves, “Leo never stops talking, even when he has little to say!” I can imagine my editor Sally smiling and nodding in agreement as she reads this (Humm..!).
But please forgive me for a piece of personal news.
Élie and I welcomed a new family member this month, Millie Rose. No, it is not a new baby (human), but rather we adopted a one-year-old Jack Russell, already named, and she is a joy and a patience-trier all in one. I say this after just three days, but she is loved, wanted and will become familiar to you all.
Apparently, to grow your social media following, or to grab the attention of perennial scrollers, you have to include a picture of a dog. People in the equine world, in general, are dog lovers, and no animal attracts more attention than a cute canine.
Millie Rose will become a regular feature of my various social media postings, and hopefully build her own fan base. She has yet to be brought out in public, being given time to get used to her new dads and new home, but expect to see her regularly at the pet-friendly Orby’s By Lucy at The Curragh Racecourse, where Lucy, James and the team always have a special welcome for a well-behaved dog.
New beginnings: Millie Rose heading back with Leo to her new, and forever, home
Shaquille
The ball is in your court...
Emphatic winner of the Gr.1 Commonwealth Cup & Gr.1 July Cup
Cartier Champion Sprinter & Longines World’s Best 3YO Sprinter in 2023
Don’t miss his first foals at Goffs, Tattersalls & Arqana!
The Lloyd Report
Trade war?
Jamie Lloyd chats with Joe Miller to find out what influence Trump’s introduction of import tariffs, as well as an ability to write-off thoroughbred purchases, had on American buying demand at the Tattersalls October Sale
President Trump: his economic policy played a part in the demand seen at Tattersalls
THROUGH THE WEEK preceding this year’s Tattersalls Horses
In Training Sale
I decided to stay at home instead of heading to France for Arqana’s October Yearling Sale.
Fortunately, my partner in Westfield Bloodstock, Henry Spiller and the team were there to cover the workload and have a successful trip for our clients, who will be racing our new recruits in France next season, primarily with trainer Henry Francois Du Van.
The week at home was much needed after the October Yearling Sale at Newmarket and what always seems like months away.
Far Westfield has been filling up steadily since the start of the sales season, and, once again, will be a winter home to many of the top lots sold over the last couple of months.
It’s always an exciting time of year, and great to see this year’s cast of talent develop.
The week at home also gave me a chance to look deeper at recent sale results, in particular the level of investment from the US in the UK’s domestic market.
My interest was prompted when some of my own clients, whom I was expecting to attend, started to look a little shaky as the sale approached. One particular client, who has always been heavily involved in the European market, cited that the new tariffs were presenting a serious problem.
President Trump’s new tariffs have kicked in this year, the UK, one of the few countries with a
trade deal in place, is subject to a 10 per cent tariff on horses being exported to the US.
Other countries with no trade deal in place are facing higher charges.
The tariffs have also been rumoured to be playing a role in the increasing number of horses purchased by Americans and left in Britain or Ireland to start their juvenile campaigns.
Recent years have seen a steady incline in US-owned horses being raced in Europe, with many top owners targeting Royal Ascot.
Tariffs or not, the first two books at Tattersalls provided a bountiful hunting ground for US buyers, old and new.
There was talk in the buildup to the October Book 1 and 2
“
The tariffs have also been rumoured to be playing a role in the increasing number of horses purchased by Americans and left in Britain or Ireland to start their juvenile campaigns “
Yearling Sale that, as Keeneland had been so strong this year, many US buyers were heading to Tattersalls to find some sort of value at the top end of the market.
Tattersalls’ US representative Joe Miller, who was in attendance as always, shared some interesting numbers with me.
“We had about 20 American buyers over for Tattersalls Book 1 and 2, with about 15 just there for Book 1 and about five new groups coming in specifically for Book 2.
“All of the Americans that were here were very active and it was good to see quite a few new faces.
“In Book 1, Matt Dorman’s
The Night Of Thunder colt out of Fashion Star, bought by the Burkes for 1,000,000gns, is at Far
Westfield Farm
Determined Stables was one of the leading American buyers with his advisor David Ingordo and although David has long been attending the Tattersalls sales, it was Matt’s first trip to Newmarket”
Miller also pointed out that this year saw the return of agent Liz Crow to Park Paddocks, and she has enjoyed great success from Newmarket in the past and this year signed for several horses for different clients.
“It’s always good to see the leading buyers back in action such as Mike Ryan/ Chad Brown and Klaravich Stable, Alex Solis for Repole Stable, and Justin Casse,” added Miller.
“In Book 2, we had several new buyers including Tropical Racing, Doug O’Neill, and Ben Colebrook, as well as Tim Cohen with Rancho Temescal.”
The desire for Americans to get involved in the UK bloodstock market was once again bolstered by several top horses flying on
the track in the US.
The 2024 Grade 1 winner Program Trading finished second in the Coolmore Turf Mile (G1) at the beginning of October, while Dynamic Pricing, winner of June’s Just Game Stakes (G1), and midfield in October’s First Lady Stakes (G1), are just two of the graduates competing at the highest level this year in the US.
IT’S ESTIMATED
that approximately 16,000,000gns was spent this year by US-based purchasers, just slightly less than a peak of 20,000,000gns spent in 2022.
Tattersalls and its rival auction houses, alongside organisations like Irish Thoroughbred Marketing and GBRI, spend a lot of time and effort into promoting their sales’ successes around the world and in the process recruiting new investment.
Joe Miller, a successful bloodstock agent by day, plays a
Determined Stable’s top-priced purchase in Book 1 was this Frankel filly out of Hostess sold by Highclere Stud
“Although the market was very strong, there was a high quality of horse at Tattersalls in Book 1 and 2, that is one thing I heard from a lot of Americans.
“Everyone had a very big short list, and were able to buy horses they loved for what they deemed was a fair price.
“What I have found travelling the sales around the world, is that everywhere you go, it is always hard to buy the horses you love.
“At Tattersalls, there are so
sign a ticket on these horses in Newmarket than anywhere else.
“In Saratoga, you have a select sale with just 200 horses, while in Newmarket in Book 1 you have a select sale with over 500 horses,
“Horses make good money, but, from a buyer’s perspective, you can get the ones you love no
Miller again touched on the growing trend of leaving young horses in Europe tostart their racing careers or be pre-trained.
This could potentially be a UK upside to the new tariffs, while
“
At Tattersalls, there are so many horses you love, that it seems more attainable to sign a ticket on these horses in Newmarket than anywhere else “
Trump’s tax breaks enabling buyers to write off the cost of thoroughbred purchases also played a significant part in stoking demand.
The results from this year’s sales show little effect caused by the tariffs, buyers choosing to acknowledge the need to acquire these quality animals outweighs any additional costs or challenges.
Photo courtesy of Tattersalls
Photo courtesy of Tattersalls
...Girls aloud
THIS YEAR’S YEARLING SALES SEASON has been a difficult one for many to navigate, and, unusually, it was not just one particular group finding it tough. Usually, in a difficult year, it is the sellers who are on the back foot, while in contrast, in a strong year, the buyers struggle to fill orders or find value.
This year, though, as the market becomes ever more polarised and driven by sire power, it was tough going for almost everyone - buyers, agents and trainers alike as everyone competed for horses at the top of the market; sellers, breeders and pinhookers suffered reduced profits due to high production costs, or lack of purchasers if a stallion was not in favour.
There was value to be found for those willing to look at the middle market or outside of trends to purchase value, but this was not good news for those selling.
Earlier sales seemed to predict a strong year to come with good clearance and improved results at Goffs UK. This trend continued with a fantastic Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale and many happy vendors.
The Goffs Orby Sale Part 1 seemed strong, especially for well -bred fillies with six of the top ten lots members of the fairer sex. But as the sales season continued though to Newmarket, the middle market seemed to slow down drastically.
Great heights were still being reached at the top end of the market at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Sale with 16 yearlings making upwards of a million guineas – Godolphin purchased five of those, Amo Racing four including the top lot, Juddmonte three, MV Magnier and White Birch Farm were purchasers of two sixfigure yearlings, and Henry Lascelles, and Kelly and Karl Burke both purchased one apiece.
This shows the strength of the high-end buying bench, but as the year progressed the middle and lower markets became increasingly tough going. There seems to be two very acceptable types of stallion in the market place - the new and the high end.
It will be very interesting to see how breeders approach matings and stallion farms approach stud fees for 2026. It has become a real challenge for breeders as proven stallions have become increasingly expensive, and the days of the value commercial stallion seem numbered.
It is indeed worrying to see continuing decreases in the foal crops, and we must be careful not to see small breeders priced out of the market to the detriment of the future of the industry.
That said there is no need to be all doom and gloom as there were many good news stories at the sales, and it is the eternal optimism of breeders and owners that keep us all in the game. Fittocks Stud had an amazing week in Book 1 selling three yearlings who made over a million guineas from just five lots. Newsells Park Stud with three yearlings who made over a million guineas from 21 lots and finished as top consignor for the week.
This aside, farm manager Julian Dollar was quick to echo the
sentiments of others that, while the highs were very high, the yearling sales had been far from easy going.
Ballyhimikin Stud, as so often, had a fantastic week with two yearlings making a million guineas from seven lots offered. This is in keeping with the wonderful year the farm has had on the track – Ombudsman and Estrange two of the farm’s graduates.
In concerning times for our industry, it is incumbent upon all of us to keep reminding governing bodies to protect the prizemoney and indeed to improve it, and restructure it so that more owners are attracted to the sport. This trickle-down economics is what will keep all sectors of the industry healthy and productive.
ONE ONLY has to see the success and joy on display on Champions Day at Ascot to see how important prizemoney and recognition is to the owners in our sport.
The day opened with Godolphin distance star Trawlerman (Golden Horn) continuing his fine form landing the Group 1 British Champions Long Distance Cup, while the British Champions Sprint Stakes (G1) was won by the 200-1 shot Powerful Glory (Cotai Glory) for Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum, Richard Fahey and Jamie Spencer. It was lovely to see Con Marnane and his daughters Amy and Olivia breed a Group 1 winner.
Cicero’s Gift (Muhaarar) won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (G1) at 100-1 for the delighted gang of Rosehill Racing, trainer Charlie Hills and jockey Jason Watson.
Judging by the celebrations in the parade ring more than one of the ownership group had placed a sneaky bet.The Champion Stakes was billed as the clash of the titans, and it was Calandagan (Gleneagles), who won his third Group 1 and it was wonderful to see the joy for Princess Zahra Aga Khan, a fitting tribute to her late father.
Irish Champions Festival by Cathy Grassick Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association
Happy consignors: Sara and Luca Cumani of Fittocks Stud with Graham Smith-Bernal of Newells Park Stud (centre), but the yearling sales were far from plain sailing with polarisation becoming ever more evident
AL SHAQAB STALLIONS
NO NAY NEVER & HESTIA (HIGH CHAPARRAL)
LUSAIL
MEHMAS & DIAMINDA (DIAMOND GREEN)
AL HAKEEM
SIYOUNI & JADHABA (GALILEO)
GR.1
WINNING MILER OF THE QUEEN ELIZABETH II STAKES
13.8% Black-Type winners to runners in 2025
4 Black-Type winners from 29 runners in Europe in 2025 - Lady With The Lamp, Onemoredance, Miss Of Change & Shayem. The leading second crop sire.
...is clearly more than capable of producing talented runners and two big books from the last three years should stand him in good stead.
Kitty Trice, Racing Post GMB 14/10/25
DUBAWI LEGEND
BecomePartOfTheLegend
GR.1 TWO-YEAR-OLD
BY DUBAWI
Second highest rated 2yo of his generation
2nd Gr.1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes to European Champion 2yo Native Trail. Group winning sprinter as a 3yo.
A higher rated 2yo than his contemporaries
Night Of Thunder, Modern Games, Ghaiyyath, Naval Crown, Space Blues, Zarak, New Bay.
First yearlings sold for €50,000, £35,000, €28,000, etc.
GR.1 SPRINTER BY
2yo Gr.2 winner
1st Gr.2 Futurity Stakes, 7f
3yo Gr.1 sprinter
3rd Gr.1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, 5f
3rd Gr.1 Prix de l’Abbaye, 5f
4yo Stakes winner
1st L Sole Power Sprint Stakes, 5f
First book of 110 mares
By the Champion sire of 2yos and a half-brother to Champion 3yo sprinter Washington DC.
SPACE TRAVELLER
Won/placed in 10 Group/ Stakes races 1st 1st 2nd 2nd 3rd
Gr.2 Boomerang Stakes, 1m
Gr.3 Jersey Stakes, 7f
Gr.1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile, 1m
Gr.1 Woodbine Mile, 1m
Gr.1 Pegasus World Cup, 1m1f
First yearlings sold for 240,000gns, £65,000, £60,000, £52,000, €50,000, etc, to:
Highflyer x3, Peter & Ross Doyle x3, Middleham Park Racing, Kevin Ryan, Karl & Kelly Burke/Nick Bradley Racing.
Amy Bennett reviews the topsy turvy form from the British Champions Day at Ascot and the Future Champions Day at Newmarket
The Con Marnane-bred Powerful Glory (Cotai Glory) pulling off the unexpected 200-1 Group 1 victory in the British Champions Sprint Stakes
Photography by Debbie Burt
SINCE ITS INCEPTION in 2011, Qipco British Champions Day has faced criticism on its role as the purported scene for crowning seasonal champions, and, of course, the likely going for the meeting at Ascot by the time mid-October rolls around.
With that in mind, there is a certain irony in the fact that the two biggest upsets in the event’s 15-year history both came on a day when the going at the Berkshire track was actually “good”, as opposed to its usual “soft” or even “heavy’.
The 2025 Flat season has been a
season littered with big-price upsets in Group 1 races, but none more so than the 200-1 victory of Powerful Glory in the British Champions Sprint Stakes.
In defeating the race favourite Lazzat (Territories) by a nose, the Richard
Fahey-trained son of Cotai Glory became the biggest-priced Group 1 winner in European history.
It has been a topsy turvy year in the sprint division, with long-priced winners taking it in turns to beat each other, but Powerful Glory will stand as the most unexpected of them all, in what was only his fifth lifetime start.
That said, let’s not forget that he was a smart juvenile, winning last year’s Mill Reef Stakes (G2). But since then, he finished eighth of nine in the Sandy
Cicero’s Gift: became Muhaarar’s fourth Group 1 winner, and second on British Champions Day, following Eshaada’s success in the Fillies and Mares in 2021
Lane Stakes (G2) and subsequently underwent wind surgery, before finishing last of all in a Beverley conditions contest on his return in September – although his trainer did say post-race at Ascot that he had not been disappointed with that performance.
Bred by Con Marnane and snapped up by Tally-Ho Stud for 37,000gns as a foal, he parlayed that price tag into a winning bid of £190,000 at the Goffs Breeze-Up last year when purchased for Sheikh Rashid Dalmook Al Maktoum by Blandford Bloodstock.
Out of the unplaced Kodiac mare Wouldntitbelovely, Powerful Glory hails from the family of Maarek (Pivotal), who also won a British Champions Sprint under Powerful Glory’s pilot
Powerful Glory hails from the family of Maarek (Pivotal), who also won a British Champions Sprint under Powerful Glory’s pilot Jamie Spencer in 2012 when the race held Group 2 status
Jamie Spencer, in 2012 when the race held Group 2 status.
If Powerful Glory was an upset, we run out of words to describe the victory of Cicero’s Gift (Muhaarar) in the Queen Elizabeth II (G1).
Returned at 100-1, his victory was arguably more shocking than that of Powerful Glory given the star-studded field he defeated by a length and a quarter.
The Group and Grade 1 winners Field Of Gold, Rosallion, Docklands, Fallen Angel, Carl Spackler, Never So Brave, Tamfana and Facteur Cheval were behind.
It was an emotional victory for jockey Jason Watson and trainer Charlie Hills, whose legendary father Barry died in June as the gelding stepped up from his recent Listed success at Sandown to score.
Calandagan: the gelding, now Japan Cup-bound, gave the Aga Khan Studs a second massive Group 1 weekend in October after Daryz’s Arc victory
Only a year earlier, the five-yearold could finish only seventh in the Balmoral Handicap on the Ascot card. Produced by small breeders Fiona and Brent Williams in Wales, Cicero’s Gift stems from their foundation mare Boadicea’s Chariot, a selling hurdle winner bought for 800gns, and now the great-granddam of a Group 1 winner.
A half-brother to the Listed-placed Crossing The Line (Cape Cross), out of the multiple 5f winner Terentia (Diktat), Cicero’s Gift was also timely reminder of his sire Muhaarar, who will stand at Haras de Montaigu in 2026.
The debate about the place of geldings in Group 1 races had burned again this season and if Cicero’s Gift briefly relit that flame, Calandagan once again put a torch to the bonfire.
Denied a run in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe due to his lack of two essential accoutrements, the Aga Khan homebred demonstrated yet again his phenomenal talents when cruising to glory in the Champion Stakes (G1).
The Gleneagles four-year-old scored
by two and a quarter-lengths over Ombudsman (Night Of Thunder), with Almaqam (Lope De Vega) in third and Delacroix (Dubawi) a nose away in fourth.
Geldings in, or geldings out? In the immortal words of Princess Zahra Aga Khan when asked if geldings should be allowed to run in the Arc, “that is above my pay grade”.
BUT WHEREVER ONE stands on the debate, ParisLongchamp’s loss was definitely Ascot’s gain, with the crowd roaring home a proper champion, the victory capping a magnificent season for both the late, great owner-breeder and the still-new trainer Francis-Henri Graffard.
As demonstrated by Calandagan, Champions Day was not all about shocks.
Kalpana (Study Of Man) bounced back from her disappointing run in the Arc to
land her second consecutive victory in the British Champions Fillies & Mares (G1), winning by two and a half lengths from Estrange (Night Of Thunder).
Victory also went the way of another favourite in Trawlerman (Golden Horn), a fitting winner of the British Champions Long Distance Cup (G1) on the day when Godolphin was crowned champion owner once again. As with his fantastic stablemate Rebel’s Romance, Trawlerman shows no signs of slowing, recording his fourth consecutive success this season, and his 11th overall, at the grand old age of seven.
For the first time, a two-year-old race was added to the card, with Mission Central (No Nay Never) taking command in the British Champions Day TwoYear-Old Conditions Stakes. Winner of the Round Tower Stakes (G3) in August, he was not beaten far when only sixth in the Flying Childers Stakes (G2) and looked to relish a return to 6f at Ascot.
Another gelding, he was a 625,000gns purchase as a yearling at Tattersalls during last year’s October Book 1 Sale and was bred by Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud out of the Zoffany mare Thar She Blows.
That mare is an unraced full-sister to the 2022 Falmouth Stakes (G1) heroine Prosperous Voyage, hailing from the family of the dual US Grade 1 winner Senure.
Juvenile day of Thunder
Night Of Thunder may have hit the crossbar with a few of his runners on British Champions Day but the champion sire-elect of Britain and Ireland was on point with his juveniles during the Future Champions meeting at Newmarket a week prior to Ascot.
These were led by yet another shock winner of the season Gewan who landed the Dewhurst Stakes (G1) at 25-1 over the race favourite Gstaad (Starspangledbanner).
That price was arguably not a fair reflection of Gewan’s talent, however.
The admirable Trawlerman after the Long Distance Cup, his second Group 1 win at Ascot. The victory takes the earnings for the seven-year-old son of Golden Horn to just under £2 million
Sultanina, a daughter of New Approach,
only
cost Maurice Burns 78,000gns when purchased from the Normandie Stud dispersal at Tattersalls in 2022 when carrying this colt
A winner on debut, he landed the Acomb Stakes (G3) at York in August in style but managed only fourth in the Champagne Stakes (G2) at Doncaster in September, before bouncing back to form at Newmarket.
Sporting the colours of Zhang Yuesheng, he was bred by Simon Sweeting and Charlie Wyatt in the combined names of their Overbury Stallions & Dukes Stud, and sold for 100,000gns at the October Book 2 sale.
Purchased for €80,000 at the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale, the colt is the second foal out of the Listed-placed juvenile Grey Mystere (Lethal Force), from the family of the Group 1 winner Coquerelle (Zamindar).
Half an hour earlier, Night Of Thunder was also responsible for the Autumn Stakes (G3) victor Hankelow, who made all to lead home a treble for Dubawi and his sons by triumphing over Al Zanati (Dubawi) and Glacius (Too Darn Hot).
Beaten a nose in the Listed Flying Scotsman, after a winning debut, Hankelow is a half-brother to the Listed winner and Group 3-placed Epic Poet and Listed-placed La Filomena, both by Lope De Vega.
The trio, bred by George Kent, are out of the Listed-placed Sagaciously (Lawman), who was purchased by Kent’s Knockenduff Stud for 185,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale in 2016. She, in turn, is a half-sister to the dam of the Group 1 winner and sire Perfect Power, from the outstanding family of Saganeca (Sagace).
Other juveniles to put their markers down for next year included Pierre Bonnard, who
justified favouritism when defeating his stablemate Endorsement (Wootton Bassett) to win the Zetland Stakes (G3).
A son of Camelot, who was also responsible for the third-placed Del Maro, Pierre Bonnard was winning for the second time.
A €280,000 graduate of the Goffs Orby Sale, Pierre Bonnard was bred by
A day earlier, the Starspangledbanner filly Precise stamped her ticket to the 2026 Classics with victory in the Fillies’ Mile (G1), collecting her third Group victory and her second at Group 1 level after claiming the Moyglare Stud Stakes in September.
Bred by the O’Briens’ Whisperview Trading, the filly is the third winner out of Way To My Heart (Galileo), a Listed-winning sister to a trio of smart performers in Kingfisher, Finn McCool and Cocoon.
The first day of the meeting opened with yet another shock when the 16-1 Beckford’s Folly (Lope De Vega) held off the favourite Brussels (Wootton Bassett) to triumph in the Cornwallis Stakes (G3)
Gewan: an impressive winner of the Dewhurst
on Newmarket’s July course, but was gelded following his sixth place in the Sirenia Stakes (G3) in September.
Surgery clearly has not put him off his stride, even if it does follow a rather worrying pattern of Godolphin opting to geld some of its well-bred youngsters.
Beckford’s Folly is out of the Group 3-winning Dubawi mare Fonthill Abbey, herself out of a half-sister to the outstanding Teofilo and his two Dubawi half-sisters, the dual Group 2 winner Poetic Charm and the Group 3 winner Bean Feasa.
Also on the mark was the smart Calendar Girl, who followed up on her success in the valuable Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes at Doncaster with a neck victory over Mubasimah (Frankel) in the Oh So Sharp Stakes (G3).
A graduate of the Hascombe & Valiant nursery, she cost 45,000gns in the Tattersalls sale ring during Book 2, and has now earned over £262,000 for the Kennet Valley Syndicate.
A half-sister to the Listed-placed Gutsy Girl (Blue Point), she is out of the unraced Plucky Lass (Medaglia D’Oro), an unraced half-sister to numerous minor winners and a granddaughter of Victoria Cross (Mark Of Esteem),
Newsells Park Stud and Merry Fox Stud secured an eye-catching double, which began with the success of Act Of Kindness in the fillies’ maiden on the first day’s card
who was such a fine producer for Anthony Oppenheimer.
Calendar Girl is a daughter of Advertise who began his second career at the National Stud at £25,000 and spent this year at Knockmullen House Stud for an advertised fee of €5,000. Away from the main spotlight of the Future Champions meeting, Newsells Park Stud and Merry Fox Stud secured an eye-catching double, which began with the success of Act Of Kindness in the
fillies’ maiden on the first day’s card.
The Siyouni filly was purchased by Godolphin for 3,700,000gns during Book 1 of last year’s Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and was winning on her second start.
A half-sister to the 2023 Fillies’ Mile winner Ylang Ylang (Frankel), they are out of the Listed-placed winner Shambolic (Shamardal), who raced for her owner-breeders, the Duke of Devonshire and the Duke of Roxburghe. She is out of their high-class producer Comic (Be My Chief), whose progeny also includes the Hong Kong sensation Viva Pataca (Marju).
A day later, Damysus carried the Wathnan colours to success in the Darley Stakes (G3), his first Group success following a Listed win at Deauville.
A 460,000gns graduate of Book 1 in 2023, the three-year-old son of Frankel is a half-brother to the Listed winners Pilote (Pivotal) and Esquisse (Dansili) and the Listed-placed Femina (Siyouni).
They are out of the G2 winner Legerete (Rahy), who was purchased by Hadden Bloodstock for €250,000 at Arqana’s December sale in 2019, just four days after that buyer had also secured Shambolic for 800,000gns during the Tattersalls December Mare Sale.
Precise (purple): the filly winning her second Group 1; her dam Way To My Heart is to be offered in a Sceptre Session at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale
NEW SHADOW OF LIGHT
European Champion, the best juvenile by Lope de Vega and one of only three colts in over a century to win both Britain’s biggest races for two-year-olds.
Won the G1 Middle Park by four lengths and faster in the G1 Darley Dewhurst than his grandsire Shamardal.
See Nick Luck’s film about him at darleystallions.com
Winner G1 Prix du Cadran & G3 Deutsches St Leger Caballo de Mar
Winner G3 Atalanta Stakes & Listed Prix Petite Etoile Lady of Spain
Winner G3 Newcastle Gold Cup & G1p Metropolitan Soul of Spain
Winner G3 Valiant Stakes
Sire: Lope De Vega | Dam: Lucky Clio (Key of Luck)
Cheshire Dancer
Winner G3 Athasi Stakes
& G1p Matron Stakes
Atsila
Dual Royal Ascot winner
Dual G1p in English & Irish Guineas
Winner G2 Vintage Stakes & G3 Craven Stakes
Haatem
What a race!
DARYZ AND MINNIE HAUK proved to be markedly superior to their 15 rivals in the Group 1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. In a race run at a strong pace from the beginning to the end, the Aga Khan Stud’s colt and the Coolmore partners’ filly came 5l away from the others in a private battle to the line. The pair ran the final 400m
in 23.6sec and 23.84sec; Daryz’s final acceleration was just enough to take him into a narrow lead, but the pair continued to race away from the others and both ran the final fractions faster than all of the rivals, even those such as Byzantine Dream, Arrow Eagle and Kalpana who were forced to come from behind by their unfavourable wide draws.
Daryz is the first Arc de Triomphe
Photography by Debbie Burt
winner for his sire Sea The Stars, his trainer Francis-Henri Graffard and jockey Mickael Barzalona, and the eighth for his owner and breeder the Aga Khan Studs.
Daryz is only the third three-yearold colt to win the race in the last 15 years following Golden Horn in 2015 and Ace Impact in 2022, and the sixth three-year-old in total including the fillies Danedream, Treve and Enable.
Such a great Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe result, the European highlight won in the Aga Khan Stud’s colours, a deserved first winner for Sea The Stars, who stands at the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud and has had five previous placed results in the race, and the horse trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, who this season has topped the European training pyramid
Daryz is only the third three-year-old colt to win the race in the last 15 years following Golden Horn in 2015 and Ace Impact in 2022, and the sixth three-year-old in total
Needless to say, only exceptional racehorses win the Arc de Triomphe as three-year-olds.
Thoroughbreds are, like all living creatures, in a state of perpetual transformation. If you look at the weight-for-age scale, which has proved to be remarkably accurate for more than one 150 years, a three-year-old has to improve by 6lb, the equivalent over 1m4f of about
3l, between the end of June and the beginning of October just to stay in the same place with respect to its elders.
The best three-year-olds are transformed in the six months from May to October.
Daryz won a maiden race for unraced horses on his debut at ParisLongchamp in April and raced against more experienced horses for the first time a month later at the beginning of May, winning a conditions race over 2000m by three-quarters and half-length running to an official France Galop rating of 43 or 95lb.
The best horses make relentless progress during the spring and summer of their three-year-old years, and it is often the case that those who come up against them struggle to recover their form afterwards, burning their wings by flying too close to the sun
Five months later he won the Arc to achieve a rating of 57.5 or 127, an improvement of 32lb.
Minnie Hauk has made similar
progress since winning the Listed Cheshire Oaks on her seasonal debut at the beginning of May running to a rating of 99, even if none of the five fillies behind her that day have managed to win a race since.
In the Arc the daughter of Frankel ran to a rating of 124, an improvement of 25lb over the five-month period. The best horses make relentless progress during the spring and summer of their three-year-old years, and it is often the case that those who come up against them struggle to recover their form afterwards, burning their wings by flying too close to the sun.
Daryz looked good when overcoming a slow early pace to beat Bay City Roller in a Group 2 at Saint-Cloud in July, but his first exceptional performance came after his complete flop in the Juddmonte International at York in August.
On September 14 he took on the Japanese Derby winner Croix Du Nord, as well as the high-class colts Nahraan, Uthred and Bolster in the Group 3 Prix du Prince d’Orange, run over 2000m on ground at 3.9, so similar to Arc Day when the penetrometer reading in the morning was 4.1.
After a slow early pace then the race turned into a spectacular sprint with Croix Du Nord just holding the late challenge of Daryz and the pair running through the last 400m in 22.04sec and 21.94sec.
Daryz came back three weeks later and on his first ever start at 1m4f showed further progress still, improving his
Leading French jockey Mickael Barzalona takes the plaudits after winning his first Arc de Triomphe
rating by another 10lb. All the others from the race ran well below form on their next start with Croix Du Nord, Uthred and Bolster all disappointing.
Croix Du Nord was far below this level of form in the Arc, and his jockey chose to give the son of Duramente no chance in the big race by setting off from stall 17 at an absurdly fast pace.
Going to the front is rarely a successful tactic in the Arc but it is a suicidal one when you go fast on very soft ground.
Croix Du Nord ran the first 7f in 1m27.93sec; the only faster opening fractions in the race recently were run by Mr Hollywood in Ace Impact’s Arc in 2019 when he ran 1m27.12sec on good to firm ground, 3.3 penetrometer, and Ghaiyyath’s 1m27.63sec in Waldgeist’s Arc in 2019 on similarly soft ground at 4.1.
Mr Hollywood finished last, Ghaiyyath
Croix Du Nord was far below this level of form in the Arc, and his jockey chose to give the son of Duramente no chance by setting off from stall 17 at an absurdly fast pace
in total.
The Japanese challenge floundered again due to poor luck – before the rain came two days ahead of the race the ground was 3.4 or good – the draw and bad tactical decisions.
Jockey Oisin Murphy made a different choice and made sure Byzantine Dream left stall 15 slowly so he could then tack across to the rails and take up a position at the rear of the field. Byzantine Dream stayed on from there to finish an honourable an excellent fifth just over 6l behind the winner, but more than 5lin front of Croix Du Nord.
The draw looked to be an unusually difficult obstacle on Sunday’s card. The day before numerous horses drawn ten or higher were able to compete successfully – Cape Orator beat Inis Mor in the sales race from stalls 17 and 13, Consent beat Santorini Star in the Group 1 Prix de
tenth of 12and Croix du Nord beat three home
Race to the line: Alpha Racing’s Barnavara just holds off the pack under Shane Foley to win the Prix de l’Opera (G1) for trainer Jessica Harrington
Royallieu from stalls 11 and 10.
Go back to 2019 when the ground was last measured at 4.1 on Arc day and horses such as Enable, Japan, Fleeting, Watch Me and Speak In Colours were all placed in Group 1 races from wide draws.
This year a double digit draw looked like a dead weight, and those who came closest were More Thunder, fourth in the Foret from stall 16, and Byzantine Dream, Arrow Eagle and Grand Stars, fifth and sixth in their races from stalls 15, 16 and 11.
It is something France Galop should look at as a high draw seems to be rarely a barrier to success or a place in the best races, and yet it appeared to be so on the day of the Arc.
AFAST EARLY PACE set up the race for the best horses to display their true ability and Daryz and Minnie Hauk obliged streaking away from their rivals and both racing to the line in an exceptional time. Only Ace Impact has gone much faster at the end of an Arc recently and his final 400m of 21.7sec was on good to firm ground, from a fast early pace. Bluestocking went slightly faster last year, 23.55sec compared with Daryz’s 23.6sec, but Juddmonte’s filly was finishing after a slowly-run race with the 7f run nearly 20l slower than this year’s race!
It has been announced that Daryz will race on, but the son of Sea The Stars is already an attractive stallion prospect, a horse capable of beating Europe’s best on all type of going from 1m2f to 1m4f, and one with an excellent pedigree.
His dam Daryakana was a Group 1 winner, his grand dams Urban Sea and Daryaba won the Arc and the Prix de Diane and all four of his great granddams, Park Appeal, Allegretta, Annie Edge and Darata, were Group performers, too. He will also be something of an outcross to many European mares with only two strains of Northern Dancer in his
Maraona Charlie went off in front fast, but his trainer Christopher Head has succeeded in getting the son of Wootton Bassett to settle once in the lead, and the pace was fast enough to put his rivals in trouble
pedigree and no Sadler’s Wells or Galileo. Minnie Hauk is a top filly too, and she is sure to be given more chances to prove her point. The Coolmore team seemed to be surprised immediately after the race that there was a colt capable of beating her, but the daughter of Frankel only went down in the final strides.
Charlie was impressive in the Forêt The Prix de la Forêt had looked like the most competitive of the other Group 1s on Arc day but this, too, quickly turned into a match.
Bond Thoroughbred’s Maraona Charlie went off in front fast, but his trainer Christopher Head has succeeded in getting the son of Wootton Bassett to settle once in the lead, and the pace was fast enough to put his rivals in trouble but slow enough to allow him to race all the way to the line.
Maraona Charlie: became the seventh Group 1 winner from the first Coolmore-sired crop of the late Wootton Bassett when successful in the Prix de la Forêt
The only one of his 15 rivals able to follow the pace comfortably was the Aga Khan Stud’s Zarigana, the Siyouni filly who had been awarded the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches earlier in the year.
With the field well strung out Barzalona had to wait some lengths behind the leader in order to keep his filly covered up. When he asked her to go to Zarigana accelerated, she ran the final 600m some 0.5sec faster than the winner, but she was still three-quarters of a length behind at the line.
Maraona Charlie became the seventh Group 1 winner from the first Coolmore sired crop of Wootton Bassett.
Close on the line in the Opera
The best finish came in the Prix de l’Opera when the first five home finished within 0.15sec of each other.
Alpha Racing’s Barnavara made all under Shane Foley and just managed to hold the closing pack by the narrowest of margins, running the final 400m five per cent faster than her race average.
purchased her second dam as a yearling some 15 years ago.
See The Fire, One Look, Wemightakedlongway and Grand Stars could all have won if just one aspect of the race had changed and perhaps the unlucky loser was Newsells Park’s Grand Stars who ran the fastest final 600m from the eleven stall, to finish fifth.
Barnavara was bred by the Ukrainians Andrei Milovanov and Viktor
The easiest winner was the Australian mare Asfoora, who was always travelling
leaders in the Prix de l’Abbaye and, once asked by Murphy, she went past the leader Jawwal to win comfortably by half a length
The Henry Dwyer-trained mare is the best 6f horse in Europe this year and the first horse to win three Group 1 sprints in Europe for a long time.
The second Jawwal, a three-year-old Wooded gelding trained by Vaclav Luka, has progressed in the manner of Daryz or Minnie Hauk this year.
Bought by his trainer last November for only €13,000 a winner in Vichy and with an official rating of 86.
Less than a year later he is Group 1-placed and will get a rating some 30lb higher for this performance.
Puerto Rico: could be heading to Del Mar next, and, below, the Australian star mare Asfoora
Diamond Necklace (St Mark’s Basilica) gets a deserved pat from Christophe Soumillon
Juvenile winners for O’Brien Aidan O’Brien won the two juvenile Group 1s with the filly Diamond Necklace, a first at this level for her sire St Mark’s Basilica, and the colt Puerto Rico, the first Group 1 winner from the second Coolmore sired crop of Wootton Bassett.
Both were impressive, the filly showed a fine turn of foot to win a slowly run race,
Few French trainers even try to win Group 1 races for two-year-olds, André Fabre didn’t have a runner in either race, and at some point France Galop must rethink the whole programme
the top of the straight with ease. There is also little doubt that the Christopher Head-trained and
Few French trainers even try to win Group 1 races for two-year-olds, André Fabre didn’t have a runner in either
Consent showing off her wellbeing before victory in the Prix de la Royallieu (G1)
ELITE STATUS
El Caballo Strong Start Strong r t r
Breeders have been rewarded with strong, precocious foals with exceptional presence
It is all go at the
Irish National Stud
Lucky Vega and Nando Parrado have both enjoyed an excellent summer with their first runners, Phoenix Of Spain has joined the Group 1 table, and Shouldvebeenaring got a strong first book
How pleased have you been with the results on the track of your stallions with first runners, Nando Parrado and Lucky Vega?
Retiring two horses in the same season isn’t something we are used to here, so it’s been busy keeping track of both their runners throughout the year.
Both have produced a good output of winners so far and we’re pleased heading into the tail end of the season.
Photos courtesy of the Irish National Stud
You must be delighted that the number of winners both have accrued (18 and 17 in the northern hemisphere at the time of writing). Are you getting a feeling about the runners they are producing?
In terms of individual winners, they sit second and third in the leading firstcrop sires’ tables in Europe.
Nando Parrado has produced the Listed-winning Chairmanfourtimes, who has already ran eight times this season winning or placing in seven of his starts. The Ballyhane Stakes winner Howd’yadoit is also a fine advertisement for the sire.
The progeny seem to take their racing well and improve with each run.
Lucky Vega would have covered a different quality and class of mare, and he seems to be really coming into himself this autumn with two Group horses in the past four weeks, as well as a couple of nice debut maiden winners.
Lam Yai was just touched off in the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes at Ayr in late September, and you would hope she could add a stakes victory to her CV before the season closes.
What sort of book sizes have they had over the last couple of years?
Both stallions have a completely different ownership structure.
Lucky Vega is owned by Yulong Investments, who has gone above
and beyond in terms of supporting the stallion with a large quantity of mares and by also buying nice stock by the sire in the sales ring.
He has also been well supported by the breeders of Europe and covered books of over 100 mares in each of the four seasons he has stood here.
Nando Parrado was purchased by the Irish National Stud and as usual he was well syndicated quite soon after we announced we had purchased the horse.
He covered 130 mares in year one and has covered over 70 mares per season since.
Phoenix Of Spain has been building an impressive portfolio and you must have been thrilled with his Group 1 breakthrough on Arc weekend with both a winner and the fourth-placed Lady Of Spain.
Phoenix Of Spain has really had somewhat of a breakout year, and he is leading third crop sire in Britain and Ireland by individual Group winners with Group 1 winner Caballo De Mar leading the charge.
He covered a big book of 220 mares in 2024 so we were delighted to see breeders’ faith in him rewarded with his run of good results this season.
He is a big horse with lots of scope, and he has seemed to work well with Green Desert line mares (Haatem, Lady Of Spain, Spanish Phoenix, Silver Ghost) as they are typically that bit smaller and neater.
His first crop yearlings didn’t hit the lights out in the sales ring, but we were delighted to see so many good Britishbased trainers get their hands on them.
Good trainers produce good racehorses, so they have a hand in his success.
They are all well-priced stallions, have you had in-house discussions regarding nomination fees as yet? We usually sit down after the Tattersalls
October Book 3 Yearling Sale and have a rough idea of what we’re going to do before announcing the roster/fees after the Breeders’ Cup.
You have an exciting addition to your stallion roster for 2026...
Yes, we are lucky to have the opportunity to stand Arizona Blaze in partnership with Amo Racing
A high-class two-year-old who excelled at three by winning the Group 1 Flying Five at The Curragh, he’s available at €12,500.
A physically imposing colt with a remarkable turn of foot, he has size and strength, combined with superb action. He broke the 5f track record at Chantilly when winning the Group 3 Prix Sigy, a stallion-making race previously won by Sands Of Mali.
Arizona Blaze is sure to appeal to breeders, his 17 runs and 14 wins and places at the highest level speaks for itself, while his win in the Group 2 Sapphire Stakes and Group 1 Flying Five is a double that was also completed by super sire Havana Grey.
Arizona Blaze retires to stud as a winner at Group 1, Group 2 and
Group 3 level, with a Timeform rating of 119 and prize-money earnings close to €1 million.
“Arizona Blaze has always demonstrated exceptional strength, speed and mental toughness and we have complete confidence in his ability to pass on his class, power and temperament,” said Amo’s Kia Joorabchian.
“We are delighted to partner with the Irish National Stud for this next chapter which we believe is the perfect home for him. Amo Racing is committed to fully supporting Arizona Blaze throughout his stud career.”
Cathal Beale, CEO commented:
“We are delighted to stand Arizona Blaze, new for 2026, at the Irish National Stud. He was teak tough and remarkably consistent at the very highest level over 5f and 6f.
“He is a horse with great quality, strength and a terrific action.”
You can look forward to Shouldvebeenaring’s first foals next spring. How well was he supported? Shouldvebeenaring is the first son of Havana Grey to stand in Ireland, and we
Lucky Vega: his first European crop has backed up the success of his first southern hemisphere runners
were delighted to have the opportunity.
He covered 125 mares this spring and we were delighted with the shareholders we got into the horse.
Seeing how Havana Grey has gone from strength to strength on the track and in the sales ring, we think it’s the sire line people are really going to latch onto in the coming years.
What qualities does Shouldvebeenaring possess to give him every chance of following in sire sensation Havana Grey’s footsteps?
Shouldvebeenaring was a hardknocking consistent sprinter, who ran 30 times, a quality we think breeders really appreciate.
He is a similar shape and size to his own sire and has a loose athletic walk. Although our broodmare band isn’t as strong numerically as other stallion farms, we have been busy improving the quality of mare in the band over the last three or four years.
We sent Shouldvebeenaring 12 mares, eight of which are black-type producers, and they include Zawiyah, dam of the Group 1-placed Twilight Calls, and Big Break, dam of this year’s Group 2-placed, two-year-old Pacific Mission.
On our last count he covered over 35 black-type producers, which is a good number for a sire at his price point.
For very many years Invincible Spirit was the marquee stallion and lynch pin of the Irish National Stud’s roster, his influence now as a broodmare sire?
Invincible Spirit headed the roster for 22 seasons here and we are unlikely to see the likes of him again.
In recent seasons he has come into his own as an influence on the dam side with 2,000 Guineas winner Notable Speech in 2024, and this season with the Group 1 winner Sajir and the exciting two-year-old Bow Echo.
You must have been delighted with how the foal sales at Goffs have gone?
We have actively made the decision to offer some of our nicer stock as foals over the past couple of years and have been well rewarded for that approach.
We were delighted with the results at
Goffs this year, highlighted by the Night Of Thunder filly out of Oceanie (Lot 672) selling for €500,000 and the Wootton Bassett filly (Lot 646) out of Loyale, who made €340,000.
We ended up as second top consignor by aggregate
Nando Parrado: by Kodiac, he is sire of Chairmanfourtimes, winner of the Listed Harry Rosebery Stakes
Shouldvebeenaring: the Havana Grey Group 3 sprint winner saw 125 mares in year one at stud
Bear
Rathbarry Stud’s son of Kodiac bagged his fourth Group 2 winner with Lifeplan’s impressive success in the Gimcrack Stakes at York –the Declan Carroll-trained colt goes into winter quarters with connections planning for a Classic campaign in 2026
Lifeplan, the son of Kodi Bear, under jockey Zac Wheatley winning at York
Photo: focusonracing.com
RATHBARRY STUD’S
Kodi Bear has enjoyed a fabulous 2025 headlined by his exciting Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes winner Lifeplan and about whom his trainer Declan Carroll harbours legitimate 2,000 Guineas aspirations, the yard’s stable star unbeaten in two starts in 2025.
But Kodi Bear’s season has not revolved around just one stakes race star – the stallion has also had his most winners in a racing year (85), and by December is sure to have accrued his highest-ever annual progeny prize-money earnings.
As the table overleaf shows his 2022
crop (three-year-olds of this year) has been by far his most successful in terms of named foals and winners – 49 in total with 22 juvenile winners last year, while his early runners from this year’s two-year-old crop have also shown improvement on the ones who have gone before.
Importantly, for those who like to look at trends, these two crops, his fifth and sixth, were conceived on the back of the results of the stallion’s first two crops, foals who were born in 2018 and 2019 and two-year-olds of 2020 and 2021.
The uptick in fortunes reveals the importance of a stallion getting notable results in those debut crops, and the time lag and patience that is involved
in thoroughbred production and stallion establishment.
Kodi Bear retired to stud for the 2017 covering season having won the Group 2 Celebration Mile as a threeyear-old in 2015 and finished runnerup in the Dewhurst Stakes (G1) the year previously.
From his debut crop emerged Cobh, who in his first season won the Listed Stonehenge Stakes and finished third in the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes and then fourth in the Futurity Trophy Stakes (G1), while Measure Of Magic took a third placing as a juvenile in two Listed races and in the Flying Childers Stakes (G2).
Despite the difficulties the 2020
Kodi Bear: the early crops by the son of Kodiac included Cobh, Measure Of Magic and Go Bears Go and encouraged breeders to make use of him
racing season presented with the impact of Covid, Kodi Bear bagged a respectable 18 winners from his first crop of two-year-old runners in Europe.
The following year, although his progeny did not turn their sire into a Royal Ascot-winning stallion, two of them did get onto the podium at the meeting.
Measure Of Magic finished third behind Campanelle and Dragon Symbol in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup, and, excitingly, the meeting saw the emergence of second crop son Go Bears Go as a stakes-quality juvenile.
The David Loughnane-trained colt, who had won on his two-year-old debut at Ascot in May 2021, stepped up to stakes class at the Royal meeting finishing a head second in the Norfolk Stakes (G2) to Perfect Power.
The race was a direct springboard for him to Group 2 success in the Railway Stakes at The Curragh, and the colt went on to collect Group 1 form when a third in the Phoenix Stakes (G1).
At the end of the year, he was shipped to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1) to finish second just a half-length behind Twilight Gleaming.
Also from that second crop came Ever Given, who won four times as a juvenile, including on his two-yearold debut in May and when successful in the valuable Goffs UK Premier Yearling Stakes and finished second in the competitive Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2-Y-O Stakes.
That 2021 season with first three-year-olds and a second crop of two-year-olds saw Kodi Bear bag 48 three-year-old winners, his prizemoney earnings hit £1,289,838, while he also achieved his best-ever annual number of stakes winners at five.
The shrewd Lyons family of Summerhill Stud had duly taken note of the stallion standing in Cork at the Cashman family’s farm and decided that the son of Kodiac would be a suitable first mate for their homebred maiden
Brian rang and said that not only did we have a quality foal, but that he was nicest foal he’d foaled in a long while
mare A Taad Moody, a good-looking daughter of Awtaad.
“Kodi Bear had been doing well on the track, and we’d had good luck with him as well,” recalls Joey Logan who oversees the broodmare band on the family farm. “We thought that the cross would work.”
Importantly, certainly something that helped Kodi Bear through those tough covering years before runners, is that he generally produces a good-looking horse; a fact not lost on horse people, and a factor that was particularly influential for those involved in the breeding of Lifeplan.
“He does get a gorgeous individual, which was a factor for us to choose him, too,” confirms Logan, who adds: “Brian O’Neill of Rockton Stud foals our maiden mares and, after he foaled A Taad Moody, Brian rang and said that not only did we have a quality foal, but that he was nicest foal he’d foaled in a long while.”
She adds: “He had that bit of class about him from the get-go, he was a standout. When he and his dam came back here, we popped them out into the little nursery paddock, he stood there proud as punch being like, ‘This is me, I’m the new guy!’”
Lifeplan after the Gimcrack Stakes with his enthusiastic and delighted gang of connections
A Taad Moody is out of Princess Mood, the first mare bought by the Logans and purchased for just €10,000 from Goffs in 2002.
Over the 15 years since she has produced 10 winners from 15 foals, including the stakes winners Sunny Prince, Captain Ramus, and three stakes performers, including A Taad Moody who bagged a third placing in the Listed Ingabelle Stakes. Princess Mood, who Logan reports has always had a bit of “spark”, is still on the farm and is still just as sassy.
THE FAMILY initially tried to sell A Taad Moody as a foal and a yearling, but a variety of events conspired against a sale and Logan laughs: “Perhaps it was for luck! Princess Mood only had two fillies and we have both of them.”
The Logans, who have around eight mares, generally sell all their stock as foals, so the mare’s young good-looking colt by Kodi Bear made his way to Goffs November where he was bought by Eoghan Grogan of Killourney Mor Farm – and the youngster’s good looks certainly shone out in the sales ground.
“He was a busy foal, he had 80 odd shows just that morning of selling,” recalls Logan. “Eoghan came to see him on the morning of the sale, but then came back an hour later, and I could tell he loved him.
“I remember telling him that this lad was just different gravy to the rest of them, he was as cool as they come – he just did his show then just ate and slept.”
The pinhooker had to go to €85,000 to make his purchase, the colt becoming the third-most expensive foal to sell in the ring by the sire.
“My farrier saw him first,” recalls Grogan. “He was outside for a cigarette, I was inside getting a cup of coffee, and he ran in to get me and told me I had to see this foal. We took a look at him and said there and then that we had to buy
We took a look at him and said there and then that we had to buy him – he was an amazing foal, it was love at first sight
him – he was an amazing foal, it was love at first sight!”
Grogan adds: “He was always so simple to do anything with and had the most extraordinary attitude – the first show was the same as the last show, so professional.
“I had prepped one by the sire for a client, and he’d had a great temperament, too. It meant the sire was on my radar, but when I saw Lifeplan as a foal, the physical blew my mind.
“He was a no-brainer for me, and I was stretched to my limit! I was very lucky to have bought him.”
Logan made sure she caught up with Grogan at the Goffs Orby Sale when the colt was re-offered as a yearling, and admits she was thrilled to see how well he had done over the eight months; he more than stood up to inspection from her critical eye.
“Eoghan had him looking amazing, the horse could not have looked any
Stud Analysis – by Foal Crop (Global
better, he was just stunning,” she says.
Grogan, who has bred Group 1 winners, adds: “He just did so well through his prep, and it is fantastic that he has gone on and is such an exciting prospect.
“I have not been pinhooking for long, he was only the third foal we have pinhooked.
“The other two are also stakes horses – Dandy Man Shines has been a Listed winner and finished fourth in the Vintage Stakes, and I also sold one who went on to be rated 100 and finish fifth in the Prix Robert Papin.”
The young Lifeplan fetched €165,000 and is the most expensive yearling sold in the Goffs sale ring by Kodi Bear, bought by trainer Declan Carroll for owner Martin Tedham.
Nine months later saw Logan on the plane to York for the big summer meeting, and she got to watch the Group 2 race unfold with Tedham and his gang of connections.
“They are all so lovely, and you could see they adore him as much as we did,” she says.
“It is so nice, and I just said to Declan, whatever you are doing and don’t stop!
“It is the stuff of dreams. It didn’t
Kodi Bear is a very good-looking horse and he really stamps his stock, they are fine big sorts and he is over 16hh himself
feel real until a couple of days later, I was asking myself, did that really happen?”
The colt was put away after that York run, Carroll reportedly planning to be aiming the colt for next April’s Craven Stakes with a 2,000 Guineas target in mind.
It is a move welcomed by all at Rathbarry Stud, the team looking forward to a winter dreaming of Classic glory for the 13-year-old stallion
“Declan has not over-raced him, you know they’ve looked after him with next year in mind, and that’s great to see,” said Catherine Cashman, matriarch at the stallion farm.
“And as they are not being tempted to sell, well, you can’t beat that either.
“A trainer having a horse from day one, he or she will know all the ins and outs of the horse, too.”
Kodi Bear’s stock have had a good time in the sale ring as well this year
with a Goffs Breeze-Up selling for 500,000gns, giving Johnny and Danielle Hurley a fine return on a purchase price of just €9,000, while at the Tattersalls Ireland September Sale, the stallion averaged €38,059 for 17 sold, and at the Goffs UK Premier his stock averaged £37,389.
The three sold at the Tattersalls October Book 2 Sale averaged 77,333gns with a top price of 130,000gns,
“Kodi Bear is a good-looking horse and he really stamps his stock, they are fine big sorts and he is over 16hh himself,” enthuses Cashman.
“They have a great physique, they have good minds and there has been a solid trade for his yearlings this year.
“He covered 120 mares in the spring so there will be plenty of soldiers on the ground in future, too.
“We will be sitting down after the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale with his shareholders to discuss his fee for 2026.”
12 HORSES-IN-TRAINING
Flat and National Hunt prospects.
12 YEARLINGS
By some of Europe’s leading sires: Doctor Dino, Goliath du Berlais, Kapgarde & No Risk At All, as well as exciting young stallions Beaumec de Houelle, Nirvana du Berlais, Paradiso, and more.
15 FOALS
By Authorized, Bathyrhon, Doctor Dino, Galiway, Kapgarde, Karaktar and Saint des Saints.
12 MARES
From top National Hunt families inc. Black-Type performers and/or producers. In foal to Jigme, Nietzche Has, No Risk At All, Sea The Moon.
European Sires 2025 (by prize-money earned to October 20, 2025) Courtesy of Weatherbys
Joe Bradley 07706 262046 | joe.bradley@nationalstud.co.uk
Jamie Jackson 07794 459108 | jamie.jackson@nationalstud.co.uk
Ed Preece 07772 159927 | edward.preece@nationalstud.co.uk
Maraona Charlie: one of 2025’s 32 stakes winners out of a mare by Galileo, nine of which are by Wootton Bassett, and include this Prix de la Forêt winner
Leading European Broodmare Sires 2025 (by prize-money earned to October 20, 2025)
Courtesy of Weatherbys
Nunthorpe Gr.1
In a faster time than Battaash (2020)
130 MARES covered in his first season
Joe Bradley 07706 262046 | joe.bradley@nationalstud.co.uk
Jamie Jackson 07794 459108 | jamie.jackson@nationalstud.co.uk Ed Preece 07772 159927 | edward.preece@nationalstud.co.uk
Courtesy of Weatherbys
Thorne’s growing
Ronan Groome chats with Stephen Thorne, who has been training for a year and has bagged 17 winners in Ireland this summer
STEPHEN THORNE sits back in his chair at 3.15pm on a Wednesday afternoon in mid-October, content with the biggest part of another day in the books.
He’s just returned from working a couple of horses up in Dundalk and as I walk in, what looks to be a brand new two-horse lorry adorning a slick ‘ST’ logo is getting washed out.
“We may as well look the part,” he says with a smile.
It’s been a while since we had a proper chat, 15 years to be exact, when we were both on the same Equine Business course in NUI Maynooth.
Some people just know what they want from early on. Thorne certainly falls into that category. There was a steeliness to him, even then. He was focused and engaged at university, intent on getting everything he could out of his time there. Some weren’t as much.
We’re sitting on a peninsula style table
in a modular style cabin that makes do as a racing office, meeting area and kitchen all in one. It’s very comfortable and stylish, but it is also temporary, as plans are in place to move into a purpose-built yard back near his home town in Man O War, County Dublin.
For now, Thorne is a tenant on this land - Killarkin Stud, just outside the busy County Meath town of Dunboynesharing facilities with fellow trainer Jack Davison, who was happy to allow this arrangement when requested in June last year.
That request came following a split from Thorne’s association with his cousin Ado McGuinness, to whom he acted as assistant trainer for a hugely successful seven years.
After a comprehensive undergrad, which included the Godolphin Flying Start programme and year-long stints with Mike de Kock in South Africa and Ralph Beckett in Britain, he took up a central role at McGuinness’s yard in
2017, and an upturn in performance soon followed.
In Thorne’s first full season in the role, McGuinness sent out a career best 28 winners in Ireland, and followed that up with 34, 34, 43, 39, 46 and 49-winner years.
The upturn in results coincided with the birth of Thorne’s own project, Shamrock Thoroughbreds. An equity share model, the premise essentially involved bringing together a number of owners to allow the now 35-year-old to source a better class of horse for the yard.
The first horse he bought for the syndicate, Master Speaker, cost €11,000, and in a show of how the operation grew (now well over 100 members), the more recent purchases have hit six figures, most notably when they acquired Go Athletico for €165,000 in an online sale.
There has been success in between via dual Group 3 winner Pretreville, listed winners Laugh A Minute and
Harry’s Bar, who have 16 wins in all between them, and Tiger Belle, a Group 3-winning juvenile who took the syndicate to the Breeders’ Cup.
McGuinness and Thorne hit the very top of the game when A Case Of You, privately purchased after his two-yearold career, secured two Group 1 wins in the Prix de l’Abbaye and Al Quoz Sprint - an extremely rare feat for an Irish yard in International sprints.
So, when it was announced quite suddenly that Thorne would be leaving the stable to start to train horses in his own name, it was a surprise to many.
“In the back of my mind, I always wanted to train racehorses,” Thorne says after a pause from the question.
“I had an incredible time with Ado. We grafted really hard. From starting with a relatively small stable of horses and people, we grew it really quickly. The whole thing is kind of a bliss, really.
“For me, the Shamrock project was developing as the assistant trainer role was developing and before even knowing it, I was gathering a side business. It started to thrive and other sole owners in the yard were happy for me to source horses for them.
“As that journey was happening, it became a lovely mutual relationship. The horses I was sourcing were being fed into the stable and it was going alongside my assistant trainer role, but there comes a point in life where you have to look at the future.
“ I got married in March last year, and my son Jack was born in February
When the decision to part ways came, it came suddenly, and with that came challenges, perhaps biggest of all was attaining the support and backing of
Shamrock Thoroughbreds shareholders.
“That was the most stressful part,” he recalls now. “I had to get the backing of all 100 or so shareholders so I called each and every one of them and 99% were happy to back me.
“I was very fortunate to have found a
I had to get the backing of all 100 or so shareholders so I called each and every one of them and 99 per cent were happy to back me
the
Jack The Bachelor: bought at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up is a winner, two-time placed and rated 92
Working the sales hard has been a successful strategy for Thorne
facility where we could rent boxes and share facilities, and I am very grateful to Jack and his team for that. I think the shared yard scenario might be something that gets more popular in the coming years. Not everybody has the opportunity to have their own facility, but this could give young trainers a chance to get going.
“It took a bit of time for the horses to adjust to their new environment and we had a lot of seconds at the start, but as it happened, by the time I got the license mid-October, we were really ready to make an impact.”
He did exactly that. His first two winners came on the same Dundalk card in mid-November and so began a remarkable run at the County Louth track that saw him land the All Weather Trainers’ Championship after a sensational final night treble.
It was a massive achievement given he had his license less than a year and only 11 individual horses to race.
SINCE THE TURN OF THE YEAR, only 14 trainers have trained more winners than Thorne, who has already surpassed the €500,000 prize money mark after just a year with a license, with 25 winners in all.
“Our very first winner was Sayifyouwill, a filly my assistant Stephen Mooney bought,” Thorne recalls.
“Stephen was originally an apprentice to Ado, that’s when I met him. He has a vast amount of experience working with horses internationally, most notably when he had been assisting James Ferguson in the UK for three years.
“He and his partner Lisa had a baby so they were ready to move home last year and he was the first person I called when I decided to leave Ado’s. He’s been my assistant from day one and the biggest asset I’ve acquired.
“He bought this filly for 6,000gns in Newmarket. I took a piece of her,
For me, the Shamrock project was developing as the assistant trainer role was developing and before even knowing it, I was gathering a side business
Ricky Delaney, who is a big part of my Shamrock team, took a piece and David Carrick, an old racing pal of mine, bought in as well. She ran in the colours of Stephen’s grandparents, so it was just a really nice way to start. A nice memory, but it also showed what we could do with a cheap horse.”
The progress has come quickly since. A surefire sign of Thorne’s progress is that he has doubled his string since taking out the license. Whereas before everything he trained was for Shamrock Thoroughbreds, now it’s 50-50, with Saudi client Essam Saiel, John Kirkland and Amo Racing all coming on board.
but after a bit of maneuvering, Thorne managed to keep her in the yard with Kirkland coming on board to back hima clear statement of intent for both men.
“I think it’s really important to keep these horses if you can,” he says ardently. “Not just me, but for the whole country. Once these two-yearolds run past the line, they’re getting sold. Lads just can’t turn down the money and we’re ending up as pretrainers to the rest of the world. I don’t want to be a pre-trainer.
“I want to train these horses. “It’s becoming detrimental because
Pink Oxalis: her rating has increased from 61 to 94 in a year with Thorne
Everyday you have to sell yourself, whether you’re on the phone trying to sell a share of a horse to a client, or whether you’re on the phone trying to buy a horse
selling our horses. The whole thing is a circle, if we don’t have the stock, the quality goes down. It always goes back to the prize-money situation.”
Thorne’s move towards the breeze-up sector is as much to do with necessity as it is opportunity, pointing to the rising costs of acquiring that potentially classy handicapper
His sourcing and training of the aforementioned juvenile winners this term, should serve him well, and if there is value to be found in any sector, he looks best placed to find it.
The base of all his success is the support he has garnered from Shamrock Thoroughbreds operation - as successful a syndicate as there has ever been in Ireland, it’s clearly evident that there is a deep level of trust on both sides.
What is the key?
“When I interviewed for the Flying Start, I didn’t get on it the first time when I was 20, but I did get on it two
years later,” he muses. “Joe Osborne asked me the question, have I ever sold anything, and I looked at him and said no, I can’t say I have. That question still registers with me today because I know what he is asking now, but I didn’t know back then.
“In this game you have to sell yourself. Everyday you have to sell yourself, whether you’re on the phone trying to sell a share of a horse to a client, or whether you’re on the phone trying to buy a horse, you have to sell yourself, these horses won’t just land in off the back of a lorry. You have to sell yourself at the sales and you have to sell yourself at the races with results.
“Communication is everything when you’re dealing with people in this game. Good news and bad news. Being able to deliver bad news is more important.
“I’m batting 17 per cent this year, there’s only three trainers above me with a higher win percentage, so 80 per cent of the time is this disappointment so delivering the bad news well is important to my lads and to the owners.
“But the bottom line is you have to be able to sell yourself, you have to believe in yourself.”
It might have taken a little while longer than he expected and it might also have been part circumstantial, but Stephen Thorne is a fully fledged trainer now and is going places fast.
Pending everything goes to plan with the building of his yard in Man O War, he’ll be operating out of there in the second half of next year, and that’s exciting.
“Conditioning and training racehorses is my biggest passion,” he says. “From the age of 17, without even knowing it, you’re building up towards training racehorses, without even knowing when it’s going to happen.
“s, they happen organically, there’s a light bulb moment somewhere and you’ll see the future where you’re going to be and that just happened to me in the middle of last year.
“I’m a very, very happy man now and looking forward to what the future brings.”
Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up purchase Mayflower, by Ardad, won on debut at Leopardstown, and after sales offers fell away has been retained
Bay 2016 Havana Gold x Blanc de Chine
Bay 2016 Scat Daddy x Orchard Beach
Bay 2007 Oasis Dream x Arabesque
The green green grass of home
James and Fiona Read of Selwood Bloodstock are looking forward to offering their biggest and best consignment yet at this year’s Tattersalls December Sale with a draft of 18 foals due through the ring
THE COUNTY OF SOMERSET is perhaps best known for its green grass, cows, cheese, Wincanton racecourse, Chris Martin (though not from the county seems to be intrinsically linked to it), Wookey Hole, Cheddar Gorge, Glastonbury, jumps horses and Paul Nicholls.
However, there is an enclave not far from the aforementioned jumps racecourse, that has long been producing top-class Flat racehorses, making perfect use of the fine grass grown on the
limestone lands that tumble down from the Mendip Hills in the north-west of the county.
The name Stowell Hill Stud has long resided at the top of the industry, sadly Bob McCreery passed away in 2016 leaving his wife Jeanette at the helm of affairs, and it is now neighbours James and Fiona Read of Selwood Bloodstock who are keen to ensure the county maintains its commercial Flat racing and bloodstock heritage.
“The area is such a great place to grow thoroughbreds and has long been an area for Flat breeding,” says James Read. “Down the road is Bugley Stud, the original British National Stud was near-at-hand Sandley Stud, and, of course, Stowell is just ten minutes away.
“We get lots of rain, and the soil is a clay limestone brash, which is perfect for retaining moisture levels, and growing good grass.”
selwood bloodstock
Selwood has recently been working closely with the Stowell Hill, and got its best-ever result in the ring last year when it consigned and sold for 550,000gns the Listed Upavon Stakes-winning mare Rousay. She is a Stowell-bred daughter of Muhaarar and out of Ronaldsay, the dam of the Group 1 winner Gale Force Ten, and was bought by BLM Bloodstock / Newsells.
Furthermore, 18 months ago Selwood also sensibly tapped into that rich heritage of bloodstock production at Stowell becoming a tenant, renting some 80 acres from the stud farm to add to the 150 fine west country acres of its own.
Read has also ensured that any nuggets of information and horsemanship skills mentioned by McCreery, a former statesman of the British bloodstock industry, were not lost in conversation vapours.
“One thing that Bob drummed into me was to keep stocking density low,” outlines Read, who has ensured he has put those words into action. “Any foals that we decide not to sell and to consign as yearlings, they now go to Stowell to the rented land for the winter before they come back in the spring.”
Read developed his love for the
Sam and I bought a mare Three Gifts for 10,000gns and we sold a Royal Applause out of her for 40,000gns, and that gave us a bit of money to get going
bloodstock industry as a 16-year-old when he was given the dubious gift of a broodmare by his grandfather – she was named Hops And Pops, was the winner of nine races and the holder of minor placed black-type jumps form.
“Most of my money from my student loan went on paying her vets’ bills, she was a massive money pit!” he laughs.
“But she was the one with whom I really started to learn. She did manage to breed a bumper winner, but he went lame the next day – it was really a classic bloodstock disaster case, but, by then, I was then bitten by the bug.”
Despite those inauspicious beginnings, when Read discovered that life in the City was not a path he wished to take, he decided to pursue a career in bloodstock.
He had that enthusiastic racehorseowning grandfather, but family connections were light – his parents, who exported furniture, were unable to give him the introductions needed for a
career-starter pack, so the young man set about developing his own network to ensure that he learnt from the best.
“I can’t remember how I came up with the idea to make bloodstock my career, but then a uni mate introduced me to bloodstock agent Martin Percival,” he recalls.
“When I told Martin that I’d like to work in the bloodstock industry he did his best to put me off, but he also kindly put me in touch with Fiona Marner at Kingwood where I started out and, after a stint in the family business and managing a local stud, I did the Irish National Stud course.
“It was something of a vintage year as I was there with Sam Hoskins, George Stanners and Jerome Reynier, it was an amazing six months. After the end of the course, I went to Cheveley Park Stud, then Trickledown and then set up here in 2009.”
Arriving back home to establish his business at the family farm, Read
Fiona Read with a Farhh colt foal out of Hereawi (Dubawi), who is a daughter of the Oaks winner Look Here
continued to make best use of the connections he had forged, while a sale ring return helped to get things on an early financial footing.
“Sam and I bought a mare Three Gifts for 10,000gns and we sold a Royal Applause out of her for 40,000gns, and that gave us a bit of money to get going,” he says, adding with a rue smile: “But I then spent the next ten years breeding horses that no one wanted, we kept going via some touches on horses in training; it has been a long learning curve.
“When I was working for Paul and Sara Thorman at Trickledown they had pinhooked a foal with Bob for only 800gns, but he turned into a £20,000 yearling at the Goffs UK Premier Sale.
“I was leading up the yearling, and Bob gave me £50 for my efforts. When I told him that I lived ten minutes
It is important to produce horses who can provide pleasure on the track over a number of years, then have the soundness and ability to go on and do another job
and I duly took up the offer.
“When we later started the business, Bob was amazing; he sent us some boarding clients who are still with us to this day, and that gave us cash flow –much of Selwood is thanks to him.
“He was a great man for the underdog, always very supportive, and was a great sounding board for ideas.”
Now fully operational, Read’s love is to breed the middle-distance horse and, while he admits that has not perhaps been the most commercial angle to take, he has started to see a glimmer change in
an ethical viewpoint,” he argues. “It is important to produce horses who can provide pleasure on the track over a number of years, then have the soundness and ability to go on and do another job.
“Just producing a horse who might burn out by the September of its two-year-old year, well that is not an easy sell to an outside audience –producing sound horses who can race over a number of years and then be retrained, that is a great thing to try and aim for.”
He continues: “And I know figures from the sale ring are important to us all, but it is vital not to get so mixed up in that we lose empathy with the horse itself – that is the beauty of this game, the horse.”
Read, who tends to use a joke and a modest comment to hide the focused side to his personality, is deservedly incredibly proud of the stud farm he has established in Somerset, and the couple has spent much money and time to ensure that the farm offers its residents the very best in equine accommodation.
“All our efforts have gone into the farm, and every penny has been going back into it,” he says. “I really hope when people come now to look around they will be impressed.
“We are careful not to push the numbers and we won’t take on lots of boarders; we want to ensure the horses that we have here are given the best possible start.”
As a true stockman, he laughs, “Whenever I see another farm’s interview, the first thing I look at are the photos, and the grass! As for everyone August this year was the worse we have ever seen, but we are now back to being green.”
Palace Pier filly out of The Gurkha mare Finest, a daughter of the Listed winner and Cherry Hinton (G2) runner-up Pearl Grey (Lot 589)
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He adds, perhaps his thoughts outlining the tough ask it is to establish a farm that derives its income from breeding racehorses, “It is bonkers that there are so few studs in the West Country now, this region is such a perfect place to breed thoroughbreds, and those original farms were here for a reason.”
Selwood Bloodstock is set to offer its largest draft of foals at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, with 18 catalogued from the opening day on November 25 through to six lots due to go through the ring on Friday, November 29.
“I think we have got the best draft from the farm and the group is a mix of our own horses and those for clients,” he outlines. “We don’t offer all the foals
Whenever I see another farm’s interview, the first thing I look at are the photos, and the grass!
every year – if one is looking good and ready to go to sale, it will go, but if it needs a bit more time then we will be perfectly happy to wait to sell when it is a yearling.
“We have not taken on loads of foals to consign, there are foals from the farm, alongside a few for local friends. I think
horse, and know it throughout its life from having been foaled down all the way through to its day in the sale ring.
“And we are certainly not scared of letting someone take some profit, selling foals is all about repeat business, so we are pleased if people get a good pinhook result from us.”
The top-priced foal sold so far from the farm was consigned in 2022, a Kingman filly out of Burning Rules (Aussie Rules) and sold for 450,000gns.
The filly was bought by Juddmonte, was named Flaming Stone and this year won the Listed Prix la Camargo, and finished second in the Prix Vanteaux (G3) and third in the Prix Saint Alary (G2).
She is a half-sister to Angel Power (Lope De Vega), who won the 2020 renewal of the Premio Lydia Tesio (G2)
Foals (from left to right): by Palace Pier (Lot 589), Chaldean (Lot 754), Stradivarius and Farhh
When we started the business, Bob was amazing; he sent us some boarding clients who are still with us to this day, that gave us a bit of a cash flow and so much of Selwood is thanks to him
and was the top-rated filly in Italy of that year, trained by Roger Varian for King Power Racing Co.
Last year, Selwood sold a second Kingman filly out of the mare, she was bought by Sumbe for 260,000gns, while this year the farm is set to consign a Pinatubo half-sister (Lot 877).
The pedigree brings in a further strand of human excellence to the Selwood story – all of the progeny out of Burning Rules have been bred by Anita Wigan.
“When Anita and James were looking for somewhere to board mares, Bob recommended us,” says Read.
“We have had three or four mares on the farm since, Anita has been fantastic, very supportive, and they have given us a wonderful opportunity to sell better quality stock and improve the quality.”
Wigan is also the breeder of the Mr Greeley mare Muscovado, who is dam of a Farhh colt to be sold by Selwood (Lot 876). The colt was in fact bred by Selwood, the mare sold by the Wigans as a 10-year-old, and bought later by Selwood.
“Muscovado was carrying her Havana Gold at the time and he made 85,000gns as a yearling,” recalls Read.
“She has kept us going for a few years, and she has the most amazing Farhh colt this time; he is an absolute stonker and is a nice foal to bring to market.”
Muscovado is a daughter of Only Royale, the two-time Yorkshire Oaks (G1), three-time Group race winner, as well as a runner-up in the Coronation Cup (G1) and Nassau Stakes (G2). She is the dam of seven winners, including the Japanese Listed winner Golden Syrup.
Lot 754 is from the first crop of the 2,000 Guineas winner and Juddmonte
Farm sire Chaldean and is out of the Dubawi mare Shimmering Light. She is the dam of two winners, and was bought by the farm in 2022.
She did not win herself, but is a daughter of the Prix des Reservoirs (G3) winner and Prix Saint-Alary (G1) third-placed Summertime Legacy (Darshaan), and is a half-sister to two Group 1 winners – the Criterium de Saint-Cloud (G1) winner Mandaean, and Wavering, successful in the Prix SaintAlary (G1) and herself dam of a Group 1 performer.
THE TRIO are also half-siblings to Winters Moon, the dam of the 2019 champion French two-year-old colt Earthlight and Shadow Of Light, last year’s European champion two-year-old.
Shimmering Light’s Nathaniel yearling of this year was sold by Selwood in October for 60,000gns and bought by Alex Elliott.
“Shimmering Light is a typical Dubawi mare and she does not have much of a step, so she needs a sire who can walk,” explains Read. “Chaldean has the most beautiful walk and is a good-looking horse, and I thought he would suit her.”
The second foal out of the Zoffany mare Blue Lagoon is catalogued as Lot 875 and is a Study Of Man colt, from a late Sir Robert Ogden pedigree.
The mare is an own-sister to Pythagoras, winner of the Listed Silver Tankard Stakes, bred and raced by Sir Robert, and a half-sister to Blue Gardenia, winner of the Listed Montrose Stakes, and to Kathmandu.
She finished second in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (G1) and was third in the Nell Gwyn Stakes (G3) for owner Sam Sangster and Edward Babington, the filly bought by Sangster at the Tattersalls July Sale from the Lady Ogden dispersal as an unraced two-year-old. Kathmandu was purchased by Shadai at last year’s Keeneland November Sale for $750,000.
“I am a fan of Study Of Man, he is just the sort of stallion I like using, we have got five of them at home,” says Selwood’s man. “He is an outcross, and what is needed as there has been less and less choice on the stallion roster.
“But what is interesting now is that more people are looking to stand stallions, and getting syndicates and clubbing together to stand sires; it is quite a new thing and can only be good.”
Selwood’s draft earlier in the week features commercially bred foals by stallions such as Perfect Power, Blackbeard, Sergei Prokofiev, Shaquille, Dragon Symbol and Palace Pier.
“We are looking forward to showing the foals, and I am pleased with how things are progressing for the farm,” he says, putting aside the jokes and adding with seriousness: “We have bred lots of winners, but what I really want to do is continue to improve the quality of our stock and breed a good one here.”
Read with the Ghaiyyath yearling out of Music Lesson at Tattersalls October Book 2
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Leading European nicks by black-type winners to runners
Sire
Criss cross
Ciaran Doran gives us views on some of the leading nicks in Europe
WITH EACH PASSING day, week, month, and year, it seems the stranglehold of technology on the modern world grows ever tighter. The world of sport is no different, with the advent of video technology serving to rile certain cohorts of long-standing fans, and, of course, technology in sports is making an onward march of analytics.
What exactly constitutes analytics is a somewhat contentious topic, but it is likely fair to say that statistics in some form are used to evaluate sporting performance in some way.
Bloodstock analysis may have fewer moving parts than other sports, but that does not mean that there is little in the way of meaningful data points.
One of the most common metrics is, of course, to look at the number of stakes winners and performers sired by a
certain stallion. Delving further, can we break this down in order to glean more insight?
The success rate of different nicks is likely to be a significant factor in the decision-making of breeders when it comes to establishing just which stallion should cover their mare.
And understandably, a breeder would rather first have evidence that the sire-line of their own mare works well with a stallion within their budget.
Sea The Stars: has a very healthy relationship with Kingmambo
Leading nicks for daughters from the Galileo line
Whilst not all sires listed could be considered bargains at their respective fees, they do give us an indication as to which crosses have been the most successful over time.
Leading nicks for daughters of Dubawi-line
Sea The Stars and Kingmambo
Arguably the best colt on the racecourse this side of Frankel has been Baaeed and he, along with his full-brother Hukum, are themselves both products of the most successful nick with 20 or more runners in the dataset, with 36 per cent of runners bred on the Sea The Stars x Kingmambo cross claiming the spoils in a stakes race.
Dubawi over Street Cry is another wildly successful nick, with one-third of all runners winning a stakes race, and includes the two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf champion and 17-time stakes winner Rebel’s Romance.
Lope De Vega: has had 24 black-type winners out of mares by Galileo
Frankel and Dansili follows just behind, with two of the last three Oaks winners in Minnie Hauk and Soul Sister hailing from this cross, while 31 per cent of the progeny by Dubawi crossed with Monsun mares such as Yibir and Wild Illusion have won some form of blacktype race.
Are we able to explain why the above nicks out-perform all others?
Most of the stallions listed have been amongst Europe’s elite for the last five-to-ten years so logically we would also expect them to perform better than anyone else when it comes to nicks.
In addition, elite sires tend to benefit from elite books and elite books will often be replete with mares both from deep families and by some of the best stallions of yesteryear.
Rebel’s Romance: by Dubawi and out of Minidress, by Street Cry
Leading nicks for daughters from the Danehill-line
Leading nicks for daughters of Green Desert
Successful nicks can though also be a function of a sire’s affinity with a damsire or even the sire-line of a dam.
How can we best examine this?
Let us start by looking at the best stallions when it comes to covering daughters, grand-daughters, and great-granddaughters of Galileo, himself the most iconic sire of the last quarter-century.
Unsurprisingly, Dubawi is top of the charts here, driven by top-level winners such as Night Of Thunder, Ghaiyyath, and Henry Longfellow.
However, the symbiotic relationship between the two extends further; the likes of Modern Games, Coroebus, Lead Artist, and Ezeliya speak to how the affinity between Dubawi and Galileo extends to some of Galileo’s stand-out sons and grandsons at stud.
The next three entries are somewhat of a surprise although Harry Angel, Camelot, and Muhaarar have not covered that many Galileo-line mares. Lope De Vega on the other hand has covered a huge number of such mares; Shadow Of Light and recent Mill Reef Stakes (G2) winner Words Of Truth represent two of 24 black-type winners bred on the Lope De Vega and Galileo-line mare cross.
So far, we have looked at the interaction between a given number of stallions and dams with a generally stamina-laden sire-line.
Let’s look at some speed
Let’s flip the script by looking at how stallions fare when paired with mares from speedier sire-lines.
Given he was born some four years after Galileo, Dubawi doesn’t quite have the same number of maternal grandchildren on the track as his onetime Coolmore rival.
The Frankel and Dubawi nick, in and of itself a derivative of the Dubawi x Galileo out-cross in reverse, performs particularly well; over 25 per cent of
Leading nicks for daughters of Acclamation
Thanks to the likes of Broome, Point Lonsdale, and Cercene, Australia has an excellent record when covering Acclamation-line mares
Leading nicks for daughters of Polar Falcon
runners bred on this cross have won a stakes races and include the likes of Adayar, Mostahdaf, and Homeless Songs. Teofilo and Siyouni also perform quite well; for example, 2023 Melbourne Cup winner Without A Fight was bred on the Teofilo x Dubawi cross.
Perhaps the most famous nick in recent memory was Galileo x Danehill, a cross which blended speed with stamina and marked the intersection of two champion sires.
In the table on page 81, we can see just how Danehill-line mares have fared when crossed with various stallions.
Dubawi again comes home in first position, helped by the likes of Master Of The Seas, Time Test, and Naval Crown. The affinity between Dubawi and Danehill-line mares extends beyond just Darley’s 23-year-old champion sire; his sons fill up second, third, and fourth, with Frankel (Himself out of a Danehill mare) next best.
The 2024 Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1) second-placed Zarakem is perhaps Zarak’s most distinguished son out of a Danehill-line mare, while 2024 William Hill Futurity winner Hotazhell is the most notable runner to emerge from a Too Darn Hot and Danehill-line mare pairing.
These nicks have been usurped however by Night Of Thunder, who has sired Ombudsman out of a Dansili mare and Highfield Princess out of a Danehill mare.
Galileo with Danehill and its offshoots are in the purest sense a marriage of speed and stamina. However, you can have speed in a pedigree and yet not be related to Danehill.
Green Desert influence
Let’s take a look at another son of Danzig, Green Desert.
The aforementioned Frankel x Dansili cross has supplied us with two out of the last three Oaks winners and it is no surprise, aside from inbreeding concerns, that Frankel has performed so well when allied with Danehill-lines mares.
Of course, Frankel and Danehill is itself a derivative of Galileo and Danehill as is Gleneagles x Danehill and Australia x Danehill
And their extensions have yielded the likes of Ambiente Friendly, One Look, Order of Australia, Sir Ron Priestley, and Galileo Chrome.
There is movement at the top, with Kingman displacing Dubawi as the best nick with Green Desert-line mares; this again raises questions as to inbreeding given Kingman is himself a paternal grand-son of Green Desert.
As for Dubawi, his 2,000 Guineas
winners Makfi and Notable Speech, as well as Eldar Eldarov and Al Husn, are the most famous exponents of the Dubawi and Green Desert-line mare cross.
Zarak comes third ahead of Frankel, who can count on the likes of Onesto and El Cordobes, themselves both out of Sea The Stars mares.
Never So Brave represents the No Nay Never and Green Desert-line mare nick while Almaqam, Program Trading, and Lucky Vega are sons of Lope De Vega whose dams can trace their lineage back to Green Desert.
Ombudsman is by the rising star stallion Night Of Thunder and out of Syndicate who is by Dansili
Acclamation-line speed
That said, speed is not exclusively confined to Danehill and Green Desert-line mares; next, let’s take a look at Acclamation-line mares and how they perform when matched with different stallions.
The sample size here is relatively small compared to some of the tables; regardless, we can still attempt to glean some insight from the above.
Thanks to the likes of Broome, Point Lonsdale, and Cercene, Australia has an excellent record when covering Acclamation-line mares. Frankel is next best based on black-type winners to runners (and is in fact number one when it comes to black-type horses to runners), with progeny such as Diego Velazquez and Bedtime Story making their presence felt in stakes races.
Pivotal and Polar Falcon
Another reliable source of speed was Pivotal; indeed, he is the damsire of Cracksman, Magical, Rhododendron, Nashwa, Love, Hydrangea, Hermosa, Camille Pissarro, Golden Horde, and Henri Matisse.
In an attempt to increase the sample size, we will look at his sire, Polar Falcon and how different sires fare when crossed with mares from his sire-line.
Dubawi returns to the top thanks to the likes of Erevann, himself out of a Siyouni mare.
Siyouni is also the damsire of both Zeus Olympios and Fairy Godmother, who are two of Night Of Thunder’s four stakes winners out of Polar Falcon-line mares.
Over 13 per cent of all Gleneagles runners out of Polar Falcon-line mares have won a black-type race, including Galen and Royal Scotsman, while Torok (perhaps surprisingly) comes in next.
There are some recurring themes across our results so far; in pretty much all for instance, Dubawi is vying for the number one spot. The fact that Dubawi performs well with mares from different
If we really are to isolate nicks that are particularly effective, we would be best advised to focus on crosses whereby the sire performs noticeably better than he does in general
sire-lines does not point to him nicking particularly well with certain mares but rather suggests (as should be fairly obvious) that he has been one of Europe’s best sires for the last 15 years.
If we really are to isolate nicks that are particularly effective, we would be best advised to focus on crosses whereby the sire performs noticeably better than he does in general.
Of course, there are some confounding variables at play; sires may post their
Zavateri: he is a further development on the Galileo and Pivotal cross
best results with Danehill-line mares but Danehill, Danehill Dancer, and Dansili were some of the best sires about and consequently covered some of the best books in the game.
In this case, to what extent is the quality of the female family driving the result rather than the affinity between the sire and damsire?
Only if one were able to control both for the sire’s general ability and the quality of the dam could one firmly establish “true nicks” i.e. crosses whereby the strengths and weaknesses of the sire and damsire are compensated by each other to such an extent that any foal to emerge from such a cross is endowed with a surfeit of positive attributes necessary for success at the top level of racing.
Such analysis is beyond the scope of this piece, but that does not mean that we should discard what we have learned.
Undoubtedly, certain crosses have stood the test of time and shall continue to inspire mating plans in the near-term at the very least.
Admittedly, crosses cannot survive indefinitely but just because a certain cross cannot go on forever does not entail that its extensions will have a finite lifespan; Zavateri’s breeding speaks to this given Without Parole x Siyouni is itself a derivative of Galileo x Pivotal.
What remains pretty much unquestionable is that if breeders find success with a cross, they will they try to replicate extensions of said cross if they cannot replicate the cross itself.
Just like the sire, Galileo x Danehill may have some staying power yet.
NEW BAY
THE TRACK
Gr.3 Winner & Gr.1 Placed
Gr.3 Winner & Gr.1 Classic Placed
colt ex. Alava sold for 700,000gns at bought by Godolphin
colt ex. All At Sea sold for 700,000gns at bought by StroudColeman
Karaka 2026 marks the 100th National Yearling Sale in New Zealand. A century of thoroughbred excellence has shaped the Sale, from guineas to dollars, Trentham to Karaka and Wrightsons to NZB.
Broodmare stakes-winning sires
From Weatherbys 2025
Broodmare sires of stakes winners in Europe and UAE in 2025
Horses are listed under their broodmare sire with the respective sire in brackets. Includes Group (1,2,3) and Listed (L) wins in Europe and UAE to 20/10/2025
Acclamation
Cercene (Australia) .................................. 1
Diego Velazquez (Frankel) 1 2
Mordimi (Morpheus) L
Royal Commando (No Nay Never) L
Secret Hideaway (Starspangledbanner) L
Valasara (Hello Youmzain) L
Adlerflug
Alleno (Nathaniel)
Alhebayeb
Woodshauna (Wooded)
Always A Classic Brando (Papa Clem)
American Post Best Secret (Persian King)
Latakia (Frankel)
Schutzenzauber (Amaron)
Anabaa
Breizh Sky (Pedro The Great) L
Instant Fragile (Sea The Moon) L
Path of Soldier (Soldier Hollow) 3
Shaha (Cracksman)
Anabaa Blue Arrow Eagle (Gleneagles)
Aqlaam
Title (Siyouni)
Arcano Hans Andersen (Frankel)
Archipenko Command The Stars (Sea The Stars)
de Chine (Study of Man)
Lips (Highland Reel)
(Soldier Hollow)
Isla Mujeres (Lope de Vega)
(Eqtidaar)
Ambiente Amigo (Postponed) ................
(Dubawi) L
(Night of Thunder) 3
Cutha (Victoire Pisa)
For Sandals (Sands of Mali)
(Frankel)
(Mehmas)
Storm (Night of Thunder)
Instinct (Bated Breath)
Bekmezbey Borrego (My Dear Son)
(Harzand) ............................
(No Nay Never)
(Mount Everest)
Darwin (No Nay Never)
Berk (Tough Guy)
Sky Majesty (Blue Point)
Madam Celeste (Galileo)
Twirling Ghost (Twirling Candy)
Camelot Alpine Trail (Dubawi)
Canford Cliffs
Aidan’s Phone (Prince Gibraltar)
Cape Cross Almaqam (Lope de Vega)
Croix du Nord (Kitasan Black)
Flying Spice (Dariyan)
Haatem (Phoenix of Spain)
(Teofilo) L Winnyzja (Sottsass) L
Champs Elysees
Uqda (Ghaiyyath)
Glittering Legend (Too Darn Hot)
(Night of Thunder)
Choisir
Supreme Winner (Cotai Glory) L
Clodovil
Two Stars (Starspangledbanner) L
Cockney Rebel
Bullace (Toronado) L
Compton Place
Diligent Harry (Due Diligence) ................ 3
Congrats
Danon Decile (Epiphaneia) 1
Country Reel
Statue of Liberty (Avery Island) L
Dalakhani
Cankoura (Persian King) 3 L
Mountain Breeze (Lope de Vega) L
Dandy Man
Arugam Bay (Soldier’s Call) L
Saratoga Special (Mehmas) L
Danehill
Big Gossey (Gutaifan) L
Illinois (Galileo) 3
Kyprios (Galileo) 3 L
Danehill Dancer
Bevan (Zarak) L
Calyx Rose (Calyx) L
Diamond Rain (Shamardal) 3 L
Elim (Make Believe) L
Floresta (Waldgeist) L
Green Spirit (Kingman) 2 3
Havana Anna (Havana Grey) L
Jan Brueghel (Galileo) 1
Kiamba (Australia) L
Rainbows Edge (Night of Thunder) L
Trustyourinstinct (Churchill) ................ 3 L
Danetime
Furthur (Waldgeist) 3
Dansili
Admiral de Vega (Lope de Vega) 3 L
Ashariba (Ribchester) L
Aurinko (Karakontie) L L
Beautify (Wootton Bassett) 2
Better Together (Oasis Dream) 3 3
Cosmic Year (Kingman) L
Diamond Necklace (St Mark’s Basilica)1 L
Double Major (Daiwa Major) 2 3
First Look (Lope de Vega)
Jm Jungle (Bungle Inthejungle) 2
Kalpana (Study of Man) 1 Los Angeles (Camelot) 1
Minnie Hauk (Frankel) 1
Ombudsman (Night of Thunder) 1
Qirat (Showcasing) 1
Quinault (Oasis Dream) 3
Running Lion (Roaring Lion) ................... L
Spartan Arrow (Sioux Nation) L
Vespertilio (Night of Thunder) L
Yashin (Churchill) 3
Dark Angel
Aylin (St Mark’s Basilica) 2
Cajole (Dubawi) L
Chelsea Believe (Make Believe) L L
Eternal Elixir (Shaman) L
Lao Tzu (Kodiac) 3
Puppet Master (Camelot) L
Red Letter (Frankel) 3 L
Ten Bob Tony (Night of Thunder) 3
Wor Faayth (Ardad) L
Darshaan The Foxes (Churchill) 2
Dawn Approach
Dostoievsky (Hello Youmzain) L
Princess Child (Dariyan).......................... 3
Deputy Minister
Saayedd (Malibu Moon) L
Desert King
North Reliance (Reliable Man) L
Desert Style
Mandanaba (Ghaiyyath) 3
Diktat
Cicero’s Gift (Muhaarar) 1 L
Noble Champion (Lope de Vega) 3
Zerostress (Areion) L
Dilum
Shinny (Victoire Pisa) L
Distorted Humor
Poetry In Motion (Catalina Cruiser) L
Dr Fong
Shehna (Zelzal) L Whizbang (Sadler’s Joy) L
Dragon Pulse
Chairmanfourtimes (Nando Parrado) L
Dream Ahead
Duty First (Showcasing) 3
Hollywood Treasure (Gregorian) L
Romantic Style (Night of Thunder) L
Town And Country (Earthlight) L
Dubai Destination
Arabian Crown (Dubawi) L Sunchart (Teofilo) .................................... L
Dubawi
A Bit of Spirit (Palace Pier) 3
Beckford’s Folly (Lope de Vega) 3
Burhan (Siyouni) L Cinderella’s Dream (Shamardal) 1 2
Dubai Treasure (Exceed And Excel) L
First Conquest (Teofilo) 3
Hooking (Lope de Vega) L
Jabaara (Exceed And Excel) L
Jonquil (Lope de Vega) 2 3
Lordano (Adlerflug) 2
Magical Hope (Frankel) 3
Map of Stars (Sea The Stars) 2 3
Military Order (Frankel) L Molveno (Almanzor) ................................ 2
Mont de Soleil (Siyouni) 3 L
Divine Light
Mozart (Le Havre) L
Style (Sea The Stars) L
(Teofilo) 3 3 L
(Kingman) 3
of Marmalade
(Zarak) 3
(Wootton Bassett) 3
Dunkerque Woodchuck (Birchwood) 3 3
Dutch Art
Great Generation (Holy Roman Emperor)3 Ipanema Queen (Sands of Mali) .......... L L
Lethal Levi (Lethal Force) L Nevermind (Zoffany) L
Dynaformer
Nitoi (Siyouni) L L Royal Dress (Night of Thunder) L
Elusive City
Bucanero Fuerte (Wootton Bassett) 3 L
Elusive Quality
Lady With The Lamp (King of Change) L L
Encosta de Lago
Phantom Flight (Siyouni) L
English Channel
Charabanc (Real Solution) L L
Morris Dancer (Palace Pier) L See The Fire (Sea The Stars) 2 Shartash (Invincible Spirit) L
Enrique
Aylin: the Group 2 winner is out of the Dark Angel mare Angelic Light
stakes-winning dam sires
Horizon Dore (Dabirsim) L
Equiano
Arizona Blaze (Sergei Prokofiev) 1 2 3
Exceed And Excel
Cacofonix (Lope de Vega) L
Cala Dei Mori (Dandy Man) L
Clarendon House (Mehmas) L
Fitzella (Too Darn Hot) 3
Gstaad (Starspangledbanner) ................ 2
Holguin (Havana Grey) L
Miss Attitude (Cityscape) L
Excelebration
Havana Hurricane (Havana Gold) ........... L
Soprano (Starspangledbanner) L
Excellent Art
Indalimos (Cloth of Stars) 3
Fast Company
General Briella (General Quarters) L L
Icon Bling (Lope de Vega) L
Kaadi (Soldier’s Call) L
Fastnet Rock
Bremen (Galileo) L
Cualificar (Lope de Vega) 2 3 3
Imperial Emperor (Dubawi) 2
True Love (No Nay Never) 1 2 2
Tutto Torna (Cable Bay) .......................... L
Finsceal Fior
Shagraan (Sioux Nation) L L Firebreak
Zahir Zulema (Cotai Glory) L
First Defence
Tabiti (Kingman) 3
Foxwedge Rogue Enforcer (Profitable)..................... L
Frankel
Eydon (Olden Times) 2 3
Formal (Dubawi) L
Francophone (Study of Man) .................. L
Kimi Rey (Kingman) L
Lead Artist (Dubawi) 1
Miss of Change (King of Change) L
Nahraan (Make Believe) L
Nighttime (Wootton Bassett) 3 L
Scenic (Lope de Vega) 3
Suite Francaise (Study of Man) L
Tadej (Ardad) 3
Zanzoun (Dubawi) 3 Zarigana (Siyouni) 1 3
Frozen Power
Wise Approach (Mehmas) 1 L
Galileo
Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett) 1 2
Avicenna (Starspangledbanner) ............. L
Consent (Lope de Vega) 1
Croquis (Pinatubo) L
Deepone (Study of Man) L
Dorset (Wootton Bassett) 3
Giavellotto (Mastercraftsman) ............... 3
Goodie Two Shoes (Fastnet Rock) 3 L L
Grande Marques (Starspangledbanner) L
Green Impact (Wootton Bassett) L
Hawk Mountain (Wootton Bassett) 2
Juwelier (Wootton Bassett) 3
Maranoa Charlie (Wootton Bassett) 1 3 3
Marshman (Harry Angel) L
Mount Kilimanjaro (Siyouni) L
Officer (Dubawi) L
Padre Palou (Mastercraftsman) 3
Poker Face (Fastnet Rock) 2
Precise (Starspangledbanner) 1 1 3
Puerto Rico (Wootton Bassett) 1 2
Queen of Hawaii (Kingman) 3
Scandinavia (Justify) 1 1 3
Soreanga (Siyouni) .................................. L
Spiritual (Invincible Spirit) 3
Suzie Songs (Starspangledbanner) 3
Swagman (Wootton Bassett) 3
The Good Man (Manduro) L
Thrice (Wootton Bassett) ........................ 3
Time To Turn (Dark Angel) L
Trinity College (Dubawi) 3
Uluru (Zoffany) L
War of Dance (Muhaarar) L
Whirl (Wootton Bassett) 1 1 3
Galileo Gold
Queen Martina (Ardad) L
Galiway
Campacite (Zarak) ................................... L
George Washington
Distant Storm (Night of Thunder) 3
Giant’s Causeway
Capitana Bling (Invincible Army) L
Matilda (Soldier Hollow) 2
Topgear (Wootton Bassett) 3
Gleneagles
Thesecretadversary (St Mark’s Basilica)L
Gold Away
Una Matina (Golden Horn) L
Golden Horn
Ryka (Night of Thunder) L
Goldencents
Yaupon de Replay (Yaupon) L
Grand Slam
American Gal (Kameko) .......................... L
Toyotomi (Blue Point) L
Gregorian
Staya (Havana Grey) L
Haafhd
Imperial Me Cen (Mehmas) L
Lord Massusus (Markaz) L
Hakeem
Taurus (Abbas Yolcu) L
Halling
Waldadler (Adlerflug) L
Harbour Watch
Super Sox (Showcasing) L
Hard Spun
Desert Flower (Night of Thunder) 1
Hat Trick
More Thunder (Night of Thunder) 2
Helmet
No Half Measures (Cable Bay) 1
Henrythenavigator
Daydream Express (Kingman) L
Saxon Girl (Saxon Warrior) L
High Chaparral
Bubble Gum (Cloth of Stars) L
Ridge (New Bay) L
Dragon (Heeraat)
Gladiador (Kaneko)
(The Grey Gatsby)
Kaldounevees
(Epiphaneia)
Jaipur (Doctor Dino).......................
Sales Dates 2026
Winter Flat & National Hunt Sale
3 February
Breeze Up Sale
21 - 22 May
May Point-to-Point & Horses In Training Sale
28 May
Derby Sale**
24 - 25 June
Derby Sale Part II**
26 June
August National Hunt Sale**
11 - 13 August
September Yearling Sale*
22 - 23 September
September Yearling Sale
Part II*
24 September
November National Hunt Sale
7 - 12 November
Sapphire Sale*
15 December
*featuring the €250,000 Tattersalls Ireland
Super Auction Sales Stakes
**featuring the €100,000 Tattersalls Ireland
MSL Mercedes-Benz Sales Bumper
Please note: The July Store Sale reverts to the August National Hunt Sale in 2026. All dates subject to alteration
Kallisto
Alsterperle (Reliable Man) 3
Hochkonig (Polish Vulcano) 1
Kaneko
Hope Breeze (Torok) L
Metal Heart (Lion Heart) L
Special Man (Luxor) L
Keltos
Art Power (Dark Angel) ............................ 3
Kendargent
Arnis Master (Tai Chi) 3
Kendor
Bibbiena (Doctor Dino) L
Kentucky Dynamite
Barnavara (Calyx) 1 2 3 L
Kheleyf
Bubuz (Kodi Bear) L
My Highness (Ghaiyyath) 2
King’s Best
Borna (Saxon Warrior) ............................. 3
Quddwah (Kingman) 3 L
Kingmambo
Hotheaded (Frankel) L
Naqeeb (Nathaniel).................................. L
Tornado Alert (Too Darn Hot) 1
Victoria Harbour (Frankel) L
Kingman
Anaisa (Ardad) L
Leinster (Camelot) 3
Sand Gazelle (Frankel) L
Kingsalsa
King Gold (Anodin) 3 3
Kitten’s Joy
Alyanaabi (Too Darn Hot) L
Emit (Too Darn Hot) L
Norwalk Havoc (Showcasing) L
Kodiac
Believing (Mehmas) 1
Diego Ventura (Mehmas) L
Garden of Eden (Saxon Warrior) 2 L
Lady Iman (Starman) 3 3 L
Powerful Glory (Cotai Glory) ................... 1
Royal Fixation (Palace Pier) 2
Seagulls Eleven (Galileo Gold) 3
Tropical Island (Inns of Court) L Washington Heights (Washington DC) L West Acre (Mehmas) 2 3
Latent Heat
Lord Mountbatten (Connect) L
Lawman
Fair Angellica (Harry Angel) .................
Fallen Angel (Too Darn Hot) 1
Hankelow (Night of Thunder) 3
Le Havre
Constitution River (Wootton Bassett) .... 2
Egina (Soldier Hollow) 2 L L
Monteille (Cable Bay) 3 3
Safia (Sottsass) L
Zia Agnese (Romanised) 3
Lemon Drop Kid
Lion’s Pride (Roaring Lion) L
Shaool (Belardo) L
Lethal Force
Beautiful Diamond (Twilight Son) .......... L
Gewan (Night of Thunder) 1 3
Linngari
Espoir Avenir (Montmartre) 3
Lion Heart
Son of Cooger (Cooger) L Treasure Island (Avery Island) L
Lomitas Zabeel Light (City Light) .......................... 3
Lope de Vega
Audubon Park (Dubawi) L
Benvenuto Cellini (Frankel) 2
Charlotte’s Web (Night of Thunder)........ L
Giselle (Frankel) L
Grand Son of Dark (Dark Angel) L
Oceans Four (Zoustar) 3
Persica (New Bay) 3 3
Temptable (Kingman) L
Lord of England
Augustus (Soldier Hollow) 2
Believe In Me (Intello) L
Lost Soldier
Wardenclyffe (Victory Gallop) L L
Lujain
Zakharova (Zelzal) L
Luxor
Brave Jumper (Kaneko) L
Machiavellian
Chicago Critic (Night of Thunder) L
Macho Uno
The Protecter (Army Mule) L
Makfi
Klein (Kluger) L L
Malibu Moon
Rosa Salvaje (Maximum Security)
Tiki
Nayef
Balmoral Lady (Invincible Army) L
Divina Grace (Golden Horn) 3
Love Tonight (Footstepsinthesand) L
Marbaan (Oasis Dream) 2 3
Naomi Lapaglia (Awtaad) L
New Approach
Pierre Bonnard (Camelot) 3
Silent Love (Dubawi) 3 L
Waardah (Postponed) .......................... 2 L
No Nay Never
Big Mojo (Mohaather) 1 3
Wemightakedlongway (Australia) 3
Norse Dancer
Candleford (Kingman) L
Noverre
Dance To The Music (Dubawi) 3
Oasis Dream
Bellum Justum (Sea The Stars) 2
Elmonjed (Blue Point) L
Estrange (Night of Thunder) 2 3
Gostam (Saxon Warrior) ....................... 3 3
Iresine (Manduro) L
Johan (Zoffany) 3
Nations Pride (Teofilo) 2
Never So Brave (No Nay Never) 1 2
Polyvega (Lope de Vega)......................... L
Pride of Arras (New Bay) 2 2
Samangan (Blue Point) 2 3
Stormy Ocean (Frankel) L
Witness Stand (Expert Eye) 2
Ocean Crest
Wictory Drop (Papa Clem) L
Okawango
Boon Nam (Victoire Pisa) L
The Raptor (Bushranger) ........................ L
One Cool Cat
Melfi (Kessaar) L
Oratorio
Shimmy Jimmy (Jimmy Two Times) L
Orfevre
Alohi Alii (Duramente) 2
Orientor
American Affair (Washington DC) 1
Orpen
Jasna’s Secret (Galiway) L
Outstrip
Black Caviar Gold (Havana Grey) 3
Paco Boy
Graft (U S Navy Flag) L
Palace Malice
Queen Azteca (Sharp Azteca) 3
Peintre Celebre
Simply Minds (Belardo) 3
Pioneerof The Nile Galactic Star (Improbable) L
Pivotal
Camille Pissarro (Wootton Bassett) 1
Darius Cen (Persian King) L
Faiyum (Frankel) 3
Galen (Gleneagles) 3
Henri Matisse (Wootton Bassett) 1 3
Humidity (Ulysses) L
James’s Delight (Invincible Army).......... 2
Simca Mille (Tamayuz) L Swelter (Kingman) 3
Zanthos (Sioux Nation) 2
Poet’s Voice
Lady Charlotte (Golden Horn) 3 L Onemoredance (King of Change) L
Poliglote
Internaute (Sea The Stars) L
Raven’s Pass
Thunderbear (Kodi Bear) L
Tito Mo Cen (Uncle Mo) L
Red Clubs
Anthelia (Supremacy) 3 L
Spycatcher (Vadamos) L
Redback
Rebel’s Gamble (Dark Angel) L
Refuse To Bend
Chally Chute (Fast Company) L
Rip Van Winkle
Klaynn (Make Believe) 2 3
Tiger Bay (Harry Angel) L
Rock of Gibraltar
Grecian Destiny (Masar) ......................... L
Havandi (Le Havre) L
Make Me King (Dark Angel) L
Quest The Moon (Sea The Moon) 3 3
Tyrrhenian Sea (Dark Angel) L Zuna (Kizuna) ........................................... L
Roderic O’Connor
Kylian (Invincible Spirit) L
Royal Abjar
Amazing Touch (Touch The Wolf) L
Grande Flusso (Hakeem) L
Sadler’s Wells Tennessee Stud (Wootton Bassett) 2 Sakhee
(Motivator) L L
Sakhee’s Secret Rage of Bamby (Saxon Warrior) 3 Rosy Affair (Havana Grey) 3 L Rumstar (Havana Grey) 3 3
Quality Road
Royal Chapel (Kingman) L
Rahy
Damysus (Frankel) 3 L
Ramonti
Remmooz (Blue Point) L
Ransom O’War
Petit Marin (Flamingo Fantasy) L
Samum Zuckerhut (Almanzor) 2 Scat Daddy
(Australia) 1 1 3
stakes-winning dam sires
Sinndar
Calandagan (Gleneagles) 1 1 1
Midak (Footstepsinthesand) 3
Rashford (Zarak) 3
Vertbois (Night of Thunder) L
Sir Percy
Allonsy (Study of Man) L L
Miss Information (Blue Point) L
Shuwari (New Bay) L
Sir Prancealot
Division (Kingman) L
Siyouni
Gaga Mate (Mehmas).............................. 3
Marvelman (Invincible Spirit) 2
Moojeed (Dark Angel) 3
Saidi El Fal (Lope de Vega) L
Sayidah Dariyan (Dariyan) 3
Zaraxia (Zarak) L
Zavateri (Without Parole) 1 2 2
Zeus Olympios (Night of Thunder) 2 3
Smart Strike
Sons And Lovers (Study of Man) 3
Smoke Glacken
Lamborghini Bf (Holy Roman Emperor) L
Society Rock
Powerful Nation (Sioux Nation) .............. L
Soldier Hollow
Kampfer (Protectionist) L
Koffi Kick (Zarak) L L
Namaron (Amaron) 3
Shootout (Areion) 3
Wilko (Mastercraftsman) L
Soldier of Fortune
Ami de Vega (Lope de Vega) 3 L
Spinning World
Keffaaf (Adlerflug) L
Sternkoenig
Weltbeste (Soldier Hollow) ...................... L
Wintertraum (Lord of England) L
Stevie Wonderboy
Golden Vekoma (Vekoma) 3
Storm Cat Annaf (Muhaarar) 3
Storming Home
Godspeed (Hello Youmzain)
Strategic Prince Sardinian Warrior (Saxon Warrior)
Street Cry Captain Fantastic (Mshawish)
Cloud Cover (Night of Thunder)
(Dubawi) .........................
Romance (Dubawi)
(Acclamation)
Champion (Shamardal)
of Stars (Dubawi)
Street Sense Green Sense (Starman)
Strike The Gold
Tan (Luxor)
(Myboycharlie)
Suave Dancer
(Awtaad)
Sunday Break
(City Light)
Talip Han Lavender (Oglum Melih)
(Ardad)
Qareem (Awtaad)
Et Deja (Zarak)
Deo Volente (Blue Point)
Elana Osario (Lope de Vega)...................
Flatten The Curve (Zarak)
Inisherin (Shamardal)
King of Cities (Dubawi)
Santorini Star (Golden Horn)
Victory Queen (Kingman)
Thewayyouare Dragon Flame (Torok)
Titus Livius Revival Power (Bungle Inthejungle)
Skukuza (Blue Point)
Turtle Bowl Bel Et Bien (Hunter’s Light)
Birr Castle (Cloth of Stars)
Unaccounted For
Battle For Glory (Bluegrass Cat)
Dapper Man (Marcavelly)
Madras (Halicarnassus)
Toronado Sahlan (Wootton Bassett)
Nymphadora Tonks (Luxor) L
Tonbi (Approve) L L L
Uncle Mo
Catching The Moon (No Nay Never) 3
Verglas Presage Nocturne (Wootton Bassett) 3
Victory Gallop Superbella (Tough Guy) L Violence
Raging Torrent (Maximus Mischief)
Point)
(Muhaarar)
(Cakal Carlos)
King (Victoire Pisa)
(Torok)
(New Bay)
(King David)
(Epaulette)
(Speightstown)
(Siyouni)
(No Nay Never)
Central is out of a Zoffany mare and by No Nay Never
SHOWCASING - DIJARVO (ICEMAN)
Fee: POA
Multiple Group-winning sprinter and Gr.1 placed at 2
One of the fastest colts of his generation
Sire of 12 Stakes performers incl. Gr.3 winner DAWN CHARGER
Sire of Royal Ascot winner MICKLEY
2025 winners incl. LR winner KAADI and black-type horses WAR BRIDE, MUDDY MOOY, etc.
2025 yearlings sold for 52,000gns, £45,000, etc.
NEW FOR 2005
UBETTABELIEVEIT MASSAAT SOLDIER’S CALL
KODIAC – LADY LISHANDRA (MUJADIL)
Fee: £4,500 1st Oct S.L.F
By Sire of Sires KODIAC
Winner of three races and £116,503 all over 5f
incl.: LR National Stakes, Gr.2 Flying Childers Stakes, also 3rd Gr.2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, all at 2
Yearlings sold for 70,000gns, 62,000gns, £66,000, etc.
Exciting first crop sire 2025 with multiple winners incl. HILITANY, SAYIDAH HARD SPUN, TRICKY TEL , etc.
TEOFILO - MADANY (ACCLAMATION)
Fee: £3,000 1st Oct S.L.F
Brother to Gr.1 Commonwealth Cup winner EQTIDAAR
Gr.1 placed at 2, 3 and 4, Gr.2 winner over 7f
Black type horses include DOCKLANDS
Won Queen Anne Stakes Gr.1, Royal Ascot 2025 and earnings of over £1,000,000
Yearlings made up to 50,000gns in 2025
racehorse to eventer
CAREER change
The winner! Sparky Lad and Clarke Johnstone jump to success in the Racehorse to Eventers class at Cornbury Horse Trials. Sparky Lad ran 30 times and won four races in the southern hemisphere
Catherine
Austen reports from the inaugural Racehorse to Eventing class at Cornbury Horse Trials, and argues the case that buying a thoroughbred to retrain is something of a no-brainer for young riders looking for a prospective 5* event horse
“This is the biggest prize I have won in my career,” said Clarke Johnstone on Saturday, 13 September at Cornbury House Horse Trials in Oxfordshire.
The tall, bearded New Zealand event rider had just won what was, in essence, only a novice-level national class; why was a man who had ridden at two Olympic Games, two World Championships and numerous CCI5* competitions so delighted?
The answer boils down to the £45,000 cheque he had just been given by Jayne McGivern and David Howden for victory in the Arena Racing Company (ARC) Racehorse to Eventer Challenge Cup.
It’s a sum that might be (relatively) small-fry in Flat racing, but in the much less richly rewarded sport of eventingin any country, not just Britain - it was utterly unprecedented outside of the half a dozen major CCI5*s around the world such as Burghley, Badminton and Kentucky.
As a comparison, the first prize in a “standard” open novice class at a British Eventing competition is around £160.
Clarke thanked McGivern, Howden, ARC and Cornbury effusively, and said: “Ex-racehorses are wonderful athletes and they try their best for you. I hope that this class encourages top riders to ask their local racehorse trainer whether
they have a horse that might suit eventing.”
That, he explained, was what had happened with Sparky Lad, the Australian-bred 10-year-old on whom Johnstone had won the class.
“His owner, Tim Boland, runs Limitless Lodge, which is a leading breaking and pre-training yard just north of Sydney. He pre-trained Sparky, who is by Smart Missile out of a More Than Ready mare and identified him as a horse that could go on to succeed in eventing.
“Sparky went into training with Chris Waller and this horse is what Tim described as a ‘handy horse’ in that he ran more than 30 times and clocked up over A$250,000, winning four times and was placed six times.
“Sparky has such a beautiful mind –he is the same every day and tries very hard.”
It helps, of course, that Boland, 55, knew what he was looking at. He competed successfully at the highest level in eventing himself, both in Australia and Europe, and many horsesthoroughbreds, eventers, showjumpers, dressage horses - have passed through his hands. Limitless Lodge is a large and very well-known breaking, pre-training and spelling centre and superstars such as Winx started their careers there. Tim
Ex-racehorses are wonderful athletes and they try their best for you. I hope that this class encourages top riders to ask their local racehorse trainer whether they have a horse that might suit eventing
racehorse to eventer
competed Sparky Lad himself to begin with, and then sent him to the UK with Clarke, who is primarily based here now, at the end of 2022.
Sparky Lad’s progression through the eventing levels has been smooth; he has consistently done well, and is established at CCI4*-S. He was the undeniable favourite to win the inaugural ARC Racehorse to Eventer Challenge Cup, and it did raise a few eyebrows that such an experienced horse was allowed to enter the class. A thorough review will be carried out this winter into what the conditions of the class should be; everyone has an opinion, but ultimately, the organisers decided that, to maximise entries in year one, it should be staged at British Eventing open novice level, which permits any grade of horse, if they satisfy the Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs), to be entered.
rest of the sport, and at the beginning McGivern wanted to run it under FEI (the governing body of horse sports globally) rules, which wasn’t possible as it is restricted to one breed of horse.
And RoR, which, to be fair, has run its own eventing championship with decent prize-money for a number of years, first at Barbury, then Gatcombe, and now Hartpury, wasn’t overly enthusiastic.
But David Howden, who shares McGivern’s love of both eventing and racing and, like her, is an owner of horses in both sports, has given eventing a good shake of the snowglobe since he founded Cornbury House Horse Trials at his home just outside Charlbury in 2020. They sat next to each other at dinner 18 months or so ago, and Howden loved her idea of a big-money class to attract the top riders and incentivise them to
Jayne McGivern (left) and David Howden (right): with the right pathway the thoroughbred can aim for the top of eventing, and really comes into its own once it gets to the higher echelons of the sport
Sam Watson and Nominator: the eight-year-old son of Jukebox Jury, is now a star of Irish eventing
House Horse Trials had very quickly made a name for itself as innovative and, through Howden’s own generosity and commitment and first and now the range of sponsors from outside the “traditional” supporters of eventing that he has been able to attract, determined to reward owners and riders for their efforts. It was the ideal place to launch the new class - and to make sure it received the maximum publicity.
NO ONE IS DENYING that RoR and other initiatives haven’t done a great job in helping former racehorses find new homes and thrive in second careers, but the market for them as higherlevel competition horses is, in Britain, virtually non-existent. They don’t move flashily enough, and they don’t jump in the flamboyant way that the purposebred warm blood does. It isn’t until the top levels of eventing, really, that their unique attributes of speed, stamina and bravery come far enough to the fore to make them stand out.
“Generally thoroughbreds, especially when ridden by amateurs, will struggle against warmbloods until they get to about CCI3*,” says McGivern. “They won’t beat a warmblood in a BE100, but in the hands of professionals from CCI3* level and above, when you’ve got more complex jumping and a longer course, you need a horse with speed that can jump out of a ground-covering gallop.
“Warmbloods don’t have the psychology for that, and thoroughbreds come into their own. I wanted to find a way to get a bunch of thoroughbreds to a high enough level to showcase their amazing intelligence and determination.
“I thought that, if I guaranteed a big enough prize for five years, if I was a professional eventer and saw a first prize of £45,000 I would want to win it.”
Another chance meeting with ARC CEO Martin Cruddace, whose wife and children enjoy eventing, led to ARC’s
William Fox-Pitt aboard Hussard Brun (Coastal Path) who ran in two bumpers for trainer Richard Hobson
racehorse to eventer
five-year sponsorship of the class.
McGiven said: “It is really heartwarming to see such a major player in the horseracing world leaning in to the issue of racehorse welfare so positively. I am so grateful to them for their belief and support for the concept.”
There’s no doubt that the first ARC Racehorse to Eventer Challenge Cup was a huge success, with 44 horses entered by the likes of British team members Oliver Townend, Piggy March (who was riding McGivern’s Our Old Fella), William Fox-Pitt and Bubby Upton.
ACOUPLE OF IRISH RIDERS brought horses over, including Sam Watson, founder of equestrian sport statistics company EquiRatings, who has worked with trainers such as Willie Mullins and Jessica Harrington to educate their horses (and staff) in the past.
And there were British-based Antipodean riders represented, including, of course, Clarke Johnstone.
That is no surprise. New Zealand and Australian eventers have been much more open than European counterparts to seeing thoroughbreds as potential upper-level stars: “They’re cheap, and there’s lots of them!” points out fivetime Burghley winner Andrew Nicholson.
There’s perhaps an argument that southern hemisphere thoroughbreds are physically tougher - certainly those who, like Sparky Lad, finish a decently long career sound.
There’s more of a culture in the US, too, of eventing what they refer to as “OTTBs” - Off The Track Thoroughbreds” than there is currently in Britain. That’s not to say that there aren’t any thoroughbreds at CCI5*, but the last one to represent Britain at a championship was Arctic Soul, who went to the 2018 World Equestrian Games and the 2015 European Championships with Gemma Stevens (née Tattersall).
There’s perhaps an argument that southern hemisphere thoroughbreds are physically tougher – certainly those who, like Sparky Lad, finish a decently long career sound
At Badminton this spring there was only one thoroughbred in the field - Harbin, Irish-bred and raced but evented by a Kiwi, Joe Meyer - and there was one at Burghley, Public Address. The latter, a Milan-sired former point-to-pointer, did catch the eye by giving his CCI5* debutant jockey Tom Strawson a great clear cross-country performance round a very serious track, but his four down in the showjumping was, sadly, fodder for those who don’t see them as ideal for the modern sport of eventing.
But, when the prices of fashionablybred warmbloods with obvious potential: i.e. big movement and extravagant jump, are sky-high for a sport with such little financial reward, thoroughbreds have one huge advantage: they are resoundingly cheap.
Why aren’t the bright young things of eventing, desperate to get to CCI5* and prove themselves, buying them, making them, and using their much-vaunted boldness and speed - and trainability and temperament; look at how much a Newmarket-based Flat horse encounters
in his or her daily life before the age of four or five compared to a precious, “baby-ed” sports horse - to their advantage?
Given that the ARC Racehorse to Eventer Challenge Cup has made racing and equestrian headlines round the world, and comes with such a thumping great first prize, the younger professionals would be wise to take note.
You may not persuade the very established “top lot”, who know by now which sort of horse suits them best and have created successful systems to find, train and compete those horses, to alter their thinking at this stage.
But the next few waves of ambitious young men and women determined to ride for their countries should spend time making connections with racing professionals and finding sources of horses to help them fulfil their dreams.
And the likes of RoR, David Howden’s own Thoroughbred Aftercare Programme and other industry bodies ought to recognise this potential pool of suitable riders and target them in return.
Bubby Upton on Enhanced (New Approach) bred and raced by Brightwalton Bloodstock
“Here at Ballyreddin Stud, all stock are fed Connolly’s RED MILLS feeds. Nutrition is so important throughout all stages of growth and can be the making or breaking of a horses’ development and future career. We use a combination of the Stud and Horse Care ranges when preparing our foals, yearlings and store horses for the sales and have been delighted with the results. I am confident they are receiving everything they need from the feed to support their development and achieve their full potential.”
John Dwan, Ballyreddin Stud
Working for Irish Breeders and Supporting Our Breeding Industry
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Photos: (Main) Daniel O’Neill
Academy races off to a promising start
THE CATALYST
for the Irish EBF Academy Hurdle Series was an ITBA Seminar held in January 2024 in that well-known hostelry, the Lord Bagenal in Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow.
There was a strong panel that included such luminaries as Peter Molony, Walter Connors and Anthony Bromley and discussions lit the spark that brought the inaugural race of the academy series at Cork Racecourse in October.
It has been a fiery birth from the start with many Irish NH breeders eager to tackle what they saw as the Gallic invasion on Irish sales
rings and racecourses to the detriment of their own IREbred horses.
The aforementioned seminar had pointed out clearly that one of the big ingredients in the success of French-bred NH horses is starting them young and that means getting them on the track early.
This year’s French-bred Champion Hurdler State Man made his hurdle debut as a three-year-old in May 2020, while Fastorslow did likewise in June 2019, followed by his chase debut in September of the same year.
However, there were some not so enamored of that view, including some of Ireland’s leading trainers
with one element of the new series, causing them particular anguish, namely the fact that you could win an academy hurdle and still be a “maiden” on the racecourse proper and winning a maiden hurdle was deemed illogical.
The reality is it ensures more options for these horses on the racetrack, as well as progressing their education, – these benefits outweigh the perceived anomaly over maiden status. To quote a certain Mr Einstein: “If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got”.
The series kicked off at Malow in October and it was a very promising start with even a runner from Closutton
Jessica Harrington’s Quinta Do Lago won the first academy race coming home ahead of a packed field of 15
where the fanbase for the series is particularly sparse.
It had the joint-highest entry of any Irish NH race that weekend and saw 19 trainers represented, with a final field of 15.
There were four nonrunners with no mention of youth being the cause!
From the Irish NH breeding perspective it was heartening to see 11 Irish National Huntbased sires represented with the balance made up of two Irish Flat sires and a French sire and German sire.
The winner was a Gallic one with Jessica Harrington’s Galiway-sired Quinta Do Lago, making history as the first winner, and win well he did.
He was followed home by two fillies with seven fillies having made it to the start line, with five being Irishbred, four being eligible for our attractive Weatherbys ITBA NH Fillies Bonus Scheme.
The race delivered in spades achieving just what Horse Racing Ireland, the EBF, the ITBA and, most importantly, breeders of Irish NH horses, have wanted.
One swallow does not make a summer we know, but the scheme certainly has “taken flight” and we eagerly await the next academy hurdle in Fairyhouse on November 4 where hopefully “le vert” might vanquish “le bleu”
Quinta Do Lago: the son of Galiway and trained by Jessica Harrington became the first winner of an academy hurdle
Qabala’s three-year-old Persian King colt Raammee looks a bit of a freak; his performance at Kempton was pretty special, and then he won at Newcastle and was equally as smart
THE UNTIMELY DEMISE of Wootton Bassett means his final crops are collectors’ items of the first order, and it was little surprise that there was fierce bidding seen at Tattersalls in October for his progeny.
His highest-priced offspring through the Book 1 sale were a pair of colts, both snapped up by the Amo team for 2,200,000gns respectively. That duo included Lot 349, an Al Shahania homebred consigned by Newsells Park Stud.
The colt was part of a dispersal from his breeder, who is switching focus entirely to Arabians, meaning that his price tag began at zero as he strode into the ring. It may have been a long road to hammer fall, but with three interested parties involved in the action when bidding reached seven figures, it was highlighted the colt’s appeal.
Speaking after the sale, agent Alex Elliott told the press: “I think we have bought two serious Wootton Bassett colts today, and Qabala’s threeyear-old Persian King colt Raammee looks a bit of a freak; his performance at Kempton was pretty special, and then he won at Newcastle and was equally as smart.
“Wootton Bassett is an upgrade on most stallions; this goes back to a Juddmonte family, and this colt has the potential to be a very special horse.”
Al Shahania’s farm manager Bertrand Le Metayer added: “We went to Wootton Bassett because we wanted to have an outcross. The horse has proved to be exactly what we were hoping for, and it is rare when it works! He looks a proper miler, a Guineas horse, and, hopefully, the new owners will believe in him the same way we do.”
As highlighted by Elliott, the colt’s appeal is not solely down to his superlative sire or wellconnected dam – his half-brother by Persian King has turned heads this autumn with some serious performances.
Raammee made two appearances at Park Paddocks, purchased for 130,000gns as a foal and then for 150,000gns at Book 1, two years ago.
Sent to Roger Varian to train for Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, he did not appear at two, with a gelding operation his most significant activity in 2024.
However, he met with approval on debut at Kempton this August when sent off favourite
Qabala
Scat Daddy-Entine (Empire Maker) Bay mare 17.04.2016
2021 QAZAQ gelding by Kingman, three-time winner, BHA rated 92
2022 RAAMMEE, gelding by Persian King, run twice, won twice, BHA rated 95
2024 Colt by Wootton Bassett, sold as a yearling at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1 for 2,200,000, Lot 349
2025 Colt by Ace Impact, catalogued in the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, Lot 912
for a novice contest over a mile. Despite being slowly away and green throughout, when the penny dropped inside the final furlong, he powered home to win by half a length from more experienced rivals.
A month later, he was seriously impressive in another mile novice contest, this time at Newcastle, when making every post a winning one to score by 12l.
The gelding now has black-type aspirations, potentially before the end of the year, so by the time his Ace Impact younger brother takes up his entry at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale, there could be further lustre on the page.
THEIR DAM is the Scat Daddy mare Qabala, herself trained by Varian for HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa al Thani and snapped up as a foal by the Al Shahania team for $300,000 at the 2016 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky November Sale.
She began repaying her price tag straight away when winning on debut on her sole start at two at Newmarket in late September 2018 and returned to the Rowley Mile the following April to contest the Nell Gwynn (G3).
Showing a fine turn of foot, she triumphed by a length and three-quarters over her stablemate
Qabala has had two runners so far and her 2022 colt Raammee by Persian King looks like a “freak”, according to Alex Elliott. The colt’s potential talent encouraged Amo Racing to spend 2,200,000gns on the mare’s 2025 yearling by Wootton Bassett
fortunes Family
mare of the month
Qabala’s 2025 yearling by Wootton Bassett
Photo courtesy of Al Shahania Stud and Newsells Park Stud, by Melanie Sauer Photography
Mot Juste (Distorted Humor), winner of the Oh So Sharp Stakes (G2) the previous autumn and now dam of the Group 3-placed juvenile Princess Petrol (St Mark’s Basilica).
Trained by Bobby Frankel, Flute triumphed in the 2001 Kentucky Oaks and followed up in the Alabama Stakes at Saratoga, as well as finishing runner-up in the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) and the Beldame Stakes (G1)
It would prove to be Qabala’s final victory, although she was beaten only a length and a quarter when third in the 1,000 Guineas (G1), and was also fourth in the Falmouth Stakes (G1), before her retirement later that year.
She hails from one of Juddmonte’s attractive US families, being out of a daughter of the top-class Flute (Seattle Slew).
Trained by Bobby Frankel, Flute triumphed in the 2001 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and followed up in the Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, as well as finishing runner-up in the Santa Anita Oaks (G1) and the Beldame Stakes (G1).
Once retired to Juddmonte’s Kentucky paddocks, Flute was a prolific mare producing 14 named foals.
They all ran and the six winners among them are headed by Filimbi, the result of a mating with (then) fellow Juddmonte inmate Mizzen Mast.
That filly scored in the Goldikova Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita, and was also Group 1-placed four times.
She went on to produce the dual Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Dragoon Guard (Arrogate).
Filimbi’s half-sister Solo Piano (Empire
Maker), a minor winner in the US, also produced a stakes winner in Purser, who landed the Listed King Charles II Stakes and was placed in the Autumn Stakes (G3), before going on to success in Hong Kong as Bear Slam.
Flute and her siblings are out of another Juddmonte luminary – the stakes winner Rougeur (Blushing Groom), successful in France and the US for Andre Fabre, before producing six winners, including the stakes winner Velvet Morning (Broad Brush).
The family goes back to one of Juddmonte’s foundation mares, the great Media Luna.
Purchased for Prince Khalid Abdullah after finishing runner-up in the 1984 Oaks (G1), the daughter of Star Appeal put down some mighty roots for the operation.
Much stems from her Group 3-winning daughter Eva Luna (Alleged), whose offspring include the St Leger (G1) winner and sire Brian Boru (Sadler’s Wells), the Group 2 winner and sire Sea Moon (Beat Hollow), as well as the granddams of Workforce (King’s Best), who landed the Derby (G1) and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) en route to stud, and the Oaks (G1) heroine Qualify (Fastnet Rock) to name but a few.
From one dynasty to the next, Qabala and her eye-catching sons are adding plenty more paragraphs to this long and storied family.
Qabala and her foal will be offered at the Tattersalls December Sale as Al Shahania is dispersing its thoroughbred interests to concentrate on Arabians
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photo finish: new stallion at stud
Lead Artist, Banstead Manor
THE FIRST new stallion
International Thoroughbred has seen this autumn is the new Juddmonte sire
Lead Artist, who arrived at Banstead Manor at the beginning of October and was available for viewing through the yearling sales. Winner of the Lockinge Stakes (G1), the four-year-old boasts a fine pedigree being by Dubawi and out of the Frankel mare Obligate.
She won the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham and was Group 1-placed in the Prix Rothschild. She was the first foal out of Responsible (Oasis Dream), who was, in turn, the last foal out of the stud’s blue hen mare Hasili.
“It is great to have him here as it is a continuation of that great Hasili line,” says Simon Mockridge, Juddmonte’s UK general manager. “It is nice to have her grandson back here – at one point we
had Hasili’s three brothers standing here Dansili, Cacique and Champs Elysees, and we have had so much success with Dansili. It is also great to have
a son of Dubawi at stud here.”
Mockridge adds: “He has got great balance. He was quite a big foal and all the way through on the stud he was always described as having great balance, power with a strong good head on him; he was always toward the top of his cohort.
“Further, he has a good temperament and is easy to work with.”
Lead Artist ran 11 times, won four races and, in addition to his Group 1 victory, was also successful twice at Group 3 level over 1m1f and a mile.
“He liked good fast ground, and he won the Lockinge in the race’s second fastest time,” continues Mockridge, adding: “He is a very easy horse to like, he has a great head, is physically correct and walks well.
“He is a very nice horse, I think he will suit a lot of people, and is priced commercially.”
Lead Artist: the son of Dubawi with Felipe Lopes at Banstead Manor in October
Photos: Laura Green
“”
Having seen BAAEED, he left quite an impression on me. He is an awesome specimen. We know him well in the US, so when I came to Tattersalls I wanted to buy one.
He is Europe’s Flightline, a generational talent, and should be a leading sire based on how good he was.
David Ingordo
After purchasing the filly x Stream Song for 410,000gns on behalf of Determined Stables
Filly x Dubai Rose – €800,000
Consigned by: Ecurie des Monceaux | Purchased by: Al Shira’aa Racing
Stands at Beech House Stud, UK
To book a nomination or arrange a viewing contact Will Wright: +44 (0)7787 422901 | nominations@shadwellstud.co.uk
View our stallion roster: www.shadwellstud.com
Colt x Turret Rocks – 625,000gns
Consigned by: Corduff Stud | Purchased by: Shadwell