Big Wins…Big Offers

Goodwood, UK — In a near-repeat performance of last year, a Mick Appleby-trained 'Big' horse by a first-season sire, running in the red and blue silks of Paul and Rachael Teasdale's RP Racing Ltd, scorched to success in the G3 Molecomb Stakes. 

What came next for Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) was several victories moving up through the grades and rounding off his juvenile season in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. It is a pretty safe bet that with each new victory came larger and larger offers from stallion studs. The phone is probably already starting to ring for his successor, Big Mojo (Ire) (Mohaather {GB}), too.

Big Evs, who runs in Friday's G2 King George Qatar Stakes has been strongly linked of late to the name of Tally-Ho Stud, one of the best in the business for getting fast young stallions off to a speedy start in their second career. Sensibly, his owner is preferring to focus on the racing season and would not be drawn as to the eventual location for Big Evs once his racing days are over.

“We're talking to a few people about that and they're one of [the studs]. They're great people there but nothing has been decided yet,” said Paul Teasdale. “Realistically he could have four more runs this year and we're looking forward to that.”

He continued, “Now we'll have the same situation again but it's a nice problem to have and we're just delighted to have won this race two years running.”

A maiden coming into Goodwood, Big Mojo had finished runner-up at Beverley on his racecourse debut earlier this month and he holds an entry for the G2 Gimcrack Stakes at York, which is run on the same day as the G1 Nunthorpe, in which Big Evs could also reappear.

Conor Quirke bought Big Mojo for the Teasdales at the Tattersalls December Yearling Sale for 175,000gns from the draft of his co-breeder Ringfort Stud.

The owner said, “Conor buys all our horses and he's bought another good one here. We bought him just after the Breeders' Cup. We are in racing to race and win and that's what we want to do. We are not in this to buy horses and sell them. We bought four two-year-olds at the end of last year and three of them are fantastically talented. The fourth we haven't really tried yet.

“Big Mojo is bred for six furlongs, so the Gimcrack Stakes will be the perfect race for him. We attended the Gimcrack dinner last year and have had a long-standing joke that I would like my wife to do the speech.”

That joke looks a little more serious now, as does the current form of Mick Appleby, who had the first and third in the Molecomb, with Mr Lightside (Ire) (Earthlight {Ire}) finishing just a head behind the runner-up Aesterius (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}). He also enjoyed a double on Tuesday – at Goodwood and Beverley. 

Appleby said of his Molecomb duo, “They could both go to America for the Breeders' Cup but Big Mojo will go to the Gimcrack first.”

It was a good day to be called Appleby. After Mick came Charlie with his returning Guineas hero Notable Speech (GB), who gave a welcome boost to the Classic form with his rousing victory in the G1 Qatar Sussex Stakes. He too nominated the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar as a suitable end-of-season for the Dubawi (Ire) colt, and he knows a thing or two about winning the Breeders' Cup Mile. Appleby has landed  it for Godolphin for the last three years running with Space Blues (Ire), Modern Games (Ire) and Master Of The Seas (Ire) – all three of whom are also by Dubawi. May the fourth be with him.