Hi Pn Can you briefly explain the rules of sellers ? and if the horse wins you have to bid to get the horse back?
PN, the dam of Nathaniel and Great Heavens. Has she given birth to any foals since Great Heavens? Who is(are) the foal(s) by?
A seller means that the winner of the race is offered for sale at an auction after the race. If no one wants to buy the horse you get to keep him, if someone else enters the bidding you will have to keep the bidding going to make sure you retain the horse. A claimer means that all horses running in the race are up for "claim". The connections set a price that the horse is on offer for and the horses are weighted in the race accordingly, so the top weight will be the most expensive to claim. There is usually a ceiling price depending on the race, ie no horse can be put in for more than £15,000. Magnificient Style is the dam of 10 winners from 10 runners. She does not have a two year old, she was barren to Oasis Dream. She has a yearling colt by Oasis Dream called THRONE ROOM She has a filly foal by Oasis Dream called WILLOUGHBY She was covered this year by Fastnet Rock
This has got me thinking about some other great fillies: Noblesse Petite Ãtoile Meld Bella Paola Danseuse Ãtoile Allez France Jacinth Soba Silk Slippers (Lovely 2yo never seen after) Cherry Hinton There must be others; these are just off the top of my head.
Personal Ensign was probably one of the few exceptions: one of the best American dirt mares in history and a very good broodmare. Miesque also produced top offspring. I'm watching the development of the Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta colts with a great deal of interest, and can't wait to see Zarkava's filly on the track. Princess, I had a look at that book on Amazon but it looks rather long. Could you please recommend a good book for someone with a budding interest in breeding?
The book "Thoroughbred Pedigrees Simplified" by Miles Napier is very good and is only a small paperback. You can find it cheaper elsewhere online though, £7 plus postage here
Another contender for best named two year old of the year: HATTIE JACQUES - filly by Sixties Icon out of Funny Girl
What do you think of Herbalist tomorrow 7.30 Salisbury. He's by your boy out of a Kris mare. Looks as though he had a gentle introduction, having dwelt at the start, and only beaten 4¼L. Will he be suited by the ground? Poor bugger has been gelded though; don't know if that was before he went on a race track. Presume they didn't think too highly of him to do that.
Haafhd's generally seem to like a bit of cut, like their dad. Salisbury is one of those tracks where most maiden races tend to be of good quality. Sometimes gelding is the only way to get a colt to the racecourse. George Washington's brother WYETH was reportedly gelded because his testicles were so large that he was in constant discomfort. [waits for someone to claim they have the same problem ]
I'm just back from a wonderful morning out on the Newmarket gallops. Today was our visit to Warren Place and we spent half an hour or so on the Warren Hill gallop with Sir Henry, watching 4th lot do some routine canters, including Beauty Parlor and Morpheus, Frankel's 2yo half-brother. Sadly Sir Henry has lost his voice but we were lucky enough to be talked through everything by Lord Grimthorpe, Juddmonte's racing manager. At the start of the morning we were told that we would not see Frankel as they were keeping him under wraps and giving him peace and quiet before next week. It was a tad disappointing but not unexpected. We had a tour of the yard, and saw several horses including Twice Over and got a close up look at Morpheus - a very impressive looking individual. I was struck by how laid back the horses all were, we walked through a barn where every head over the door was inquisitive but well mannered: imagine my surprise when I discovered it was the 2yo colts barn! As we headed back to our bus we passed a small barn with windows that looked out over the yard. And there he was! They had moved Frankel from his regular box (security issues) to one where we could see him, albeit only his head. Sadly we were not allowed to take pictures during the visit, but nonetheless, it was a wonderful morning. Roll on next Wednesday!
Hello PN, sounds good does that! Speaking of Juddemonte can you tell me if a colt at John Gosden's out of Light Jig (by Speightstown) has a name yet? It's a 2yo.
GGW, he's been called SEEK AGAIN. One of the 2yo colts we saw at Warren Place was called RETIREMENT PLAN, out of Passage of Time. Lovely name, and a very sweet individual.
Ok, so I may have fibbed to you a tiny bit abuot not having any photos I did manage to get a couple - well other people were taking them so I thought I might as well too! I've heavily cropped one of them so that there are no identifying features regarding the box he was stabled in when we saw him (it was not his usual box anyway). I'll leave it up here for a bit and will probably take it down tomorrow. [picture removed] I love that he has shavings in his forelock, he probably had a darn good roll in the new stable!
