Weatherbys

First job in the Thoroughbred industry? Pupil Assistant to Ian Williams. Biggest influence on your career? I've been lucky to get guidance and advice from many great people, Ian gave me a great chance at the start. More recently Joe Osborne and David Redvers have been great influences in different ways and I have to mention my colleague Nick Craven at Weatherbys. My family has also been very supportive of me working in racing. Favourite racehorse of all time, and why? Sea The Stars really was a huge favourite of...

Covering numbers are more an indication of fashion than of success but, this being, as we so often hear, "a numbers game", it is worth having a closer look at the Flat stallions in Britain and Ireland who have been gifted books into three figures this year. We will also be looking in more depth at the French covering numbers in the coming days. According to the statistics recently published by Weatherbys in the annual Return of Mares, there were 62 stallions who covered 100 or more mares in 2022,...

Coolmore's Sioux Nation topped the charts of the busiest Flat stallions in Britain and Ireland in 2022, with 255 mares covered, just head of Tally-Ho Stud's new recruit Starman (GB) on 254.  Weatherbys' recently published Return of Mares shows that Starman's stable-mate Mehmas (Ire) was sent 249 mares, the same number as Coolmore resident Wootton Bassett (GB), while the most active sire in Britain was Overbury Stud's Ardad (Ire), who covered 205. The only other British-based stallion in the top ten on numbers was the champion sire Frankel (GB), who...

The 2022 Great British Stallion Showcase was launched by Great British Racing International (GBRI) and the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA). The online platform, which welcomed over 10,000 visitors last spring, is a digital tool to support the TBA National Hunt Stallion Showcase at Goffs UK's January Sale on Tuesday and the TBA Flat Stallion Parade at the Tattersalls February Sale on Thursday, Feb. 3. The website features a selection of Britain's first-, second- and third-season Flat sires and all-age National Hunt sires. Photos and videos are available to view, while...

The Coolmore Stud sire Sioux Nation (Scat Daddy), who won the G1 Phoenix S. at two, has been made the 1-2 favourite in the Leading First-Season Sire race by Fitzdares. Close behind him in the market is the 9-4 shot and G1 Flying Five S. victor Havana Grey (GB) (Havana Gold {Ire}), who stands at Whitsbury Manor Stud. Rounding out the top three chances is fellow Coolmore Stud stallion and Classic winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) at 6-1. Below are the stallions listed by Fitzdares: Sioux Nation at...

The Weatherbys Return of Mares, through Oct. 20, was published on Thursday. A total of 12,920 live foals were registered so far in The General Stud Book. In 2020 the number was 12,778 and in 2019 13,443 were registered. Of the 12,920 foals, 4,282 (+1%) are registered with the GB suffix and 8,638 (+1%) in Ireland. In 2020 those numbers were 4,236 (GB) and 8,542 (Ire), while two years ago the number of registered foals stood at 4,655 (GB) and 8,788 (Ire). Currently there are 22,720 broodmares at stud, an...

Weatherbys has been appointed to develop and deploy a digitally integrated racing administration and stud book system by the Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club in Bahrain. The Weatherbys platform for the Bahrain Horseracing Authority will be designed and built in the 'cloud', which will allow it to be continuously updated on the Weatherbys 'Power' Platform. The Bahrain Horseracing Authority will also be adopting the Weatherbys ePassport--the new equine digital lifetime document for traceability, welfare, health, biosecurity and anti-doping that is now in use in Ireland and Britain. His Highness...

The closing date for the Weatherbys ITBA National Hunt Fillies Bonus Scheme is Sept. 30. Through the support of HRI and Weatherbys, the initiative, now in its eighth year, has passed the €2-million mark in bonuses paid out to winning owners. A €5,000 bonus is attached to every mares-only maiden race in Ireland: bumpers, maiden hurdles and beginners' chases. In 2018, the scheme was extended to include a number of mares only handicap hurdles for fillies that did not win their maiden in addition to supporting the Connolly's Red Mills...

Starting in January, British and Irish point-to-point winning performances will be designated as wins in sales designated as a National Hunt sale. Currently, British and Irish point-to-pointers are classified as runners, but not as winners in the horse subject detail or dam summary line. As part of this change, sales will now be designated as either flat or National Hunt. Flat sales will continue to not treat point-to-point victories as wins. In a joint statement, Simon Kerins of Tattersalls Ireland and Nick Nugent of Goffs said, "This rule change gives...

The Weatherbys ePassport has gone live for the British and Irish Thoroughbred markets, with the first foal to be issued with its passport a colt by Calyx born on Feb. 14 at Julian Richmond-Watson's Lawn Stud. In the coming months, every Thoroughbred born in Britain and Ireland this year will receive its passport. The Weatherbys ePassport is a single, secure platform for all regulatory and legislative requirements relating to identification, health, welfare, movement and ownership. Elements of the Weatherbys ePassport are already in use in Britain, Ireland and other jurisdictions....

The 2021 breeding season was hit by the perfect storm of ongoing Covid travel restrictions and the end of the transition period that meant Britain's exit from the European Union is now complete. Brexit has been a thorn in the industry's side for five years. For those in Britain who were opposed to it, it has long been considered a gratuitous act of economic self-harm for the country, but the damage done is not restricted to that island. Brexit has affected modes of operation for untold businesses within neighbouring European...

TB-Ed, a UK Thoroughbred Breeders' Association education and training initiative, was launched by the TBA on Wednesday. The initiative, which offers a range of courses and resources that provide essential knowledge and guidance to new and existing industry participants, has also received financial support from the Racing Foundation, who co-funded the platform development and build with the TBA. Weatherbys is also a headline partner of the TB-Ed platform. Currently, the courses offered by TB-Ed include Understanding Pedigrees delivered by journalist and broadcaster Lydia Hislop, while there is also Nutrition of...