Simon Sweeting

The British EBF is to refocus part of its National Hunt prize-money contribution to support the junior hurdle programme, it was announced on Thursday. Now in their fourth year, Junior National Hunt Hurdle races are designed to enhance the potential of young horses through earlier jumping education. Racing against their own age group, the development of the programme aims to mirror the early education options available to National Hunt trainers in Ireland and France. Open exclusively to three-year-olds from October to December and four-year-olds from January to April of the following...

British horseracing's most active sponsor, the British EBF, welcomed the appointment of two new Trustees to its board this month, it was announced on Tuesday. Whatton Manor Stud's Ed Player joins the British EBF Trustees, alongside being a committee member at Nottingham Racecourse. After eight years at Schroders Investment Management in London, Player returned to his passion of racing and joined the family-run Whatton Manor Stud. Over the last 20 years, Player has helped oversee a significant expansion in the acreage of Whatton Manor, leading to a similar increase in...

The winds of change have blown through Overbury Stud in the last year. Gone is the stalwart of the British National Hunt ranks, Kaya Tara (GB), who died in retirement in December at the age of 28. Last summer the Gloucestershire farm had welcomed the horse that many will hope could be his replacement, Golden Horn (GB), bought from Anthony Oppenheimer by Jayne McGivern as his burgeoning National Hunt statistics caught many an eye. Then, at the other end of the spectrum, in came Caturra (Ire) last autumn, the first...

Edited Press Release For the first time in the 40-year history of the organisation, the British European Breeders' Fund will increase its contribution to prize money to £2 million. "Britain continues to be recognised for the quality of its stallion market: we stand promising young sires and established producers of Champions," said British EBF Chairman Simon Sweeting. "The support of all our stallion owners to the British EBF means we can support well over 700 flat races in 2023 with £1.9million, our biggest commitment to date. With our National Hunt...

NEWMARKET, UK--A pair of colts by the young Darley and Shadwell stallions Masar (Ire) and Mohaather (GB) shared the top spot on the final day of foal trade at Park Paddocks which brought the curtain down, not just on a record week for weanlings but also a record year for Tattersalls--and that's before the Mares Sale even begins. The average and median for the fourth session were both up on last year, with a total of 2,267,750gns added to the overall tally from the sale of 150 foals. For the...

The G2 Flying Childers S. winner Caturra (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}--Shoshoni Wind {GB}, by Sleeping Indian {GB}) has joined the roster at Overbury Stud in a deal brokered by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock. His opening fee will be £6,500. The 3-year-old will be available for viewing in Newmarket this week from Sunday to Wednesday at Crockfords, opposite the rear entrance of Tattersalls. The arrival of Caturra at the Gloucestershire stud has echoes of Ardad (Ire), the leading first-season sire in Britain in 2021. Both horses were bred by Tally-Ho Stud...

Ardad (GB), the sire of G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Perfect Power (Ire), will head the Overbury Stud roster at an unchanged £12,500 while new recruit Golden Horn (GB) has been set at £8,000.  The brilliant G1 Derby winner and European Horse of the Year in 2015, Golden Horn joined Overbury Stud in July after being sold to new investors from Darley and Anthony Oppenheimer. He will stand alongside 2015 Irish Derby hero Jack Hobbs (GB), whose fee has not been decided upon, and Frontiersman (GB), who will once again stand...

Allocating an additional £100,000 to the total prize fund, the European Breeders' Fund announced the British EBF 2yo Series will offer £200,000 in 2022. The series of races was designed to provide high-value end of season goals for offspring by middle market stallions. The finals, which are staged at Group 1 independent racecourses, will be held between early September and October. Goodwood and York both pledged the full financial support; match-funding the £100,000 British EBF prize money contribution. A full list of qualifiers can be accessed here. Race conditions for...

It could be said that there's a stallion to suit all types of breeder at Overbury Stud, and the farm that was for so long synonymous with Britain's perennial leading National Hunt sire Kayf Tara (GB) now has a budding star of a very different type. Ardad (Ire) finished 2021 as the leading first-season sire in Britain and was second overall to Cotai Glory (GB), who stands at Tally-Ho Stud, where Ardad was himself bred and where his sire Kodiac (GB) has long been king of the hill.  Now eight,...

by Chris McGrath NEWMARKET, UK -- The world certainly looks a different place from when these babies slithered into the straw. A less frightening one, thankfully, to many breeders, who have been relieved by a remarkable strength and depth in all levels of the market after the global economy absorbed the shock of Covid. So while the Tattersalls December Foal Sale opened in the customary low register, business on Wednesday unequivocally maintained the buoyant morale established in other sectors. Indeed, the clearance rate of 84% was a session record, and...

The British European Breeders' Fund said on Tuesday that it will honour the £1.68-million in bonuses it had previously allocated to purses in 2020, and that it will focus on making the bonuses available upon racing's return. The British EBF supports over 600 flat races a year, and the organization's chairman Simon Sweeting said it is also making plans to support a flat programme that will likely extend into November and December. "We are committed to supporting as many races within our remit as practical to help the sport back...

Nestled in idyllic Gloucestershire countryside, Overbury Stud has long been established as one of the most professional dual-purpose organisations in the industry. Run by Simon Sweeting, the stud has at the head of its diverse roster the nine-time British champion National Hunt sire Kayf Tara (GB) (Sadler's Wells). The team is made up of seven stallions in total and has recently welcomed the French-bred Le Brivido (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}). "We've got some proven sires and we've got plenty of young sires coming on, so there's excitement for the future," said...