THE BLOODSTOCK BLOGGER - AS SEEN ON THE GAITPOST
Living with a non -horsey, spreadsheet minded husband has it’s pros and it’s cons. He thinks that buying foals is like building a business based on furry lottery tickets, writes Sophie Buckley. He might well be right but it doesn’t help my business plan when he also charges me rent for the stables. Opportunity cost, apparently!
Luckily as with most marriages we don’t do everything that the other one recommends and I have had a very busy but successful couple of months’ horse shopping. There was less dithering and more focus and I came home with shares in seven foals. This year six of them were fillies and only one colt. So the target to double the number of foals was reached.
The shopping started at Tattersalls Ireland, followed by Goffs Ireland and then off to Tattersalls in Newmarket. The fillies are by Slade Power, Fast Company, Sepoy, Bated Breath, Compton Place and a colt by Requinto. So overall there is a lot of gambling with stallions going on and some of them have plenty to prove but generally they have all made a good start to their careers! It has kept my six year old daughter very busy on the naming front so we now have, Sparkles, Glitter, Dazzle, Elsa, Anna and finally Rory.
Duchess
The shopping didn’t stop there and a slight diversion from the foals I bought a couple of fillies from the Tattersalls December Sales. David’s Duchess will be resold at the Tattersalls February Sale and Last Echo will be put in foal and resold in December. She is a half-sister to Manjaam trained by Ed Dunlop, so we all need to cheer him on this year and give Echo’s page a nice update.
One of my favourite parts of the industry is following all the stallions and seeing how they progress. This year’s slight obsession was with Ballyhane’s stallion Battle of Marengo, it became a running joke with the team, throughout the sales season. Sadly, I didn’t manage to get my hands on one of his foals. I thought they were a great bunch overall and I am looking forward to seeing how they get on next year at the sales.
Battle of Marengo © Caroline Norris
It is hard not to be influenced by other people’s advice but sometimes stallions are killed off even before they have started. I find it particularly boring and I cannot see how you can write a stallion off after its first year. There are so many variables to success that are needed for a racehorse to win, surely it can’t be all up to the stallion and his first 100 runners.
I was particularly pleased to see that Tweenhills stallion Harbour Watch managed to get another Group 2 winner at the end of the year. There will be a few braver pinhookers than me who could do very well from backing him.
Another that I will be cheering on to overcome the bloodstock agent gloom is Casamento, but I would say that with a foal on the way by him! Unfortunately, and sometimes frustratingly I have to play it safe as I don’t have the numbers to take to many risker gambles. Maybe one day!
Back on the farm we have lots of holiday makers out in the field enjoying the nice December weather. Building works are still underway with a new house at the end of the drive started and the office has been moved into. I have been demoted downstairs, which is not finished or started! More opportunity cost chat from the spreadsheet husband on that matter!
This time of year can be frustrating as it feels like there is mud and building mess everywhere but there are hopefully some more new major building plans for 2017 so the muddy mess will continue and I just need to get over it! Roll on 2017.