Broodmare Focus: Talent

Talent's name always indicated that the daughter of derby winner New Approach was out of the ordinary & she certainly proved that she very talented. Trained by Ralph Beckett, Talent was a homebred of Ashbrittle Stud. 

The filly started out her career in a maiden at Newbury as a 2yo. She came third that day. She was seen out a few weeks later in a maiden at Kempton. She duly obliged winning by a neck. She was then put away for the season. Talent made her 3yo debut in the Listed Pretty Polly stakes, a trial for the Epsom Oaks. In her stakes debut she won comfortably enough. Talent was then put away for the following months Group 1 Epsom Oaks with connections quietly confident that she would play a massive role in the race. Talent lived up to her billing when running out a 3 length winner of the fillies classic at 20/1. She performed dissapointingly in the Irish Oaks before producing a career best in the St Leger. It is fair to say Talent hasn't performed as credibly this year & after a dissapointing few starts the filly was retired to stud. 

Talent is the second foal out of the stakes placed mare Prowess. She has also produced Skilful, a stakes placed 1/2 brother to Talent. She has a 2yo unraced full sister to Talent named Forte & a yearling colt by Fastnet Rock, who sold to Coolmore for 320,000gns as a foal last year.  

Prowess, a daughter of Peintire Célèbre is a 1/2 sister to a pair of stakes performers/producers in Genoa & Clipper, the dams of stakes winners Brindisi & Mister Tee, who was also placed in the Group 2 Futurity stakes. They are out of the Group 3 Rockfel stakes Yawl. 

The third dam Bireme, was also successful in the Epsom Oaks. She went on to produce Group 2 placed Sambuk & is the grand dam of listed winner & Group placed Staying On. This is also from the family of Group 1 winners Nannina, Mail The Desert & Norse Dancer. 

Talent's pedigree means that she is open to some top class sires like Oasis Dream, Dubawi, Invincible Spirit & Dansili. Being a grand daughter of Galileo, she could be given the option of going to a son of Galileo which has been practised widly in breeding. If she were mated with a son of Galileo for example Frankel, the resulting foal would be inbred 2x3 to the exceptional sire and 4x4 to champion broodmare sire Rainbow Quest. A mating that sounds fascinating would be with Galileo's 1/2 brother the brilliant Sea The Stars, he shares the same sire line as Invincible Spirit & Oasis Dream plus he is having an exceptional year at stud. 

Talent is without doubt a very valuable asset to Ashbrittle Stud's broodmare band.