Mar_127_TBA-BreederOfTheMonth_Owner 20/02/2015 15:02 Page 96
BREEDER OF THE MONTH
www.thetba.c o.uk
Words Alan Yuill Walker Sponsored by
Manufacturers of
BREEDER OF THE MONTH – January 2015
Bob and Shirley Carter
GEORGE SELWYN
After a searching confrontation on softened ground, the British-bred seven-year-olds Bitofapuzzle and Carole’s Spirit finished first and second in the Grade 2 Warfield Mares’ Hurdle at Ascot, as the betting suggested they would. Between them Bitofapuzzle and Carole’s Spirit – whose dam Carole’s Crusader was the TBA’s NH Broodmare of the Year for 2010/11 – had scored nine times, the former having been defeated only once in five starts under rules, three of her victories coming in mares’ bumpers, two of them Listed. Trained by Harry Fry, Bitofapuzzle was owned previously by Richard Barber, for whom she was an easy winner of a maiden point-to-point at Larkhill in February 2013 when an odds-on favourite. Bitofapuzzle’s sire Tamure and dam Gaelic Gold are indelibly linked. Bitofapuzzle was conceived at Sandley Stud in Dorset – then a satellite of Scarvagh House Stud in Northern Ireland – before joining her at Beech Tree Stud, via an interim period in Cheshire, just across the county boundary into Somerset, where the stallion is now pensioned off. It is at Beech Tree that Bitofapuzzle’s breeders Bob and Shirley Carter board their four broodmares under manager Allan Munnis. “We have known him for 15 years and leave everything to him, he’s the expert,” said Shirley Carter. And it was Munnis, who used to occupy the same role at Sandley, from whom they procured Gaelic Gold. The Carters live at The Greaves, a farm on the Welsh border near Malpas in Cheshire, where daughter Emily Gilruth oversees a hunting and eventing yard at which there are currently around 30 residents. Shirley Carter is secretary to the local Wynnstay branch of the Pony Club and she and her husband run a software and mailing company based locally in Farndon. “We have been involved with thoroughbreds for about 12 years, really through my children’s interest in ponies and horses,” explained Shirley Carter. “My daughter used to ride an eventer for Allan’s wife Judy. My son Matthew Hancock is the MP for West Suffolk and we all had great fun watching him win a charity race at Newmarket a couple of years ago.” The second foal that unraced Gaelic Gold produced for the Carters was Golden Gael. By the Sandley resident Generous, she was sold as a
Bitofapuzzle (right) and Carole’s Spirit battle it out at Ascot
three-year-old at Doncaster in May 2009 for only £2,000 to join Jeremy Scott and is the winner of a Listed novice hurdle. She was consigned from Goldford Stud, sponsors of Bitofapuzzle’s debut victory under rules in a mares’ bumper at Bangor. Bitofapuzzle’s first four dams are all by noted Irish-based National Hunt sires, Good Thyne, Supreme Leader, Vulgan and Mustang respectively, and Gaelic Gold shares her grandam with two smart chasers who made their mark at Aintree in Bells Life (John Hughes Trophy) and Indian Tonic (Becher Chase). Since producing Bitofapuzzle, Gaelic Gold has never left Beech Tree Stud. In 2011 and 2012 she had a colt and a filly by Apple Tree. The former was sold as a foal at Doncaster and the latter will probably go to the Doncaster sales in May. Her two-year-old filly by Geordieland, to whom she is currently in foal, was sold privately for £9,250 at Doncaster in January 2014. Two of the Carters’ mares have yearlings by Geordieland: Lady Blade with a colt and Pems Gift with a filly. The remaining mare, Night Symphonie, who is a half-sister to Sprinter Sacre’s sire Network, is the dam of four winners including Showtime Blues (by Showcasing), a 20,000gns foal. Night Symphonie currently has a yearling colt by, and is due to, Archipenko, before visiting So You Think at Coolmore.
Top vendors choose CALPHORMIN to ensure success. THE FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE SUCCESS
For Optimum Skeletal Development & Conformation
Call for same day dispatch: 01730 815 800 Order online from: www.farmstable.com
96
AUSTRALIA Winner of the 2014 Epsom Derby & Irish Derby and the International Stakes at York. Bred by Stanley House Stud, UK. RAISED ON CALPHORMIN
Manufactured in Ireland by TRM. Distributed by Farm and Stable Supplies LLP.
EXCELLENCE IN EQUINE NUTRITION
THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER