Other Yorkshire Studs

Other Yorkshire Studs - P

Park Farm Stud
Park Farm, Middleham, North Yorks
Owner; Mark Johnston Racing Ltd.
Acreage; 260 acres in total
Type; Private
Notes; Late in 2003 Mark Johnston completed his third property purchase in Middleham (following Kingsley House and Warwick House) when he bought the 260 acre Park Farm, which at that time was a dairy farm. The previous owners were a partnership comprising brother's Peter and Tony Walton (Peter being trainer Kate Walton's husband who's Sharp Hill Farm, where Chris Thornton is also based, is next door), Tony Walton's intention being to emigrate to Canada. The primary purpose of the purchase was to use the property for housing out-of-training horses, but Johnston has also continued his growing breeding operation there, which was previously based at the leased Whitcliffe Grange outside Ripon (the former base of trainer Peter Calver) where he bred Parkview Love who won the Woodcote Stakes L. Following the assorted Johnston troubles with the public gallops in Middleham he is also developing his own set of gallops at Park Farm.
At the 2008 Tattersalls February Sales Johnston splashed out 95,000gns for Woodlass a three times winning stakes placed daughter of Woodman in foal in Dansili. It is believed that Johnston will send her to his former charge Shamardal, in whom he owns a breeding right. In 2016 Johnston added to his propety empire when purchasing Friar Ings and his bloodstock operation now uses the name 'Friar Ings Stud' although the majority of the stock are currently remaining at Park Farm.

Providence Stud
Providence Farm, Dunnington, York YO1 5LQ
Owner: Mrs.Pam Cockerill
Acreage: 40 acres of post and railed paddocks
Type: Private
Website: www.providencestud.co.uk
Notes: Founded in 1980 this small stud (part of a large mixed farm) has a few broodmares including boarders and also does sales preparation and recuperation work. They have an excellent record and winners bred here from a small broodmare band include Borrowby (by Domynsky) who won the Dutch St.Leger. The stud's foundation mare was Targos Delight (Targowice - Co-optimist) who later became grandam of crack miler Turtle Island, until recently the stud still had some members of this family. Another main-stay of the stud has been North Pine who is an Import half sister to former Easthorpe Hall stallion Lochnager. North Pine is the dam of prolific winners Echo-Logical (won 6 races and £42,874, 2nd.Doncaster Stakes L) and Heaven-Leigh-Grey (won six races and £34,644 including William Stores Handicap, York). Heaven-Leigh-Grey is boarder at the stud (along with Bille Grey who is a winning half sister to Tumbleweed Ridge).
Amongst recent purchases for the stud are Aneen Alkamanja a Last Tycoon mare (in foal to Sabrehill) purchased at the 1999 December Sales for 4,500 gns. The Cockerill's were also busy at the 2000 December Sales buying Stolen Melody (in foal to Halling) for 10,000gns (in 2012 she was dam of Mick Easterby's useful juvenille Old Man Clegg) and Rapturous, an unraced three year old, for 15,000 gns. The later is from the excellent family of Triple Joy, Talented, Three Points, Maysoon, Three Tails, Tamure and Lend A Hand.
Providence were part owners (with Foston Stud) of the mare Valleyrose who was bought in 2001 for 12,000gns, and sold at the December Sales 2003 for 95,000gns, her first foal having become a French stakes winner in between. The Cockerill's reinvested some of this profit when buying Jazan, a winning 4 year old Danehill mare in foal to Best Of The Bests, from a family replete with winners, for 15,000gns in 2003. Another 'Proton' (the name for the Providence/Foston Partnership) bred foal out of Valleyrose is Kandidate (by Kabool) who was third in both the 2,000 Guineas G1 and the Craven Stakes G3 in 2005 and started 2006 well with a valuable win in Dubai before landing the Doncaster Mile L at Lingfield and the Rosebery Handicap at Kempton, following up with the Gala Stakes L at Sandown, and a third place in the Winter Hill Stakes G3 before finally landing his first group race by winning the 2006 September Stakes G3 on Kempton's all-weather, early in 2007 he added the Haafhd Al Maktoum Challenge RII G3 at Nad Al Sheba to his honours, and was second in the same race the following year when he also won Kempton's Magnolia Stakes L. Providence have retained Valleyrose's unraced daughter Venus Rising (by Observatory) and her first foal is the Mark Johnston trained Businessman who was sold for 90,000gns as a foal and won a valuable maiden at the Ebor Festival on his racecourse debut.
Another partnership (including Newmarket bloodstock agent Stephen Hillen) mare is Rababah (an unraced 1/2 sister to Nakheel, out of Matiya) who, in foal to Johannesburg, was entered in the December Sales of 2005, but withdrawn (later bought in for 165,000gns the following year). The resulting foal named African Skies was retained by the partnership and put into training with Kevin Ryan. She was a good fourth in the Albany Stakes G3 on her second run and then, as a maiden, won the Princess Margaret Stakes G3 at Ascot in July 2008 and certainly looks an excellent long term prospect for the paddocks and this has certainly proved to be the case with her 2012 filly by Speightstown, Calypso Beat, again retained by the partnership and winning two of her first three runs in 2014 for Kevin Ryan including the Empress Stakes L at Newmarket, before finishing runer up to Mark Johnston's Muraaqaba in the Sweet Solera Stakes G3 at Newmarket and occupying the same place in the Prix du Calvados G3 at Deauville, the following year saw her run second in the Eternal Stakes L on her second start of the year and, later in the season, third in Tipperary's Fairy Bridge Stakes G3.

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