Due Diligence

Scuderia Sagam's Folgaria (Ire) (Due Diligence--Full Moon Fever {Ire}, by Azamour {Ire}) went undefeated through a five-race juvenile campaign for Stefano Botti last year and, now under the stewardship of that trainer's brother Marco, retained her perfect record with a hard-fought triumph in Saturday's G3 Dubai Duty Free S. (Fred Darling S.) at Newbury. The February-foaled bay backed up a debut win at Milan's San Siro in May with a brace of Listed contests at Rome's Capanelle and back in Milan. She went on sabbatical after collecting July's G3 Premio...

Ed Harper will never forget the time he first encountered Sergei Prokofiev in the flesh. The Whitsbury Manor Stud director was at the Rowley Mile for the G3 Cornwallis S., anticipating a big run from Heartwarming (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), a farm-bred filly leased to the Hot To Trot syndicate with Clive Cox. "We fancied her heavily," Harper recalls. "She'd been doing some very smart work, we knew we hadn't quite seen the best of her, today was the day. But then I saw Sergei Prokofiev in the pre-parade ring and...

Havana Grey (GB), Whitsbury Manor Stud's champion-elect first-season sire of 2022, will stand for a fee of £18,500 next year. The 7-year-old son of Havana Gold (Ire) started his stud career at £8,000 and has covered the last  two seasons at a fee of £6,000. "After such a phenomenal year it's taken a lot of thought as we're trying to keep him within reach of the breeders that have supported him thus far," said stud director Ed Harper. "It's already clear that demand will far outweigh supply, and I just...

Showcasing (GB), the sire of three Group 1 winners with five sons at stud, will remain at £45,000 at Whitsbury Manor Stud for the 2022 season. Announcing the fees for his five stallions, stud director Ed Harper said, "Following last year's downward adjustment of our fees due to Covid we have decided to keep our fees similar to last year. We are delighted that so many of our clients have had great success at the sales and feel it's important to maintain value commercial stallion options for breeders." He added,...

During the Nov. 24 sale of breeding rights and stallion shares on Arqana Online, a breeding right in champion first-season sire elect Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) (lot 2) brought €195,000 from Haras du Mont-dit-Mont. Already the sire of 48 winners, 10 black-type performers and four black-type winners led by G1 Middle Park S. hero Supremacy (Ire), the young stallion will command €25,000 at Tally-Ho Stud in 2021. A breeding right to four-time Group 1 winner Golden Horn (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) (lot 3), whose oldest foals are three, went for...

Whitsbury Manor Stud announced the stud fees for its five stallions in 2021. Heading the roster is Showcasing (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}--Arabesque {GB}, by Zafonic), who will stand for a reduced fee of ₤45,000, Oct. 1 SLF. "Our industry finds itself in uncertain times and it is vital that we act accordingly," said Ed Harper, Director of Whitsbury Manor Stud. "We have therefore listened to our clients and chosen to drop the fees of our three highest priced stallions to offer the best possible value to breeders and keep the...

When all was said and done in the first-season sires' race in Europe in 2019, it was undoubtedly the year of Night of Thunder (Ire). Darley's G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Lockinge S. winner was out in front on his own not only in terms of quantity-he sired the winners of the most races (44), stakes winners (seven), stakes horses (11) and group winners (three) and had the highest earnings (£879,457/€1,034,567) of any sire in his intake-but also quality. As detailed by John Boyce at the tail-end of the season,...

When starting off a new stallion, an important part of inspiring confidence in outside breeders is for the horse's home farm to be giving him plenty of support. This is routinely the case at Whitsbury Manor Stud, where the pedigrees of their stakes-winning offspring are liberally spiced with names from its own roster on both sides. Take, for example, the two group winners from the first crop of Due Diligence last season. Both Good Vibes (GB) and Streamline (GB) were bred at Whitsbury Manor from daughters of the farm's late...