INVESTING €110,000 in a foal to resell as a yearling can be a daunting experience. At last year’s Goffs November Sale Brendan Holland of Grove Stud did just that when he purchased a mid-April foaled colt by Lope De Vega (Shamardal) out of Lucky Clio.

This half-brother to five winners at the time of his sale was bred by Cherry Faeste and she had purchased the dam Lucky Clio (Key of Luck) through Brian Grassick Bloodstock as a three-year-old for just 17,000gns. I say ‘just’ because the then three-year-old had been in the frame on half of her six starts, and her value was somewhat less than the €130,000 she brought as a yearling.

Three of the first five winners out of Lucky Clio were stakes-placed. Three-time winner Central Square (Azamour) was third for Roger Varian in the Group 3 Royal Whip Stakes at the Curragh last year, dual winner Kingsdesire (King’s Best) was placed in the Group 3 Dee Stakes for Marco Botti, while the durable Lucky Beggar (Verglas) has won six times, initially for Charlie Hills but latterly for David Griffiths. His placed efforts, including this week, number among them a third-place finish behind Garswood in the Listed European Free Handicap.

Capping all of these performances however was the recent victory of their half-brother Phoenix Of Spain in the Group 3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes at York, his second victory in three starts. He is trained by Charlie Hills and he has some tasty entries, including in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes. A 78,000gns foal buy, be transformed into a 220,000gs yearling, almost tripling his value in less than a year. Can Brendan Holland do even better?

The omens are good as Lot 383 in the upcoming Goffs Orby Sale is that Lope De Vega yearling, but what is not immediately evident on the current sale page is that he is a full-brother to Phoenix Of Spain. What an update to have, and it could even be better by sale time.

While Lucky Clio may have failed to live up to expectations on the racecourse, she has more than made up for it at stud. Her six winners have come from her first seven foals and runners, and that could become a 100% record if her only other non-winner, the three-year-old Game Player (Dark Angel), can improve on his second place finish on his penultimate start for Roger Varian.

Meanwhile, at home Cherry Faeste has a colt foal by Awtaad (Cape Cross), a member of the first crop of that Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas winner.

Phoenix Of Spain is from the fifth crop of the Ballylinch Stud stallion Lope De Vega and is that sire’s eighth stakes winner of the year. He is the second juvenile of 2018 by the stallion to land a stakes victory, Natalie’s Joy having won the Listed Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Rose Bowl Stakes at Newbury last month. Previous crops have yielded half a dozen Group 1 winners, Santa Ana Lane winning three in Australia, Vega Magic winning two down under, Belardo capturing the Dewhurst Stakes at two and the Lockinge Stakes at four, The Right Man winning the Al Quoz Sprint, Carla Temptress taking the Natalma Stakes and Jemayel winning the Prix Saint-Alary.

A dual classic winner of the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) and Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby), the good-looking Lope De Vega started his stud career at only €15,000, dropping for years three and four to €12,500. Instant success at stud has seen his fee increase every year and this year it stood at €60,000.

The emergence in recent days of a number of rising stars among his two-year-old crop, along with some stunning sale results at Deauville, would indicate that the rest of 2018 will be a good one for the sire himself, Ballylinch Stud – and hopefully Brendan Holland.