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2006 TBA Breeders' Awards Announced
08/12/06

The 2006 Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) Awards, of which 12 of the 14 are announced today, Thursday, December 7, acknowledge the achievements of a diverse selection of British breeders, both large and small.

Ouija Board
© racing-images.co.uk

Ouija Board is the undoubted darling of British racing and the five-year-old mare's exploits during the summer in winning the Group One pair of the Prince Of Wales's Stakes and Vodafone Nassau Stakes, ahead of becoming the first British-trained runner to win two Breeders' Cup contests when securing the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, sees Lord Derby's Stanley House Stud receive the TBA Silver Salver Award for special merit.

Peter Stanley, manager of Stanley House Stud, declared today: "In a very international world, with extremely wealthy owners and breeders, to be fortunate enough to breed a horse good enough to win an award is a great honour, as well as being a great privilege for all of us at the stud who have been a part of it.

"People compare the Nassau Stakes to the Grundy/Bustino epic (in the 1975 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes), which I'm just old enough to remember, and it's remarkable to think that we bred a horse that could be involved in a comparable duel.

"I watch the Nassau Stakes again and again and it's hard to believe what those two mares did - let's not forget Alexander Goldrun, who is a very good mare in her own right and was incredibly gallant and brave in defeat.

"Ouija Board has been more than a remarkable mare because she's been so genuine the whole way through. When anything's gone wrong it hasn't been her fault, it's just been the way cards have fallen.

"We've had three, if not four, amazing years racing her. We've thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it and we're very excited and looking forward to the next challenge, which is to breed one as good as we possibly can from her.

"It's fantastically exciting. Every stud master dreams of having mares like her on their stud. We bid for various mares at the sale this year, and whatever I was bidding on I knew that none of them were in a comparable league to our own Ouija Board."

Harry Ormesher of Old Suffolk Stud, based at Hundon in Suffolk, takes the Small Breeder of the Year Award for Flat racing, the Langham Cup - the stud produced the Epsom Derby winner Sir Percy.

Ormesher purchased Percy's Lass from Darley and Sir Percy was the mare's last foal as she died aged 19, leaving the future Derby hero an orphan.

"I'm absolutely delighted and honoured. It's a wonderful thing for a small stud like mine with just eight mares - it's incredible really.

"I have 30 acres and I feel eight mares is just about right. We never have colts as yearlings. We sell the colt foals and normally run the fillies on to yearlings, so we have two fillies we'll be selling on next year.

"I've been in Hundon for coming up to 10 years and I'm fortunate enough to have a great record in that time. Of all the horses I've bred that have run, only two haven't won, and they've won well over 50 races, so I think that's actually as good as an achievement as Sir Percy.

"Everyone says it's terrible that I lost the mare (Percy's Lass) and it is, but I've had an amazing two years with what he's done. I sent Percy's Lass to Mark Of Esteem five times in all and the full-sister, Lady Kar, sold for 700,000 guineas last week. The other full-sister, Love Token, unfortunately died. She was owned by the actor Albert Finney and was a good filly.

"I bought Percy's Lass from Darley and there were three reasons I bought her. One was that I saw her win the September Stakes and she displayed a great turn of foot to win that Group Three.

"The second reason was because she was in foal to Mark Of Esteem, and apart from the fact he's one of the most brilliant milers I've ever seen, I felt that his sire Darshaan would work with that wonderful Moller family. I was convinced that it would eventually throw up something really good.

"The third reason was Will Edmeades. I wanted to buy three mares at the sale and I couldn't get up the first two days and I gave poor Will 64 mares to look at. He came to a short-list and I had a list, and Percy's Lass was at the top of both lists. I don't know what would have happened if he had knocked her off the list, I probably wouldn't have bought her. We agreed that she was the only mare we really wanted.

"Sir Percy was a most wonderful foal and the best colt I'd ever seen in my life. He kicked me on the head with his near fore when he was 10 seconds old, and I knew then he was precocious. All he wanted to do was get up on his feet and get out into the world and run. He had wonderful balance from the day he was born.

"We have a nice line of mares. We have a Chief's Crown mare called Crown Water and we have her daughter, a good two-year-old in America called Bull's Crown, who is in foal to Mark Of Esteem, so we're really looking forward to that."

The Queen's Silver Cup, awarded to the breeder who accrues the most prize money on the Flat in Britain and Ireland throughout the season with UK-resident mares, goes to David and Patricia Thompson's Cheveley Park Stud, which finally overcame the Khalid Abdullah and Maktoum camps.

The Group One winning fillies Nannina (Coronation Stakes) and Peeress (Lockinge Stakes) were the most high-profile contributors to Cheveley Park's successful season.

The BBA Silver Cigar Box, given to the leading British-based sire based on earnings, went to the classy and versatile Dalham Hall stallion Mark Of Esteem, who enjoyed a superb year thanks principally to the exploits of his Derby-winning son Sir Percy and dual Group One winning sprinter Reverence.

The Barleythorpe Cup is awarded to the leading British-based sire in terms of individual winners, and this year saw a fascinating season-long duel between the Cheveley Park stallion Pivotal and his Banstead Manor Stud rival Dansili.

Pivotal clinched the award with 60 winners to Dansili's 55, with the pick of his successful progeny comprising the Group winners Peeress, Excellent Art, Brazilian Bride, Alzerra, Enticing, Pivotal Point and Violet Park.

Cheveley Park Stud's fantastic year was augmented by the success of Pivotal's son Kyllachy, who stands alongside his sire at the operation's Newmarket base.

Kyllachy is rewarded for a fine first crop by securing the Tattersalls' Silver Salver for the leading British-based first season sire, with 17 winners of 24 races and £262,250 in prize money. His main flag bearers were the speedy Listed winners Sadeek and Blue Echo, who helped him to an excellent fourth-place on the overall list for two-year-olds in Britain and Ireland.

The exceptional Juddmonte Farms matron Hasili takes the Broodmare of the Year Award - H J Joel Silver Salver - thanks to the exploits of the Danehill own-brothers Dansili, Banstead Manor Stud's flagship stallion, dual US Grade One victor Cacique and Champs Elysees, a winner and placed in two French Group races. The remarkable Hasili is also the dam of the champion race mares Banks Hill, Heat Haze and Intercontinental.

Hasili and her stallion son Dansili helped Khalid Abdullah's Juddmonte Farms to the coveted TBA Silver Rose Bowl, a discretionary award presented to the Breeder Of The Year.

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Rail Link was the owner/breeder's principal European campaigner in 2006, and his sire, Dansili, traces back three generations to a mare acquired 25 years ago, while his dam, Docklands, is a grand-daughter of a mare purchased in 1984 for the Juddmonte broodmare band.

Alflora confirmed his standing as the dominant British-based National Hunt stallion to secure a third successive Whitbread Silver Salver for leading British-based National Hunt sire by earnings. The prolific stallion, who stands at Shade Oak Stud in Shropshire, sired 27 winners of 41 races for earnings of £369,166.

Last year, Alfora was the outright winner of the Horse & Hound Cup for the leading active British-based sire determined by individual chase winners, having shared the accolade with stud companion Rakaposhi King in 2004, and he takes the award again.

Missed That, who tragically died in a gallops accident in November, was responsible for his dam, Not Enough, securing the Dudgeon Cup for National Hunt Broodmare of the Year.

Missed That, winner of the 2005 Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival, added two Leopardstown Grade One triumphs last season in the Durkan New Homes Novice Chase and the Baileys Arkle Perpetual Cup Novice Chase, before scoring in the Grade Two Ellier Developments Novice Chase at Punchestown in April.

The late trainer/breeder Tom Corrie bought Missed That's fifth dam, Apolda, in 1938, and Not Enough's four-year-old Sir Harry Lewis gelding, Kia Kaha, carries on the late mare's legacy after winning a Wincanton bumper in the colours of J P McManus on his career debut in November.

Charles Wilson, chairman of the TBA National Hunt Committee for the last 10 years, is the recipient of the Queen Mother's Silver Cup, the National Hunt Achievement Award.

Based at Pitts Farm Stud in Dorset, he was first co-opted to the TBA Council in 1996 and receives the accolade in recognition of his initiative and unstinting efforts to advance the cause of National Hunt breeders in Great Britain.

The Awards will be presented at the TBA Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency London Churchill Hotel on the evening of Tuesday, January 9, 2007, when the winners of two special awards for contributions to the British Breeding Industry are announced.

For further information, please contact Louise Kemble, Chief Executive of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, or Gavin Pritchard-Gordon, Executive Director of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, on 01638 661321.

2006 THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS' ASSOCIATION AWARDS

TBA Silver Salver (Special Merit) - Stanley House Stud

The Langham Cup (Small Breeder of the Year) - Harry Ormesher

Queen's Silver Cup (Leading British-based Breeder, Flat earnings) - Cheveley Park Stud

BBA Silver Cigar Box (Leading British-based Stallion, Flat earnings) - Mark Of Esteem

Barleythorpe Cup (Leading British-based Sire, individual winners) - Pivotal

Tattersalls' Silver Salver (Leading British-based First Season Sire) - Kyllachy

HJ Joel Silver Salver (Leading British-based Flat Broodmare of the Year) - Hasili

TBA Silver Rose Bowl (Flat Breeder of the Year) - Juddmonte Farms

Langham Cup (Small Breeder of the Year) - Old Suffolk Stud

Whitbread Silver Salver (Leading Active British-based NH Stallion, earnings) - Alflora

Horse & Hound Cup (Leading Active British-based Stallion, individual chase wins) Alflora

Dudgeon Cup (NH Broodmare of the Year) Not Enough

HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother's Silver Salver (Outstanding contribution to National Hunt racing and breeding) - Charles Wilson

Duke of Devonshire Award - Announced on January 9, 2007

Dominion Award - Announced on January 9, 2007