Breeze-up

Is there anything like a pedigree update to get a consignor's blood pumping in the build-up to a big sale? A little winner here, a black-type update there, it can't hurt when it comes to advertising your wares.  Well, if it's happening pedigrees that buyers want, it won't take long to scope out lot 53 in the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale. A brother to leading 2,000 Guineas contender Night Raider (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), the colt will be offered under the hammer by the father-and-son team of Mick and Stephen...

Humility goes by the household name of humble and you will be hard pressed to find a more humble couple than Donna Cowens and Nicky Souza de Oliveira of DNA Equine. The pair burst onto the scene at the Goffs Breeze-Up Sale at Doncaster last year when selling Mantra (Ire) to Jake Warren on behalf of Highclere for a life-changing £160,000. The Tamayuz (Ire) filly had been bought for a song the previous winter. Identified by Cowens as a potentially nice type to go breezing and get the DNA consignment...

Never has the demand to get horses into the breeze-up sales in Europe been higher. It begs the question; how do the big sales companies limit their catalogues?  Inspectors from Tattersalls, Arqana and Goffs have been out in force in recent weeks trawling through the breeze-up consignors' barns to come up with their shortlists.  According to Harry Fowler, one of the main inspectors at Goffs, entries for the company's only breeze-up sale have sky-rocketed this year. With most of the viewing done at this stage, the Goffs inspectors will meet...

When Michelangelo sculpted David, you'd imagine he took the time to stand back, blow the dust off of his brow and marvel at his masterpiece, wouldn't you? Like David, Tally-Ho Stud has taken years of hard chiseling but you must be living in Lalaland if you think Tony O'Callaghan is a man for slowing down and taking in all that has been achieved.  If there's one thing O'Callaghan hates more than arrogance it's idleness. With 200 mares on the farm, considerably more yearlings and foals coming through the system, a...

There is a new name over the door at Copper Beech Stables, one of the finest training establishments in Ireland, with trainer Cormac Farrell confirming that he has taken over the yard from Michael Halford. It was last February when Halford, who had sent out almost 500 winners from Copper Beech Stables in 16 full seasons, including Group 1 scorer Casamento (Ire), announced that he had taken the decision to combine forces with Tracey Collins under the banner of Conyngham Lodge.  Farrell, a respected trainer in his own right but...

It seems as though Michael Fitzpatrick and Havana Grey (GB) have something in common with the lord himself as turning water into wine comes natural.  Time and time again, the man behind Kilminfoyle House Stud produces pinhook after pinhook in a similar fashion to how Whitsbury Manor Stud's emerging force seems to transform whatever pedigree he touches.  The latest transformation played out on Tuesday evening of Book 2 at Tattersalls when a colt by Havana Grey (lot 1020), who Fitzpatrick purchased as a foal under the banner of JC Bloodstock...

Pinatubo (Ire) hardened his reputation as one of the most exciting young stallions in Europe at the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale when a colt by the freshman sire led the day two trade when selling to Godolphin at £180,000. With Anthony Stroud and the rest of the regular Godolphin buying team nipping away from Goffs early to make it to Germany for the BBAG Sale at the weekend, Jono Mills was left in charge of securing the Pinatubo colt from Longview Stud.  Mills said, "He was bought on behalf of...

Robson Aguiar showered Tuesday's Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale-topping Wootton Bassett (GB) colt with praise by comparing him to his Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) and said £200,000 could prove to be good value for the colt in time.  The leading breeze-up handler, who also plays a major role in the Amo Racing operation, flew back to Ireland following inspections but lot 48 clearly made a lasting impression with Aguiar, who saw off stiff opposition for the Highclere Stud-drafted colt remotely. Speaking after the sale, Aguiar said, "He really reminded...

While records were being broken at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Sale on Friday, leading breeze-up handler Diego Dias showed that there is always another way to get a horse sold when sending out Gaenari (Ire) (Inns Of Court {Ire}) to finish second in the opening maiden on Guineas weekend.  It was just over a month ago when Dias was forced to buy back Gaenari after she failed to put in the breeze he felt she was capable of doing. Devoid of any other options, Dias, backed by Star Bloodstock's Matt...

Win, lose or draw at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale, Anna Barlow has already had a year to remember with a first foray into consigning her own horses under the banner of Byerley Stud.  The 22-year-old got off to a dream start by netting herself over €40,000 of a profit when selling a Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly to her boss Paddy Twomey for 65,000gns at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale last month.  Barlow will bid to keep the momentum going this week when offering lot 137, a Phoenix Of Spain...

Tally-Ho Stud's Roger O'Callaghan has paid tribute to the record-breaking Harry Angel colt who sold for £500,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale on Tuesday but died less than two days later in a transport accident. The Harry Angel colt was sold to trainer Michael O'Callaghan, who held off the persistent challenge of Amo Racing's Kia Joorabchian as underbidder. Roger O'Callaghan told TDN Europe on Saturday morning, "It's a crying shame but accidents happen. We'll never know how good he really was." The horse was pinhooked by Tally-Ho Stud for...

Leading vendor Eddie O'Leary has said that Tuesday's record-breaking trade at Goffs UK would have come as a huge relief to vendors who expressed concern about the bolstered catalogue resulting in a watered down trade. However, the Lynn Lodge Stud boss also suggested that the figures could be even better if the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale returned to its original slot before the Craven Sale at Tattersalls to maximise a horse's chance of getting to Royal Ascot.  There are eight weeks between the the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale and Royal...