Tag: breezeup

Abunai colt

A little over two hours after watching Al Shaqab Racing’s Sandiva (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) post serious Classic claims in the G3 Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn S., Sheikh Joaan Al Thani’s Racing Advisor Harry Herbert sent several of the organization’s trusted lieutenants into battle in the sales ring to secure the next generation of potential stars. With 20 of the 45 lots sold during the first evening of trade reaching six-figure sums, the average rocketed to 117,457gns, up by 49%, while the median also rose significantly, by 46% to 76,000gns. Turnover of 5,403,000gns was a 35% improvement on the corresponding session of
2013. Ross Doyle engaged in a prolonged tussle with the Coolmore team to ensure that Lot 44, a High Chaparral (Ire) colt out of a Pivotal (GB) half-sister to GI E.P. Taylor S. winner Miss Keller (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), will race in the Al Shaqab livery after setting a new European breeze-up record at 800,000gns.

“He did the best breeze of any in the sale and he’s a beautiful horse by the right stallion,” said Doyle, standing alongside Richard Hannon, who trains another High Chaparral colt, the G1 Sussex S. winner Toronado (Ire), for Al Shaqab and will now take charge of Sheikh Joaan’s expensive new purchase.

Herbert added, “He’s a very similar stamp to Toronado with a beautiful head and outlook. Coolmore wanted the horse as much as Sheikh Joaan does and this is what happens when they clash.”

The sale-topper was a welcome touch for Jim McCartan of Gaybrook Lodge Stud, who bought the colt for 41,000gns in the same ring less than six months ago, just a week before his dam, the multiple winner Abunai (GB), was sold for just 15,500gns to Jocelyn Targett of Black Type. Abunai foaled a colt by Bated Breath (GB) last week and is set to be covered by first-season sire Cityscape (GB).

Abunai colt

McCartan said: “I thought he’d sell well, though I wasn’t expecting that–but this is what we’re all in the game for. The day I bought him I thought he was a very nice colt but he’s just done everything right since. The first day I worked him I knew he was something special and we’ve just kept him ticking over. It’s very much a team thing–you can’t do anything in this business without good staff and Cian Hughes broke him in for me while Gerry Kerins has been riding him and looking after him.

“The lads were mad about him at home and I just hope he turns out to be really special for his new owner,” McCartan added. McCartan’s good evening didn’t end there. Dick O’Gorman went to 210,000gns to buy Lot 65, Gaybrook Lodge’s Invincible Spirit (Ire) half-sister to Group 3 winner Distinctive (GB) (Tobougg) after she had been picked up at the October Sale for just 25,000gns.

Source: Thoroughbred Daily News, Thursday, April 17, 2014 | by Emma Berry

Abunai colt

Europe’s breeze-up record price was nudged to a new high at Tattersalls in Newmarket last night when a son of High Chaparral made 800,000gns.

A horns-locked encounter between two major racing and breeding operations created the new mark – up 40,000gns on the previous best set at this same Craven Breeze-Up Sale last year – and the successful buyer proved to be Sheikh Joaan’s Al Shaqab Racing,  which foiled the powerhouse Coolmore Stud. It was a moment in time for the vendor, Jim McCartan of Gaybrook Lodge Stud, who picked up this prized possession for a humble 41,000gns (that is not a printing error!) in December.

Harry Herbert, representing the Sheikh, said of the colt, a grandson of the marvellous Hascombe and Valiant Stud’s mare Ingozi: “He has the most beautiful head and wonderful outlook. He was the absolute stand-out in this sale, and you could see the  opposition – they wanted him just as much.”

The revered colt had been foaled by the Pivotal mare Abunai, who produced a juvenile winner last year in Black Blade, and was herself a half-sister to Gr.1 E P Taylor Stakes heroine Miss Keller.

Two foot soldiers had been sent to bid on behalf of the leviathans, namely Ross Doyle for Al Shaqab, and Jamie McCalmont, who was positioned next to Paul Shanahan, Michael Tabor and M V Magnier, for Coolmore. Doyle, who was standing alongside Richard Hannon Jr, said the new European record holder put him in mind of another High Chaparral colt who is in that trainer’s stable.

“He reminds me of Toronado,” said Doyle. “He was the best horse here by a long way. He’s very special – they don’t just come along like that.”

Asked to confirm that Hannon, in his first season with a licence, would handle this exciting prospect, Herbert smiled and said: “One would assume so. There would be war if not.”

Abunai colt

For seasoned observers, let alone the average racegoer who knows little of the machinations beneath the action they see on the track, the question is: How did a 41,000gns yearling, bought at the December Yearling Sale little more than five months ago, spiral so colossally in value?

“It’s a Westmeath thing,” said McCartan, in jest perhaps, but how can anyone be sure when such a remarkable transition has been achieved? “The day I bought him I thought he was very nice, and the first time I worked him I thought he was different – he just worked better than other horses. He did everything very easily, and when we came here he did the breeze I thought was in him.

“You have to bear in mind it’s very much a team thing. You cannot do this without good staff. Cian Hughes broke him in, Gerry Kerins has been riding him for the past couple of months, and Manuel breezed him. The lads at home were all mad about him.”

Asked what he would do with his bumper profit, McCartan added: “The bank manager will be happier, and it will help pay for the equine swimming pool. Willie Browne just came up and said I’ll be swimming them in champagne after this!”

Gaybrook Lodge’s spectacular moment was given a cream topping later in the session when it traded an Invincible Spirit filly (Lot 65) to Dick O’Gorman for 210,000gns – described by auctioneer Edmond Mahony as “An Ascot two-year-old”, she had been bought my Midas-touch McCartan for 25,000gns at the October Sale.

Of course, such profitable occasions have to be set against the inevitable losses that will occur – McCartan revealed he is trading 30 breezers this season at the two Tattersalls’ sales, DBS, Arqana and Goresbridge, and, intriguingly, he has a War Front filly for Goffs’ new London sale on the Monday of Royal Ascot, where she will be one of 30 two-year-olds who will be auctioned (in addition to a possible 20 horses in training). “It’s something new and imaginative, and we wanted to support it,” said McCartan.

Source: European Bloodstock News, Thursday, 17th April 2014

Gaybrook Lodge has recently expanded its facilities with the addition of a hydrotherapy spa and a 40m straight swimming pool which is available to hire.

Additional stables have also been added as part of this project to cater for boarders using these facilities during layup or rehabilitation after injury.