Cameras At The Ready As Flash Offers Blackbeard's Sister

By Brian Sheerin and Emma Berry

KILDARE, Ireland–Blackbeard (Ire) has blazed a trail on the track this season and, less than a week after doubling his Group 1 tally when running out an impressive winner of the Middle Park S. at Newmarket, his little sister will go under the hammer at the Orby Sale on Tuesday, which gets underway at 9.30am.

The No Nay Never filly will be sold by Flash Conroy of Glenvale Stud and is one of the most important lots of the entire sale given the exploits of her older brother this year.

But there's only so far a yearling can piggy back off its vaunted sibling, according to Conroy, who says lot 93 has a physique to match her page.

“She's very good-looking, a lovely filly,” Conroy said on Monday. “Listen, we're looking at her all year and every day that Blackbeard ran was a big day for us.

“It's very rare in this game when you get the big updates on the page but you can stand over the physical of the horse that you are going to sell. It matches up in this case.”

Blackbeard has gone from strength to strength for Aidan O'Brien and the colt may not be finished yet. He has won six of his eight starts and, after following up on his Prix Morny victory in the Middle Park, O'Brien suggested he could run again before the year is out, possibly in the Dewhurst.

But Blackbeard has more than done his job as far as Conroy is concerned, with the leading consignor describing his offering as being up there with the best he has sold in recent times, which is saying plenty.

“Blackbeard is the top 2-year-old sprinter around. Watching him win, that's what this game is all about. If you don't get a kick out of that, you may as well give this game up.”

Conroy added, “We've had some very good horses in recent years and she is another. We sold Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}), and Flotus (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), so we've had a good old time of it. This filly has all the physical attributes that you look for. She's a really good filly.”

Staffordstown's Rare Jewel

At the Lanwades/Staffordstown boxes on Monday much of the talk centred on Kirsten Rausing's five-time Group 1 winner Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), who heads to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday.

“I'll be off my food by Sunday,” joked the filly's trainer Sir Mark Prescott as he tucked into soup and sandwiches handmade by Catriona Oxx and reminisced about Sea The Stars (Ire) with her husband John, who also trained Sinndar (Ire) to win the Arc in 2000.

Rausing herself admits that she will probably be a “bundle of nerves” by Sunday, and Alpinista is not her only star filly to be travelling to Longchamp as dual Group 2 winner Sandrine (GB) (Bobby's Kitten) is being aimed at the G1 prix de la Foret. But before thoughts can turn to Paris she has the equally important task of selling a half-sister to two more Group 1-winning Lanwades graduates, the brothers Time Warp (GB) and Glorious Forever (GB), both of whom are by the stud's late stallion Archipenko. Their younger sister, set to sell late on Wednesday as lot 490, is the sole yearling by Dubawi (Ire) in the catalogue, making her something of a standout. 

“I have a really nice Sea The Stars filly also and obviously we wanted to separate them, so the Sea The Stars goes to Tatts and the Dubawi filly came here. My thoughts were that there would be fewer Dubawi yearlings here, and in fact she's the only one,” said Rausing. 

“She was always an outstanding filly and she merits her place in the limelight. Her brothers both won the same Group 1 in Hong Kong, and the elder brother (Time Warp) won a further two Group 1s.”

Staffordstown, the Irish sister stud to Newmarket-based Lanwades, topped this sale in 2007 when selling the filly subsequently knowns as Jane Eyre (GB) – a half-sister to Alpinista's dam Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) – for €2.4 million to Coolmore. Two years ago, for the more humble sum of £110,000, Rausing sold recent St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

Meanwhile the International success of Lanwades continues, with the likes of  Zaaki (GB) and Le Don De Vie (GB), both by Leroidesanimaux (Brz), reaping group-race success in Australia.

Rausing continued, “I think I am right in saying that we have sent 11 Lanwades-breds down to Australia in the last few years. All 11 have run, one has only run once, ten have won, and seven have won black-type races. I suppose what it means is that I seem to breed horses that go distances the Australians like.”

No matter how out of fashion middle-distance races become in various parts of the world, there are few breeders who wouldn't dream of winning the Arc, and Rausing is justified to travel to Longchamp with high hopes of doing just that.

Of Alpinista she added, “She's obviously very special, as were her ancestresses Albanova (GB), her granny, and Alborada (GB), her great aunt in human terms.

“You're in this game so long that one tries to submerge any feeling of nervousness which I think I am fairly good at, because we all know that there are so many things that can go wrong. But if all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle actually fall into place it is so amazing one can hardly believe it.”

Staffordstown also offers four colts by the Lanwades first-season sire Study Of Man (Ire), including lot 236, who is out of the Group 3 winner Starlit Sands (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and is a half-brother to the dam of the aforementioned Sandrine.

Altior's Brother 'Going Down Like A Bomb' 

Fresh off the back of another productive September Yearling Sale at Tattersalls Ireland, Mark Dreeling of Coole House Farm offers the quirkiest colt at the Orby Sale in lot 86, a Mastercraftsman (Ire) half-brother to Altior (Ire), one of the greatest two-mile chasers in modern times.

Dreeling admitted that the colt, who was a late June foal, was always going to struggle to make it to a National Hunt foal sale, even if that would have been the most natural place to sell Paddy Behan's youngster.

However, the consignor, flanked by the enthusiastic breeder at Barn M, described himself as pleasantly surprised about how well the colt has been received by buyers.

Dreeling said, “He was foaled late so it was always going to be a struggle to get him to the National Hunt foal sales. We contemplated bringing the half-brother by Camelot (GB) here a few years ago but decided against that.

“This lad came along and we thought he might be a novelty horse here and he's gone down like a bomb. Paddy was astute in his thinking. Himself and his wife Rosie have done all the hard work. Goffs were eager to have him and we said, 'why not?' He's going down terribly well.”

Monte Solaro (Ire) (Key Of Luck) has been a dream broodmare for the Behans, with four-time Cheltenham festival hero Altior flying the flag for the pedigree, and Tuesday's offering is likely to be the last out of the 22-year-old.

However, Behan will continue to breed from the family after revealing that he recently struck a deal to buy Princess Leya (Ire) (Old Vic {GB}), a half-sister to the legendary dual Champion Chase winner.