Adaay

Showcasing (GB), the sire of three Group 1 winners with five sons at stud, will remain at £45,000 at Whitsbury Manor Stud for the 2022 season. Announcing the fees for his five stallions, stud director Ed Harper said, "Following last year's downward adjustment of our fees due to Covid we have decided to keep our fees similar to last year. We are delighted that so many of our clients have had great success at the sales and feel it's important to maintain value commercial stallion options for breeders." He added,...

The annual TBA Flat Breeders' Awards Evening, sponsored by Fitzdares, will take place Tuesday, July 13 at Chippenham Park, near Newmarket. The short-listed nominees have been announced for seven of the 14 awards to be presented at the event. The evening, which celebrates British breeding success from the 2020 Flat racing season, will be hosted by Gina Bryce. The award's ceremony will be preceded by a drinks reception and dinner. To secure tickets, click here. The winners already announced are: Adaay (Tattersalls Silver Salver); Dubawi (BBA Silver Cigar Box &...

The latest installment of our values sires series brings us to the second-crop sires of 2021. While there was a runaway leader, this group gave us plenty to unpack. A handful of rising star sires were crowned, and a few remain on the bubble with plenty to entice us with this year as their first crops prepare for their crucial 3-year-old campaigns. The race for champion first-season sire honours was not much of a competition at all last year, with Mehmas (Ire) jumping out of the gate with a pair...

One day after racing resumed in Britain on June 1, Mehmas (Ire) notched his first winner in the country less than an hour after he had recorded his first ever winner, in Italy. From thereon, the Tally-Ho Stud resident was pulling double all season, opening up an easy lead over his fellow European freshmen and bossing his way to a new first-season sire record which, with 56 winners, was 17 clear of that previously held by Iffraaj (GB). It is, frankly, a staggering tally, with 101 of his 121 named...

Whitsbury Manor Stud announced the stud fees for its five stallions in 2021. Heading the roster is Showcasing (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}--Arabesque {GB}, by Zafonic), who will stand for a reduced fee of ₤45,000, Oct. 1 SLF. "Our industry finds itself in uncertain times and it is vital that we act accordingly," said Ed Harper, Director of Whitsbury Manor Stud. "We have therefore listened to our clients and chosen to drop the fees of our three highest priced stallions to offer the best possible value to breeders and keep the...

Winning 2-year-old filly Ocean Star (Ire) (Adaay {Ire}) has been added to the Tattersalls August Sale as a wildcard as lot 199A. A £9,000 Tattersalls Ascot yearling purchase last year, Ocean Star was runner-up twice for trainer Archie Watson before breaking her maiden by 11 lengths at Chepstow six days ago. Ocean Star is out of the unraced New Approach (Ire) mare Miss Wicklow (Ire), and Forte Dei Marmi (GB), a Grade I winner in Canada, appears under the third dam.

Before we go any further, let's just make one thing clear: for all the excitement of Saturday and the fact that the Oaks and the Derby were even able to take place this year, let's not lose our heads and start to think that they should in future take place on the same day in July. They should not. This is an extraordinary year for one big reason beyond our control and it should remain just that. Right, where were we? Ah, Epsom. I'll go to my grave failing to...

Sunday's card at Milan saw British-based sires Adaay (Ire) and Twilight Son (GB) strike with their first winners in the opening two races. 1st-Milan, €17,600, Mdn, 2yo, 1000mT, :59.20. DOCTOR STRANGE (GB) (c, 2, Adaay {Ire}--Mystic Jade {GB}, by Raven's Pass) was fast from the gates on debut but was soon overtaken by Davie's Spirit (GB) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) on his inside. Tracking that rival through the opening furlongs, Doctor Strange pulled his way to the lead with a quarter mile to run and drew off to win by a...

Monday heralded the first day of perhaps the strangest turf season any of us will ever witness. From Wednesday, Ireland has gone from racing behind closed doors to joining the rest of the Europe in learning to cope with no racing action at all. There is now uncertainty over when the next 2-year-old race will take place but three of this year's 30 first-season sires in Europe are already off the mark with a first runner, with Buratino (Ire), Prince Of Lir (Ire) and Markaz (Ire) each having been represented...

When starting off a new stallion, an important part of inspiring confidence in outside breeders is for the horse's home farm to be giving him plenty of support. This is routinely the case at Whitsbury Manor Stud, where the pedigrees of their stakes-winning offspring are liberally spiced with names from its own roster on both sides. Take, for example, the two group winners from the first crop of Due Diligence last season. Both Good Vibes (GB) and Streamline (GB) were bred at Whitsbury Manor from daughters of the farm's late...