I am please to inform you that AppleTree welcomed our first new arrival of the 2022 breeding season when our maiden mare Sleepless delivered a fine filly foal by Dandy Man at 10.30pm on Monday night. She weighed in at 47kg's which is big enough and we look forward to seeing her grow and develop over the coming months. The filly sets Sleepless on her way as a broodmare.
AppleTree had another nice result at the sales this week when lot 89 Sea The Moon x The Pirates Queen filly 21 achieved £16,500 when selling to Dan Astbury and Tim Talbot. Our filly behaved well at the sales and i feel she was liked by those who viewed her, she was on the small side but will grow as she is a May Foal. Evie as we called her has the pedigree behind her and would like to take this opportunity to thank Dan Astbury and Tim Talbot for there support, we wish them the very best of luck with her in the future. Also a Very big thank you to all that viewed Evie and supported her in the ring.
AppleTree stud are pleased to offer lot 89 a Sea The Moon x The Pirates Queen 21 filly at Goffs UK January Doncaster sale, by a sire who has done very well over jumps in recent times and the only weanling offered by him in the sale. Evie as she is know at home is a May foal so has growing to do. From a fantastic family of top class mares being out of THE PIRATES QUEEN (a listed winner over hurdles) who is a full sister to KATIE TOO (also a listed winner and G2 placed). Evie is full sister to LUNAR SHADOW in training with Alan King and a winner already. Her movement will continue to improve with time and being 100% GBB registered is sure to be a great prospect for the mare NH program. We look forward to seeing you all in Barn D box 229 from midday Monday 24th January. Do not hesitate to contact me for further information as the filly is there to sell.
Sales season ended very well for AppleTree at Tattersalls December sales this week with Sherbet Lemon lot 1730 achieving a whopping 450,000gns yesterday. Our listed Oaks Trial winner was very popular throughout the sale and confidence was high entering the ring. It was a shame to see her go but she has gone to a very good hotel by being bought by Highclere's Jake Warren. Tomorrow's Dream came later in the day and made 150,000gns to round of the sales say in style. She is a home bred stakes placed filly and sure to be a great producers, Tomorrow's Dream is off down under having been bought by Boomer Bloodstock and all at AppleTree would like to wish the very best of luck with her. I'm also pleased to say we are bringing Inchicore home. she failed to realize what I thought she was worth. I think this was down to here listed 3rd being achieved after the catalogue was printed and possibly the fact she went through early in the day. Inchicore will have a little break then go back into training with Alan King as both Alan and I feel she will train on as a 5yo before we retire her to paddocks. Being by champion sire Galileo means the future bodes well for her.
The dust has not yet settled on AppleTree's fantastic result at the Foal sale on Friday 26/11/21 and we our straight into the mares sale with 3 top draw offerings. First up is lot 1610 Inchicore (Galileo x Luas Line) she is a stunning mare by the all conquering Galileo whos broodmare sire stats are second to none out of a G1 Winning mare Luas Line. Inchicore is a winner of 2 races at 3 and 4 years and since the catalogue has been printed she finished 3RD in the Prix Du Grand Camp at Lyon gaining the all important black type. She is a great broodmare prospect but I'm also convinced she is not finished on the race course. she will improve as a 5yo and there would be nice prizes in her next season. Lot 1730 is next SHERBET LEMON (Lemon Drop Kid x Famous) another stunning filly from AppleTree and a striking grey she is a 2 time winner one of those being the Listed Lingfield Oaks Trail has size, scope and being by Lemon Drop Kid she fits all top European sires. Top class broodmare prospect out of a G1 performing full sister to Mastercraftsman Last up lot 1885 Tomorrow's Dream (Oasis Dream x Midnight Thoughts) She was a tough race horse winning 3 races at 2 and 3 years, a Glorious Goodwood winner she is listed place and finished 4th in the Princess Elizabeth Stakes on Derby day. Oasis Dream is a fantastic Broodmare sire. if you our looking for a mare to produce runners and winners she is the one for you.
The Tattersalls December foal sale turned out great in the end. We started the day offering our Oasis Dream x Midnight Thoughts colt lot 807 but unfortunately he did not make the money required. This shocked me as he is a fine colt with a 2A scope and clean x-rays, we will probably reoffer him in the autumn yearling sales. He will be a fine yearling and his half sister by Kingman realized 300,000gns in Book2. We had a solemn hour be for our Too Darn Hot x Astonishing filly went through the ring and my confidence was dented significantly. She entered the ring and interest was high although when she stalled at 50,000 my heart sank a little before Anthony Stroud entered the ring. He engaged in a little battle with Richard Brown which saw the hammer go down at 270,000gns with a winning bid from Anthony Stroud. Too Darn Hot x Astonishing filly is a cracking foal, she has a lot of quality vetted well and is sure to be a race horse. We would like to wish her new owners the best of luck and thank everyone who supported her.
AppleTree offer 2 cracking foals at Tattersalls December Foal sale. First up is lot 807 a good looking son of Oasis Dream out of AppleTree's Midnight Thoughts. He is a full brother to listed placed Tomorrows Dream and a half to our Kingman yearling filly that realized 300,000gns at October Book 2 sales. Oasis Dream x Midnight Thoughts colt goes through the ring early on Friday 26th of November. Next up is a lovely filly from the first crop of Too Darn Hot, the filly is out of AppleTree's top mare Astonishing. Our Too Darn Hot x Astonishing filly is great mover with a good page being a half sister to 2 stakes performers and out of a stakes winning Galileo mare we have the all conquering Dubawi, Galileo mix. the filly is lot 850 also on Friday the 26th of November be sure not to miss her.
AppleTree had a fantastic result in France this afternoon when Inchicore (Galileo x Luas Line) gained the all important black type when finishing 3rd in the Listed Prix du Grand Camp over 1m4f at Lyon Parilly. The Alan King trained filly as been unlucky not to achieve this before having finished 4th in a couple of G3's earlier on in the season. Inchicore is the type of filly that will improve with time and further she will be a better 5yo. She is in the December mares sale at Tattersalls and goes through the ring on Tuesday 30/11/21 lot 1610.
INVINCIBLY followed up his Ayr win in fine style at Newcastle making virtually all the running under a well judge ride from Clifford Lee to win the MansionBet Beaten By A Head Handicap over 1m. The Karl Burke trained 3yo broke well and made his way over to the stands side, Clifford measured the fractions to perfection holding off Bringitonboris by a neck. INVINCIBLY looks progressive and we will probably give him another run with a view to seeing can he shape into an all-weather finals candidate.
The dust is now settling on our adventure to Tattersalls Park Paddocks for book 1 & 2 sales and its safe to say there was more up than down. I would compare the sales to riding at the Cheltenham Festival in March, when its going well it is paradise but when its going wrong it stops short of being hell on earth. First up was our Book 1 offering lot 393 Dark Angel x Astonishing, before arriving at Tatts i thought she was our jewel in the crown, I still think she is but we did not get the same reception in the ring. She is a well put together daughter of Dark Angel with a decent walk, looks to be a 2yo runner with scope and is half sister to stakes horses. Also being the same cross as recent G1 winning 2yo ANGEL BLEU thought she would hit the highs. However as her sales time approached it was clear she was friendless, we failed to get the price required so she has come home and will go into training with Archie Watson which is not the end of the world as I think she will be special. We were then straight into Book 2 and to say my confidence was a little dented is an understatement. Our first offering at book 2 was lot 551 a very neat Showcasing x Fearns Pippin filly. She is a great example of a first foal which is a good positive for her dam. She walked very well and looks every inch a 2yo. She was popular and well liked when being viewed. Being knocked down to Amanda Perret for 60,000gns was a fantastic result as i know she will be looked after and have areal chance. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Amanda the very best of luck with her. Next up we Had our Sea The Stars x Her Terms colt lot 609. He is a compact strong individual looks a sure fire 2yo with great bone, however there were no surprises here as we feared he would be struck of the list for his size or lack of it. He was busy with views and second views but I know when it came down to the crunch he was struck off for being too small. I tweeted before he went in the ring "blink and you'll miss him". Well you all blinked and you all missed him. He is a rocket and will go into training, look out for him at next Junes Royal meeting. It is safe to say that AppleTree saved the best till last in our Kingman x Midnight Thoughts filly. She is a fine big filly with great movement and I know its a cliché but she thrived at the sales, she improved each day with each viewing and lapped up the attention. With over 100 viewings and being vetted on several occasion our confidence was slowly restored. We walked up to the ring feeling safe that we would get the 150,000gns bid required, when she doubled that I was Speechless. She was knocked down to John Gosden and Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock for 300,000gns and to have an icon of our sport buying from our young farm was an incredible result. We would like to wish her new connections good luck with her but also everybody that supported her, we again look forward to following her on the race course. As a signing off I would like to thank Paul, Denise and the Dunkley family, the result was 100% deserved for all they have put in here at AppleTree and for being given this opportunity. I used to say I had the best job in racing working for Alan King. Now I say I have the second best job in racing. I would also like to say a very big thank you to my team, Jonny Sutton and Agata Strzalkowska the result is all down to them. I am Immensely proud of them and there continued search for perfection.
