Transatlantic 'Rising Star' Timely For Holland

The timing could hardly have been better. Only the previous evening, Brendan Holland had staked a cool 310,000gns on a Kodiac (GB) colt out of Book 2 at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. That plainly leaves his Grove Stud accounts little margin for error, when he brings the horse back to Newmarket for the Craven Breeze-Up Sale next spring. But the same had appeared true, at the Keeneland September Sale last year, when he exported a son of American Pharoah for $275,000. And that proved a spectacular investment when the colt topped the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale in May at €1.1 million to Coolmore through Laurent Benoit. Sent him into training with Andre Fabre, Ocean Atlantique made a promising debut at Saint-Cloud last month and on Wednesday was named a 'TDN Rising Star' after winning a maiden over the same course by eight lengths. To see that, less than 24 hours after again rolling the dice so bravely at Tattersalls, could only fortify Holland's belief. Because it's a luxury no vendor can afford, simply to bank a profit and consider the job done. The horses still need to go out there on the track and encourage repeat business. For some reason, and most unfairly, that is perceived to be especially true of the breeze-up sector-albeit we all know how many expensive yearlings sent directly to their trainers from the yearling sales will never live up to their pricetags.

“It's vitally important, not just for Grove Stud but for the whole breeze-up sector, that those high-priced ones go on and do well,” Holland said. “That's why all the lads, all my co-consignors, will be as happy for me as I would be for them. Because we benefit collectively.”

“Hopefully this is only the start of a good career, for this horse. But it's an impressive start, and important. We're all aware of it and it is timely, for me, after sticking my neck out on Tuesday! But that's what it's all about. You have to believe in what you've sold, have to keep going, have to get them lined up again for next year.”

Ocean Atlantique might easily have gone even beyond the audacious reach of Holland, given that his second dam Dissemble (GB) is a half-sister to none other than the Juddmonte matriarch Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {Ire}). “The mare [Tare Green (Giant's Causeway), a half-sister to Leroidesanimaux (Brz) (Candy Stripes)] had been slightly disappointing up until then,” Holland concedes. “But the back family is really as good as there is in the book. Listen, you've got to follow all these nice horses in, and sometimes one of them drops your way. That day we got lucky. But if you don't stick your hand up, you definitely won't.”

Holland generally avoids unproven sires, which is itself pretty instructive. Where the commercial yearling market often tries to ride the flimsy tide of fashion, he knows he needs raw materials of reliable substance. But he will make an exception to assess the stock of runners of real calibre.

“I'd looked at a lot of American Pharoahs,” he said. “And I soon found they had a few things in common: they were quite big; they had a slight plainness, but a very honest look about them; they all put their heads down; they were all athletic in their walk. And that was this horse, too. He was big, strong, balanced, athletic, with a very good eye.”

“As soon as he started working in the spring, for a big horse he was very light on his feet. And by May he was a bit like the ugly duckling, he had turned into a big, handsome horse with a great attitude. One thing everyone tells me about American Pharoah is that he himself had a tremendous attitude. And if you see 20 of them, you will see how positive and honest they are; how they go to the bridle and put their heads down. For us, that's so important. You cannot look at their heads enough, because they have to come up that track on their own. It takes a certain quality in a horse to do that-and he had it in spades.”

Certainly Holland was never in doubt about the transferability, to the European environment, of the class American Pharoah had shown on dirt.

“First of all, the bottom half of this horse's family is grass anyway,” he said. “But either they can run or they can't, whatever the surface. Some horses in America, physically, don't look suited to turf racing: that heavier type of horse, that slightly longer, slacker pastern. Maybe I'm right about that, maybe I'm not. But generally I do just feel that a good horse is a good horse.” Holland knew that this good horse was the talk of the sale at Deauville, but he also knew there were no guarantees. As it was, even as one who knows the business well enough never to be carried away, it proved a momentous day.

“It's a milestone in any lifetime of selling horses, to have a seven-figure sale,” Holland said. “I thought that if ever there was a horse capable of it, on the day, it was him. But you wouldn't even dream of achieving it. No doubt about, it is something significant in anyone's career to do that at an auction.”

Holland joked that he was inclined to watch Wednesday's race from outside, through a window, in case the horse failed to land short odds. But he had been given every confidence. “I was assured, from the yard, that the improvement he'd make from his first start would be much more significant than is normal for one of Andre Fabre's,” he explained. “He's extremely laid back in the morning, and they had struggled to get him as fit as their debutants would generally be, so he had a huge blow after his first race.”

Moreover that curve of improvement would seem very likely to be sustained. “These Pharoahs are so big they have to be way better again, at three,” Holland reasoned. “This one will be, anyway. And so will the Lope De Vega (Ire) colt I sold for €700,000 at the same sale [Carlos Felix (Ire)]. He's also an obviously high-quality horse, not as big but more backward. His first run for David Simcock at Yarmouth last month was very promising, the form has been franked, and he's definitely an exciting horse for next year.

“In general the breeze-up horses have done extremely well on the track this year. There's a lot of political turmoil around the world but the market continued unabated. And I'm not hopeful, I'm extremely confident, that the sector is getting stronger and stronger.”