Awtaad

Having started with the new stallions for 2024, we are continuing the series with those in the lower price tier beneath the fee of 10,000, whether in euros or sterling. For the benefit of this piece we are treating them as one and the same, despite the current exchange rate of £1 = €1.16. This is the territory inhabited by many small breeders, and in plenty of cases the margins between operating at a profit and a loss are very tight indeed.  I am reminded here of a particularly interesting...

There will be a change of scene for Shadwell's British-based stallions, who will move from Nunnery Stud to be located at the historic Beech House Stud in Newmarket for the 2024 breeding season. As previously announced, the dual Group 1 winner Mostahdaf (Ire) joins the roster for next year and will be introduced at a fee of £15,000. The son of Frankel (GB) is rated joint-second in the world rankings with Arc winner Ace Impact (Fr) on a mark of 128, just a pound lower than  Equinox (Jpn). Shadwell's star...

With the threat of Hurricane Hilary looming over Southern California and Del Mar, Anisette (GB) (f, 3, Awtaad {Ire}--Tutti Frutti {GB}, by Teofilo {Ire}) took the seaside oval by storm, blowing the doors off the GI Del Mar Oaks Saturday. She remained perfect in three U.S. starts since transferring to Leonard Powell's barn from the UK earlier this year. The final time for Anisett's nine furlongs on the lawn was 1:48.15 as 'TDN Rising Star' and East Coast shipper Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), as well as former Irish...

One of the most exciting horses catalogued in next week's Tattersalls July Sale, Ethical Diamond (Ire) is likely to appeal to buyers for the Flat and some of the powerhouse National Hunt trainers, according to his breeder William Kennedy. Ethical Diamond confirmed himself a horse with a bright future when running out an easy winner of a Limerick maiden last month for Michael O'Meara and promises to attract plenty of footfall to Baroda Stud's barn this week.  He may not have made his debut until three, but Ethical Diamond has...

Legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast has announced that his famous Friarstown Stables, from which Classic winners Nebbiolo, Pidget and more recently Awtaad have been trained from, will be offered up for sale.  Prendergast, who turned 91 this week and marked the occasion by sending out Profit Refused to win at Roscommon, quashed any talk of retirement and said that he would make provisions to carry on training at another location if and when Friarstown is sold.  However, Prendergast has admitted that coming to the decision to sell the 250-acre facility valued...

Less than a fortnight after it was announced that legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast would remain on the Shadwell roster, the 89-year-old operator confirmed that he was not the retiring kind and spoke for the first time since Hamdan Al Maktoum's passing about his long and successful relationship with the hugely influential owner. The Shadwell operation has been winding down gradually since Hamdan Al Maktoum passed away just over a year ago and, while major operators like Dermot Weld and Sir Michael Stoute will no longer train any of the horses...

As the 2022 breeding season approaches, we bring our Value Sires series to a close by shining the spotlight on 10 sires with their first crops four and older that appear poised to deliver breeders value. Though it seems at times as if the chasm between the elite proven sires and the unproven pretenders is ever-widening, driven by the often ruthless nature of the auction marketplace, there is still value to be found among the lesser-priced proven sires. We have opted to make the cutoff fee for this exercise £/€20,000,...

David Ward's Primo Bacio (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}) will venture to Deauville on Aug. 3 in an attempt to get off the mark at the highest level in the G1 Prix Rothschild. Trained by Ed Walker, the 3-year-old filly won the Listed Oaks Farm Stables Fillies' S. at York on May 14 by three lengths, but could manage only fifth in the G1 Falmouth S. on July 9 after meeting trouble in running. "She goes for the Prix Rothschild at Deauville," Walker said. "She had no luck in the Falmouth. There...

In February, the inevitable announcement came that Pivotal (GB) was to be pensioned at Cheveley Park Stud at the age of 28. David and Patricia Thompson's homebred son of Polar Falcon has been one of the great British breeding stories of the last few decades and the sturdy chestnut has been a great friend to small and major breeders alike through his magnificent stud innings.  As he continues his retirement, so does his legacy gain momentum. A few months before Pivotal was retired, his son Siyouni (Fr) had been crowned...

Ebeko, who was second in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf in his Stateside debut Sept. 7, went one better and came out on top of a tight one to become the first black-type winner for his Derrinstown Stud-based freshman sire (by Cape Cross {Ire}). A third-up winner for trainer Paddy Twomey at Leopardstown July 16, the bay was acquired privately thereafter and brought to Del Mar, where he showed a completely different running style than he had in Europe to rally from last. Showing a bit more early zip this...

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Today's Insights features a pair of siblings to young Group 1-winning sires. 1.15 Newmarket, Mdn, £8,000, 2yo, c/g, 8fT QUINTILLUS (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) debuts for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby and is a half-brother to the operation's G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere-winning sire Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}). Among his rivals is...

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...