New Racing Syndicate: Seeking Nirvana?

From time to time, not very often, I buy a horse to syndicate among fellow racing fans and geegeez.co.uk readers. Last week was one such occasion and a few shares are available, more on that in a moment. But first, a little history on geegeez syndicates.

Geegeez Syndicates

I've been involved in racing syndicates since a horse called Love's Design, trained by Julia Feilden, was bought in the year 2000. He was a bit of a legend, winning seven times for us and providing numerous more memorable days on track. Over the intervening 25 years, I've gone from being a syndicate member to being a syndicate member... and manager! Always taking a share myself, we've had a lot of success. In fact, looking at the new OWNER variable in QT (landing very, very soon!), I can see that we've had 42 winners from 295 runners since 2009. That's about one win for every seven runs, and a place rate of better than one in three.

Overall in the UK, the average in that time is around one win in nine, and just lower than three in ten placed; so we've done pretty well since the start.

More recently, however, I've tried to buy better stock, especially over jumps (my main passion). Unsurprisingly, that has usually meant spending a bit more - but not always - and investing earlier. That's rewarded us handsomely, as this next image shows.

Let me point a few things out from that table.

Firstly, our jumps horses over the past five years have won at a rate of almost one in four, 23.08% to be precise. That's more than twice the average win rate (see IV figure, 2.14). They've made the frame almost 44% of the time and have been profitable to back at both BSP and starting price. We've had a lot of fun!

The undisputed flag bearers have been Coquelicot, a dual Listed and nine-time winner in total (also 2nd eight times), from just 28 career starts; and ten-time winning Sure Touch, whose big day was the Summer Plate last year. Total earnings for 'Cookie' were £97,000 before she was sold as a broodmare for £40,000 in January this year; Sure Touch, a winner last month on his most recent start, has amassed £130,593 so far and is being aimed at the veterans' series in the spring.

As an aside, Coquelicot is the joint-winningmost horse Anthony Honeyball has trained, alongside those magnificent veterans Regal Encore and Sam Brown; and Sure Touch is the joint-winningmost horse Olly Murphy has trained, alongside the brilliant Brewin'upastorm. We've been lucky as well as good.

The current team is comprised of Sure Touch, Dartmoor Pirate (rated 118), who we think will nearly win next time before tilting at something a touch more ambitious; and Gee Force Flyer, given an opening mark of 118 and for whom a maiden hurdle ought to be a near formality on his next run: we'll again then map out a route for the rest of the season.

The Pirate was a close up fourth in a G3 handicap hurdle two seasons back, and 5th in another G3 as well as second in a Pertemps qualifier last season. He had a few issues which we think we've sorted now. The Flyer won an Irish point to point which is working out brilliantly - winners everywhere - and has run against two of the smarter UK middle distance novices this season in races that didn't remotely play to his strengths (both were quarter-mile sprints off very slow fractions).

As well as that trio, we have a pair of unraced three-year-old fillies, Ashburton and Luna Lux. Ashburton is a big filly who will probably need a year or two to fully grow into her frame, but she's ready enough to have an outing at Doncaster on Saturday in a juvenile bumper. It's likely more for experience than anything, but she's surprised us a lot at how forward she's been. And Luna Lux, a filly I really love, was ready to run earlier in the month before succumbing to a dose of the snots - very common this time of year, especially with the youngsters. She'll be on track before long and I'm very excited for that!

And now we have one more...*

*incidentally, I buy fillies with good pedigrees not only because there is an excellent race programme for them but also because, even if the racing project doesn't quite work out, they have residual value as broodmares.

The Arqana Autumn sale is one deep in quality with packed pedigrees aplenty and, allied to the success we've had there before, it’s why I’m prepared to swing the bat a little in terms of hammer price. We had such good luck with Coquelicot, who was bought at the 2017 renewal, and we think we have another potential top-notcher from there in Luna Lux, sourced at the 2023 Arqana Autumn Sale.

The Back Story

Since 2017, we were having so much fun with Cookie that we didn’t return to Deauville until two years ago, November 2023, at which Luna Lux raised her pretty little head in our direction. We don’t yet know how that story will play out, but so far so exciting, and she’s developed into a filly of real quality – “a belter” in trainer Anthony Honeyball’s words – who’s lived something of a storied life already. She’s taken us on a journey even before her racecourse debut and that, of course, is the wonderful nature of projects like this.

A side point on Luna Lux is that she is the second foal from her dam, Black Luna; the first foal sold as a three-year-old for €150,000 last June. This is important because I am trying to buy six-figure quality youngstock 'off plan' as it were. If Luna Lux came to market, I'd unhesitatingly expect her to fetch at least £100,000. [It does need to be kept in mind that there are keep costs from November yearling to June 3yo, but nothing like the difference between €50,000 and £100,000, still less €150,000]

To now, and exciting news from that pretty and horse-y enclave in northern France. A filly we (me, Anthony and Tessa Greatrex of Highflyer Bloodstock) loved went through the ring last week, the first of only three on our shortlist. I wasn’t quite up together enough to bid on her at the point she went through but, fortunately, she was bought back by her vendors at €42,000 because they thought she was worth more. They wanted €50,000 and were adamant she wouldn’t leave them for less. She’s an absolute beauty as you'll see in a moment so I can understand why they felt that way.

Anyway, having discounted the second of three on my list and then watched the third one make too much money (she’s a cracker, too, but budget is not infinite!), we were in the strong position of being able to attempt an ‘amiable’: a deal with the vendor post-auction at a price acceptable to both parties. So, the imaginary hammer dropped at €45,000, a full €5,000 less than the vendor wanted but a fair price for them and a value one for us.

The Trainer

She'll be trained at the geegeez-sponsored Potwell Farm Stables of Anthony Honeyball. Anthony is having another excellent season and is on track to again break his personal best, which saw a new high last campaign.

It's not just winners that are improving, but also the quality of the horses/wins, a point picked up in an interview with the trainer in today's Racing Post. Quoting Catherine Macrae from that piece:

The yard's rude health is not reflected by numbers alone. Honeyball has also been delivering in quality, with the trainer fresh from success at Cheltenham's November meeting and a second success in the Badger Beers a week earlier.

Big winners on big afternoons are becoming the norm for the 45-year-old, who is finding he now has the ammunition to fire more than one bullet at some of the season's more lucrative affairs. Such was the case at Cheltenham this month, where a heartbreaking final-fence blunder from favourite Jordans Cross was made more palatable when his stablemate Kdeux Saint Fray was able to snag the win instead. 

Anthony is extremely personable and it's a great pleasure for me that most of his runners sport the geegeez.co.uk logo across the jockey's chests. He is also, more importantly, a brilliant judge of a horse and outstanding at bringing along youngstock to be ready early.

The Filly

Introducing lot 557, an unnamed (our job to name her, when most French yearlings come pre-titled as was the case with Luna Lux) filly by Nirvana du Berlais out of a winning mare from a deep Black Type family. She was an early February foal and she looks forward and racy: she should be ready early all other things being equal.

Let’s talk about that pedigree.

Father

Nirvana du Berlais might not be a name you’re familiar with, but he’s the coming man (in the same way that Masked Marvel was two years ago when I bought Luna Lux - now he's a household name and one of the absolute most sought after stallions in the jumps game).

On the track he was a hurdler himself, winning a Grade 3 and a Grade 1 from just seven starts - all placed bar a debut fall, and the final four in Graded company.

His first crop is just four years old currently, but they include two Grade 1 winners already: the machine that is Lulamba, and Leader Sport, who won a Grade 1 chase the weekend before last in France. The 3^rd in that Auteuil G1 was, you guessed it, another notch on the Nirvana du Berlais bed post, this time a filly called Nirvalla.

Keep in mind that he has had very few runners to date and his oldest progeny are not yet five years old!

Here are the past week or so's UK/Ire results for the sire:

Three winners, a second and two thirds - from only seven runners!

But there's also the French winners... the image below shows all of his winners in less than the last six weeks.

I'm convinced he's the real deal. And I'm not the only one: the day after I bought the filly, there was a full feature in the Racing Post's Bloodstock section on the stallion, which I've republished at the foot of this page.

Mother

Dad, of course, is only half of the gene pool, so what about mum? Her name is Futura, and she was a nine-year-old primetime mare when bearing our filly. On the track Futura won once from just six starts and, since going to the paddocks, she’d had one previous foal: a Goliath du Berlais colt who sold as a foal for €31,000 – and then resold as a 3yo this summer to Venetia Williams for €60,000. It’ll be very interesting to see how he develops.

The second dam, Funny Feerie, was a phenom:
she was a dual Listed winner over obstacles before throwing THREE GROUP/GRADE 1 WINNERS, ALL OF WHICH WENT ON TO BE STALLIONS! That’s virtually unheard of.

The pick of them is Fuisse, who won the Group 1 Prix du Moulin and was second in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) - all class.

Next is Full Of Gold, who won the 2yo staying (10f) Group 1, the Criterium de Saint-Cloud: precocity and stamina.

And, lest you were thinking it’s a bit too sans obstacles, the third was a full brother to Futura called For Fun. He won the Grade 1 Prix Alain du Breil (2m3f, hurdles), among a further plethora of podiums in Pattern races.

It really is a stacked and loaded pedigree as you can see below:

Nirvana du Berlais is by Martaline, himself a champion sire in France; and Futura is by Motivator, another pre-eminent NH influence. The point is laboured by now, but it’s clearly a wonderful page.

The Filly Herself

All that pedigree counts for nothing if the actual horse to which it relates is too small, walks wrong, has poor conformation, or is otherwise less than perfect. That's how we discounted one of the trio on my final shortlist (and several before her). This filly, as you can see below, walks and trots beautifully.

She has arrived safely at Anthony's yard on the Dorset/Somerset border, had her vaccinations and is now out in a field covered in mud with a couple of other yearlings to keep her company. She's settled in really well and will have a very quiet time of it until the spring.

The Plan / Syndicate

The Plan

So she's in the field for a few months, after which, in spring next year (it's not far off, you know!), she’ll benefit from the full scholarship programme at the Potwell Academy. That involves being broken in (being 'laid over', having a saddle put on, ridden around her box, and then ridden in the indoor school and on the local roads) before being turned out for the summer. After the summer next year, she's likely to continue her education with some trots on the round gallop and building to a gentle trot up the searching Seaborough hill gallop; there will also be some jumping practice next year.

And then, in 2027 - it'll be 2026 in a minute - she'll be ready to race granted normal luck.

The Syndicate

She is being syndicated into ten 10% shares and seven six are available now.

Each share costs £4,500 with monthly fees of £125 starting January 1st 2026, and full training fees of £250/month from spring 2027.

There are no hidden costs - all funds go into the syndicate account and any residue is returned to syndicate members.

Owners benefit from stable visits, a dedicated WhatsApp group with regular updates on progress, and, when the time comes, owners' badges for the races. Of course, each 10% share earns a 10% return on prizemoney and eventual sales proceeds.

She’s an absolutely gorgeous filly with a tremendous page, and a really exciting prospect for the track and beyond. This is a genuine opportunity to be involved with a 'could be anything' project and learn about how a young horse because a racehorse.

If you'd like to join me, click here to register your interest.

I'm really looking forward to her.

Matt

p.s. Here's the feature on her dad...

What a run for young, up-and-coming French National Hunt sire Nirvana Du Berlais.

The Haras de la Hetraie resident, whose oldest crop of foals are aged only four, supplied Leader Sport, an impressive winner of the Grade 1 Prix Maurice Gillois over fences at Auteuil on Sunday for trainer Daniela Mele and joint-owner Walter Connors, and Nirvalla, who defied odds of 101-1 to finish third in the same race for Mickael Seror.

Nirvana Du Berlais' well-touted son Lulamba, who had already put his sire’s name up in lights by scoring in the Punchestown Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle after finishing second in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham last season for Nicky Henderson, then coasted to victory on his chasing debut in a beginners’ event at Exeter on Monday.

To put an exclamation mark on it, Manganese, a three-year-old from the sire’s second crop, overcame significant interference from a loose horse to score easily in a fillies’ juvenile maiden hurdle at Leicester for Max Comley on the same afternoon.

Nirvana Du Berlais’ hot streak didn’t come out of the blue, either. There is supporting evidence to suggest that it is the start of a successful stallion career.

His debut four-year-olds, of which there are 79, also include Semper Fortis, who took a Listed handicap hurdle at Auteuil last month for Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm, and Victory Valley, who finished second in a Listed chase at the same track in April for Arnaud Chaille-Chaille and Francois Pamart, along with 14 other winners and 11 placed performers under rules.

His second generation of three-year-olds, which totals 100, has meanwhile already yielded five other winners besides Manganese. Among those are Nicos Invicta, who struck in an Auteuil hurdle in April and wasn’t beaten far into fifth in a Listed event at the track in September for Francois Nicolle, and Juste Prix, who scored by three lengths over hurdles at Senonnes in August for Isabelle Pacault.

If Nirvana Du Berlais does take his place in the hallowed ranks of elite French National Hunt sires alongside the likes of Doctor Dino, No Risk At All and Cokoriko, as it looks increasingly like he will, it won’t be the biggest surprise. He has always had an awful lot going for him, after all.

First, he has a terrific French jumps pedigree. He is by Martaline, Haras de Montaigu’s much-missed son of Linamix who is the source of numerous stars on either side of the Channel and another big-race winner in Marble Sands at Cheltenham on Sunday.

Martaline’s other sons at stud include Beaumec De Houelle, who is one crop ahead of Nirvana Du Berlais but hasn’t made nearly as explosive a start, although it does look like he has a good one on his hands in Letos, the brave winner of the Brown Lad Handicap Hurdle at Naas this month for Tony Mullins.

Nirvana Du Berlais is, furthermore, out of Katioucha, a daughter of Mansonnien who finished third in the Listed Prix Finot hurdle at Auteuil for newcomers and is now developing into a real blue hen for her owner Haras du Berlais and partners.

She is the dam of five other winners, including Toscana Du Berlais, a son of Shantou who struck by six lengths in the Grade 1 Prix la Haye Jousselin at Auteuil on Sunday; Triana Du Berlais, a daughter of Presenting who scored at Grade 3 level over hurdles and fences at Auteuil; and Aubusson, a son of Ballingarry who was saddled by Nick Williams to take a Grade 3 handicap hurdle at Haydock and to finish a nose second behind Thousand Stars in the Grade 1 Grand Prix d'Automne at Auteuil.

Nice To Meet You, a placed full-sister to Nirvana Du Berlais, has meanwhile produced dual Auteuil Listed chase winner and Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris fourth Niko Has (by Great Pretender) and last season’s young French hurdling ace Nietzsche Has (Zarak), who showed his prowess to British racegoers when he bolted up by eight lengths in the Grade 2 Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow last December.

Nietzsche Has received an enthusiastic reception in his first season at Montaigu this year, covering 102 mares in total, and his supporters will no doubt be delighted to see his ‘uncle’ Nirvana Du Berlais showing it to be a sire-producing family.

There is quality all the way down this page, too. Katioucha is a half-sister to high-class French exports Ma Filleule and Mon Parrain out of Kadaina, a daughter of Kadalko who won a Listed hurdle at Auteuil.

Kadiana was in turn one of five black type-winning jumpers out of the Lyfko mare Kogina, along with Katoune, Klark, Madame Stella and Samson. Madame Stella is the dam of Waitnsee, who won the Imperial Call Chase at Cork four years ago.

Nirvana Du Berlais then lived up to that outstanding breeding in his seven outings for Chaille-Chaille, all over hurdles at Auteuil at three. He won twice, in the Grade 3 Prix Aguado and Grade 1 Prix Cambaceres, on the latter occasion surging 14 lengths clear of the classy pair Kool Has and For Fun.

Nirvana Du Berlais has the good looks to match, being a powerful sort standing 16.2½ hands, although he’s somehow overcome being born chestnut, a towering obstacle to siring talented jumpers in Britain and Ireland. Apparently.

It is no surprise, then, that he has always received strong support from breeders. He covered books numbering 125 and 131 mares in his first two seasons, and word must have spread about the appearance of his early foals as he was sent 185 mares in his third year, 189 in his fourth and 160 in his fifth.

With Lulamba having dropped a big clue in the winter that Nirvana Du Berlais’ progeny have the ability to match their looks, the sire covered a bumper book of 211 mares in his sixth season this year, including quite a few notable names in British or Irish ownership such as Maria’s Benefit, Stormy Ireland and The Glancing Queen.

This year’s Weatherbys Return of Mares also features nine foals by him registered in Britain or Ireland in 2025. Take a bow, the breeders of those horses, for being so ahead of the game: Elms Bloodstock; Scarlett Knipe; Longner Bloodstock and Peel Bloodstock; JP King and Patrick Turley; Phil and Jan Mathias; Olney Bloodstock; Scandinavian Equine Services; and Evergreen Bloodstock – twice, so that outfit must be doubly shrewd.

King and Turley have already received their reward, selling their Nirvana Du Berlais colt foal out of the Grade 2-placed Helissio mare Our Dot’s Baby to Dick Frisby for €68,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale this month.

Knipe is selling her colt out of Lucie Du Berlais, a Saint Des Saints mare from another black-type-packed Berlais family, in the unusual arena of the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in Newmarket next Wednesday. Such a well-bred offering is unlikely to be missed among the Flat bluebloods, though.

Several of the other British and Irish-bred Nirvana Du Berlais foals feature among the eight lots by the sire set to be presented at the Goffs December National Hunt Sale next month, alongside the inevitable French pinhooks. They will no doubt be even more closely examined by traders and end users after the exploits of Leader Sport, Lulamba and co.

Pinhookers certainly seemed keen to lay their hands on Nirvana Du Berlais yearlings at the Arqana Autumn Sale in Deauville yesterday, with Carrigeen Bloodstock paying €30,000 for one colt and Brown Island Stables giving €16,000 for another.

It might prove wise to have bred to the sire before now, with his 2026 covering fee still to be announced but sure to go up, and to buy his stock before everyone else jumps on the bandwagon.

It is still early days for Nirvana Du Berlais, but he looks like the real deal to me.

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