Ten Sovereigns

'Industry heavyweights' seems to have been the buzz phrase of the last few weeks, and we have a few of those in our long-running 12-to-follow competition organised by my husband every Flat and National Hunt season. Those competing this summer include several leading Irish stud masters, bloodstock agents, trainers, breeders, sales company executives, and the head of the Tote. And they are all currently trailing in the wake of an 11-year-old boy who was shrewd enough to include Little Big Bear in his list. What a selection that was. Mind...

This is the week where the first serious claims are staked for future bragging rights in the stallion ranks and the season's hopes and waffle that goes with first-season sires are cast aside as the market provides some shape and substance.  There seems to be a strong whiff of No Nay Never in the air after the devastatingly-good performance of Little Big Bear in Saturday's G1 Phoenix S. at the Curragh. This, of course, is great news for Coolmore as Ten Sovereigns (Ire), one of No Nay Never's best sons,...

When you run a breeding operation as successful as Camas Park Stud, victories on the biggest stage are expected, but that doesn't make top-level triumphs any less special. Capri (Ire), Highland Reel (Ire), Nyquist and No Nay Never were all either bred or pinhooked under the banner of the Cashel-based stud, run by Tim Hyde and his son Tim Jnr, who were once again put in lights at Royal Ascot when Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) stormed to victory in the Listed Windsor Castle S. on Wednesday. Away...

Benoit Jeffroy's Haras de Castillon, a burgeoning force on the French racing and bloodstock scenes, burst into international prominence in December when it consigned the Group 1-winning Grand Glory (Ire) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale, where she sold for €2.5-million. The quickly growing Castillon has only been in existence under its current guise since 2015, but the Jeffroy family has a history of breeding quality racehorses from their SCEA des Prairies, with just one recent example being Zelda (Fr) (Zelzal {Fr}), a listed winner last...

A snapshot of history, that of the Shergar (GB) colt Authaal, takes pride of place on a wall in the bar within the Goffs sales auditorium. Close to four decades have passed since that image was taken of the white-faced youngster and a celebratory Trish Hyde following his sale for Ir3.1 million gns to Tote Cherry-Downes. It had been a record-breaking transaction, a moment of enough consequence to hit the national news, and for vendor Timmy Hyde of Camas Park Stud, one that had repaid handsomely on the colt's Ir325,000gns...

We kicked off our annual Value Sires series earlier this week with a look at the new class of sires entering stud in 2021, and today we move on to the group with their first foals set to hit the ground in the coming months. While it is not always a straightforward task to pinpoint value in unproven sires, the ripple effects of the global pandemic make the exercise a little more interesting this year. While it has become the norm for some young sires to get fee cuts in...

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...

Every year there is huge excitement as the new wave of first-season sires is announced. After those announcements come the visits to the various studs that house new recruits in eager attempts to see racehorses that caught the eye on the track and potentially mate up that mare that had been penciled in. Coolmore Stud in Fethard, Co. Tipperary, is always high on the list for breeders not only for the bloodlines it is home to, but also for a peek at the impressive facilities and the empire that has...

It is hard to believe this is the fifth year in a row I have traversed rural Ireland on the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Irish Stallion Trail, and while it represents a unique chance for the general public who are interested in the bloodstock industry to get a glimpse of some household stallion names, for me personally it provides a lovely opportunity to see the new kids on the block who will be covering mares for the first time this spring. The majority of these are not long out of competition...

G1 Prince of Wales's S. winner Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) has held his position atop the Longines World's Best Racehorse rankings in the latest edition released on Thursday. The 5-year-old established a mark of 127 for that effort, and while he subsequently lost to Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) by a neck in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., the three-pound female allowance that Enable received means that Crystal Ocean remains one point ahead of her. The King George third Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) saw...

Making it a dozen group 1 wins this summer, Frankie Dettori had Advertise (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) to aid his cause of streaking through the major European events in Deauville's G1 Larc Prix Maurice de Gheest on Sunday. Occupying 11-5 favouritism in this unique 6 1/2-furlong test, Phoenix Thoroughbred Limited's G1 Commonwealth Cup and G1 Phoenix S. hero and G1 July Cup runner-up travelled strongly behind compatriot Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) who provided an ideal lead in the dominant group racing furthest from the rail. Taking over approaching the...