Ed Sackville

"A victory for small breeders!" That was the emphatic verdict from an emotional Muriel Knox after her family had topped Tuesday's opening session of the Goffs UK Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale with their homebred Havana Grey (GB) filly for £240,000. Mark McStay's Avenue Bloodstock struck the winning bid on behalf of Skara Glen Stables. Lot 157 might have been consigned by Sarah Fanning Sales, but it's fair to say that this was a Knox filly through and through with Miss Mercy (Ire) (Law Society) as her fourth dam, a mare...

Bloodstock agent Ed Sackville, a graduate of the Godolphin Flying Start and Highclere Stud, is hedging his bets by choosing "a son of Shamardal" to be leading first-season sire Proudest moment of 2023? Attending the Godolphin Flying Start 20-year anniversary event. I think I had completely failed to acknowledge what an amazing course the Flying Start is. It wasn't until I looked around the room and saw my fellow graduates that I appreciated the legacy the Flying Start has created within the Thoroughbred industry. What is your biggest ambition for...

RATOATH, Ireland--John and Jess Dance continued their recruitment drive on day one of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, signing for three colts, including the €110,000 session-topper by Tally-Ho Stud's first-season sire Inns Of Court (Ire). Having struck for colts by Mehmas (Ire) and Invincible Army (Ire)--lots 33 and 34--early in the afternoon, the husband-and-wife team added the Mountain View Stud-drafted colt (lot 187) to their team, signed for by Ed Sackville on behalf of Manor House Farm. Sackville said, "He is a lovely stamp of a horse and a...

Fresh from recording one of his biggest paydays as an owner when Amichi (Ire) (Gutaifan {Ire}) stormed to victory in the Tattersalls Somerville Auction S. at Newmarket on Saturday, Laurence Bellman has admitted that the Ed Walker-trained juvenile is likely to continue his career abroad. But first, Bellman is excited to roll the dice at another valuable sales race, the £150,000 Tattersalls October Auction S. in October. After that, the property developer expects to field offers from abroad for the gelding and explained why it is becoming increasingly difficult as...

GOODWOOD, UK--Goodwood has been especially glorious this week for Ed Sackville, wearing two slightly different hats as bloodstock advisor and agent. First, Trillium (GB) (No Nay Never) blazed a trail in the G3 Molecomb S. for the Keswick family's Rockcliffe Stud, in which Sackville has played an active role in helping to assemble a broodmare band. The filly's success was followed on Thursday by victory in the G2 Richmond S. for Dr Jim and Fitri Hay's Royal Scotsman (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), who was bought by SackvilleDonald for 125,000gns at Book...

When the affable David Ward bought a Montjeu (Ire) yearling filly at Goffs Orby through SackvilleDonald for €50,000 in 2011, he could not have envisaged the journey she would take he and his family on over the next 10 years. Named Northern Star (Ire), she was no world-beater on the track, winning a maiden at Bath as a 3-year-old; however, her record as a broodmare was impeccable before her untimely death after delivering just three foals. Her second foal was Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), who carried Ward's colours to...

If you asked a trainer to design the perfect owner, he or she may well come up with something very close to David Ward. His horses would likely agree, too. Ward had two runners as York's Dante meeting and they both returned to Ed Walker's stable victorious. The 4-year-old homebred Starman (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) won the G2 Duke of York Clipper Logistics S. on the opening day, followed 48 hours later by the listed success of Primo Bacio (Ire) (Awtaad {Ire}). Both now head to Royal Ascot with Group...

It's that time of year: with just weeks to go to the start of the turf season, thoughts are turning to which of this year's freshman sires will be making a splash with their first runners. With 26 European first-crop stallions to consider, we have asked the views of those who have seen a good range of young stock at the sales. Today we get the thoughts of bloodstock agent Ed Sackville. "I better put my money where my mouth is, so my choice is Cotai Glory (GB), a track...

In a sense, every breeder is a legatee. And each, in turn, strives to contribute a legacy of his or her own; to develop families that serve not only a contemporary stable, but also the breed as it evolves through the generations. To that extent, then, perhaps the family and many friends grieving the late Guy, Duke of Roxburghe, can find some comfort even in the poignant part-dispersal of a stud that produced one of the most accomplished Thoroughbreds ever bred in Scotland. For wherever his bloodlines are now transfused,...

DONCASTER, UK--Having put on a brave enough face on the opening day, the first auction of an improvised European yearling sales calendar hastened to its conclusion on Wednesday as though downing a necessary but deeply unpleasant medicine. Horses were ushered through the ring at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale with a briskness that spoke of a pragmatic willingness, among vendors, to clarify the extent of the damage. The clearance rate for the session was duly maintained at 84% across the two days. Albeit trading a marginally smaller catalogue, it...

In this TDN series we ask a group of experts for their predictions for the 2020 flat season in Europe. Today we hear from Ed Sackville. TDN: Who do you think will be the leading first-season sire this year? ES: Through the likes of Cable Bay (Ire) and Kingman (GB), Invincible Spirit (Ire) is doing a good job as a sire of sires, so I will go for either of his sons Shalaa (Ire) and Territories (Ire). Both were top-class 2-year-olds themselves and I liked their yearlings very much. TDN:...