Primo Gamble Pays Off For Hodson & Moule

[Wandering Eyes]

Marrying up business and pleasure can be a difficult task when taking an active interest in bloodstock. For first-time breeders Gary Hodson and Peter Moule, Primo Lady (GB) (Lucky Story) has given them the best of both worlds.

A filly who cost just £5,000 at Doncaster in 2009 reclaimed five times that amount on the track when trained by Gay Kelleway, including the Listed Marygate S. at York. Now a broodmare boarding at Barton Stud near Bury St Edmonds, she has delivered stakes winners from her first two foals in Out Of The Flames (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) and Little Kim (GB) (Garswood {GB}).

“We were looking for a 2-year-old at the time and Gay bought her as a yearling,” explains Hodson, who runs his own electrical wholesale company in Hertfordshire. “She was racy and compact and turned out to be very good herself. We went to all the best places, she ran well in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot, finished ninth from the wrong side of the track, ran in the Molecomb at Goodwood and the Empress at Newmarket.”

“She was very, very quick and just what we wanted, and ran some good races when she was older but was always carrying a lot of weight. By the time she got to the end of her career, Kevin Jarvis, one of the original owners, came out, and Peter and I, who have been friends for years, decided to keep her as a broodmare and see what she produced. Originally we thought we’d maybe breed to race, but then thought perhaps we should sell and see what happened.”

Out Of The Flames reached 37,000gns at Tattersalls Book 2 before making £190,000 when reappearing at last year’s Goffs UK 2yo Breeze-Up Sale, joining Qatar Racing through David Redvers. Third for Richard Hannon in the G2 Queen Mary S. and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint S. , she is now with Simon Callaghan in California and earned listed honours in the Mizdirection S. at Aqueduct in April.

Meanwhile Little Kim, who joined a Nick Bradley Racing syndicate with Karl Burke for 45,000gns at Book 2, built on her eighth in last month’s Queen Mary by taking the G3 Prix du Bois S. at Deauville.

London-born Hodson is largely self-taught in racing, nurtured from being taken by his father to Alexandra Palace as a boy. He is the more hands-on of the pair and took a firm view on the mating plans.

“We syndicated and leased a horse called Piccadilly Filly (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}), who was third in the 2010 Nunthorpe,” he recalled. “When I was getting involved I spent bit of time with Eddie Creighton, who trained her, and he’s a good friend of Bobby O’Ryan. I just got interested in it all.”

“The other reason I wanted to keep Primo Lady as a broodmare was, for want of a better expression, because she’s bullet proof. She got through training as 2-year-old no problems and maybe in the nine years we’ve had her, she once needed a vet when she had an abscess on foot which needed a poultice.”

He continued: “I get on great with Tom Blaine and his team at Barton Stud. With the ground there, it’s the best place to bring up young horses. Obviously I know you’ve got the likes of Cheveley Park on another level, but for my level it’s the perfect fit.”

“If you look back, her dam Lady Natilda (GB) (First Trump {GB}) has produced six winners; nearly all of hers so far have won. A friend of mine owns the dam’s half-sister Diane’s Choice (GB) (Komaite) and she’s three from four as a broodmare as well. But I’d be lying to say it hasn’t gone better than we thought it would.”

There are many more to come. A Due Diligence (War Front) colt picked up for 60,000gns by David Myerscough at last year’s December Foal Sale is anticipated to return this October, whilst the latest offering is a colt by Newsells Park’s Equiano

(Fr) (Acclamation {GB}).

“I have to say, the Due Diligence colt was the best looking out of the first three,” Hodson said. “The Equiano is also a lovely colt who’ll probably go to the foal sale, and she’s now in foal to Muhaarar (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). We’ve upgraded the stallion now and it wasn’t a matter of luck, it has been a lot of going through stallions which I thought would suit her.”

“It was great to have got Showcasing at a really good price as he’s £35,000 now and I think he was only a fraction of that at the time. I thought everything clicked and as she was so quick herself, there was never any question of going for anything but stallions with speed. Garswood was unproven but Little Kim has proved fantastic and I know Karl Burke thinks the world of her. I liked Garswood as a racehorse and he looked a good option, as to be honest at the time we were perhaps dipping our feet in and not wanting to spend £20,000 on a stallion.”

“Obviously now she’s produced two stakes winners, I’ve turned down numerous offers over the last few weeks. It’s a substantial amount of money, but I felt that everything she is producing is correct and nice. I know it’s a long way off, but I imagine when we get to the stage of the Muhaarar hitting the ground, if everything was right, it could be something big in the sales.”

Hodson tries to see Primo Lady every couple of weeks, knowing that her progress is being monitored closely by an old friend in Newmarket.

“Gay had a third-share and when I said I was going to breed, she said I could have her share, which she reminds me about on a daily basis!” he chuckled. “She’s on my case that she gets the next filly, and I wouldn’t dream of sending it anywhere else. Peter only came into it for fun, he didn’t know a lot about racing, but he’s one of those guys in life that whatever he touches turns to gold. At one stage he said to me ‘with your knowledge and my luck, we’ll be all right.'”

“It’s actually a dream come true. There are mares who cost lot more than her that haven’t produced two Royal Ascot 2-year-olds one after another.”

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