Shareholder to stand at Tally-Ho Stud

SHAREHOLDER, a brilliant Royal Ascot 2yo, will stand at Tally-Ho Stud in 2027.

Owned by Wathnan Racing and trained by Karl Burke, Shareholder was an extremely fast 2yo who went from €460,000 breezer to Gr.2 Norfolk Stakes winner within the space of six weeks. The son of Not This Time was also sharp enough to win his debut, a 5f conditions race at Beverley.

“It takes a special 2yo to win at Royal Ascot and Shareholder was brilliant the day he won the Norfolk Stakes,” says Roger O’Callaghan. “We remember seeing him breeze at the Arqana May Sale, where he was one of the top lots, and he justified that reputation only weeks later by winning the Norfolk Stakes, one of the most competitive 2yo races of the year in which he defeated the subsequent Gr.1 winners Arizona Blaze and Whistlejacket.

“He’s an extremely good-looking horse and by one of the best young Kentucky sires in Not This Time. We look forward to supporting him strongly.”

Shareholder was held in the highest regard during his time with Karl Burke, as his trainer alluded to in the aftermath of his debut win at Beverley. Taking on experienced winners in a traditionally competitive race, Shareholder overcame greenness to win cosily. “I think Shareholder is a serious horse,” said Burke afterwards. “He’s got so much speed.”

Shareholder backed up that reputation just 12 days later in the Norfolk Stakes, in which he travelled strongly deep into the race before quickening clear under James Doyle. Previous winners of the race include No Nay Never and Sioux Nation.

“On what he did at Beverley, he felt very fast,” said James Doyle. “He felt special on debut and he’s stepped forward since.”

Shareholder first hit the headlines at the 2024 Arqana May Sale when bought for €460,000 by Richard Brown of Blandford Bloodstock on behalf of Wathnan Racing.

“When I looked at the horses before they breezed, he was one of my picks as he’s such a good-looking horse,” recalls Richard Brown. “He went on to do an exceptional breeze for Gaybrook Lodge Stud, very natural and very stylish, and I was delighted to add him to the Wathnan team. 

“Just six weeks later, he gave Wathnan one of its most memorable successes in the Norfolk Stakes. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see the best of him afterwards but given his speed, precocity, good looks and breeding, as a son of leading sire Not This Time from a fast European family, he has every chance of being a success at stud.”

Shareholder is the first son of Not This Time, a Gr.1-performing 2yo by Giant’s Causeway, to stud in Europe. From a lowly early fee, Not This Time is today one of the world’s leading sires with 79 stakes winners, including 15 at Gr.1 level, to his credit. He is a particularly effective source of turf speed, as illustrated by the Gr.1-winning turf sprinters Cogburn (set a North American record of 59.80 seconds for 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf), Cy Fair and Troubleshooting.

Not This Time’s first son to stud, Champion Epicenter, is already a stakes-producing sire with his first crop of 2yos in 2026.

Shareholder belongs to a well known European family formerly cultivated by Bob McCreery’s Stowell Hill Stud being out of the Invincible Spirit mare Cloudy Dancer, a daughter of Listed winner Ronaldsay. This family is also responsible for this year’s Derby winner Christmas Day as well as Champion/Gr.1-winning 2yos Bianca Nera and Simply Perfect.

A fee will be set for Shareholder in due course.