“I still pinch myself for the fact that we produced a Group 1 winner” | Bloodstock News
Michael and Laurence Gleeson look back and look forward to Tattersalls this week
Caroline norris
“title =” Champers Elysees: Shining the Spotlight on Aughamore Stud as Group 1 Stock Producer “class =” js-imageLoader “data-at-xn =” https://www.rp-assets.com/ images / news /2020/07/28/81088-medium.jpeg “data-br-n =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/07/28/81088-medium.jpeg “data- br-m =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/07/28/81088-large.jpeg “data-br-w =” https: //www.rp -assets. com / images / news / 2020/07/28/81088-large.jpeg “data-br-xw =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2020/07/28/81088-large .jpeg “onclick =” return false; “>
UPDATE 16:14, OCT 4, 2021
This article first appeared in our Autumn Yearlings supplement
Brothers Michael and Laurence Gleeson were only in their fourth sales season at the family’s Aughamore Stud in County Westmeath when a filly from Elzaam came through their draft.
At € 28,000, her sale to Johnny Murtagh in the second leg of Tattersalls’ September sale in Ireland marked a reasonably successful return to her foal price of € 12,500, but when it turned out to be the winner of Group 1 Champers Elysees, it was then that the stud was pushed into a whole new realm.
Studs rely on the production of good racehorses to develop their name as much as for financial return. In this, the achievements of Champers Elysées shone the spotlight on Aughamore as a producer of Group 1 shares while also paying homage to their pinhooker abilities, skills that have continued to serve the brothers ever since.
“title =” Michael (left) and Laurence Gleeson: Group 1 producers look forward to a productive week at Newmarket “class =” js-imageLoader “data-at-xn =” https: //www.rp-assets .com / images / news / 2021/10/04/98980-medium.jpeg “data-br-n =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/10/04/98980- medium.jpeg “data-br-m =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/10/04/98980-large.jpeg “data-br-w =” https: // www.rp -assets.com/images/news/2021/10/04/98980-large.jpeg “data-br-xw =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/10 / 04/98980-large.jpeg “onclick =” return false; “>
In 2018, their sales year was led by a Gutaifan colt who brought in € 105,000 to Alex Elliott in the Goffs Orby sale, having been bought as a colt with Hamish Macauley for € 32,000. And a year later, the same partnership returned to sell Saligo Bay, a pinned New Bay first crop son for 80,000 gns, for 300,000 gns. An overall draft of nine for this year also included a Kodi Bear filly who went from a € 25,000 foal to a £ 90,000 yearling.
Such returns have allowed Aughamore to grow and although it is a breeding operation, an increased presence of 14 yearlings in last year’s sales series has given rise to the same. run by a Mastercraftsman colt, a $ 62,000 pinhook who sold Andrew The Bald for 210,000 gns in Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Sale. Book 1 yearlings from Profitable and Kodiac also broke the six-figure mark at 145,000 gns and 130,000 gns respectively.
Ironically, however, it’s the cheapest of their 2020 group, Ardad colt Ernest Rutherford, who has looked the most exciting to date; Pinned for 9.000gns with Howson & Houldsworth and sold for 7.000gns to Kilronan of Thomond O’Mara, he won his second start by two lengths at Naas for Michael O’Callaghan, before being unsuited by fast ground at Ayr.
Patrick mccann
“title =” Ernest Rutherford and Leigh Roche take victory at Naas in August “class =” js-imageLoader “data-at-xn =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/10 /04/98975-medium.jpeg “data-br-n =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/10/04/98975-medium.jpeg “data-br-m = “https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/10/04/98975-large.jpeg” data-br-w = “https://www.rp-assets.com/images/ news / 2021/10/04/98975-large.jpeg “data-br-xw =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2021/10/04/98975-large.jpeg “onclick = “return false;”>
Aughamore approaches the 2021 sales season as a well-established presence within sales circles – so well established in fact it’s easy to forget that the brothers only started selling under their own names in 2015. It also reflects an ambition that saw them cover all the bases to gain experience.
“Our parents, Larry and Anne, raised and raced horses as a hobby,†says Michael. “We were bitten by the running bug from an early age. I studied equine affairs and Laurence took the Irish National Stud course.
“We then learned our trade working for leading farms such as Yeomanstown Stud in Ireland, Highclere and Newsells Park Studs, Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky and the Aga Khan. Finally, we took the plunge and returned home to record full time.
Once a working farm, Aughamore spans 90 acres outside of Mullingar. Rigging is a key part of their business, but the Gleesons have also long maintained a brood mare group that currently includes the pile-producing mare Total.
“The farm has been in our family since the 1700s and was a mixed farm,†explains Laurence. “We have 20 stables and are looking to expand the facilities considerably.
“This is a great location, just 15 minutes from Tally-Ho Stud and about an hour from Goffs and Fairyhouse. Most of Kildare’s stallion breeding grounds are also nearby.
Michael adds, “We love both sides. We breed ourselves and pinhook in partnership with friends – there is a great reward in repaying the trust friends have in us when touching down.
The brothers go to the Tattersalls October sale with a selected draft spread across all three books. Numerically, Aughamore is not as strong as it has been in recent years but, on the other hand, they are in the enviable position to offer a colt with an excellent update.
The young person in question sells as lot 418 in Book 1 and is an Australian foal from Bitooh, a winning half-sister to Melbourne Cup hero Rekindling from the famous Souk family of Alexandrova, Magic Wand and Channel.
It helps that his father is having another successful year, especially with his two years old, but also under his first dam hides Technical Analysis, one of the best turf fillies currently running in the United States.
A book 1 bought by Mike Ryan herself along with Klaravich Stables and Chad Brown, Kingman’s daughter has won four races, including the Lake George Grade 3 and Lake Placid Stakes Grade 2 at Saratoga in her most recent starts.
“Australia going to volume 1 is a shattering colt,” says Laurence. “He’s from Rekindling’s family but with a recent update in the first jump-off with some technical analysis in there. It is linked to the 1st year.
Vince caligiuri
“title =” Rekindling: the foal sold by Aughamore Stud in Book 1 is from a half-sister of the Melbourne Cup hero “class =” js-imageLoader “data-at-xn =” https: // www. rp -assets.com/images/news/2017/11/07/32326-medium.jpeg “data-br-n =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2017/11/07 / 32326-medium.jpeg “data-br-m =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2017/11/07/32326-large.jpeg “data-br-w =” https : //www.rp-assets.com/images/news/2017/11/07/32326-large.jpeg “data-br-xw =” https://www.rp-assets.com/images/news/ 2017 /11/07/32326-large.jpeg “onclick =” return false; “>
In the direction of volume 2, an “imposing†Mastercraftsman colt comes from Listed winner Shanjia and a half-sister born Zoffany of Jeremy’s Legacy, classified in 3rd year. The draft for Book 3 consists of a colt by Expert Eye and another filly by Zoffany who is a half-sister to the highly regarded Kingboard Star, bred in Aughamore, winner this year for Ed Walker.
The brothers were heartened by how the market performed during the recent Goffs UK Premier sale, in which key metrics made significant progress from 2020 despite the planned lack of investment from Shadwell Estates . The middle market has been particularly encouraging, with competitive trading from a wide range of trainers, pinhookers and end users.
Aughamore has placed himself on the good side of this market with the two yearlings they sent to Doncaster, namely a Kodiac colt which rose in value from € 40,000 to £ 60,000 and an Acclamation filly, which won. sold for £ 54,000 after being pinned for 22,000 gns.
“Trade was much stronger than last year,†says Laurence. “There was a great hunger to buy around the £ 50,000 mark. We expect this to continue for the remainder of the yearling sales season. The sales companies do a great job in attracting buyers with their various incentives.
It feels like, despite their success, Aughamore doesn’t take much for granted. There is pride in the accomplishments of the Champers Elysées, who rose through the ranks last season to win the Group 3 Fairy Bridge Stakes and Group 1 Matron Stakes, and the potential of Ernest Rutherford.
“I still pinch myself for the fact that we produced a Group 1 winner,†says Michael. “We have the same pleasure to see a winner on the track, whether it’s a homebred or a pinhook.
“Elzaam’s fillies were probably not the most fashionable to crochet, but Champers Elysées was a full sister to a 92-ranked filly and we thought the coaches would appreciate her. Ernest Rutherford also looks like a very exciting horse – the Kodiac sons were a big draw to us and looking at Ernest Rutherford’s fathers Ardad and Kodi Bear they look like the real deal.
He adds: “A dream goal would be to sell a classic winner or a champion. But, for now, we plan to expand the farm, further develop its facilities and continue to sell winners.
No more news:
Highclere draft among the gems of Book 1 once again
“He looks a lot like Galileo” – a top notch colt, the star of the Cumanis Book 1 draft
Fifth Group 1 winner for Wootton Bassett as Zellie dominates at Marcel Boussac
‘Exceptional’ Penja raises 1.2 million euros for German connections
Good Morning Bloodstock is our latest email newsletter. Martin Stevens, a senior among journalists by blood, gives his take and take on the biggest stories every morning Monday through Friday
FIRST PUBLISHED AT 3.36 PM, OCTOBER 4, 2021