Whatton Manor Stud Breaks New Ground with Orby Consignment

“It feels like a holiday!” joked Ed Player when discussing the task of showing Whatton Manor Stud's three-strong consignment to potential buyers ahead of Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Sale, a historic offering as the first at this particular sale from an operation with over 40 years of experience in the industry.

Player has been the one responsible for overseeing this latest chapter in Whatton Manor's history since taking over at the helm from father Peter, but don't mistake him for a man taking his responsibilities lightly because of that “holiday” comment. It's simply representative of the fact that Player and his team have become accustomed to juggling bumper drafts at sales such as this one, symptomatic of a business doing plenty right, whilst heaping the pressure on those whose job it is to make sure nothing goes wrong on the day that counts.

Already this year Whatton Manor have offered 16 lots at the Premier Yearling Sale and 15 at the Somerville Yearling Sale, with another 37 to come across Books 2 and 3 of the October Yearling Sale. That juggling act is just one of the reasons why Player found himself at Kildare Paddocks on Sunday morning for the first time in this capacity, seemingly with less time to put his feet up than he might have anticipated.

“It's been extremely busy today, far busier than I was expecting,” he summed up. “There's plenty of people about and a lot of new faces, people I don't know and people from America. We're very pleased with the footfall and as always Goffs do a fantastic job. It's great to see their hard work paying off with lots of people coming.

“We decided to come to Ireland because we have lots of horses and we had to think outside the box a little bit. We're bringing horses by English sires to Ireland where there won't be so many of them. We've got two Palace Piers and I think there's six in the catalogue, in total. If you go to Newmarket, I don't know the numbers exactly but there's probably 26 or 36 Palace Piers. It's just trying to find things that we think might suit the sale over here.”

He added, “We've got 19 for [Tattersalls] Book 2 anyway and people struggle to get around them all. They don't have the showing time and horses can get knocked off the list. These horses might have been lesser lights at Book 1, but we've decided to bring them here instead. People are certainly looking at them and hopefully it will translate into some half-decent prices.”

Recent events on the racecourse might also have something to do with it should the two yearlings by Palace Pier (GB) achieve the kind of results Player is hoping for, with the pedigrees of lot 251, a colt out of the Frankel (GB) mare Ghalyah (GB), and lot 276, a filly out of the Dansili (GB) mare Initially (GB), both having received significant updates since the catalogue was published.

“Scenic won the Galtres by three and three-quarter lengths,” Player said of the half-sister to lot 251 by Lope De Vega (Ire). “She possibly ran back a little bit quick in the Park Hill, but she's a very smart, progressive filly.

“And Point Lynas [a half-brother to lot 276 by Iffraaj] won his Listed race by five and a half lengths and got a Timeform rating of 117. Again, he proved himself a top-class horse. It's lovely to get those updates and, hopefully, people will take that into account.”

The Whatton Manor consignment is completed by lot 233, a filly by Bated Breath (GB) out of the unraced Folk Song (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) whose dam, Folk Opera (Ire) (Singspiel {Ire}), won the GI E. P. Taylor Stakes.

“The Bated Breath filly is a homebred from the farm,” Player continued. “Bated Breath has been a very lucky stallion for us. He gave us Worth Waiting, who won the Group 2 Dahlia Stakes, amongst other good fillies. He's been very successful in America and that was why we decided to bring her here. We felt she'd suit the American market. She's a very strong, forward filly who moves well and people seem to like her.”

The team at Whatton Manor narrowly missed out on another notable update on Sunday when their homebred Fiery Lucy (GB) (Without Parole {GB}) was beaten just a neck in the G3 Weld Park Stakes at the Curragh, filling the runner-up spot at that level for the second start in succession. A half-brother to that filly by Ulysses (Ire) will be offered at Book 3 of the October Yearling Sale.

“Fiery Lucy came there to win, but Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore can do no wrong at the moment. That was a cracking run for a filly who we only sold for 38,000gns,” Player said of that performance, before highlighting a few other successes in 2024 for horses born and raised at Whatton Manor.

“We've got a two-year-old called Fiction who has won five races on the bounce in France–we didn't get a bid for her at 6,000gns last year,” he continued. “Scenic and Sound Angela have both won Listed races and Miriam's Fire won in America very impressively. She's going for a stakes race and if she wins that they're talking about the Breeders' Cup.

“We've got lots of nice horses running well from the farm and that's part of the reason why we do it. That's where we get the buzz and the enjoyment.”

Perhaps no horse raised at Whatton Manor has given Player more of a buzz than Starman (GB), the G1 July Cup hero who will be represented by 13 yearlings from his first crop at Book 1 of the Orby Sale. The Tally-Ho Stud resident has already made quite the impression this year, notably at Doncaster where he was responsible for two of the five highest-priced lots.

“Starman is one of those lovely stories,” said Player. “He was the second horse David Ward ever bred and when he won the July Cup it was an incredibly special day for us all. He was such a good-looking horse himself, a big, strong, good-moving horse. We always really believed in him and we've got some lovely stock at home by him, homebreds of David's.

“We're just really excited and delighted that his stock has been so well received at the sales. Everything Tally-Ho touches turns to gold, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if he could do it as well. They've just got bombproof minds and they want to please you. Hopefully, he could be the leading first-season sire next year and the dream can continue.”

The Whatton Manor team sold three Starman yearlings of their own at the Somerville Yearling Sale where the market was “tricky” in the words of Player. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic about what's ahead in the coming weeks and months, both in the sales ring and on the racecourse.

“Doncaster started better than we were expecting,” he explained. “There was good trade at Doncaster and things went well there for us. The Somerville Sale was tricky. It wasn't easy for us, but we got most of them sold and you move on. We've got a lovely draft for Book 2, so hopefully people are saving some money for that sale–we've got some really nice horses to go there.

“It's tough. We all know we're in a downturn in the industry at the moment and you hope some horses get you out of jail by making good prices to cover the others that have been disappointing. The most important thing is that we try and get them into good homes so that they can come back and be racehorses next year and give us some more updates. That's the dream.”