June 7th, 2022 — Uncategorized
Isn’t it a wonderful thing to read that an exciting stallion prospect will stand at an affordable fee?
So often you read in a press release that stallion Y is to be retired to stud. Your eyes are conditioned to flick to the bottom of the article to look for the number with the dollar sign in front of it. So often you’re disappointed to discover that the horse’s management considers that he’s well on the way to being champion sire before he’s even served a mare and have priced him accordingly.
But not today.
When assessing a stallion, we breeders look for high levels of athletic ability, soundness and temperament. Sometimes we have to compromise on one of these factors if we really like a stallion.
The Chosen One ticks all these boxes. In addition, he’s by our champion stallion from what is arguably New Zealand’s best female family. And yes, this the same family which underpins Grangewilliam’s promising The Bold One.
Many of The Bold One’s initial books of mares were modest. It’s hard to imagine The Chosen One is going to suffer from the same affliction.
May 27th, 2022 — Uncategorized
Like most breeders, I need to find a way of turning offspring into income. This year, there are four yearlings which need to find new homes via sale or lease.
Currently on Gavelhouse is the first of these, an impressive rising colt by Pure Champion ex the Fast ‘n’ Famous mare Zayzay. Having extolled the virtues of Pure Champion on this site, I thought that I’d put my money where my mouth was and buy a mare which suited him down to the ground.
The reasons behind the mating are explained on the Gavelhouse blurb (Lot 29); the way this strapping chestnut has grown out gives me cause for hope that I’ve got the mating right.
On her day, Zayzay had ability well above the average: feel free to check out her winning performances on www.loveracing.co.nz
If you have any queries about this racing prospect, do get in touch.
May 23rd, 2022 — Uncategorized
It’s always important to have a strategy when you’re breeding thoroughbreds. In the case of Manhattan Melody, the best strategy seems reasonably obvious.
The performance of the mare’s current foals is going to be a key factor in increasing her value, but it also makes sense to find a stallion on the rise so that if the Toronado, Charm Spirit and Turn Me Loose offspring turn out to be unremarkable, then we still have a chance to make a decent profit on breeding a foal from her.
Also, there seems to be little point spending a heap of money on the 2022 service fee as the mare has yet to prove herself.
So what stallions are clearly “on the rise” and still affordable?
A horse I’ve a lot of time for is Derryn. His 2YOs are looking promising; many of them are good physical types who should improve with age. There are also a heap of his progeny out there: he has 59 2YOs and another 68 yearlings to follow.
It’s too early to say exactly what bloodlines will suit our mare best, but there does seem to be a strong likelihood that Sir Tristram will suit both the Manhattan Rain and the Broad Brush aspects of her pedigree. Many of Derryn’s foals to date do seem to throw to Lonhro to a reasonable extent, so he does appear to be worth serious consideration.
May 12th, 2022 — Uncategorized
Following my previous post, I’ve had some strong enquiries about this mare and have kept on digging.
The first thing that attracted me about her was that she was out of a Broad Brush mare, herself a full-sister to a Breeders’ Cup Classic winner.
Broad Brush’s figures are exceptional. 83% winners to starters (cf Zabeel and Savabeel – both 72%); 19% stakeswinners to winners (cf Zabeel and Savabeel – both 15%).
Concern was the Breeders’ Cup winner referred to above. His victory in the 1994 renewal of the Classic is remarkable (and available on Youtube). His career as a stallion was handicapped by starting off in Maryland and then being relocated to Oklahoma but his figures as a broodmare sire are respectable: 146 winners from 204 runners and an AEI of 1.31.
I’ve tracked down Manhattan Melody’s first foal, the 2g by Toronado, as far as Lindsay Park. I’ve messaged them but have received no reply as yet. Leanach Lodge prepared him for the HIT sale and reported that as a yearling he was nothing spectacular, but as he got older, he became increasingly impressive.
The mare was previously domiciled at Windsor Park. I spoke to Steve Till about her. He mentioned that she’d been originally bought by a Hong Kong investor in New Zealand bloodstock who had a policy of turning over his mares on a regular basis. He was very positive about the mare.
MM is currently at Norwegian Park. Peter Westend described her as a “nice, big mare with a very nice nature.”
May 4th, 2022 — Uncategorized
Four years ago this broodmare daughter of Manhattan Rain from a serious black-type American family and in-foal to the High Chaparral stallion Toronado made $30,500 at an Inglis on-line sale.
That Toronado colt attracted a bid of $120,000 at the NZB HIT sale last year.
Yesterday his dam made $500 as Lot 43 in a Gavelhouse mixed sale. She was not in foal but, in addition to her first foal, she had left a yearling Charm Spirit colt and a Turn Me Loose filly.
I’ve long been looking for a winning mare with a strong pedigree to act as a standard bearer for an initial Cloughmore Breeding Partnership; this mare is just what I’ve hoping to find.
If you’re interested in joining me in the ownership of this mare – at cost – just flick me an email (jeffreys@inspire.net.nz)
March 19th, 2022 — Uncategorized
It’s been three years since I’ve discovered a yearling prospect from the Karaka Sales that I’ve really liked and which seemed to offer good value for money.
Northern Racing purchased Lot 487 from Book 1, a brown filly by Belardo from the Carnegie mare Petit Verdot. She’s a correct, medium-sized filly with a good walk. To my eye, she resembles her half-brother Antonio Lombardo (13 wins, six of which were in Group or listed events). Her dam has also left the very capable Group 3 winner Master of Arts (Mastercraftsman) and four other winners. A non-winner by O’Reilly has left a couple of very handy Queensland winners.
What’s really interesting in her pedigree is that it possesses two highly successful nicks – Danehill x Sadler’s Wells and Storm Cat x Centaine – and that the female family has been throwing up class animals for generations. This filly’s seventh dam, Pay Roll was the grand-dam of the brilliant Cadiz, winner of 22 races, including the Hollywood Gold Cup; there have been a host of black-type winners between then and now.
The filly was purchased for $50,000. Trainer Chris Gibbs estimates that with GST, insurance and entry for the Karaka Millions series, the total cost will be around $67,000. Therefore a 1% share will equate to approximately $670; monthly costs are estimated at $30-$35. I will be taking a share myself and, as always, there will be no administration fees.
If you’re interested do have a good look at www.nzb.co.nz and/or just flick me an email: jeffreys@inspire.net.nz
January 4th, 2022 — Uncategorized
I’ve been a fan of Pure Champion for quite some time now and it’s encouraging that he’s left a horse with undoubted class.
Tyler Eight has started four times and recorded three impressive victories; it’s hard to imagine him not gaining black type in the near future.
So what of his pedigree? He comes from a consistent family but one that has failed to gain black type in its most recent three generations. His fifth dam is the speedy Pakistan 11 mare, Taj Rani, herself a half-sister to the dam of the brilliant Weenell. Stars from the family in recent decades include Confiscate, Sarah Fay and Eastern Classic.
There’s a lot to like about Tyler Eight’s pedigree mix. To begin with, both sire and dam feature the Rahy – Nijinsky cross. There’s also the Storm Cat – Sir Tristram nick, Inbreeding to Danzig, Ribot and Mr Prospector, not to mention Secretariat and Sir Ivor. Most importantly, all these influences work well together.
One of my favourite duplications is Grey Sovereign, especially when it’s coupled with Princely Gift. Given Grey Sovereign’s temperament, inbreeding to him might seem to be anything but a smart move, but one of the first things I noticed when I started to observe pedigrees closely back in the late 1960’s, was that Grey Sovereign duplications could work effectively and that many pedigrees of good horses featured both Grey Sovereign and Princely Gift. Tyler Eight has two lines of Grey Sovereign and one of Princely Gift.
Racing needs star performers; I strongly suspect that Tyler Eight will be a star of the not too distant future.
December 28th, 2021 — Uncategorized
If you read posts on this site regularly, you’ll recall that back in January I mentioned that our recommended purchase Dee and Gee had just broken the Wingatui 2200 record with a time of 2:13.25. I pointed out that this was a remarkable performance as the undulating nature of the course really does mitigate against the fastest times being recorded there. The best time ever recorded in New Zealand was Caruba’s 2:12.5 at Trentham, back in 1978.
Caruba’s record still stands but El Gladiador, one of our recommended matings, went within a breath of setting new national figures yesterday. The son of Ghibellines had won the Dunedin Guineas earlier in his career but had since indicated that he really needed a strong pace to show his best form. On Sunday, he got just that and stormed home to win by the best part of a length in a stunning 2:12.58 – highly likely to be the second fastest time ever recorded for 2200 metres in New Zealand racing history.
And there’s more. On both occasions, the runner-up was our homebred Riviera Rock. Superbly ridden by Lee Callaway, his front-running style was the making of the race. His 2:12.73 is almost certainly the third-fastest 2200 time recorded here.
Not bad for a quirky, cantankerous individual who has a strong preference for doing things his way. He’s often tested Graham and Michael Eade’s patience, but their amazing horsemanship has been responsible for his success.
November 21st, 2021 — Uncategorized
Most of us will have watched the All Blacks’ loss to France this morning. How to cope with those feelings of disappointment, anger, maybe even grief?
My solution has been to replay the recent wins of Ever Laugh (HK), Our Echo, Amberecho and Riviera Rock. Ever Laugh’s victory was exceptionally special as his seventh win took his stakes-winnings to over NZ$1 million; he thus became the third Cloughmore product to reach this milestone, the earlier two being the legendary All In Fun and the 2010 Singapore Derby winner Race Ahead.
Getting back to the headline, I’ve had no luck attempting to sell or lease a couple of 2YO fillies I’ve bred. Both are quite appealing.
The Darci Brahma filly ex Make Your Move has been a stunner since the day she was born. She’s a strongly-built filly, correct, with a good attitude. Her dam is by Rip Van Winkle, so she’s bred on the phenomenal Danehill- Sadler’s Wells nick.
The Derryn filly is ex the five-win mare Tuscany Rose, dam also of the winner, Slim. She’s clearly the best looking of her dam’s five foals and is a great walker – a real athlete.
I’d normally retain both fillies and syndicate them amongst friends and a trainer’s clients but it’s been a bit of a battle in the current climate and it’s time they generated some income.
The reserves will be reasonable.
November 2nd, 2021 — Uncategorized
Yesterday’s Wingatui meeting saw Cloughmore runners reach a milestone with Amberecho (3f Echoes of Heaven – Sita) winning the 1250 maiden event.
I’d noticed the filly in last year’s South Island Sale catalogue and was impressed by both her pedigree and her type. I phoned client Karen Parsons who has had much success with the filly’s elder half-sister Sitarist and recommended that she purchased her. Karen duly did so and offered me a 10% share which I accepted with alacrity.
Amberecho developed good trials form and, after a promising fourth at her first raceday start, was too quick for her opposition yesterday. She isn’t far away from a well-deserved spell, but may have another start before she goes to the paddock.
I’ve always admired Echoes of Heaven as a stallion and have been lucky enough to have had a significant level of success with his progeny. Recommended matings have produced the brilliant Singaporean galloper Siam Blue Vanda, SP filly Tears of an Angel and last season’s 2YO winner, All in Echoes. Our homebred Our Echo won well over 1200 at a recent Riccarton meeting and will hopefully continue with his good form.
Echoes of Heaven’s statistics tell a very interesting story. Not only is his winners to runners percentage a very healthy 56%, but his wins to winners ratio is very close to 3.0. In other words, his average winner wins three races. Few stallions can boast such a figure, which is, of course, indicative of soundness and excellent racing temperament. Given that many of his progeny are still in action, this figure is likely to become even more impressive over time.
The other benefit of using Echoes of Heaven is that he does appear to respond to certain bloodlines in his mares. The Best In Show family and Never Bend appear to be especially effective.
This season I’ve sent my Thorn Park mare Misty Trella to the stallion. If you have a look at her pedigree, you’ll quickly see why.
