'The plan will be to make him into a stallion' - another audacious move sees Authorized colt top Fairyhouse trade at €170,000

Searching for stallion prospects is an activity more commonly associated with high-end Flat yearling sales. However, the pursuit of potential sire candidates has also driven the top of the market at this week’s Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale as jumps speculators placed long-term, six-figure bets on the most blue-blooded foals.  

First Coolmore went to €145,000 for a son of their champion jumps sire Walk In The Park before Capital Stud got on board when spending €170,000 on a colt by home sire Authorized midway through Wednesday’s concluding session.

The youngster is from the first crop of foals since Authorized was the subject of an audacious purchase from the Turkish Jockey Club. Having already gone to great lengths to bring the son of Montjeu back to Ireland, his custodians at Ger O’Neill’s Capital Stud are now looking to secure the sireline. 

“He’ll go to France as a yearling and the plan will be to race him and hope to make him into a stallion,” said Capital’s Darragh McCarthy. “All the right people were on him, we paid more than we hoped, but he’s a serious individual with an unbelievable pedigree – he comes from the famous Berlais family – and we couldn’t leave without him. 

“We didn’t think we’d have to give that type of money, or anything near it. I’m shocked we had to give that. He’s a beautiful walker though and as a physical I thought he was the best stallion prospect I saw all week. He’s the whole package.”

Cormac O'Flynn and Darragh McCarthy in action at FairyhouseCredit: www.healyracing.ie

The colt was offered by Ballyreddin Stud and is out of the Kayf Tara mare Izzy Du Berlais. This makes him a sibling to four winners, most notably the Grade 2-winning and Grade 1-placed Six Figures, who struck in the Prix Amadou and was beaten just a neck when third in the Prix Alain du Breil. 

“The mare’s a young mare and has done it with lots of different sires,” continued McCarthy. “It was hard for us to buy one by Authorized to be a stallion with an Irish pedigree as they’re predominantly slower, but he comes from a proper French pedigree, the Berlais family.” 

Expanding on the National Hunt stallion venture, McCarthy said: “It’s hard to buy so we decided that we’ll have to make our own stallion. We’ve figured out that we’ll have to go and buy them as younger horses; foals, yearlings and two-year-olds. We think if we can buy three good colts, we might end up with one. There’s a group of us involved here, this group is quite broad as there’s the opportunity to be involved in racing, too. If he does work out, he could be re-syndicated further down the line.”

Capital Stud stallion AuthorizedCredit: Capital Stud

The sales-topper was the second six-figure foal of the week to be bred by Louis Vambeck after Richard Frisby gave €130,000 for the Walk In The Park colt out of En Vedette on Tuesday. 

Vambeck said: “We thought he’d make six figures but he just started showing himself better and better, and there were two people who wanted him. I’ve had a fabulous sale and it’s all down to John Dwan of Ballyreddin. We bought the mare as a foal and bought her privately. Sean Gorman of Cleaboy Stud rang me about her and told me to take a look – I fell in love with her there and then. She’s been a star producing Six Figures, is in-foal to Authorized and will be going back to him again next spring.” 

McCarthy also had an update on the 21-year-old Authorized, who is gearing up for his third season heading the Capital Stud roster. 

“He’s very well, he looks after himself,” he said. “He’s in very good nick for his age, and next year we’ll keep his book tight again. These are his first foals covering real National Hunt mares. He was in Turkey covering poor mares and still getting good horses out of them. In France he never got a true National Hunt horse, so I think he can be a massive influence on the breed.”

The €170,000 top lot takes his turn in the ringCredit: www.healyracing.ie

Authorized was also responsible for the second-most expensive foal during Wednesday’s session, with Yvonne Kiely going to €70,000 for Coolmara Stables’ colt out of Zinga Girl. The dam is an unraced Jack Hobbs half-sister to four winners, most notably three-time Grade 1 hero L’Ami Serge. 

Authorized’s first Irish-bred National Hunt crop had 15 representatives sell at Fairyhouse and the group changed hands for a combined €782,000 at an average price of €52,135. No stallion, among those with more than one sold, generated a higher average price.

Although trade away from the upper echelons has been far from straightforward, the foal section of the November National Hunt Sale posted year-on-year gains across the range of key market indices. 

Some 632 foals came under the hammer and 432 found a buyer for a clearance rate of 68 per cent, up from 62 per cent last year when 449 sold from 729 offered. 

In turn, the foal section generated turnover of €8,925,100, up 20 per cent despite 17 fewer lots changing hands. The average price rose by 24 per cent to €20,660 while the median rose by 30 per cent, hitting €15,000, up from €11,500.

JJ and Richard Frisby: leading buyers spent €428,500 on seven foalsCredit: www.healyracing.ie

Richard Frisby was the leading buyer at the three-day sale, investing €428,500 on seven foals at an average price of €61,215. His haul included two of the top ten lots, namely a €130,000 son of Walk In The Park and a €70,000 colt by sire of the moment Authorized. 

Ballincurrig House Stud was the highest-grossing vendor as 24 sold lots generated receipts worth €648,000 and at average price of €27,000. Ballincurrig House’s priciest offering was the Authorized colt out of Lady Shol who made €92,000 to Timmy Hillman.

All told the three-day sale, comprising foals, mares and yearlings, produced an aggregate of €9,199,550, a 17 per cent year-on-year gain despite the catalogue being 12 per cent smaller. The average price of €20,045 was up 22 per cent, while the median of €15,000 was up 36 per cent. 

The clearance rate was a more sobering 66 per cent as 459 sold from 695 offered, leaving 236 lots without a buyer.

More news: 

'To stand one of his sons is the dream' - Walk In The Park colt fetches €145,000 as Coolmore's jumps stallion mission continues 

Colts by Jukebox Jury and Santiago lead the way at Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale 

Overbury keeps breeders in mind as Golden Horn unchanged at £10,000