A diverse selection of British breeders, both large and small, are among the winners of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Awards released Thursday, Dec. 8.
The Queen's Silver Cup, awarded to the breeder who accrues the most prize money on the flat in Britain and Ireland throughout the season with UK-resident mares, goes to Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum's Shadwell Stud, thus breaking the three-year domination of this category by Juddmonte Farms. A close run battle for the BBA Silver Cigar Box, awarded to the leading British-based flat stallion (by earnings), saw Halling just edge out Pivotal. The Darley stallion's earnings of £1.3m were some £83,000 ahead of his Cheveley Park Stud rival. Halling now stands at the Emirates Stud in Dubai.
It was a similarly close-run affair for the Barleythorpe Stud Cup, given to the British-based stallion responsible for the most individual flat winners, with two of Maktoum al Maktoum's Gainsborough stallions fighting it out. Royal Applause, based at the Royal Studs in Sandringham, just got the better of Cadeaux Genereux, recording 44 winners compared to 41.
With 19 winners of 29 races and £460,672 in prize money, Bertolini collected the Tattersalls Silver Salver for leading British-based first season sire. His exploits saw him finish fourth on the overall list for 2-year-olds in Britain and Ireland as well as being the leading overall British-based juvenile sire. He has now left Overbury Stud in Gloucestershire to stand at Kildangan Stud in Ireland.
One of the most memorable achievements of the 2005 flat season was that of the broodmare Star, who produced the group I-winning sprinters Pastoral Pursuits (Darley July Cup, Newmarket) and Goodricke (William Sprint Cup, Haydock) to enable her to secure the H J Joel Silver Salver for broodmare of the year. Full brothers Passtoral Pursuits and Goodricke were both bred by Tom Warner of Red House Stud in Exning, with the family stretching back some 30 years. This is a posthumous award following Star's death earlier this year. Pastoral Pursuits will now stand alongside his sire, Bahamian Bounty, at the National Stud in Newmarket.
Alma Taylor, manager at Red House Stud, said: "We are extremely pleased to receive this award, it is a great honor for the stud. To produce two fantastic performers from the one mare is just wonderful, particularly as we are only a small stud with nine mares at present...The only downside is we lost Star earlier this year -- she was in foal to Dubai Destination and sadly died in June. "
Cheveley Park Stud, having just missed out on some of the other awards, collects the TBA Silver Rose Bowl for flat Breeder of the Year. The highlights of 2005 for David and Patricia Thompson's operation were the group I wins for home-breds Peeress in the Sun Chariot Stakes and Nannina in the Fillies' Mile -- sired by the stud's stallions Pivotal and Medicean respectively.
Deerfield Farm, based close to Newmarket in Dullingham, takes the TBA Silver Salver, the special merit award for flat racing. This is in recognition of the fact that Motivator, rated the best winner of the Derby since Generous, was bred by the stud which is owned by Salah Fustok and managed by Bill Cowe.
Bill Cowe commented: "This was certainly a great year for the stud. We only have a dozen mares and there is no doubt that Motivator is certainly the best we have ever produced."The Langham Cup, the small breeder award for flat racing, goes to Louise Parry of the Pantycoed Stud in Pembrokeshire. The stud, situated near to the Preseli Mountains and renowned for producing Welsh Mountain ponies, has just a handful of Thoroughbred mares and bred this season's Irish One Thousand Guineas (Ire-I) heroine, Saoire - the first classic winner to be bred in Wales.
Louise Parry declared: "This is just an amazing thing to happen at the end of a wonderful year. I am absolutely thrilled to win this award, it is a great honor. I hope our success inspires other people and gives them all hope. We have seven in foal at the moment and around a dozen ponies at the moment. I purchased my first Thoroughbred mare in 1979 - it was really just a hobby to begin with and it was around eight years ago that we really started to set about it seriously.
Shade Oak Stud has once again come out on top in the battle for two of the national hunt awards. For the second year in succession, Alflora collects the Whitbread Silver Salver for leading British-based national hunt sire, with 26 winners of 38 races in the 2004/05 season worth over £520,000.
There is a tie for the Horse & Hound Cup, the award for individual chase winners, between two of Shade Oak Stud's stallions, Alflora and Rakaposhi King who were remarkably both responsible for 11 individual winners of 18 chases. For good measure, Shade Oak's late stallion Gunner B was in third placed with nine individual winners of 14 races.
Worth Matravers, a mare named after a village on the Dorset coast, is the winner of the Dudgeon Cup for leading national hunt broodmare. Lord Oaksey, 76, is the recipient of the Queen Mother's Silver Cup, the national hunt Achievement Award. He was twice champion amateur rider, with his best horses including Taxidermist and Bullock's Horn, while he also finished a gallant second on Carrickbeg in the 1963 Grand National. John also enjoyed a long and successful career as a journalist, where his highly-respected views could be read in the Daily Telegraph and the Horse & Hound, while he was also a regular and popular member of the racing team on ITV/Channel 4 television. In addition, he has also been a long-standing member of the TBA's national hunt Committee while his lasting legacy is the tireless work he has put in as a founder and trustee of the Injured Jockeys' Fund.
Philip Freedman, chairman of the TBA, said: "The past 12 months have seen some great successes by British-bred horses, with three of the five English classic winners having been bred in Britain. These awards reflect those achievements and proves that British breeders, both large and small, can continue to thrive in the modern racing world."
The awards will be presented at the TBA Awards Dinner at the Hyatt Regency London Churchill Hotel on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006, when the winners of two Special awards for contributions to the British Breeding Industry are announced.
For further information, please contact Louise Kemble, Chief Executive of the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, on 01638 661321
2005 BRITISH THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS' ASSOCIATION AWARDS
Queen's Silver Cup (leading British-based Breeder, flat earnings) - Shadwell Stud
BBA Silver Cigar Box (leading British-based Stallion, flat earnings) - Halling (Darley)
Barleythorpe Stud Cup (leading British-based Stallion, individual flat winners) - Royal Applause (Gainsborough Stud)
Tattersalls' Silver Salver (leading British-based First Season Sire) - Bertolini (Overbury Stud)
H J Joel Silver Salver (Broodmare of the Year, flat) - Star (Red House Stud)
TBA Silver Rose Bowl (TBA flat Breeder) - Cheveley Park Stud
TBA Silver Salver (Special Merit Award, flat) - Deerfield Farm
Langham Cup (Small Breeder Award, flat) - Louise Parry (Pantycoed Stud)
Whitbread Silver Salver (leading active British-based NH Stallion) - Alflora (Shade Oak Stud)
Horse & Hound Cup (leading British-based NH Stallion, individual chase winners) - Alflora & Rakaposhi King (Shade Oak Stud)
Dudgeon Cup (leading NH Broodmare) - Worth Matravers (Michael Dare)
Queen Mother's Silver Cup (NH Achievement Award) - Lord Oaksey
Duke of Devonshire Award - Announced on January 10
Dominion Award - Announced on January 10