In this TDN series we ask a group of experts for their predictions for the 2020 flat season in Europe. Today we hear from Cathy Grassick.
TDN: Who do you think will be the leading first-season sire this year?
CG: It is definitely one of the harder years to figure out where the leading first-season sire is going to come from due to the amount of horses that retired to stud in 2017. I was very taken with the offspring of Shalaa (Ire) in France; he has an excellent first crop to race for him and is a son of leading sire of sires Invincible Spirit, so he is very exciting. Twilight Son (GB) was one of the stallions in the UK whose stock caught my eye and offers top-class speed to the great book of mares that he covered. I have also been a long-time fan of The Gurkha (Ire), since I first encountered him on the racetrack, and I am looking forward to seeing his stock emulate his record once they hit the track.
TDN: Have you bought, raised or sold any by those stallions? Do they typically stamp their stock?
CG: I didn't manage to purchase any horses from the first crop of these stallions but we did sell a beautiful The Gurkha filly on behalf of our client, Arild Faeste of Tourgar Stud, who is a half-sister to Grandeur (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}) and she looked every bit of a racehorse to me. I also purchased a cracking Shalaa colt foal out of Helisa (Fr) (Elusive City) on behalf of Oaklawn Stud at the Arqana December Sale this year and he is just as sharp and racy as his father. I think that all three of the above stallions, Shalaa, Twilight Son and The Gurkha, look very likely to produce racehorses in the same ilk as themselves.
TDN: Hope for the 2020 flat season?
CG: I would really like to see lots of success for all of my clients both breeding and racing. Personally I am really looking forward to racing a homebred Equiano (Fr) colt, in my own colours, that is in training with Tracey Collins on The Curragh. I am also excited to watch the exploits of Newtown Stud-bred Lil Grey (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) for Sheila Lavery and her baby sister, a 2-year-old by Markaz (Ire) now named Hungry for Fashion (Ire). She was bought by Nick Bradley and is in training with Karl Burke.
TDN: We have been running a series in TDN recently on value sires. What European stallion(s) do you think represents the best value?
CG: Two of my personal favourites are Bated Breath (GB) based in the UK and Footstepsinthesand (GB) based in Ireland and I have found them both to be a source of great value for my clients. It is also worth mentioning Fast Company (Ire), who I think is definitely a horse to watch with his first Kildangan Stud-conceived crop about to hit the track and Equiano has proved an excellent source of speed and winners from a relatively low stud fee.
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