ITM Stallion Trail

PULLOUT PREVIEW Thursday, January 9, 2020

JANUARY 10-11

ITM STALLION TRAIL Yeomanstown Stud star Dark Angel is among the big names on view during Ireland’s stallion showcase

Behind the scenes with Court Cave and co at Boardsmill Stud

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Thursday, January 9, 2020 racingpost.com

BLOODSTOCK SPECIAL ITM IRISH STALLION TRAIL

YOUR CHANCE TO SEE THE STARS WHO WILL SHAPE RACING FOR GENERATIONS T The sport’s ultimate road trip

HE Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Irish Stallion Trail returns for its sixth edition tomorrow and Saturday. A two-day national showcase for the Irish thoroughbred breeding industry, the trail involves more than 25 leading stallion farms opening their doors to breeders and the public.

The event has become an annual pilgrimage for visitors from across Ireland and further afield and the 2020 line-up will surely draw strong interest once again.

With champions and exciting new recruits on show, plus the chance to get up close to these icons and with famed Irish hospitality thrown in, there is no reason not to hit the road and visit some of the country’s outstanding stallion farms.

ALEX CAIRNS, ITM MARKETING EXECUTIVE

STALLION

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Studs across Ireland will open their doors this week to breeders and bloodstock enthusiasts Anngrove Stud

Location: Mountmellick, County Laois, R32 HR96 Stallions in residence: Aiken, Famous Name, Marcel, Vendangeur Opening hours: 9am to 3pm, Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11 Celebrating 50 years in business is Anngrove Stud, whose first stallion Lucifer was

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imported from the US to take up residence in 1970 before later making his mark as the damsire of 1993 King George VI Chase hero Barton Bank.

The County Laois stud – run by popular Tattersalls auctioneer Alastair Pim – has also been home to the likes of Monksfield, Prince Regent and Alderbrook down the years.

The present-day roster is made up of Aiken, Famous Name and Vendangeur along with newest recruit Marcel, who is set to stand his second season at Anngrove this year.

Having previously stood for two seasons at the National Stud in Britain, the Racing Post Trophy winner’s debut crop of two-year-olds will hit the track this year.

Promising jumps sire Vendangeur is a son of Galileo responsible for the ill-fated Grade 1 novice chase scorer Arzal and Barra, who finished second to Let’s Dance in the Grade 2 mares’ novice hurdle at the 2017 Cheltenham Festival.

Completing the roster is French Group 2 scorer Aiken and Famous Name, whose best Flat performer Escobar returned to winning ways in the Balmoral Handicap at Ascot last October.

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Ballintlea, Mullinavat, County Kilkenny, X91 V2H2 Proconsul, Sumbal 10am-4pm Michael Shefflin’s Annshoon Stud welcomes first-crop sire Sumbal from Haras de Grandcamp in France for the 2020 breeding season.

The Group 2-winning son of Danehill Dancer shares his sire with Jeremy, who was a great loss to Irish jumps breeders having sired the likes of Our Conor and whose son Success Days recently joined the Kilbarry Lodge Stud roster.

Attractive grey Sumbal – who

stands 16.2 hands high – was raced throughout his career by Qatar Racing.

“Sumbal is bred on a fantastic cross,” says Shefflin, whose previous stallions include Expelled, Fruits Of Love, Sendawar and Talkin Man. “With the loss of Jeremy in the south east of Ireland, Sumbal should attract plenty of attention from breeders.”

Sumbal is joined on the roster by Frankel’s brother Proconsul, whose National Hunt-bred foals have sold for up to €25,000 at public auction.

Arctic Tack Stud

Newbawn, Foulksmills, County Wexford, Y35 TY48 Aizavoski, Arcadio, Jet Away, Ol’ Man River 9am-5pm Jumps breeders are advised to pencil in a stop at Eoin Banville’s Arctic Tack where the roster is headed up by the Monsun stallion Arcadio, whose sons Flying Angel and Hardline have both advertised his talents by winning Grade 1 novice chases.

Arcadio is joined on the roster by Group 2 Beresford Stakes winner Ol’ Man River – a son of Montjeu out of the great Finsceal Beo – whose yearling price-tag of €2.85 million pays testament to his good looks.

Ol’ Man River, whose oldest crop are now three, enjoyed his best result in the sales ring when the half-brother to the Listed-placed hurdler Milliner was sold to Aiden Murphy for €35,000 as a yearling at Tattersalls Ireland last February.

“Ol’ Man River is a beautiful horse as his sales price proves, and he’s getting nice youngstock,” says Banville.

“It’s all in front of him and we’re looking forward to showing him off to breeders during the ITM Irish Stallion Trail.”

Success Days: shares his sire Jeremy with Annshoon Stud newcomer Sumbal

The Cape Cross stallion Jet Away is another to make plenty of appeal as a Listed scorer in Britain who struck in Group 3 company on his switch to Australia.

Heron Island was the first stallion who stood at Arctic Tack and is best known for siring JLT Novices’ Chase hero Black Hercules and National Hunt Chase scorer Rathvinden.

Ballyhane Stud

Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, R93 K095 Dandy Man, Elzaam, Prince Of Lir, Red Jazz, Soldier’s Call 9am-5pm Each year the ITM Irish Stallion Trail provides breeders and other interested parties with the opportunity to judge the latest intake of stallions in Ireland, and Soldier’s Call is sure to draw plenty of visitors to Joe Foley’s Ballyhane Stud.

As a two-year-old the son of Showcasing captured the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes in convincing style, while his win in the Group 3 Prix d’Arenberg at Chantilly and his third against older opposition in the Prix de l’Abbaye earned him champion juvenile honours in France.

He continued to progress at three last year and posted his two highest Racing Post Ratings for placed efforts in the King’s Stand and Nunthorpe Stakes.

Dandy Man – the sire of top-class talents including La Pelosa, Dandhu and the ill-fated Lady Kaya – has seen his fee climb to a career high of €15,000 after his yearlings sold for up to €220,000 last year.

Prince Of Lir, meanwhile, will be represented by his debut crop of two-year-olds in 2020, among them a three-parts brother to German 2,000 Guineas winner Fox Champion who realised 260,000gns at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year.

Completing the line-up is Elzaam, who sired two new stakes winners in 2019 with Waitingfortheday and Playa

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Racing Post Thursday, January 9, 2020

Pictures: Patrick Mccann (racingPost.coM/Photos)

Coolmore’s dual Derby-winning residents Camelot (left) and Australia

great King’s Theatre, Ballylinch Stud continues its National Hunt tradition through Beat Hollow, whose ability to sire exceptional jumpers was evidenced once again last season by dual Grade 1 novice hurdle winner Minella Indo.

Boardsmill Stud

Del Puente, and Snazzy Jazzy’s sire Red Jazz.

Ballylinch Stud

Thomastown, County Kilkenny, R95 V020 Beat Hollow, Fascinating Rock, Lope De Vega, New Bay, Make Believe, Waldgeist 10am-4.30pm One of the highlights of the weekend is the opportunity to

visit Ballylinch Stud, where top-class thoroughbreds have resided since 1914 when The Tetrarch took up stallion duties.

New boy Waldgeist is sure to attract plenty of visitors as a four-time Group 1 winner by Galileo and, who had the ilk of Enable, Japan and Sottsass in arrears when drawing clear of his rivals in last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Lope De Vega’s stallion career has continued on an upward trajectory with his son Phoenix Of Spain having won the Irish 2,000 Guineas last May to earn his place on the Irish National Stud roster, and he will command a six-figure fee from breeders for the first time this year.

Make Believe – who joined Lope De Vega on the Poule

d’Essai des Poulains honour roll – made a promising start with his first two-year-olds last season, with Ocean Fantasy and Rose Of Kildare having struck in Pattern company.

The son of Makfi also supplied stakes scorer Tammani from his first crop and remains affordably priced at €12,000.

Two stallions with their first

runners this year are New Bay, who like Lope De Vega won the Prix du Jockey Club and is a son of Dubawi from the family of Kingman and Oasis Dream, and Fascinating Rock, a son of Fastnet Rock who developed a loyal following for his wins in the Champion Stakes at Ascot and the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh.

Having once stood the late,

Trim, County Meath, C15 FE40 Califet, Court Cave, Kalanisi, Poet’s Word 10am-4.30pm Many outstanding National Hunt sires have held court at the Flood family’s Boardsmill Stud down through the years, ever since J’Accours first took up residence in the 1930s.

Among the former stallions listed on the stud’s slick new website are the likes of Chou Chin Chow, sire of Arkle Chase hero Broncho and Galway Plate winner Chow Mein; Brave Invader, an unraced son of an Irish Oaks winner like current resident Court Cave; and Furry Glen, whose daughters have continued his legacy by producing the likes of Carlingford Lough, Comply Or Die and Like-A-Butterfly.

More recently, Boardsmill stood Orchestra, the progenitor of Dorans Pride, and Jurado, whose son Hello Bud struck in the Scottish National and Becher Chase and who was out of an Orchestra mare.

Firmly established on the present-day roster are Califet, Court Cave and Kalanisi, who Continues page 4

From the stud which stands 2019 first-crop sensation Night Of Thunder...

High-class Dewhurst and Lockinge winner and a European Champion juvenile from the Shamardal line of Pinatubo.

First yearlings sell for up to 200,000gns and his €55k colts’ average is higher than Lope de Vega had with his debut crop.

€10,000 Oct 1, SLF

Lope de Vega – Danaskaya (Danehill)

See him and the rest of our roster on the Irish Stallion Trail.

Friday and Saturday, 10-11 Januar y, from 11am until 3pm.

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Thursday, January 9, 2020 racingpost.com

BLOODSTOCK SPECIAL ITM IRISH STALLION TRAIL Harzand is paraded at Gilltown Stud and (right) Free Eagle at the Irish National Stud; (inset) US Navy Flag in the frame at Coolmore Stud

From page 3

need little introduction having all sired winners at the highest level over jumps, while all eyes this weekend will be on new recruit Poet’s Word, a €5,000 option for breeders who moves from Shadwell’s Nunnery Stud in Britain after just one season.

The son of Poet’s Voice has an iron-clad CV having struck in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes as a five-year-old, earning an official rating of 130, while he evidently has the looks to match having sold for 300,000gns as a yearling.

Behind the scenes at Boardsmill Stud, pages 10-11

Burgage Stud

Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, R93 RK35 Jukebox Jury, Sea Moon, Shantou 10am-4pm Victor Connolly’s Burgage Stud is another with tremendous National Hunt heritage, having stood the wonderful Bob Back previously, and he has three stallions to introduce to breeders this year.

The evergreen Shantou continues to supply a steady stream of high-class jumpers, with Beware The Bear having struck in the Ultima Handicap Chase at last year’s Cheltenham Festival and Angels Breath having recently run out a wide-margin winner of the Grade 2 Noel Novices’ Chase at Ascot.

Sea Moon struck in the Hardwicke Stakes and a Group 2 at Caulfield during his racing career and the 12-year-old son of Beat Hollow has his first two-year-olds on the ground in 2020, with his foals having

sold for up to €20,000 at public auction.

Jukebox Jury – now in his third year at Burgage – has created a very favourable impression with his first jumps runners, having supplied the likes of Triumph Hurdle hero Farclas, a winner on his first three starts over fences, and Naas maiden hurdle winner Tiger Tap Tap, an exciting prospect for the Riccis trained

by Willie Mullins.

Jukebox Jury’s first-crop son Jukebox Jive, meanwhile, struck in the valuable November Handicap at Naas last season when fending off Buildmeupbuttercup.

Castlehyde Stud

Fermoy, County Cork, P61 TR29 Footstepsinthesand, Gustav Klimt, Holy Roman Emperor, Kingston Hill, Mastercraftsman, Maxios, Order Of St George, Rock Of Gibraltar, Sioux Nation, Starspangledbanner, Westerner, Yeats, Zoffany 10am-3pm Coolmore’s mixed Flat and jumps offering at Castlehyde Stud is sure to feature on many itineraries this weekend, with household racing names like Order Of St George and Yeats among a whole host of stars on show.

Order Of St George joined fellow Coolmore National Hunt stallion Soldier Of Fortune at the top of the popularity stakes in 2019, having served a book of 275 mares in his debut year, while Yeats has enjoyed a purple patch of late with De Rasher Counter successful in the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury and Master Debonair having landed a Grade 2 novice hurdle at Ascot.

For Flat fanatics, Starspangledbanner has enjoyed a resurgence having

experienced fertility problems in his early years at stud, with Cheveley Park Stakes heroine Millisle putting his name firmly back on the map.

Jumps breeders will be eager to feast their eyes upon new recruit Maxios, who produced last year’s German Oaks winner Diamanta having stood his first six seasons at leading German stud farm Gestüt Fährhof.

“We’ve been watching Maxios for some time and are delighted to have secured him,” says Castlehyde’s Cathal Murphy. “He’s a fine big horse by leading National Hunt influence Monsun, comes from a fantastic Niarchos family and was a champion miler. He’s already the sire of a Group 1 winner and we have no doubt he’ll prove extremely popular.”

Claremount Stud

Claremount, Broadford, County Clare, V94 X80K Barraquero 10am-4pm Barraquero, a son of the Invincible Spirit stallion Zebedee, achieved a Racing Post Rating of 110 when winning a soft-ground Richmond Stakes in 2017, which led his trainer Brian Meehan to describe him as “a very exciting horse”.

Although he failed to fire on his only subsequent start, he looks sure to appeal to breeders hoping to inject some pace into their stock.

“Barraquero was all speed and we felt sure he’d win a Group 1,” says Sam Sangster, racing manager for Manton Thoroughbreds. “He’s already let down into a very good-looking stallion and breeders will be impressed when they see him in the flesh.”

Coolagown Stud

Coolagown, Fermoy, County Cork P61 D320 Axxos, Carlotamix, Shantaram, Zambezi Sun 10am-4pm National Hunt breeders are sure to flock to David Stack’s Coolagown Stud and not only to hear the boss’s quick-witted quips.

Axxos, who will stand his second season at Coolagown, has a fine flagbearer in the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Earlofthecotswolds, who stayed on well to win a Class 2 novice chase at Exeter last month.

Shantaram, a Group 3 winner and Galileo brother to Guineas third Gan Amhras, fielded his first winner when first runner Litigate won a Fakenham bumper in convincing style last October.

Completing the roster is Carlotamix, sire of the dual French Champion Hurdle winner Gemix, and Zambezi Sun, who has impressed with his first jumps runners including the six-year-old gelding Spirit Sun, who struck in the Listed Prix Air Landais chase at Auteuil last March.

Coolmore Stud

Fethard, County Tipperary, E91 XK26 Australia, Calyx, Camelot, Caravaggio, Churchill, Fastnet Rock, Galileo, Gleneagles, Highland Reel, Magna Grecia,

No Nay Never, Saxon Warrior, Ten Sovereigns, The Gurkha, US Navy Flag 10am-3pm (compulsory to register) For any racing fan a trip to Coolmore is both a privilege and a thrill, the remarkable beauty and history of the place bolstered by a stallion roster full of names even the most casual racing follower would know well.

Where else to start other than with the best – Galileo. A true breed-shaper and one of the all-time greats, he stands alongside four of his Classic-winning sons in Australia, Churchill, Gleneagles and The Gurkha, while globetrotting superstar Highland Reel is another son of the stallion to have earned a berth at Coolmore.

New for 2020 are Calyx, Magna Grecia and Ten Sovereigns, and each of them boasts a strong pedigree and race record.

Calyx, a four-year-old son of Kingman, had Advertise and Sergei Prokofiev in arrears when he won the Coventry Stakes at two, leading his trainer John Gosden to remark: “Calyx is very talented – his father was exceptionally talented and he has all of those attributes”.

Magna Grecia became the first Classic winner in Britain for his sire Invincible Spirit, while he also had enough ability as a juvenile to win the Vertem Futurity Trophy.

Like Magna Grecia, Ten Sovereigns also struck at the highest level at two and three, with the son of No Nay De Rasher Counter: the Ladbrokes Trophy winner is a son of Coolmore sire Yeats

Never having produced blistering displays to win the Middle Park Stakes and July Cup. No Nay Never has risen to the top of the European stallion ranks in no time at all and will command a career-high fee of €150,000 for the 2020 breeding season. Given his presence alongside speedy studmates Caravaggio and Ten Sovereigns, the Scat Daddy sire line looks to be in safe hands in Europe.

Maintaining the strong links between the Irish and Australian bases of Coolmore are shuttlers Fastnet Rock, Merchant Navy and Pride Of Dubai.

Fastnet Rock’s daughter One Master took the Prix de la Forêt for the second season in a row on Arc weekend last October, while Merchant Navy was a fine racecourse representative for the sire, winning the Diamond Jubilee Stakes following his switch to Ballydoyle. Pride Of Dubai, meanwhile, has made a strong impression with his early runners in Australia, fielding three stakes performers from seven runners including Listed Debutant Stakes scorer Tanker.

Saxon Warrior – like Magna Grecia a winner of the Racing Post Trophy and 2,000 Guineas – and the three-time Group 1 winner US Navy Flag both have their first foals on the ground, while talented fillies Albigna, Fleeting and Main Edition all shone the spotlight on their sire Zoffany last season.

Derrinstown Stud

Maynooth, County Kildare, W23 KX82 Awtaad, Haatef, Markaz, Tamayuz 10am-3.30pm, tomorrow; 9.30am-noon, Saturday The Irish base for Hamdan Al

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Racing Post Thursday, January 9, 2020

Pictures: Patrick Mccann (racingPost.coM/Photos)

Maktoum’s stallions have plenty to look forward to this year as both Awtaad and Markaz will have their first two-year-old runners.

Awtaad, who struck in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and shares his sire Cape Cross with Sea The Stars and Golden Horn, had no fewer than 15 first-crop yearlings sell for six-figure sums last year – bred off a €15,000 fee – headed by a 350,000gns half-brother to Group 2-winning sprinter Donnerschlag and a €400,000 half-brother to Phoenix Of Spain, who joined Awtaad on the Irish 2,000 Guineas honour roll last year.

Markaz, a brother to Mecca’s Angel by Dark Angel, received bids of up to 62,000gns for his first-crop yearlings last year, led by a daughter of the winning Kodiac mare Our Joy, while a half-brother to Coventry Stakes scorer Rajasinghe brought 60,000gns at the previous year’s foal sales.

Tamayuz, a dual Group 1 winner over a mile by Nayef, supplied his fourth scorer at the highest level last year when Mustashry ran out a convincing winner of a competitive Lockinge Stakes, while the veteran Haatef completes the four-strong roster.

Gilltown Stud

Kilcullen, County Kildare, R56 P710 Harzand, Sea The Stars 11am-3pm, tomorrow only Gilltown Stud represents another of the special stops on the ITM Irish Stallion Trail, presenting the opportunity to get up close and personal with an all-time racing great.

Sea The Stars was a simply magnificent racehorse and his stallion career is delivering on that almighty promise in

spades, bringing his tally of top-flight winners to 12 last season.

Star Catcher confirmed herself as the outstanding filly of her generation with wins in the Irish Oaks, Prix Vermeille and British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes; Crystal Ocean claimed the scalp of Magical in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes; while Shraaoh struck for Winx’s trainer Chris Waller in the Sydney Cup at Randwick in April.

Sea The Stars is joined at stud by his dual Derby-winning son Harzand, who had four first-crop yearlings sell for six-figure sums at auction last year led by a 130,000gns half-sister to the stakes-placed Camelot filly Amazing Lips.

Grange Stud

Fermoy, County Cork Capri, Getaway, Leading Light, Milan, Walk In The Park 10am-3pm Another collection of Coolmore’s mighty National Hunt stallions are gathered here at what is another must-visit for any jumps breeding enthusiast.

New arrival Capri looks to have iron-clad credentials as a dual Classic-winning son of Galileo and a Pattern winner each season from two to four, and he should receive a warm welcome from breeders in North Cork and further afield.

Getaway is enjoying yet another fine season with Grade 2 novice chase winners Danny Whizzbang and Vegas Blue to his name, as well as the hugely exciting The Big Breakaway, and he had five foals sell for €50,000 or more at Tattersalls Ireland last November.

Walk In The Park ran second

to Motivator in the 2005 Derby and returned from stud in France following the emergence of his star sons Douvan and Min. He took up residence at Grange Stud in 2016 and has proved a hit with jumps breeders ever since, with the brother to Douvan selling for €140,000 at last year’s Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale. A colt foal out of Oscar Whisky’s sister Poppy Baloo, meanwhile, found favour with Timmy Hillman at €72,000 in the same sales ring at the November Sale.

Milan remains an admirably consistent source of jumps talent with the likes of If The Cap Fits and Monalee flying the flag for him.

Leading Light joined Milan on the St Leger roll of honour in 2013 and followed up in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot a year later, and he has proved popular with jumps buyers with six stores sold for €50,000 or more last year.

Irish National Stud

Tully, Kildare, R51 KX25 Decorated Knight, Dragon Pulse, Elusive Pimpernel, Free Eagle, Invincible Spirit, National Defense, Phoenix Of Spain Daily shows: 11am-3pm (visitors are requested to enter through the business entrance) The Japanese Gardens are not the only attraction for visitors in Tully this weekend as the Irish National Stud gets set to throw open its doors.

Dashing grey new recruit Phoenix Of Spain boasts a rock-solid race record, with the son of Lope De Vega having won the Acomb Stakes and chased home Magna Grecia in second in the Vertem Futurity Trophy at two, and defeated that same rival and Too Darn Continues page 8

From the stud which stands 2019 first-crop sensation Night Of Thunder

THE LAST LION

First runners in 2020 for the Brocklesby-Middle Park winner who beat Blue Point and was rated the equal of Churchill and Caravaggio.

Yearlings made up to 170,000gns and juveniles are with Archie Watson, Eddie Lynam, James Tate, John Gosden, Johnny Murtagh, Mark Johnston, Richard Fahey, Richard Hannon, Saeed bin Suroor.

€7,500 Oct 1, SLF

Choisir – Mala Mala (Brief Truce) Stands at Kildangan Stud, Ireland.

See him and the rest of our roster on the Irish Stallion Trail. Friday and Saturday, 10-11 January, from 11am until 3pm.

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Thursday, January 9, 2020 racingpost.com

ITM IRISH STALLION TRAIL Friday 10th – Saturday 11th January 2020

1. ANNGROVE STUD 2. ANNSHOON STUD 3. ARCTIC TACK STUD 4. BALLYHANE STUD 5. BALLYLINCH STUD 6. BOARDSMILL STUD 7. BURGAGE STUD 8. CASTLEHYDE STUD 9. CLAREMOUNT STUD 10. COOLAGOWN STUD 11. COOLMORE STUD 12. DERRINSTOWN STUD 13. GILLTOWN STUD 14. GLENVIEW STUD 15. GRANGE STUD 16. IRISH NATIONAL STUD 17. KEDRAH HOUSE STUD 18. KILBARRY LODGE STUD 19. KILDANGAN STUD 20. KNOCKHOUSE STUD 21. RATHASKER STUD 22. RATHBARRY STUD 23. SPRINGFIELD HOUSE STUD 24. SUNNYHILL STUD 25. TARA STUD 26. THE BEECHES STUD 27. TULLYRAINE HOUSE STUD 28. WHYTEMOUNT STUD 29. WOODFIELD FARM STUD 30. YEOMANSTOWN STUD

DERRY

DONEGAL

ANTRIM

TYRONE

Belfast BELFAST AIRPORT

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FERMANAGH ARMAGH

LEITRIM Sligo

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Westport

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WESTM MEATH 10 GALWAY Galway

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WEXF FORD

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29 WATERFORD AIRPORT

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CORK AIRPORT

Visit www.itm.ie/stalliontrail for further details ERE T OROUG BREDS BECOME LEGENDS

+ 353 45 443000 INFO ITM.IE

.ITM.IE

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Racing Post Thursday, January 9, 2020

1. ANNGROVE STUD M C L R HR Open Hours: Contact: A P P: M: E: W: Stallions: A GB F N GB M IRE V IRE 2. ANNSHOON STUD B M C K V H Open Hours: S Contact: M M: E: Stallions: P IRE S IRE 3. ARCTIC TACK STUD N F C W Y TY Open Hours: Contact: E B P: M: E: W: Stallions: A IRE A GER A GB O M R IRE 4. BALLYHANE STUD L C C R K Open Hours: Contact: F P: E: W: Stallions: D M IRE E USA P O L IRE R USA S C GB 5. BALLYLINCH STUD T S C K R V Open Hours: Contact: Stephanie Kennedy P: 86 0806477 E: stephanie W: Stallions: B H GB F R IRE L D V IRE N B GB M B GB W GB 6. BOARDSMILL STUD T C M C FE Open Hours: Contact: F P: M: E: W: Stallions: C FR C C IRE K IRE P W IRE 7. BURGAGE STUD L C C R RK Open Hours: Contact: V C P: E: Stallions: IRE S M GB S USA F

8. CASTLEHYDE STUD C C P TR

Open Hours: Contact: C M T G H T W P: E: W: Stallions: F GB Gustav Klimt (IRE), H R E IRE K H GB Mastercraftsman (IRE), Maxios (GB) Order Of St George (IRE), R O G IRE S N USA S AUS W GB Y IRE IRE

W: Stallions: S T H IRE

9. CLAREMOUNT STUD C B C C V K Open Hours: Contact: P M P: E: W: Stallions: B IRE

15. GRANGE STUD F C C Contact: A M C M D M A S Open Hours: P: E: W: Stallions: Capri (IRE), G GER L L IRE M GB W I T P IRE

10. COOLAGOWN STUD C F C C P D Open Hours: Contact: D S P: M: E: W: Stallions: A GER C FR S GB S GB 11. COOLMORE STUD N.B. Registration on the ITM website is compulsory to visit.

F C T E K Open Hours: Contact: M M W N P: E: W: Stallions: A GB C GB C GB C USA C IRE F R AUS G IRE G IRE H R IRE Magna Grecia (IRE), M IRE M N AUS N N N USA P O D AUS S W PN T G IRE Ten Sovereigns (IRE), US Navy Flag USA 12. DERRINSTOWN STUD M C K W K Open Hours: F S P: E: W: Stallions: A IRE H IRE M IRE T GB 13. GILLTOWN STUD K C K R P Open Hours: FRI ONLY 1 3 Contact: W Jill Donnelly P: E: jill.donnelly

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B P IRE B IRE D A IRE E A E AUS F C IRE F N GB F GB Night Of Thunder (IRE), P IRE R P USA R IRE S USA S P IRE T IRE T L L IRE

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14. GLENVIEW STUD C C C P HE Open Hours: Contact: P C P: E: W: Stallions: Blue Bresil (FR), M GER S GER S IRE Y IRE

20. KNOCKHOUSE STUD K C K DK Open Hours: Contact: S K A G P: E: W: Stallions: L GB P F GB S S GER T FR W GB

16. IRISH NATIONAL STUD T C K R K Daily Shows: V Contact: C B G S S H P D H B P: E: W: Stallions: D K IRE D P IRE E P USA F E IRE I S IRE N D GB P S IRE 17. KEDRAH HOUSE STUD K H C C T E NH Open Hours: SAT ONLY Contact: T M M: E: Stallions: B IRE R L USA W C GB 18. KILBARRY LODGE STUD W D Open Hours: Contact: C O K P: E: W: Stallion: D B T IRE P C D IRE

FR GB S

19. KILDANGAN STUD M C K W HR Open Hours: 1 Contact: E M A OD C D P: E: W: Stallions: B IRE

Contact: L P: W: E: Stallion: U

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27. TULLYRAINE HOUSE STUD R B C D BT TW Open Hours: FRI ONLY Contact: M M P: E: W: Stallion: C IRE

22. RATHBARRY STUD F C C P T Open Hours:

28. WHYTEMOUNT STUD K C K R KW Open Hours:

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23. SPRINGFIELD HOUSE STUD K R C T H Open Hours: O

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26. THE BEECHES STUD L C W P H H Open Hours: Contact: R M C B M C P: W: Stallions: C O GB F USA I IRE I M IRE M GB O GB S F IRE S O F IRE W O E FR

21. RATHASKER STUD K R N C K W W Open Hours: FRI ONLY Contact: M M B M (Maurice): M (Madeline): E: W: Stallions: A GB B I GB C IRE C IRE G IRE

Contact: C C P: W: E: Stallions: A GB IRE K B IRE T IRE

25. TARA STUD T C M C Open Hours: FRI ONLY Contact: D I P: E: W: Stallions: A E IRE

R

C

IRE

24. SUNNYHILL STUD K C K R NP Open Hours: FRI ONLY Contact: M H +353 (0)45 481201 +353 (0)87 2500686 sunnyhillstud@eircom.net www.sunnyhillstud.com Casamento (IRE), Doyen (IRE), Lucky Speed (IRE)

Contact: R ON P: E: Stallions: A IRE F L D GB V FR 29. WOODFIELD FARM STUD G K C W C Open Hours: Contact: G N P: E: Stallions: B T C T IRE

GB

30. YEOMANSTOWN STUD N C K W CX48 Open Hours: FRI ONLY Contact: D G OC P: E: W: Stallions: C GB D A IRE E K USA G IRE I A IRE

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Thursday, January 9, 2020 racingpost.com

BLOODSTOCK SPECIAL ITM IRISH STALLION TRAIL From page 5

Hot to land the Irish 2,000 Guineas at three.

Invincible Spirit supplied his first British Classic winner when Magna Grecia landed the spoils in the 2,000 Guineas and has marked himself out as a leading sire of sires through the likes of Cable Bay, I Am Invincible and Kingman.

Free Eagle supplied 12 first-crop winners last season led by Tipperary Listed winner Justifier and the Listed-placed Auxilia, while Dragon Pulse has another batch of smartly bred youngsters set to bat for him this season.

Decorated Knight struck three times at the highest level, including in the Irish Champion Stakes, and the son of Galileo will welcome his first yearlings this year, as will Invincible Spirit’s champion two-year-old son National Defense.

Elusive Pimpernel earned a deserved fee increase to €3,000 this year having been available at the bargain price of €1,000 for so long, with his son Soviet Pimpernel having landing a Grade 3 hurdle at Limerick over the Christmas period from Gardens Of Babylon.

Pictures: Patrick Mccann (racingPost.coM/Photos)

Bungle Inthejungle is paraded at Rathasker while studmate Anjaal is caught on camera; (below) Doyen is the centre of attention at Sunnyhill Stud

Knockhouse Stud

Kedrah House Stud

Kedrah House, Cahir, County Tipperary, E21 NH21 Berkshire, Rule Of Law, Well Chosen 11am-3pm, Saturday only Located in the tranquil foothills of the Galtee Mountains in the rich limestone farmland known as the Golden Vale, the Meagher family’s operation boasts a trio of stallions worth the visit.

Royal Lodge Stakes scorer Berkshire – a Mount Nelson stallion out of the Prix de l’Opera heroine Kinnaird – was sent 203 mares in his first season at Kedrah House Stud last year, paying testament to his good looks, after he spent his first covering season in France.

St Leger winner Rule Of Law, who stood for Darley in Japan for a number of years earlier in his stallion career, has started to see his first Irish-bred runners filter through, including useful four-year-old gelding Young Offender.

Well Chosen – a son of Sadler’s Wells out of Nassau Stakes winner Hawajiss – is also proving himself a high-class producer as the progenitor of Jury Duty and Carefully Selected, Grade 1 performers in the care of Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins respectively.

Kilbarry Lodge Stud

Waterford, X91D 602 Diamond Boy, Joshua Tree, Pillar Coral, Success Days 10am-4pm The arrival of Success Days will surely have caught the eye of National Hunt breeders with his late, much-missed sire Jeremy having supplied no fewer than ten pointers sold for six-figure sums at auction last year.

The grandson of Danehill Dancer was a winning juvenile who struck in Pattern company

representative in Japan with the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes scorer Tower Of London, while Slade Power’s first-crop filly Raffle Prize flew the flag for him last year with wins in the Queen Mary and Duchess of Cambridge Stakes.

The Last Lion’s first yearlings impressed the judges last year with Clonmult Farm having turned an extraordinary profit on a filly by the sire at Goffs, as she went from a €1,000 foal to a €78,000 yearling.

at three, four and five. The attractive grey continued to perform with credit at six and seven as his front-running style endeared him to racing fans.

Diamond Boy has already made an impression with British and Irish breeders after supplying the Welsh Champion Hurdle hero Monsieur Lecoq and Kingwell Hurdle scorer Grand Sancy, which has led to a surge in popularity for the sire in the sales rings with foals sold for up to €31,000 during the latest round of sales.

The unraced Pillar Coral hails from a smart staying family with his half-brothers Coastal Path, Martaline and Reefscape having all supplied Grade 1 winners over jumps, while Joshua Tree is best remembered for his unprecedented three wins in the Pattison Canadian International Stakes.

The latter is by Montjeu, whose other sons Authorized, Camelot, Davidoff, Fame Jury Duty: a Grade 1 winner

by Kedrah House Stud stallion Well Chosen

And Glory, Jukebox Jury, Montmartre, Motivator, Scorpion and Walk In The Park have all supplied Grade 1 winners over jumps.

Kildangan Stud

Monasterevin, County Kildare, W34 HR98 Belardo, Blue Point, Buratino, Dawn Approach, Exceed And Excel, Fast Company, French Navy, Fulbright, Night Of Thunder, Profitable, Raven’s Pass, Ribchester, Shamardal, Slade Power, Teofilo, The Last Lion 11am-3pm Another outstanding collection of household names, there is something for everybody among Darley’s stacked Irish roster.

Shamardal stands alongside his sons Blue Point and French Navy and was crowned by Martin Stevens as the Sire of the Year in the 2019 Racing Post Bloodstock Awards following a

scintillating season during which he supplied unbeaten Group 1-winning juveniles Earthlight, Pinatubo and Victor Ludorum.

New for the 2020 breeding season is his sprint-sensation son Blue Point, who enhanced his stallion credentials even further by completing the King’s Stand-Diamond Jubilee Stakes double at Royal Ascot last year, having also won the King’s Stand the year before as well as the Al Quoz Sprint at Meydan.

Dubawi stallion Night Of Thunder returns to Kildangan Stud after two years at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket, having stood his first two covering seasons at Kildangan. His first crop blazed a trail last year with 28 winners from 53 runners worldwide led by Pattern scorers Night Colours, Pocket Square and Under The Stars.

Exceed And Excel, who is joined on the roster by his sons Buratino and Fulbright, supplied three winners at the highest level last year in his native Australia in Bivouac, Exceedance and Microphone, while he enjoyed his best season as a broodmare sire in 2019 thanks to the exploits of Anthony Van Dyck and Ten Sovereigns.

Ribchester covered 295 mares in his first two seasons, with two thirds of those by black-type mares or stakes producers, while King’s Stand Stakes scorer Profitable has been supported with a similar number of mares in that same timespan. Fast Company, meanwhile, has started to make his mark in the National Hunt sphere with his sons Band Of Outlaws and Veneer Of Charm having both won the Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Teofilo has supplied 16 top-flight winners including Irish Derby hero Trading Leather and Prix Jean Romanet scorer Ajman Princess.

Three stallions are pitched in at a €10,000 fee this year – Belardo, Dawn Approach and Raven’s Pass – while another affordable option is Slade Power, who will stand at a €7,500 fee. All four were champion racehorses.

The first yearlings by Belardo, a Group 1-winning grandson of Shamardal through his son Lope De Vega, sold for up to 200,000gns last year, while Dawn Approach fielded the Derby runner-up Madhmoon.

Raven’s Pass has a fine

Kilmacow, County Kilkenny, X91 DK61 Libertarian, Prince Flori, September Storm, Tirwanako, Workforce 10am-4pm These are exciting times for Sean Kinsella’s Knockhouse Stud with the arrival of Tirwanako from France, two four-year-old geldings by the sire having sold for a combined €410,000 during the most recent round of boutique sales. Then Adrimel built on the promise of his eight-length win at Ballyarthur when scorching clear of his bumper rivals at Uttoxeter last month, while Gabynako looks like one to keep onside having finished third in a Fairyhouse bumper on his first start under rules.

Workforce – whose oldest Irish-foaled crop are now two – is also sure to attract plenty of visitors ten years after his emphatic Derby win.

The first four-year-olds for Libertarian, the Dante Stakes scorer who was second to Ruler Of The World in the Derby, are expected to start appearing between the flags in the near future with reports that many of them have been working well at home.

September Storm, a Monsun brother to Shirocco, has sired exciting jumps mare Mia’s Storm, while the Grosser Preis von Baden winner Prince Flori, by Lando, completes the five-strong roster.

Rathasker Stud

Kilcullen Road, Naas, County Kildare, W91 W181 Anjaal, Bungle Inthejungle, Clodovil, Coulsty, Gregorian 11am-3pm, tomorrow only Sire of last season’s Lowther Stakes heroine Living In The Past and the Group 1-placed Rumble Inthejungle, Bungle Inthejungle leads the five-strong roster at Maurice Byrne’s Rathasker Stud, from where the son of Exceed And Excel has supplied 50 winners from his first two crops of racing age.

Standing alongside him is the Danehill stallion Clodovil – the sire of 52 stakes performers – and his son Gregorian, who relocated to Rathasker last year after four seasons at the National Stud in Newmarket. Gregorian has supplied seven stakes scorers led by the Listed-winning pair Queen Jo Jo and Greach.

Anjaal, a son of Bahamian Bounty, burst on to the scene with his first runners last year led by Weatherbys Super

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Racing Post Thursday, January 9, 2020

PATRICK McCANN (RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS)

Sprint scorer Bettys Hope and the black-type pair Above and Sicilian Focus.

Last but not least is Coulsty, a smart son of Kodiac whose yearlings have found favour with the likes of Michael Dods, Ed Dunlop, Willie McCreery and Jamie Osborne. Keep an eye out for his first juveniles this year.

Sunnyhill Stud

Rathbarry & Glenview Studs

Fermoy, County Cork, P61 TX22 Acclamation, Blue Bresil, James Garfield, Kodi Bear, Malinas, Shirocco, Sholokhov, Tagula, Youmzain 10am-12.30pm, 2pm-4pm The four Flat stallions standing at the Cashman family’s Rathbarry Stud are headed up by sire of sires Acclamation, who has nine sons standing at stud including four of his five Group 1 winners in Aclaim, Dark Angel, Equiano and Expert Eye, while daughter Marsha also won two sprints at the highest level.

James Garfield – the Mill Reef Stakes scorer from the family of Invincible Spirit and Kodiac – will have his first foals on the ground this year, while Kodiac’s Group 2-winning son Kodi Bear will have his first runners, with Andrew Balding, Karl Burke, Clive Cox and Kevin Prendergast among the trainers who signed for his yearlings in 2019.

“It’s a great opportunity for Irish breeders to use a Group 1-winning son of Society Rock who was precocious and fast,” says Reddy Coffey of the new arrival. “He’s a must-see individual with a super walk who has developed great muscle tone.”

Dark Angel poses for admirers at Yeomanstown Stud

Tagula embarks on his 24th covering season at Rathbarry in which time he has sired the outstanding Canford Cliffs and Limato.

The jumps wing of the operation at Glenview Stud welcomes the arrival of Blue Bresil from Yorton Farm Stud in Britain. The son of Spadoun, a quality runner on the Flat and over jumps, has a number of notable runners including

Grade 1 winners L’Autonomie and Mick Jazz and Cheltenham Festival scorers Ibis Du Rheu and Le Prezien.

Monsun stallion Shirocco and his Sadler’s Wells-sired studmate Sholokhov remain popular among National Hunt breeders having sired Annie Power and Don Cossack Mister Malarky: a son of Glenview Stud-based stallion Malinas

respectively, and buyers have also been clambering to secure their progeny, with Shirocco having sired four six-figure pointers last year and Sholokhov’s son Wide Receiver having topped the Cheltenham February Sale at £410,000.

Completing the jumps roster are Malinas – the sire of Mister Malarky and Medinas among others – and Youmzain, a half-brother to Creachadoir whose jumps runners have included the Grade 2 hurdle winner Saglawy.

Springfield House Stud

Knock, Roscrea, County Tipperary, R32 H425 Unfortunately 10am-4pm Unfortunately, a champion and Group 1-winning sprinter at two, will be on show at his new home of Linda and Reddy Coffey’s Springfield House Stud in County Tipperary – a new stop on the ITM Irish Stallion Trail this year – having stood his first season at Cheveley Park Stud.

Kilcullen, County Kildare, R56 NP 97 Casamento, Doyen, Lucky Speed 10am-4pm, tomorrow only Casamento has continued to make his mark with his jumps runners since his arrival at Sunnyhill Stud, with House Island having finished a close second to Enrilo in the Grade 2 Winter Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown last month and City Dreamer have landed the US Champion Hurdle at Percy Warner Park last May. Sadler’s Wells stallion Doyen had three four-year-old pointers sell for six-figure sums last year, with his son Battleoverdoyen having taken that path before landing his third Graded race at the Leopardstown Christmas Festival.

The Deutsches Derby hero Lucky Speed, meanwhile, will have his first three-year-olds on the ground this year and represents an interesting sire line as a son of Continues page 10

DECORATED KNIGHT TRIPLE GR.1 WINNER First crop foals made up to 190,000gns and averaged close to €59,000.

In foal mares sold for 675,000gns, 425,000gns, 370,000gns, etc.

Fee: €9,000 (£7,750) 1st Oct.

See him at the Irish National Stud as part of the ITM Stallion Trail on 10-11 January

Contact: Gary Swift or Patrick Diamond at Irish National Stud • T: +353 (0)45 521251 • www.bluediamondstud.co.uk/dk

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Thursday, January 9, 2020 racingpost.com

BLOODSTOCK SPECIAL ITM IRISH STALLION TRAIL PATRICK McCANN (RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS)

From page 9

the Lomitas stallion Silvano, who has made waves in South Africa.

Tara Stud

Tara, County Meath, C15 P762 Alhebayeb, Estidhkaar 10am-3.30pm, tomorrow only Alhebayeb has made a fine start to his stallion career with the son of Dark Angel having supplied two second-crop stakes scorers last season in Italian Group 3 scorer Aurelius In Love and his daughter Abama, who won in Listed company at Deauville, bringing his tally of stakes scorers to three.

Fellow Dark Angel stallion Estidhkaar will have his first two-year-old runners this year, and from his first crop bred off a €5,000 fee he had three six-figure yearlings sell last year with Roger Varian having stretched to 140,000gns for a half-brother to What Style, who took second in the Irish 1,000 Guineas Trial at Leopardstown.

The Beeches Stud

Lismore, County Waterford, P51 H70H Crystal Ocean, Flemensfirth, Idaho, Imperial Monarch, Mahler, Ocovango, Sans Frontieres, Soldier Of Fortune, Wings Of Eagles 10am-3pm Crystal Ocean may represent a major loss to middle-distance breeders on the Flat, but on the other hand National Hunt breeders have been given a significant opportunity to use the son of Sea The Stars – who joined Enable and Waldgeist at the top of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings last year – in his first season at stud.

Flemensfirth will embark on his 23rd covering season and continues to supply classy jumpers at a rate of knots, with Lostintranslation leading the charge among his progeny this season.

A slew of Epsom Derby winners will be on show this weekend including the 2017 hero Wings Of Eagles, who relocated to Beeches Stud last year after a single season at Haras de Montaigu.

The progeny of Soldier Of Fortune continued to prove all the rage in the sales ring, with handsome returns for vendors at Tattersalls Ireland and Goffs last winter, while his French-bred offspring from a previous stint at Haras du Logis Saint Germain include the likes of Early Doors and Scarpeta.

Chris’s Dream has progressed into an admirable performer for his sire Mahler, winning the prestigious Troytown Handicap Chase at Navan on his most recent start, while there have been some notable racecourse results for younger members of the roster as well.

Imperial Monarch supplied a brace of winners in Imperial View and Cill Anna; Sans Frontieres came up trumps with the impressive Limerick maiden hurdle winner Jason The Militant; and Ocovango’s

Yeomanstown Stud’s El Kabeir sees the funny side of things

first runner Langer Dan entered many notebooks after winning on his first two starts over hurdles, including a Listed race at Wetherby.

Tullyraine House Stud

37 Quarry Road, Banbridge, County Down, BT32 3TW Conduit 10am-4pm, tomorrow only There may be only one stallion to see at Hugh Suffern’s stud but it is worth the trip.

Having stood at Japan’s Big Red Farm for the first six years of his career, Breeders’ Cup and King George hero Conduit is now entering his fifth year at Tullyraine House Stud, meaning his oldest Irish-bred crop are three-year-olds this year.

The seven-year-old entire Thinking Dancer also flew the flag for Conduit when runner-up in the 2019 Nakayama Grand Jump.

Whytemount Stud

Kells, County Kilkenny, R95 KW01 Affinisea, Feel Like Dancing, Valirann 10am-4pm Ronnie O’Neill’s Whytemount Stud, which found fame as the home of the late rags-to-riches stallion Stowaway, will proudly show off new arrival Feel Like Dancing this weekend, with the Group 3-winning son of Galileo having supplied seven winners led by dual scorers Falbala Des Mottes and Palm De Bellouet.

Affinisea, a Sea The Stars three-parts brother to Soldier Of Fortune whose oldest crop are two-year-olds, has enjoyed some strong sales results with Richard Rohan and Ian Ferguson among the leading jumps buyers who have purchased foals by the sire.

Valirann, a Group 2-winning son of Nayef whose oldest crop of runners are four years old, received a major vote of confidence when Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls went to €155,000 for a three-year-old gelding out of the high-class racemare and producer Brogella at last year’s Goffs Land Rover Sale.

Woodfield Farm Stud

Glendalligan, Kilmacthomas, County Waterford, X42 C526 Bullet Train, Curtain Time 10am-4pm Celebrating its 30th year in

business is Woodfield Farm Stud, which is situated beneath the beautiful Comeragh Mountains in County Waterford and home to not one but two sons of the mighty Sadler’s Wells in Bullet Train and Curtain Time.

Group 3 winner Bullet Train, who began his stud career in the US and later shuttled to Australia, is a year-younger brother of dual world champion Frankel and already has five black-type runners to his name, led by US stakes scorer Whiskey Train and the Victoria Derby and Rosehill Guineas third Chapada.

Curtain Time, meanwhile, has regularly proven he is capable of siring high-class jumpers with the likes of Texas Jack and recent Punchestown winner Freewheelin Dylan.

Yeomanstown Stud

Naas, County Kildare, W91 CX48 Camacho, Dark Angel, El Kabeir, Gutaifan, Invincible Army 10am-1pm, 2pm-4pm; tomorrow only Last but not least is Yeomanstown Stud, which welcomes Group 2-winning sprinter Invincible Army for the 2020 breeding season. The son of Invincible Spirit struck in Pattern company each season from two to four, including an impressive win in the Duke of York Stakes in 2019.

The five-strong roster is once again headed by Dark Angel, whose star son Battaash stopped the clock in the Nunthorpe Stakes in a course record time of 56.16sec, while a sister to Harry Angel and a Dark Angel granddaughter of Cassandra Go both realised seven figures during the last round of yearling sales.

Gutaifan – who stands alongside his sire Dark Angel – ended last year as the leading first-season sire in Europe with 32 winners, while El Kabeir, a Grade 1-placed son of the late Scat Daddy, has his first yearlings on the ground in 2020.

Completing the roster is Camacho, a Danehill half-brother to Showcasing who is noted as the sire of Poule d’Essai des Pouliches heroine Teppal and Queen Mary Stakes scorer Signora Cabello.

OLLIE O’DONOGHUE

Boardsmill Stud hoping new boy can add another rich chapter to its esteemed history Aisling Crowe talks to John Flood, whose family-owned operation welcomes Poet’s Word to its roster of stallions

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OARDSMILL STUD lies in the mythical, mystical Boyne Valley, where Ireland’s first occupants built monuments that withstood the ravages of time, weather and human activity, where legends grew bigger than their deeds and a battle raged that, more than 300 years later, still shapes the future of two countries.

In 1935 Jack Flood added a thoroughbred stallion to the Irish Draughts that he and his father before him stood at his County Meath farm, and the operation’s influence and success in the world of thoroughbred breeding grew from there.

Eighty-five years later Jack’s son William and grandson John throw open the gates of Boardsmill Stud to the public.

The current stallion roster is headed by 24-year-old Kalanisi, a warrior whose epic tussles with another legend in Giant’s Causeway thrilled racing fans during that unforgettable summer of 2000. Twenty years on, the Breeders’ Cup Turf and Champion Stakes winner is joined at Boardsmill by a stallion who was also trained

by Sir Michael Stoute, and whose racing career carries more echoes of Kalanisi.

Poet’s Word stands his first season in Ireland after one year at Shadwell Stud in Norfolk, having won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prince of Wales’s Stakes in 2018.

Successful at the highest level over ten and 12 furlongs, the news of his quick switch to National Hunt came along with the announcement that Crystal Ocean, his former

stablemate at Freemason Lodge, would begin his stallion career as a jumps sire and prompted plenty of debate, which John Flood is quick to acknowledge.

“The current market for Flat horses means there’s a lack of demand for these type of stallions, which isn’t a good thing for Flat bloodlines,” he says. “But it’s a brilliant opportunity for National Hunt breeders who have access to this calibre of stallion.”

Skim through the race record of Poet’s Word and it is easy to see why he is such a boon to National Hunt breeders, and those Flat breeders who are not constrained by commercial dictates. In 17 career starts, the son of the late Group 1 winner Poet’s Voice was only once out of the first four and in 14 of those runs he finished in the first three.

Poet’s Word fitted the profile of a typical Stoute improver, steadily rising through the ranks before stepping up to the highest level in the Irish Champion Stakes, in which he was a close second to Decorated Knight, beating Eminent, Taj Mahal, Churchill, Zhukova and The Grey Gatsby.

He filled the same position behind Cracksman in the Champion Stakes but finished in front of the likes of top-level winners Highland Reel, Recoletos, Brametot and Barney Roy. At five he came into his own, running a half-length second to Hawkbill in the Dubai Sheema Classic, in which those behind Poet’s Word included Cloth Of Stars, Rey De Oro, Best Solution and Satono Crown.

He won a second William Flood: runs Boardsmill Stud with his grandson John

Group 3 when taking the Brigadier Gerard Stakes before he claimed victory over Cracksman and Hawkbill in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot. An enthralling duel in the home straight with stablemate Crystal Ocean in the King George concluded with Poet’s Word crowning himself in glory.

A

TROUBLED passage in the Juddmonte International was no help to his task but he still managed second to Roaring Lion at York, finishing ahead of top-flight winners Saxon Warrior, Benbatl, Without Parole, Latrobe and Thunder Snow.

That was the final race of his career, which saw him earn an official rating of 130 and a Racing Post Rating of 129, and in turn made him the second-best colt in Europe after Cracksman in 2018.

It is a race record of which any stallion could be proud, and that has driven inquiries to Boardsmill from breeders on both sides of the Irish Sea eager to secure a place in the first Irish book of Poet’s Word for their mares.

“He’s a King George winner who was rated 130 and there are very few stallions at stud who have achieved such a lofty rating,” says Flood.

“He improved with age and was a very consistent horse who was sound and tough.

Everyone who worked closely with him while in training has told us how good a temperament he had, and we’ve seen the same since he arrived at Boardsmill. He’s a very good-looking horse who made 300,000gns as a yearling, and backed up that early impression with his deeds on the track.”

Another reason for his popularity is his sire line, as a son of the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner Poet’s Voice and grandson of Dubawi.

With a pedigree free from Sadler’s Wells, Poet’s Word is a valuable outcross for the National Hunt

11

Racing Post Thursday, January 9, 2020

Pictures: Patrick Mccann (racingPost.coM/Photos)

which is great because the quality of mares in his second and third books really improved, so you’d hope the best is still to come from him.”

C Boardsmill Stud in the Boyne Valley, County Meath, and (left) Poet’s Voice, a new addition after one year at Shadwell Stud

broodmare herd that is dominated by daughters and granddaughters of that prepotent sire.

The cross of Dubawi with a Galileo mare has already been proven through last year’s leading first-season sire Night Of Thunder, a son of Dubawi out of a Galileo mare, the 2,000 Guineas and Lockinge winner siring seven stakes winners from his first crop. Dubawi’s multiple Group 1-winning son Al Kazeem also sired a top-level winner in 2019 from a small amount of runners in the Preis von Europa winner Aspetar.

“We’d been looking at the Dubawi line for a while because he gets tough racehorses who act on all types of ground and it’s an outcross for Sadler’s Wells,” says Flood. “Dubawi is only just starting out as a sire of sires and he has started very well, so it’s a sire line that I

think we’re going to see more of in National Hunt breeding.”

B

OARDSMILL’S own performance and pedigree in standing top-class horses who are capable of siring performers at the highest level on the Flat and over jumps is well established, and Poet’s Word is available to Flat breeders who are not subject to the whims and caprices of the sales ring.

That said, the Floods

‘Poet’s Word improved with age and was a very consistent horse who was sound and tough’ John Flood

anticipate he will be patronised mainly by National Hunt breeders, in the manner of the late Mount Nelson, whose death at just 15 due to lymphangitis was a big loss to the stud and the National Hunt bloodstock industry generally.

“We’d love to be standing Poet’s Word alongside Mount Nelson here at Boardsmill but that wasn’t to be,” says Flood.

“When we got Mount Nelson we knew he had lymphangitis and we were lucky to have him for almost three years.

Hopefully he has left a strong legacy in his foals, who are all strong, good-walking horses.

Poet’s Word is a great walker and, like Mount Nelson, was a tough, sound racehorse.”

Boardsmill is also home to popular sires Califet and Court Cave, as well as Kalanisi, who looks to have another gem in the Grade 1 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle third Darver Star.

Gavin Cromwell’s Listed

novice hurdle winner claimed the bottom step of the podium behind Envoi Allen and Abacadabras at Fairyhouse last month, and the form has been franked with Abacadabras winning the Grade 1 Future Champions’ Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival and Soviet Pimpernel, who finished sixth in the Royal Bond, running out an easy winner of a Grade 3 hurdle at Limerick’s Christmas Festival.

Califet’s first crop of foals conceived at Boardsmill turned five on New Year’s Day and they have been pleasing

point-to-point handlers, while Cilaos Emery, bred in France, is unbeaten in three starts over fences, with the Grade 1 Champion Novice Hurdle winner of 2017 giving trainer Willie Mullins his 11th success in December’s Hilly Way Chase at Cork.

Flood says: “Califet is a consistent and proven source of Grade 1 talent. He isn’t getting any younger but his first Irish crop has been showing up well in the point-to-point sphere and his second crop is just four now and they’re pleasing the point-to-point handlers,

OURT CAVE hails from one of Juddmonte’s most prolific stallion-producing families as an unraced brother to Beat Hollow, and a relative of the racing royalty that is Oasis Dream and Kingman, as well as the outstanding National Hunt stallion Martaline, and his siblings Reefscape, Coastal Path and Pillar Coral. Still only 19, Court Cave has sired winners at each of the last three Cheltenham Festivals, including Grade 1 stars City Island and Willoughby Court.

“He’s a very consistent sire and a great horse to start a mare off with as he gets winners and has a great record with his point-to-point horses,” says Flood. “His four-year-olds of 2019 included Clondaw Secret, who is a brother to Clondaw Court, also trained by Mick Goff.

“We sold Clondaw Secret to Mick as a store on behalf of his breeder Daphne de Stacpoole Lynch, and he was a good winner of the four-year-old geldings’ maiden at Boulta last month on his debut.

“Mick has been a great supporter of Court Cave, as has Aidan Fitzgerald.

Hopefully the horse will translate that success on to the track this year.”

In Ireland’s own valley of the kings, Boardsmill Stud looks towards a century of standing thoroughbred stallions and the deeds of a horse whose apt name is a nod to the bards that wove the stories and legends of the place where the mythical and historical live side by side.

12

Thursday, January 9, 2020 racingpos .com

THE AGA KHAN STUDS Success Breeds Success

HARZAND

The only dual Gr.1 stallion son of SEA THE STARS. First yearlings in 2019 made 130,000gns, 120,000gns, €135,000, €125,000, etc.

His first 2yos in 2020 are in training with:

Roger Charlton, Ed Dunlop, John Gosden, William Haggas, Ger Lyons, Hughie Morrison, Amanda Perrett, Alain de Royer Dupré, Roger Varian, Dermot Weld, etc.

Come and see him as well as his leading sire Sea The Stars at Gilltown Stud on Friday, from 11am to 3pm.