These three owner breeders (I write about every year) have had divergent times over the last 4-5 years. Gillian, Lady Howard de Walden has been steady-away with her two mares over that period, though unlucky to have lost a couple of young fillies. Cliveden Stud amounts to having just one broodmare. Mark Dixon has not had much luck on the racecourse but looks stronger today in numbers than for quite some time. So let’s start with Dixon. All his mares are owned jointly with two partnerships. The most successful has been the Ashbrittle partnership, famous for its Oaks winner Talent. The partnership retired Talent’s dam Prowess (the foundation mare of the partnership) last year and there are no more foals from this mare. They also lost or sold a full sister to Talent called Forte: she leaves two daughters in the stud alongside a yearling filly. But let’s start with the horses in training. They are headed by the 4yo maiden gelding Sailing On, who is a full brother to Talent. He was unraced as a 2yo but ran 7 times and was placed 5 times. He was quite immature in his early races but improved. The hope must be that he picks up a couple of handicaps this year. He’s in training with Eve Johnson-Houghton. More exciting is Harpers Ferry who is a once-raced son of Lope de Vega and Talent. He only went into training, as a 2yo, midsummer then ran once at Newmarket in October. Seemingly unfancied he ran a highly promising race and was beaten a nose by a more experienced Beckett colt. To my eye, he still looked unfurnished. If he’s wintered well and grown into his frame one could see him being a useful 10f-12f horse. I’d expect Walker to have him out early in the season. He looks to be Dixon’s best prospect for some time. There are no Ashbrittle partnership 2yos as they sold their Too Darn Hot colt out of Talent last Autumn. Not sure who owns him but he’s in training in Ireland (with Murphy and Keady) and called uninspiringly Hot Talent. They also sold their Talent foal last year for 575,000gns, which was probably some much needed income. They did retain 3 foals that are now yearlings and they are all fillies:- New Bay out of Forte; Ghaiyyath ot of Fiesty (a Siyouni daughter of Forte: first foal); and Territories out of Sibling (a non-winning full sister to Talent and Forte). Depending on how the season goes I can see maybe one of these trio going to the sales. The other partnership is with the Mount Coote Stud, who have probably had more success with horses they’ve bred and sold than those they’ve raced. The highlights have been Thomas Hobson (Gosden and Mullins), Maud Gonne Spirit (Harrington), Marquisat (Fabre) and Luisa Casati (Ward), all of whom were Group level or won Listed races. This partnership has the unraced 3yo, Mary Chestnut (by Arc winner Waldgeist out of La Spezia, the dam of Thomas Hobson) in training with Tom Ward. I’m sure Ward will want to get her out as early as possible this season. Their 2yo is another filly called Pink Petunia, who’s by first season sire Without Parole out of the winning mare Punting. There’s also the possibility of two other 2yos. The first is Roman Landing, a Cityscape colt out of La Spezia who was bought-in at last year’s Sales. The other is an unnamed Masar filly out of a mare called La Marchesa, she being the dam of Marquisat who was sold as a yearling and has run 4 times, winning 3 of them (he was 2nd in a late-season Group 2 race in France and could go onto better things this year). The Mount Coote partnership had a good time at last year’s Sales when they sold a Zarak filly out of Bari for 160,000€. She’s gone to Italy and is a half sister to the multiple winner Maud Gonne Spirit owned by Olivia Hoare, who has had tremendous success with Dreamloper. All the Mount Coote mares, except Punting, are very closely related to Dreamloper. Olivia Hoare has Dreamloper’s Fastnet Rock sister, Dreamrocker, in training with Walker as a 4yo (it was as a 4yo that Dreamloper first revealed her talent). She may also have a Masar 2yo sister to Dreamloper in training this year, she’salready named and yes you guessed it, it’s Dreamasar . Dreamloper’s dam has a yearling filly by Lope de Vega (so a full sister to Dreamloper) and should, all being well, have a foal by Sea the Stars. Mount Coote has an abundance of yearlings with 3 fillies and a colt, and possibly 4 foals. The highlight looks to be a Study of Man yearling colt out of La Marchesa (who’ll possibly go to the Sales). Interestingly La Marchesa is to be sent to Lope de Vega this year, while Bari is sent back to Intello (the sire of Maud Gonne Spirit). A lot to like about Dixon’s prospects for this year. They now must prove it on the racecourse. Lady Howard de Walden could have 3 horses in training this year. There are no 3yos as her 2yo filly of last year died without going into training. She does have a 4yo gelding in the shape of Graham who’s by Time Test out of the Galileo mare Gravitation. Graham won twice last year, and it was noticeable that he liked to hear his feet rattle and both wins were on good or firmer ground. This year he starts on a good mark and could pick up a nice handicap at 12f if we don’t have a wet year again. Gemmari is an Expert Eye colt and a half brother to Graham. He should be a bit sharper than his brother, though he’s not in training yet. Gennadius is in training with Hannon and is by Ulysees out of Gemina (by Holy Roman Emperor), a half sister to Graham. There’s a yearling filly full sister to Graham who hopefully is good enough to replace Gravitation at stud. I suppose my only comment is that it would be nice to see the odd 1st tier sire used now and again. This is a good family, and the use of 3rd tier sires is taking it nowhere. Very difficult to talk about Cliveden Stud. Its assets seem to amount to one mare, Horseplay, who was a Group 2 winner. Her first foal City of Kings (Kingman) looked a promising Godolphin 2yo but was disappointing on his only start as a 3yo, was then taken out of training in August and gelded. He could be anywhere. His year younger brother by Dubawi was sold to Godolphin for 800,000gns but so far has not been named. The 3rd foal by Too Darn Hot did not (as far as I could see) go to the Sales but is, as yet, unnamed. Horseplay was then rested and could have a foal by Frankel. That’s it. I’d love to see the revival of their fortunes.
A bit of burrowing and we find that Forte was sold for €22,000 at the December Arqana Sale at Deauville. Just why they sold her in France I have no idea. She was sold on Sunday 10th, just 5 days after her fourth foal, Ubi Major, had won his first 2yo race in Italy on the 5th December. The next day the Oasis Dream colt won his 2nd race. The purchaser, a Mr McPhee, must have been delighted. He must be even more delighted as Ubi Major has gone on to win 2 more races on the 12th and 28th January. He may be winning small races but he knows where the finishing line is, must be fairly tough and surely must be improving. He was sold for 15,000gns at the yearling sales in 2022. So, Forte (for whom Ubi Major is her first winner) is represented at Ashbrittle by two daughters (a maiden and an unraced filly) and there's a yearling by New Bay. But a full-sister to an Oaks winner looks cheap at €22,000 and she was in foal to Persian King. Maybe they didn't feel they needed her but it doesn't look good timing.
The Ashbrittle partnership has its first foal of the year, a filly by New Bay out of Oaks winner Talent. Last year's filly foal by St Marks Basilica out of Talent went for the European Top Price for a foal. Talent now goes for a useful early mating with Baaeed.
Something I wasn't expecting to see: Harper's Ferry has been entered for the Prix du Jockey Club. Strong vibes have been coming out of Ed Walker's Kingsdown Stable about this Lope de Vega colt Let's hope they prove correct.
Can't tell from one photo Bustino. Safer to look at them at different stages in growth when they are standing naturally and also to see them moving. Can't beat feeling with hands as well. How old is she? Similar to dogs. When you get your hands on them you can ensure they are standing correctly, in particular for assessing lay back of shoulder. The movements should then confirm what the hands on detects Based purely on the photo I do have an initial impression but I'm reluctant to divulge that without showing Amanda first. She is coming round tomorrow evening. Family gathering to watch football on TV. I suspect the first thing she will say is how old is she. At the foal stage, in general, 3 weeks and 3 months old give the best indications
I showed the photo to Amanda. The photo has the foal standing unevenly which distorts the shoulder angle. She asked if it was possible to see more photos and a video of its movement. I don't know if that is possible but, if not, I'm afraid there's not much we can say. Sorry
It's on the internet and a filly foal of 7 days. Of interest to me because her half-sister was the most expensive foal sold in Europe last year (for 575,000gns). I wondered if a trained eye could see some quality that justifies that price at this early stage. Thanks for your comments and if there are any more pictures I'll post them.
For that price, they would have had a thorough examination of its conformation and movement and pedigree. Probably seen the sire and the dam too. If both sire and dam have good fronts, there is a very high probability the the foal will have
Derby entries out today. Harper's Ferry also entered for this. 17 of the 72 entries are AOB. Appleby has only 3. The last time the Hollingsworth/Dixon colours appeared in the premier Classic was 1968 when Torpid lined up against Sir Ivor.
Forgot Admiral's Launch in 1978 (Shirley Heights). Had won the Craven in great style, ran a stinker in the Guineas and wasn't much better in the Derby.
Despite being backed down to favourite, Marquisat (Zarak out of La Marchesa: owned by Godolphin and trained by Fabre) failed to get his Group win and finishes 3rd in the Prix Exbury. Perhaps the Heavy ground was against him. Yesterday Talent's son Aerospace won his maiden at the age of 5 at Wolverhampton. The reports said he was very impressive. He is Talent's 3rd foal to race and the 3rd to win. Though a 5yo it was only his 3rd start. His first as a 2yo he was made evens favourite but could only finish 4th to his stablemate Emily Upjohn. His next race was that early season maiden at Windsor that is a favourite of wannabe Derby horses. He was a disappointing 3rd.There was a rumour that he bled. Whatever it was he was not seen again even after being gelded. Eventually he was sold out of the Gosden's yard for about 5% of his yearling purchase price (he cost Godolphin 300,000gns) last Autumn. Trained by Archie Watson he looks a snip now. Good for Talent, and her owners, to keep having winning foals. Of course her 4th foal to race is Harper's Ferry,. The same cannot be said about Mary Chestnut who has had 3 outings and beaten about 2 horses.
Harper's Ferry entered for Saturday's 10f maiden at Doncaster. No jockey as yet., I'd reckon Marquand must have a chance and if not then Osborne.
What can you say? Looked all over the winner up the straight and despite coming away from the rest of the field with the unraced Moon Over Miami, found Beckett's gelding too tough in the finish. They were 9+ lengths ahead of the 3rd. The winner could be something special but you have to say a shade disappointing.
