Chiefland gives Hetty Spencer dream start to German consigning venture with dazzling debut success

When Hetty Spencer saw the declarations for the opening day of Baden-Baden's Grosse Woche, the first thing she did was rearrange her flights so she could be at the track for the debut of a colt who will forever be an important horse for the young consignor and her developing business. 

Even then it was not enough to get Spencer to the course in time for the debut of Chiefland in a two-year-old maiden, a Study Of Man colt Spencer sold at last year's BBAG September Yearling Sale. That was just the second sale the Suffolk-born Spencer, now living in Kildare, consigned yearlings under her newly established Spencer Sales operation.

That too necessitated some tight turn around times in airports as she flew from Doncaster to Baden-Baden but the airport dashes and security line stresses are bearable when you sell a potential superstar.

Spencer takes up the tale: "I changed my flight to come on Saturday because I wanted to see him run but I missed his race! A year ago we were here trying to sell him and I have always loved this horse. I know it sounds very cliched but I was mad about him all along.

"We don't have many horses at home but he prepped with a few others, and the attitude and temperament he showed the whole way through, from day one, gave me no doubts he would be a good racehorse and he showed that on Saturday.

"He was a little bit green but for his first time out it was so impressive. Everyone said to me in the lead-up that he was the most laid-back two-year-old they had ever seen. That temperament puts him in good stead for the career he hopefully has ahead of him. 

"His dam has a very good temperament and I have dealt with Study Of Man's progeny a bit and I am a huge fan of him."

The colt has strong ties to Lanwades as his dam, Casuarina, was bred by Kirsten Rausing and is a daughter of German Derby winner Sea The Moon, who stands alongside Study Of Man at Rausing's farm.

Spencer's partner, JD Moore, bought Casuarina for just 10,000gns at the July Sale in 2022.

Casuarina is a full-sister to Sea The Moon's Group 1 Caulfield Cup winner Durston and a half-sister to Cubanita, a dual Group 3 winner by Selkirk who was second in the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Bayern.

It's a family with huge recognition and appeal in Germany so the sale was the obvious one for Chiefland and, given that pedigree and the manner of his victory last weekend, the colt is already ante-post favourite for next year's German Derby.

He is certainly with the correct connections for Hamburg Classic glory: owners Liberty Racing have won two of the last three runnings with Fantastic Moon and Palladium who were both bought as yearlings at BBAG.

Chiefland pictured as a yearling before his €50,000 sale to Liberty RacingCredit: Hetty Spencer

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would sell a horse here a year ago and I'm back here, he's won on debut and they're already talking about the Derby," she says incredulously. 

"He was my first big horse to sell, making €50,000. He was owned by my other half [JD Moore] and Stephen Lanigan-O'Keeffe. They both know what they are doing and it was brilliant for everyone involved."

Chiefland, who is trained by Henk Grewe who had Palladium and 2021 Derby hero Sisfahan, has been entered in a Listed contest over a mile at Hannover later this month and holds entries in the Preis der Winterfavoriten and Herzog von Ratibor-Rennen. They are traditionally the races which establish Germany's champion juvenile colt.

Spencer, along with Moore and Lanigan–O'Keeffe who is listed as the colt's breeder, have been impressed by the way in which Lars–Wilhelm Baumgarten's syndicate has kept in touch with them and made them feel part of Chiefland's career long after the hammer fell.

"I've been kept in the loop the whole way through by Liberty Racing, from the moment he left the sale to the day he ran. I've been ringing Stephen all the time, telling him the horse jumped out of the stalls for the first time today and I've great videos of him, the day they broke him in, his first canter;  all the way along they've kept me informed and I have to thank Liberty Racing for that."

For breeders and consignors - the people who work closest with these horses - the hardest part is letting go especially when horses are sold abroad. Keeping tabs on an animal you have poured your heart and soul into becomes increasingly difficult.

"I understand why they're such a successful syndicate when I see what they are doing. They didn't have to include me in it but they do and I've felt a part of it all year which is amazing," Spencer adds.

"You spend so much time with these horses raising them, working them, preparing them for their lives ahead and you are constantly tracking them as much as you can but I've been hugely allowed to be a part of what's happening with him."

Study Of Man: sire of the current German Derby favouriteCredit: Lanwades Stud

"The minute I arrived I went and hunted him down in the stables, I had to see him. I love that horse," the truth of that statement audible in her voice.

Spencer arrived a day before her Irish horses did in Germany and in just 12 months she has gone from making her debut as a consignor to becoming the largest overseas vendor in the auction. Initially Spencer Sales, was scheduled to sell 13 yearlings on Friday but that has been reduced to a dozen.

Chiefland helped but Spencer's own acumen has been the major factor.

"Ronald Rauscher has stepped down and there was a position available so I was able to slot in really. 

"I was over here earlier in the year with a Soldier Hollow colt we were breezing and I had a meeting with Michael Andree [Gestuet Romerhof, whose boxes Rauscher used for his drafts and for whom he consigned], we put things in place and we were happy to work together. 

"We only have a few mares at home and we keep bouncing ideas about what we can bring to the sale, what can we breeze, things like that and Michael was very helpful and I'm very lucky to be in the situation I am now in."

Spencer's name and face would be familiar to many on the breeze-up circuit following her time working for Con Marnane so it may be a little surprising to some that she has found a niche in a market which is famed for its middle-distance horses. Not so.

"I think this middle-distance plus market is one we need to protect and as much as I love sprinters and have a background in the breeze-ups, I love going racing and the races I love to watch are the Derby, the Gold Cup, the St Leger. You see what horses come out of these sales in Germany and it is so important to support the sale and the middle-distance horses and races."

If Chiefland is as good as he looks, then this won't be the last time Hetty Spencer has had to rearrange flights to get herself to Germany in a hurry.

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