Blackmore, Bitcoin & The Breeze Ups….
George Talks Brownsbarn Thoroughbreds
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The start of the breeze ups is upon us this week. I liken it to football trials for young lads trying to get onto a premier league team. Thomas will explain more below. BBT will be active in the later breeze up sales to unearth a diamond in the rough. We are finalising details with trainers this week. We hope to sign on our main conditioner as they call them in the States very soon.
As well as racing syndicates at BBT we breed and trade bloodstock with partners, We heard good news regarding our foundation mare Mahsooba. We own in conjunction with Ballinafad Stud in Tipperary our partner stud farm. Richard Fahey had nice things to say about her Ribchester filly, we sold the filly as a foal at Tattersalls December for 35,000£ (Read Article Here). Mahsooba has been scanned in foal to the imposing stallion King of Change who stands at Derrinstown Stud in Kildare, Ireland.
Winning is what horse racing is all about and one jockey who is on the lips of the nation is Rachael Blackmore. Her streak at Cheltenham and triumph at the Aintree Grand National has deservedly made her horse racing’s superstar. The guy supplying her with the ammunition for her current success is Henry De Bromhead. But this is not where it all began for Blackmore’s professional career.
This ties in nicely with me and my back story, riding out for a national hunt (jumps) trainer. The “Big Red Lad” as he is sometimes referred to locally in the Goresbridge area on the Carlow/ Kilkenny border. The enigmatic John “Shark” Hanlon was the first trainer to get behind Rachael when she was trying to get established. The story of “ The Shark” is one I know well.
As a cattle dealer and truck driver for Tony Mullins he struck out on his own and converted the family farm into a racing yard many years ago now. He has had ups and downs but to be fair he has supplied winners every year. In tandem with giving Rachael the leg up and shooting to fame on national radio praising her achievements, “The Shark” also had his first grade one winner at the Fairyhouse Easter festival. Skyace, a 600£ Willie Mullins cast off, owned by a bunch of Irish expats in Dubai, hacked up in a mare’s hurdle. Shark epitomises horse racing, a real character backed up by relentless hard work and buckets of showmanship. I have fond memories riding out for him years ago and I think he will increase his grade 1 tally soon. Characters like him are what make this sport so unique.
A shark from Carlow can provide 600£ winners but what’s going on with the wolves on Wall Street and bitcoin. Only this week it has hit and all time high of over 62,000€. I’m a complete novice on this subject but I do watch on with intrigue. Bloodstock is rooted in old traditions. But with bitcoin becoming more and more readily available and more companies accepting it as payment. When will we see a bitcoin ticker on a bloodstock sales board?
Thomas Talks Bloodstock
Springing into action……..Today, for many, marked the start of the flat season proper, the Craven meeting at HQ in Newmarket is an eagerly anticipated event for all involved as we get the first taste of competitive action from two-year-olds to possible classic contenders. Lofty reputations and price tags are put to the test after a winter of McGregoresque “big talk”.
The two-day race meeting is followed by two evening sessions of breeze up sales, which is an auction for 2 year old flat horses where they gallop for 2/3 furlongs and are generally sold according to their performance and time within this gallop or “breeze”. Being based at Tally Ho Stud myself, I have been fortunate to see the meticulous planning and preparation that is involved in having these horses primed for “D day”. Obviously, the breeze is the most crucial element in receiving a good return yet there are other factors at play such as pedigree (the horse’s relations) and the fashion of the stallion (is he having winners / are people talking about him having winners?)
The latter is a key element for all stud farms, especially today for Tally Ho Stud as Cotai Glory had his first winner from his first crop of runners. The winner named Forca Brasil by his Brazilian connections of Amo Racing, was picked up for only six thousand as a foal and sold for sixty thousand as a yearling. The rise of Robson Aguiar in the breeze up sector has been relentless in the past year and this winner is another feather in his cap. At the time of writing this, some notable success from Cotai Glory’s first crop at the Craven breeze up sale include a 19k yearling making 130k and a 43k foal making 110k. As stated previously, the breeze is the most vital element, but a fashionable stallion is a huge help in these fickle markets and no doubt the early success made purchasers feel at ease for paying a large sum.
Furthermore, this crucial first winner will give a major boost to the popularity of Cotai Glory in his stallion duties with many breeders taking note of his early success and deciding to book a romantic date for their mare with him. At Tally Ho Stud, we stand six stallions in total, both Cotai Glory and Galileo Gold are having their first runners. There are many attributes breeders will look for in a stallion when coming to stud such as their race record as a two and three year old, their pedigree, their physical conformation etc, yet all these elements will essentially go out the window if the stallion fails to fire with his progeny on the racetrack, it remains to be seen who will live up to the “big talk”.