I bought Tally Em Up ‘sight unseen’ when Peter Hockenhull and I were in the process of strengthening our broodmare bands in support of Telescope’s early stud career. Peter called me one day from Ireland, where he was attending a sale, to ask about two mares that he had been offered by trainer Philip Rothwell. One was a half-sister to a Black-Type winner that was available on a ‘take her and cover her, I’ll have the foal and after that she’s yours’ deal; the other was a straight sale of a mare that was not in foal. Peter wanted me to check out the mares and see if they were worth pursuing via the deals offered.
To my mind both were. The first was Deploy Or Die, a young full-sister to the Grade 1 Novice Hurdle winner Shinrock Paddy, who was also winner of a Grade 3 hurdle and a Listed Bumper and placed in a Grade 1 Novice Chase. The second was Tally Em Up, a 13 year old grey Flemensfirth mare who had won just three of her 38 races – but these included two Grade 3 chases, which made her a good broodmare prospect. Peter agreed to take Deploy or Die on the deal suggested; and, after a veterinary examination had confirmed no lumps, bumps, missing ovaries or broken legs, I purchased Tally Em Up at what I considered a very fair price.
Tally Em Up’s biggest issue, which I knew about at the time, is that she was an inveterate wind-sucker (hence the price, I presume), but she was also a well-made, medium-sized mare by one excellent NH sire (Flemensfirth) out of a mare by very good one (Strong Gale) – though the rest of her pedigree is somewhat weaker.
Her first foal, born in Ireland before I purchased her, was Grey Frontieres, who won a 14 runner Point-to-Point but finished nowhere in her only NH Flat race. None of the other two produced in Ireland ran or were even named.
Tally Em Up’s first foal for us was a strong bay colt by Telescope, who we sold for £16,000 as a weanling (considerably more than we had paid for his mother). This proved a far better sale than purchase, since he attracted a considerably lower bid as a 3YO, which was unsurprising as he failed the wind test at the sale. Nonetheless, named John The Spark, he proved a useful Irish Pointer, winning three Point-to-Points and placing in three others by the age of seven.
John was a late foal and his dam was barren to one cover after his birth. Accordingly, he was followed by a 2019 foal, a scopey grey filly who brought €9,000 as a foal. To date, she looks rather better than big brother, winning her Maiden 4YO Point-to-Point before being sold for six times more than was paid for her, to go to Ben Case. Under NH Rules she has been second in a Mares’ Maiden Hurdle and placed in two NH Flat races, looking well capable of winning over hurdles or fences when running over the sort of distance her dam preferred.
The Addams family representative was followed by an elegant grey filly sold privately for modest money as a foal in the midst of the Covid crisis of late 2020; she is likely to run in British Point-to-Points. A good-actioned 2021 colt, also by Telescope, followed; but unfortunately he was injured in an accident when running into a gate as a foal. He initially appeared to have recovered well enough to sell at Doncaster as an early yearling, but proved to be slightly unsound at the time of the sale. Sent to Ballincurrig in an attempt to sell him later that November, the same pattern of unsoundness reappeared; and the outcome was inevitable.
Tally Em Up’s 2022 colt foal was a little small to be sold as a foal, though a deep-bodied, rather flashy bay colt. Once more, he was held back to be sold as a late yearling – and once more fate intervened. This time it was the decision of Tatts Ireland to hold the yearling sale after the foal sale (when most buyers of young stock had left for home), rather than before as previously, when the keenest buyers were on site and likely to look at yearlings. Despite being a well-balanced, strong gelding he attracted little interest (there was very little interest to attract) and sold for only €3,000.
Although inexpensive enough for a dual G3 Chase winner, Tally Em Up has not proved a bargain. Her first foal for us sold well, and the second reasonably; others yielded disappointing commercial results – though I have not totally given up on some of her produce as racing prospects.
None have so far inherited Tally Em Up’s propensity to windsuck, although this may have produced increasingly adverse effects on the quality of her foals. The 2024 filly by Logician, born after she had slipped her 2023 foal, was a very poor specimen: small, weak and with very crooked limbs. There was little option but to euthanise her at 8 days – though at least Tally Em Up’s milk production was up to raising an orphan filly by the same sire, from the Foxtrot mare Midnight Silver. When this foal is weaned, there is a decision to be made…