'He was the one' - Poet's Word fan club grows as noted judge Ross finds his foal

The acquisition of Poet’s Word by the Flood family’s Boardsmill Stud appeared an inspired transaction, and those early impressions were reinforced at Tattersalls Ireland on Monday when the first Irish-bred offspring of the dual Group 1 winner lit up a dreary November day.

The comments of noted judge Kevin Ross, after going to €62,000 to secure Clonbonny Stud’s Poet’s Word half-brother to triple Grade 1 winner Benefficient, were indicative of the prevailing opinion.

Ross, buying on behalf of an Irish client, said: “He’s a lovely foal, a proper stamp of a foal. I’m very keen on Poet’s Word, who is really stamping his stock. This colt is a particularly nice model and has a good dam side too. I was keen to get a nice Poet’s Word and he was the one.”

If looks are anything to go by, then Kilbarry Lodge’s Success Days has a great chance of filling the void left by the premature death of his sire Jeremy, whose progeny shone at Cheltenham in March.

Although a grey, a number of Success Days’ foals bear a striking resemblance to Jeremy, including the most expensive foal of the pair offered by Kilbarry Lodge at Fairyhouse on Monday.

The filly in question is the first foal of Dona Katharina, a Stowaway full-sister to the triple Grade 1-winning chaser Outlander, the Grade 2 winners Western Leader and Ice Cold Soul, and the Listed-winning hurdler Mart Lane. Bred by Briar Lane Stud she was purchased for €70,000 by Matt Coleman, on behalf of a client who will ultimately race the beautifully bred filly.

Kilbarry Lodge Stud's Success Days filly is hammered down to Matt Coleman for €70,000Credit: Pat Healy

“I just thought she was a lovely filly, from a fantastic family and Jeremy is no longer with us, so this is the obvious potential successor,” said Coleman.

“She’s from one of the best pedigrees in the National Hunt stud book, so fingers crossed she can add to that. She’s a very good-moving filly, she’s very racy, she has lots of quality and she looks like a racehorse, but time will tell.”

The first Success Days foal through the ring, a Kilbarry Lodge Stud homebred, made €40,000 to Jamie Codd. The colt is out of Kilbarry Angel, a winning Kalanisi half-sister to Irish Grand National winner Rogue Angel from the family of Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo.

Considering Success Days stands for just €2,000 at the O’Keeffes’ Waterford farm, the returns represented a handsome profit.

Paul Cashman, meanwhile, was effusive in his praise of the only filly foal in the catalogue by Haras de Montaigu’s crown prince of the French stallion ranks, No Risk At All.

The delighted Rathbarry Stud man said of his €70,000 purchase: “In my eyes she’s a queen of a filly, probably one of the nicest fillies you’ll see here. She’s by a sire who speaks for himself.

“She has a lot of quality, with size and scope, a lovely filly with a lovely outlook, so there’s lots to like about her. I’m glad to be able to buy her.”

Keeping the daughter of Jetfire, a mare by American Post who was a Listed winner on the Flat and Listed-placed over obstacles, safe and sound was uppermost in Cashman’s mind, but she could be set for another star turn in the Fairyhouse sale ring as a three-year-old.

“Hopefully she could come back here for the Derby Sale, that might be the plan, but keeping her in one piece is the long and short of it,” said Cashman.

Bred by Ballyreddin Stud, the March-born filly is the first offspring by the sire of Cheltenham Festival winners Allaho and Epatante that Cashman has bought, but the family who stood the great Presenting and currently have a National Hunt stallion roster that includes Blue Bresil, Shirocco and Sholokhov knows a thing or two about what makes a successful stallion.

“We’ve all been watching No Risk At All and he continues to be on the rise, he’s a top class sire and speaks for himself really,” Cashman added.

Blue Bresil transferred from Yorton Farm to the Cashman family’s Glenview Stud ahead of the 2020 breeding season and the first Irish-bred foals by the sire of this year’s Grade 1 Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil winner L’Autonomie were in demand.

Yorton Farm offered a well-bred colt by their former resident as lot 403 and the full-brother to the unraced four-year-old Kracka Nut was added to the list of Dick Frisby foal purchases this November, after the pinhooker went to €50,000 to secure him.

He is the fourth foal out of More Like That, an unraced Stowaway half-sister to Stayers’ Hurdle winner More Of That, Elite Hurdle winner Santenay and Topham Chase winner Eastlake.

Cashman himself was on the lookout for progeny of Blue Bresil and he bought another of the choice lots from the large Clonbonny Stud draft this week.

The bay colt is the first foal of Onefortherose, who was twice placed over hurdles and is a Doyen half-sister to Patricks Park, winner of the Grade A handicap chase at the Punchestown festival. His second dam Rose Gallery is a half-sister to Remember Rose, winner of four Grade 1 contests at Auteuil.

“He is a lovely, quality colt and I liked him a lot. He comes from good breeders and a good home and I’m delighted to get him. I love the sire, but I might be a bit biased!” Cashman laughed.

“He has a great temperament and a lovely step to him, with size and scope. He might be one to come back here as a three-year-old too.”

Monday was a return to form for the Tattersalls Ireland November NH Sale, which witnessed €2,724,400 worth of foals being traded, up by one-third on last year’s opening foal session.

With a clearance rate of 74 per cent, the average increased 12 percentage points to €14,415 from last year’s figure of €12,820, while the median made similar gains, up 11 per cent from €9,000 in 2020 to €10,000 on Monday.

The sale continues from 10am on Tuesday.

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