By Brian Sheerin
In what must be the understatement of the year, Tally-Ho Stud boss Tony O'Callaghan has described himself as “quietly delighted” to see Mehmas (Ire) make history for the number of two-year-old winners recorded in a season when Naughty Eyes, who was bred by the County Westmeath operation, delivered winner number 62 for the stallion at Wolverhampton on Monday.
The previous record had been set by the daddy of Tally-Ho, Kodiac (GB), who O'Callaghan was keen to state is far from finished.
But what Mehmas has achieved in setting the record number of two-year-old winners in a season has been on the cards for some time and even a man as understated as O'Callaghan could admit the emotion surrounding the changing of the guard at Tally-Ho.
He said, “It's great that it happened. We were hoping that it would happen from an early stage in the season and thank God that it has. We were never expecting a horse to come along and break Kodiac's record. We're not ones to go jumping up and down about things like this. We're quietly delighted.”
Asked to nominate his highlight of the year following the progeny of Mehmas, he responded, “Oh, Ger's [Lyons] horse [Magnum Force (Ire)] winning at the Breeders' Cup. That and the National Stakes [Scorthy Champ (Ire)] at the Curragh. They were the two highlights for me.”
Mehmas has sired eight individual Stakes-winning two-year-olds this season. As a result of a stellar year, he had his fee bumped by €20,000 to €70,000. Meanwhile, Kodiac will stand for €25,000.
O'Callaghan concluded, “Kodiac is going strong, too, and we'd be hoping to get another year or two out of him. Look, it's great that it has happened with Mehmas, but you have to keep looking forward in this game.”
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