Bond excited as string continues to build

Owner Charlie Bond believes he has assembled an exciting collection of horses as he bids to take the distinctive yellow and black silks of Bond Thoroughbreds Ltd to the next level.

Using the springboard of their best-ever season last year with 25 winners, Bond has ramped up a calculated multi-million investment on higher quality horses for trainers in England, France and Ireland.

And he has been rewarded with a stellar line up of Group standard horses spread across principal trainers Paddy Twomey, Geoff Oldroyd, Andrew Balding and Christopher Head in France.

Bond, whose father Reg famously spun £350 compensation for an industrial accident into a huge tyre wholesaling empire which Charlie runs, is now eyeing a string of Group prizes for his runners from now until the end of the season.

“We decided off the back of a good year to invest again, especially in the fillies because we obviously have got the stallion, Maranoa Charlie, out at Tally-Ho Stud and we want to get the right mares to him to give him every chance,” said Bond.

“He had 178 in foal in his first year and he could be the real deal further down the line as he’s a Wootton Basset out of a Galileo mare and half-sister to Tiggy Wiggy.”

Twomey is preparing a big raiding party of Bond horses for the Ebor meeting which could see them double handed in the Lowther Stakes with Concorde Landed and In The Black. The owner also spoke with excitement about Big Money Man who could take in the Acomb Stakes.

But it is not all about York with the Balding-trained Marvelman skipping the Hackwood Stakes at Newbury on account of the ground but expected to build towards a big back-end of the season after a promising second to Paborus on the all-weather at Newcastle.

And then there was City Of Dubai, a hugely promising first time out winner of a Killarney maiden which has twice in the last 10 years thrown up the winner of the Derby

“It was a nice introduction for City Of Dubai. We thought he could win but he wasn’t fully wound up and he’s probably more of a French Derby type than an English,” said Bond.

“But that is a lot further down the line and we have to do a lot of the right things between now and then. He should come on a lot for the run though. Paddy has in mind just one more run before the end of the year.

“Concorde Landed won a Naas maiden by five lengths from an Aidan O’Brien filly (Snowing) and with our horses with Paddy if they win first time out they probably are quite exciting because we have an agreement that we don’t put the gun to their heads just let them enjoy it.

“The way she went through the race that day and her sectional times was quite outstanding. Somebody told me she hit the line easing down at 41 mph. It is quite exciting and she goes straight for the Lowther or she takes a Listed race at Naas on Wednesday on the way

“In The Black won at Carlisle on debut and she has shown a lot of ability and Concorde Agreement is another exciting addition we bought after she was placed in a Group Two that has worked out really well with the subsequent Ribblesdale third Gilded Prize behind her.

“She will go straight into a Group One.”

Marvelman, bought just days after he won the Group Two Park Stakes at Doncaster last September, may have skipped this weekend’s games but will be aimed at the easier ground in the second half the season.

“We don’t want to jar him on the hard ground because the way that he won his Group Two at Doncaster when the rain came  he was exceptional. And probably without the penalty up at Newcastle last time he would probably have won that race,” said Bond.

“Big Money Man goes either for the Group Three Prix Francois Boutin at Deauville on August 16 or to York while Phenomenal Filly is another who was unlucky in a Group Three at Leopardstown first time up, finishing second despite being a couple of pieces of work short.”