These three owner breeders continue, though all have their issues. Most activity is around Mark Dixon and his mares. As clarified before, Dixon is involved in two partnerships (with Ashbrittle Stud and Mount Coote Stud), while at the same time having a mare he owns outright. Last year was a disappointment in that his two Ashbrittle 2yos were injured and could not run. At the same time he failed to sell a yearling and foal in a year in which his broodmare band expanded to 11 mares (all of course tracing back to his Uncle’s Oaks winner Bireme) and the revenue from their sale would have come in useful. Let’s look at what appears to be the current status. I’m sure he’ll have runners this year as he has the unraced 3yo filly Sea Sparkle with Beckett and unraced 3yo colt Sailing On with Johnson-Houghton. Sea Sparkle is by Sea the Stars out of a full-sister (Forte) to Dixon’s Oaks winner Talent. We should see her start in a maiden this Spring, and it’s likely she’ll need 10f+ to be seen at her best. Dixon rarely has a colt in training so Sailing On is a special case. Apparently he had some conformation problems as a young horse and was not put through the Sales ring. However he was put into training with Eve Johnson-Houghton and looked as if he would run as a 2yo late summer. He didn’t because of an injury but as can be seen on the trainer’s website has been back in training for a couple of months. As a full-brother to Talent he should have an engine and we should see him out this Spring. Hopefully one of these two will win races and go on to better things. It appears that Dixon will have two 2yos this year. His Mount Coote (actually Luke Lillingston) 2yo is Mary Chestnut, who’s a filly by Waldgeist out of La Spezia. This makes her a half-sister to Thomas Hobson and to their partnership mare La Superba. It’s not clear who this filly goes into training with and she’s liable to need a bit of time but she could be a very interesting staying prospect. His Ashbrittle 2yo is as yet unnamed but is a Lope de Vega colt out of their Oaks winner Talent who was bought in by the owners at the Book 1 sale last October. So again a colt they didn’t expect to have in training. He’s unlikely to race much as a 2yo but likely to go to Ed Walker, who has done well with members of the Bireme family. Which brings me to my next point. Though Dixon had a slim time last year one member of the Bireme family did her proud as the Walker trained Dreamloper won two Group 1s. Dixon sold her dam (Livia’s Dream) back in 2011 and she has done her purchaser proud. Her first foal was by Mastercraftsman and called Dreamweaver and has won four races. Her 2nd foal was Dreamloper (by Lopa de Vega) and though unraced as a 2yo turned out to be a top class 4yo and 5yo. The next foal is the unraced 3yo filly Dreamrocker (by Fastnet Rock) who is in training with Walker. There is no 2yo in breeder Olivia Hoare’s ownership as she sold a yearling filly by Golden Horn for 280,000gns last year. She does have a filly yearling by Masar and hopefully will have a full-sibling foal to Dreamloper this year. Olivia Hoare seems a lucky owner and though she sold Dreamloper (for €2.7m) she has another Bireme descendant who, I believe, joined Dreamloper’s dam at stud this year. That is the Intello mare, Maud Gonne Spirit, who won 5 races for her owner in Ireland including one last year. She is out of the Cape Cross mare Bari (whom Dixon still owns in partnership with Lillingston) whose dam is Dreamloper’s third dam. With her war chest after the sale of Dreamloper, Hoare can choose her partners for Livia’s Dream and Maud Gonne Spirit. I’d suggest the latter might go to Lope de Vega or one of his sons. While Dreamloper and Maud Gonne Spirit did Bireme proud this side of the Channel, a promising Zarak colt called Marquisat made his 2yo debut last Autumn in France and won. He is out of La Marchesa, who by Duke of Marmalade, is a half-sister to Livia’s Dream. Marquisat is owned by Godolphin and trained by Fabre and could go on to do better this season. There are other sold 3yos with Balding (Quick Response I have hopes for) and a couple of sold 2yos. That was 2022, in 2023 Buxted Two (by Iffraaj out of a half-sister to Talent) has kept the Bireme winners ticking over with 5 wins on the all-weather (he also won as a 3yo and 4yo): not Dreamloper level but wins all the same. Which leads on (and back) to Dixon’s yearlings. He has 6 this year and 4 of them are fillies. It’s unlikely he’ll keep all of them so will probably choose between a Masar filly out of La Marchesa, a Zarak filly out of Bari and an Earthlight filly out of La Superba to be sold. Sales this year may receive a boost. They are hoping I’m sure that the foal who failed to sell in December can be returned to the yearling sales this year, especially as he’s by Too Darn Hot out of Talent. The other two yearlings are a colt by Cityscape out of La Spezia who’s likely to go to the Sales and a first foal of Dixon’s Punting by Without Parole, called Pink Petunia, who’s already named and so unlikely to be sold. For completion Dixon’s so far had 4 foals, all fillies, with 6 more mares still to foal. So not at all bad news for Mark Dixon. I need to mention that Ambition, whom Dixon got out of when she was a 2yo (who then went on to win 3 Group races in France) has given birth to her first foal (by Frankel). She is owned by Dixon’s Ashbrittle partner and a certain Mr Steve Ashley. Lady Howard de Walden had one win last year. Her two 2yos did not win and one of them, Ghibelline, was taken out of training and has not returned. She did have a decent debut run (though her follow-up was poor) and it’s to be hoped she returns to training. The owner will have no 2yo this year as a 2021 born filly died as a yearling. So quiet times here. She has got 2 yearling colts. Cliveden Stud (or Philip Freedman) is going through a significant change and I do have some worries. His ace, hopefully, is his good filly Horseplay. So far both her foals, both colts, have been sold. The first is the now 3yo City of Kings (Kingman), who was purchased by Godolphin and he ran twice as a 2yo, winning his second start comfortably at Ascot in September. He is entered for the 2000G, though probably Appleby’s 5th string: but you never know. He could get 10f. The second foal is a Dubawi who was also bought by Godolphin and for 800,000gns. He is, as yet, unnamed. There is a yearling colt by Too Darn Hot. For some reason Horseplay was not covered in 2002, so no foal this year. I think the reason could be that last year’s foal was reasonably late (May 12th) and they’d like to get the mare on an earlier cycle. After that I’m not sure what Freedman now has. He may have a mare called Brief Visit, who’s by Fastnet Rock and comes from Cliveden Stud’s oldest family. She has no daughters in the stud and her dam Brevity was sold for a paltry 1000G. A family that has been in the stud since the late ‘60s (before that owned by the Sassoons: owners of Crepello, Hard Ridden, St Paddy and others) therefore hangs by a thread. He may have a share in a mare called Sparring Queen, who (again) may have a 2yo filly called Iffraaj Queen. She is yet to be placed with a trainer so I’m unsure in whose ownership she is. There is also a filly foal out of the same mare by Territories. My big wish for Cliveden is that Horseplay provides the spark for a renewal of the stud. Hopefully she is well, keeps healthy and productive, and has a filly or two that provide the building blocks for future success.
Cliveden Stud chalked up a winner with Saxon King on Saturday. This son of Zoustar out of a Street Cry mare called Brevity has progressed with each run and has now won two on the trot. He seems to like the turf and he seems to like soft ground. Philip Freedman seems to have a share in this colt and I'd reckon the colt could get an entry for the Britannia at RA. An aside here: I was at the Newmarket foal sales in November when this one's half-sister by Advertise went through the ring. For a long time her price stuck on 1,000gns. I was almost tempted to bid as I felt it was a ridiculous price. She eventually went for 5,000gns (still a ridiculous price). A stupid moment. What would I do if I bought her? Take her home in my car? Luisa Casati ran an excellent race at Goodwood on Friday winning a listed event over 12f (which she seems to like). She's a Vadamos daughter of La Marchesa, so closely related to Dreamloper. Lightly raced, on soft ground she can go on winning at this level. Dixon has a yearling filly by Masar and colt foal by Study of Man, while La Marchesa has been sent back to Masar. La Marchesa still has her Zarak 3yo colt Marquisat yet to appear. He won well on his 2yo run for Godolphin. Dixon had a disappointing day at Newbury when Sailing On was pulled up on his debut. Apparently he had an irregular heartbeat. Dreadful luck for Dixon. Talent's dam Prowess has been retired (Dixon has three full sister daughters of Prowess plus a granddaughter (probably 2) in the stud at present), and there are now 7 foals with 3 mares still to foal in his part ownership. De Walden's Graham put in a reasonable seasonal debut and should pick up a small race somewhere.
Graham won his maiden yesterday at Salisbury. Seemed to enjoy leading and the firm ground. He could go in again this summer. Some research in the BHA website shows Gillian, Lady Howard de Walden is having a a lot of bad luck. Her other 3yo, the filly, Ghibelline has died and Ghibelline's younger sister has also died: so no 2yos this year. So Graham's victory was probably well received. She does have 2 yearling colts: one an Expert Eye brother to Graham and the other by Ulysses out of a half-sister to Graham. Saxon King is similarly giving Philip Freedman some respite. This Cliveden bred Zoustar colt seems to improve with every race and won a biggish handicap at Chester. He probably has to step up to Listed Class now. A week or so before Crooked Crown, who was sold by Freedman for 11,000gns last year, won her maiden on her 3rd attempt and appears well worth the price paid for her. Quiet on the Dixon front. not much happening on the racecourse. His part-owned mares have delivered him 9 foals this year. 7 of them are fillies and while one expects him to sell his colts, as foals or yearlings, it's likely he'll have to sell some of these fillies at some stage. He's got 4 yearling fillies too. Rumour has it that Talent's 2yo, named Harper's Ferry (Lope de Vega), will go into training with Walker later in the Summer. Also Sailing On is also rumoured to be showing some style on the gallops but has been gelded.
Tomorrow sees the debut of an interesting 3yo filly, Dreamrocker, at Chelmsford. She's not from the three owner-breeders but is from the extended family of Dixon's mares. She's by Fastnet Rock out of Livia's Dream, who was sold by Dixon as a yearling and went on to win 4 races including one Listed event (as a 5yo).She's had 3 living foals, the first of whom was the useful handicapper Dreamweaver (by Mastercraftsman) and the second was the classy Dreamloper (by Lope de Vega). She did not win until her 3yo days but went on to win two Group 1s as a 5yo. So, the family seems to improve with age and it's unlikely Dreamrocker will be any different. Tomorrow is her first day at school but hopefully she'll show some promise for the future.
That reminds me of a very long time ago when my wife and I (I think we were married then) took the afternoon off work to go to the New Forest Sales. When we got there, it had nearly finished but my wife spotted one she liked which had already been purchased. The next thing I knew, she was signing papers to buy her. We only went there to look. We had nowhere to put her and no means of getting her home anyway. So my wife arranges to pick up the pony the following weekend. At the time we were in the process of buying a property with land and we managed to persuade the owners to let us put the pony on their land. So, next problem, how do we get her home. We could hire a trailer but we didn't have a tow bar; but a friend of ours did. So we swapped cars for the weekend and off we went - and came back with 3
I think there was enough there to suggest she'll win a race. Very green and needing to be roisted along from the start. Saffie Osborne gave her 3 taps in the straight and she responded positively to them. Doing her best work in the last half furlong, when hand ridden.
The foal I mentioned goes through the ring again in early September at the Somerville Tattersall's sale. Should I have been the idiot I am?
The current owner has probably been feeding her on GRO 'N WIN and she'll probably fetch at least double what she cost
Dreamrocker came on as expected and won at 7-1 at Salisbury yesterday. Her half-sister Dreamloper similarly did not run as a 2yo and won her first race midsummer as a 3yo. Will Dreamrocker be kept in training as a 4yo, to try and repeat her sister's success?
Hope you backed her Bustino after your earlier observation. Should have put that up in the Daily thread I reckon
Did you watch the coverage? I think it was Meg Nicholls who was on and was stating how much more developing the horse needs to furnish her frame. It’ll be really interesting to see how the form works out and more importantly how she develops
Sadly at a funeral, so only watched the Sporting Life rerun late at night. Still looked as green as grass to me. I felt the Murphy booking was significant so had a small investment. So agree it will be interesting to see how she develops. Looks like Olivia Hoare has bred another good one and that Walker may have some fun. Never understand the ownership of these horses. Though Dreamloper ran in her name as a 3yo he ran in her colours but someone else's name as a 4yo/5yo. When she was sold for $2.7million it seemed that Mrs Hoare was the beneficiary. Dreamrocker runs under the joint ownership of Hot to Trot and Mr J Fill. I think the latter was always on the racecard as Dreamloper's owner: maybe a relation of Mrs Hoare or some leasing arrangement. So Mrs Hoare may still have a leg of Dreamrocker. This thread is about 3 owner-breeders but often diverts off into the sold fillies/dams of their families. That's what has happened here and has been beneficial (to Mrs Hoare, readers of the rubbish I write and sometimes me). Hoare has a yearling filly by Masar and filly foal full-sister to Dreamloper. There is a 2yo colt, so far unnamed, by Golden Horn who was sold as a yearling for 280,000gns. Though Dixon must have been pleased with the 45,000gns he received when he sold Livia's Dream as an unnamed yearling to Mrs Hoare, his benefit has not been great since. However he does have La Marchesa, who is a half-sister to Dreamloper's dam. She has had 3 foals who have raced and all have won. Luisa Casati runs today and has won twice, but her 3yo is a Zarak gelding called Marquisat trained by Andre Fabre who has run twice and won twice (won last week). He could turn out to be interesting. The 2yo (sold as a yearling) colt is called Wigwammer, but no sight of him so far. Dixon has a yearling filly by Masar, so may hold onto her. The Livia's Dream sub-branch of the Bireme/Felucca family certainly looks interesting. Mrs Hoare also bought another yearling filly from Dixon. She was named Maud Gonne Spirit and she has won 5 races for her and is still in training as a 6yo. Not sure why she isn't put in foal as she's from the same family. Perhaps Mrs Hoare wants to keep it all low-key and not get carried away.
it's yearling sales time and the time for difficult decisions for Mark Dixon. He has 6 yearlings and has chosen to send both colts to the Sales and another filly: that's so far. The colt appearing in Newmarket's Book 1 Sale is by Too Darn Hot out of Oaks winner Talent. The May Hill win by Darnation will have helped his cause. Hopefully he'll fetch a decent price. To be sold earlier at this week's Goff Sales are a Cityscape brother to Thomas Hobson and an Earhlight filly out of a half-sister to Thomas Hobson. I wouldn't expect big prices for these but with luck they'll make a profit. That leaves Dixon with 3 yearlings, all fillies. Zarak out of Bari Without Parole out of Punting and Masar out of La Marchesa (see post above). Of course one or more of these could still be sold at later sales, but they are not in Books 2-4. He has a more difficult decision to make with his foals, of which he has 9 (only 2 are colts). Will he attempt to sell foals this year? Hasn't been a particularly lucrative exercise as his horses are generally backward sorts. If he sells any of them I'd reckon the La Marchesa colt by Study of Man would be top of the list La Marchesa was covered by Masar this year..
Missed that one. Maud Gonne Spirit had fallen off my tracker but yesterday got her first black type win at Listowel. Her first victory over 9f, she started at a mammoth 80-1 on her favoured rain-softened ground. She is an Intello daughter of Bari, bred by Mark Dixon. Great timing as (and as mentioned above) I now notice that the Zarak out of Bari yearling filly is entered to be sold at Goffs Sale. What will Mrs Hoare do with Maud Gonne Spirit. I hope she keeps her and sends her to stud.
The Earthlight filly goes for 35,000€, while the Cityscape colt was bought in by the Vendor for 20,000€ (now available to offers). As Earthlight stands at about 16,000gns there's a bit of profit there.
Bari's Zarak yearling filly goes for €160,000 at Goffs, which seems a reasonable price. The big one is next week, when Talent's Too Darn Hot yearling colt goes through the ring at Newmarket. I'd imagine they hope for more than 200,000gns. Marquisat (Zarak out of La Marchesa) got his third win on his third start at Longchamp. He looks to be improving with every start and taking it all in his stride. Will Godolphin sell him or keep him in training as a 4yo? All good news for Dixon as he kept the Masar filly out of La Marchesa. Dreamrocker (out of a half-sister to La Marchesa) goes for a Class 5 handicap on her third start. A win will only make Dixon feel better.
Marquisat (see above) ran his best race of the season at Longchamp when coming 2nd in the Group 2 Conseil de Paris behind the hot favourite Iresine. The gelding looks a prospect for better things as a 4yo. Meanwhile Dixon's jointly owned, 2yo Lope de Vega colt, Harper's Ferry, out of his Oaks winner Talent has had his first entry and should run soon. Dixon couldn't have been too happy with the 40,000gns he got for the yearling colt out of the same mare. His joint owner James Rowsell retained a 50% share. Two foals are entered for the Foal Sale in late November/Early December. The Bated Breath colt out of Punting is not a surprise but the St Mark's Basilica filly out of Talent is: most likely a cash-flow problem.
Important test of the waters with Harper's Ferry at Newmarket today. Hopefully a promising performance.
Dwelt at the start and running green most of the way, Harper's Ferry came through from the back to take it up at the furlong pole. Beaten on the nod by the more experienced 9/4 shot Feigning Madness (already a winner), though 20 yards past the post the distance would have been half a length to Feigning Madness. All in all, a very satisfactory debut from a colt who looked as if he had a big frame to fill. Not given an unnecessarily hard race this 50-1 shot looks very promising if he goes the right way after this debut. I suppose there is a chance he'll have another go on the turf at Newmarket or Doncaster. Looks one for next year.
