ITB May-June 2024

LION KING

The son of Blue Point an impressive winner of the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes

The journey starts with you

Juddmonte would like to thank all those breeders from around the world who have supported our stallions in the 2024 breeding season.

BATED BREATH | CHALDEAN | FRANKEL | KINGMAN | OASIS DREAM

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8 It’s Leo

After a number of tragic deaths this spring from suicide, Leo Powell argues that we have to do better for the British and Irish racing communities

12 Ted talks

There are a lot of vacancies at the top of British racing, it is an opportunity that the sport must make the most of

14 Girls aloud

Cathy Grassick enjoyed a fabulous Royal Ascot, with produced spectacle, pageantry, fabulous racing and 21 Irish-bred winners

16 Race iQ

Rosallion, Porta Fortuna and Shareholder all put in smart times at Royal Ascot, writes Page Fuller

22 Royal reward

Amy Bennett reports on a fabulous Royal Ascot that delivered results for a variety of stallions

30 Weatherbys Stallion Scene

Mondialiste has got a good one in Mondo Man, King Of Change has burst on to the scene, and the Italian-based first-season sire

Mount Everest is enjoying a fine start with his early-season runners

34 Stallion statistics

Leading European-based stallions, courtesy of Weatherbys

36 Trend setter

Jocelyn de Moubray reviews the colts’ European Classics and argues that City Of Troy could give Coolmore everything that it could dream of

44 The perfect couple

Stallion Good Magic and broodmare Puca have become the “Posh and Becks” of US racing, argues Melissa Bauer Herzog

48 Flying high

Artist Clare Brownlow does everything her own unique way, and the talented painter is exploring new opportunities this summer and autumn

54 Stable art

Debbie Burt chats with trainer Ilka Gansera-Leveque, who has opened an art gallery in her Newmarket stable yard

60 Horse history

The Museum of the Horse represents a lifetime’s work for curator and owner Sally Mitchell, and the extensive collection charts the fascinating history of horses and humans

66 Women and horses

Adrien Cugnasse did not hesitate to accept when was asked by author Jean-Louis Gouraud to contribute to Amazones, a reference book listing 500 of the world’s greatest horse women

70 Trainer support

James Thomas finds out more about the British Trainer Support Network, a pro-active initiative giving trainers a confidential outlet through which they can discuss their concerns

76 Photo finish

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid and Giant’s Causeway: Royal Ascot stars

Rosallion

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We have to do better

There is help in our community for those who are struggling with their mental health, but it is evident there is still much work to do, writes Leo Powell

THE RECENT HIGH-PROFILE DEATHS by suicide sent shock waves throughout the worlds of racing and breeding, both in Ireland and in Britain. The devastation that those tragic events have caused to family and friends, and the pain that follows in their wake, have caused widespread sadness.

Most racing people in Britain will be aware of the untimely death of Michael Byrne, a former jockey, while in Ireland of the Kilbeggan racecourse managing director, Paddy Dunican.

Confusion, anger, and many other emotions are typical of the reactions to these deaths, but we must not forget the pain and suffering that those who chose to end their lives endured, and always recall them with love and affection, and focus on the good they achieved during their life.

Tragedies such as these, and those that have come before, are also a wake up call to the industry stakeholders, a reminder that we need to do everything possible to reduce the causes of such unnecessary deaths, and to become aware of the signals that might alert us to the possibilities that our family member, friend, colleague, or even an acquaintance, is in need of some support.

The reasons why someone decides on such an extreme action are so personal, so complex, and so very different in every circumstance that it would be impossible to highlight them all. Everyone must be at least aware of the many national bodies, such as the Samaritans, who can offer a service to people in distress.

Which brings us to the question – what are the governing bodies in racing and bloodstock doing to ensure that anyone involved within our great sport and industry is being provided with the best support, advice and education possible?

It appears that many individual sectors do indeed fund help lines, though from conducting some rudimentary surveying it is clear that not everyone knows how to access them. Many were unaware of the services. When an individual

“Tragedies such as these, and those that have come before, are also a wake up call to the industry stakeholders, a reminder that we need to do everything possible to reduce the causes of such unnecessary deaths

Former jockey Michael Byrne, who died in May

is in trouble, has worries, or is in a deep crisis, the one thing that they do not possess is the clear thinking and rationale to know that they can, or even should, seek this help.

All representative bodies and organisations need to keep information about these services and their means of contact to the fore with their members.

One of the clear issues that I found when researching this issue, and from having been an advocate for good mental health for some years now, is that many people still have concerns about addressing the problem. This can be for many reasons, ranging from believing that they will be shunned

and not employed if they are an athlete, that owners will leave them if they are a trainer, and a feeling that if they reveal their suffering it is admitting defeat.

None of this should be so and, with proper support from professionals, everyone can be helped through their personal crisis. We are well aware of campaigns such as “It’s okay not to be okay”, “It’s good to talk” and others, and these messages need to be hammered home again, again and again. It is vital that campaigns about mental health awareness are not just highlighted for a day, a week, or during “mental health month”, but all year.

While many organisations and representative bodies are providing access to support, and pathways for its members, it is the belief of many that there is a necessity for governing bodies to bring these services together.

Horse Racing Ireland has addressed the need for industry support for people working in the sector, at every level, but again it seems that most people on the ground are unaware of its availability.

From my own personal experience, Ireland has been better served in some respects than other jurisdictions, helped no doubt by the fact that the industry is much smaller than elsewhere, and this has led to people being able to have easy access to, and a very personal relationship with, key figures in the sport.

Dr Adrian McGoldrick, the former senior medical officer at the Turf Club, now the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Body, first alerted me to the high incidence of depression and anxiety within the ranks of jockeys.

As a practising general practitioner at the time, he also spoke about the growing numbers of patients presenting to

“In business, I think if you employ 30 staff you have to have welfare and mental health officers; that is standard in a work environment. But in racing, there’s nothing

him with issues such as depression and anxiety.

Allied to my own personal journey with depression, and successfully overcoming it, when I was editing The Irish Field we came up with the idea of a fortnightly column covering and dealing with a variety of topics related to mental health. While some questioned the appropriateness of such a page in the main trade paper, I have no doubt people found it helpful.

Dr McGoldrick’s sterling and pioneering work in this area is being carried on by his successor, Dr Jennifer Pugh. All riders in Ireland will attest to the importance of her advice, her knowledge of the sport and her availability as key to their good physical and mental health.

The fact that an Irish racing, bloodstock and equestrian paper would have a fortnightly column was a pleasant revelation to Camilla Henderson when I caught up with her on the eve of Royal Ascot. As her name might suggest, Camilla is a daughter of the multiple champion trainer Nicky, and is a sports psychologist. She has worked closely with many professional jockeys and her work has been catapulted into profile following the death of Byrne.

The Irishman’s untimely passing brought into sharp focus the fact that he was a member of a close circle of friends that included Liam Treadwell and James Banks among its cohort. Tragically, all three have died by suicide. Their deaths have had a profound impact on the people closest to them, though some have revealed that they were offered no support afterwards.

This is something that has to be addressed.

Lack of any semblance of proactive help is at odds with many other professional sports, in which clubs and representative bodies take a much more holistic approach to

Grand National-winning jockey Liam Treadwell, and, right, James Banks: these three jockeys were good mates – tragically, none are with us now

The

support, even after a player’s career has ended. Racing needs to do more, and Henderson identifies where the gaps are in racing, as she can directly compare what’s on offer with sports such as football and cricket.

“If you compare us to professional cricket, professional rugby, professional football, we are so behind as an industry,” says Henderson. “Lifestyle support doesn’t exist, nor does sports psychology for that matter within our industry unless a jockey seeks it and pays for it privately themselves. One of our top National Hunt jockeys asked me last year ‘what exactly is a sports psychologist?’

“If you ask for help, it can be provided, but when you’re in that pit, that’s often when it is not asked for.

“We need to have a better preventative system of support, more spot-lighters in terms of people recognising that someone doesn’t seem him or herself this morning. Off the back of that conversations are opened up; and options for support are then discussed.

“We need to approach it totally differently than expecting the jockey to call a help line once they get stuck, that process is often too delayed. We need to be preventative, not reactive, in our support systems.

“It is important that there are people in racing yards and at the racecourses trained to spot the signs of mental health decline, also to implement monthly mental health surveys so we can keep tabs.

“Racing Welfare is offering Mental Health First Aid courses, and they are free for anyone in horseracing. Sadly, isn’t a big enough uptake on these, perhaps some don’t know about them? It would be great if yard managers, assistant

trainers, valets and jockey agents all attended these.

“I also believe there should be a Psych module on the trainers’ licensing course so trainers are equipped with the right skills to help their employees if they struggle. It could also help them understand how they can support their jockeys using performance coaching tools, similar to other professional sports – continuous professional development should be the norm.

“In UK business, I think if you employ around 30 staff or more you have to have mental health officers; that is standard in a work environment. But in racing, there’s nothing, its up to the trainer how much support they want to provide, and resources for those trainers aren’t really there, other than the resources offered by Racing Welfare.”

“It’s just the way the industry is working at the moment, in the sense that there is no programme, there’s no holistic support. There needs to be much more real life support, more touch points, more real people (welfare officers) on the ground, who can, for example, visit jockeys in their homes to provide rounded support. Maybe also specialists who can offer financial support if there are money concerns.”

“I do feel the biggest barrier we have is we’ve got lots of organisations working independently, but they’re not working together

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, there is a wide range of free-to-access supports available.

Please check any services provided by your own representative body, while Samaritans and other 24-hour national organisations are at the end of a telephone line.

Henderson continues: “We have got lots of organisations working independently, but they’re not working together. I’ve been trying to campaign for change and I want to work within the industry. All the organisations are doing great things, but the only way we’re going to get everyone working together is for bigger change at the top. Because I’m not actually working for any of these organisations, I don’t have a voice, but I’m doing the best I can.”

She concludes: “There is a long road ahead if racing is to come up to the standards of other professional sports, but a first step towards reaching that point is for an industry-led group to bring everyone together to form something along the lines of a mental health advisory board. Templates are already out there in other professional sports, its now time for us to take action.

“Pathways for all jockeys with a license need to be initiated to ensure they are supported from the get-go, and conversations around future career plans should be had while they are race riding, not once they’ve retired.”

Through Equuip, a body within Horse Racing Ireland, there is an industry assistance programme in place for all participants and their immediate families. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Not only is the service for people in crisis, but it has information and advice on many areas of life that are stressors.

Among its offerings are access to counselling for emotional problems and a pathway to structured therapy sessions; legal information for issues that cause anxiety, such as debt management, bereavement support and help with related legal matters, and qualified nurses to offer support on a range of medical or health-related issues.

late Paddy Dunican celebrating at Cheltenham this spring with Willie Mullins

Photo from Paddy’s X account

To all breeders who entrusted their mares to Aga Khan Studs stallions in 2024, and to all farm managers, stud staff, secretaries, vets, agents and everyone else who contributed to another successful breeding season.

Vadeni

TED TALKS...

British racing must make the most of this opportunity

WITH MULTIPLE HIGH-PROFILE positions at the helm of racing currently vacant it is a vital point at which we can enact change, and the industry should grab this moment.

We certainly are going to have a Labour government and the last thing racing needs is an influx of failed Conservative MP’s awarded leadership positions and very well-paid jobs in our industry!

Not surprisingly three of the industry bodies that run sections of our industry, namely the racecourses, the stallion farms and, on the opposite side of the fence, the bookmakers, have some of the best brains at the helm; the organisations

are not going to let any of their leaders be poached away!

But now is the time for us to change things, and the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) and the Jockey Club have a real chance to alter the way we run racing.

The Horseman’s Group is a valuable aid for the BHA in order to sound out the changes, it can’t change the structure as it tries to please too many industry bodies.

Having sat on the board of the ROA and the TBA for many years, thinking that each organisation could make changes at the top table, it is very clear that, although they both do sterling work in the field of breeding and ownership, they haven’t been able to drive forward any of the drastic changes needed to fundamentally increase

“Ascot has modernised, recruited management from other sports, attracted sponsorship media rights and betting turnover

“

prize-money, other than implementing self-help prize-money schemes such as the Great British Bonus, which uses owner’s and breeder’s own funds.

The media rights and World Pool income have remained a closely secret and guarded by the racecourses, and the time really has come for one body to take the lead with new ideas and manage the income streams so that the owners receive better prize-money.

Three British racecourses are run very well – Ascot, Goodwood and York. All three give the owners a good bang for their buck – and that is right from prize-money through to the ownership experience.

This summer I have managed runners for clients at Epsom on Derby Day and at Royal Ascot

Ted found the Epsom Derby Day experience for his owners, who had a runner on the day but not in the Derby, so “underwhelming” that he left the track before the Classic

There was a complete failure to look after owners on Derby Day unless they had a runner in the Classic.

Owners and industry professionals failed to be given access to the paddock in any other race than their own.

Racecourses often trot out the “Health and Safety” card, which I understand is a new world consideration, but the owners or their managers should not be the ones who are excluded for the spectacle and build-up of the main races.

Royal Ascot does a significantly better job at issuing weekly owners’ badges to larger-scale owners, as

well as weekly paddock passes to those industry professionals who are doing a job on the racecourse.

Maybe this year there were times that it was overdone – getting into the paddock was often hard when many of the handicaps had 30 runners – but I was very fortunate to have a paddock pass, which made my working week extremely pleasurable.

Royal Ascot runs racing in a way many other tracks are unable to do so, too. Its ability to get participants from all over the world and give international runners a class day out is in a league of its own.

Ascot has modernised, recruited management from other sports, attracted sponsorship media rights and betting turnover like no other –it deserves to be a profitable.

Through one week in June the track plays host to most rulers from the Middle East, as well as many representatives from our own British Royal family.

For an owner with a runner it is a broad experience and, as there are only ever seven winners each day, ensuring an owner’s “losing experience” is as good as it can be is just as important.

I think Ascot is well on the way to perfecting that.

So, to return to British racing’s current quest for its numerous leadership vacancies, the sport must find a person who can do (on a larger scale) essentially just what the team at Royal Ascot has done.

I know the Hong Kong Jockey Club has massive financial advantages but the HKJC did find

itself Winifred Englerecht Bresges, who has helped ensure that the nation’s racing has become a massively profitable business. I am sure he is well looked after financially, but he has delivered.

We need to do the same in the UK and then ensure that those people taken on at the top do not get bogged down with the sport’s “traditional” ways.

We need captains of industry and people who might not “fit in”, are prepared to change the fundamentals and be more than happy go against the grain if needed.

This is a pivotal moment for racing and I hope the boards at the Jockey Club and BHA do the right thing and take a chance on a visionary person, and pay them top dollar for his or her efforts.

Ascot gets so many things right... British racing needs someone who can copy many of the racecourse’s achievements but on a larger industry-wide scale and, sadly, I have to say that the experience was so underwhelming at Epsom that I left before the Derby.

R....Girls aloud

OYAL ASCOT is one of the most important events on the British Flat racing calendar, but it is more than a celebration of thoroughbred horses. The huge social importance of the event and its impact on fashion, food and drink brings in the crowds who flock to the track for the five-day festival.

It was wonderful to have the daily attendance of HRH Queen Camilla and a real testament to the strength and dedication of HRH King Charles that, despite ongoing medical treatment, he was able to attend on all but one of the days.

With nearly 275,000 people attending over the five days and the meeting televised in over 200 different territories, this is clearly a formula that works and holds huge attraction for racegoers and viewers alike.

It is very encouraging to see an increase of 7,000 over the week on 2023 figures. It is clear that, when providing attendees with the right hospitality, facilities and entertainment, Flat racing and indeed the entire sport of horseracing can hold its own amongst the highlights of the sporting year.

Everybody is expected to look their best at Royal Ascot and even the men have to up their game with some sartorial splendor of morning suit, waist coat and top hat.

There is a delight taken in following the dress code and donning millinery and finery. This is a far cry from some of the previous criticism of racing which was perceived as preventing accessibility.

The spectacle and pageantry is enjoyed by all and I think it is something very special to see so many people enjoying looking their best, no matter which enclosure they were attending.

It is not just the attraction of the chance to rub shoulders with the good and the great of royalty and nobility, but also the many stars of sport and screen who are to be encountered whether they are attending as guests or presenting trophies with famous names such as Henry Winkler, Minnie Driver, Jerry Hall, Dame Prue Leith, Elizabeth Hurley, Penny Lancaster, Theo Walcott, Mike Tindall and Alex Jones among those in attendance.

The mix of sporting stars and those from the screen offers a great range of celebrity personalities.

Even the equine stars all come out to shine during the five-day meeting and this year was no exception with Rosallion, Inisherin, Haatem, Charyn, Khaadem, Calandagan, Auguste Rodin, Porta Fortuna and Kyprios some of the names who lit up the winners’ enclosure.

There were also some new names who announced their presence on the world racing stage such as Port Fairy, Fairy Godmother, Bedtime Story, Leovanni, Shareholder and Rashabar.

There were some very special moments as always at Royal Ascot

Cathy Grassick, chairman of the Irish Breeders’ Association, enjoyed a Royal Ascot week, which provided spectacle, pageantry and 21 Irish-bred winners

four days of a brilliant Royal Ascot week, while Queen Camilla was racing everyday

and I am sure Irish viewers were delighted see Heather and Henry De Bromhead, Willie and Jackie Mullins and Jessica Harrington all part of the Royal Procession, and Harrington was also very privileged to present a trophy on Saturday, as well.

With King Charles and Queen Camilla both so fond of Ireland maybe we can look forward to seeing some more Royal runners in Ireland soon or even an Irish-trained horse for them in the not too distant future!

IRISH RACING AND BLOODSTOCK had another great week with Aidan O’Brien winning the trainers’ title for the 13th time, while 21 of the 35 winners were bred in Ireland.

There was even a very special moment for trainer Gerry Keane and his champion jockey son Colin – they teamed up together with Crystal Black to win the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes.

Of course, cannot speak about Royal Ascot without mentioning the great and the good who mark the day out with a picnic in the car parks.

I myself can only vouch for the excitement of Car Park 2, which is always very genteel and sedate prior to racing, but which has a much more festive vibe at the end of the day.

The celebrations of every day didn’t end when racing finished but carried on at what can only be described as a veritable “United Nations of picnics” over the week.

French, Irish, English – everyone was in festive spirit whether catching up with old friends or making some new ones!

Despite his current medical treatment King Charles attended

TOO DARN HOT

Hot is the word. Two Guineas winners in his first crop and an early Stakes-winning juvenile from his second. Plus: his Australian youngsters are off to a G1 star t.

Smart times at Royal Ascot

Rosallion, Shareholder and Porta Fortuna beat the clock, writes Page Fuller of Race iQ

WE WERE LUCKY enough to start our journey together with an in depth analysis of the Cheltenham Festival, and now we can start our Flat journey by dissecting the summer’s flagship festival, Royal Ascot.

For this meeting we will be using Longines tracking data to uncover the narratives behind some of the performances – hopefully, we will uncover some of the less obvious achievements.

Obviously Tuesday is the sensible place to start, but it is made even more suitable by the performance Rosallion put up in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes.

This son of Blue Point seems to have inherited the potent combination of his father’s speed, as well as staying ability from his dam sire New Approach.

Rosallion’s Finishing Speed Percentage of 107.96 per cent was the highest FSP of the meeting

Prior to the race it was hard to see how he would turn the form around with his 2,000 Guineas conqueror Notable Speech, who had shown exceptional speed to win at Kempton in the winter, and then stayed on very strongly off a fast pace in the 2,000 Guineas.

So what could Sean Levey do in order to come out on top?

One thing the data highlighted pre-race was that Rosallion was equally fast, if not faster, than Notable Speech.

His victory in the Irish 2,000 Guineas saw him post a Top Speed of 41.79mph, which was the fastest Top Speed recorded by any of the runners in that field. Notable Speech had only managed to reach 41.66mph and 41.40mph in his runs at Kempton in April and January respectively.

Rosallion’s inherent speed was harnessed to perfection by Levey. He sat quietly into the home straight, timed his run for the second-last furlong, and Rosallion answered accordingly.

The horse hit a Top Speed of 40.23mph at this point and the injection of pace soon sent him to the front.

In fact, he was the only horse in the race

St James's Palace: Top Speed

Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes: leading Top Speed performances

Time Index: Ascot 19th June

to break the 40mph barrier.

Rosallion’s Finishing Speed Percentage (FSP) of 107.96 per cent was the highest FSP of the meeting, which means he covered the final two furlongs of the race 7.96 per cent faster than the rest of the race. Electric.

Kodi Bear’s progeny find the speed Kodi Bear may have produced his best efforts over a mile, but his progeny seem to have a bit more speed about them as Leovanni proved in the 5f Queen Mary Stakes (G2).

She showed a good turn of foot to land this Group 2 contest hitting 41.84mph in the second last furlong and maintaining that to the line with an FSP of 101.19 per cent.

However, it was Cowardofthecounty, the first of Kodi Bear’s three progeny to run at the meeting,who caught our eye in the opening day’s Group 2 Coventry Stakes.

He is a rare son of Kodi Bear who looks as though he needs a little further. He was very slow away taking 2.95sec to reach 20mph, the slowest of the field. This slow start meant that by the end of the first furlong he was 0.51sec, or 3l, behind the eventual winner Rashabar and 1.14sec, six and a half lengths, behind the leader.

He never found life easy from that point and was one of the first horses off the bridle, but stayed on strongly to the line with an FSP of 100.5 per cent.

He will have learnt a lot from this experience and, considering how much ground he gave away at the start, and how outpaced he was through the race, we could see a top class prospect when stepping up in trip.

Glossary

Finishing Speed Percentage (FSP): uses the sectionals to calculate the speed a horse covers over the final furlongs of a race, as a percentage of its overall race speed. For races up to a mile, the final furlongs are the last two furlongs, for 1m1/2f and above it is the final three furlongs.

RaceiQ Time Index: This assesses a race time compared to the time we expect that race to be run in.

This includes the effects of race class, course, distance and official going. We then allocate it a score out of ten to give us context about how much a race has over or under-performed on the clock compared to what we were expecting.

A race run in the expected time would score around a five or six.

0-20mph metric: The time it takes for a horse to reach 20mph after leaving the stalls

The Prince Of Wales’s Stakes form looks strong

The highlight of Wednesday has to have been Auguste Rodin’s victory in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (G1).

Although he is a horse who has not always been the most consistent, he was a Derby and a Breeders’ Cup Turf winner as a three-year-old, so we knew that he had both stamina and speed in his repertoire.

He silenced any doubters with his performance at Ascot. Very strong fractions were set by Snobbish over the first half mile, hitting 41.85mph in the second furlong, and this worked out well for Ryan Moore who was happy to sit behind the leaders and then make use of Auguste Rodin’s stamina.

The final race time was particularly impressive. Using our RaceiQ Time Index, the race time scored a 9.7 out of ten, which backs up just how impressive a performance this was.

It also suggests that it’s probably worth keeping an eye on the placed horses behind him, too, since they managed to get within 2l of him.

Shareholder gives a fine return

On Thursday trainer Karl Burke’s terrific form continued with Shareholder giving

Listed Chesham Stakes: sectional comparisons

Bedtime Story, Petile Boy and Brian

owner Wathnan Racing a second win of the week in the Norfolk Stakes (G2).

Shareholder is one of only four runners by stallion Not This Time we have seen on these shores (Racing Post) and he looked mightily impressive.

He travelled powerfully through the race and benefitted from being drawn where the pace was stronger. This meant he was able to make the best use of his speed and stamina.

He was the fastest winner of the week posting the fastest furlong and Top Speed of any of the horses who came home in front.

He clocked a 10.78sec furlong in the second furlong and a Top Speed of 42.29mph in the third furlong.

His FSP of 99.31 per cent reflects how well he was able to maintain that speed to the line, just tying up in the closing stages. This wasn’t a problem, however, as his mid-race speed had put him out of reach of his rivals.

Porta fastest in the Coronation Stakes

Porta Fortuna, like Rosallion, just failed in the 1,000 Guineas, and was looking to turn the tables on Emalka in the Coronation Stakes (G1).

Going into the Ascot race she had posted the highest Top Speed of her rivals of

Shareholder: the fastest winner of the week posting the fastest furlong and Top Speed of any of the horses who came home in front –pretty impressive for a twice-raced juvenile

41.70mph when landing the Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) in September, suggesting her speed was not put to best use in the Guineas.

Jockey Tom Marquand kept things simple tracking Moore into the home straight and then quickening up with two furlongs to go.

The fractions were more even than their male equivalent, which meant that horses who sat off the pace had to use a lot of energy to make their move three furlongs from home.

Marquand was able to save her for another furlong, however, and as she then quickened up to an 11.83sec furlong, the fastest of the field, that effort put the race to bed.

Her sire Caravaggio was very effective over sprint distances and she showed this week that he has certainly passed on some of that speed to her.

Story’s turn of foot put the race to Bed

Bedtime Story’s performance in the Chesham Stakes (L) on Saturday means we have a lot to look forward to as she develops on the track.

Topping off a sensational week for both trainer Aidan O’Brien and Moore, the daughter of Frankel posted the largest winning margin of the week, powering home by nine and a half lengths.

Her impressive turn of foot saw her complete the final two furlongs 1.32sec quicker than the runner-up Pentle Bay, and she was the only horse to post a sub-12sec furlong in the second-last furlong.

Bedtime Story Brian Pentile Bay

ONE OF THE WORLD’S LEADING SIRES

LOPE DE VEGA.

THE LEADING EUROPEAN SIRE IN 2024

ROUHIYA winner of the Gr.1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches at Longchamp.

17/06/24

LOOK DE VEGA

unbeaten winner of the Gr.1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly.

Now a three-time Group 1 winner, he may head next to the

a possible

Rosallion: the son of Blue Point winning the St James’s Palace Stakes (G1).

Sussex Stakes (G1) with

end-of-season tilt at the Breeders’ Cup Turf Mile

Royal reward

Amy Bennett reports from a superb Royal Ascot– it was a meeting that truly delivered for British racing

THE ST JAMES’S PALACE STAKES (G1) promised to be one of the races of the meeting, with the winners of the 2,000 Guineas in Britain, Ireland and France crossing swords over Ascot’s straight mile.

Victory went the way of the Irish 2,000 Guineas hero Rosallion, who was beaten a length and a half by Notable Speech (Dubawi) at Newmarket, but landed the Irish equivalent by a head from Haatem (Phoenix Of Spain).

The son of Blue Point proved that his Classic success was no fluke when repelling the late charge of Henry Longfellow (Dubawi) to triumph by a neck. The Poule d’Essai des Poulains (G1) winner Metropolitan (Zarak) claimed third place, with Notable Speech only seventh.

The young sire Blue Point deserves plaudits for the top-flight winner, but we must also tip the hat to the top families nurtured by Rosallion’s owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum.

Rosallion is out of the New Approach mare Rosaline, an unraced sister to high-class miler Ostilio, and a half-sister to a number of other high-class performers, including the Group 1 winners Ajman Princess (Teofilo) and Triple Time (Frankel), now a sire.

Ajman Princess provided her ownerbreeder with yet another red-letter day when her son Inisherin stormed away with the Commonwealth Cup (G1). From the final crop of the leading sire Shamardal, Inisherin finished sixth in the 2,000 Guineas before being remade as a sprinter when winning the Sandy Lane Stakes (G2) 21 days later.

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid certainly takes the honours for Royal Ascot week with this pedigree producing two Group 1-winning three-year-olds and significant stallion prospects.

The colts’ Classic form was paid another hefty compliment when Haatem dropped back in trip to win the 7f Jersey Stakes (G3) by a short head from Kikkuli (Kingman), the latest (and last) to bear the weight of being a half-brother to Frankel.

The winner is the flag bearer from the first crop of the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain, who stands at the Irish

Sheikh Mohammed Obaid certainly takes the honours for Royal Ascot week with this pedigree producing two Group 1-winning three-year-olds and significant stallion prospects

National Stud at a fee of €10,000.

He was one of the most popular equine winners of the week, with Richard Hannon remarking that he’d never known a horse to have a fan club like him – the horse receives email and Instagram messages.

Successful in the Vintage Stakes (G2) during his lengthy juvenile career in which he ran nine times, Haatem got his season off to a winning start in the Craven Stakes (G3), before finishing third in the 2,000 Guineas, prior to his runner-up spot at The Curragh.

Bred by Hyde Park Stud, the colt was bought back as a foal and was purchased for just 27,000gns by the Doyles during Tattersalls October Book 2 a year later.

The fillies’ Classic form came under the spotlight in the Coronation Stakes (G1) and it was Porta Fortuna (Caravaggio) who came

off best, showing an impressive turn of foot to hold off Opera Singer (Justify) by a length.

In the 1,000 Guineas (G1) at Newmarket, Porta Fortuna was beaten a neck by Elmalka (Kingman), who finished fourth at Ascot, with the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (G1) winner Rouhiya (Lope De Vega) finishing last.

Winner of the Albany Stakes 12 months ago, Porta Fortuna landed her first top-level triumph in the Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) before finishing runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf.

Bred by the O’Brien family’s Whisperview Trading, she is out of the winning Holy Roman Emperor mare Too Precious, from the sturdy further family of the St Leger (G1) victor and sire Milan.

She is owned by a syndicate for Taylor

The “warrior”: a deserved Jersey Stakes (G3) win for Haatem, one of the week’s Wathnan-winning four

Made Partnerships, Mark McStay of Avenue Bloodstock having been involved in putting the group together.

Whisperview also scored as a breeder with Port Fairy (Australia), who won the Ribblesdale Stakes (G2) by a neck.

Old guard still in command

It can often feel that a small number of sires dominate proceedings on the Royal racetrack, but that was not the case at Royal Ascot 2024. No fewer than 30 sires were responsible for the week’s 35 winners, while 33 broodmare sires hit the board.

The old guard were amongst the handful to sire more than one winner, with Galileo responsible for three, and Sea The Stars, Dark Angel and Frankel each responsible for a pair of winners. The first three were also on the board as broodmare sires.

Dark Angel became the only sire of the week to sire two Group 1 winners, getting off the mark in the very first race of the week when Charyn triumphed in the Queen Anne Stakes (G1).

Charyn: the first leg of the Dark Angel G1 double, Tony Fry (right) of Sumbe taking home the trophy

Leading sires at Royal Ascot 2024 (stallions with winners and placed horses). Table courtesy of Weatherbys – to see in full go to the company’s X account

Victory for the Grangemore Stud-bred four-year-old was thoroughly well deserved as Nurlan Bizakov’s likeable colt has been knocking on the door at the highest level throughout his career. Purchased for 250,000gns at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, the colt has definitely earned himself a berth to stand under the growing Sumbe banner when he retires.

After the race stud manager Tony Fry was all smiles and said: “I said to the boss [Nurlan Bizakov] before Charyn ran that if he wins on this ground he is a star, and so he has proved – Silvestre [De Sousa] said as such when he got off.

“That opens up options, but for now we will enjoy this. You always hope that the horse you purchase goes on to do this sort of thing, but they rarely do!”

A full-brother to Wings Of War, also successful in the Mill Reef Stakes (G2), Charyn hails from the smart family of the useful Galeota (Mujadil), with the Group 3 winner Pipe Major appearing back in the family.

Dark Angel has never seemed to get the credit he really deserves, but he is now the sire of 17 Group 1 winners worldwide and stands at a fee of €60,000 at Yeomanstown Stud.

Search For A Song had a filly by Baaeed this year, and that is fantastic, the line goes on

Firmly in the running this year for champion British and Irish sires’ honours, and topping the table as we go to press, the son of Acclamation thoroughly deserves every bit of credit he gets.

He has a number of stallion sons at stud in Europe, the most successful to date being Harry Angel.

Could Charyn be the son who will future proof his sire’s line? Time will tell.

One son of Dark Angel who will not be furthering his father’s line is the gelded Khaadem, who stormed to a repeat victory in the renamed Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (G1).

Now an eight-year-old, Charlie Hills’ charge is the kind of hard-knocking, consistent stakes performer so typical of his sire.

As a broodmare sire Dark Angel also made

his mark this June – Mecca’s Angel, dam of the impressive Listed Chesham winner Bedtime Story, one of his, too.

The mighty Galileo’s final crop are now juveniles, but it was his three-year-olds who dominated on Wednesday, with Illinois leading home his paternal half-brother Highbury in the 1m6f Queen’s Vase (G2).

Third in last year’s Criterium de SaintCloud (G1) to stablemate Los Angeles (Camelot), the Coolmore homebred has been placed in a couple of Classic trials this year, but staying looks to be his future, given how well he hit the line at Ascot.

A full-brother to the Group 3 winners Venice Beach and Broadway, he is also a half-brother to the great Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Danedream (Lomitas), out of the unraced Danehill mare Danedrop.

GALILEO WAS ALSO responsible for the superb stayer Kyprios, who is out of a daughter of Danehill in Moyglare Stud Farm’s top-notch producer Polished Gem. Kyprios became only the third horse to recapture the Ascot Gold Cup (G1) having missed last year’s race through a career and life-threatening injury.

The return to top class racing was so in doubt for Kyprios and Fiona Craig, long term bloodstock advisor to Moyglare Stud, said: “It is testament to Aidan O’Brien and the team at Ballydoyle, but also to the horse who fought for his life and his career.”

She added with an update on Search For A Song, Kyprios’ two-time Group 1 Irish St Leger Stakes-winning full-sister: “Search had a filly by Baaeed this year, and that is fantastic, the line goes on.

“She was a bit of a madam and quite highly strung, and when I saw Baaeed at Ascot he is not only very athletic but also seemed to have a very equal temperament.”

The filly is already named Sing Our Song.

As a broodmare sire, Galileo scored another Group 1 victory with the mercurial Auguste Rodin (Deep Impact), who brought his A-game to land the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1) and give trainer Aidan O’Brien his 400th top level winner.

It is also worth noting that six of Galileo’s

Kyprios (near side): in a head-to-head with rival Trawlerman (Golden Horn) for Ascot Gold Cup glory

sons were responsible for winners at the Royal meeting.

Sea The Stars teamed up with broodmare sire Motivator to sire a pair of handicap winners.

The lightly raced Doha is a daughter of Motivator’s dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) victrix Treve and turned in a fine performance to land the Kensington Palace Stakes by a head, pleasing many racegoers who were fans of the brilliant Treve.

A day earlier, Pledgeofallegiance scored by half a length in the Ascot Stakes. Bred by Lodge Park Stud, the Tattersalls October Book 1 graduate is out of the Listed Lingfield Oaks winner Vow (Motivator), who was not beaten far when fourth in the Oaks (G1).

Just half an hour later, Sea The Stars added his name to the rollcall of the week’s winning broodmare sires when Israr (Muhaarar), out of Sea The Stars’ outstanding daughter Taghrooda, was a smart winner of the Listed Wolferton Stakes.

The most impressive Story of the week Among a cavalcade of top-notch winners and great stories, the most visually striking

winner of the week came in the Listed Chesham Stakes when the flying filly Bedtime Story hosed up by nine and a half lengths.

In a race that promotes more stoutly produced individuals, the Coolmore-bred filly may seem something of an anomaly, being out of the dual Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) heroine Mecca’s Angel.

However, she gained entry to the race on the strength of her sire Frankel’s 1m2f victories and given his injection of what we will loosely term “stamina”, it will be interesting to see what this filly’s optimum distance turns out to be.

Having broken her maiden over an extended 7f at Leopardstown earlier in June, Bedtime Story is now trading at short odds for next year’s 1,000 Guineas.

The policy of using fast mares on Galileo was one that the Coolmore team quoted frequently in the champion sires’ last few years, this is a twist with the speedy mare having been covered by Galileo’s Juddmonte Stud-based super sire son Frankel.

Twenty-four hours before Bedtime Story’s victory, her stablemate Fairy Godmother was impressive in the Albany Stakes (G3).

The daughter of Night Of Thunder did not enjoy a clear run, but showed plenty of pace once in the clear to score by three-quarters of a length from Simmering (Too Darn Hot).

From the top nursery of Ballyphilip Stud, the filly cost MV Magnier 425,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, and is a half-sister to last year’s Listedplaced Sketch (Showcasing).

Their dam is the novice winner Scintillating (Siyouni), a half-sister to the juvenile Group 2 winner Prolific (Compton Place).

Manton Thoroughbreds, which races in the familiar Sangster colours, may have hit the crossbar in the Albany, but the famed colours were carried to victory in the Coventry Stakes (G2) by Rashabar, who triumphed for Brian Meehan.

A son of Holy Roman Emperor, out of the young Camelot mare Amazonka, the colt was bred by Haras de Beaufy, before being snapped up for €120,000 by Sam Sangster at Arqana last August.

The big investments pay off Wathnan Racing made several high-profile

Ballydoyle’s fillies: Chesham Stakess winner Bedtime Story (Frankel), and, inset, Fairy Godmother (Night Of Thunder), winner of the Group 3 Albany Stakes

(and high money, we can safely assume) purchases in the run-up to Royal Ascot and, having finished in the places on Day 1, the team’s already-familiar peacock blue swept to victory on Day 2 aboard Leovanni in the Queen Mary Stakes (G2).

The Kodi Bear filly, trained by Karl Burke, caught the eye when winning at Nottingham in early June, almost two months after being purchased for her owners for £190,000 at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up –a fantastic return on her 20,000gns yearling purchase price.

Bred by KCS Bloodstock, she is the second winner out of Kassandra (Dandy Man), a half-sister to the dual Listed winner Majestic Missile.

A day later, the Wathnan team enjoyed a second juvenile success with the impressivelooking Shareholder, who triumphed by a length in the Norfolk Stakes (G2).

By the young US sire Not This Time (Giant’s Causeway), the Burke-trained

Six weeks ago I thought I’d found my diamond and that wasn’t to be, but Isle Of Jura has certainly blossomed into one”

colt was a $62,000 yearling purchase at Keeneland, before parlaying that price into a €460,000 price tag at the Arqana May Breeze-Up for Jim McCartan’s Gaybrooke Lodge Stud.

Born and bred in the US, Shareholder is out of the British-bred mare Cloudy Dancer (Invincible Spirit), who is a half-sister to the Classic-placed Jersey Stakes (G3) winner Gale Force Ten (Oasis Dream), from the talented family nurtured by the late Bob McCreery out of the Electric mare Crackling.

Aussies strike again It would scarcely feel like Royal Ascot if

we did not have an Australian winner, and Asfoora kept up the Antipodean winning streak in the King Charles II Stakes (G1), formerly the King’s Stand.

The five-year-old mare had warmed up with fourth place in the Temple Stakes (G2) at Haydock, and flew home to beat Regional (Territories) by a length at Ascot.

Bred and owned by Noor Elaine Farm, she is by the Group 1-winning Artie Schiller stallion Flying Artie, already sire of a top-flight sprinter in Artorius.

He now stands at Blue Gum Stud in Victoria. Asfoora is out the I Am Invincible mare Golden Child, from a Group 1-winning family.

Success for Down Under: Asfoora became the eighth Australian-trained winner at Royal Ascot and the sixth winner of the King Charles III Stakes

Victorious by name and deed Victorious Racing, the nom de course of Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, enjoyed a special week on Ascot Heath with two winners on the board. They were led by the Hardwicke Stakes (G2) victor Isle Of Jura (New Approach).

Once-raced for breeder Godolphin, the four-year-old was purchased for £150,000 by JS Bloodstock and George Scott, and went on to enjoy Triple Crown success in Bahrain this winter.

On his return to Britain, he maintained form with success in the Listed Festival Stakes at Goodwood, before striding away to win the Hardwicke by nearly 4l.

A full-brother to the multiple Australian Group 1 winner Cascadian and a half-brother to the Canadian juvenile Group 1 winner Albahr (Dubawi), he is out of Godolphin’s Group 3 winner Falls Of Lorna (Street Cry), from a deep family that has repaid Godolphin many times over.

It was a hugely emotional win for his jockey Callum Shepherd after the spring’s agony of being jocked off the Derby runner-up Ambiente Friendly

After the race Shepherd said: “Isle Of Jura has been amazing. We took him over for that handicap series in Bahrain initially, and obviously you hope he’s going to be better than that, but at that stage we had no idea.

“He just kept improving; he has never let us down and has got better with every start.

“It’s so wonderful for his owner Sheikh Nasser; it was lovely he went over there so they could enjoy him on home soil, so to speak, and he’s come back and continued to climb.

“Isle Of Jura was so good today – he loves quick ground and stays a 1m4f well.

“Six weeks ago I thought I’d found my diamond [Ambiente Friendly] and that wasn’t to be, but Isle Of Jura has certainly blossomed into one.”

Sergei maintains his early lead

BY THE END OF Royal Ascot 2023 Blue Point had sired 14 individual winners; this year’s leading first-season sire Sergeo Prokofiev, though not yet into double figures, is going great guns with seven winners to his name.

That young Whitsbury Manor stallion is also off the mark as a stakes-winning sire, courtesy of the Marble Hill Stakes (G3) winner Arizona Blaze, who also finished third in the Norfolk Stakes (G2).

Occupying joint-second place in the first-season sires’ table is Haras d’Etreham’s Hello Youmzain with five winners by the end of Royal Ascot, including Wathnan Racing’s Coventry Stakes (G2) runner-up Electrolyte, who was beaten just a nose.

Sands Of Mali, who stands at Ballyhane Stud, is also on five winners, but went one better than his rivals at Royal Ascot by siring a winner – Ain’t Nobody, who stormed home by a length in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes for Kevin Ryan and Jamie Spencer, a length and a half of his paternal half-sister Aviation Time in third.

Bred in the name of Ballyhane (Rathbride) Unlimited, the winner was snapped up at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale for £30,000.

While that price tag looks pretty cheap now, it is worth noting that the runner-up in the Windsor Castle, the US-trained Gabaldon Gone Astray, was even more of a bargain, having been purchased for just $9,000 at the OBS October Yearling Sale.

Aint’ Nobody: Sands Of Mali’s Windsor Castle Stakes winner, bred by Ballyhane

A hot summer for Elwick Stud

And its stallion Mondialiste moves up to the top stage with his colt Mondo Man

THIS JUNE has been an exciting month for the Turnbull family’s Elwick Stud courtesy of its broodmare Stream Song and its own stallion, the former globetrotting, two-time Grade 1 winner Mondialiste.

The double-header enjoyed at the beginning of the month by the farm’s broodmare Stream Song (Mastercraftsman), courtesy of handicap success at Haydock for her son Iron King and a Listed victory at Goodwood for her daughter Lava Stream in the Weatherbys/British EBF Agnes Keyser Stakes, the filly subsequently putting in a brilliant run when second in the Ribblesdale Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot, was a highlight, but the farm has also enjoyed lesser-heralded but equally important performances by the Elwick-bred, French-trained Mondo Man.

The three-year-old Mondialiste colt is in the care of the Chantilly-based trainer Pia Brandt and he gave connections a Classic shout when an excellent and eye-catching fifth in the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1). The chesnut went on to prove that run was no fluke when a fine fourth in the 1m4f Group 2 King Edward Stakes VII at Royal Ascot.

Brandt purchased Mondo Man privately at the Arqana May Breeze Up Sale in 2023 after he was led out unsold for €30,000.

“He impressed me at the sales with his big stride and good balance, even though he still had some growing to do,” reported Brandt, adding: “I liked his head and his eyes – calm and confident.

“He has a lovely temperament and is confident in himself – he is relaxed in training but reacts well when asked to accelerate.”

Of his Royal Ascot run, she added: “I am pleased with that as he has not been tried over the trip before and these are top class horses. William [Buick] said he thought the

ground was a bit quick for him.”

The best so far by Mondialiste, Mondo Man is joint-owned by the trainer alongside two partners, including Ecurie Serge Stempniak, which last year enjoyed a wonderful season with Ace Impact.

Mondo Man has made rapid progress this spring emerging from winter quarters to win his maiden in February over 1m1f at Deauville, going on to win a Chantilly Listed race over 1m1f and then finish a Group 3 second on his fourth career start.

Brandt has an ambitious plan for her talented colt and the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) is currently the autumn target.

Mondialiste, who was the love of the late Geoff Turnbull’s life, retired to Elwick in 2018 and stood at the County Durham farm for three years.

In 2021 the stallion transferred to France, where the commercial opportunities are perhaps more numerous for a stallion with his profile, initially based at Haras d’Annebault

Mondialiste’s leading performer Mondo Man enjoying his summer foal days at Elwick Stud

Use this QR code to listen to Elwick Stud’s Nick Turnbull on the Weatherbys section on the Nick Luck Podcast

Mondaliste: now stands at Haras de Longechaux giving good access to the German broodmare band

Photos courtesy of Elwick Stud

before moving for the 2023 season to his current home at Ralphael Detouillon’s Haras de Longechaux in the east of France.

“Mondo Man is an exciting horse and has been so progressive this season,” reported Gary Moore, stud manager at Elwick, adding: “Mondialiste has seen 40 mares this spring, and we have seven permanent boarders at the farm and they have visited him.”

Of the reasons for the stallion’s move to Longechaux, he added: “We think the sire suits the German broodmare band and the farm, which is near the Alps, is just that bit closer to the border.”

And of Mondo Man’s dam Moghrama, he updated: “She has an Almanzor colt foal at foot, and she is in-foal to Chaldean.”

King Of Change blasts on to the sales scene and the racecourse

THE STALLION SUCCESS STORY at this spring’s breeze-up sales was Starfield Stud’s first-season sire King Of Change.

Six lots by the son of Farhh were sold at the two-year-old horses in training sales for an average price of 113,063gns and a top price of £280,000, which was given by Alex Elliott and Amo Racing at the Goffs UK 2yo Breeze Up Sale for the filly and first foal out of the two-year-old-winning Dawn Approach mare Evie Speed. Now called Too Sweet, she is in training with David Loughnane.

This year’s results show superb sales ring progression for the sire – his first crop foal average was 17,814gns, a figure which increased marginally to 18,544gns when the crop sold as yearlings, but this spring there has been a massive upturn with the sire’s average for his two-year-olds growing sixfold to the six-figure sum.

The improvement is even more marked if looking at King Of Change’s fillies alone – the five sold at the breeze-up sales achieved an average price of 130,476gns.

At the time of writing, the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes-winning and 2,000 Guineas runner-up has had two winners from three runners, all fillies.

Mondo Man: finishing fourth in the King Edward VII Stakes (G2), his first run over the 1m4f trip

Too Sweet: the most expensive sale horse so far by King Of Change sold for £280,000 at Goffs UK in April

Photo courtesy of Goffs UK

Lady With The Lamp was successful at Bath for trainer Joseph O’Brien on her second career start, and Transcending won her maiden for Ger Lyons at Leopardstown on June 13 having previously finished a good fourth in a hot maiden behind none other than Royal Ascot winner Bedtime Story.

Lady Roxby also put in a taking debut when fourth at Ripon on June 19 for trainer Bryan Smart, who paid 180,000gns for the filly at the Tattersalls Guineas Sale.

“His runners so far are looking very promising, all progressive fillies,” said Micheal Orlandi of Starfield Stud, adding: “His breeze-up horses sold exceptionally well and the results definitely brought in some late mares as breeders

revisited his profile – those who came to see him were impressed as he is an eye-catching individual with plenty of length, strength and substance.

Mount Everest making a strong start in Italy

STEFANO LUCIANI’S FARM

Azienda Agricola Luciani, which is found in the beautiful Lazio region of Italy, some 35km west of Rome, stands two stallions and is currently enjoying a fine time of it – its young sire Mount Everest making possibly an unexpected but impressive early mark on the European first-season sires’ table.

The son of Galileo currently sits in third place with four early-season winners, a tally achieved from just seven runners.

And at Milan on June 14 he sired a onetwo – his colt and previous winner El Buitre coming home ahead of Zenorione, already with two previous successes to his name.

It is an admirable performance for the stallion, but even more commendable when looking at his own racing profile.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien for Flaxman Stables and the Coolmore partners, Mount Everest made his juvenile debut over 7f, but that was the only time he ran over a distance less than a mile – his best two-yearold performance achieved when second in the mile Beresford Stakes (G2). His career highlights came at three with Listed victory in the Trigo Stakes over 1m2f and a sixth-place finish in the 1m4f Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1).

Luciani argues that it is his stallion’s topclass pedigree and outstanding physique that is giving his progeny this extra impetus for these early spring season successes over the sprint trips of 5f and 6f.

“Mount Everest is a lovely horse and just exudes class – he has a lot of quality and is a good-bodied horse,” says Luciani on the Weatherbys section of the Nick Luck Podcast.

“We bought him from Flaxman Stables and Coolmore, and he is bred in the purple being out of the brilliant mare Six Perfections – she won the Prix Marcel Boussac as a two-yearold, was a champion three-year-old and a Breeders’ Cup winner. He is a full-brother to two black-type winners and from Miesque’s

“He is a very good-walking, well-balanced stallion and all his stock have great action, too.”

The eight-year-old sire began his stud career at Derrinstown at €7,000, a price that was reduced to €6,000 for year two.

He has stood for the past two years at Starfield starting out at a fee of €6,000.

Orlandi continued: “This year’s book will be around 120, his biggest so far and up from a previous best of 70.

“He is working off a small crop this year, but it is all relative and if he can get a good winners-to-runners ratio and some stakes horses that will be ideal. The future looks promising as his stock should come forwards at the back end of the year, as three-year-olds, and over a mile and further.”

Use this QR code to listen to Stefano Luciani on Nick Luck’s podcast 

family of Karakontie, Kingmambo and Miesque’s Son, a real stallion’s family.

“He should not really be getting winners over 5f, but I think it is just down to the quality that he is passing on – I think he will really come into his own as his progeny age and start to run over further.”

The 15-year-old Dragon Pulse stands alongside the young sire, the son of Kyllachy into his second year in Italy having moved from his long-term domain at the Irish National Stud where he had been a standing dish since his retirement in 2013.

Winner of the mile Prix de Fontainebleu (G3), The Curragh’s EBF Futurity Stakes (G2) and a runner-up in the National Stakes (G1), Dragon Pulse boasts a solid and highly respectable 53 per cent career winners-torunners record with 26 winners so far in 2024.

“I am happy to have Dragon Pulse on the farm, and he is a well-mannered horse,” says Luciani. “He is a solid winner-producing sire.”

His leading earner is the Irish-bred fiveyear-old Happy Together, who has collected over £3 million from 23 starts.

He is trained in Hong Kong by Frankie Lor with his last run being his best when fourth behind Romantic Warrior in April’s QEII Cup (G1), his first start at the highest level.

King Of Change: has seen 120 mares this spring

Mount Everest (right): won twice from 11 starts

Leading European Flat Sires 2024 (by prize-money earned to June 23, 2024)

Courtesy of Weatherbys

Trend-setter?

City Of Troy put his 2,000 Guineas defeat behind him with an exciting Derby success, victory which has Coolmore dreaming that the son of Justify could create a career on Turf and Dirt to give himself and his sire unique profiles, writes Jocelyn de Moubray

IN THE END City of Troy won the Derby in the style which many had expected him to do through the long months between the end of his unbeaten two-year-old career and his reappearance in the 2,000 Guineas.

After the son of Justify had finished only ninth of 11 runners, beaten some 17l in the Newmarket’s opening Classic, even more observers and experts expressed doubts as to whether or not he would, like his stable

companion Auguste Rodin had done only 12 months earlier, be able to return to his juvenile excellence and win the Derby.

The betting public remained confident in the horse’s ability and trainer Aidan O’Brien’s reassuring declarations – City Of Troy started favourite and beat his 15 rivals comfortably by over two and three-quarter lengths leading home Ambiente Friendly and his stable companion Los Angeles.

City Of Troy was O’Brien’s tenth winner of

the Epsom Classic and his eighth in the last 13 years. The fact that his last two winners had finished unplaced, beaten by long margins on their previous starts, will surely turn out to have been a strange and random quirk, though it is worth pointing out just how unusual this is.

There must have been at some point since 1780 another Derby winner who had been unplaced on his previous start, but I have been unable to find one – the closest in recent years was Generous, who had been fourth in the 2,000 Guineas beaten 8l before he went on to win the Derby brilliantly by 5l from Marju.

In fact, Marju, who was the runner-up in the 1991 Derby, comes close to setting the pattern for O’Brien’s winners as he had finished 11th of 14 in the 2,000 Guineas beaten 17¼ lengths having been sent off the 6-4 favourite at Newmarket.

The difference being, of course, that Marju didn’t win at Epsom.

The Coolmore partnership who bred and own City Of Troy do hope he will prove to be a trend setter of a different sort.

He is only the second Derby winner in the last 27 years to be by an American-based sire after Kris Kin in 2003.

Through the 1970s and 80s it was a different story – US-based sires supplied 16 of the 29 winners from Sir Ivor, by Sir Gaylord, in 1968 to Benny The Dip, by Silver Hawk, in 1997.

Justify, who stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky, was an unbeaten Triple Crown winner who never raced on Turf, but with two crops of three-year-olds to race he is already the sire of six Group or Grade 1 winners, three on Turf and three on Dirt.

Other stallions have made a similarly explosive start, most recently the American Gun Runner; in Europe sires such as Galileo, Montjeu, Oasis Dream and Frankel and in the US sires the likes of Candy Ride, Street Cry and Medaglia D’Oro – but none of these 21st century sires have been able to establish themselves as equally good producers of Turf and Dirt Classic horses.

Perhaps the one who came close to doing so was Coolmore’s Giant’s Causeway, who left behind top stallion sons across the two continents – Shamardal in Europe and Not This Time in the US, although in the end the son of Storm Cat was not consistently

producing Classic horses on either continent.

It is the dream of any international stallion operation to have a sire who attracts the best mares from Europe and the US, and whose progeny attract the big buyers from both continents, too.

Justify is not quite there yet, but he has a better chance of achieving this status than any other stallion in the last 30 years. It is small wonder that his owners are doing everything possible to help the son of Scat Daddy acquire this place at the pinnacle of international sires.

It is difficult to compare stallions from different times as so many of the variables have changed beyond recognition.

Justify has had 326 named foals in his first two northern hemisphere crops who are three and four today, whereas Northern Dancer did not reach the same number until after his tenth crop by which time he had already produced numerous Champions and Classic winners in Britain, France and Canada, including Franfreluche, Viceregal, Nijinsky, Lyphard, Northern Taste and many others.

However, 50 years ago, Northern Dancer was not the only North American-based stallion who regularly produced top horses in both the US and Europe.

Sir Ivor’s Derby win in 1968 was the

It is the dream of any international stallion operation – to have a sire who attracts the best mares from Europe and the US

precursor to wins from 1970 to 1972 of Nijinsky, Mill Reef and Roberto, sons of Northern Dancer, Never Bend and Hail To Reason who respectively changed thoroughbred breeding all over the world.

Freddy Head, who was a top jockey at the time, once told me that the top Americanbred runners then not only had the speed to win top two-year-old races, but as threeyear-olds they stayed 1m4f without any problem. It was something he said that the best European horses of the early 1970s were just unable to match.

Nijinsky won the Group 2 Railway Stakes

over 6f in July as a two-year-old, Mill Reef was even faster and he won the Coventry Stakes (G2) and the Group 1 Prix Robert Papin at two in June and July, while Roberto won the Angelsey Stakes (G3) over six and a half furlongs in July.

These examples are another reason to look at City Of Troy as a possible game changer –he, too, was a high class and precocious two-year-old and won the Group 2 Superlative Stakes over 7f at Newmarket in July as a juvenile.

There have been other more recent Derby winners with similar two-year-old achievements – Dr Devious and Generous both finished second in the Coventry Stakes (G2) and Dr Devious, like City Of Troy, won the Superlative, but it has become rare for horses to be capable of both early speed and middle-distance performances a year later.

CITY OF TROY’s stallion prospects will become clearer over the remainder of his racing career, but at Epsom the son of Justify proved beyond any doubt that he has the stamina to be top class over 1m4f.

His trainer clearly had no doubts on this issue as City Of Troy’s stable companions made sure the Derby was run at a fast pace from the start on the good to soft ground. Euphoric was the early leader and he covered the first 4f in 56.35sec, faster than the previous three Derbys, one of which was run on good to firm ground. Once Euphoric had done enough another stable companion, the Group 1 winner Los Angeles, took over in front.

City Of Troy was further behind the leaders than either of the last two winners Auguste Rodin or Desert Crown had been in the early part of the race but, unsurprisingly, jockey Ryan Moore was well aware of the situation and made his ground on the inside. City Of Troy then ran the fastest final three furlongs of all the field up the straight finishing in 36.43sec.

The winner changed his legs when Ambiente Friendly, who was the last of the field to come off the bridle, looked for a moment to be a danger, but he then surged away to win comfortably by two and three-

A smiling Ryan Moore delighted that all went to plan courtesy of a bold rail-running ride

quarter lengths from the Gredley family’s son of Gleneagles with Los Angeles, despite his earlier exertions, staying on to be third three and a quarter lengths behind.

Epsom always exaggerates the margins between horses in middle-distance races, and more so than ever when they are run at a fast pace on good to soft ground. There is little doubt that on an easier track and with different tactics the second and third will finish closer to the winner, but it is hard to see why they should be able to turn the tables.

Stride length analysis

Race reporting and analysis is changing fast in Europe now that sectional timing and data about stride length and frequency are becoming readily available.

Britain’s ITV coverage of the race included a section before in which presenter Kevin Blake suggested that City Of Troy’s relatively long stride, his average in the race itself was 7.98m, and slow stride frequency of between 2.13 and 2.3 strides a second, would mean that the horse would be better suited to racing over 1m4f rather than the mile of the 2,000 Guineas.

One day stride length and frequency will be as much part of every discussion about horses, stallions and racing as ratings and pedigree are today

Blake was vindicated on this and some of his other predictions – for instance, Dancing Gemini’s stride pattern suggesting that the son of Camelot would not be able to perform at his peak over a trip as far as 1m4f.

It would be foolish to dismiss this type of

analysis, which has been standard for human athletes for years.

It is not a new idea. I came across William Osmer’s “Dissertation of Horses”, which was written in 1756 in which he dismisses “the idea that blood determined why one horse raced better than another” and sought, “to replace it with a theory based upon mechanical principles”.

The idea has been around for centuries, but Osmer didn’t have access to today’s tech which can take 18 measurements a second for each horse during a race.

City Of Troy’s large stride and low frequency may have made it safe to assume he would be able to perform to his peak in a race over 1m4f, but it is not necessarily the reason why he is an elite horse.

There are, I know from experience, other three-year-old colts who have a similar stride length and frequency, the stride of one horse I know has been measured at 8m with a frequency between 2.16 and 2.26, but this colt has not finished closer than fifth in a stakes race!

One day, sooner rather than later, stride length and frequency will be as much part of every discussion about horses, stallions and racing as ratings and pedigree are today, but

The Epsom track extends the margins between the runners, especially when the ground is good to soft and when races are run at a fast pace

for the time being we are still feeling our way through a fog. The more data is collected and distributed the faster this will be dispersed.

Look De Vega a typical Jockey-Club winner

Look De Vega is usual of the recent type of horse who has been winning the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1).

Like two other recent unbeaten winners, Ace Impact and Reliable Man, Look De Vega is lightly raced – this was only his third career start and he had not previously been tried at a high level.

He was offered as a yearling at the Arqana August Sale with a deal being struck to create a new partnership after he had been bought back in the ring.

Owned by his breeders, Haras de la Morsangliere and Ecurie des Charmes,

together with his trainers Carlos and Yann Lerner and Patrick Madar, the son of Lope De Vega was no more troubled by his 13 rivals at Chantilly than he had been on his two previous starts at two and three. He remains not only unbeaten but untested as well.

One of the more surprising features perhaps of his victory is that Look De Vega started favourite, but by all accounts his final piece of work on the racecourse was so spectacular that not only were, as they used to say, all the dogs in Chantilly barking, but his trainers, whose previous Group 1 winner was the Jockey-Club winner Anabaa Blue in 2001, were remarkably calm and confident both before and after the race.

Argentine Carlos Lerner has been training in Maisons-Laffitte for decades now and was previously best known for Anabaa Blue and

Above, Notable Speech (Dubawi) returns in 2,000 Guineas triumph, and, below, sharing a moment with his groom Emilie Girard

Volvoreta, a Group 1 winner who finished third to Sinndar in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2000.

His son Yann was a successful jockey and joined his father as joint trainer in 2010.

Look De Vega started a short-priced favourite on his debut at Fontainebleau last November and won unchallenged by 7l.

A setback in February delayed his seasonal reappearance to a Class 2 at Longchamp on May 5, only a month before the Jockey-Club. He won brilliantly on his seasonal debut running the final 400m 17 per cent faster than his race average defeating a Dubawi colt trained by Andre Fabre by three and a half lengths.

A relieved Yann Lerner was overcome by emotion when asked for a comment after the race in the paddock, in fact he was far more emotional than after the Classic victory a month later. As O’Brien showed after the Epsom Derby it is overcoming difficulties and setbacks which creates stress and tension when training top athletes.

AT CHANTILLY, LOOK DE

VEGA was ridden with huge confidence by Ronan Thomas, too. The official going of 4.4 was the softest ground for a Jockey-Club in the last 50 years and, even if on a warm and sunny day the ground had dried significantly, it remained soft.

The jockey had Look De Vega within a length or two of the leaders throughout and when he asked the horse to quicken at the top of the straight, Look De Vega quickly asserted his superiority and won by a comfortable 2l from the Fabré-trained pair of First Look and Sosie, who finished within a neck of each other.

This trio were followed home by the proven Group 1 performers Ghostwriter, Sunway, Alcantor and Diego Velasquez and, the surprise of the race, Mondo Man, who finished fast from an outside draw to be an excellent fifth.

However, the final time of 2m9.81sec was the second slowest of all the Jockey-Clubs at this distance and, of recent Diane winners, only Valyra was slower.

Last year’s winner Ace Impact set a new

race record of 2m2.63sec something like 35l faster. The difference between the two came mainly in the first part of the race as Ace Impact covered the final 600m in 34.01sec, only 1.6s or 7l faster than Look De Vega.

The sectionals suggest that the early leaders Fast Tracker and Ramadan did not go off too fast, and while Look De Vega showed unusual finishing speed, those held up off the early pace had little chance of being involved in the finish.

The winner ran the final 400m five per cent faster than his race average, which on Chantilly’s testing course is unusual –Ace Impact managed three per cent, while both St Mark’s Basilica and Vadeni only maintained average speed.

Look De Vega will now be prepared for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – the trainer’s bad experience with Anabaa Blue at Ascot for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes will surely steer him away from that option.

As the horse has the speed to dominate in a slowly-run race over 2000m his pedigree suggests he will be able to carry this speed over 24000m.

His dam is by the Derby winner High Chaparral and she is out of a half-sister to the Jockey-Club and Diane winners Lawman and Latice.

This is a family developed by the Goulandris family from the Claiborne-bred Nijinsky mare Lighted Glory, placed in the Saint Alary in the Goulandris colours and she is the fifth dam of the Jockey-Club winner.

The fourth mare Light The Lights was also Group 1-placed in the colours of Chyrss Goulandris, who was the breeder of Lawman, Latice and Look De Vega’s dam Lucelle.

Look De Vega is continuing the sire line of previous winners of this race – his grand-sire Shamardal and sire Lope De Vega. He is less precocious than his forebears and may lack the brilliance the two showed early in their three-year-old careers, but he looks likely to continue performing at a high level.

Lope De Vega was unplaced on his final three starts after the Jockey-Club and it took many years before he was accepted as a top stallion.

It is worth bearing in mind that this year’s three-year-olds are the first the Ballylinch Stud sire has produced from a fee of €100,000 or higher and its results make him, together with Dubawi, the best active European sire of three-year-olds.

In 2024, Lope De Vega now has two Classic winners in Rouhiya and Look De Vega as well as Jockey-Club runner-up First Look and five other Group-performing three-year-olds already.

Lope De Vega: has had three top level winners this year – Program Trading’s victory in the US and the two Classic winners in France – and he currently heads up the European sires’ table (pg 34)

The World’s Leading Source of Royal Ascot Winners

KHAADEM

QUEEN ELIZABETH II

JUBILEE STAKES, Group 1

CHARYN

HAATEM

sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 1 by Yeomanstown Stud, Ireland to Shadwell Estate Company for 750,000 gns

JERSEY STAKES, Group 3

QUEEN ANNE STAKES, Group 1

LEOVANNI

QUEEN MARY STAKES, Group 2

ISLE OF JURA

sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 2 by Sherbourne Lodge, Ireland to Peter & Ross Doyle Bloodstock for 27,000 gns

CRYSTAL BLACK

DUKE OF EDINBURGH STAKES

MICKLEY

BRITANNIA STAKES

sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 2 by Grangemore Stud to Sumbe for 250,000 gns

sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 3 by Kilmoney Cottage Stud to Blandford Bloodstock for 20,000 gns

HARDWICKE STAKES, Group 2

sold Tattersalls Ascot March Sale by Godolphin to JS Bloodstock / George Scott Racing for £150,000

FAIRY GODMOTHER

ALBANY STAKES, Group 3

sold Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale by Moyglare Stud Farm Ltd to Midland Equine for 35,000 gns

ENGLISH OAK

BUCKINGHAM PALACE STAKES

sold October Yearling Sale, Book 1 by Car Colston Hall Stud to SackvilleDonald for 200,000 gns

HAND OF GOD

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sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 1 by Ballyphilip Stud, Ireland to M V Magnier for 425,000 gns

sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 2 by Fittocks Stud to Roger Charlton for 145,000 gns

sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 3 by Hillwood Stud to Blandford Stud / Bethell Racing for 20,000 gns

sold Tattersalls December Foal Sale by Oghill House Stud to Megan Nicholls for 18,000 gns

PLEDGEOFALLEGIANCE

ASCOT STAKES

sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 1 by Lodge Park Stud to Oliver St Lawrence for 450,000 gns

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sold Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, Book 2 by Stau enberg Bloodstock to Highclere Agency for 100,000 gns

The perfect couple

Good Magic and Puca are the “Posh and Becks” of US racing,

writes Melissa Bauer-Herzog

IF A POWER COUPLE existed in US racing right now it would be stallion Good Magic and mare Puca (Big Brown), whose son Dornoch won the 156th Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 8.

For the second straight year, the pair have played a major part in the result of the Triple Crown following Mage’s victory in last season’s Kentucky Derby (G1).

Dornoch’s victory provided a sports crossover of sorts as well as his ownership includes retired baseball player Jayson Werth. He won the World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008 and reported

that the Belmont victory was comparable.

“I’ll put this up there with anything I’ve ever done,” said Werth. “This is the top of sports. Horseracing is the most underrated sport there is. This is as big as it gets. The emotions you feel when you play in a playoff game, when you win a World Series game, it is the top of sports, and this is where we’re at.”

Good Magic’s two Classic winners gives him an even better start than his own prolific sire Curlin enjoyed at the beginning of his career – he sired Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Palace Malice from his first crop.

He then had a fine run with at least one horse placed in a Classic from each of his next five crops, including the Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Exaggerator.

Good Magic has plenty of opportunities to do even better than his sire with his stud fee and popularity with mare owners rising quicker than Curlin’s at the same stage.

Puca is only a 12-year-old, but she has a chance to complete her own unique Triple Crown after her second and third foals secured her two jewels.

She has a two-year-old colt by McKinzie (Street Sense) named Baeza, who sold for $1.2 million at Keeneland September last year, and she produced a Good Magic colt this spring.

Puca was purchased privately for $2.9 million at last year’s Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale by John Stewart and was bred to Into Mischief this year.

Stewart has already stated that Puca is heading to Europe for a date with Frankel in 2025.

Another stallion, who has doubled up on Classic winners over last two years, is the late Arrogate, whose last crop includes this year’s Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Seize The Grey.

The grey colt owned by the MyRacehorse syndicate became the seventh Preakness winner for 88-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas, whose previous Classic win came in 2013 when Oxbow won the same race.

Owned by 2,570 individuals, who purchased a share for just $127 each, Seize The Grey was also the second Classic winner for the over-achieving ownership

Dornoch: the Belmont Stakes winner became the second Classic star for the second year in succession by Good Magic and out of Puca after Mage’s Kentucky Derby victory in 2023

This is the top of sports. Horseracing is the most underrated sport there is. This is as big as it gets.

group after Authentic won the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

“It doesn’t get old. It’s still the same. In 1980 I had the first one here I ever ran, and it still feels the same,” said Lukas.

“With 2,570 owners! Isn’t that something, to make that many people happy? It’s a helluva concept. It really is. To see that many people happy in racing is really special. I’m happy, but I love the fact I could make them happy.”

Seize The Grey had originally been aimed toward the Kentucky Derby, but was stuck

on the outside looking in on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leader board after all the prep races were run. He ran on the Kentucky Derby under card, however, and caught the eye with a length win in the Pat Day Mile (G2). Never one to duck a race, Lukas put him on a van to Pimlico and the colt joined the Triple Crown series two weeks later.

The Preakness Stakes turned into an all-the-way victory for the three-year-old, who won by over two and a quarter lengths to become Arrogate’s sixth Grade 1 winner.

Arrogate didn’t sire a Classic colt from his first crop, but that group did yield Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Secret Oath.

Unfortunately for breeders Arrogate has had only two Grade 1-winning colts so far with last year’s champion three-year-old and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Arcangelo already at stud.

The stallion does have multiple graded stakes-winning males, however, and it stands to reason a few of those will end up as stallions – and possibly Grade 1 winners – in coming years.

Among that group is the Bob Bafferttrained Mr Fisk, whose Hollywood Gold Cup (G2) victory on May 27 makes him a likely candidate for Grade 1 races this summer and autumn.

For the first time since 2019 a horse contested all three Triple Crown races when Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mystik Dan added the last two legs of the Crown to his resume. He is also the sixth Kentucky Derby winner since 2000 to contest all three legs of the series, despite failing to win the Preakness, and the first since Orb ran all three in 2013.

In the Derby, Mystik Dan was sent off at odds of 186/10 after finishing third in the Arkansas Derby (G1) in his final prep with a

Seize The Grey: the sixth Grade 1 winner for the late Arrogate, and his second top level colt after the 2023 Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo

victory in the Southwest Stakes (G3) his only non-maiden victory in five previous starts.

However, a masterful ride by Brian Hernandez Jr. saw Mystik Dan slide up the rail to win by a nose in a three-way photo finish for the win with Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and Forever Young (Real Steel) completing the top three.

The Goldencents colt went on to finish second in the Preakness and eighth in the Belmont reportedly having subsequently scoped poorly.

Trainer Kenny McPeek said that Mystik Dan will now aim toward the Travers Stakes (G1) and Pennsylvania Derby (G1) .

“The last 20 years I’ve ridden in Kentucky, and as a young kid out of Louisiana, I had the chance of sitting in the same corner as Calvin Borel,” said Hernandez of the Derby victory. “Watching him ride all those Derbys all those years, and today with Mystik Dan being in the 3 hole, I watched a couple of his rides with Super Saver and Mine That Bird, and I decided that we were going to roll the dice.

“That’s the nice thing about Kenny, he lets me make those decisions. We had the right kind of horse to give him that kind of trip.”

This was the first US Classic winner for a stallion son of Into Mischief, though Into Mischief himself is responsible for Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.

NO US-BASED trainer had a better month than Kenny McPeek during the Triple Crown series, and ahead of the Kentucky Oaks (G1), McPeek made it clear that he had total faith in his entrant Thopedo Anna (Fast Anna) warning: “They better bring a bear because I’m bringing a grizzly! I wouldn’t be afraid to run her against the colts.”

Thorpedo Anna proved her trainer right with a 4.75l victory in the Oaks.

McPeek and Hernandez became only the third trainer/jockey combination to win the Derby and Oaks in the same year, and the first to do it for different owners.

McPeek also became only the third trainer to train the winners of both races in the same year alongside Ben Jones – who did it twice in 1949 and 1952 – and Herbert Thompson in 1933.

After the Kentucky Oaks, McPeek pondered running the filly in the Belmont Stakes if Mystik Dan didn’t run, but she was rerouted to the Acorn Stakes (G1). The move paid off as she confirmed her position at the three-year-old fillies’ division – and possibly among all three-year-olds. She won the Grade 1 by over 5l with no real competition, even after losing a shoe early in the race.

“One of our goals coming into the race was to stamp her as the best three-year-old in America,” McPeek said. “Whether we take on the colts [later] will be fun and it will be interesting.

“I’ll probably tease you all with what I’m thinking about. We’ll see. If she’s doing really well and she came back in the Coaching Club, and Mystik Dan didn’t make the Travers, then who knows? You might see us here. But I’m not going to run them against each other if I can help it.”

Thorpedo Anna is the first graded stakes winner for the late Fast Anna, who has sired 14 stakes winners and 24 stakes performers from his 192 winners.

Fast Anna became the sixth Medaglia D’Oro son to sire a Grade 1 winner with those winners coming in four different countries.

The McPeek Classic two: left, the Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna, whom her trainer firmly believes is the best three-yearold this year in the US, and, below, Mystic Dan, winner of the Preakness Stakes

THE CHOICE OF CHAMPIONS

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At Hambleton Lodge, we have chosen to feed the RED MILLS Racehorse Cubes. I feel that this product provides the horses with the right level of energy, whilst keeping them in great condition throughout the season. I like feeding to be simple, and the Racehorse Cube gives us everything we need.

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Flying high

Artist

Clare Brownlow was our December

2023 front cover artist, we find out more about the talented creative who does it in her own unique way

WHEN TALENTED

ARTIST Clare Brownlow is told that she has done a brilliant commercial job at promoting and selling her work, she refutes the thought with rapid shake of the head and replies that “it is just a lot of luck, really”.

The success that Brownlow has enjoyed as an artist is quite clearly not just down to luck, so when that line is tempered to a comment that perhaps she is good at making the most of her abilities and the opportunities that have come her way, the artist is prepared to accept that as a suitable compromise.

Through a range of chance meetings Brownlow has ensured that her artistic talent and, despite her denials, her commercial acumen, focused determination to develop her own unique way of working staying true to her own self, have taken the Norfolkborn from a returning-to-college 20-something mature art student to the realms of a professional artist

who creates beautiful paintings with headline pieces that achieve a fivefigure demand.

She is also mum to two boys, and wife to Charlie, who runs the Game Train Scotland.

Brownlow rents an idyllic studio in a stable yard that has been converted to accommodate various creative businesses – Paul the Potter is based opposite. The creative environment is on the beautiful 3,000-acre Hirsel Estate, the Douglas-Hume family’s fertile land that straddles the EnglishScottish border, dominated by the giant River Tweed.

Art has always been a “thing” for 40-year-old Brownlow, even if on a professional basis it suffered a suspended start – her initial stint at art school far from what she’d envisioned.

“My parents have got pictures of me as a child painting with my Dad, who is really artistic,” she recalls.

“I was constantly with paints and being creative and had a little sketch book, even when I was as young as five I was always drawing.

Brownlow working on a piece using her unique “feather” skills

clare brownlow

“After leaving school, I went to art college at Edinburgh, but it just was not for me. The course would have us doing such ridiculous things as hanging condoms from the ceiling filled with pig eyeballs, glitter, passport photos.

“I actually quite wanted to learn how to paint, and the detail of using a palette and tones and colours and pigments. I did a year of the full creative course, and then just did a degree in History of Art.”

A whirlwind life in her 20s took over the following years, but, after marrying lifelong friend and love Charlie, Brownlow found it was the right time return to her first passion.

Second time around college was a more successful venture, the Leith School of Art answering her questions and provided the theoretical framework she was seeking.

“We had lectures about pigments and tones, we were told how to paint and about types of paints and it was just incredible,” she enthuses, adding: “It was all about understanding painting, the basics of how a colour wheel works, and what colours

pop against each other, and that we shouldn’t paint the same strokes over the whole picture as it will become flat, have a quiet area in one place and a louder space elsewhere on the canvas.

“I learned about Leonardo’s Rule of Three and Fibonacci Sequences, it was brilliant. I painted landscapes and seascapes and nudes; it was all my kind of thing.”

Pregnancy and early motherhood came along as she was finishing college, and it was when the new-born Harry was taken on that first visit to see excited grandparents that Brownlow received her “feather” epiphany.

“Dad shoots, fishes, stalks, and he had a bunch of pheasant feathers in a jug on the kitchen table,” explains Brownlow. “He also writes and draws in a beautiful game journal with an old fountain pen and so always has a Quink ink pot on his desk, too.

“I just took out a feather and dipped the nib in the ink and started playing on the kitchen table and this amazing kind of process developed, these flicks of the paint splashed out, it was really cool and very messy!”

After tidying the kitchen table, Brownlow’s mother not so indulgent that she would allow her furniture to be left covered in ink splatters, a handful of feathers were taken back to Scotland where Brownlow started to hone her emerging technique.

The old saying that “necessity being the mother of invention” was borne true – using feathers for her work proved to be an ideal working medium for Brownlow in her new role as a busy working mum.

“When you make up a good palette for a painting it takes ages, and you need to use it up or else it dries,” she explains. “With the feathers and the ink, I could just pick them up, do some work, put them to one side and then put the lid back on the ink bottle – with a screaming baby alongside me, it was all quite doable.”

The feather art started to roll out of Brownlow’s studio, and a number of friends, noticing that they could be on to a good thing, asked if she would produce them pictures of their pets and wildlife. That early work led to a first range of Christmas cards

March hares

described by the artist as “village hall type things.”

Her first real commercial break came when she was standing in a Scottish river.

“We were up north and salmon fishing with a friend of Dad’s called Johnny Gorman from Quantum Art. He asked if I could do some bits for an exhibition and he took my work out to New York, Singapore, and LA. That was cool and got me out there a bit.”

BROWNLOW then took herself out into the big wide world, going on tour with stands at country events where she worked and revealed her unique art in front of an amazed audience. The next big break came at the British Deer Society’s show.

“I think that is where Countryfile saw me – they called me up a year after and said they wanted me on the programme, which was amazing.

“It was really fun, and I had such a giggle with presenter Helen Skelton, who had a go with the feathers, it was really funny.

“In the end I only got a four-minute slot, the advent of bird flu’ dropping me from the scheduled nine, but overnight it changed my business.

“We were a bit sore-headed the next morning as we had watched my TV debut with friends, but when we logged on there were there 100s of emails with orders –I had to get another friend in to help deal with everything.”

The feathers then really started to fly.

Fairs, country shows, festivals and country events, big race days such as Cheltenham and horse sport highlights including Burghley, all found Brownlow showing off her wares as she took her work on tour with a fierce tenacity; she recognises now that life on the road “nearly killed” her.

When Covid hit in 2019, the global pandemic afforded Brownlow a very different experience than for most of the human population.

“It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me!” she laughs, smiling with the relief she evidently still feels when recalling those virus-affected travel enforcements, adding: “It also meant that

Brownlow working in her ink and paint-splattered studio on the Hirsel Estate: she sees inspiration for subject matter every day both in her garden by the River Tweed and on the drive to work

people with spare money were sat in their houses and looking at their blank walls, and suddenly wanted to make everything look a lot better.”

The digital, creative and commercial worlds merged as we all stepped to up a newly required level of interactivity, and Brownlow made full use of the opportunities that emerged.

“A guy called Matthew Burrows started something called the Artist Support Pledge on Instagram – he invited artists to put their work online for sale at a maximum price of £200. Once an artist reached £1,000 in sales they had to pledge to buy another artist’s piece.

“So every day I produced a piece of art, and every evening at 6pm I uploaded to the site – by 6.03pm it would be sold! And the buyers got addictive, it was amazing.

“Although Burrows did so well, he put millions back into the industry, I also now have lots of lovely original work on my walls at home!”

She adds: “I was locked in my studio throughout, but every day I was painting and I loved it. It was incredible – thankfully Charlie took over the home schooling, which was a relief, I would never have

“I have customers who come to the studio having just moved house or have renovated and are looking for a painting to fit a new wall’s proportions.

“I tell them to hold on and start at the beginning!

“You’ve got to fall in love with art. Never buy art to fill a space – you are the one who is going to look at it and live with it. So you’ve got to love it, and it’s got to mean something to you.

“So I tell them to look at my work and anything that takes their fancy, even if it's not the right size, there will be a place in their house for it, or if there's something that they like but want it a different size, I can do it as a commission.

“If people come in and love a little picture of a tiny swallow but want a seven foot by nine foot canvas of swallows, I can do that!

“That’s how I feel with all the stuff that I put in my house. Everything’s got a story. And that's why I really love selling my work direct, I love to tell clients a story and hear their stories, too.”

been patient enough to do that!”

Since the end of the pandemic, Brownlow’s commercial world has experienced similar trends to those seen in the bloodstock market.

Immediately after restrictions were lifted she reports that trade was amazing, but this year, although her expensive work, the pieces priced at £10,000 and above, have been selling, it is the smaller items that have struggled as people without bundles of readily available cash have cut spending in order to stay afloat through the cost of living crisis. She describes the current trading environment as “just really weird”.

Not one to let the market beat her, Brownlow has been busy working on new plans and collaborations, and it is work that is seeing her develop new techniques alongside the feather art.

Although highly capable and able for self-determination and motivation, Brownlow does enjoy the chance to bounce around ideas and share concepts, something which the solo artist can struggle to access.

With friend and professional fisher lady Marina Gibson, the pair are launching a new project later this year that is aiming to bring together a shared love of

wildlife and creative expression.

“Marina is an incredibly talented fisher woman and we’ve come up with an exciting plan for the autumn of this year, but I can’t say too much now,” teases the artist, adding: “It will be a collaboration, I’m going to paint ‘themes’, and we’re going to do something fun in London mid-to-late October.

“Beforehand, I am going to do some sketch work and prelim work, a few ‘trailers’, but we will not show off the pieces until the actual event itself – teasers will be online through social media and it will all come out through the autumn.

“It is really exciting and cool and I am buzzing about it. When you’re working by yourself you do get excited about things –I get inspired just driving here through this countryside and everyday I see something that could lead to a painting, which is amazing, but you are essentially by yourself in your own thoughts most of the time.

“So to be able to talk to a friend and to someone who is passionate about something – and she is so enthusiastic about fishing and Atlantic salmon – it’s so inspiring.

“Marina is who she is and she is so passionate about what she does, as I am with my art. When the two of us come together it is so inspiring and we can come up with ideas that we would not necessarily have thought of by ourselves.

“She gets excited, and then I get excited, and it is just thrilling.”

This joint-venture is not the only “new stuff” that Brownlow has planned for this year and the artist is embarking on a new line to add her own portfolio with plans to launch at Burghley in September.

“I’m launching another kind of another new aspect to my art. I’ve done a few teasers, but I haven’t shown exactly what I’ve been up to,” she again says cryptically. “I’m really nervous about it, because it’s so different and it is quite important. I am using feathers, but also other mediums, I am literally throwing everything at it.

“It has just been an emotional process. I’m nervous about sharing it, because it’s so different to what I normally do.”

Thankfully, the feathers are not going into the bin, but the new work is an exploration

of her own portfolio, and development of her skill set in order to take her journey as an artist forward.

“I have been working with the pheasant feathers for 14-odd years now. I love them, I will never move away from them and working with them is my favourite medium, but there comes a time when it is right to try something new.

“For instance, an athlete might like to change it up a bit and do a sprint, or the high jump or go swimming – and see if they are any good at it. If not, well then at least they have had a go and it is out of their system,” she laughs.

“So this is my change of discipline. It is a little like stretching different muscles, using the chance to play with different mediums and different techniques.

“I am seeing how I can use different colours, tones and pressure, lights and darks.”

Brownlow makes life work for her and as she moves into a next phase of her career, we look forward with anticipation to see what comes next.

Safe passage

Stable art

Debbie Burt chats with trainer Ilka Gansera-Leveque, who has opened up an art gallery in her stable yard

ILKA GANSERA-LEVEQUE is a racehorse trainer and practising vet based at Saint Wendred’s in Newmarket.

And if that was not enough for her to be getting on with, in 2023 Gansera-Leveque decided, in conjunction with the May Guineas meeting, to open a pop-up art gallery.

What had started out as an “add-on” and part of a special open day weekend for owners and to draw in the public, has since blossomed into a full-time enterprise giving her a completely new stable of clients.

Originally from Germany and married to Frenchman Stephane Leveque, Gansera-Leveque already has had a broad international outlook.

Following a three-year jockey apprenticeship to champion trainer Bruno Shcuetz, she travelled to California and spent a year with Monty Roberts at Flag Is Up Farm to further develop her equine skills.

After then graduating as a vet in 2009 she arrived in Newmarket, initially working for Rossdales before setting up by herself, later taking out her trainer’s licence in 2012.

Her international outlook has heavily influenced her choice of artists for the gallery – her first show featured the work of 14 British, French, South African and American artists and sculptors – the work housed alongside her horses in training.

As she explained in 2023 when promoting that show: “I love art and I want to exhibit some of my favourite artists alongside the real thing, the horses we have here. This will be art that makes you feel good!

“Our artists have never exhibited together

before. Staging it here in the stable will bring to life all that’s beautiful about the horses that we are lucky enough to handle on a daily basis. There will be a range of art on display from horses and dogs to nature, seascapes and cycling. I would like to think that this might develop to become a regular feature on racing days.”

Despite shockingly wet weather rain on that debut Saturday the weekend proved to be a great success, leading to the majority of the international artists suggesting that they leave their unsold work with her for future shows.

“It just snowballed from there” she smiles. “The artists loved the concept of the work being shown in a stable, and I did, too.

“It makes sense to have a gallery of equine art in Newmarket, but, I thought if I’m going to do it I’ve got to do it right, and do it right by the artists, so I’ve been learning on the job ever since.”

She initially decided to open by appointment only, however she soon decided that was a little off-putting for the casual visitor, so now visitors can call in before or after racing, and she is now open seven days a week from 10 until 6.

“The main work on the yard is done and the training is always done by 10,” she explains. “People can drop in after work, too – it’s simple for us as we live here and we can accommodate any out-of-hours visits and, of course, parking here is easy.”

Upping her game she decided to take her first steps into the art fair market and showed a small selection of work locally.

At the end of April, she applied for a stand at Fresh: Art Fair, held in Cheltenham

in her owners’ room that now doubles up as a gallery. She confirms that owners are still welcome to the room to talk about their horses in training, they are now just surrounded by, and can enjoy, the art!

Ilka Gansera-Leveque:

The hare above and resting on the sofa is by Clare Brownlow, see page 48

racecourse’s The Centaur Building at the end of April. After reassuring the organisers that her gallery was “not just horses” and having been reassured by her assertion that it was a mix of genres, she arrived, learnt plenty, sold several pieces and vowed to keep going.

Next stop was Petworth Park Antiques and Fine Art Fair, which was a greater challenge – exhibitors are primarily drawn from The British Antique Dealers’ Association and The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers, the event is vetted for quality and correct attribution.

“Petworth went really well,” smiles Gansera-Leveque. “One of my older artists Anna Pugh has had a stand there for over ten years, so I was kind of ‘grand-mothered’ into her stand – it was all through her, she was so kind. It’s a beautiful venue, a bit more boutique.

“Fresh is going to do a new show next January in Alexandra Palace, which I’m considering, but next will be Art Fair East in Norwich in November.

“You learn so much from other exhibitors when starting out. Sometimes you miss the logical stuff, like having a guest book

to record contact details for future shows, and learning that people like to see art in a different light – you have to take the picture off the wall or move it towards a window.”

As well as meeting other gallery owners, artists and potential new customers at Fresh, Gansera-Leveque was approached by a

couple with an historic painting to sell.

“The Bug” is by internationally renowned equine portraitist Raoul Millais [1901-1999] and it depicts one of the most exceptional sprinters of the 20th century.

The Bug won the Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot when he defied the handicapper by carrying 8st7lb, 13lb more than any previous three-year-old winner.

He also won the July Cup (G1) at Newmarket, the Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) at York and went back to Royal Ascot the following year to win the Cork and Orrery Stakes, now known as the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.

TIMEFORM’S ANNUAL of 1946 describes the horse’s remarkable achievements: “The Bug’s brilliant display in the Wokingham Stakes ranks as the most spectacular performance of the season and places him amongst the immortals of the Turf.”

Regarding the wins in the July Cup, Diadem Stakes and Nunthorpe, Timeform wrote: “The Bug won all his seven races in 1946 and proved himself one of the fastest three-year-olds of modern times.”

Gansera-Leveque is thrilled to have been given this responsibility.

“It’s just amazing, it’s pure racing history and I’m thrilled it will be the centrepiece of

One of the converted stables now accommodating a range of work by artists from all around the globe

“Bridget” by Kendra Haste, the first Oaks winner was trained in the stable that is now Haste’s studio

“The

the July exhibition,” she says. “The picture has been in the Spence family since the 1960s and I’m delighted that they have entrusted me with the painting to sell.

“Millais’ work can be seen in the National Horseracing Museum in town, many National Trust properties and the Yale Centre for British Art in Connecticut, this painting is a real museum-quality piece.”

It’s just amazing, it’s pure racing history and I’m thrilled it will be the centrepiece of the July exhibition

Another piece that will be on show in July will be “Bridget” by wire sculptor Kendra Haste MRSS.

Bridget was owned and bred by Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby, and was the inaugural winner of the Oaks in 1779 on her own racing debut.

Britain’s second-oldest Classic was devised by the Earl the year before at a party on his Surrey estate in an area now known as Oaks Park in Carshalton.

Bridget was trained from the very stable that Haste now, nearly 250 years later, uses as her studio.

A graduate from the Royal College of Art, Haste is probably most well-known for her 2010 Historic Royal Palaces Commission to

produce 13 sculptures for the Tower of London.

Gansera-Leveque’s July show will be launched to coincide with July week through July 7-14.

She currently exhibits the work of around 30 artists from around the world, and the July show is primarily aimed at supporting the racehorse.

Alongside Millais there will be work from 18 individual artists and sculptors.

On a day-to-day basis, now several stables in the yard have now been devoted to art.

“We have three different gallery spaces, two corner boxes and the owners’ room, there’s still room for the owners to come in and sit down, but now they are surrounded by art!” she says with a smile. “When we do the dedicated exhibitions, like the one in July, we can incorporate other stables or the tack room, but it’s very weather dependent.

“It’s become so successful I now have to have separate insurance and public liability for the gallery.”

Her customer base is as varied as the works she has for sale, which ranges from

Art & Horse Racing July Exhibition

Dates: July 7-14, 2024

Open: 10am-6pm

Where: Saint Wendred’s, Hamilton Road, Newmarket, CB8 7JQ

Artists with work on show

Raoul Millais: “The Bug”, oil

Kendra Haste: Surrey, galavinised wire

Deborah Burt: Wiltshire, bronze sculpture equine, canine, sporting

Jacquelyn E. Hindle: local, mixed media sculpture, paintings

Diana Cook: New York, USA, whimsical folk art painting

Terry Lindsey: Vermont, USA, oil painting and sterling silver jewellery

Nicola Kevane: Yorkshire, vintage country furniture and oil painting

Jackie Hardman: Devon, portraits, paintings in oil

Patrick McNellis: Germany, graphite drawing

Stuart Herod: Yorkshire, equine realism

Bénédicte Gélé: France, mixed media paintings

Garth Bayley: (South African) Yorkshire, abstract oil painting

Luci MacLaren: London, contemporary sporting art

Clare Brownlow: Scotland, pheasant feather artist

Milan Ivanič: (Czechoslovakia), Lancaster, oils and acrylics

Jean Kosse: Ukraine, black and white photography

Emily Johnson, Gloucestershire, Cheltenham racecourse artist in residence, oil

Priscilla Hann: Shropshire, bronze sculpture (and other materials)

Laura Werner: Gloucestershire, landscape and equestrian oils

Bug”: will be the centrepiece of the exhibition and is to be offered for sale by the Spence family

art and horseracing

I don’t expect my owners to buy the art, though I can do an owner’s discount on certain pieces!

racing to include sports such as cricket and cycling, hunting, country pursuits. There are also works featuring birds, landscapes, florals and still life pieces; some are very contemporary and impressionistic, others from the realistic school.

Consequently not everyone who visits the gallery is racing orientated and when they arrive they often question if they’re in the right place as with the box doors shut, it looks like a regular stable yard.

“I’m selling art that I love, just like horses, so I don’t feel it’s really a sales pitch – everything I have is work that I’ve chosen and so it’s easy to talk about in a genuine way,” she enthuses.

“I’ve always thought that it is amazing that you can look at something, a real object such as a beautiful racehorse or a vase of fresh flowers, and it can make you feel good; I find art has the same effect.

“The gallery has grown organically, and I’ve enjoyed the whole process of it.

“When I started, I didn’t have any expectation of selling horses or art – for that first show last year, I just wanted to be different to everyone else’s stable open days, but the seed was sown.

“I get so much back from it,” she enthuses.

“I like meeting the artists, it’s very relaxing, you meet people in a different a way.

“It would be the greatest thing ever to get more horses and owners in from it, but that’s not my expectation

“I don’t expect my owners to buy the art, either, though I can do an owner’s discount on certain pieces!

“I keep it separate so I don’t spoil it by putting pressure on myself.

“It also has to grow slowly, so I have time to grow with it.”

She adds: “I meet so many different people through the gallery and have nice interactions, it’s always a positive experience.

“I meet artists of different ages and of different nationalities – for instance I’ve just taken an enquiry from an artist from Spain.

“The only guideline I use when deciding on a piece is do I like it?”

The stand at Fresh: Gansera-Leveque has a number of fairs lined up for this year and says she has learnt a lot after making her “fair debut” at Fresh

Horse history

The Museum of the Horse in Nottinghamshire represents a lifetime’s work for Sally Mitchell and its extensive collection charts the fascinating history of horses and humans

HORSES HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT and history for millenniums – the horse provided the first method for extended hunting forays, provided a quicker and safer mode for battle, mounted carriers were ridden between “posts” to deliver mail and necessities, horse drew carriages and carts, were active in the farming and mining industries, have always given pleasure as a companion and friend, and provided an outlet for competition and a mount in the hunting field.

The horse has been the vital vehicle for human development and progression in so many roles; and has been integral for the human race for far longer than the combustion engine upon which we now

have so much reliance.

The jewel that is the British-based Museum Of The Horse charts this interconnection and intertwining of our lives with the equine, and is as much a record of human progression as it is of the horse.

Found in Tuxford, near to Newark in Nottinghamshire, conveniently just off the A1 and appropriately housed in an old coaching inn, the museum is the life passion of owner and curator Sally Mitchell.

“When I was about ten I used to go to a dear old blacksmith, he had all these really early horse shoes on his shed door and they intrigued me,” recalls Mitchell when considering where her long-standing passion for antiquities originated.

“As I got a bit older, I was dragged off on holiday and a farmer gave me a horse brass. I think it was from then that I really

became fascinated with old equine artefacts. I suppose I started collecting as a teenager, it escalated and I have done it all my life.”

Housed in the top floor and over nine rooms, as well as in the corridors, the museum, which this summer celebrated its 10th anniversary, sits above Mitchell’s wide variety of commercial interests namely an art printing and framing business and a Fine Art Gallery, which features pictures by a range of predominant equine, wildlife and countryside artists. There is also a café for weary travellers and visitors.

“The art business and gallery used to be housed in another location down the road –we’d look at this building and think what a super gallery it would make,” says Mitchell, who has ridden since she was around five years of age.

“It became empty, and then was bought

Owner, curator, collector and passionate equine historian, Sally Mitchell with some of the collection

by a developer but nothing happened; the building just became vandalised, smashed up and stood empty for around 10 years.

“Suddenly a sign arrived and said that it was going to be auctioned in three days – the developers had gone bust and the bank just threw it on the market.

“I think we were the only people interested at the auction and we managed to buy it for less than a terrace house!

“It cost a lot to restore, there was not a window in the place and there was nothing left. It took us two years until we could open the gallery and another year to get the museum set up.

“When we started we only filled the first four rooms. I have since had to learn all about humidity, lighting and cataloguing and research and how to display things.”

The museum now houses over 3,000 pieces of tack, equine equipment and equine memorabilia from all around the globe with the oldest pieces dating to 600BC.

There is a fine collection of bits and saddles and tack, charting their development over time. Some of the bits look like

A variety of unique “slipper-like” stirrups

Above left, the forerunner of the side saddle was literally a side saddle for the ladies, note the foot rest, above, an Italian cowboy saddle, a Bardella, one of the two types of saddle used by the Maremmano horsemen in Italy

Left, an Indian in-hand bit, possibly used for the dancing horses

instruments of torture for the poor horses, others were vastly embellished to show off the VIP status of former owners.

The saddles come in all manner of shapes and designs, and the museum charts the development of the side saddle with examples in situ.

“At first, if a lady wanted to travel on horseback she would sit on a pillion saddle behind the man,” explains Mitchell. “Or she would be in a chair-like construction with feet on a foot rest, but that meant she had to be led by a groom as there was no way of being able to control the horse.

“When the early side saddles were developed essentially they trapped the ladies’ legs and had fixed stirrups, it meant if there was a fall the rider was essentially stuck.”

It wasn’t until the late 16th century that a habit specifically designed for riding side-saddle was introduced, before then usual day wear was worn for riding. The first “safety skirt” was invented in 1875 to help prevent terrible accidents which had seen women caught by their skirts and dragged by their horses.

By the early 20th century it had become acceptable for women to ride astride, but still females had to wear “split skits” as it was still not correct for women to show their knees.

Some saddles also had a removable “grooms’ pad” – it was not deemed right or proper for the servant to sit on the same

piece of leather as his mistress. Apparently Ivy Gordon-Lennox, the mother of Lady Anne Cavendish-Bentinck, who became one of the richest people in the UK in the post-war period as a daughter of the Duke of Portland, would instantly dismiss a groom if he rode on the saddle without use of the protective pad.

Some of the most decorated saddles in the museum come from Asia and India, still bearing the hallmarks of glitter and remains of valuable gold leaf.

The largest saddle on display was used in battle to take injured soldiers off the battlefield. There are two seats on either side of a central area upon which the walking

When barbed wire came into wide usage in the US, it meant that large numbers of cowboys were essentially made redundant

wounded could sit, but also designed as a stretcher bearer if the injured man was unable to sit up.

And while we are used to the shape of a stirrup today, over the years and around the world, they have been produced in a variety of designs from foot-shaped slipper objects to arches and ovals with all manner of designs and in all sorts of materials.

Horse shoes have developed over the years with Mitchell’s earliest on show hailing from the Roman period and called a “hipposandal”.

It was a predecessor to the horse shoe, but mimicked a design that had developed in ancient Asia where horses hooves were wrapped in “botties” made out of various

Carriage horses had their tails docked and ears clipped, while access to the coach was hidden as

materials, such as binding, grasses, reeds, rawhide or leather.

The Roman hipposandal was an ovalshaped cup of metal that enclosed the foot, attached with clips and laces, and used to protect horse feet as they travelled for miles along those famous Roman roads.

The biggest exhibit and arguably the most impressive is the well-preserved mail coach, on loan to the museum and housed in a stable across the courtyard, it is one of only three still in existence.

One of the most incongruous pieces on display, but with an unexpected huge human impact, is a collection of around ten strands of barbed wire from the US.

“When barbed wire came into wide usage in the US, it meant that the cowboy was essentially made redundant,” explains Mitchell.

The artifacts in the collection have either been donated or purchased by Mitchell herself, mainly from auction sites, the guardian every morning scouring auction catalogues. She admits she can lose hours as she ponders purchasing decisions.

“I am afraid this is where most of the pension goes!” laughs the late 70-year-old whose energy and vibrancy belie that fact that she is approaching her eighth decade.

In some instances collectibles have been lifted out of skips, big transport and industrial companies having binned off out-dated equine equipment as they clear their cupboards.

When asked if she has a favourite item she says with a laugh, “it is usually the last piece I have collected.”

Purchased pieces have previously been affordable people no longer having use for carriage embellishments or old out-dated pieces of tack, but unfortunately, as ever thus, prices have increased as more are

Left, dummy horses modelling the gas masks used to protect the horses in battle zones

Below, injured soldiers being taken from the battle field, the museum has one of these two-man saddles in its exhibition.

Drawing by Eduardo Matania from Wellcome Library, Alamy

becoming interested in collecting, museums are coming on stream around the world collecting their own wares, alongside a raft of private collectors and investors.

Mitchell, though, is making financial plans for the future.

“I started the museum when most people were thinking about retiring!” she laughs, then adds with a sigh: “But I am getting

older and that is a nuisance! I will be 80 in 18 months’ time and I have got to raise funds so the museum can own the building and then a trust fund can be created to run it.”

Hopefully, Mitchell can be successful in her quest as the museum is a treasure trove, this summer quite rightly it has been nominated for a Nottinghamshire County Tourism Award.

While you might not have the personal funds to ensure the financial future of the museum (though I any level of donation will be welcome), the next time you are travelling along the A1 it is worth taking time out of your day for a visit. You will be guaranteed for an intriguing and educational hour spent understanding horse history, an animal to whom we all owe so much.

Mail coaches: Formula 1 vehicles of their day

THE MUSEUM houses a beautiful and well preserved mail coach on loan from its owners.

Mail coaches were used for the delivery of the post through the late 1780s to the advent of the trains.

John Palmer, a theatre owner from Bath, is credited for the vision of the service having had experience of transporting actors and materials between theatres. He thought the same system could be used for a countrywide mail delivery service, updating the method of using single riders which was then in use.

His idea initially met resistance from the Post Office, but eventually William Pitt, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, allowed him to carry out an experimental run between Bristol and London. Under the old system the journey had taken up to 38 hours, using a coach the travel time was reduced to just 16 hours.

By the end of 1785 there were services from London to Norwich, Liverpool, Leeds, Dover, Portsmouth, Poole, Exeter, Gloucester, Worcester, Holyhead and Carlisle.

A service to Edinburgh was added the following year, and outside of London, coaches made journeys between the main post towns.

After the success of the idea, Palmer was awarded the post of Surveyor and Comptroller General of the Post Office.

Every morning, when coaches reached London, they were taken to a constructor’s works to be cleaned and oiled.

In the afternoon, they were returned to the coaching inns where horses were hitched up ahead of that night’s journey.

The only Post Office

employee aboard the mail coach was the guard, with the mail in a locked box on the back of the coach – he was equipped with a blunderbuss and pistols in order to protect his cargo.

The mail coach service ran to an exact and demanding schedule The guard had a timepiece, regulated in London to keep pace with the differences in local time, and he recorded the coach’s arrival and departure times at each stage of the journey.

(Amazingly it hasn’t evolved and nearly 300 years later it’s worse, and, sadly as has been recently revealed has been beset with substantial and horrendous management and IT problems.)

The coach was given preference on the roads and the guard sounded a horn to warn other road users to keep out of the way and to signal to toll-keepers to let the coach through.

On occasions the guard would merely throw off the mail at the required location, picking up from the postmaster without stopping.

The contractors organised fresh horses along the route, usually every 10 miles – changes of horses matched today’s F1 pit stop speeds. Initially, four passengers were carried inside the mail coach but later one more was allowed to sit outside next to the driver.

The number of external passengers was then increased to three with the introduction of a double seat behind the driver. No one was permitted to sit at the back near the guard

Sitting outside, high up by the driver, was the cheaper option but there was little protection from the elements, and with just low sides to the seats keeping people on board.

Passengers would catch the coach at 8pm in the evening and the travel went through the night, it was not unknown for the passenger on the outside seat to fall asleep along the journey and drop off the side, hence the term “dropping off to sleep”.

The London to Holyhead mail coach is housed at the museum in an old stable

Women and horses

Adrien Cugnasse did not hesitate to accept when he was asked by Jean-Louis Gouraud to contribute to Amazones, a reference book listing 500 of the world’s greatest horse women

AMAZONES is the first encyclopedia detailing the achievements of women in the horse world. The book features work by over 100 French writers, who joined forces to publish this book on horse women from all countries, all periods of history and all disciplines. French people may not be the biggest readers in the world, they surely have a weird relationship to the object called the “book”, but then again France is probably the only country where a President won’t be blamed for having an affair during his mandate!

In 2006, president Nicolas Sarkozy said it was anachronistic to ask civil servant candidates questions about the “La Princesse de Clèves”,

a novel published in 1678.

During the following weeks, if not months, the Parisian intelligentsia claimed it was shameful to have a President who had such a complete lack of culture. The controversy was on the front page of many national papers and public readings of “La Princesse de Clèves” were organised in front of the Presidential palace.

The ugly truth is that most of the French people never heard of this book before this controversy. Having said that, publishing a horse book is still regarded as a real social and political marker in France where equine activities, like most of the sports, have a limited audience compared to Britain.

Statistics show that three million people in France ride at least once a year, but that does not necessarily mean they consider horse topics “noble enough” to be a proper book subject, and this lack of demand has made equine book projects in French very hard to be financially sustainable.

But, in this desert of equine literature, there a few white knights battling to give the horse a place in the world of books.

A model of an Amazon warrior: in Greek mythology the female group were known for their physical agility, strength, archery, riding and combat skills

The most famous is Jean-Louis Gouraud. Since the 1970s this now 81-year-old gentleman has written, edited or published more than 100 books about horses. Some of them are mainstream, others less so and I remember quite vividly reading his words about a trip he made to visit the only pony club of North Korea. Gouraud, never short of ideas, is a man with a strong network, and, luckily, money never seems to be a problem for hm.

He pitched this latest idea for an encyclopedia of women in the horse world and history to Actes Sud, one of the most prestigious French publishing houses, and convinced them it would it a marvellous project, worthy of the bigger picture in order to compensate for a lack of possible profit.

The book is called “Amazones: Femmes de cheval chez tous les peuples de la terre, depuis les temps les plus anciens jusqu’à nos jours.”

In English this means “Amazons, Horse women among all the peoples of the earth, from the most ancient times to the present day The plan was highly ambitious: to make a list of the 500 of the

most influential horse women of history, right from Ancient Greece to today, and write a short biography for all of them. It was an insane quantity of information to

collect, but Gouraud’s strategy was simple.

He delegated the work and asked dozens of horse journalists, authors, teachers and retired scholars to work on the project.

Nobody was paid, but everybody felt proud to have been part of something important.

I thought this adventure sounded fun and interesting so when Gouraud called me, I immediately agreed to write a couple of biographies on the horse women I consider to be, and have been, exceptional.

He never questioned the list of women I wanted to write about, and it is a purely subjective judgment.

The book is a mix of some of the highestachieving females of our world alongside a few very obscure artists or researchers about whom you hardly find a trace on the search engines. I suppose it’s part of the charm of the project.

“I have decided to let every author take personal responsibility for their own choice,” says Gouraud. “This book is far from perfect. It is absolutely not an exhaustive list of all the important women in this history of the horse.

“But by its very existence, it is a bold statement of how important females have been in the relationship between equine and human kind. And how important, if not dominant, they will be in the future of this wonderful history.”

Every possible aspect of the horse world is there: lady polo riders from the 60s and female jockeys of our times, writers and breeders of all around the world, goddesses from the Greek mythology and Christian saints, a few sculptors, a couple of editors and a handful of scientists.

The book is 737 pages long and is the size of a dictionary.

When asked what was the starting point of such an adventure, Gouraud explains: “Through my life, I have seen the horse world become more feminine at an absolutely dizzying speed.

“So I tried to understand why and how. A few decades ago, I had already published a few pieces on the subject.

“Since then, this phenomenon has continued to accelerate and it seemed to

Jean-Louis Gouraud (four from left): pushed against the tide for his book to be written and published

encyclopedia of horse women

Profile: Corine Barande-Barbe

THE FRENCH TRAINER Corine Barande-Barbe established herself in a masculine, almost misogynistic, environment.

“Trainers don’t do the same job as me,” said Barande Barbe, a pioneer who pushed scholars to create the word “entraîneure”.

Decades later, even though

me that it once again deserved full attention.

“The big change really occurred after the WWII. At the end of the conflict, horses were no longer used in agriculture, transport or even the army. Until then, men reserved the exclusive use of the horse, the latter itself being a representation of economic power, and power in general.

“Then men found other instruments through which to express their virility and their authority – with the advent of planes, cars and machines, women finally had access to this universe.

“This also coincided with the moment when the horse ceased to become an instrument of work, to become nothing more than an element of leisure.

“I told myself that I was going to take an inventory of all the women who, from antiquity to the present day, have practiced or used horses, not only from Western Europe, but all over the world,

Jean-François Pré

partnership with the young trainer Pascal Bary, the pair enjoying success with the fast Deep Roots.

While her husband explored the Japanese market, and Bary enjoyed a flying start, Barande-Barbe followed her own path, far away from the big guns.

Seven-figure priced yearlings never reach her stable, but she done the best with what she has. All trainers look out for that genetic surprise and in 1994 that miracle happened.

A local farmer sent her a “Cinderella”, a filly who became named Carling after a coal mine in France. She was a proper working-class thoroughbred.

And then, as from time to time in this sport, the impossible happened – Carling won the Prix de Diane (G1). That year’s Classic champagne had something of a subversive flavour.

Two decades later another rag to riches story emerged in Barande-Barbe’s yard: the fabulous runner Cirrus Des Aigles.

By the little-known sire Even Top and out of a slow dam by Septieme Ciel, Cirrus Des Aigles won over €7.3 million in prize-money and 22 races from 67 starts.

Barande-Barbe lived with the late Alain Lequeux, a gentleman rider for whom life was not only on the track. On occasions, through Deauville’s August season, he could be spotted riding first lot in a tuxedo having spent the whole night and early morning at the casino.

Today, nobody wears a tuxedo at the casino, and the jockeys are factory workers with millions in their bank account.

The Grand National and multiple Cheltenham Festival-winning jockey Rachael Blackmore MBE

and especially in all disciplines.

“In my opinion, a painter, who has been inspired by horses all her life, is a horsewoman, just like a woman who is a breeder or an owner.

“This book is therefore not a dictionary of women riders, but an attempt at an inventory, incomplete, of course, of women for whom the horse has occupied a primordial place during their lives.

...the horse world has become more feminine at an absolutely dizzying speed

yet she was a great owner.

“And this inventory was only made possible thanks to the fact that I asked for the help of dozens of specialists. The best possible to be honest. I think they have provided a clear vision of women’s influence in every geographical area and historical period of the horse world.”

In this book you will find the “obvious ones”, such as the Amazons or Joan of Arc, but also unknown stories.

Many people will be surprised with the information that is revealed, for instance, Catherine of Russia, known for her diplomatic skill and her authority, was also an expert breeder and even the created of certain breeds of horses.

She owned Derby winners in the 50s as well as Topyo, who won the 1967 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

This is a first inventory, it is quite possible that there are some omissions, and in future this number will increase.

Amongst the very famous racing names of the book you can find Rachael Blackmore, Élisabeth Couturié, Hollie Doyle, Élisabeth Fabre, Criquette Head, the Marquesses of Moratalla, Sylvia Wildenstein… and many others.

There is little chance “Amazones” will be translated into English. But it would be such a good challenge if the British horse community would start its own encyclopedia of horse women.

Above, Criquette Head-Maarek, who trained over 3,000 winners in a 40-year career, right, the brilliant UK-based Flat jockey Hollie Doyle, who is closing in on the 1,000 career winner mark

trainers support network

TRAINING RACEHORSES can be a uniquely stressful business. It is less of a job and more of a lifestyle. Trainers not only have responsibility for conditioning the equine athletes under their care, but are dealing with myriad other factors besides.

There are the finances associated with running their own businesses, staff management, client relations, marketing,

travel and the buying and selling of bloodstock, to mention but a few. Moreover, their performance takes place squarely in the public eye. Even the best trainers lose more often than they win.

There are stresses and strains, no matter the size of the yard. While trainers may be dedicated to keeping their string sound of wind and limb, for some it is all too easy to forget about keeping themselves sound of body and mind as well. Fortunately things

are beginning to change, and for the better. Mental wellbeing has become a key theme of the conversation around occupational health, and for those in the training profession, dedicated help is at hand.

The Racehorse Trainers Benevolent Fund (RTBF), the charitable arm of the National Trainers Federation (NTF), launched the Trainer Support Network on a six-month pilot in 2023.

In simple terms, the aim was to establish

Trainer helpline

Racehorse trainers need to be horse men and women, marketing and PR managers, diplomats, leaders, business people; they need to have a good understanding of topics ranging from veterinary science to accounting principals and horseracing legislation. The job requires their attention 24/7 and can take a massive toll on mental health.

The UK’s Racehorse Trainers Benevolent Fund-financed Trainers Support Network is a pro-active initiative aimed to give trainers an outlet through which they can talk confidentially to a friendly, understanding and knowledgeable person. James Thomas finds out more about the new organisation.

a network of people who are not only trusted and recognisable in the training community, but who are empathetic and knowledgeable on the subject of mental health as well.

Having highlighted the demand through the pilot scheme, the Trainer Support Network has already expanded to comprise a four-strong team of well-known industry names, who are available for trainers to share the challenges and burdens they are facing.

Having been established through funding from the RTBF, the scheme has gone on to secure the backing of the Sir Peter O’Sullevan Charitable Trust, which will enable its growth over the coming years.

“Mental health has been a growing topic of conversation in the British horseracing industry over the years, so when I was still working full-time for the NTF I was looking at ways we could help trainers,” says Rupert Arnold, who stepped down as the NTF chief

executive at the end of 2021 and is now the chair of the RTBF.

“I think it’s fair to say that the Professional Jockeys Association led the way on this in the sport. They have been brilliant at encouraging jockeys to talk about their problems and I think they, and the jockeys themselves, should get a lot of credit for starting that and being willing to open up the talk around it.

“That has meant that other people realised

that it’s a subject that they can talk about as well.”

Findings from a range of research were taken into consideration before a plan was put in place. These included Simone Sear’s dissertation Occupational Stressors for Racehorse Trainers in Great Britain and their Impact on Health and Wellbeing, and work undertaken by Dan Martin at the Liverpool John Moores University.

While the likes of the PJA and Racing Welfare already provide support for members of the racing community, Arnold says the RTBF wanted to take a slightly different approach, with its outreach model meaning boots on the ground in places trainers go about their day-to-day duties.

THIS APPROACH was taken with the aim of bringing an avenue of care directly into trainers’ workspace, rather than waiting for trainers to reach out, which may be viewed as too great a hurdle for some.

“My observation while I was at the NTF was that the type of support being put in place was really based on providing support services or tools that depended on the person in need making that first step to reach out for help,” says Arnold. “It seemed to me that whether someone got help was totally reliant on the person themselves. As we know, there’s a view that there is a stigma around mental health that makes people reluctant to take that first step.

“That reaches its most tragic consequences when people have taken their own lives without having reached out, so I was thinking how can we take a different approach, where we can get to people before things become a crisis.

“The idea was to have people, the right people, going to the right places where trainers live and work and just starting that conversation. So instead of asking the trainer to make that first step, it’s our people who initiate the conversation.”

Given the nature of the task, team members must meet certain standards and criteria.

We needed people who know what they’re doing, people who are recognised in the sport and people who are trusted

“When we started this, one of the questions was: who is going to be out there doing this? Who is going to be approaching the trainers? We needed people who know what they’re doing, people who are recognised in the sport and people who are trusted,” Arnold continues.

“The trustees of the Benevolent Fund decided that as policy, we should only have people on the team who had a mental health qualification, even at a basic level.

“That is now a requirement of being on the team, but fundamentally the most important aspect is being the right type of person.

“It’s a person who understands the training business and community; somebody who is empathetic and a good listener, as well as discreet, as they have to keep confidentiality.”

Michael Caulfield, not only among Britain’s most respected sports psychologists but also a former PJA chief executive, and David Arbuthnot, who gained counselling qualifications

after he retired from training, were approached to get the pilot off the ground.

They remain on duty and have since been joined by Jo Foster and Chris Wall. Arnold also highlights the contribution of RTBF trustee Harry Dunlop, who has been a key driver of progress.

“Harry Dunlop has been a really important part in promoting the service and getting momentum behind it,” says Arnold.

“The origin of that was that when Harry finished training, he and I were talking about various things the NTF was doing and we talked about mental health, and it just happened a couple of trainers had contacted

Rupert Arnold: his team initiates early conversations with trainers rather than relying on trainers getting in touch themselves

“He was very struck that these trainers didn’t feel there was anything out there to help them. He really made it his mission to get behind this programme, so he’s been a very important part of the development of the service.”

Research into Irish racehorse trainers conducted by King et al and published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science highlighted that: “A prevalence of symptoms associated with common mental disorders was identified.

“Specifically, depression (41 per cent), adverse alcohol use (38 per cent), psychological distress (26 per cent), and generalised anxiety (18 per cent).

“Career dissatisfaction, financial difficulties, and lower levels of social support increased the likelihood of meeting the criteria for depression, psychological distress and generalised anxiety.”

WHILE THERE HAVE BEEN instances of the Trainer Support Network being able to facilitate specific counselling or psychological support, the outreach programme has not unearthed vast numbers of acute cases. Typically their interactions are more informal and less about medical intervention. Often a problem shared is a problem halved.

“Typically it’s a case of trainers having conversations with members of our team, either at the racecourse or sometimes in the training communities or the sales,” says Arnold.

“It’s generally a case of having that informal conversation, having a chat about the sorts of things a trainer is having trouble with, what’s praying on their mind, and sharing the problem. At its most fundamental level this is about having the right people who are good listeners taking the time to listen to trainers.

“It’s not necessarily a case of medicalised interventions. It’s much more a case of listening, taking on board the troubles a particular trainer is having. Talking about it, maybe getting to the step where a few ideas can be shared about the ways a trainer can

look at or deal with a problem.

“We know there are common problems that trainers have to deal with, there are financial and staffing issues, and sometimes relationships with owners can become quite stressful.

“There’s the general unrelenting nature of the job. It’s all-consuming because you have to deal with horses, staff, owners, finances, you’re your own marketing director, everything that you have to deal with. It’s 24/7.”

Any new initiative inevitably needs time to gain traction and the Trainer Support Network is no different, particularly with the demographic of the training community meaning there is still something of a “stiff upper lip” culture.

Although Arnold concedes there were initial reservations from some quarters, thankfully the training community is increasingly engaging with the project.

“I think, while there were people who really welcomed what we were doing, there were others whose initial reaction was slightly amused or benign scepticism,” he says. “‘What are you doing? It might seem like it, but we’re not all crazy!’ That was the approach from some.

“But I think that just reflected that culture, the reluctance and wanting to play down the

serious mental stresses and challenges that trainers face. Wanting to be brave and to tough it out, basically.

“We started this nearly a year ago but in that time there has definitely been a transformation in the way people see the programme, to the point that I would now say there is universal recognition and understanding that what we’re doing is important and necessary.”

It is fair to say that the industry’s wider response to the mental health of its workforce tends to be reactive rather than strategic. However, mental health awareness is a journey not a destination, and with programmes such as the Trainer Support Network rating an important first step, there is hope that racing is on the right road.

There are plans in place to expand the Trainer Support Network, primarily with additional team members providing greater geographical coverage. But, Arnold says, at its core its aim of providing face-to-face assistance will remain constant as the team strives to deliver help where it is needed most.

“It’s started well and has a good footing and now we need to build on it,” he says. “I don’t think we have any ambition for it to be a very big institutionalised service. We’re trying to keep it low-key and informal and very much at the grass root level.”

David Arbuthnot (left) retrained as a counsellor when he finished training and plays a key role in the Support Network, while ex-trainer Harry Dunlop has been keen to see the project progress

six in total, is also grandsire, via Shamardal, of the current leading European stallion by prize-money earnings Lope De Vega, who had one winner at the meeting – Going The Distance, winner of the King George V Handicap on Thursday.

Later on that same card the Oghill House and Partner-bred three-year-old gelding Mickley won the Britannia Handicap, and he is out of Giant’s Causeway mare Parle Moi.

Lope De Vega’s own second-season stallion son Phoenix Of Spain enjoyed his day in the sun at Royal Ascot, too, as sire of the Jersey Stakes (G3) winner Haatem.

Inisherin and the Sheikh Obaid-bred St James’s Palace Stakes winner Rosallion are from the same pedigree and are related to current stallion Triple Time.

Both now have significant worth as future stallions, but after the Commonwealth Cup Shiekh Obaid told the assembled media that, at present, he plans for both to stay in training as four-year-olds.

The middle of June provided a rich seam of winners for Obaid – on June 15 and 16 he had two winning juvenile fillies hit the top of the rostrum, headed by Alice Fairfax.

She is by Lope De Vega, out of Subaana and from the family of the Sheikh Obaid’s homebred stallion star Dubawi.

Top left: Inisherin and Tom Eaves

Top right: Sheikh Mohammed Obaid

Left: Giant’s Causeway