Sire No Nay Never’s Stature Continues to Grow
Kentucky-bred No Nay Never seemed well-positioned to test his stallion career in Europe, as a son of top international sire Scat Daddy with multiple group stakes wins, including a victory in the Norfolk Stakes (G2) in course-record time for a 2-year-old during Royal Ascot.
Such credentials are no guarantee of success, but Coolmore Stud’s 14-year-old stallion has more than validated its belief that he could build on the legacy of the late Scat Daddy, who stood at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Central Kentucky.
Ranked 11th among sires based in Europe by progeny earnings ($5,796,499) as of Oct. 6, No Nay Never has been a darling of the Thoroughbred industry on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean since his freshman year in 2018 when he led his sire class with the most winners, most black-type runners, highest percentage of black-type performers, most black-type winners, highest percentage of black-type winners, co-highest graded/group winners, most grade/group 1 winners, and led in progeny earnings by nearly twice as much as his nearest rival.
He’s steadily climbed the sire rankings, and his offspring have earned more than $6 million each of the past two years with 2024 serving as his current high water mark ($6,631,149). Last year, with seven crops running, No Nay Never was seventh overall by number of black-type performers, seventh by total runners, and 11th in number of winners.
The success of No Nay Never runners has naturally carried over to commercial success, clearly illustrated by 27 of his offspring on offer during the three-day Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Oct. 7-9 in Newmarket, England. He has another 18 slated to enter the ring for Book 2 Oct. 13-15.
Because racing has become so much more global, No Nay Never’s Tattersalls yearlings will be sought after equally by European buyers and bloodstock agents looking to bring those horses back to the United States, according to Coolmore Stud’s Mark Byrne.
“No matter where you stand a stallion, they’re going to have an international following. But I suppose it made sense to send him here. He was going to get a big following from having such a good race record here,” Byrne said. “He’s having a big, big say (on European racing). … He’s going to have a big legacy here in Europe.”
As an indication of the demand for No Nay Never’s progeny going into the Tattersalls sale, he already has been represented by the sale topper at last month’s Goffs Orby Sale. Glenvale Stud, agent, consigned the full sister to 2022 French highweighted 2-year-old male Blackbeard that saw the hammer drop at €1.9 million ($2.23 million)—€900,000 more than the second-highest lot. The buyer was Coolmore’s M.V. Magnier.
“She’s a lovely filly,” Magnier said in a release after the purchase. “Blackbeard was a very good racehorse and No Nay Never’s yearlings are selling very well; they look very promising. He’s having a good sale here and apparently he has a few good ones coming up in the next couple of weeks.”
The No Nay Never filly consigned as Lot 280 at the Goffs Orby Sale
Byrne was not with Coolmore Stud when No Nay Never contested the Norfolk Stakes for trainer Wesley Ward but the colt left a strong impression with him.
“I remember, even from just being around the industry, when he came over to Royal Ascot as a 2-year-old, and the impression that he created that day. He was a man against boys,” Byrne recalled. “If you ever watch back the replay, you can see he’s just physically, just so much bigger and stronger, and he blew the field away.”
After Ascot would be a group 1 test. On the eve of No Nay Never’s third start, the Prix Morny (G1) at Deauville in France, Ward considered taking the horse to York because of concerns over course conditions. Fortunately, he reconsidered and No Nay Never delivered the trainer his first grade/group 1 victory.
“He really was instrumental in my career,” Ward said. “He was equally as good on the dirt as he was on the turf. … At the time after that Morny win, they didn’t have the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint that they do now. So (longtime Coolmore bloodstock adviser) Paul Shanahan said, ‘Hey Wesley, if there’s any way we could get a win on the dirt, it would be great for his stallion career.'”
No Nay Never returned to the United States for a 3-year-old campaign and that dirt try. He finished second in the Swale Stakes (G2) on the main track at Gulfstream Park and was then rested the remainder of that spring and summer. Returned to the green in the fall, he won the Woodford Stakes (G3T) at Keeneland and finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Santa Anita Park, a race that saw him finish a half-length back while earning his top Equibase Speed Figure (115).
That would wrap up a racing career with plenty of accomplishments and a few “what ifs.” Ward still believes No Nay Never could have had top success in races such as the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). No Nay Never concluded his racing career 4-2-0 from six starts and $677,999 in purse winnings. Bred by Jayne Doi Johnson and David Sparrow, No Nay Never was campaigned by Ice Wine Stable, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith.
No Nay Never stood this year at Coolmore Ireland for €125,000 (approx. US$147,649).
When it comes to the type of mares No Nay Never has the most success with, Byrne said he seems to work very well those from the lines of Danehill and Danzig. He called it the “magic cross.”
“There’s so many good horses that have been bred on that cross,” he said. “(No Nay Never)’s a big outcross, and there’s nothing in particular that you’d say he can’t work with.”
Some top progeny by No Nay Never include 2019 European champion 3-year-old sprinter Ten Sovereigns , winner of the 2019 July Cup (G1) and 2018 Middle Park Stakes (G1); 2022 Cartier champion 2-year-old male Blackbeard, who followed his sire as winner of the Prix Morny (G1); 2022 European champion 2-year-old male Little Big Bear , winner of the Phoenix Stakes (G1).
His influence in North America has not been as profound as in Europe but he has still had plenty of his offspring exhibit the sire’s talent. On Oct. 4 Ward-trained No Nay Hudson won the Nearctic Stakes (G2T) at Woodbine. Ward wishes there were more.
“There’s not a lot that get brought over here from there,” he said. “I wish we had a bigger pool of No Nay Never progeny to be here.”
Bred by Ice Wine Stable and from No Nay Never’s first crop (2016) was Mae Never No . A stakes winner at 2, she was stakes-placed four other times. From that same crop, 3-year-old Nay Lady Nay , who is out of the English Channel mare Lady Ederle, won the 2019 Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2T). She came back in 2020 to win the Matchmaker Stakes (G3T), finish third in the Flower Bowl Stakes (G1T), and run in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T).
His second crop included Vitalogy , who after two races overseas, finished third in the 2019 Summer Stakes (G1T) and second in the Bourbon Stakes (G3T) before winning the 2020 Palm Beach Stakes (G3T).
The speed that No Nay Never has passed on to many of his offspring has left Coolmore officials in awe.
“I’d say they can’t get over how frighteningly fast they are,” Byrne said of the progeny. “We’ve got the great filly True Love; she is tough and fast, and she’s some goer. And then we’re going to see back, hopefully by the end of the year, Charles Darwin. And what he did at Ascot (in the Norfolk) was just incredible.”
Irish-bred Hey Nay Nay wins the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes at Del Mar
Some of his other current runners in the U.S. include undefeated 2-year-old colt Hey Nay Nay , who won this year’s Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes (G3T) and is on his way to the Breeders’ Cup, and Mountain Bear , who last year was third in the Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland and was second in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T). Ward is thrilled to see the success and would like him to get a shot to prove his versatility.
“I would love to see some of his progeny run on the dirt, because he was so talented on the dirt,” Ward said. “Had he been with Todd Pletcher or another trainer, he would have stamped himself as a dirt sire here, for sure. … I can’t stress enough how equally talented he was on the dirt as he is on the grass.”
