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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
One of the youngest consignors in the business, Fearghal Hogan has enjoyed some brilliant pinhooking results under his own Churchland Stud banner and at just 33 years of age, he can boast something that the majority in this business can only ever aspire to achieve, through his joint-ownership of Group 1 winner Laws Of Indices. The County Carlow native is refreshingly honest about the fact he found the going tough at the yearling sales in 2024, opens up about some of his biggest touches in the game and shares plans for recent stallion acquisition Inns Of Court (GB) in the first TDN Europe Q&A of the winter. How do you reflect on the year? I'll be completely straight with you, I only had an okay year–not as good as the past three or four years. I don't know what that was down to. I've only been consigning horses for four or five years now and, while we have sold some good horses, it is still hard to compete with the bigger outfits. There was a tightening in the market. It may not have looked like there was after Book 1 and 2 and even the Orby, but I know there was a tightening. When there is a bit of a correction to the market happening, it can be easier for the bloodstock agents to go back to the consignors that they've had success with in the past. That's something I found at the yearling sales this year. I also didn't have sire power. I brought nice horses to the sales but they were by horses that may not be the most fashionable. I'm a divil for doing that-buying the horse first and the page second. I had an Australia (GB) colt in Book 1 for example. I thought he was a belter-he is a first foal out of a black-type mare. But he only made 95,000gns and cost me €72,000 as a foal. I'd say if he was by something sexier, he'd have made a lot of money. When you are selling yearlings, sire power is a massive part of it. You say that, but the one thing I took from Book 2 was the amount of different sires who had horses selling for 500,000gns or more. A colt by Territories (Ire), for example, made 750,000gns. But Territories is a good sire. He's exactly the type of sire I'd like to buy a foal by. But you go and try to buy a nice Territories, it will cost you plenty of money. I'd buy one all day long. I got out this year but didn't make any money. You see, I'd be kind of old-fashioned in my ways. I don't really buy sprinters. I prefer to buy back-end middle-distance types and I don't mind putting horses in training either. If they didn't run at two for me, it wouldn't be the end of the world at all. The real money in this game is for those mile-plus horses and, if you have patience, it can be rewarding. What was it about setting up your own consignment and pinhooking that appealed to you in the first place? I'd no experience working on a farm at home or anything like that. My parents ran a pub in Carlow town and I just started working on a farm close to home and it just took off from there. I spent time in England, worked here at Goffs with Andrew Nolan in the property department because I actually studied auctioneering and valuations in college. But the first few horses I bought, I got lucky and had a few touches. It took off from there. What touches did you get? A few cheap foals I bought went on and made decent money as yearlings. I was giving three or four grand for foals and getting 16 and 17 grand for them as yearlings. I thought it was easy, but of course it wasn't. I loved trading horses from the start and I still do. It's probably hard to buy those cheaper foals these days with the way the whole game has gone. No, those days are finished. Gone. You can't do that anymore. There's just no bottom to the market. I think the bottom of the market is completely gone. It's so expensive to keep a horse in training that, with stagnant levels of prize-money, people probably don't want the fun horse anymore. Most of my luck has come from horses in training. We had a filly in training with Willie McCreery called Come September (Ire) (Roderic O'Connor {Ire}) and she won first time out at Gowran Park and got sold afterwards. Shortly after that, we had a horse called Laws Of Indices (Ire) (Power {GB}), who Ken Condon trained to win a Group 1 for us. It's a funny business model but, for me, I think it's the best business model there is. Laws Of Indices | Goffs It's the ultimate test when you put them in training. It's the ultimate test and you might go through five, six or seven horses before you get a good one but, when you do, it's brilliant. That's my favourite part of the game, having horses in training. Everyone thinks I'm mad. I don't breeze horses. Anything yearling I buy, I put them into training. You're plucky. Every time I open up the calendar I see you down for owning bits and pieces of a new horse nearly every week! I'm lucky in that I'm friendly with a few trainers. I was very lucky with Ken, Willie and I've a good few horses with John and George Murphy as well. They are top-class operators. Mark Fahey is another man I have a few horses with. He's a very shrewd man. He's probably still a bit underestimated actually. Tell me a bit more about Laws Of Indices. That's some story. Andrew Nolan and his wife Charlotte, Martin Walsh, Dermot Farrington and Viv Noone owned the horse with me. Charlotte was at the sales at Goffs one day and rang me to say she'd found one. I was working in England at the time and said that I'd take him no problem. I can't take any credit for finding him or anything like that. He won his maiden on his second start, went on to win the Railway Stakes, and then he went on to win the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat after that. We sold half of him to continue his career in Australia and he did well down there. He was the horse of a lifetime for me and got me going. Between him and Come September, they got me up and running. Now, I have gone through a good few of them since but I don't mind that because, when you do hit on one, you can get well paid. I love that you can buy a foal or a yearling for reasonable money in this game and, in a year's time, you don't know where you could be. You have a chance of making a lot of money for a relatively small investment and that's the bit I love about this game. You can dream. You had some good touches in the ring last year. Yes, George Murphy, Gary Dowling and myself sold a Galiway (GB) colt for 145,000gns at the Somerville Sale. We bought him for €27,000 as a foal. I'd a good result with a Saxon Warrior (Jpn) colt at the Orby this year as well. I gave €8,000 for him as a foal and got €50,000 as a yearling so that was decent going. But the Galiway was very special because it took place around the time of Gary's father's anniversary. There was a lot of emotion surrounding that and we were all delighted for Gary, What yearlings did you buy to put into training this year? I bought an Invincible Spirit (Ire) filly out of Gorane (Ire) (Dream Ahead) for 15,000gns and I thought she was good value. Gorane was quite a good filly for Henry de Bromhead and Clipper and I can remember her from my time spent down with Joe Foley at Ballyhane Stud. I bought into a Havana Grey (GB) as well and then there are a few yearlings who I didn't bring to the sales so there's five or six to look forward to there. I didn't realise you worked at Ballyhane. You've crammed a lot in. Michael and Ruth Foley, who ran the farm close to my home in Carlow, taught me a lot. Then Joe and Jane Foley were very good to me at Ballyhane as well. As I mentioned, Andrew Nolan was also good to me in Goffs. I used to work the yearling sales with Dermot Farrington and learned plenty doing that. He is a brilliant judge–one of the best in the game. When you go through some of his big-name purchases, they are actually quite cheap with respect to what they went on to achieve on the track. He's great fun to be around and was a great man to learn from. He looks at things differently to a lot of people and has huge success. That's one thing I learned from him, the ability to buy a good horse by sires who may have gone cold. What drives you out of bed in the morning? I just love horses and love working with them. But I suppose my favourite thing to do is go racing. The lads give me awful abuse but, I could go racing three or four days a week, especially in the summer when there's evening racing. I love it. I don't mind having a bet either. We've had a few touches at that down through the years as well. We backed a horse that Mark Fahey trained during Covid–66s, 33s, those sort of prices. That was some day. How did you get to know Mark? He's clearly a very good operator. I was introduced to Mark through another good friend of mine, Richie Scahill. Richie had horses with Mark for years and had a lot of luck with him. Richie's father, Dessie, is obviously the legendary commentator, and he actually buys some foals with us every year. Dessie loves the game and it's great having him involved. Legendary commentator Dessie Scahill: gets involved in pinhooking with Hogan | Racingfotos.com You have a lot of clients and consign horses on behalf of a lot of breeders. How are the smaller breeders reacting to the recent sales and have many of those breeders shared whatever plans they might have for the future? A lot of smaller breeders will be pulling back. But the way the thing is gone, there are probably 10 sires that you'd like to use, but they are not affordable to the smaller breeder. The rest of the sires are probably okay but they're not commercial so some breeders have a bit of a dilemma to face into. I have a few mares in partnership with friends but I just let them pick the sires. I'd be looking at it with the view of trying to produce a racehorse whereas they might be more commercially minded. You'd probably go broke trying to do it my way as a breeder so that's why I let them decide the matings. There is a big difference between breeding a racehorse and a sales horse. You've got a lot of friends in the industry. There are some great success stories of young people making a go of it, including yourself, in the bloodstock game. It's a brilliant game. I'd be very close with George Murphy, who I already mentioned, and Jerry Horan as well. Actually, Jerry and I bought Inns Of Court during the summer of Tally-Ho Stud. We bought him on behalf of an Iranian client and we're not quite sure what we're going to do with him yet. We could stand him in France. I think he's an underrated sire and has a very good end to this season. Our client is very happy so hopefully he's something to look forward to. The post Fearghal Hogan Q&A: ‘I Love Trading Horses – You Can Dream In This Game’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
Savaglee’s Guineas win came in a sizzling time of 1:33.86 – the third-fastest recorded in the race. It was beaten only by Xtravagant’s 1:33.59 in 2015 and Ugo Foscolo’s 1:33.81 a year later. -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Tattersalls has donated £50,000 to the Retraining of Racehorses charity for the calendar year 2024. Having supported the RoR as sole sponsor of their popular Showing Series for thoroughbreds since its inception in 2015, the £50,000 Tattersalls contribution reflects a commitment to the Showing Series, but also to the wider work of the ROR whose strategy published earlier this year has been widely praised within the racing and breeding industry. Commenting on the donation, Tattersalls Chairman Edmond Mahony said, “Tattersalls has been the proud sponsor of the Retraining of Racehorses Showing Series for many years now and the series has always provided wonderful opportunities for thoroughbreds to showcase their versatility and prowess at all levels in the show ring, and show just how much enjoyment they can bring to all those involved with them. We hope that our increased commitment to such an important charity will enable the Showing Series to continue to flourish while also supporting wider RoR initiatives designed to ensure the welfare of former racehorses and increasing awareness of the important role played by RoR. We are delighted that this series has given so many people a reason to enjoy thoroughbred horses outside the traditional sphere of racing.” David Catlow, Managing Director of Retraining of Racehorses, added, “RoR is incredibly grateful to Tattersalls for this generous support. Their long-standing commitment to the Showing Series has been invaluable, and this additional contribution will have a significant impact on our wider welfare initiatives. Together, we are ensuring that former racehorses are not only cared for but celebrated for their versatility and achievements beyond the track.” The post Tattersalls Makes £50,000 Donation To Retraining Of Racehorses Charity appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
There can have been no ignoring the explosive entrance of the Emir of Qatar's Wathnan Racing to the European racing scene in particular over the last 18 months. The 2023 Royal Ascot winners Courage Mon Ami (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) gave advance warning as to what was to unfold in the ensuing period, with their victories respectively in the G1 Gold Cup and G2 Queen's Vase coming on their first starts in the Wathnan silks after being bought privately from their owner-breeders, Anthony Oppenheimer and Philippa Cooper. There have been plenty more high-profile purchases since then, notably Kind Of Blue (GB) (Blue Point {Ire}), who won the G1 Qipco Champions Sprint on his first run for Wathnan Racing, and Classic winner Fallen Angel (GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), who has made two starts for Wathnan since winning the Irish 1,000 Guineas in May. The ambition is clear: to be associated with top-class racing prospects, whether acquired as horses in training, or at the breeze-ups or yearling sales. The next logical step is for Wathnan Racing to branch out as Wathnan Breeding, especially when one considers some of the fillies and mares either currently in training or recently retired or purchased. Official word from the Wathnan camp is that the emphasis is very much on the racing for now, and that after all is where the real fun is to be had. But amid the stallion announcements this week came the news that Isaac Shelby (GB), who had been the first runner for Wathnan Racing in Europe when running an agonisingly close second in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains of 2023, would be standing as a stallion next year. The son of Night Of Thunder (Ire) will be at Newsells Park Stud, where Wathnan Racing also now boards some mares. “He's a fine horse by a very special young stallion and we'll be very keen to see all his offspring when they come to market,” said Richard Brown, Wathnan's racing manager, in a press release issued by Newsells Park Stud on Tuesday. Along with Fallen Angel, Wathnan Racing is now listed as the owner of another two of Steve Parkin's good broodmare prospects, according to Weatherbys' recently published Return of Mares. Romantic Proposal (Ire), winner of the G1 Flying Five in the Clipper Logistic colours when trained by Eddie Lynam, and the dual Group 2 winner Dramatised (Ire) are both listed as having been covered by Wootton Bassett (GB) this year for Wathnan Racing. The latter was mated for the first time earlier this year, while Romantic Proposal produced her first foal, a colt by Dubawi (Ire), in January, bred by Parkin's Branton Court Stud. Among other potential broodmare prospects for Wathnan Racing are the G3 Fred Darling Stakes winner Remarquee (GB) (Kingman {GB}), whose two-year-old half-sister Revoir (GB) (Study Of Man {Ire}) recently made an eye-catching debut at Nottingham. Then there's Leovanni (Ire) (Kodi Bear {Ire}), who was one of four winners for Wathnan Racing at this year's Royal Ascot when landing the G2 Queen Mary Stakes. Since Bolthole (Ire) (Free Eagle {Ire}) won the Listed Grand Prix de Bordeaux in May 2023 to become the operation's first stakes winner, a further 19 black-type victories have come Wathnan's way in Europe, headed by the aforementioned Group 1 winners Courage Mon Ami and Kind Of Blue, and including the Group 2-winning colts Shareholder (Not This Time) and Aesterius (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}). Another five stakes victories have come in America, where Subsanador (Arg) (Fortify) won the GI California Crown Stakes, while Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) has won both his Grade II starts for Wathnan to date. With such firepower to work with, it surely won't be long before we see some homebreds racing in the Wathnan silks. Whether or not we see a Wathnan stallion operation launching in the coming years is anyone's guess, but it does not require too much of a leap of faith to see the Emir following the example of some of his close family members in eventually retiring his top colts to stand under his own banner. The post Wathnan Racing Breaking New Ground in Breeding appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Veteran handler claims Saturday’s final two races with talented four-year-old and consistent galloper.View the full article
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