'Charlie Appleby Said He Was The Best Of The Ghaiyyaths – We'd Have Been Devastated If He Was Beaten'

Darley nominations manager Eamon Moloney has shared the high opinion that Charlie Appleby has held Opera Ballo (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}) in all winter and revealed that the colt's impressive victory at Kempton on Wednesday has resulted in a slew of calls from breeders either side of the Irish Sea booking in mares to his sire. 

Opera Ballo, who fetched €600,000 at the Arqana August Yearling Sale, won the same Kempton maiden that Appleby landed with subsequent 2,000 Guineas hero Notable Speech (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) last year. 

The wide-margin win, which saw Opera Ballo handed a TDN Rising Star badge came after The Padre (Ire) ran out an ultra-impressive winner of a 1m2f maiden at Dundalk for trainer Josh Halley, lighting the touch paper for what turned out to be a memorable day for Ghaiyyath supporters. 

Moloney said, “Everyone had been so positive about these back-end two-year-olds by Ghaiyyath and it had been somewhat expected that they'd come out at three and start to fulfill their potential, but it's a huge relief when it actually happens. I know that the Godolphin team thinks an awful lot of Opera Ballo and they expect big things. He's started out on that journey in the best possible way.”

He added, “But since the sales in December, Charlie has been talking about Opera Ballo. He said he's definitely the best of them [the Ghaiyyaths]. We'd have been devastated if he'd have been beaten yesterday. Charlie has won that maiden a good few times and I think he has one eye on a similar route with Opera Ballo to what last year's winner took. I know the horse took time, but Charlie has always said that the horse showed a lot–he just needed to wait for him to come to himself.”

All eyes in the Dundalk maiden earlier in the day were fixed on the Joseph O'Brien-trained Waterford Flow (Ire) (Ghaiyyath {Ire}), who was sent off favourite but could only manage third behind the impressive winner The Padre. Not only is The Padre trained by Halley, but he is also owned by his family, and achieved a Timeform rating of 86 for that impressive debut performance. 

“The day just got better and better,” Moloney continued. “I was actually watching Joseph's in the Dundalk race and there seemed to be great word on him as well. All eyes were on him–he was a gorgeous foal sold by Ballinacurra Stud–and I'd say he is a decent horse. But as Tom Fogarty said to me about The Padre, 'he hacked up!' He looks a genuinely exciting horse in his own right for the Halleys.”

Stanhope Gardens (Ire) remains the highest-rated performer by Ghaiyyath with his hard-fought second to Delacroix (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the G3 Autumn Stakes resulting in a mark of 111. While better has always been expected from the progeny of Ghaiyyath at three, the Darley nominations team dropped the world-class multiple Group 1 performer's fee to €20,000 for the upcoming breeding season, which Moloney says has been well-received by breeders. 

“He had a really solid book but wasn't full. But since 3.30pm yesterday, everyone in England and Ireland has been on trying to book a mare into him. I would nearly be afraid to look at the list to see how full he is. We didn't need a huge amount more to get him where we want him but he's certainly there now. We like to be at 160 to 170 mares for these stallions that are well able to cover those numbers.”

Moloney concluded, “In October last year, people were probably being a little bit harsh on Ghaiyyath. There were some people who were maybe expecting a little bit more from him. We said to ourselves, 'let's make him commercial,' and, from Stanhope Gardens onwards, he had a slew of very good maiden winners in Europe. We probably could have left him at €25,000 but we felt we'd give everyone a chance at €20,000. It keeps it very affordable and everyone who supported him so far are rowing back into him. So hopefully we're looking after the people who supported him.”