‘We nearly threw the telly out of the window!’ – Group 1 glory not the only cause for celebration for Ombudsman’s savvy breeder

James Hanly had at least two good reasons for feeling elated on Wednesday. The renowned breeder was not at Royal Ascot but in Greece for the wedding of his daughter, Rosanna. A proud moment for any parent, no doubt.

Despite being a couple of thousands miles away, he also found time to tune in to the racing before the ceremony began, and duly witnessed Ombudsman running out a dominant winner of the Prince Of Wales's Stakes. Cue some raucous celebrations.

“We were very excited, we nearly threw the telly out of the window!” Hanly says as he reflects on the events of Wednesday.

The master of Ballyhimikin Stud is no stranger to producing high-class horses. Among the graduates of the Nenagh nursery are the likes of Halfway To Heaven, Queen’s Logic, Society Rock and Victoria Road. When asked where Ombudsman rates among the Ballyhimikin roll of honour, Hanly says: “Oh he’s right up there. I’ve never had anything like this, this is on another level.”

Ombudsman was brought into the Godolphin fold at a cost of 340,000gns during Book 2 of the 2022 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. However, his dam had cost a mere fraction of that figure, having been purchased through Anthony Stroud for just 25,000gns in 2017.

Wednesday’s Group 1 winner is the second foal out of Syndicate, a Juddmonte-bred daughter of Dansili whose siblings include the Group 3-winning Runnymede and the dual Listed scorer Stipulate.

“I’d always look around the Juddmonte fillies when they’re selling them,” Hanly says. “She’s very correct and beautifully put together. Dansili is interesting, of course, and she’s from a good family. I gave her to John Feane to train and we won a race with her.”

Although that success came in a modest Ffos Las fillies’ handicap, Feane identified something about Syndicate that he felt Hanly should look to preserve during her paddocks career.

William Buick punches the air after winning the Prince Of Wales's Stakes on Ombudsman

Ombudsman was bought by Godolphin for 340,000gns at Tattersalls Book 2Credit: Edward Whitaker

“John recommended we must breed from her,” he says. “He liked her a lot and said she was very quick. John’s a very, very good trainer. He’s one of those under-the-radar lads, but we keep a few fillies in training every year and that fella can get a horse ready as good as anyone.”

The next piece of the puzzle was landing on the right sire. Ombudsman was conceived in Night Of Thunder’s fifth season at Kildangan Stud, when his fee had increased to €25,000 on the back of some impressive first-crop results.

Despite there being a scrum for Night Of Thunder’s services that year, Ombudsman is not the only black type winner Hanly has bred from that crop. He is also responsible for the improving Estrange, who was bred in partnership with Anthony Stroud and Trevor Stewart and was last seen winning the Group 3 Lester Piggott Stakes.

Those results helped continue a banner campaign for the stallion, who has now sired eight Group/Grade 1 winners. Four of those struck at the highest level this year, with Ombudsman joined by 1,000 Guineas heroine Desert Flower, Jenny Wiley Stakes scorer Choisya and Just A Game Stakes winner Dynamic Pricing.

“The stallion is incredible; he’s just going from strength to strength,” says Hanly. “With a Classic winner and now this horse, they’ve put him into a different orbit.”

Despite once standing for just €15,000, Night Of Thunder is now right on the cusp of being spoken about in the same breath as the stallion ranks’ elite. In turn, his fee has risen to €150,000. When these sorts of upwardly mobile sires emerge, Hanly says breeders need to sit up and take note.

“Get on him as much as you can,” he says. “It can cost a lot of money but, if you can, just climb on board. It’s not always going to work out, but if you can get onto those good stallions when they’re coming through, we’ve seen what’s happened with Havana Grey too, and Blue Point. Look, it’s not always going to work out and it can be hard because mares don’t always go in foal, you lose others, it’s so difficult, but if you can just get on the wagon, who knows what can happen.”

Hanly has continued to put his money where his mouth is with Night Of Thunder, as he also bred a sister to Ombudsman who fetched 900,000gns last year. She is now in training with Ed Walker and has been named Synchronicity by her owner, TBT Racing. Syndicate is also back in foal to Night Of Thunder.

Night Of Thunder: is now the sire of eight Group 1 winnersCredit: Darley

Hanly recalls Ombudsman being “an absolute beauty” of a yearling, but suggests the satisfaction supplied by the racecourse – “what it’s all about” – exceeds anything that happens in the sales ring.

“When you sell a horse for a lot of money, you just wish your customers the very best,” he says. “I have the same approach to anybody who buys a horse off us, though; you just hope it goes well for them. And that can be selling one for a thousand, and those ones are important as well, because you want people to get value. You just want to sell a good product.”

Despite pulling so many smart moves in the breeding of Ombudsman, Hanly suggests others are much more deserving of the credit. Instead, he says he is indebted to the hard work of his team, as well as a bit of good fortune along the way.

“We’re not clever, we’re lucky,” he says. “If we start thinking we’re clever, we’re in trouble. But we persist, and we have a very good team minding these horses. They’re the people who really pull it together. Diarmuid and Helen Jones are the key people. There’s a great team there and they just know what they’re doing. They’re the ones out there every morning dealing with all the problems. I’m just swanning around the place.”

Hanly may well be doing more swanning about in the not too distant future, too. Having had a good reason for missing Ascot on Wednesday, he says he is determined not to miss out on Ombudsman’s subsequent starts.

“I’ll be a pain now because I’ll be there every time he runs,” he says. “I’m going to follow him around the world wherever he goes because you have to enjoy these things.”