As Norman Williamson said at Fairyhouse, after spending €66,000 on a colt out of Castlerock Rose, the future profit on his new foal rests on the moves that trainer Nicky Henderson makes with the horse and how the season pans out for the Michael Buckley-owned five-year-old.
Williamson and the army of recent investors in the Rathbarry Stud’s stallion’s progeny will have supported the much-discussed decision by the Seven Barrows trainer to sidestep the fast ground at Ascot with the horse’s longer term in mind, despite the many keyboard trainers emerging on social media who decried Henderson’s wise move.
Blue Bresil, one of three incredibly popular stallions alongside Walk In The Park and Crystal Ocean at the big NH November Sale at Fairyhouse, had 47 foals sell there for a gross of €1,389,500 and an average price of €29,564.
Despite those impressive statistics at the Fairyhouse, he was not the sale’s leading stallion, that honour went to Walk In The Park whose 39 sold foals made €1,737,000, an average of €44,538, and a top price and sales top lot of €100,000 given by Aiden Murphy and Glenvale Stud for Yellowford Farm’s colt out of La Bella Roma, the Presenting half-sister to Vegas Blue.
The sire’s sale success was sunsequently repeated at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale, this year’s Gold Cup-winning connections of Alex Elliott and Cheveley Park Stud paying £360,000 for the winning four-year-old point-to-pointer Mahon’s Way. The gelding won at Lisronagh for Denis Hogan’s Boherna Stables and goes into training with Henry de Bromhead, who trained A Plus Tard to this year’s wonderful Gold Cup success.
Walk In The Park has more exciting point-to-point winners and runners due to sell at the upcoming inaugural Goffs UK Tingle Creek Sale at Sandown (December 3) and the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale on December 9.
The Festival hero A Plus Tard was a way off form on his return to action this year in the Betfair Chase (G1) and, after never travelling or jumping with fluency, was pulled up by jockey Racheal Blackmore. The eventual winner of the Grade 1 chase was Protektorat, a son of Saint Des Saints trained by Dan Skelton.
Bred by Guy Cherel and Madame Isabelle Pacault, Protektorat was bought privately by the Skelton connections after the gelding finished second in a Listed hurdle at Auteuil as a four-year-old.
Now a seven-year-old Protektorat has had several wind surgery operations since, including through this summer and his big race victory at Haydock came on his return to action after a fourth placing in April’s Grade 1 Betway Bowl Chase at Aintree behind Clan des Obeaux. Seemingly the work done this summer and a success, and the Haydock win a second Grade 1 victory for the French-bred.
His dam Protektion has had seven foals but just one other winner – a Turgeon filly called Protektrice and the winner of one race.
The Skeltons went on to claim further early season chasing victory with Le Milos in the Coral Gold Cup Handicap, the Shirocco gelding bred by Little Lodge Farm and Rahinston Farm.
Sadly, the late Robert Chugg of Little Lodge, one-time amateur jockey and such a bloodstock enthusiast and professional, died in February. He would have loved to have seen the victory of the gelding out of the talented dual Listed-winning mare Banjaxed Girl (King’s Theatre), whom was part-bred with the late John Fowler.
Shirocco, a son of Monsun, has had 46 winners this season and Yeats, who won the NH sires’ title through the 2021-22 season, is currently leading the British and Irish NH sires’ table again with earnings of £1,302,000, the only living NH sire so far this season to have hit the million mark.
He has had 66 winners this season, just topped at the time of writing, by Getaway with 68, the Coolmore pair the winning-most stallions of the season with Yeats also claiming a fine 32 per cent strike rate and three stakes winners.