Meet the Opulence Foals at Galloway Stud
What an amazing place Galloway Stud is, and not just because it is where Opulence Thoroughbred’s baby steps into racehorse breeding are themselves learning the very early ropes of life – more on them later.
Since 2019 Stuart and Carmen Thom’s burgeoning stud operation has been located at Woburn Abbey where the world-famous Bloomsbury Stud was originally established in the 1960s by Henrietta Tavistock, the Duchess of Bedford, whose list of successes as a breeder and owner is headed by Jupiter Island, the first British-trained winner of the Japan Cup, in 1986.
Although only a few miles from the motorway madness of the M1 to the east and the busier-than-ever A5 to the west, with central London barely an hour away south (admittedly, with a good run), you stand in the two hundred acres of the stately home’s parkland – famous deer in the distance – and it feels as tranquil as being in the middle of nowhere.
The perfect place in fact to raise, as the Galloway website puts it, “happy, healthy racehorses”, whose adorable antics as foals around their mothers in the paddocks are about the only thing that disturbs the peace.
As lively as any are the new arrivals from mares Something Enticing and Marbling – both of them first-time-out mums – as the breeding programme offered to Opulence Thoroughbreds owners, alongside all of the other exciting options and possibilities, takes shape.
First to come into the world was Something Enticing’s terrific colt by the Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) winner New Bay, now based at Ireland’s Ballylinch Stud, in County Kilkenny, and renowned as one of Europe’s most potent stallions.
The Thoms describe the little fellow as “strong and correct, and developing well”, so hopefully a chip off the old block because Something Enticing, now aged six, either won or was placed on eleven of her sixteen starts, and rates amongst the best progeny of Group One star Fascinating Rock; she also has plenty of successful relations.
SOMETHING ENTICING and her foal - A colt by NEW BAY
Our foal's sire, NEW BAY
Meanwhile Marbling, a seven-year-old daughter of the brilliant Juddmonte stallion Kingman, took her time before finally giving birth, but everyone agrees that her filly, by the internationally prolific Lope De Vega, another Ballylinch stalwart that was also victorious in the French Derby, was worth waiting for.
After just a few days, she too received positive reports – “a lovely filly with a beautiful head: very attractive”.
MARBLING
The sire of our filly, LOPE DE VEGA
Both dams were said to have taken well to motherhood, which is probably just as well because it will not be long before they’re doing it all again.
Tickets are already booked for the mares to make return journeys to Ireland to be covered by new partners, in Something Enticing’s case by the great 2000 Guineas and dual Derby hero Camelot at Coolmore Stud, while Marbling is the one being mated with New Bay this time.
They will only be away for a day or two and as the ‘kids’ are too young to be left at home to their own devices they will be travelling as well, normal procedure these days.
Once back and weather permitting, the foals will be living outside from June (about three months of age) and will be weaned at six months, but apart from that will have no formal training until August 2025.
That’s when the decision will be made either to prepare them for transfer to a racing yard or for that autumn’s yearling sales.
It’s hard to imagine anywhere better to grow up, waited on hand and foot by Stuart, Carmen and the Galloway team (all tireless, despite the sleepless nights waiting for the new arrivals) – best wishes to all.