'I'm delighted for Granda' - sibling of Classic-winning Mac Swiney sets new high for Clare Manning

A familiar connection was restored at Tattersalls on Wednesday as a new member of Jim Bolger’s operation joined Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin ranks.

The breeding, owning and training polymath was the first on the phone to his granddaughter Clare Manning, who had just completed a personal best for selling a yearling though her Boherguy Stud.

Anthony Stroud had the final say on a Mehmas half-brother to Bolger’s Futurity Trophy and Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Mac Swiney for 800,000gns.

The elder of the chestnut pair, who was standing his first season as a stallion this year at Anngrove Stud, was sired by Derby winner New Approach, who was one part of the Darley and Bolger axis and is out of a mare by a more successful Darley stallion, the former champion two-year-old Teofilo.

"He was absolutely over the moon," said Manning once she had filled her granddad in on the details. "We’ve had a good rapport with Godolphin over the years, so it’s nice to see him going to a good home.

Mac Swiney won the 2021 Irish GuineasCredit: Patrick McCann

"I thought we were going well but I didn’t expect to be going that well and to have Blandford [Bloodstock] and Godolphin get in a battle and get to 800, it’s unbelievable."

The colt was the only lot Manning offered at Book 1, with a small draft at next week’s Book 2, and he was part of a selective process put in place by Bolger, who still operates both Redmondstown Stud and his Glebe House training stables.

"We weren’t selling him as a foal and we sat down and talked about it early springtime, kind of decided he was our one," explained Manning.

"We felt he was good enough that he could come here and stand out. Mac Swiney is a bit of a rangier horse, this lad really is a bit more a cross between Teofilo and Mehmas, a bit more compact.

"He’s a May 10 foal but doesn’t look like a May foal at all, he’s really strong and if I counted how many times people commented on his walk . . . he’s just go the smoothest action."

The colt’s dam, Halla Na Saoire, did not race but is a sibling of Bolger’s Leopardstown Derby Trial winner Light Heavy, as well as to the dam of his Dewhurst scorer Parish Hall.

Mac Swiney was famously inbred 2 x 3 to Galileo and Bolger had opted for a different route with Mehmas. Manning imagined that the Tally-Ho sire, who Halla Na Saoire is now back in foal to again, made an additional impact.

"Mehmas was just a bonus after the year he’s having with the National Stakes winner [Scorthy Champ] and the filly who won the Marcel Boussac [Vertical Blue], everything kind of played in our favour," she said.

Clare Manning, pictured at Boherguy StudCredit: Patrick McCann

"I’d have to say Tattersalls have done a serious job, the amount of international people over here; just look at the results. It’s been absolutely phenomenal, I don’t think anyone thought it was going to be this crazy."

Manning, whose jockey father Kevin was in the plate for so many of those major occasions, added: "This is the best yearling result I’ve ever had. I started in 2019, I think this is my third time offering at Book 1.

"I’m delighted for Granda and all the lads that bred and reared him. It’s a team effort so it’s nice to see when you get a result like that."

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