Awtaad

Fresh from another dominant display at the Cheltenham Festival, champion jumps trainer Willie Mullins provides the lowdown on leading Dubai Sheema Classic hope Ethical Diamond and more Not content with tightening his grip on the National Hunt sphere following another dominant display at the Cheltenham Festival, Willie Mullins will be taking aim at the world's best racehorse Calandagan in Saturday's Dubai Sheema Classic with his Breeders' Cup hero Ethical Diamond - and the bad news for his contemporaries on the Flat is that the champion jumps trainer has revealed that...

Galileo and Dubawi, two titans of the sport whose fates have been so entwined for the past two decades that the marrying of their superior bloodlines to one day give us a champion sire was perhaps as inevitable as it is satisfying for us bloodstock nuts. On 12 occasions, in 2008 and then every year between 2010 and 2020, Galileo topped the end-of-year sires' table in Britain and Ireland. On four of those occasions Dubawi filled the runner-up spot, before the Darley stalwart finally enjoyed his day in the sun...

And on we go, to a sector of the market that will have great appeal to the shrewd and smaller breeders (you can certainly be both), with the next part of our Value Sires series devoted to those standing in the bracket of £7,500 to £14,999 (approximately €8,500 to €17,000).  There are always deals to be struck in the stallion market, and perhaps that is especially true within the lower price tiers, where your bartering power may also depend on your previous support of a particular stallion or stud, and...

Shadwell has announced the fees for its five-strong roster of stallions, with the six-time Group 1 winner Baaeed standing for the reduced sum of £55,000 in 2026 - when he will be represented by his first two-year-old runners. "The roster is headed by Baaeed, the highest-rated racehorse in Europe for over a decade and who stands as a fitting tribute to Shadwell's dedication to the Thoroughbred," read a statement from Shadwell. "Supported by many of the world's leading breeders, Baaeed has already covered three outstanding books of mares. His first...

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the Breeders' Cup meeting. Ethical Diamond Hands Mullins The Turf Training maestro Willie Mullins landed the biggest Flat victory of his career with Ethical Diamond (Awtaad) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf on Saturday (video). A winner of a brace of valuable handicaps across the pond, the five-year-old gelding has also run seven of his lifetime starts over hurdles. Bred by W. Kennedy, Ethical Diamond is owned...

We should have seen it coming really. Night Of Thunder burst onto the scene in 2019 to be champion first-season sire with seven stakes winners to his name. Not all leading freshmen go on to put themselves into contention for champion sire honours, of course, but six years later this is exactly what the prolific Night Of Thunder has done, and he looks almost certain now to follow the achievement of his own sire Dubawi, who was champion in 2022. Dubawi, who turns 24 in January, took longer to get...

Shadwell's Anmaat is likely to be retired after sustaining a setback preparing for his title defense of the G1 QIPCO Champion Stakes later this month, according to racing manager Angus Gold. The Awtaad gelding won half of his 18 starts including the 2023 G1 Prix d'Ispahan and last year's Champion Stakes. In 2025 alone, he has run second three times at the highest level for trainer Owen Burrows in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, the Prince Of Wales's Stakes and in the Irish Champion Stakes. Gold told the PA news agency,...

Baaeed (GB), the top-class six-time Group 1 winner whose first foals are set to hit the European market in the coming weeks, will head the Shadwell stallion roster for 2025 at £65,000. That represents a £15,000 drop from the £80,000 that Baaeed stood for in 2023 and 2024 as Shadwell acknowledged an "unpredictable climate" facing breeders in a statement released on Monday.  Stephen Collins, Shadwell's European Bloodstock Manager, commented, "Baaeed retired with an official rating of 135 after six brilliant Group 1 wins, since then he has been supported by...

Having started with the new stallions for 2024, we are continuing the series with those in the lower price tier beneath the fee of 10,000, whether in euros or sterling. For the benefit of this piece we are treating them as one and the same, despite the current exchange rate of £1 = €1.16. This is the territory inhabited by many small breeders, and in plenty of cases the margins between operating at a profit and a loss are very tight indeed.  I am reminded here of a particularly interesting...

There will be a change of scene for Shadwell's British-based stallions, who will move from Nunnery Stud to be located at the historic Beech House Stud in Newmarket for the 2024 breeding season. As previously announced, the dual Group 1 winner Mostahdaf (Ire) joins the roster for next year and will be introduced at a fee of £15,000. The son of Frankel (GB) is rated joint-second in the world rankings with Arc winner Ace Impact (Fr) on a mark of 128, just a pound lower than  Equinox (Jpn). Shadwell's star...

With the threat of Hurricane Hilary looming over Southern California and Del Mar, Anisette (GB) (f, 3, Awtaad {Ire}--Tutti Frutti {GB}, by Teofilo {Ire}) took the seaside oval by storm, blowing the doors off the GI Del Mar Oaks Saturday. She remained perfect in three U.S. starts since transferring to Leonard Powell's barn from the UK earlier this year. The final time for Anisett's nine furlongs on the lawn was 1:48.15 as 'TDN Rising Star' and East Coast shipper Be Your Best (Ire) (Muhaarar {GB}), as well as former Irish...

One of the most exciting horses catalogued in next week's Tattersalls July Sale, Ethical Diamond (Ire) is likely to appeal to buyers for the Flat and some of the powerhouse National Hunt trainers, according to his breeder William Kennedy. Ethical Diamond confirmed himself a horse with a bright future when running out an easy winner of a Limerick maiden last month for Michael O'Meara and promises to attract plenty of footfall to Baroda Stud's barn this week.  He may not have made his debut until three, but Ethical Diamond has...