bloodstock agent

A beloved father, grandfather, friend and horseman, Glenn Byron 'Gus' Bell passed away peacefully July 4 in the care of the Veteran's Administration Hospice in Lexington, Kentucky. With a sobriquet like the 'Working Agent' inscribed below his name on his business cards, Bell defined his craft and his outlook on life. He spent nearly a half century in the equine industry as a bloodstock agent based in the Bluegrass region. As a Lexington native, Bell was a graduate of Lafayette High School before heading out of state to Marshall University,...

James Delahooke, an outstanding horseman who played a key role in the creation of the late Prince Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte empire, died of a heart attack Wednesday morning while grouse hunting in Yorkshire with friends, according to his brother Matthew Delahooke. He was 77. A large proportion of the greatest horses bred and raced by Juddmonte from the late 1980s onwards have descended from fillies or mares bought by Delahooke on the Prince's behalf. The Juddmonte families which have yielded the likes of Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), Enable (GB) (Nathaniel...

Michael Slezak may have been watching the Kentucky Derby alongside his 11-year-old twin boys from his living room in Jersey City, but he celebrated like he was about to receive the trophy himself when Rich Strike (Keen Ice) scored the second-largest upset in the race's 148-year history. A former TVLine and Entertainment Weekly journalist, Slezak is now a full-time bloodstock agent who also dabbles in TV pilot script writing. One month and a day before Rich Strike made Derby history, Slezak claimed the colt's half-sister My Blonde Mary (Oxbow) for...

First-season or proven stallion: Proven. Speed or stamina: I have had a bit of luck with both. It seems the stayers have many avenues to sell in the horse-in-training market later in their career at the moment. Best piece of advice you've received: The harder you work the luckier you get! Value sire: Cotai Glory (GB) on the Flat and Hillstar (GB) for National Hunt. Cotai Glory had 35 winners in his first crop with eight stakes horses. He trained on himself and he gets good looking stock. Hillstar has...

Jerry McGrath has been named the new Goffs UK Bloodstock Manager. Formerly a jumps jockey before his career ended in a fall at Lingfield a year ago, he will begin his role on Feb. 7. During his riding days, he was part of Nicky Henderson's Seven Barrows team since 2008, and won over 200 races total, including a pair at the Cheltenham Festival. During the summer months, McGrath worked with Clive Cox and was part of the team that selected Group 1 winner Supremacy (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) at the Goffs...

Bloodstock agent and consignor Mike Recio passed away Sept. 16, at the age of 46 after battling sepsis. The son of respected Ocala horseman Bill Recio, he had been involved in the Thoroughbred racing and breeding industry for the majority of his life. After graduating from the University of Louisville Horse Racing Industry Program in 2002, Recio worked in client services for Taylor Made Farm, Adena Springs, Mill Ridge and Hidden Brook, where he cultivated his business acumen and his legendary gift of gab. In the fall of 2014, Recio...

Toby Jones has joined the Auctav online auction platform as a bloodstock agent with an emphasis on horses-in-training selection, the company announced on Tuesday. The Englishman, who moved to France 20 years ago where his parents run a stud farm with around 10 National Hunt mares, first gained experience with Julian Ince at Haras du Logis and then with Jean-Marc Lucas at Haras du Berlais. He then began to operate as a bloodstock agent and bought his first horse for a client in 2006. "We are very happy Toby Jones...

Chris Richner, a popular face on the French sales circuit who combined his bloodstock agency with being a longtime representative of the Agence Francaise and Arqana, has died at the age of 68 from Covid-19. The Swiss-born horseman worked in banking in England and Switzerland before putting his equine knowledge to good use in his role as an agent particularly focused on assisting Eastern European clients.  Among the Classic winners purchased by Richner for Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are Border War (Fr), Czech Chardonney (Fr), Eminens (Fr)...

Joe Migliore never really considered a career outside of racing. With an Eclipse Award-winning jockey as a father and a mother who worked as an assistant trainer, to him, the sport was always more than just a popular topic at the dinner table. "I think it was pretty much ingrained from day one that this is the place I wanted to be," Migliore said. "It definitely started at the racetrack. I rarely had a day where I thought of anything else." Migliore first developed his passion for the sport by...

With the yearling sales now in full swing TDN quizzes industry figures on past purchases, life during lockdown and gets their perspective on the sales for the next few weeks. Nicolas de Watrigant answers our questions today. TDN:  What was your best yearling purchase over the last few years? And your favourite? NDW: From the 2014 Arqana August sale, Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) was definitely one of the very best horses I have purchased. Winning both the Prix Rothschild G1 at Deauville and the G1 Coronation S. during Royal...

Michael Hernon, who served as Gainesway Farm's Director of Sales for the past 24 years, has launched his own bloodstock agency, Michael Hernon Bloodstock LLC. Starting in the mid-1990s, Hernon managed the stallion books of sires including Broad Brush, Cozzene and Mt. Livermore. More recently, he oversaw the books of leading sires Tapit and Empire Maker, as well as the emerging young sire Karakontie (Jpn). "Two decades of selling at the highest level of the stallion market was a rare experience, but as Gainesway expanded their bloodstock sales agency, I...

With the OBS March Sale slated to kick off the 2-year-old auction season Mar. 17 & 18, TDN's Senior Editor Steve Sherack caught up with prominent bloodstock agent Mike Ryan for a Q&A session. Structor (Palace Malice)--an $850,000 OBS March (:21 1/5) purchase by Ryan from the Pick View LLC, Agent II, consignment at this sale last year--capped a perfect three-for-three season for owners Jeff Drown and Don Rachel and trainer Chad Brown with a dramatic win in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita. Fellow OBS March...