'We're sending the best to the best and hoping for the best' - Chasemore Farm coverings revealed

Chasemore Farm's top-class producer Eartha Kitt is to be given every chance with her 2024 mating having been booked in to Juddmonte's £350,000 kingpin Frankel.

The daughter of Pivotal and owner Andrew Black's beloved Ceiling Kitty was a Listed winner on the track and has thrived at paddocks as the dam of Gimcrack Stakes winner Noble Style. 

She is now set for a date with the reigning British and Irish champion sire in the hope of continuing the excellent Frankel-Pivotal nick. 

Farm manager Jack Conroy says: "Eartha Kitt is barren but she's ready for a nice early mating and will go to the top of the top this time. Her first mating was with Frankel, resulting in Madame Zeroni, who was unraced but we're breeding from her and she'll go to Too Darn Hot. 

"Eartha Kitt had a terrible time that year with colic and was in and out of hospital with surgeries, so I think that affected her. It's that Frankel-Pivotal nick and we're sending the best to the best and hoping for the best."

Eartha Kitt, pictured in her Listed-winning pomp, is a headline broodmare for Chasemore FarmCredit: Mark Cranham

Her winning Invincible Spirit half-sister Formidable Kitt is due to foal late and therefore likely to be rested, but she has a smart sort in Kitteridge to represent her on the track this year.

Another excellent broodmare for the team at the Surrey farm is Wall Of Sound, a three-time winner and Grade 2-placed daughter of Singspiel. 

The 14-year-old is the dam of two Pattern winners in Prestige Stakes victress Boomer (by Kingman) and Uncle Bryn (Sea The Stars), winner of a Group 3 in Australia last September for Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young. She has hopped over the Channel for a top-notch Normandy mating. 

Conroy says: "Andrew has a share in Zarak and has two nominations this year. Wall Of Sound is carrying to Kingman again and then goes to Zarak, along with her unraced Le Havre daughter Harbour Wall, who is in foal to Night Of Thunder. 

"Wall Of Sound went [to France] to get nice and settled before her foaling in mid-April. That's the latest she'll ever foal, which is amazing for a mare who's had that many foals. She's been brilliant and we've all got a soft spot for her."

Boomer: Group-winning daughter of Kingman will be covered by PaddingtonCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Boomer had rejected her first foal, a filly by Lope De Vega, but there have been no problems this time with her newly born New Bay colt. The seven-year-old heads across the Irish sea for a date with the exciting new stallion Paddington. 

"We kept her in the foaling unit for a week to keep a close eye on her and it's all gone really well," says Conroy. "It was very strange what happened last time, we thought something was amiss, she can be narky but nothing like that. 

"It's all going well this time around, she has a lovely New Bay colt and visits Paddington this year. We were really impressed by him and he'll suit her nicely."

Illaunmore's breeding record reads two winners from as many runners, including last year's Gimcrack Stakes runner-up Johannes Brahms. The son of Siyouni looks a smart prospect for Aidan O'Brien and Coolmore this year, and it is therefore no surprise Illaunmore will be visiting a stallion from that phenomenal sireline.

Conroy says of the Shamardal ten-year-old: "We've had a nightmare already this season with her as she lost her No Nay Never foal recently. The legs were tucked in and we couldn't get them out, the foal wasn't presented in the right way. 

"She's made a phenomenal recovery and it's amazing how these mares recover, you'd hardly know anything's happened to her. 

St Mark's Basilica will receive IllaunmoreCredit: Colin J Kenny Photography

"All being well she'll visit St Mark's Basilica later in the season, he's a neater type and, with Johannes Brahms being by Siyouni, it made sense. We were lucky enough to see Johannes at Ballydoyle before Christmas and he looked fantastic, so hopefully he has a good season. 

"She has a Camelot filly called Tattycoram going into training with Ralph Beckett and she looks stunning. She's probably one of the nicest fillies we've ever produced and we can't wait to see her on the track."

Another mare who has crossed the Channel is Kenzadargent, a Listed winner and Group 2-placed daughter of Kendargent with an equally fine record at stud. Her two black type-performing winners are headed by the recently retired Greenlands Stakes victor Brad The Brief, while her 2024 mating is based on the successful Galiway-Kendargent nick.

"She jumped on the boat with Wall Of Sound," says Conroy. "She's barren and has had a lot of problems with colic, she's quite a tricky breeder. She had her first filly by No Nay Never last year, who we'll retain, but the Galiway-Kendargent nick seemed so obvious we couldn't ignore it."

Harry Angel appears to be a recurring theme in Chasemore matings and Darley's champion sprinter and Group 1 sire will receive several mares, headed by Matron Stakes winner and black-type producer Chachamaidee. The dam of Valiant Prince and Klassique joined the broodmare band when selling to Blandford Bloodstock at the 2022 Tattersalls July Sale for 200,000gns. 

Chachamaidee, pictured at Park Paddocks in 2022, will be among Harry Angel's book Credit: Laura Green

Conroy says: "We think he's going under the radar for what he's done. Andrew's done a lot of pedigree analysis on Mehmas, who we used a lot last year, and has now switched to Harry Angel. 

"We've seen success with Galileo mares and Harry Angel, for example Marshman. Perfect Light and Mary Somerville are Galileo mares going to him, while Chachamaidee has a fair bit of Northern Dancer in her pedigree. She was also a quick mare and if we get a filly out of her we'd be delighted."

Another Newmarket-bound mare is the Elusive Quality-sired Flighty Almighty, who is barren and goes to Kingman. Her Uncle Mo colt sold for $1,000,000 to Pin Oak Stud at Keeneland's September Yearling Sale last autumn and Conroy confirms that Kingman's success stateside made it an attractive mating. 

"She sadly lost her pregnancy this winter with a twisted cord, but she's fine," he says. "Her Uncle Mo made a million at Keeneland Book 2 last year and the Kingman scenario is quite transatlantic as the Americans love him."

Jack Conroy: "Brogan is a lovely mare, it could be a big year for her"Credit: Laura Green

Brogan, a Pivotal half-sister to the Chasemore-bred Cheveley Park Stakes winner Lezoo, is booked in for Havana Grey. There could be updates forthcoming as her three-year-old Showcasing colt Fandom is held in high regard by Wesley Ward. 

"Havana Grey has been phenomenal and Brogan is a lovely mare, it could be a big year for her," says Conroy. 

"Fandom won his first start for Wesley Ward and looked like a potential superstar. I think he's had a few issues since but hopefully he'll be back. 

"Brogan's got a yearling by Zoustar who is very much in the mould of Lezoo, she walks like her and is pretty much the same build; the only difference is she's chestnut. Hopefully she can do what Lezoo did."

Miss Jingles had a recent pedigree update when her Grade 1-winning brother Mischief Magic struck in this month's Listed Dubai Sprint at Meydan. The Godolphin-bred July Sale graduate is in foal to a speedy sire and will visit another top-notcher after giving birth. 

"She's in foal to Mehmas and then heads to Blue Point," says Conroy. "She's a sister to Mischief Magic so we're excited to see what she produces."

Another to note is ten-year-old Parsnip, a winning half-sister to high-class racehorse and sire Kodi Bear who is returning to the National Stud's Lope Y Fernandez.

Notable names among the boarders

One of Chasemore Farm’s boarding mares this covering season has for the past four years been one of the best four-legged adverts for both the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale and the joys of ownership.

Happy Romance was the McMurray family's first horse – and what a ride the £25,000 Doncaster purchase took them on, winning two Group 3s, two Listed races, finishing Group 1-placed and taking them on exciting adventures in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Happy Romance: boarding at Chasemore Farm and bound for Blue Point this seasonCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

The popular daughter of Dandy Man now becomes their first broodmare, under Chasemore’s stewardship, and the multiple black-type winner and Al Quoz Sprint runner-up has been booked in to fellow sprinter Blue Point. 

The blue-blooded Frankel's Storm, Chris Stedman's Frankel sister to dual Classic hero and triple Group 1 winner Hurricane Lane, is also a boarder but another mare who has been settled in France for a covering. She is set to have her first runner this year in the shape of an as-yet unnamed Too Darn Hot colt. 

Conroy says: "She's already gone to France to be covered by Zarak. Her Too Darn Hot colt is in training with Ed Walker and she's got a lovely filly by Too Darn Hot. She's in foal to Baaeed and is coming home summer time."

Also a notable boarder is Nyaleti, winner of the Group 2 German 1,000 Guineas and Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes for the Mark Johnston yard, and also Group 1-placed.

She has a two-year-old Dubawi colt who sold at last year's Tattersalls December Sale, is in foal to Baaeed, and is due to visit Darley's appealing newcomer Modern Games. 

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