By Brian Sheerin
Full-time hairdresser and small-time breeder Ashley Hillyard admits to having been left dumbfounded by the victory of Black Forza in Thursday's Richmond Stakes at Goodwood.
Why so? Well, the Kentucky-based 38-year-old snapped up Harlee Honey (Harlan's Holiday), the dam of Michael O'Callaghan's bright young star, for just $11,000 at Fasig-Tipton Digital from Legacy Bloodstock last August.
It's a purchase that even the most shrewd of breeders would be proud of. And in less than a year, Hillyard is now fielding offers that she admits would be life-changing to her and her young family.
“My phone has been very busy since Black Forza crossed the wire,” she said on Friday. “I have been watching out for Black Forza ever since I bought the mare. I saw his first race and I was really impressed. When he won second time up, his rider [Seamie Heffernan] said that he felt Black Forza was a horse with a bit of a future. I got a little nervous when I heard that. What he said mattered the most to me.”
Hillyard added, “We had started to get calls about the mare after Black Forza won his maiden. But I said, 'you know what, I think I want to wait.' I bought her because I wanted to breed a Classic runner and he looks like he could be that. She's a step up for me. That's one of the reasons why we were so nervous watching the race at Goodwood. When he appeared, we just started jumping around the living room. We were speechless. We didn't know what to do.”
A quick scan through Black Forza's sales history will show you that he has been offered under the hammer three times in his life. But that isn't necessarily the full story.
Before Black Forza sold as a breezer, a yearling and even a foal, he had gained some experience of the sales when Harlee Honey gave birth to him at Fasig-Tipton back in February 2022.
A Group 2 winner for @AirdrieStud's Complexity! 👏🏼 BLACK FORZA powers home to win the G2 Richmond Stakes at Glorious Goodwood. pic.twitter.com/RAONFZKJIA
— TDN (@theTDN) August 1, 2024
That didn't stop the Elm Tree Farm-consigned mare, who herself has seen her fair share of the sales ground action, going on to fetch $50,000 at the Kentucky Winter Sale to Dash Goff.
“I think we had three or four mares in that sale,” Elm Tree's Jody Huckaby recalled. “My wife Michelle was very upset with me because she didn't want to put her in there. Harlee Honey sold that afternoon to Dash Goff [for $50,000], who I have known since I was a kid, and given the foal was born on the same day, he is down as being the breeder.”
You could say that Black Forza has already overcome the odds. And while he has helped Hillyard fulfil her dream in finding a genuine black-type producing mare, she admits that Harlee Honey is likely to be better served by moving to a bigger farm.
She explained, “People want to know what we're going to do with her and whether we would sell her or not. I grew up in horse racing but I work as a hairdresser. I have two other mares that I raced so they are sentimental to me. I wanted something that I could complement what I have and grow the business and Harlee looks as though she can do that. When I bought her for $11,000, that was my top budget, so that tells you about how small our farm is. That was all I could do. She was a stretch for us and it was the first time where we purchased a mare with the view of trying to grow our business.”
She added, “We are interested in selling because it's life-changing and would mean a great deal to my family. It would also help us to grow our breeding business and help to support our stud fees for our girls [mares]. Also, selling her would help her. When you sell a mare for a large amount of money, it guarantees that she will be in a good place and somebody is going to spend money on her and will breed to a stallion that will do her justice. So, for that reason, we would consider selling her. That is my big goal; setting my girls up so that they can go on and do bigger and better things.”
There remains only one question left to answer in this unorthodox, if not slightly bonkers success story; has Michelle forgiven Jody for selling Harlee Honey in the first place?
“Well, yes and no,” comes the response from the stud owner. “She's quite upset that we got rid of the mare but we're happy that a friend of ours, Ashley, has ended up with her. She called us and was all excited after the race. I know Ashley is going to make a lot of money so we're glad to have played a role.”
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