Future racehorses in focus
At Qatar Racing's annual Yearling Parade, staged earlier this week at Tweenhills in Gloucestershire, some smart youngsters were introduced to their trainers for the first time, among them four colts from the first crop of Qatar Bloodstock stallion Harbour Watch.
Qatar Racing has opted to slim down the number of trainers who receive yearlings, but among those present was Ger Lyons, whose intake will include Harbour Watch colts out of Eastern Lily and Blue Beacon (last-named pictured above with groom Ben Purves). David Simcock, whose yearling intake will include a Harbour Watch colt out of Rock Lily, was at the parade, as was fellow Newmarket handler William Haggas, whose yearling allocation includes a colt by the sire out of the mare Bendis.
Other trainers who have been sent Qatar Racing yearlings are Andrew Balding, Ralph Beckett, David Brown, Henry Candy, Michael O'Callaghan, Francois Rohaut and Andreas Wohler, although racing manager David Redvers has said it is possible other trainers will receive juveniles from next year's breeze-up sales, and those with horses in training remain on the roster.
Sheikh Fahad follows the parade in company with Ralph Beckett and Kevin Darley
Ireland's first foal sale of 2015 was staged this week at Goffs, where a son of Dubawi - the sire of Makfi - was knocked down for €1.2m, a record for a colt foal sold at public auction in Ireland.
Foals by Tweenhills-based sires were on offer, and @dredvers tweeted: Superb 15 minutes at Goffs as 794 Harbour Watch Colt makes 120k, and two Havana Golds lot 798 makes 80k and 808 makes 77k. #smartyoungsires
Next week it is the turn of Tattersalls to stage its December Foal Sale in Newmarket, which includes a group of 21 catalogued weanlings that form a consignment from Tweenhills. Among them are a pair of foals from the first crop of Qatar Bloodstock's Havana Gold, namely a filly out of Blonde (Lot 516) and a colt out of Maid In Heaven (Lot 694).
The draft also includes three colts by Harbour Watch (Lots 419, 515 and 617) and five foals by former Tweenhills resident Makfi (Lots 618, 619, 693, 776, 777), who now stands under the Qatar Bloodstock banner at Haras de Bonneval in France.
Pictures: Laurence Squire