Precious Byerley Turk line stallion Pearl Secret sold to continue stud career in Japan

Pearl Secret, the last Byerley Turk line stallion at stud in Britain, will relocate to Japan to stand at Ookaribe Farm in a deal brokered by Eoin Sullivan.

The Group 2 Temple Stakes winner had been in residence at Norton Grove Stud in Yorkshire since 2021, having begun his stallion career under the care of Roisin Close.

Sullivan revealed Pearl Secret had been a target of Dr Yuki Shimomura, owner of Ookaribe Farm, for a while and that the scarcity of his bloodline was the catalyst for the acquisition.

He said: "He's been keen on Pearl Secret for some time. Not only was he a classy sprinter, he's one of the very few horses continuing the Byerley Turk sireline. I think he'll prove to be quite an interesting proposition for some Japanese breeders."

Ookaribe Farm is a relatively new breeding operation in Japan, but Shimomura is one of the country's leading equine vets, having worked for the globally renowned Shadai Farm.

Through Sullivan, his Irish agent, Ookaribe Farm earlier this year purchased a young American Pharoah filly out of Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Flotilla at Arqana, with Shimomura keen to expand access to differing bloodlines.

Pearl Secret is the prime example of that. By Compton Place, he was bred by Whitsbury Manor Stud and Pigeon House Stud out of the Rossini mare Our Little Secret.

His genetic value lies primarily in his status as one of the final stallions at stud descended from the Byerley Turk, considered one of the three foundation stallions of the thoroughbred.

Champions of the sport are descended from the charger who, legend would have, was foaled in a part of the Ottoman Empire that corresponds to modern-day Serbia. 

His exact origins, however, may never be known. What is beyond dispute is that he was the charger of Captain Robert Byerley and they both survived the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, a notorious and pivotal event in the relationship between Ireland and the United Kingdom.

He is the ancestor of Herod, who was champion sire on multiple occasions in the late 18th century and sired Highflyer, another multiple champion sire and whose grandson Diomed was one of the foundation stallions of the thoroughbred in North America.

Herod is also the ancestor of The Tetrarch, the hugely influential Ballylinch stallion of a century ago.

Eoin Sullivan: "Not only was he a classy sprinter, he's one of the very few horses continuing the Byerley Turk sireline"Credit: Alisha Meeder

Pearl Secret is a direct descendant of Marcel Boussac's Djebel, the French-bred son of Tourbillion who has been the main conduit for the sireline in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Djebel, successful in the Middle Park Stakes, 2,000 Guineas, Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe during a racing career that coincided with World War II, spent his entire stallion career at Boussac's Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard.

His son Clarion is the grandsire of Lorenzaccio, who defeated Nijinsky in the Champion Stakes in a massive upset.

Lorenzaccio sired leading sprinter Ahonoora, who kept the line going with his sons Indian Ridge and Inchinor, but left his mark mainly as a broodmare sire through his daughters Park Appeal and Park Express. Ahonoora is also the broodmare sire of Acclamation, sire of Dark Angel and Mehmas.

Indian Ridge is the sire of July Cup winner Compton Place, whose best offspring other than Pearl Secret – Deacon Blues and Borderlescott – were geldings.

Pearl Secret, a 20,000gns October Yearling Sale purchase by Yeomanstown Stud from the Harpers' Hampshire farm, was bought by David Redvers at the Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale for £90,000.

Sent into training with David Barron for Pearl Bloodstock, Sheikh Fahad's initial racing and breeding vehicle, he won on his sole juvenile start in October 2011 and progressed from handicapper to Listed winner in a sequence of three unbeaten runs as a three-year-old. 

Pearl Secret's only start at four came in the King's Stand Stakes, in which he was third to Sole Power.

At five, he won the Listed Beverley Bullet and was runner-up in the Temple Stakes, a race he would win as a six-year-old, when he was also fourth to Goldream in both the King's Stand Stakes and Prix de l'Abbaye.

Kept in training at seven, his best result was when fourth to Profitable in the Temple Stakes. He was purchased for 42,000gns by Salcey Forest Stud at the end of that season.

On both official and Racing Post Ratings, the highest-rated of his progeny is the quadruple winner Designer, from his first crop and who from a pedigree perspective is very interesting as both her sire and broodmare sire Notnowcato are direct descendants of Ahonoora, thereby doubling up on the Byerley Turk blood that Pearl Secret's new owner is so enthusiastic about preserving.

His second-best performer, Rhythm N Hooves, is also inbred 4x4 to Ahonoora through the gelding's broodmare sire Acclamation.

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