Mehmas

Bloodstock agent Jason Kelly reflects on a memorable year highlighted by Group 1 scorer Maranoa Charlie There will be people who won't want 2025 to end. Bloodstock agent Jason Kelly is one of those people. The highlight among a slew of big-race successes was that of Maranoa Charlie (Wootton Bassett), an inspired mid-summer buy who delivered a breakthrough Group 1 victory for Bond Thoroughbreds in the Prix de la Foret before being snapped up by Tally-Ho Stud, where he will stand for an opening fee of €20,000 next year. There...

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...

During the Second World War, in the early years of what has grown into a world-renowned breeding operation, the Aga Khan III leased Barton Stud, not far outside Newmarket, where his resident stallions included Dastur and Umidwar. It is a link that echoes in Barton's new recruit, Scorthy Champ, whose arrival sees a return to the stallion business for the farm owned for exactly a century by the Broughton family and run by Tom Blain. Skip back four generations in Scorthy Champ's female line and you will find the name...

A 1/50th share in Zarak headlined Tuesday's Arqana Online December Sale when knocked down to an unnamed British-based buyer for €740,000. Of the 20 lots offered, 14 sold (70% clearance rate) for total turnover of €1,287,000, with the full results available to view on the Arqana Online website. Based at Haras de Bonneval, Zarak has enjoyed notable success with his first four crops and will stand for an unchanged fee of €80,000 next season. The Aga Khan Studs homebred is the sire of last year's Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner...

For this first of four parts of our annual Value Sires series in Europe, we will be dealing with the elite tier of stallions standing for a fee in excess of £50,000, which is approximately €57,000. The names in this bracket don't change that much, except for when a grandee retires or a young upstart bounces his way in. In 2025, we lost an increasingly prolific member of this cohort when Wootton Bassett died in Australia from pneumonia at the age of 17. The consequences of his passing will doubtless...

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 victory of Thankfulness at Tampa. Mehmas Filly Lands Running In Tampa St. Elias Stable and WinStar Farm's Thankfulness (Mehmas) won at Tampa Bay Downs on Dec. 6 (video). Bred by Brief Moment Partnership, the firster is trained by Miguel Clement. Consigned by WH Bloodstock to Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, she sold to WinStar Farm for 380,000gns.The first foal out of Brief Moment...

Nobody wants to be late to the party. That statement applies to just about every aspect in business and is especially pertinent with a view towards breeding.  Everyone would love to send mares to Mehmas and Starman but, the reality of the situation is that many breeders' mating plans are dictated just as much by their pockets as it is by their head. The trick is cottoning on to the next Mehmas and the next Starman before they go north - and that can be easier said than done.  Luckily...

A selection of stallion shares and breeding rights feature among the first 15 lots catalogued for the Arqana December Online Sale, which takes place between the hours of 3pm and 5pm (local time) on Tuesday, December 16. Headline lots include a 1/50th share in the Haras de Bonneval resident Zarak, who has enjoyed notable success with his first four crops and will stand for an unchanged fee of €80,000 next season. The Aga Khan Studs homebred is the sire of last year's Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Metropolitan, along with...

The aptly-named Easy has been billed as one of the star attractions to Monday's Sceptre Sessions at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale and Brian Slattery says that the Listed-winning daughter of Kodiac boasts "international appeal" and a successful sale would put the cherry on top of what has been a dream year for his brother and trainer, Andy.  The landscape of Irish racing has changed even in the past few years alone. The bigger trainers have become behemoths and it has become harder and harder for the middle to lower...

A breeding right to Mehmas topped Thursday's Arqana November Online Sale when going the way of Hugo Merry Bloodstock for €180,000. The sire of nine individual Group winners and 48 stakes winners from his first five crops, the Tally-Ho Stud stallion's leading performers in 2025 include the top-level winners Believing and Wise Approach. A share in the unbeaten Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Ace Impact was another highlight of the sale when knocked down to Horse France for €152,000. Based at Haras de Beaumont,...

Tally-Ho Stud's new recruit Maranoa Charlie, a Group 1-winning son of Wootton Bassett, has been introduced at a fee of €20,000 for the 2026 breeding season. Trained in France by Christopher Head, the three-year-old is a four-time Group winner, those victories including the Prix de la Foret on Arc weekend.  This year's champion first-season sire-elect Starman has received a significant boost in fee, which rises from €10,000 to €40,000, while his stud-mate Mehmas, who was himself champion freshman sire in 2020, has been held at his 2025 fee of €70,000....

The catalogue for Arqana Online's November Sale, featuring 19 lots including a breeding right in Group 1 sire Mehmas (lot 1) is now online. The sale will be held from 4-6 p.m. French time on November 27 and features stallion shares and breeding rights. A total of 15 shares and breeding rights are Flat oriented, with a breeding right to fellow Group 1 sire Space Blues (lot 4) also on offer, beside a breeding right to group sire Palace Pier (lot 8). Mehmas has 47 stakes winners, nine of them...