Phoenix of Spain

Pa Doyle of Galbertstown Stables labelled the pinhookers who were out in force at the Goffs November Foal Sale "as brave as lions" with the popular consignor capping off a memorable week by topping the Thursday session with a €90,000 Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) colt.  The Thursday sale-topper was bred by Tony Cosgrave, who Doyle described as one of the best show people in the business, and it played a part in Galbertstown ending the week as one of the top consignors with 17 horses selling for €632,000. The Phoenix...

The Irish National Stud is either maintaining or reducing the fees for its six stallions "after a challenging yearling sales season, especially in the middle and lower tiers", according to a press release sent out on Thursday. The venerable Invincible Spirit (Ire), who turns 27 in 2024, is listed with a private fee, having stood for €60,000 in 2023 following a career high of €120,000 between 2016 and 2019. His top runners this season include the unbeaten G2 Royal Lodge S. winner Ghostwriter (Ire) and he covered 89 mares earlier...

Most normal people spend some of August at the beach. Bloodstock folk do too, though the spade work involves no bucket, just plenty of prowling around the Arqana sales ground looking at yearlings. There may be the odd oyster here and there at the hospitality suites of various consignors but, make no mistake, this is gruelling work. It's curtain up this Friday for the European yearling sales season, and we all know what that means: Christmas is right around the corner. For breeders and stallion masters, results on the track...

Win, lose or draw at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale, Anna Barlow has already had a year to remember with a first foray into consigning her own horses under the banner of Byerley Stud.  The 22-year-old got off to a dream start by netting herself over €40,000 of a profit when selling a Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly to her boss Paddy Twomey for 65,000gns at the Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up Sale last month.  Barlow will bid to keep the momentum going this week when offering lot 137, a Phoenix Of Spain...

It's early-February and already the Flat enthusiasts are getting excited about what stallion will end the season as champion first-season sire. A futile exercise, one would have thought? Not a bit of it. Even the greatest handlers of young stock, Malcolm Bastard, Alan McCabe, Joseph O'Brien, Conor Hoban and Dick Brabazon, men who know better than most the folly that comes with predicting 2-year-old talent, are keen to have their say on which up-and-coming stallion can make the biggest splash this season.  O'Brien is sticking loyal to Ten Sovereigns (Ire)...

Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who stands his first Northern Hemisphere season next year at the Irish National Stud, will debut at €15,000. Raced by Yulong Investments, Lucky Vega won the G1 Phoenix S. at two and placed in this year's G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace S. before retiring to stand at Yulong's Australian headquarters. Also new at the Irish National Stud for 2022 is last year's G2 Coventry S. winner and G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere runner-up Nando Parrado (GB) (Kodiac...

We kicked off our annual Value Sires series earlier this week with a look at the new class of sires entering stud in 2021, and today we move on to the group with their first foals set to hit the ground in the coming months. While it is not always a straightforward task to pinpoint value in unproven sires, the ripple effects of the global pandemic make the exercise a little more interesting this year. While it has become the norm for some young sires to get fee cuts in...

Invincible Spirit (Ire), who was this year represented by new Group 1 winners Nazeef (Ire) and Digital Age (Ire), once again leads the stallion roster at the Irish National Stud and will be priced at €80,000 in 2021. The 23-year-old is down from €100,000 this year, with the entire roster at the Kildare nursery taking fee cuts in the midst of a difficult economic climate. Invincible Spirit's eight stakes winners in 2020 were led by the aforementioned Nazeef, winner of the G1 Falmouth S. and G1 Sun Chariot S. as...

Last year's G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who stands at the Irish National Stud for €15,000, has had his first five mares scanned in foal. They include stakes winner Northern Eclipse (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}) and Josette (Ire) (Danehill), the dam of three stakes winners and the second dam of GI Pacific Classic winner Collected (City Zip). Gary Swift, director of sales at The Irish National Stud, said, "We are most encouraged by the reaction from British and Irish breeders. His first book...

It is hard to believe this is the fifth year in a row I have traversed rural Ireland on the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Irish Stallion Trail, and while it represents a unique chance for the general public who are interested in the bloodstock industry to get a glimpse of some household stallion names, for me personally it provides a lovely opportunity to see the new kids on the block who will be covering mares for the first time this spring. The majority of these are not long out of competition...

Goffs on Thursday released the catalogue for its flagship Orby yearling sale, with 472 yearlings set to be offered on Oct. 1 and 2. This year, Orby celebrated a second consecutive Oaks winner when Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) was victorious in the G1 Prix de Diane. Bred by Kilcarn Stud, Channel was an €18,000 private purchase at Orby in 2017 by Meridian International. The year prior, G1 Investec Oaks winner Forever Together (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) had been bought by MV Magnier for €900,000. One of the highlights of this year's...

G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix of Spain (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) is set to step up in trip after disappointing in the G1 Sussex S. last week. He holds entries in the G1 Juddmonte International at York on Aug. 21 and the G1 Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown on Sept. 14. Trainer Charlie Hills admitted he does not know what to attribute the colt's lacklustre Sussex effort to. "He had a canter [on Tuesday] and moved really nicely," Hills said. "We are just scratching our heads. Whether the...