Harzand

The catalogue for the 2023 Tattersalls Ireland May Store Sale, which has been set for Tuesday, May 15, is now available to view here. Some of the highlights, which features 282 stores, include a Harzand (Ire) gelding out of Grade 3 winner Mae's Choice (Ire) (Presenting {GB}) (lot 179); a Soldier Of Fortune (Ire) filly out of a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Paisley Park (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}) (lot 257); and an Elusive Pimpernel half-sister to Grade 1 hurdler Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}) (lot 173). All horses catalogued...

The Aga Khan's homebred dual Derby winner Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}--Hazariya {Ire}, by Xaar {GB}) has been sold to continue his stallion career in Ireland at Kilbarry Lodge Stud. Trained by Dermot Weld and ridden by Pat Smullen, Harzand overcame a last-minute foot injury scare to win the 2016 G1 Derby to give his owner-breeder a fifth triumph in the Epsom Classic following Shergar (GB), Shahrastani, Kahyasi (Ire) and Sinndar (Ire). He then followed up with victory in the G1 Irish Derby. Among Harzand's Flat runners this season...

The Irish National Stud announced a new initiative that will provide shareholders an access point into the industry and to breed, own and sell a quality foal produced at a renowned nursery all at an affordable price. Kicking off the initiative is a filly by leading sire Invincible Spirit (Ire) (Green Desert), responsible for 20 individual Group 1 winners, including Kingman (GB), Magna Grecia (Ire), Nazeef (GB) and Moonlight Cloud (GB). The Feb. 16 foal is out of Irish National Stud broodmare Hanvarana (Ire) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}). Bred by HH The...

Sea The Stars (Ire), whose 14 group race winners in 2020 included Group 1 stars Stradivarius (Ire) and Miss Yoda (Ger), heads the Aga Khan rosters in Ireland and France and will stand once again for €150,000 at Gilltown Stud in 2021. Sea The Stars, whose standouts this year also included Group 2 winners like Fanny Logan (Ire), Terebellum (Ire) and Valia (Fr), is siring 12% stakes winners to runners and 66% winners to runners. Standing alongside Sea The Stars at Gilltown is his dual Derby winning son Harzand (Ire),...

At a time when the planet seems more divided than ever, there came a moment on Tuesday night within the notoriously conflicted world of horseracing that gave us all pause for thought. Thought and utter sadness. The news of the death of Pat Smullen at the age of just 43 was followed by a flood of heartfelt tributes. They came both from within the racing world, united for once in sentiment, and from those outside its sphere, including the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins. As befits a man of...

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...

For the stallions with first-crop 2-year-olds of 2020, the guessing game is effectively over. The market has offered up its opinions at the foal and yearling levels--for some, reputations have been enhanced even before their firstborns bore tack. For others, the market has nearly already decided their fate. Irrespective of what happened in the ring, however, a great many first-crop 2-year-olds are now in the hands of their trainers, and we have just mere months to wait before the most precocious of those begin to show their hands. In the...