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Racing News |
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.
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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
