Former point-to-point rider Will Kinsey is taking a crack at the stallion market.
Kinsey (pictured in his riding days), who is based at Peel Hall in Cheshire, is about to take delivery of 15-year-old Frammassone, a son of Fraam offering breeders of jumpers a rare opportunity to use a stallion who has won over fences and hurdles. The 15-year-old will be among 16 sires on show at today's Thoroughbred Breeders' Association's NH Stallion Showcase at Goffs UK's Doncaster premises, where the January Sale begins its two-day run.
Kinsey, who last rode in 2013, said: "One of the guys who bought him keeps mares with us and didn't know where to stand him, so I said, 'Send him to me and I'll see what I can do'.
"He's a nice horse whose oldest progeny are only six-year-olds, and he's done quite well from limited opportunities, including getting some winners in Ireland [where he has been standing until this season]. The fact that he's won over fences and hurdles and has shown both stamina and the ability to jump offers breeders something a bit different."
Frammassone will stand for £2,000.
Kinsey, whose sister Hannah also rode point-to-point winners – and is married to four-time British champion Richard Burton – rode his first winner on the Paul Jones-trained Master Jock at Tweseldown in 2004, and went on to partner another 50 winners in point-to-points plus 14 in hunters' chases. The pick of his rides was the Mark Hughes-trained Special Portrait, on whom Kinsey won Cheltenham's four-mile hunters' chase at the evening fixture, Hexham's Heart of all England Maiden Hunters' Chase and further races under Rules at Ayr, Perth and Sedgefield.