One for the history buffs as Plantation Stud gets back on the Classic trail with the dazzling Duty First

Good Morning Bloodstock is an exclusive daily email sent by the Racing Post bloodstock team and published here as a free sample.

On this occasion, Martin Stevens chats to Plantation Stud manager James Berney about breeding a Classic contender – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

All you need do is click on the link above, sign up and then read at your leisure each weekday morning from 7am.

For breeding history buffs, there is no sadder spectacle than a thoroughbred nursery with a rich heritage of producing high-class horses being left to rack and ruin, being repurposed into an ordinary equine facility or being absorbed by a larger-scale operation and losing its individual identity.

Leafing through Alan Yuill Walker’s informative tome ‘Thoroughbred Studs of Great Britain’ can therefore be a poignant experience. Burton Agnes, Buttermilk, Cliveden, Sledmere and Waverton Studs are just a small handful of the farms that were included in the book because they were thriving around the time of publication in 1991 but are now a thing of the past. 

Galen’s easy victory in the Alleged Stakes at the Curragh on Saturday induced a bit of a wince for similar reasons. The son of Gleneagles was bred and sold by Moyns Park Stud in Essex, which was winding down 34 years ago – Yuill Walker said that there were more polo ponies than racehorses on the place even back then. Its most recent custodians dispersed their stock at Tattersalls last winter.

How wonderful, then, to see Plantation Stud in Newmarket back on the Classic trail as the breeder of Duty First, the wide-margin winner of the Group 3 Dubai Duty Free Stakes (better known as the Fred Darling Stakes) at Newbury on Saturday for trainer Archie Watson and owner Victorious Racing.

 As every good student of turf history will know, the stud was developed by the Earls of Derby, and was once home to the family’s great multiple champion sire Hyperion. In 1958 it was sold to another famed owner-breeder, Lord Howard de Walden, whose pale apricot silks had been recommended to his father by the artist Augustus John, as they stood out best against the green of the turf.

Lord Howard bred and raced numerous top-notchers, including champions Kris and Slip Anchor, both of whom stood at Plantation Stud (the former, the leading sire in the year his daughter Oh So Sharp won the fillies’ Triple Crown, after the closure of the associated Thornton Stud, and the latter for the entirety of his stallion career). The ashes of both horses are interred on the property.

After Lord Howard’s death in 1999 the stud was run by his widow Lady Gillian, and in 2005 it was sold to Dermot and Perle O’Rourke. It changed hands again in 2014, when it was bought by Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, under whose ownership it has undergone significant refurbishment and developed a select, commercially attractive band of mares, whose progeny are usually offered for sale as foals.

Duty First’s (pictured below) devastating display at the weekend, and her emergence as a serious candidate for the 1,000 Guineas at Newmarket next month, is not the only sign that the illustrious stud has come of age for its present owners.

Cuban Grey after winning The SIS Supporting Irish Racing Handicap at the Curragh on Saturday Credit: www.carolinenorris.ie

Plantation Stud also bred Cuban Grey, successful in a trappy sprint handicap at the Curragh on Saturday; The Liffey Swim, who made all for a decisive victory in a Gowran Park maiden earlier this month; King Of Light, who contests the Prix Sigy at Chantilly today; and Hawksbill, another accomplished three-year-old.

“It’s an amazing place, a beautiful old farm with a great sense of history,” says James Berney, who has managed the stud since 2019. “Michael has done a lot of work on the farm since he purchased it. It was already lovely, obviously, but he’s really brought the structures and facilities up to date. 

“We’ve built a new American barn, laid out new nursery paddocks for mares and foals and put in all-weather turnouts. We’ve also done a lot of resurfacing and re-fencing around the farm. We’re keen to maintain the quality of the land, though, and so we’re certainly not over-stocking it with horses.

“The idea is to keep improving the mares, adding maybe two or three nice new ones to the band every year, and to keep upping the standard of the stallions we use, all while making it as commercial as we can. I like to think that the results we’re seeing on the track now are the product of that approach, so it’s very gratifying.”

O’Leary is assisted in purchasing and mating decisions by brother Eddie, bloodstock agent Mags O’Toole and Berney. Don’t go thinking he is hands-off because he is preoccupied by running a low-cost airline, though. 

“Michael would have plenty of input,” says Berney. “He’d follow everything in the bloodstock industry very closely. He knows exactly which stallions are doing well, how the market is performing and all those sorts of things. He’ll have really enjoyed Duty First winning and putting herself in the frame for the 1,000 Guineas.”

The Showcasing filly, sold by Plantation Stud to RC Bloodstock for 58,000gns as a foal, is out of a crackerjack mare. She is the fourth produce of Dream Dana, a winning Dream Ahead half-sister to Listed scorer Yaa Wayl and Listed-placed Lidanski, who herself bred Prix de l’Abbaye heroine Wizz Kid. All of Duty First’s siblings are at least useful, with Army Ethos finishing second in the Coventry Stakes and Dynamic Force and Operatic achieving peak Racing Post Ratings of 95.

“Duty First was really impressive,” remarks Berney. “That looked like a strong renewal of the Fred Darling, with some Group 1 performers in there, and she didn’t just beat the opposition, she blew them apart. We can dream of breeding the winner of the 1,000 Guineas now – at least for a few weeks, anyway.

Plantation Stud-bred King Of Light contests the Prix SigyCredit: Grossick Racing

“Dream Dana couldn’t have got off to a better start. She’s produced two black-type horses, with Duty First winning a Group 3 and Army Ethos beaten a whisker by River Tiber in the Coventry. Her other two progeny aren’t black-type but were very highly rated. 

“She’s a good-natured, strongly made individual who breeds racehorses, which is the main thing, but she’s also got some decent results in the sales ring. It’s hard to find mares like her who can do both, so she’s a bit special.”

 Dream Dana has a two-year-old filly by Pinatubo who sold to JP Bloodstock for 240,000gns as a foal and is now in training with Ed Walker, and a yearling colt by Palace Pier who sold to Tally-Ho Stud for 180,000gns at the December foal sale.

“She had a late foaling last year so we gave her one jump by Kingman, but she didn’t take,” reports Berney. “She’s in Ireland at the moment, as she was sent to Night Of Thunder, and I’m pleased to say she’s holding her cover.”

The promising The Liffey Swim, sold by Plantation Stud to Tally-Ho as a foal for 52,000gns, is the second foal out of Affected, a daughter of Lope De Vega and Blandford Stakes winner Manieree, and a relation to Derby victor Oath.

 “Affected looks like a very exciting mare for us,” says Berney. “We own her two-year-old filly by Showcasing, and she goes to the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale at Doncaster in a few weeks. Hopefully the update from her half-brother and Duty First’s reminder of what Showcasing fillies can do will help her out.

“Affected was covered by Showcasing again last year, which shows you what we thought of her filly, but she’s not due to foal for another few weeks. We’ll get that foal out of her and then make a plan for her.” 

Michael O'Leary: owns Plantation Stud

Hawksbill, a first-crop son of Kameko who was sold as a foal to Roger Marley for 92,000gns, is the second produce of Like, a winning daughter of Frankel and dual Group 3 winner and Group 1 runner-up What A Name.

“Hawksbill is highly thought of by his connections,” says Berney. “He was up there with the best at two last year and on his reappearance a few weeks ago he was just touched off in second in the conditions race at Kempton won by Notable Speech last year. 

“Like is another of our nice young mares. She produced a lovely Mehmas colt last year – we sold him to Yeomanstown Stud for 130,000gns – and she’s now in foal to Baaeed, which is a suitably classy mating for her.”

Running through some of Plantation Stud’s other promise-filled mares, Berney continues: “Fast Lily, a Fastnet Rock half-sister to Group winners Mashoora and Silk Blossom, has bred two black-type horses for us in Unanimous Consent and Star Music, and is still young. She has a lovely Night Of Thunder filly foal on the ground and is due to visit Too Darn Hot.

“Roses Are Red is a Galileo half-sister to Ivawood. Her first foal is a Wootton Bassett two-year-old colt who we sold to Sumbe for 300,000gns and is in training with Roger Varian, and her second foal is a Kingman colt we sold to Juddmonte for 300,000gns last year. She’s due to deliver a Too Darn Hot foal at the end of the month, and we’ll see where we are with her then.

“Natalie’s Joy is a Listed winner by Lope De Vega, a sire who is clearly very influential. She has an extremely nice Mehmas filly who sold to Creighton Schwartz Bloodstock for 200,000gns as a foal last year. She has a very good Palace Pier filly foal and is back in foal to Baaeed.

“Bubbles On Ice ran fourth in the Moyglare Stud Stakes and won a Listed race in the US, and she’s had a big update since we purchased her at the end of 2023 as Grande Marques, her full-sister also by Starspangledbanner, was placed in the Firth of Clyde and Cornwallis Stakes for Fozzy Stack. She has a nice Blackbeard yearling colt and a Mehmas filly at foot, and she’s in foal to Blue Point.”

He adds: “Scarlet Bear, a dual Group 3-placed daughter of Kodi Bear, had a very attractive No Nay Never colt foal who sold for 150,000gns last year, and she has a lovely Blue Point colt foal at foot. She’s in foal to Mehmas.

“Sweet Gardenia, a Listed-winning daughter of Showcasing, has a Havana Grey colt at foot and has been covered by Modern Games. She has a Mehmas filly who’s also going to the breeze-up at Doncaster this month.

The Liffey Swim winning at Gowran earlier this month Credit: www.carolinenorris.ie

“Magical Journey, a Listed-placed daughter of Night Of Thunder, is the dam of an Invincible Spirit three-year-old colt who’s in training with Paddy Twomey, a Baaeed yearling filly and a Palace Pier colt foal. 

“Lady Clementine, a winning daughter of Churchill and Listed scorer Wind Fire, had a smashing Golden Pal colt last year who sold for 90,000gns. She has a Pinatubo colt foal at foot and has been covered by Mehmas.”

The Plantation Stud team went to market again last winter to replenish the quality in its broodmare band. They paid 430,000gns for Queen Jo Jo, a Group 3-winning daughter of Gregorian; 310,000gns for Pretty In Plum, an unraced Justify half-sister to one top two-year-old in Requinto out of another in Damson; and 280,000gns for Rathmore, a winning Kingman half-sister to US Grade 2 scorer Idea Generation from the family of Zoffany.

“Queen Jo Jo is a fast, commercial mare who has foaled a Shaquille colt and is due to visit Night Of Thunder,” says Berney. “Pretty In Plum has a really deep pedigree, she’s closely related to Dubai Honour too, and she’s going to Kingman this season.

“Rathmore is potentially an important mare for us. Last year her half-sister Idea Generation sold to Grand Stud in Japan for 900,000gns and their yearling half-brother by Too Darn Hot sold to Godolphin for 1,500,000gns.

“We bought her in foal to Modern Games, and she’s given birth to a fantastic colt who’s a few weeks old, and she’s due to visit Too Darn Hot, which seemed to make a lot of sense on paper. Idea Generation is by Dubawi too, so we know the cross works.

“We’ve got lots of well credentialled mares with young progeny who have gone to some very good homes, so hopefully there's more like Duty First in the pipeline. They’re offering plenty of encouragement at the moment, anyway.”

Those with a keen sense of tradition should be pleased to hear that the storied Plantation Stud still has a thriving broodmare band, all these years after the farm’s heyday under the patronage of Lord Howard de Walden.

They might, by and large, be a different type of mare from those kept by Lord Howard, who once described himself as “a dinosaur” for representing the dying species of aristocratic British owner-breeders who concentrated on producing Classic horses and stayers, but they promise to be just as successful.

“Some great horses have come off the farm down the years,” sums up Berney. “Hopefully there’ll be a few more good ones in the near future, too.”

Refer a friend!

If you have a friend who would like to receive Good Morning Bloodstock please send the following link where they can sign up.

What do you think?

Share your thoughts with other Good Morning Bloodstock readers by emailing gmb@racingpost.com

Must-read story

“If someone wants me to do something – an interview, a photo –  I'll always do it; I remember years ago Richard Hughes said that one day the phone will stop ringing, so make sure you say 'yes' to people before then,” says leading jump jockey Harry Cobden in a Big Read feature.

Pedigree pick

No Tune, trained by Christopher Head for her owner-breeders the Wertheimer brothers, stands out on breeding in the five-furlong contest for two-year-olds at Chantilly today (2.30 local time, 1.30 BST).

She is by precocity specialist No Nay Never and out of the Listed-winning and Group 3-placed Invincible Spirit mare Foreign Tune, making her a full-sister to Neversay, who bolted up by five and a half lengths at Longchamp in the May of her juvenile season. She is also a half-sister to Adhamo, who finished seventh in the Prix du Jockey Club in France and later excelled in the US, where he struck at the highest level in the United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park.

There is a rich seam of quality running through this family, as Foreign Tune is a full-sister to dual Group 2 winner Impassable and a half-sister to the Group 3-winning and Group 1-placed pair Attendu and Spotify, out of the Group 3-winning Green Tune mare Gwenseb.

Don’t miss ANZ Bloodstock News

Subscribe for the latest bloodstock news from Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

Good Morning Bloodstock is our unmissable email newsletter. Leading bloodstock journalist Martin Stevens provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday