Ghaiyyath

By Emma Berry and Brian Sheerin DEAUVILLE, France--As the co-breeder of the outstanding matriarch Urban Sea, Maurice Lagasse will forever be famed in the racing world but it is another family that has put his Gestut Zur Kuste in the spotlight of late, and on Saturday night his Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to two Group 1 winners topped the August Sale at €2.4 million. Oliver St Lawrence is no stranger to plucking expensive yearlings from Arqana's flagship sale and it was his name on the docket for lot 214 after he...

DEAUVILLE, France--In a departure from the normal schedule, Arqana's August extravaganza kicks off a day early this year, on Friday. With a handful of shows having taken place on Tuesday, viewing began in earnest on Wednesday morning, with Joseph O'Brien first out of the blocks and on parade at the Haras des Capucines draft while most people were still having breakfast. While many of the families of the horses catalogued will be familiar to potential purchasers, each new season brings with it a wave of new stallion names to grapple...

Whether it was Bayside Boy (Ire) at Ballylinch, Minzaal (Ire) at Derrinstown or King Of Change (GB) and Dubawi Legend (Ire) at Starfield, one of the main takeaways from this year's Irish Thoroughbred Stallion Trail was that the pedigree buffs and bloodstock fans love nothing more than getting a glimpse at the new stallions this country has to offer.  "Don't dream of putting a picture of that lad up on Twitter otherwise I'll have Eddie O'Leary tweeting that it's not the only pig down in Ballyhane," - Joe Foley. Few...

By Brian Sheerin and Emma Berry   After a hectic few months perusing this year's foal and yearling crops, we asked the buyers to share their thoughts on the young stallions with first foals and yearlings.  Dermot Farrington, agent: "If you look at the list of people who have bought yearlings and foals by Advertise, it's a long time since a young stallion has attracted the who's who of the bloodstock world, and that's exactly what he has done. Whether it be yearlings to breeze, yearlings to race or foals...

By Emma Berry and Brian Sheerin NEWMARKET, UK--It wasn't too hard to imagine that a Kingman (GB) half-sister to this season's leading juvenile Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) would steal the show at Tattersalls, and with shades of two years ago it was Juddmonte that swooped for the weanling from Whitsbury Manor Stud's increasingly influential broodmare Suelita (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}) at an even million gns. This time though Juddmonte's general manager Simon Mockridge was forced to stake almost double the amount it took to buy Chaldean, and that is largely...

NEWMARKET, UK--"If we don't believe in our stallions, who will?" So said breeder and consignor Ed Harper after topping the second day of foal trade at Tattersalls, though in the case of lot 793, the sire in question, this season's leading freshman Havana Grey (GB), has already garnered the support of plenty of breeders and buyers. But to justify the day's top price tag of 250,000gns at this stage of his young life, the colt had to have plenty more going for him, and his half-brother Dragon Symbol (GB) (Cable...

The insatiable demand for foals was evident in the figures recorded at Goffs last week with turnover rising 16% to €29,561,000 and the average climbing 16% to €40,110. At the top end of the market, Kingman (GB) dominated with three foals by the Juddmonte-based stallion selling for a combined €1,540,000 and one of Europe's leading pinhookers Philipp Stauffenberg signing for the €550,000 top lot by the sire.  Tally-Ho Stud may be best known for being sellers but they pipped Stauffenberg for the biggest spenders title by signing for 19 foals...

Sons of Dubawi (Ire) shot the lights out at Goffs on Tuesday as a colt by first-season sire Ghaiyyath (Ire) topped the November Foal Sale at €185,000 followed by a Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt who made €180,000. Ghaiyyath himself was sold at this sale in 2015 for €1,100,000 before proving himself a world-class performer on the track for Godolphin and the Kildangan Stud-based sire has enjoyed a good start at Goffs this week. The Ridge Manor Stud-drafted colt was sold to Pier House Stud, whose Brendan Morrin revealed that...

• Ghaiyyath, the world champion and Horse of the Year by Dubawi, has had his first three foals hit the ground. They are: • A "big, strong colt" out of Diantha (Ire) (Dansili {GB}). The mare is owned by John Heffernan and Elec Bloodstock and is a half-sister to G2 Dante S. winner Thunderous (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}); • A half-brother to multiple stakes winner Global Giant (GB) (Shamardal) bred by Elysian Bloodstock; • A half-sister to two stakes performers out of Marywell (GB) (Selkirk) bred by Castle Paddock...

As he prepares his runners for the upcoming flat season, Jim Bolger is also keeping a watchful eye on his breeding stock. The master trainer may be juggling the education of his runners with the oversight of his broodmares and youngstock, but Bolger has proven mighty adept at this kind of multi-tasking in the past: as has been well-documented, Bolger breeds many of his own runners, often going back two or three generations on both the top and bottom of the pedigree. His 2021 G1 2000 Guineas and G1 St...

Strip away the brass name plates, parade the Darley stallions in front of seasoned horsemen and ask them to pick the horse who last year sired three Breeders' Cup victors among 38 stakes winners and was the broodmare sire of the Derby winner. Of those who haven't seen him before, it is unlikely that many would choose Dubawi (Ire). Unlike his sire, the brilliant but ill-fated Dubai Millennium (GB), he is not a horse who 'fills the eye' with those long classic lines and fluent stride. On the short side...

We continue our Value Sires Series with a look at stallions with their first foals arriving in 2022, and what looks a very intriguing bunch. Not only do we have Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal), the outstanding 2-year-old who was rated higher than Frankel as a juvenile, but also Ghaiyyath (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Dubawi's best son yet to retire to stud; the Classic-winning Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who trained on to add the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at four; and the three-time Group 1 and Classic winner Persian King (Ire),...