I KNOW how Martin Stevens, an occasional columnist here in The Irish Field, feels. This week he was compelled to explain himself, and justify why he pens so many pieces about Havana Grey (Havana Gold).

With four pages of breeding stories to write each week, I too wonder that sometimes it feels like Groundhog Day, and the same sires keep cropping up, week in, week out. That said, it is impossible to ignore the continuing success of horses such as Galileo, Dubawi, Frankel, Invincible Spirit, Dark Angel and many more, as they deliver at pattern level with such regularity.

Taking almost as much room as these, it sometimes seems, is the aforementioned Havana Grey, and there is a good reason why. Every month of his short career to date at stud has brought more and more good news for the Whitsbury Manor Stud sire, and last weekend he delivered the first of what will surely be many Group 1 winners.

The story of the Prix Morny winner Vandeek is featured here, and it had a prior outing elsewhere in the paper when the colt created fireworks at this year’s Tattersalls Craven Breeze Up Sale, selling for a staggering 625,000gns from Roderick Kavanagh’s Glending Stables. That young Co Kildare man paid 42,000gns for Vandeek as a yearling, a price that represented a loss to Childwickbury Stud who had given 52,000gns for him as a foal.

Vandeek faced eight rivals at Deauville, and beat Ramatuelle to win for KHK Racing, provide a first Group 1 success for the training partnership of Simon and Ed Crisford, and he was given a perfect ride by Andrea Atzeni. This was the colt’s third start and win, and followed his Group 2 Richmond Stakes victory during the rain-soaked Qatar Goodwood Festival.

Unbeaten

The unbeaten grey juvenile is out of the £800 purchase Mosa Mine, a placed daughter of Exceed And Excel (Danehill). Vandeek was bred, reared and sold by Kelly Thomas of Maywood Stud which was founded 20 years ago in 2003, and the breeder was celebrating a first Group 1 win for her farm in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Vandeek’s victory for KHK Racing, the racing entity of His Highness Shaikh Khalid Al-Khalifa, makes it their second Group 1 after winning the St Leger last year with Eldar Eldarov. The Bahraini owner is relatively new to ownership and has enjoyed a dream start, thanks in the main to bloodstock agents Oliver St Lawrence and Anthony Stroud.

Present to witness this great moment, breeder Kelly Thomas took time out on her way home to talk about the experience. She said: “We went to Havana Grey as we had to be commercial, being a small stud, and we need to produce horses that are attractive in the sales ring. It was a Covid year, so we limited ourselves to using only British stallions.

“I spoke with Ed [Harper] about it as we were using Showcasing that year, and he was really enthusiastic about Havana Grey. They had every faith in him and were using him plenty on quality mares. So that, combined with pedigree, made it a no brainer.”

Challenges

Discussing the challenges for small breeders, Thomas added: “The plight of the small breeder is never easy. We have to produce things for the sales ring to make money to reinvest all the time. When that doesn’t go right you can find yourself having to beg, borrow and steal from your family members to try to keep things going.

“It’s not always easy to do, but I’ve been determined to keep going. I feel it was my calling. I can’t believe we’ve actually done it. To all the small breeders out there, don’t give up, keep going! You get repaid in the end. We are absolutely thrilled.”

No less pleased with the victory was Ed Harper. He told GBR International: “Vandeek’s win was just fantastic. He obviously looks like a seriously good two-year-old to stay unbeaten. It looked like a particularly good Prix Morny, with the best of Ireland, France and England all going there. It will be exciting to see what he’ll do as a three-year-old.”

In case you thought it was a misprint earlier, the dam of Vandeek, Mosa Mine, did sell as a four-year-old to Jill Lamb for just £800, acting for Kelly Thomas who had actually bred the filly. In an 11-race career, this £9,000 yearling purchase was in the care of four different trainers, and on her first outing for Jane Chapple-Hyam she was beaten just a head in a five-furlong maiden on the Kempton all-weather at three.

Potential champion

Mosa Mine repaid £282 of her £800 purchase price by Maywood Stud when she was placed, and then it was off to stud. She failed to become a sixth successful runner from 13 foals for her own dam, the French three-year-old winner Baldemosa (Lead On Time), but Mosa Mine has more than made up for that in the breeding barn. Her first five foals have proven to be winners, while failing to make money for their breeder on four occasions, and now she is the dam of a Group 1 hero, and a potential juvenile champion.

All of this will be music to the ears of Kelly Thomas, and will be a huge benefit should the breeder chose to cash in on Vandeek’s success and sell this year’s colt foal out of Mosa Mine, a son of Starspangledbanner (Choisir), in the autumn.

Vandeek’s win has righted a wrong, giving fresh blacktype to the pedigree after it failed to be present under his second dam. This was only an aberration, as Baldemosa is a winning half-sister to the Group 1 Prix Robert Papin winner Balbonella (Gay Mescene), and she went on to be a most prolific breeder of high-class runners. That list included champion European sprinter and successful sire, Anabaa (Danzig), and the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches-French 1000 Guineas winner Always Royal (Zilzal). The last-named bred the Japanese champion juvenile filly Shonan Adela (Deep Impact).

Second crop

What a second crop Havana Grey has sired, all from coverings at £6,500.

Vandeek is now an unbeaten Group 1 winner, Jasour won the Group 2 July Stakes, Elite Status’ three wins include the Group 3 Prix du Cabourg, Graceful Thunder’s three wins number this month’s Listed Prix de la Vallee d’Auge among them, Havana Cigar’s only defeat came behind Elite Status in the Group 3 Prix du Cabourg, while Symbology won on her debut and ran third in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes. Two more from this crop of juveniles have been stakes-placed.

That all adds up to eight stakes-performers among this year’s 22 individual two-year-old winners by Havana Grey. Meanwhile, his first crop, now aged three, contains eight stakes winners at present, headed by the Group 3 winners Mammas Girl, Eddie’s Boy, Lady Hollywood and Rumstar.

What fee will Havana Grey command in 2024? To date he has stood for £8,000 (2019), £6,500 (2020), £6,000 (2021 and 2022), and this year he was £18,500. Predictions to leopowell@theirishfield.ie and let me know what you think it will be, and why you chose that figure.