'I'm told we got the best young sire in France' – an update from the rising force that is Capital Stud

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On this occasion, Martin Stevens chats to Capital Stud head Ger O’Neill about the operation's burgeoning roster – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

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Capital Stud is sitting pretty with the sire of a long odds-on shot for one of the most prestigious novice races at the Cheltenham Festival next month.

The County Kilkenny operation’s principal Ger O’Neill isn’t crowing, though, as new recruit Martinborough’s son Majborough is as short as 8-15 for the Arkle only because his main rival Sir Gino has been ruled out for the season due to injury. Nor is the international showjumper counting his chickens, as he is well aware that there are no certainties in steeplechasing.

“It’s such a pity what’s happened to Sir Gino as it looked like being a great match between him and Majborough, and to be fair Sir Gino probably had the edge on ratings,” he says. “Still, Majborough isn't home and hosed – you never know what’ll happen in the Arkle, with novices going so quickly. There’ll be no room for mistakes.”

Majborough, who was sent out by Willie Mullins to win the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham last year and to cruise to a nine-length victory in the Irish Arkle at Leopardstown this month, was bred in France by Hubert Langot and hails from the small third crop of Martinborough.

The sire was bred by Northern Farm in Japan and is by the country’s late sire phenomenon Deep Impact. His unraced dam Halwa Song is by Nureyev and out of a Blushing Groom full-sister to Rahy, while his full-brother Frere Jacques was a Grade 3 winner and his half-sister Halwa Street produced three individual top-level scorers in Cheval Grand, Verxina and Vivlos.

The beautifully bred horse did his bit to maintain family honour by winning a pair of Grade 3 contests over ten furlongs at Chukyo and Niigata, before being retired to stud in France as European breeders cottoned on to the charms of his sire. He covered at Haras de Grandcamp from 2017 until 2022 and was based at Haras de la Baie for the past two breeding seasons.

Martinborough has compiled some seriously good statistics from relatively small numbers. His first crop of 51 foals included Mika D’o and Le Garlaban, Listed winners on the Flat and over jumps respectively, as well as Flat Listed-placed Central Park West and other National Hunt black-type performers Bella Scintilla, Diavolezza and Inspace.

His second crop of 38 foals included Auteuil Listed hurdle winner Edwina and multiple Listed hurdle place-getter Lion Kirikou, and his third crop of 31 foals includes not only Majborough but also Prix Saint-Alary runner-up and Saratoga Oaks scorer Elusive Princess, who changed hands for €480,000 at the Arqana December Breeding-Stock Sale last year.

Majborough: dual Grade 1 winner and red-hot Arkle favouriteCredit: Patrick McCann

Remarkably, a third of his fourth crop – seven out of 21 – have already won, in spite of being only four years old. One of them, Golden Belle, achieved a high rating on the Flat.

Explaining how Martinborough arrived at Capital Stud, O’Neill says: “We had him on our radar for a while, but hadn’t pursued him because we had Triple Threat, who had a pretty similar profile. But sadly Triple Threat then passed away last year, and so we immediately tried to get him as a replacement.

“John Dwan and Nicky Bertran de Balanda were really helpful in organising for us to see the horse, and when we saw him we knew we had to have him, as he’s an impressive model with a very good walk and a great temperament. Luckily we managed to get a deal done.”

He says that the striking near-black horse has been given a warm reception from Irish breeders and that, perhaps even more tellingly, his export has caused a little consternation among those in the know in France.

“He’s gone down really well,” he continues. “He’s not a huge horse, he’s about 16.1 hands, but there’s a lot of length to him and he moves very athletically. All the bigger breeders here have seen him, and he already has a lot of mares booked in, including some black-type. He’s going to get a very good book.

“I think people appreciate that he’s achieved very good stats from humble beginnings, and they like that he offers something different in terms of pedigree, when outcrosses are so badly needed. 

“It’s funny, when we got him a few French journalists rang up and said his stats are as good as any of the emerging young jumps stallions in France, and better than most. I remember one in particular was very bullish, and declared that we had the best young sire in France. I didn’t argue!”

O’Neill confirms that many of the investors in Triple Threat – including financier and breeder Cormac O'Flynn, point-to-point handler Donnchadh Doyle and showjumpers Greg Broderick and Darragh McCarthy – are involved in Martinborough too.

Authorized: headline act at Capital StudCredit: Capital Stud

“It’s nice that everyone came back in on this horse,” he says. “We had to lay down the money to persuade the previous owners to sell him, though. I’m proud to be able to do deals for these sires with the right profiles when we haven’t been in the business that long. Four years ago these people wouldn’t have entertained us. We’ve come a long way very quickly.”

Martinborough makes plenty of appeal but he isn’t the biggest superstar on the Capital Stud roster. That honour belongs to Derby hero Authorized, sire of multiple top-level winners in both disciplines, including Australian champion Hartnell on the Flat and dual Grand National victor Tiger Roll over jumps.

The son of Montjeu was the subject of an audacious purchase from the Turkish Jockey Club and now covers jumps mares at a private and premium fee. 

“He gets winners just about every day of the week, and some very nice ones too,” says O’Neill. “Anzadam in particular has looked like a machine for Willie Mullins, so it’s disappointing that he’s been ruled out for the rest of the season, but at least he’s shown the quality his sire gets.

“Authorized has already had a few foals this year for some high-end breeders, and they’ve reported that they’re happy with them. He’ll cover another nice book.”

Recounting the unusual tale of how the sire was repatriated from Turkey in this space last year, O’Neill said he expected him to cover around 100 mares that season; fewer than might have been expected for a horse of his stature, because he wasn’t all that reliable in the covering shed.

However, Authorized ended up exceeding that target by 39. His book included classy racemares Legacy Gold, Poetic Music, Sensulano and Zambella, and the dams of Bravemansgame, Campeador, Champ and Rathvinden.

Explaining the bigger than expected turnout, O’Neill says: “He’s still a bit of a tricky breeder, but we eventually got a better handle on him. We got used to him and he got used to us, and by the back end of the season he was doing much better. Now we’re hoping he’ll start this season like he finished the last one.

Mirage Dancer: "I'd say he’ll be close to covering 200 mares again this season"Credit: Capital Stud

“He’s in great form and he's put on a bit of weight since last year. We hope we have him for a few more seasons, but he’s 21 and when horses get to that age you can’t take him them granted. Every cover is a little victory.”

Martinborough and Authorized’s colleague Mirage Dancer has been a bit of a talking horse. The strapping bay son of Frankel and Heat Haze, who was a Group 3 winner in Britain and a Group 1 winner in Australia, has covered big books in his first three seasons at Capital Stud – 154 in 2022, 204 in 2023 and 139 last year – and his progeny have been popular at the sales.

“His first two crops of foals have sold unbelievably well,” says O’Neill. “Last year they averaged about €14,700 off a €3,000 colt fee and €1,500 filly fee, so just about all the breeders made money. One made €44,000 and all the right people have been buying them, like the Bleahens and Tally-Ho Stud.

“They’re just big, gorgeous horses. You’ll see one walking in the yards on the sales grounds and there’ll be three or four lads going after them to ask what it is. I’d say he’ll be close to covering 200 mares again this season.”

Interestingly, O’Neill attributes a good chunk of Mirage Dancer’s popularity to the fact that National Hunt breeders are lowering their expenditure on covering fees in order to maximise profits in a sticky market.

“The thing with those elite sires like Walk In The Park and Blue Bresil, and of course Authorized now, is if you breed a small filly foal and get €12,000 for her it’s a disaster as you’ve not covered your costs,” he says. “But if you get a small filly foal from Mirage Dancer and get only €5,000 for her you’ve still just about washed your face. There are only a few stallions in Ireland who can do that. I’d say Dee Ex Bee and Santiago are among the others.

“Equally, though, I think people are catching on to the fact that if they send him a black-type mare and get a nice colt they can sell for €25,000 off a €3,000 cover, that’s a better result than getting €30,000 to €40,000 for a colt by one of those far more expensive sires. It’s not so far to fall, and that’s become very attractive.”

Capital Stud started out as a National Hunt stallion stud but branched out into the Flat with the acquisition of Alkumait in 2022. That side of the business comes to fruition this year as the Showcasing half-brother to Chaldean, winner of the Mill Reef Stakes in his pomp, has his first two-year-old runners.

Alkumait: Mill Reef Stakes winner has his first runners this season

“We’ve got 20 of them that we either bred or bought, and the reports from the pre-trainers and trainers have been good,” says O’Neill. “Some of the guys have put them in the top two or three horses of their total intake.

“We’ve got some with James Barrett and Ciaran Murphy, and we’re sending a few to Britain, including to Gary Moore. We’ve held back a few as they look as though they’ll be later. They’ll all likely run under the Capital Stud banner, we just need to get our colours sorted.

“We think it’s important to support our own stallions and their stock. A lot of people in this game don’t do that, but we always said from the start that we were going to put our money where our mouth is. We can’t race them all, but we’re in the market and want to push them forward.”

Capital Stud’s second Flat stallion, Castle Star, had four foals born in his first crop at the time of our conversation. You can’t blame O’Neill for saying that first impressions of the new arrivals by the Marble Hill Stakes winner and Middle Park Stakes runner-up, a son of the ever reliable Starspangledbanner, have been positive.

He adds that the team has big plans for the Flat this year, and so we should “watch this space”. This operation has grand ambitions, it seems.

Happily, it also appears that the new kids on the block in the stallion game have quickly worked out that they need to operate in symbiosis with their clients, and are keen to foster a cooperative relationship with them.

“We know that breeding racehorses isn’t profitable for everyone at the moment, so we’re trying to be as accommodating to mare owners as possible,” says O’Neill. “We’re lucky that they supported us from the start, and now we want to keep them coming back. 

“We’ll do what we can to make things better for them if they don't produce the sort of foal they wanted, and we're determined to showcase the stallions ourselves to help make their stock more valuable. We strongly believe that if breeders are winning, we’re winning, and vice versa.”

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“He has a 57 per cent strike-rate of winners to runners and the clever guys would tell you he’s improving mares by maybe 20lb,” says Phil Cunningham as he offers free nominations to his stallion Rajasinghe.

Pedigree pick

No prizes for originality, as it’s another Charlie Appleby-trained newcomer. But Magical Treasure, who has her first outing in the ten-furlong fillies' novice stakes at Chelmsford on Thursday (8.00), really is beautifully bred.

The three-year-old is a Sea The Stars full-sister to Prix de Royallieu heroine Sea Silk Road, and a half-sister to three other winners including 12-time winner and 100-rated Andaleep. Her dam Oriental Magic is a Listed-winning Doyen half-sister to smart stayers Oriental Eagle and Oriental Fox.

Magical Treasure must score highly on looks too, as Godolphin went to 575,000gns to secure her from breeder Kildaragh Stud at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

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