Bloodstock Briefing: Succeeding by doing it for fun; Giles Pritchard-Gordon is riding high after Sunday's Group 1 win by Suances.
TWO of the Pritchard-Gordon brothers, Gavin and Grant, make their living from the horseracing and bloodstock industries. The third, Giles, chooses to gain much of his fun from it and that level of fun is currently high, for he is owner of dual 2000 Listed winner Hot Tin Roof and breeder of Sunday's impressive Group 1 Prix Jean Prat winner Suances.Shipping company Pritchard-Gordon Tankers is the means by which he finances his breeding operation of "half a dozen mares" and a racing string which also includes Prince Babar.
Pritchard-Gordon, whose former notable runners include dual Group 3 winner Heaven Knows and smart filly Harvest Girl, likes to enjoy his horses and relishes the quest for a bargain.
"I take the view that racehorses should take up a very small percentage of your wealth," he says. "I only pay as much as I'm happy to lose.
"Any old fool with money can breed something good. The fun is to get something good from not very much. I once got 80,000gns for a yearling bred from a pounds 1,000 nomination; that's the sort of thing I like."
Hot Tin Roof was one of the cheapest yearlings at the 1997 Tattersalls Houghton Sale at 16,000gns. Pritchard-Gordon, despite spotting a number of faults, thought her "racy and good looking" and so took a chance.
The superbly named filly (by Thatching out of No Reservations) went down by a head to Mount Abu when seeking her third Listed race of the year at Lingfield on Saturday, and Pritchard-Gordon now has his eye on the Prix Maurice de Gheest.
It may not be a coincidence that the Group 1 race is in Deauville. Asked why he often consigns yearlings at the Agence Francaise Sale there, he replies: "I love Deauville, love staying there and I'd rather be there in August than somewhere windy and cold-it's meant to be a sport, after all. It also means I get rid of the yearlings early and don't have to keep feeding them!"
Near Deauville is Haras du Quesnay, whose stallions feature frequently in Pritchard-Gordon's matings. "It's a very good stud and is excellent at getting mares in foal," he says.
To illustrate, Prince Babar's dam Bell Toll (out of Heaven Knows) has an Anabaa colt at foot and is in foal to Octagonal, while her daughter Angel Chimes has an Octagonal colt foal and is carrying to Bering. Another of his mares, Kalymnia, has an Octagonal yearling colt and a Highest Honor filly foal. All four stallions are from Quesnay.
Pritchard-Gordon, who is "always fishing" for mares, landed the German-bred winner Kalymnia for 16,000gns at the 1997 Tattersalls December Sales. She has developed into a nice catch, for her half-brother Kallisto won the Derby Italiano last month.
The tale behind the fishing that was associated with Suances' dam Prayer Wheel-a full-sister to Bell Toll-will be told tomorrow by Tony Morris. But it's fair to say this fishing trip produced Pritchard-Gordon's biggest yield.
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| Title Annotation: | Sports |
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| Author: | Hickman, Janet |
| Publication: | The Racing Post (London, England) |
| Date: | Jun 7, 2000 |
| Words: | 498 |
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