Whitsbury Manor Stud

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...

I love Paris in the springtime, sang Ella Fitzgerald, and I'm pretty sure it was a thinly-veiled reference to her secret passion for heavy ground three-year-old maidens at Saint-Cloud. What Classic clues may we glean there? Well, maybe none. But I liked the look of Narkez (Fr), who gave his rivals a six-length walloping in the Prix Comrade last Tuesday, picking up where he left off after winning at Clairefontaine last October. Bred by Nurlan Bizakov under his Sumbe banner, the colt represents that magic Siyouni (Fr)-Galileo (Ire) cross, though...

Monday's curtain-raising Curragh card saw Whitsbury Manor Stud's first-season sire Sergei Prokofiev register his opening salvo as his son Arizona Blaze (GB) captured the five-furlong Castle Star And Alkumait At Capital Stud Irish EBF Maiden. Representing AMO Racing Limited and Giselle De Aguiar and the Adrian Murray stable, the £82,000 Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale graduate was always on the sharp end under David Egan. Asserting from Rowdy Yeats (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) inside the final furlong, the 5-4 favourite eked out a professional 1 1/4-length success. "David [Egan] said...

Kelly Thomas enjoyed a banner year with Vandeek (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}), who she bred at her Maywood Stud, going unbeaten in a spellbinding two-year-old campaign that featured Group 1 wins in the Prix Morny and Middle Park S.  In this week's Q&A, Thomas revealed how some people in the industry have shared with her that she has become an inspiration for smaller breeders. She also lifted the lid on her own hopes and dreams for Vandeek this season and explained her philosophy to breeding.  You have had lots to...

Outside the boxes of the foaling unit at Banstead Manor Stud are Juddmonte's versions of the blue plaques one sees across Britain on the former homes of famous people. Here, of course, the plaques are a subtle green, but when it comes to equine celebrities there can be no bigger name than Frankel (GB).  He was born in one of the old brick boxes which should be granted special sporting heritage status on February 11, 2008. It is hard to believe that his 16th birthday is looming. Backing on to...

Havana Grey (GB) was the most profitable British- and Irish-based yearling sire of 2023 according to the newly-published Weatherbys Bloodstock Sales Review. Havana Grey topped the standings with a profitability index of 10.75, comfortably ahead of the next best stallion, Sioux Nation, on 6.61. Those figures were calculated by dividing each sire's 2023 yearling average by their covering fee of 2021, when the offspring in question were conceived. It was another hugely successful year on the racecourse for the progeny of Havana Grey, with the G1 Prix Morny and G1...

It has been a big year for Whitsbury Manor Stud. From a landmark result with homebred Chaldean going on to win the 2,000 Guineas for Juddmonte, his half-sister Get Ahead selling for 2.5m gns at public auction and the continued rise of superstar stallion Havana Grey, 2023 has been the gift that keeps on giving for Ed Harper and his team. There is plenty, still, to look forward to next year, with fellow Whitsbury-based stallion Sergei Prokofiev set to be represented by his first crop of runners and Dragon Symbol...

Listed winner Get Ahead (GB) (Showcasing {GB}--Suelita {GB}, by Dutch Art {GB}) commanded a 2.5 million guineas final bid from William Haggas signing on behalf of First Bloodstock on the second day of selling at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale. Offered as Lot 1813 by Whitsbury Manor Stud, the half-sister to English Champion 2-year-old Chaldean (Frankel) and a full to Group 2-scorer Alkumait also finished runner-up in the G1 Flying Five S.

The Havana Grey-vy train is showing no signs of stopping as foals by the sire sensation proved all the rage on the opening day of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale on Tuesday where some of the key figures took a hit compared to 12 months ago. Hazelwood Bloodstock's Adrian O'Brien signed for two colts by Whistsbury Manor Stud's ace sire for just over 100,000gns, including the top lot, a Havana Grey (GB) colt out of Singspiel (Ire) mare Ebrah (GB), already a proven producer of sprinters with Cityman (GB) (Slade...

Great British Racing International (GBRI) launched the first episode in a new five-part video series entitled 'Be A Part Of It: Breeding In Britain'--Juddmonte: Banstead Manor Stud. The remaining four episodes will drop daily through Nov. 25. Episode 1 features one of the most prolific stud farms in the world, Banstead Manor Stud, home of Juddmonte. General Manager Simon Mockridge discusses how Prince Khalid Abdullah first came to purchase the stud in 1987. Among its illustrious residents, Frankel (GB) is poised to win his second Champion Sire title in the...

It seems as though Michael Fitzpatrick and Havana Grey (GB) have something in common with the lord himself as turning water into wine comes natural.  Time and time again, the man behind Kilminfoyle House Stud produces pinhook after pinhook in a similar fashion to how Whitsbury Manor Stud's emerging force seems to transform whatever pedigree he touches.  The latest transformation played out on Tuesday evening of Book 2 at Tattersalls when a colt by Havana Grey (lot 1020), who Fitzpatrick purchased as a foal under the banner of JC Bloodstock...

High class sprinter Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}--Arcamist {GB}, by Arcano {Ire}) has been retired from racing and will stand at Whitsbury Manor Stud in 2024. A fee will be announced later. A winner of his first four starts before missing by a nose in the G2 Sandy Lane S. in May of 2021 for Roger Varian and owner Yoshiro Kubota, he was first past the post in the G1 Commonwealth Cup a month later before being disqualified and placed second. The son of the winning Arcamist was also...