Castlebridge Building On Success

Castlebridge Building On Success… 
By Michele MacDonald 
Often in business it takes decades, entire lifetimes or even the span of generations to establish a brand that is widely viewed as emblematic of success and quality. 

No such lengthy passage of time has been necessary for the The Castlebridge Consignment, a full-service sales and bloodstock consultancy operated by four partners split between bases in England and Ireland. 
Growing rapidly from its initial draft of 10 mares to the 2002 Tattersalls December sale, the business now is such an integral part of the upscale European auction scene that it is difficult to imagine a Tattersalls sale without Castlebridge. 

“We have been fortunate to enjoy a fairly steady progression with the business,” reflected partner and director Andrew Mead, who is based in Newmarket with Castlebridge East, the operation's boarding and sale prep facility located adjacent to Cheveley Park Stud and which houses about 30 boarders. “We had some old friends and clients who helped us in the early days to whom we are very grateful, and that enabled us to gather momentum. Basically, we were just lucky to be in the right place at the right time when we started.” 

Fellow directors Bill and Tara Dwan oversee the larger Castlebridge Stud farm in County Meath, Ireland, where about 60 boarders typically are housed. Marion Goodbody, who long worked with Mead in their former bloodstock agency, is the fourth partner as well as joint master of the Tipperary Foxhounds. 

Over the past several years, The Castlebridge Consignment has racked up a number of stellar achievements that are the envy of consignors worldwide, and the mammoth operation is poised for another strong Tattersalls October yearling sale with 91 horses catalogued over the course of the entire auction. 

Castlebridge, which annually consigns about 300 horses fairly equally divided between yearlings, foals and broodmares at sales in England, Ireland and France, reached the top of the business in only six years, leading all European consignors by turnover in 2008 and again in 2009. The company has ranked amongst the top six sellers during the Book 1 portion of Tattersalls' October sale in each of the past four years, leading all consignors in 2012 with 20 lots sold for 6,077,000 guineas. The colt Hydrogen (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), the world's most expensive yearling of 2012, topped that sale when sold by Castlebridge for 2.5 million guineas to David Redvers, bloodstock advisor to Qatari Sheikh Fahad Al Thani. 

The Castlebridge Consignment also led its peers in total turnover for yearlings sold during other parts of the Tattersalls October sale in 2012, as well as leading that year's December foal and mare sales at England's esteemed auction house. In 2013, Castlebridge lit up the board at the Goffs November sale in Ireland, selling 24 horses under the Paulyn Dispersal label for a sale-topping total of €12,734,000, including the all-time Irish sale record of €6 million that G1 Irish Oaks winner Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) drew from Peter and Ross Doyle on behalf of Coolmore. Castlebridge followed the Paulyn lots with another 15 horses sold under its own banner at the same sale for an additional gross of €2,020,200. 

There is no sign that this thunderous momentum will soon be quelled. By sheer numbers alone, Castlebridge will continue to be a major factor throughout the Tattersalls October yearling sale, with 30 lots catalogued in Book 1, 33 in Book 2 and 28 in Book 3. 

Seven offspring of Sea The Stars (Ire) form the backbone of the Castlebridge group in Book 1, with three by Galileo (Ire), a pair by Oasis Dream (GB) and others by such sires as Street Cry (Ire), Shamardal, Montjeu (Ire) and Fastnet Rock (Aus) offering plenty of sizzle. 

The Castlebridge Consignment also will have the unusual distinction of offering the first Turkish-bred yearling ever to step into the ring during a Book 1 session of the Tattersalls October sale. Lot 110, a bay colt by Sea The Stars, is the first foal out of the stakes-placed Unity (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and hails from the family of multiple Group 1 winner My Emma (GB) (Marju {Ire}) and European champion stayer Classic Cliche (Salse). 

“He is a nice Sea The Stars colt. We like him a lot,” Mead said, breaking his usual practice of not commenting on individuals in the consignment only because of the unique nature of the colt as a Turkish-bred. 

Rob Speers, bloodstock advisor to prominent Turkish owner and breeder Ibrahim Araci, acquired Unity in foal to Sea The Stars at the 2012 Tattersalls December sale for 525,000gns. 

This colt provides a glimpse of not only the caliber of individual The Castlebridge Consignment has become known for, but also of some of the intriguing connections from a variety of nations that the partners have assembled in building their business. Mead and his colleagues do not like to discuss their clients, even those who own the horses they will offer at sale, or even describe the individual assets of those sale horses. They hold to an unwritten policy of “being very coy,” in Mead's words, to avoid causing offense or crossing a line of discretion that might impede their business. However, the diversity of clients and connections that the four partners developed with what the Castlebridge website bills as their “over a century's experience and hands-on expertise in all sectors of the bloodstock industry” is a primary reason for the creation of the company. 

Based on the breeding records of the yearlings they have on offer at Tattersalls, their clients and industry connections include the Tsui family, which campaigned Sea The Stars, through their Sunderland Holdings; the Rabbah Bloodstock associates of Sheikh Mohammed; the family of Irish trainer Dermot Weld; Kuwaiti businessmen Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar; Spanish owner Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez; Craig Bennett's Merry Fox Stud, owner and breeder of recent G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Cursory Glance (Distorted Humor); Whisperview Trading Ltd., the firm operated by trainer Aidan O'Brien and his wife, Anne-Marie; American fashion mogul Andrew Rosen; Russian Zalim Bifov, who has raced horses at the Dubai World Cup Carnival, and Lady Bamford. 

As Mead recalls, the Castlebridge partners first began discussing how they could multiply the strength of their individual clients after Bill Dwan took care of a yearling filly purchased by Mead and Goodbody at Goffs more than a decade ago. Sitting around a table in the home of Tara Dwan's father, Irish trainer Michael Cunningham, they decided “to form a consigning business that would hopefully make best use of their various abilities and industry contacts,” he said. 
“The name 'Castlebridge' was decided upon at that very meeting,” Mead noted. 

The partners were inspired in the choice of the name by Trim Castle, Ireland's largest Anglo-Norman fortress located near the Dwans' farm in County Meath and well known as a location for scenes in several movies, including Mel Gibson's epic Braveheart. 

In the early days of the business, the Dwans were the high-profile faces of Castlebridge at the sales, while Mead and Goodbody continued to work as bloodstock agents. But in more recent years, all the partners can be found working the Castlebridge sale barns at the major European auctions. 

“Bill is still by far the most recognized face of the company, particularly in Ireland, but we all have individual clients to whom we give personal attention,” Mead said, adding that having both English-based and Irish-based principals is an advantage in developing business. 

“There seems to be a nice balance of English and Irish philosophy within Castlebridge,” Mead added, observing that he is “clearly at home in front of a laptop, chewing over the small print of sale company conditions of sale or dealing with a pile of sale pedigree proofs. 

“I have to confess I can be quite pedantic on detail,” he confided. Meanwhile, Bill Dwan spends much of his time on the road, visiting farms and inspecting yearlings and other horses that will be part of their sales drafts. 
The Castlebridge partners' guiding philosophy is fairly simple: provide quality service. 

“We don't look to undercut anyone on price to attract business,” Mead said. “We have always charged the same basic commission rates since we started the company and we make a point of re-charging our sale expenses to the client at cost without any add-ons. We always try to employ the best possible staff and to simply provide good service, with the ultimate aim of getting the horse sold. 

He continued, “I think it's fair to say we don't actively chase new customers or look to take clients from our fellow consignors. We take the view that there is plenty of business out there to be shared around and are just pleased if anyone likes what we do and wants to use us to sell their horses.” 

One of Castlebridge's major strengths–and a prime factor in retaining clients–is the partners' keen ability to assess market conditions and help owners in setting reserve prices. 

“We are pretty good in giving clients advice at the sales on what their horse is likely to make going into the ring,” Mead said. “We get occasional requests from clients to give them a sale price some weeks or even months ahead of a sale. We generally decline to put our heads on the chopping block for that one. But I think after we've shown a horse for 48 hours to all the prospective buyers, we can give good advice on how the horse has been received, what his likely sale price will be and therefore where the client should set the reserve. As a result, we have a pretty reasonable clearance rate based on the reserve price we give the client.” 

Castlebridge will enter the Tattersalls October sale off the high of selling the top-priced yearling at the Tattersalls Ireland September sale, a colt by Twirling Candy from the family of multiple Group 1 winner Bigstone (Ire) (Last Tycoon {Ire}). Ross Doyle signed the €115,000 ticket on the Irish-bred colt, who just two months earlier had been bought by Blandford Bloodstock for $35,000 at the Fasig-Tipton July yearling sale in Lexington. 

In looking forward to Tattersalls October, Mead said the Castlebridge partners view the European market as “continuing to be robust and still containing a fair bit of genuine optimism for the immediate future.” 

Some of the intriguing Castlebridge entries in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October yearling sale include lot 157, a colt by Sea The Stars out of Alizaya (Ire) (Highest Honor {Fr}), a half sister to G1 Irish St Leger and G1 Prix du Cadran winner Alandi (Ire) (Galileo). Bred by Sunderland Holdings, this colt's blue-blooded Aga Khan Studs family also includes English champion filly Aliysa (Ire) (Darshaan {GB}) and European co-champion Alamshar (Ire) (Key of Luck); lot 163, a colt by Danehill Dancer (Ire) out of Althea Rose (Ire) (Green Desert), a half-sister to champion, Classic winner and sire Desert King (Ire) (Danehill); lot 178, a colt bred in Kentucky by Merry Fox Stud and sired by Street Cry out of the Irish Group 3-placed mare Arkadina (Ire) (Danehill), who is a half-sister to Irish champion Again (Ire) (Danehill Dancer). This colt's third dam produced Montjeu; lot 222, a filly from the small last crop sired of Montjeu and bred by the O'Briens' Whisperview Trading Ltd. out of Charroux (Ire) (Darshaan), the dam of multiple stakes winner Perfect Truth (Ire) (Galileo) and stakes-placed Beyond Brilliance (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). This inefilly's second dam is champion Durtal (Ire) (Lyphard), a half-sister to French Horse of the Year and G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Detroit (Fr) (Riverman) and granddam of G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Roderic O'Connor (Ire) (Galileo); lot 330, a bay colt by Galileo out of stakes winner and G1 Irish Oaks runner-up Ice Queen (Ire) (Danehill Dancer) and from the family of champion and sire Last Tycoon (Ire) (Try My Best); lot 365, a colt by Galileo out of prolific producer Lady Icarus (GB) (Rainbow Quest), the dam of four stakes winners including French Classic-placed colt Furner's Green (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) and Irish Classic-placed filly Lady Lupus (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}); lot 424, a colt by Shamardal out of G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Nightime (Ire) (Galileo) and a half-brother to stakes-placed Sleeping Beauty (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}).