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SPECIAL MERIT/BREEDER OF THE MONTH MAY 2010 Sponsored by Blue Chip Feed Ltd
Words Alan Yuill Walker
SPECIAL MERIT AWARD
Elsdon Farms Azmeel were foaled here. It’s much better to know where you stand firsthand rather than second-hand. We have a great team here headed by stud groom, Noel Challinor. “It’s also very reassuring to know that Rossdales’ veterinary practice is just round the corner – Nick Wingfield Digby is a tremendous help. At present we have about 20 mares on the place and we shall be prepping about a dozen yearlings for the sales excluding our own.�
BREEDER OF THE MONTH
The John Gosden-trained Azmeel lands the Dee Stakes at Chester
One afternoon last August Elsdon Farms had a great stakes double at Newbury, with Kite Wood in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes and Azmeel in the Washington Singer Stakes. Now these two colts have recorded a major May double, with Kite Wood winning the Group 2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier and Azmeel landing the Group 3 Dee Stakes to earn this breeding operation, based at Exning on the outskirts of Newmarket, the monthly Special Merit award. Kite Wood’s Newbury victory prefaced his second place in the St Leger and Azmeel went on from Chester to run in the Epsom Derby, all of which is infinitely promising for Peter Trivass and Sue Elsdon of Northmore Stud. The husband and wife team has been involved with bloodstock since they had horses with Sean Kelly at Raffin Stud in Ireland. Always wanting to have a place of their own in Newmarket, they bought Northmore Stud from Hugh van Cutsem in February 1991. Previously, Northmore was owned by Hugh’s father, Bernard, who trained the great mare Park Top and bred and trained her sire, Kalydon. However, the outstanding individual to be produced at Northmore was his wife’s Sharpen Up. Both Kite Wood (by Galileo) and Azmeel (by Azamour) are out of mares purchased at Tattersalls’ December Sales. Kite Mark cost 55,000gns as a three-year-old in 2001 when this close relative to Daggers Drawn was culled by Cliveden Stud. Azmeel is the first foal of Best Side and he was in utero when she was purchased for 125,000gns in 2006. At present Peter and Sue have Kite Mark’s three-year-old son Musical Mark in training with Marco Botti, while back at the ranch she has a yearling colt by Teofilo and a foal own-sister to Kite Wood who arrived in early March. She is currently back in foal to Galileo. “This is Kite Mark’s first filly from her first seven foals,� said Sue. “It would be very tempting to keep her, but we shall have to wait and see. It’s a bit more complicated as she is a foal share.� The breeders are obviously advocates of repeating a successful mating as Best Side has now been certified in foal to Azmeel’s sire, Azamour. Her two-year-old filly by High Chaparral, Baisse, made 48,000gns as a yearling last autumn and the latter’s Motivator half-sister is also destined for the October Sales. Their dam was not covered last year due to a late foaling. “We always foal at home,� emphasises Sue. “Both Kite Wood and THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER
Even though Special Duty’s two 1,000 Guineas triumphs were attained by default, Juddmonte Farms is still a very worthy winner of the May award, with three Group 2 winners in Byword, Ice Blue and Manifest – Byword went on to score at Royal Ascot in the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes. The stud receives six sacks of Blue Chip Original feed balancer and some Blue Chip clothing. Incidentally, Prince Khalid Abdullah’s homebred Deluxe finished second in the Prix Saint-Alary. Had she prevailed, she would have become a sixth individual Group/Grade 1 winner for the outstanding mare Hasili.
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GEORGE SELWYN
Juddmonte Farms
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