'I like looking at stats and they definitely figure in my mating plans' - Hanshen Tham on his recent run of success

Hanshen Tham's recent run of success can be put down to judgement rather than luck, with hours of research and studying paying off for the Malaysia-born go-getter. 

The computer science graduate recently added Classic victory to the breeding side of his extensive CV when Ten Sovereigns colt Gimme Love claimed the Spanish 2,000 Guineas for trainer Guillermo Arizkorreta. 

The three-year-old, bred under Tham's Pattern Bloodstock, was sold for €37,000 at the Goffs Sportsman's Sale in 2022 and has gone on to be a prolific winner in Spain for his connections. 

Tham says: "I've become good friends with Francisco Bernal, who I know from the sales scene, and he's been keeping me up to date with the colt's progress. 

"Gimme Love was a really nice yearling, a strong physical type and hardy fella, the trainer's done well with him and he's seemed to have progressed from run to run."

Gimme Love is out of the winning Lope De Vega mare Spanish Aria, a well-related sort as a daughter of a half-sister to Mukhadram and from the family of St Leger hero Mastery and Gran Criterium winner Kirklees. 

She was bought by Tham at the 2019 Tattersalls December Mare Sale and has plenty of youngsters in the pipeline for her owner to look forward to. 

Spanish Aria (right): dam of Spanish Guineas winner Gimme Love Credit: Mark Cranham

"She was a beauty and is by Lope De Vega, who I like as a damsire," says Tham, who has taken time out of his busy schedule to chat in a London cafe. "She has a Dandy Man we couldn't sell, so he's in training with Eddie Lynam, as well as a very nice Saxon Warrior filly foal. She's in foal to Teofilo now." 

Tham's introduction to racing came through family connections, specifically his father, although his passion for the sport only really began to flourish when he went to university. 

He explains: "My dad always had an interest in racing and he used to take us racing as kids. We moved here [from Malaysia] when I was about 14. I watched the weekend races like the Grand National, but I wasn't mad into racing then. That changed later on at university and I became obsessed!

"At first you look at the sport from the betting angle – I do love the actual racing – but then you start looking at pedigrees and it just gets deeper and deeper. examining why this horse is better than that horse. 

"At university I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I was so obsessed with racing that I thought I'd give it a go and luckily I found a way in."

That came when Tham was introduced to James and Sarah Nash, which led to him getting an internship at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing. He kicked on from there. 

"I was lucky that my dad knew James Nash, who is a trainer in County Kildare, and Sarah Nash at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing," he says. "I got an internship at ITM and from there I started going to sales and studying the horses." 

Tham's degree has been handy when it comes to combing through sire statistics and analytics, and he confirms it has played a big part in figuring out matings for his mares. 

"I do a lot of data work and I like looking at sires, who is over-performing and who is underperforming," he says. "I like looking at stats and they definitely figure in my mating plans. 

"I've got eight mares and they're all in Ireland for now; they're spread around a bit. I don't get involved in raising them, I leave that to the experts."

One particularly exciting prospect for Tham is Lillebonne, a winning daughter of Danehill Dancer. The half-sister to Pyledriver's dam La Pyle and to Grand Prix de Paris winner Mont Ormel has been a fine producer at stud, with four black-type winners or performers from six winners and runners overall. 

Her most recent stakes winner was Thornbrook, a Saxon Warrior filly who won the Listed Prix de Bagatelle at Chantilly last July for the Joseph O'Brien yard. She holds entries at the Curragh next week and in the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot.

She is a half-sister to fellow Listed winner and Group 2-placed Seisai (by Gleneagles), as well as Irish stakes winner and Hong Kong Group performer Circuit Stellar (Mehmas) and Irish St Leger Trial third Micro Manage (Rip Van Winkle).

Thornbrook: 2023 French Listed winner was another big result for Hanshen Tham as a breederCredit: Patrick McCann

On how he came to buy into Lillebonne, Tham says: "I go to a lot of sales, sometimes just to be there and meet people. I didn't know them but that's where I met Peter and Carol Henley, they were mad about this Mehmas colt foal at Goffs and they said to have a look at him. 

"I ended up buying him [Circuit Stellar] for €50,000 and I saw that the dam had produced lots of runners before that, so I thought I should get involved with them and buy the mare. 

"Lillebonne has been tricky enough to get in foal, but her Night Of Thunder yearling filly sold well last year – she's in America now. Lillebonne then missed a year but now has a really nice Saxon Warrior colt foal. She's currently in foal to Camelot."

Chatting with Tham, it is obvious that a lot of thought and due diligence goes into the choice of stallions.

"Every mare needs to warrant that cover," he says. "I like looking for value and for stakes performers. I like Camelot at the price; his stakes performers to runners ratio is very good for that price point. Lillebonne comes from a good middle-distance family so it's all about bringing it back to that. 

"I think Mehmas will have a big year, and obviously Havana Grey is right up there as well. Night Of Thunder has done well with speed influences so far, with the likes of Highfield Princess, but he's starting to get more Classic-type horses now, so it will be interesting to see how that develops. 

"I like the stallions who have got good runners to come, the ones on the up, as you can't just always use proven six-figure stallions."

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