19 Aug

A bit of history was made at Catterick on Monday when Alther Walden became the first Hungarian-bred winner on the Flat in Britain since the Racing Post's comprehensive records begin. George Scott's gelding was second favourite among the four runners for the 1m4f novice but could not have been a more effortless winner as he coasted 14 lengths clear under Liam Wright. Only three imports from the country have even competed on the Flat since 1988. Charlie's Destiny beat only one rival in two starts for Gerry Enright in 1999, while Gringo had won twice over fences ten years earlier. Alther Walden, a son of Study Of Man, was bred by Hungary's Babolna National Stud and has a poignant story. He was part of a project driven by stud manager Zsolt Hegedus, who had planned to offer four Hungarian-bred yearlings at Baden-Baden in a bid to promote his country's bloodstock...

30 Sep

It was at last year’s Goffs Orby Sale that bloodstock agent Billy Jackson-Stops and trainer George Scott unearthed the unbeaten Champagne Stakes winner Bay City Roller, with a bid of €320,000 required to bring the hammer down. The pair are hoping for a similarly successful outcome after returning to the exact same spot on the top tier of the auditorium and bidding €500,000 for a striking Night Of Thunder colt offered by Forenaghts Stud. Bay City Roller was initially bought for Clive Washbourn but transferred to the ownership of Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s Victorious Racing after a taking debut success. After signing the docket on Tuesday Scott revealed his latest purchase was set to join the Victorious Racing string that also includes his stable's Hardwicke Stakes winner Isle Of Jura. “He showed himself better and better over the last couple of days,” said Scott. “Night...

30 Sep

The hunt for the next Bay City Roller (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) is on at this year's Goffs Orby Sale, with Henry Beeby saying that he is convinced the sales house has never assembled such a strong group of yearlings to be offered at Ireland's premier yearling sale this week. Trained by George Scott, Bay City Roller stretched his unbeaten record to three in the G2 Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, and his connections harbour genuine Classic aspirations heading into the winter. Stakes winners Beechwood (Ire) (Le Havre {Ire}), She's Quality (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), One Look (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), Apples And Bananas (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB})–who added to his tally in the Goffs Million on Saturday–along with German St Leger scorer Prydwen (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) have flown the flag for the Orby Sale this season but Beeby says he is convinced that the quality on offer throughout the whole this week...

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...

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 Dec

Continuing the profiles of the favourite horses of TDN Europe's editorial team in 2023, Sean Cronin selects an unheralded sprinter who could hit the big time next year. Royal Ascot's 2023 edition produced its plethora of lip-quivering moments and there was scarcely a dry eye in this quarter when Rogue Millennium (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) halted a seven-race losing streak by annexing the G2 Duke Of Cambridge S. for Tom Clover's Fordham Road yard. Purchased for 35,000gns as an unraced two-year-old out of the Shadwell draft at Tattersalls' 2021 December Sale, she became the Kremlin House incumbent's first Royal scorer and instigated joyous scenes among the multitude of Rogues Gallery syndicate members assembled in the hallowed winner's enclosure. Her best effort, in four subsequent outings, following that career high was a runner-up finish in Leopardstown's G1 Matron S. on Irish Champions weekend, but she made little impression and...