The small breeders whose horses hit the headlines in 2018

The 2018 season has been dominated by the likes of Enable, Alpha Centauri, Saxon Warrior and Masar, all of whom represent the world's most powerful racing and breeding operations.

However, one of the beauties of breeding thoroughbreds is that sometimes the Davids can overcome the Goliaths.

The following five breeders highlight that you don't always need a broodmare band in the hundreds or access to the most in-vogue sires to produce some hugely talented runners.

Breeder: Monica Aherne
Bred: Romanised

Classic success is so often reserved for those with huge broodmare bands and access to the most elite stallions. But at the Curragh in May, the Ken Condon-trained Romanised struck a blow for the smaller operators by winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas.

The horse was bred by Monica Aherne and raised by her sons - Gerry, Mikey and PJ - at Prospect Stables in County Tipperary, where the family keep a broodmare band of just five.

Romanised is one of 13 top-flight winners by Coolmore resident Holy Roman Emperor and is out of the winning Indian Ridge mare Romantic Venture, a half-sister to four-time Hong Kong Group 1 winner Designs On Rome, who is also by Holy Roman Emperor.

Romanised was bought privately by his owner, Robert Ng, at just a week old, after Gerry Aherne, a senior figure in the Coolmore nominations department, had alerted bloodstock agent John McCormack to the close relation to Designs On Rome being carried in utero.

"There's only one Irish 2,000 Guineas each year so to have a runner for a small farm like ours was fantastic," said Gerry Aherne in the aftermath of the Classic conquest. "To actually go and win it, it hasn't really sunk in yet. It could be a long time before what we've done hits home."

Allan Belshaw
Bred: Newspaperofrecord

Newspaperofrecord may have raced in the US, having been sold in Newmarket after she was born in Ireland, but her pedigree was crafted by Lancashire-based breeder Allan Belshaw.

The flying filly, a 200,000gns Book 1 yearling who was last seen demolishing the field in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, is one of seven top-flight winners by Lope De Vega.

She was bred by Belshaw's Times of Wigan operation and is the third foal out of Sunday Times, a daughter of Holy Roman Emperor who carried Belshaw's striped silks to victory in the Group 3 Sceptre Stakes at three, after she had been a narrow runner-up to Lightening Pearl in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at two.

Newspaperofrecord: the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine is from Allan Bellshaw's active familyCredit: Edward Whitaker

Sunday Times is out of the winning So Factual mare Forever Times, a winning half-sister to the Group 2 winner Welsh Emperor, who also twice finished second in the Prix de la Foret.

Forever Times and Welsh Emperor were among ten winners produced by Times of Wigan's foundation mare Simply Times, who was bought in the US on the advice of Bill O'Gorman - who had trained the owners' Timeless Times to win a record-equalling 16 races at two.

Simply Times' family has been in red-hot form in 2018, with Sunday Times also producing Listed Cecil Frail Stakes winner Classical Times - whose name is on Frankel's 2019 dance card having been an ultra-rare in-training purchase by Juddmonte Farms.

Meanwhile, Sunday Times is also a half-sister to Question Times, a Listed-placed daughter of Shamardal who hit the headlines this year as the dam of Irish Derby hero Latrobe.

Gaie Johnson Houghton
Bred: Accidental Agent; Mohaather

This year's Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot threw up the kind of result that should give small breeders everywhere hope, as Accidental Agent came with a withering and well-timed challenge to land the Group 1 prize by half a length.

The colt, an 8,000gns vendor buyback at the yearling sales, was bred by Gaie Johnson Houghton, and is a son of the late Delegator, who stood at Overbury Stud for just £5,000 the year Accidental Agent was conceived.

Accidental Agent is the first foal out of the Xaar mare Roodle, who was trained by Eve Johnson Houghton for her mother and won over 5f at Chepstow at two and over 7f at Yarmouth at four.

Accidental Agent: Gaie Johnson Houghton's homebred flies home in the Queen Anne StakesCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Not only does the result highlight the talents that can be bred from stallions standing for chicken feed prices, but also the value of nurturing a family, as Accidental Agent's pedigree traces back five generations to the Johnson Houghton's foundation mare Sirnelta, who produced Cheveley Park Stakes and Prix Maurice de Gheest heroine Dead Certain.

Roodle is out of Roodeye, a daughter of Inchinor who was a dual winner and third in the Listed Dick Poole Fillies' Stakes for Fulke Johnson Houghton.

Roodeye is the dam of eight winners including Prize Exhibit, a daughter of Showcasing who is a Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed in the US. She in turn is out of Roo, a daughter of Rudimentary who also produced Prix Morny runner-up Gallagher and the Listed-placed Quick Wit.

Roo is a half-sister to the Johnson Houghton-bred Gimcrack Stakes winner Bannister, and is out of Shall We Run, a daughter of Sirnelta.

Later in the year Johnson Houghton hit the bullseye with this family again when Mohaather, a son of Showcasing and Roodeye, landed the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes on his third and final outing at two.

Vimal and Gillian Khosla
Bred: Forever Together

With a broodmare band numbering just seven, it is easy to understand why the names of Vimal and Gillian Khosla may not be familiar to all across the racing world. But few will have missed the product of the couple's small-scale breeding operation in 2018.

Their names first hit the headlines in 2018 as the breeders of Forever Together, who became the third Group 1 winner bred from the unraced Theatrical mare Green Room when landing the Oaks.

The dam's first foal - Lord Shanakill - landed the Mill Reef Stakes and Prix Jean Prat, while her sixth foal - Together Forever - scored in the Fillies' Mile.

Forever Together lands the OaksCredit: Edward Whitaker

Remarkably, Green Room was first sold from the Juddmonte draft at the Tattersalls February Sale for just 20,000gns in 2005. One year later she was bought by the Khoslas through Templeton Railton Farms for $240,000 at the Keeneland January Sale.

The Khoslas sold Forever Together to Coolmore for €900,000 at the 2016 Goffs Orby Sale, but her exploits at Epsom ensured that her younger sibling, also by Galileo, brought a much higher price when offered at this year's edition of Ireland's premier yearling auction.

After a protracted round of bidding, Phoenix Thoroughbreds outgunned Coolmore with a bid of €3.2 million, a price that saw the youngster become the most expensive yearling filly sold in 2018 and means the Khoslas have now witnessed Green Room's progeny fetch €5.88m in the Goffs ring alone.

Vimal Khosla (centre) looks on with John O'Connor (left) and Mark Byrne (right) of Ballylinch Stud as the Galileo filly out of Green Room makes her way around the Goffs ringCredit: Sarah Farnsworth

"It unfolds much more slowly for us as we've been with her at every stage of the process," said Gillian Khosla as the dust settled on the seven-figure sale. "The sale might be nerve-wracking but the process that leads up to it is what's fascinating."

Paul Rothwell
Bred: Summerville Boy; Black Op

Admittedly jumps breeders operate on a rather more level playing field than their Flat counterparts, but the belief, perseverance and skill of Lacken Stud owner Paul Rothwell should be the envy of many, no matter what the discipline.

Rothwell stands Sandmason - a son of Grand Lodge, who, prior to 2018, had been shown scant regard by breeders during his 13 seasons on covering duty. In fact, Sandmason covered only one mare in 2017 and none at all in 2016.

However, Rothwell was rewarded for his support of the neglected stallion by breeding not one, but two Grade 1 winners by Sandmason in 2018.

Summerville Boy: the Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner is one of two Grade 1 scorers sired by Sandmason in 2018Credit: Grossick Racing

First came Summerville Boy, who claimed the Tolworth Novices' Hurdle and then the Supreme Novices' Hurdle, where even a number of late jumping errors could not prevent the six-year-old surging to Cheltenham glory.

Then it was the turn of Black Op, who finished runner-up in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle before going one better in the Grade 1 Mersey Novices' Hurdle during the Grand National meeting.

Rothwell's persistence with Sandmason was further rewarded when, in the afterglow of Black Op and Summerville Boy, the horse covered a book well in advance of 200 mares earlier this year.

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