Cover image courtesy of Zuzanna Lupa
It’s amazing the rare gems that can be found when sifting through a catalogue. In July 2020, when the whole world was deep in the doldrums of a global pandemic, bloodstock agent William Johnson happened to come across an unraced filly in the Inglis Digital July (Early) Online catalogue and after studying her pedigree he knew almost instantly she could well prove to be a shrewd investment.
The filly in question was an Australian-bred daughter of Pride Of Dubai named Miss Balooshi, who is a herself a daughter of Group 3 winner Acts Of Grace (USA) (Bahri {USA}), meaning she is a half-sister to Listed-placed dam Contradict (GB) (Raven’s Pass {USA}), the dam of subsequent sire Mishriff (Ire).
Miss Balooshi | Image courtesy of Arqana
Further back, the filly’s third dam is top-class producer Rafha (GB) (Kris {GB}) and she in turn produced 11 winners spearheaded by G1 Haydock Sprint triumphant turned top-class stallion Invincible Spirit (Ire).
A timely update
As fate would have it, only a few days before the horse came available online Mishriff added further prowess to the already high-class family when he produced a commanding performance to land the first of his three Group 1s, the G1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly.
With the knowledge of this timely update, Johnson knew Miss Balooshi would likely be a smart investment for resale in the Northern Hemisphere, being confident that her pedigree would hold more weight on the opposite side of the globe.
“It was an online sale during COVID and I was just going through the catalogue and I noticed that Mishriff was on the pedigree. As an avid follower of European racing, I obviously knew that he had just won the Prix du Jockey Club and I thought it was a family that would resonate in Europe,” explained Johnson.
To help get the venture off the ground, Johnson could think of no one better to turn to than Haras d'Etreham’s Nicolas de Chambure.
“I got to know Nico when I was working with Hubie (de Burgh) and he is such a progressive, forward-thinking industry leader in France I thought he would be the ideal person to connect up with for this venture. I knew the pedigree would have a lot of weight in Europe and I just knew that someone like Nico would appreciate that,” explained Johnson.
“As an avid follower of European racing, I obviously knew that he (Mishriff) had just won the Prix du Jockey Club and I thought it was a family that would resonate in Europe... and I just knew that someone like Nico (Nicolas de Chambure) would appreciate that.” - William Johnson
Once again, Johnson’s instincts proved correct and the Frenchman signed up straight away and the pair eventually managed to land the filly for $55,000.
A twist of fate
First stop for Miss Balooshi was Yarraman Park’s star stallion I Am Invincible. However, plans were temporarily veered off course when she failed to get in foal.
“At first, we had the idea of putting her in foal to I Am Invincible on Northern Hemisphere time and breeding from her,” he said.
William Johnson | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
“She also didn’t go in foal to I Am Invincible, because it is quite difficult to get them to cycle and get them to click on a Northern Hemisphere cover through the middle of the summer, effectively when their reproductive system has shut down for the year.”
But in a more positive twist of fate, Mishriff was adding further value to the family. The son of Make Believe (GB) was an imperious winner of the Saudi Cup in February 2021, before taking out the G1 Sheema Classic in March and by August he was a three-time top-flight scorer after running his rivals ragged in the G1 Juddmonte International.
With Mishriff’s exploits on the racecourse, Johnson and de Chambre changed course and decided to export the filly to France and mate her to a Northern Hemisphere-based sire. In the end they elected to send her to Ireland to be covered by one of Darley’s burgeoning stars in Night Of Thunder (Ire).
Night Of Thunder (Ire) | Standing at Darley Europe
Such is the son of Dubawi’s (Ire) appeal, he is about to cover his eighth book of mares at a career high fee of €100,000 (AU$156,700), with the hike largely down to the exploits of his superstar daughter Highfield Princess (Fr), who enjoyed an insatiable summer in Europe, which saw her string together three Group 1s on the trot.
“We chose Night Of Thunder because he was set to have some really good books coming through because of his significant fee increase over the last few years,” explained Johnson. “He obviously had Highfield Princess as his flag-bearer this year and so obviously it came together nicely when she went through the other night.”
“We chose Night Of Thunder (for Miss Balooshi) because he was set to have some really good books coming through because of his significant fee increase over the last few years.” - William Johnson
A different appeal
Having spent much of his formative years in the industry in Europe, Johnson is well aware that pedigree-appeal differs from country to country, continent to continent and said he enjoys the task of connecting up pedigrees and placing them in the jurisdiction where each particular family can have the most resonance and therefore the most value.
“I do love looking at all continents and finding those mismatched pedigrees that should be in a different country,” explained Johnson. “I have had success privately doing that in Japan, where there have been stakes winners and I have found family members scattered around the world and then purchased them for Japanese clients.
“There might be a stakes winner in America that has significance in Australia or Europe that has more weight in America. I think pedigrees are still very much continent oriented and you have to understand the value of a pedigree in each part of the world.
“We valued this mare’s pedigree in Australia differently to how we valued it in Europe. The angle is extracting the value of the pedigree in the right hemisphere and that is something I love doing.”
“We valued this mare’s (Miss Balooshi's) pedigree in Australia differently to how we valued it in Europe. The angle is extracting the value of the pedigree in the right hemisphere and that is something I love doing.” - William Johnson
As for Miss Balooshi, she was purchased by Preferred Equine and Johnson said her price-tag did take him slightly by surprise but given the health of the global bloodstock market coupled with her pedigree and her covering sire, the stars had to some extent aligned in their favour.
“I was surprised with what she ended up making, but when we valued her we did think she was probably going to make upwards of what we paid for her and he would have been happy to roll her on and keep the foal if she happened not to make (her) reserve.
“Pride Of Dubai only stood in Europe once, but he was actually quite successful with limited opportunities. There are also not too many mares with the second dam as Rafha so I think that also appealed to the market. It is hard to get into these families and I think the Night Of Thunder aspect also helped her make what she did.
“It required a lot of patience after missing the first year and then having to wait another year to get her in foal, but the cheapest thing in racing is patience and sometimes you do have to go with what you think will work longer term and it’s definitely worked out on this occasion.”
