Teenage dream: young bloodstock agent lands punchy pedigree updates with bargain buys

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The return of Flat racing at the Curragh provided not one but two ringing endorsements for the judgement of teenage bloodstock agent Sean Freney. First, Lars Soldier, a half-brother to a Kodiac filly Freney picked up for just €10,000, downed a Ballydoyle recruit who had cost a whopping 1,700,000gns in the opening two-year-old maiden. 

Then, the following afternoon, Moody struck in the Listed Noblesse Stakes on her first start for Paddy Twomey. That success provided a significant pedigree upgrade for her two-year-old half-sister, who Freney became involved with at this year's Goffs February Sale when she changed hands for a mere €1,000. 

Reflecting on the flurry of updates, the 17-year-old Freney says: "I’ve been blessed over the last few weeks in fairness. It’s been some year. Lars Soldier cost €3,500 and he was beating a 1.7 million guineas buy, so it was a bit surreal to be honest with you. I thought looking at the last two furlongs he might be third or fourth. And the next thing I knew he stayed on all the way to the line. He was really tough to do it and beat a decent field.

"He ran on the first day of the season at the Curragh and he did well to finish fourth behind a Jack Foley horse and Robson [Aguiar]'s two. I was thinking 'he’ll be a lovely horse during the summer', but he was very impressive the other day, very game."

So, how did Freney come across Moody's lesser considered half-sister? 

He says: "I was at the sale and concentrating on a few orders. I didn't really look at the catalogue for the second day, so I took the eye off the ball a little bit. I was up at the sale with a fellow looking for a mare and was looking at the catalogue and couldn't find anything I really liked. 

"I was heading to bed that night and started scrolling through the results and I saw Jerry Horan had bought a Masar filly. Jerry and I are very friendly, we’ve done a bit of work together and we help each other out with nominations. I thought this filly might suit my man who was looking for a mare because she was a big, strong, filly with a good head."

This filly is out of the Godolphin-bred Street Cry mare Agathonia, a stakes winner and the dam of three winners, including the aforementioned Moody. The page also notably includes Prix d'Ispahan and Gran Premio del Jockey Club scorer Laverock, as well as Ribblesdale Stakes winner and Group 1-placed Flying Cloud.

Moody: delivered a fast-finishing effort to land the Noblesse Stakes at CorkCredit: David Keane (racingpost.com/photos)

He says: "I loved that her mother was a Listed winner and Group-placed, while the filly was a half-sister to three winners at the time. I thought, 'Jesus, there's only three dams on the page'. So I rang Jerry and he said to me, 'No, I don't want to sell her, but I’ll give you a bit of her.'

"I asked, 'What's the plan with her?' and he said, 'I'm going to breeze her.' I was taken aback by that because the stallion wouldn't be your typical breeze-up candidate, but she was really loose in her movement, she put her shoulder down and moved really well."

This particular venture has turned into a family affair as Freney's parents are now part of the owners group for the filly. 

On how his parents came to be involved, he says: "Jerry was saying, 'Look, if you want a bit of her, take a bit of her.' I mentioned it to my parents then, who hadn't got into the game previously, but I brought my mother up to the Orby [Sale] and she had a great time there. I had one foot in the door and I then brought my father up to the [Goffs] December National Hunt Sale and at the end of the day he was nearly talking about it more than I was! 

"My dad met Jerry and I’d say the two of them got on like house on fire. So I said, 'We’ll dive into the ten [percent]'. I can't take any credit for buying her or anything, but I loved the way she did everything. Going in with Jerry is great, because we're very friendly and there's hopefully a good day to come."

The filly is all set to head to the Goffs Classic Breeze-Up Sale towards the end of June. It is a sale which Freney believes is an important addition to the breeze-up sale scene, with the auction being aimed at later-maturing individuals. 

Freney, who works closely with Horan and Capital Stud selling nominations, adds: "Jerry tells me she's doing everything as well as you’d want her to so far. I’d be thinking she’d go to the Classic Breeze-Up Sale, and there shouldn't be any bother with the pedigree now.

"I think there's serious scope for the sale itself. It's something I think we needed in Ireland as it's a lovely alternative, especially for owners after having a good Royal Ascot with a two-year-old and they might have missed something at Doncaster or the Guineas or Craven [sales]."

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