Stallion News

[mariasmon]

Tamarkuz has gotten around 40 mares a year since he went to stud. He is a G1 winning son of Speightstown from a nice family. His dam's half brother stands in California and rakes in mares and did the same when he was in Kentucky.

I was going to bring this up. I mean, WTH? He was coming off a win in the BC Dirt Mile, he's by a popular sire and he's got an average type of build that should suit more mares than not. Yet, he only attracts 39 mares his first season? They're doing something wrong there. The main knock against him would be that he was best at 6 years of age, but that same thing could be said about his sire (who, incidentally, got 131 mares his first season).

[Northport]

In case anyone thinks they have it rough, Sheikh Hamdan is sad that he hasn't had a good stallion since Green Desert:

https://www.racingpost.com/news/latest/ ... ess/444713

It's kind of wild how much Shadwell has spent at sales in the last 10 years, and how many horses they have in training between dozens of trainers in England, Ireland, France, America, South Africa, Australia, and the UAE, but until this year, they didn't really win more than one or two G1s a year.

Taghrooda won the Oaks and King George in 2014, Mukhadram won the Eclipse in 2014, Muharrar won 4 G1s in 2015, plus Tamarkuz winning the Dirt Mile in 2015, Awtaad won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2016, Hawwaam won 5 G1s in South Africa in 2019/2020, then of course we have Battaash, Nazeef, Tawkeel, Mohaather, lighting it up currently.... but still, the money they put in (until this year) doesn't seem to transfer to results, let alone top stallion prospects, in England or the States.

Muhaarar has all the credentials to be a star stallion, and his first crop is three this year, but he isn't doing too hot. When they ventured out to stand a non-Shadwell raced stallion in Poet's Word, he only stood there for one season before being transferred to NH.

At KEESEPT19, Shadwell was the second-leading buyer, behind Godolphin. Shadwell paid $11,070,000 for 18 yearlings, including three for seven figures: a colt and a filly both by Curlin for $1,050,000 each and a $1 million filly by War Front. At KEESEPT17, Shadwell ranked as leading buyer with 17 horses acquired for a total of $12.475 million from books 1 and 2. I think they were also the leading buyer at KEESEPT16.

Is it management? Bad luck? I'd be interested to hear anyone's opinion. Not too long ago we were talking about how Godolphin was a shadow of what it used to be, but Charlie Appleby has pretty much resurrected the organization, or maybe it also has to do with the resignation of Simon Crisford and John Ferguson. I'm not sure how much Saeed Bin Suroor complaining to media outlets about his horses or the chain of command has helped his side of the business, though. I can't believe he still has a job there.

I don't know why it happens either. You'd think they'd have a beautifully bred broodmare band and they buy so many horses every year, that they would turn out more better horse than they do. I feel like they had some bad luck and some bad decisions. There for awhile they tended to retire horses to Kentucky that may have been better suited to standing in Europe, maybe because they had Green Desert, Unfuwain, Nashwan at the time that a lot of the stallions I'm going to list went to stud. They retired Bahri, Dayjur, Sakhee, Sheikh Albadou, Swain, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others, to Kentucky.

The interesting thing about their broodmare band is that Sheikh Hamdan's policy is to retire all mares after their three year old season, something that's come up a bit this year and last as he kept Enbidaar (aged 5) and Nazeef (aged 4) in training past their three year old year and in turn has won some nice group races with both. It's kind of strange to see his trainers and racing manager gushing at his benevolence for allowing his race horses to race, but oh well.

On the flipside of that, he also sells a lot of young broodmares at the sales, like Tattersalls December Sale for example. Last year the oldest mare he sold was 13 and the youngest was 8, and 20 of 29 ended up getting sold. I of course don't have stats off the top of my head, but there are a more than a couple of group winners out there who are out of ex. Shadwell mares who were purchased for a steal. Seems like the average non black type winning/blue blooded Shadwell mare has only a couple foals to prove if she's worth keeping, and if they get sold then of course that's when they start to produce winners. He's got 3, soon to be 4 year old mares coming in from the racing yards every fall like clockwork, so they've got to keep the production line moving.

I don't know, just a theory. I really have no idea how many broodmares he has, so it's just a guess. He's had 142 horses race in 2020 between Ireland and England, that's all I know for sure.

[Mylute]

Interesting to see how things turn out with Mohaymen who many thought was the next Secretariat.

If I recall, he got around 120 mares his first year.

He has the "Tapit" factor, sure, but Tamarkuz also has the "Speightstown" factor. Mo wasn't a G1 winner, but Tam is.

[CorridorZ75]

I think the lack of syndication probably does play a large role. There are so few breed to race owners out there now, that a stallion's success is really just about making the profit at the sales and that takes groups willing to push those stallions’ progeny. If few people have skin in the game, it won’t really matter if the progeny are mostly decent. Few will likely ever bother to look in the first place.

I did spend a week on Shadwell Farm in Kentucky about a decade ago, and I would happily take up residence there should they ever ask.

[Northport]

Does Darley syndicate their stallions? Though they have way more mares than Shadwell to help get a stallion off the ground, and Sheikh Mohammed has had the better marketing team for his racing and breeding interests from the get go, including a "share the upside" kind of program called Darley Club that they launched for some of their 4 figure European stallions a few years back.

They also buy into lots of colts in training (New Approach, Dawn Approach, Harry Angel, Slade Power, Brazen Beau, Nyquist, Street Sense, etc) and newly retired colts (Golden Horn, Cracksman, whose breeder/racing owner Anthony Oppenheimer still owns 50%, Hard Spun, etc).

I mean, it's not as satisfying or cheap (like they care about that!) to buy a ready made or proven racehorse to stand in the future, but maybe after Invasor they just got spooked? But let's be real, how much of a chance was an Argentinian son of Candy Stripes going to get? Even if he was, literally, the best horse in the world? These are Kentucky breeders we're talkin about

[CorridorZ75]

But let's be real, how much of a chance was an Argentinian son of Candy Stripes going to get? Even if he was, literally, the best horse in the world? These are Kentucky breeders we're talkin about

I guess Candy Stripes works better as a broodmare sire, which makes sense given the Blushing Groom line. It is always fascinating to me how some lines are great a sire lines and others great broodmare sire lines.

[Diver52]

But let's be real, how much of a chance was an Argentinian son of Candy Stripes going to get? Even if he was, literally, the best horse in the world? These are Kentucky breeders we're talkin about

I guess Candy Stripes works better as a broodmare sire, which makes sense given the Blushing Groom line. It is always fascinating to me how some lines are great a sire lines and others great broodmare sire lines.

I was going to bring up Candy Ride, although as Corridor275 says, Candy Stripes was the damsire. And I would be curious what kind of books Candy Ride actually got, his first few years. It seems to me Candy Ride just turned out to be a fantastic sire and Invasor wasn't very good. And that's not a knock on his magnificent race record.

[Flanders]

Does Darley syndicate their stallions? Though they have way more mares than Shadwell to help get a stallion off the ground, and Sheikh Mohammed has had the better marketing team for his racing and breeding interests from the get go, including a "share the upside" kind of program called Darley Club that they launched for some of their 4 figure European stallions a few years back.

They also buy into lots of colts in training (New Approach, Dawn Approach, Harry Angel, Slade Power, Brazen Beau, Nyquist, Street Sense, etc) and newly retired colts (Golden Horn, Cracksman, whose breeder/racing owner Anthony Oppenheimer still owns 50%, Hard Spun, etc).

I mean, it's not as satisfying or cheap (like they care about that!) to buy a ready made or proven racehorse to stand in the future, but maybe after Invasor they just got spooked? But let's be real, how much of a chance was an Argentinian son of Candy Stripes going to get? Even if he was, literally, the best horse in the world? These are Kentucky breeders we're talkin about

I don't think Darley syndicates their stallions but they also bring in better stallion prospects.

I mean yes you can say that of Invasor and I thought about that. But then I looked at Candy Ride, he is by Ride The Rails, a son of Cryptoclearance(whose best sons were never really popular here, Victory Gallop and Volponi) who stood his entire career in South America and out of a Candy Stripes mare. Candy Ride was popular from the beginning.

[Northport]

Does Darley syndicate their stallions? Though they have way more mares than Shadwell to help get a stallion off the ground, and Sheikh Mohammed has had the better marketing team for his racing and breeding interests from the get go, including a "share the upside" kind of program called Darley Club that they launched for some of their 4 figure European stallions a few years back.

They also buy into lots of colts in training (New Approach, Dawn Approach, Harry Angel, Slade Power, Brazen Beau, Nyquist, Street Sense, etc) and newly retired colts (Golden Horn, Cracksman, whose breeder/racing owner Anthony Oppenheimer still owns 50%, Hard Spun, etc).

I mean, it's not as satisfying or cheap (like they care about that!) to buy a ready made or proven racehorse to stand in the future, but maybe after Invasor they just got spooked? But let's be real, how much of a chance was an Argentinian son of Candy Stripes going to get? Even if he was, literally, the best horse in the world? These are Kentucky breeders we're talkin about

I don't think Darley syndicates their stallions but they also bring in better stallion prospects.

I mean yes you can say that of Invasor and I thought about that. But then I looked at Candy Ride, he is by Ride The Rails, a son of Cryptoclearance(whose best sons were never really popular here, Victory Gallop and Volponi) who stood his entire career in South America and out of a Candy Stripes mare. Candy Ride was popular from the beginning.

Really good point, I forgot about Candy Ride. In that case, could you maybe pinpoint Candy Ride's syndication vs. Invasor's private ownership as a jumping off point for why one was more popular than the other from the beginning?

Lane's End also just has 40 years of experience and "je ne sais quoi" about how to make a stallion, whether it's in marketing, book selection, and yes, syndication, whereas Shadwell Kentucky just... doesn't.

[Mylute]

Per PQ it looks like Invasor's best US progeny were just stakes winners, no major graded winners.

Maybe he just bombed. I get the pedigree not being attractive but I can't see him not getting any decent mare support in his first couple of years. Chrome didn't have an attractive pedigree but from what I remember his book was still pretty solid (or solid as you can expect not being a son of Into Mischief or Tapit or a barely raced precious speedster).It looks like Invasor doesn't have much as a damsire either.

[Flanders]

Per PQ it looks like Invasor's best US progeny were just stakes winners, no major graded winners.

Maybe he just bombed. I get the pedigree not being attractive but I can't see him not getting any decent mare support in his first couple of years. Chrome didn't have an attractive pedigree but from what I remember his book was still pretty solid (or solid as you can expect not being a son of Into Mischief or Tapit or a barely raced precious speedster).It looks like Invasor doesn't have much as a damsire either.

He wasn't a good stallion but that wasn't what I was talking about. He was the HOTY and thought highly of on the track. It just didn't make sense the mare support he got when he went to stud. His first year was 78, his 2nd 56, his 3rd 44. I can understand after his foals got to the track but he wasn't really given a chance, which is how I feel alot of the stallions at Shadwell are. For some reason they just don't get mares.

[Northport]

If you know that the organization has only had one stallion star in 40 years of existence, Green Desert in England, do you bother sending a mare to one of their stallions, knowing that you're almost definitely buying into a sire that/family that won't have much of a chance?

[Flanders]

I think another huge thing is that they don't go out to get stallion prospects. They only stand stallions they raced themselves. There are very very few operations that do this and truly I can only think of one other, Juddmonte. Any others I missed? I almost said Aga Khan but he didn't race Sea The Stars.

[ThreeMustangs]

I think another huge thing is that they don't go out to get stallion prospects. They only stand stallions they raced themselves. There are very very few operations that do this and truly I can only think of one other, Juddmonte. Any others I missed? I almost said Aga Khan but he didn't race Sea The Stars.

STS was an odd case. That was during the Coolmore-Sheikh Mo mutual boycotts and the Aga Khan was a neutral party.

[Mylute]

I believe the Gunthers (breeders of Tamarkuz) have been supporting him with some mares, which I suppose is to be expected.

[Retrospectiv]

Read on Twitter, nothing official yet.

Just heard Hat Trick suffered a fatal heart attack after covering a mare in Brazil.

[BaroqueAgain1]

Aw.
It's official.
https://www.paulickreport.com/news/bloo ... at-age-19/

[starrydreamer]

Aw.
It's official.
https://www.paulickreport.com/news/bloo ... at-age-19/

Aw man, sorry to hear this. He was such a gorgeous horse.

[TurfLover]

In case anyone thinks they have it rough, Sheikh Hamdan is sad that he hasn't had a good stallion since Green Desert:

https://www.racingpost.com/news/latest/ ... ess/444713

It's kind of wild how much Shadwell has spent at sales in the last 10 years, and how many horses they have in training between dozens of trainers in England, Ireland, France, America, South Africa, Australia, and the UAE, but until this year, they didn't really win more than one or two G1s a year.

Taghrooda won the Oaks and King George in 2014, Mukhadram won the Eclipse in 2014, Muharrar won 4 G1s in 2015, plus Tamarkuz winning the Dirt Mile in 2015, Awtaad won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2016, Hawwaam won 5 G1s in South Africa in 2019/2020, then of course we have Battaash, Nazeef, Tawkeel, Mohaather, lighting it up currently.... but still, the money they put in (until this year) doesn't seem to transfer to results, let alone top stallion prospects, in England or the States.

Muhaarar has all the credentials to be a star stallion, and his first crop is three this year, but he isn't doing too hot. When they ventured out to stand a non-Shadwell raced stallion in Poet's Word, he only stood there for one season before being transferred to NH.

At KEESEPT19, Shadwell was the second-leading buyer, behind Godolphin. Shadwell paid $11,070,000 for 18 yearlings, including three for seven figures: a colt and a filly both by Curlin for $1,050,000 each and a $1 million filly by War Front. At KEESEPT17, Shadwell ranked as leading buyer with 17 horses acquired for a total of $12.475 million from books 1 and 2. I think they were also the leading buyer at KEESEPT16.

Is it management? Bad luck? I'd be interested to hear anyone's opinion. Not too long ago we were talking about how Godolphin was a shadow of what it used to be, but Charlie Appleby has pretty much resurrected the organization, or maybe it also has to do with the resignation of Simon Crisford and John Ferguson. I'm not sure how much Saeed Bin Suroor complaining to media outlets about his horses or the chain of command has helped his side of the business, though. I can't believe he still has a job there.

Bit late to the discussion!
The biggest redeemer for Shadwell IMO is that they divide their horses up between so many trainers unlike the big boys (albeit Godolphin has got better in recent years), I think that really helps with the versatility to their string - everything from G1 sprinters to G1 mile and a half horses. But, on the flip side of that they do take them out of the game so early (almost always at 3) and I feel like we don’t get to see the best of them. (Mukhadram was a classic example of a colt who got better with age). Perhaps that means they don’t attract the books they might if they had a longer race record/ the longer they are around the more memorable they are.
Also as someone said, they spend it all at the yearlings and don’t buy into the older horses. I was gutted they moved Poet’s Word on...ten furlong horses shouldn’t end up in NH IMO.
They also have such a young roster. I can’t remember who’s stood there over the years (apart from basically every colt out of Height of Fashion) but they seem to be lacking a sort of middle aged stallion?
As for Muharaar....he’s been such a flop. I remember seeing him in person as a three year old and l wasn’t blown away by him. I don’t remember him being the biggest horse - although Shadwell says he’s 16hh these days - so I can only think that those big classic winning mares sent to him didn’t suit him well. Or if it did, this crazy year has stopped those nice progressive three year olds in their tracks. Hopefully, with a different type of mare he could find better success - I remember a lot of people being ready to write off Bated Breath after just one season and since then he’s turned it around.
Either way, I’m sure we can all agree it’s a tough old life when you can’t find a replacement stallion for Green Desert. Especially when you already have two G1 winning milers this year....

PS. I’m also amazed Bin Suroor hasn’t lost his stable yet. I don’t think most people would turn up their nose at the quality of horse he gets!

[middleground]

Siphon initially got big books and his pedigree was, IMO, more "exotic" than Invasor's.

It's odd that we don't see as many SA stars in the states as we did in the past. Not sure why this seems to be the case.