Getting To Know The First-Season Sires Ahead Of The Foal Sales

It is the most wonderful time of the year. No, I'm not talking about Christmas, but the upcoming foal sales. 

What is it that we all love about this time of year? Surely much of the attraction about the foal sales revolves around seeing the progeny of first-season sires and predicting who is here to stay and who will be banished to the memory banks in the years to come. 

The best part of the whole thing is you get to put your money where your mouth is and there will be countless men and women hoping to be handsomely rewarded by their opinions on the matter at the Goffs November Foal Sale next week. 

Be it sniffing out a bargain to try and offer for resale next year or breeding to what you hope could be the next Mehmas (Ire) or Blue Point (Ire), the opportunities are there. 

It might seem as though it wasn't long ago that A'Ali (Ire) was scorching to Norfolk S. glory or that St Mark's Basilica (Fr) swept all before him in a spellbinding three-year-old campaign, but both stallions feature among a list of 13 who have their foals going under the hammer this winter. 

Space Blues (Ire) is bound to be one of the most popular of the youngsters with progeny on offer next week. Blue Point lived up to his billing as a potentially explosive first-season sire by how well his progeny performed on the track this year and things could get even better for the Darley roster with yearlings by Pinatubo (Ire), Earthlight (Ire) and Ghaiyyath (Ire) going down a bomb at the sales. 

This wonderful production line, which is becoming the envy of many of the top independent stallion farms across Europe, isn't showing any signs of slowing down with triple Group 1 winner Space Blues expected to be well-received by the market at Goffs next week. 

Darley's nominations manager Eamon Moloney commented, “We're pinching ourselves. These are homebreds coming through the system who have started off life at either Dalham Hall or Kildangan. They have made their way through the racing operation and then it has come full circle and now they're in the stallion yard. It makes it all extra special.”

He added, “We're looking forward to seeing what Space Blues can do. I haven't heard anybody say anything negative about them, which is extraordinary. Everyone knows you get a mixture of foals but, no matter who we speak to, all they keep telling us is how delighted they are with their Space Blues foals. Without much help, he has advertised his abilities as a stallion and has done a lot of his own legwork. 

“He's a racier version of Dubawi (Ire). We were a little bit concerned that he might get more feminine foals but people counteracted that with the mares they sent him. I haven't heard a single person say 'my Space Blues is too small' and I think Noverre has had a good say in that. I wouldn't be surprised if they look a bit more sharp than your typical Dubawi. We've seen plenty of sharp Dubawis but these are going to be sharp. I've seen plenty and I feel people will perceive them to be early.”

Starman | Emma Berry

At the opposite end of the spectrum, you have a man like Jerry Horan taking his first steps into the stallion game through his part-ownership of the Capital Stud-based Alkumait (GB). Connections of the Mill Reef winner got the mother and father of updates in the spring when Alkumait's half-brother Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) landed the 2,000 Guineas and they have already enjoyed some promising results with the young sire at the Tattersalls Ireland Sapphire Sale when a foal sold for €22,000. Not bad going for a stallion who stands for just €5,000 and the expectation is that there is more to come next week.

Horan said, “Alkumait got off to a good start at Tattersalls Ireland on Saturday and there's definitely a better group of foals on offer at Goffs so we're excited. When the Capital Stud lads bought Alkumait, they asked me if I fancied getting involved in the horse, and it's always been something I have loved the idea of. I jumped at the opportunity. That was two years ago now and, while I was pretty green about the whole thing at the start, it's been great to learn about a whole different side of the game in terms of marketing a stallion and attracting mares for covering.”

He added, “It's all about getting in on a small share and trying to give the stallion a chance. The way the Capital lads have approached it is, the more people they can get into the stallion the better because it gives the horse a proper chance. There are so many horses retiring to stud, so, to give him the best possible chance, you need to get as many mares into them as possible. There's no money in stallions unless they click so if everyone rolls in behind a stallion, that's half the battle.”

When you hear Tally-Ho Stud and Yeomanstown Stud outlining just how tough it is for independent farms to get their hands on the raw material, it drills home how getting involved in a stallion is not for the faint-hearted. However, anyone who has ever had anything to do with Horan knows that there is not much he wouldn't turn his hand to, and the well-liked 31-year-old explained how Chaldean winning the Guineas provided everyone associated with Alkumait with a helpful shot in the arm.

“That was class,” he recalled. “In fairness, Alkumait has a proper stallion's pedigree now and the dam has produced five individual black-type horses and is an up-and-coming blue hen. Alkumait was a very good two-year-old himself and won the Mill Reef in the fastest time ever. You'd like to think he has every chance. He's a good first crop [86] and has an even bigger second crop [121] coming. The foals are speedy-looking types but they have good scope to them. They are all good walkers, which is good to see, and they all have a bit of scope and size-they're not your typical small sprinter.”

Tally-Ho Stud's Starman (GB) and Yeomanstown Stud's Supremacy (Ire) will make their respective debuts next week as well. Some of the top consignors in the game-Boherguy Stud, Castlebridge, the Irish National Stud and Baroda Stud–feature among those offering the 52 foals by the July Cup winner Starman, with Tally-Ho's Roger O'Callaghan quietly optimistic.

“They all look like himself,” O'Callaghan said. “They've got size, scope and action. It's an exciting time of year but every bit of this game is exciting. Going to Royal Ascot with a two-year-old is exciting, so is waiting for a horse to breeze, or for a vet to trot up your horse the morning after the breeze-every aspect of this game has its own story to tell and this is just another part of it all. But you just never know.”

He added, “We were here a good few years ago with Bushranger and everyone was delighted but, when they hit the track, one was slower than the next. You just never can tell in this game. Until they hit the track, it's all a bit of a guessing game.”

Tally-Ho has managed to add at least one new stallion to the roster each breeding season in recent times, with Group 1 winner Good Guess (GB) the latest addition for 2024, but O'Callaghan revealed that searching for the next Kodiac (GB) or Mehmas does not come cheap. 

“There are only so many stallions you can buy nowadays,” he said. “It's hard work. And then when you find one, you have to pay for one.”

O'Callaghan's thoughts were echoed by cousin Rob O'Callaghan of Yeomanstown Stud. The search for the next Dark Angel (Ire) goes on at Yeomanstown and O'Callaghan shared hopes that Supremacy could prove just the ticket given he boasts a similar profile to the daddy of Yeomanstown. 

He said, “The last Middle Park winner we stood was Dark Angel so, if Supremacy could follow in his footsteps it would be great. From what we have seen so far, he is getting nice foals-very strong, good movers and correct. They should go down very well next week at Goffs, hopefully.”

He added, “Everyone is very happy and he has gotten a lot of repeat business. He covered over 150 mares this year and that's a great sign. That's how you know you have a stallion who is going down well, when people come back to use the same stallion in year two and three. He's got over 150 in year one and two so he's had a great start.”

There are 39 foals by Supremacy on offer at Goffs next week, but as of yet, Yeomanstown hasn't got its hands on a new stallion for next year.

O'Callaghan commented, “It's incredibly hard. Between Juddmonte, Darley and Coolmore, they are retiring the majority of the stallions rather than the independent guys like ourselves. Then, when the few horses who could stand at the independent studs come up for sale, they are extremely hard to buy because the demand is much greater than the supply. You have to be careful though. For the likes of us, who would be supporting a stallion with 30-odd mares in a year, we have to make sure that we definitely want to use the horse. 

“Supremacy ticked all the boxes in that he was a Group 1 winner at two and is by a top stallion in Mehmas and is from a very nice family-the family of Harry Angel (Ire), who is doing well as a stallion. You need to have the credentials behind a stallion and he has them.”

Other stallions with their first foals on offer at Goffs next week include Japan (GB), Khalifa Sat (Ire), Lope Y Fernandez (Ire), Nando Parrado (GB), Palace Pier (GB), Ubettabelieveit (Ire), Victor Ludorum (GB) and Lucky Vega (Ire).

St Mark's Basilica: an exciting addition to the stallion ranks

Where is the money going?

So who are you siding with? Space Blues is the obvious one but St Mark's Basilica brings an abundance of class to the table being the highest-rated son of Siyouni (Fr) to have joined the stallion ranks. Granted nobody in TDN towers has had a glimpse of any of these foals, but certainly on paper at least, Space Blues would have to be a leading candidate to have an abundance of earlier and speedier types while St Mark's Basilica is a genuine class act who will be fascinating to follow. If there's one that could surprise a few, how about Lucky Vega being the one to do exactly that? He didn't lack for support in terms of the mares he covered and it looks as though he will have every chance.

1 – St Mark's Basilica 2 – Space Blues 3 – Lucky Vega