'It Means A Lot – But It's A Huge Plus When You Sell A Horse To John Magnier'

They say it's the hope that kills you. And in the case of Paul McCartan, he had been holding his breath that Fairy Godmother (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) would do something special since as far back as January when he heard his Ballyphilip Stud graduate was burning up the gallops at Ballydoyle. 

The annoying thing about hype is that it very rarely carries through to the track. However, the vibes on Fairy Godmother were clearly on the money judging by how the Aidan O'Brien-trained filly entered the Royal Ascot picture with a stunning display in the G3 Coolmore Stud Irish EBF Fillies Sprint S at Naas on Sunday.

Considered a key trial for the royal meeting, the race was won 12 months ago by subsequent G3 Albany S. winner Porta Fortuna (Ire) (Caravaggio), and to McCartan's delight, Fairy Godmother looks destined to go down a similar path. 

The breeder said, “It means a lot. But, I tell ya, it's a huge plus when you sell a horse to John Magnier and it goes on to be trained by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore. It makes some difference, doesn't it? As a breeder, you hear plenty of stuff early in the year about how the horses you've sold are getting on. When you get a positive bulletin, you're almost afraid to hear it. The word coming out of Ballydoyle about Fairy Godmother was very strong from early on this year.”

McCartan added, “Obviously that made it very exciting and all that but, to tell you the truth, I didn't even go and see her on debut and I stayed at home again today for fear of jinxing her! It's a huge thing for us. We've only ever sold Coolmore two horses–the first was The Antarctic (Ire) and now this filly looks potentially very good as well. They're very good at buying and it's just very special for a breeder that such high-class people can continue on all the hard work that we've put into them.”

Just the second foal out of Scintilating (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), a black-type producer already through Sketch (Ire) (Showcasing {GB}), Fairy Godmother was knocked down to MV Magnier at the Book 1 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale for 425,000gns. Getting big sums of money in the ring is nothing new to McCartan and of course it's a necessity in order to sustain a thriving stud farm. But it's results on the track, according to the breeder, that really drives business. 

He explained, “It's great when you get money in the ring but you won't continue to get money if you don't produce good racehorses. Thankfully we've produced a few nice horses down through the years but there's always a pressure to go and repeat the trick and keep the buyers coming back.

“I've often said that, even if we got one stakes winner a year, that would nearly be enough to sustain the size of an operation that we have. We've had a few nice runners so far this year–we pinhooked the Marygate Stakes runner-up Miss Lamai (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire})–and now this filly looks like she could be very smart.”

He added, “It's a great result for the mare. Her first foal was Sketch and he won first time out and got black-type before being sold to America so hopefully he can do a bit more out there. Then Fairy Godmother is the second foal. She has a yearling filly by Mehmas and that will go to the sales. She has a very nice filly foal by Havana Grey (GB) as a well. She hasn't been covered yet so we have something to think about now!”

Whoosh 💨

Fairy Godmother sparkles in the closing stages to land Group 3 honours in the €70,000 @coolmorestud @IrishEBF_ Fillies Sprint Stakes.

Three races here and three winners for Ryan Moore and Aidan O'Brien! pic.twitter.com/ve1fN4Ez7C

— Naas Racecourse (@NaasRacecourse) May 19, 2024

Bookmakers were suitably impressed by Fairy Godmother on Sunday with many firms slashing her odds for the Albany from as big as 10-1 in places to a general 5-1. 

McCartan concluded, “She's a monster. She was actually a monster as a foal as well. She has always been an outstanding filly. I can remember looking at the foals in the field one day and my phone rang. It was Joe Murphy on the other end of the line. I said to him, 'Joe, I'm looking at a filly foal and, do you know what, I think she's going to go on and win the Queen Mary in a couple of years' time'. Now, the only part I got wrong there was that I said the Queen Mary, but I'll happily take the Albany instead!”