Darley
Darley
Saturday afternoon saw the huge Darley stallion presentation parade. With big screen and an even bigger crowd in place, Darley were also able to influence the weather gods to keep the rain away.
And there was plenty to get excited about. Darley boast current Champion Sire in Lonhro, the former Champion Racehorse now also becoming champion off the track. He looked magnificent and it is so easy to understand his popularity. There is something very satisfying for team Darley with Lonhro as he was one of the main reasons that Darley purchased the former Woodlands operation.
David Raphael of Sky Channel and Darley’s Nominations Manager Alastair Pulford did a wonderful job taking us through the huge line up of siring talent. Once again, Medaglia d’Oro has jaw-dropping presence and the likes of Ad Valorem, Bernardini (sire of the weekend Travers winner Stay Thirsty), English Derby winner Authorized, the muscular Henny Hughes, and the wonderful ageing warrior Canny Lad all showed to advantage.
Fantastic roster, great parade, enthusiastic crowd, and award winning hospitality, as always.
Coolmore
Coolmore held three stallion parades over the weekend to cater for the different timetables of clientele; the Bluebloods/Stallions team attended the Sunday afternoon parade. As always, James Bester was the most entertaining of parade commentators, assuring the assemblage that any blame for hype or over the top sales pitch uttered by him should be blamed on stallions nominations man Colm Santry. And there was more of that…..
Coolmore
The stallions needed no hype. Turned out in magnificent order by the Coolmore stallion handling team, they had that shine and polish one comes to expect. The new boy, Lookin At Lucky is a great looking addition and his race record speaks volumes. Catch some video of his win in the Grade One Haskell – it gives you an idea of his class.
Encosta de Lago paraded in magnificent order and James pointed out that for earnings in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Africa, Encosta de Lago’s progeny topped prizemoney earnings for that wider region. Some achievement.
Others to impress were the father and son Choisir and Starspangledbanner, Smart Missile and Foxwedge’s sire Fastnet Rock, High Chaparral, Oratorio, Excellent Art, Dylan Thomas, Duke of Marmalade and Spinning World. A world class roster.
Today, Monday, we‚Äôre off to Widden to drink in a couple of Golden Slipper winners and others….