Calyx

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Immortalised at Gulfstream Park. Romanised Colt Ageless At Gulfstream Sean Feld and Starry Night Racing's Immortalised (Romanised) made it two wins from three starts, after taking a Gulfstream contest on Thursday (video). Trained by Brendan Walsh, the three-year-old colt was bred by Elevage Haras de Bourgeauville. Sold for €37,000 to Feld Family Finds out of Arqana's Vente d'Elevage in 2023, the February foal...

By Emma Berry and Brian Sheerin NEWMARKET, UK -- As the sun went down, the ring filled up and, after the odd false start, the sale-watchers got what they came for: Porta Fortuna, followed by Tamfana, Barnavara, Saqqara Sands and then some as an array of equine jewels combined to bring the highest gross ever recorded in a single day in European auction history. If many had predicted that Porta Fortuna (Caravaggio) would top the sale then they were almost right, and for about an hour she held the record...

Alpha Racing's Barnavara (Calyx) became the new sale topper at Tattersalls December's Sceptre Sessions at 4.8 million gns. She was bought online by Sugar Whiskey Trading, believed to be an associate of Ace Stud. Henry Lascelles, on the phone, was a determined underbidder on the Baroda Stud-consigned filly. Sold as lot 1753, the three-year-old daughter of Calyx captured the G1 Prix de l'Opera this autumn, after taking the G2 Blandford stakes in September for trainer Jessica Harrington. The daughter of Alfea (Kentucky Dynamite) was bred by Andriy Milovonov and V....

The victory on Monday of Royal Chapel in the Listed Criterium de Bordeaux brought up the 100th stakes winner for the filly's sire Kingman. His speed in reaching this landmark century since retiring to stud a decade ago has been beaten only by Kingman's fellow Banstead Manor resident, Frankel. There can be few finer tributes to the vision of the late Prince Khalid Abdullah than these two third-generation homebreds standing alongside each other and continuing to fly the flag for the Juddmonte brand through their achievements at stud. The record...

Frankel's Helenium (lot 50) was knocked down for €600,000 to Quirke Bloodstock on behalf of Coolmara Stables halfway through Autav's Jean-Pierre Dubois Sale on Wednesday. Already the dam of a pair of fillies by Kingman, the 6-year-old half-sister to the late Calyx (Invincible Spirit) is carrying once again to that Juddmonte stallion. Helenium was bred by Juddmonte Farms. Out of the G3 Prix d'Aumale heroine Helleborine (Observatory), Helenium is also a half-sister to the listed winner and GII Distaff Turf Mile second Coppice (Kingman). Under the second dam is G1...

Records were broken on day two of the Tattersalls July Sale where a number of well-bred Juddmonte fillies dominated at the top end of the market, headed by Orchid Bouquet (Kingman), an unraced sister to Calyx, who at 550,000gns became the most expensive horse ever sold at this sale.  Grant Pritchard-Gordon of Badgers Bloodstock, who held the position of racing manager at Juddmonte for 17 years from 1982, signed the docket for the record-breaker on behalf of an unnamed client.  He said, "It's just the Juddmonte family - that's the...

Calyx, who covered more mares than any other Flat sire in Europe in 2024, has died at the age of nine. The stallion's death was announced by Coolmore as a result of the son of Kingman suffering an acute foot injury earlier this year, with the decision being taken to euthanise him on Wednesday on humane grounds. "It is very unfortunate to lose such a promising young sire," said Castlehyde Stud's Cathal Murphy. "He was very strongly supported by breeders last year and looked to have an extremely bright future...

NEWMARKET, UK -- It felt more like the July Sale at Park Paddocks as May got off to a blistering start with record-breaking temperatures. The trade was warm enough in the ring, too.  Though the figures for the Guineas Breeze-up Sale didn't rise quite as swiftly as the mercury, the returns were decent, with the 78% clearance rate being up three points on last year, while the median of 30,000gns represented a rise of 11%. The 6% dip in average was the one negative marker, with the turnover lifting slightly,...

The corporate hospitality company Eventmasters, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, will sponsor Royal Ascot Trials Day on April 30. Eventmasters will put its name to four races on the card worth a total £315,000 in prize-money as well as having headline sponsorship for the meeting. Eventmasters has worked with Ascot Racecourse throughout its 40 years of trading with Royal Ascot being a key event in the calendar with upwards of 3,500 guests due to be in attendance. The company has also sponsored at Doncaster, Kempton, Warwick, Windsor, Wolverhampton...

It's been a while, hasn't it? We can only apologise for the onslaught of the sales and some extra international travel pushing the Seven Days beat on to the back-burner, but we're home now, almost jetlag-free, and ready for this week's round-up. Quite a lot of Sunday mornings are spent trudging along the Devil's Dyke which separates Newmarket's Rowley Mile from the July Course. The dogs love it, but this walker felt a little wearier this past weekend at the thought that we've now switched back to the Rowley Mile...

We're not quite halfway through the Flat season but Royal Ascot feels like a pivotal point. It's not just the fact that it coincides with the summer solstice (even though summer has really only just arrived in these parts) but it includes the first properly meaningful two-year-old contests along with a set of races for the Classic generation which start to underline the really serious prospects. While the yearling sales may tell one story of the popularity of stallions, one only needs to peruse the stakes race results on a...

The latest all-female racing syndicate has been launched by Opulence Thoroughbreds, which purchased a Calyx (GB) filly at the recent Goffs UK Breeze-up Sale at Doncaster. Named Impatiently (Ire), the filly, who was consigned by Charlie Poste of Station Yard, has gone into training with Jane Chapple-Hyam and will race for Opulence Ladies. She is an intended runner in the Class 2 five-furlong maiden at Yarmouth on May 22. Courtney Wyatt, Racing and Communications Manager for Opulence Thoroughbreds, said, "A huge percentage of our owners are men and that number...