Blue Point

Monday's email bulletin from the The New York Times told us that Britain is largely apathetic about Saturday's coronation. I guess they'd know, being on the other side of the Atlantic and all, but the bunting had already been strung through various Cambridgeshire and Suffolk villages by Sunday. In the leafy shires at least, the monarchists still hold sway. On Friday at Newmarket, the King Charles II Stakes will be run in honour of the 'Merry Monarch' whose patronage made the Suffolk town famous around the world as an important...

The market has reacted to the blistering start Blue Point (Ire) has had with his two-year-olds with the Kildangan-based stallion trimmed into 5-6 favouritism for first-season sire honours with Fitzdares.  Blue Point is operating at a 50 per cent strike-rate, with four winners on the board already in Britain and Ireland, as well as another in France. He has also enjoyed notable success with his offspring in the sales ring at the domestic breeze-up sales.  The in-demand youngster leads Ten Sovereigns (Ire), whose only runner in Britain and Ireland was...

The best dishes were worth waiting for late on Wednesday night at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up Sale with Anthony Stroud going to 625,000gns apiece for back-to-back lots (198 and 199) by young sires Havana Grey (GB) and Blue Point (Ire). The Havana Grey colt was consigned by Roderick Kavanagh's Glending Stables while the Blue Point hailed from Norman Williamson's Oak Tree Farm and the latter will chart the same path as Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) in joining Charlie Appleby for Godolphin Williamson said, "There were a lot of...

They're off and running at Newmarket, though not all of the runners have been in official races. The first day of the Craven meeting, a date anticipated with longing by those racing folk who dwell by that wind-blasted Heath, was ushered in by a Classic winner on the Rowley Mile.  While we have more than a fortnight to wait for the first Classic victor of 2023 to reveal himself, the 2021 Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) strode out with purpose under William Buick on the easy turf...

Leading trainer Richard Hannon has nominated the juveniles who have been impressing him the most at home on the gallops and described himself as a massive fan of first-season sire Blue Point (Ire).  So impressed is Hannon by Godolphin's freshman sire, whose first runner--Action Point (Ire)--was a winner, he has predicted that he will struggle to get near the progeny of Blue Point at the sales in the coming years.  Alongside the leading bloodstock agents Peter and Ross Doyle, Hannon has amassed a team of over 100 two-year-olds to go...

Thank goodness for France. While Britain and Ireland mostly pause the serious Flat action in Grand National week, the French Classic trials rolled on with the return of racing at Longchamp on Sunday, which will be backed up by another strong card this coming Sunday. It was hard not to be impressed by the seasonal debut of Jannah Rose (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), who has raced only twice for two wins, and looked a proper Classic prospect for Al Shira'aa Farms and Carlos Laffon-Parias when winning the G3 Prix Vanteaux. When...

The Johnston approach to sourcing talent sounds terribly simplistic and there's no doubting that it has appeared that way through the oodles of success the Middleham men have had on the racecourse. But this year was an important one for the Johnstons with Charlie taking over from his father Mark, the winningmost trainer of all time in Britain, who opened up on how he tackles the yearling sales to TDN Europe last year. Given the importance of Charlie enjoying a productive debut season as a full-fledged trainer and the need...

It's early-February and already the Flat enthusiasts are getting excited about what stallion will end the season as champion first-season sire. A futile exercise, one would have thought? Not a bit of it. Even the greatest handlers of young stock, Malcolm Bastard, Alan McCabe, Joseph O'Brien, Conor Hoban and Dick Brabazon, men who know better than most the folly that comes with predicting 2-year-old talent, are keen to have their say on which up-and-coming stallion can make the biggest splash this season.  O'Brien is sticking loyal to Ten Sovereigns (Ire)...

Blue Point (Ire) has been installed as the 2-1 favourite to be crowned leading first-season Flat sire in Britain and Ireland by Paddy Power. Ballyhane Stud's Soldier's Call (GB) has been inserted at 5-2 next best in the betting while Coolmore's Ten Sovereigns (Ire) has been quoted at odds of 3-1. Tally-Ho Stud, responsible for two of the past three champion first-season sires Mehmas (Ire) and Cotai Glory (GB), are represented by 4-1 chance Inns Of Court (Ire). It's 10-1 the field. Blue Point stands at Kildangan Stud for €35,000...

Continuing our series on the profitability of stallions, this week we are looking at those who stood between £20,000 and £49,999 in 2020. Three of the top four in this table have subsequently graduated to the higher-fee bracket outlined in Part I of this series last Thursday.  As previously stated, we will be examining sires in four key price brackets according to their yearling sales returns of 2022 set against their fees at the time of covering. The average profit has been determined by the stallion's fee plus a figure...

A large part of the fun that comes with following racing and the bloodstock game is predicting the future. Who will win the Derby? Who might top the Orby Sale? What freshman sires are here to stay and which ones will drift into the abyss? Well, we've looked deep into the TDN Europe crystal ball for 2023 to see if we can come up with the answers to the burning questions for the year ahead. Enjoy! January If you think he had a good Christmas, wait until you see how...

First job in the Thoroughbred industry? I started riding for Stephane Cerulis during the summer holidays back in Belgium when I was aged 14. Biggest influence on your career? Criquette Head. She is like a second mum, the best advisor and most importantly she made me fall in love with training. Favourite racehorse of all time, and why? Treve. I was lucky enough to ride her while she was in training which was a fantastic experience. Who will be champion first-season sire in 2023? Blue Point. Greatest race in the...