Where Does The Value Lie? Top Judges Have Their Say On Breeding Stock Sales

Another manic sale season is upon us. Goffs kick-starts what promises to be an exciting few weeks with the November Foal Sale getting underway on Monday followed by the mares sessions on Friday and Saturday before the action rolls on to Tattersalls at Newmarket before concluding at Arqana next month. 

So where does the value lie over what is usually a helter-skelter few weeks of trade? Gwen Monneraye of the La Motteraye Consignment, Mimi Wadham of WH Bloodstock and Tally-Ho Stud's Roger O'Callaghan weigh in on the big topics ahead of the breeding stock sales. 

Mimi Wadham | Laura Green

How do you look back at the European yearling sale market and what relevance do you think that will have on the breeding stock sales going forward?

Gwen Monneraye: The yearling sales this year were very different to 2023, especially here in France. In 2023, the August Sale at Arqana was crazy good and, like the rest of the European sales, things got a bit quieter after that. This year was the complete opposite. Nobody could have expected the trade that was at Newmarket and sadly we were not consigning there this year! It continued on to the October Yearling Sale in Arqana, which was very strong. But the August Sale was only okay. I don't know if all of that was to do with Amo Racing's investment, but it could be, because they put 25 million on the table and then the rest of the yearling sales became very strong. Before Newmarket, I was fully sure that the stallion men would be dropping their prices and that the broodmare market would be a buyers' market. Now, things are looking very different and I am expecting strong trade for foals and mares.

Mimi Wadham: The yearling sales certainly picked up in October. It had been a bit worrying up until that point. Doncaster was actually quite a good sale, Somerville was sketchy and then the August Sale at Arqana was down. We were taken by surprise by the strength of October and that was really down to the Amo contribution. A lot of people got very well paid for their yearlings and that will mean that the foals will be hard to buy over the coming weeks. It's going to be incredibly competitive at the top end of the market. 

Roger O'Callaghan: I thought the yearling sales were pretty good. Kia [Joorabchian] brought great enthusiasm to Newmarket. We had a great sale at Donny and that set the tone for the year for us. If you have a nice horse, you will get well rewarded in the market at present. 

Where do you think the value might lie at the breeding stock sales?

GM: It's becoming harder and harder to find value but, for me, you have to be at every sale and look at as many horses as possible to try to find value. At some stage you will find value doing that. Trying to predict where the value will lie beforehand is hard–hopefully it will lie at the La Motteraye Consignment!

MW: It's important to look at stallion numbers to see what sires have strong books of mares coming through. We try to follow the results on the track and not just follow the hype. It's easy to say what sire is popular now but the trick is to find the one who is going to be popular by the time the yearling sales roll around the following year. If you know a stallion has big two-year-old and three-year-old crops to run for them in 2025, it could be a good time to buy a foal by them. 

RO'C: We'll find that out in 12 months, won't we?! But if I had to say one area we've been lucky in, it would be buying maiden mares off the track. We've put a lot of money into the fillies off the track in the past few years and that has been very lucky for us. 

How do you approach the sales – do you concentrate on pedigree, colts or filly foals, young or older mares, etc etc? 

GM: We used to do a lot of pinhooking but now we concentrate mainly on buying mares. The pinhooking is becoming harder and harder and has got more risky. Also, it's something we feel that we don't have to do as much of because we have more mares and more land. We approach the sales more as broodmare buyers now. Of course we do pedigree research but we try to be very open minded when it comes to buying mares. Everybody seems to be trying to buy the same horses so that's why you need to keep an open mind. We concentrate a lot on what the mares look like–good walk, depth, good shoulder and hind quarter etc. We try to invest in a bit of speed, also. We look at a lot and buy very few. In some years, we couldn't find any mares within our price bracket so recently we bought two very old mares who had produced some very good horses. The idea there was to try and produce a filly out of those mares and to race them. Eventually, those mares would join the breeding band. That has been working well so far so hopefully we could find some of the next generation of broodmares by doing that.

MW: We do all of the pedigree research first and whittle down a list. You have to be quite creative with pedigrees sometimes because you have to try and find some value. Certain sires who have fallen by the wayside, they won't work. We won't look at foals out of an exposed mare either. But we do look at a lot of foals–about 70 per cent of the catalogue, which is a lot of foals. The way the market is gone, it's all about sire power. 

RO'C: Henry [O'Callaghan, brother] will have all of the pedigrees researched for us and it's just a matter of getting out and looking at as many horses as we can and buying what we like. We try to buy as many nice foals by our own stallions as we can. That's the least we can do when breeders choose to send their mares to us. We've spent a lot of money buying the stallions to start with, so, if we can't see it through, there's not much good in it, is there? It can be a busy few weeks but there's great entertainment in it all and we like to support the people who have supported us. 

What young sires are you most looking forward to seeing the progeny of at the sales? 

GM: It was a quiet year in France. We have Sealiway (Fr), a son of Galiway (GB), who was a Group 1 winner at two and three. He could be an exciting new sire in France. Regarding the sires abroad, we are looking forward to seeing the foals by Blackbeard (Ire). We have been using him and think he could be an interesting sire going forward. Baaeed (GB) as well. He was a champion of his generation and he is a stallion who is going to be popular. 

MW: I am very excited to see the Baaeeds, however, I am disappointed by the number on offer. There are not very many in the sales. I am also really excited to see the Blackbeards as well. 

RO'C: I mean this sincerely, but we like to buy foals that we believe will run. That's the simple truth of it all. Then we will hone in on the stallions after that. Persian Force (Ire) and Perfect Power (Ire) will probably be our two, purely because we stand one and bred the other. 

And then in terms of the movers and shakers that have been announced at stud in recent weeks, what grabbed your attention the most? 

GM: I think Charyn (Ire) is going to be an exciting addition to Sumbe in France. He is an exceptional miler and it's quite rare to have a stallion of this calibre starting his career in France so we are extremely excited about that. We will be using him. Metropolitan (Fr) could also be exciting being a Classic-winning son of Zarak (Fr) and we have Puchkine (Fr), a son of Starspangledbanner (Aus), who could be quite interesting as well. There are some new stallions in England and Ireland that are quite interesting, including some of the new horses at Tally-Ho Stud and Vandeek (GB) at Cheveley Park Stud. 

MW: Of the stallions that have just gone to stud, nothing springs to mind but, in terms of value, I really think that Ghaiyyath (Ire) and Study Of Man are very reasonably priced. I am hoping to send a mare to each of those. 

RO'C: I'm going to say Bucanero Fuerte (GB). He was the second-highest rated two-year-old in Europe last season and beat Porta Fortuna (Ire) by four lengths in a Group 1. I'd like him. I like his pedigree and his Daddy is doing well. On his day, he was a very smart horse and you could say he's a bit of a forgotten horse so he's the one who floats my boat. Outside of him, we only bid for one horse this year, and that was Big Evs (Ire). Once we had him secured, we were happy and sat on our hands. 

Roger O'Callaghan: “It can be a busy few weeks but there's great entertainment in it all “ | Laura Green

Where do you stand with the current crop of first-season sires? 

GM: I'm afraid that I am going to be talking about France again because I was very excited about Hello Youmzain (Fr) at the start of the year and I like what has happened with him. I also like the end of the season that Pinatubo (Ire) has had. We were not expecting him to have Royal Ascot two-year-olds and it's good that he had a Listed winner in France recently. I like the progeny of Mohaather (GB) and, of course, Kameko has had a Group 1 winner so he is a stallion to monitor closely as well. There is no standout but I would give them all a chance for next year. 

MW: We feel slightly hard done by with Ghaiyyath as we sold a lovely filly by him at Book 2 but felt we probably could have got more for her. The sire has since had a slew of winners and is probably more popular now than during the sale. We are going to stay loyal to him and he could be the one to repay people's faith. 

RO'C: Hello Youmzain is the one, isn't he? He's the one I like. He was a good racehorse, everyone sent mares to him and supported him and now he's coming up trumps. 

If you couldn't make it to the sales, who would you trust to buy you a mare or a foal?

GM: If you won't allow me to say my wife, Lucie Lamotte, I will have to say Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock to buy the mare. I have a good relationship with Stuart and he helps us a lot so I would trust him to buy a mare. To buy a foal, I am going to say David or James Egan of Corduff Stud. 

MW: If I can't say Violet Hesketh [partner in WH Bloodstock], I will nominate Jamie McCalmont for the mare and Kelsey Lupo for the foal. 

RO'C: We'll let Paddy Turley buy the foal. Craig and Martin McCracken can buy the mare. Look at the amount of good stock they have bred in the past few years. They are not slow. 

Give us three sires that you would support in these categories; 0-15k, 15-50k, 50k upwards.

GM: At the top level, I would have to say Wootton Bassett (GB) because I have a close relationship with him and have been using him from the start and been very lucky with him. In the middle, I will be with Charyn, even though he is not proven and then at the lower end, I am a big fan of Oasis Dream (GB). I know he is getting on in years but, if you got a filly by him, he would be very good value at £15,000.

MW: Night Of Thunder (Ire) is an exceptional sire and we've been lucky with him so I'll nominate him at the top end of the market while Study Of Man and Cotai Glory (GB) are good value at £25,000 and €15,000 respectively.

RO'C: Mehmas (Ire) in the top category anyway. We've never had a horse stand for as much money as €70,000 and he deserves to be standing at that fee after the year we had. We've very proud of him. The bit I like about him is that he can get a good sprinter and it looks like he can get a really good miler as well. That opens doors for a lot of people. Study Of Man has impressed me and he could be the one in the middle tier while Bucanero Fuerte will appeal to a lot of people at €12,500.