'We're so lucky to have him' - Blue Bresil stars on opening day of Land Rover

Blue Bresil's emergence as one of the most exciting sires on the National Hunt scene has seen his stock in huge demand at the sales as buyers clamber for offspring of Rathbarry Stud's leading light.

On the opening day of a buoyant Goffs Land Rover Sale, no horse floated as high as Blue Bresil, whose seven offspring through the ring realised an aggregate €780,000 for an impressive average of €111,429.

Top of the charts was Clonmult Farm’s gelding out of a half-sister to American Mike who went the way of Highflyer for €150,000. Springhill Stud's gelding was bought by Ryan Mahon and Dan Skelton for €135,000, while two more sons achieved €120,000, with Lakefield Farm selling the first foal out of a placed sister to Warriors Tail to Aiden Murphy and Kim Bailey, and Gerry Hogan securing Killeen Glebe's gelding (inset) out of a sister to Grade 2 winner Askanna, dam of Minella Cocooner.

For Rathbarry Stud's Paul Cashman, the co-operative nature that Blue Bresil is transmitting to his progeny and their athleticism are what sets the stallion and his offspring apart.

"What you love about Blue Bresil is that he throws a lovely stamp of a horse, they’re very easy horses with a great step to them and great minds,” he said. “They’re very straightforward and anyone who has them loves them because of their temperaments and how easy they are to do anything with.”

Unbeaten novice hurdler Constitution Hill has brought the full glare of the spotlight upon Blue Bresil, but the stallion is not just a one-horse sire - if he was, there would not be anything like the level of demand seen in the ring.

His seven-year-old son Blue Lord was a dual Grade 1 winner last season for Willie Mullins, Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, and the champion trainer also has his exciting Grade 1 Punchestown bumper second Redemption Day.

"Constitution Hill obviously helps a lot and when you have horses like Redemption Day coming through as well, it makes a difference," said Cashman.

"It's all about those young horses coming through. There are those coming through from the point-to-point field that are going to make nice track horses, so we’d be hopeful the future looks good for him."

Paul Cashman: future looks bright for Blue BresilCredit: Patrick McCann

The exploits of Constitution Hill and Blue Lord, as well as the demand for Blue Bresil's first Irish-bred crops in sales rings, have ensured the son of Smadoun is one of the most popular stallions in the country.

"If we had another Blue Bresil we’d fill two books,” said Cashman. “We're so lucky to have him and are delighted with how well he’s doing.”

Two of the Blue Bresil septet, including the gelding out of a half-sister to Gold Cup runner-up Sir Rembrandt sold by Rathbarry to Ballycrystal Stables and David Mullins, have Rathbarry’s former king Presenting as their broodmare sire. Cashman pointed to statistics that illustrate just how potent an influence the deceased champion sire will be in that sphere.

He said: "I was looking at a very good stat the other day from the point-to-point sphere, because another of our stallions, Shirocco, is leading point-to-point sire this year and if you look at maternal sires, Presenting has 45 winners as a maternal sire and Oscar, who is next to him in the list, has 23, so Presenting was one away from having double the number of winners that Oscar has.

“That tells you how big an influence he’s going to be as a broodmare sire. As good a champion sire as he was himself, he’s going to be such an influence as a broodmare sire, probably better even.”

The presence of Presenting as damsire in a pedigree attracts the attention of many buyers at the sales and Cashman, who is better placed than most to evaluate the stallion's legacy, noted the physical attributes that come through in his daughters' foals.

"Whatever it is about Presenting mares, you talk to any breeders who have them, and they can pick them out in a field of however many mares,” he said.

“You see the Presenting coming through in their foals, it's an amazing influence. We don't have many National Hunt mares but are lucky to have a couple by him and they’re like gold dust now because of what he passes through. You can see it in that stat from the point-to-point season."

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