Saxon Warrior

Not only did Havana Grey (GB) record more individual winners and total wins than any of his first-season sire rivals in Great Britain and Ireland, but he also broke the £1-million marker for total earnings, which is why he deservedly wears the champion freshman stallion crown. Those earnings were propped up by big sales race winners Shouldvebeenaring (GB) and Eddie's Boy (GB), with the latter going on to bag a Group 3 before selling for 320,000gns at the Tattersalls horses-in-training sale in October. Havana Grey had 36 winners for 76...

Two of the most exciting colts to look forward to as three-year-olds in 2023 are in the same stable, hail from the same family and the same sire-line. The Ballydoyle duo of Auguste Rodin (Ire) and Victoria Road (Ire) concluded their juvenile seasons with victories, respectively, in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, and they are a son and grandson of Deep Impact (Jpn), the latter being by the late Shadai resident's Classic-winning son Saxon Warrior (Jpn). Auguste Rodin is in fact bred on the...

NEWMARKET, UK-Classic contender Gan Teorainn (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}) has been described by Clare Manning of Boherguy Stud as the most exciting horse the 29-year-old has ever had the chance to consign ahead of the eagerly-anticipated Sceptre Session at Tattersalls on Tuesday. Trained by her grandad Jim Bolger, Gan Teorainn advertised her Classic credentials when second in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac at ParisLongchamp in October and can be backed at odds of 25-1 for next year's Oaks.  The Ennistown Stud-owned filly also boasts a rock-solid pedigree to match her...

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...

Helped in no small part by the success of Victoria Road (Ire) at the Breeders' Cup and Auguste Rodin's (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) emergence as a leading Classic contender from the same sire line, the progeny of Saxon Warrior (Jpn) played a starring role on day one of the November Foal Sale at Goffs. Not only did Saxon Warrior top the session when Ballyhimikin Stud signed for a colt [lot 231] drafted by Kildallan Farm for €88,000, but he was also responsible for three of the top four foals on...

The Europeans made their presence felt at Keeneland on Friday. Aidan O'Brien bagged a Grade I double while Charlie Appleby, who has two favourites to look forward to on Saturday, also landed a winner on the opening day of the Breeders' Cup. From O'Brien working his magic to No Nay Never silencing his doubters and William Buick and Ryan Moore once again confirming themselves top of the international riding tree, we pick the bones out of a pulsating Friday at Keeneland.   Buick And Moore Confirm World-Class Status One of...

What you want to hear from a major owner-breeder like Trevor Stewart, the man who has set up a mini-empire off the back of buying wondermare Cassandra Go back in 1997, is that there is a nuanced approach to breeding and, with the right blend of skill and hard work, you too can make this game pay. The trouble is, Stewart does not believe that is the case. Not only does he put buying top-class racemare-turned-blue hen Cassandra Go down to good luck, but he also points to fortune favouring...

1.20 Curragh, Mdn, €16,500, 2yo, c/g, 8fT GULF OF MEXICO (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) debuts for Ballydoyle in the maiden won by Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) in recent times and, at 1.1 million gns was the joint-second highest-priced colt at the Book 1 Sale in October alongside stablemate Age Of Kings (Ire) (Kingman {GB}). A son of the G2 Queen Mary S. winner and G1 Cheveley Park S. runner-up Anthem Alexander (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}), the May-foaled bay encounters experienced opposition including his stable's eye-catching course maiden runner-up...

The sales ring can be a magical place, full of hope and expectation, and when an opening bid of €100,000 was struck for Katie Walsh's Saxon Warrior (Jpn) filly (lot 151) at the Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-up Sale on Thursday, those in attendance knew something special was on the cards. What started as a trickle soon became a flood of people packing into the arena to see the Greenhills Farm-consigned and James Hanly-bred filly set a new record at this sale with the hammer falling at €520,000 to Stephen Hillen....

A filly from the first crop of dual Group 1 winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) out of Causeway Queen (Ire) (Giant's Causeway) was hammered down to Stephen Hillen and Kevin Ryan for €520,000 to shoot to the head of the class at Thursday's Tattersalls Ireland Goresbridge Breeze-Up Sale. The final price set a new record for the Goresbridge Sale, easily surpassing the €410,000 set at last year's event. The March-foaled chestnut was consigned to the auction by Greenhills Farm as lot 151 and is out of an unraced...

Even at this early stage of the season, we can be forgiven for mentally fast-forwarding to the first weekend of June at Epsom. It is after all the best weekend of the year, featuring the best race of the year.  There are plans afoot in Newmarket - plans being mooted by the Jockey Club, no less - to dig up one of the best turf gallops on the Heath to install a new all-weather racecourse and training facility. At a time when there's concern as to having enough horses to...

In the third installation of our Value Sires series, we will dig into the sire crop with its first foals born in 2020, and therefore with its first yearlings this year. After some two years in waiting since most of these retired to stud, the judges got the chance at the recently concluded foal sales to lay eyes on the first progeny of most of them, and though it is still incredibly early days, their opinions, corroborated through their actions in the ring, will have an impact on the perception...