Rapid growth

Photos: Debbie Burt

STRANGE TO THINK that Hazelwood Bloodstock has been in existence only since 2016. The Newmarket operation, run by experienced stud manager Adrian O’Brien and veterinarian wife Philippa, has consigned two seven-figure lots to auction, regularly topped sales and sold a pair of top-flight winners in that short space of time. Hazelwood Bloodstock – based at Red House Stud in Exning, the birthplace of Group 1 sprint-winning half-brothers Goodricke and Pastoral Pursuits – has become renowned as one of the leading thoroughbred nurseries in Britain in no time at all.

“It’s a bit nuts, isn’t it?” chuckles the amiable Adrian O’Brien, a former manager of Plantation Stud in Newmarket and Coolmore in Australia, when he is confronted with all the accolades that his still relatively new venture has already amassed.

It hasn’t been an unbroken upward trajectory for the farm, though; there has been the odd bump on the way to the top, and with five yearling drafts down and the sixth to come this autumn it is an interesting point to pause and take stock on how it all unfolded.

Hazelwood Bloodstock dipped its toe into the market by selling the winning-but-out-of-form Kodiac three-yearold Mirdif on behalf of one of its big-name international clients, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, for 22,000gns at Tattersalls in July 2017.

There isn’t much that needs saying about that transaction, other than that it will go down in history as the first lot ever sold by a farm that is emerging as one of the leading consignors of our times.

It comprised three colts with a top price of 150,000gns achieved for Look Closely, a son of Sea The Stars and the Listed-winning High Chaparral mare Lady Heidi, who was bred by Sun Bloodstock and bought by Roger Varian.

He won three races, including a couple of competitive handicaps at Ascot, for a peak rating of 99.

Production, a son of Oasis Dream bred by Sun Bloodstock out of the Listed-winning Exceed And Excel mare Pure Excellence, was sold to John and Jake Warren for 85,000gns and won the Crocker Bulteel maiden at Ascot, while Damon Runyon, a pinhooked son of Charm Spirit was sold to Norris/Huntingdon for 70,000gns. He didn’t manage to win but did finish in the places on multiple occasions.

Not a bad start, then. “It was a nice gentle introduction to selling under the Hazelwood Bloodstock banner,” says O’Brien. “It turns out the first yearling we put in the ring was Look Closely, who was a decent horse for Roger and is now winning races in Australia.”

The operation’s first year as consignors was to take an unexpected turn for the better not long after the October Yearling Sales, too.

“Later that year we ended up putting the Kodiac half-sister to Barney Roy in the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale,” continues O’Brien. “It wasn’t planned at all, it was a late decision on the part of the breeder, and she ended up topping that section of the sale.”

Barney Roy had finished second to Churchill in the 2,000 Guineas, won the St James’s Palace Stakes and lost nothing in defeat when placed behind Ulysses in the Group 1 Eclipse and Juddmonte International that year, his Kodiac sibling, another bred by Sun Bloodstock, was one of the obvious highlights of the catalogue.

David Redvers bid 400,000gns to secure her for Qatar Racing and Qatar Queen ran second three times, once behind multiple Group 1 winner Nazeef.

“At the time I felt it would never happen again,” reflects O’Brien. “Fillies like her don’t usually end up in the December Yearling Sale, so there was a heavy weight of expectation, but then a great deal of relief and satisfaction that we achieved a good price for her.

“I wasn’t really that well known up here at the time, as I’d spent most of my time tucked away in Australia and there wasn’t such a big European cross over at the time. In those first few years there were a lot of people who didn’t know who we were, or what we were about, but it’s built up steadily over time.”

The Hazelwood Bloodstock draft to the Tattersalls October Yearling Sales in 2018 expanded to 13 lots split between Books 1 and 2.

If the industry hadn’t been aware of the new vendor on the block in the preceding year, they certainly were now – Hazelwood sold Sun Bloodstock’s Dubawi filly out of the Irish St Leger heroine Voleuse De Coeurs to Godolphin for 500,000gns – sadly she died aged only three. The farm also topped its second major auction in the space of a year by selling Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa’s Kingman colt out of the Listed-winning Galileo mare Reem for 750,000gns.

The son of Kingman became King Leonidas, who was fairly smart for trainer John Gosden and owner Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, and is now based in Dubai.

“We were feeling pretty pleased to be establishing ourselves in the market by doing so well with the Book 1 offerings, and we were particularly satisfied to sell the Dubawi filly out of Voleuse De Coeurs to Godolphin,” recalls O’Brien. “But then King Leonidas went and topped Book 2, and that was when I started to think to myself that it was all going a bit insane.

"It’s testament to the quality of the stock that our clients give us the luxury of preparing for sale.”

Interestingly, the best horses to have emerged from the Hazelwood Bloodstock consignment that year were actually two who wouldn’t have made newspaper reports.

Fearless King – by Kingman and the first foal out of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa’s Group 3-placed Makfi mare Astrelle, much more of whom later – was sold to Tina Rau for 175,000gns. He was sent out by trainer Sarah Steinberg to win the German 2,000 Guineas, while Festive Star – a Golden Horn filly out of Sun Bloodstock’s Group 1-placed Diesis mare Festoso – was knocked down to Alessandro Marconi for 35,000gns.

She proved that valuation all wrong when winning a Listed race in Italy by 5l at two.

O’Brien is, of course, as happy to have sold a high-class racehorse as he is a blockbuster-priced lot, if not more so.

Reflecting on the twin challenges of rearing youngstock, he says: “There’s always a great deal of delight and satisfaction at achieving those big prices in the ring, but the fact is we’re not seeing the woods for the trees unless they do it on the racecourse.

“But the real satisfaction comes from seeing them perform well on the track, and that’s not always at Grade 1 level; it is also about producing a sound product who fulfils its potential by getting its head in front in any sort of race. My eye is never too far from the racecourse.”

In only its third year of selling yearlings, and with only its second draft at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Hazelwood Bloodstock soared to the head of the consignors’ leader board with a quite extraordinary set of results.

It was responsible for the Dubawi half-brother to Barney Roy sold to Godolphin for a sale-topping 3,600,000gns, a Kingman colt out of the Encosta De Lago mare One Last Dance sold to Coolmore for 1,800,000gns, and a Dubawi filly out the Redoute’s Choice mare Florentina sold to Mike Ryan on behalf of White Birch Farm for 475,000gns.

The last two lots, both out of Australian Group 3 winners, were offered on behalf of Winx’s breeder John Camilleri.

The prices of those three lots meant Hazelwood Bloodstock’s Book 1 average ended up just shy of 2,000,000gns.

“That week happened nearly three years ago, and I promise you I’m still processing it really,” says O’Brien. “It’s only when you go back in the ring and try to do it again, and fall short, that you realise what an achievement it was in the first place.”

So the consignor had no inkling that the Dubawi colt, who became the useful three-time winner Noble Dynasty, would sell for such a sensational figure?

“It was completely off the charts,” he says. “If I’m being honest, I was selfishly and a little self-indulgently hoping to get a seven-figure yearling that year just to get the monkey off our back, but when Coolmore and Godolphin lock horns on one in the ring and you get over the million mark you don’t know where it’s going to take you.

Those transactions became even more special as the Dubawi filly was named In Italian. She has developed into a top Turf performer in the US for Chad Brown and gained Grade 1 laurels in July’s Diana Stakes.

“I knew Florentina very well from Australia, she was a lovely filly, and this daughter was a beautiful, sweetnatured horse too – and a chestnut Dubawi, which as we know isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” says O’Brien.

“She moved well enough for one by the sire, and I was satisfied with her price on the day, although I thought one or two other parties might have got stuck in and taken it a bit further.

“But obviously at 450,000gns you’re still playing at a fairly high level.”

History repeated itself a little in the 2019 Hazelwood Bloodstock draft, as once again it was one of the cheaper lots that became one of the best performers in Britain or Ireland.

Just Beautiful, a Pride Of Dubai filly who is the second foal out of that emerging blue hen Astrelle, really took the biscuit as she was bought from Book 3 for just 8,000gns. She was sent out by Ivan Furtado to win five of her seven starts, including a Group 3 and a Listed contest, before being sold to Moyglare Stud for 625,000gns.

“Every time she races and one of the commentators or pundits on the telly mentions her lowly yearling price again, I have my head in my hands,” says O’Brien with tongue in cheek.

“But the fact of it is, Pride Of Dubai wasn’t that fashionable, her half-brother Fearless King hadn’t hit the track by then, she wasn’t the biggest filly and she didn’t move as well as the commercial market demands.

“Ivan’s such a lovely guy and did such a wonderful job with the filly, and I’m pleased to say he’s bought some other yearlings from us in the meantime. I saw one of his other cheap acquisitions from us, Lizzie Jean, was still entered in the St Leger at a late stage!”

Hazelwood Bloodstock’s annus mirabilis in 2019 was capped by topping the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale for a second time, with a Dubawi colt out of Voleuse De Coeurs making 200,000gns.

The O’Briens were still on cloud nine celebrating their sales-ring success in the early months of 2020 when the world was plunged into confusion with the arrival of Covid. Normal life was put on hold as enforced lockdowns attempted to slow down its spread.

“Like everyone else, we were just filled with uncertainty,” says O’Brien. “At the time we were grateful that the covering sheds were able to remain open and we could continue the day-to-day business of covering mares but we had no idea what was around the corner.

“Everyone was in turmoil. I was regularly receiving calls from various people overseas to ask if we could consign for them just in case they weren’t allowed to travel. It was a strange sensation, producing highquality stock without having any idea whether we’d even had a marketplace in which to trade it.”

As it happened, a concerted effort from industry stakeholders allowed yearling sales to go ahead, even if many were delayed or relocated to Britain, although Hazelwood Bloodstock’s results were a little more muted this time.

The best price for any of the 14 lots catalogued between Books 1 and 3 was ‘just’ 260,000gns, paid by Joseph O’Brien for the Lope De Vega colt Vega Magnifico.

“It had nothing to do with Covid, it was just one of those years,” says O’Brien. “It happens; certain crops are better than others, that’s just the way it is. There was nothing anyone did differently that season, it was just the way the cards happened to fall.” So he had no crisis of confidence in his methods? “Every single day during yearling prep I question everything we’re doing!” he continues. “But sometimes I have to stop myself and remember that the process works. You have to trust in it and carry on.

“I’m not one for chopping and changing things at the drop of a hat, but I certainly think about everything a lot, and then in discussion with Philippa and our stud groom Tom Hughes we’ll make tweaks if we all feel we need to.

O’Brien was also receiving reassurance that lower prices for the 2020 were just a blip from results on the racecourse, with some of the early graduates running with distinction. Fearless King, for instance, became a Classic winner in Germany that year.

“It certainly helps to allay fears when you’re getting some amazing results on the racecourse,” he says. If O’Brien ever did harbour any nagging doubts, he will definitely be convinced that Hazelwood Bloodstock is doing things right now, as that supposedly “nonvintage” crop contained the operation’s first Grade 1-winning graduate.

McKulick, a Frankel half-sister to Fearless King and Just Beautiful, was sold to Mike Ryan on behalf of Klaravich Stables for 180,000gns and was sent out by Chad Brown to win the Belmont Oaks (G1) in July, exactly one week before In Italian made it two top-level winners for the consignor.

“Two Grade 1 winners seven days apart – I was still on the ropes getting over the first one and then the second one came along and I was almost on the canvas,” says O’Brien. “It’s absolutely bewildering, mad, but it’s a lovely sort of delirium!

“And what about Astrelle? She has three Pattern winners from her first three foals and a Grade 1 winner now. She’s turning into the most remarkable broodmare.”

Hazelwood Bloodstock was back in business at last year’s yearling sales with a strong, even draft of horses, as reflected by eight six-figure sales in Books 1 and 2. There was also a 650,000gns bestseller in the shape of the Kingman filly out of Camilleri’s beautifully bred mare Ring The Bell, a Galileo full-sister to Group 1 winners Hermosa, Hydrangea and The United States, sold to Glen Hill Farm.

“It was a very, very good bunch of horses. Very good,” says O’Brien in hushed tones. “When someone asks me what my standout is going into Book 1 or Book 2 and I can’t give them an honest answer it’s a good sign. That’s exactly how it played out that year. We didn’t have seven-figure horses, but we had excellent averages.

“It was extremely satisfying to have produced such a depth of quality. When the good judges are coming around, and we’re just pulling out one good horse after another for them it sticks in their mind, too. It shows we’re no flash in the pan and we’re producing these good horses consistently.”

The quality has already been exhibited on the racecourse as Hans Andersen, a colt by Frankel out of the Listed-winning Arcano mare Shadow Hunter sold to Coolmore for 450,000gns, was sent out by Aidan O’Brien to win a Curragh maiden doing proverbial handstands and to run second in the Futurity Stakes (G2).

Hazelwood Bloodstock’s drafts at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sales have grown significantly this year, with ten in Book 1, seven in Book 2 and three in Book 3.

The pages of the Book 1 lots are quite breathtaking, as they include four by Dubawi (one of them a halfbrother to Barney Roy), two by Kingman and one each by Frankel (the full-brother to Hans Andersen) and Siyouni.

“We’ve got 20 yearlings this year, which is a big number for us, and ten in Book 1 but each and every one deserves to be there,” says O’Brien. “I don’t think anyone else can claim to be consigning four Dubawis there this year.

So O’Brien hasn’t been overrun with new clients wanting him to consign their lots, and he’s not thinking of upscaling the business?

“No, the owners of the yearlings this year are the same handful of owners we’ve had for the past few years, we haven’t taken on anyone new apart from one,” he says. “We’re consigning the Magna Grecia half-brother to Royal Patronage for our good friends Simon and Emma Capon, but all the rest are for our regulars.

“I’ve no intention of increasing numbers from here, that’s not what we’re about at all. The aim is producing home-foaled and reared products, we’re not going to hit Book 1 with 15 or 20 next year.

“It’s just a question of maintaining quality. For one reason or another we just have more Book 1 yearlings this year, but I suspect it’ll be back to the standard five or six next year.”

It would be unfair to make O’Brien tempt fate or pitch clients against each other by asking for the potential star of this year’s Hazelwood Bloodstock draft, but it doesn’t take much arm-twisting for him to volunteer that the Dubawi colt out of Via Condotti, a winning Galileo full-sister to Highland Reel, Cape Of Good Hope and Idaho, is “one of the best yearlings we’ve ever produced”.

That’s the fabulous first five drafts of Hazelwood Bloodstock dealt with, then, but what about the next five?

“I just want to keep doing what we’re doing, I’ve got the bug now,” says O’Brien. “I don’t want to be consigning any more than we are at the moment, I just want us to be viewed as a source of extremely well bred, top-quality bloodstock produced to a high level with great care and attention to detail by the very good team of people around me.”