Maxios

The second day of the Arqana Autumn Sale kicked off with horses-in-training on Monday. Although the catalogue was not as deep as 2019's record-breaking sale, 77% of the 160 horses offered found new homes. The gross was €3,050,000 for the 124 sold and two horses were co-toppers at €200,000, with Highflyer Bloodstock snapping up both offerings. In 2019, the highest price was €420,000. The average dropped to €24,597 (-29%) and the median fell to €11,000 (-21%). In addition, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic also presented some challenges, but the sale was...

The coronavirus pandemic may have come into full force halfway through the 2020 covering season but, generally, breeders appear to have stuck to their plans and carried on with their matings. The total number of coverings did drop slightly to 19,961 (from 20,819) with 19% of the mares in production being sent to a stallion with a book in excess of 200. This year, according to the recently published Return Of Mares from Weatherbys, there were 17 stallions in Britain and Ireland in that bracket, 12 of which are standing...

It's not a new phenomenon for a Flat stallion to switch to a National Hunt stud and suddenly find himself in strong demand and that was certainly the case this year for Maxios (GB), who moved from Gestut Fahrhof to Castlehyde Stud, where he covered 298 mares. Weatherbys, which has just published its annual Return Of Mares, records the son of Monsun (Ger) as the busiest stallion of 2020 in Britain and Ireland, while the most in-demand freshman sire was Crystal Ocean (GB), who covered 280 mares at The Beeches...

CHELTENHAM, UK—With a slightly surreal sense of the final day of the Cheltenham Festival providing a last hurrah for racing as know it, at least for now, Al Boum Photo (Fr) (Buck's Boum {Fr}) returned to the scene of his greatest triumph to land back-to-back runnings of the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup. He's not seen often, but when the sleek 8-year-old gelding appears at the races he seldom disappoints and his assured victory sealed a sensational day for Willie Mullins, who saddled the first four winners of the week's finale....