JIM Bolger recently spoke of his plans to consolidate his business, selling one of his farms and dispersing a number of his stock. If you think for a second that this means an end to his ambitions, forget it. Indeed, his comment that he wants to have this year’s champion two-year-old should not be dismissed, and the colt he could do it with is Mumhan (Mehmas).

What’s more, anyone could have owned this colt as he was offered from Jim’s granddaughter Clare Manning’s Boherguy Stud in the Goffs Orby Book 1 Sale last year, led out unsold at €30,000, Given his sire’s record, and the fact that he had four winning siblings, this price would seem to have been value. However, no one was tempted. Imagine what he is worth now.

With an Irish name, something close to Bolger’s heart, Mumhan made a belated debut at the Curragh last weekend and won. The trainer immediately nominated the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes at Leopardstown as his next target, after which it will be interesting to see what happens. A Group 1 win would normally be the minimum necessary to be crowned champion juvenile. Jim believes he is that talented.

Wise decision

It is interesting that Mumhan’s yearling half-brother by Space Blues (Dubawi) had been catalogued in the recent Tattersalls Ireland Yearling Sale, but was withdrawn the week before the auction

Did Jim know how good Mumhan was and decide to keep the yearling? If so, he made a very wise decision. Mehmas continues to get Group 1 winners, most recently Wise Approach who is reviewed elsewhere in this week’s column.

Mumhan is the fifth winner from eight runners for the unraced Yes Oh Yes, a daughter of Gone West (Mr Prospector). Bolger likes to buy into American bloodlines and has enjoyed great success over many decades from doing so. He bought Yes Oh Yes in 2008 as a yearling at Keeneland through BBA Ireland for $250,000, though this was not her first visit to the sales, having realised $80,000 as a foal. Her previous winners include the listed Curragh winner Wexford Native (Teofilo) and last year’s stakes-placed juvenile Monotone (Verbal Dexterity).

The dam line traces back to Lady Winborne (Secretariat), and her best runners were the Grade 1 John Henry Handicap winner Al Mamoon (Believe It) and the Keeneland Grade 1 winner La Gueriere (Lord At War). Among the good winners descending from the latter is Munnings Speightsown).

New sire for Whitsbury Manor is a proven formula

THE Harper family has enjoyed huge success with sires in recent years, and for 2026 they have gone back to a source they know well. The family bred Elite Status, a son of Havana Grey (Havana Gold), and he is from that stallion’s second crop.

Havana Grey had five stakes winners in his first crop, headed by the triple group winner Rumstar; his pattern wins included the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes at two. The second crop included Vandeek, who recorded a Group 1 juvenile double with wins in the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes, and is now a Cheveley Park Stud stallion. That crop included other two-year-old group winners in Jasour and Elite Status, and the latter will doubtless be a popular addition to the stallion ranks next spring.

Whitsbury’s Ed Harper said this week: “We have loved everything about Elite Status since the day he was born. He knocked our eyes out as a foal at home, and its fantastic we now get to support him with our mares that have already bred top runners by Havana Grey. He’s not only a stunning looking horse, but he was rated 4lbs higher than his sire, and 6lb higher than his grandsire [Havana Gold (Teofilo)]; he’s the full package”.

Conceived when Havana Grey stood for just £6,500 [his last published fee in 2024 was £55,000], Elite Status sold as a foal for 56,000gns, but then provided a hugely profitable pinhook when he realised 325,000gns as a yearling in Tattersalls October Sale Book 2. He was sold to Karl and Kelly Burke.

Racing for Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, Elite Status made an impressive debut at two over the minimum trip at Doncaster, before being sent to Sandown for the Listed National Stakes. He was less than two lengths off the winner in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot in third, but was quickly back in the winning groove at Deauville when he beat the subsequent Group 1 winner Sajir in the six-furlong Group 3 Prix de Cabourg.

False Start

Elite Status made a fast start to his second season, winning twice at Newbury. He reserved his career-best run for the Group 3 Hackwood Stakes. Not only did he break the six-furlong track record at Newbury, but the three horses immediately in his wake were Group 1 performers Lake Forest, Kind Of Blue and Regional. His rating of 119 by the Racing Post was the highest they accorded a horse by Havana Grey, two pounds higher than Vandeek.

For those looking at his female family for clues about his potential as a sire, Elite Status delivers. His full-brother Soldier’s Heart (Havana Grey), a 425,000gns yearling, was a stakes-winning two-year-old last year. They are the first two foals out of Dotted Swiss (Swiss Spirit), a three-time winner over five and six furlongs. She is one of five winners out of the two-year-old winner Luxuria (Kheleyf).

Back in the third dam, which is very current, are a host of smart horses. Luxuria’s half-sister Sweepstake (Acclamation) was a fortuitous purchase by Denis Brosnan at Keeneland 14 years ago. A stakes winner at two of the Listed National Stakes, the race won on his second start by Elite Status, she went to the USA and won a stakes race at Fair Grounds. Brosnan paid $280,000 for her as a six-year-old.

Since she moved to Croom House Stud, Sweepstake has proven to be a money-printer with progeny making up to 2,400,000gns. That price was achieved by her Frankel (Galileo) colt who was named Diego Velazquez, and he recently won the Group 1 Prix Jacques Le Marois. He is the second top-flight winner for Sweepstake, following Broome (Australia). Runner-up at the top table in races such as the Tattersalls Gold Cup, Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at two and the Breeders’ Cup Turf, his well-earned Group 1 win came in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.

Sweepstake is unlucky not to have a third Group 1 winner. Her son Point Lonsdale (Australia), a full-brother to Broome, won a couple of times in Group 2 contests, but he found Native Trail too good when second in the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes.

Group 1 winners pop up with regularity under the fourth dam of Elite Status. The Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner Zoffany (Dansili) is one, while 2024 Group 1 Metropolitan Handicap winner in Australia Land Legend (Galileo) is another.