International Thoroughbred May-June 2022

MAY-JUNE 2022

£4.95 • ISSUE 110

GALILEO

1998-2021

Undefeated: Baaeed and Inspiral retain their unbeaten records – Aisling Crowe reviews the Royal meeting Classic collection: Jocelyn de Moubray believes we have seen some outstanding Classic performances this spring Racing Home: Womenin Racing’s project aims to improve the work-family life balance for parents working in racing Equine art: we chat with artist David ‘Mouse’ Cooper and equestrian sculptor William Newton

ROYAL ASCOT

Thesis

2019 c KINGMAN - Nimble Thimble (Mizzen Mast) won Britannia Stakes, 8f, Ascot Bred by Juddmonte Farms Ltd

Candleford

2018 g KINGMAN - Dorcas Lane (Norse Dancer) won Duke Of Edinburgh Stakes, 12f, Ascot Bred by Barnane Stud Ltd

Inspiral

2019 f FRANKEL - Starscope (Selkirk) won Coronation Stakes Gr.1, 8f, Ascot Bred by Cheveley Park Stud Ltd

Noble Truth

2019 g KINGMAN - Speralita (Frankel) won Jersey Stakes Gr.3, 7f, Ascot Bred by Jean-Pierre Dubois

Masen

2018 g KINGMAN - Continental Drift (Smart Strike) won Poker Stakes Gr.3, 8f, Belmont Park Bred by Juddmonte Farms Ltd

Nashwa

2019 f FRANKEL - Princess Loulou (Pivotal) won Prix de Diane Gr.1, 10.5f, Chantilly Bred by Blue Diamond Stud Farm (uk) Ltd

Contact Shane Horan, Henry Bletsoe or Claire Curry +44 (0)1638 731115 | nominations@juddmonte.co.uk

www.juddmonte.com

Success on a global stage Congratulations to their breeders and thank you to all for your continued support of our stallions.

DREAMING OF OWNING A ROYAL ASCOT WINNER? In 2022, 26 of the 35 winners were trained by 18 different trainers based in Britain including 5 of the 8 Group 1 winners.

Be a part of it and take your place in history with Great British Racing International, British racing’s dedicated service provider, committed to helping international parties to navigate the esteemed networks that make up this world-leading industry.

Discover how GBRI can guide you on your journey to owning in Britain. greatbritishracinginternational.com

contents may-june

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RIP Lester

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First word

We pay tribute to Lester Piggott Jocelyn de Moubray pays tribute to the greatest jockey there has ever been

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In words

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First word

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Stallion statistics

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Classic collection

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Ted Voute had a fantastic day at Chantilly, Cathy Grassick had a busy Royal Ascot week

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The young generation

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Strawberry Fields forever

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Work or family?

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Mouse climbing high

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Newton’s law

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Photo of the month

Aisling Crowe reviews a fantastic Royal meeting that saw the stars Baaeed and Inspiral retain their unbeaten records The European Flat season so far, stallion stats from Weatherbys Jocelyn de Moubray believes this could be an outstanding crop of three-yearolds. He has been hugely impressed with the Derby winner Desert Crown and the Jockey-Club hero, Vadeni.

The Guineas winners aren’t bad either.

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Melissa Bauer-Herzog reviews this year’s US Triple Crown series that saw young stallions to the fore

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James Thomas talks with Gary Robinson, breeder of Derby hero Desert Crown, and discovers a man not afraid to make big decisions Sally Duckett talks with Dena Merson and learns more about the Racing Home project produced for Women in Racing aiming to tackle the work-family life balance Former jockey David “Mouse” Cooper explains how he found his path to life as a full-time professional equine artist Debbie Burt meets William Newton, equine and life-sized sculptor Noble Yeats on holiday in Warwickshire

Queen Anne winner, Baaeed

from Alamy

follow us on twitter @tbredpublishing

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This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in whole or part without permission of the publisher. The views expressed in International Thoroughbred are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. While every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the content herein, or any consequences arising from them.

the team

the photographers

the writers

editor sally duckett publisher declan rickatson photography trevor jones design thoroughbred publishing

alamy equine creative media courtesy of stud farms tattersalls NYRA debbie burt

jocelyn de moubray aisling crowe sally duckett james thomas ted voute debbie burt cathy grassick

advertising declan rickatson 00 44 (0)7767 310381 declan.rickatson@btinternet.com subscriptions tracey glaysher itsubs@btinternet.com

the printers micropress

the stats weatherbys

accounts

plestor house, farnham road, liss, hampshire, gu33 6jq tel: 00 44 (0) 1428 724063 info@internationalthoroughbred.net www.internationalthoroughbred.co.uk subscriptions: email or call as on the left, or log on to www.facebook.com/internationalthoroughbred

annie jones

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RIP Lester 1935-2022

RIP lester Nijinsky wins the 1970 Epsom Derby under Piggott

Jocelyn de Moubray remembers the late, great Lester Piggott

L

ESTER PIGGOTT WON THE FIRST FOUR RACES I EVER SAW. When I was still very small my father decided one day in early August that we as a family were going to go racing at Goodwood for no other reason other than it was taking place and was only a half an hour or so drive from where we lived.

We knew nothing whatsoever about racing, my father announced that we had to be there at least three hours before the first race, and none of us were in a position to question his judgment.

So my first hours on a racecourse were spent with the rest of my family, on our own, high in the stands looking out over the course, the Downs and over to the Trundle Hill which was only just beginning to look populated, (even those in the Grandstand had access to the top tier from which you could see every part of the track and the countryside for miles).

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“Nijinksy’s Derby win was a thing of great beauty and minimum apparent effort from his jockey”

I am exaggerating as we knew one thing about horseracing, in common more or less with the rest of the population of the country; we knew that the best jockey was Lester Piggott.

From the word go the family’s modest bets and my young eyes followed only this man, in the prime of his life but already a slightly strange figure, taller than the other jockeys with a stooped posture whose face was already beginning to be lined within the frame of his helmet.

I have tried since, without success, to find the names of the horses Lester won on that day. One was Some Hand and I think another Green God, but that may have been the following year.

In any event to me this winning sequence seemed to be a coincidence, both thrilling and somehow miraculous.

Racing was an entirely new and in many ways a chaotic experience, with previously unknown sounds, sights and smells together with the reassuring certainty that Lester was

RIP lester the best, and more often than not he would be riding the horse who passed the winning post in front.

Lester’s winning sequence may have seemed extraordinary to me at the time, but those old enough to have followed British racing in the 1970s will know that in many ways these things were the normal state of affairs.

Only a few years later in 1975, Lester won eight of the 24 races run at Royal Ascot and more often than not his mounts would dominate the major meetings. Those of us who followed this with excitement will all have our favourite winners.

I was very keen on Sagaro, so much so that I went on my own, by bicycle, to watch the François Boutin-trained colt win his third Ascot Gold Cup. I stood in the middle of the course at about the furlong pole to watch as he and Lester flashed past, the race already comfortably won.

I watched on my own, on a tiny television, Lester and Sea Chimes quicken down the hill into Tattenham Corner and a winning lead in the Coronation Cup. I had forgotten why this race had meant so much until many years later when clearing out my father’s house I came across a betting account statement revealing that I had had, considering both inflation and my age at the time, a ridiculously large winning bet.

Teenoso was another who left strong memories – his easy Derby win the year it rained more or less every day for two months leading up to the race, but above all it was his victory the following year in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on a blazing hot day and firm ground.

Lester made the running at a furious pace and the Geoff Wragg-trained colt stayed on to defeat Sadler’s Wells, Tolomeo, Time Charter and Darshaan, some of the other champions in the race.

In the days following Lester’s death I spent time happily reliving these memories, and Lester’s triumphs through the many articles, interviews, as well as the replays posted on Twitter; most of which took place long before I followed racing, .

I was struck yet again as to just how good Lester was. His best wins are a long time ago now, but watching them again is to be reminded of his poise, balance and extraordinary tactical sense.

Nijinksy’s Derby win is a thing of great beauty and minimum apparent effort from his jockey, and then Teenoso’s win at Ascot is extraordinary as, in the straight, three or four of the champions coming from behind look sure to win, yet in the final 50yds the only one with any resources left was Teenoso, his rider having timed his run precisely to exhaust those trying to make up ground from behind.

It is also revealing that of his contemporaries who are still alive, Yves Saint-Martin and Willie Carson in particular, appear to have held the man, who was such a ruthless rival, in genuine affection.

The Minstrel never looks like winning the 1977 Derby, Carson and Hot Grove are travelling like the winners throughout the race until the final 50 yards when Piggott

Lester made the running at a “furious pace” on Teenoso to win the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth; the victory left a strong impression on the young De Moubray

succeeds in forcing The Minstrel ahead. The film continues to show Piggott and Carson rather awkwardly shaking hands after the post until Carson leans back and gives Lester a friendly looking cuff on the helmet.

By the end of the 1980s I had become the editor of a weekly racing and bloodstock magazine, which went through many different names and formats.

Then there were around 15 young reporters who, under the supervision of the news editor Alan Byrne, went all over the country to report from race meetings, news conferences and, when necessary, law courts.

On the whole they received help and encouragement from racing’s professionals, occasionally they were insulted, or told to get their hair cut, but only twice do I remember being rung from a phone box by one of them in an emotional state.

The first of these calls came from close to Ipswich Crown Court in 1987 when the reporter could only just manage to tell me “They have sent Lester to jail.”

(The other call came from Goodwood the following year when the reporter, as well as many of those present, thought Steve Cauthen had been fatally injured by his terrible fall from Preziosa.)

Looking back from a time of non-doms and fiscal paradises, the decision to jail Lester Piggott for tax evasion seems unnecessarily harsh and it was surely even more unfair to rescind the honours he had so deservedly received.

Piggott was incontestably at the peak of an extremely tough and competitive profession for decades. He possessed a remarkable will to win, gave joy and winners to millions of followers, and, almost uniquely, he wanted not only to win, but whenever possible to do so with style and grace.

Q

UITE RECENTLY I happened to be taking a plane from Geneva to London the day before the start of Newmarket’s July Meeting. Arriving to wait at the gate I noticed that Lester was among those already there.

To my amazement he saw me too and came across to ask, “Going to Newmarket are you?”

It turned out he wanted to know what I thought of the chances of the Haggas’ stables runners the following day!

My final encounter came at the BBAG sales in Baden Baden. On a very hot day Lester was following around while his son Jamie dashed from box to box looking at yearlings.

Lester clearly needed a break and so I suggested he came and sat down in Gestüt Roettgen’s hospitality box and had a cool drink.

He sat and rested and I thought he was probably on the verge of falling asleep so I waited without moving, watching the yearlings going up and down outside.

I was wrong, of course, I wasn’t the only one observing; Piggott suddenly put his head on one side to ask: “Who is that one by? He’s not bad looking is he?”

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RIP lester

Top left: the young Lester galloping horses at Lambourn Left: enjoying some down time at Windsor races in July 1962.

It was his first day back riding after a two-month suspension Top right, near side: Nijinsky goes to post for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes Top right, far side: the threeyear-old Be My Guest at Epsom for the Blue Riband Trial in 1977, a race the pair won Bottom right, far side: Lester in April 1976. He had already won nine of his 11 champion jockey titles Bottom right, near side: in 1984 on board Circus Bloom winning the Sir Charles Clore Memorial Stakes at Newbury on the filly’s seasonal debut at three.

She went on to win the Oaks and the Yorkshire Oaks. The win at Epsom meant that Lester drew level with Frank Buckle as the winner of 27 Classics. Lester went on to win three more: the 2,000 Guineas in 1985 on Shadeed and, in 1992, the same race on Rodrigo De Triano and the St Leger on Commanche Run

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RIP lester

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RIP lester Left: with owner Robert Sangster in 1977.

It was year of The Minstrel, who was owned by a syndicate headed up by Sangster. The colt

by Northern Dancer won the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby, as well as the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes under Lester.

Below: in April 1979 at Kempton Park with the 18-year-old Steve Cauthen. The jockey moved to the UK initially for one year, but stayed 13 becoming champion jockey three times (1984, 1985 and 1987) and he won ten British Classics. The first of those Classics came a month after this photo on board Tap On Wood.

Right: Piggott jocked off Darrell McHargue to ride Commanche Run to victory in the 1984 St Leger. Always close up, Lester took the lead four furlongs from home and won by a neck from Baynoun with Alphabatim in third.

Bottom right: giving Sir Ivor a canter at Epsom the day before winning the Epsom Derby of 1968. After the race Lester described the son of Sir Gaylord as the best he had ridden, and it was a view he held throughout his career due to the horses’s temperament, ability to quicken and his toughness in a battle

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RIP lester

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RIP lester

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RIP lester

One of Lester’s last appearances on a British racecourse: last October he was at Ascot racecourse on British Champions Day to award the champion apprentice trophy to Marco Ghiani

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ted talks

TED TALKS...

‘s

What a day at Chantilly

Photos by Ted Voute

Ted Voute, racing manager for Imad Al Sagar, enjoyed a day of days with Nashwa’s brilliant Prix de Diane victory

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and Nancy Sexton as bloodstock consultant rounded out the already inspired appointment of Hollie Doyle as retained jockey.

I am sure each appointment met with raised eyebrows or even a little green eye in places and many wondered what this assembled team meant for Blue Diamond Stud, which had seen changes over the past couple of years.

What it meant has been revealed in two Classics this year in France.

Imad had bravely bought a few mares in the past few years under the Blue Diamond Stud banner and one of these purchases turned out to be Zotilla, the dam of Mangoustine, winner of the Poule d’Essai de Pouliches (G1).

In the space of just two months this Classic win was doubled up with the homebred Nashwa, winning the Prix de Diane under

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“

Imad’s broodmare band now includes the dams of two Classic winners, as well as the mighty Pearling, who when mated to Gallileo, produced Decorated Knight

“

T

HERE IS no “I in team” should be the motto for Imad Al Sagar who’s filly Nashwa courageously won the Group 1 Prix de Diane the Sunday after Royal Ascot.

Over the past months, Imad has assembled a “stellar” or, dare I say it, “dream team” of experienced people.

First out of the stalls to join the long-time stud manger Andrew Rawlin and stud secretary Nicki Rutter was the appointment of Gerry Meehan, whose preparation of youngstock for the sales is second to none and has been evered in Tattersalls October Book 1 circles for years.

Early in the New Year the appointment of myself and Lord Teddy Grimthorpe as CEO and racing manager respectively

Hollie Doyle, with his assembled team all in attendance.

Imad had a vision, and to bring that to fruition he wanted to leave no stone unturned to realise that dream.

For Imad, it meant assembling a hand-picked team who could work harmoniously to breed and raise the best horses he could, using some of the best advice he could find.

At Chantilly on the Sunday after Royal Ascot the bar has been set for the future.

Imad’s broodmare band now includes the dams of two Classic winners, as well as the mighty Pearling, who, when mated to Gallileo, produced Decorated Knight. When Nashwa eventually goes to stud, his broodmare band will include four Group 1 winners or dams of Group 1 winners.

I met Imad in 2004. He sent

I

F YOU WANT THE TRUTH, usually the Sunday after Royal Ascot is set aside for rest and recuperation, and an alarm at 5.30am to catch a 9.00am flight was not the sound I wanted to hear.

But I was inspired when remembering Nashwa’s impressive Haydock win in April when I had accompanied Imad, Nancy and Samir Masari; Teddy at a family wedding in Amsterdam.

I missed her second start this year as I was in Morocco for my birthday, and Teddy resumed his role of racing manager extraordinaire.

The filly’s last start in the Epsom Oaks just two weeks ago saw the whole team in attendance, invited

by Imad and his family.

Arriving at London Heathrow at Terminal 3 with one and a half hours spare I was horrified when I found that I was the last to check in!

Had I not jumped in the line with Teddy I surely would have missed the flight.

We were scooped up by Kamal in France and driven to the racecours, we arrived at 1pm in the panoramic restaurant.

Lord Grimthorpe, our dignitary for the day, helped persuade the French authorities to issue paddock passes and badges so that we could access all areas.

The Prix de Diane is the ultimate racing day for pomp and pomposity, style and class.

The star of the show had flown over the afternoon before and overnighted where Enable had stayed before.

The Gosdens left no stone unturned to ensure Nashwa’s journey was as smooth as possible and she appeared in the stables at Chantilly as cool as a cucumber and game ready.

Not a hair out of place.

It was then a little like getting married – the next 20 minutes sped by, it is possible to remember everything but it is in fast forward!

The additional pressure of the becoming the first female jockey to win a European Group 1 Classic was shrugged off by Hollie, and provoked Johnny G’s comparison to Julie

“

It is a day we will all remember for a long time and aspire to repeat for Imad, who was so proud of his filly

“

what turned out to be Authorized to me to raise for him on my farm.

In fact, he was the first boarder on my newly purchased farm near to Stratford-upon-Avon.

Although I was always convinced Imad had a special horse on his hands, who could have predicted that colt by Montjeu would become a Classic winner?

A consummate gentleman, Imad then bought a farm a few years later and moved his mares to Newmarket. He kindly left the yearlings with us until they were broken-in later that year to aid in the transition and, I suspect, ultimately, my cash flow.

Roll on 18 years, with occasional contact by phone along the way, I found myself boarding a delayed Air France plane with Lord and Lady Grimthorpe heading to Charles de Gaulle airport.

Krone, who won the Belomont.

Hollie has a similar build to Krone.

Unphased by the momentous occasion, Hollie told us all step by step in meticulous detail how she was going to ride.

The team all watched from their own place in the stand – I ended up standing next to André Fabre, who had two runners in the field.

Nashwa broke well and was soon in front, but Hollie kept her line and evened the tempo.

She rode an amazing race.

The line couldn’t come soon enough but Nashwa did it for Hollie, Imad and for the stud.

It is a day we will all remember for a long time and aspire to repeat for Imad, who was so proud of his filly.

He was proud of Hollie and proud of the team he has built.

Viva la France!

The brilliant Hollie Doyle.

The jockey was an “inspired appointment”

by Imad Al Sagar

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the news

J

....Girls aloud

It has been a busy few weeks for Cathy Grassick, new chairwoman of the ITBA, with the International Thoroughbred Breeders’ Conference, the Goffs London Sale and Royal Ascot

UNE IS ALWAYS a busy month on all fronts starting off the month with the Epsom Derby, following on with the NH sales at Goffs Land Rover before moving on to Royal Ascot, the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale and rounding off with the Irish Derby.

This year has been more than The Goffs London Sale kicked off Royal Ascot week, the Derby runner-up Hoo Ya Mal topped proceedings busy for me as June also marked the International Thoroughbred Breeders’ Federation conference, which this the racing added to the spectacle with huge performances from Nature year took place in Newmarket, hosted by the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Strip and Baaeed on Tuesday, Dramatised and State Of Rest on Wednesday, Association.

Magical and Kyprios on Thursday, Meditate, Perfect Power and Inspiral on It was also my first major event as recently appointed chairwoman of Friday, and Naval Crown on Saturday. the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.

A very special mention must go to Harry Eustace who had his first winner Full congratulations must be passed to Claire Sheppard and her at Royal Ascot with his first runner, Latin Lover, ridden by his talented other team, especially Sarah and Alex who worked tirelessly to make the half Hayley Turner. I was really delighted for them both. event a huge success. I really enjoyed getting to meet new faces and Another high achiever having his first winner at the Royal Meeting was reacquainting with familiar friends from all over the world.

Joseph O’Brien, who did it in style in a Group 1 with State Of Rest giving The delegates had a superb week seeing the very best of Newmarket him the incredible feat of riding and training a Group 1 winner at the Royal studs and stallions and receiving hospitality everywhere they went, meeting. Interestingly, both Latin Lover and State Of Rest are by Coolmore including wonderful dinners at the Jockey Club Rooms, Queens College Stud’s Starspangledbanner.

Cambridge, and Lanwades Stud.

There was also serious business to attend to by way of an excellent veterinary panel including an excellent lecture by eminent specialist Professor Wayne McIlwraith followed by a day of learning discussing N A PERSONAL NOTE, my Royal Ascot highlight was the the issues facing international thoroughbred breeders.There were some huge performance of the Simon and Ed Crisford-trained excellent presentations from countries such as Japan and Chile.

Flotus, who finished an incredible third in the Group 1 Many of the delegates arrived in time to take a trip to Epsom to see Commonwealth Cup, an amazing peformance for a filly Tuesday win the Oaks and Desert Crown win the Derby and many more running against the colts. were staying on in the UK to attend the Goffs London Sale and enjoy She was ridden by Silvestre de Sousa, who has high the wonderful week of racing, fashion, pageantry, and picnics that is hopes for the rest of the season for our homebred filly. She was raised at otherwise known as Royal Ascot.

Newtown Stud in partnership with TJ Pabst and was crowning off a great Goffs London Sale did not disappoint this year with a fantastic setting week for sire Starspangledbanner. at Kensington Palace and the highlight of the sale was Derby second Hoo Finally, I just want to thank some really wonderful people in the Ya Mal being purchased to join Gai Waterhouse for £1.2 million. thoroughbred industry who sprung into action once again to help an injured The great and the good of international racing turned up in glorious colleague. After a serious accident Myles Sunderland of Kilcorral House Stud sunshine to celebrate the return to a fully operational Royal Ascot. The required assistance in order to keep his horses on the go. only exception to pre-covid was the HRH the Queen was not present A single phone call to Brendan Holland of Grove Stud was all it took for this year after the recent celebration of her Platinum Jubilee, but it was the breeze-up community to spring into action, lend assistance and support. wonderful to see so many other members of the Royal family attend on It is so wonderful to see this side of our industry and these actions meant her behalf. so much to Myles. He is now looking forward to taking his breeze-up draft to The wonderful weather contributed to a real party atmosphere and the Arqana Summer Sale. We all wish him the very best of luck.

O

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AT A M ER OR OV ALE F Y LIT GS UA LON NEMW Q E YS

The

August

Sale

13 - 15 August

DEAUVILLE - FRANCE

A unique three-day sale with an exceptional selection of yearlings at the heart of a prestigious racing weekend in Deauville’s atmosphere.

DISCOVER THE LOTS CATALOGUED ON www.arqana.com

©Scoopdyga

SA EE DA R TH

royal ascot Inspiral under Frankie Dettori: the Frankel filly was a dominant winner of a top-class renewal of the Group 1 Coronation Stakes

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royal ascot

Undefeated Eight from eight and five from five: Baaeed and Inspiral retain their unbeaten race records at Royal Ascot

I

T IS DIFFICULT to choose between the two performances as the stand-out of the week at Royal Ascot – Baaeed’s scintillating opening Queen Anne victory or Inspiral’s domination of the Coronation Stakes on her seasonal

debut.

For the wider press the difficult week that Frankie Dettori and trainer John Gosden had endured overshadowed the brilliant performance of the daughter of Frankel, winner of the Coronation Stakes by four and three-quarter lengths, with press members just after quotes from Dettori and Gosden on their week and their current relationship which seems to be in some strife.

But the daughter of Frankel, homebred

by Cheveley Park Stud, put in a dominant performance over an incredibly classy field that included the 1,000 Guineas winner Cachet, the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1) heroine Discoveries, the Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) winner Tenebrism, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) winner Pizza Bianca, the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (G1) winner Mangoustine and the US Grade 2 winner Spendarella.

A delighted Richard Thompson of Cheveley Park Stud said: “Inspiral has been off the track since last October. We missed the English and Irish Guineas, but patience is a virtue and we have got to see her win like that!

“She won the Fillies’ Mile and has won the Coronation Stakes here in the style of a true champion. The Guineas is a long time ago now, but the Coronation Stakes is here and we have won it!

...she is unbeaten, she is by Frankel, and she has won us two Group 1 races – it doesn’t get much better “For Cheveley Park Stud to win a Group 1 like this today is marvellous; she can go over a mile or a bit further, she is unbeaten, she is

by Frankel, and she has won us two Group 1 races – it doesn’t get much better.

“Coming out of the stalls, I thought she is not going to get the right position and is going to be a bit far behind coming around the bend, but goodness me!”

Spendarella’s trainer Graham Motion said: “She ran great – I could not be more proud of her. William [Buick] had her in the perfect spot; she was very brave to hang on for second, I thought. The winner’s very good.

“I think Spendarella is a Grade 1 filly and she proved that today. She’ll go back to the States now. I don’t come over here just for the hell of it. I have to feel good about it to come. We’ve run second a couple of times now [in this race], so I feel like I know what it takes.

“We don’t have many opportunities in the States, which is kind of why this race made

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royal ascot sense, this early in the season, and I think she’s really a miler, so we didn’t miss out on much in the States.”

After Godolphin, it was Cheveley Park Stud who came out with the breeding farmstallion farm honours courtesy of the results of its sires Twilight Son (Twilight Call, second King’s Stand Stakes (G1), Ulysses (Holloway Boy, winner Chesham Stakes (L)), Mayson (Rohann, winner Wokingham Handicap) as well due to the efforts of its homebreds – Inspiral, Inver Park, winner of the Buckingham Palace Handicap, and Holloway Boy. The last-named is out of Sultry, a mare by the late, great Pivotal, who was also broodmare sire of a further four placed runners through the week.

B

AAEED CONFIRMED himself the “best horse in the world” after the Group 1 mile success, which saw him out in fractionals to rival that of Nature Strip.

William Haggas said: “He travels well and settles well. That is a really important part if we are going to go further.

“I will speak to Sheikha Hissa and Angus Gold, but I think we are all quite keen to give it a go [step up in trip] and that will be at York. It's whether we slot Goodwood in, in the meantime. It's potentially Goodwood next.

“He is obviously a good miler and is bred to get further. I think we’d like to try it and I think it would be remiss of us not to. The easy option is to stay at a mile, but I think we will give it a go. He relaxes well and he is good – he’d be more interesting in a July Cup!" Jim Crowley said: “There is a big crowd here today and he is just so relaxed. He has a great mind. I had a nice bit of cover and could go when I wanted to go. It was just the perfect race really.

“It's the pinnacle. You spend your whole life waiting for a horse like this to come along. Everyone says to enjoy it, but there is a lot of pressure. But I love it and I enjoy it.

It's why we do it.

“Sheikh Hamdan would be looking down smiling and I'm so pleased that Sheikha Hissa is here today. William and Maureen

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Haggas have done an unbelievable job with him and it is a pleasure to get on him and do the steering.

“Baaeed will have sterner tests ahead, we know that. He is just doing everything perfectly at the moment. He gallops out very well over a mile and has a serious turn of foot over a mile – it's unnatural really. I don’t see 10 furlongs being a problem.

“This horse is a superstar. I’m sure we’ll keep testing him, but I’m pretty sure he’ll keep finding. You wait a lifetime for a horse to come along like this. The only way I can explain the feeling is when you go to the funfair and you’re waiting in the queue for a fast ride, that’s the feeling before you get on him.”

The son of Sea The Stars holds entries in the Eclipse Stakes (G1), the Sussex Stakes (G1) and the Irish Champion Stakes (G1).

Charlie Appleby reported after Coroebus’s St James’s Palace Stakes (G1) victory, a slightly messy race without much pace and not one to suit the 2,000 Guineas-winning three-year-old son of Dubawi, that he was keen to take on the older horse at Goodwood.

“I felt it was class and determination which got us over the line there. Going forward, we'll have discussions, but I think the Sussex Stakes is an option along with the Prix Jacques Le Marois,” said Appleby.

Bradsell under Hollie Doyle takes the Coventry Stakes (G2), a first stakes winner for sire Tasleet

“I’m sure it’s a discussion we would like to have in the coming weeks [Sussex Stakes clash with Baaeed]. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and team Godolphin have never shied away from a challenge, and it will be a good healthy conversation.”

Shadwell’s Sheikha Hissa was at Royal Ascot to see Baaeed win the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes

royal ascot

Tasleet off to a flier with first Royal Ascot runner

I

T WAS A SPECIAL START to Royal Ascot for the team at Shadwell Stud with Baaeed enhancing his reputation even further through victory in the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes and Tasleet, the operation’s first-season sire who has made a flying start to his stud career, responsible for the Group 2 Coventry Stakes winner.

Bradsell trained by Archie Watson and ridden by Hollie Doyle was also a first winner at the Royal meeting for his enthusiastic owner Sheikh Nasser bin Khalid Al Khalifa, a member of the Bahraini royal family.

Bred by Deborah O’Brien, he was one of the week’s winners with a more modest price tags. He was sold by his breeder through Bearstone Stud, where the Yorkshirewoman boards her seven mares, for 12,000gns at the Tattersalls Somerville Sale last September to Highflyer Bloodstock and Harry Dunlop.

The former jump jockey, now breeze-up consignor Mark Grant, took a half-share in the colt and prepared him for the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale where he was purchased

by Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock for £47,000.

He is the third foal out of Russian Punch, a daughter of Archipenko who won the Listed Radley Stakes and was fourth in the Listed Star Stakes for James Given and Lovely Bubbly Racing, in whose silks his three-year-old Mayson half-sister May

... the whole family is just hardy; they race and race and try and try, but to get a winner at this level is fantastic

Punch also runs for Tim Easterby.

The Coventry success was a triumph for breeder Deborah O’Brien as he is the fourth generation of the family she has bred.

As well as breeding Russian Punch, she bred his second dam, the winning Beat Hollow mare Punch Drunk and his third dam, the dual winner Bebe De Cham by Tragic Role. O’Brien got into the family through part-owning his fourth dam Champenoise during her racing career and buying her outright as a broodmare.

Speaking to Great British Racing International after Bradsell’s success, O’Brien commented: “I have bred two Listed winners in the past including Russian Punch and the whole family is just hardy; they race and race and try and try, but to get a winner at this level is fantastic.

“I fell in love with Champenoise, and although she never won anything other than a seller at Yarmouth, she was the only horse in Michael Bell’s yard never to be visited by the vet and we always thought she was a good deal better than she showed.”

Russian Punch has a yearling colt by Ulysses who is due to sell at the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale but sadly lost her foal, a filly by Twilight Son, this year.

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royal ascot Queen Mary Stakes: Showcasing success

Owner Steve Parkin celebrated the first Group winner for his Branton Court Stud in the Queen Mary Stakes (G2) and the owner of Clipper Logistics was also involved in the ownership group of the third home, Maria Branwell, a Listed winner from the first-crop of Rathbarry Stud’s James Garfield.

The winner Dramatised is a daughter of Showcasing, also the sire of Parkin’s Windsor Castle Stakes winner Soldier’s Call, and out of the Listed Empress Stakes winner Katie’s Diamond, a daughter of Turtle Bowl who was sourced in France by Karl Burke, who also trains her Group 2-winning daughter.

“We started in racing 20 years ago and, through a guy called Joe Foley, I started a breeding operation and this is our first big winner in terms of something we have bred.

She has come from the farm and it is a huge thrill,” remarked an emotional Steve Parkin.

“We saw her as a baby, watched her develop on the farm and to watch her come through like that is very special and very emotional.

“This is a five-to-ten-year plan, and to come here and have a homebred winner so early in the stud’s life is a massive thrill. It is the biggest thrill in my life, apart from having my children,” he added.

Dramatised is Group winner 27 for Whitsbury Manor Stud’s son of Oasis

Her dam Katie’s Diamond ran away going to the start in the Boussac, she ran away in the race, and was still in front 50 yards from the line.

She was highly talented but a bit crazy

Dream and the first out of a Turtle Bowl mare.

Katie’s Diamond was bought by Burke for just €18,000 at the Osarus September Yearling Sale and went on to win her maiden on debut at two before she was bought privately by Qatar Racing and Barbara Keller. Katie’s Diamond remained in training with Burke and went on to her Listed win on her next start before finishing third in in the Group 3 Prix Du Calvados and pulled her chance away when fifth in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac.

She is a half-sister to the dam of Listed Blue Norther Stakes winner and Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes third Quatroelle. Her dam Aaliyah is an Anabaa half-sister to Prix Miesque (G3) winner Aquatinta and Listed German Derby Trial winner Amazonit.

Joe Foley purchased Katie’s Diamond for 190,000gns on behalf of Parkin at the 2017 Tattersalls December Mares Sale from Tweenhills Farm and Stud. She was carrying her first foal, who turned out to be a son of Charm Spirit. Named Bright Apparition, he was sold for 30,000gns to Burke at the Tattersalls October Book 2 Yearling Sale.

Katie’s Diamond’s second foal is a winning three-year-old daughter of Dark Angel and she has a yearling filly by Night Of Thunder.

Foley, bloodstock advisor for Clipper Logistics, said: “This is fantastic – it is what you do it for.

“Her dam Katie’s Diamond ran away going to the start in the Boussac, she ran away in the race, and was still in front 50 yards from the line. She was highly talented but a bit crazy.

“She is a beautiful looking mare. She has a beautiful colt foal by Pinatubo, he is gorgeous, and she is in-foal to Showcasing”

Windsor Castle: Little Bear wins Big

Little Big Bear became the third Royal Ascot winner sired by 2013’s Norfolk Stakes winner No Nay Never following on from Arizona in Coventry Stakes and the success last year of Alcohol Free in the Coronation Stakes (G1).

Dramatised: the filly by Showcasing was the Impressive winner of the Queen Mary Stakes

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royal ascot

The Ridler: the colt with the question mark on his face seen ducking across the track in the Windsor Castle Stakes, the interference was the topic of much social media discussion post-race

Little Big Bear’s Windsor Castle win was the first of the meeting for the Coolmore behemoth and Mandore International’s €320,000 Arqana’s August Yearling Sale purchase shares his damsire Bering with Stradivarius.

“He just got beat the first time and won well the second time. Ryan rode him work in the week and was happy with him. He should get further in the future too and is in the Phoenix Stakes,” said trainer Aidan O’Brien of future targets for Little Big Bear.

“He is a big horse. It is obviously a very fast race and horses need to know a lot in it and be very educated. He had only had the two runs, so we were a bit worried about that, but we’re delighted really.”

Nabbed on the line by Tough Talk on his debut at The Curragh over 6f in April, Little Big Bear was dropped down to 5f on his second start and that appears to be the key to success for him as he ran out and easy 3l winner over Alexis Zorba.

Bred by Tim Hyde’s Camas Park Stud with Summerhill Bloodstock he is out of Adventure Seeker, who was bought by Brendan Bashford Bloodstock for €160,000 from the Wildenstein Dispersal at the Goffs November Mare Sale in 2016.

The 14-year-old is the dam of five winners from seven runners with her best offspring, prior to the emergence of Little Big Bear, was the Group 3 Hobart Cup second Andrea Mantegna, whose sire Giant’s Causeway is a son of Storm Cat, from whose sire line No Nay Never comes.

Adventure Seeker won the Prix de Liancourt for Alain De Royer-Dupre and was second in the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre.

She is a Bering half-sister to Along Again, a daughter of Elusive City who was third in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes and they are out of American Adventure, a Miswaki half-sister to Listed winner and Group 3-placed Arnaquer and a half-sister to Along All, successful in the Group 2 Prix Greffuhle and Group 3 Prix des Chenes.

Their dam is the brilliant All Along, heroine of the Prix de l’Arce de Triomphe (G1) as well as the Turf Classic (G1), the International at Woodbine and the Washington DC International Stakes.

The Ridler swerves to Windsor Castle glory

Weatherbys were worried about the copyright – they didn’t want to take on whoever owns Marvel Comics these days and they got a sweat on about that

The Ridler’s dramatic late swerve across the track in the Windsor Castle Stakes resulted in a ten-day ban for jockey Paul Hanagan but the son of Brazen Beau kept the victory in the stewards’ room, much to the delight of his emotional owner-breeder Steve Bradley.

“We bred him. We use the National Stud to breed most of our horses, along with Deauville and in Ireland. It is fantastic. I have been involved heavily in the last 10 years in racing. It’s amazing. This is the best day of my life along with getting married and having children,” Bradley remarked.

The Ridler, whose dam Colorada by Lope De Vega was bought by Hilary Fitzsimons for just 2,500gns at the Tattersalls February Sale, was named after a character from the Batman franchise, which was popular with Bradley’s son Leigh.

The name was an obvious one to anyone familiar with the caped crusader from the distinctive marking on the colt’s face.

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royal ascot “The Ridler has got a reverse question mark on his face, and The Riddler on every outfit has loads of question marks, including in reverse.

“As soon as he was born, it was a nobrainer,” the ecstatic Welshman explained.

“Weatherbys didn’t like it with two ‘d’s so we settled for one, and the rest is history. My son Leigh is a Batman fan more than me!

“Weatherbys were worried about the copyright – they didn’t want to take on whoever owns Marvel Comics these days and they got a sweat on about that! I think Marvel Comics have got more money than I have!’

The Ridler is the seventh northern hemisphere stakes winner by Darley’s former shuttle sire Brazen Beau and the first at Group 2 level in Europe for the son of I Am Invincible .

Meditate makes all in the Albany

The similarities between No Nay Never’s third and fourth Royal Ascot winners were striking: both owned by Coolmore

I still get an enormous thrill.

If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here” and trained by Aidan O’Brien, they were purchased for similar amounts at last August’s Arqana Yearling Sale in Deauville.

However Meditate, who at €360,000 was the pricier of the two, is now an unbeaten dual Group 3 winner following her all-theway success in the Albany Stakes for Ryan Moore.

A delighted part-owner Michael Tabor said: “We did expect that, very much so. I spoke to Aidan a couple of times and he said Meditate had improved from her first couple of runs. Everybody in the yard seemed to fancy her, so I wasn’t surprised at all.

“She is obviously a very easy filly to ride.

You saw her leave the gates – she strode out well and really, it’s easy to say it after the race, but she never looked in danger.

“For me – I can only speak for myself – I still get an enormous thrill. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

Bred by Lynch-Bages and Rhinestone Bloodstock she is a half-sister to Mythological, a winning son of Galileo, and is the fourth foal out of Pembina.

She is a Dalakhani half-sister to the Group 3 winners Johnny Barnes and Albisola

by Acclamation and Montjeu respectively and five of her half-sisters have produced blacktype winners. The most successful producer amongst them is the Linamix mare Tonnara, dam of Group 1 Criterium International and Joe Hirsch Stakes winner Ectot and of Most Improved, whose Group 1 wins included Royal Ascot’s St James’s Palace Stakes.

Another half-sister, Malaspina by Whipper, foaled the Group 3 winner Thiriyaat and the Nell Gwyn winner Daban who was third in the 1,000 Guineas.

Meditate: the daughter of No Nay Never ridden by Ryan Moore (third right) on their way to winning the Group 3 Albany Stakes

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royal ascot Aidan O’Brien, who celebrated the 80th Royal Ascot success of a storied career later that afternoon, indicated that Meditate could head straight to the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Irish Champions’ Weekend following her Albany success.

Holloway Boy makes a stunning debut win in the Chesham for first-time owner

A stunning debut win for Holloway Boy, who was declared by Karl Burke to give the Ulysses colt’s owners a day out after their private box for the day had fallen through, places him alongside the likes of Chief Singer (Coventry Stakes) as one of five horses to have made a winning debut in a Royal Ascot juvenile contest.

“Time will tell how strong the form is but to do that first time out is a bit special,” said a delighted Karl Burke, who was celebrating his second two-year-old winner of the meeting after Dramatised’s Queen Mary triumph.

“Holloway Boy is a lovely horse, but he has been slightly backward. He is a horse for the future. We were going to go to Musselburgh for one of the Sunday Series races a couple of weeks ago, but he twinged a muscle.

“Time will tell how far we can take him, but he is hardly blowing there. I saw him [as a yearling] with the Cheveley Park draft and they have been very good to us in the past. I like to try and buy one off them every year...

I’ll buy a few more now.”

He is the second stakes winner after Piz Badille for Ulysses, the second season sire stood by Holloway Boy’s breeders Cheveley Park Stud. Holloway Boy was sold out of their draft at the 2020 Tattersalls December Foal Sale for 60,000gns to Peter and Ross Doyle and made the same figure when purchased by Karl and Kelly Burke at Book 2 last October, from Cheveley Park.

His dam is the unraced Pivotal mare Sultry so Holloway Boy is bred on a variation of the outstanding Galileo – Pivotal cross which has produced a slew of top-class horses with a stakes winners to runners strike rate of 35 per cent. Holloway Boy is the first blacktype winner by Ulysses out of a Pivotal mare but the cross has five winners from just nine runners to date.

Sultry is a three-parts sister to the Listed

Holloway Boy: winner of the Listed Chesham Stakes on his racecourse debut, was only entered in the race to get tickets for his owner

Harry Roseberry Stakes third Secret Venture

by Kyllachy and they are out of the winning Oasis Dream mare Resort. She is a threeparts sister to Byron, who won the Lennox Stakes and Mill Reef Stakes and was third in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains. Their dam Gay Gallanta was a Royal Ascot winning juvenile, claiming the Queen Mary Stakes, and she went on to win the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at the end of that season.

What does €1m buy?

A Jersey Stakes winner. Well €1.1m to be exact as that was the price commanded at the 2020 Arqana Select Yearling Sale by Noble Truth.

The son of Kingman was bred by Jean Pierre Dubois and sold by Haras des Capucines to Godolphin for that seven figure sum, which was achieved during the upheaval created in the sales calendar by the pandemic.

A quick glance at Noble Truth’s pedigree and some of the photos on Arqana’s website of the bay colt as a yearling reveal just what attributes he possessed to spark such a bidding war.

A handsome bay, he is the second foal out of Speralita an unraced Frankel three-parts sister to the champion sire’s first Group 1 and Classic winner Soul Stirring. Speralita is a half-sister to the six-times Group/Grade 1 winner Stacelita, dam of Soul Stirring and of the Group 3 Artemis Stakes winner Schon Glanz by Deep Impact. The Monsun mare’s Smart Strike daughter Southern Stars is the dam of this year’s Grade 1 Oka Sho and Yushin Himba winner Stars On Earth by Deep Impact.

Noble Truth’s second dam Soignee is by Dashing Blade and won the Listed Kronimus-Rennen at two. She is a half-sister to the Group 2 winner Simoun and the Listed winners Shining and Soudane, who in turn is the dam of Group 2 Grand Prix de Deauville winner and Deutsches Derby second Savoir Vivre and the Listed winner Sussudio.

The Jersey Stakes winner is one of three runners and winners bred by crossing Juddmonte’s two bright young sires – Kingman and Frankel. He is the first Group winner bred on the cross.

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stallion stats Leading European Flat sires (by prize-money earned to June 20, 2022) Stallion

Breeding

Dubawi Frankel Sea The Stars Dark Angel Galileo Lope de Vega Kodiac Nathaniel Kingman Siyouni Churchill Starspangledbanner Oasis Dream Zoffany New Bay Camelot Invincible Spirit Mehmas Night of Thunder Mastercraftsman Dandy Man Showcasing Wootton Bassett Dabirsim Iffraaj

Dubai Millennium-Zomaradah (Deploy) Galileo-Kind (Danehill) Cape Cross-Urban Sea (Miswaki) Acclamation-Midnight Angel (Machiavellian) Sadler’s Wells-Urban Sea (Miswaki) Shamardal-Lady Vettori (Vettori) Danehill-Rafha (Kris) Galileo-Magnificient Style (Silver Hawk) Invincible Spirit-Zenda (Zamindar) Pivotal-Sichilla ( Danehill) Galileo-Meow (Storm Cat) Choisir-Gold Anthem (Made of Gold) Green Desert-Hope (Dancing Brave) Dansili-Tyranny (Machiavellian) Dubawi-Cinnamon Bay (Zamindar) Montjeu-Tarfah (Kingmambo) Green Desert-Rafha (Kris) Acclamation-Lucina (Machiavellian) Dubawi-Forest Storm (Galileo) Danehill Dancer-Starlight Dreams (Black Tie Affair) Mozart-Lady Alexander (Night Shift) Oasis Dream-Arabesque (Zafonic) Iffraaj-Balladonia (Primo Dominie) Hat Trick-Rumored (Royal Academy) Zafonic-Pastorale (Nureyev)

Courtesy of Weatherbys

To Stud

Rnrs

Runs

Wnrs

Wins

Wnrs/Rnrs%

SWnrs

2006 2013 2010 2008 2002 2011 2007 2013 2015 2011 2018 2011 2004 2012 2017 2014 2003 2017 2016 2010 2010 2011 2012 2014 2007

157 149 144 258 114 200 292 107 146 188 92 121 147 182 84 132 142 146 105 144 208 181 110 187 172

348 402 340 858 267 649 940 298 388 553 247 355 509 617 203 381 472 529 282 410 790 549 329 701 523

65 57 54 92 30 71 76 29 60 65 33 38 50 44 26 31 41 42 30 40 62 45 33 43 46

90 75 69 119 42 96 90 34 78 83 47 43 67 59 33 38 58 59 36 48 81 63 37 55 60

41.40 38.25 37.50 35.65 26.31 35.50 26.02 27.10 41.09 34.57 35.86 31.40 34.01 24.17 30.95 23.48 28.87 28.76 28.57 27.77 29.80 24.86 30.00 22.99 26.74

14 16 11 5 10 9 4 2 4 5 3 1 2 3 4 3 3 2 4 2 1 4 3 0 2

Leading European sires of two-year-olds (by prize-money earned to June 20, 2022, bold = first-season sire) Stallion

Breeding

No Nay Never Havana Grey Showcasing Kodiac Dandy Man Brazen Beau Sioux Nation Tasleet Bungle Inthejungle Starspangledbanner Cotai Glory Camacho Expert Eye Dark Angel Kingman Mehmas Pedro The Great Acclamation

Scat Daddy-Cat’s Eye Witness (Elusive Quality) Havana Gold-Blanc de Chine (Dark Angel) Oasis Dream-Arabesque (Zafonic) Danehill-Rafha (Kris) Mozart-Lady Alexander (Night Shift) I Am Invincible-Sansadee (Snaadee) Scat Daddy-Dream The Blues (Oasis Dream) Showcasing-Bird Key (Cadeaux Genereux) Exceed And Excel-Licence To Thrill (Wolfhound) Choisir-Gold Anthem (Made of Gold) Exceed And Excel-Continua (Elusive Quality) Danehill-Arabesque (Zafonic) Acclamation-Exemplify (Dansili) Acclamation-Midnight Angel (Machiavellian) Invincible Spirit-Zenda (Zamindar) Acclamation-Lucina (Machiavellian) Henrythenavigator-Glatisant (Rainbow Quest) Royal Applause - Princess Athena (Ahonoora)

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SWs 17 18 12 6 13 10 4 3 5 5 4 2 3 3 4 5 5 2 4 2 1 4 3 0 2

£ 3,726,648 2,864,547 2,406,662 2,207,458 2,087,311 1,812,089 1,696,754 1,616,350 1,484,035 1,434,789 1,401,127 1,370,220 1,229,545 1,088,231 1,008,234 973,009 972,874 932,023 927,860 915,481 909,089 907,878 907,115 905,497 819,170

Courtesy of Weatherbys

To Stud

Rnrs

Runs

Wnrs

Wins

Wnrs/Rnrs%

SWnrs

SWs

£

2015 2019 2011 2007 2010 2016 2019 2019 2015 2011 2018 2006 2019 2008 2015 2017 2014 2004

21 49 31 53 40 17 35 16 28 27 29 35 22 23 12 14 12 17

36 102 55 90 84 43 68 34 73 52 68 80 48 39 22 27 31 31

7 18 8 12 9 6 11 5 6 9 9 6 6 5 7 3 6 4

12 22 10 12 10 10 12 7 8 9 9 8 7 6 7 4 6 7

33.33 36.73 25.80 22.64 22.50 35.29 31.42 31.25 21.42 33.33 31.03 17.14 27.27 21.73 58.33 21.42 50.00 23.52

3 0 2 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

5 0 2 1 1 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

316,084 259,883 207,967 187,549 162,430 162,278 151,828 145,523 137,777 117,383 114,203 113,391 90,457 88,974 86,990 85,069 83,926 75,885

Actually, the golden Jubilee Dubawi celebrates being the first British stallion ever to sire 50 G1 winners with the 1-2 in the G1 Platinum Jubilee.

It was the second landmark of the week for the Royal meeting’s leading sire: his undefeated G2 Queen’s Vase victor, Eldar Eldarov, was his 150th Group winner, also a UK record.

Breeding the future

classic review

It is “rare to have brilliant, decisive winners of both the Epsom Derby and the Prix du Jockey-Club” Jocelyn de Moubray takes a view on the early season Classics

Crowning glory

W

E WILL NOT KNOW for sure for a couple of months, but it looks as though the 2022 Classic generation in Europe is an excellent one.

It is rare to have brilliant, decisive winners of both the Derby at Epsom and the Prix du Jockey-Club at Chantilly in the same year.

You have to go back to Golden Horn and New Bay in 2015 or Workforce and Lope De Vega in 2010 to find a pair of winners as impressive as Desert Crown and Vadeni were this year. Perhaps it was an advantage growing up as yearlings during the quiet COVID year of 2020 when there were no visitors to studs in Britain, Ireland and France, or inspections to worry about and be prepared for.

And, as was also the case in 2010 and 2015, many of the other European Classics in 2022 look to have been well above average too, with the 2,000 Guineas winners Coroebus and Native Trial, the Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Homeless Songs, as well as the first two in the Oaks, Tuesday and Emily Upjohn, all giving the impression of belonging to an exceptional generation.

Desert Crown’s superiority in the Derby was obvious from start to finish. Not only did Saeed Suhail’s colt travel smoothly throughout the race, which is nearly always the case for Derby winners as those who don’t act on the course are usually beaten

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long before they reach the home straight.

He was still going so easily as they passed the 3f marker and began the race to the winning post that his jockey Richard Kingscote had to restrain the son of Nathaniel, while all around were hard at work.

Once Kingscote asked Desert Crown to go, the race was won and he quickened away from his rivals with the greatest of ease. There were some behind him who had

trouble getting a clear run, but Desert Crown was in a different class altogether from his rivals at Epsom and the only question was how far Kingscote would let him win by.

The answer was two and a half lengths over the staying-on Hoo Ya Mal with the unlucky Westover a head behind in third and Masekela a further five and a half lengths away in fourth.

This was only the third career start for the Sir Michael Stoute-trained colt. He won

classic review Desert Crown: one of the most impressive Derby winners there has been for some time

his only start at two at Nottingham in a similar fashion – after a brief moment when he had looked unbalanced Desert Crown understood what Kingscote was asking him to do and raced five and a half lengths clear within a few strides.

On his seasonal reappearance at York he was an impressive winner of the Group 2 Dante Stakes, but showed some inexperience hanging to his right for a moment.

Reading between the lines of his trainer’s

statements this may well have been due to an interrupted preparation rather than anything else.

Desert Crown has yet to be challenged significantly and won the Derby very easily.

He clearly has an unlimited potential, particularly as the son of Nathaniel appears to have a perfect racing temperament, unfazed by the preliminaries and even the fireworks at Epsom, and to be a balanced athletic individual with no

obvious physical weaknesses.

There will be those to argue that the horses who followed Desert Crown home had yet to show top class form, but then that has long been the nature of the Derby, which is more often than not the first time young horses are tested over 1m4f.

The Andrew Balding-trained runners, who finished second and fourth Hoo Ya Mal and Masekela, had both shown high-class form at a mile at two and three and their pedigrees

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classic review suggest they could improve significantly over the longer trip. The third Westover has two full-brothers who were at their best over 1m4f and 1m2f and is a son of Frankel, who has proved to be a top middle-distance stallion.

This looks to me like a quality Derby, with an exceptional winner.

It should not be a surprise that Nathaniel can produce such a Derby winner as he had already produced an exceptional Oaks winner in Enable, as well as four other Group 1 winners from his first five crops to race.

Desert Crown comes from Nathaniel’s sixth crop when he was standing at £20,000 and the first after Enable had proved herself to be a great champion.

Nathaniel’s results have been consistently way above average from the moment his first crop turned three in 2017, and he has always returned an excellent percentage of black-type performers and highly-rated horses to foals, crop after crop.

If Nathaniel has yet to become a popular commercial sire or a very expensive one, it is not so much that his progeny have too much stamina... it is because his progeny are not so precocious

If Nathaniel has yet to become a popular commercial sire or a very expensive one, it is not so much that his progeny have too much stamina, after all three of his six Group 1 winners were at their best over 1m2f, it is because his progeny are not so precocious.

Some of Nathaniel’s best progeny Enable, Lady Bowthorpe and Mutamakina were all probably at their very peak as five-year-olds.

He has produced a handful of Groupplaced two-year-olds, but they were not the ones who progressed to be top-class three-year-olds. There have been other top-class international sires with a similar production profile, Monsun being the best recent example.

Nathaniel, himself, was not top class at two and among his many excellent siblings the only one to win Group races at two was Playful Act, who was the only one who was not far better as a three-year-old.

Nathaniel will surely get the support over the coming years to solidify his record.

He will always be popular with long-term

Tuesday stands patiently while she is tacked up by Aidan O’Brien (left) and Ballydoyle’s travelling head lad Pat Keating ahead of her Oaks victory

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classic review All four are by top middle-distance sires – Peintre Celebre, Frankel and Dansili.

Juddmonte sold Foreign Language as an unraced two-year-old for 18,000gns at the Newmarket July sale.

Desert Crown’s fourth mare Balabina was a full-sister to the Coronation Cup winner Quiet Fling and the Group winner Peacetime and a daughter of Peace, one of the first mares purchased by Juddmonte from John H Whitney in the early 1980s.

All on Tuesday

breeders as it looks as though he is going to be a top broodmare sire, too – two unraced mares from his first crop have already produced the Group 1 winner Zellie and Classic-placed Tribalist.

Desert Crown is by far the best horse produced from his immediate female family, his dam and second won one race each and both on the All-Weather, but there were several reasons to think Strawberry Fields Stud’s mare Desert Berry was a suitable mate for Nathaniel.

Her first four foals by Archipenko were all winners, and had proved to be tough – they have run a total of 90 races between them to date. Her dam Foreign Language was only ordinary, but she is a half-sister to the non-winner Binche, who has produced the Group 1 winners Provisio and Byword and top-class Finche and Baratti for Juddmonte

The Oaks marked an important milestone for trainer Aidan O’Brien as Tuesday’s narrow victory over Emily Upjohn gave him his 41st and record British Classic win.

The race was run very differently from the Derby, the final time was about a second and a half, or 8l, slower than Desert Crown’s Classic. But, whereas the Derby was run at a strong even pace from the beginning, the Oaks was slowly run and developed into a sprint.

At the top of the straight, Tuesday and Emily Upjohn were alongside each other at the rear of the field and both showed real acceleration to pass the rest of the field, and then get to the line together.

If there was a decisive move in the race it was Ryan Moore’s decision to take the shortest route to the line, whereas Dettori switched to the stands’ rail on the Gosdentrained filly.

Emily Upjohn gave away several lengths when slipping leaving the stalls, but the slow early pace allowed her to make up this ground without too much trouble.

They are two high-class fillies and both will probably be suited to a more strongly run 1m4f; which of the two will come out on top if they meet again soon is hard to say particularly as Tuesday won the Oaks on her just third birthday.

Like Desert Crown and Vadeni both Tuesday and Emily Upjohn come from very successful female families.

Tuesday is a full-sister to the Classic winners Minding and Empress Josephine.

Emily Upjohn is by far the best of her dam’s

The Godolphin Guineas pair: top, Coroebus and James Doyle gallop to 2,000 Guineas success at Newmarket, left, William Buick with Native Trail at The Curragh

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classic review foals to date – she is out of a half-sister to the dam of the Derby winner Harzand from a family developed by the Aga Khan Studs.

A quirk of this family is how the best mares were produced when their dams were very old.

Hazaradjat, Emily Upjohn and Harzand’s second dam, was born when her dam Hazy Idea was 22, while Hidden Brief, the dam of Emily Upjohn, is the penultimate foal of Hazaradjat born when her dam was 17.

Va Va Vomm

The Aga Khan’s Vadeni spread-eagled the field for the Prix du Jockey-Club leaving his 14 rivals 5l and more behind him.His jockey Christophe Soumillon still had time to look up and wave at the crowd while easing down the Jean-Claude Rouget-trained colt in the final stages.

Soumillon, as is often the case, gave Vadeni a confident and poised ride.

The son of Churchill broke well and was placed in fourth or fifth place close behind the leaders, who, from the word go included the Godolphin-owned favourite Modern Games and El Bodegon.

As the field came into the straight it was soon obvious that Soumillon and Vadeni were travelling far better than any of their rivals and, when switched to the outside, Vadeni quickly ran away to win unchallenged.

Modern Games had set a strong, even pace from the start and looked to run out of stamina in the final 50m when he was passed by the hard-ridden El Bodegon.

Modern Games had made all the running to win the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (G1), while the James Ferguson trained El Bodegon had shown high-class form in France at two, beating Vadeni in a Group 3 at Chantilly and Stone Age to win a Group 1 at Saint-Cloud.

Modern Games will presumably return to mile races, while El Bodegon, like his fullbrother the multiple Group 1 winner Best Solution, will enjoy going further still and will be one of the leading contenders for the 1m4f Grand Prix de Paris (G1) in July.

The first three were followed home by Al Hakeem, Onesto and Vagalame, who came from wide draws and who made ground in the straight after being held up in the rear.

There were those who felt this trio had

been unlucky and had lost their winning chances due to their wide draw, but this seems to me to be an exaggeration and, if anything, they lost their chances of being placed due to misjudged rides.

If you look at the statistics when there are only 15 runners over 2,100 metres at Chantilly a wide draw is only a minor disadvantage, the best draws are those in the middle of the field. If Al Hakeem and Onesto, who were among the favourites for the race after impressive trial wins, never got into the race it was because they were held up so far off the pace and then didn’t have the tactical speed required to make up that ground at the top of the straight.

When New Bay won the Jockey-Club he was drawn 13 of 14 coming with a brilliant run in the straight from last to first place, Persian King ran an excellent second to Sottsass in the 2019 Jockey Club when drawn 14 of 15. Pierre-Charles Boudot chose to make his ground on the outside during the first part of the race to take up a position behind the leaders on the home turn.

Persian King may have run out of stamina and was beaten by the top colt Sottsass but his chances were not impaired by the draw.

Homeless Songs: the daughter of Frankel was impressive in the Irish 1,000 Guineas and she is now one of 22 Group and Grade 1 winners for her sire

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CLASSIC GIRL POWER! Breeders of NASHWA Frankel - Princess Lou Lou (Pivotal)

Winner of Gr.1 Prix de Diane Longines at Chantilly

Blue Diamond Stud (South), Wilbraham Road, Newmarket, CB8 0UW • BlueDiamondStud.co.uk

classic review For the Aga Khan Studs this was a second Jockey-Club win over 2,100 metres and it has also had two placed horses during this time, including the very promising young stallion Zarak.

As an aside, Zarak was second to Almanzor in 2016 from stall 16 of 16 and was given another top ride from Soumillon. Last going into the turn, Soumillon and Zarak had reached mid-field at the top of the straight on the rail and then managed to glide to the outside to get a clear run in final 200m and were only beaten by a champion.

Vadeni is going to be another very attractive stallion whether or not he joins Siyouni and Zarak at the Haras de Bonneval.

He is from the first crop of the Coolmore sire Churchill, a son of Galileo who was a champion two-year-old and dual Classic winner at a mile.

Vadeni is the sixth foal of his dam Vaderana, a Monsun mare who was a minor winner over 1m3f. Her first five foals include four winners and two stakes performers and she comes from about the best family the Aga Khan acquired when he purchased Jean Luc Lagardère’s bloodstock nearly 20 years ago.

As the package also included the dam of Siyouni, born a year before Lagardère’s sudden death in 2003, it is fair to say this was the bloodstock deal of the century.

Lagardère bought Vadeni’s sixth dam Vadsa, a daughter of Halo bred by E.P.Taylor of Windfields Farm and Northern Dancer fame, as a yearling in 1980.

Vadsa was trained by François Boutin to be Listed placed over a mile and went to be the foundation mare of a dynasty of Group 1 and Classic winners.

The Vadsa family did take some time to get going, but at the beginning Lagardère’s principle stallion was the less-than-brilliant Bikala. When the switch was made to Linamix the breeding operation ,and Vadsa’s family, took off.

For Lagardère and the Aga Khan this family has produced the Classic winners Vadeni, Valyra and Vahorimix, as well as the major Group 1 winners Vazira, Valixir, Val Royal and Vadawina, while for others it has produced the top miler Vadamos, last year’s Saint Alary winner Incarville and Voleuse De Coeurs.

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Churchill: his first Group 1 winner was the impressive French Classic winner Vadeni

While some trainers seem to be playing snap and looking for the best card in their hand at every turn, Rouget has learnt to play chess with his best horses With the exception of Voleuse De Coeurs all of these were fast horses, milers or at the most 1m2f winners, and in many cases like Vadamos, Valixir or Val Royal, they were far faster than their pedigree suggested they would be.

Vadeni may be able to stay 1m4f, but if he

takes after the rest of his female family it is unlikely, and given the speed he displayed at Chantilly, he would have no trouble winning Group 1 races over a mile.

Vadeni arrived at Chantilly as the winner of three of his five starts, including a Group 3 win on his latest and a Group 3 place as a two-year-old.

Even if Vadeni started third favourite behind Modern Games and his stable companion Al Hakeem, many seemed surprised he should have improved quite so significantly in only a few weeks.

However, a close look at his trainer’s Classic horses shows that this is just how Rouget has become by far the most successful Classic trainer in France.

Rouget, whose stable is now split between Deauville and Pau, has won nine of the last 27 French Classic races.

He has won at least one of the four in each of the last eight years with the exception of 2020 when everything was turned upside down by COVID. While some trainers seem to be playing snap and looking for the best card in their hand at every turn, Rouget has learnt to play chess with his best horses.

From the moment they have been selected everything is geared towards the day which counts – what happens in the mean time is not important, as long as they are ready on the day the King is in play.

Vadeni won his first two starts in the style of a top horse at La Teste in July and Deauville in August; the Deauville win looks particularly good in retrospect as the subsequent Group 1 filly Times Square finished third.

Vadeni ran in a Group 3 at two but was beaten by El Bodegon – Rouget has long since given up trying to win Group 1 races with his two-year-olds – and then was given a gentle seasonal reappearance finishing fifth in a Group 3 over a mile.

An easy win in the 1m1f Group 3 Prix de Guiche hinted at what was to come, and then when Vadeni went back to Chantilly some three and a half weeks later he was ready to reveal his full potential.

classic review Nashwa finishing third in the Epsom Oaks before collecting the Group1 Prix de Diane

Nashwa makes history in France

It is some achievement for a breeder to produce one Classic winner, but to get two such winners is quite remarkable.

In 2004, Imad Al Sagar with partner Saleh Al Homaizi produced Authorized out of the Montjeu mare Funsie. The colt went on to enjoy Classic success when winning the Epsom Derby of 2007. He also collected the International Stakes (G1) and finish second in the Eclipse Stakes (G1).

This year, without his breeding partner Al Homaizi after the restructuring of Blue Diamond Stud (established between the pair as the bloodstock interests grew) Al Sagar, now the sole properitor of the stud, has produced his second Classic winner Nashwa galloping to a history-making success in the Prix de Diane.

“I’m on the moon!” Imad Al Sagar told Jour de Galop. “It is an indescribable feeling.

I’m so proud of this filly and Hollie Doyle.

“We knew, since last year, that she was a filly of great talent. We had no idea how out-of-the-ordinary she would be, but in early September she showed us something.

John and Thady Gosden were very patient.

“In the spring, she began to flower and grow physically. In my opinion, she is still

In the spring, she began to flower and grow physically. In my opinion, she is still growing. I think she will be even better next year and she will stay in training growing. I think she will be even better next year and she will stay in training as a fouryear-old.

“I left the whole decision to John whether to come here or not. He is the trainer, he knows better than me!

“And he decided to try the adventure. She is incredibly relaxed, she puts herself in her bubble and relaxes.”

Doyle said to Jour de Galop: “If you had

told me a few years ago that I would ride such horses in the Classics, I would have laughed!

“Today is a great day, which will remain in my heart. I thank everyone. Before the race, I had great confidence in my filly.”

The daughter of Frankel, who had finished third at Epsom in the Oaks, enjoyed the 2f shorter trip and was always to the fore under the brilliant Doyle with a perfect position to move coming off the home bend.

Nashwa and Vadeni won their Classics in almost same time – Vadeni won the JockeyClub in 2:06.63sec, while Nashwa was successful in 2:06.65sec.

Vadeni did run his last 600m some 0.65sec faster than filly but he wasn’t as close to the early pace. Vadeni, Nashwa and La Parisienne are all top three-year-old’s and, as Chantilly is a stiff track, none of trio accelerated in final 400m Nashwa is out of Princess Loulou (Pivotal), who was bred by David Brown of Furnace Mill Stud.

She was bought by Tony Nerses as a yearling for 310,000gns at the Tattersalls October Book 1 Sale in 2011 and went on to be a Listed winner and finish second in the Prix Jean Romanet (G1).

She was bought back by Nerses for 300,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale 2018 when she was offered as part of the Blue Diamond Stud dispersal.

The three-year-old filly is the fifth Group 1 winner bred on the Frankel-Pivotal cross, a list that includes the champion Cracksman.

He was rounding off his career in 2018, a year in which he won the Coronation Stakes,the Prix Ganay and the Champion Stakes – it was also the year in which Nashwa was conceived.

Lord Grimthorpe, racing manager to Imad Al Sagar, spoke to GBRI after the race and said: “She’s versatile, she’s got a really good turn of foot.

“We’ll have to get her back and see how she is and map out a campaign now for her, probably along the 1m2froute, but I don’t know.

“It’ll be interesting to see how she comes out of the race, but it’ll be Group 1s anyway.”

Princess Loulou had a 2021 filly by Decorated Knight and a 2022 colt by Dubawi.

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us triple crown Photography courtesy of NYRA

The youth movement

I

Melissa Bauer-Herzog reviews a US Triple Crown series that saw a number of the younger stallions dominate

F THERE WAS EVER any doubt of the ability of the younger stallions in North American stallion ranks, that doubt was quickly put to rest during this season’s American Triple Crown series – two legs of the Triple Crown were won by progeny of first-crop sires.

Rich Strike was the longest shot of the race going into May’s Kentucky Derby (G1) after taking his place in the field at the 11th-hour as a reserve.

One of just 53 foals from Grade 1 winner Keen Ice’s first crop, Rich Strike was over 17l behind the pacesetter at one point before closing strongly to win by three-quarters of a length at odds of 80-1.

He was the second-longest priced winner in Kentucky Derby history behind 1913 winner Donerail Court. The colt was followed home by runners from the second crops of Not This Time and Upstart.

In an era where close inbreeding hasn’t been taboo amongst big race winners, the Calumet Farm-bred Rich Strike joined the crowd with a 3x2 cross to the late Smart Strike.

The colt is by a grandson of that stallion and out of Smart Strike’s Canadian champion Gold Strike. She was already a Grade 2 producer before her Derby winner

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....the horses to cross the finish line first in the last two Kentucky Derbys have come from foal crops of 53 and 35 courtesy of Llanarmon, but that didn’t keep her from selling at the 2019 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale for just $1,700 in 2019.

Her appearance in the ring came one year after Calumet sold the subsequent 2,000 Guineas (G1) winner Kameko’s dam Sweeter Still for only $1,500 at the same sale. In addition to being the breeder of Rich Strike, the farm also raced him in his early starts.

Calumet dropped Rich Strike into a claiming race for his second start where his current connections claimed him for

$30,000 on the same day he broke his maiden by over 17l at Churchill Downs.

Interestingly, with the increasingly larger books for American stallions, the horses to cross the finish line first in the last two Kentucky Derbys have come from foal crops of just 53 and 35.

That followed up 2019 when the “first” to cross the line came from a crop of 56 with the “official” winner from a crop of 86.

Rich Strike’s Kentucky Derby victory comes only months after a proposed stallion cap that would see stallions born in 2020 or later restricted to book sizes of 140 mares, rescinded by The Jockey Club.

It’s not a Triple Crown season without a little drama and that drama came less than a week after the Kentucky Derby when Rich Strike’s connections decided not to target the Preakness Stakes (G1) due to distance limitations. But other young sires were there to fly the flag for their generation.

Of the nine runners in the second Classic, five were by stallions who have just first or second crop three-year-olds.

The record-breaking first-crop sire Gun Runner had had two in the Kentucky Derby and neither hit the board, but it was set to be different in the Preakness.

Early Voting had qualified for the main

us triple crown

Above, Belmont Stakes winner Mo Donegal with jockey Irad Ortiz enjoying the moment, right, Jack Christopher wins the Woody Stephens with Jose Ortiz

field of the Derby on the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, but connections had decided to skip the race with the lightly-raced colt in favour of a smaller field in the Preakness. That move paid off in spades when the Gun Runner colt skipped to a length and a quarter victory over Kentucky Derby runner-up Epicenter.

Already an enticing stallion prospect as a grandson of Canadian champion Silken Cat, who also produced the US champion Speightstown and the multiple graded stakes winner Irap, Early Voting has the added benefit of being a son of one of the top stallions in the country.

Last year’s champion two-year-old sire by earnings, stakes winners, graded stakes winners, Grade 1 stakes winners, and Grade 1 performers from his first crop, Gun Runner also broke the earnings record by a freshman sire.

Arguably one of the most in-demand sires in North America, Gun Runner registered his fifth Grade 1 winner from eight Grade 1 runners with Early Voting’s Preakness victory.

While Early Voting was immediately ruled out of the Belmont Stakes (G1), Rich Strike was back for the race that his connections had been targeting for

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us triple crown months. He was one of three horses to come into the race out of the Kentucky Derby, while Nest had finished second in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Creative Minister and Skippylongstocking had finished third and fifth in the Preakness.

But it wasn’t the Kentucky Derby winner who walked into the winner’s circle at Belmont. That honour went to Uncle Mo’s Mo Donegal, who had finished fifth in the Derby.

His victory was a big one for Uncle Mo, who now has a Grade 1 winner in each of his seven crops aged three or older and who has also sired a Kentucky Derby winner in Nyquist.

A grandson of the Grade 1 winner Island Sound, Mo Donegal is bred on the potent Uncle Mo x A.P. Indy granddaughter cross that has also produced the Grade 1 winner Mo Town among five graded stakes winners and 11 stakes performers from 72 runners as of June 11.

On a card full of quality racing the Belmont Stakes day also became a comingout party for a multiple future stallions It is a rare occurrence for the Kentucky Oaks to be represented in the Triple Crown series, but this year was an exception.

Nest (Curlin) was closest to the Belmont Stakes winner and over 3l clear of the third-place finisher to give Todd Pletcher and Repole Stable a one-two finish with Mo

Flightline: was massively impressive and is now favourite for the Breeders’ Cup Classic

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Donegal’s co-owner also a co-owner of the filly.

Fillies from the Oaks have been more than holding their own this spring – in the Preakness, the Oaks winner Secret Oath (Arrogate) finished fourth. She has faced males twice in her last three starts with a third in the Arkansas Derby (G1) to her name as well.

Flightline silences doubters

On a card full of quality racing the Belmont Stakes day also became a coming-out party for multiple future stallions.

The Metropolitan Handicap (G1) winner Flightline (Tapit) had already proven he was Grade 1 quality with a dominant victory in the Malibu Stakes (G1) last December, but there were plenty of questions surrounding him going to Belmont.

The race was set to be the first time he’d run outside of California and the first time he’d faced older stakes horses, but the $1 million yearling made it clear that it is exactly where he belongs with a 6l win over a field in which only one horse wasn’t a previous Grade 1 winner.

Co-owned by a group that includes Lane’s End Farm’s racing arm Woodford Racing, it is all but certain that the four-year-old will head to that Kentucky farm for his breeding career.

Jack Christopher (Munnings) was sidelined for the Triple Crown prep season and stayed out of the Triple Crown races, but has quickly proven to be one of the top three-year-olds in the nation.

He made his 2022 debut in the Pat Day Mile (G2) when he won by an easy three and three-quarter lengths, the Woody Stephens (G1) proved he was back to the form that saw him win last year’s Champagne Stakes (G1) in impressive style when he bolted up by 10l on Belmont Stakes.

Jack Christopher is by rising superstar stallion Munnings, who led all North American sires by number of stakes winners after Belmont stakes weekend.

Like Flightline, Jack Christopher’s future home as a stallion has all but been secured with Coolmore Stud buying into him before last year’s Champagne Stakes. Coolmore also stands the colt’s sire Munnings.

First-Crop

Royal Ascot winner GROUP 2

T ASLEET Showcasing - Bird Key (Cadeaux Genereux)

Sire of the unbeaten juvenile BRADSELL Winner: Gr.2 Coventry Stakes, 6f, Royal Ascot Owner: Victorious Racing Limited

Breeder: Mrs D O’Brien Trainer: Archie Watson

Congratulations to all connections Contact Tom Pennington: +44 (0)7736 019914 tpennington@shadwellstud.co.uk | www.shadwellstud.com

Fee: £5,000 Jan 1st, SLF

#TasMania

strawberry fields stud

Stud photography courtesy of Strawberry Fields Stud

Strawberry Fields

forever

James Thomas talks to Gary Robinson, breeder of the Derby winner Desert Crown

“

I try to pretend that I don’t know what I’m on about most of the time!” says Gary Robinson as he discusses his breeding operation at Strawberry Fields Stud.

That pretence has presumably become a lot harder to maintain since the farm, which is situated in the village of Teversham on the edge of Cambridge, produced this year’s impressive Derby winner Desert Crown.

Robinson jokes: “I’m not sure where I will go with my breeding now, I might pack it in, I don’t think there are any races bigger than the Derby left to win!”

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Desert Crown going clear up the Epsom home straight to win the Derby on just his third career start

strawberry fields stud Robinson wasn’t born into a racing family, much less stud ownership, so says that Desert Crown’s emergence feels like “vindication” for all the time, money, effort and emotion he has invested into Strawberry Fields and its equine residents.

He began learning his trade at the age of 12 when, during a spell working for a veterinarian, he tended to a group of horses close to his family’s council house in the Fenland town of Whittlesey.

“I used to look after them and I didn’t know they could be dangerous so I just fell in love with them,” he recalls. “And so everywhere I went after that, I used to draw a picture of a horse.”

His time working with the vet was confined to his youth and instead Robinson pursued employment in the design and technical engineering sector, and with considerable success. As his career progressed he indulged his love of the thoroughbred by collecting Schweppes calendars and other equine keepsakes, but says it was “always in the back of my head to have a horse of my own.”

R

OBINSON’S FIRST TASTE of ownership came in 2003 when he and a few like-minded friends from Whittlesey set up the The Four April Fools syndicate, who owned Absolutely Soaked, a modest daughter of Alhaarth trained by Dr Jon Scargill.

His string has grown exponentially since, and in the last five years a double-figure number of trainers – including the likes of Brian Ellison, Chris Dwyer, Chris Wall, Jessica Macey and Sir Mark Prescott – have saddled runners who have carried Robinson’s distinctive white silks with a red hollow box.

However, perhaps only half jokingly he says: “I wasn’t ever really interested in horseracing, in fact I’m still not really that interested in horseracing! I’m more interested in the animal itself, so my real passion is breeding.”

Of course, breeding requires land, and so in 2011 Robinson took his first small step towards producing Desert Crown by purchasing Brickfield Stud in Exning.

He says: “Originally I couldn’t afford

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strawberry fields stud anything, but I had a good bank manager and he helped me buy Brickfields and then we spent nearly all the money we had trying to make that work.”

The late Basil White, who passed away in June 2016 at the age of 92, was a pivotal figure as Robinson developed his breeding interests, and it was from him that the mantle was taken up at Strawberry Fields and Fernleigh Farm.

“I had an old partner called Basil White,” explains Robinson. “He was a proper horseman, he was a bit old school but he always had a good eye for a horse and we became good friends.

“When he passed away he left me his farm and said ‘you look after it’, so I’ve been doing that for the last few years. I think we had about 40 horses around at the time

We sit and discuss mating plans for probably three months before we get to the coverings [of taking the farm on] but we’ve slowly rehomed those and updated the farm and kept everything going from there.”

Despite his relatively extensive thoroughbred property portfolio, Robinson remains unafraid to roll his sleeves up, saying: “I’m not the Aga Khan or

Gary Robinson with Desert Berry: when in training she caused a bit of mayhem in Newmarket High Street

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Oppenheimer or the Rothschilds or anything like that. I’m still the man who digs the holes!”

Robinson’s day job is as the managing director of RWS, a company specialising in ballistic and bomb protective products. He notes there are clear parallels between the skills he requires professionally and for his passion for breeding, although he adds that sometimes the heart rules over the head.

“There’s the technical side of the horse with aspects like biomechanics,” he says.

“And I also wrote a strategic plan when I bought the stud, which very rarely anybody does in this industry. That was about ten years ago and I filled in all the boxes with what you needed and how long it would take, and then you build into the plan all the things that can go wrong. And after that the passion takes over and all the planning goes out the window!”

There is a commercial aspect to the Strawberry Fields operation, with Robinson due to retain the fillies he breeds while the colts will head to public auction. But he stresses that a big part of his strategic plan accounts for the aftercare of his horses once they go beyond the racing or breeding stages of their lives.

“When I pack it in, the idea is that they’re all looked after,” he says. “That side of it is massive and people don’t realise you’ve got these horses for the rest of your life. So a big thing is to get enough funds together so they can be looked after until they leave this world. That requires a bit of planning ahead, but that’s where my engineering brain kicks in as that’s all about planning.”

Despite the strategic plan occasionally going out of the window, Desert Crown stands as a shining example of just how well Robinson’s ideas are coming together.

He says at one point he owned around 700 books on horses, has sat two Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association breeding courses, and has tried to learn from each and every one of the great and good he has bumped into during his time in racing.

He now has theories on everything from mating plans to bone density and, with the help of pedigree consultant Alastair Nicolson, has set about using the knowledge he has amassed to produce high-class equine athletes.

strawberry fields stud The star mare Desert Berry with her foal of this year, a full-brother to Desert Crown

“We put so much effort into it,” says Robinson. “We sit and discuss mating plans for probably three months before we get to the coverings. We have a ratings system that we go through and that assesses things such as the female line, masculinity, femininity.

We also work on seven generation pedigrees, not just on what the catalogue page says.

“We’re trying to bring that female line back through and hopefully get the balance correct.”

The family has continued to flourish, with Binche going on to produce the Group 2-winning and Group 1-placed Finche when bred to Juddmonte’s unbeaten champion Frankel.

Robinson didn’t breed Desert Crown’s dam Desert Berry, a daughter of Foreign

Language, but instead acquired her privately.

The purchase proved a shrewd bit of business as not only has she produced this year’s Derby winner but Archie McKellar too, who won a Kempton novice for Ralph Beckett before he transferred to Hong Kong, where he was renamed Flying Thunder and won the Group 3 Premier Cup. Desert Berry, who carried the colours of Basil White’s wife Alexandra, also won one of her three starts during her time in training in Newmarket with Chris Wall, but Robinson explains she had a far more dramatic claim to fame prior to producing her talented offspring.

“When Chris had her she got free, went through the town and went through the front window of a Turkish restaurant!” he says. “So we’ve been on television because of her before, but for something completely different. That was probably ten years ago now. Perhaps that was an omen!”

Having survived that ordeal Desert Berry retired to the Strawberry Fields paddocks

Desert Crown as a yearling, this is his catalogue shot ahead of his assignment at Tattersalls October Book 2 Sale where he made 280,000gns

R

OBINSON CERTAINLY struck the right balance with Desert Crown, who was the result of a mating between Strawberry Fields’ budding blue hen Desert Berry and Newsells Park Stud resident stallion Nathaniel.

Robinson’s first involvement with Desert Crown’s family actually came with the colt’s second dam Foreign Language from whom he bred a couple of offspring before selling the mare when she was in-foal to Poet’s Voice in 2013.

It is easy to see why he purchased Foreign Language, a Juddmonte-bred daughter of Distant View, as she is out of the Listedwinning Binary and is a sibling to Binche, dam of the four-time Grade 1 winner Proviso and Prince of Wales’s Stakes hero Byword.

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strawberry fields stud and set about transferring her toughness to her offspring. Robinson says that the quality possessed by Desert Crown, who carries the familiar colours of Saeed Suhail having been sold to Blandford Bloodstock for 280,000gns at the Tattersalls October Book 2 Yearling Sale , were evident from an early stage.

“Desert Crown was an outstandinglooking individual and when he progressed to about 12 months old he really started to look like a Classic horse,” says the breeder.

“You can tell once they get to about three months whether they’re going to be alright or not. The others are starting to look like that as well, they’re all Classic looking. I’m not interested in speed, I’m interested in producing Classic horses. It’s an expensive way of doing it but that’s the ‘real way’.”

Desert Berry also has a two-year-old Al Kazeem filly, a yearling colt by Study Of Man and a Nathaniel foal.

Desert Crown was an outstanding-looking individual and when he progressed to about 12 months old he really started to look like a Classic horse “She’s a monster,” Robinson says of the Al Kazeem. “She should run as a two-yearold and she’s lovely, she’s a beautiful horse.

“The mating to Study Of Man was an ‘A

rating’ so that should produce something as good, if not better, than what we’ve already got and the colt already looks like a powerful horse.”

Having followed his strategic plan this far, Robinson is hopeful that Desert Berry’s brood is just the start of a new era of success for the Strawberry Fields team, which includes stud manager Stuart Millar, estate manager Gabor Nadas and the yearling manager Jodie Allen.

“Stuart, Jodi and Gabor do the hard work behind the scenes, and our expert advisors also contribute to making a good horse,” he says. “And it’s not just Desert Berry; I think we’ve probably got three or four mares who could do something special.”

Among those are the likes of Yaqeen, a Listed winner whose five black-type siblings include three-time Grade 1 scorer Grand Couturier. The daughter of Green Desert is in-foal to Study Of Man. The three-time winner Capla Berry and the well-related Thraya Star are in-foal to Territories, while Desert Berry and her daughter Rose Berry are both in-foal to Nathaniel.

There are other exciting plans afoot too, as Robinson has just upgraded the facilities across the road from Strawberry Fields to allow a string of racehorses to be trained from the 20-plus box yard.

“I don’t know if I want the hassle factor of training myself because I still have to do other things,” he says. “I’ve still got a farm that I run and I don’t want to finish up shattered and not enjoying it. So I’d probably hire a private trainer, but run it as more of a hobby. If you’re running your own fillies or horses for a few friends it wants to be fun rather than intense.”

Robinson has plainly put in plenty of hard yards to reach this point, but with young blood and new life coming to the fore, as well as a Derby winner in the stud book, Strawberry Fields empire set for the next phase of its evolution, he has an awful lot to look forward to.

“It’s a proper race,” he says of the Derby.

“It’ll be good for everybody from where I used to live in Whittlesey.”

The Strawberry Fields team (from left to right): stud manager Stuart Millar, yearling manager Jodie Allen and estate manager Gabor Nadas

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Work or family?

FACT 1: only one half of the human population can have babies

FACT 2: many women working in the horseracing and breeding industries, in all roles and at all levels, have found that the jobs in the industry are often incompatible with starting a family and ongoing family life FACT 3: women and parents are leaving employment in the industry and seeking roles elsewhere in order to better manage the demands of family life FACT 4: British horseracing, similar to many industries, is suffering a recruitment drive

SOLUTION: ensure that the industry is more responsive to the needs of family life to enable retention of experienced staff

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women in racing

It is a question that many women working in racing, in many roles and at all levels, have to ask themselves and finding the right work-family life balance is not something many have felt able to discuss with employers

S

OMETIMES the obvious is the last thing to be seen or understood and it has taken a long process and body of work undertaken by Women in Racing to bring greater clarity to the subject of having children and family life. It is a topic that many women and parents working within our sport have reported unable to even raise or discuss with their employers for fear of damage to their careers.

Dena Merson of Simply Racing has taken the Racing Home project for Women in Racing under her wing. The work has led to a serious body of work produced with research from Dr. Kate Clayton-Hathway of the Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice, Oxford Brookes University, backed by the Kindred Group and the Racing Foundation. The research paper has has now developed into a bespoke website and with some significant ongoing plans and structure.

But it was a slight aside that led Arstall to recognise this glaringly obvious and, sadly, for some a distressing industry omission.

“I’d been doing some work and sessions through Simply Racing with Women and a racing organisation,” recalls Mersonl.

“I brought up the subject of having children and there was a sort of silence.

It very much became an elephant in the room in everything we discussed. I split the groups into two, put people into groups and talked about the impact.

“There were women from all levels and all areas of the organisation, including more of their senior women, as well as upcoming employees. The emotion in the room and the discussion that was taking place, and there was reaction and some of it was tears, for some it was the first time that it could be discussed.

“It was very much emphasised how isolated people felt, how misunderstood they were, how they felt that it was not something that they could talk about

within the industry because they would be perceived as less ‘in their role’ and they couldn’t share that challenge.

“Many thought that starting a family might impact job prospects, but we also talked about miscarriage, we talked about menopause, all those things that just cannot get discussed. And that was the first time I really thought we have a problem in the industry.”

Merson, who is a mentor for Women In Racing, immediately felt it to be an-acrossindustry problem not just an in-house company issue.

“From the Women In Racing mentoring programme the feedback again was that this was something that couldn’t be discussed,” she says.

“With the retention problem we were having in the industry and the aim for a more sustainable staff base, it seemed that we were talking about the stable staff problem in light of Brexit, but we weren't talking about the fact that we have a

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women in racing growing employment field of women.”

Merson took this knowledge to discussion to WiR and with the support from chairwoman Tallulah Lewis, it was felt that more should be done to support working parents.

The next stage in November 2019 was a Racing Foundation-funded symposium with senior leaders within the racing industry to gauge a commitment from the top to improving the working lives for parents.

“And we invited Kate Clayton Hathaway, from University Oxford Brookes, who’d written the original report for women and racing, the idea being that, if we were right on this and did get backing, we should do another research report.

“The symposium was a very powerful event and included people from different parts of the industry and from outside of the sport too, including Suzanne Homewood, who came from Samsung to give an outsidethe-industry perspective and from an employer’s point of view.

“We had some audience participation, and it became very clear that this was something even more accentuated and across industry, so we moved forward with our research.”

T

HE PLAN to hold a series of workshops throughout the country at racecourses and at racing centres was disrupted

by COVID, but the events had got to the stage of social media promotion and the early response was immediate with almost unprecedented sign ups. In the end, just two in-person workshops were able to take place, with the rest swapping to the digital world via six webinars, which were again, oversubscribed.

Merson says: “On those we have people from all over the sport at every level.

“When we held workshops and webinars we said, ‘Yes, we want to hear what the issues are, but we feel you are the ones best placed to come out with the solutions’.

“We were very keen to ensure that the solution shouldn’t be imposed. This is what we often do as an industry – the industry says ‘this is the answer’. In this instance we said, ‘You tell us the answers’.

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Dena Merson of Simply Racing has been the driving force behind the Racing Home project

“The workshops produced a whole raft of solutions and a really rich vein of ideas and from there we produced the report and suggestions and what the industry could implement.

“Those ideas became concrete actions that could be enacted, a number of pillars that were called ‘hurdles’.

“From very early on the Kindred Group, has been involved and the company has very kindly funded us all the way through alongside the Alborada Trust, and the Racing Foundation.

The emotion in the room and the discussion that was taking place, and there was reaction and some of it was tears, for some it was the first time that it could be discussed

“It was very important to get funding – Women in Racing is a an organisation that charges £25 for membership, we just wouldn’t have had the resources otherwise.”

The united process achieved so much, and has revealed just how well the industry can work together with one goal in mind rather than clashing as is so often.

“Working so closely with Kindred shows how, when the gambling industry works in tandem with racing in a really positive way, what can be achieved,” reports Merson.

“It is a model of what can be done. The company is so on board, it is already rolling out some of the recommendations we’ve made.”

Since the end of 2021 the Racing Home project has achieved its first stage of “doing”, the creation of the online portal.

“This is so important,” says Merson. “It’s not just a website, it is an organic, mumsnet, parents-net hub.

“Through our research the project has widened and includes all aspects of parenthood and family life – same sex parents, carers, people who want to adopt – anything that’s really family related.

“It became quite apparent in the research that nobody knew where to get information.

Even if people were thinking of taking parental leave, it was ‘how do I do that?’

women in racing “There are very few parts of our industry with an active HR department, if you think about it, trainers don’t have their own HR, jockeys don’t and a lot of the companies outsource it.

“There are also a lot of people who are self-employed, and there’s nothing to cater for the self-employed. So you’ll see on the portal that it is for employers, employees and self-employed.

“We wanted to provide a real clear path for people to know that, if they have a question, they have somewhere to go.”

Merson is also very keen to highlight good practice, of which there is much out there, but as the industry is so decentralised nobody knew where such good practice is taking place.

With an industry made up of widely different sized companies and with so many differing functions, it is difficult to see whether a “one approach for all” could ever be applicable, but here was one thread that Merson found throughout.

“We really wanted this for the whole industry and that was a challenge, but there is one common denominator – it is the love of the horse and the love of the industry.

That really shines through in every aspect of this sport.

“And I think it was a real wake up call for people out there to realise that this is a shared experience; we work in the same industry and understand each other’s challenges.”

With the website now in place the next

RACING HOME: INITIAL SHORT-TERM ACTIVITIES SOLUTIONS and NEXT STEPS Developing accessible resources for employees and employers Develop a ‘Working Mothers’ webpage on the Women in Racing (WiR) website, which can be shared with stakeholders, to include (but not be limited to) existing material and to: •

•

•

The workshops produced a whole raft of solutions and a really rich vein of ideas “But I think there are other common denominators – a would-be mother is a would-be mother whether working at a racecourse and they are just getting a first chief executive position, or have just come into racing.

“And I think what was lovely about the webinars, we didn’t have a racecourse staff webinar or a stable staff webinar, everybody was in together.

stage is to revolve around education and a greater understanding regarding the need for childcare provisions.

Merson outlines: “We’re going to work with the racing colleges and Scottish Racing Academy getting the topic as part of the

•

Share guidelines (e.g. about legal requirements and sign-posting), with practical steps for employers and employees in different workplace contexts (small/large, non-/office-based, rural/urban) Communicate existing advice and guidance available – e.g. from NARS, Racing Welfare, WiR, so that “the door is always open” Circulate toolkits/links on entitlements via existing social media networks (or build new ones, e.g. through Facebook and Instagram) Publish and distribute handbooks with policy, rights and entitlements, to be made freely available and well advertised (and where possible use existing ones such as the BHA handbook)

Communication and outreach

Develop ‘Racing Home’ research findings and build on these, to encourage more open discussion about pregnancy, maternity and family life, feeding into the development of both formal and informal solutions.

Build on existing informal childcare arrangements with a ‘networking’ structure (‘Mumsnet’ for racing?), for: • Sharing news and tips about childcare,

breaking down isolation, coffee chats (this could be online and face-to-face) •

Feeding into a champions’ network as this develops

Promotion and self awareness

Share examples of positive role models who balance career and family and are willing to openly share their challenges and show what can be achieved.

•

Develop a campaign (provisionally #FindingTheBalance) around mothers with successful careers in racing (and be specific to the different areas of horseracing), fathers who share parenting, etc.

•

Share stories of successful career transitions and types to encourage flexibility of roles

•

Educate young men as well as women in the racing schools and academies and via BHA and TRIC courses through dialogue and curricular activity.

•

Designate a licensing “motherhood” kitemark through the BHA and NTF modules

A poster campaign to provide guidance and context-sensitive information (for display in bathrooms, changing rooms, staff rooms, kitchens and canteens).

Childcare and support

Develop a ‘buddy’ scheme where women have another mother as mentor (i.e. someone with experience of pregnancy and returning to work) – online or face-to-face and confidential.

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women in racing course, getting kids to talk about this in an open way because the young lads and girls are going to be fathers and mothers, and it might be earlier than they expect.

“It is a conversation that needs to be had in stable yards. Some of the feedback we were getting from the yards included some resentment from other staff if a parent has to, for example, do the school run.

“If people have to leave early it has got to be viewed flexibily. In an ironic way, covid played straight into our hands, because suddenly everyone was faced with this flexible working as was the rest of the world.

So, suddenly, things that had not been acceptable have become so.”

And all this work has been for employer as much as it is for employees, for all sides of the axis to understand their rights and responsibilities.

“It's about having that open conversation, and it’s about employers realising that it is in their interests to get it right.

“No trainer wants to be taken to tribunal and have a reputation that isn’t warranted, so we want them to understand what their rights are as well, what they can do and what they can’t.

“And, yes, the racecourse groups do have big HR teams, but, you know, people can get lost in that, too, so it helps before things become an issue.”

A

“WOMEN IN RACING is incredibly proud to have launched the Racing Home Project with three key initiatives, which aim to have immediate impact on the lives of all working parents. “ These initiatives have been identified as some of the serious challenges faced by mothers and parents working in the horseracing industry. To be able to develop and launch meaningful solutions that will positively impact the working lives of many and enhancing quality of life, is hugely rewarding.

“Our gratitude to Racing Foundation and Kindred Group for their foresight in sponsoring the Racing Home Project, the stakeholders who have worked alongside us to launch Racing Home and all the women who contributed to its findings.

We believe that these initiatives will bring significant positive change to many people’s lives.”

Tallulah Lewis, chairwoman of Women in Racing 56

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S WE ARE ALL aware the racing industry is an entertainment industry and the mantra is being drummed that we must operate when other people are able to

enjoy their leisure time – there is more racing more than ever now on evenings, on Saturdays and Sundays.

And for those working in yards, whether racing or not, racehorses need care seven days a week.

So does a family life and a full-time role in racing really fit together? Merson really believes that it does.

“Yes, racing is an entertainment industry, but we want to attract people to this industry,” says Arstell. “So we want to ‘role model’ what a good industry should look like, and we can be imaginative enough – this project has shown that we can find ways of getting past traditional hurdles.

“So, maybe, it will be developing creches on the racecourses not just for the public but also for racing employees? After all often the people who never get to go racing are the

women in racing RACING HOME: MEDIUM-TERM ACTIVITIES

... we want to ‘role model’ what a good industry should look like, and we can be imaginative enough kids because mum and dad are working.

“If a parent needs to go on the school run and come in later, could he or she do different duties?

“On the racecourse side we’ve got a lot of really top female racecourse executives, and they’re racing on weekends and evenings. So how do we cater for that?

“We don’t want to lose them to other industries, they’re obviously very adept at running businesses, we’re losing some of our best female talent.

“So how do we think about that, and again, they’re the best people to make those decisions.

“We can say it’s always been done like this, or we can say ‘we are an entertainment industry, we want more people to join this industry, let’s get this right now and it will mean that we will have a younger generation jumping to join the sport’.

“At the moment some are checking out because when they want to have a family. If we want the industry to be sustainable, then we have to change.”

A

N obvious way forward would be to help finance a centralised or greater childcare provision, and this is one of the next stages of the project to be asessed. As with everything with the Racing Home any new ideas or plans will be properly researched.

“We’re now getting the data around that, and, as before, we’re also looking at areas of good practice, seeing how it can be done,” outlines Merson.

“And then we will seriously sit down with Racing Welfare and various stakeholders to see what is possible, see whether it should

Developing accessible resources for employees and employers

•

while reducing stigma and guilt (i.e. everybody has different support needs)

Develop a ‘working mothers toolkit’, drawing on industry expertise for distribution to all training providers and trainees, which will:

•

Sharing what educational opportunities are available for career advancement

•

Share good employment practice, including examples from different workplace contexts (e.g. office-based, yard) and job roles (managerial, stable staff). These might include return-towork policies or ways to introduce flexible working.

Communication and outreach

Maintain existing work and develop new initiatives to engage with women, by: •

Continuing and developing new areas for outreach, eg, with rural yards.

•

Setting up mother and baby groups for racing staff at hubs, beginning with activities such as coffee morning discussions (both online and face-toface)

•

Developing a network of regional champions (women and men).

•

Demonstrate to employers the benefits of the ‘longer-term’ business case for supporting women

•

Develop and share posters and promotional material that support career aspirations and encourage women to seek career reviews and/or advice

Promotion and self awareness

Explore ways of supporting women on their return to work, including ‘graduated routes’.

•

Explore appropriate types of flexibility – working times, homeworking, jobshare, etc. and develop accompanying guidelines

Career development

•

•

•

•

Explore what has been learned during the COVID-19 relating to flexible working, and other working patterns/ locations

A series of promotion and awarenessraising initiatives and events, for example: Building on Community Day (9th May) or the Southwell celebration of International Women’s Day (8th March 2020) with ‘Women in Racing Day’

Mentoring to build confidence in women and girls. This will build confidence, and the likelihood they will seek support and advice.

•

Adding a specific maternity mentoring arm added to the WiR Programme, open to the industry with specialist mentors.

Foster a more nurturing approach to pregnancy and maternity; recognising its impact (e.g. keeping-in-touch days, gradual return, etc.)

be a central provision or not and how that would work. I don’t want to pre-empt ideas, but once we’ve got the data, definitely it is very important.”

What that has shone out in the work is the cross-industry collaboration that has

been achieved taking different views on board and moving forwards with all sides to achieve resolution.

“We spoke to a lot of stakeholders right at the implementation and scoping stage to get their buy-in.

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women in racing “It’s has been so wonderful to behold how well it can work when people are working for the common good.

“And, yes it really has been like working in a different industry!” reports the highly proactive Merson who has sat on various racing boards.

“Yes, we’ve had massive dissenting views, but, instead of that being attritional, it’s been okay. People have asked instead, ‘How are we going to get around this one?’ |Each area of potential conflict has been a new start for finding another way of doing things.”

The final question does revolve around the proactive nature of our industry and surely whether “racing” itself, through its own central organisations, should have enacted a lot of this a long time ago But as Merson says if this had not been discussed then who was ever to know there ever was an issue?

“I don’t think we can blame the industry for that – if nobody was going to talk about it then how could the industry be aware that there was a problem?” she reasons.

“I think the secret is to get people talking openly, then we can say yes, there is a problem, let’s address it.

“The old traditional culture wouldn’t let this be a conversation so we're now changing into a more modern and sustainable culture.”

Maybe a modus operandi for the future governance and management in a broader context for the sport, which as we go to press, once again appears to be under pressure.

www. racinghome.org.uk

RACING HOME: LONGER -TERM PLANS Developing accessible resources for employees and employers Develop a hotline to inform employees and employers about rights and entitlements, as well as informal forms of support.

•

Create a horseracing Participants Advice Bureau on the lines of the Citizens Advice.

•

Raise awareness about the changing physical needs/abilities of women which can be very individual and vary with job role.

•

Rehabilitation and racing centres to develop mental and physical support programmes for returning mother.

Career development

Childcare and support

Conduct a review of childcare at the hubs, enabling those who use it to design solutions and meet the need for more flexible and affordable childcare in these locations.

Review methods for introducing a mechanism of pooled funding to cover maternity leave for self-employed women.

This would begin to address seriously the issue of women jockeys and other self-employed women in terms of their right to family life.

Explore potential for greater access to HR advice and facilities (e.g. through a centralised HR function), meeting a need to: •

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•

Address the lack of reviews and appraisals (where this is the case), encouraging active dialogue with employers

•

Provide employers who do not have HR support in place with appropriate support (dependent on their size).

Sharing and embedding good practice around family life to ‘mainstream’ this across the industry’s processes, to include: •

Developing certification/awards for diversity across employers, and CPD/ kitemark for the industry, working alongside and, where appropriate, within existing ones (integrating these, for example, into the BHA industry licensing standards as well as best-practice awards such as the Lycett Team Champion Awards).

•

Harnessing opportunities for assessment and CPD where this does not currently happen, making some modules mandatory and introducing accreditation that is also recognised outside of the industry, e.g. with the Chartered Management Institute.

Developing longer-term career strategies within the industry, which might involve increasing awareness around transferability of experience to other roles in racing and creating the necessary pathways that allow staffto stay in the industry.

Facilitating cultural change

58

young women and men– through to trainers and other employers. It would engage the racing colleges and all who are involved with education at any level, using existing avenues and developing new ones

Build information about pregnancy, maternity, paternity and childcare into training packages throughout the talent pipeline. This should address all those entering the industry – including both

Understanding and acknowledging the rigidity of some constraints (e.g. timings for gallops, shift patterns) ensuring that solutions are developed that are sensitive to the needs of particular industry roles and functions.

Conduct a review of possibilities around part-time and flexible work and jobsharing. This would benefit from a Pilot Scheme in one or more yards to explore the issues and develop good practice that can be shared and used as an industry template.

DEADLINE

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david ‘mouse’ cooper

“Warren Hill, Overnight Snow”

Mouse climbing high

David ‘Mouse’ Cooper was an apprentice jockey at 16, rode and worked in racing until he was 40.

He then made the life-decision to change his career path, head to art college and become a professional, equine artist.

He tells Sally Duckett his life story

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david ‘mouse’ cooper

A

N ARTIST’S STUDIO should be located somewhere conducive to the development of creative energies, after all the right working environment helps produce the work of a master.

A more perfect location for work and life could not be imagined for equine artist David ‘Mouse’ Cooper, his studio found alongside Fakenham’s old Dewing and Kersley Mill with its tumbling brook that once powered the engines of East Anglian commerce.

On a quiet Sunday morning it is a scene reminiscent of Wind In The Willows; visitors wouldn’t be surprised to come across Rat, Mole and Badger arriving in their boat to pop around for a cup of tea, a slice of cake and for a private view of Mouse’s latest work.

The captivating location, the peace

only interrupted by the bubbles from the River Wensum, merges Mouse Cooper’s life with his art, his house doubling up as his studio, the work from home mantra no need to be hoisted upon him by the onset of covid.

And although a proud equine artist, Mouse’s on-canvas ability stretches further than just painting and sketching the horse.

“Moving up here was a great thing it’s given me a lot bit more opportunity to paint.

You know, learn about painting the coast,” he says, before adding realistically: “I think I’ve done financially well enough now to sit up and enjoy myself, but I don’t want to stop learning. I am always trying to learn still.”

In some ways Mouse’s route to life of a full-time professional artist is a long way from where he began as a fresh-eyed 16-year-old racing apprentice for Bill Marshall and Tim Thompson Jones, yet the horse is still at the heart of what he does.

And drawing and painting has always, or nearly always, been a driving force of his life, a talent that has always been available but something that has flowed and ebbed and flowed as life has progressed.

“When I was a kid, I was great at drawing,” he recalls, admitting that he was the “arty one” at school. “I used to draw pretty much from the early days. I used to draw on a wall, my mother used to tell me off, I was one of ‘those kids’. At school I did a picture of Foinavon winning the Grand National, it was one of the first portraits I drew, and my teacher put it up in the in a room and she loved it. It spurred me on.

“My father had a lot of racing books and things, so I used to copy works by John Skeaping.

By the time I got to 12 or 13, they said you can do the ‘O’ level, which I did, and then ‘you can do an ‘A’ level’ and I had to go to Left, Mouse sketching, and, right, “Pre-parade July Course”, the artist enjoys the more informal images and delights in the serenity of the pre-parade on the July Course

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david ‘mouse’ cooper

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david ‘mouse’ cooper Goldsmiths College for that. I went down once or twice a week and I was mixing with professional artists and I think that is a massive thing; if in those early years to get to something sooner rather than later, it is a big advantage, it gives such a head start.”

At school leaving age in the 1970s Mouse had two options – follow an artistic path through art school or work in racing. With college courses not so available as now, expensive to complete (as now) and racing offering a chance for the teenager to get away from home and London, Mouse, who had learnt to ride at riding schools in the capital, took the route into an “oldfashioned” apprenticeship.

He served his time at Tim ThompsonJones before a bullying incident, sadly not an infrequent occurrence in those lawless days in racing yards, led him to move to work for David Elsworth, a man whom Mouse still describes as “the best trainer and the best man I worked for”.

Mouse was with the recently retired Elsworth at Whitsbury through the golden years of the trainer’s career, working alongside horses such as Desert Orchid, Robin Wonder, Indian Ridge and Lesley Ann. But, despite the good time had in Hampshire, and able to paint outside of

And I went to all the capitals, went to all the museums, and that’s when I really started to look at paintings and started to think you know, this is what I want to do working hours, for someone with his creative talent, the job, unsurprisingly, was not quite fulfilling Mouse’s needs.

“I decided to have six months around Europe with a rucksack on my back – I bought a rail ticket for £10, and then you could go in any train and anywhere that you wanted. It was fantastic.

“And I went to all the capitals, went to all the museums, and that’s when I really started to look at paintings and started to think you know, this is what I want to do.”

“Lemon on a Box” Mouse relishes the challenge of creating the illusion of a 3D image on a flat piece of paper

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But the realities of following a route to life as an artist, coupled with the necessity of earning a living, meant the Mouse did not immediately heed that calling; while painting in his time off, he was not ready make it a full-time career.

He returned to Newmarket and fell into the world of the jobbing jockey and stable lad, riding bad horses, doing the rounds around the different yards, failing to settle, finding little to motivate him, enjoying his working life in a racing yard less and less as the months and then years wore on.

I

N THE END it was a personal event that inspired change.

“I had relationship issues, she went her way and I went mine,” he explains. “I sold my house and used the money to go to art college. At 40!

I went to Anglia Ruskin University started there and did a three-year degree.

“I thought ‘let’s throw everything in’; I realised that if I didn’t, you know, well, I was gonna to regret it. I wanted to reinvent my life.”

The degree led to a dissertation on the movement of the equine, with time spent at vets looking at tendons and bones and sitting up with foals, and realising that, although he had spent all that time working with horses, there were gaps in his educational knowledge and understanding of the horse.

Mouse has his own life mantra and this has been an important thread to finding his future.

“I’m not I’m not, you know, ‘a laughy sort of guy’, but I am an optimist and I will have a go. I will give everything a try and then I can decide whether it works or if it doesn’t work.

“The art had sort of bumbled along until then, and I think that’s what I am trying to explain is you can go through all of your life and think ‘I can’t do this now’.

“If you get an opportunity you have to take it. You might get one chance, you might get two, give it a go, because you don’t know where it is going to take you.”

He admits that the lightbulb moment came from a conversation with a ballerina in Paris [Edit: yes, you read that correctly].

“I was in a hotel I could hear this noise down the corridor so I went to investigate.

david ‘mouse’ cooper Mouse with his self portrait

“There was this funny little blond girl stretching out and doing her exercises. She told me that she was a roller skater, but she was training to be a ballet dancer and was going to college.

“When we started talking I looked at her feet and her toes were all broken, and I could see she was quite physically scarred.

“It was a little bit like somebody who has been in racing; she was still fit but injured, too. She was strong and she was persevering, still pushing, and she was using all of her day’s 24 hours to achieve.”

And he believes that someone like the ballerina could be an example to those working in racing now.

“You get up and you’ve got a whole day in which you could do something, do an awful lot more than sleep in the afternoon.

“Those working in racing could go and do an evening class, learn to become an electrician, a plumber.

“And it really knocks me out that so many just won’t go and do something, try and figure it out. You know just do something, learn and be prepared to go and do something.

“When you think about it there is a wonderful opportunity for people in racing, for some of them they ride out in the morning and they are done for the day.”

The artist is quite critical of the motivation that is generated within racing for people to want to do more both within and outside of the sport and job.

“I don’t think we’re getting through to a lot of people in life, especially in racing. I don’t blame anyone who wants to do their horses, great, as long as they’re happy. If their relationship is ok and they’ve got somewhere to live, and then they’re in as good a good position as anybody else in the country.

“But if you’re not happy, and you’re dissatisfied, and it’s getting you down, don’t go down the pub, don’t go take a load of drugs, have a go and try and do something and see how it comes out. And, you know, it might ignite something.

“But for many people a lot of confidence goes and self-esteem goes. I have had all of that. I think everyone goes through it, but I think it can kinda magnifies in racing.”

You get an opportunity you have to take it.

You might get one chance, you might get two, give it a go, because you don’t know where it is going to take you For Mouse it was while he was at college that the dots really started to join up.

“I found that my talent was still there,” he says with candour. “I saw things and I went ‘Oh yeah!’, and ‘That’s what I thought!’. It just opened up my brain. And that was when I sort of started to think, ‘Right, you know

what? You could make a living out of this.’.”

Turning that reborn talent into a commercial enterprise and one capable of keeping a roof over his head and food on his table was not immediate either, and Mouse dedicates that achievement to a long-standing friend.

“The vet Rob Pilsworth came up to me one day in Newmarket High Street and he said, ‘For God’s sake Mouse you’re not selling your pictures for enough money, you don’t realise how good you are!’

“He offered to take over all the management and now he looks after all correspondence, all phone calls and he basically manages 90 per cent of this.

“A lot of credit for this goes to him; we have known each other for a long time, but worked together for the last six years. He gets the commissions and enquiries and works it all out.

“David Fish of Ascot Gallery Conversation Pieces has helped me out, too, and it means I can get my paintings to Cheltenham and such places, I don’t have to spend the money on a pitch or anything like that.

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david ‘mouse’ cooper “Stouties String”

“And generally people in racing have just been really nice – Amy Mania, Ryan Mania’s partner, she gets me things up north, and there are just so many people to thank.

Hopefully, I do a good enough job for them all.”

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ND WHILE the man is seemingly content with his life, perhaps it has taken this time for him to truly be at peace with himself, there is still much more that he wants to achieve with his work.

“I still don’t think I’ll ever quite pulled off the best thing!” he smiles. “I think the Tattersalls sale picture nearly is [see December 2021’s issue], but I am still not there yet.

“I guess it is the ‘Ronnie O’Sullivan syndrome’ – he is best player in the world but he doesn’t think he’s good enough. If you did it would probably be the wrong thing to do. I think that’s another thing I learned from racing – don’t get carried away with yourself.”

Since turnign pro, he has also picked up some tricks of the trade of the professional artist.

“The whole thing is a cauldron of information, I’m interested in the mechanics, the parts of it that perhaps people don’t see, but you need little tricks, it is those little things I’ve learned.

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I can deal with the rich, the famous, the poor, everybody; I think a lot of that has come out of racing.

“For instance, when you watch racing, and the horses come straight to you, you don’t really see much. The brain is trying to disseminate what’s happening and it can’t cope, there is too much information.

“The better point to see them and paint them is that three-quarters shot when they’re going away, that’s when you spend time looking at them.

“And if you look Munnings’ painting he gets exactly that point, it takes away a lot of detail, such as faces, but it still captures the movement. The brain retains that information longer.”

While commissions fill a lot of what Mouse paints on a commercial basis, there are works that he produces as just art for art’s sake.

“Every now and again, if I have an exhibition, I always put one or two pictures that I think will just get people talking and

that I have no intention of selling. And I don’t I don’t care if they do or they don’t.

“I’ll hang a picture on Tuesday at my stall at Fakenham racecourse and people will say ‘Oh, that’s interesting’, but would they want to hang it on their walls? Probably not. Somebody might get ‘it’, but it won’t necessarily be a selling thing.”

The 61-year-old Mouse, understandably, has some regret that he came late to the world of the commercial artist, but there is a realisation that the previous “life” skills he learnt working in racing are standing him in good stead.

“Maybe I missed out 30 or 40 years of this, where would I be if I’d done this since I was 15?

“But I can set up my stall at the races, put up my pictures and I’ll have every sort of person come round. Somebody will say ‘I don’t like that! That don’t look like an ‘orse!’ , but I can deal with that, I don’t mind,” he assesses realistically. “I can deal with the rich, the famous, the poor, everybody; I think a lot of that has come out of racing.

“I just hope that I’ve gone another 10 or 15 years and I can keep going and I can keep finding and producing and doing something, looking for the next winner.”

So, on that peaceful Sunday morning, we leave the man by the riverside, surrounded by his paints and his brushes and with his aged dog; his equine masterpiece at the very tips of his fingers and just waiting to be discovered.

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william newton

Newton’s Law Debbie Burt meets up with equine and life-size sculptor William Newton

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William Newton with his Kauto Star

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HE SOMERSET-BASED SCULPTOR William Newton has produced trophies for the UK’s most famous races, the Grand National and the Derby and more recently, life-sized bronzes of the two men often associated with them, Dick Francis and the late Lester Piggott.

For Newton, briefly a jockey himself, notably riding a winner at the first attempt at his local course at Wincanton, it was always sculpture that fired his imagination.

He enlisted for pottery class at school, but soon realised that he had little interest in producing pots, preferring modelling with clay and making animals.

When the father of one of the pupils, the renowned sculptor John Robinson, visited the class, it was a life-changing moment.

“I instantly connected with him,” recalls Newton. “We were making figures, mine didn’t have any hair and he just slapped a bit of clay on the side of the head and sort of used his thumb to make some ringlets.

“At that moment I was absolutely mesmerised. I went from watching and running my own thumb through what he had done, to trying to replicate it on the other side of the head. He came over and said that’s fantastic, he really gave me a boost.”

Robinson lived within cycling distance and soon Newton was a regular visitor to his studio, using his mentor’s smaller studies as the inspiration for his own work.

As his skills progressed Newton says: “You couldn’t keep me out of the art room at school. As long as I was creating something, whether it was drawing, painting or sculpting, I was happy. I didn’t excel academically I just did the bare minimum in my other subjects, enough to keep me out of trouble. I left at 16, as soon as I had the

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opportunity to do an art foundation course.”

Through “a fantastic two years” at art college, racehorses were his hobby. In the mornings he would ride out for Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer Peter Dufosee and “just about” be finished in time to get to college. Toby Balding suggested Newton go to Ireland to gain more experience as an amateur, which he did, influenced by the success of Jonjo O’Neill and his contemporaries.

“All the Irish jockeys that came to Britain, I thought they had a lovely fluidity about them in the way that they rode.”

Even then realises, “I was really thinking like a sculptor.”

After breaking his arm, Newton returned to the UK and, though he was still riding a few winners, sculpting was taking up more and more of his time and he soon retired from race riding. By this stage he’d moved to live in Hungerford and been introduced to Philip Blacker, another jockey-turnedsculptor with whom he formed an instant rapport.

“Philip said come over anytime, so I would work in his studio instead of my kitchen.

Sometimes under his supervision I’d assist him with some of his bigger sculptures such as Red Rum. It’s amazing how much work is involved in making a life-size sculpture, whether it be human or equine.

“When you finish, you look at it and ask yourself, ‘Why did it take so long?’ It looks so easy once it’s done, but it’s quite a battle, really. It doesn’t stop in the studio, of course, I’m very involved at the foundry, more now than ever.

“The first time I had a sculpture cast, my initial reaction was, ‘It’s in bronze!’ and it was incredibly exciting. The next was ‘My god what have they done to it!’ The more I looked, the worse it got, so that was a good

I realised that to get the results I wanted, it was up to me to play a bigger part in the casting and finishing process lesson; there were an awful lot of things that can go wrong between making the sculpture and getting it back from the foundry.

“I realised that to get the results I wanted, it was up to me to play a bigger part in the casting and finishing process.

“For many years now, I’ve pretty much done everything myself. I’ve always used a professional mould maker for the mould though. I’ve tried doing it, but that’s a real craft in itself and it’s also actually very dull, for me anyway!” he says laughing.

After the mould has been made, Newton takes a wax positive from it and then works on the wax so that it is, essentially, an identical copy of the original clay model.

He then hands it over to the foundry staff

Newton realised at school that sculpture was the avenue for him when meeting John Robinson

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william newton

for casting by the “lost wax” process in which the wax is covered in ceramic glaze, placed in a furnace to fire the ceramic and burn off the wax, then the newly formed ceramic mould is filled with molten bronze.

Once cool, Newton is back in action, quite literally breaking the mould to reveal the bronze sculpture, which then has to have the “runners and risers” (additional wax rods attached to the sculpture to aid the flow of the bronze) removed.

This all leaves its mark on the previously perfect surface, returning it to that state is a great skill, known as “chasing and finishing”.

Newton firmly asserts that sculptures produced in this way are one-offs, as every wax is slightly different, with minor variations in how they are worked up and finished. This most obviously extends to the “patination” or colouring process, which he also does himself.

“I know roughly how I’m going to do it, but editions are not going to be exactly identical, one may be lighter or darker or a bit greener or more orange depending on what I’m trying to achieve, and I just go with it. A good patination can really enhance a bronze,” he asserts.

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WHEN YOU buy a William Newton bronze, it really is my work, there’s been very little input from anyone else, apart from the casting process. It hasn’t always been like that though, Eddie McDougall used to do all my chasing. We worked so closely together, he knew exactly how I wanted it and for me he was absolutely brilliant as a chaser and finisher of bronzes.

He was also a great patinator; he taught me an immense amount.”

When approaching a commission his ideal is to work from life. Recalling his study of Gold Cup winner Native River he says: “Because he was turned out for the summer, I did virtually all of the sculpture working alongside the horse in the field.

“I knew that he was going to change shape somewhat because he was eating a lot of

When I think back to doing Kauto Star, I used to go in every day for evening stables and brush him over grass! However, Colin and Joe [Tizzard] were so helpful, their input was always welcome.”

Another trainer local to Newton is Paul Nicholls for whom he rides out in the winter. Newton was commissioned to produce a half life-sized sculpture of Kauto Star to commemorate his four victories in Haydock’s BetFair Chase and was able to have regular access to Nicholl’s celebrated charge.

“When I think back to doing Kauto Star, I used to go in every day for evening stables and brush him over,” smiles the sculptor.

“That was great, to get so close, to get my hands on him, getting right up underneath his tummy, working right the way through the entire horse.

“I always used to enjoy looking after my horses as a stable lad and it took me right back to those years. When you run your hand down a horse’s tendon you know the way it feels in your hand, so it can only help when you’re doing a sculpture.

“I’ve done three or four of Paul’s horses now and the lovely thing is that they’re just down the road.

“Because I have a relationship with the yard, Paul is very accommodating, he knows I’m a safe pair of hands, I’m not

Dick Francis: Newton read the jockey-writer’s autobiography as part of his research

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going to put the horse in jeopardy in any way.”

Whilst working from directly from the subject is Newton’s ideal, the nature of celebrating a life often means the study must be made posthumously.

This was the case with some of his Vodafone Derby trophies, such as Sir Gordon Richards with Pinza and also with his most recent public work, that of Dick Francis at Aintree.

The sculpture was to honour not just Francis’s eight National rides, but also the

william newton

huge part he played in saving the course and its most famous race. It was instigated by Peter Johnson, the former amateur jockey, a Dick Francis fan and founder of the British Sporting Art Trust. In an additional nod to his later career as an author, Francis is sculpted stood on a large pile of books.

“You really have to source as much information as you can and talk to the people who knew them,” Newton explains. “With Dick Francis I read his autobiography, it’s written with his own hand, so he’s talking directly to me.

“Because he comes from a racing background I can sense exactly what he’s talking about, so when it’s his involvement with particular horses and how they react, I can really understand and have an empathy with that. That doesn’t make a sculpture, but what it does do is give you a feeling, a sense of involvement, so I put that together with what I see in photographs.

“His sons, Merrick and Felix Francis were very much involved, too. I made the maquette and took it to show Felix and Peter Johnson – when they saw it, they got it straight away.

“There might have been a bit of tweaking of the nose, which I did there and then with them, but they loved the stance and the distribution of his weight, the angle of his shoulders and his back.

“It may sound weird, but when you’re making a life-size piece, the actual cosmetics of what’s going on in the face is really the least of my worries, it’s the vehicle that carries that and makes it believable that’s important. If you see someone walking down the street you don’t have to see their face to recognise them; you don’t analyse why you know who it is, you just know.”

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MAQUETTE IS A SMALL STUDY made ahead of producing a larger piece, which Newton feels it would be impossible for him to operate without.

“I do everything literally to scale, so if the person was six-foot tall, I’d make the maquette a foot high, so I’d be multiplying by six.

Newton with his Lester at Newmarket, part of a series of nine editions of the great jockey

“Felix came to see the life-size in the studio first. He got quite emotional I think, standing there, looking into his father’s eyes, he was mesmerised by it and absolutely loved it. Fortunately, Merrick had the same experience. That meant an awful lot to me, to know that I’d really connected. You can’t fool two sons.”

Speaking of fathers and sons, Newton’s son Toby produced the stone plinth on which the sculpture stands.

“Toby is an excellent stone carver and when they saw examples of his work, they didn’t hesitate to use him. I’d love to do more collaborations with him in the future,

but stone carving is quite expensive and so is bronze, so I can understand why people might be reluctant, however presentation is everything.”

Dick Francis is one of a number of life-size public statues Newton has crafted.

The Injured Jockeys Fund’s Oaksey and Jack Berry Houses are graced by Newton’s sculptures of their namesakes, which led in part to one of his most well-known pieces, that of Lester Piggott.

Commissioned to celebrate his nine Derby wins, there will be nine editions in total.

Already located in Wantage where Piggott was born, as well as Ascot, Epsom,

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william newton Newmarket, York and the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket, the most recent edition was unveiled at The Curragh this May. “I first met Lester and his wife Susan when he was the subject of one of the Derby trophies [riding Sir Ivor]. That was a lovely thing to do, to meet this legend. I got on very well with him, I was very lucky. Lester was different to any other jockey, he walked more like a dancer, he moved beautifully. He was just a natural athlete.

“Later Susan asked me to do a sculpture for Lester’s 70th birthday and ‘From Start to Finish’ features his first winner The Chase and his last Palacegate Jack.

“I did other things for them as well, such as a study of Never Say Die from photos.

I always call in to see Susan when I go to Newmarket, her knowledge of racing is incredible. She put work my way, so I’ll always be in her debt.”

Recalling the study of the artist Klaus Philipp that was completed earlier this year he says: “I’d met him a few times, so I knew him a little bit. I had the utmost respect for him, as he’s a true artist in every sense of the word, his downfall is that he paints horses and horse painters don’t get taken as seriously!

“It’s strange that animal form is given less credit than human form, it isn’t to me, or fortunately to a lot of other people.”

His current commission is also a portrait bust, these of course are quicker to produce but he says the same things apply, knowing the subject and being able to relate to them.

He tackles each assignment with the same level of responsibility, whether they are famous or a family pet.

“It’s very important to the person who has commissioned it, and so it becomes important to me.

“For it to be a success it has to be completely believable, though in a sense it’s a caricature. It’s also a statement of me and my personality in that sculpture, how I interpret what I’m looking at. My burning ambition is to celebrate life and the living form in the best way I can, I like rhythm, fluidity; I like animals full stop. I do like putting two forms together, like a figure and a horse, or two horses or a horse and another animal.”

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My burning ambition is to celebrate life and the living form in the best way I can, I like rhythm, fluidity; I like animals full stop

Alongside his commissioned work, Newton is working towards a future show.

“I’m exhibiting with world-class jeweller Catherine Best. She has show rooms in Mayfair and in Guernsey and Jersey. We’re just planning at the moment, but the idea is a week in each location in Spring 2024. I’d like to think they’ll be plenty of figurative sculpture in there and plenty of animals, not just equestrian pieces.”

Newton concludes: “I’ve done bulls, sheep, kudu, I don’t mind the subject matter - as long as you approach it in the right way, it has to tell a story.”

The Lester Piggott statue at Epsom racecourse, Newton recalls that Lester “walked like a dancer”

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