25 Sep

"I love it when a plan comes together," the immortal words of John 'Hannibal' Smith uttered with regularity in The A-Team and probably echoed by Bill Dwan of the Castlebridge Consignment and Ling Tsui, and her bloodstock team, when the ploy to send her homebred handsome Sea The Stars colt to the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale yielded a €130,000 dividend. One of only two sons of the brilliant racehorse, whose Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris and Prix Niel victor Sosie heads many ante-post lists for the upcoming Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, catalogued in Fairyhouse, his sire power and pedigree drew plenty of lookers to the door of his Barn J stable and they were not disappointed by what they encountered. With the bids raining down on the ring, there was heated competition for the colt whose roots are in Ballymacoll Stud, just a couple...

25 Sep

Quality came to the fore on day one of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale when one of only two Sea The Stars (Ire) colts on offer this week went the way of agent Billy Jackson-Stops and trainer George Scott for i130,000. The Castlebridge-consigned colt was one of five yearlings to break the six-figure mark on a day where an 86% [down 2% on 2023] clearance rate provided some encouragement to middle to lower tier operators. However, many of the key metrics dipped further, most notably the 17% drop in the median to i25,000. Despite 24 more lots on offer for the corresponding day's trade, turnover also dropped by 4% while the average was down 8% to i29,906. The sale of the Sea The Stars colt at i130,000 carried on from a familiar theme to the bloodstock market in recent times where the quality offerings...

14 Sep

Prydwen features in early Welsh poem Preiddeu Annwfn as King Arthur's trusted ship, and connections of the equine namesake have been on quite the voyage themselves, one which takes in Sunday's Deutsches St Leger at Dortmund. The Camelot gelding may be a six-year-old, but he notched a career-high Racing Post Rating of 114 when winning at Killarney last month for Newmarket trainer George Scott and the Blue Starr Racing syndicate, the ninth success of his career and one which took his earnings towards £250,000. In the Killarney Gold Cup last month he lugged 9st 11lb to victory, with Wayne Hassett reducing the burden from 10st 2lb, scoring by two and three-quarter lengths and up. Another nice win this year came on Good Friday at Newcastle on All-Weather Championships finals day, when he ran away with the Marathon by three and a half lengths.  Prydwen was bought by Billy Jackson-Stops and Scott for €30,000...

31 Aug

August brings with it the beginning of the yearling sales, and to kick off a return to France for their V1 August Yearling Sale in the delight town of Deauville on the Normandy coast. Billy secured two lots throughout the sale, an impressive son of Teofilo out of a Fastnet Rock mare, the colt is own sister to multiple black type winning mare Tres Valentine, he was purchased for €320,000 and will head into training with George Scott. The second, a filly by the great Sottsass from the family of Chriselliam, Very Special and Janicellaine, the filly is out of a winning Lope De Vega mare and she cost connections €180,000 to head into training with French 2000 Guineas winner Mario Barratti. The sales circus then headed back to the UK for the Goffs Premier Yearling Sale held in Doncaster where Billy purchased two colts. Firstly, a...

31 Jul

July Arqana Summer Sale kicked off the month, two purchases were made, both two-year-olds that have gone into training with Tom Clover. A smart Zarak colt out of a Kingman mare for €40,00 and a Shalaa filly from the French black-type family of Wheels On Fire, bought for €10,000. Tattersalls July Sale rolled around quickly bringing with it a catalogue of a whopping 923 lots. JS Bloodstock secured four lots, Juneberry a Night Of Thunder filly from Godolphin that will head to France and to the stable of Mario Barrati in Chantilly. Harvard Sound, a gelding with one start and one win purchased for 50,000 Guineas will go back to trainer Tom Clover. City House, a son of Night Of Thunder from the Stable of James Fanshawe will head to George Scott and will hopefully be destined for a winter campaign in Bahrain, the colt was...

30 Jun

Debate in the lead up to Royal Ascot was the lack of international runners, but that didn’t stop the only Australian horse of the week Asfoora from making the locally trained sprinters all look distinctly average. What was more disconcerting for our sprinters, was that Asfoora hasn’t ever managed to win a Group 1 in Australia - she came down and put a length on, what is considered to be our best in division, is a mild wake up call regarding the depth of our sprinters. Asfoora was even described by record breaking trainer Chris Waller as  ‘Just a B grade filly in Australia’. It was a superb effort from Ballarat handler Henry Dwyer to get her primed for the big day after a long year in training in Oz, a fully deserved victory for one of the industry’s nice guys. Let’s hope that her...

31 May

May started with the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze Up Sale. Three purchases were made, all colts, by Australia, Mehmas and Kodi Bear. The Australia will head into training with George Scott, the Kodi Bear to Harry Eustace and the Mehmas who cost 160,000 Guineas for Opulence Thoroughbreds will head to Andrew Balding. From Tattersalls, the circus rolled on to Arqana for the last major Breeze Up Sale of the year - The top lot this year was a Justify colt of Norman Williamson’s that went the way of Godolphin for a steady €2,300,000. JS Bloodstock was responsible for four purchases, sadly nothing that broke the six-figure mark, let alone the seven-figure mark that Godolphin was spending. We bought four colts and a filly, the colts were by Galiway, Blue Point, Starspangledbanner and the filly, a Saxon Warrior. The Blue Point and the Starspangledbanner will go into training...

17 May

The progeny of Tally-Ho Stud’s Mehmas occupied two of the top three prices, with the biggest figure generated by a colt from Eddie Linehan’s Lackendarra Stables. After signing the 160,000gns docket, agent Billy Jackson-Stops said: “He’s for Andrew Balding and Opulence Thoroughbreds. He’s by the right sire, obviously, and out of a mare by the right broodmare sire. “He did a lovely breeze and is a really lovely type. I wanted to buy something that was going to be pretty active this year, so on that front he was everything we wanted. I loved his breeze, loved his attitude and I know the consignor well and he always does a good job.” The colt is out of the Pivotal mare Raincall, who in turn is out of the Australian Group 1 winner Lone Rock. Linehan pinhooked the colt for 55,000gns from the Highclere draft during last year’s...

30 Apr

April saw the return of the breeze up sales, starting at Tattersalls for the Craven Sale, biblical weather led the way to what should have been a straightforward start to the sale season and caused chaos for purchasers and vendors alike with the breeze having to temporarily be halted while a passing storm came through Newmarket. Billy made four purchases, three for long-term client Sheikh Abdullah Al Sabah. The first, a daughter of Kitten’s Joy out of a Night Of Thunder mare from the family of Twilight Jet and Go Angellica - she was purchased for 50,000GNS from Grangecoor Farm and will head straight to Saudi Arabia. Secondly a colt by No Nay Never out of a Mastercraftsman mare, from the family of Flanders and G Force. The easy moving colt was purchased for 115,000GNS from consigners Mocklershill. Thirdly a colt by Mehmas out of a...