We welcome our first arrival of the 2026 breeding season at 3am this morning. Heavenly Breath (Dark Angel x Astonishing) delivered a fine Too Darn Hot Colt. The little fella was very uncomplicated with a text book birth, he stood within an hour and was quick to suckle from mother. He is Heavenly's second foal having a Sea The Stars yearling already here on the farm.
King Al opened his account over hurdles today at Ludlow by winning the Racing To Schools Juvenile Hurdle by a neck form Talakan. Alan had slight concerns about the ground but after Tom Bellamy had walked the track the decision was made to run. On paper there was little pace in the race so we decided to pop King Al out in front while also looking for better ground where Tom could find it. The plan worked out well gaining a relative easy lead allowing Tom and King Al to dictate the race before scoring by a neck. The result was a welcome winner as we have had a quiet winter on the runners front, I think King Al is still immature but has the size to make up in to a nice chaser in time, we will let him tell us what is the right route to take with him and give him some time to make up with probably one more run before the end of the season and a break.
AppleTree have added another home bred winner to our tally today with DR OMRAN winning the Group 3 Premio Guido E Alessandro Berardelli over 1m 1f at CAPANNELLE (ITY). The result is particularly sweet as he is a stakes winner too. We sold the Palace Pier Colt at Goffs UK Premier yearling sale last summer and this result makes AppleTrees statistics look good as well. We are now 20 AppleTree bred winners from 28 runners with 6 of these horses being black type performers. The winners also give us comfort that the farm is producing nice stock and will help future clients have confidence in the horses we offer at sales. DR OMRAN is out of AppleTrees foundation mare ASTONISHING making her 6 winners from 7 foals of racing age and we have retained 2 half sisters, Heavenly Breath (Dark Angel X Astonishing) a Group and Listed place mare with a cracking Sea The Stars foal on the ground, she is in foal to the excellent Too Darn Hot and RUMBA NUMBA (Too Darn Hot x Astonishing) an 85 rated winning filly in training with Roger Varian she looks likely to gain black type next season.
AppleTree had a decent sales week this week at Tattersalls Book 2 & Book 3 sales. We went there with 4 offerings but wasn't sure what to expect after a very polarized sale the week before at Book 1. We started with Book 2 on Tuesday and first up was lot 541 Oasis Dream x Absolute Blast Filly. She is a nice filly out of group performing Absolute Blast who is 3 winners from 3 runners so there is plenty going on on the page. The filly was popular with plenty of viewings and went in to the ring with 4 vetting's so I was confident we would get her away and was happy to let the market decide her value. Oasis Dream Absolute Blast Filly ended up makin 75,000gns which was a good result with a profitable outcome. She is heading out to the USA being bought by Tropical Racing INC. Next was our flashy Newbay x Astonishing Colt lot 589, again he had plenty of viewings and was very busy although he let himself down in a couple of shows which was frustrating but also had the 4 vetting's going up to the ring. I was expecting around the 100,000gns mark so for him to push on to 140,000gns was a nice result. He was knocked down to Blandford Bloodstock and will go into training with James Horton. Not quite the fireworks of last year but solid I think is the right expression. On to Book 3 where we also had 2 offering. First into the ring was lot 1440 Mohaather x Fearns pippin Colt. He is a very strong good moving colt and to be honest was a yearling I loved all the way through his prep. However his sire is on the cold side and we as a team had to encourage people to look at him, once seen they liked what they saw. Interest did increase as his sale approached and he was very popular up at the ring. The Mohaather Colt was bought by Alex Elliot for 32,000gns in the end who is a good judge so I feel my thoughts about the colt were reinforced a little. I was however a little disappointed as I felt he deserved to make 40,000gns +. Last up was lot 1520 Gayyath x Midnight Thoughts Colt, a massive individual to say the least standing at 16'3 and possibly pushing 17h. He was always going to be tricky as I presume most viewers would be thinking he was too big. On the plus side for him all his siblings have been similar and they have all been race horses although needing time to grow into there frame. He was bought by Peter Whatley for 18,000gns. AppleTree Stud would like to thank everyone who came to view our yearlings, supported us in the sales ring and wish the very best of luck to all the purchasers.
Absolute Star won for the second time this season when winning the Byfleet Handicap over a mile at Kempton this evening. She travelled powerfully just behind the leader before picking up well after turning in under Rossa Ryan to go on and win by 1 1/4 lengths from Kitaro Kich. We will see what the handicapper does to her but she looks in good form and fingers crossed she can follow up before the turn of the year. The win was also decent timing as we offer her half sister at Tattersalls Book 2 yearling sales next week. Lot 541 the Oasis Dream x Absolute Blast filly is a good looking, good moving individual sure to make a racehorse and a good broodmare prospect. As well as this winning update the filly is also full sister to duel winner Blast The Dream, she sells on Tuesday and is available for viewing from this Saturday.
Sales season is upon us again and seems to have come round very quickly. AppleTree have 4 offerings this year for Tattersalls yearling sale starting with 2 for Book 2 next week. First up is a stunning Oasis Dream filly lot 541 out of Absolute Blast, she is a full sister to a winner of 2 races Blast The Dream(RPR 84) who is still improving, she will win again before the end of the season and improve through her 4yo season. This Yearling Filly looks a racehorse and would be a fine Broodmare prospect also. The dam Absolute Blast is 3 winners from 3 runners. Shortly afterwards we have lot 589 a racey Colt by New Bay out of Astonishing. He is a good moving individual and very neat. The Mare Astonishing hasn't missed in regards to her offspring there are group and listed performing half brothers along with Heavenly Breath a group 3 and listed placed Mare with her first foal on the ground a Colt by Sea The Stars. Lot 589 oozes quality and we would have high hopes for him. As soon as we finish Book 2 we are into Book 3 also with 2 offerings. Lot 1440 Mohaather x Fearns Pippin Colt. This Colt is a very solid individual and just wants to please, he's took his prep very well and has done nothing but improve all the way through. I honestly had him down for a Book 2 candidate but book 3 is what Tatts offered so we find ourselves here. I hope he stands out in this sale. He is a half brother to Orchard Keeper who is rated 93 OR and 97 RPR she has finished 4th in a listed race and I hope at the time of the sale she has gained black type of some description as she runs in the Beckford Stakes at Bath tomorrow (09/10/25). AppleTrees last entry is lot 1520 Ghaiyyath x Midnight Thoughts Colt. This fella is a big scopey individual, Midnight Thoughts his Dam again has never missed being 5 winners from 6 runners. He is a half to Daydream Express a listed winning and group placed Mare, the only runner she has had not win is Katharla who finished second at Yarmouth on Monday (06/10/25) and is a winner in waiting. All of this family are guaranteed racehorses.
King Al (Al Kazeem x Rhossini) gave AppleTree a welcome winner at Newbury tonight out Battling Sir William to win the Highclere Castle Gin Handicap over a 1m2f. The result did make me smile because of the horses names, King Al trained by Alan King and the 2nd horse Sir William being trained by William Haggas, both horses had cleanly be named after there great trainers and even better men. We have waited a good while for this winner to come on account of the dry weather and the ground being so quick so the timing with the rain coming yesterday was perfect. I'm sure King Al can progress out the back of this race and with the continued ease in the ground. We have 3/4 horses in the exact same position regarding the fast ground so I'm sure AppleTree will have a good autumn and finish to the season.
Absolute Star (Dark Angel x Absolute Blast filly) opened her account this afternoon at Doncaster by winning the Weekend Winners On At The Races Handicap over 1m. The 4yo filly has been disappointing on the whole as I had high hope each time she has run. Her 3 Novice runs were all decent but since then she had been beset with niggling problems. However this time around she got a clean run into the race with regards training and won well in the end. Always in the right place she had a smooth run through the race before making slightly hard work of it, she won the race well in the end by 1 & 1/2 lengths from Cancan In The Rain. We will see what the handicapper does to her and let her progress through out the rest of the season. Lets hope Absolute Star can build on this as she is a filly I've always held in some regard.
Rumba Numba (Too Darn Hot x Astonishing) home bred 3yo filly showed her potential this evening at Wolverhampton by winning the Visit wolverhampton-racecourse.co.uk To Book Now Maiden Fillies' Stakes over 1m tonight by 1 1/4 length from the Gosden trained favorite Miss Justice. To be honest it was a relief after her disappointing run at Yarmouth the time before. She is a filly that we have have always loved, I adored her as a yearling at home, Malcolm Bastard liked her in pretraining and the reports have always been good from Roger Varian. Jack Mitchel gave her a supreme ride being sympathetic but keeping her in touch giving her every chance to be produced up the straight. I do hope there is more to come but she is one ear marked to come back to the stud for a second career as a broodmare once Roger has taken her as far as he can.
AppleTree had a good result yesterday as Cheerleader won the Join Racing TV Now Handicap over 5f at Redcar today. The filly was bred by AppleTree Stud and is the first foal of home bred mare Sleepless (Shalaa x Midnight Thoughts) so its nice to get her of the mark. Cheerleader was sold at Tattersalls Sommerville sale to Karl Burk for 12,000gns but has since changed hands joining Tina Jackson and owned by racing personality Dereck Thompson. Sleepless has a Ardad 2yo filly coming through and a cracking Stradivarius yearling filly here at the stud. AppleTree would like to congratulate winning connections and widh them the very best of luck with the filly in the future, we will watch with interest.
