Havana Grey’s unheard of height restriction – here’s the long and the short of it

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Here, Martin Stevens speaks to Joe Callan of Whitsbury Manor Stud about the major talking point that is the unusual stipulation concerning Havana Grey's book of mares – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

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It’s been the talk of sales-house bars, social media and WhatsApp groups since Whitsbury Manor Stud announced its covering fees on Tuesday: why on earth does Havana Grey now come with a height restriction for mares?

Putting out a ‘you must be this tall to ride’ sign for a sire is pretty unheard of in the bloodstock industry, and it’s not as if there haven’t been other horses at stud whose physiques more obviously required specific mating choices.

After all, stud staff have a few tricks up their sleeves for ensuring that stallions and mares of unequal size are mated successfully and safely, whether it is a low ramp to gain height, or a lined, shallow depression in the floor to diminish it.

So what’s the truth behind that unusual new rule for sending a mare to one of the most exciting sires in Europe, left tantalisingly vague in Whitsbury Manor Stud’s press statement earlier this week? I spoke to the operation’s head of bloodstock and sales Joe Callan to find out what’s going on.

“Havana Grey isn’t a large horse, he’s 15.2½hh and quite deep and short-legged with it,” he says. “He started out covering smaller, butty commercial mares but after that breakout year with his first two-year-olds, the bigger mares started visiting him and we noticed very quickly that those were the ones who were returning to him to be covered again, as they weren’t going in foal.

“He’s got amazing libido and great fertility, but it became evident that a few of those big mares were pushing him too far. It was very hard work for him, and he made himself sore and unhappy with the effort.”

But what about the ramp? That’s what all the horsemen and women reading that will no doubt be shouting into the screen. The ramp will surely sort it! 

“We hear that regularly,” says Callan with a sigh. “We’ve tried three different ones with different surfaces, including one with coconut matting, and he just doesn’t like any of them. He isn’t steady, and he definitely isn’t happy. 

“However, when he is given a mare who is 16hh or smaller, there’s no problem at all: the cover is quick and easy. The mare doesn’t need to return, so there’s a benefit to the breeder, and the horse himself is content and sound, which is important.

“It was quite simple to work out what the issue was and how to remedy it, and last year when we kept him to 139 mares, all of whom were 16 hands and below, he had a fantastic season. From there it made sense to make it the rule going forward, in the best interests of breeders and the stallion.”

Callan insists that the restriction on Havana Grey’s book – mares who are 16hh or smaller only, to be clear – is not actually that restrictive anyway. 

“The majority of mares fall into that bracket,” he says. “I’ve been at Tattersalls this week and you don’t see that many fillies who are a lot bigger. It’s only the regular size, really. 

“It’s not like we’re taking only small maiden mares, either. In fact, if the mare is 15.2hh or smaller and hasn’t had a foal before, we wouldn’t encourage people to risk using him and getting a stunted foal. 

Joe Callan: 'It became evident that a few of those big mares were pushing him too far'Credit: Alisha Meeder

“The ideal mare for him would probably be close to the height limit with some depth, and who has already had a foal. That way the foal should be a nice size.”

Still, I can’t help but have a pang of regret that Havana Grey might miss out on covering some taller, rangier, middle-distance mares to get Classic performers, even Derby or Oaks horses, as other sprinters who started out at cheap fees and upgraded their covers did before him. Will this prevent him taking his place alongside Ahonoora, Danehill Dancer and Pivotal in the history books?

“If you look in the Weatherbys Return of Mares you’ll see some very good milers and miler-producing mares visited him this year, and of course that’s absolutely fine if they’re the right size, we welcome those with open arms,” says Callan. 

“Does it rule out the big, burly 16.2hh mile-and-a-half mares, though? Yes, I’m afraid it probably does, and we might never know what we’ll miss out on there, but I can only repeat that the majority of the mare population is the right size and the decision has been made for the horse’s welfare.

“It’s worth pointing out, too, that everything he’s achieved so far has been from those small, compact commercial mares, so it might be no bad thing that he continues to get those types, just much better examples of them.”

For the record, Havana Grey’s 2024 book, which he covered at an increased fee of £55,000, included 55 black-type performers led by Group 1 winners Glass Slippers, Mabs Cross and Sky Lantern. He also received the dams of Accidental Agent, Aclaim, Anmaat, Audience, Big Evs, Chaldean, Makarova, Romantic Warrior, Vandeek and Viadera.

I’m bound to admit that some of those matings could well produce a Guineas winner, even if my ambitious idea of an Epsom Classic hopeful by him might never be realised. 

Either way, nobody could argue that the stallion hasn’t deserved that sort of patronage. His first three crops, mostly bred from modest mares at small fees, now encompass 36 black-type horses, led by Group 1 performers Arabian Dusk, Havana Cigar, Jasour, Shouldvebeenaring and Vandeek.

“We were delighted with what he did this year,” says Callan. “It was his third crop of two-year-olds from yet another ordinary book of mares, and he still managed to get a high-class filly in Arabian Dusk.

“His current foals are the ones conceived after his first season with juveniles at an increased fee of £18,500, and looking through the Tattersalls December Sale catalogue you can see a clear difference in the quality of their pages. Yet his last yearlings from lesser mares still sold for up to half a million this year, which shows demand for him.”

The Havana Grey filly out of Ealaan sells to Amo Racing for a Book 3-topping 200,000gns last monthCredit: Laura Green

Havana Grey’s outstanding exploits have given Whitsbury Manor Stud the high-class problem of demand for spaces in his book far outstripping supply in the past three years. Callan was actually hired after the sire’s freshman season, in part to help manage the steep increase in the farm’s custom. 

“The trouble is there just aren’t that many slots in his book available when you take into account mares owned by breeding right holders and ourselves,” says Callan. “We limit him to 140 mares and that leaves only around 80 nominations to be sold. That means that unfortunately it’s impossible to accommodate everyone who wants to use him.

“It’s led to some tricky situations in the past two years, especially after his first season with two-year-olds. With the benefit of hindsight, that €18,500 fee was obviously too low, but we were cautious because we knew he had weaker books to run, and we weren’t sure whether he’d repeat what he’d done. 

“Of course it turned out that he did, that he really is an elite sire, and as it is we’re delighted that our clients were able to access him at that price, and will hopefully be financially rewarded and keep their own breeding businesses going. 

“It meant I had to summon all my diplomatic skills at times, but we always do our best to help everyone when we can. Inevitably we end up disappointing some people but it’s never personal towards them or their mares. It can be hard but I count myself lucky to be working with an incredible horse and team.”

Callan confirms that Havana Grey’s ‘private’ fee for 2025 has been revised upwards from £55,000 this year, but won’t be drawn on a specific price.

He says: “The reason is there’s no point in putting a price out there, as it’ll only encourage people to ring up and say ‘put me down for four or five nominations’ when that’s just not possible. We’d encourage people who have a suitable mare and want to use him to phone us for a discussion and we’ll take it from there.”

Perhaps a son of Havana Grey standing at Whitsbury Manor Stud would help alleviate some of the pressure on his old man. Some are already being snapped up by other operations, with Vandeek retiring to Cheveley Park Stud and Shouldvebeenaring booked for the Irish National Stud.

“Who knows what the future will bring,” reasons Callan. “I’m sure Ed [Harper, Whitsbury Manor Stud director] wouldn’t mind a son of Havana Grey, but equally I know we wouldn’t ever have one just for the sake of having one. 

“It’s all about standing a horse who fits the bill for the stud and our clients, who ticks all the usual boxes, rather than one by a certain sire. Look at Havana Grey himself: I think it’s fair to say that nobody set out to get a son of Havana Gold, but he had a lot else in his favour and he’s turned out all right.”

It’s not all about Havana Grey at Whitsbury Manor Stud, of course. There are three other stallions on the Hampshire farm’s roster: the stalwart Showcasing, leading freshman Sergei Prokofiev and this year’s new boy Dragon Symbol.

“Showcasing has had a frustrating year as he keeps hitting the crossbar,” says Callan. “It’s been incredible. He’s getting top-class horses, from two-year-olds to Classic performers and older sprinters, but they’ve just come up short in big races.

Showcasing: hitting the crossbar in 2024Credit: Whitsbury Manor Stud

“Kathmandu was beaten on the nod in the Pouliches, Swingalong was a narrow runner-up in three Group 1s, and even this week Qirat was second in a Listed race at Nottingham, albeit beaten a fair way. 

“It’s been a bit painful but at least he’s showing he can still get smart ones, and he’s maintained support from breeders and in the sales ring. He’s still got some very exciting books of mares to come through, too.”

Sergei Prokofiev’s strong start to the season, with Arizona Blaze winning the first two-year-old race in Britain and Ireland at the Curragh and that colt and the equally precocious Enchanting Empress scoring in stakes races before the end of May, surprised the Whitsbury Manor Stud team.

“When we saw how big they were as yearlings we assumed they might not fit into our usual MO of being extremely sharp and early horses,” says Callan. “We thought they would be better over seven furlongs towards the end of the season, and even Arizona Blaze looked like a horse in that category.

“Instead he got off to an incredible start, and he’s top of the first-season sire table by winners and prize-money. But from speaking to trainers we still firmly believe that they’ll be better next year, after they’ve had more time to mature.”

High-class sprinter Dragon Symbol covered a full debut book of 140 mares this year, with Whitsbury Manor Stud lending him the usual strong home support.

“His book filled easily,” says Callan. “We sent him a lot of nice mares, as did our clients, and we’ll do the same again next year too, as it’s so important for these young stallions to have the soldiers on the ground. He’s a gorgeous horse with great libido, he’s fantastic in the shed. I’m really looking forward to seeing his foals.”

Yes, it’s all business as usual at Whitsbury Manor Stud, apart from that extraordinary announcement about new Ts & Cs for mares going to Havana Grey in future, which has set tongues wagging this week. 

“We’d have loved not to have had to do it; trust me, my job would be a lot easier without the restriction,” says Callan, an affable soul who formerly served as nominations manager at the National Stud. “We tried everything we could think of not to have to go down this route.

“It’s a difficult situation to manage, but anyone else in the same position, where there’s a clear solution of how to manage a horse and keep him comfortable, and most importantly get mares in foal without having them coming back and increasing his workload, would do the same.”

Indeed, it is probably the case that Havana Grey’s requirement of small mares only is far from unique in the history of the stallion business. The world will keep on turning, the horse will still sire classy performers in spades.

What is different, and refreshingly so, is the Whitsbury Manor Stud team’s willingness to discuss it publicly. That transparency, letting everyone know where they stand, deserves to be congratulated. 

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