The European breeze-up market reaches an vital milestone this weekend with six graduates competing in Breeders’ Cup races, the biggest quantity from this sale sector to compete in a World Championships in a given yr.
“There was a major improve within the high quality of horses coming from that sector,” stated Brendan Holland, the proprietor/supervisor of Grove Stud, a breeze-up consignor, and a founding member of the Breeze-up Consignors Affiliation.
“Traditionally there was extra high quality in these gross sales in America, however now we’re discovering that it’s lastly being acknowledged in Europe as a assured supply of high quality,” Holland continued. “We’ve fairly a superb combine within the Breeders’ Cup. We’ve three horses within the Juvenile Turf Dash, a pair within the Fillies Turf, and a superb older horse with Rockemperor in the Turf. It is a good example of good 2-year-olds with the longevity.”
Rockemperor wins the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes at Belmont Park
Entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2T) Nov. 5 are group 2 winner Go Bears Go , group 3 winner Twilight Jet , and group 2-placed Hierarchy . In the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) on the same day are Malavath and Cachet .
Twilight Jet is the costliest of the group, promoting for £210,000 (US$292,503) on the Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale in April. The son of Twilight Son out of My Lucky Liz was bought by Michael O’Callaghan out of the Tally Ho Stud consignment. He will race in the Turf Sprint for O’Callaghan in partnership with Michael and Jules Iavarone.
Go Bears Go and Cachet are both Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale graduates. Go Bears Go sold for 150,000 guineas ($216,473) to A.C. Elliott as agent for Amo Racing out of the Aguiar Bloodstock consignment. He is a son of Kodi Bear out of the Giant’s Causeway mare In Dubai and is now raced by Amo Racing and Peter Waney. Cachet was sold by her breeder Hyde Park Stud for 60,000 guineas ($86,590) to Highclere Thoroughbred Racing. She is a daughter of Aclaim out of Poyle Sophie.
David Redvers bought Hierarchy at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale for 105,000 guineas ($153,720) out of Nanallac Stud’s consignment. The son of Mehmas out of Cheworee now races for David Howden and Qatar Racing.
Redvers also acquired Malavath at the Arqana Deauville Breeze Up Sale in a private sale for €139,200 ($169,743) from Star Bloodstock. The filly is also by Mehmas and out of the New Approach mare Fidaaha. She races for Redvers, Everest Racing, and Barbara Keller.
Simone Brogi bought Rockemperor for €12,000 ($14,331) at Arqana in 2018 out of the Mocklershill consignment. Prior to this year, the 5-year-old son of Holy Roman Emperor had won only twice out of 14 starts but placed in six graded/group stakes. He comes into the Nov. 6 Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T) off a win in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) at Belmont Park. He has earned greater than US$914,000 so far.
Go Bears Go (left) trains Nov. 2 in firm at Del Mar
A seventh breeze-up graduate shall be at Del Mar this weekend, however she is not entered in a Breeders’ Cup race. Calvin Nguyen’s Bodhicitta , trained by Richard Baltas, is entered in the Nov. 6 Goldikova Stakes Presented by PNC (G2T). O’Callaghan bought the now-5-year-old daughter of Showcasing for £100,000 ($141,300) at the 2018 Goffs UK sale and sold her a year later to Nguyen (through Meah Lloyd Bloodstock) at the Tattersalls Guineas HIT Sale for 60,000 guineas ($82,108). She has been in the U.S. since May 2019. She won last year’s Yellow Ribbon Handicap (G2T) at Del Mar and was second in the Gamely Stakes (G1T) at Santa Anita Park. She is twice graded stakes-placed this yr and has profession earnings exceeding $338,000.
Whereas the breeze-up market remains to be comparatively small with round 800 horses bought by means of these gross sales yearly, Holland stated the standard of the horses has improved considerably over the past 10 years.
“One motive the sector appears to be punching above its weight is due to the people who find themselves selecting them,” he stated. “Because the sector has develop into extra profitable, they’ve had extra money to spend on yearlings, so they’re shopping for better-bred yearlings. There was a major leap in high quality that’s resulting in extra success.”
Progress within the breeze-up market led to a brand new sale being held in Dubai, two days previous to Dubai World Cup Day. Goffs will maintain the sale and, as is the follow in Europe, no timed works shall be printed for any of the horses provided.
“You are promoting right into a market that will not run till the next autumn and there’s no 2-year-old program, so time shall be irrelevant,” Holland stated. “They may wish to see the horse transfer properly. They will be requested to present a powerful gallop, somewhat higher than a two-minute lick.”
Printed occasions for below tack exhibits are the usual at U.S. 2-year-olds in coaching gross sales and there are some who really feel the identical ought to be completed at Europe’s breeze-up gross sales, however the challenge is a contentious one amongst consignors and gross sales corporations, in accordance with Holland.
“Individuals time the horses by hand however there isn’t a official time introduced, and there are sturdy causes, we imagine, that it mustn’t change,” Holland stated, talking on behalf of many consignors.
“The choice course of is kind of advanced; you are speaking about stride size, cadence, coronary heart measurement … not simply the time and the gallop out,” he continued. “We really feel a printed time narrows issues down an excessive amount of and may begin tying the brokers’ fingers. When the time turns into official, then you’ve gotten a man in New York questioning why his agent is shopping for the horse that’s 79th on the checklist by the clock and never the one that’s twentieth.”
Holland additionally notes that breeze-up gross sales are a marketplace for quite a lot of racehorses, not simply precocious 2-year-olds.
This yr, for instance, the a number of group 1-winning 2-year-old Perfect Power and the British stayer Trueshan , who won the two-mile QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup (G2), both were sold at breeze-up sales.
“That is a strong point for the breeze-ups, the variety,” Holland said. “We don’t want to become one-dimensional. We want to be a source of quality horses. The process is working as it stands and the sector is growing. The Breeders’ Cup is more proof.”
