Big Success For Little

Goffs has assembled a sizeable share of the best of Ireland’s foal crop for its expanded five-day November Foal Sale, and one of the lots that best represents the quality on offer is Swordlestown Little’s Galileo (Ire) colt out of Sogno Verde (Ire) (Green Desert). Not only is lot 1182 a half-brother to G2 Railway S. winner and young sire Lilbourne Lad (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}); he is also the lone foal by his champion sire to be offered at a European public auction this year, and the only Galileo colt foal to be offered at public auction worldwide in 2015 (Click here for video footage).

While Goffs is familiar with offering the progeny of the world’s leading sires, it is less of a regular occurrence for Mariann Klay and Des Leadon of Swordlestown Little, who began breeding horses on that property just after the turn of the century and have a broodmare band of just seven.

Considering the collective experience of Klay and Leadon in the Thoroughbred industry, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the couple began to enjoy success early in their venture. Both are veterinarians–Leadon specializing in international transport and quarantine matters–and met while riding out for leading trainer John Oxx. Klay, a native of Switzerland, completed the Irish National Stud course and worked abroad for the likes of legendary trainer Bart Cummings in Australia and Waikato Stud in New Zealand.

In 1998, Klay and Leadon purchased the property they would coin Swordlestown Little, a six-hectare piece of Swordlestown Stud–which was divided into three pieces to be sold–that had previously served as an isolation yard.

“That’s why we called it Swordlestown Little–because it’s a small piece of Swordlestown Stud,” Klay explained. The adjacent Swordlestown Stud also consigns horses at Goffs, but Klay explained the two farms are no longer connected. “There is no link other than a historic link,” she said.

“We developed the farm from scratch; it wasn’t previously a horse farm, it was an isolation farm to Swordlestown Stud,” she added. “We started slowly with very few mares.”

Klay noted that she has ridden out for John Oxx–“one lot each morning”–for all of the 18 years she has lived in Ireland, and it was that connection that helped she and Leadon develop their broodmare band with a modest budget. Sogno Verde, who was their “third or fourth” mare and whom they purchased as a filly out of training for 60,000gns at Tattersalls December in 2005, was trained by Oxx for owner/breeder Lady Clague, and Klay explained she was familiar with the mare’s dam.

“They were both owned by Lady Clague, who was a very famous owner/breeder,” Klay said. “It’s a good, Classic family. We have a very limited budget so it’s nice to know something about the fillies and their families, and that’s how we buy most of our mares. Nearly all of our mares came from Oxx’s.”

Sogno Verde’s first foal was Bobbyscot (Ire) (Alhaarth {Ire}), who was third in the G3 Gallinule S., and after failing to produce a live foal in 2008 she produced Lilbourne Lad in 2009. Lilbourne Lad was purchased by Peter Doyle for £80,000 as a yearling at Doncaster and raced only as a 2-year-old, finishing off the board just once in eight starts and winning the G2 Railway S. and the Listed Rochestown S. He finished second in the G1 Middle Park S. and has thus far sired 22 winner with his first crop of 2-year-olds.

“Sogno Verde turned out lucky and she really owns the farm,” Klay said. Sogno Verde has since produced two more winners, Bluebell (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) and Robertstown (Ire) (Raven’s Pass), who were sold for €200,000 and €280,000 at Goffs, and her current 2-year-old, a full-sister to Lilbourne Lad named Notte Illuminata (Ire), was a €360,000 Goffs November foal two years ago. Sogno Verde has a Henrythenavigator yearling filly and was bred to Dark Angel (Ire) this year.

Klay noted Swordlestown Little’s business plan is to sell at the foal sales.

“We can’t really afford to keep horses in training,” she said. “Our business model currently is to sell them as weanlings simply because it just works best for us. This has worked well in the past, so why should we change?”

Swordlestown Little will offer five foals at Goffs next week, headed by Sogno Verde’s Galileo colt.

“The Galileo is a beautiful foal; he’s a very well-balanced, nice Galileo type,” Klay noted. “He has a lovely temperament to go with it and we’re hoping for the best because he is a collector’s item.”

Two Galileo filly foals were sold at Keeneland last week, bringing $1.2 million and $340,000. A Galileo colt was scratched from the sale.

“The [Galileo colt] in Keeneland got withdrawn so this is the only colt at any foal sale anywhere,” Klay said. “So we have to keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.”