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Date Posted: 17:27:31 09/23/05 Fri
Author Host/IP: n218103245131.netvigator.com/218.103.245.131
No boycott but Coolmore policy shift from Sheikh
by Bill Barber
SHEIKH MOHAMMED¡¦S advisers on Thursday denied that he is to boycott the progeny of sires belonging to his rival sales ring superpower John Magnier, as signs of a cold war between the pair sent shock waves through the bloodstock world.
However, it appears that the Sheikh will not be active in the market for Coolmore sires¡¦ progeny at forthcoming sales to anything like the extent of old.
Underlying this shift in policy is a perceived lack of support for the Sheikh¡¦s Darley breeding operation from Magnier¡¦s Coolmore empire.
The suggestion from within the Sheikh¡¦s team is that Magnier is deemed not to have reciprocated the investment Darley has put into the produce of Coolmore.
The Sheikh¡¦s breeding adviser John Ferguson hinted that his boss¡¦s patience had run out with Coolmore when he said on Thursday: ¡§Darley has more than 50 stallions who this year will cover 6,000 mares worldwide.
¡§We have a responsibility to support those breeders who support us.¡¨
Rumours of a rift between the two major power blocks of the industry had first surfaced during the summer, but they reached a crescendo at Keeneland this month when Sheikh Mohammed and the other Maktoum brothers failed to buy any of the produce of Coolmore stallions, despite spending $58,835,000 at the sale.
That total included the purchase of a $9.7m son of Storm Cat. Coolmore holds a significant share in Storm Cat, the world¡¦s most expensive stallion but, although regarded as a sire that Coolmore vigorously markets, he does not stand at one of their stud farms.
Last year, the Maktoum brothers had bought yearlings by Coolmore stallions Fusaichi Pegasus, Giant¡¦s Causeway, Grand Slam and Tale Of The Cat, and the marked change in spending policy prompted reporters to ask if a boycott was being carried out. Ferguson pointedly denied the accusation.
The Goffs Orby Million Sale, which begins at Kill, County Kildare on Monday, is the next occasion at which the produce of the cream of Coolmore¡¦s stallion team will be on sale, and the breeding industry will be waiting anxiously to see how the Maktoums¡¦ buying policy will shape up.
No fewer than 37 per cent of the yearlings at the sale are by Coolmore sires, while five of the six most represented stallions stand for Magnier¡¦s operation, including 22 yearlings by Rock Of Gibraltar.
The Maktoums had signalled their interest in that stallion¡¦s progeny when buying a son of Rock Of Gibraltar for £á500,000 at Deauville in August, the most expensive colt sold at that sale.
However, while Ferguson said on Thursday that Sheikh Mohammed would be supporting the stallions of his own Darley operation, and the sires belonging to his brothers, he added that their policy would be to buy the best available, whatever the source.
While Coolmore¡¦s success on the track has been largely based on the progeny of its own stallions, it has not completely ignored bloodstock produced by the Maktoums.
Mullins Bay, who represents Magnier and trainer Aidan O¡¦Brien in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Saturday, is a son of the now-deceased Darley stallion Machiavellian, while the most expensive yearling sold at last year¡¦s Orby Sale was a £á650,000 daughter of Maktoum stallion Green Desert, bought by Magnier.
A spokesman for Coolmore said: ¡§We are unable to speak for anyone else, but our policy is to try to buy the very best horses we see, regardless of what stallion they are by, or who owns them.¡¨
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