Budget Breeders Dominate Royal Ascot Meet

It is often said that flat racing is the preserve of the mega rich, and it is easy to see why when the collective successes of the likes of Coolmore, Godolphin, and Juddmonte are considered.

It is something of a truism that major operations have almost unlimited access to the best bloodlines through their breed-shaping stallions and blue-chip broodmare bands. Results from this year's Royal Ascot, however, highlighted that taking on the superpowers is far from a lost cause.

Of the 36 races across this year's expanded royal meeting, 12 winners were bred at a covering fee of just £10,000/€12,500 or less.

The tone was set early when Motakhayyel landed the curtain-raising Buckingham Palace Handicap. The son of Heeraat was bred by Crossfields Bloodstock when his sire stood at a fee of just £4,000 at Mickley Stud.

And it was not just in the handicaps where those produced from bargain covering fees made an almighty impact.

It has been well documented that Ballyphilip Stud bred Battaash (as well as Harry Angel) from Dark Angel's sixth crop when the sire stood for €12,500 at Yeomanstown Stud, but that feat looks all the more impressive now that Charlie Hills' crack sprinter has landed three major group 1 prizes, with his latest success coming in the King's Stand Stakes (G1).

And Pyledriver could lay claim to being the rags-to-riches story of the year after Roger Devlin and brothers Guy and Hugh Leach's son of the late Harbour Watch who was conceived at a fee of just £7,500 entered the Investec Derby (G1) picture with a dominant win in the King Edward VII Stakes (G2).

Another noteworthy result went the way of Donal Boylan, who was rewarded for putting his faith in Prince of Lir during the horse's first season at Ballyhane Stud as he bred the unbeaten Norfolk Stakes (G2) winner The Lir Jet at a cost of just €5,000.

Moreover, of the 36 winners at Royal Ascot, the median covering price among the 34 of those with advertised fees is £21,335. That is by no means a chickenfeed sum, but neither is it excessive considering the value of bloodstock proven at such an exalted level.

The odd two out among that list of 36 names are Galileo's sons Circus Maximus and Russian Emperor, with the perennial champion sire having stood at a private fee since 2008.

Both horses are jointly raced by Coolmore without having gone through a sale ring, but if outside breeders wanted to own a Galileo foal of their own outright, it is believed the sire phenomenon stands for more than double the likes of Dubawi on £250,000.

Of the 36 winners, 16 were homebreds, with Hamdan Al Maktoum's Shadwell operation enjoying a particularly fruitful week, with three of its six winners carrying the famous royal blue and white livery. That trio were Nazeef in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes (G2), Hukum in the King George V Handicap, and Khaloosy in the Britannia Handicap.

The Niarchos family's colors were carried to victory by two homebreds: Circus Maximus, who is owned with the Coolmore partners, and Alpine Star, who emulated her half sister Alpha Centauri by winning the Coronation Stakes (G1).

And Godolphin also bred two winners in Prince of Wales's Stakes (G1) hero Lord North, who carried the colors of Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed, and Hardwicke Stakes (G2) scorer Fanny Logan, who carried the silks of Sheikha Al Jalila.

Not only were a high percentage of the winners at this year's Royal Ascot bred at bargain fees, however, but six of those are the produce of mares who did not cost much.

Breeder Robert Norton secured himself a bargain of enormous proportions when he picked up Chellalla for just 7,500 guineas (US$12,352) in 2014. The daughter of Elnadim has bred two winners, the second of whom is six-length Albany Stakes (G3) scorer Dandalla.

Meanwhile, Silver Royal Hunt Cup winner Sir Busker is out of Street Kitty, who was signed for by Eddie Lynam at just 8,000 guineas ($12,490) as a yearling. He was bred by Ann Foley from Sir Prancealot  at a cost of just €6,000.

Breeders operating on a budget could be forgiven for thinking that 14,000 guineas ($23,568) is the magic number when it comes to buying the dam of a future group 1 winner, as Ballyphilip Stud picked up Battaash's dam, Anna Law, for that sum in 2012, and James Cloney of CN Farm bought Golden Horde's dam, Entreat, with the Commonwealth Cup (G1) hero in utero for the same price in 2016.

Plaudits must also go to Alice Fitzgerald, the breeder of Hey Jonesy, whose dam, Fikrah, cost just €13,000 as a broodmare, and Donal Boylan, as The Lir Jet's dam once sold for as little as 15,000 guineas ($24,366) as a 2-year-old before achieving a peak Racing Post Rating of 67.

Of the 36 winning dams, 18—50%—of those changed hands at public auction at some stage during their careers, with the median price of that group coming in at £48,300.

The priciest of those was the 600,000 guineas ($982,548) Jacqueline Quest, the dam of Sandringham Handicap scorer Onassis, whose hefty valuation contributed to an average cost of £146,570.

Results from Royal Ascot also highlighted that it wasn't just breeders displaying an eye for a bargain, with yearling buyers also unearthing a few diamonds in the rough, although they proved harder to find—and hold on to. 

The Lir Jet fetched just £8,000 ($9,776) at the yearling sales from Robson Aguiar, who then sold the colt privately to Nick Bell before Qatar Racing presumably paid many multiples of that yearling price to buy the Norfolk Stakes winner in the run-up to his Royal victory.

Royal Hunt Cup winner Dark Vision was acquired by Godolphin midway through his 2-year-old season, but the son of Dream Ahead cost Mark Johnston just 15,000 guineas ($20,797) as a yearling.

None of the €25,000 ($29,885) Sir Busker, the €22,000 ($24,208) Dandalla, or the 30,000 guineas ($35,579) Who Dares Wins could be considered expensive after their respective exploits, either.

The most expensive winner on show was Palace Pier, whom John Gosden signed for at 600,000 guineas ($824,859). The unbeaten son of Kingman has now justified that price tag many times over, however, with his scintillating St James's Palace Stakes (G1) victory having enhanced his potential stallion value no end.

There is no disputing the fact the major operations have the resources to dominate, but results from Royal Ascot serve as a timely reminder that, in the arena of the Thoroughbred, most expensive does not always mean best, and that big winners can emerge from many avenues of bloodstock's diverse landscape.