Sands Of Mali

Promising three-year-old Edge Of Mali (Ire) (Sands Of Mali {Fr}), who chased home Irish 2,000 Guineas entrant Currawood (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) on debut at Dundalk, has been sold to continue her career in America.  The six-figure sale represents a remarkable upswing in value for trainer Claire O'Connell's filly, who was sold for 3,000gns by Clipper Logistics at last year's Tattersalls July Sale. It was Joe Foley, long-time advisor to Clipper boss Steve Parkin, who saw the merits in what was at the time an unraced two-year-old. The sale of Edge...

The wraps come off the European breeze-up season on Wednesday at Osarus's La Teste de Buch fixture.  A catalogue of just 37 lots - down by more than 50% on last year's entries - has been reduced further by four withdrawals, and the sale is heavily supported by a draft of 14 from John Bourke's Hyde Park Stud, a long-term backer of Osarus.  This more gentle introduction to the 2025 round of two-year-old sales is in a sense the calm before the storm. By Sunday, around 160 Craven horses will...

Ballyhane Stud's new stallion Sakheer (Ire) has passed the first test of his stud career with a number of mares now tested in foal to him. "Sakheer has already covered over a quarter of his book and his fertility looks very good to date," said Ballyhane's Joe Foley. "He's had great support from breeders with some smashing mares booked to him. As an example, the first two mares to scan in foal to him were Doors to Manual, the dam of Group 2 winner Safety Check, and the French stakes-placed...

Sands Of Mali (Fr) will remain at Ballyhane Stud after an injunction application by Steve Parkin to have the stallion removed from the care of his former advisor Joe Foley was turned down by the High Court in Ireland. The injunction hearing, which took place in Dublin on January 23, outlined the disputed ownership of Sands Of Mali, with Parkin claiming to have bought the son of Panis outright while Foley, owner of Ballyhane, countered that Parkin had taken a 50 per cent share of the horse with him. Foley's...

DUBLIN, Ireland--In an explosive turn of events surrounding the ongoing saga involving the ownership of promising young stallion Sands Of Mali, the High Court heard on Thursday of how leading owner Steve Parkin is alleged to have made threats to Ballyhane Stud boss Joe Foley, his business partner and advisor of over 20 years. Parkin, who once described Foley as being "like a brother" and, up until last January was happy to have him in charge of his Clipper Logistics ownership vehicle, is seeking an injunction to have Sands Of...

It may be the season to be jolly, but it's also a time of reflection, and there are many ways one can look back on a first-season sires' championship in Britain and Ireland that was ultimately dominated from start to finish by Whitsbury Manor Stud's Sergei Prokofiev.  The cool thing to say about this year's championship was that none of the new stallions seemed to be standing out from the crowd like Blue Point (Ire) and Havana Grey (GB) had done in previous years.  That may well be true, but...

A dispute between Classic-winning owner Steve Parkin and his former racing and bloodstock advisor Joe Foley over the ownership of Sands Of Mali continued in the High Court on Tuesday.  Parkin and Foley, the owner of Ballyhane Stud, where Sands Of Mali (Fr) is based, severed ties back in March. At the time, the Clipper Logistics boss Parkin moved stallions Space Traveller (GB) and Asymmetric (Ire) from Ballyhane Stud to Starfield Stud.  The court was told on Tuesday that Sands Of Mali, who sits third in the first-season sires' championship...

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...

There was no shortage of talking points to unpick from Wednesday. From Sands Of Mali bagging a breakthrough winner at the royal meeting to Karl Burke and Wathnan racing enjoying a change of fortune and even Ryan Moore coming out of his shell to defend Auguste Rodin, the action on and off the track did not disappoint.  Sands Of Mali Puts His Name In Lights It proved to be a big day for Ballyhane Stud's Sands Of Mali (Fr), who became the first of the freshman sires to get off...

Humility goes by the household name of humble and you will be hard pressed to find a more humble couple than Donna Cowens and Nicky Souza de Oliveira of DNA Equine. The pair burst onto the scene at the Goffs Breeze-Up Sale at Doncaster last year when selling Mantra (Ire) to Jake Warren on behalf of Highclere for a life-changing £160,000. The Tamayuz (Ire) filly had been bought for a song the previous winter. Identified by Cowens as a potentially nice type to go breezing and get the DNA consignment...

It has been confirmed that Sands Of Mali (Fr) will remain at Ballyhane Stud, where he has stood since his retirement in 2021. This is contrary to a statement released on Tuesday by Steve Parkin's Dullingham Park. The Group 1-winning sprinter has his first runners this season. His former stud-mates at Ballyhane, Asymmetric (Ire) and Space Traveller (GB), have moved to Micheal Orlandi's Starfield Stud in Co Westmeath. A statement released by Ballyhane Stud on Friday morning cited "a breakdown in the business relationship between Clipper principal Steve Parkin and...

Exciting young sires Space Traveller (GB) and Sands Of Mali (Fr) have been transferred from Ballyhane Stud to Micheal Orlandi's Starfield Stud for the remainder of the 2024 breeding season. A statement released by Dullingham Park on Tuesday read, "Due to unforeseen circumstances, Space Traveller and Sands Of Mali, formerly at Ballyhane Stud, have been relocated to stand the remainder of the 2024 season at Micheal Orlandi's Starfield Stud in Mullingar [County Westmeath]. "Space Traveller is in his second season covering and reports of his first foals are exceptional. His...