By Gary King
Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm in the U.S. has long been an advocate of diversification and utilising international bloodlines. TDN's Gary King chatted with Bernick about the European-based stallions he plans to use in 2019.
GK: Could you let us know which European-based stallions you plan on using this season?
CB: Here's the complete list:
Most Beautiful (GB): Kodiac (GB)
Take a Deep Breath (GB): Saxon Warrior (Jpn)
Modern Love (Ire): Zoffany (Ire)
Deer Valley: Frankel (GB)
How (Ire): Lope De Vega (Ire)
Easter (Ire): Kingman (GB)
Galileo Gal (Ire): Kingman (GB)
GK: Galileo Gal [a half-sister to Alpha Centauri] was an expensive purchase for $1.4-million at Fasig-Tipton November. Did you buy her with Kingman in mind?
CB: When I bought the mare, Shane Horan from Juddmonte immediately texted and said he would love her for Kingman. That made a lot of sense to me and we had been thinking about that horse anyway.
Kingman was such a great racehorse. I know he ran at two but he won everything except the Guineas at three. His 2-year-olds look even more precocious than he was. He's a horse that I'm more than happy to breed to with Galileo Gal and Easter.
GK: Lope De Vega had a remarkable year at stud in 2018, especially with Newspaperofrecord (Ire)'s win in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Did that influence your decision?
CB: We have used Lope De Vega before. We sold the mare Earring in foal to him at Tattersalls December this year [purchased by Charlie Gordon-Watson Bloodstock for 925,000gns].
I have followed Lope De Vega since the start and every year it seems that he's improved. His horses run early and they seem to stay around. He's the type of horse that will continue to be a really good stallion.
With the mare being by Galileo (Ire), he's a really good match. She's a very pretty mare, walks well, and probably had more ability than her race record suggests. She has a great pedigree so I think that's a good mating for her.
GK: Where do you typically board your mares in Europe?
CB: We basically board them all at Norelands Stud in Ireland. Then the mares that are bred to stallions in England, Norelands will arrange everything. Once the mares are in foal they all come back to Norelands to be foaled.
GK: When do you make the decision about which ones you'll race in Europe versus the U.S.?
CB: We plan for those matings to be European horses. The mares are all European-bred, have form there, a lot of the relations are in Europe, so they basically belong there. If we decide to put some of the horses in training and they look like they might be prospects for America, we could consider that.
The one mare going over, Deer Valley, to Frankel has a fantastic pedigree and is a listed winner. She could maybe be the only one that might come back, but the rest of them belong over there.
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