Hipodromos y caballos - Racetracks and horses BloodStockReview2013 | Page 21

DALHAM HALL AND KILDANGAN Tragedy marred start of year WHAT turned out to be a triumphant year for the Darley stallions began with tragedy, with the sudden death in January of Kildangan Stud’s popular and well respected nominations manager Mick Buckley aged only 45. ‘‘Mick wasn’t just a great loss to Kildangan but to the whole bloodstock industry, and it was a difficult year coming to terms with his death,’’ reflects the stud’s managing director Joe Osborne. It would be impossible to replace Buckley, described by his close friend John Joseph Murphy ‘‘as at home coaching young people in their careers as he was dealing with princes’’, but Kildangan has a new team who will be managing no fewer than three first-season stallions to look forward to in 2014 – Dawn Approach, Epaulette and Reckless Abandon. Former Darley Flying Start trainee Gerry Duffy was appointed general manager and Eamon Moloney nominations manager. ‘‘Gerry has settled in well, we knew him already from when he worked at [Darley’s Kentucky arm] Jonabell Farm,’’ Osborne says. ‘‘We’ve always held him in high regard. ‘‘Our stallion roster is now up to ten and with the three new stallions we have something for all different price points. They have been very popular and well received.’’ ring with steep fee increases for 2014; Dubawi is up by a third to £100,000 from £75,000 and New Approach has been raised by 60 per cent to £80,000 from £50,000. Fees for Teofilo – the sire of top-level winners Havana Gold, Trading Leather and Voleuse De Coeurs in 2013 – and Iffraaj, who supplied the juvenile Group 1 winners Chriselliam and Rizeena, have also been increased. Bullard defends the fee hikes. “It’s a question of supply and demand,” he says. “All of the most expensive Darley stallions are already chock-a-block for We don’t limit books but we do limit what we think each sire can cover 2014; there is huge demand for them. Our online auctions will show whether they are underpriced or overpriced. It will be interesting to see how it goes.” Nominations to Exceed And Excel, Farhh, Iffraaj, New Approach, Reckless Abandon and Teofilo were put up for auction without reserve on the Darley website in December. A similar auction of covers by Darley’s Kentucky and Australian stallions saw final bids constantly exceed advertised fees. Demand for the nominations in the auction were likely to be driven by the difficulty some outside breeders have WORLDWIDE GROUP/GRADE 1 WINNERS BY DARLEY’S EUROPEAN STALLIONS IN 2013* STALLION HORSE RACE(S), COUNTRY Authorized0 0 0 Dubawi0 0 0 Exceed And Excel0 0 0 Iffraaj0 0 Manduro0 New Approach0 0 Shamardal0 0 Slickly0 Teofilo0 0 0 Ambivalent Complacent Seal Of Approval Al Kazeem Hunter’s Light Lucky Nine Guelph Outstrip Overreach Chriselliam Rizeena Charity Line Dawn Approach Talent Dan Excel Maybe Discreet Meandre Havana Gold Trading Leather (right ) Voleuse De Coeurs Pretty Polly Stakes-Ire Spring Champion Stakes-Aus British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes-GB Tattersalls Gold Cup-Ire; Prince of Wales’s Stakes-GB, Eclipse-GB Al Maktoum Challenge-UAE Krisflyer International-Sin; Chairman’s Sprint-HK AJC Sires Produce Stakes-Aus; Champagne Stakes-Aus; Flight Stakes-Aus; 1,000 Guineas-Aus Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf-US Golden Slipper-Aus Fillies’ Mile-GB; Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf-US Moyglare Stud Stakes-GB Premio Lydia Tesio-Ity 2,000 Guineas-GB; St James’s Palace Stakes-GB Oaks-GB Champions Mile-HK Australasian Oaks-Aus Preis von Europa-Ger Prix Jean Prat-Fr Irish Derby-Ire Irish St Leger-Ire *up to November 30 racingpost.com/ipad 1 21 getting multiple mares into Darley’s most popular stallions, an issue Bullard acknowledges. “When you have a top stallion all breeders want to send you their mares, but they know the owner has more right to use that stallion than anyone else,” he says. “Sheikh Mohammed is sending top mares to his stallions and my job is to ensure that, on the open market, there is the best opportunity for third-party mares. Racecourse results are showing the value of this and breeders’ confidence in us is increasing, and therefore so is the quality of mares they send.” Bullard considers 140 to be about the right book size for a fit and healthy horse, with a few more mares being taken towards the end of the season if the stallion can take it. “We don’t limit books but we do limit what we think each sire can cover,” he says. “So Exceed And Excel covered fewer at Dalham Hall this year as he’d been busy in his southern hemisphere season. “As far as mare numbers go, we hope everyone who signs a contract with Darley has a fair opportunity of getting a foal.” An example of Darley limiting numbers to what a stal lion can manage was the late decision to hold New Approach back from shuttling to Australia even though he featured in the southern hemisphere stallion brochure. “Every stallion is individual and some are more efficient than others,” Bullard says. “Our philosophy is to safeguard each horse, not to abuse him – that comes right from the top.” High achieving, in demand and oversubscribed, the Darley stallions have clearly come a long way over the past decade, and yet Bullard thinks they can do even better. “The happiest day of the year for me – apart from getting married! – was when Al Kazeem and Mukhadram, sons of Dubawi and Shamardal, fought out the finish of the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. I really want the Dubai Millennium line to flourish and I hope in ten years’ time we’re talking about Dubawi as a sire of sires in a way people do now about Galileo. I think we will be.” 