Mating Plans: Manister House Stud

[Wandering Eyes]

Despite being quiet on the racing front, winter can still be an exciting time for those in the flat business. Racing fixtures may be limited to the all-weather, but in the background, hopes remain high for the newly turned 2-year-olds learning their trade. The ever-optimistic Luke Barry of Manister House Stud expressed such excitement on a recent January morning while driving a well-bred filly to her new home with trainer Kevin Prendergast on The Curragh.

This particular Zoffany (Ire) filly is very dear to the Barry family, with Luke and his mother Liz hoping that she can in some way emulate her half-sister, dual Group 1 winner La Collina (Ire) (Strategic Prince {GB}).

“She’s a very good-looking filly,” explains Barry. “From the day she was born, the plan has been to set her aside and send her to Kevin. It was something my late father, Frank, who was a great pal of Kevin’s, was very much looking forward to and now, we get to live his dream.”

Frank Barry, who passed away in 2018, was a popular figure in the Irish bloodstock world and is remembered as a regular figure at Irish bloodstock sales, most often in company with his great friend Kevin Prendergast. It was therefore apt that Kevin bought La Collina as a yearling for £42,000, and was responsible for her victories in the G1 Phoenix S. and G1 Matron S.

Her dam Starfish (Ire), an unraced daughter of Galileo (Ire), is due to foal down to Caravaggio in April, and will next visit Starspangledbanner (Aus), whom Manister has been a keen supporter of.

“We have a lot of faith in Starspangledbanner,” says Barry. “Tom Gaffney and the team in Castle Hyde have done a great job at improving his fertility and he will have a lot more soldiers on the ground in the coming seasons. His stats so far are phenomenal and he offers very good value for money.”

La Collina is the pinnacle of Starfish’s success as a broodmare, having produced six winners from six runners, and is considered the ‘blue hen’ of the Manister House broodmare band.

“Every small farm dreams of owning a mare like her,” muses Barry, “Where every one of her progeny is a proper sales horse, who also delivers on the track; it’s magic, really.”

Another mare who has earned much respect at Manister is Regency Girl (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), shrewdly bought by Barry for 6,000gns, and is now the dam of Wesley Ward’s stakes performer Elizabeth Darcy (Ire) (Camacho {GB}). After her 2- and 3-year-olds by War Command each sold for over €90,000, Regency Girl is now destined for her most prestigious mating to date, with Sea The Stars (Ire).

“She comes from a lovely Oppenheimer pedigree, with a lot of potential to improve,” says Barry. “We enquired about Sea The Stars and we’re delighted to have a mare good enough to be accepted.”

The story does not end there, as Barry reveals, “We even bought her half sister, Pure Vanity (GB) (New Approach {Ire}), in partnership with Grange Stud a while back, and her first two covers were to No Nay Never and she visits Zoffany this year.”

The Barry family own three mares in partnership with Grange Stud, as Luke tells, “Grange Stud are very successful breeders and you couldn’t dream of easier partners to be involved with. My late father Frank always owned a couple of mares with David Magnier.”

Miss Margarita (GB) (Scat Daddy) is another owned in partnership with Grange Stud and was partly chosen for her sire, as Barry tells me, “The Scat Daddy broodmares were getting nice stock judging by what was offered in Keeneland; they really catch and fill the eye.”

Her maiden voyage will be to Lanwades Stud to young sire Sea The Moon (Ger) (Sea The Stars). “We’ve enjoyed some success with Sea The Moon through our pinhooks,” says Barry, adding, “It was actually Ryan McElligott who noticed him first as a racehorse and brought him to our attention, and we’ve watched him very closely since. It’s not until now that we’re taking a leap of faith.”

Manister House are also using sons of Scat Daddy this season and will be sending two mares to his son, Sioux Nation. “We all want a piece of Scat Daddy at the moment,” confesses Barry. “Sioux Nation provides a very reasonable, commercial opportunity to breeders. He’s an impressive individual and was a very good 2-year-old, so he ticks a lot of boxes.”

The two Manister mares being sent to the G1 Phoenix S. winner are Novantae (GB) (Pivotal), a daughter of a listed winner, and Liberty Sky (Ire) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), a half-sister to G2 Providencia S. winner Missit (Ire) (Orpen).

Having used Caravaggio in his first year, Manister House are also displaying confidence in Coolmore’s young gun by sending Bright Glow (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) to him in his second season at stud.

“We underbid Bright Glow’s second and third foals, so we knew her stock well before we bought her,” he said. “Her 3-year-old Aldana (GB) (Slade Power {Ire}) shaped very nicely as a 2-year-old and we’re hopeful that she will improve this year. We’re sending her to Caravaggio, which is a very similar cross to Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (No Nay Never).”

Another second-season sire receiving Manister’s support is Churchill (Ire), who will cover Jessie Jane (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}), a half-sister to the dam of La Collina, and herself the dam of listed-winning 2-year-old I’ll Have Another (Ire) (Dragon Pulse {Ire}).

On the mating, Barry commented, “Jessie Jane is a bit tall and narrow, and so we try to send her to a strong horse with plenty of hip. We believe in mating our mares physically– that’s very important for us.”

And as for the argument of proven versus unproven sires, Barry has a logical answer, “She has produced three winners from three runners and so, when the mare is proven, we can make more of a case to visit unproven stallions. We’re big fans of Churchill; he’s a stunning individual with size, scope and great movement.”

Irish National Stud stallion Dragon Pulse will not, however, go unrewarded for siring stakes winner I’ll Have Another, as Barry reveals, “He’s been a lucky stallion for us in many respects. We all have to look for some value.  We can’t send every mare to expensive stallions and Dragon Pulse is a proven stallion, throws good looking types, and his stats read well. We’ve penciled in a Medicean (GB) mare, Maracuja (GB), which would create the same cross as his good filly Chicas Amigas (Ire).”

Barry also nominates Camacho (GB), who enjoyed his best season yet in 2018, as a value option and will send Feathery (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) to the Yeomanstown Stud resident this season.

“Feathery was bought as a maiden,” explains Barry, “We raced her with Charlie Fellowes, with whom she won, finished fourth in a listed and received a rating of 90. Like every small farm, we’re constantly trying to improve our band of mares. She has a smashing back pedigree too. Camacho offers an excellent opportunity to use a proven stallion at a very acceptable fee.”

The Tally-Ho branch of the O’Callaghan family will also welcome a Manister mare in 2019, in the shape of Rahaala (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), a half-sister to listed winner and Group 2 third Mythical Magic (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}). Bought for a bargain £4,200 in 2013, she will visit G1 2000 Guineas victor Galileo Gold (GB).

“She’s a nice Indian Ridge mare, with a lovely pedigree,” says Barry. “Galileo Gold was a very, very good racehorse and Tally-Ho is a farm that gets behind their stallions, so he will have a very good chance of making it as a sire. He’s an impressive individual too.”

In this current market, choosing stallions in a season as unpredictable as their second or third, looks a brave move by the Manister House Stud team. When quizzed on the 2018 yearling market, Barry is, as ever, optimistic; “There’s been much negativity surrounding the market,” comments Barry. “Our view is that if you have faith in your mare, cover her. If not, don’t cover her–move on and replace her. All Thoroughbred breeders, whether big or small, are smart. They know that if you get the stallion right, or have a nice individual, you will get paid. If your horse doesn’t make the grade, you need to consider culling your mare.”

In fact, Barry believes current pressures may bring new opportunities, saying, “Our industry is very resilient and there’s a slight correction taking place at the moment, which might happen quicker than people think. And that may also create opportunities. The foal crop might reduce a little too much. We often have a few below-par individuals, but you just have to make sure you have enough quality stock to keep the ball rolling.”

And how about the other dreaded topic, Brexit? “My concern with Brexit in the short term is the movement of horses”, says Barry. “But I hope to have our mares back before the end of March. Wishful thinking perhaps. We can’t all stand still waiting to see what happens; you have to take a positive view and move on.”

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