Brownsbarn Letters

Like Ireland and the quarters finals I had a pretty cursed yearling sales season.

For any of you who grace the sales circuit, you would have spotted me in a sling after an unfortunate sporting collision (you should see him).

But hail, rain and broken collarbone the yearling season has come and gone.

Well nearly.

We still have the Goffs open sale and the December yearling sale at Tattersalls, but the bulk of the work is now done.

The beauty of buying yearlings to race is that you don’t have to go with the flavour of the sales season.

The objective for our syndicate is to buy winners, to buy good horses without spending hundreds of thousands in the process.

In order to do this we must think outside the box. In the investing world this type of thinking is called being a contrarian.

It takes some courage to think and act in this way. People think you are half mad.

This approach has paid dividends for us.

To date we have purchased three horses from the yearling sales , all made it to the racecourse.

All were purchased in the sub ￡20,000 bracket, very cheap horses in the world of bloodstock.

Two of them have won at two and the other was unlucky not to win yet finished a couple of lengths adrift in 4th.

There are a lot of engrained schools of thought in regards buying racehorses.

But for every supposed rule of buying bloodstock, there are multiple counter arguments with evidence to the contrary.

The only rule I have in my mind when selecting bloodstock is that there are no rules.

It’s no secret, the yearling sales have been very buoyant this season. It’s great to see any vendors that put in so much time and effort receive their reward in the sales ring.

But it makes our job bloody tough!

Although we did find prices were a little softer for book 2 of the Goffs Orby sale, otherwise known as the Sportsman.

Book 3 at Tattersalls was tough to buy the right horses.

There were a few buying outfits that seemed to always be bidding against us, again and again.

In saying that we have come away with a couple of yearlings that we are delighted to have under the Brownsbarn banner for the 2024 season.

Lets have a little look inside the shopping bag.

Massaat x Jillolini

We sourced this colt for €15,000 at the Goffs Orby sale part 2. A nice straightforward stamp of a colt who walks for fun. He is just an uncomplicated horse who qualifies for all the Band D maidens in the UK next year.

We were delighted with the value we got on this horse. He would not have suited the plethora of breeze up buyers at the sale as he will be a back end type of 2 year old and a 3 year old type.

Now, take a look at his sire.

Our yearling has certainly been stamped by his daddy.

Massaat, the sire, pictured above, won over 7 furlongs at the back end of his 2 year old career and ran second in that year’s Dewhurst.

He then went on to finish second behind Galileo Gold in the following year’s 2000 Guineas & bookmarked his 3 yr old career with a group 2 win over 7 furlongs.

His stallion career has been muted but he has sired winners & good horses.

All from very limited books of quality and quantity.

Docklands won the Britannia at Royal Ascot this year as a 3 year old after costing just 16k at the Tattersalls Ireland September yearling sale in 2021.

Hectic & Coco Bamboo have been classy 2 year old winners for the stallion and both are interestingly descendants from a dam with a Danzig influence.

When deciding on a trainer for this guy, we dived into the theory of, not broke, don’t fix it.

Docklands is by Massaat, trained by Harry Eustace and was purchased for €16,000.

Same trainer.

Same sire.

Similar sales price.

We put the horse to Harry and he was delighted to take a leg in him to go to war with for next season.

Just like Docklands we will aim him at a Band D maiden, we won’t be dreaming of Royal Ascot just yet!

The colt has been backed already at Brian’s and as we predicted he just wants to get on with the job in front of him.

If you would like to get involved reply to this email with any queries.

Prices of shares can be viewed by clicking the shop button below.

5% Shares for €2100 with monthly fees of €250 per month for 5% starting in March 2024.

Land Force x Quite A Story

Land Force has acquitted himself well with his first runners this season.

He has sired 5 horses with a rating of 80 plus and was again well received at the sales this year.

This filly’s dam, Quite A Story is one from one and is related to smart performers.

Yet these are not the main reasons we purchased this filly.

The Great British Bonus scheme offers a ￡20,000 prize money top up to any horse 100% eligible and wins a GBB race.

And receives ￡20,000 for each GBB race won.

The GBB race programme is constantly expanding and opportunities to run in these races and win them are becoming easier.

Our main aim at the sales this season was to bag one of these GBB fillies, we waited until the last day of Book 3 to fulfil this goal!

The filly herself willl not be an immediate 2 year old but will run next year. She is a late (ish) foal so we can forgive her immaturity but we do feel she will fill into her frame.

My gut instinct is that once she begins training properly she will muscle up and furnish into a beautiful 2 year old.

While we don’t adhere to the many mythical yearling principles, one prerequisite for Thomas, Charlie and myself when buying yearlings is that they must be athletic.

With this filly we can stand behind that assertion.

She has that racy feel to her.

George Boughey narrowly missed out on Champion Stakes glory at the weekend with the gallant racemare VIA SISTINA and he will take charge of this filly for her racing career.

George trained our very first 2 year old winner and we believe he can continue this vein of form with this lady.

The filly is currently with Brian O’Connell in Ireland and has been introduced to the saddle and long reigns, she will be backed in the next week or so.

For more information on shares and prices please click the shop button below.

5% share is €2100 with monthly training fees for 5% at €250 per month starting in March 2024.

A Regal Debut

Our last email to you was geared around our NH filly, ROYAL ATHENA.

We received a decent response from subscribers who took our advice and went on to purchase shares.

Her owner’s enjoyed her first run for us last week where she finished a promising fifth, a first run over hurdles.

Check out the race replay here.

Yet, there is still 6% available.

If you are thinking of taking a share in one of our NH string, here is why you should seriously look at this filly.

We believe she will be an exciting and fun prospect to follow for the season. She jumps for fun and has certainly improved for an obstacle.

Turning in for home she looked the most likely winner, before tiring due to race fitness and a mid race move that Harry admitted cost her a placing.

But don’t take our word for it.

Listen to multiple Grade 1 winning jockey Harry Cobden in the parade ring after he jumped off her.

LISTEN to his comments here.

We have had a 100% strike rate with our NH recruits all purchased at bargain price points.

And we fully believe this filly will continue this vein of form.

James Owen, the filly’s trainer has a race earmarked in a couple of weeks time at Fakenham, a fillies juvenile hurdle.

So with this syndicate, the action will be thick and fast.

As with all our syndicates, we have a private What’s App group, passes to the racecourse and an open door policy down to the yard to see your horse.

We place a huge emphasis on owner experience.

Have a read of how one of our owner’s felt after his first foray into racehorse ownership.

Hi all at Brownsbarn Thoroughbreds,just a humble thank you for inviting me in to the world of syndicates with you.After 60 years on this planet i decided to take your advice and come onboard.

The horse involved was Vision of Hope,what a journey we had with the horse and the memories were incredible,going to the races and looking at a race that you are involved in is a fantastic experience.

We were lucky to be there with my family when the horse won and if there is a better feeling,i havent encountered it yet.From the hospitality of you guys and obviously as well trainer James Owen i have loved every minute of it.

From my point of view,this is a great way to meet fellow syndicate members and cheer on your horse.I also like the way you can buy whatever per cent share in your syndicates that people can afford.

Lastly,i am a publican,this has given me,my family, and customers such an interest that i have decided to go for shares in two others with you guys and look forward to the stable visit,

thanks again,pat

If you are interested you can purchase the last remaining shares below via our website, if you want to talk through the finer details, click this link and give any one of us a phonecall.

We would love to welcome you onboard with us!

The Rest of Our String

Exciting times for all involved with our horses as COOLNAUGH HAZE was entered for the Cheltenham October meeting this weekend.

We had our first NH runner just this summer so it’s been terrific progress to have a horse good enough to take us to the major winter festivals.

BIGGER THAN GIGA has been training away over the last couple of weeks as we await the right engagement for her on the all weather, after one more run she will be wintered off for a break.

We already have some ambitious targets in mind for her next year!

This week coming… ?

• Cheltenham October Meeting

All the Best,

George