Thoroughbred Owner Breeder

£4.95 DECEMBER 2017 ISSUE 160

Melbourne marvel Rekindling takes Cup for Somerset breeders

PLUS

Max excitement

Owner McNeill’s racing thrills

Harry Whittington

12

Up-and-coming trainer’s hopes

Pedigree warning

Tony Morris on a lack of diversity

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36652_Galileo_Sons_TBOB_DPS_Dec17.qxp_Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder 16/11/2017 15:50 Page 1

The best sire in the world This year will see Galileo crowned Champion Sire in GB and Ireland for the ninth time and Champion Sire of 2-Year-Olds for the fifth. His scarcely credible 12 individual Gr. 1 winners in 2017 are headed by dual Classic-winning milers Churchill and Winter along with record earner Highland Reel. At the Cartier Awards Galileo featured in the first two generations of six of the seven award-winning horses.

His sire sons, 11 of which have already sired Gr.1 winners, are responsible for two of Europe’s finest racehorses of 2017 in Enable and Cracksman.

Six of his best sons, all with impeccable race records and pedigrees, stand at Coolmore for 2018. Take your pick!

Australia Churchill NEW Gleneagles Highland Reel NEW Ruler Of The World The Gurkha

• AUSTRALIA • CAMELOT • CARAVAGGIO • CHURCHILL • EXCELEBRATION • FASTNET ROCK • FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND • GALILEO • GLENEAGLES • • HIGHLAND REEL • HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR• IVAWOOD • KINGSTON HILL • MASTERCRAFTSMAN • NO NAY NEVER • PRIDE OF DUBAI • REQUINTO • ROCK OF GIBRALTAR • • RULER OF THE WORLD • STARSPANGLEDBANNER • THE GURKHA • WAR COMMAND • ZOFFANY •

36652_Galileo_Sons_TBOB_DPS_Dec17.qxp_Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder 16/11/2017 15:43 Page 2

.

Contact: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Tel: 353-52-6131298. Fax: 353-52-6131382. Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Tim Corballis, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne, Mathieu Legars or Jason Walsh. Tom Gaffney, David Magnier, Joe Hernon or Cathal Murphy: 353-25-31966/31689. Kevin Buckley (UK Rep.) 44-7827-795156.

E-mail: sales@coolmore.ie Web site: www.coolmore.com All stallions nominated to EBF.

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• Winner of Jebel Ali Racecourse & Stables Anglesey Stakes (Gr.3) • Winner of Coolmore War Command Rochestown (C & G) Stakes (LR) • Placed 3rd in the Darley Prix Morny (Gr.1) (2yo Colts & Fillies) (Turf) to Lady Aurelia • 2nd in the GAIN Railway Stakes (Gr.2) • Highest RPR 112 OR 105

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08/11/2017 14:51

Welcome

Wind ops plan pleases punters, not horsemen

Editor: Edward Rosenthal Bloodstock Editor: Emma Berry Design/production: Thoroughbred Group Editorial: First Floor, 75 High Holborn, London WC1V 6LS Tel: 020 7152 0209 Fax: 020 7152 0213 editor@ownerbreeder.co.uk www.ownerbreeder.co.uk Twitter: @OwnerBreeder Advertising: Giles Anderson Tel: 01380 816 777 USA: 1 888 218 4430 Fax: 01380 816 778 advertise@anderson-co.com Subscriptions: Keely Brewer Tel: 020 7152 0212 Fax: 020 7152 0213 subscriptions@ownerbreeder.co.uk

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Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder incorporating Pacemaker is published by a Mutual Trading Company owned jointly by the Racehorse Owners Association and Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association The Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association is a registered charity No. 1134293 Editorial views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the ROA or TBA Our monthly average readership is 20,000 Racehorse Owners Association Ltd First Floor, 75 High Holborn, London WC1V 6LS Tel: 020 7152 0200 • Fax: 020 7152 0213 info@roa.co.uk • www.roa.co.uk Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Stanstead House, The Avenue, Newmarket CB8 9AA Tel: 01638 661 321 • Fax: 01638 665621 info@thetba.co.uk • www.thetba.co.uk

£4.95 DECEMBER 2017 ISSUE 160

Melbourne marvel Rekindling takes Cup for Somerset breeders

PLUS

Max excitement

Owner McNeill’s racing thrills

Harry Whittington

12

Up-and-coming trainer’s hopes

Pedigree warning

Tony Morris on a lack of diversity

Dec_160_CoverRekindlingV2.indd 1

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24/11/2017 12:37

Cover: Rekindling and Corey Brown win the Melbourne Cup for owner Lloyd Williams and breeder Stringston Farm Photo: Bronwen Healy

Edward Rosenthal Editor

s this magazine went to press, news came through that the BHA would implement a directive to make it public knowledge when a horse has had a wind operation. From January 19, racecards will carry a ‘ws’ to indicate the first run after such surgery, without indicating which type of procedure has been performed.

The move to alert punters to wind surgery follows consultation with racing’s stakeholders and the Horseracing Bettors Forum, which was set up by the BHA in 2015 to represent the views of those who bet on racing. As wind surgery has the ability to improve a horse’s performance on the track, many who like to bet on racing feel it should be one of the variables taken into consideration – along with trip, ground, jockey etc – when race selections are being made.

I don’t object to punters now having access to this information, yet it’s unlikely to prove a licence to print money, as some may believe. Firstly, wind surgery might improve a horse’s performance – but then it might not. There’s no guarantee.

Secondly, the bookmakers will also now be in the loop, so expect any beast with a ‘ws’ next to his name to be priced accordingly, especially when attached to a respected stable.

Betting matters aside, there are bigger issues to contend with for racing and breeding following the BHA’s action, which we must hope is respected by trainers and policed appropriately. The BHA will start to collate statistics, including of which horses have had operations and, of more importance, which stallions and pedigrees are producing runners that require surgery. It would only seem right if this information is made public, too.

What will it mean for the breeding industry?

It’s too early to say but studs, stallion masters and sales houses won’t want to be associated with vulnerable thoroughbreds. A potential benefit would be identifying weak links in the breed and removing them from the breeding cycle, yet there is no certainty this would happen.

At this stage, we are just guessing.

There’s no guesswork needed to identify Harry Whittington as a trainer going places.

Despite the cruel loss of his Grade 1 winner Arzal, Whittington remains on an upward curve, having assembled a team of promising young horses at his Oxfordshire stable.

Yet, as many people have found trying to start a business in these times, it takes plenty of courage and resolve to get things off the ground – with no little amount of stress involved, either.

“It was extremely tough,” Whittington tells Tim Richards (Talking To, pages 60-66). “I had run a satellite yard and pre-trained for various people, so I wasn’t going to the races and getting exposure to prospective owners.

“Having access to this information is not a licence to print money” “I had to go to the sales and buy cheap horses. I lost about two stone doing the job on my own, mucking out five, riding them out, feeding and doing the entries. It was stressful, but I never stopped believing.

“I paid £2,800 for Dubai Kiss, syndicated half of him and owned the rest myself. I quickly realised he was my get-out-of-jail card and when I took him to Newbury for his bumper I was very much in debt. I was aware that if he didn’t win I would probably have had to hand in my licence.

“I managed to rustle up £60 to put on him at 100-1 and after he won sold my half into a new syndicate. As a result of that I got three horses and people started to come in and ride out.”

If Whittington continues to climb the ladder, perhaps he’ll be lucky enough to be sent a horse

by Max McNeill. McNeill’s focus is on quality horses, of the calibre of Walkon, Grumeti and new star The Worlds End. Tom Peacock finds out about the owner’s passion and enthusiasm for the sport in a superb interview on pages 52-58.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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Contents

December 2017

52

68

60

News & Views

International Scene

ROA Leader

View from Ireland

Pool betting possibilities

13

TBA Leader Foal notification support

15 17 20 36 38

Features At Doncaster, Del Mar and Flemington

Tingle Creek in 1976

With owner Max McNeill

Cowdray and Chopard

8

47

24 34

The Big Interview

Luxury & Lifestyle Five-star breaks, watches and fashion

Gun Runner’s Classic triumph

From The Archives

Howard Wright Stewarding dilemma

44

The Big Picture

Tony Morris Call for more diversity in pedigrees

Lotta joy at Tattersalls

Around The Globe

Changes News in a nutshell

41

Continental Tales

News Wind ops to be made public

Chris Meehan’s lucky break

52

Talking To...

74

Trainer Harry Whittington

60

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Dec_160_Contents.indd 8

24/11/2017 12:44

47

136

48

Features

Forum

Stringston Farm

TBA Forum

Celebrating a Melbourne Cup winner

68 82

Displacement of the soft palate

93

Data Book

Caulfield Files Pivotal role

125

European Pattern

Dr Statz The sires in profit

114

Vet Forum

Sales Circuit Featuring the Horses-in-Training Sale

Silent Auction open for business

128

Group winners and analysis

130

24 Hours With...

BHA boss Nick Rust

136

Did you know?

Our monthly average readership is

Forum The Thoroughbred Club Mercian King strikes again

97

ROA Forum Gold Standard Award winners

98

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24/11/2017 12:44

LE HAVRE (Noverre x Marie Rheinberg)

PROVEN GR.1 SIRE

© l’Agence

Sire of 3 Gr.1 winners from his first 3 crops

G comme Galop - photo : Anne Eberhardt Keogh

(conceived at €5.000!)

10% Black Type performers / runners In 2017, his yearlings sold for: 325.000 Gns 310.000 € 255.000 € 190.000 € 180.000 € 180.000 €

Tattersalls Book 1 Goffs Orby sale Arqana Août Arqana Août Arqana Août Arqana Octobre 60.000 € Live Foal

RAJSAMAN (Linamix x Rose Quartz)

Sire of dual Classic winner Brametot from his 1st crop

RECORDER (Galileo x Memory)

Group winning 2yo by Galileo

8.000 € Live Foal

6.000 € Live Foal

Sylvain VIDAL • +33 (0)6 20 99 10 15 • office@montfort-preaux.com I Mathieu ALEX • +33 (0)6 26 59 19 18 • malex@montfort-preaux.com

www.montfort-preaux.com

ROA Leader

Nicholas Cooper President

Pool betting consortium must walk before it runs W

hatever else emerges on racing’s political landscape next year, the racecourses’ new pool betting enterprise is going to be very high profile. In some ways it will mark the culmination of years of endeavour for the racing industry.

Many will recall how British racing once held strong ambitions to own the Tote and worked extremely hard to fulfil them. Sadly, those ambitions were thwarted but at least now we will see a major pool betting enterprise being controlled by British racecourses, if not by the entire racing industry.

It is true the racecourse consortium, made up of 54 courses, will not have a pool betting monopoly but, as liquidity is the name of the game, it will be difficult for any other licence holder to match the potential of this consortium, even though, as things now stand, Ascot will sadly not be part of it.

Although the future of pool betting almost certainly lies with capturing a much bigger slice of the off-course betting market, building momentum on-course is a natural starting point. The racecourses have the advantage of people attending their meetings every day and many of these people are already comfortable with Tote betting. The numbers may be relatively small, but together they form a basis from which off-course initiatives can be developed.

Today’s computer technology provides enormous opportunities but the consortium must resist the temptation to run before it can walk. While the electronic world and pool betting are natural bedfellows, the first requirement in setting up the enterprise must be to ensure the new system works efficiently and accurately for the customer from day one.

The consortium does not have the luxury of working to a schedule of its own making. The current monopoly pool betting provider, Betfred, will probably be keen to end its commitment to racecourses as soon as possible and at that stage the new on-course service must have had all the bugs squeezed out of it.

Deadlines to fulfil the wider ambitions will be slightly less demanding. Having deals in place with major bookmakers, so popular pool bets like the Placepot can be sold through the betting shops, is an important part of the mix, as is the international picture where, through the co-mingling of pools, overseas punters can bet on British racing. No less important is the production of a website through which all the variations of pool bets must be made easily accessible to a betting public which, with its fixed odds mentality, will need a lot of enticement.

Crucial within all this will be the creation of new types of

pool bets and the levels at which the take-out from the pool is set from bet to bet. While many on-course punters are, within reason, not that sensitive to betting ‘value’, a lot of people betting off-course, especially in significant amounts, are very value conscious.

Winning over a share of the sophisticated punter market will be one of the keys to long-term success for pool betting in this country. Not only must the high-staking sector of the market see evidence that pool betting can offer good value, but they

“Crucial will be the creation of new types of pool bets and the levels at which take-out is set” must also be enticed by there being no limit to the size of stake they can place. At a time when bookmakers are increasingly miserly about limiting the size of punters’ bets, this makes a compelling case for pool betting, but only if there is sufficient liquidity in the pool.

As the new racecourse consortium starts to build its brand, it will be fascinating to see how things progress. For those with long memories it may not be seen as the perfect outcome, but, if it eventually delivers a new funding stream for racecourses, then it will be up to the horsemen to ensure prize-money deals are extended so that we all share in this success.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Dec_160_ROA_Leader.indd 13

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24/11/2017 12:41

Girl Power!

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The NH Mare Owners’ Prize Scheme is accepting applications for fillies born in 2017 until 31 January 2018.

Visit thetba.co.uk for further information and to download an application form.

TBA Leader

Julian Richmond-Watson Chairman

Racehorse welfare from birth is a top priority O

ne aspect of breeding and racing that has become increasingly important throughout the world in recent years – and rightly so – is the care and attention given to the welfare of the thoroughbred. Everyone involved, whether in a large commercial organisation or as a small private operator, has to be aware of today’s climate of public opinion.

The fact is that the modern generation will support and follow racing only if everyone taking part in the sport is seen to be consistently monitoring and caring for the thoroughbred’s welfare, and that applies throughout its life, from birth to death.

With that in mind, the TBA fully supports the new proposals recently announced by the BHA, which require all breeders to notify the existence of a new-born foal within 30 days of its birth. Such declaration means that the foal’s owner-breeder can be traced and the horse’s whereabouts are known to the appropriate regulatory authorities and the breeding industry.

It is vitally important that every foal is accounted for and that every breeder is contactable, so that if there are any issues over welfare or disease outbreaks, then the correct authorities can become involved.

Relying on the current registration process, which in some instances can happen a year after the foal is born, is no longer acceptable and risks creating serious issues around the traceability of the foal.

Knowing the precise location of every foal and knowing who is responsible for it allow direct communication to take place, and will make it much easier to inform others involved if a welfare issue arises. It will also bring us into line with other EU countries – an important factor as the path towards Brexit becomes clearer - and so will help facilitate the current ease of movement of the thoroughbred internationally.

The notification process will be simple and various online and telephone options will be trialed in 2018. The information provided by this notification must be available to the regulatory authorities for welfare purposes, as well as to the TBA so that it can ensure that the person responsible for the thoroughbred foal is fully aware of the rules and regulations surrounding its medication and what to do in the case of illness and disease outbreaks, either where the foal resides or nearby.

Direct communication from the TBA is vital, and anyone who breeds foals should have to hand the current HBLB Codes of Practice which are produced in conjunction with the TBA, and be as well-informed as possible in welfare and veterinary matters.

The TBA, which will continue to provide as much information and help to members as possible, believes that all these rules,

regulations and advice on welfare are essential. They are part of a British system which will guarantee that our horses continue to be the best looked-after and cared-for in the modern racing world.

However, it is important that British breeders who adhere to these rules and regulations are operating on a level playing field.

The authorities must demonstrate clearly, and in terms that are readily available, how they will ensure that only where we are certain that overseas breeders work to the same conditions will their horses be allowed to run in this country.

A zero tolerance policy on drugs is just that. Any fudging of the issue by the authorities would be unacceptable. It is up to the BHA to ensure that British breeders are not disadvantaged

“It is vitally important that every foal is accounted for and every breeder is contactable” in any way, and at the TBA we look forward to publication of the regulations that will apply to those from jurisdictions which do not run this strict zero tolerance policy.

There are other issues regarding the import of racehorses from overseas where foreign breeders may have unfair advantages over their British counterparts, and the Brexit process will give us an opportunity to address some of them.

I will return to this theme of supporting British breeders where fiscal and other advantages give overseas breeders an unjustifiable edge in the new year.

In the meantime I wish you all the very best for Christmas, and hope the new year brings healthy foals and success on the racecourse.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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24/11/2017 12:40

News

Stories from the racing world

BHA puts punters first with new directive on wind operations

H

orses running for the first time since undergoing a wind operation will be identifiable on racecards from next month.

In a move that divided opinion, the BHA will require trainers to make public wind operations and ‘ws’ on racecards will denote that a procedure has happened, although the more precise nature of the surgery will be a detail required from trainers through the industry’s racingadmin website, allowing a database to be constructed.

Lack of data and research for the time being, along with the impact on bloodstock values, are among the reasons for scepticism from some horsemen.

The requirement for wind operations to be made public immediately sparked much debate on social media, and it was clear that even among the punting fraternity there was a difference of opinion over how useful such information will prove. As a group, however, the move overall found favour generally with the betting public.

There was more caution from within the ranks of owners, trainers and breeders. A statement from the Racehorse Owners Association said: “Earlier this year, the ROA was asked for its opinions as part of the BHA consultation process and, following discussions, made it clear it felt it was not in the best interests of the industry that such information be made publicly available at the moment.

“The ROA is therefore disappointed with the way that the BHA has handled this consultation process, and feels that the owners, who will be compromised most, have effectively been ignored.

“Racing’s customers deserve clarity and transparency and, in order to fulfil that, evidence-based research to provide reliable data needs to be at the heart of any regulatory changes.

“The BHA Board must make decisions that do not always find favour with their stakeholders, however, in doing so must have considered all of the possible risks associated with such changes in order to mitigate any potential impact, financial or otherwise. Sadly on this occasion it appears that the BHA has chosen to work solely with one body,

Altior will undergo a wind operation; such information will soon be made available to the public

the Horseracing Bettors Forum, and this is disappointing.”

The National Trainers Federation was also unhappy about the move. A statement read: “The NTF is concerned about the new rule on several fronts.

First, any rule change should have been prefaced by more research. The BHA has made it clear its motive for implementing this rule is to provide information for bettors that might influence their betting behaviour. The NTF understands the desire to fulfil the needs of racing’s customers, but reliable data is essential.

“We proposed the BHA’s first step should be to collect data from trainers about wind surgeries carried out over a two-year period. That data would then be analysed to assess the extent to which different wind surgeries have a significant effect on the performance of a large enough cohort of horses to have some confidence in the value of information provided to bettors.

“The BHA has opted to ignore the opportunity for an evidence-based approach on this issue. We believe that is poor regulation.”

Horses running in Britain trained in Ireland, France and elsewhere who

have undergone a wind operation since their last run will also be marked on racecards. The BHA states it is adopting a system similar to those in operation across much of the southern hemisphere and Asia, territories in which it is common for punters to be given more information and data than has been the case in Britain.

The BHA’s Chief Regulatory Officer, Jamie Stier, said: “The sport’s betting customers, and potential customers, are at the heart of this development.

It is simply essential that the sport is seen to be open, fair and transparent.

Information which may have an impact on a horse’s performance should be available to all, not only those who are close to the horse in question.

“The more data that is available to the betting customer serves to make the sport a more attractive betting product. It is vital that we keep up with other sports if we are going to continue to compete in an increasingly crowded betting marketplace.

“Declaration of wind operations is already mandatory in some other racing nations. More racing nations will also consider following suit following the BHA’s implementation of the changes.”

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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17

24/11/2017 12:42

News Rower defies odds A member of the Racehorse Owners Association who is disabled has set an unofficial world record of 1hr 33mins 26s for rowing a half-marathon indoors.

Andrew Cambridge suffered a near-fatal stroke nine years ago but has defied the odds to set up the Cambridge Racing club, establish the Blueberry Academy and achieve personal goals such as his halfmarathon row.

“My mother was advised to switch off my life support machine,” revealed Cambridge, who has four horses in training with Mark Walford.

“Fortunately she didn’t, and a doctor tried something with a new antibiotic.

I’m permanently physically damaged but I am still here. I now employ more than 40 staff supporting people with a learning disability to find employment.”

Speaking to the Racing Post, he continued: “I was advised to join a gym to keep as fit as I could, and started doing plenty of rowing. The idea behind the half-marathon was to inspire others and raise money for charity.

“I initially applied to Guinness about setting a world record, but they wouldn’t categorise it, so it will have to be an unofficial world record.”

The owner’s fundraising efforts benefited the stroke unit at York Hospital and Brunswick Organic Nurseries in York. Donations can be made at www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/andrews-row

Death of Mary Reveley Mary Reveley, one of the great dualpurposes trainers, with a combined 2,010 winners in Britain to her name, has died at the age of 77.

Reveley’s training base for the vast majority of her long and successful career was Groundhill Farm in Cleveland, where she was born in September 1940.

Reveley started training in 1978 when a livery-yard owner, saddling her first winner in 1979, and going on to excel on the Flat and over jumps. She trained with a permit from 1979 to 1981, and with a full licence for 23 years from 1981.

She landed the Cambridgeshire with Mellottie in 1991, the Long Distance Hurdle at both Newbury and Ascot, and the West Yorkshire Hurdle twice, with Cab On Target, winner of 20 of his 46 races under rules.

Cab On Target (1993 Future Champion Novices’ Chase) and Morgans Harbour (1995 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle) were her two Grade 1 winners, though she won several more races that were Grade 2 at the time but are now Grade 1.

Marello provided Reveley with Grade 2 wins in the Long Distance Hurdle at Ascot and West Yorkshire Hurdle in 1998, while Old Red and Turnpole won the Cesarewitch in 1995 and 1997.

In all, she posted 1,330 victories over jumps in Britain and 680 on the Flat. Her son Keith subsequently trained, while grandson James is current champion jump jockey in France.

Tributes to Reveley were heartfelt and plentiful. Owner Peter Savill said: “I had horses with Mary from a fairly early stage

and was with her for a very long time.

“I saw in her a great affinity with horses, which was her great talent, and she was a lovely person to be around.

“Her gallops must have been the coldest in Britain, and the steepest, which is perhaps why she was particularly good with a staying horse. We had a lot of very happy days, Flat and jumps.”

Peter Niven, now a trainer himself, rode hundreds of winners for Reveley and said: “When I went to Mary as a 7lb claiming amateur she had 14 horses and we grew together. She trained for 23 years full-time and I was with her for 16 of them, so we were a big part of each other’s racing lives.

“She was totally involved in her horses.

She had a terrific eye for a horse and its wellbeing, and was tremendously good at what she did.”

That was a comment echoed by many, including Mellottie’s rider, John Lowe, who said: “She knew her horses inside out and when she said in that distinctive voice of hers, ‘John, I think this one is about right now,’ it had pretty much already won.”

Brilliant Enable strikes again Khalid Abdullah’s homebred Enable stole the show at the 2017 Cartier Racing Awards in London on November 14, when she was named Horse of the Year and outstanding three-year-old filly.

John Gosden paid tribute to the daughter of Nathaniel, the winner of five consecutive Group 1 races this year under Frankie Dettori, culminating in her scintillating victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in October, saying she was easily the best filly he has ever trained.

Enable’s stable companion, Cracksman, was named top three-year-old colt following his devastating triumph in the Champion Stakes at Ascot. Ownerbreeder Anthony Oppenheimer confirmed that Frankel’s son will stay in training next year, when he could well meet Enable in

18

the Arc, which returns to its Longchamp home in 2018.

The consistent Ulysses, winner of the Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte International, took the older horse accolade, while three-year-old Harry Angel came out on top in the competitive sprinter category, seeing off the likes of Battaash, Marsha and Lady Aurelia.

Order Of St George (stayer), U S Navy Flag (two-year-old colt) and Happily (two-year-old filly) ensured a wonderful night for the Coolmore trio of John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith and Ballydoyle maestro Aidan O’Brien.

The Cartier/Daily Telegraph Award of Merit went to trainer Sir Michael Stoute.

Somewhat reticent when interviewed at the races, Stoute appeared to relish the

Unbeatable combination: Enable and Dettori

opportunity to speak his mind on stage with ITV Racing anchor Ed Chamberlin.

He thanked the jockeys who have ridden his big winners over the years, including Walter Swinburn and Kieren Fallon, said his 1-2 with Pilsudski and Singspiel in the 1996 Breeders’ Cup Turf was his outstanding racing memory, and named Shergar, Zilzal and Marwell as the best middle-distance performer, miler and sprinter that he has trained.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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24/11/2017 12:42

TWEENHILLS TIMES AN EYE FOR SUCCESS

DECEMBER 2017

UP TO 2O WITH GOLD R AID Havana Gold recorded his 20th individual winner from his first crop when Raid made a stunning winning debut in November. Havana Gold will stand for £15,000 (Oct 1st SLF) at Tweenhills in 2018 and looks excellent value.

Raid wins impressively at Doncaster

Charm Spirit returns to Fr ance in 2018 Charm Spirit will return to France in December after covering mares to Southern Hemisphere time in New Zealand.

The Qatar Racing-owned Raid was bought by David Redvers for £135,000 at Goffs UK Breeze Ups having posted a bullet time at the sale, and he made the successful return to Doncaster in a sixfurlong maiden on the last day of the turf season. He’s out of the Mark of Esteem mare Remarkable Story, so a half-brother to Winter Derby winner Grendisar, and looks an exciting prospect.

Top-class sprinter Hot Streak will continue at £6,000 (Oct 1st SLF). His first foals look set to attract plenty of interest at the sales.

Havana Gold and Hot Streak as well as Pearl Bloodstock stallion Dunaden can be viewed at Longholes in Newmarket during the Tattersalls Mare Sale from Saturday 2 to Wednesday 6 December.

Tweenhills at Tattersalls Tweenhills are catalogued to sell 25 mares at the Tattersalls December Mare Sale from Monday 4 to Thursday 7 December.

Among the quality draft are Stakes winning mares Katie’s Diamond and Clifton Dancer in foal to Charm Spirit as well as Blue

Maiden and Fine Blend in foal to Hot Streak.

Also catalogued are 5 mares in foal to the hugely exciting sire Havana Gold.

Tweenhills will also sell 18 lots at the December Foal Sale, including six of the 36 lots by exciting first season sire Hot Streak.

Charm Spirit first shuttled to Windsor Park Stud in 2015 and his latest venture was another success, covering a quality book of mares.

In 2018, Charm Spirit will stand for €20,000 (Oct 1st SLF) at Haras de Bonneval in France as part of the on-going link-up between Qatar Bloodstock and the Aga Khan Studs.

He will return to Tweenhills for the 2019 breeding season.

Charm Spirit’s first yearlings made up to €500,000 and averaged just shy of £70,000 at the yearling sales.

Tweenhills sell at the mares and foals sales

HARBOUR WATCH RETIRED We are sad to announce Harbour Watch has been retired from covering duties on veterinary advice.

Unbeaten Timeform European champion two-year-old Harbour Watch covered his first mares in 2013 and has enjoyed plenty of success. His first two crops include Gr.2 Prix Robert Papin scorer Tis Marvellous and Santry, one of this season’s leading twoyear-olds prior to being fatally injured.

Charm Spirit heads back to France

Harbour Watch also shuttled to Australia and is the sire of South African Listed winner Trojan Harbour. Harbour Watch has arthritic joint issues relating to an accident during his racing career which resulted in him retiring to stud.

Harbour Watch

Tweenhills, Hartpury, Gloucestershire, GL19 3BG W: www.tweenhills.com T: + 44 (0) 1452 700177 M: + 44 (0) 7767 436373 E: davidredvers@tweenhills.com 2807 - Tweenhills Time_Dec 2017_V08.indd 1

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Changes

Racing’s news in a nutshell

People and Business Also...

Ruby Walsh

BHA Senior Veterinary Adviser Anthony Stirk receives an award for outstanding veterinary achievement at the Animal Health Trust UK Equestrian Awards Dinner.

The Novices’ Handicap Hurdle series is launched this month, culminating in £100,000 final at Sandown in April – one of the aims is to increase the appeal of transferring from the Flat.

The wind operation directive comes in whereby such a procedure must be declared and highlighted on racecards on the horse’s first run following surgery.

Multiple champion jumps jockey breaks his leg in a fall from Let’s Dance at Punchestown.

George Chaloner Royal Ascot-winning jockey quits the saddle aged 25 after a succession of falls take their toll.

Equine Productions Chepstow-based company is triumphant at Equus Film Festival in New York for the third year in a row, this time with a film on Many Clouds.

Graham Gibbons Jockey’s appeal against a two-yearban for a failed test for cocaine, and switching samples with another rider, is dismissed by the disciplinary panel.

BHA Fast-track procedure to deal with lower-level rule breaches is implemented in an attempt to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Adrian Sharpe BHA stipendiary steward is seconded to the Emirates Racing Authority for the UAE season.

Ben Swarbrick Former Flat rider, now a financial adviser, honoured by the Richard Davis Award, which celebrate the achievements of jockeys pursuing second careers.

David Evans

Fined £3,000 by the BHA after delaying news of a non-runner in order to back another horse in the same race that he also trained at better odds.

Ron Hearn Named the winner of the 2017 Betting Shop Manager of the Year – he runs a Jenningsbet shop in Charlton, London.

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Racing silks New funky dartboard design sells for £8,500 at Sotheby’s – the estimate had been £5,000.

Ayr Track advised by the BHA to improve communication policies following an investigation into the circumstances of the Western Meeting’s abandonment.

Willie McFarland Former jump jockey starts new job as racing operations manager of the Arabian Racing Organisation, based at Newbury racecourse.

Daryl Jacob Jockey receives a caution from disciplinary panel after grabbing and shouting at fellow jockey Noel George following an incident at Cheltenham.

Horse Obituaries Pentire 25 Winner of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 1996 for the Mollers and Geoff Wragg, and later a leading sire in Australasia.

France Galop Make it mandatory for all runners in France to have been vaccinated against the equine herpes virus.

Lure 28 Dual Breeders’ Cup Mile winner and US Hall of Famer who later stood at stud at Claiborne Farm until he was pensioned in 2004.

London Prize 6

Cesarewitch runner-up and Elite Hurdle winner is fatally injured in a fall contesting the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham.

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Changes

Racing’s news in a nutshell

Racehorse and stallion Movements and retirements Also...

Barney Roy

St James’s Palace Stakes-winning son of Excelebration is retired from racing and will take up stallion duties at Dalham Hall in 2018 at a fee of £10,000.

Birchwood Will become the first son of Dark Angel at stud in France when he commences covering duty at Haras de la Huderie in Normandy next year.

Famous Name 21-time winner to stand at Anngrove Stud in County Laois next year after spending the first five seasons of his stallion career at the Irish National Stud.

Decorated Knight A three-time Group 1 winner this year, he will take up stallion duties at the Irish National Stud.

American Patriot This year’s Grade 1 Maker’s Mile Stakes winner is retired from racing and will join the Darley stallion roster in Japan.

Danon Ballade Set to be the first son of Deep Impact to stand in the UK following his relocation to Batsford Stud in Gloucestershire, where his fee will be £4,000.

Battle Of Midway Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner is retired from racing to take up stud duties at WinStar Farm, where he will be offered to breeders at a fee of $20,000.

Divine Prophet Leading sprinter-miler and freshman sire to shuttle to Ireland for the 2018 northern hemisphere season, where he will stand at Tara Stud for €7,500.

Arrogate will stand his first season at Juddmonte’s Kentucky farm at $75,000, with his first book restricted to 142 mares. Group 1 winner My Dream Boat will stand at Bridge House Stud in County Westmeath for owners Paul and Clare Rooney. Great Voltigeur Stakes winner and Derby third Storm The Stars will start his stallion career at Haras du Lion in France at a fee of €4,000. Ulysses, the dual Group 1 winner by Galileo out of Oaks winner Light Shift, has first-season fee set at £30,000

by Cheveley Park Stud. Churchill, this year’s dual Guineas winner, will stand at Coolmore at a fee of €35,000 next season. Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Gun Runner will be retired to stand at Three Chimneys after contesting the Pegasus World Cup. Dual Classic heroine Winter will retire having contributed four of trainer Aidan O’Brien’s record 27 top-flight victories this year.

People obituaries Mary Reveley 77 Pioneering dual-purpose trainer, saddling over 2,000 winners, including Cambridgeshire winner Mellottie and top-class jumper Cab On Target.

Sir Richard Hardy 72 Owner, breeder and steward who was heavily involved in mating plans at the family’s Springfield Stud with his wife Venetia.

Martin Densham 66 Managing Director of Sunderlands bookmakers – a family business founded by his father Pat in 1946 – who initiated the Imperial Cup bonus.

Cotai Glory

High-class sprinter is retired from racing and will join Tally-Ho Stud’s roster for the 2018 breeding season.

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Michael Banks 78 Farmer and permit holder who trained his own Clerk’s Choice to win four races and run sixth to Hurricane Fly in the 2011 Champion Hurdle.

Alan Potts 80

One of jump racing’s leading owners whose last major enjoyment came through the exploits of Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Sizing John.

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Dare to dream. |

Bated Breath 2007 b h Dansili - Tantina (Distant View)

One of the leading second crop sires in Europe 2018 Fee: £10,000 slf

|

Dansili 1996 b h Danehill - Hasili (Kahyasi)

A leading active European sire 2018 Fee: £65,000 slf

|

Frankel 2008 b h Galileo - Kind (Danehill)

The most exciting young sire in the world 2018 Fee: £175,000 slf

|

Kingman 2011 b h Invincible Spirit - Zenda (Zamindar)

The best son of sire of sires Invincible Spirit 2018 Fee: £55,000 slf

Oasis Dream 2000 b h Green Desert - Hope (Dancing Brave)

The leading sire from the Green Desert line 2018 Fee: £30,000 slf

Contact Shane Horan, Claire Curry or Eoin Fives

+44 (0)1638 731115 nominations@juddmonte.co.uk www.juddmonte.com

®

w

|

The Big Picture Record-breaking Aidan The victory of Saxon Warrior (purple silks) in the Racing Post Trophy saw Aidan O’Brien take his Group 1 total for the year to 26, setting a new world record. The trainer is seen below (left) with Alan Byrne, Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief of the Racing Post Photos George Selwyn

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Racing Post Trophy

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The Big Picture

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Melbourne Cup

...record-breaking Joseph

At 24, Joseph O’Brien became the youngest trainer to capture the Melbourne Cup as his three-year-old colt Rekindling edged past Johannes Vermeer, trained by his father Aidan, to claim the famous prize and give owner Lloyd Williams a 1-2, and his sixth success, in the race that stops a nation. With Max Dynamite in third it was a famous result for Irish-trained runners.

Jockey Corey Brown, pictured being congratulated after the race by the trainer, was enjoying a second Cup win after Shocking’s success in 2009 triumph in 2009 Photo Bronwen Healy

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The Big Picture

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Breeders’ Cup

Buick moved from tears to joy The Breeders’ Cup had not been the happiest hunting ground for William Buick, with The Fugue’s defeat in the 2013 Turf (inset) a particularly painful memory. However, Del Mar proved far more agreeable and provided the rider’s first winner at the meeting as the Charlie Appleby-trained Wuheida captured the Filly & Mare Turf for Godolphin, beating Rhododendron by a length Photos George Selwyn

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The Big Picture

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Breeders’ Cup

DELIGHTFUL OCCASION

One of the attractions of the Breeders’ Cup for many is the diversity of racecourses hosting the annual two-day meeting, and there is extra excitement wheh a track makes its debut, as Del Mar did last month. It is the southern California venue where the surf meets the turf, and while it is not the biggest stage for the continent’s most international meeting – indeed, the tight track witnessed just three European winners – officials are keen to have another bite at the cherry when the opportunity arises Photo George Selwyn

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23/11/2017 15:31

From The Archives Tingle all the way This month’s Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown Park takes its name from the exciting course specialist of the 1970s, pictured here with Ian Watkinson in typically dramatic bold-jumping guise at the track. The inevitably pacesetting Tingle Creek was a fans’ favourite, especially at Sandown, and it is entirely appropriate that the Grade 1 prize, which offers one of the most thrilling tests of speed in NH racing, is named after this exceptional chaser Photo George Selwyn

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Tingle Creek on January 9, 1976

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Tony Morris

Diversity stymied by veterinary advances A bout 30 years ago there was some debate over whether artificial insemination should be permitted in the thoroughbred. The proponents argued that its introduction would surely reduce costs in the industry quite dramatically, and, assuming it could be adequately policed, there should be benefits for all.

This was clearly an idea that was never going to become reality without the agreement of all the world’s stud book authorities, which might represent a significant hurdle to overcome, but there appeared to be growing support for the move and letters were sent out to numerous parties inviting comments.

I was flattered to be asked for my opinion on the matter, and duly responded. I was bound to acknowledge that such an innovation did have the potential to reduce breeders’ costs, which they would no doubt welcome, but it was not something that would go down so well with horse transport companies, and would probably put some of them out of business. But radical change in all industries always left some worse off, sometimes to the extent of causing mass redundancies.

I also had misgivings about the potential for mistakes. Natural covers allowed reasonable confidence in authenticity, there having been very few examples of wrong identification in recent years, but there would need to be extra safeguards under the proposed new regime, and how could they be implemented? Of course, this was long before anyone had thought of sequencing the equine genome, let alone learning the valuable lessons that DNA analysis could provide.

But my main objection to the introduction of AI centred on its impact on the breed. It was all very well for breeders to produce their stock more cheaply, but it would surely mean that the most popular stallions would be patronised to excess, while perhaps equally worthy stallions were sidelined. There were worrying implications for the gene pool, with the prospect of a loss of that diversity that had served the thoroughbred so well over two centuries and dozens of generations.

Summarising all those thoughts, I concluded: No, let’s not

go this route. The potential advantages are outweighed by the potential damage to the breed we have nurtured and developed so successfully since its foundation.

I was far from surprised that nothing came from the move to introduce artificial insemination. Its proponents wanted a change that was far too radical for its time, and, so far as I am aware, it never got so far as to become an item on the formal agenda for a meeting of the world’s stud book authorities. But I still wonder why the move was so readily rejected.

I would like to believe that the protection of the breed and the authentication of pedigrees were paramount in the minds of those who might have sanctioned it. But I dare say it was just considered to constitute more bother than it was worth. A whole new system of regulation on a global scale would have had to be put in place, and it is easy to imagine that there would have been little appetite for even trying to implement that. The status quo would have seemed wholly preferable.

The irony is that while my main argument against the introduction of AI may have seemed successful in the mid-1980s, we now have – and have had for many years – the scenario that I feared it would bring. I failed to foresee that the advances in veterinary expertise that resulted in stallions being able to cover much larger books of mares would have exactly the same effect as AI. The most popular horses are wildly over-subscribed, and so many others struggle to acquire the patronage they deserve.

Breeders pin their faith in stallions from the most familiar pedigree backgrounds, and their neglect of lines that thrived in former times means that they are throwing away the precious diversity that their predecessors cherished and sustained.

Weatherbys’ annual Return of Mares has become an ever more deeply depressing document, charting as it does breeders’ insane concentration on the same elements in pedigrees and their wanton neglect of almost everything else. For 200 years we have been saying that every thoroughbred traces back in the direct male line to one of three stallions, the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian or the Godolphin Arabian. We seem likely to be reducing that number

Aclaim (black/pink), a son of Acclamation, captured the Group 1 Prix de la Foret at Chantilly and is now standing at the National Stud

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The man you can’t ignore

FUTURE CHAMPIONS

http://www.twydil.com

to two in the very near future, and while that may be no big deal in the context of the breed’s survival, given that male lines are not all that matters, nor, arguably, even of much consequence in many cases, it serves to illustrate the point about loss of diversity.

When I came into this game, something over half a century ago, it was common knowledge that the male line descendants of the Darley Arabian outnumbered those of the Byerley and the Godolphin by an enormous amount. But that pair still flourished as valuable minorities, while there were so many different branches of the Darley line, passing on different desirable qualities, expressing the diversity that existed within the line.

Whatever became of the sprinting line that sprang from Orby, and routinely handed down speed and precocity generation after generation? Hyperion won six sires’ titles and was a byword for class and middle-distance and staying quality in his sons and sons of sons, but where do we find him in pedigrees now? Almost never in the top line. Blandford provided four Derby winners and was a three-time champion sire. He seemed to have disappeared until Monsun resurrected his line unexpectedly and, I’m inclined to fear, only temporarily. A viable line from Djebel lasted for several generations, but is all but gone now, along with the Byerley Turk.

For decades, breeders in these islands have looked to Northern Dancer for everything, his Danzig and Nureyev for speed, his Sadler’s Wells for middle-distance merit and stamina. And I would be the last to deny that the policy has delivered plenty of success.

“A positive development has been the emergence of Acclamation as a big influence in pedigrees” But the routine patronage of their sons and their more distant male descendants, many of whom have scarcely earned the right to stand at stud, displays a remarkable lack of imagination and common sense.

Where do breeders go to find something that is different?

Where, indeed, does Coolmore go after Galileo? The industry has boxed itself into a corner, with no clear route to redemption.

Still, while we celebrate a brilliant Horse of the Year, by a grandson of Sadler’s Wells out of a daughter of Sadler’s Wells, who is to say that Enable received an overdose? I admire her enormously, but I hope breeders recognise that a sample of one does not represent a formula for guaranteed success.

If there has been one positive development in breeding over the last few years in these parts, it has been the emergence of Acclamation as a significant influence in pedigrees. Yes, he is Northern Dancer line again, but he has the little Canadian-bred so far back as to be of no consequence to him. Could I have fancied Waajib, who never won above Group 2 level, to become a success as a sire? No chance. Was he a successful sire? No, apart from one really gifted son in Royal Applause.

What about Royal Applause? How good was he as a sire? He got decent results without the best of opportunities, but never a Group 1 winner. Acclamation was about the pick of his stock, successful in Group 2. Could I ever have imagined Acclamation as a successful sire and a successful sire of sires? I don’t think so.

Nevertheless, Acclamation represents a triumph for breeders capable of thinking outside the box. Let’s hope the lesson is not lost on others. The industry has never been so in need of alternatives to the obvious.

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24/11/2017 12:47

The Howard Wright Column

Current stewarding model finds favour S

ometimes you just know a decision is the wrong one. The World Health Organisation, the UN’s healthcare branch, found itself in that position recently, when its freshlyappointed Ethiopian Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appointed that well-known, 93-year-old libertarian Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador.

Slightly farther down the news chain, three months earlier the BHA might have already committed the sport to a similarly unwarranted decision, when its board approved an executive recommendation to look at options for a revamped raceday stewarding model that included replacing volunteers with a new salaried role.

Dr Tedros accepted his error of judgement within a few days, after Mugabe’s lack of attention to even basic medical facilities for his fellow Zimbabweans, while he makes regular visits for health checks with doctors in Singapore, was highlighted by a string of important bodies, and the offer was withdrawn. The BHA may take a little longer to come to a similar conclusion.

The stewarding issue is already four months in gestation, although hindsight suggests that some senior figures had known what was in the wind for at least six weeks. That was the period that elapsed between the announcement that Paul Barton, the BHA’s head of stewarding, would retire at the end of 2017 and the board meeting that rubber-stamped the executive team’s latest review project.

Are the two events connected? That would be telling, and, unfortunately, no-one is. But it does seem an odd situation that a replacement head of stewarding should shortly be appointed to a department for which fundamental changes are being suggested, but into the detail of which the new appointee has had no input yet will still have to implement.

Nothing will happen quickly, of course. Not because it never

The future make-up of stewards at racecourses remains unclear

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does in British racing but for the reason that the new stewarding model will come into force only in 2019, according to comments made by Jamie Stier, the BHA’s Chief Regulatory Officer, in late-July. That’s always assuming the only option put forward publicly so far for the proposed new model comes in at all.

An eight-week consultation period ended in mid-October, after which the BHA revealed it had received 118 responses “from a range of individuals, groups and stakeholder bodies”.

That’s a remarkable amount of feedback, far more than I would have expected, based on previous smaller returns to issues of more far-reaching consequence, but it shows there is a depth of feeling about the subject, not all of it, I’d be willing to bet, in favour of the proposal.

“It’s doubtful if the BHA’s drive for accountability will stretch to publication of the submissions” In fact, although we will probably never know officially, since it’s doubtful if the BHA’s confessed drive for accountability will stretch to publication of the submissions, I’d wager that many, if not the majority, of responses have taken issue with the premise of scrapping honorary stewards for a full complement of the paid variety.

At the moment there are 97 volunteer stewards – fewer than when racecourses appointed their own panels, which may be part of the story behind the central authority’s recent shortage of suitable personnel – whose experience and independence would disappear at a stroke. Stalwarts such as Lord Rathcreedan, who covers nine courses, and John Paxman, whose roster takes in six, would be reduced to the role of interested bystanders overnight.

In their place would come a group of paid officials to join the present list of 16 stipendiary stewards. They would have to be recruited, trained and kept in employment. But at what cost to British racing? And who could guarantee that the hounding of licensed individuals, which has been revealed in some jurisdictions that run a professionals-only regime, would not become ingrained?

Still, all is not lost for those who query the headlong rush into total professionalism, for when the consultation period ended, Stier commented: “We now go into the second phase with an open mind.”

He also outlined “the initial objectives of delivering a stewarding model which provides confidence, accountability, consistency, quality, independence, sustainability and efficiency”.

Perhaps in the fullness of time he, or someone else at the BHA, will provide evidence about which of these attributes is not currently being fulfilled.

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CC3310 TOB December 2017 (Roster+fees)_Layout 1 21/11/2017 15:19 Page 1

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By Jessica Lamb

Meehan making up for lost time “Gordon and Gigginstown have really rejuvenated my career”

Chris Meehan has put his string of injuries behind him at the all-powerful Gordon Elliott yard

L

ast December, jockey Chris Meehan was recovering from his second leg break in a year. This year the County Down rider is going into the busy Christmas period with the backing of the most powerful combination in Irish jump racing.

It’s a turnaround that has taken physical hardship, lateral thinking and cool focus. It could yet be the making of Meehan.

“I’m probably the fittest I’ve ever been,” he said, shortly after riding out his 5lb claim. “I’ve been working at Gordon Elliott’s full-time for about seven months and I’ve grown physically - I’m a lot stronger.

“Gordon and Gigginstown House Stud, with the support they’ve given me, they’ve really rejuvenated my career.”

At just 23, you wouldn’t think a man needed his career rejuvenated, but last year Meehan was a walking disaster.

Having finished a Flat apprenticeship with George Baker, he took a job in Italy over the summer to get his eye back in over jumps.

“Riding on the Flat was only an idea to tidy myself up and sharpen up,” he explained. “I always new I was going to have to turn back to jumping because I’m quite a big lad, but when I finished

on the Flat there were not many jobs around in England, so when the job came up in Italy, I took it.”

Three months in, the rider was knocked out when breaking his nose in a fall at Merano racecourse. When the ambulance arrived, it promptly drove over his leg, breaking it.

Meehan, who ironically was brought up in a family full of ambulance-driving instructors, returned home to Northern Ireland to recuperate, only to break the same leg again during a circuit fitness exercise using a trampoline. The leg had been out of a cast for only two months.

Meehan was back to square one four months after breaking his leg the first time, and was left with a lot more time to think.

“I have no background in horses,” he said. “I started from scratch, riding ponies myself, moving on to pony racing, and then on to RACE. I managed to get a job with Willie Mullins as a young lad, then went to England for five years. It’s always been a gradual build up the whole time.”

He added: “My family has been very supportive in anything I’ve wanted to do, but it’s been a lot harder not having a father or mother as a trainer. Having no family involved in horses makes

things that bit harder. There was never any guaranteed backing.”

The saga of 2016 grounded Meehan, took him back to those roots, and made him look to Ireland to continue his progress.

“I had a few friends working at Gordon’s and they put in a good word for me,” he said. “Gordon’s been very good to me, and though I’ve been there only around eight months, I’ve been able to repay him somewhat.”

He got off the mark in Ireland for Elliott on Presenting Julio in a handicap hurdle at Limerick, just over a year after first breaking his leg. He went on to score a king-making double for champion owners Gigginstown House Stud at the Listowel Harvest Festival in September, winning on Morgan and The Game Changer.

Shortly afterwards he broke his collarbone in a fall at Galway, but having broken his leg twice in one year, the threeweek break was nothing.

He returned in October with another victory for Gigginstown on the Henry de Bromhead-trained High School Days, entering November with a 30% strikerate, having ridden six winners from just 20 rides in the previous two months.

“I landed running,” he said. “When you’re riding such really nice horses at home in the morning, sitting on Grade 1 horses all the time, you can really make a better judgement about what you’re sitting on at the races.

“You can be more confident in races, you know when you have the engine under you, and with 300 horses there, I’m probably the fittest I’ve ever been.

Between the riding out and the amount of rides I’m getting, I don’t think I’ve been busier.”

He added: “With Gordon and Gigginstown, everything is kept so simple, but there’s never any pressure. That’s a big plus.”

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View Fr m Ireland Longford happy to go long on numbers Followers of Longford House Stud could be forgiven for thinking there was a multi-buy special offer on stallions this summer, as the small County Tipperary machine tripled its roster.

It began in February as useful sprinter Burwaaz arrived from Hedgeholme Stud in County Durham, the eight-year-old set to cover his third batch of mares.

A month later, on day one of the Cheltenham Festival, the sire of Alan King’s useful four-year-old hurdler Fidux, Fine Grain, arrived from Haras de Lonray in France.

Then in August came Ballydoyle’s Group 3 winner Air Chief Marshal, who has stood in France since retiring in 2010 and has sired the winners of 182 races and more than £3 million in prizemoney.

Weeks later, 2011 Prix du Moulin winner Fuisse arrived, followed by Sussex Stakes victor Proclamation, and then in November the roster was completed as the stallion books went to print.

But was there a grand plan for these acquisitions? Was big change afoot at Longford House Stud?

Siblings John Baldwin and June Lewis have run Longford House Stud since the 1970s.

Together they have done so through reputation and word of mouth. Even with the weight they have on their roster for 2018, they still do not have a website – or much online presence.

They don’t use big agents – Lewis and Baldwin worked with small Carlow

St Leger victor Brian Boru is one of the stallions based at Longford House Stud

operator Mick Kelly to broker the deals on the bulk of 2017’s new stallions – and there is no master plan.

“It just snowballed,” Baldwin laughs.

“There’s no other way to put it. Vinnie Roe [who they bought in 2015] is 19 rising 20 and we might retire him. He is such a fantastic horse and we just don’t want anything to happen to him. We want him to live out his life healthy and well. Maybe he’ll cover only a limited book of mares, or maybe only our own mares, but whatever happens the main thing now is his wellbeing.

“With that in mind, we wanted to bring in some younger stallions. It’s just taken off. Because things have been in recession for the last ten years, and there’s been no money about, when we’ve got the opportunity to invest in these horses, we take it. That’s how it’s happened; it’s snowballed.”

With Brian Boru, Sagramor and Vinnie Roe already on the roster, 2017’s new additions means Longford House Stud

will stand eight stallions next year, with a non-deliberate emphasis on jumping.

Brian Boru, Fine Grain, Proclamation, Fuisse and Vinnie Roe are all focused on jumps mares, with Sagramor a dualpurpose sire. His first two-year-olds will race in 2018, as will those of Burwaaz.

He and Air Chief Marshal – still owned by his French stud – are Longford House’s Flat stallions, but Burwaaz could yet make a mark as a jumps sire.

“He’s got his first two-year-olds coming,” Baldwin said. “If he gets a nice two-year-old, that could be the making of him, but if he fails on the Flat he could make a jumps stallion. He’s an enormous, powerful horse and we bought quite a lot of our mares to cover to him.”

Fuisse is another big horse, standing at 16.3hh. The 11-year-old son of Green Tune was bred and owned by Alec and Ghislaine Head and trained by daughter Criquette. Since retiring to the Head family’s Haras du Quesnay in 2011, Fuisse has produced numerous Flat winners up to Listed level and the young sire has also started to make his mark with jumps runners, son Fort Montagu winning twice for John Nicholson at Tramore this summer and Peruvien Bleu winning his fourth hurdle race for Nick Williams at Ludlow last October.

“We only barely got Fuisse in time,” explained Baldwin. “We tried to get him the year before, believe it or not, and they said no. He’s a huge horse and this time there were much bigger studs interested. We were lucky to get him.”

Awards that cater for a spectrum of abilities Jimmy Feane’s star handicapper Not A Bad Oul Day was among the winners at the Association of Irish Racehorse Owners (AIRO) Awards in October.

Claimed at Laytown last year, the fiveyear-old was turned around by new frontrunning tactics and went on to win seven times this year, including at Ayr and the Listowel Harvest Festival, earning the title Most Successful Claimed Horse.

In the other sales categories, Fairyhouse winner Whitefountainfairy was the Goffs Value Purchase, the two-year-old being sold at June’s London Sale for 100 times his yearling price.

Grade 1-winning hurdler Cilaos Emery won the Tattersalls Ireland Value title. Luke McMahon’s son of Califet cost €7,200 as a foal and has now won ten times that amount.

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Cilaos Emery: took Tattersalls Ireland Value title after winning ten times his price-tag

AIRO Awards 2017 – Champion Flat Horse: Highland Reel; Champion NH Horse: Sizing John; Goffs Value Purchase: Whitefountainfairy; Tattersalls Ireland Value Purchase: Cilaos Emery; Leading Owner Flat: Tabor/Magnier/Smith Partnership; NH: Gigginstown House Stud; Most Successful Owner-Breeder Flat: Jim Bolger & John Corcoran for Verbal Dexterity; NH: Billy Cooper for Our Duke; Most Successful Syndicate: Supreme Horse Racing Club; Most Successful Claimed Horse: Not A Bad Oul Day; Services To Racing: Cathy O’Farrell (Gowran Park), Gillian Carey (Fairyhouse); Racecourse Merit Award: Listowel & Punchestown; Racing Dreams: Here For The Craic Partnership and Heartbreak City.

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DECORATED KNIGHT

NEW FOR

201 8

GALILEO – PEARLING (STORM CAT) Fee: €15,000 (1st Oct terms)

THE FACTS » » » » » » »

Multiple Group 1 winner by Galileo, World Champion Sire Out of a sister to Giant’s Causeway: three-parts brother to Gleneagles (Gr.1), Marvellous (Gr.1), Happily (Gr.1) Fast ground specialist, with a devastating turn of foot Won Irish Champion Stakes (Gr.1) Leopardstown; Won Tattersalls Gold Cup (Gr.1) Curragh Won Jebel Hatta (Gr.1) Meydan; 2nd Prince Of Wales’s Stakes (Gr.1) Royal Ascot Timeform Rated 125 Consistent and brave, 19 starts, 8 wins, 5 places Winner of over €1.5m prize money

Contact: Cathal Beale, Sinéad Hyland, Gary Swift, Patrick Diamond or Helen Boyce

Underwood-Review-FP.indd 1

Tel: +353 (0)45 521251

www.irishnationalstud.ie

09/11/2017 10:38

Continental Tales

Lotta fun with two cheap buys SWEDEN

T

he stupendous total of over £28.6 million that was spent at the recent five-day Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale in Newmarket may give the impression that bargains are hard to come by at the world’s most prestigious horses in training sale.

Yet, while few budgets would run to the 700,000gns splashed out to acquire the Galileo filly Elizabeth Browning, there were undoubtedly a number of good value purchases among the 1,065 horses that changed hands.

However, very few buyers will enjoy the same return on their investment achieved by the Swedish veterinarian and permit trainer Lotta Månsby, following her day out at Tattersalls on October 27, 2016.

A vet and permit trainer from Nödinge, 15 miles north of Gothenburg, Månsby was looking to replace her 11-time winner Forward Planning, bought out of Mark Johnston’s yard for £800 in 2009 but recently retired and in-foal to Sinndar.

She returned to Sweden with two fillies – Speciale Di Giorno, a High Chaparral juvenile who had earned a handicap rating of 58 in four winless starts for Marco Botti, and Vallance Road, a three-year-old daughter of Kheleyf who had won just once in 14 tries for Nick Littmoden and Robyn Brisland and rated 64.

Incredibly, under Månsby’s tutelage, Speciale Di Giorno has become a Classic heroine, rounding off an eightrace season with her third win, in the Norwegian Oaks, while Vallance Road has won three of her nine 2017 starts and, most significantly, earned black type when chasing home Seaside Song in the Listed Lanwades Stud Stakes at Bro Park on September 24.

So for an outlay of just £17,850 at Tattersalls, Månsby has already won £59,678 in prize-money and has two nice fillies to go war with in 2018, both of which will be enticing broodmare prospects when she decides to retire them.

And what of the rest of Månsby’s string? Well, that’s the most remarkable thing – she has no other horses, she’s a two-horse trainer!

“I work full-time as a vet so I don’t have time for any more,” she relates.

“I do most of the training and riding myself, though I do have help sometimes

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Lotta Månsby with Speciale Di Giorno, her extremely unlikely Norwegian Oaks heroine

so that they can do fast work together.”

Around racehorses all her life, her first vet job was at Taby racecourse. She took out a permit in 2001 and has since notched 31 victories at a very healthy strike rate of 15%, in the process twice becoming Gothenburg’s champion

trainer despite the miniscule size of her yard.

“I am in shock at what my two fillies have achieved in 2017,” she adds. “They both stay in training next year and will be aimed at Listed races; if they do really well I might even take them to Germany.”

Suborics learning on the job GERMANY A brilliant Willie Carson-esque ride from Alexander Pietsch helped outsider Veneto land the final Pattern race of the German year at Krefeld on November 3 and cap a fine first season as a trainer for Colognebased Andreas Suborics.

In contrast to some of his erstwhile weighing room colleagues, training racehorses was not part of a long-term plan for Suborics, a three-time German champion jockey.

But his career in the saddle rather hit the buffers after a serious accident riding work in Hong Kong in March 2010, which initially prompted his premature retirement, only for him to return to the saddle some nine months later.

“I never really got back to the level I had hoped for after that fall,” Suborics admits. “And when I was younger, training

was something I never thought about.

“But over the past five or six years I have been getting more interested in all the background work involved in racing stables, including feeding. Then one day I turned to my wife, Natascha, and said, ‘Riding makes me less happy these days, but I can’t live without horses, I love them so much, so I’d like to have a go at training.’

“I’d heard that Andreas Lowe was thinking about retiring – he was 76 years old after all – so I went to see him and he agreed to let me take over his yard.”

Suborics was quick into his stride, breaking his duck in a Listed race in Berlin in the first week in April and landing a Group 3 with Dragon Lips just three weeks later.

Dragon Lips went on to a Group 2 success before being sold to Hong Kong, while a third Pattern score, taking the

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24/11/2017 10:49

By James Crispe, IRB

London Protocol wins a valuable handicap on Arc Saturday to take his earnings in France past £100,000

Lure but for how long?

FRANCE When Karl Burke’s Made Of Honour landed the Prix du Bois du Triangle, a £16,239 three-year-old fillies’ claimer, at Chantilly on October 23, she took the total of British-trained winners in France for 2017 to 70, one more than the record tally of 12 months earlier.

In all likelihood another new mark will be set. With less than two months of the year to go, over 470 horses had already crossed the Channel to plunder the euro riches on offer so the unprecedented 2016

yard’s 2017 tally to 22, came after the trainer walked the track at Krefeld and advised Pietsch to take Veneto to the wide outside in the back straight of the recent Neiderrhein-Pokal.

Suborics has also gone close in Group 1 company on two occasions, Son Macia finding just Windstoss too strong in the Europa Preis and A Raving Beauty grabbing second in the Premio Lydia Tesio in Rome.

“I would have liked to have had a few more winners, but overall I’m happy with my first season,” Suborics reflects. “If you include foreign prize-money, I think I am in fifth place among German trainers in the earnings table, which is not too bad.

“Every day has been a learning curve, and I picked up something from my four years in Hong Kong, not to mention from a number of German trainers, such as Waldemar Hickst, Mario Hofer and, in particular, Andreas Wohler, who you could say has been my mentor.

“It has been an advantage that I am

tally of 487 British raiders is firmly in sight.

For how long will French pastures continue to be seen as the land of milk and honey?

Using Made Of Honour’s stablemate, London Protocol, as an example of how British prize-money pales in comparison may not be quite fair, as this Muhtathir gelding is eligible for French-bred owners’ premiums and seems to prefer the Gallic style of racing.

Yet some facts about London Protocol, a €17,000 yearling purchase at Arqana in 2014, are quite startling. His victory in a valuable handicap at Chantilly on Arc Saturday meant that from nine French outings he had gleaned no less than £108,298, whereas his 16 British starts had extracted just £9,205 in prize-money.

While the sterling-euro exchange rate remains at its current level of not far

Elbereth: more than paid for her trip

Andreas Suborics: former jockey is happy with how first season training has gone

very familiar with the set-up here in Cologne. It is quite simple, we have just two grass tracks and two dirt tracks, it’s not like Newmarket or Chantilly!”

He continues: “Getting the right staff has been the biggest challenge, there don’t appear to be many young people in racing yards any more, young people just don’t seem to want to work hard.

from parity, France will no doubt carry on as a popular destination for British visitors.

But the times they are a-changin.

The governing body, France Galop, has recently announced an across-the-board reduction in French owners’ premiums for 2018. When you also bear in mind that basic French prize-money has, for many races, been stagnant for some time – Group 3 Flat races are worth exactly the same now (€80,000) as they were back in 2006 – maybe the tide is beginning to turn.

Throw Brexit into the mix, with the potential extra expense and organisational difficulties cross-Channel travel could then entail, and the current volume of runners, which is set to top 500 for the first time this year and looks sure to remain high in the short term, may not carry on forever.

“But in changing half of the workforce from last year I have built up a very good team, in particular Ilke Hildebrand, who joined me from Peter Schiergen having travelled all around the world with the likes of the multiple Group 1 winner Quijano.”

Suborics is painfully aware that one thing missing from his maiden season was a single two-year-old triumph.

“I had only 14 two-year-olds and there are many reasons why they didn’t win,” he explains. “They are not precociously-bred, some of them came to me too late, and the Cologne training track was closed for two months last winter, which seems to have contributed to many trainers here struggling with their juveniles over the past season.

“But I will learn from the experience and make some changes for next season, when I hope to have around 50 horses, including some early two-year-olds and a nice bunch of talented unraced threeyear-old fillies.”

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24/11/2017 10:49

Cape Premier Yearling Sale 20 - 21 January 2018

Cape Town International Convention Centre

South Africa’s Leading Yearling Sale 25 G1 Winners Since 2012

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aturday 20th & Sunday 21th January 2018 - Cape Town International Convention Centre. 250 select yearlings on offer chosen by an International inspection panel.

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Around The Globe

The Worldwide Racing Scene

GEORGE SELWYN

Gun shoots down Classic rivals

Florent Geroux salutes the crowd as Gun Runner secures a commanding victory at the first Breeders’ Cup to be held at Del Mar in California

NORTH AMERICA

By Steve Andersen

B

efore he reached the winners’ circle after the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on November 4, Gun Runner had truly travelled across the United States – with a side trip to Dubai.

Beginning in January, Gun Runner was trained at racecourses in Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, New York and finally California. Through the year Gun Runner was unbeaten in five stakes races in the United States and second in his only loss of the season, to Arrogate in the $10 million Dubai World Cup in March.

Arrogate was rated the world’s leading horse at the time. By the time Gun Runner arrived at Del Mar, the seaside track north of San Diego, there were clues that the situation would change.

Not long into the ten-furlong Breeders’ Cup Classic, the theory became fact.

Gun Runner, bowling along on the lead, prevailed by two and a quarter lengths, with Arrogate only fifth in a field of 11, beaten more than six lengths.

The title of American Horse of the Year for 2017 was decided in the richest of 13 Breeders’ Cup races.

Trainer Steve Asmussen was quietly confident in the build-up. Days before the race, Asmussen and his long-time assistant, Scott Blasi, watched in admiration as Gun

Runner had a schooling session in the Del Mar paddock.

“We were just marvelling at how strong he looks,” Asmussen said after the race.

“That’s a lot of travel this year, a lot of fast races and I think he’s better than he’s ever been.

“The year that he’s put together, the races that he’s run, the way that he’s come back from them and the way he trained leading into this race is special. The year that this horse has put together is a little hard to top.”

The season did not start on a positive note. Gun Runner was an intended runner in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in January, but was based at Fair Grounds in New Orleans in the weeks before. When Gun Runner was scheduled to be shipped to Florida, the Fair Grounds barn area was placed under quarantine after two horses tested positive for equine herpesvirus.

After the quarantine was lifted, Gun Runner, who was not affected, was rerouted to the Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park, which he won easily before running second to Arrogate in Dubai.

Arrogate never won again in three starts, all at Del Mar, and has been retired to stud. Gun Runner has not lost since, winning four Grade 1 races – the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in June, the Whitney and Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in the summer, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Gun Runner is set to start in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in January before a decision is made about whether he goes to stud or stays in training.

Gun Runner’s win was the highlight of a Breeders’ Cup rated a success on many fronts.

Godolphin’s Talismanic won the Breeders’ Cup Turf over the American star Beach Patrol and 2016 winner Highland Reel. Talismanic gave trainer Andre Fabre a third career win in the Turf.

The same day, Godolphin’s Wuheida, trained by Charlie Appleby, won the Filly & Mare Turf, three weeks after she was withdrawn from the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland with a foot issue.

Wuheida and Talismanic thrived on Del Mar’s turf course, which is always firm.

Aidan O’Brien and Coolmore had success on the first day when Mendelssohn won the Juvenile Turf and was mentioned as a candidate for the 2018 Kentucky Derby. World Approval won the Mile and was promptly rated a possible runner at Royal Ascot in June by trainer Mark Casse.

This was the first year the two-day event was held at Del Mar and track officials said at the conclusion of the weekend they would seek to serve as host again in the near future. The next Breeders’ Cup will be held at Churchill Downs, for the ninth time, on November 2-3, 2018.

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Around The Globe Rekindling story has many layers AUSTRALIA

By Danny Power

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Rekindling (left) and Corey Brown, right with trainer Joseph O’Brien, land a famous victory in the Melbourne Cup in the same silks as runner-up Johannes Vermeer

the Darwin’s NT Times blazed “Rich guy wins Cup… again”, especially the fact his 24-year-old trainer Joseph O’Brien had just knocked off his famous father Aidan in a race O’Brien snr had been trying to win for more than a decade.

Young O’Brien, shy and reserved like his sire, handled himself beautifully and endeared himself to the public. You could see, as time went by, the whole experience and the importance of his win was beginning to have an effect on him.

O’Brien is the youngest trainer in history to win a Melbourne Cup, which was first run in 1861. Records of the ages of trainers are not so well kept, but my research suggests O’Brien is the only winning trainer under the age of 30, which is a remarkable achievement.

Three Hall of Fame trainers fill the next three youngest ages: Richard Bradfield (four Melbourne Cup wins) was 31 when Patron won his first in 1894; Lee Freedman (five) was 33 when Tawrrific won in 1989; and David Hayes (one) was 34 when Jeune won in 1994.

Rekindling also made a claim for a piece of history. The son of High Chaparral is the second northern hemisphere-bred threeyear-old (he is regarded as a four-year-old with a weight allowance in the southern hemisphere) to win the Melbourne Cup. The only other one was the champion Comedy King in 1910, who, coincidentally, was ridden by Lee Freedman’s great grandfather William ‘Midge’ McLachlan.

Aidan O’Brien has tried to win the Cup with three other northern hemisphere three-year-olds without success. The first, Mahler, ran a blinder when third behind the Williams-owned Efficient in 2007;

BRONWEN HEALY

Leviathan Australian owner Lloyd Williams has one passion as he enters what he calls the “last quarter of his life” and that is to win the Emirates Melbourne Cup. When the Williams co-owned, Britishbred Rekindling beat the Williams coowned Johannes Vermeer in the Cup at Flemington on November 7, the 77-yearold celebrated his sixth win in Australia’s iconic race.

Last year, he became the most successful owner in Melbourne Cup history when the ex-German galloper Almandin beat Tony Martin’s Heartbreak City in a close finish.

The immediate aftermath of the Cup was flat, as flat as it has been in my more than 40 years working as a journalist on racing in Melbourne. The win lacked the usual emotion and buzz we see post-race – who could forget the dramatic, tearful aftermath of Michelle Payne’s win on Prince Of Penzance two years ago?

A lot of that had to do with the fact it was another Williams win. Journalists were left to ask the same questions from only 12 months earlier and in most cases were given the same answers recounting his passion for the race, his desire to win more, how much he spends each year and how his operation mostly runs at a loss.

The non-racing media had a field day complaining about the fact the first 11 home were northern hemisphere-bred, but that’s a regurgitated angst that we’ve been hearing since the Irish horse Vintage Crop broke new ground to win for Dermot Weld in 1993. It’s now a tired cliché.

The fact is Australia and New Zealand don’t breed the type of horse in numbers to be competitive with the international stayers, and while that might cause some to worry, it is what it is and the Cup is better for the international involvement.

As Prince Of Penzance proved in 2015, there’s still room for the battlers and the obscure to take the prize in this worldfamous handicap.

But while this year’s Cup was flat on emotion, the win was high in significance.

The Rekindling story had much more to it than, as one irreverent headline in

Alessandro Volta finished 20th behind Viewed in 2008; and Bondi Beach finished 16th behind Prince Of Penzance in 2015.

The Irish-trained trifecta was a triumph, with the Willie Mullins-trained Max Dynamite running a tremendous third.

Rekindling was bred at Rob and Nick Pocock’s Stringston Farm in Somerset and provided the small farm of 18 mares and many more dairy cows with its first Group 1 winner.

Nick Pocock said the colt is small because his dam Sitara produces smallish foals, but Rekindling especially so because the mare wasn’t well after the birth and was unable to feed him. “He spent most of his early life being hand fed,” Pocock revealed.

Rekindling will rest at Williams’ Macedon Lodge for a month or so before returning to O’Brien’s stable to be prepared for the Group 1 Gold Cup at Royal Ascot in June, when he is likely to clash with the Williams co-owned star stayer Order Of St George.

The Melbourne Cup Carnival was almost a triple triumph for the deceased stallion High Chaparral, who sired the Group 1 Victoria Derby winner Ace High and the Group 1 VRC Oaks runner-up Bring Me Roses.

Oh, how we miss him.

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24/11/2017 12:20

M O N D AY, J A N U A R Y 8 – T H U R S D AY, J A N U A R Y 11

LE ARN MORE AT KEENEL AND.COM

Ed Prosser · European Representative • +44 (0) 7808 477827 Mobile · eprosser@keeneland.co.uk

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24/11/2017 13:27

SEA THE MOON

A RISING STAR Exceptional First Crop Yearlings sold in 2017 made 525,000gns, €460,000, etc  Sensational German Derby Winner  Unbeaten 2yo  CHAMPION 3yo and HORSE OF THE YEAR  First sire son of SEA THE STARS  Classic German female family 2018 fee: £15,000 (1st October SLF)

LANWADES SeaTheMoon_Owner_DPS_Dec17.indd 50

The independent option TM

24/11/2017 13:17

OUTSTANDING SALES RETURNS IN 2017 His 28 yearlings sold at Goffs, BBAG September and Tattersalls Book 1 & 2 have averaged an outstanding £101,761 (€113,898) His GB/Irish Sales average* is an impressive £115,361 (€128,050) which puts him top of the table of all British/Irish Based Stallions with first crop yearlings in 2017 standing at £25,000 or under

Colt ex Tickle Me Pink, consigned by Stauffenberg Bloodstock, sold to Roger Varian for 525,000gns at Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1

Colt ex Favorite, consigned by Gestut Gorlsdorf, sold to Godolphin/Blandford Bloodstock for €460,000 at BBAG Yearling Sale

Colt ex Soviet Terms, consigned by Genesis Green Stud, sold to Godolphin for 300,000gns at Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 2

Filly ex Nouvelle Neige, consigned by Gestut Gorlsdorf, sold to Peter & Ross Doyle Bloodstock for €180,000 at BBAG Yearling Sale

Colt ex Having A Blast, consigned by Manister House Stud, sold to Orbis Bloodstock UK for €140,000 at Goffs Orby Yearling Sale

Colt ex Sopran Gallow, consigned by Abbeville Stud, sold to Mayfair Speculators/Doyle BS for €100,000 at Goffs Orby Yearling Sale

Also standing:

ARCHIPENKO (Group 1 winning World-Class miler: Dual Group 1 sire) BOBBY’S KITTEN (Group 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint victor; 1st son of Champion KITTEN’S JOY in Europe) SIR PERCY (Unbeaten Champion 2yo and Champion Derby winning 3yo: Dual Group 1 sire) info@lanwades.com • www.lanwades.com • Tel: +44 (0)1638 750222 • Fax: +44 (0)1638 751186 *To the end of Tatts Oct Book 2

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24/11/2017 08:57

The Big Interview

To the

MAX

Max McNeill’s interest in racing sprang from being taken to the races by his golf pro father, Ted

Through number of horses, his patronage of several trainers and jockeys, and sponsorship at the Cheltenham Festival and plenty more besides, Max McNeill is one of jump racing’s biggest and most enthusiastic supporters Words: Tom Peacock Photos: Steve Davies & George Selwyn

T

here is a corridor in Max McNeill’s house that has become his equine hall of fame. Portrait photographs of Walkon, Grumeti, Olofi and The Worlds End gaze out already, but there is a conspicuous gap left at the end of the row for a final addition.

“Please be The Butcher Said,” McNeill laughs, grabbing at the wall in mock desperation.

The Irish bumper purchase, towards the top of the owner’s usual budget at €135,000, has recently reappeared with promise, albeit not quite matching expectations for new trainer Warren Greatrex. Luckily enough, there could be half a dozen other candidates vying for gallery positions in his maroon, blue and white silks.

McNeill’s interest in racing developed from being taken to the track by his late father, Ted, a golf professional and good enough to have led through the first round of the 1951 Open Championship.

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Instead of heading into that sport (he reluctantly admits he still plays off a handicap of just seven), McNeill pursued the rather less glamorous path of IT sales. On borrowed money he set up his own solutions company, Ultima, in 1990, which now employs around 450 people and turns over £120 million. Not only has the Reading-based empire helped to construct an award-winning abode in salubrious Sonning, it allows him the indulgence of 24 National Hunt runners.

“I always wanted to get involved but you’re building your business,” he says.

“I just didn’t have the time, or more importantly the money, to be buying racehorses or anything else.

“I was starting a family, paying off my mortgage and things. It was only after 15 years, back in 2005, and I was down the French Horn, a local restaurant. The owner is a guy called Michael Emmanuel, who had a reasonably successful career riding point-to-pointers back in the day.

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24/11/2017 12:49

Max McNeill

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The Big Interview

Max McNeill

Walkon was a dual Grade 1 scorer for McNeill and is seen here winning a Grade 2 contest at Cheltenham on Trials Day in 2009

››

I was saying to him I wanted to buy a racehorse and he put me in touch with Lawney Hill.

“Balladeer was our first winner at Fontwell in 2006 and you sort of get the bug when you have a winner. We had a few more with Lawney, had a bit of fun at the lower reaches, it was a great way to start. It’s only when you go to Newbury, Ascot or Cheltenham and you wonder, ‘Why have I not got horses here?’ You’re thinking, ‘I want to play in this game’. So I realised I probably needed somebody who could take me to that top table.”

McNeill sifted through the elite trainers with a friend and identified the up-and-coming Alan King as his man – “he’s engaging and just a top bloke, that was important to me.” Their first couple included Norman The Great – “really Norman The Distinctly Average” – before King recommended the grey Walkon, recruited from Kevin Borgel in France. ”He was such a great horse to own, he gave you everything,” McNeill recalls.

“He won two Grade 1s and was second in the Triumph Hurdle, then struck into himself after he won at Aintree. It was

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very dodgy for a time, he was out for 18 months, then Alan nursed him back and look at the things he nearly achieved.

“He was second in the BetVictor, second in the December Gold Cup, second in the Topham. He knocked on the door a few times.”

The promising Mille Chief followed, only to suffer a fatal injury on the gallops. A month later McNeill found a replacement at the Horses In Training sale in the shape of Grumeti, that fine dual-purpose performer who landed his owner his most significant Flat prize in the 2015 Cesarewitch. He digs out phone images of Walkon at Newmarket’s National Heritage Centre and Grumeti being retrained as a possible eventing partner for his student daughter Ella, but McNeill himself was at a slight crossroad.

He says: “After you have those horses, you think where do you go? It’s a bit like Clive Smith with Kauto Star and Master Minded but at a lower level. Once you’ve been on the top table you don’t want to go back to eating in the greasy spoon.

“The business was growing, we wanted to kick on and reinvest. Alan, like

they all do, had a bit of a virus and we didn’t have a runner one January and February, and we thought that if we have all our eggs in one basket that’s what’ll happen.

“Warren was someone I’d met a few times, I liked what he was doing. What I like is the buying axis relationship he has with his wife Tessa and we’ve got six with them now. I still think The Butcher Said could be pretty good and we’ve got Keeper Hill, who we think the world of, for chases. Portrush Ted, who’s a Shantou and not the easiest to train, is for bumpers and novice hurdles.”

He also maintains an association with Tom George, saying: “Tom was at my friend Rupert’s 40th birthday, we got so p*ssed together we ended up having a third of a horse each with him. It was a yearling, a long-term project with a capital L, but it turned out to be Olofi, who won the Greatwood Hurdle.

“The Worlds End [winner of the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle] had fallen twoout when looking like he’d win an Irish point so we bought him reasonably well and we’ve got a couple more with Tom.

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24/11/2017 08:56

A LEGEND IN THE MAKING

ULYSSES 2013 Chesnut. Galileo – Light Shift (Kingmambo)

Dual Group 1 winner by GALILEO out of Classic winning dam Won 5 races, including the Gr.1 Juddmonte International and Gr.1 Coral Eclipse Stakes.

Also 2nd Gr.1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and 3rd Gr.1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes.

Defeated 21 individual Group 1 winners including CHURCHILL, BARNEY ROY and DECORATED KNIGHT. Timeform rated 130. The highest rated GALILEO of 2017.

Retiring to Cheveley Park Stud in 2018 Fee: £30,000 (1st October SLF)

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24/11/2017 13:20

The Big Interview

Max McNeill

Twiston-Davies with his boss Paul Nicholls (left); riding Dodging Bullets (noseband, main image) against Somersby and AP McCoy in the Tingle Creek Chase; aboard The New One with father Nigel alongside

“It’s not all about winning; what racing has taught me is that anyone can win – it’s about how to lose” ›› Seddon could be a really nice bumper

horse who has grown a hand in the last few months and there’s Stop The World, from the same source as The Worlds End.” A chance meeting with Paul Nicholls in Barbados, when McNeill and his wife Paula were celebrating their anniversary, has led to the multiple champion trainer

joining the roster.

“I ended up spending two or three hours talking to him, which was really fascinating,” he says. “I’ve always admired Paul from afar but you can’t have horses with everybody. It was only after that that I thought I’d really like one with him.

“Tom Malone found Ataguiseamix and then we didn’t have a juvenile hurdler for once, and Tom phoned up and said he’d got a horse from Ireland called Act Of Valour, who was rated 95 on the Flat and hopefully we can get some improvement out of him.”

A remarkably fit-looking 55, McNeill has been able to appoint a CEO for Ultima and is now Chairman, spending two or three days a week on the business and an affiliated property company. He has more time for his horses and for football, watching his son Jack play at school as well as suffering his own hometown affliction for Blackburn Rovers.

Racing seems to be recreating the buzz from the boardroom.

“I’ve spent all my working career competing against all of these [rival IT] companies most people will have never

The Worlds End en route to winning the Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle for McNeill at this year’s National meeting

heard of; these bastards are ruthless,” he explains. “They want your business and they would do anything for it. That hardens you up to be competitive and I like racing because it’s very competitive, and I want to win. But there again, it’s not all about winning. What racing has taught me is that anyone can win, and it’s about how to lose. Whilst I’m still not a great loser I’m a damn sight better than I was when I first started.

“The people you meet in racing are fantastic. It’s an incredible family, right across from the lads and lasses in the yard, trainers, jockeys, the people who go racing. You compete with the other owners but you’re mates with them.”

He has also utilised the sport for his business, taking a box at Cheltenham and sponsoring King’s stable along with the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Festival.

“The race is becoming something we’re really keen to promote internally,” he says. “Then you go to Alan’s yard and see the staff with our jackets, like a uniform, it’s impressive, and we’ve taken our customers there to see it.

“Instead of having a dinner party at

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The Big Interview

Max McNeill

“People prefer jumps and yet we’re running around for three and a half grand. You’ve got to love it” ›› home, we take people to the box who

are not necessarily involved in racing.

From there, some of our friends have seen the attraction that it has, and even owned racehorses themselves.”

What is most striking about time in McNeill’s company is his energy and enthusiasm. He is even largely positive about the future of the sport he loves.

The only obvious bugbear is prizemoney. “It irks me,” he admits. “You see the money on Champions Day, it does seem a bit like the rich getting richer, it should be spread out a bit more.

“There’s a lot of people putting a lot of money into jumps racing and it’s far better supported. I was speaking to [TV presenter] Matt Chapman the other day, and he said he can’t do his phone-in programme on a Monday night on the Flat because nobody is interested.

“People prefer the jumps and yet we’re running around for three and a half grand. If you were in any way business savvy you wouldn’t do it.

You’ve got to love it, and that’s the problem in trying to attract new owners.

But it went worse and now it’s getting better again. Some like Ludlow, Taunton, Plumpton – they are trying.”

Reverting to his more upbeat theme, he adds: “From an entertaining point of view, I think it does a lot of things pretty well. I went to Sandown recently just with Paula, we had a meal in the restaurant and the food and service was excellent. It was about 100 quid for two, you got a bottle of champagne thrown in and that would have included entry.

That, for me, is good entertainment.

“What I’ve been disappointed with in the past is some of the owner and trainer facilities, but then I went to the new facility at Newbury and that is fantastic. Racing needs to market itself

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Winning partnership: Max McNeill with Adrian Heskin at Plumpton in November

ADRIAN HESKIN’S EVER-INCREASING ROLE Max McNeill has introduced greater structure to his expanding team by handing a retainer to Adrian Heskin, the presentable young Irishman who made such an impression when becoming Tom George’s stable jockey last season. He has also appointed his long-time confidant Iain Turner as racing manager.

“I made mistakes in the past when I’ve bought horses without Iain’s guidance, and Adrian is playing an ever-increasing role,” he says.

“Adrian rode The Worlds End and I just like him as a jockey. We had lunch to celebrate the Aintree win and I said I’d quite like him to do a bit more for us. He said he’d be interested and we’ve got a little agreement.

“He’s already sat on a few horses, one we bought and one we didn’t, who failed the vet. The feedback we get after races is superb.

“He’ll give us good news and bad news. The other trainers love him – he’s in at Warren’s once a week and goes to Alan’s and Paul’s every couple of weeks. He won’t ride Alan’s for the moment – I must stress that I sponsor Wayne Hutchinson, I’ve got no problem with him and I like him.

“The jockey on the track is a small part of it. It’s about underpinning the agent.

Adrian’s opinion counts and he might know the jockey who rode a horse in a point-to-point. It’s more to do with the buying, disposing and placing of horses and having a constant.

“People who know about horses say ‘soft hands’ and that’s the phrase that keeps getting thrown at me about Adrian. It’s also like my old man at golf, who’d say ‘keep your head still’. Any sport you do, tennis, heading a football, your head is still. I’ve noticed that when the likes of Ruby Walsh and Adrian are riding.”

a bit more. It’s got a really good product and I think it does itself down.

“We should be selling the product and saying this is a really good thing we’ve got going on here. It’s cheap entertainment, six or seven races, you’ve got all sorts of things going on, especially at the big festivals, without

having to see a race if that’s what you want. I think it’s doing a lot of things right and it has improved a lot over the last ten years, that’s for sure.”

It is fair to say that Max McNeill has also been doing a few things right too.

Perhaps it is time for The Butcher Said to follow suit.

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Talking To...

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Harry Whittington

Harry’s

HOT Harry Whittington has always been a grafter and his hard work is beginning to pay off – a young trainer on the up, not even the devastating loss of Grade 1 winner Arzal has been enough to put him off his stride

Words: Tim Richards Photos: George Selwyn & Alice Whittington

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Harry Whittington deserves any success that comes his way having started from scratch and with no little amount of stress involved

n five years you have come from a five-horse yard to training 40 jumpers with an impressive strike-rate. How tough was it to start with?

Extremely tough trying to get general support with just five horses. I had never worked as an assistant trainer, just running a satellite yard for Nicky Henderson and pre-training for various people; that meant I wasn’t going to the races and getting exposure to prospective owners. I wrote letters to various people but didn’t get a single horse out of it. I had to go to the sales, buy cheap horses and start a small racing club made up of family and friends. I lost about two stone – down to 8st 7lb – doing the job on my own, mucking out five, riding them out, feeding and doing the entries. It was stressful, but I never stopped believing.

I paid £2,800 for Dubai Kiss, syndicated half of him and owned the

rest myself. I quickly realised he was my get-out-of-jail card and when I took him to Newbury for his bumper I was very much in debt and desperate for him to do the business. I was aware that if he didn’t win I would probably have had to hand in my trainer’s licence. But I knew he had the quality. I managed to rustle up £60 to put on him at 100-1 and after he won sold my half into a new syndicate. As a result of that I got three horses and people started to come in and ride out. It wasn’t until my third season, with 14 horses, that I took on two full-time staff members.

Apart from having winners, how does a young trainer secure a foothold on the bottom rung of the ladder and attract owners?

The whole thing is about getting noticed and, for me personally, it was thanks to Dubai Kiss. Also, from my point of view,

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Talking To...

Harry Whittington

A frosty return from exercise for the inmates at Harry Whittington’s Oxfordshire yard

›› the buying strategy of finding horses at

the right value has been absolutely key in moving up the ladder. Obviously, there are other aspects like communication, social media and PR. I was able to discover good purchases in Dubai Kiss, Arzal and Bigmartre, and at the end of the day you must have the horses to get the results. With the help of Malcolm Bastard and Richard Venn, who operates from France, we have bought well. At the end of the day we’re in a results game.

You spent four years in Australia breaking horses. Later you were assistant to the successful pre-trainer and consignor Malcolm Bastard. What did you learn from these different experiences?

I went to Australia as an 18-year-old and learnt how to graft in the outback, where we worked from dawn until dusk. I did a stint on a cattle station in Northern Territory for six months, seven days a week. I also broke in a lot of stock horses and wild horses, which could be pretty rough. Some of them are left out running wild for two years and could be herded in by vehicles and sometimes

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helicopters. So being around those horses and trying to get your hands on them was great experience. You build up an empathy with them and it was a great grounding for working with young racehorses. You have to find a way to handle them, to get tack on them and work out how to form a relationship with them.

I came home to Malcolm Bastard, whose great reputation at the yearling and breeze-up sales had made me want to go and work for him. There was no standing around with your hands in your pockets there, either. He took me to the yearling sales in America, Ireland and England. What I learnt from him about types of horses, conformation and what you can and can’t train was beyond recognition. He has been at the top of his game as a sales consignor for many years now. He has a fantastic client base and by listening and watching him I learnt how to conduct myself around people, particularly owners.

Racing in Australia is huge – what would you like to see Britain take from the sport down under?

I wasn’t involved in the actual racing while I was in Australia, but I did go to the Melbourne Cup in 2001, and I don’t think I saw a single horse because we had a very jolly picnic. That’s all I can remember!

The people I worked for out there were cowboys and stockmen, who would have 7,000 head of cattle and a lot of sheep, as well as eventers, polo ponies and racehorses, which we used to break in.

Originally you said you had no intention of training. What changed your mind?

My huge passion has always been with young horses so returning from Australia I joined Malcolm, rather than a trainer, to work with breeze-up horses. That’s where I had specialised and felt I was destined to be involved with very young racehorses. My plan had been to work for Malcolm for two years and then set up my own breaking, pre-training operation. I did that when I left Malcolm and handled a lot of horses for Tom Dascombe and then Nicky Henderson, who was next door. We had My Tent Or Yours and Finian’s Rainbow and I used to take them on to the gallops with the rest of Nicky’s string. Just being around that

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FIRST FOALS IN 2018 Dual Gr.1 winning sprinter by KYLLACHY. The “Mighty” Pivotal line continues...

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Talking To...

Harry Whittington form and work out whether they might be suitable. If so, I’ll take the overnight ferry with my vet Andrew McGonnell and I’ll ride the horse because I want to get the feel of the individual. When I rode Arzal before buying him I was looking for that ‘engine’ and certain quality that told me he was the right type.

Also, Adam and I go to all the store sales, and, bearing in mind what I learnt from Malcolm, we pick some nice prospects. Recently I’ve been buying Irish pointers with JD Moore, Arthur Moore’s son, and he has found us a couple of crackers in Court Liability and Glenmona.

The trainer puts exciting four-year-old Simply The Betts through his paces on the gallops

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quality of animal and buying and selling, including Johns Spirit who I sold on to Jonjo O’Neill, made me think I ought to try to have a crack at training.

How have you improved facilities at your Hill Barn Stables, which overlook Lambourn from the highest point on the Berkshire Downs?

We started off with one American barn and just six stables. We managed to increase the stables to 20 within that one barn, put in a huge horsewalker and a round gallop, which has been an excellent addition. We have also built a very useful quarantine facility for horses coming from other yards or abroad. We have built the new Arzal American barn on the back of Arzal’s Grade 1 Aintree win last year. Being on the top of the Berkshire Downs is very important; the airflow and ventilation blows the cobwebs away.

You have said you needed to put yourself under pressure to get where you are today. Can you describe that pressure?

You have to be hard on yourself and the pressure helps to make you determined and dedicated. After all, training is such a great challenge and a lot of it is making the right decisions. Of course, you are going to make wrong calls and you have to learn from those mistakes. So you need to put pressure on yourself to make sure you get more right than wrong.

Day to day, it might be giving a horse an extra bit of work or too little work, or employing a wrong member of staff. You are learning all the time and you do that only if you are hard on yourself.

My wife Alice has been an enormous

help, particularly since we have doubled the size of the business. She left the marketing world to come to me and, to be honest, does just about everything.

She rides out, runs the office, handles all the marketing, communicates with the owners, keeping them up to date with a lot of excellent photography.

And they love her photos of the horses.

Adam Tucker, our racing manager, is a big help too, with entries and our buying strategies.

With a comprehensive and interesting website as well as short films of the horses at home on YouTube, how important is the web and social media to an up-and-coming trainer?

In addition to her other jobs, Alice looks after the website and all the social media. She ensures we have a big following on Facebook and Instagram.

After all, we have moved on in the world and any new trainer has got to be involved with all that the modern-day aspects of communication and social media provide. As a young trainer, you wouldn’t be able to survive without it.

You have earned a reputation for purchasing winners and quality without paying over the odds. How do you source talent – you have enjoyed particular success with recruits from France, such as Arzal and Bigmartre – what do you look for, and are you always keen to ride them before buying?

I have the help of Richard Venn in France, who finds horses and emails their details to me. Then Adam Tucker and I will look through their races and

“I went to Australia as an 18-year-old and learnt how to graft in the outback, from dawn to dusk” Mention of Arzal must be bittersweet – he gave your stable a Grade 1 triumph, but tragically later died. How did you get over this significant setback?

It was devastating for all of us in the yard because horses like that don’t come along very often. He was the apple of our eye at the time and it was very sad. But we count ourselves extremely fortunate to have had him. Sometimes this game is incredibly tough but it is important to move on, look forward and hope you find another of Arzal’s quality.

He was just starting to grow up; a freegoing sort and really beginning to relax and enjoy his racing.

The aforementioned Dubai Kiss showed your prowess with bumper horses and earned you some publicity.

Do you particularly enjoy the challenge of training for these races?

He provided me with that bit of luck early in my career and kept the show on the road. It is not necessarily just training for bumper races that I enjoy.

I love bringing on young horses and have a pre-training system in place

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Harry Whittington CLOSE UP AND… PERSONAL

Sum yourself up in five words… determined, honest, loyal, hard working Actor to play me on screen…

Daniel Craig (Alice says don’t be ridiculous!)

Four dinner party guests…

Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, the late Sir Henry Cecil, Freddie Flintoff and Luke Harvey My worst habit is… eating too fast I relax by… spending time with Alice’s and my families

CLOSE UP AND… PROFESSIONAL

Best part of the job… riding out with Alice, Jo and Gemma Quintin and the whole team My racing idol is… Jonjo O’Neill, great jockey, trainer and a gentleman Arzal provided his trainer with a memorable Grade 1 victory in the Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree, but he sadly later suffered a fatal injury on the gallops

›› even though I am a training yard. Be they bumper horses or prospective chasers, I am happy to give them time to progress.

It’s trying to understand what each young horse needs and to empathise with them, bringing them through a system whereby we run them when they are ready. If they’re good enough to win their bumpers, they normally just do, anyway.

I bought Zephyros Bleu as a store horse, he’s won his chase and at seven is still progressing and will do for another three years, hopefully becoming a Welsh or Midlands National horse. He is still nowhere near his full potential. I enjoy trying to understand each horse’s needs.

At 37 and a member of the exciting new generation of young trainers, you must have a view on how British racing can expand its coverage to attract more millennials to the sport…

We try to expose our training operation to the younger generation on social media via Facebook and Twitter. That’s important, and I also think ITV are doing a good job covering a sport where it is difficult to find a balance between the betting public and the general public. Ed Chamberlin and his team make racing

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fun, while still catering for the more serious betting audience.

However, I do think all terrestrial coverage should be on the main ITV channel, instead of ITV4, to attract more viewers. Their features and interviews with owners and stable staff also help to educate and appeal to the younger generation. Perhaps more could be done to promote the top racehorses as heroes, like they do in Japan. Everybody loves a Kauto Star.

Like plenty of NH trainers you also race the odd horse on the Flat, where the prize-money is often better. Can you see yourself going more in this direction?

Not at this stage. Jump racing was a natural progression after those years working with Nicky. It is also in my blood, as my grandfather Colin Nash bred pointto-pointers and hunter chasers. National Hunt is bred into me but I do really enjoy the Flat and while I was working for Malcolm I developed a hobby following the sires and two-year-olds. Obviously, we do run the odd dual-purpose horse and I am a great admirer of Neil Mulholland, who does amazingly well under both codes. Who knows, in the future we might train more Flat horses.

Most thrilling moment in racing… winning an Aintree Grade 1 with Arzal Alternative career… helicopter pilot on an Australian cattle station I’d love to win… the Grand National Can you give us a bumper horse, hurdler and chaser to follow this season?

Let’s Get At It, related to the useful Rocky Creek, is a nice bumper horse. He is big, has quality and a bit of speed. One day he should make a decent chaser.

The hurdler I am going for is Simply The Betts, who has a bit of star quality about him and won his bumper at Market Rasen. The chaser is Emerging Force, who, after an interrupted preparation, ran a really encouraging race first time out in the Sodexo Chase at Ascot. He goes for the Becher Chase at Aintree in December and could be a National horse this season or next.

Where would you like to be in five years?

I visualise having another barn and training 60-80 horses for loyal owners, like I’ve had since I started. Also to build on my great team of staff – and hopefully train one or two more Grade 1 winners.

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THE AGA KHAN STUDS Success Breeds Success

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DARIYAN €8,000

SIYOUNI €75,000

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ZARAK €12,000

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ZARAK, a Dubawi son of the 5-time Gr.1 winning Zarkava

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Stringston Farm

All up in time for the Cup The dairy-farming Pocock family enjoyed the brightest of starts to a dark November day when Rekindling became the first Group 1 winner for the breeders in the Melbourne Cup Words and photos: Carl Evans

O

n the first Tuesday in November, Nick Pocock rose at 3.15am, which would not be untypical on a Somerset farm that is home to dairy cattle, as well as horses.

Yet it was just one horse that was the focus of his early start, and that of his father, Robert, who was already downstairs, eyes focussed on the television, and about to be joined by his wife Wendy, his 93-year-old mother, and Nick’s wife Amy. Within an hour the family were dancing, not sitting on the chairs, as Rekindling, a horse they bred by High Chaparral out of Sitara, won the Melbourne Cup. The Joseph O’Brientrained three-year-old was their first Group 1 triumph – and why not start in Australia’s most famous race? – taking the names of the Pocock family and Stringston Farm to audiences from Melbourne to Minehead.

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A few days later, reflecting on life following that momentous moment, Nick says in happy despair: “I haven’t had time to update the website. When I tried, the Twitter feed was so busy it took me hours to get through that. I couldn’t believe how important the race is around the world, and how our achievement in breeding the winner was viewed.” Robert says he took a congratulatory phone call from an owner-breeder in South Africa who he has never met, and they chatted for an hour.

He adds: “He knew of Sitara’s family through Golden Sword, who stands [at Summerhill Stud] in South Africa.”

In 2009, Golden Sword, who was Sitara’s third foal, led Sea The Stars and co into the final furlong of the Epsom Derby before his pacemaking effort told and he finished fifth, two and a half lengths behind the winner. He was then second to stablemate Fame And Glory in the Irish Derby, but had already lifted Stringston

Robert Pocock leads the foals in, followed by his son Nick with Sitara’s Gleneagles filly

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Stringston Farm “Feed reps visit and tell us to cut back on feed because the foals are doing so well on the grass”

10,000gns. She was in the Pococks’ budget because her Fittocks Stud-bred half-sisters Puce and Shouk had yet to start flushing the family with a host of new black-type winners. Puce’s foal Pongee subsequently became a Group 2 winner and Group 1-placed, while Lion Sands was a dual Listed winner and Group-placed.

Shouk’s 2002 foal became Cheveley Park Stakes winner Magical Romance, the following year she gave birth to triple Oaks heroine Alexandrova, and Derbyplaced Masterofthehorse was to follow.

This activity added to Sitara’s value, and after producing two foals she was invited to cross the Irish Sea for the Golden Sword-producing mating with

High Chaparral. She subsequently moved up the pecking order for a couple of dates with the mighty Galileo, and Stringston Farm sold colts by him for 380,000gns and 230,000gns, both to Demi O’Byrne for Coolmore. The same buyers came back to gain Rekindling through Hyde, and they also bought her 2016 Australia colt, but as a yearling.

The latter horse has generated plenty of discussion across the Pococks’ large kitchen farmhouse table, for while they sold him for a not-insignificant 165,000gns as a weanling, he made 525,000gns when pinhooked at this year’s October Sale by his foal purchasers, Rathbarry Stud.

›› Farm several rungs up the bloodstock

ladder by making 165,000gns as a foal.

That was a key moment at premises where hunters and point-to-pointers had been the horsepower of choice under Robert’s father Pat, a dairy-farming permit holder and breeder of jumping stock.

Robert devoured pedigrees and enjoyed the family’s efforts to breed winning jumpers, but in 1999, when teenage son Nick decided to convert a dislike for riding into an interest for producing and selling thoroughbreds – one that was to be fired soon after by a yearling prep season with Voute Sales – the family’s move into breeding horses for the Flat was about to gather pace.

Two months later Stringston enjoyed its first notable sale of a Flat-bred horse when gaining 14,000gns for a First Trump foal who had been bought inside the mare Petindia for 6,000gns. The buyer was Timmy Hyde, which the Pococks took as an enormous compliment given his career and knowledge, and it was Hyde who, in 2014 paid 60,000gns for the Pococks’ foal who was to become Rekindling. You get the feeling they will be quite happy if he steps up at Tattersalls’ December Foal Sale to buy their Melbourne Cup winner’s Gleneagles half-sister (Lot 886).

References to Golden Sword and Rekindling by High Chaparral, and to the Gleneagles foal, suggest good links with Coolmore Stud, an association that was forged after Nick completed a final year at university, did a spell with Haras d’Etreham, and then six years at John Magnier’s famous establishment.

While there Robert filled in the proverbial winning lottery ticket by signing for a winning four-year-old filly, out of training, at the 2002 December Sale, bringing Sitara (Salse) into the family’s small broodmare band for

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Above: Robert, Wendy and Nick Pocock. Left: This year’s foals coming in from the field.

Below: Nick Pocock with Rekindling’s weanling half-sister from the first crop of Gleneagles

Should they be thinking of trading more gems as yearlings, or keep to their established method of selling foals?

Yet there are other factors at work, for whenever a breeder sells it is the buyer who now has a role in their mare’s value.

Robert says: “You can give a horse everything you have got, but if Rekindling hadn’t been owned by [Australian] Lloyd Williams he might not have gone for the Melbourne Cup – and we were delighted he went to Joseph O’Brien [following a two-year-old season with David Wachman, who then retired], where we hoped he might become the best horse in the yard.”

Luck played a part, but the Pococks’ believe they have an asset which is fundamental to their success – it is growing outside their farmhouse window.

Robert says: “This is our success. It’s a mild climate and the grass grows well – feed reps visit and tell us to cut back on feed because the foals are doing so well on grass. It was well known that this part of the world was good for growing horses and milk-producing cattle. We feed the mares as we feed our dairy herd, because we want them to produce good milk.

Other studs might have good views and lots of other qualities, but old dairy farms are best for raising horses.”

annual trips across the Irish Sea to Coolmore Stud had to end.

She still produces good foals, and since her matings with High Chaparral had been very successful she was covered this year by his son, Toronado, at Newmarket’s National Stud.

The Gleneagles mating that produced this year’s, sales-bound, filly foal, was a desire to put a bit more speed into the family, although Sitara seemed to be showing her age as the foaling date approached. A caesarean delivery and euthanasia was floated as a suggestion across the kitchen table, but Nick says: “Mother’s tears and my disbelief knocked that idea on the head.”

It proved a good decision following the advice of a new vet, familiar with older mares, who suggested giving Sitara soaked food, including grass nuts rather than grass. The mare started to blossom, and got in foal to Toronado at the first

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Magic mare Sitara is becoming a rather stately older lady now, and at 19 it was decided her

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Stringston Farm than she did,” says Nick. “She’s good and she’s miserable, which is how she likes to be.”

The Pococks own two of her daughters, Skimmia (Mark Of Esteem) and Timely Words (by Galileo, and whose No Nay Never colt was due to sell as Lot 580 at the December Foal Sale), who are part of a broodmare band of 17.

Nick says: “Numbers have fluctuated a bit over the years. After Golden Sword we were inclined to think we could walk on water, but some tough years were to follow. We’ve steadily built things up again and have a bit more quality.”

A winning Sea The Stars mare, from the immediate family of Holy Roman Emperor and named Lifting Me Higher, was bought last year for 42,000gns, the stud’s biggest investment in a breeder to date. She was bought carrying a Bated

“Rekindling was a very nice colt but it was in a year when everyone wanted twoyear-old speed” Breath colt who was due to sell at the December Sale (Lot 511).

Robert says: “We like to buy a young mare carrying a first foal, in the belief that we know as much about her as anyone else. If you are offered a young mare who has had a foal, was it wrong in some way?

“We also like mares from good families – they’ve been there for a long time, and they will probably be there for a long time into the future. Often these families have been bred by established breeders to win races, not for their commercial appeal.”

Nick adds: “We rarely buy fillies out of training, preferring a mare with a foal inside to generate a bit of cash flow.

“We make our own decisions because no one is more opinionated than us, and we have only ourselves to blame if it goes wrong. We don’t step too far out of the box when planning matings, and while we use all the nick programmes, our job

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BRONWEN HEALY

›› attempt. “She looks five years younger

Rekindling (pink cap) defeats Johannes Vermeer in the Melbourne Cup

Rekindling memories

It seems the Pocock family gave Rekindling a good chance of success in the race that brings Australia to a halt, despite competition in the 23-runner field for the Group 1 Melbourne Cup. Robert says: “I fancied the horse, because he had the form to do it. Two things were against him – he was a three-year-old at the end of a long season, and the big field, which was something he had never faced.”

Nick says: “On several lines of form he had every right to do what he did, and while he has now won over two miles we don’t feel he’s a stayer. He’s a class horse who has won a Group 3 over a mile and two furlongs. I feel the handicapper let him in a little bit, and he had a good draw. He was drawn wide in the St Leger [fourth to Capri] and he likes to be on the rail. The jockey [Corey Brown] gave him all the time, which is how he won the Ballysax Stakes in April, and going right back to when he was a foal here, he was a cheeky chap who liked to be involved.”

The term ‘cheeky chap’ is replaced by reference to an amphibian when Robert reflects on Rekindling the foal, for he says: “His mother didn’t really give him enough milk, and so I would go up to the field and feed the little toad twice a day.

We are not great fans of creep feeders after losing a very nice foal that was kicked as the mares ran around.

“He [Rekindling] was boisterous, and would strike out with his front foot. He would eat a bowl of milk pellets morning and evening – apart from those he threw around. And he was unusual in that he didn’t slip his foal coat [Nick remembers it was like mole skin by the time he reached the sales]. We put it down to the fact his mother hadn’t been able to give him enough milk, and he became the last foal she reared – since then we have put her foals to foster mares.”

Given the success of his family, his sale for 60,000gns was a disappointment, and Nick says: “We went to the sales with a sense of optimism, because he was a very nice colt, but it was a year in which everyone wanted two-year-old speed. He had the funny coat, and was subsequently overlooked.”

is to produce good foals to win races, not make the next stallion. It’s up to the big boys to look for outcrosses that produce horses to widen their options.

“I’m happy to go to a first-crop sire if they have a good pedigree and I remember what they did on the racecourse. If I remember that, so do others. We used [Darley’s] Charming Thought this year because he was a Group 1-winning two-year-old, and he cost a lot of money as a yearling, which

suggests he pricked his ears and was good-looking and correct as a young horse, and can pass that on.”

At the nub of the whole process – the buying and mating of mares, the feeding and nurturing of them and their foals, the when and where to sell – is a simple truism. Robert says: “If we have to get up in the night to foal mares, or leave in the dark to drive to Newmarket, we want to be working with horses we are excited about.”

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Luxury & Lifestyle

COWDRAY & THE STAFFORD

By Sarah Rodrigues

T

here are far worse ways to begin a Thursday than by eating perfectly poached eggs in the restaurant of London’s five-star The Stafford hotel in the knowledge that, outside, a Bentley awaits you and will soon be whisking you off to an 16,500 acre estate in West Sussex - in fact, just walking outside to the car, I spot several passers-by who seem considerably less enamoured of their morning than I am.

As if staying in the luxurious, oldschool beauty of The Stafford were not enough, the hotel, tucked away in St James, has partnered with lavish country house Cowdray to offer guests the opportunity to combine town and country in true style. Country pursuits ranging from fly fishing and shooting to polo can all be arranged, as well as exploring the estate’s ruined Tudor mansion or indulging in a treatment within Cowdray Hall’s Therapy Rooms.

A brief look around the property, with its romantically high vaulted ceilings, huge windows and exquisitely imagined, impossibly vast interiors is enough to inform me that my day is

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going to be well and truly bookended by indulgence: it’s time to get outside and acquire some new skills.

As the home of British polo, Cowdray’s polo club hosts around 450 matches during the April to September season, the highlight of which is the Gold Cup for the British Open. Suitably helmeted and booted, friendly staff from the Polo Academy soon put me at ease about being a complete novice at the game and in any case, as I soon discover, the practice we’re starting with out on the lawn is not even taking place on horseback - or at least not at first. It very nearly descends into a giggly game of earthbound Quidditch - but in any case, by the end of it we’ve learned a few techniques and are ready to mount our steeds.

There’s a mix of experienced and novice riders in our midst, and the academy staff are more than adept at dealing with all of us. The horses, too, are incredibly patient and lovely, putting even the most nervous among us at relative ease.

One major concern - aside from

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Five-star breaks

how to lean sideways out of a saddle whilst thwacking a ball with any kind of accuracy - is how to do so without the mallet coming into contact with the horse’s legs. Head coach Guy Verdon, who has clocked up more 30 years of experience in the game, explains about trajectory and follow-through: you have to start your swing at the exact opposite point of where you want it to end after leaving the ball. This obviously makes perfect sense, but it’s still a nerve-wracking business - and that’s even before we’ve experimented with backhands and locking mallets to break each other’s shots. While none of us can lay any particular claims to competency at the end of our session, it’s been fantastic fun and several of us are eager to play again in future: the Academy aims to have new players at instructional chukka level after just ten hours of private lessons.

There’s no alcohol consumed at lunch - not when shooting is on the afternoon’s agenda. Cowdray’s meticulous approach to sustainability means that, despite the deer population

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Luxury & Lifestyle control that’s in place on the estate, every part of the culled animals are used - whether sold in Cowdray’s award winning Farm Shop and Cafe or made available to restaurants, including The Stafford’s Game Bird, where Executive Chef James Durrant presides over a menu of local, seasonal produce and British classics, all in an intimate and welcoming setting.

It’s not real deer we’re shooting this afternoon (although game shoots are available through the school) but we have a pretty good bash at target practice (which obviously doesn’t get competitive at all) followed by some clay pigeon shooting. Between the polo and the shooting, my right arm is feeling considerably more ‘worked out’ than it has in a while - although I’ve no doubt that I’ll somehow summon the strength to lift a glass of champagne to my mouth at the evening’s gathering.

Dressed for dinner, we repair to the Morning Room - a cocooning swathe of deep reds and dark wood - for drinks, before being called to dinner in the panelled dining room, where the table has been set with a glorious riot of floral displays and candles of varying heights and mass. Three courses later we’ve feasted on Orkney Sea Scallops, Cowdray Estate Partridge and Black Forest Mousse, paired with wines from

The Stafford’s cellars - and all thoughts of a late night game of ten pin bowling in the indoor alley have evaporated in a haze of exquisite flavours and happy exhaustion.

With an exclusive use policy, Cowdray has 15 (soon to be 22) bedrooms - each one so wonderfully commodious and luxurious that there’s almost no sense in trying to decide which one you like best. Views of the grounds, high-end toiletries, deliciously

Cowdray & The Stafford

cool, crisp sheets and robes … these are rooms for properly relaxing, not merely sleeping, in. There’s talk of an early morning swim in the indoor pool; I already know I’ll be conflicted when I wake up.

COWDRAY www.cowdray.co.uk THE STAFFORD LONDON www.thestaffordlondon.com

BEAUTIFUL AND UNIQUE TIMEPIECES Bamford Watch Department Situated in a ‘by appointment only’ townhouse in Mayfair, Bamford Watch Department has recently announced their collaboration with Swiss Luxury Watch Brands TAG Heuer and Zenith, enabling them to offer customised versions of these classic timepieces.

With its company mission statement “If you can imagine it, we can create it”, these timepieces will make a perfect gift for someone who appears to have

everything. “A customer came in with his jockey’s racing silks that were still covered in mud, and asked us to match the exact colours for the dial and the hands,” says George Bamford, by way of example.

More ‘affordable luxury’ timepieces are also available in the recently launched “Bamford Mayfair” collection, which starts at £425 and allows for personalisation of up to 20 characters on the back.

Tudor Heritage Black Bay Chrono Drawing on its sporting history – TUDOR has a long association with both diving and motorsports – the new Heritage Black Bay Chrono combines elements from both of these disciplines. Optimum readability is ensured by hollowed sub-counters and the brand’s signature snowflake hands in white against a domed matt black dial, while the chronograph is the first of the brand’s to be powered by Manufacture. This high-performance movement, with column wheel mechanism and vertical clutch, plus a silicone balance spring and 70 hour power reserve, is the result of a recent collaboration between Breitling and TUDOR and thus derives from a wealth of highly-regarded, luxury expertise.

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Luxury & Lifestyle

Beautiful timepieces

Audemars Piguet – Royal Oak Offshore To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Royal Oak Offshore in 2018, Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet is introducing three new versions of the iconic timepiece: a re-edition of the original Royal Oak Offshore Selfwinding Chronograph, as well as a brand new Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph with a contemporary dial design developed in two versions.

More than 120 references of the original 42mm Royal Oak Offshore have been been launched since its introduction in 1993, featuring materials including titanium, gold, platinum and stainless steel.

This year, further to the re-edition

of the original Royal Oak Offshore, Audemars Piguet introduces a new special series available in either stainless

steel or 18-carat pink gold, each one limited to just 50 pieces.

Both of these models, developed exclusively to celebrate the 25th anniversary, have been inspired by the previous Royal Oak Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph (26388PO & 26288OR), and feature an entirely redesigned movement, as well as crown and pushpieces that are now crafted in ceramic instead of metal and rubber.

The watch also presents a brand new and utterly contemporary dial, which epitomises the boldness of design that Audemars Piguet has always prided itself on bringing to the collection, whilst remaining faithful to its heritage.

Chopard: style and elegance for men

Chopard’s L.U.C XPS 1860 Officer

The mysteries and refinement of a former time live on in Chopard’s L.U.C XPS 1860 Officer, which features a hidden mechanism to open the back cover, revealing the ultrathin L.U.C 96.01-L movement. An intricate honeycomb motif on this back cover despite which the watch remains a slender 7.7mm thick - mirrors that on the dial, and has a strong link with the brand’s former engraved ‘hallmark’ of a beehive surrounded by bees.

The aesthetic appeal of this motif was enhanced by all of the virtues commonly attributed to bees, not the least of which is industriousness, itself vital in the creation of a watch of such specifications. With automatic winding handled by an engraved micro-rotor, and two barrels stacked in accordance with Chopard’s patented Twin® technology and guaranteeing a 65-hour power reserve, the L.U.C XPS 1860 Officer bears the Poinçon de Genève quality hallmark and is undeniably a timepiece designed exclusively for men of good taste.

Chopard’s Heritage Grand Cru

Inspired by the world of fine wine, the tonneau shape of Chopard’s recently launched L.U.C Heritage Grand Cru is

reminiscent of the shape of a wine barrel… and indeed, the brand’s claim that this timepiece is “intended for distinguished men who collect both great wines and exceptional pieces: the ultimate modern epicurean” is certainly borne out by its atfirst-sight elegance and form.

Although not the first tonneau (the word itself means ‘barrel’ in French) watch to be designed by Chopard for its L.U.C collection, this 18-carat gold version has evolved considerably from its predecessors and is the only tonneau shape watch wound by an automatic movement with micro motorwinding.

Referencing the pocket watches crafted

by Louis-Ulysse Chopard, the face of the timepiece has a creamy-white appearance that gives it an antiqued, pocketwatch appearance; intriguing attention to detail is also present on the back, which is slightly curved to perfectly position the timepiece on the wrist. With the excellence of its craftsmanship – evident in its bevelling, polishing, circular graining and Côtes de Genève – attested to by the “Poinçon de Genève” quality hallmark – the L.U.C Heritage Grand Cru is an horological triumph for the discerning gentleman.

Rolex supports young riders Rolex’s role in the world of sports and sportsmen and women is long established; over time, it has become inextricably associated with elegance and prestige, leading seamlessly to a relationship with equestrianism, which also encapsulates these values.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the brand’s association with the sport, in which Rolex Testimonee Scott Brash is a celebrated name. Since he began competing in 2012, Brash has piled success upon success, culminating, aged just 29, in his attainment of the sport’s greatest and most challenging crown: the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, which is awarded to the rider who wins three Grands Prix in succession.

“I grew up watching Rodrigo Pessoa riding Balubet du Rouet,” said Brash, following his remarkable achievement. “I never thought that one day I might be motivating a new generation of young riders to take up the sport.”

This need to inspire future talent was at the heart of Rolex’s support of the Young Riders Academy in 2014, which quickly became the most prestigious training course available to those starting out in this elegant sport.

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Luxury & Lifestyle

Men’s fashion

Dressing for the races

By Christopher Modoo Christopher Modoo is a men’s style expert and has conducted suit fittings in both Buckingham and Beckingham Palace. He is often quoted in the press on matters of etiquette and correct dress and writes a regular feature for the online edition of The Rake magazine With some of the best race meets planned for the festive and new year period, it is vital that you are dressed appropriately so that you can enjoy the sport in comfort and style.

In the last few years, the fashion industry and designers have been working with the latest technology to create fabrics and clothing in man-made fabrics that are lightweight, breathable and insulating. Avoid them.

The cloth you need is traditional woollen tweed. Warm and hardwearing, it is available in a wonderful range of colours and designs. The best tweed suits and jackets are handmade by bespoke tailors where you should be offered a wide range of colours and weights.

The best tweeds are woven in the Scottish borders so always ask the provenance of the material you are choosing. Names to look for include The Lovat Mill and Porter & Harding. It is also

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worth considering how the tweed suit will look as a jacket with flannel, moleskin or corduroy trousers.

Fortunately, for those without the time or budget for bespoke, there are some excellent garments available off-the-peg.

Oliver Brown is the specialist in providing the right kit for the races and offer threepiece tweed suits that are often mistaken for tailor-made. Proprietor Kristian Ferner Robson recommends layering a pure cashmere overcoat on top for added luxury. Cashmere is supremely insulating without being too heavy.

Jade Holland Cooper, designer and owner of Holland Cooper, is also an advocate of layering but also likes to add some quirky touches to her tweed creations. A signature of her brand, available for both ladies and gentlemen, is colourful contrasting suedes on the underside of the lapels (great for when you pop your collar) and pure silk linings on the pockets, often in exclusive limited edition prints.

For the gentleman, a textured silkblend tie, perhaps with a sporting motif, is always smart when combined with a brushed cotton or oxford cotton shirt but a bright coloured knit with a roll-neck is becoming increasingly popular in cashmere, merino or geelong. Alan Paine is a good name to look for.

A great scarf can life the dullest of topcoats, my suggestion is to invest in a printed silk with a cashmere backing that is both elegant and insulating. A good

hat will protect you from the elements and you can choose between a soft felt or a tweed cap. But remember that your tweed hat should not match your jacket or coat too well and I certainly avoid having one in the same cloth.

Of course, most of the day will be spent standing so the correct footwear is vital.

They will need to keep you warm and from slipping over. Shoewear brand Fairfax & Favor make sure they designs are both comfortable and sturdy. They come in a wide range of leathers and designs.

And do not neglect socks, thick merino wool that fit over the calf will stay in place all day. Brighter colours are fun, novelty designs are naff. You have been warned.

Enjoy your day!

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Proud to feed the top four UK trainers JOHN GOSDEN

RICHARD FAHEY

SIR MICHAEL STOUTE

MARK JOHNSTON

RACE - RECOVER - REFUEL - REPEAT POWERED BY BAILEYS RACING RANGE BAILEYS HORSE FEEDS Racing Specialist - Simon Venner 07977 441 571 Tel: 01371 850 247 www.baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk

MADE IN THE

UK

Breeders’ Digest

Emma Berry Bloodstock Editor

Our bloodstock coverage this month includes: Sales Circuit: strong demand for horses in training at Tattersalls – pages 82-90 Caulfield Files: veteran Pivotal a deserving broodmare sire champion – pages 93-94 Dr Statz: commercial yearling market proved tough for many breeders – page 128

Numbers up but breeders unfazed T he figures from the ever-informative Dr Statz (page 128) make for interesting, if depressing, reading.

Simply put, only around half of the yearlings purchased at public auction in Europe this season sold in profit.

With many breeders in this country effectively subsidising the racing industry with no hope of any return through breeders’ prizes, as our colleagues in France still enjoy, it begs questions over why people continue to breed from mares with little hope of producing a foal that will eventually cover his or her costs. And yet, the foal crops in Britain and Ireland are continuing to rise – up 3% in Ireland in 2017 to 9,044, having risen 7% the previous year, while Weatherbys has also announced another 2% rise in Britain to 4,674 on top of a 2% increase in 2016.

This time last year breeders muttered darkly at the foal sales, which offered bumper catalogues, that we were back in the danger zone of overproduction, but it would appear that few heeded these warning signs when it came to covering their mares earlier this year.

There’s no question that for a vibrant racing industry to persist in this country we need breeders to continue to take annual leaps of faith that this will be the year that a significant update, or shrewd choice of unproven stallion that becomes the darling of the pinhookers, can make the difference between red and black in the books. Further hope can perhaps be drawn from the fact that from next year we should start to see significant boosts in the grassroots level of prizemoney. This development may not be palatable to all – and critics warn of the dangers of rewarding mediocrity – but there can be no doubt that to increase the number of domestic owners who might help boost the lower ends of the yearling market, and to encourage more breeders to place horses in training, there needs to be a dramatic upturn in the current

levels of purses on offer for maidens and handicaps.

So what else is new, you may well be thinking. Well, once again there’s a plethora of new stallions. Last year saw more than 40 new recruits to the sire ranks in Britain and Ireland and, as announcements for 2018 draw to a close, it’s likely to be a similar story. The National Stud alone has four new boys, with Martyn Meade’s first Group 1 winner Aclaim and the former Roger Charlton-trained Time Test having joined the line-up since our feature in October’s issue announcing the arrival of southern hemisphere stallions Spill The Beans and Tivaci.

From Weatherbys’ Return of Mares for 2017 we learn that 19 Flat stallions in Britain and Ireland covered 150 mares or more, with Dark Angel topping the list at 223. The Yeomanstown Stud resident, who turns 13 in 2018, also tops Dr Statz’s stallion profitability table for sires who stood from £20,000 to £49,999 in 2015.

His fee that year was €27,500, and that figure rose to €60,000 the following year and to €65,000 for 2017. Even at those levels his yearlings would still have sold at a profit, with Dark Angel’s average price this year being £154,601.

The table for stallions who stood for more than £50,000 is unsurprisingly dominated by the established names of Dubawi, Galileo and Invincible Spirit, and the semi-established Frankel, while Invincible Spirit’s son and Frankel’s stud mate Kingman is a new name, his 37 yearlings sold returning an average of £242,485, more than four times his fee.

Other new names in the more affordable table bracket of £10,000 to £19,999 are No Nay Never at the top on a £115,342 average which was almost eight times his introductory fee and Sea The Moon, who returned a decent £77,950 average from a stud fee of £15,000, which remains the same for 2018.

France’s leading first-season sire

Dabirsim heads the table of stallions who stood for up to £9,999, with a yearling average of £92,546 thanks to the exploits of his first bunch of runners. This has led to an increase to €30,000 for next year from his starting fee of €9,000.

In our accompanying table, only four of the busiest stallions stood in Britain, and another four were covering their first book of mares – Tally-Ho Stud’s Mehmas and Vadamos and Coolmore’s The Gurkha and Pride Of Dubai.

Incidentally, two stallions whose departure last year from British Flat studs to the Irish jumping ranks caused consternation for some, have been among the busiest of the National Hunt stallions this year. Champs Elysees, who left Juddmonte to join Castle Hyde Stud, was the fourth busiest behind Soldier Of Fortune (341), Getaway (276) and Mahler (279) when covering 241 mares compared to 54 in 2016. The former Newsells Park Stud stallion Mount Nelson, who recorded a new Group 1 winner in October via the QIPCO British Champions Sprint hero Librisa Breeze, covered 210 mares at his new base at Boardsmill Stud, having been sent only 22 the previous year in Britain.

Flat sires in Britain and Ireland who covered 150 or more mares in 2017 Dark Angel Zoffany Kodiac Frankel *Mehmas *Vadamos Camelot Galileo Sea The Stars *The Gurkha Dubawi Kingman Fast Company *Pride Of Dubai Australia Epaulette Gleneagles Gutaifan Helmet

223 (IRE) 217 (IRE) 196 (IRE) 195 (GB) 187 (IRE) 183 (IRE) 179 (IRE) 178 (IRE) 175 (IRE) 175 (IRE) 174 (GB) 163 (GB) 162 (IRE) 158 (IRE) 154 (IRE) 154 (IRE) 153 (IRE) 152 (IRE) 150 (GB) *First season

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LAURA GREEN/TATTERSALLS

Sales Circuit • By Carl Evans

Elizabeth Browning landed the sales-topping stakes by a distance, the Group 2-winning filly being knocked down for 700,000gns

Tattersalls Horses-in-Training

82

Waller picked up seven for a grand total of 880,000gns – given that Europeanbred horses dominated the following week’s Melbourne Cup, he should have little trouble finding buyers for his purchases.

LAURA GREEN/TATTERSALLS

A big sale with some big prices, and stiff competition for the choicest horses sums up Europe’s largest horse-in-training auction.

Turnover in excess of 27 million guineas was a record, while the filly Elizabeth Browning, a Group 2-winning Galileo sister to Group 1 winner Johannes Vermeer, also set a new mark for the event when selling to agent Alex Elliott for 700,000gns. The filly was offered to conclude a partnership between China Horse Club and Sue Magnier, and, while Elliott could not name his client, that person’s investment was boosted when Johannes Vermeer ran a blinder to finish second in the Melbourne Cup a week later.

Elizabeth Browning headed the sale and was the talking point of trade on the opening Monday, although it is the Tuesday which is most popular with vendors, typically the trainers who have been handling the horses on offer. Its popularity meant the second session became one of 12 hours and 30 minutes On a related note, finding buyers for an additional 216 horses over the five days was challenging, but while the clearance rate fell back it still achieved 85%, a worthy mark when 1,255 horses were on offer – the largest number in the event’s history – of which 1,065 changed hands. The average fell by 3%, and the median by 19%.

Rupert Pritchard-Gordon was in action at Tattersalls for Hong Kong-based owners

Roger Varian’s Carlburg Stables emerged as leading consignor, just ahead of the Juddmonte draft – Varian’s 28 lots realised 1,693,000gns, and they included the second horse on the top ten board, Solomon’s Bay, who was sold to Rupert Pritchard-Gordon on behalf of Hong Kong clients for 390,000gns.

The SackvilleDonald team of Ed and Alastair were leading buyers, with six for 1,036,000gns, several of which will reappear in King Power Racing colours Stroud Coleman’s nine buys for just over 1,000,000gns will have included a number bound for the Dubai Carnival, while leading Australian trainer Chris

TALKING POINTS • John Ferguson’s return to the role of independent bloodstock agent gathered pace at this sale, where he and Sam Haggas bought 12 lots for 332,500gns, with a high of 55,000gns.

• Yulong Investments’ Zhang Yuesheng has become known for multiple inexpensive buys, particularly in Ireland, but he and advisor Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland found a deeper reserve at this sale when going to 310,000gns to secure the Ian Williams-trained The Statesman.

• Qatar champion trainer Jassim Al Ghazali has become a noted buyer at horses-in-training auctions, but a reduction in higher-value races in his homeland led to a more circumspect buying strategy. In 2016 he bought nine horses for 1,055,000gns; this time it was 13 for 582,000gns. It is fair to say he is still a very welcome member of the buying bench.

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Overview and analysis of the latest events in the ring Tattersalls Horses-in-Training Sale Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Price (gns)

Buyers

Elizabeth Browning (Galileo-Inca Princess)

Ballydoyle Racing

700,000

Alex Elliott

Solomon’s Bay (Exceed And Excel-Gentle On My Mind)

Carlburg Stables (R Varian)

390,000

RPG Bloodstock

Brimham Rocks (Fastnet Rock-Colima)

Kimpton Down Stables (R Beckett)

340,000

Chris Waller Racing

Pivoine (Redoute’s Choice-Fleur de Cactus)

Freemason Lodge Stables (Sir M Stoute)

340,000

SackvilleDonald

Frozen Angel (Dark Angel-Cut No Ice)

Manor House Stables (T Dascombe)

335,000

Sean Woods

The Statesman (Zoffany-Chelsey Jayne)

Dominion Racing Stables (I Williams)

310,000

BBA Ireland/Yulong Investments

Melting Dew (Cacique-Winter Sunrise)

Juddmonte Farms

310,000

RPG Bloodstock

Eynhallow (Nathaniel-Ronaldsay)

Beckhampton House (R Charlton)

300,000

Stroud Coleman Bloodstock

Morando (Kendargent-Moranda)

Carlburg Stables (R Varian)

290,000

SackvilleDonald

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (gns)

Avg (gns)

Mdn (gns)

Top Price (gns)

2017

1,065

27,282,200

25,617

11,000

700,000

2016

949

25,137,100

26,488

13,500

520,000

2015

1,038

20,344,550

19,500

14,000

420,000

2014

922

24,304,100

26,360

13,000

425,000

2013

894

20,863,800

23,338

10,000,

380,000

Tattsersalls October Yearlings Book 4

This small catalogue returned to a slot after Tattersalls’ Horses-in-Training Sale, a position it held two years ago, before returning to a position after Book 3 in 2016.

With a change in the racing calendar

A smaller catalogue saw 26 of 47 yearlings find a buyer, and few vendors were happier than David Hodge of Llety Farms, who took four and sold them all, including a best-priced Compton Place filly who made 11,000gns. Newmarket trainer Richard Spencer will handle her career on the track.

that option was removed again this year, and so back it went to the fifth day of the in-training catalogue.

A few pinhookers and various agents were present, and plenty of small-scale overseas buyers who seemed intrigued, rather than interested in investing, while waiting for taxis to airports.

Tattsersalls October Yearlings Book 4 Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

F Compton Place-Glen Molly

Llety Farms

Price (gns)

C Mount Nelson-Ellcon

M Turner

F Dandy Man-Elusive Ice

Whitwell Bloodstock

6,000

Ed Dunlop Racing

F Mayson-Astrobrava

Houghton Bloodstock

6,000

Allan Bloodlines

F Finjaan-Pesse

Llety Farms

6,000

Jerome Reynier Bloodstock

C Poet’s Voice-If Or When

Houghton Bloodstock

5,500

Mick Appleby Racing

11,000 10,000

Buyers Richard Spencer Troy Steve Bloodstock

Four-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (gns)

Avg (gns)

Mdn (gns)

Top Price (gns)

2017

26

96,900

3,727

3,250

11,000

2016

43

141,900

3,300

2,500

20,000

2015

27

100,200

3,711

2,500

10,000

2014

46

184,300

4,007

2,300

18,000

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Sales Circuit This became a three-day sale after an additional session of yearlings was required, and given all the factors it produced an on-par performance.

Chinese buyer Yuesheng Zhang of Australia’s Yulong Stud has become an interesting player at European sales, particularly in Ireland, where his association with BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe has led to large numbers of inexpensive purchases. Many have been shipped to China, but Zhang has also enjoyed some very profitable pinhooks from cheap buys that were retained to race in Europe. The best example would be the juvenile filly Whitefountainfairy, who was bought for €3,000 at Goffs’ Sportsman’s Sale, and sold on for €300,000 at Goffs’ London Sale.

BBA Ireland became the leading buyer of yearlings at this sale, with 39 purchases for €377,100, of which the

LAURA GREEN/TATTERSALLS

Goffs HIT and Open Yearling Sale

Yuesheng Zhang has been a major participant at European sales this season

big majority were for Zhang – the pick on price was a €52,000 Elzaam colt, although he also gave €31,000 for a

Dragon Pulse filly.

These may not be major sums, but Zhang is a welcome sight for small breeders. Meanwhile the leading yearling on price was a Teofilo filly, who was bought by Rabbah Bloodstock for €62,000 through France-based expatriate trainer Eoghan O’Neill.

The bigger yearling catalogue, involving an additional 242 horses, led to a doubling in turnover, and the average, with a 2% drop, and median, rising 4%, did well given the numbers.

A 72% clearance rate was also pretty forgiving, but that indicator dropped from 90% to 76% at the Horses In Training session, at which the average was on a par with last year but the median fell back 8%.

Two-year-old Galileo filly Sarrocchi, who was to win her sole start to date at Leopardstown four days after the sale for Aidan O’Brien, headed trade when bought by Fozzy Stack for €215,000.

Goffs HIT and Open Yearling Sale Top lots – Horses In Training Name/Breeding

Vendor

Price (€)

Buyers

Sarrocchi (Galileo-Thai Haku)

Ballydoyle Racing

215,000

Fozzy Stack

Rionach (Sea The Stars-Forest Crown)

Highfort Stud

140,000

Robert Moran Racing

Erratic Path (Elusive Pimpernel-Berg Bahn)

Glenburnie Stables

85,000

Kevin Ross Bloodstock

Thunder Crash (Footstepsinthesand-Llew Law)

Glenburnie Stables

66,000

Richard Venn

Solo Saxophone (Frankel-Society Hostess)

Moyglare Stud Farm

62,000

Brendan Bashford/Ryan Mahon

Military Decoration (Epaulette-Funcheon Vale)

Michael O'Callaghan

52,000

Emerald Bloodstock

Horses In Training figures Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2017

86

1,442,600

16,774

6,000

215,000

Top lots – Yearlings Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Price (€)

Buyers

F Teofilo-Mon Bijou

Moorpark Stud

62,000

Rabbah Bloodstock

C Elzaam-Bloomsday Babe

Peter Nolan Bloodstock

52,000

BBA Ireland

C Galileo-Kirinda

Thomastown Castle

52,000

Fozzy Stack

F Tagula Shamardal-Babylonian

Baroda & Colbinstown Studs

35,000

Ger Lyons

F Shamardal-Munaafasat

Lumville Farm

32,000

BBA Ireland

C Rip Van Winkle-Princess Desire

Railstown Stud

32,000

Razza Latina

F Dandy Man-Alice Liddel

Abbeyleix Stud

32,000

Joe Foley

Yearling figures Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2017

311

2,170,800

6,980

4,700

62,000

84

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Sales Circuit Goffs UK Autumn HIT and Yearlings

LAURA GREEN/TATTERSALLS

A bigger catalogue proved no bar to buying at this two-day event, where the clearance rates for both a session of yearlings and one of horses in training showed increases.

Turnover dipped at both events, but a sale high of £160,000 for the Nathaniel three-year-old colt Joshua Reynolds was evidence that Doncaster can produce a gem even at the latter end of the year. A pairing of agents, Alex Elliott and Jake Warren, uncovered the horse among John Gosden’s draft, and they were on hand to land the three-time winner, who came with a BHA rating of 96.

Elliott said he and Warren planned to team up for future investments, and that Joshua Reynolds had been bought to race in the southern hemisphere for Highclere Australia.

Of 229 in-training lots – 49 more than in 2016 – 188, or 82%, found buyers, helping turnover creep up 3%.

The average and median were down 18% and 24%.

The yearling catalogue, which was offered during the first day, was smaller, but that helped the clearance rate move up from 65% to 75%, as 82 of 110 horses went to new homes. Turnover dropped 20%, but while the average went down 15%, the median gained 7%.

Horses by Mickley Stud sires Heeraat and Captain Gerrard were popular and filled four of the top five places. They were headed by a £20,000 colt by

Alex Elliott was involved in purchasing top in-training prospects at Tattersalls and Goffs UK

Heeraat, the son of Dark Angel who is producing good-looking horses at

a price no longer affordable to many Dark Angel fans.

Goffs UK Autumn HIT and Yearlings Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyers

Joshua Reynolds (Nathaniel-Dash To The Front)

Clarehaven Stables (John Gosden)

160,000

Jake Warren & Alex Elliott

Nadaitak (Teofilo-Tanfidh)

Shadwell Stud

80,000

Stroud Coleman/JonjoO’Neill

Mushahadaat (Invincible Spirit-Jamaayel)

Shadwell Stud

77,000

Howson & Houldsworth Bloodstock

Aegean Girl (Henrythenavigator-Catch The Moon)

Thomastown Castle (James Stack)

54,000

Prospect Stables

Maghfoor (Cape Cross-Thaahira)

Shadwell Stud

48,000

Eric Alston

Crazy Horse (Sleeping Indian-Mainstay)

Clarehaven Stables (John Gosden)

40,000

George Baker

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2017

270

2,112,000

7,822

4,000

160,000

2016

237

2,151,100

9,076

5,000

78,000

2015

189

1,361,800

7,205

4,000

80,000

2014

277

2,144,250

7,741

4,000

70,000

2013

306

2,133,400

6,972

3,800

240,000

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Sales Circuit Tattersalls Ireland Flat Breeding Stock Sale

Tattersalls Ireland staged this one-day sale for the second time, putting together a catalogue of 206 foals and 51 mares.

It is now the first opportunity of the year in Europe to see weanlings at auction, and an early opportunity for pinhookers to land a horse they can resell next year. That is likely to be the plan for the sale-topper, a daughter of Dark Angel stallion Gutaifan, who sold for €58,000 to the O’Callaghan family’s Yeomanstown

Stud, which is home to the sire. She, along with other foals who made €20,000 or more, is guaranteed a slot at Tattersalls Ireland’s popular September Yearling Sale.

The filly was offered by Timmy Hillman’s Castledillon Stud, and made a good return from her sire’s covering fee in 2016 of €12,500.

This event made a quiet start in its first year, but some interesting and profitable pinhooks emerged from it.

Tattersalls Ireland Managing Director

Roger Casey said the Gutaifan was proof that a better stamp of foal could make a good price.

A €78,000 mare had headed trade last year, but the pick of that group this time was Star Catch, a three-year-old daughter of Cacique, and knocked down for €36,000.

An additional 47 horses were offered, and while the clearance rate did inch up, just 57% left with a buyer – 127 of 219.

Turnover rose 5%, while the average and median were down 26% and 20%.

Tattersalls Ireland Flat Breeding Stock Sale Top Six Name/Breeding

Vendor

F Gutaifan-Payphone

Castledillon Stud

Price (€) 58,000

Buyers

Star Catch (Cacique-Jolie Etoile)

Andrew Davis

36,000

Noel McDonnell

C Gutaifan-She’s A Character

Ringfort Stud

27,000

Pat Donworth

C Dandy Man-Brilliant Crystal

Yellowford Farm

25,000

Stockvale

F Slade Power-Dittander

Yellowford Farm

20,000

GHS Bloodstock

Yeomanstown Stud

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2017

129

766,000

5,938

3,500

58,000

2016

90

726,400

8,071

4,400

78,000

Fasig-Tipton November

The stars aligned at this single session of high quality foals, fillies and mares, resulting in record turnover and an improved clearance rate.

A mere 115 lots generated just over $74 million, a 37% improvement in that figure, but helped by an additional 27 horses. More choice could not prevent the average rising 5%, nor the clearance rate, which achieved 82%, and no fewer than 19 lots traded for a seven-figure sum.

Buyers at the top end are rarely more diverse than the quotable Mandy Pope,

for whom bloodstock purchases costing millions appear to be pure entertainment, and the business-like MV Magnier, and they were in familiar mode following bigmoney buys.

Pope, of Whisper Hill Farm, took the sale-topper, the brilliant racemare Songbird, with a bid of $9.5m, then quipped that she had a budget but was unable to keep to it, and had made the purchase because Havre De Grace – whom she had bought for $10m at the same sale five years ago – wanted a stablemate of similar value. Songbird won

13 of 15 races, and was beaten a nose and a neck in two defeats. Nine of her victories came at Grade 1 level.

Magnier admitted Tepin had cost a lot of money, but his reference to her being an excellent racehorse would receive endorsements from both sides of the Atlantic. Trained by Mark Casse, she won 13 of 23 races, including last year’s Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. She was bought carrying a foal

by Curlin.

Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm continued its acquisition of blue-chip

››

Fasig-Tipton November Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Songbird (Medaglia D’Oro – Ivanavinalot)

Taylor Made Sales

9,500,000

Price ($)

Buyers Whisper Hill Farm

Tepin (Bernstein - Life Happened)

ELiTE

8,000,000

M V Magnier

Quidura (Dubawi – Quetena)

Brookdale Sales

3,600,000

White Birch Farm

Nickname (Scat Daddy – Nina Fever)

Claiborne Farm

3,000,000

Kerri Radcliffe

Catch A Glimpse (City Zip – Halo River)

Bluewater Sales

3,000,000

K I Farm

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg ($)

Avg ($)

Mdn ($)

Top Price ($)

2017

115

74,200,000

645,217

250,000

9,500,000

2016

88

54,152,000

615,364

377,500

3,500,000

2015

92

43,666,000

474,630

235,000

3,000,000

2014

108

63,678,000

589,611

200,000

3,100,000

2013

129

73,859,000

572,550

250,000

5,200,000

88

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Sales Circuit breeding prospects when paying $3.6m for the Group 2-winning four-year-old Dubawi filly Quidura, who was bred and raced by Germany’s Gestut Fahrhof. She finished last of ten, beaten 50 lengths, on her sole start in her homeland, but was far more at home on American turf and proved a very smart performer for

Graham Motion’s stable.

Kerri Radcliffe gained Phoenix Thoroughbreds the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes winner Nickname, by Scat Daddy, with a bid of $3m, then booked her on a flight to Europe, and also heading for a transatlantic flight was Mesa Fresca, a ten-year-old mare who was knocked

down to Cheveley Park Stud’s Chris Richardson for $2m.

The first foals of American Pharoah have been greeted in the States with the same intensity given to Frankel’s in Europe. At this sale, two filly foals made $1m each, one by the American Triple Crown winner, and one by Street Sense.

Keeneland November Books 1 & 2

Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia into a seven-figure price bracket. Carrying a first foal, by Pioneerof The Nile, she made the sale’s second-highest price of $2,300,000 when knocked down to a combination of Bridlewood Farm and the Chilean Solari family’s Don Alberto Corporation. She was consigned by Conor Doyle and Neal Clarke’s Bedouin Bloodstock.

A smaller catalogue at Book 1 resulted in a fall in turnover but gains of 3% and 15% in the average and median prices – similar gains had been made in those two indicators 12 months earlier. The clearance rate went up from 71% to 76%, helped by a number of high-end pinhookers hoping to convert a foal into a yearling profit – good results at earlier yearling sales had buoyed their confidence, noted Russell.

Trade at Book 2 was headed by the 11-year-old mare Fools In Love, the dam of this year’s Aidan O’Brien-trained Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner Seahenge. She made $1m to a bid from Chris Richardson of Cheveley Park Stud, and the fact she had failed to get in foal to Speightstown did not put the buyers off. They were

looking for an outcross, and her sire, Not For Love, by Mr Prospector, and her dam, by French Deputy, filled the criteria.

Cheveley Park can plan an early cover, although a mating had yet to be decided, said Richardson.

When Books 1 and 2 were combined the pot reached $144,097,000, an 8% decline, the average was static at $218,329, while the median showed a small increase to achieve $130,000. The clearance rate rose from 70% to 74%.

Asked to compare trade at his company’s most prestigious breeding stock sale, Keeneland’s Geoffrey Russell pondered the question and came back with an original answer.

He said: “Mixed sales are always difficult to compare year to year because at yearling sales you are selling the product; here you are selling the factory, and you don’t sell the factory every year.”

At a sale where mares and their foals are graded then sold in succession each day, it was a brilliant racehorse, rather than a broodmare, who waltzed away with star billing. Stellar Wind, a five-yearold by Curlin, and the winner of ten of her 16 races for trainer John Sadler, made $6 million on her way from the racecourse to a date with sire American Pharoah after being knocked down to Coolmore Stud’s M V Magnier.

After six Grade 1 wins, Stellar Wind was easily forgiven a last-of-eight finish in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on her final racecourse appearance, and it was success at the top level which drove

KEENELAND

››

Chris Richardson added some US blood to the Cheveley Park Stud broodmare band

Keeneland November Books 1 & 2 Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Stellar Wind (Curlin – Evening Star)

Lane’s End

6,000,000

Price ($)

Buyers M V Magnier

Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss – Sheave)

Bedouin B/s

2,300,000

Bridlewood/Don Alberto

For Royalty (Not For Love – Taft Lil Queen)

Denali Stud

2,100,000

Summer Wind Equine

Enchanted Rock (Giant’s Causeway – Chic Shrine)

Gainesway

2,000,000

White Birch Farm

Oscar Party (Dixie Union – Dream Lady)

Taylor Made

1,900,000

Reynolds Bell

Royal Obsession (Tapit – Rote)

Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales

1,800,000

Don Alberto Corporation

Paola Queen (Flatter – Kadira)

ELiTE

1,700,000

Don Alberto Corporation

Tammy The Torpedo (More Than Ready – Search And Seizure)

Claiborne Farm

1,650,000

Masatake Lida

Her Emmynency (Successful Appeal – Chic Dancer)

Bedouin B/s

1,500,000

Shadai Farm

Street Fancy (Street Sense – Bold Angel)

Taylor Made

1,500,000

Bridlewood Farm

Wapi (Scat Daddy – We Can Leave)

Hill ‘n’ Dale Sales

1,500,000

Don Alberto/Three Chimneys

Book 1 figures Year

Sold

Agg ($)

Avg ($)

Mdn ($)

Top Price ($)

2017

201

83,996,000

417,891

300,000

6,000,000

2016

253

102,919,000

406,794

260,000

3,800,000

Book 2 figures Year

Sold

Agg ($)

Avg ($)

Mdn ($)

Top Price ($)

2017

459

60,101,000

130,939

100,000

6,000,000

2016

442

52,914,500

119,716

85,000

3,800,000

90

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Caulfield Files

Bloodstock world views

A way with the ladies As Pivotal stands on the cusp of claiming a first champion broodmare sire title, a breakdown of his classiest winners shows that his daughters have the upper hand

Outdoing Galileo

More importantly, perhaps, Pivotal also occupied first place on the broodmare sires’ table, having leapfrogged Sadler’s Wells and Galileo with a stunning double for his broodmare daughters on British Champions Day. Ironically, it was Galileo – another stallion looking for his first

GEORGE SELWYN

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ften, when watching two horses battle out a thrilling finish, I am reminded of Abba’s declaration that the winner takes it all. A margin of a few inches can turn the victor into a valuable stallion prospect, while the runner-up often finds himself unjustifiably overlooked. Breeders tend to concur with that harsh American saying that the second-place finisher is the first loser.

In which case we should be eternally grateful that two tight finishes went Pivotal’s way in the summer of 1996.

The Racing Post records that he “led last stride” in the King’s Stand Stakes, in which he and runner-up Mind Games raced on opposite sides of the course.

Then, having disappointed as favourite for the July Cup, Pivotal again led in the last stride to defeat those fast mares Eveningperformance and Hever Golf Rose in the Nunthorpe Stakes. Sir Mark Prescott didn’t ask him to race again and Pivotal was retired after just six starts to his owner-breeders’ Cheveley Park Stud, to stand alongside his sire Polar Falcon.

At a time when Machiavellian and Rainbow Quest were priced at £40,000, Pivotal began his career in 1997 at £6,000, some £4,000 cheaper than his sire Polar Falcon. Yet he is still going strong some 21 years later. Having covered 60 mares at the age of 24 earlier in 2017, Pivotal ranked 15th on the leading sires’ list at the start of November, continuing in the sort of form that had seen him build an impressive career total of 26 individual Group 1 winners (including two in South Africa). The latest of those victories came when Brando took the 2017 Prix Maurice de Gheest. Another of his Group 1 winners, the up-and-coming Siyouni, ranks fourth behind Nathaniel, Galileo and Sea The Stars on France’s leading sires’ table.

Cheveley Park Stud’s homebred Pivotal began his stud career in 1997 at a fee of just £6,000

broodmare sires’ championship – who was directly responsible for one of these Group 1 winners. He sired the Fillies & Mares winner Hydrangea from Pivotal’s fast daughter Beauty Is Truth. Then it was the turn of Galileo’s best son, Frankel, who sired the dynamic Champion Stakes winner Cracksman from Pivotal’s Listedwinning daughter Rhadegunda.

This flourishing Galileo-Pivotal cross had also been very ably represented by the 1,000 Guineas and Oaks runner-up Rhododendron, who added to her Group 1 successes in the Prix de l’Opera.

Rhododendron is out of Pivotal’s Irish 1,000 Guineas and Nassau Stakes winner Halfway To Heaven, who was also very ably represented in 2017 by Magical, another Galileo filly who went close to Group 1 glory when short-headed by stablemate Happily in the Moyglare.

Altogether Pivotal’s daughters had built a worldwide total of 23 stakes winners by 19 different stallions by the start of November, with roughly half of them doing their winning outside Britain

and Ireland. Polarisation won the Group 1 Sydney Cup in Australia; Mikki Rocket and Fan Dii Na won Graded races in Japan; and Pivotal’s broodmare daughters enjoyed enough success in France to place him sixth on that country’s Pères de mères list. The first major dividend in France came when the Tamayuz filly Precieuse won the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and further Group successes came from Rhododendron, Cracksman, the Dubawi filly Intimation, and Fighting Irish, who became the first Group winner for Camelot when he took the Group 2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte.

Pivotal’s emergence as a world-class sire and broodmare sire is all the more remarkable in view of the obstacles he had to overcome early in his career.

Although he attracted 68 mares in his first season (compared to the 130 covered by Spectrum, another first-crop sire), Pivotal covered only 49 mares in his second season and consequently his fee was reduced to £5,000 for his third, fourth and fifth seasons. The fact that

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Caulfield Files reflected his eighth-place finish on the British and Irish table of first-crop sires.

None of his 20 domestic runners had won a stakes race, but these basic facts told nothing like the whole story. Those 20 runners in Britain and Ireland included the Middle Park Stakes third Red Carpet and a couple of colts – Bourgainville and Kyllachy – that achieved Timeform ratings in the 90s. In addition, Pivotal had another seven first-crop two-year-old winners in Europe, headed by the Italian stakes winners Low Pivot and Morena Park.

Low Pivot was Pivotal’s first Group winner but he proved to be just the tip of the iceberg. The Group 1-winning fillies Silvester Lady and Golden Apples emerged in 2001 and then Kyllachy developed into Europe’s champion older sprinter in 2002, when Golden Apples was a dual Grade 1 winner in the US. There were even two sons, Needwood Blade and Ratio, who became Group winners as five-year-olds, taking the first crop’s statistics to six Group winners and three Listed winners from a total of only 58 foals. Factor in Pivotal’s £6,000 fee and it becomes vividly clear that he was well out of the ordinary.

With only 36 foals in his second crop, Pivotal didn’t have numbers on his side, but it too proved a rich source of stakes winners – six to be exact. They weren’t all an instant help to Pivotal’s reputation, as this crop’s stars – the Group 1 winners Chorist and Megahertz – were at their most effective at the ages of four and five, in 2003 and 2004. By then Pivotal’s £5,000 crops were reaching the track and they too helped boost his reputation, along with his fee, which rose to £10,000 in 2002, £25,000 in 2003, £40,000 in 2004 and £65,000 in 2005.

As everyone now knows, the high-class winners by Pivotal have never stopped flowing and for a few years he ranked as the highest-priced stallion in Britain, with his fee peaking at £85,000 in 2007 and 2008.

It wasn’t just the quality of his stock which took people by surprise. For a stallion who gained his major successes over five furlongs and never tackled more than six, Pivotal has sired numerous Group winners who shone over a mile and a quarter or more. Of his 26 Group/Grade 1 winners, as many as 11 enjoyed success over a mile and a quarter or more.

The full list comprises Sariska (Oaks and Irish Oaks), Farhh (Champion Stakes), African Story (Dubai World Cup), Golden Apples and Megahertz (both winners of the Yellow Ribbon Stakes), Chorist (Pretty Polly Stakes), Izzy Top (Pretty

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Polly and Prix Jean Romanet), Buzzword (Deutsches Derby), Silvester Lady (Preis der Diana), Halfway To Heaven (Nassau Stakes) and Queen’s Jewel (Prix SaintAlary). He even went within inches of winning the King George with Eagle Top.

Why so fast?

This reminds me that when I reviewed Pivotal’s pedigree for The Sporting Life following his Nunthorpe success I asked:

EMMA BERRY

›› his fee remained low in his fifth season

French Classic winner Precieuse is out of Pivotal’s Group-placed daughter Zut Alors

“A notable aspect of his success is the proportion of fillies among his best winners” “How is it that this season’s top British five-furlong performer has two parents who never even tackled a distance as short as five furlongs?”

I went on to explain that not only did Pivotal’s parents never tackle the minimum trip but also ran respectably over distances beyond a mile.

I wrote: “His sire Polar Falcon tried 9.2 furlongs on his third appearance, finishing a five-length fourth to Priolo in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat. Indeed, it wasn’t until after Polar Falcon had raced 12 times, and won four races over a mile (including the Lockinge Stakes), that he finally showed himself to be equally at home over six furlongs. This he did by producing a startling late run to collar Sheikh Albadou in the Ladbroke Sprint Cup.

“Pivotal’s dam, Fearless Revival, was third of ten in the Ballymacoll Stud Stakes, a Listed race over a mile and a quarter. At two she had moved up to seven furlongs after a facile win over six at Epsom, and promptly won the Kensington Palace Stakes at Ascot before taking second place in the Rockfel Stakes.”

A more appropriate question was where had Pivotal found the speed to win both the King’s Stand Stakes and the Nunthorpe? My view was that he owed his speed partly to his grandsire Nureyev.

Although capable of siring mile-and-a-half horses of the calibre of Theatrical and Reams Of Verse, Nureyev also sired such fast horses as Soviet Star, Wolfhound, Dancing Dissident, Great Commotion, Diffident, Robin Des Pins and Vilikaia.

It is also worth mentioning that Pivotal’s fourth dam, Yucatan, collected a Timeform rating of 118 after winning four times over five furlongs at two, and Yucatan passed her speed to his third dam Zerbinetta, a dual winner over the minimum trip at two.

To get back to Pivotal, another notable aspect of his success is the proportion of fillies among his best winners. They account for half of his 26 top-flight winners, for four of his 13 Group 2 scorers and for no fewer than 26 of his 35 winners at Group 3 level. That adds up to 43 fillies among his 74 Group winners.

Here we have part of the explanation of Pivotal’s prowess as a sire of broodmares.

His above-average daughters on the track are often developing into successful producers, as the likes of Halfway To Heaven, Beauty Is Truth, Chorist, Infallible, Golden Apples and Briseida have shown.

The Derby second Main Sequence is out of the Group-placed Ikat, and the 2017 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches winner Precieuse also has a Group-placed dam.

Cracksman has a Listed-winning dam in Rhadegunda, but there are some notable exceptions to this general rule. The dam of July Cup winner Mayson never raced and the dam of St Leger winner Harbour Law was just a fair handicapper.

We can expect to see Pivotal’s broodmare daughters continue to make a great impact. As I have explained before, success as a broodmare sire tends to grow exponentially, as more and more daughters become producers. They had 234 new horses of racing age in 2015, 235 in 2016 and 281 this year.

Cheveley Park’s faith in Pivotal is underlined by the fact that 30 of the 127 mares listed on this year’s stud card are by Pivotal, as are quite a few of the fillies in training, so the debt to this great servant is likely to mount still further.

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BATSFORD S TUD DANON BALLADE Deep Impact x Lady Ballade (Unbridled)

Dam line relative to leading stallions: SLIGO BAY, DEVIL’S BAG, RAHY, SINGSPIEL, RAKEEN, CAMPANOLOGIST, DANON CHANTILLY, SAINT BALLADO, etc.

GROUP 2 & 3 WINNER Group 1-second in the famous SATSUKI SHO (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) at 3 and TAKARAZUKA KINEN. Beaten GENTILDONNA and many Group 1 winners.

Fee: £4,000 1st October Terms (LF)

Batsford Stud, Batsford, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire GL56 9QF For further information contact Nicola Naylor M: 07812 654736 • E: blackshaw50@gmail.com or Alan Varey T: 01608 651890 • M: 07899 957355 E: alanvarey@batsfordstud.co.uk

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www.thethoroughbredclub.co.uk •

@TTC_GB

Mercian proving a king of club’s

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ercian King continued his fine form when comfortably accounting for his rivals in a Worcester handicap chase in October, notching up his third win in the colours of The Thoroughbred Club. The Robin Des Pres gelding bounced back from his Stratford disappointment and looked at home on the quicker surface with this seven-length victory.

Mercian King has now won three times in the last year, including when being trainer Amy Murphy’s first winner in November 2016. At Worcester he travelled well throughout the race, jumped into the lead at the last and took the race in style.

“Once he got to the front he saw it out well,” jockey Jack Quinlan told the Racing Post, who at the time was riding his seventh winner of the season.

Mercian King reappeared at Fakenham three weeks later having been raised in the handicap for his troubles, and finished a fair third under Quinlan again. Mercian King has now finished out of the top three only once in ten completed starts for Amy Murphy.

Circulate, the club’s Flat horse in training

Mercian King in the number one spot at Worcester – our star is rarely out of the frame!

with Tom Clover, is set for new pastures following her sale at the recent Tattersalls Horse In Training Sale. The Dutch Art filly endured a frustrating time on the track and the decision was taken to sell her on. The

filly was knocked down for 2,000gns to Ina Meinecke of Germany.

The Thoroughbred Club wish to thank Tom for all his efforts, and wish Circulate the best in her new adventure.

Stud work the focus at annual TBA event This year’s TBA Stud Farming Course takes place from December 12-14 and provides potential breeders and industry staff with an opportunity to learn from industry experts on the latest in stud management. The course is designed to assist those in the industry and build upon their knowledge of stud work, as well learn new practices.

The 2017 course will deal with all aspects of general stud practice from paddock management, equine nutrition, disease prevention and many more topics designed to improve the working ways of a stud.

The three-day event takes place at the British Racing School and, with guest speakers such as Professor Sidney Ricketts and Joe Grimwade, rates as an occasion not to be missed.

The first day of the course will focus on the role of the mare in breeding, with a detailed look at the mare’s reproductive cycle and the necessary methods needed to manage a mare for fertility. The day is completed by a delegates dinner, offering attendees the chance to network and engage with others in the industry away from the classroom environment.

Day two of the Stud Farming Course takes in a variety of topics, including the management of the commercial stallion and an insight into the thoroughbred pedigree, and is supported by an in-depth talk from members of the Animal Health Trust and Rossdales Equine Hospital.

The final day will explore the foaling side of breeding, with industry experts tackling issues such as care of newborns, wellbeing of foals and management of sick foals.

The course is more than just talks from industry experts, as this year’s event includes visits to Rossdales Equine Hospital, an optional tour of the British Racing School, and a trip to Kirsten Rausing’s Lanwades Stud. The stud is home to stallions such as Archipenko and Sea The Moon and is responsible for breeding the winners of more 1,400 races worldwide.

The event includes a comprehensive brochure detailing the schedule, and lunch on each day. There are a limited number of places at £200 for TTC members. For more information contact Melissa.parris@thetba.co.uk, or call 01638 661321.

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The special section for ROA members

GEORGE SELWYN

ROA Forum

Musselburgh offers one of the best experiences for racehorse owners with runners, according to the findings of the ROA and its members

Dozen tracks gain Gold Standard

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ver the last 12 months, the ROA Raceday Committee has been travelling the length and breadth of the country visiting every one of its racecourses. The aim has been to find the best 12 courses, split equally between large and small racecourses, for those owners with a runner on the day.

These courses are then awarded Gold Standard status for the next 12 months, a highly coveted accolade. We are delighted to reveal that this year’s winners are: Large Racecourses • Ascot, Ayr, Cheltenham, Chester, Haydock Park and York Most Improved Large Racecourse • Aintree Small Racecourses • Bangor-on-Dee, Bath, Hamilton Park, Market Rasen, Musselburgh and Sedgefield Most Improved Small Racecourse • Ripon

To discuss these results is the ROA Raceday Committee Chairman ALAN PICKERING: The new format for the Gold Standard Award has been in place for three years now – have racecourses embraced the change?

Racing is all about being competitive. Racecourses have responded with alacrity to the competitive nature of our raceday experience accreditation. In the old days, cynics argued that the only thing harder

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than winning the Gold Standard Award was losing it. Racecourses who rest on their laurels are now likely to end up with the also-rans.

What made the 2017 award holders stand out from the rest?

The Gold Standard recipients paid attention to all aspects of the raceday experience from dawn until dusk. In all of my time on the committee, this year was the year of the close finish. The decision-making was really challenging as there has been a tremendous allround improvement across the 60 course fraternity.

This year saw the inaugural Most Improved Racecourse Awards – what made Ripon and Aintree the best candidates to receive them?

The aim of this new category was to reward those courses that had improved by leaps and bounds but not yet cleared the final hurdle. ROA members highlighted both Aintree and Ripon as those that had upped their game over the last year. Aintree was praised for retaining the ‘old feeling’ of the place whilst giving owners a great experience, whilst owners really appreciated Ripon’s fully-refurbished O&T facility.

Traditionally, ROA member feedback has been important in the decisionmaking process – was that the same again this year?

You bet, it certainly was. We are encouraged by the number of our members who now routinely – for better

or worse – provide us with a debrief on their raceday experience. When we reach ‘make your mind up time’ we take full account of member feedback alongside the structured reports compiled following the course visits of raceday committee members.

For racecourses that didn’t win a Gold Standard Award this year, what can they do over the next 12 months to stand them in good stead when the 2018 decisions are made?

Sit down as a team and think through how you would wish to be treated if you had fulfilled your lifetime dream of owning a horse or being a member of an ownership syndicate. For many, the pursuit of this dream will have been a long journey. The way in which they are treated on raceday will, according to our membership survey, make all the difference in determining whether the journey and cost thereof will have been worth it. Fulfilling our members’ dreams is not just about the quality of the facilities but about the demeanour of those who man those facilities on the day. Don’t forget prize-money either.

Will any changes be made to the ROA Raceday Committee for 2018?

Sam Hoskins – a familiar face to many – will be a rooky member of our raceday committee team. Racecourses might also see a change in their allocated committee member. We like to ring the changes in order to assist the compare and contrast element, which is an integral part of any competitive process.

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www.roa.co.uk Change to qualification criteria for hunter chases The BHA has introduced a change to the qualification rules for hunter chases, following agreement from the BHA Racing Group.

From January 1, once a horse in the care of a licensed trainer has run in a hunter chase, it may run only in other hunter chases for the remainder of the season, as well as the Grand Military and Royal Artillery Gold Cups.

This also applies to horses that are put into the care of a licensed trainer during the course of the season that have already run in a hunter chase that season.

Additionally, the rule in place previously that barred horses who had run on a racecourse in November and December running in the following year’s hunter chases will no longer apply.

There have been no amendments to the rules on eligibility based on previous race performance.

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The winner of a hunter chase must stick to such races for the remainder of the season

The 2018 Racecourse Badge Scheme for Owners (RBSO) is the most extensive yet, with more fixtures than ever.

More than 1,400 race meetings – 93% of the total fixture list – will offer free admission to qualifying members of the Racehorse Owners Association.

This includes every meeting at 40 of Britain’s 60 racecourses, the highest number ever thanks to Chester joining the ranks of courses offering all fixtures.

Thirteen racecourses are offering two badges at all participating fixtures, with a further three giving two badges at certain meetings – again a new high.

For those owners and members who do not qualify for the RBSO, there are the ROA/Jockey Club Racecourses and ROA/Arena Racing Company admission

schemes. These are also showing a record high, with the JCR scheme offering 304 fixtures and the ARC scheme including 93% of all their fixtures free to members.

Charlie Liverton, ROA Chief Executive, said: “The Racecourse Badge Scheme for Owners, arranged in partnership with the Racecourse Association, is one of the major benefits that the racing industry provides for ROA members as racehorse owners.

“It is reassuring that racecourses recognise the importance of owners by increasing their allocation of fixtures.

As our recent survey showed, owners are one of the major contributors to a racecourse’s income, and so the scheme is mutually beneficial. The ROA would

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Badge Scheme 2018: the best yet for members like to thank every racecourse and the RCA, plus Jockey Club Racecourses, Arena Racing Company and Scottish Racing for continuing to participate.”

To be eligible to join the Racecourse Badge Scheme for Owners, ROA members must be a fully registered owner with Weatherbys and own at least 50% of a horse in full training, or the equivalent in shares. In the case of a horse owned by a syndicate or racing club, then one or two syndicators or club managers receive the benefit.

All ROA members can enjoy one of a choice of free racecourse admission schemes. Full details of these, including the Scottish Racing admission scheme, can be found at www.roa.co.uk/freead or by contacting the ROA office.

GEORGE SELWYN

Chester: all fixtures covered under the RBSO in 2018

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ROA Forum

MY DAY AT THE RACES With Cax du Pon at Fontwell on October 6 Cax du Pon has been involved in various syndicates for over 15 years. She is now a shareholder in four syndicates with Foxtrot Racing. Cax was racing at Fontwell Park with the Richard Newland-trained Caid Du Lin, who had been bought by Foxtrot Racing at the Arqana Sale in France last year

How was the experience of arrival at the racecourse and collecting your owners’ badges?

Arriving is very straightforward. The owners’ car park is large and close to the entrance. The welcome was very friendly and although there was only one person on the owners’ desk there was no queue to collect the badges, which had been arranged in advance

by Foxtrot Racing.

Did you use the owners’ and trainers’ facility on the day?

Yes. I sometimes book into the restaurant but at Fontwell Park you receive complimentary food and on quieter days there is usually ample seating available in the O&T facility.

What were your thoughts on the location, comfort and provision in the facility?

The O&T facility is located in Fontwell House. There is no view of the racecourse from Fontwell House, which is a stand-alone building in well-kept gardens. There is seating, toilets, a bar, tote betting point and

NIGEL BOWLES/JCPA

Did you receive any welcome information as an owner in advance of the raceday?

Our Syndicate Manager received a letter from Fontwell Park and he passed on all the details. The letter included information about badge allocation, catering and directions.

Cax du Pon enjoyed her experience at Fontwell, albeit felt there is room for improvement

TVs to watch the racing. The facility is good, but it is unfortunate that you feel so far from the racecourse action.

Owners are supposedly entitled to one glass of prosecco, but in reality, the serving doesn’t fill a quarter of the glass and any requests for a top-up are strictly denied. There is a choice of sandwiches or hot food, although again the portions are child-size. There is complimentary tea and coffee for the duration of the afternoon, although the urns aren’t topped up so regularly run out. The mini Victoria Sponges, available during the afternoon, are always very good.

The staff are very friendly but busy and there is a feeling that they are somewhat understaffed in the owners’ facility.

How was the pre-parade ring/ paddock experience?

There is a limited pre-parade ring area at Fontwell, so I headed straight to the parade ring to meet up with our other syndicate member. Sam Twiston-

Davies was riding and he is always entertaining and knowledgeable pre-race. Sam’s attention to detail is fantastic and we are lucky that he regularly rides our Foxtrot horses.

After discussing Caid Du Lin’s chances with the other syndicate members we headed to the Tote to place our bets!

How did you find the facilities for owners’ viewing?

There is no dedicated owners’ viewing area. On occasions that a private box is not hired, it can be used by owners but on our visit this wasn’t the case. We watched the race from the grandstand, which was perfectly adequate but because there wasn’t a dedicated area, our syndicate got separated and we might not have enjoyed such a good view on a busy day.

How were you treated as a winning owner on the day?

Caid Du Lin ran brilliantly and won

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impressively. Being in a syndicate, there was a great atmosphere in the winner’s enclosure with everyone delighted. After photographs in the winners’ enclosure we were presented with a photograph frame from the sponsors and then taken to enjoy a glass of champagne in the winning connections’ suite. There we were able to watch a replay of the race and we received a framed photograph, DVD of the race and a bottle of champagne.

We drew lots for the photoframe and, whenever we have a winner with Foxtrot, the champagne goes to the stable lad or lass who looked after our horse on the day. With more and more syndicates, it’s a shame that the prize can’t be shared more easily. Fontwell Park is not alone in offering only one prize and one DVD. It’s worth noting that the official photographs from Fontwell Park are much more reasonably priced than many courses and are easy to order online from a dedicated website.

What was your overall lasting feeling of the day, based on your racecourse experience?

Seeing Caid Du Lin win made it a wonderful day. I’ve enjoyed lots of success with Foxtrot Racing but seeing a win at my local track was very special indeed. Fontwell Park provided all the owners attending with a questionnaire on their experience, and are clearly keen to make a good impression.

HOW IT RATED Entry Viewing Atmosphere Owners’ facilities Food Overall score

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GEORGE SELWYN

www.roa.co.uk

The Simon Dow-trained Forceful Appeal was a winner on this year’s Finals Day at Lingfield

All-Weather Championships The All-Weather Championships are fully under way, with the six championship categories leading to finals day at Lingfield Park on Good Friday, March 30, 2018 and a total prize fund on the day of £1 million.

Five championship races will be worth £150,000 and the Middle Distance Championship is worth £200,000. The seventh race on the card is an apprentice handicap worth £50,000.

The six championship categories are three-year-old, sprint, mile, marathon, fillies & mares and middle distance.

Full details of the categories, rules and standings can be found at awchampionships.co.uk. There are four fast-track qualifier races. The first of these was won by Beatbox Rhythm in October.

Horses trained outside Great Britain are eligible to compete in the championships, provided they meet

certain qualification criteria.

Details of the three remaining fast-track qualifying races at Wolverhampton, Kempton and Newcastle, in December, January and February respectively, can be found with all the terms at www.racingadmin. co.uk.

In addition, prize presentations will be made to the all-weather champions in each of the following categories, which will be based solely on the number of winners: • Champion All-Weather Jockey • Champion All-Weather Owner • Champion All-Weather Sire • Winningmost All-Weather Horse • Champion Tipster/Handicapper (see ATR rules) In addition to the awards above, the horse who wins the most prize-money during the period will become the AllWeather Horse of the Year.

ROA Suite at Cheltenham Places are selling fast for the ROA Suite at Cheltenham, and a highlight this month will be the Friday and Saturday of the traditional preChristmas International meeting.

The Suite will also be open on New Year’s Day and on Festival Trials Day, Saturday, January 27.

Located above the Owners’ and Trainers’ Pavilion, the popular suite can accommodate up to 80 members and their guests, with a balcony providing great views to the paddock,

giant screen and unsaddling areas.

Guests will feel part of the action with this central location, and within the double box there will be a cash bar, hot and cold food available to purchase, Tote facilities and TVs to watch the racing action.

The prices are £35 for members, with guest tickets available at £40 each. Bookings can be made at roa. co.uk/events or via the ROA office.

Please note prices do not include entrance to the course.

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ROA Forum

MAGICAL MOMENTS with ROA member John Dance

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o say John Dance got a little carried away when starting out as a racehorse owner is the understatement of understatements.

Intending to buy a 5% share in one horse, he instead bought six outright!

That was in 2014, and considerably more have followed.

At the time of speaking he’d had 57 runners in his own name, with ten yet to make the track, including six juveniles. He has 31 in training plus 22 broodmares, 27 yearlings and 11 foals.

The star of his team is Group 1-winning juvenile Laurens, who, excitingly, should make an even better three-year-old, as a “big, rangy, longstriding filly”, and no Classic in any of Britain, Ireland and France is off the table for now.

It was as a teenager, and after he began working, that Dance, “an analyst by profession and nature”, got into racing.

“I was interested in the form analysis side of racing,” says Dance. “I have been for 20-odd years, and over that period I fell in love with the sport.”

Sponsoring races saw Dance on one side of the presentation ceremony, but the joy and pride of those he was handing over prizes to had him hankering to change sides. So he did.

Dance is now in his fourth season as an owner, and believes it very important to stick to his principles when it comes to buying and selling – he prefers to discover a horse’s ability quickly, and will move him or her on if he deems it necessary.

In his young stock he sells the colts in order to run the operation along commercial lines. He admits, though, that can really be only a subsidising measure, with making a profit unrealistic.

Dance has seven or eight trainers at any one time, and admits that coordinating things can be tricky.

“If you take your foot off the gas you can find you’ve got four horses entered in the same race!” says Dance, who is based near Whitley Bay and therefore has most of his horses trained in the main North Yorkshire centres of Middleham

and Malton, although he also uses Tom Dascombe in Cheshire, Hugo Palmer in Newmarket and Keith Dalgleish in Lanarkshire, where he has yet to visit.

The development of unbroken horses into two-year-olds and their subsequent progress is an aspect of the ownership experience that Dance takes particular pleasure from, while he also prefers the continuity and consistency that comes from using a regular jockey.

“We retain PJ McDonald, which has worked out very well,” says Dance.

“When you’ve a number of horses in different yards, it is helpful that PJ can get to know them at home from when they are youngsters. He’s probably the most vital cog in the whole operation, and his feedback is brilliant.

“He’s forged a good relationship with Karl Burke, Laurens’ trainer, and Karl is a brilliant analyst himself. We also sponsor two apprentices, Clifford Lee and Rowan Scott, and they have both had a good year too.”

The highlight of 2017 was Laurens’ victory in the Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket – although even better could follow in 2018.

Her owner says: “At the start of the

season winning a Group 3 would have been the dream, but for her to win a Group 2 and then a Group 1, that was seriously amazing, and a day I’ll never forget.

“It was PJ’s first Group 1 winner too, which was great; there was an almost selfish pride in being behind that.

Everyone was a winner.”

Laurens being a winner again in 2018 is hopefully just a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, and Dance has plenty to dream about.

“The thought at the moment is that ten furlongs could be her optimum trip, and the French Oaks could be the right Classic to aim at, though we’ll have a better idea when she is back in the spring as to whether she’s a ten-furlong filly who has the speed to go back to a mile, or the stamina to step up to a mile and a half,” he says.

“Although it pains me to say it, I’m not convinced Epsom would suit her, but perhaps the Irish Oaks would. Essentially, any of the Classics in France, Ireland and Britain are on the agenda for now.

“I would actually love to win the Yorkshire Oaks and, who knows, maybe the Arc might not be all about

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GEORGE SELWYN

Laurens (white cap) gives John Dance a Group 1 triumph in the Fillies’ Mile

Cracksman and Enable.”

To have a horse potentially in that bracket would keep any owner of a juvenile warm through the winter, and Dance is extremely hopeful that we have not yet seen the best of Laurens.

“The scary thing is that she looks like a three-year-old,” he says. “But she is still quite weak and should be much better next year. She went higher than we ever thought she would this season.

“It’s all pretty surreal, and very exciting to think about next year given she should have plenty of improvement in her.”

Laurens, of course, is a rather obvious magical-moment horse, but there are two others who have provided rather more personal cherished memories for Dance.

He says: “Marsh Pride was one of our first six. She was one of our first runners and winners, and when she made her debut at Ripon, my wife Jess brought her parents, my parents were there, our daughters were there, and it was just a great get-together and a lovely day.

“Marsh Pride bolted home and it was a moment and a gathering hard to forget. She has a special place in our

hearts and is a family favourite, a family pet if you like. She won £42,000 from 24 starts, with four wins. Jess and I couldn’t go to Chester for what was going to be her last run but my parents did and she won again. That was another emotional, magical moment.”

Landing Night also provided the owner with a spine-tingling memory when cruising to victory at Newcastle in October, Dance explaining: “There’s nothing I like more than a visually stunning performance, a horse that comes sluicing through a field on the bridle, and then clears away, either still on the bridle or quickening clear.

“That gives me goose bumps, and when Landing Night won like that, for me, that was something magical. I love watching horses win like that.”

The one thing Dance is not in love with is what he considers to be manipulation of the handicapping system.

“It’s my one consistent, annoying frustration as an owner,” he admits. “The system is an art rather than a science and open to manipulation.

“You might have a horse who is a high 60s/low 70s horse who, because

you are trying with it, can end up rated in the high 70s, whereas there are horses who are the same level but because they have had three quiet runs then bolt up off 55. Let’s just say it’s amazing the improvement some horses find on their handicap debut.”

Dance is the owner of a thriving investment business in Newcastle, although he jokes that “work can get in the way of racing!”

Midweek racing is largely no-go, although with a philosophy of “I’d rather miss a winner than be there for a loser”, and the knowledge he needs to keep working to help finance his owning and breeding activities, that is a situation Dance is at ease with.

Indeed, he says: “My brain is forever on the go, thinking about investments, processes to improve the business or how we invest, and thus out of hours I find racing a welcome mental distraction that keeps my head fresh. From a work perspective, it can be quite healthy I think.”

If his horses stay healthy – Laurens especially – there’s certainly lots to look forward to out of hours in 2018 and beyond.

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www.roa.co.uk Diary dates and reminders DECEMBER 7 ROA Horseracing Awards DECEMBER 12 Ownership Matters Event in Reigate DECEMBER 15-16 ROA Suite at Cheltenham’s two-day International Meeting JANUARY 1 ROA Suite at Cheltenham

The events provided an ideal opportunity for ROA staff to meet with trainers’ secretaries

Social events for racing secretaries prove popular A series of regional social events was launched earlier this year to develop stronger communications between the ROA staff team and those working in trainers’ offices. The informal, networking events have so far been held in Lambourn, Middleham, Malton and Newmarket, with support from Racing Welfare and the National Trainers Federation. There are plans afoot to head to Epsom and a location further west in the coming weeks.

The findings of 2016’s National Racehorse Owners Survey suggested that up to 29% of owners cited a poor trainer experience as one of the key reasons for leaving the sport. These regional events have been introduced as a direct response to the results of

the survey, with the aim of supporting trainers and their staff to deliver the best possible experience for all of their owners, therefore keeping them in ownership for longer.

The events have proved popular, with representatives from large or longestablished yards through to secretaries of those who have more recently joined the training ranks. Guests at the events have displayed a variety of experience, from those engrained within racing to others who may have come from more administrative or corporate backgrounds. This has led to several engaging and productive discussions on common themes and issues that trainers’ offices may face, along with suggestions of ways to combat issues

JANUARY 16 ROA regional meeting at Ayr JANUARY 27 ROA Suite at Cheltenham We have some exciting new hospitality options for members at festival meetings in 2018!

Check roa.co.uk/events for further details

and develop new ideas which will benefit all owners.

ROA Chief Executive Charlie Liverton said: “We have been delighted with the response from racing secretaries, who have shown real enthusiasm and support for these social events. The series has opened up the doors of communication with many yards, whilst also giving the ROA a good platform from which to receive feedback on ideas and initiatives that form part of the developing Ownership Strategy project.”

Membership fee 2018 The ROA’s annual membership subscription will increase to £242 (including VAT) from January 1. This is the first price increase since 2014.

The increase of £12 goes some way to counter three years’ inflationary rises in the ROA’s running costs, including, but not limited to, staff, travel and postage increases. The increase will also contribute to a large infrastructure investment in the form of a new website and membership database which the

Association is currently undertaking.

ROA Chief Executive Charlie Liverton said: “Since 2014 we have strengthened the ROA’s core benefits of membership including free racecourse admission for all members, as well as boosting the range of discounts and offers that the ROA provides. We would like to thank members for their continued support and we will strive to improve our offering to members, both on and off the racecourse.

“The ROA’s Audit Committee continues to run a neutral budget whereby expenditure broadly matches income; this reflects the Board’s belief that the current level of reserves provides sufficient cover.”

Joint-membership is available for two members living at the same UK address.

The joint-membership fee will increase to £399 (saving £85) next year. Details can be found at www.roa.co.uk/jointmem or by contacting the office.

104 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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THE TIN MAN

Dual Gr.1 winning sprinter

The leading GB sire of sprinters in 2017*

12

Gr/Stks winners from his first 3 crops inc:

Sprint Diamond Jubilee Stakes THE TIN MAN &Gr.1Gr.1Champions

6

Gr/Stks winning 2yos inc:

MEDICINE JACK (pictured) – 1st Gr.2 Railway Stakes, 3rd Gr.1 Phoenix Stakes BELVOIR BAY – 1st Gr.3 Torrey Pines Stakes and Gr.3 winner at the Breeders Cup 2017 FLY ON THE NIGHT – 1st Gr.3 Prix du Bois DARK RECKONING – 1st Gr.3 Firth of Clyde Stakes

1st

TWICE

Gr.1 King’s Stand Stakes as a 3yo & 5yo Timeform Rating: 127

Still the highest rated son of Acclamation

Fee: £8,000 1st Oct SLF

Julian Dollar or Gary Coffey +44 (0)1763 846000

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(*By NH 5f-7f winners of active sires to 29/10/17 Hyperion Promotions)

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17/11/2017 10:02

ROA Forum

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TRACK TALK

Latest news from the UK’s racecourses

Wetherby’s facility for owners and trainers in the new Millennium West Grandstand

Wetherby O&T facility The opening fixture of Wetherby’s new season on October 18 marked the official unveiling of the racecourse’s new Millennium West Grandstand.

As reported in July’s Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder, the new Riston Suite on the middle floor of the stand provides owners and trainers with enhanced viewing of the parade ring, racetrack and finishing post, and a new ‘Winning Connections’ lounge.

Owners with a runner are provided with six owners’ badges in tandem with six complimentary bistro vouchers, which can be exchanged for six hot meals on the day.

The top floor of the £3.5 million redevelopment project boasts a premium 1891 bar for premier admission holders, while the ground floor facility includes a bar, coffee lounge and Betfred betting shop.

With 20 fixtures between October and July, including four Flat fixtures, the facilities will be well tested during the season.

Jonjo Sanderson, Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course at Wetherby, said: “We’re delighted the stand is open. Initial feedback from our customers has been positive. After such a significant redevelopment we have some borrowing to pay back.

Our next focus will be to explore all opportunities to improve the racing programme next year.”

Plumpton prize-money Plumpton’s new Chief Executive Dan

Thompson announced that from January 1, every race at the East Sussex track, except bumpers, will carry at least £6,000 in prize-money and every card will have a £10,000 feature race. This is in part due to a substantial increase in the course’s executive contribution.

Plumpton will continue to play host to a Cheltenham bonus series, with the winners of five novice chases this winter having the chance to scoop a £60,000 bonus prize if they go on to score in a chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

Cheltenham podium Eagle-eyed National Hunt fans will have noticed a new winners’ podium in operation at Cheltenham this season. Built from steel and glass to reflect the materials used in the Princess Royal Stand, it replaced a structure that was erected back in 2002, and has also been enlarged to ensure that, no matter the size of the syndicate, all will get to enjoy the excitement of a trophy presentation.

Member visit to John Best Racing On a bright and sunny morning at the end of October a group of ten members enjoyed a visit to trainer John Best’s Eyehorn Farm in Borden, Kent.

Members were given a warm welcome by John and his team in the impressive Owners’ Suite.

The trainer gave an informative overview of his career and exploits with horses such as Kingsgate Native, Rising Cross and Stone Of Folca.

The group were given an introduction to Eyehorn Farm, which was formerly the Russian equestrian team’s training base prior to the 2012 Olympics.

The weather was perfect for watching the horses exercising, and a double decker bus adjacent to the gallops provided a unique and comfortable area to sit and chat in between lots.

A tour of the modern, purpose-built yard revealed an Olympic-size indoor school and extensive covered walkways, which serve to keep horses, staff – and visiting owners! – dry and warm in inclement weather.

Extensive paddocks provide plenty of turn-out to keep horses fresh and happy, and the yard facilities included a solarium and on-site blood testing.

We extened our grateful thanks to all at John Best Racing for making members so welcome on the day.

Clearly a team committed to making ownership fun!

Ludlow padded hurdles In the continuing drive to improve the safety of racehorses, an increasing number of racecourses have adopted the use of the ‘One Fit’ padded hurdles. The latest to announce this conversion is Ludlow, who introduced them at the start of their season, and now join Bangor, Exeter, Kelso, Newton Abbot, Stratford, Taunton and Uttoxeter.

Members relaxing in the Owners’ Suite

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    

He’s now in the North no need to travel down south for a touch of speed - stands alongside Monsieur Bond

PASTORAL PURSUITS Bay 2001 16.0 hh (1.63m), BAHAMIAN BOUNTY ex STAR (MOST WELCOME) 2018 Fee: £2,000 (1st Oct)

Group Winner from 2 to 4 years RACE RECORD

Won 6 races, £264,496, and placed twice Won Gr.1 July Cup, 6f, Newmarket, beating four Gr.1 winners and 12 other Group winners, incl IFFRAAJ, AVONBRIDGE, ETLAALA, ARAKAN, CAMACHO, SOMNUS, etc.

“Stamped his authority…” RACING POST Won Gr.2 Park Stakes, 7f, Doncaster, IN RECORD TIME, beating four Group winners.

“An authoritative success …

FIREBREAK (Gr.1) ran right up to his best…” RACING POST Won Gr3 Sirenia Stakes, 6f, Kempton.

Won LR Hackwood Stakes, 6f, Newbury.

“A high-class colt…”

RACING POST

CONSISTENT SIRE OF FAST 2YOS THAT TRAIN ON BEST PROGENY

IPOMPIERIDIVIGGIU – Gr.3 Premio Primi Passi, at 2, 2017.

PASTORAL PLAYER – Gr.3 John O’Gaunt S, 2nd Gr.2 Park S, Gr.2 Summer Mile, Gr.3 John O’Gaunt S, 3rd Gr.3 Criterion S ROSE BLOSSOM – Gr.3 Summer S, LR Flying Fillies’ S, 2nd LR Queensferry S, LR Scarbrough S, LR Achilles S, 3rd Gr.3 Summer S, LR Boadicea S PERFECT PASTURE – LR Leisure S, 2017.

RURAL CELEBRATION – 2nd LR Land O’Burns S, 2017.

PIXELEEN – 3rd LR Cathedral S, 2017.

Listed winners: ANGEL’S PURSUIT (Gr.2 pl at 2), CATALINE BAY, LIGHTSCAMERACTION, MARINE COMMANDO (Royal Ascot, at 2), ROOKE, SPIRITUAL LADY (at 2), TERRA DI TUFFI (at 2), VENTURA MIST (at 2), etc.

YOUNG GENERATION

BALIDAR BRIG O’DOON

SMARTEN UP

SHARPEN UP L’ANGUISSOLA

BALLAD ROCK

BOLD LAD TRUE ROCKET

LAHARDEN

MOUNT HAGEN SINELLA

BE MY GUEST

NORTHERN DANCER WHAT A TREAT

TOPSY

HABITAT FURIOSO

MANSINGH

JAIPUR TUTASI

EVENDO

DERRING-DO CHRISTMAS EVE

CADEAUX GENEREUX

BAHAMIAN BOUNTY

CLARENTIA

MOST WELCOME

STAR MARISTA

Group placed: LOUIE DE PALMA (at 2), KIBAAR (at 2), AL MUTHANA (at 2), FIELD OF VISION (at 2), PASTORAL GIRL (at 2), TIMOTHY T (at 2), SAGRAMOR, SQUASH, VEILED INTRIGUE, AULD BURNS, etc.

RECORD SETTING GR.1 SPRINTER-MILER WITH A FINE TURN OF FOOT Standing at: NORTON

GROVE STUD, Norton, Malton, N. Yorkshire, YO17 8EF

Contact: RICHARD LINGWOOD • Tel/Fax: 01653 693887 • Mobile: 07483 992151 E-mail: nortongrovestud@btinternet.com • Website: www.nortongrovestud.co.uk

ROA Forum

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Significant investment to boost staying programme

GEORGE SELWYN

The project is being led by the BHA with support from the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association and the European Pattern Committee, in conjunction with the Horsemen’s Group and racecourses.

Details of races eligible for support payments over a three-year period have been sent to racecourses. The payments would decrease gradually on a sliding scale and are in exchange for a commitment to stage the contests at a higher value until at least 2020.

The race types and specific contests eligible for funding increases have been spread throughout the middle-distance and staying three-year-old race programme to ensure that incentives are in place at varying levels of ability.

Stradivarius (right): one of this year’s star three-year-old stayers, here winning at Goodwood

The BHA has given a significant commitment to boosting the programme for staying horses through increased expenditure from the BHA Development Fund for 2018, 2019 and 2020.

The c£1.5 million fund, which is raised through the leasing of BHA fixtures to racecourses, will be distributed by the BHA to support longer-term strategic initiatives to enhance the breed and has been agreed following consultation with representatives of horsemen and racecourses.

The funds are in addition to the £9.7m committed to targeting midand lower-tier racing for 2018 from additional levy income.

Programme for stayers The investment is headlined by a series of support payments to the Flat

programme for staying three-yearolds, designed to continue the British racing industry’s work to protect the continued production of quality stayers.

The aim is to secure: • Higher value novice races for middledistance and staying types at Class 3 and 4 levels • A programme of Class 2, 3 and 4 staying handicaps which offer valuable prizes • Enhancements to the prize-money levels of certain races within the black-type programme In total, 62 races for the staying horse population will be supported by the Development Fund over the next three years, of which 25 are upgrades of existing races and eight are new contests. The BHA Development Fund will invest £1,894,500 in these races between 2018 and 2020.

Racecourses have made commitments to increase the total prize fund (‘TPF’ in our table, in £s) for the following black-type races for three-year-olds...

Race

Level

Course

2017 TPF

2018 TPF

2019 TPF

2020 TPF

Queen’s Vase

Group 2

Ascot

161,250

200,000

225,000

250,000

Bahrain Trophy

Group 3 Newmarket

100,000

150,000

175,000

200,000

Gordon Stakes

Group 3

Goodwood

50,000

75,000

100,000

100,000

March Stakes

Listed

Goodwood

50,000

75,000

100,000

100,000

Noel Murless Stakes

Listed

Ascot

37,000

65,000

80,000

100,000

Four contests for fillies and mares of three-years-old and older have also been offered, based on the same three-year commitment in exchange for annual support payments outlined above. These will take place over July and August at Chelmsford, Newbury, Newmarket and Goodwood.

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News in Brief Palace House Shop gifts Stuck for Christmas gift ideas for racing fans? Look no further than the Palace House Shop that stocks a range of products that have been artfully created to offer a unique and exclusive range of gifts. Many of the gifts take inspiration from objects and paintings that are on display at the award-winning National Heritage Centre at Palace House Newmarket. Enjoy a 10% discount on the online shop by using the discount code: XMASROA. www.palacehousenewmarket.co.uk/ shop/ ARC scheme The ROA/ARC free admission scheme has been a valued new benefit during this year. Members who have enjoyed the scheme are reminded to retain their current ARC admission card as it will be remotely activated for the 2018 scheme to provide access to participating fixtures. We are grateful to ARC for extending the scheme to members, which will cover over 93% of ARC fixtures during 2018.

ROA members Mike & Veronica Mahony present the winner’s trophy to Oz Wedmore on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum, owner of Ajman King

Owners Jackpot+ at Doncaster ROA members with and without a runner were treated to nibbles, bubbles and marvellous views from Doncaster racecourse’s Royal Box on Friday, October 29. Pip Kirkby and David Bowen from the ROA were on hand to welcome new members as well as plenty of familiar faces to a sunny, welcoming day’s racing. As well as hospitality, members with a runner in the Jackpot+ race received £250 towards their horse’s travelling expenses.

Thanks to all members who attended the day, to members Neil and Linda McGarry who judged for us the ‘best turned out’ horse for the Jackpot+ race, members Mike and Veronica Mahony for prize-giving duties on behalf of the ROA, and also to the Doncaster racecourse team who, as usual, looked after everyone so well.

Jackpot opportunities in December

Bettrends discount Members can enjoy 10% off Weatherbys diaries and bundles, including a new Birdie calendar range for 2018, consisting of a Wall Calendar (£9.99) and a Desk Calendar (£8.99). See bettrendsshop.co.uk or call 01933 304776. Quote ‘ROA’ when placing your order to save an additional 10%.

Over £90,000 has already been paid out to members in ROA Owners Jackpot payments this year, and each week brings a new opportunity for members to win a £2,000 bonus.

To qualify, horses need to be owned by ROA members. In a racing partnership, horses qualify if all partners are members. For horses owned in a syndicate, over half of the syndicators need to be members of the ROA. Here are the December races. Further information and future races can be found at roa.co.uk/jackpot

Bespoke colours Owners wishing to design and register their own bespoke silks can now do so via the racing colours page of the BHA website.

Owners can also design their own colours from scratch, which are not required to conform to all of the usual restrictions. An application form and terms can be found at britishhorseracing.com. Successful applicants will be able to register the colours for a fee of £5,000 + VAT. For more information email colours@britishhorseracing. com

December 15 December 20 December 29

Date

Course

December 8

Exeter

Race

2m21⁄2f Class 5 3yo+ Conditional Jockeys’ Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Bangor 2m4f Class 4 4yo+ 0-105 Handicap Chase Kempton Park 1m Class 4 3yo+ 0-85 Handicap Kelso 2m61⁄2f Class 4 4yo Maiden Hurdle

Surrey ownership event The ROA is holding a free to attend Ownership Matters roadshow in Reigate, Surrey, on the evening of Tuesday, December 12.

This is the last of this year’s series of informal networking events tailored for current owners, and anyone thinking of getting involved in ownership.

The venue is the Reigate Manor, a short taxi ride from Reigate station and close to junction 8 of the M25. Drinks and nibbles will be served from 6.30pm-8.30pm. The evening is not only free but members are also welcome to bring a guest.

To book a place please email Rebecca Bowtell at rbowtell@roa.co.uk or call the ROA office.

110 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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Oak Lodge

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www.oaklodgestud.com Untitled-15 1

16/10/2014 12:12

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www.roa.co.uk Figures for period November 1, 2016 to October 31, 2017

Flat Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Ascot York Goodwood Epsom Downs Newmarket Chester Newbury Doncaster Sandown Park Haydock Park Musselburgh Chelmsford City Salisbury Hamilton Park Ripon Pontefract Newcastle Ayr Lingfield Park Leicester Wetherby Thirsk Beverley Carlisle Nottingham Bath Ffos Las Kempton Park Windsor Redcar Yarmouth Catterick Bridge Chepstow Wolverhampton Brighton Southwell Total

Ownership

Avg racecourse spend per fixture (£)

Avg HBLB spend per fixture (£)

Avg owner spend per fixture (£)

Avg prizemoney per fixture (£)

Total no. of fixtures

Total prize-money (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2015-16 (£)

I I I JCR JCR I I ARC JCR JCR I I I I I I ARC I ARC I I I I JCR JCR ARC I JCR ARC I ARC I ARC ARC ARC ARC

439,135 229,497 191,742 155,972 120,621 85,085 81,645 79,136 67,769 66,025 53,609 46,542 40,004 39,024 38,886 38,082 36,241 34,085 33,326 32,722 32,248 31,417 31,160 30,373 30,307 29,551 28,053 28,026 27,072 26,087 25,440 23,738 22,492 20,723 19,596 13,089 56,558

131,739 88,889 84,869 71,141 74,981 39,937 59,715 46,778 45,638 39,812 17,106 19,726 27,344 21,005 20,218 31,388 18,999 16,626 24,417 22,798 7,234 16,847 19,769 16,304 19,034 14,636 12,017 18,634 19,270 17,800 17,573 16,278 13,494 18,657 12,846 23,842 30,377

262,713 111,472 69,935 112,900 69,168 10,653 38,401 35,577 28,872 18,325 6,182 6,126 6,014 4,709 4,661 3,928 5,263 5,202 4,497 5,987 5,184 6,017 4,060 5,208 6,135 4,180 3,965 4,664 5,102 13,585 4,865 2,825 3,857 3,477 2,826 2,773 19,992

834,005 432,914 347,124 340,014 264,905 137,341 182,070 161,533 142,279 125,717 78,133 72,394 73,363 64,738 63,882 73,398 60,502 55,913 62,240 61,557 44,667 54,281 55,041 51,885 55,521 48,366 44,035 51,324 51,481 57,472 48,233 42,840 39,844 42,918 35,268 39,704 107,174

18 18 19 11 37 15 17 24 16 23 17 51 16 17 17 16 57 17 73 20 3 16 19 13 22 22 6 59 27 18 24 17 16 78 22 29 890

15,012,086 7,792,450 6,595,357 3,740,149 9,801,474 2,060,116 3,095,187 3,876,786 2,276,470 2,828,643 1,328,260 3,692,115 1,173,800 1,100,549 1,086,001 1,174,375 3,448,616 950,525 4,543,511 1,231,138 134,000 868,500 1,045,782 674,510 1,221,460 1,064,056 264,211 3,028,093 1,389,992 1,034,500 1,157,583 728,282 637,500 3,347,588 775,899 1,151,423 95,330,985

439,286 212,321 176,251 140,472 114,448 80,126 76,642 75,160 62,705 54,369 41,025 42,582 37,668 31,889 36,725 36,467 35,180 45,309 33,605 26,736 32,066 28,713 30,417 26,996 25,470 26,611 24,167 24,861 28,527 21,879 23,371 22,440 23,081 19,604 19,068 10,210 53,035

Up/ down

▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

Jumps Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

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Aintree Cheltenham Ascot Haydock Park Sandown Park Newbury Kempton Park Ayr Doncaster Chepstow Newcastle Kelso Stratford-on-Avon Perth Cartmel Newton Abbot Ludlow Musselburgh Wincanton Market Rasen Taunton Warwick Hereford Uttoxeter Huntingdon Fakenham Ffos Las Wetherby Bangor-on-Dee Exeter Hexham Worcester Lingfield Park Fontwell Park Carlisle Leicester Southwell Plumpton Towcester Catterick Bridge Sedgefield Total

Ownership

Avg racecourse spend per fixture (£)

Avg HBLB spend per fixture (£)

Avg owner spend per fixture (£)

Avg prizemoney per fixture (£)

Total no. of fixtures

Total prize-money (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2015-16 (£)

JCR JCR I JCR JCR I JCR I ARC ARC ARC I I I I I I I JCR JCR I JCR ARC ARC JCR I I I I JCR I ARC ARC ARC JCR I ARC I I I ARC

266,189 245,362 136,577 106,933 100,415 54,522 51,678 38,759 37,803 34,325 34,193 33,311 31,486 31,149 30,773 29,790 28,977 27,779 27,019 26,722 25,937 25,929 25,401 25,234 24,779 24,741 22,991 22,903 22,096 21,990 21,953 21,378 19,792 19,083 18,767 18,015 17,814 17,772 17,508 16,963 16,658 39,379

130,267 119,893 84,046 85,468 86,374 73,015 59,203 28,607 44,236 36,367 31,840 31,011 18,525 23,924 19,406 29,781 29,215 36,476 31,439 25,954 24,447 33,151 14,629 25,545 22,574 24,981 19,396 21,805 16,480 29,457 15,149 20,141 24,616 20,497 24,689 32,862 18,496 25,892 20,822 23,981 18,859 33,393

71,026 66,224 18,794 19,471 15,845 18,771 9,753 9,559 7,926 10,227 5,666 3,629 3,638 3,556 4,398 60 4,771 4,533 5,336 4,526 5,587 5,942 4,608 6,000 4,469 0 4,563 4,429 4,515 5,369 2,882 3,900 4,165 3,519 4,455 5,069 3,599 3,803 3,693 2,487 2,902 8,123

468,294 431,479 241,084 217,072 204,633 148,127 121,249 76,925 90,381 80,919 72,635 68,416 54,010 58,628 54,576 59,631 62,962 69,725 63,794 58,179 55,993 66,699 45,450 56,999 52,571 49,722 47,184 49,137 43,872 56,815 39,984 45,418 48,572 43,099 49,041 55,946 39,910 47,467 42,232 43,598 38,539 81,328

8 16 6 8 9 11 13 14 12 15 11 14 18 15 9 17 16 11 16 22 14 17 8 24 15 9 15 15 16 16 16 21 8 22 10 10 19 15 11 9 19 570

3,746,354 6,903,662 1,446,502 1,628,038 1,841,701 1,629,392 1,576,231 1,076,951 1,084,574 1,213,778 798,990 957,817 972,183 879,425 491,185 1,013,719 1,007,394 766,972 1,020,699 1,279,945 783,905 1,133,882 363,600 1,367,977 788,565 447,498 707,761 737,053 701,959 909,048 639,746 953,787 388,577 948,179 490,412 559,463 758,284 712,001 464,555 392,380 732,246 46,316,388

249,581 234,911 139,582 89,392 94,827 28,036 48,125 41,254 30,154 32,364 24,506 34,331 28,982 56,101 30,843 23,094 48,125 15,855 28,209 18,171 22,635 20,573 21,652 22,467 20,081 22,975 17,967 25,551 22,444 19,851 16,807 19,683 34,331 18,030 21,400 20,081 17,674 13,797 13,664 15,689 16,013 37,703

Up/ down

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EXPLANATION The tables set out the average prize-money at each fixture staged by a racecourse over the last 12 months. They show how this is made up of the three sources of prize-money: 1. Racecourses’ contribution 2. Levy Board (HBLB) 3. Owners The tables also confirm the number of fixtures staged and the total amount of prize-money paid out by each racecourse throughout this period.

The racecourses are ordered by the average amount of their own contribution to prizemoney at each fixture.

This contribution originates from various sources including media rights, admission revenues and racecourse sponsors.

If a racecourse has increased its average contribution at each fixture compared with the previous 12 months, it receives a green ‘up’ arrow. If its average contribution has fallen, however, it receives a red ‘down’ arrow.

As these tables are based on the prizemoney paid out by each racecourse, the abandonment of a major fixture could distort a racecourse’s performance.

OWNERSHIP KEY JCR Jockey Club Racecourses ARC Arena Racing Company I

Independently owned racecourse Gold Standard Award

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100 years 1917 - 2017

TBA Forum

The special section for TBA members September

SARAH FARNSWORTH

TBA Stud Staff Award

A number of stallions in the auction will be available to view during the January Sale

TBA Silent Auction open for business The TBA has now opened the Silent Auction of stallion nominations, generously donated by a number of National Hunt stallion masters, with proceeds from the auction going towards funding TBA National Hunt initiatives.

The auction opened on Countryside Day at Cheltenham racecourse on Friday, November 17, and will end at the National Hunt Stallion Showcase, which will be held during the January

Sale at the Goffs UK sales complex, where a number of the stallions who have nominations for auction will be available to view.

Nominations for the following stallions can be bid on throughout December and January by contacting Stanstead House on 01638 661321.

Alternatively, members of the TBA team will be present at the Stallion Showcase to take any final bids before the auction closes:

Black Sam Bellamy Sadler’s Wells – Urban Sea Standing at Shade Oak Stud

Jack Hobbs Halling – Swain’s Gold Standing at Overbury Stud

Recharge Cape Cross - Rebelline Standing at Shade Oak Stud

Cannock Chase Lemon Drop Kid – Lynnwood Chase Standing at Worsall Grange Farm

Native Ruler Cape Cross – Love Divine Standing at Batsford Stud

Schiaparelli Monsun - Sacarina Standing at Overbury Stud

Norse Dancer Halling – River Patrol Standing at Yorton Farm Stud

Scorpion Montjeu - Ardmelody Standing at Shade Oak Stud

Passing Glance Polar Falcon - Spurned Standing at Batsford Stud

Sun Central Galileo - Bordighera Standing at Laughton Manor Equestrian Centre

Clovis Du Berlais King’s Theatre – Kenza Du Berlais Standing at Yorton Farm Stud Dartmouth Dubawi – Galatee Standing at Shade Oak Stud Dunaden Nicobar – La Marlia Standing at Overbury Stud Fair Mix Linamix – Fairlee Wild Standing at Shade Oak Stud

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Pether’s Moon Dylan Thomas – Sofly Tread Standing at Yorton Farm Stud Phoenix Reach Alhaarth – Irish Valley Standing at Winterbeck Manor Stud

Charlie Wood, the long serving Stud Groom at Juddmonte Farms’ Side Hill Stud in Newmarket, was the recipient of the TBA Stud Staff Award for September 2017, in recognition of the vital role he has fulfilled within the breeding industry over many years. Charlie retired at the end of September, having commenced his employment at Side Hill in January 1984 when the stud was under the ownership of the Duke of Devonshire.

When Juddmonte bought Side Hill its primary role became the care of broodmares, with Charlie foaling around 70 horses each season, including Flintshire, Timepiece, Workforce and Twice Over.

Banstead Manor Stud Director Simon Mockridge said: “Charlie’s strengths lie not only in his dedication to the horses under his care but in his approach to his staff. He possesses a level of calmness regardless of circumstances and is always able to find time to explain and assist staff members in the execution of duties.

“It is for these qualities Charlie is well known, as a great deal of people entering the industry have passed through his hands, learning from a great master. One of the biggest compliments to Charlie is not only to be recognised by a former student when he is walking through Newmarket High Street, but to think he has played a small part in their career development. Examples include Angus Gold, Anthony Stroud, Teddy Grimthorpe, John Warren, Gerry Meehan and Jason Imeson.”

At a recent retirement party for Charlie (pictured below), friends and colleagues past and present joined to wish him well in his retirement.

Telescope Galileo – Velouette Standing at Shade Oak Stud Universal Dubawi - Winesong Standing at Yorton Farm Stud

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Elite Mares Scheme 2018

Scheme details British-based mares that have proved themselves to be of a defined level of NH racing performance, or have themselves produced a NH runner of a defined performance level, will be eligible to receive a subsidised or free nomination to one of a select group of British-based stallions, as long as the mare is owned by a TBA member.

Eligible mares are divided into three separate categories: Category 1: Mares that have achieved a peak official rating of 140+ or more (Category 1a), or have produced a NH horse rated 145+ (mare) or 155+ (gelding), whilst racing in Great Britain, Ireland, or France (Category 1b).

Category 2: Mares that have achieved a peak official rating between 135 - 139 (Category 2a), or have produced a NH horse rated 140 - 144 (mare) or 150 154 (gelding), whilst racing in Great Britain, Ireland, or France (Category 2b).

Category 3: Mares that have achieved a peak official rating of 130 - 134 (Category 3a), or have produced a NH horse rated 135 - 139 (mare) or 145 - 149 (gelding), whilst racing in Great Britain, Ireland, or France (Category 3b).

Winners of black type races over obstacles will be treated as having the following minimum rating, regardless of official rating:

Breeders Badge Offers Aintree racecourse has kindly offered free standard admission entry to TBA members on December 9, Becher Chase Day. TBA

ADAM SMYTH

The TBA/HBLB Elite National Hunt Mares Incentive Scheme was created to incentivise breeders to use the selection of quality British-based National Hunt stallions on offer. TBA members who own mares officially rated above 130 are eligible for a free or proportionately subsidised nomination to a British-based stallion that has earned the necessary credentials to be part of the scheme.

National Hunt mares rated 130+ are eligible to apply for a subsidised or free nomination to the stallions registered on the scheme

• Grade 1 winners or winners of three Grade 2 events: 145 mares, 155 geldings; • Grade 2 winners or winners of three Grade 3/Listed WFA events: 140 mares, 150 geldings; • Winners of two Grade 3/Listed WFA races; 135 mares, 145 geldings; • Grade 3 winners or Listed WFA winners: 130 mares, 140 geldings; A mare that would qualify for the scheme by satisfying multiple criteria (either as a race mare and producer, or as producer of more than one qualifying horse) will be regarded as having achieved an official rating increased by 10lb for every additional qualification.

Awards Owners of Elite Mares will receive a voucher entitling the mare to a discount on the advertised nomination fee to any of the eligible stallions in the scheme.

The voucher value is determined on the category of the Elite Mare; Category 1: £4,000; Category 2: £3,000; Category 3: £2,000.

The vouchers are valid only for the 2018 breeding season and the grants are paid direct to the stallion owner on

members will need to produce their membership card on the day to gain entry. Additional tickets can be purchased for 50% of the standard admission fee on the day.

Newbury racecourse: On December 20 – the St James’s Place Christmas Raceday

receipt of a valid October 1 pregnancy certificate to the TBA office.

For further details of the scheme, including full terms and conditions, please refer to the TBA website, which includes a list of mares who have qualified for the scheme with their own peak official rating according to Weatherbys’ records.

These lists do not include mares who may be eligible through their progeny rating, or by an uplifted rating due to a graded win.

If you believe your mare has attained the necessary credentials to be in a different category, or qualified for the scheme through her progeny, please download an application form from the TBA website, or alternatively contact the TBA office (01638 661321); applications close Friday, January 26.

Stallions eligible for the scheme Apple Tree Black Sam Bellamy Blue Bresil Cannock Chase Clovis Du Berlais Dartmouth Dunaden Eastern Anthem Fair Mix Franklins Gardens Geordieland Haafhd Jack Hobbs Millenary Norse Dancer Passing Glance Pether’s Moon Phoenix Reach Recharge Royal Anthem Saddler’s Rock Schiaparelli Scorpion Sixties Icon Telescope Universal

– the TBA is sponsoring the mares’ novice chase and TBA members will be given a premier enclosure badge on presentation of their TBA membership card on the day. Extra badges can be purchased from the racecourse on the day or

in advance via the website.

Entry is via any entrance except Owners & Trainers.

For both offers please note entry is for the TBA member only. Where joint membership applies you will need to purchase an additional badge for the second member.

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TBA Forum

Diary Dates Tuesday, December 12 to Thursday, December 14 Annual TBA Stud Farming Course At the British Racing School, Newmarket Wednesday, December 20 Listed TBA Mares’ Novices’ Chase At Newbury racecourse Thursday, December 21 TBA/EBF Mares’ Novices’ Chase At Exeter racecourse Tuesday, December 26 TBA/EBF Mares’ Novices’ Chase At Wincanton racecourse

Entry to Stud Employment pilot training scheme students with the Apprenticeship students

TBA support for new entrants to the breeding industry October 14 was a red-letter day for the TBA as its new and innovative Entry to Stud Employment (E2SE) programme, delivered by the National Stud, commenced with 12 students taking up their places on the residential element of the course. This pilot training programme aims to enable new entrants to join the thoroughbred breeding industry whatever their level of education or experience.

The initial nine-week residential programme of intensive learning will provide students with the practical skills required to work on a stud farm and they will also emerge from it well informed about the industry they are joining. Successful graduates from the course will then be placed in the industry and will continue to

Wednesday, December 27 TBA Mares’ Handicap Chase At Wetherby racecourse Friday, December 29 TBA Mares’ Chase At Doncaster racecourse

be supported by the National Stud, working towards a Level 2 qualification in stud work. This is a new venture for the TBA and is fully funded on a 50:50 basis by the TBA and The Racing Foundation. The TBA is enormously grateful for this support.

The TBA also continues to part-fund the National Stud’s Apprenticeship programme, and seven students are currently in situ at the National Stud, training alongside the E2SE students prior to going out into the work place.

Stud farms who are seeking staff and feel able to employ and support a student through their training from January 2018 should contact Caroline Turnbull at Stanstead House or Tabbi Smith at the National Stud on 01638 663464.

New Members Dalwhinnie Bloodstock Ltd, Merseyside; Clipper Logistics, North Yorkshire; John Hynes Esq, Warwickshire; Anna Hawkins, West Sussex; Michael Littlefair, Suffolk; Sally Scott, Oxfordshire; John Johnston, Suffolk; Jessica Westwood, Devon; Durcan Bloodstock, Suffolk; Nikki Heath, Gloucestershire; Trevor Kilbey Esq, Tyne & Wear; Mrs M Woodcock, Sth Yorkshire; Vicky Bingham, Suffolk; Rory O’Toole, County Wicklow.

Introduction to supervising staff The TBA is joining forces with the National Stud to offer a one-day supervisory course for new managers to develop the skills and confidence to manage a small team – from understanding their role as a supervisor and building a team to knowing how to manage performance.

The programme is delivered through shared knowledge and experience using small group exercises, activities and discussions.

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Course content includes: • The role of the supervisor • Communication • Planning and delegation • Building an effective team • Performance management Trainer Jacquie Findlay is a highly experienced HR professional (FCIPD) and management consultant (CMC) who specialises in employment law, strategic development, coaching

and mentoring and employee engagement.

Course dates are...

January 10 or 11, 2018 9am – 5.30pm Joan Westbrook Lecture Theatre, The National Stud, Newmarket Course fee: £150 INC VAT

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Peach Melba scoops TBA £25,000 bonus

Save the date TBA Seminar – Tattersalls, July 28, 2018 The International Symposium on Equine Reproduction is returning to the UK for the first time since it started in 1974. This symposium meets every four years and brings together leading scientists on equine reproduction for a fiveday conference. The TBA is taking advantage of the presence of worldrenowned speakers at this event to hold an educational seminar where experts including Dr Dixon Varner and Dr Sue McDonnell will share their research and experiences on a range of topics, including stallion fertility and behaviour, pregnancy loss and equine grass sickness.

A full programme and further details will be released early next year, and the day will be free of charge to TBA members.

Nicola Kent receives the prize from Julian Richmond-Watson on behalf of Lady Lonsdale

Three-year-old filly Peach Melba won the TBA £25,000 bonus at the finale of the 2017 EBF Breeders’ Fillies Series on Saturday, October 7, at Newmarket.

The homebred daughter of Dream Ahead secured the bonus when landing the mile handicap at the Suffolk track, having previously qualified through her win in a series race at Lingfield Park in August.

Owner-breeder Lady Caroline Lonsdale now has up to £25,000 to spend on a stallion nomination for the filly in either the 2018 or 2019 breeding season (subject to terms and conditions).

Trainer Mark Johnston commented after the race: “The owners are breeders and they were actually thinking of

retiring the filly in the middle of the season. I said, ‘Well let’s not retire her until she stops earning her keep’, which she did very nicely today, and she has also earned her place with a really nice stallion in the next year and that couldn’t

NATIONAL HUNT MARE OWNERS’ PRIZE SCHEME (NHMOPS)

The TBA is still accepting registrations for the 2016 foal crop until December 31, 2017 (late registration fees apply - £200 for members and £300 for nonmembers per entry).

The 2017 crop registrations close on January 31, 2018. Registration is free for TBA members; the non-member rate is £150 per filly.

TBA post-mortem subsidy TBA members are reminded that the TBA offers a subsidy of £200 towards fees incurred when investigating an abortion or neo-natal foal death.

The main purpose of this is to identify where cases of EHV have occurred and to encourage reporting of EHV to help with better disease surveillance and control. Members are asked to notify Stanstead House if they wish to take advantage of this subsidy, which will be paid at the TBA’s discretion. The main conditions are listed here and further information is available from Stanstead

have been better. She really deserves it as she is a decent filly, a model of consistency, and I am sure she will make a great broodmare.”

NH MOPS winners

House or on the TBA website.

1. The TBA should be notified by telephone within three days of the abortion/neonatal foal death.

2. The TBA should be notified of the outcome of the post-mortem within three days of it being determined.

3. A copy of the laboratory report should be sent to the TBA within 14 days of the report date.

4. The foetus/dead foal must be from a thoroughbred mare residing in the United Kingdom and be owned by a TBA member.

October 21, 2017 Market Rasen THE JUST HANE MARES’ NOVICES’ HURDLE (CLASS 4) Winner: CABARET QUEEN Owned by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Bonus Value: £10,000 October 26, 2017 Ludlow THE THOROUGHBRED BREEDERS ASSOCIATION MARES’ NOVICES’ HURDLE (CLASS 4) Winner: DRINKS INTERVAL Owned by The Land Value Partnership Bonus Value: £10,000

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FROM THE ARCHIVES: a selection of features from the TBA’s first 100 years

Edward Courage If the TBA had been handing out monthly awards for breeders from the early 1950s to the late 1970s, Edward Courage would have had a season ticket to presentations of the winter trophies.

The impact of the amazing dynasty he created largely from a single mare is being felt more than 60 years later.

The story began in 1946, when Courage, then a 39-year-old director of the National Provincial Bank and his family brewing firm, paid a cousin £250 for the unraced 11-year-old mare Drumrora, who as Sue Montgomery recounts in the TBA’s Centenary Book was “an Irish half-bred, the equivalent of the now-ubiquitous French AQPS strain.”

Despite her humble origins, Drumrora was included in Bobinski’s Family Table of Racehorses, published in the 1950s, because her family, three generations back, included the 1903 Grand National hero Drumcree. Courage bred, owned and trained a string of jumpers that rarely reached double figures at his home in Edgcote, near Banbury, from a wheelchair, having contracted polio on a Scottish fishing holiday in 1938.

At the time of her purchase, he could hardly have imagined the joy he would derive from Drumrora, or how significant Aintree would be to her descendants.

In successive years Drumrora produced three fillies who were to set her owner-breeder on the path to success – French Colleen, dam of dual Champion Chase winner Royal Relief, who also finished second and third in that Festival race, and Tiberina and Tiberetta, sisters by the Ascot Gold Cup winner Tiberius who landed 15 races between them and produced offspring who won a total of 88 races.

Tiberina’s winning progeny included Neapolitan Lou, Lira and the smart chaser San Angelo, while Tiberetta’s roll of honour included seven who emulated her success in the steeplechase field.

Tiberetta had a remarkable racecourse career, winning 11 races and being placed second 17 times in her 50-plus races. Her immaculate jumping was particularly suited to the testing Liverpool circuit, where she won the Becher Chase and Grand Sefton and finished third, second and fourth in successive Grand Nationals.

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Courage’s 11-time winner Tiberetta, dam of the great Spanish Steps, lived to the age of 28

Hers was the start of an astonishing Courage love affair with Aintree, where Spanish Steps, her 1963 foal by Flush Royal (sire also of Royal Relief and Neapolitan Lou), finished fourth and third in the National – beaten by Red Rum, Crisp and L’Escargot in 1974, and by L’Escargot and Red Rum the following year – and his four years younger half-brother Lictor (by the sprinter Right Boy) won the Topham.

More Aintree glory for the family was to come, but in the meantime Spanish Steps excelled on park courses, winning 16 races including the Tote Champion Novices’ Chase at the 1969 Cheltenham Festival, the day before Courage’s Pride Of Kentucky won the Kim Muir Chase under a youthful Roger Charlton and two days before Royal Relief was beaten a neck in the County Hurdle.

Spanish Steps, who was placed a further 40 times from 78 starts, went on to win the following season’s Hennessy Gold Cup, by 15 lengths, and Benson and Hedges Gold Cup, and his third placing to L’Escargot and French Tan in the Cheltenham Gold Cup enabled Courage to become leading owner and breeder in 1969-70 with six winners of 14 races worth one pound over £20,000.

Tiberina and Tiberetta lived to the ages of 29 and 28 before being put down within days of each other and

buried at Edgcote, but their legacy has carried on through their daughters.

Tiberina is the fifth dam of the Grade 1-winning hurdlers Wymott and Oscars Well, through Neapolitan Lou and Denaria respectively, while her granddaughter Cover Your Money’s nine winners of 47 races from 12 produce included the brothers Red Marauder, winner of the mud-spattered 2001 Grand National, and Red Striker, winner of the Peter Marsh Handicap Chase, as well as No More Money, dam of the useful Skint.

Tiberetta, whose daughter Tamoretta was grandam of Riverside Boy, winner of the 1993 Welsh National, and his brother the prolific point-to-point winner Huntsworth, brings the story up to date through her daughter Roman Meeting, whom Courage gave to the Queen Mother as a 70th birthday present and was later bequeathed to the Queen.

Roman Meeting’s only progeny to race under Rules, First Romance, bred First Love, the Queen Mother’s last winner before her death in 2002 and later a poignant winner for the Queen of the Queen Mother Memorial Hunter Chase at Sandown. First Romance also produced Romantic Dream, dam of three winners in the royal silks – Close Touch, Open Hearted and, in the latest link to the Edward Courage era, Take To Heart, winner of novice hurdles this year.

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www.tba.co.uk February Stallion Parade The TBA’s Annual Flat Stallion Parade will take place on Thursday, February 1, at Tattersalls in Newmarket.

The event is a great opportunity to see a number of stallions from around the country at one location.

Stallions will be paraded individually in the sales ring, then breeders are invited to inspect the stallions throughout the morning, presenting the ideal chance to speak with the stallions’ connections about mating plans for the season ahead.

A full list of the stallions parading will be available on the TBA website or from the TBA office nearer the time.

The parade will showcase a number of newly retired and more established stallions

PROSHOT PHOTOGRAPHY

NH Mares-only Racecourse Awards Worcester and Ludlow used their prizes from the TBA National Hunt mares-only racecourse awards to host races in October

Indomeneo and winning owners of the Middleham Park Racing syndicate after the TBA Small Breeders’ Race

Midlands tracks host remaining Flat sponsorships of 2017 Leicester and Nottingham played host to TBA-sponsored races in October. The valuable TBA Small Breeders’ Conditions Race for colts took place at Leicester on October 10 and was won by Indomeneo.

The two-year-old son of Piccolo overcame weight penalties for previous victories to score by a length. Many members of the winning syndicate, Middleham Park Racing, were on hand to celebrate the victory and the £15,000 first prize.

The last in the series of three TBA fillies’ staying handicaps was run at Nottingham on October 18. The 14-furlong event was won by series regular Fire Jet, who had previously won the Newmarket running of the TBA Handicap on August 25. The TBA team was on hand to watch the Association’s final Flat sponsorship of the season by the kind invitation of Nottingham racecourse.

TBA representatives Robert and Jackie Chugg present Worcester racecourse’s Executive Director Jenny Cheshire with the National Hunt Mares-only Racecourse Award

Robert and Jackie Chugg present the prizes to Stephen Riley, the owner of All Currencies, winner of the TBA Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Worcester on October 25

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ARCHIPENKO (Kingmambo – Bound, by Nijinsky)

Star Quality – Dual Group 1 sire • Group 1 winner and Group 1 sire • Sire of Group 1 winners MADAME CHIANG & FORTY ONE, Group 2 winners DON ARCHI (Group 1 placed), SILVER LOOK (x2) (Group 1 placed) and KINGSTON MINES. Group 3 winners ALGOMETER, VA BANK (unbeaten in 12 races) and STONY BROKE • Sire of 49 individual 2yo winners • 2017 yearlings sold at the major European Autumn Sales* averaged £56,835 (€63,330) – over 5 times his 2015 nomination fee

2018 fee: £10,000

BOBBY’S KITTEN (Kitten’s Joy – Celestial Woods, by Forestry)

Breeders’ Cup Sprint Star – First foals 2018 • ONLY 3YO EVER to win Group 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint • Specialist miler who could also sprint • Won 6 races at 2, 3 & 5 years and $1.4m in the USA and Ireland– all on Turf • A Graded Stakes winner at 2 and 3 years • First stallion son of KITTEN’S JOY (Champion Turf racehorse & multiple US Champion sire) in Europe

2018 fee: £12,500

SIR PERCY (Mark of Esteem – Percy’s Lass, by Blakeney)

Stellar Durability and Value • Undefeated CHAMPION 2yo; CHAMPION 3yo and Derby winner • Sire of 39 individual Stakes horses including Group 1 winners WAKE FOREST and SIR JOHN HAWKWOOD; also sire of Group 2 Park Hill Stakes winner ALYSSA in 2017 • Sire of 68 individual 2yo winners • 2017 yearlings sold at the major GB/Ireland Sales* averaged £72,330 (€80,786) – over 10 times his 2015 nomination fee

2018 fee: £7,000

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SEA THE MOON – 2018 fee: £15,000

A Rising Star – 2017 first crop yearlings have so far made 525,000gns, €460,000, etc. info@lanwades.com • www.lanwades.com • Tel: +44 (0)1638 750222 • Fax: +44 (0)1638 751186

LANWADES Lanwades_3StallionRoster_Owner_Dec17.indd 121

The independent option TM *To the end of Tatts Oct Book 2 – All 2018 fees on 1st October Special Live Foal terms.

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BREEDER OF THE MONTH – OCTOBER

HASCOMBE & VALIANT STUDS Enable’s victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe left most observers in little doubt they had witnessed this season’s European champion racehorse. Yet within three weeks Juddmonte’s homebred star was no longer even the highestrated horse in John Gosden’s Clarehaven Stables. That honour now belongs to Anthony Oppenheimer’s homebred Frankel colt Cracksman.

A season of steady progress culminated in a runaway success in the Champion Stakes at Ascot. Cracksman follows Golden Horn as the second exceptional colt in three years bred by Hascombe & Valiant Studs. The common link is their fourth dam Lora. She was purchased by the stud for 28,000gns at Tattersalls in 1973.

Cracksman is out of the Listedwinning Pivotal mare Rhadegunda.

His seven-length triumph completed a memorable Champions Day double for the Cheveley Park Stud stallion, who is also broodmare sire of Hydrangea, winner of the Fillies & Mares Stakes.

Cracksman’s third dam is the dual Group 1 winner On The House and it is from her half-sister Loralane that Golden Horn is descended.

The stud has been in the hands of the Oppenheimer family since 1965, when Sir Philip Oppenheimer bought the then Hascombe Stud, near Newmarket.

His son Anthony inherited it following his father’s death in 1995. Four British

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Classic winners have been reared there: On The House (1,000 Guineas), Footstepsinthesand (2,000 Guineas), Golden Horn (Derby) and Harbour Law (St Leger).

Golden Horn was a late withdrawal from the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2015, and it is likely that his owner-breeder will want to target the 2018 renewal with Cracksman.

The Oppenheimer family’s De Beers Group sponsored Britain’s premier middle distance race for three-year-olds and older horses for 34 years from 1972.

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SPECIAL MERIT – OCTOBER

NEWSELLS PARK STUD October is a key month for any commercial stud and things could not have gone much better this year for the Hertfordshire-based operation. Their young stallion Nathaniel is the sire of Enable, who justified favouritism to win her fifth successive Group 1 in the Arc de Triomphe on October 1.

Rather less predictable was the victory of Librisa Breeze in the British Champions Sprint at Ascot three weeks later, a first stakes win for the five-yearold gelding. He is the outcome of a mating between their Linamix mare Bruxcalina and former resident stallion Mount Nelson. His pedigree certainly suggests an aptitude for longer distances

Cracksman, another champion colt for Hascombe & Valiant Studs

than the six furlongs that gave his sire, as well as trainer Dean Ivory, a first success at the highest level.

Bruxcalina was Listed-placed over ten and a half furlongs and is a half-sister to Prix du Jockey-Club third Baraan and the useful hurdler Brampour. Librisa Breeze is her first foal and fetched 60,000gns as a yearling and 90,000gns as a horse in training.

Bruxcalina’s Lawman yearling was sold for 25,000gns just ten days before his half-brother became a Group 1 winner and that colt’s year-older sister, Butterfly Lily, is entered for the December Breeding Stock Sale.

The late Klaus Jacobs, whose family own Gestut Fahrhof in Germany and Maine Chance Farms in South Africa, purchased Newsells Park in 2000. The other stallion currently on the roster is Equiano, sire of The Tin Man, who triumphed in the 2016 renewal of the British Champions Sprint.

In recent years, Newsells Park has established itself as a major consignor at yearling sales. This year’s October Book 1 draft realised almost 6,000,000gns.

122 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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Al Kazeem TOB-Dec 2017:Oakgrove Stud

8/11/17

14:54

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Two winners from four runners including stakes filly Golden Spell, a winner at 5 and 6 furlongs and placed second Legacy Stakes LR (6f) and third Blenheim Stakes LR (6f).

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Fractional ad pages December 2017.indd 124

23/11/2017 17:15

Vet Forum: The Expert View

By Rob Pilsworth MRCVS

Displacement of the soft palate: does it always matter?

MARK HILLYER, NEH

D

isplacement of the soft palate, when the soft palate ‘unhooks’ from the normal tight junction with the opening to the windpipe, is cited as one of the most common causes of poor performance in the racehorse, comprising, in separate studies, 30% and 50% of cases referred for specialist detailed investigation of sub-optimal performance.

Most of these studies were done with the horse galloping on a treadmill, however. Other studies have shown that displacement is more common in horses on the treadmill than during normal ridden exercise. Screening the whole population of ‘normal’ racehorses throws up a frequency of around 20% to 25%, even in horses where we are not certain the problem is causing a reduction in performance. We also know that at least a third of these cases don’t make the telltale noise when they displace. So this is a common problem and it has been around for a long time, probably since the racehorse began to be raced. But if it’s so common, is it always a disaster?

Over the years there have been many different treatments employed to try to correct soft palate displacement. A cursory examination of the recent literature reveals at least ten different surgical procedures in common use. When one is confronted with so many treatments for the same condition, all of which have only partial success rates claimed by their exponents, one has to begin to consider that the problem may be more complex than it first seemed, and we therefore have to think hard about the justification for relevant treatments. A recent study completed at Mark Johnston’s stables in Middleham casts doubt on any surgical procedure being required for treatment in a large number of cases of soft-palate displacement, showing that most of these cases in young horses will self-correct given time and continued training.

The study came about because of the involvement of Johnston as an alumnus of the University of Glasgow School of Veterinary Medicine. Some years ago the vets at Glasgow were trying to develop the overground endoscope for the first time.

This instrument, which we now take for granted, allows us to observe the workings of the horse’s upper respiratory tract

Figure 1: The over-ground endoscope in use in Newmarket. The thin tube entering the nostril carries a light-source and tiny digital camera that allows the workings of the horse’s upper airway during exercise to be recorded and studied on a remote computer screen

remotely on a TV screen during a gallop.

At the time this was something clinicians only dreamed about.

Johnston takes up the tale, saying: “Sandy Love and the department at Glasgow were in the latter stages of developing the overground endoscope.

There was a bit of a race on between them and Geoff Lane and the department at Bristol, and they were both trying to be the first to successfully develop a practical system. Basically, they came to me looking for some money. The ridiculous thing is, it wasn’t a large amount of money in terms of research grants. All it meant in effect was that we had to buy the overland scope ahead of its production and trust that they would eventually come up with the goods, which they did.”

Because of the link with Glasgow, Johnston developed a good working relationship with Dr Patrick Pollock, a surgeon, research worker and lecturer at the university. They shared common interests, not only in the horse and in racing but also in other areas, such as flying and Scottish independence!

Pollock was delighted to be involved in such a large stable and, as an eager and ambitious young surgeon, thought that this was bound to increase massively the upper-airway surgery caseload for his department. He was therefore slightly

disappointed, when discussing airway surgery with Johnston, that his view was that surgery had little to offer, and in fact he expected most cases of soft palate displacement in the yard’s horses to resolve simply with continued training, and the strengthening and maturation of the horse.

“Mark was always delighted when I passed on the fact that the abnormal noise being made by one of his horses had been shown by the overground scope to be a soft palate displacement,” commented Pollock. “He would come back with, ‘Great, well that one will just get better on its own then’.”

Pollock was intrigued to see whether Johnston’s view was correct and the trainer was open to the possibility of a long-term research study, monitoring a large number of horses on regular occasions over several years, to see who in fact was correct.

So why was Johnston so sceptical of surgery on throats in the first place?

He explains: “When I was at Glasgow the department wasn’t particularly equine-oriented. There were very few horses through the place and the party line at the time was that we shouldn’t be doing soft-palate surgeries. When I was first training, I was probably stuck with my ideas from the vet school and never really went in for any soft-palate surgery

››

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Vet Forum have been training.”

The study itself took place over a period of six years, during which time Pollock made twice-monthly visits to the yard from the university and regularly fitted the overground scope to any horse making an abnormal inspiratory noise. To be included in the study the horse had to show displacement of the soft palate for greater than eight seconds during the gallop, and had to be scoped on at least three occasions over a period of between three and six months. In all, 104 horses fitted these criteria, ranging in age from two to four.

Following the diagnosis of soft-palate displacement as the cause of the noise, treatment was limited to the variable use of anti-inflammatory drugs given by mouth, a topical ‘soothing’ throat spray, and in most cases the use of a figureof-eight dropped noseband and spoon bit. What they found was that over 70% of the horses improved, and were no longer displacing, within the period of their monitoring. What was extremely interesting was that horses that had other, concurrent, airway problems revealed by the overground scope (and many of these conditions were in fact unknown before the development of this equipment) were among the most successful in the outcome groups. So horses that had, for instance, concurrent vocal cord collapse, pharyngeal collapse, or deviation of the folds of mucus membrane in the larynx, improved in terms of palate displacement more regularly than horses that simply had soft palate displacement alone.

This, again, hints at the fact that many of these upper airway problems we are now diagnosing with the overground scope can be relatively multifactorial transient conditions, which will disappear with continued strengthening and fitness.

With regard to tack, Pollock was sceptical that the use of altered gear such as a dropped or figure-of-eight noseband and tongue-tie, would actually prevent displacement. The Johnston yard had stopped using tongue-ties years ago because of the number of horses that resented them, and because they didn’t think they worked. Pollock proposed another randomised study on both forms of tack, so no one chose which case was fitted with what tack. Eighty-three horses were examined, with and without one of the forms of headgear. The results bore out Johnston’s view. The tongue-tie prevented displacement in only about a third of horses, but the use of a figureof-eight or dropped nose band resulted in 70% of treated horses showing no

Fig 2a

Fig 2b

MARK HILLYER, NEH

›› throughout the whole of the time that I

The normal horse pharynx (2a) during exercise with the larynx pulled wide open, and the trachea (windpipe) in the centre totally unobstructed. Here the soft palate (white arrows) is tucked underneath the epiglottis (red arrow), as it should be. In displacement (2b) the free edge of the palate obstructs the air coming out of the opening to the trachea, billowing up like a sail, and severely compromising airflow to and from the lungs

displacement during the gallop.

Having had the experiences they did with these young Flat horses in Middleham, Pollock and his team went on to carry out the same study but this time in older horses in National Hunt training, done in collaboration with other researchers at the veterinary schools of the Universities of Liverpool and London.

In this study, 69 horses took part. Their age range was six to 12 years old and for outcome purposes they were divided into two groups – those that had been in training for more than a year and others that had been in training for less than a year. What was interesting was that of the horses that were ‘hardened campaigners’, only 33% improved over the period of the study, compared with 67% in the group that had been in training for only a year or less. In other words it seems that horses will strengthen and mature during their early training, irrespective of their actual age. What it does mean, however, is that in the older horse group, for horses that have been in training for several years as National Hunt horses, soft-palate displacement is going to improve in only around a third of them if we do nothing.

The published success rate of surgical procedures on soft-palate displacement varies enormously. Palatoplasty, where some of the palate is removed in a tightening procedure, gives a published prognosis for around 30-50% improvement, and ‘pinfiring’ the palate (or more modern laser treatment) gives much the same result. Composite surgery, including resection of some of the neck muscles, to try to prevent the larynx being pulled backwards, and thus displace, results in a success rate of 60%. The ‘tieforward’ procedure, in which the whole of the cartilage skeleton of the larynx is ‘jammed’ more firmly into the soft palate by pulling it forward on ligatures, carries

a prognosis of 40-80%, depending on which published study is cited. But these success rates are on an open population of horses affected by softpalate displacement and, as we have seen, doing nothing will lead to improvement in around 70% of these cases.

Pollock comments: “If the reported success rate for tie-forward in horses with a confirmed diagnosis, based on increased performance indices and earnings, is 80-82%, what is the actual success rate for the tie-forward itself, if upwards of 70% of these cases are going to get better anyway?”

Johnston even ponders if the softpalate displacer is such a disaster after all.

He says: “I am increasingly feeling that soft palate displacement itself might not always be so important. Yes, we can demonstrate a sudden drop in speed as they displace when we are monitoring them with the scope on the gallops, but I have had no end of good horses that you can hear swallowing and hiccupping as they are led into the winner’s enclosure.”

Soft palate displacement is obviously more complicated than we once perceived and there is no question that, in some horses, displacing at the end of a race is of no real significance. Some clinicians even feel that displacement only after pulling up is unrelated to that which occurs during full-speed exercise, and may be a different clinical entity with a totally different causality.

We do owe a duty of care to the horses we look after, however, not to inflict painful procedures, such as ‘pinfiring’ the soft-palate (or the equally painful but more modern laser equivalent), on young horses, when this study shows that most of them don’t need it.

The majority will do just as well in the future if simply left alone and trained on.

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23/11/2017 17:24

Dr Statz

John Boyce cracks the code

Commercial yearling business a hard graft

A

nother round of yearling sales is now behind us. The dye has been cast and commercial breeders and pinhookers now know where they stand with their future investment capabilities.

Both sets of investors not only know how much they can reinvest but also the stallions – based on 2017 results – most likely to keep their businesses afloat in future years.

For the record, there were 150 European sires with five or more yearlings sold in 2017 somewhere at a European sale. Only 87 (58%) posted a positive average profit. In other words, when we add an upkeep charge of £16,000 to each yearling’s conception fee and then divide it by the yearling purchase price, we find out if an individual yearling would show a profit or loss. Well, 42% of them failed this test. One hundred (67%) of the 150 had an average yearling price three times greater than their fee, not that a fee multiple of three is especially brilliant, particularly when it comes to the cheaper stallions.

Those posting an average of four times their fee numbered 67 (45%), while there were 41 (27%) with an average yearling price five times greater than their fee.

All told there were 4,627 yearlings by this group of sires with five or more sold that found new homes. But only 2,242 (48%) could claim to be profitable. That is selling for a price £16,000 more than the sire’s conception fee. So, despite all the great headlines and all the success stories, the commercial yearling business remains a tough one to crack for most commercial breeders.

For the third consecutive year, Dubawi has remained the top sire in the world by average price. And although we don’t have a fee – he was listed as private in 2015 – for his chief rival Galileo, we can also safely assume that Dubawi also posted the best average profit. For the purposes of this study, I have estimated Galileo’s fee at €350,000. Dubawi was also top of the leaderboard by the percentage of his yearlings that were profitable compared to the number offered for sale: 27 of his 31 yearlings offered made money, which equates to an excellent 87%.

Eight stallions recorded average profits of £100,000 or more, the aforementioned

Dubawi, Galileo, Frankel, Invincible Spirit, first-season sire Kingman, Shamardal, Dark Angel and Sea The Stars. All bar one of these stood at the equivalent of £50,000 or more. The odd one out is Dark Angel, whose stock enjoyed their best-ever year on the track with two 130-plus-rated sprinters in Battaash and Harry Angel, plus the Group 1 QEII heroine Persuasive. With 132 offered at a fee of €27,500, the son of Acclamation did very well to get 96 profitable yearlings.

In the £20,000-£50,000 fee category, special mention can also be made of Lope De Vega, first-season sire Australia, Acclamation, Exceed And Excel and Iffraaj, who all posted an average profit in excess of £50,000. In the £10,000£20,000 sector, five more sires also eclipsed the £50,000 average profit mark: No Nay Never, Kodiac, Siyouni, Showcasing and Camelot.

Kodiac was the most prolific stallion at the yearling sales with 148 offered, yet he still managed 106 profitable yearlings. Not bad for a sire whose strike-rate is 5.9% black-type winners. In the sub-£10,000 category three sires stood out. Darbisim’s yearlings posted an average profit just shy of £70,000 from a modest fee, while his French counterpart Wootton Bassett, sire of Almanzor, and leading first-season sire Havana Gold also showed up very well.

Stallion Profitability 2017 Sire

Off

Sold

Total £

High £

Avg £

Med £

Fee15

Profit

%

Avg Profit

Xfee

28

21,223,003

2,730,000

757,964

441,000

125,000

27

96.4

616,964

6.06

Fee £50,000-plus Dubawi

31

Galileo

34

31

20,896,031

4,200,000

674,066

371,780

258,532

24

77.4

399,534

2.61

Frankel

26

25

12,406,298

2,625,000

496,252

273,000

125,000

22

88.0

355,252

3.97

Invincible Spirit

48

37

10,209,112

1,680,000

275,922

221,298

73,866

33

89.2

186,056

3.74

Kingman

46

37

8,971,961

1,785,000

242,485

141,631

55,000

27

73.0

171,485

4.41

108

16,696,872

866,250

154,601

91,000

20,313

96

88.9

118,287

7.61

Fee £20,000-£49,999 Dark Angel

132

Lope de Vega

87

73

10,184,210

630,000

139,510

97,371

29,546

57

78.1

93,963

4.72

Australia

61

54

7,694,363

551,250

142,488

86,260

36,933

44

81.5

89,555

3.86

Acclamation

42

36

3,995,464

525,000

110,985

76,125

25,853

29

80.6

69,132

4.29

Exceed And Excel

52

45

4,862,628

525,000

108,058

88,519

29,546

36

80.0

62,512

3.66

Iffraaj

84

64

6,230,095

551,250

97,345

70,583

22,500

47

73.4

58,845

4.33

Intello

32

21

1,550,007

446,250

73,810

44,260

25,000

11

52.4

32,810

2.95

84,569

7.81

Fee £10,000-£19,999 No Nay Never

64

58

6,689,851

892,500

115,342

59,769

14,773

47

81.0

Kodiac

148

131

13,419,668

971,250

102,440

66,389

18,467

106

80.9

67,974

5.55

Siyouni

78

69

6,466,830

371,780

93,722

70,815

14,773

64

92.8

62,949

6.34

Showcasing

68

59

5,018,839

407,188

85,065

60,000

15,000

43

72.9

54,065

5.67

Camelot

75

57

5,042,761

336,373

88,469

70,815

18,467

47

82.5

54,003

4.79

Sea The Moon

50

42

3,273,891

551,250

77,950

51,450

15,000

30

71.4

46,950

5.20

Cape Cross

30

24

1,772,680

498,750

73,862

50,925

14,773

18

75.0

43,088

5.00

442,595

92,546

68,602

6,648

33

91.7

69,898

13.92

Fee up to £9,999 Dabirsim

40

36

3,331,643

Wootton Bassett

28

24

1,356,529

178,500

56,522

51,784

2,955

20

83.3

37,567

19.13

Havana Gold

39

32

1,548,768

262,500

48,399

32,376

8,500

20

62.5

23,899

5.69

Zoffany

97

76

3,385,591

212,446

44,547

34,523

9,233

48

63.2

19,314

4.82

Delegator

11

5

191,194

73,500

38,239

36,000

4,000

3

60.0

18,239

9.56

Reliable Man

16

9

343,972

75,241

38,219

31,500

4,432

9

100.0

17,787

8.62

So You Think

15

8

325,308

150,482

40,663

27,441

9,233

5

62.5

15,430

4.40

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Data Book • Analysis by Andrew Caulfield European Pattern 353 KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN SUN CHARIOT STAKES G1 NEWMARKET. Oct 7. 3yo+f. 8f.

1. ROLY POLY (USA) 3 9-0 £141,775 b f by War Front - Misty For Me (Galileo) O-Mr M. Tabor, D. Smith & Mrs John Magnier B-Misty For Me Syndicate TR-Aidan O’Brien 2. Persuasive (IRE) 4 9-3 £53,750 gr f by Dark Angel - Choose Me (Choisir) O-Cheveley Park Stud B-Mr J. Tuthill TR-John Gosden 3. Nathra (IRE) 4 9-3 £26,900 b f by Iffraaj - Rada (Danehill) O-Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah B-Pier House Stud TR-John Gosden Margins 1.25, 1.25. Time 1:34.80. Going Good.

Age 2-3

Starts 16

Wins 6

Places 5

Earned £709,908

Sire: WAR FRONT. Sire of 57 Stakes winners. In 2017 - AMERICAN PATRIOT Tiznow G1, AVENGE Woodman G1, ROLY POLY Galileo G1, U S NAVY FLAG Galileo G1, WAR FLAG Arch G1, CAMBODIA Smart Strike G2, SPIRIT OF VALOR Grindstone G2, HOMESMAN Red Ransom G3, LULL Tiznow G3, WAR CORRESPONDENT Rahy G3, WAR DECREE Street Cry G3.

1st Dam: MISTY FOR ME by Galileo. Champion 2yr old filly in Ireland and France in 2010, Champion 3yr old filly in Ireland in 2011. 5 wins at 2 and 3 at home, France, Etihad Airways Irish 1000 Guineas G1, Moyglare Stud S G1, Stobart Ireland Pretty Polly S G1, Total Prix Marcel Boussac G1, 3rd Coolmore Fusaichi Pegasus Matron S G1, Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup F&M Turf G1. Own sister to BALLYDOYLE and TWIRL. Dam of 3 winners:

2013: 2014:

2015: 2016: 2017:

COVER SONG (f Fastnet Rock) 2 wins at 3 in USA, Autumn Miss S G3.

ROLY POLY (f War Front). 6 wins at 2 and 3 at home, France, Tattersalls Falmouth S G1, Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot S G1, Prix Rothschild G1, I.C. Duchess Of Cambridge S G2, Grangecon Stud Balanchine S G3, 2nd Connollys Red Mills Cheveley Park S G1, Coronation S G1, Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas G1, Sky Bet Lowther S G2.

U S NAVY FLAG (c War Front) 3 wins at 2, Juddmonte Middle Park S G1. (f War Front) (c War Front)

2nd Dam: Butterfly Cove by Storm Cat. unraced. Own sister to KAMARINSKAYA. Dam of MISTY FOR ME (f Galileo, see above), BALLYDOYLE (f Galileo: Total Prix Marcel Boussac G1, 2nd Moyglare Stud S G1, Qipco 1000 Guineas G1), TWIRL (f Galileo: Irish Stal.FarmsEBF Hurry Harriet S LR, 2nd Tattersalls Musidora S G3, Lodge Park EBF Park Express S G3) Broodmare Sire: GALILEO. Sire of the dams of 91 Stakes winners. In 2017 - BARNEY ROY Excelebration G1, HALL OF FAME Savabeel G1, ROLY POLY War Front G1, SAXON WARRIOR Deep Impact G1, U S NAVY FLAG War Front G1, ZHUKOVA Fastnet Rock G1.

The War Front/Galileo cross has produced: ROLY POLY G1, U S NAVY FLAG G1, Fleet Review G1, Battle of Jericho LR, Leo Minor LR.

ROLY POLY b f 2014 Danzig WAR FRONT b 02

Northern Dancer Nearctic Natalma Pas de Nom

Admiral’s Voyage Petitioner

Rubiano

Fappiano Ruby Slippers

Lara’s Star

Forli True Reality

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Urban Sea

Miswaki Allegretta

Storm Cat

Storm Bird Terlingua

Mr P’s Princess

Mr Prospector Anne Campbell

Starry Dreamer

Galileo MISTY FOR ME b 08 Butterfly Cove

See race 173 in the September issue 354 BET365 FILLIES’ MILE STAKES G1 NEWMARKET. Oct 13. 2yof. 8f.

1. LAURENS (FR) 9-0 £321,829 b f by Siyouni - Recambe (Cape Cross) O-Mr John Dance B-Bloodstock Agency Ltd TR-K. R. Burke

2. September (IRE) 9-0 £122,013 b/br f by Deep Impact - Peeping Fawn (Danehill) O-Mrs John Magnier,Mr M.Tabor & Mr D.Smith B-Orpendale & Chelston TR-Aidan O’Brien 3. Magic Lily (GB) 9-0 £61,063 ch f by New Approach - Dancing Rain (Danehill Dancer) O-Godolphin B-Godolphin Management Company Ltd TR-Charlie Appleby Margins Nose, 0.75. Time 1:36.10. Going Good.

Age 2

Starts 4

Wins 3

Places 1

Earned £378,112

Sire: SIYOUNI. Sire of 17 Stakes winners. In 2017 LAURENS Cape Cross G1, LE BRIVIDO Dr Fong G3, SACRED LIFE Montjeu G3, PAMPLEMOUSSE Efisio LR, STRAIGHT RIGHT Tiger Hill LR, SULLY Verglas LR, SYRITA Poliglote LR. 1st Dam: RECAMBE by Cape Cross. 2 wins at 3 in France. Dam of 2 winners:

2011: 2013: 2014: 2015:

AUTIGNAC (f Solon) Winner over jumps in France.

Murviel (f Siyouni) Anemoi (g Manduro) unraced to date.

LAURENS (f Siyouni) Sold 209,523gns yearling at DNPRM. 3 wins at 2, bet365 Fillies’ Mile S G1, William Hill May Hill S G2, 2nd Shadwell Prix du Calvados G3.

2nd Dam: Razana by Kahyasi. 4 wins, 2nd G.P. Conseil General de Loire Atlantique LR. Dam of SALFORD MILL (c Peintre Celebre: Stanspoker.co.uk Newmarket S LR, Mercedes Benz Hong Kong Derby LR, Mercedes Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile LR), Ovambo (g Namaqualand: 2nd Cadogan Charity Fred Archer S LR, 3rd betfair.com Ormonde S G3). Grandam of Domination.

Broodmare Sire: CAPE CROSS. Sire of the dams of 45 Stakes winners. In 2017 - LAURENS Siyouni G1, THE BLACK PRINCESS Iffraaj G2, AL JAZI Canford Cliffs G3, BEAUTIFUL ROMANCE New Approach G3, MASAR New Approach G3, WESTERN HYMN High Chaparral G3.

LAURENS b f 2015 Polar Falcon

Nureyev Marie d’Argonne

Fearless Revival

Cozzene Stufida

Danehill

Danzig Razyana

Pivotal SIYOUNI b 07 Sichilla

Slipstream Queen Conquistador Cielo Country Queen Green Desert

Danzig Foreign Courier

Park Appeal

Ahonoora Balidaress

Kahyasi

Ile de Bourbon Kadissya

Raysiya

Cure The Blues Rilasa

Cape Cross RECAMBE b 05 Razana

There are some high-profile stallions with dams by Danzig’s outstanding stallion son Danehill, including Frankel, Teofilo and Siyouni. It is inevitable that they will be mated to plenty of mares by sons of Green Desert, Danzig’s other influential European stallion, and this type of pairing is already bearing fruit.

Teofilo’s Gr1-winning son Havana Gold, who ranks among 2017’s most successful new sires, is bred this way, and so are two of Frankel’s Listed winners.

Frankel also has the high-class Cracksman with a second dam by Green Desert, so is another inbred 4 x 4 to Danzig. Siyouni has also made his mark, siring the progressive Fillies’ Mile winner Laurens from a Cape Cross mare. His Gr3 winner Souvenir Delondres has Green Desert in the fourth generation of her pedigree.

The sizeable Laurens – also winner of the Gr2 May Hill Stakes – was the highest-priced filly at Goffs’ UK yearling sale, costing £220,000.

As might be expected, there are plenty of smart winners on her

catalogue page. Her dam Recambe, a winner at up to an extended mile and six furlongs in France, is a halfsister to Salford Mill, a Listed winner with a Timeform rating of 116 who went on to win the Hong Kong Derby as Helene Mascot.

Laurens’ third dam, the Cure The Blues mare Raysiya, was a winning half-sister to the Irish St Leger second Rayseka and to Rifada, dam of the Gr2 Prix Hocquart winner Rifapour. Raysiya has plenty of smart descendants, notably the Prix de l’Opera winner Kinnaird, the Irish 2,000 Guineas runner-up Shifting Power and the 2,000 Guineas third Ivawood, who won the Gr2 July Stakes and Gr2 Richmond Stakes as a two-year-old.

Trace the female line back a few generations and you come to Rose Ness, the Charlottesville mare who also ranks as the fourth dam of Daylami and Dalakhani 355 DARLEY DEWHURST STAKES G1 NEWMARKET. Oct 14. 2yoc&f. 7f.

1. U S NAVY FLAG (USA) 9-1 £283,550 b/br c by War Front - Misty For Me (Galileo) O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor B-Misty For Me Syndicate TR-Aidan O’Brien 2. Mendelssohn (USA) 9-1 £107,500 b c by Scat Daddy - Leslie’s Lady (Tricky Creek) O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor B-Clarkland Farm TR-Aidan O’Brien 3. Seahenge (USA) 9-1 £53,800 b c by Scat Daddy - Fools In Love (Not For Love) O-Mr M. Tabor, D. Smith & Mrs John Magnier B-K & G Stables TR-Aidan O’Brien Margins 2.5, 2.5. Time 1:22.30. Going Good.

Age 2

Starts 10

Wins 4

Places 5

Earned £479,698

Sire: WAR FRONT. Sire of 57 Stakes winners. In 2017 - AMERICAN PATRIOT Tiznow G1, AVENGE Woodman G1, ROLY POLY Galileo G1, U S NAVY FLAG Galileo G1, WAR FLAG Arch G1, CAMBODIA Smart Strike G2, SPIRIT OF VALOR Grindstone G2, HOMESMAN Red Ransom G3, LULL Tiznow G3, WAR CORRESPONDENT Rahy G3, WAR DECREE Street Cry G3.

1st Dam: MISTY FOR ME by Galileo. Champion 2yr old filly in Ireland and France in 2010, Champion 3yr old filly in Ireland in 2011. 5 wins at 2 and 3 at home, France, Etihad Airways Irish 1000 Guineas G1, Moyglare Stud S G1, Stobart Ireland Pretty Polly S G1, Total Prix Marcel Boussac G1, 3rd Coolmore Fusaichi Pegasus Matron S G1, Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup F&M Turf G1.

Own sister to BALLYDOYLE and TWIRL. Dam of 3 winners:

2013: 2014:

2015:

2016: 2017:

COVER SONG (f Fastnet Rock) 2 wins at 3 in USA, Autumn Miss S G3.

ROLY POLY (f War Front). 6 wins at 2 and 3 at home, France, Tattersalls Falmouth S G1, Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot S G1, Prix Rothschild G1, 2nd Connollys Red Mills Cheveley Park S G1, Coronation S G1, Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas G1.

U S NAVY FLAG (c War Front) 4 wins at 2, Darley Dewhurst S G1, Juddmonte Middle Park S G1, Plusvital Round Tower S G3, 2nd Arqana July S G2, 3rd Cold Move EBF Marble Hill S LR. (f War Front) (c War Front)

2nd Dam: Butterfly Cove by Storm Cat. unraced. Own sister to KAMARINSKAYA. Dam of MISTY FOR ME (f Galileo, see above), BALLYDOYLE (f Galileo: Total Prix Marcel Boussac G1, 2nd Moyglare Stud S G1, Qipco 1000 Guineas G1), TWIRL (f Galileo: Irish Stal.FarmsEBF Hurry Harriet S LR, 2nd Tattersalls Musidora S G3, Lodge Park EBF Park Express S G3) Broodmare Sire: GALILEO. Sire of the dams of 91 Stakes winners. In 2017 - BARNEY ROY Excelebration G1, HALL OF FAME Savabeel G1, ROLY POLY War Front G1, SAXON WARRIOR Deep Impact G1, U S NAVY FLAG War Front G1, ZHUKOVA Fastnet Rock G1.

The War Front/Galileo cross has produced: ROLY POLY

G1, U S NAVY FLAG G1, Fleet Review G1, Battle of Jericho LR, Leo Minor LR.

U S NAVY FLAG b/br c 2015 Danzig WAR FRONT b 02

Northern Dancer Nearctic Natalma Pas de Nom

Admiral’s Voyage Petitioner

Rubiano

Fappiano Ruby Slippers

Lara’s Star

Forli True Reality

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Urban Sea

Miswaki Allegretta

Storm Cat

Storm Bird Terlingua

Mr P’s Princess

Mr Prospector Anne Campbell

Starry Dreamer

Galileo MISTY FOR ME b 08 Butterfly Cove

See race 296 in the November issue 356 QIPCO BRIT. CHAMPIONS FILLIES/MARE STAKES G1 ASCOT. Oct 21. 3yo+f. 11f 110yds.

1. HYDRANGEA (IRE) 3 8-13 £355,855 b f by Galileo - Beauty Is Truth (Pivotal) O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor B-Beauty Is Truth Syndicate TR-Aidan O’Brien 2. Bateel (IRE) 5 9-5 £134,913 b m by Dubawi - Attractive Crown (Chief’s Crown) O-Al Asayl Bloodstock Ltd B-Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan TR-Francis-Henri Graffard 3. Coronet (GB) 3 8-13 £67,519 gr f by Dubawi - Approach (Darshaan) O-Denford Stud B-Denford Stud Ltd TR-John Gosden Margins 2, 1.75. Time 2:40.80. Going Soft.

Age 2-3

Starts 15

Wins 4

Places 8

Earned £940,377

Sire: GALILEO. Sire of 276 Stakes winners. In 2017 CAPRI Anabaa G1, CHURCHILL Storm Cat G1, CLEMMIE Storm Cat G1, DECORATED KNIGHT Storm Cat G1, FOUNDRY Dixieland Band G1, HAPPILY Storm Cat G1, HIGHLAND REEL Danehill G1, HYDRANGEA Pivotal G1, ORDER OF ST GEORGE Gone West G1, RHODODENDRON Pivotal G1, ULYSSES Kingmambo G1, WINTER Choisir G1.

1st Dam: BEAUTY IS TRUTH by Pivotal. 3 wins at 2 and 3 in France, Prix du Gros-Chene- Mitsubishi Motors G2.

Dam of 4 winners:

2009:

2010:

2011: 2012: 2013: 2014:

2015: 2016: 2017:

FIRE LILY (f Dansili). 4 wins at 2 and 3, Jebel Ali Anglesey S G3, Ballyogan S G3, P. P. O’Leary Mem. Phoenix Sprint S G3, 2nd Moyglare Stud S G1, Total Prix Marcel Boussac G1. Broodmare.

THE UNITED STATES (c Galileo) 7 wins to 2016 at home, Australia, Ranvet Rawson S G1, 2nd Longines Queen Elizabeth S G1, 3rd Ranvet Rawson S G1.

BUONARROTI (g Galileo) 3 wins at 2, 5 and 6.

Torrey Pines (c Galileo) Ring The Bell (f Galileo) ran once.

HYDRANGEA (f Galileo) 4 wins at 2 and 3, Qipco Brit.Champions Fillies/Mare S G1, Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron S G1, Ballylinch 1000 Guineas Trial S G3, 2nd Dubai Fillies’ Mile S G1, Moyglare Stud S G1, Prix de l’Opera Longines G1, Breast Cancer Research Debutante S G2, 3rd Coronation S G1, Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas G1.

Adelphi (c Galileo) unraced to date. (f Galileo) (f Galileo)

2nd Dam: ZELDING by Warning. 3 wins at 2 and 3 in France Prix du Bois G3, 3rd Prix du Gros-Chene G2, Prix Robert Papin (Omnium de 2 Ans) G2. Dam of BEAUTY IS TRUTH (f Pivotal, see above), GLORIOUS SIGHT (f Singspiel: Prix du Top 14 Orange Prix Finlande LR, 2nd Poule d’Essai des Pouliches G1, 3rd Prix de Diane Longines G1) Broodmare Sire: PIVOTAL. Sire of the dams of 71 Stakes winners. In 2017 - CRACKSMAN Frankel G1, HYDRANGEA Galileo G1, POLARISATION Echo of Light G1, PRECIEUSE Tamayuz G1, RHODODENDRON Galileo G1.

The Galileo/Pivotal cross has produced: HYDRANGEA G1, MAGICAL G1, RHODODENDRON G1, THE UNITED STATES G1, FLYING THE FLAG G2,

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CAULFIELD ON CRACKSMAN: “He was bred by Anthony Oppenheimer’s studs, as was Golden Horn. Producing two horses of this calibre in the space of three years is a spectacular achievement” GOSPEL CHOIR G2, ORDEROFTHEGARTER G3, SILVER GALAXY G3, Tamarind Cove G3.

HYDRANGEA b f 2014 Northern Dancer

Nearctic Natalma

Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Miswaki

Mr Prospector Hopespringseternal

Allegretta

Lombard Anatevka

Polar Falcon

Nureyev Marie d’Argonne

Fearless Revival

Cozzene Stufida

Warning

Known Fact Slightly Dangerous

Zelda

Caerleon Mill Princess

Sadler’s Wells GALILEO b 98 Urban Sea

Pivotal BEAUTY IS TRUTH b 04 Zelding

See race 285 in the November issue 357 QIPCO BRIT. CHAMPIONS SPRINT STAKES G1 ASCOT. Oct 21. 3yo+. 6f.

1. LIBRISA BREEZE (GB) 5 9-2 £340,260 gr g by Mount Nelson - Bruxcalina (Linamix) O-Mr Tony Bloom B-Newsells Park Stud Limited TR-Dean Ivory 2. Tasleet (GB) 4 9-2 £129,000 b c by Showcasing - Bird Key (Cadeaux Genereux) O-Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum B-Whitsbury Manor Stud TR-William Haggas 3. Caravaggio (USA) 3 9-1 £64,560 gr c by Scat Daddy - Mekko Hokte (Holy Bull) O-Mrs John Magnier,Mr M.Tabor & Mr D.Smith B-Windmill Manor Farms Inc & Petaluma Bloodstock TR-Aidan O’Brien Margins 1.25, 0.75. Time 1:16.70. Going Soft.

Age 3-5

Starts 16

Wins 6

Places 6

Earned £674,891

Sire: MOUNT NELSON. Sire of 20 Stakes winners. In 2017 - LIBRISA BREEZE Linamix G1, PURE NELSON Pure Prize G2, ISKRA Bartok LR. 1st Dam: Bruxcalina by Linamix. Winner at 3 in France, 3rd Prix de Liancourt LR. Dam of 2 winners:

2012:

2013: 2014: 2015: 2016:

LIBRISA BREEZE (g Mount Nelson) Sold 60,000gns yearling at TAOC2. 6 wins at 3 to 5, Qipco British Champions Sprint S G1, 2nd Betfred Hungerford S G2.

BELLE DAUPHINE (f Dalakhani) Winner at 3 in France.

Butterfly Lily (f Lawman) in training. (f Mount Nelson) (c Lawman)

2nd Dam: BRUSCA by Grindstone. 3 wins at 3 and 4 in USA. Dam of BARAAN (c Dalakhani: Prix La Force G3, 3rd Prix du Jockey Club G1), BRAMPOUR (g Daylami: 2nd Prix Michel Houyvet LR, Greatwood H. Hurdle G3, 3rd stanjames.com International Hurdle G2, Coral Ascot Hurdle G2, Osborne House Relkeel Hurdle G2), Bruxcalina (f Linamix, see above) Broodmare Sire: LINAMIX. Sire of the dams of 105 Stakes winners. In 2017 - LIBRISA BREEZE Mount Nelson G1, VAZIRABAD Manduro G1, FRANKUUS Frankel G3, GRAPHITE Shamardal G3, MUNTAHAA Dansili G3.

LIBRISA BREEZE gr g 2012 Danehill

Danzig Razyana

Offshore Boom

Be My Guest Push A Button

Selkirk

Sharpen Up Annie Edge

Yukon Hope

Forty Niner Sahara Forest

Mendez

Bellypha Miss Carina

Lunadix

Breton Lutine

Grindstone

Unbridled Buzz My Bell

Chic Corine

Nureyev Chic Shirine

Rock of Gibraltar MOUNT NELSON b 04 Independence

Linamix BRUXCALINA gr 04 Brusca

Roughly 35 minutes after Mount Nelson’s son Mount Moriah had finished a very creditable fourth in the British Champions Long Distance Cup, the British Champions Sprint fell to Librisa Breeze, another son of

the former Newsells Park stallion.

Mount Nelson, winner of the 2008 Eclipse Stakes, is now based at the National Hunt-oriented Boardsmill Stud.

In other words, Librisa Breeze doesn’t have an obvious pedigree for a Gr1 six-furlong winner, especially when it is pointed out that the gelding had gained his first success in a mile-and-a-quarter maiden race as a three-year-old. Librisa Breeze’s next two wins were gained at around a mile but it wasn’t until he dropped to seven furlongs that he enjoyed some big paydays in a pair of heritage handicaps at Ascot in 2016.

His Champions Sprint success came on only his third attempt at six furlongs, and he surely benefited from the soft ground, which made it more of a test of stamina.

Remarkably, the five-year-old Librisa Breeze hadn’t qualified for black type prior to his Ascot success. His yearling half-brother by Lawman had realised only 25,000gns ten days earlier. Their dam, the Linamix mare Bruxcalina, was a Listed-placed middle-distance winner in France, where her halfbrother Baraan won the Gr3 Prix La Force before finishing third in the Gr1 Prix du Jockey-Club over an extended mile and a quarter.

Librisa Breeze’s third dam Chic Corine never raced but she had a terrific pedigree. Sired by Nureyev from Chic Shirine, a Gr1-winning Mr Prospector mare, Chic Corine was also a great-granddaughter of the Oaks winner Monade.

Chic Corine’s finest achievement as a broodmare was to produce Somali Lemonade, a Gr1 winner over nine furlongs. All of which excuses Librisa Breeze’s first trainer, Jeremy Noseda, for not suspecting that Librisa Breeze was a Gr1-winning sprinter in the making.

358 QIPCO CHAMPION STAKES G1 ASCOT. Oct 21. 3yo+. 9f 110yds.

1. CRACKSMAN (GB) 3 9-1 £737,230 b c by Frankel - Rhadegunda (Pivotal) O-Mr A. E. Oppenheimer B-Hascombe & Valiant Stud Ltd TR-John Gosden 2. Poet’s Word (IRE) 4 9-5 £279,500 b c by Poet’s Voice - Whirly Bird (Nashwan) O-Mr Saeed Suhail B-Woodcote Stud Ltd TR-Sir Michael Stoute 3. Highland Reel (IRE) 5 9-5 £139,880 b h by Galileo - Hveger (Danehill) O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor B-Hveger Syndicate TR-Aidan O’Brien Margins 7, Neck. Time 2:11.70. Going Soft.

Age 2-3

Starts 7

Wins 5

Places Earned 2 £1,353,003

Sire: FRANKEL. Sire of 20 Stakes winners. In 2017 CRACKSMAN Pivotal G1, SOUL STIRRING Monsun G1, EMINENT Kingmambo G2, FINCHE Woodman G2, ROSTROPOVICH Machiavellian G2, CUNCO Danehill Dancer G3, ELARQAM Efisio G3, FRANKUUS Linamix G3, LADY FRANKEL Vettori G3, LAST KINGDOM Kingmambo G3, MONARCHS GLEN Lear Fan G3, NELSON Dalakhani G3.

1st Dam: RHADEGUNDA by Pivotal. 3 wins at 3 at home, France, Prix Solitude LR. Dam of 3 winners:

2010: 2011: 2012:

FANTASTIC MOON (c Dalakhani) 2 wins at 2, Candy Kittens Solario S G3.

Saxon Princess (f Dalakhani) ran a few times. Broodmare. (c Montjeu)

2013: 2014:

2015:

STRONG FORCE (g Sea The Stars) Winner at 3.

CRACKSMAN (c Frankel) 5 wins at 2 and 3 at home, France, Qipco Champion S G1, Betway Great Voltigeur S G2, Qatar Prix Niel G2, 2nd Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby G1, 3rd Investec Derby S G1.

Military Band (c New Approach) unraced to date.

2nd Dam: ST RADEGUND by Green Desert. 1 win at 3.

Dam of RHADEGUNDA (f Pivotal, see above), Halla San (g Halling: 3rd Totepool Further Flight S LR, Stowe Family Law LLP Grand Cup LR) Broodmare Sire: PIVOTAL. Sire of the dams of 71 Stakes winners. In 2017 - CRACKSMAN Frankel G1, HYDRANGEA Galileo G1, POLARISATION Echo of Light G1, PRECIEUSE Tamayuz G1, RHODODENDRON Galileo G1.

The Frankel/Pivotal cross has produced: CRACKSMAN G1, Seven Heavens LR.

CRACKSMAN b c 2014 Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Urban Sea

Miswaki Allegretta

Danehill

Danzig Razyana

Rainbow Lake

Rainbow Quest Rockfest

Polar Falcon

Nureyev Marie d’Argonne

Fearless Revival

Cozzene Stufida

Green Desert

Danzig Foreign Courier

On The House

Be My Guest Lora

Galileo FRANKEL b 08 Kind

Pivotal RHADEGUNDA b 05 St Radegund

In the seven years that the Champion Stakes has been contested at Ascot it has fallen to Frankel, to Frankel’s brother Noble Mission and now to Frankel’s son Cracksman. In powering seven lengths clear of Poet’s Word and Highland Reel, Cracksman established himself as Britain’s top middle-distance colt and also as the best of the remarkable total of 13 Group winners from Frankel’s first crop of 111 northern hemisphere foals.

Frankel has eight foals out of Pivotal mares in his first two crops.

Six have raced and they include Cracksman, the useful Seven Heavens and the very promising two-year-old Veracious. This bright start is mirroring the excellent results that his sire Galileo has enjoyed with daughters of the Cheveley Park veteran. Thirteen of Pivotal’s daughters have produced 29 foals to Galileo and no fewer than seven (24%) have become Group winners.

Five of those Group winners are the produce of just two mares, Beauty Is Truth (dam of Hydrangea and The United States) and Halfway To Heaven (Rhododendron, Magical and Flying The Flag).

Both those mares were Group winners but the career of Cracksman’s dam Rhadegunda peaked at Listed level, when she won the Prix Solitude over nine furlongs.

Trained by John Gosden, Rhadegunda made only one start as a juvenile but became a triple winner at three. Rhadegunda’s best previous effort was Fantastic Moon, whose win in the Gr3 Solario Stakes made him the only Dalakhani to win a Group race at two.

Cracksman was bred by Anthony Oppenheimer’s Hascombe and

Valiant Studs, as was Oppenheimer’s 2015 Horse of the Year Golden Horn. Producing two horses of this calibre in the space of three years is a spectacular achievement, especially when Oppenheimer’s operation has a comparatively small number of mares.

These two top-class colts stem from the same female line, both having the Lorenzaccio mare Lora as their fourth dam. Lora’s first foal Loralane, a winning daughter of Habitat, is the third dam of Golden Hind, while her second foal, the 1,000 Guineas and Sussex Stakes winner On The House, is the third dam of Cracksman.

Cracksman is the best winner produced by the On The House branch of the family, but this female line had been producing top-notch winners for a very long time, his ninth dam being the legendary Mumtaz Mahal.

Mumtaz Mahal and Cracksman are connected by Mumtaz Begum (dam of champion sire Nasrullah), Sun Princess (dam of top sire Royal Charger), Tessa Gillian (runner-up in the 1,000 Guineas), Courtessa (dam of the King’s Stand winner D’Urberville), Lora and On The House, with the last two links being the Green Desert mare St Radegund and Rhadegunda. Lora was sired by Klairon’s son Lorenzaccio from Courtessa, which made her a three-parts-sister to Klairessa, the Klairon mare who produced the brilliant sprinter Habibti.

359 QIPCO QUEEN ELIZABETH II STAKES G1 ASCOT. Oct 21. 3yo+. 8f.

1. PERSUASIVE (IRE) 4 9-1 £623,810 gr f by Dark Angel - Choose Me (Choisir) O-Cheveley Park Stud B-Mr J. Tuthill TR-John Gosden 2. Ribchester (IRE) 4 9-4 £236,500 b c by Iffraaj - Mujarah (Marju) O-Godolphin B-A. Thompson & M. O’Brien TR-Richard Fahey 3. Churchill (IRE) 3 9-1 £118,360 b c by Galileo - Meow (Storm Cat) O-Mr M. Tabor, D. Smith & Mrs John Magnier B-Liberty Bloodstock TR-Aidan O’Brien Margins 1, 0.5. Time 1:46.10. Going Soft.

Age 2-4

Starts 10

Wins 6

Places 3

Earned £866,052

Sire: DARK ANGEL. Sire of 43 Stakes winners. In 2017 - BATTAASH Lawman G1, HARRY ANGEL Cadeaux Genereux G1, PERSUASIVE Choisir G1, HUNT Vettori G2, JULIET CAPULET Camacho G2, SOVEREIGN DEBT Most Welcome G2, REALTRA Dr Devious G3, REHANA Selkirk G3, STAGE MAGIC Authorized G3, DARK LIBERTY Exceed And Excel LR, DARKANNA Mujadil LR, KHAFOO SHEMEMI Peintre Celebre LR, MARKAZI Barathea LR, MELESINA Haafhd LR, TIP TWO WIN More Than Ready LR. 1st Dam: CHOOSE ME by Choisir. 4 wins at 2 and 3, IrishStall.Farms EBF Fairy Bridge S LR, 2nd D. C. Lavarack & Lanwades Stud S G3, 3rd www.thetote.com Blandford S G2. Dam of 3 winners:

2012: 2013:

2014:

AMAZOUR (g Azamour) 5 wins at 3 to 5.

PERSUASIVE (f Dark Angel) Sold 142,857gns yearling at GOOY1. 6 wins at 2 to 4, Qipco Queen Elizabeth II S G1, Red Rock Entertainment Atalanta S G3, Sandringham H LR, 2nd Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot S G1, Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron S G1, 3rd Coolmore Fastnet Rock Matron S G1.

TISBUTADREAM (f Dream Ahead) 5 wins at 3, Coral Distaff LR, 2nd Prix de Lieurey G3.

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Data Book European Pattern 2015: 2016:

Improve (f Iffraaj) unraced to date. (c Slade Power)

2nd Dam: HECUBA by Hector Protector. 1 win at 3.

Dam of CHOOSE ME (f Choisir, see above), SHANGHAI GLORY (g Exceed And Excel: E.H. Travel Waterford Testimonial S LR) Broodmare Sire: CHOISIR. Sire of the dams of 12 Stakes winners. In 2017 - PERSUASIVE Dark Angel G1, WINTER Galileo G1, BRAZUCA Teofilo G2, ECKSTEIN I Am Invincible G3, SEANNIE Sebring LR, TISBUTADREAM Dream Ahead LR.

PERSUASIVE gr f 2013 Royal Applause

Waajib Flying Melody

Princess Athena

Ahonoora Shopping Wise

Machiavellian

Mr Prospector Coup de Folie

Night At Sea

Night Shift Into Harbour

Acclamation DARK ANGEL gr 05 Midnight Angel Danehill Dancer Choisir Great Selection CHOOSE ME ch 06

Hector Protector

Hecuba Ajuga

Danehill Mira Adonde Lunchtime Pensive Mood Woodman Korveya The Minstrel Cairn Rouge

Deciding which fillies to sell and which to retain can be difficult for the big breeding operations that need to keep numbers in check. Back in 2003, Juddmonte consigned Hecuba to the December Sales, where she made 27,000gns. The decision not to retain her surely reflected the fact that she is a daughter of Hector Protector, who sired only one Gr1 winner in Europe (that fine mare Shiva). Hecuba also came from a family that was well represented in the Juddmonte studbook at the time.

Crucially, the three-year-old had also fallen below stakes class, finishing no closer than fifth in three stabs at Listed company. In the last of them, she started at 100-1 at Yarmouth.

Juddmonte’s loss proved to be the Owenstown Stud’s gain. She has produced two Listed winners to speedy members of the Danehill sire line – the six-furlong winner Shanghai Glory to Exceed And Excel and the versatile Choose Me to Choisir. Choose Me won from six furlongs to a mile and a quarter and even went close to winning a Listed race over a distance not far short of a mile and a half.

This veteran of 28 races over three seasons is now excelling as a broodmare for Owenstown’s John Tuthill. Her 2014 Dream Ahead filly Tisbutadream sold for £400,000 at the 2017 Goffs London sale, having already won four times, and she has since become a Group-placed Listed winner. But it has been Choose Me’s 2013 Dark Angel filly Persuasive who has elevated the family to new heights. Bought by Cheveley Park Stud as a yearling, Persuasive won her first five starts, including the Gr3 Atalanta Stakes.

She has since performed consistently at Gr1 level and gained a well-deserved success in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.

Persuasive’s fourth dam, Cairn Rouge, won the Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Champion Stakes.

360 PRIX ROYAL-OAK G1 SAINT-CLOUD. Oct 22. 3yo+. 3100m.

1. ICE BREEZE (GB) 3 8-10 £170,932 b c by Nayef - Winter Silence (Dansili) O-K Abdullah B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd TR-P Bary 2. Vazirabad (FR) 5 9-4 £68,385 b g by Manduro - Visorama (Linamix) O-H.H. Aga Khan B-Haras De Son Altesse L’Aga Khan Scea TR-A. de Royer Dupre 3. Holdthasigreen (FR) 5 9-4 £34,192 ch g by Hold That Tiger - Greentathir (Muhtathir) O-Claude Le Lay B-J Gilbert & C Le Lay TR-C Le Lay Margins 1.25, 2. Time 3:25.40. Going Good to Soft.

Age 3

Starts 8

Wins 4

Places 4

Earned £398,419

Sire: NAYEF. Sire of 28 Stakes winners. In 2017 - ICE BREEZE Dansili G1, MUSA D’ORIENTE Mujahid LR, SNOANO Pivotal LR. 1st Dam: Winter Silence by Dansili. 2 wins at 3 in France, 3rd Prix des Tourelles LR. Dam of 4 winners:

2007: 2008: 2009: 2011: 2012: 2013: 2014:

2015: 2016: 2017:

Silent Eyes (f Montjeu) unraced. Broodmare.

Icy Quiet (f Shirocco). Broodmare.

EXHORTATION (g Zamindar) 2 wins.

SNOW SKY (c Nayef) 5 wins at 2 to 4, Hardwicke S G2, Betway Yorkshire Cup G2, 3rd Ladbrokes St Leger S G1.

CLARIDEN (c Zamindar) Winner at 3 in France.

Zacharo (g Zamindar) unraced.

ICE BREEZE (c Nayef) 4 wins at 3 in France, Prix Royal-Oak G1, Qatar Prix Chaudenay G2, Prix Hocquart Longines G2, 2nd Prix du Lys G3.

Air Frost (c Iffraaj) unraced to date. (f Kingman) (c Nayef)

2nd Dam: Hunt The Sun by Rainbow Quest. Own sister to SUNSHACK, RAINTRAP and Summer Breeze.

Dam of METEOR STORM (c Bigstone: Manhattan H G1, 2nd Pattison Canadian International S G1, Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S G1, 3rd Hollywood Turf Cup S G1), POLISH SUMMER (c Polish Precedent: The Palm Dubai Sheema Classic G1, 2nd Grand Prix de SaintCloud G1 (twice), Hong Kong Vase G1), HOST NATION (g Grand Lodge: Prix de Barbeville G3), MORNING ECLIPSE (c Zafonic: Prix de Boulogne LR), Winter Solstice (f Unfuwain: 2nd Prix d’Aumale G3), Winter Silence (f Dansili, see above). Grandam of ICE BLUE, Market Share. Third dam of WINSILI, BACKCOUNTRY. Broodmare Sire: DANSILI. Sire of the dams of 32 Stakes winners. In 2017 - CAPLA TEMPTRESS Lope de Vega G1, ICE BREEZE Nayef G1, NEZWAAH Dubawi G1, EXPERT EYE Acclamation G2, SON CESIO Zafeen G2, UNI More Than Ready G2.

The Nayef/Dansili cross has produced: ICE BREEZE G1, SNOW SKY G1.

ICE BREEZE b c 2014 Mr Prospector

Raise A Native Gold Digger

Jameela

Rambunctious Asbury Mary

Bustino

Busted Ship Yard

Highclere

Queen’s Hussar Highlight

Danehill

Danzig Razyana

Hasili

Kahyasi Kerali

Rainbow Quest

Blushing Groom I Will Follow

Suntrap

Roberto Sunny Bay

Gulch NAYEF b 98 Height of Fashion

Dansili WINTER SILENCE b 02 Hunt The Sun

The Gr1 Prix Royal-Oak’s proximity to the Gr2 British Champions Long Distance Cup (not to mention the Melbourne Cup) can’t be helpful, especially when the English race was worth nearly £100,000 more.

However, the French race still attracted France’s top stayer Vazirabad and a progressive three-year-old in Ice Breeze. For a moment it looked as though

Vazirabad was going to record his third Royal-Oak victory but Ice Breeze rallied well to score by more than a length.

Ice Breeze’s efforts over a mile and a half included a victory in the Gr2 Prix Hocquart and a fourth in the Grand Prix de Paris, but he looks to be more effective when given a stiffer test of stamina. On his only previous start beyond a mile and a half he had won the Gr2 Prix Chaudenay.

It is no surprise that Ice Breeze has plenty of stamina and plenty of talent.

His older brother Snow Sky gained Gr2 successes in the Hardwicke Stakes and Yorkshire Cup and was also third in the St Leger. Juddmonte now has three Group winners from 17 foals of racing age by Nayef.

Appropriately Ice Breeze’s second dam Hunt The Sun was a sister to Raintrap and Sunshack, winners of the Prix Royal-Oak in 1993 and 1995 respectively. Their sister Summer Breeze was also of Group standard and became the dam of the Derby fourth Doctor Fremantle. Hunt The Sun failed to win in four attempts but developed into a highly effective broodmare. Her first foal, Polish Summer, collected a very valuable prize in the Gr1 Dubai Sheema Classic and her third foal, Meteor Storm, landed the Gr1 Manhattan Handicap in the US. Her third Group winner, Host Nation, won the Prix de Barbeville over the same distance as the Royal-Oak. Hunt The Son’s granddaughter Winter Sunrise produced the Gr1 Nassau Stakes winner Winsili.

361 RACING POST TROPHY STAKES G1 DONCASTER. Oct 28. 2yoc&f. 8f.

1. SAXON WARRIOR (JPN) 9-1 £122,210 b c by Deep Impact - Maybe (Galileo) O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt TR-Aidan O’Brien 2. Roaring Lion (USA) 9-1 £46,333 gr/ro c by Kitten’s Joy - Vionnet (Street Sense) O-Qatar Racing Limited B-RanJan Racing Inc TR-John Gosden 3. The Pentagon (IRE) 9-1 £23,188 b c by Galileo - Vadawina (Unfuwain) O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor B-Barronstown Stud TR-Aidan O’Brien Margins Neck, 2.5. Time 1:40.10. Going Good to Soft.

Age 2

Starts 3

Wins 3

Places 0

Earned £191,937

Sire: DEEP IMPACT. Sire of 104 Stakes winners. In 2017 - AL AIN Essence of Dubai G1, SATONO ALADDIN Storm Cat G1, SAXON WARRIOR Galileo G1, TOSEN STARDOM End Sweep G1, VIVLOS Machiavellian G1, ADMIRABLE Symboli Kris S G2, CADENAS French Deputy G2, MIKKI QUEEN Gold Away G2, REAL STEEL Storm Cat G2, SATONO DIAMOND Orpen G2, SMART LAYER White Muzzle G2, SUNGRAZER Deputy Minister G2.

1st Dam: MAYBE by Galileo. Champion 2yr old filly in Europe in 2011. 5 wins at 2, Moyglare Stud S G1, 3rd Qipco 1000 Guineas G1. Own sister to PROMISE TO BE TRUE. Dam of 2 winners:

2014: 2015: 2017:

Pavlenko (f Deep Impact) Winner at 3, 3rd Platinum S LR. SAXON WARRIOR (c Deep Impact) 3 wins at 2, Racing Post Trophy S G1, Juddmonte Beresford S G2. (c American Pharoah)

2nd Dam: SUMORA by Danehill. 2 wins at 2 stan-

jamesuk.com St Hugh’s S LR. Dam of MAYBE (f Galileo, see above), PROMISE TO BE TRUE (f Galileo: Turkey Jockey Club Silver Flash S G3, 2nd Total Prix Marcel Boussac G1, 3rd Criterium International G1) Broodmare Sire: GALILEO. Sire of the dams of 91 Stakes winners. In 2017 - BARNEY ROY Excelebration G1, HALL OF FAME Savabeel G1, ROLY POLY War Front G1, SAXON WARRIOR Deep Impact G1, U S NAVY FLAG War Front G1, ZHUKOVA Fastnet Rock G1.

The Deep Impact/Galileo cross has produced: SAXON WARRIOR G1, VANQUISH RUN G2, Pavlenko LR.

SAXON WARRIOR b c 2015 Halo

Hail To Reason Cosmah

Wishing Well

Understanding Mountain Flower

Alzao

Lyphard Lady Rebecca

Burghclere

Busted Highclere

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Urban Sea

Miswaki Allegretta

Danehill

Danzig Razyana

Rain Flower

Indian Ridge Rose of Jericho

Sunday Silence DEEP IMPACT b 02 Wind In Her Hair

Galileo MAYBE b 09 Sumora

Deep Impact appears to be on his way to his sixth consecutive sires’ championship, so he could justifiably be described as Japan’s answer to Galileo. Now the two are beginning to come together, with Coolmore seeking him out as a leading option for a few of their burgeoning number of Galileo mares. The Shadai stallion has two foals out of Galileo’s champion juvenile filly Maybe. The first, Pavlenko, proved disappointing, although she has been Listed placed, but the second, Saxon Warrior, ranks among the year’s best two-year-olds, having won all three of his starts, including the Gr2 Beresford Stakes and the Gr1 Racing Post Trophy.

Saxon Warrior is one of nine foals of racing age sired by Deep Impact from Galileo mares, this partnership’s other stakes winner being Vanquish Run, a Gr2 winner over a mile and a half in Japan. It will be interesting to see if Saxon Warrior will stay a mile and a half.

He certainly shapes like a stayer, even though Maybe was at her most effective as a two-year-old. In an unbeaten juvenile campaign, Maybe followed up her Chesham Stakes success with three Group wins, culminating in the Gr1 Moyglare Stud Stakes. Fifth behind her 20-1 stablemate Was in the Oaks, Maybe was then dropped back to a mile but failed to reproduce her juvenile form.

Her sister Promise To Be True ran only once at three after being placed in both the Gr1 Prix Marcel Boussac and Gr1 Criterium International at two. Another sister, the two-year-old winner Fluff, was among the Galileo mares which visited Deep Impact in 2017.

Sumora, the dam of these Galileo fillies, is by Danehill, the broodmare sire of 11 other Gr1 winners by Galileo, including Frankel, Teofilo and Intello. Sumora herself is closely related to the Oaks and German Oaks winner Dancing Rain, who was sired by Danehill Dancer from her

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Data Book

CAULFIELD ON SAXON WARRIOR:

“He is one of nine foals of racing age sired by Deep Impact from Galileo mares. It will be interesting to see if he will stay a mile and a half. He certainly shapes like a stayer” dam Rain Goddess. Sumora was a hard-pulling type at two, when she earned a Timeform rating of 105 over five furlongs, and she then raised her rating to 109 at three, racing mainly at up to six furlongs. Sumora’s speed was in line with her pedigree, as this daughter of Danehill is out of a mare by the high-class sprinter Indian Ridge, himself a son of the very fast Ahonoora. However, Maybe’s second dam, the unraced Rain Flower, was a three-parts-sister to Ahonoora’s Derby-winning son Dr Devious.

Saxon Warrior’s fourth dam, the unraced Alleged mare Rose Of Jericho, enjoyed considerable success as a broodmare, producing the speedy Archway and the Japanese Gr1 winner Shinko King in addition to Dr Devious. The next dam Rose Red was a half-sister, by Northern Dancer, to the high-class middle-distance horse Critique and to the successful broodmare Cambretta (second dam of the top miler Markofdistinction).

362 PREMIO LYDIA TESIO G1 ROME. Oct 29. 3yo+f. 2000m.

1. LAGANORE (IRE) 5 9-1 b m by Fastnet Rock - Lady Bones (Royal Applause) O-Newtown Anner Stud Farm B-Newtown Anner Stud Farm Ltd TR-A. J. Martin 2. A Raving Beauty (GER) 4 9-1 b f by Mastercraftsman - Anabasis (High Chaparral) O-Gestut Karlshof B-Gestut Karlshof TR-Andreas Suborics

3. Absolute Blast (IRE) 5 9-1 b m by Kodiac - Perfect Fun (Marju) O-Mr K. Sohi B-Mrs O. M. E. McKeever TR-Archie Watson Margins 2, 5. Time 1:58.87. Going Good.

Broodmare Sire: ROYAL APPLAUSE. Sire of the dams of 18 Stakes winners. In 2017 - LAGANORE Fastnet Rock G1, ANNA PAVLOVA St Petersburg G3, BLUE POINT Shamardal G3, STEEL OF MADRID Lope de Vega G3, ROYAL BIRTH Exceed And Excel LR.

Age 3-5

LAGANORE b m 2012

Starts 21

Wins 7

Places 9

Earned £289,364

Sire: FASTNET ROCK. Sire of 123 Stakes winners.

In 2017 - CATCHY Fusaichi Pegasus G1, LAGANORE Royal Applause G1, ZHUKOVA Galileo G1, DEPLOY Red Ransom G2, FORMALITY Jolie’s Halo G2, SHOALS Hussonet G2, SOMEHOW Sadler’s Wells G2, COMIN’ THROUGH Bite The Bullet G3, DAWN WALL Entrepreneur G3, DIAMOND FIELDS Shamardal G3, FAS Dutch Art G3, ILITSHE Sadler’s Wells G3, MELAGRANA Secret Savings G3, MERCHANT NAVY Snippets G3, OUT AND ABOUT Galileo G3, TORCEDOR Sadler’s Wells G3, TURRET ROCKS Galileo G3.

1st Dam: Lady Bones by Royal Applause. unraced. Dam of 1 winner:

2011: 2012:

2013: 2015: 2016: 2017:

Oighear Fuar (c Verglas) ran.

LAGANORE (f Fastnet Rock) 7 wins at 3 to 5 at home, Italy, Premio Lydia Tesio G1, D. C. Lavarack & Lanwades Stud S G3, Dubai Business Internships Pride S LR, 2nd D. C. Lavarack & Lanwades Stud S G3, Irish Stallion Farm EBF Blue Wind S G3, TRI Equestrian Silver S LR, 3rd Premio Lydia Tesio G1, Kilboy Estate S G2, ISF EBF Victor McCalmont Memorial S LR. Lady’s Wish (f Rock of Gibraltar) ran 3 times. (f Iffraaj) (c Holy Roman Emperor) (f Fastnet Rock)

2nd Dam: Leukippids by Sadler’s Wells. unraced.

Dam of BLAZING SPEED (g Dylan Thomas: Standard Chartered Chpns. & Chater Cup G1, Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup G1, 2nd The Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup G1, Standard Chartered Chpns. & Chater Cup G1, 3rd The Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup G1, Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup G1, Longines Hong Kong Cup G1)

Danzig

Northern Dancer Pas de Nom

Razyana

His Majesty Spring Adieu

Royal Academy

Nijinsky Crimson Saint

Gatana

Marauding Twigalae

Waajib

Try My Best Coryana

Flying Melody

Auction Ring Whispering Star

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Teslemi

Ogygian Martha Queen

Danehill FASTNET ROCK b 01 Piccadilly Circus

Royal Applause LADY BONES b 06 Leukippids

now-five-year-old winning a Gr3 in Ireland before returning to Rome to win the Premio Lydia Tesio.

Laganore’s sire Fastnet Rock is a son of Danehill and so is Dylan Thomas, who sired the Hong Kong champion Blazing Speed from Laganore’s second dam Leukippids.

In fact Laganore’s family owes quite a debt to the Danehill male line. Her third dam, the Ogygian mare Teslemi, produced her first foal to Danehill himself. Named Johan Cruyff, he won the Gr3 Beresford Stakes in 1996 and trained on to win the Gr2 Gallinule Stakes and to finish fourth in the Irish Derby. Understandably, Teslemi made several return visits to Danehill, producing Alstemeria, who finished fourth in the Irish 1,000 Guineas, and Spartacus, who completed a Gr1 double as a juvenile by winning the Phoenix Stakes and the Gran Criterium. This family has another 2017 stakes winner in Galileo’s son Orderofthegarter (Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial).

Laganore is part of a strong team of fillies representing Fastnet Rock in Europe in 2017, others being Somehow (Gr2 Dahlia Stakes), Alluring (third in the Oaks), Diamond Fields (Gr3 Gladness Stakes), Entsar, Naughty Or Nice, One Master, Turret Rocks (Gr3 Blue Wind Stakes) and Zhukova (Gr1 Man o’War Stakes).

Unraced at two, Laganore raced six times as a three-year-old, winning a six-furlong maiden at Naas and a handicap over a mile at Leopardstown. Many owners would have retired her at that stage, thinking she had done enough, but Laganore’s connections knew better.

The daughter of Fastnet Rock continued to progress when upped in distance as a four-year-old, to the extent that she was winning her third race of the season when she scored at Listed level at Newmarket. She even earned a Gr1 placing when third in the Premio Lydia Tesio. Her career has continued on an upward curve in 2017, with the

Group 2 & 3 Races Date

Grade Race (course)

03/10

G3

pferdewetten.de 27 P. Deutschen Einheit (Berlin-Hoppegarten)

04/10

G3

Prix Thomas Bryon (Saint-Cloud)

07/10

G3

Gigaset Cumberland Lodge Stakes (Ascot)

07/10

G3

John Guest Bengough Stakes (Ascot)

07/10

G3

Prix de Conde (Chantilly)

10/10

G3

P. Andre Baboin Grand Prix des Provinces (Bordeaux Le Bouscat)

13/10

G2

Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte (Maisons-Laffitte)

13/10

G2

Godolphin Challenge Stakes (Newmarket)

13/10

G3

Godolphin Cornwallis Stakes (Newmarket)

Dist 10f 7f 11.5f 6f 9f

Horse

Age

Sex

Sire

Dam

Broodmare Sire

Matchwinner (GER)

6

H

Sternkoenig

Mahamuni

Sadler’s Wells

Index 363

Sacred Life (FR)

2

C

Siyouni

Knyazhna

Montjeu

364

Danehill Kodiac (IRE)

4

C

Kodiac

Meadow

Green Desert

365

Blue Point (IRE)

3

C

Shamardal

Scarlett Rose

Royal Applause

366

Luminate (IRE)

2

F

Lawman

Kalandara

Rainbow Quest

367

Zafiro (FR)

5

H

Sageburg

La Romagne

Art Francais

368

6f

Fighting Irish (IRE)

2

C

Camelot

Quixotic

Pivotal

369

7f

Limato (IRE)

5

G

Tagula

Come April

Singspiel

370

5f

Abel Handy (IRE)

2

C

Arcano

Belle Isle

Pastoral Pursuits

371

9.5f

13/10

G3

Godolphin Oh So Sharp Stakes (Newmarket)

7f

Altyn Orda (IRE)

2

F

Kyllachy

Albanka

Giant’s Causeway

372

14/10

G3

Darley Club Stakes (Newmarket)

9f

Monarchs Glen (GB)

3

G

Frankel

Mirabilis

Lear Fan

373

14/10

G3

Godolphin Autumn Stakes (Newmarket)

15/10

G2

Prix du Conseil de Paris (Chantilly)

8f

Ghaiyyath (IRE)

2

C

Dubawi

Nightime

Galileo

374

12f

Traffic Jam (IRE)

4

F

Duke of Marmalade

Place de L’Etoile

Sadler’s Wells

375

15/10

G3

Preis des Winterfavoriten (Cologne)

8f

Erasmus (GER)

2

C

Reliable Man

Enora

Noverre

376

15/10

G3

Premio Dormello (Milan)

8f

Sweet Gentle Kiss (IRE)

2

F

Henrythenavigator

Cronsa

Martino Alonso

377

Distain (GB)

5

M

Champs Elysees

Market Forces

Lomitas

378

Anda Muchacho (IRE)

3

C

Helmet

Montefino

Shamardal

379 380

15/10

G3

Premio Verziere - Memorial Aldo Cirla (Milan)

15/10

G3

Premio del Piazzale - Memorial E Camici (Milan)

10f

18/10

G3

Prix des Reservoirs-Etalon Kendargent (Deauville)

21/10

G2

Qipco Brit. Champions Long Distance Cup (Ascot)

22/10

G2

Gran Premio del Jockey Club (Milan)

12f

9f 8f 15.5f

With You (GB)

2

F

Dansili

In Clover

Inchinor

Order Of St George (IRE)

5

H

Galileo

Another Storm

Gone West

381

Full Drago (ITY)

4

C

Pounced

Almata

Almutawakel

382

22/10

G2

Premio Gran Criterium (Milan)

7.5f

Royal Youmzain (FR)

2

C

Youmzain

Spasha

Shamardal

383

22/10

G3

Baden Wurttemberg Trophy - Defi du Galop (Baden-Baden)

10f

Navaro Girl (IRE)

3

F

Holy Roman Emperor

Neele

Peintre Celebre

384

22/10

G3

Ittlingen Preis der Winterkonigin (Baden-Baden)

8f

Rock My Love (GER)

2

F

Holy Roman Emperor

Rondinay

Cadeaux Genereux

385

22/10

G3

Killavullan Stakes (Leopardstown)

7f

Kenya (IRE)

2

C

Galileo

Tender Morn

Dayjur

386

22/10

G3

Prix de Flore (Saint-Cloud)

28/10

G3

thetote.com Eyrefield Stakes (Leopardstown)

10.5f

Intimation (GB)

5

M

Dubawi

Infallible

Pivotal

387

9f

Flag Of Honour (IRE)

2

C

Galileo

Hawala

Warning

388

14f

Trip To Rhodos (FR)

8

G

Rail Link

Tropical Mark

Mark Of Esteem

389

Nebo (IRE)

2

C

Kodiac

Kindling

Dr Fong

390

28/10

G3

Premio St Leger Italiano (Milan)

28/10

G3

Bathwick Tyres Horris Hill Stakes (Newbury)

7f

28/10

G3

Worthington’s St Simon Stakes (Newbury)

12f

Best Solution (IRE)

3

C

Kodiac

Al Andalyya

Kingmambo

391

29/10

G3

GP.Mehl-Mulhens-Stiftung Herbst Preis (Hannover)

11f

Ostana (GER)

4

F

Contat

Oviva

Lomitas

392

29/10

G3

Premio Carlo e Francesco Aloisi (Rome)

6f

My Lea (IRE)

3

F

Dandy Man

Luvmedo

One Cool Cat

393

29/10

G3

Premio Ribot Memorial Loreto Luciani (Rome)

8f

Time To Choose (GB)

4

C

Manduro

Penfection

Orpen

394

134 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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23/11/2017 17:57

24 hours with... NICK RUST From running British racing to helping his wife at home, the BHA’s Chief Executive Nick Rust is a man on a mission from the moment his alarm clock calls Interview: Tim Richards

I

set the alarm for 4.55am when I am travelling to London, which is normally four or five days a week. The moment I wake I look at my iPad, leap under the shower, into the car and I’m walking onto platform three at York station in time to catch the six o’clock to King’s Cross.

The train journey, 1hr 50min, is my most productive time, particularly when I am preparing for a presentation or I need to think through a difficult issue.

The Virgin East Coast team look after me well, providing my breakfast of porridge and banana with maple syrup. Normally I walk the 20 minutes to the office at High Holborn and am at my desk by 8.30am.

My wife Margarita, who is half Spanish, has had multiple sclerosis since the year after we were married. Bless her, she is now quite heavily disabled and needs full-time care, so I commute pretty much every night to provide the overnight care.

Margarita sees our son Luis, 21, who is in his second year at Leicester University, as a little miracle because six weeks after she was diagnosed with MS she became pregnant with him.

Given that I live remotely from the office, I obviously want to make the most of my time there, but there’s no such thing as a normal day. Every Monday morning I have an hour with my team of eight executives to discuss events of the previous week to see what we can learn and make any necessary policy adjustments.

A typical week could involve meetings with representatives of the Horsemen’s Group, perhaps discussing racecourses through the Racecourse Association.

The British Horseracing Authority has to consult and include its shareholders, make sure we’re listening to their views so that

we can move forward together as a sport.

That could mean anything from policy on the fixture list, regulatory matters, setting up a diversity group for the sport or consulting on the stewarding review.

Forty per cent of my time is spent working with others in the sport to help ensure we make the best decisions for racing. I would like to think it is recognised under my guidance that there is the collaborative approach on governance and leadership matters and that we do work well with our stakeholders.

Of course, somewhere there will be dissatisfaction; it is difficult to please everybody, but we have to end up doing the right thing, though that can result in a bit of criticism.

I am on the racecourse or in a training yard six or seven times a month, usually on a Friday or Saturday because I need to have care arrangement at home. At the races I prefer to spend time with our teams on the course – veterinary officer, equine welfare officer, stewards, starter, judge, clerk of the scales – to catch up with issues and find out how they feel about various matters. These are extremely valuable days because I am out there where it happens.

Some of my most rewarding moments are spent behind the scenes early in the morning witnessing the dedication, passion and general cheerfulness of the people working hard and long hours to look after our horses. It is also most satisfying that the levy replacement, from January 1, will ensure that races worth £3,500 will suddenly jump to £6,000 with a similar knock-on at lower and medium levels of prize-money. As a sport we worked very closely to achieve this, giving me the sense of fulfilment that drives me

on to make a difference.

While I haven’t worked at the front line in racing, I do own horses – with Hugo Palmer, Charlie Hills and Micky Hammond – and even mucked out the Duke of Marlborough’s horses at Blenheim Palace during school holidays. It made me appreciate the tasks and risks undertaken by stable staff and helps me to connect with them.

Lunch is usually something like sushi salad, which is part of my struggle with overweight. I recently installed a rowing machine, cross trainer and cycling machine in my garage and now I can do 15 minutes rowing, but cycling 6k is tough because I am still carrying plenty of weight. At 50, I’ve got to do something about it. Seven stone ago, as a teenager, I was playing semi-pro football for Berwick Rangers.

Spare time is at home with Margarita and sometimes we go to York’s Theatre Royal where I am a non-executive director.

They have audio description with similar aids to help with the eyesight, and Margarita enjoys going there.

My evening meal is at half seven if I’m on the seven o’clock train and half eight if I’m on the eight o’clock. I like cooking and on a Sunday I’ll follow a Gordon Ramsay cookbook. My favourite dish is ‘Duck Three Ways’.

Bedtime is when I get in, about 10.30pm. Margarita and I watch a bit of TV in bed and I tell her about my day. I am very good at falling asleep. Dreaming about the sport under my stewardship in five years, I would visualise racing hitting the top six sports for popularity among the general public in Britain – and consolidating our position as the provider of the best quality racing in the world.

136 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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SHAMARDAL Giant’s Causeway – Helsinki (Machiavellian) Private EXCEED AND EXCEL Danehill – Patrona (Lomond) €50,000 TEOFILO Galileo – Speirbhean (Danehill) €40,000 RIBCHESTER Iffraaj – Mujarah (Marju) NEW €30,000 DAWN APPROACH New Approach – Hymn Of The Dawn (Phone Trick) €20,000 BELARDO Lope de Vega – Danaskaya (Danehill) €15,000 SLADE POWER Dutch Art – Girl Power (Key Of Luck) €15,000 NEW €12,000 PROFITABLE Invincible Spirit – Dani Ridge (Indian Ridge) RAVEN’S PASS Elusive Quality – Ascutney (Lord At War) €10,000 FAST COMPANY Danehill Dancer – Sheezalady (Zafonic) €9,000 €7,500 THE LAST LION Choisir – Mala Mala (Brief Truce) EPAULETTE Commands – Accessories (Singspiel) €7,000 BURATINO Exceed And Excel – Bergamask (Kingmambo) €5,000 €5,000 HALLOWED CROWN Street Sense – Crowned Glory (Danehill) FRENCH NAVY Shamardal – First Fleet (Woodman) €4,000 FULBRIGHT Exceed And Excel – Lindfield Belle (Fairy King) €4,000

Haras du Logis, France

AUTHORIZED Montjeu – Funsie (Saumarez) MANDURO Monsun – Mandellicht (Be My Guest) ULTRA Manduro – Epitome (Nashwan) RIO DE LA PLATA Rahy – Express Way (Ahmad) BOW CREEK Shamardal – Beneventa (Most Welcome) HUNTER’S LIGHT Dubawi – Portmanteau (Barathea) MASTERSTROKE Monsun – Melikah (Lammtarra) SIDESTEP Exceed And Excel – Dextrous (Quest For Fame) SLICKLY Linamix – Slipstream Queen (Conquistador Cielo) Terms Oct 1, Special Live Foal

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