By Brian Sheerin
Against the backdrop of one of the most eagerly anticipated King Georges in recent history on Saturday, bloodstock agent Sean Grassick and trainer Kevin Coleman enjoyed something of a red-letter day of their own when Uluru (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) ran out a taking debut winner at Gowran Park.
Uluru was one of eight yearlings that Grassick purchased on behalf of Atomic Racing at the sales last year and was considered just about the most talented juvenile the commercial syndicate had to go to war with this season.
Despite showing signs of greenness, the €40,000 purchase from the Tattersalls Ireland Yearling Sale picked up in the style of an above average filly under Colin Keane to win going away at the line, and that performance put Uluru firmly in the shop window.
Grassick said, “Uluru is likely to be sold and there is going to be loads of improvement in her because she was still very green at Gowran and a lot went wrong for her in the race. She has loads of natural ability and there is a huge amount of improvement in her. If she is sold, we think she can potentially go on and be a Group filly and hopefully she is very lucky for her new connections.”
A son of the well-known Ronan Grassick, who runs a successful bloodstock transport business, Sean is also the cousin of Curragh trainer Michael Grassick. The 28-year-old has worked closely with legendary bloodstock agent Demi O'Byrne in recent years and, despite once harbouring dreams of training, has decided to put his experiences working at the sales to good use.
He explained, “I set up Atomic Racing a couple of years ago and we had our first two-year-old runners last year. Before that, I had helped Kevin source a couple of yearlings at the sales and they turned out to be Queens Carriage (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) and Lolly Yeats (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), who did well for him.
“When I set up officially as a bloodstock agent, Kevin was my first client and Coumshingaun (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) was the first horse I bought for him in that role. She has won three times now for him and was a relatively cheap purchase, as are the majority of our yearling purchases.”
Uluru: potentially classy on the evidence of her debut win for Kevin Coleman | Racingfotos.com
He added, “It was off the back of those horses that I said to Kevin, 'look, let's try and get a bit of investment into the yard to go and buy some yearlings,' and that's how Atomic Racing came about.
“We got a few guys in and we have done reasonably well. Catherine Of Siena (Ire) (US Navy Flag) cost £13,000 at Tattersalls Ireland and she won twice at Dundalk and was Listed-placed. With Love (GB) (Territories {Ire}) cost 35,000gns at Book 3 and she won at Leopardstown before we sent her to Phil D'Amato in America to try and win a Stakes race.”
Uluru's Gowran success was a timely one for everyone connected to the Coleman yard. It is less than a month since the stable lost flagbearer Catherine Of Siena and Grassick explained how the excitement generated by Uluru has gone some way to lift the spirits in the County Tipperary operation.
He said, “That was a tough blow. We lost Catherine after her last run and she was very much our headline horse this year. I spend a lot of time in the yard with Kevin and you get quite attached to them so it was nice when Uluru went and won, especially when we thought she was talented, so that gave everyone a much-needed boost.”
Grassick and Coleman are more than just business partners. The latter, a talented Galway Plate-winning jockey whose career was cut short through injury, took out his trainer's licence in 2018 and Grassick has never been far away.
“I met Kevin when he was riding out for my cousin Michael on the Curragh,” Grassick recalled. “We kept in touch from that point on and, when he started training, he asked if I'd give him a hand at the sales to buy a few fillies. That's how it started. We've been helping each other ever since. He got me going as a bloodstock agent and now I'm helping him to get going as a trainer with a few nice horses. We work very well together and it seems to work.”
He added, “We will try and buy more horses next year and there is a good level of interest. We actually ran out of horses for the syndicate last year and could have filled more if we wanted to. “We will keep our budget to a similar level but just try and buy more horses. There's a level there that we can buy to that you can still trade on but, when you get into spending between fifty and one hundred grand on yearlings, it gets much harder to get a return on those horses.
“We bought eight yearlings last year for an average of thirty grand. We are going to try and buy between 10 and 15 yearlings this year and raise the average slightly but we will basically be trying to do the same thing again.”
With that in mind, Atomic Racing are open to new investors ahead of the yearling sales and there should be no shortage of such off the back of recent results.
Grassick explained, “We are looking for more investors and we've had a good bit of interest in the past month especially. Our main selling point is that we like to get people involved on a bunch of horses rather than just one or two.
“Every investor is involved in at least four horses while the majority of people are involved in six or seven. Those people might have five or 10 per cent of five or six horses and, that way, one or two could end up paying for them all. It spreads the risk and it means that the owners will always have something running for them.”
He added, “We had an instance there recently where one owner had four runners in the one week. They get plenty of excitement that way and, if one horse is a bit more backward and needs more time, at least they will have a few others who will be running for them. The most important thing for us is that our owners get something out of it. We don't want anyone to miss out on the fun if they're only in one horse so we think spreading it out between four or more horses is a good idea.”
It's not just the Ulurus of this world that help keep a commercial syndicate ticking over. That filly is likely to net her connections a major payday and has generated interest from some of the top agents who buy for many different jurisdictions but it is Colemen's placing of the lesser talented two-year-olds that proves he's equally as adept at trading to the middle to lower tier markets.
Grassick explained, “Pretence (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) was unplaced in three Irish maidens. We knew she was a very genuine filly but I suppose you could say that she was of average ability. We like to move them on no matter what the level so Kevin decided to run her in a seller at Chester.
“She ended up winning the race and bagged us €10,000 in prize-money. We also got her sold in the ring afterwards for £20,000. That was a great result for a filly who cost 21,000gns at Book 3 and was rated in the mid-60s.”
He added, “Kevin has always been a very good judge. He's a very good rider himself and knows what he has. He's particularly good with the two-year-olds and educates them well and is always thinking of the future with them which is why they improve from run to run.
“Seamie Heffernan is also a huge help to us. He came on board last year when we had more two-year-olds and he rides a lot of work for us. He would have sat on them all and his opinion is second to none. To have Seamie advising us on where to go is invaluable. It's a pity that he missed out on riding Uluru at Gowran Park because he was riding in the King George on Saturday. He always had a high opinion of her and told us she was well above average so he's a major help to us as well.”
Grassick continues to work alongside O'Byrne, a man who needs no introduction in the bloodstock sphere having purchased household names like Montjeu (Ire), Camelot (GB), Thunder Gulch, Rags To Riches and more. In fact, it was one of the horses that O'Byrne bred that played a role in the development of Atomic Racing.
ULURU 🚀 flies home to win impressively on debut @GowranPark1 for @AtomicRacingIRE, @Ktcoleman330 and @ctkjockey. Purchased @tatts_ireland from Church View Stables. Congratulations to all connections! 🔵🟢 pic.twitter.com/jR5T5xNuLA
— O'Byrne & Grassick (@OByrne_Grassick) July 29, 2023
Grassick said, “I still work with Demi and he is a huge help to us at the sales. Demi actually bred Coumshingaun and, after Kevin and I bought her off him, he got to know Kevin and the relationship developed from there. Demi could see the talent that Kevin has for training and has helped us at the sales ever since.
“My Dad is in the horse transport business and my uncle Michael trained and now his son Michael Jnr has taken over the licence. I actually wanted to be a trainer myself and going down the bloodstock route was never really the intention. I spent a summer with Wesley Ward to do something different and gain some experience in the USA. I was then introduced to Demi at the sales in Saratoga by Charlie O'Connor. I then started going to the sales with Demi and learning from him. With the knowledge I learned from Demi, I felt it would be a waste not to put it to good use.”
He added, “It's very good when you find a horse that's up to a level because there is a good market place to be selling out of Ireland. We've run six two-year-olds this year; two have won and two have placed. Even when you don't win, if you can get placed it's almost as good as a winner when you are reselling. Take for example Bladon (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}). He finished seventh at Killarney, albeit a good seventh in that he was an eye-catcher the way he kept on to the line. He is now sold to go to Joseph O'Brien. We got three or four different phone calls from different agents about him straight after the race.
“We prefer to try and buy the seven furlong-plus type of horse at the sales. I pull up a lot quicker on the earlier types at the sales because, unless you sell those speedier horses before Royal Ascot, there is no market. We never had a solid offer for Catherine Of Siena and she was rated 97 and had black-type. You need to buy those horses who get seven furlongs-plus if you want to appeal to the international market.”
Despite the results Grassick and Coleman have enjoyed through Atomic Racing in a short but successful period, there is no danger of anyone's feet leaving the ground, according to the shrewd young agent.
He said, “Kevin is the most unassuming guy that you'd ever meet. There's a house I always stay in when I go to the sales at Newmarket and, for one reason or another, I couldn't go to one of the sales last year and Kevin went instead.
“He stayed in the house all week and never even mentioned to the landlady that he was a trainer. I know her quite well and was speaking to her after Kevin stayed. She told me she just assumed he was a lad working at the sales or maybe a box driver.
“She said he was the most unassuming fella she's ever met. But that's Kevin, he's some worker and he deserves everything he gets.”
Doubtless there will be many more red-letter days for this burgeoning operation.
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