Soldier's Call

There will be a lot of I-told-you-sos when looking back on the first-season sires' championship with Blue Point (Ire) living up to his lofty billing by amassing 50 individual winners in Europe including two Group 1 scorers in what can only be described as a dream debut season.  The pledge of support behind Blue Point from a very early stage, in what was viewed by many as the most competitive first-season sires' championship in a long time, was telling.  Perhaps one of the most accurate predictions came from trainer Richard...

As the line-up continues to take shape at Steve Parkin's new stallion operation at Dullingham Park near Newmarket, it has been announced that the G2 Flying Childers winner Soldier's Call (GB) will move from Ireland to join this season's top-rated sprinter Shaquille (GB) on the roster.  In his debut season, Shaquille will stand for £15,000, while Soldier's Call's fee for 2024 will be £8,500. He stood at €7,500 this season and covered 190 mares. One of this year's leading first-season sires, Soldier's Call began his career at Joe Foley's Ballyhane...

It was a day for the die-hards at Part Two of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale where a filly by first-season sire Soldier's Call (GB) led the way at €45,000 to Joe Foley. But the story of the sale was the strength of the Italian buyers, with Cristiana Brivio, who operates under the banner of Razza Latina, and Valfredo Valiani, two of the leading purchasers on the day.  Foley, who also stands Soldier's Call at Ballyhane Stud, was repeating the trick from last year after topping this sale 12...

Seven years ago Churchill (Ire) beat Mehmas (Ire) in the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S., and they both now feature prominently in their second careers at stud. For Mehmas, that's nothing new. He was champion first-season sire, then leading second-season sire, and he gave way only to New Bay (GB) last year among his generation. Now with his fourth crop of runners taking to the track, the Tally-Ho Stud resident is back in front among his intake with four group winners to his credit so far this year, including...

The late Daylami (Ire) (Doyoun {Ire}) carried the Godolphin blue to victory in the GI Man o' War S. at Belmont Park fully 25 years ago and it didn't take long for the Dubai-based operation to strike again, as the outstanding Fantastic Light (Rahy) followed suit just two years later.Both stars would go on to prove victorious in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf in 1999 and 2001, respectively. No one will confuse Warren Point (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) with either of those luminaries, but the homebred bay should jump favored to...

Saturday may be April Fools' Day but there will be no fool's errand for the 17 juveniles charged with getting their racing careers off to a bright start in Britain's traditional turf season opener, the Pertemps Network EBF Brocklesby S. Love it or loathe it, the Brocklesby carries with it that great sigh of relief from Flat fans that winter is at last over and 'proper racing' can now commence. For the men and women behind the stallions with their first runners this season, it is also an important marker,...

Blue Point (Ire) has been installed as the 2-1 favourite to be crowned leading first-season Flat sire in Britain and Ireland by Paddy Power. Ballyhane Stud's Soldier's Call (GB) has been inserted at 5-2 next best in the betting while Coolmore's Ten Sovereigns (Ire) has been quoted at odds of 3-1. Tally-Ho Stud, responsible for two of the past three champion first-season sires Mehmas (Ire) and Cotai Glory (GB), are represented by 4-1 chance Inns Of Court (Ire). It's 10-1 the field. Blue Point stands at Kildangan Stud for €35,000...

Whether it was Bayside Boy (Ire) at Ballylinch, Minzaal (Ire) at Derrinstown or King Of Change (GB) and Dubawi Legend (Ire) at Starfield, one of the main takeaways from this year's Irish Thoroughbred Stallion Trail was that the pedigree buffs and bloodstock fans love nothing more than getting a glimpse at the new stallions this country has to offer.  "Don't dream of putting a picture of that lad up on Twitter otherwise I'll have Eddie O'Leary tweeting that it's not the only pig down in Ballyhane," - Joe Foley. Few...

A large part of the fun that comes with following racing and the bloodstock game is predicting the future. Who will win the Derby? Who might top the Orby Sale? What freshman sires are here to stay and which ones will drift into the abyss? Well, we've looked deep into the TDN Europe crystal ball for 2023 to see if we can come up with the answers to the burning questions for the year ahead. Enjoy! January If you think he had a good Christmas, wait until you see how...

TDN: First job in the Thoroughbred industry? Believe it or not, the one I'm in! I have worked for Tattersalls now for 22 years, having answered an advert for a marketing executive in the Racing Post back in 2000. I had previously run a very amateur racing website called Ausracing, but since it brought me no income, it could hardly be called a job. TDN: Biggest influence on your career? Always a hard one, but perhaps it was the friend who took me to Sandown racecourse in Melbourne's Eastern suburbs...

By Brian Sheerin and Emma Berry   After a hectic few months perusing this year's foal and yearling crops, we asked the buyers to share their thoughts on the young stallions with first foals and yearlings.  Dermot Farrington, agent: "If you look at the list of people who have bought yearlings and foals by Advertise, it's a long time since a young stallion has attracted the who's who of the bloodstock world, and that's exactly what he has done. Whether it be yearlings to breeze, yearlings to race or foals...

The insatiable demand for foals was evident in the figures recorded at Goffs last week with turnover rising 16% to €29,561,000 and the average climbing 16% to €40,110. At the top end of the market, Kingman (GB) dominated with three foals by the Juddmonte-based stallion selling for a combined €1,540,000 and one of Europe's leading pinhookers Philipp Stauffenberg signing for the €550,000 top lot by the sire.  Tally-Ho Stud may be best known for being sellers but they pipped Stauffenberg for the biggest spenders title by signing for 19 foals...