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ÂŁ4.95 | May 2009 | Issue 57

Incorporating

The future starts here How the National Stud aims to bounce back

I Exciting plans for new yearling bonus scheme I Is it time to put some fizz into the Flat?

I Understanding the success of French jumpers

WWW.OWNERBREEDER.CO.UK

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The

A premier source of sire power!

cSparkling d The Sunday Telegraph

cImperiousd Racing Post

EUROPE IN 2008 LEADING SIRESerIN of Prize Money In Ord

Stallion

1 2

GALILEO MONTJEU

Sire

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells

Total £

5,424,628 3,851,081

31/12/08.

Hyperion Promotions Results to

2009 STALLIONS • AD VALOREM • ANTONIUS PIUS • AUSSIE RULES • CATCHER IN THE RYE • CHOISIR • DANEHILL DANCER • DUKE OF MARMALADE • DYLAN THOMAS • • EXCELLENT ART • FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND • GALILEO • HIGH CHAPARRAL • HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR • HURRICANE RUN • IVAN DENISOVICH • MONTJEU • • ONE COOL CAT • ORATORIO • PEINTRE CELEBRE • ROCK OF GIBRALTAR • STRATEGIC PRINCE •

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cSpectacular d

The Sunday Telegraph

cAwesome d

The Sunday Telegraph

cMagnificent d

The Guardian

Contact: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Co. Tipperary, Ireland. Tel: 353-52-6131298. Fax: 353-52-6131382. Christy Grassick, David O’Loughlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Tim Corballis, Maurice Moloney, Gerry Aherne or Mathieu Alex.

Tom Gaffney, David Magnier, Joe Hernon or Cathal Murphy. Tel: 353-25-31966/31689. Kevin Buckley (UK Rep.) Tel: 44-7827-795156.

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

Ackermann & Johnson OB May09:Ackermann & Johnson OB May09

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ACKERMANN MODERN Sir Terry Frost R.A. An exhibition and sale of works by Sir Terry Frost R.A. 22 April – 8 May 2009

Three arrows

Signed and Dated 1960 30” x 24”

In 1948 Sir Terry Frost said of his working “I had to stop being descriptive and start being pictorial” and so he developed his distinct abstract style of forms, motifs and their relationships. His use of lines and colours and reoccurring shapes has made his artwork both distinctive and desirable.

In this exhibition of his works, most of which come directly from his children, are pieces from the early years to the later part of his life. It is a wonderful opportunity to see first hand how his style developed over his lifetime as well as being a marvellous opportunity to purchase some important paintings from one of the greatest British modern painters.

Catalogues may be ordered in advance from our website for £15 with all profit going to the Artists’ Benevolent Fund.

Curator, Matthew Frost – the artist’s son.

Arthur Ackermann Limited since 1783 Arthur Ackermann Ltd, 27 Lowndes Street, London, SW1X 9HY Tel: 020 7235 6464 • www.arthurackermann.com • email: info@arthurackermann.com

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WELCOME

Vendors deserve credit for fightback or much of this year good news for racing and bloodstock has been in inevitably short supply as the grim reality of the economic downtown took hold, pockmarked by a general 30% drop in sales trade compared to 2008.

When things go badly, it is tempting always to mope or look around for someone or something to blame, to turn inwardly and hope the clouds will pass.

So it is to the huge credit of the bloodstock world, and in particular a group of vendors from both sides of the Irish Sea, that it has been so swift and emphatic in devising a plan to firefight the challenges the financial crisis has thrown at them.

In last month’s issue we revealed that talks had started about creating a “vendor-supported, owner-friendly” bonus scheme for this autumn’s yearling sales, inspired by the ground-breaking initiative devised by breeze-up vendors, which undoubtedly helped sell horses at Kempton, Doncaster and Tattersalls in recent weeks.

Moving almost as quickly as the horses that breezed on Newmarket racecourse, a Bonus Scheme steering group held a flurry of meetings during sales week that allowed them to agree on a structure for the incentives that will apply to the autumn’s sales.

Full details are outlined in this month’s news pages but, in a nutshell, the aim is to raise a £2 million pool via contributions from vendors, sales companies and, to a lesser extent, owners.

While the proposals have yet to be ratified, the speed at which they have been put on the table really is impressive, as indeed is the commitment of the bloodstock world to entice owners to this

F

£4.95 | May 2009 | Issue 57

Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder incorporating Pacemaker is published by a Mutual Trading Company owned jointly by the Racehorse Owners Association and Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association

Incorporating

The future starts here How the National Stud aims to bounce back

I Exciting plans for new yearling bonus scheme I Is it time to put some fizz into the Flat?

I Understanding the success of French jumpers

WWW.OWNERBREEDER.CO.UK

Cover: A camera-friendly colt

by Nayef, out of Spotlight Photo: Chris Bourchier

Chief Executive Michael Harris Editor Richard Griffiths Assistant Editor Edward Rosenthal Design Steven Price Editorial First Floor, 65 The Broadway, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3AS

year’s sales – and to try to reward them properly.

The proposed £2m pool will be spread over 200 maiden races in Europe next year, each one offering a winning bonus of £10,000.

Interestingly, not all members of the steering group were keen on this: some wanted a £20,000 bonus (inevitably featuring fewer races), which would allow an owner to cover his costs for the year in one clean, fulfilling hit.

The fact that people have agreed to disagree in order to ensure the scheme has every chance of a successful lift-off is impressive.

Overall, the willingness of the shop floor to work together for the benefit of racing and breeding has to be seen as hugely encouraging.

Maybe it’s time for ‘the suits’ to take note.

The enthusiasm for self-help initiatives is not confined to breeders, however.

Members of the ROA – and only members of the ROA – are all eligible to try to win a £100,000 bonus at Goodwood on Sunday, September 13.

The prize will go to the winning horse who clocks the fastest time based around the Racing Post’s standard time calculations, which make adjustments for the distance of each race.

Further details can be found in Paul Dixon’s ROA Leader on page 13.

Elsewhere in this issue we hope you find much to ponder, not least Alan Lee’s provocative manifesto for resurrecting the Flat season.

You may not agree with him – is it time to stage races every 15 minutes? – but you’ll certainly have a view on what he says.

Richard Griffiths Editor

“The commitment of the bloodstock world to entice owners to the sales is impressive”

Tel: 01444 440 540 Fax: 01444 441 190 editor@ownerbreeder.co.uk www.ownerbreeder.co.uk Advertising Giles Anderson/ Penny Farrow Tel: 01380 816 777 USA: 1 888 218 4430 Fax: 01380 816 778 advertise@anderson-co.com Subscriptions Keely Brewer Tel: 020 7493 7607 Fax: 020 7408 1662 subscriptions@ownerbreeder.co.uk

The magazine can be purchased by non-members at the following rates: 1 year 2 years UK £55 £90 Europe €85 €135 RoW £99 £154 Racehorse Owners Association Ltd 4th Floor, 60 St James’s Street, London, SW1A 1LE Tel: 020 7408 0903 Fax: 020 7408 1662 info@roa.co.uk www.racehorseowners.net

Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Stanstead House, The Avenue, Newmarket CB8 9AA Tel: 01638 661321 Fax: 01638 665621 info@thetba.co.uk www.thetba.co.uk The Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association is a registered charity No. 215752 Editorial views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the ROA or TBA

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER 3

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34 Brian O’Rourke in The Big Interview

18 Splash and grab: Mon Mome (green/purple) nabs a 100-1 Grand National success

40 French-breds take jumping by storm

CONTENTS | MAY 2009

James Simpson-Daniel

31

NEWS AND VIEWS

26

News Focus Revealed: the £2m yearling bonuses

28

10

Changes Racing’s news in a nutshell

13

ROA Leader The Speed Bonus initiative

18

15

TBA Leader Let’s show confidence in our product

31

16

Tony Morris Lamenting the loss of Triple Crown talk

34

17

Lysaght’s People All the gossip from Aintree

40

96

Your Say Colin Cameron on the Betfair revolution

FEATURES

48 56

INTERNATIONAL SCENE 24

View from Ireland Boardsmill Stud back in the news

Continental Tales Bottis bid for world domination Going Global Farewell to Nad Al Sheba

62

The Big Picture From Aintree and Dubai Talking to…

Rugby star James Simpson-Daniel The Big Interview The National Stud’s Brian O’Rourke French Jumps Breeding The Gallic influence grows ever stronger Fizzing the Flat Alan Lee with some revolutionary ideas Racing Review The Classic trials Sales Circuit The breeze-up market analysed

The official magazine of the Racehorse Owners Association and Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association 4 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

PHOTOS: GEORGE SELWYN/CHRIS BOURCHIER

7

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And they’re off: but is it with a whimper or a bang?

48

FORUM 68 72 75 77 78

ROA News Beverley loses its Gold Standard Award TBA News A brilliant visit to David Pipe’s Somerset stable Breeders’ Prizes Your latest jumps and Flat winners NH Breeder of the Month Isobel Phipps Coltman, for Kayf Aramis Vets Forum Is ‘corrective surgery’ going too far?

DATA BOOK 82 84 87 93 94

Caulfield Files Infertility runs in the family International Stakes Winners Exclusive list of global Group/Grade 1 winners Data Book Grade 1 jumps and European Pattern results Stallion Stats Leading National Hunt sires 2008-09 British/Irish-breds Your victories overseas

For the period July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008 the average monthly circulation was 9,698, as certified by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. This figure does not include those subscribers who now receive the publication since the incorporation of Pacemaker magazine. The next audit to include this will take place mid-2009.

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NEWS FOCUS

A ROUND-UP OF THE BIG STORIES IN HORSERACING

Bloodstock industry moves closer to a £2 million yearling bonus scheme Incentive to feature 200 races across Europe, each offering an additional payment of £10,000

T

HE prospect of a yearling bonus scheme offering prize-money incentives worth £2 million next year has moved a step closer after an intense round of talks in Newmarket.

The scheme, which will feature financial contributions from yearling vendors, as well as British and Irish sales companies, is being hailed as an eye-catching and laudable example of ‘selfhelp’ at a hugely difficult time for the bloodstock industry.

Significantly, backers of the scheme – which will aim to feature 200 races, each offering a £10,000 bonus – are keen that owners do not face punitive payments to ensure their horses are eligible.

As reported in last month’s Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder, an initial meeting took place at Kempton on March 6 to explore the possibility of incentives to boost trade this autumn.

The talks were partly inspired by the favourable response to the launch of the ground-breaking Breeze-Up Bonus Scheme, which offers a collective £500,000 to winning graduates from the two-year-old auctions held in Europe this spring. That scheme was attributed as a positive factor in high clearance rates at recent sales.

Although there are inevitably significant legal and administrative hurdles to overcome before a yearling bonus is finalised, impressive headway was made at a number of meetings during the Craven breeze-ups, involving yearling consignors, purchasers and trade associations.

They have led to an embryonic scheme that would work along the following lines: To cover the £2m bonus pot, it has been agreed that vendors

make a payment of £500 on July 1 this year for each yearling they want to make eligible for the scheme.

This would be followed at sales time by an owner’s payment of £250 to confirm their yearling purchases for the scheme.

A crucial third tier of funding will come, provisionally, from Tattersalls, Doncaster, Goffs and Tattersalls Ireland, and possibly Goresbridge and Brightwells.

They will be asked to make a payment of £150 per yearling sold, although they are waiting for more detailed confirmation of their liabilities before signing up.

Extra funding It is also hoped that extra funding for promotional and administrative costs will come from the British Horseracing Authority, Racing Enterprises Limited, Horse Racing Ireland, the National Trainers’ Federation, the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, and the ITBA. The Federation of Bloodstock Agents council has already offered its support.

An overall brand partner/sponsor will also be sought. This would allow the projected £2m pool raised from vendors, sales companies, owners and brand sponsor to be invested purely in prize-money.

A Bonus Scheme steering group has been set up to try to ensure lift-off as soon as possible.

Its members include Philip Freedman, David Redvers, Paul Thorman, Charlie Vigors, Ted Voute, John Warren, Joe Foley, John Osborne and Tim Jones, who will be responsible for its administration.

Unlike, the Breeze-Up Bonus Scheme, which rewards winning connections on a ‘first-come, firstserved basis’, the yearling scheme, as it is applied to Britain

and Ireland, will aim to stagger the races throughout the season so that slower-maturing horses are not penalised. The races will be held over a variety of distances and if there is enough money left over at the end of the season, the bonus scheme could even apply to three-year-old maidens in 2011.

All other worldwide bonuses will be paid on a staggered bonus system, rather than be tied to races.

For example, if 10% of eligible yearlings are bought for Spain,

member David Redvers. “It is more important than ever to offer encouragement to owners and we hope that 200 £10,000 bonuses will do just that. We want to stimulate investment in our industry by rewarding both new and existing owners for their participation.

“If this scheme is successful it will hopefully help emphasise the very important role prize-money plays in a successful racing industry to the wider worlds of bookmaking and Government.”

He added: “There is absolutely

“This is a self-help scheme that we hope will show the racing and breeding industry in a very good light” David Redvers then 10% of the 200 proposed £10,000 bonuses will be paid in that country. That might mean that the 20 Spanish bonuses would be staggered so that half were payable prior to August and the remainder afterwards.

Crucially, any course in Britain that wants to stage a bonus race will have to offer a minimum of £10,100 of its own prize-money.

Any bonus money would be paid out on top of that. This importantly gives owners the opportunity to compete for a £20,000 prize – in effect covering their annual training fees by winning a bonus maiden with an eligible yearling.

“This is an industry self-help scheme which we hope will show racing and breeding in a very good light,” said steering group

no doubt at all that the Breeze-Up Bonus Scheme helped empty head collars. Without schemes such as these – and you have to commend the way the breeze-up boys got theirs up and running so quickly and efficiently – there was a very real risk that horses would otherwise fail to find homes. That is the harsh reality of the climate we are in.”

The proposed yearling bonus scheme has already drawn the praise of ROA President Paul Dixon, who said: “There is still a lot of work to be undertaken on the detail but the broad concept looks both achievable and exciting, and, once more, it says that our industry is capable of showing real backbone when times are tough.”

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NEWS FOCUS

Exclusive £100,000 bonus prize is planned for ROA members ‘Speed Bonus’ set for Goodwood on September 13 – fastest horse, distance-adjusted, wins!

R

OA members could win a bonus prize of up to £100,000 as part of an exciting new raceday at Goodwood.

The 'Speed Bonus’ will be held at the course on Sunday, September 13 and will overlay an eight-race card.

The performance of each winner on the day will be assessed using the critera of the Racing Post’s standard time analysis.

The horse that takes the Speed Bonus prize – and it must be owned by an ROA member – will be the one that has posted the best time on the day. The distance of each race will be taken into account, so that the winner will not

necessarily come from the day’s shortest – and quickest – race.

Current plans suggest the bonus will be split so that the winning owner receives 80%, the trainer 10%, the jockey 5% and the stable lad/lass 5% also.

Initially, Goodwood wanted to stage a raceday exclusive to horses owned by ROA members, but that could not be sanctioned by the BHA because of competition issues.

ROA President Paul Dixon said: “Once we heard about the proposal from Goodwood, the ROA has picked up the initiative with great enthusiasm.”

ROA members can register

Tattersalls seeks to expand Million series to up to ten races In a separate move to the yearling bonus scheme, Tattersalls is preparing to expand its series of ‘Million’ sales races.

The Newmarket-based company will put before the BHA’s race planning committee a proposal to run a ten-race series that would embrace six two-yearold contests and four for threeyear-olds.

The current structure comprises the Tattersalls Million, a seven-furlong juvenile contest, an equivalent race confined to fillies worth £800,000, and a tenfurlong race for three-year-olds worth £400,000, which was won on April 15 by the Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned Nehaam.

Tattersalls Marketing Director Jimmy George said: “We are looking at ways to improve, expand and hopefully enhance the Tattersalls Millions series in consultation with race planning.

We would hope to broaden the scheme.

“We would like to increase the number of races and give owners more opportunities to win significant prize-money, while keeping a firm eye on our policy of keeping owners’ entry costs to the lowest possible level.

“Our aim is to produce a catalogue of approximately 700 lots.

“We want to work with race planning and the racecourses to produce a series that caters to as many people as possible without being disruptive.”

George added: “We have to explore ways of getting people involved in racehorse ownership.”

Because the Million series applies to the more selective Book 1 of the Tattersalls sales, it is expected to be interdependent of the yearling bonus scheme and not offer any kind of clash.

8 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

for the bonus at a proposed cost of £150. Full details will be sent out in May. Goodwood’s Managing Director Rod Fabricius said: “It is a little bit of innovation that

we have tried to work around a traditional racecard, so that what I would call the ‘middleEngland’ type of owner has the chance to win a very substantial prize indeed.”

Sir Clement Freud Racing enthusiast Sir Clement Freud, the writer, broadcaster and former Liberal MP, has died aged 84.

A noted gourmet and food critic, Freud – or Clay to his friends – shot to prominence appearing in a 1967 television advert for Minced Morsels dog food alongside a bloodhound.

Famed for his lugubrious manner, he went on to become a panellist on the Radio 4 show Just A Minute, an association that would span four decades.

Freud, who owned horses for many years, was a member of the Royal Ascot Racing Club which enjoyed 2005 Derby glory with Motivator.

Having acted as a liaison officer at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, Freud started his

journalistic career as a sports writer for The Observer.

His popular Saturday column in the Racing Post was filled with tales of gambling woes and gastronomic experiences, combined with the odd risqué joke, all delivered with his customary deadpan humour.

Freud – one-time Director of London’s Playboy Club – also wrote a children’s book, Grimble, and appeared on the front cover of Wings’ 1973 album Band on the Run. The grandson of Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of psychoanalysis, and younger brother of artist Lucian Freud, Clement Freud moved to Britain with his family in the 1930s to escape Nazi persecution.

He is survived by his wife, Jill, and five children.

CC1617 IWF ad TOB

25/3/09

13:01

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Dare to be different?

One of only two coloured Thoroughbred stallions in Europe.

The first coloured Thoroughbred horse officially registered by Weatherbys.

I WAS FRAMED’s first crop are 2-y-os in 2009.

Horse in training with Ed Vaughan.

Stud fee for 2009: £1,500 NFFR (concessions for non thoroughbreds and winning mares).

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NEWS FOCUS

Changes

In association with

Racing’s news in a nutshell People and business

Hayley Turner William Hill Ian Barlow Rhys Flint At The Races Tim Kent Betfred Northern Racing Beverley Barry Hills Rod Fabricius Italian sales companies Betfair Nicky Henderson Thierry Gillet Newton Abbot Leighton Aspell

Record-breaking jockey stood down for a year by the BHA’s chief medical advisor due to head injury sustained in a Newmarket gallops fall in March Bookmaker is new sponsor of Kempton’s King George VI Chase meeting in four-year deal worth £5 million Former senior partner of KPMG will succeed David Thorpe as Chairman of the Racecourse Association for a three-year term starting in July 17-year-old conditional jockey wins the 2008/09 Racing Post Hands and Heels Jump Series Horseracing channel announces operating profit of £1.4 million for 2008, with gross profits up from £9.6m to £10.5m Nottingham University graduate is appointed to the board of Doncaster Bloodstock Sales, having worked for the company since 2006 Fred Done’s firm finally signs up with TurfTV to guarantee live racing pictures from every British racecourse in its betting offices Racecourse group reveals operating earnings (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of £6.8m for 2008, a yearly increase of £600,000 East Yorkshire track stripped of Gold Standard Award by the ROA after failing to provide free food to owners with runners on the day Veteran trainer send out his 3,000th winner with Chapter And Verse at Pontefract Goodwood’s Managing Director to step down at the end of 2010, having worked for the racecourse since 1982 Societa Gestione Aste Select and the Italian Thoroughbred Sales Company to merge after a difficult sale season last year Signs deal with RTE to sponsor their live racing coverage up to and including the 2010 Punchestown festival Trainer achieves 100 winners in a season for the first time in his career, Horseford Hill notching the landmark success at Hereford Rider of 2004 Arc winner Bago retires from the saddle aged 39 Becomes an affiliate of Arena Leisure to reduce its vulnerability as an independent track Jump jockey returns to the saddle, much to the delight of the Leighton Aspell Fan Club, having quit two years ago

Racehorse and stallion – movements and retirements Brief Goodbye Proud Spell Northern Meteor War Pass Old Fashioned Ready’s Image

Stable stalwart for John Berry is retired aged nine having won seven of his 50 career starts Top US filly is retired for the second time and bred to Indian Charlie; the daughter of Proud Citizen won the Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes in 2008 Grade 1-winning Australian sprinter is retired to Widden Stud in New South Wales Lane’s End Farm stallion to shuttle to Australia’s Widden Stud for the 2009 southern hemisphere breeding season; his fee is A$22,000 Classy son of Unbridled’s Song, one-time favourite for this year’s Kentucky Derby, retired after surgery on injured knee sustained in Arkansas Derby Walmac Farm’s Grade 2 winner will shuttle to the newly established Lincoln/Walmac Associated Farms at Scone, New South Wales

People obituaries Age Sir Clement Freud Alex Richardson Steve Perks Bob Hargreaves Pat Doyle Lord Harrington James Bowe Simon Channing Williams Jimmy Power

84 21 54 76 81 86 77 63 86

Horse obituaries

Age

Hear The Echo Exotic Dancer (pictured) Golden Silca Alysheba Lil E Tee Wolfhound Wichita Lineman Sir Harry Lewis Mr Dow Jones Alexander Severus Wemyss Bight

8 9 13 25 20 20 8 25 17 4 19

Writer, broadcaster, former Liberal MP, Racing Post columnist and racehorse owner Son of Cheveley Park Stud Managing Director Chris Richardson Champion apprentice in 1973 who rode more than 600 winners Amateur jump jockey in the 1950s and 60s Former jump jockey and trainer who won the 1951 Irish Grand National on Icy Calm Owner and breeder who bought a number of top class horses for David Robinson, including Meadowville and Yellow God Trainer of Limestone Lad and Solerina, who each won the Grade 1 Hatton’s Grace Hurdle three times Film producer and racehorse owner, who formerly owned the Five Bells pub in Wickham Most senior member of select club of jockeys to have ridden the winners of the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup

Winner of the 2008 Irish Grand National collapses approaching the finish of the Grand National at Aintree High-class chaser, twice placed in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, who recorded his first Grade 1 success in the Lexus Chase in December Tough and talented mare, a dual Group 2 winner and runner-up in the 1999 Irish 1,000 Guineas, dies after foaling complications at Kingwood Stud US Horse of the Year who won the 1987 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and 1988 Breeders’ Cup Classic; he later sired 18 stakes winners Won the 1992 Kentucky Derby in which Arazi was beaten favourite Dual Group 1-winning son of Nureyev who was based at stud in South Africa; he sired French champion filly Bright Sky Twice victorious at the Cheltenham Festival, landing the William Hill Trophy this year, having won the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle in 2007 Winner of the 1987 Irish Derby and successful jumps sire, represented this year by Grade 1 winners Mighty Man and Diamond Harry 22-time winner who put trainer Keith Goldsworthy on the map; he won three handicap chases aged 14 Chasing-bound after finishing fourth in the Fred Winter Hurdle at Cheltenham, he was “the most exciting horse” owned by Paddy Wilmott Winner of 1993 Irish Oaks, and Group 2 Prix Malleret, and dam of multiple Group/Grade 1 winner Beat Hollow

10 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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ROA LEADER

Necessity is truly the mother of invention Momentum building behind two ‘self-help’ projects, both of which relate to owners, but can be achieved only with the support of ROA members n these dire economic times, it is encouraging to see that British racing is in the process of coming up with a number of ‘self-help’ projects. Two of these projects specifically relate to owners and, although still in their formative stages, there is already momentum building up around them.

The one that is closest to home, in that it is open only to members of the ROA, is an initiative that rejoices in the title of the ‘Speed Bonus’. The idea is the brainchild of the former Chairman of the Tote and one-time ROA President Peter Jones, and the Goodwood Managing Director Rod Fabricius.

They approached the ROA at the end of last year with a proposal that a day’s racing at Goodwood in September 2009 should be open only to ROA members and should include a substantial bonus for the winning horse who puts up the best performance on time, adjusted for distance, and based on Racing Post standard times. The connections of each horse would pay an initial registration fee which would be used

I

Paul Dixon President, Racehorse Owners Association

The Speed Bonus will overlay an eight-race card of competitive handicaps. Given the uniqueness of the event and the excitement that it will surely generate, it is difficult to imagine a much better sponsorship opportunity in racing.

It must be stressed, however, that the Speed Bonus will happen only if we receive the necessary support from members, so do please examine the details when they arrive.

The second of the self-help proposals will involve both owners and breeders, and is designed to give a substantial injection to this autumn’s yearling sales.

British and Irish breeders, being obviously very concerned about the buying appetite of owners in these recessionary times, are in the process of putting together an idea that will attach major bonus prizes to a large number of two-year-old maiden races in the UK, Ireland and the rest of Europe.

The proposal is for the first stage of the funding of the bonuses to come from breeders, who will pay an initial sum to register their

“We hope the response to the Speed Bonus initiative will enable us to offer a minimum £100,000 prize” to accumulate a large pot of money and the fastest horse on the day would take the prize.

Unfortunately, the BHA would not sanction a fixture that was restricted to horses owned by ROA members, believing it could attract a competition challenge.

However, there was no reason why the Speed Bonus aspect of the day could not proceed and the ROA has subsequently picked up the initiative with great enthusiasm.

In early May, members will receive a brochure on how the Speed Bonus works and how they can register. At this point, I would urge anybody who has a suitable horse to run on the day to take advantage of an early registration offer which, on current projections, will cost £150.

We hope the response will be of a level to enable us to offer a minimum £100,000 prize, with percentages going to the trainer, jockey and stable staff.

yearlings. In the spring of next year, owners will then be asked to pay a smaller amount to keep their two-year-olds in the scheme.

For the idea to work, it must obviously have buy-in from the majority of breeders and owners.

Also, there is still a lot of work to be undertaken on the detail – but the broad concept looks both achievable and exciting, and, once more, it says that our industry is capable of showing real backbone when times are tough.

While we must never let our minds wander too far from the problems that beset the industry’s central funding structure, we have to face the fact that racing’s income over the next year or two is not going to be insulated from the ravages of recession.

It is, therefore, encouraging for us to find two examples where necessity is indeed the mother of invention.

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owner and breeder april 09:Layout 1

17/04/2009

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The Focus Is On The Horse

Goffs yearling New Approach Winner of the Group 1 Vodafone Derby for Jim Bolger & Princess Haya of Jordan

Goffs Orby Sale 29 September - 1 October 2009

Tel: +353 45 886600 Web: www.goffs.com

More individual buyers than any other European yearling sale

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TBA LEADER

Confident approach is needed to sell yearlings A willingness from vendors to invest in what we have produced will send a strong message to the outside world that we have faith in our product Philip Freedman Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association

s with the breeding stock sales in the winter of 2008, and the majority of the yearling sales last autumn, especially those staged after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September and the subsequent fall in worldwide stock markets, so the breeze-up sales of spring 2009 have shown declines in averages of up to 30%.

When you consider that Australia’s premier yearling sale showed a similar drop, this is hardly welcome news to breeders worldwide.

Yet such declines have only mirrored that of equities and property, and could imply that at least owners have continued to invest the same proportion of their wealth in racehorses – even if that wealth has fallen by a third over the last 12 months.

Whether this trend will continue through to the yearling sales in the year ahead remains to be seen. On the upside is the possibility that the most dramatic falls in personal wealth have now taken place and the bottom has been reached, even if we may well continue to bump along at

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money, as well as the profile of racing, shows what can be achieved through self-help initiatives.

Schemes such as these, and the more recent Breeze-Up Bonus can, at the margin, make the product more attractive. If, at the conclusion of this year’s European breeze-up sales, the bonus is considered to have worked, it is likely to be replicated in some form for the yearling market.

And if, as seems likely, it is introduced at the same time as Tattersalls looks to increase the number of sales races linked to the October 1 Sale, the effect could be considerable.

Even if it is unable to have a significant impact on the fundamental issue of an inadequate prize fund as a whole, the introduction of a lottery with a greatly increased number of winning tickets for horses bought at the sales, largely funded by breeders, will at least go some way to addressing the problem of those horses whose success on the racecourse is not adequately rewarded by the prize-money they earn.

“More worrying is the sheer number of yearlings around, which dwarfs the number of two-year-olds in training” this low level for some time. More worrying, however, is the sheer number of yearlings around. It dwarfs the number of two-year-olds in training this year and suggests that many will struggle to find buyers if put through the ring.

The mismatch between supply and demand is greatest in Britain and Ireland, whose economies have suffered more than most.

For this reason it is incumbent on all those whose interests depend on a healthy market to look at what they can do to bolster demand.

While we may not have any ability to influence the direction of the general economy, which all the evidence shows is the principal driver of the demand for racehorses, we can at least have some influence on prize-money.

Concerns over poor levels of prize-money led to the creation of the Breeders’ Cup programme in North America and the European Breeders’ Fund closer to home.

The success of these initiatives in raising prize-

That is why an essential element of the proposed scheme is that winning a bonus race must cover a year’s training fees.

Above all, it will show to the outside world that we have confidence in our product and, as travails of the global economy have shown, re-establishing confidence is a necessary precursor to any recovery. As vendors we will not only have shown a continuing willingness to invest in what we have produced, but it may also help us put a value on our product, rather than merely taking it to the market place with the view that we must sell it at any price.

That alone would, for many, justify the cost of entry to a scheme which breeders should see not as an altruistic gift to their clients, but a self-help initiative designed to bring back, through higher prices, more than it costs us – just as stallion owners who contributed to the Breeders’ Cup and European Breeders’ Fund found over two decades ago.

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COMMENT

Tony Morris

The complete absence of Triple Crown talk is lamentable.

Surely the day of the equine all-rounder has not passed?

T’S that time of year again in Britain – the time when the first of the season’s Classics invariably engage our attention. That has been the way of it for nigh on 200 years and we have no reason to suppose that it will ever be different.

Except that in one significant respect it is already different – well, different from the way it was when I started to go racing half a century (and a bit) ago. In those days, and for some while after, no small part of our excitement over the impending 2,000 Guineas derived from the tantalising thought that its winner would do what the ideal three-year-old was supposed to do, namely prove himself a true champion by going on to complete the Triple Crown.

Of course, we had long since learnt not to expect it. No colt had mastered his contemporaries over a mile at Newmarket, a mile and a half at Epsom, and Doncaster’s extended mile and three-quarters since Bahram in 1935. But there was always a chance that it would happen; entries were made at the yearling stage, before any had disclosed their limitations, and it was customary for owners of any colt with so much as a half-decent pedigree to put his name down for the Classics at all three venues.

That special horse was what every breeder strove to produce, what every owner longed to race. The Triple Crown, testing different aptitudes over different distances and widely differing courses, represented the pinnacle of achievement in the thoroughbred world. It had inspired generations of horsemen and its magic continued to fire imaginations.

The fact that, in most years, the colts’ Classics were won by three different horses meant only that racing was fiercely competitive at the top level, confirming the Triple Crown as the supreme test. It did not mean that we could routinely label a Guineas winner a miler, a Derby winner a middle-distance performer, and a St Leger winner a stayer, which is what we tend to do now.

There was only one specialist category in the racing population. It was easy to produce speed cheaply from a number of thriving lines, so commercial breeders with little money to invest and no pretensions to playing in the big league concentrated in that area. Sprinters bred to sprinters reliably delivered sprinters, and plenty of high class horses in their sphere were produced. But we naturally tended to look

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“The St Leger has suffered irrational criticism since being blamed for Nijinsky’s defeats in the 1970 Arc and Champion”

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down on them for their (generally) indifferent pedigrees and irrelevance to the Classic scene.

Sprinters were a breed apart and when we trusted them outside their own province, such as when Ki Ming, son of five-furlong specialist Ballyogan, started favourite for the 1951 Derby, we learnt to regret it. Besides, the horses bred just to sprint did not always rule their own roost.

The two best sprinters in the ten years after the war were Abernant, whose sire Owen Tudor won a Derby and a substitute Gold Cup, and Pappa Fourway, who was by Pappageno, a horse whose chief claim to fame was as winner of the Manchester November Handicap.

Abernant, of course, did figure on the Classic scene, leading until the last stride of the 2,000 Guineas, and he had been a Derby entry, but was scratched when it became clear that the speedy elements on the dam’s side of his pedigree were dominant. Pappa Fourway, whose blinding pace must have come from his broodmare sire Denturius, would never have been considered for a Classic entry by reason of his supposedly poor lineage; sold for only 150gns as a yearling, he confounded all the experts by going through his three-year-old campaign unbeaten in eight starts.

Although Abernant found his niche as a sprinter, he was, like most owner-bred horses and those produced by many prominent commercial breeders of the time, a mainstream product, conceived with Classic aspirations. The Triple Crown retained its traditional appeal and while there was ample evidence to indicate that the chances of hitting the jackpot were decidedly slim, there was also proof that it could be done.

And the sequence of the events, with their requirement for extra stamina as horses gained strength with maturity, was entirely logical; the challenge was essentially fair, all the while breeders avoided cheap speed and kept their operations in the mainstream.

As nobody needs reminding, we did eventually find a colt to emulate Bahram after a 35-year hiatus. Nijinsky accomplished the feat in 1970, remaining unbeaten when he completed the treble, and there was rejoicing all round. For a while.

The trouble arose from the fact that the St Leger had not figured on his schedule after the Guineas, the Derby, the Irish Derby and the King George had all been won with matchless aplomb. Plan A had been to rest him from

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Lysaght’s People The man from the Beeb brings us all the patter from the racecourse

competition after Ascot until the Arc de Triomphe, but a severe attack of ringworm disrupted his training schedule and Vincent O’Brien finally decided that another race was advisable before his trip to Longchamp.

The St Leger, the only race in which Nijinsky would not have had to give weight away, was the obvious target, and when he came home a ready winner, albeit by only a length from Meadowville, Plan B seemed to have succeeded.

But then came that narrow defeat by Sassafras in the Arc and the disappointing effort behind Lorenzaccio in the Champion Stakes. Many blamed the venture to Doncaster for the final Classic for the failures. It was, they said, a race beyond Nijinsky’s optimum distance, that he won through superior class rather than stamina, and it took more out of him than appeared on the day.

The St Leger has suffered ever since from the irrational criticism levelled at it then; we have come to expect the Derby winner to swerve it and for breeders to shun its winners as too slow to succeed as sires. The fact that Nijinsky himself became an outstanding sire is conveniently forgotten.

It seems ironic that we always believed the Triple Crown was attainable until Nijinsky managed it, but since then it has been regarded as an outdated concept. Can anyone have doubted that Crepello would have completed the treble if he had remained sound, or that Royal Palace would have done so if he had been fit enough to compete on St Leger day?

Of course, things have changed since 1970, pedigrees as much as attitudes. In the last 38 seasons, only Nashwan has won both Guineas and Derby, and he was not allowed the chance to emulate Nijinsky at Doncaster. Since then when has the Triple Crown even rated a mention? To my recollection, only twice – when it was the stated target for Celtic Swing in 1995 and Teofilo in 2007. The first took a different route after a narrow failure in the Guineas and the second did not make it to the post for any of the Classics, nor, indeed, for any race at three.

So are we now to believe the Triple Crown is beyond the modern thoroughbred, that he is either a miler, a middle-distance performer or a stayer, and that the day of the all-rounder has passed? I don’t believe that for a minute.

We might even have had a genuine Triple Crown contender in 2009 if Crowded House had not been a stable companion of Delegator.

But perhaps I would have needed to own him and insist that he went to Doncaster after winning the Guineas and Derby.

Daresbury plans Fox Hunters’ foursome The infectious support given to jump racing and point-to-pointing by Lord Daresbury, whose four jockey sons usually sport the family’s blue and white colours, is being particularly well rewarded this season. Son and heir Thomas, 24, is in a tremendous scrap for point-to-pointing’s men’s championship, and sparked mass celebrations with success on his father’s horse Trust Fund in the Fox Hunters’ at Aintree, where his lordship is chairman.

Son number two, Oliver, 22, who rode a record 56 point-to-point winners last season, is increasingly accomplished on the NH circuit, while 20-year-old medical student Toby is making a bold bid for the point-to-point novice riders’ title. Not to be outdone, teenager Jake’s headmaster is getting used to phone calls asking for days off to follow his brothers’ lead.

Daresbury, who as Peter Greenall was three-time champion amateur, has no bigger ambition than to have all four sons lining up in the Aintree Fox Hunters’. That Thomas Greenall and Trust Fund is the big plan for next year.

Please Comply Plans to form a Grand National Hall of Fame, with the chance for humans and equines to be inducted US-style, are under way.

Surely Comply Or Die must be an early contender for such an honour?

Owner David Johnson and his family rightly glowed with pride after the 2008 winner defied 15lb extra to finish runner-up this time around. It was amongst the most striking displays of the whole meeting and champion owner Johnson told me: “The horse is a hero, a real hero.” A true ‘Aintree type’, the ten-year-old will have another go in 2010.

A pub to love Celebrations for the Venetia Williams team after Mon Mome’s historic John Smith’s Grand National success took place in the Lough Pool (pronounced Love Pool) pub close to the Aramstone stable. The watering hole has long been a favourite with Herefordshire racing types. One in particular, a well-known jockey who is part of the furniture at a yard close by (not Williams’s, I might say), was once a particularly frequent attendee.

His employer is said to have gone into the Lough Pool and pleaded with the landlord not to serve his thirsty rider,

in desperation offering him £100 a week as an inducement (this was a few years ago).

To his dismay, the host replied: “If you gave me £500, even that wouldn’t come close to covering it.”

Hat’s risky Bravest person at Aintree must have been whoever removed, whether accidentally or on purpose, Ginger McCain’s beloved trilby while he was at lunch.

McCain, 78, without headwear is like nearby Southport without the sands on which he trained Red Rum back in the 1970s. Happily, an alternative hat was soon found.

A hoarsey tip Henry Cecil fans may need extra lozenges with which to soothe their throats during the Flat season, as word from Newmarket has it they may be doing plenty of cheering. The ten-time champion trainer, who this year celebrates the 40th anniversary of his first winner, is reported to have said he has as fine a string at Warren Place as he’s had for some time.

Amongst those to watch out for is a Needwood Blade colt named Kings Bayonet, owned by Cecil’s long-term supporter Henry Ponsonby.

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Mon Momental Yet again the Grand National gave us a breathless nine-and-a-half minutes of thrills and spills, plus something we had not seen for a long, long time – a 100-1 winner

Photos: Naresh Joshi, Patrick McCann and George Selwyn

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GRAND NATIONAL PICTURE SPECIAL

You lookin’ at me? National hero Mon Mome (green colours, purple hoop on sleeves) has time to pose for the camera as the field takes the Canal Turn for the second time. His jockey, Liam Treadwell, remains focused on the task ahead

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The nature of this year’s race changed with the fall of leader Black Apalachi at Becher’s second time. Here he is milliseconds before his exit

Offshore Account (nose on floor) pitches steeply but recovers. Mon Mome (15) sails over with ease, but Timmy Murphy has to sit tight on Comply Or Die (5)

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GRAND NATIONAL PICTURE SPECIAL

Mon Mome takes the inside track, followed by third home My Will (11) and 2008 winner Comply Or Die (5), who defied a 15lb higher mark to be second

The winning team of owner Vida Bingham, trainer Venetia Williams and rider Liam Treadwell. Williams is only the second woman to train a National winner

No Easy Task Becher’s Brook may have claimed no fallers on the first circuit this year but it remains a formidable fence to negotiate, as this dramatic picture shows

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Meanwhile, 3,400 miles away in Dubai...

Well Armed, formerly with Clive Brittain and now with Eoin Harty in the States, powers home under Aaron Gryder to win the final Dubai World Cup to be staged at Nad Al Sheba for his owner WinStar Farm

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DUBAI PICTURE SPECIAL

Nice Work The last time UK racegoers saw Well Armed he collected £5,218 for landing a Lingfield maiden. Three and a half years later, he cruises home in the Dubai World Cup for a first prize of £2.5 million

Photos: George Selwyn

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VIEW FROM IRELAND FROM LEO POWELL

Floods’ Boardsmill back in business

Leo Powell is Managing Editor of The Irish Field

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t is about 20 miles from Boardsmill Stud to Fairyhouse racecourse, but I am sure that the journey home felt no distance at all for William Flood and his family on Easter Monday. They had, after all, just witnessed victory in the Powers Whiskey Irish Grand National for Niche Market, bred

by William Flood and from a family with which he has had a long association.

Boardsmill Stud was founded in 1935 by Jack Flood, William’s late father. It has been a thoroughbred farm since then and has stood a number of successful sires over the decades. These include J’Accours, Trouville, Brave Invader, Furry Glen and Orchestra.

After a few years hiatus, Boardsmill is back in the stallion business with two very interesting sires. The hugely successful

Kalanisi is well known principally through the achievements of his Champion Hurdle-winning son Katchit, while Court Cave will be hoping to emulate the achievements of another son of Sadler’s Wells who never faced a starter, namely Accordion.

Plenty to anticipate Court Cave, a full-brother to Group 1 sire Beat Hollow, had his first winner in December when his three-year-old daughter Glan Lady won over six furlongs.

His first bumper runners are eagerly awaited at the County Meath nursery.

Prior to Niche Market’s National win, the best runner over jumps bred at Boardsmill was probably Strath Royal, a son of Furry Glen and Last Princess.

Niche Market’s dam Juresse won over hurdles and is a half-sister to Strath Royal, winner of the

Connections celebrate the Irish Grand National success of Niche Market

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Charlie Hall Chase and 19 other races in an honourable career.

Many breeders fail to capitalise on great National Hunt successes as they no longer have the dam or even any members of the family left to breed with. Not so the canny Flood, who has half a dozen daughters of Last Princess grazing the lush grass at Boardsmill.

Flood is one of the best known figures in the business in Ireland and has held many senior roles in both the administration of racing and breeding, including a successful term as the Senior National Hunt Steward.

Congratulations must also go to Niche Market’s owner Graham Regan, a Dubliner working in London, who was an overjoyed winning owner. He had been confidently telling diners at Fairyhouse before racing to get on his horse. Sadly, few listened, though the genial Regan was given a standing ovation when he returned with the winning trophy later in the afternoon.

What can I say about Bob Buckler? I have known him for many years, ever since my ‘baby’ brother Brendan rode for him and Bob started making many pilgrimages to Ireland. He has been a great supporter of the Punchestown Festival and famously combined with ‘the brother’ in 1998 to land a three mile, one furlong handicap chase by a distance in heavy going with the Sexton Blake mare Miss Diskin, gaining revenge for her short-head defeat in the same race a year earlier on good ground. As my parents lived within a drive and a three-iron of the course, the celebrations continued for some time.

Two days later Miss Diskin was

to make a second appearance at the festival meeting, but she found the favourite Hollybank Buck too good in the Grade 2 Pat Taaffe Chase. Valiantly, Miss Diskin tried to make amends 12 months later but Emerald Gale proved a length too good on the day.

The story of Miss Diskin’s acquisition came to mind as I watched the Irish Grand National unfold. On Good Friday in 1994 I took Bob on a trip around Ireland in search of a proven young horse or two. It is a good day to search for such an article, as all of the pubs are closed.

To say that the day looked like a wash out would have been an understatement. We visited some fine training establishments but managed to see so many lame horses that I wondered if there was an epidemic. The few sound horses we saw seemed to have an added zero to their price compared to what we might have in hand.

One of the very last stops of the day was at John Berry’s yard in Wexford. There John showed us a few, none of which I could get excited about. I was on the verge of tearing my hair out when he showed us a four-year-old filly who had run twice in point-topoints and “would surely have won both times but for unseating her rider.”

Incredulously, Bob saw through what I thought as blarney and – against my judgement – did a deal to buy the filly. She was the sole purchase of the day but the drive back to the airport was a little short on chat, I think!

Well, Bob, you were right. Miss Diskin went on to win six times, placed second and third 13 times, and more than paid her way.

PHOTOS: CAROLINE NORRIS

Stud 20 miles from Fairyhouse in the news again thanks to Irish Grand National winner Niche Market, and stallions Kalanisi and Court Cave

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INTERNATIONAL SCENE

Mikael D’Haguenet and “all-time great” Ruby Walsh romp to victory in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle

I told you so - not!

Hopes were not high for Irish success heading into the Cheltenham Festival, but we need not have worried Okay, I do feel a bit sheepish penning this piece, but I would not be forgiven by my fellow countrymen if I did not spell out the facts.

Heading to Cheltenham I was not full of optimism on either the training or breeding front that the Irish would have a good meeting.

We did not have a good meeting.

We had a brilliant one. As for our jockeys, what can I say?

Kauto Star may have shone, but our Ruby simply dazzled.

Riding the winners of almost a third of all the races open to him, he simply defied superlatives.

Enjoy his time in the saddle as it is fair to say he is one of the greatest of all time.

Spare a thought, too, for his countryman Barry Geraghty. In any other year he would have been the star turn, partnering three Grade 1 winners and in some style too. He, Ruby Walsh and others contributed to an amazing tally of 21 of the 26

races being won by Irish-born jockeys.

Nine Irish-trained winners was probably about a 50% better performance than even the most optimistic would have predicted.

Willie Mullins accounted for a third of them, two at the highest level.

It was a closer contest on the breeding front, though Irish-breds still won more than half of the races and six of these were at Grade 1 level.

Punchestown plots later starts to attract workers In a most interesting development, the starting time for each of the first four day’s racing at the Punchestown Festival has been delayed until 3.45pm. This has not been met with complete approval, the more obvious opponents of the move being local restaurants, publicans and hotels.

The reason is simple.

Punchestown chief Dick O’Sullivan believes that in recessionary times it gives racegoers more time to spend in offices of a morning, encouraging ‘waverers’ to get in early, get their work done and then go racing.

Horses will be heading out to race later than normal at Punchestown

Funding question While we had indications that all was well, it was not until midApril that funding worth €54 million for Irish racing was secured when our parliament, the Dail, debated the subject.

There was some worry that the Labour Party might vote against the proposal, but the outcome was that no vote was taken and all parties broadly supported the 2009 fund. Now the focus is on securing longer term funding.

This is likely to be more complex. Thankfully there seems to be, at Government level at least, an appreciation of the economic contribution that racing and breeding makes to the exchequer. A new formula for the future is almost certain to be hammered out.

Even last month the amount of funding to racing was trimmed a further €1.2 million, having been cut by 9% in October 2008. On May 1 the off-course betting tax is being doubled to 2%, a move being met with huge resistance by bookmakers, with warnings of shop closures and job losses.

Sales opportunity News that Goffs is to cut back on the number of sales days in 2009 – down from 26 last year to 18 – has prompted Goresbridge Sales boss Martin Donohue to look again at their schedule. He said: “We might fill in some of the gaps. We haven’t finalised anything but are looking at it strongly at the moment and will be announcing something soon.”

The family-run business is Ireland’s leading sport horse sales company and is situated not far from Gowran Park in County Kilkenny. In recent years they have broken into the thoroughbred business, and introduced a two-year-old breeze-up sale a few years ago.

This has yielded a good deal of success and has attracted a number of overseas buyers.

This year’s breeze-up on May 25 will feature about 100 lots.

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CONTINENTAL TALES THE NEWS FROM MAINLAND EUROPE

Undisputed kings

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France can now be considered the undisputed champion of jumps breeding after events at Cheltenham and Aintree

t is fitting that, 100 years on from the previous Frenchbred success in the race, Mon Mome’s Grand National triumph should come at the remarkable odds of 100-1.

The loudest cheers from across the Channel came from the home of bloodstock agent Guy Petit, who not only sold the winner to Venetia Williams but also now manages the dam of the winner, Etoile du Lion, for one of his clients, Jean-Claude Laisis.

“I have spoken to Venetia and told her that she had made me

cry,” said Petit. “Her response was that I had made her cry too!”

Petit also bought the Ferdy Murphy-trained Kalahari King, winner of the preceding Grade 1 novice chase on the Aintree card, and had a winner at a more modest level for Philip Hobbs at Chepstow the same afternoon.

“It was quite emotional for me as Venetia, Ferdy and Philip were the three people who really got my career going,” added Petit.

France can now challenge Ireland as the champion of jumps breeding.

Trincot carries the silks of owner-breeder Adolf Bader to a Group 2 win

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A clean sweep of Cheltenham’s top races was only denied by Binocular’s narrow reverse in the Champion Hurdle, and the ten French victories at the Festival were all but equalled at Aintree, where Gallic blood came home in front in nine of the 14 graded races, including four of the five that carried Grade 1 status (see feature, pages 4047).

Bader back in business The blue silks with white spots of Swiss owner-breeder Adolf Bader were back in the big-race winners’ enclosure following Trincot’s victory in Longchamp’s Prix d’Harcourt on April 5.

Bader has been involved in French racing for 60 years and currently has some 30 horses in training, mainly with Trincot’s trainer Philippe Demercastel.

His biggest triumph came when Kendor won the 1989 Poule d’Essai des Poulains. He became a successful stallion.

In more recent years, Bader bred and raced Hightori to finish fifth in the 2000 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe before selling him to Gary Tanaka, for whom he was placed in the following year’s Dubai World Cup and

King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes.

Nowadays the driving force behind Bader’s stud, the Haras du Menil Nicomte near Argentan in Normandy, where the majority of his 20 mares are kept, is his daughter Monica.

Trincot, a son of Peintre Celebre and the Royal Academy mare Royal Lights, could give new owners Godolphin a lot of fun on the international circuit this season.

He was not disgraced when tenth to Eagle Mountain in the Hong Kong Cup last December when still an immature three-year-old.

One interesting sideline to the d’Harcourt was that Trincot was wearing sheepskin cheekpieces for the first time and they worked a treat.

Nothing unusual in that, you might think, but French punters, unless they were actually at the track, would have been blissfully unaware of this crucial equipment change, as cheekpieces do not have to be declared in France.

A spokesman for FranceGalop said that a new ruling is already in the pipeline to close this loophole. Not before time!

PHOTO: APRH

Words: James Crispe

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INTERNATIONAL SCENE

Germany Torsten Mundry, who recently took over a 64-strong string at Warendorf, near Dortmund, from his long-time boss Peter Rau is enjoying one aspect of his new role more than any other – food.

Asked how training compares to a 20-year shift in the saddle which saw him clock up almost 1,200 winners, 38-year-old Mundry exclaimed: “I can eat now, I can live!”

His tone soon changes as he gives the question more thought, and he added: “There are negative points to training too. You have to be at the yard every moment of every day, concentrating hard and thinking about every horse.

“Fortunately, Peter is still here each morning and I have only to ask if I need help. He has over 40 years of experience.”

The pair teamed up for the first time in 1995 and their partnership was cemented a year later when Lavirco won the German Derby. They have been together ever since, apart from a hiatus of less than two years when Mundry rode in Hong Kong and Macau.

Forced to hang up his boots a few days before he intended last November after a positive drug test for cocaine, Mundry almost got his new career off to a perfect start at Cologne on April 5. But Ambassador, his

initial turf runner, was caught by Ostland in the first Pattern race of the German season, the Group 3 Buchmacher AlbersGrand Prix Aufgalopp.

The frustration of going so close to breaking his duck in such a grand manner was great, but Mundry was quick to look on the bright side, insisting that, as his odds of over 18-1 suggest, Ambassador had “really surprised us”.

A five-year-old son of Acatenango, Ambassador has an unusual history, just like another member of the yard, Konqueror. They are both German-breds owned by an American, John O’Connor, who has developed a link with top German stud Gestut Fahrhof, and raced in O’Connor’s home state of New York before returning to their native land.

Ambassador has proved himself in Group company and Mundry reckons Konqueror, by Lomitas and who won four of five starts last term, will soon be joining him in that sphere.

The dire finances of German racing, illustrated again last month when the organisers of racing at Baden-Baden were declared insolvent, is not lost on Mundry, who is keen to prove himself a “global player”.

But he remains upbeat about his local industry, feeling that it will soon turn the corner.

Italy The plan for global training domination by the first family of Italian racing – the Bottis – took another couple of steps forward last month as brothers Endo and Alessandro Botti branched out on their own.

Their father, Giuseppe, has been Italian champion trainer countless times in partnership with his brother, Alduino. He is father of Stefano, his long-time assistant and crack amateur rider, and Marco, now making waves in Newmarket.

Alessandro has also plumped for a foreign assignment, as he oversees a small string in Chantilly, although he operates under his father’s licence.

Endo has moved only 40 minutes drive away from his old man, to Razza Latina in Pisa.

But he has taken out his own licence, slogging through the six months of exams the Italian authorities require to obtain it.

Accompanying the 37-yearold through this process was his partner, Cristiana Brivio Sforza, who is well known in bloodstock circles as a leading sales consignor, preparing such as Electrocutionist and Rip Van Winkle. Her input into the operation can be measured by the fact that of the Razza Latina string of 35, 31 have been under her care at some point before going into training.

Endo’s own CV is equally

impressive, as he was twice Italian champion jockey and had ridden almost 1,500 winners, including the 2007 Italian Derby aboard Awelmarduk, prior to his retirement last June. He saddled his first runner on February 19 and three weeks later got off the mark with a double completed by the aptlynamed colt A Special Day. It should not be long before his horses start contending for top honours. Jakkalberry, a Storming Home half-brother to Awelmarduk, did not race before mid-March but has now won both his starts, sufficiently impressing Stephane Pasquier for him to commit to riding him in the Italian Derby on May 9.

Comparing Jakkalberry with his sibling, Botti said: “They are similar physically and were both very green and immature early on. Awelmarduk did not show us anything special before he ran in the Derby.

Jakkalberry is a real baby and did not know what to do on his first two starts but he still won.”

Another likely flagbearer is Senlis, winner of the 2008 Italian 2,000 Guineas, who should soon be ready for a run.

Botti is plotting a quiet return for the son of High Chaparral before a possible return to France, where he was Group 3-placed last season.

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GOING GLOBAL

THE COLUMN THAT EMBRACES EVERY CONTINENT

End of an era – but will new one start on time?

Old and new: Nad Al Sheba’s stable block, with Meydan behind

This year’s Dubai World Cup was the last at Nad Al Sheba, though it’s a race against time to open Meydan for the 2010 running

W

ell Armed’s Dubai World Cup win marked the end of a remarkable era with the closure after just 17 years of Nad Al Sheba racecourse.

Despite a series of storybook performances, including this year two winners ridden by former camel jockey Ahmed Ajtebi in the pair of $5 million turf races, the end of the Nad Al Sheba era coincided with questions looming about what lies ahead for racing in Dubai. Perching like a skeletal vulture above Nad Al

Sheba was the expansive steel hulk of the planned $1.25 billion (£850 million), 60,000-seat Meydan grandstand and hotel complex, which is due to be finished for the 2010 Dubai World Cup meeting. But with building plans changed earlier this year under allegations of construction delays and a resulting crossfire of legal claims, it is not certain when the facility will be completed.

Dubai Racing Club Chief Executive Frank Gabriel said the new complex would be ready in time for the November opening

of the 2009-2010 season.

The Carnival, which begins annually in January and this year was worth nearly $10 million (£6.8 million), would be the first major event affected if Meydan’s planned 2,400m turf course wrapped around a 1,760m track, probably of synthetic material, is not finished.

Economic impact Demolition of Nad Al Sheba’s Maktoum and Millennium grandstands, as well as of the turf and dirt racecourses, was due to begin immediately after the World Cup, but still had not commenced nearly two weeks later in April.

Economic problems that have spread across the world have had a major impact on Dubai, where many building projects have been postponed or cancelled.

At Meydan, local reports have revealed that plans for 18 buildings at Meydan Business Park have been pared down to just two, although substructures will be completed for the other 16 as well. Just prior to the World Cup, the Beijing-based firm China State Construction Engineering Corp was revealed as the new principal construction agent at Meydan, charged with finishing details on the grandstand for about £37 million.

Words: Michele MacDonald

Xie Quiong, assistant project manager, who said that China State’s contract will end on August 21, reported: “Various Chinese companies are now working on different aspects of the project. We’re in the process of finishing minor structural work and the piling works.”

Meanwhile, locally-based construction company Arabtec, and Malaysian-based WCT Engineering, the original directors of the project, are seeking compensation through legal avenues after being dismissed by Meydan in January with the stated reason being delays. WCT has announced that its portion of the claim will be more than £306 million.

Regardless of the hovering questions, Meydan Group splashed its name in as many places as it could, taking out multiple newspaper advertisements on World Cup day and placing billboards around Nad Al Sheba promoting the planned new facilities with Western-style depictions of racing hospitality in luxury suites and a variety of restaurants.

“We proudly await what is in store for the future and what Meydan will bring to the UAE,” said Meydan Chairman Saeed Al Tayer.

Following a trend, Australia’s Inglis Easter select yearling sale experienced declines of 38% in turnover, 36% in average price and 28% in median.

A total of 369 yearlings were sold for £43,085,618, an average of £116,763. Darley and Nathan Tinkler were the leading buyers, with the former topping all others by amount spent with £3,453,217 on 15 yearlings and the latter buying

16 for £2,820,938. Yet even the leaders were indicative of the slumping market, with Darley’s total spend less than half of what it was in 2008 and Tinkler’s about a third of what he spent at last year’s Magic Millions Easter yearling sale. Stud owners immediately pledged to reduce fees for the upcoming season.

Just two days after the sale, Arrowfield Stud slashed fees by 40% or more on three of its

28 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

eight stallions, including Redoute’s Choice, who will stand for £96,300. Three others were cut by 20-33%.

“We’ve elected to recognise the market situation occasioned by the financial crisis and adjusted our fees to levels which will ensure breeders can achieve profitable outcomes,” said Arrowfield Managing Director John Messara.

Keeneland’s two-day April

two-year-olds in training sale saw a 27.6% drop in gross to $11.8 million (£8,040,319).

Another tell-tale sign was that significantly more catalogued horses were withdrawn (99) than those that were sold (66).

“This is where the thoroughbred market is at at the moment,” said Keeneland Sales Director Geoffrey Russell. “It’s a totally different world than this time last year.”

PHOTOS: GEORGE SELWYN

Sign of the times at Australia and United States sales

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INTERNATIONAL SCENE

A story of perseverance, faith and determination Well Armed’s Dubai World Cup win inspires, while local jockey Ahmed Ajtebi stars with major double While the sport of racing generates more incredible tales of triumph and tragedy than just about any other human endeavour, the tale of Dubai World Cup winner Well Armed has to rank at the highest level for inspiration.

Due to his towering size and some conformational issues, Well Armed was sent by his breeder, WinStar Farm, for early training with Clive Brittain on surfaces that would be kinder than America’s dirt racetracks.

The gelding by WinStar’s successful young sire Tiznow won his first race on his eighth start, a ten-furlong contest at Lingfield in his juvenile season, before packing up for his first journey to Dubai, where he immediately won an allowance race.

Although WinStar believed he had much promise, perhaps even for the Kentucky Derby, he chipped a knee in the 2006 UAE Derby won by Discreet Cat and was sidelined.

Following surgery to remove the bone chip, Well Armed suffered more bad luck, fracturing his pelvis in a stalls accident, and for a time he was

in so much pain vets thought he might have to be euthanised. But WinStar co-owner Bill Casner didn’t give up; instead, he took Well Armed to his Texas ranch and gave him care and attention.

When Well Armed had recovered sufficiently, Casner devoted himself to rehabilitating him, eventually throwing a Western saddle over his back and riding him. Casner said he was always amazed that no matter what he did, whether swimming or riding Well Armed, the horse never got tired.

So, when Well Armed spurted away to win the $6 million World Cup by 14 lengths, Casner felt much more than just the rush of winning so much money.

“It was absolutely fantastic,” he reflected. “It’s the culmination of the efforts of a tremendous number of people. He is a homebred and it has taken countless hours and effort and care by many, many people to get him to this point.”

Casner praised Irish-born, California-based trainer Eoin Harty for his patience in bringing Well Armed back to racing in 2007 and developing him into a track record setter who finished

a game third in the 2008 World Cup before scoring Grade 1 success in America.

Jockey Aaron Gryder has also been a devoted member of the team, never missing a workout on the 17hh giant. Well Armed’s story, one of perseverance, faith and determination, is what racing is all about.

Ajtebi also an inspiration But he wasn’t the only inspirational character on the World Cup programme. Jockey Ahmed Ajtebi, a Dubai native who grew up riding camels that his father trained, stole the Dubai Duty Free on Gladiatorus and then prevailed in a three-horse photo with Eastern Anthem in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

By the next day, Ajtebi, clearly a charismatic performer as he stood in the saddle high above Eastern Anthem’s withers to acknowledge thundering cheers, said he had forgotten all about the victories in order to concentrate on what will come next in his career. Still technically an apprentice, he hopes to return to Britain following a wrangle over his visa last year.

“What has happened is the

Well Armed wins by 14 lengths

dream of everyone in my position,” said Ajtebi, 27, who did not start riding horses until Sheikh Mohammed advised him he should try five years ago.

“He was behind me all the way,” Ajtebi said of Sheikh Mohammed. “On Dubai World Cup night, he was happy, like his son won. He’s almost like my father.”

Harty also acknowledged the key role Sheikh Mohammed had played in his career by “plucking me from obscurity” when hiring him to train Godolphin’s USbased two-year-olds beginning in 2000. Previously, Harty had been trainer Bob Baffert’s top assistant and helped develop Silver Charm and Real Quiet.

Japan’s breeding industry takes innovative steps to entice buyers Pinched by the economic crunch, Japanese breeders are taking steps to stimulate buyers at the Japan Racing Horse Association yearlings and foals sale in July.

The JRHA will be offering incentives for those horses that graduate to win Group races at either elite JRA or second-tier National Association of Racing tracks. The top prize will be ten million yen (about £67,942) for sale horses who win a domestic Group 1 for two-year-olds at a JRA track. “The JRHA is very worried about the market,” said

Naohiro Goda, a spokesman for the association. “The economy in Japan is very bad and the number of owners declining. So we have to provide some encouragement.”

Rather than opt for an incentive race in which only the owners of the top place-getters in one event would be the ones to benefit, the JRHA devised the premium schedule for juvenile Group races in order to create a mechanism that could reward many owners.

In addition to the bonus for winning a Group 1, other prizes would be three million yen

(£20,383) for a JRA Group 2 race and one million yen (about £6,794) for a JRA Group 3.

Premiums for winning juvenile Group stakes at NAR tracks would be 50% of the comparable amounts for the JRA races, with NAR Group 1 stakes victories worth a bonus of five million yen (£33,971); Group 2 wins, 1.5 million yen (£10,191); and Group 3 wins, 500,000 yen (£3,397).

Rules for international owners are being crafted to continue protecting the domestic part of the industry. Requirements for

international owners given a JRA licence will include that the first five horses they race in Japan be Japanese-breds and that, from additional runners, less than onesixth can be bred abroad.

They will have to appoint a Japanese person as their liaison and will have to meet the same financial requirements as Japanese owners, proving their total assets are worth at least 90 million yen (£611,480) and they have had annual income of at least 18 million yen (£122,296) for two consecutive years.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER 29

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TALKING TO...

So, let’s get this right: you are a Premier League rugby player, a former international, and you want to become a racehorse trainer?

Yes, I would love to train when my rugby career is over. I find it fascinating to study the similarities between a horse’s preparation and the way we are trained for rugby. In fact, it’s almost frightening just how similar it can be: they have ice baths, we have ice baths after training. Horses strain muscles, so do we. Their diets are monitored as closely as ours.

You must realise there are lots of headaches involved in training...

That’s why I need to learn as much as I can. I haven’t been raised with horses and haven’t been hands-on. My mum used to send us off to summer camps as kids and that’s all the riding I have done, and I have no intention of getting my leg over and risking injury while I am still playing rugby. I am currently reading Martin Pipe’s book and he wasn’t raised with horses, his father was more on the bookmaking side. Also, ex-sportsmen like Mick Channon have successfully made the switch from football to training. So it can be done.

The rugby star seeking to make an ambitious switch to training Words: Tim Richards

Talking to…

James Simpson-Daniel How do you plan to acquire the necessary experience?

I am constantly asking Michael and Peter Scudamore and family stupid questions and picking their brains. I have found it a great place to learn and they have been very kind and long suffering. David Redvers, at Tweenhills Stud, has asked me there to get more experience, mucking out and working with the horses. Recently I have been struggling with a rib injury, but once I am fit I shall offer my services.

I am also trying to bring new people into racing at as little cost as possible through Simpson-Daniel/Scudamore Racing Partners, for people who may not know a lot about horses but have an interest in racing, be it in a 50-horse syndicate or one with 20 members or, say, just four. They would have fun at little cost, come to

the yard, see the facilities and, of course, the horses.

Have you owned horses yourself?

Leitrim Rock is the only one I have owned outright. A very frustrating horse, always slow out of the stalls and finishing like a train.

Where does your interest in racing come from?

Initially, from my old man. He used to have a share in a horse and I picked up the interest from there, though at that stage it was mainly as a punter. I still like a bet but the training side has come more and more into my head.

The horses are the buzz. I love watching them work at the (Scudamore) yard, which is near Ross-on-Wye, about half an hour from where I train with Gloucester.

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TALKING TO...

FINGERS ON THE BUZZERS What is the most dangerous thing you have done?

The day job Four guests for dinner?

Muhammad Ali, Anthony Hopkins, Tiger Woods and my fiancée, Lucy Marriott If you were in trouble who would you turn to?

My agent, David MacKnight Your weakness?

Being over-competitive Best rugby player you’ve seen?

Carlos Spencer

What does your role as President of Cheltenham’s Club 16-24 involve?

It’s similar to my position with the Scudamores in trying to get young faces involved. We introduce the young to racing so they are not overawed by the whole thing. There is an annual ball and, frankly, a lot of fun to be had, while at the same time meeting different people involved in the business. I took over from Zara Phillips, but an awful lot of what goes on in the Club is thanks to Rebecca Morgan at Cheltenham.

How does a day at the Cheltenham Festival compare with a Twickenham international?

Several years ago I said the Festival was like a mini-Twickenham and Edward Gillespie wanted to hit me over the head. Basically, for me it provides the same rush. Even going to Warwick as the owner of Leitrim Rock gave me a great rush of blood and excitement that was overwhelming. At least in rugby you are nervous but you know you are going out there to do it yourself, whereas in racing, as an owner, there is nothing you can do about the outcome.

Do jump jockeys and rugby players have a lot in common?

Simpson-Daniel takes the hands-on approach at the Scudamore yard in Herefordshire

Who in racing inspires you, and why?

People who are or have been at the top, like Paul Nicholls and Martin Pipe. Of course, Tony McCoy who pushes himself to the limit and rides with injuries. Their dedication gives you inspiration and is an example to follow.

Are many rugby players racing fans?

More as punters and racegoers, rather than getting up early to go and watch first lot.

Duncan Macrae, the Australian fly-half who played for Gloucester, was into breeding and was the underbidder for Aussie sprinter Choisir.

Is rugby better organised than racing? It has been striking how much the England rugby team does with sponsors in terms of promotion.

There is always a bit of an issue between club and country, though the situation has improved a lot since Martin Johnson has taken over the England job. It seems that there could be problems in racing over television rights. I believe a lot of people would lose interest if they couldn’t watch the horses they have backed on television, which is a huge marketing tool.

Would Clive Woodward make a good maverick to come in and run British racing?

I’m sure he’d discover ways of doing the job successfully. The one thing he always did with us was to make sure everything was perfectly organised. He got hold of everything by the scruff of the neck.

We know footballers love racing – Mick Channon, Michael Owen and Francis Lee. Are you starting a trend among rugby players?

I have already told Mike Tindall and Ian Balshaw (Gloucester team-mates) they will have to have at least one horse each with me when I start training.

How scary is Martin Johnson in real life? You have played with him for England, but what was he like to play against?

Hobby Horseracing Music Chilled out and not too intense Drink Timothy Taylor ales Movie star Anthony Hopkins Book The Book Thief

Very much so, particularly with injuries. Jockeys are very determined and competitive, and they have to learn to take criticism, just as we do. I have talked to Sam Thomas about the times when things have not worked out for him and he has had to take criticism. There have been similar occasions for me and it is interesting comparing notes. Thankfully, we need to bulk up rather than constantly lose weight like jockeys.

What has your racing experience taught you?

As an owner, not to get too attached to your horse. I did with Leitrim Rock and kept him too long, instead of cutting my losses. Having said that, if I do get into training I am sure I will find it difficult not to become attached to my horses.

I’ll have to be more disciplined.

32 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

How healthy is English international rugby? The team has slipped a long way since winning the World Cup, and even since being runners-up to South Africa.

We are still getting there and the English game internationally is on the up. Martin Johnson has gone into a lot of detail with his training staff and with the medical side of things, and I am sure he is moving our game forward.

What are the most important attributes to a winning mentality?

Self-discipline, determination, a competitive edge and ability to express yourself on the field. I

PHOTO: THOUSAND WORD MEDIA LTD

FAVOURITES

Very scary and intimidating on the rugby pitch.

Thankfully he was a forward and I am a back, so I managed to steer clear of him most of the time.

Playing with him, he was a real leader.

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14/4/09

18:51

Page 1

Five high.

2008 Highclere Thoroughbred Racing highlights; 1. Record prize money earnings of over £1,000,000 2. Royal Ascot, Ladies Day double with COLLECTION in the Hampton Court Stakes (LR) and COLONY in the King George V Heritage Handicap 3. A Glorious Goodwood double with PROLIFIC in the Richmond Stakes (Gr. 2) and CONQUEST in the Stewards Cup 4. Another Festival winner at Ascot as FURNACE takes the £150,000 totesport.com Challenge Cup 5. TIGER EYE storms to victory in the £800,000 Tattersalls Timeform Fillies’ 800

Share in our success

To find out more about how you can become a Highclere owner, please contact Harry Herbert or Alex Smith.

Tel: 01488 669166 Fax: 01488 669278 e-mail: hherbert@highclere.co.uk alex@highclere.co.uk www.highclere.co.uk

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National Stud Managing Director Brian O’Rourke with the mare Spotlight and her foal by Nayef

34 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

It is now two years since the Jockey Club was first linked with a takeover of the National Stud, when it was pretty much accepted that the stud got itself in a bit of a hole under the previous regime. As the new Managing Director, how do you intend to dig the stud out of that hole?

It is a completely fresh start for me because I didn’t know any of the history when I took the job; I didn’t know any of the characters involved. To me, I am starting a whole new stud farm and leaving the past in the past. The Jockey Club has taken over a lot of the debts – that was part and parcel of the transition.

Have you been given a specific briefing as to what you need to achieve?

The first thing is to re-establish the stud as a commercial stud farm, to get confidence back in

the place, especially as a boarding operation. If we can get that, then we can go forward and try to get some stallions.

If we can get the stud farm side of the place right – and it is going to take a lot of hard work and a bit of luck – I think everything else will fall into place. If we have a better stud farm we will attract better students for training, better ambassadors. We know the education side is so, so important in order to get new people into the industry.

Here, you have to look at the big picture. If we get good students and they learn an awful lot and enjoy themselves, and we get them good placements at the end of the course, five years from now they are going to be in positions of power, we hope, and they are going to come back and do business with us.

Mountain To Climb Brian O’Rourke knows he has much to do to repair the National Stud’s image – it’s a challenge that he relishes Words: Richard Griffiths | Photos: Chris Bourchier

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You have mentioned before the stud is “cashstrapped”. Are you hoping that the Jockey Club will stump up the cash for new stallions?

Not at the moment and until such time as we are going forward on our own two feet and prove that we are commercially viable, I wouldn’t expect them to. It would be like taking over a company that is losing money and saying, ‘Right, I need £10 million’. You can’t do that.

It’s about proving yourself first. And hopefully we will. The mountain we have to climb is steep.

You have also said it is “terribly important” that the National Stud is involved in the stallion market. So without immediate Jockey Club financing, how are you going to do it?

We are hoping to do it with the goodwill of people. We realise we can’t compete with the big studs, but we have to hope that a horse comes along that doesn’t belong to people like Coolmore, Darley, the Aga Khan, Cheveley, Juddmonte, and that the owner might like to retain a stake in it.

At the moment we are standing the likes of Cockney Rebel for his owners, and we have to try to do similar deals in the future. The beauty of having the Jockey Club behind us is that we can produce the trump card of their respectability. We will need that help.

lly a i c er Club m m co ockey will” s e selv k the J ully we r u o as pef e v o pr re we ey. Ho o t ve e befo mon a h l for “We viab

Are mare owners taking a cautious view with their breeding plans this year?

They seem to be. We are about two yards down on this time last year, which is about 50-odd mares. And they are coming to us later, to save on keep. I think we have got about half a dozen mares gone home already at about 28 days.

That’s the world over, the nature of the economy we are in.

So in this climate, what kind of deals does a stud have to offer breeders?

If someone brings three mares you have to deal or negotiate on the stud fee. It’s just like if you were buying anything in bulk. In this day and age everyone will ring you up and say, ‘What’s Bahamian Bounty standing for?’ You will tell them his fee, £10,000, and they’ll ask, ‘What’s the best deal you can give me?’ It’s horse trading. If the person thinks he is getting a deal, great, and we like to cut a deal as people will come back for a repeat purchase. There needs to be quite a bit of loyalty in this game.

But what if a stud – any stud – encourages a breeder to do a deal for a mare that otherwise wouldn’t have been bred, especially when we have an overproduction problem that has coincided with an economic trough. Do studs not have a responsibility in this area?

It is very much a double-edged sword, because if you are a stud owner you have a limited time span when you can make money with your stallion. If you overdo it, if you glut the market, you are damaging your stallion because the price of its progeny falls right down. It’s a fine line to walk.

O’Rourke is on the lookout for new stallions to add to the National Stud roster

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

But if a person insists on using a stallion that is going to breed to 180 mares because he got a deal and then can’t understand why he can’t sell the progeny, who’s at fault there? That breeder was greedy enough to think he could get a deal, and he wasn’t thinking long-term. Breeders are at fault also; they have got to take a bit of responsibility as well.

Isn’t the stud being greedy trying to get as many mares as possible?

I agree with that part as well. So I have mixed views on it.

What about a stallion like Bahamian Bounty, who is full this year. What kind of book size does he have?

He is a syndicated horse and he has got a cap of 110. I would have no problem having a cap of around 120 mares for a stallion and if that stallion ‘clicks’, then raising his stud fee, rather than the number of mares he covers because you are creating something that is select – I don’t think Northern Dancer ever bred to more than 40 mares.

It’s hard to balance, though, because a lot of the big studs are covering very big books. And if you don’t breed 100-plus mares to your stallion you can’t compete, because you don’t have the runners. It’s a tricky one.

It sounds like there is a dilemma between what a stud should do for itself against what it should do for the breeding industry?

Yes. But if you take a stance and say, ‘Right, we are going to cover only 70 mares’, you’ll soon be saying, ‘Oh, hold on a minute, we have no runners.’ Your horse will be obsolete very quickly.

When you joined the National Stud, you hit the ground running by taking a stance on grooms’ fees, in that you were dead against them. You had spent the last 12 years working in Kentucky (where O’Rourke managed Wimbledon Farm and then worked as a consultant for James Wigan. Incidentally, he is the youngest of three brothers who manage farms: Liam is at Darley, Garrett at Juddmonte US). Weren’t grooms’ fees in use there?

No, and as a mare owner myself I just thought it was ridiculous. If you were going to pay £10,000 or £15,000 for a stud fee, then why should you have to pay anything extra? A lot of other studs have gone the same route. It needed to be done, as it was only fair to the breeders.

Does your Kentucky experience allow you to bring fresh ideas and techniques to this job?

I hope so. The one thing about Kentucky is that the volume of horses is far greater, so in a short space of time I saw things you wouldn’t ordinarily see, things like cases of botulism, which are fascinating but scary at the same time.

The climate is different so you have to think

Unusually, this foal was born during daytime. It is pictured here ten minutes after birth

completely differently. Here it is a wetter, cooler climate. In Kentucky it is a drier climate but a more extreme one. You would feed a lot more in the States in the winter. A third of the intake would just go on body heat. You’d really have to feed quite heavily and then very little in the summer because the ground is so good.

Incredible land. If you saw a yearling that was born in Kentucky on February 1 and compare it to one born on the same date in Newmarket, and you looked at them both on, say, September 1 of their yearling year, you’d be amazed at the difference. The one in Kentucky would be way more mature physically, or seem to be. Yet by the time they are two-year-olds they will have evened out. Maybe it’s the sunshine…

Is there more surgery in the States on younger horses?

I don’t think there is now, but for a while things did get a bit trigger happy. People thought they could improve foals early on doing PEs (Periosteal Elevations – one of the two main types of corrective surgery) on them, and then they realised the foals would improve themselves anyway, without surgery.

With a PE, if a foal is very badly deviated when it was born, then a vet would make a slit underneath the knee and file the bone and supposedly straighten that leg. But if you look at a foal when it was born and you look at it again in a week’s time and you haven’t seen it in between…physically they change so much. A lot of them straighten on their own anyway.

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THE BIG INTERVIEW

In fairness, with all surgeries you have to try to be innovative. You do get more surgeries in the States for the simple reason that at all sales a full set of x-rays are there. And the two-year-old people will not buy a yearling if it has bad x-rays.

The day you buy is the day you sell, so you are not going to take on a problem.

Any particular techniques impress you in Kentucky?

Acupuncture. I am a sceptic but seeing is believing. Acupuncture works well with yearlings, getting them ready for sales, and especially well with mares who have fluid in their uterus, in order to tone up the uterus so they can conceive better. We had a yearling filly that we brought into Keeneland. Never once had she walked her box, but as soon as she got there she was just spinning around. We gave her so many sedatives that we reached the point where the vet said, ‘I can’t give her any more, it’ll slow down her gut.’

He said to try acupuncture, as there was no downside. The vet put needles between the horse’s ears and a couple of different points on its back. That filly dropped its head, went over had a bucket of water, had some feed, and laid down. As I say, seeing is believing.

You mentioned the quality of land in Kentucky; what do you have to deal with at the National Stud?

You need to do a lot more soil testing in Newmarket than, say, in Ireland or Kentucky, because you don’t have as good a land in that you go six or seven inches down and there is a chalk base, whereas you could have three or four inches of topsoil in Yorkshire or the Golden Vale or in Meath. You don’t have that luxury here, so you have to be very careful in respect of crop rotation

and paddocks, not to ‘poach’ them too early. If you put too many animals on them during the winter, they are just going to cut it all up. If you overdo that and then you get a hot summer here, it will burn up quickly. You have got to look after your land as much as your horses. The land gets heavier as it goes towards Dalham and Cheveley and Cambridge, whereas we are very close to the Heath here. If you go out on any of our paddocks, it’s like concrete at the moment (end of March), it dries very quickly.

Horses are very picky, they’ll eat the sweetest grass in the paddock and they don’t normally eat near their droppings, so you get the sheep in to do all that. We don’t have the luxury of Kentucky, where the famous studs there have paddocks of 60 to 70 acres. Here an average stud would be 100 acres in total, so you are forced into managing your land a lot more carefully.

Finally, just to refer back to your reference that you “have a mountain to climb”, do you actually prefer coming into a situation where almost the only way is up?

Yes. It’s one of the reasons I took the job. Everybody needs a challenge. It’s what makes you tick, makes you get out of bed in the morning and go for it.

Because if we do turn this right around, the pleasure we get from it will be incredible, not least because the mountain is so steep.” I

“I am a sceptic but acupuncture works especially well with horses, be it to relax yearlings at the sales or to help mares get in foal. Seeing is believing” Cover star: the Nayef foal – yes, him again! – adopts a curious approach to the photographer’s lens

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The French Revolution Ten out of 26 races at Cheltenham, four of the five Grade 1s at Aintree – the influence of Gallic breeding grows ever stronger Words: Edward Rosenthal Photos: Patrick McCann and George Selwyn

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orses bearing the ‘FR’ suffix are enjoying phenomenal success in British jump racing – and it is not just down to Kauto Star and Master Minded. French-bred horses won ten of the 26 races at the Cheltenham Festival, including the Gold Cup, Champion Chase and World Hurdle.

Their sheer strength in depth becomes apparent when you consider four of the first five in the Gold Cup (Kauto Star, Exotic Dancer, Neptune Collonges and My Will) and World Hurdle (Big Buck’s, Punchestowns, Kasbah Bliss and Mighty Man) were French-bred, as were two out of the first three in the Champion Chase (Master Minded and Petit Robin).

And as an indication of future dominance – perhaps even a challenge to the success of Irishbreds – the first two home in the Triumph (Zaynar and Walkon) and Ballymore Novices’ Hurdles (Mikael D’Haguenet and Karabak) are also of Gallic origin.

Not that their success is confined to the Festival – just check out the suffix of 100-1 Grand National winner Mon Mome.

And French-breds won nine of the 14 Graded races at Aintree, including four of the five Grade 1 races. Never before have they dominated the jumping landscape. So how has it happened?

H

The Background

Master Minded was one of ten French-breds to win at the Festival

As ever, to understand what is happening today it is worth exploring the past.

Even in the post-war era, Peter Cazalet recognised the potential across the Channel and brought over a host of young charges, including Manicou, who won the 1950 King George VI Chase as a five-year-old (the youngest scorer to date) in the colours of The Queen Mother.

More recently, Francois Doumen’s regular raids on the UK with high-class chasers Nupsala, The Fellow and Algan showcased the talent of French jumpers, while the ground-breaking Martin Pipe sparked interest among his UK contemporaries with the success of Cyfor Malta and Challenger du Luc among others.

All of these horses began their careers at a younger age than British- or Irish-bred jumpers due to a racing programme that offers excellent opportunities for three- and four-year-olds.

That in itself does not explain their success on these shores. However, at an age when some of their British and Irish counterparts might be doing little more than relaxing in a field chomping on grass, the French National Hunt animal is undergoing an intensive fitness regime.

Having spent the early part of his career in Ireland, Francois Cottin, last year’s champion jump trainer in France, is ideally placed to comment on the different mentalities and approaches to jump racing “In France, it is ‘push, push, push’ to get the horses on the track as early as possible,” says Cottin, who bred Champion Hurdler Hors La Loi III. “Our race programme is so good for

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Rising force Looking at the breeding of both runners and winners at the two big British festivals over the last ten years, it can clearly be seen that French-breds are having an increasingly significant impact Cheltenham by runners

Cheltenham by winners

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From just 41 runners and three winners in 1999, French-bred success and influence at the Cheltenham Festival has more than trebled in a decade. This year, 127 French-bred

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runners recorded ten victories. Irishbreds continue to be strong in terms of runners and races won, while British-bred runners have not done so well in recent years.

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The Aintree picture has changed dramatically in terms of winners. In 1999, Irish-breds accounted for over half the runners (125), winning 13 of the 20 races, with 23 French-breds

three- and four-year-olds that breeders know they need to get their horses prepared very early; they cannot be too backward, or they won’t sell.

“I worked in Ireland where often horses aren’t broken in until they are four or five – in France, some horses have finished their career by that age! We like to break in our horses when they are young ahead of bringing them into training at the end of their two-year-old season.”

Guillaume Macaire, the multiple champion jump trainer in France, campaigned Jair Du Cochet and has supplied many high-class horses to the UK, including Master Minded and Voy Por Ustedes, whom he also bred. He explains that every youngster to arrive at his stable understands the basics of jumping.

He says: “Many of my jumpers are broken in as yearlings. They may start schooling in the September of their two-year-old season, but not with me. It happens in another facility, but I oversee what happens and monitor what progress is made.

“By the time the horses come to my yard in December, they already have a good foundation on which to work. In fact, many could literally go over jumps the next day after arriving.”

Macaire confirms: “The French prepare their horses early because the programme for threeand four-year-olds is very attractive. There are many chases confined to four-year-olds, including at Grade 1 level; these races do not

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winning three races. In 2009, the French-bred reigned supreme, with nine wins against eight for Irishbreds and three for British-breds, despite fewer runners than both.

exist in the UK or Ireland. Therefore, Frenchtrained horses are far in advance of their British and Irish counterparts.”

There is an irony here: French-breds are on the one hand more precocious than their UK and Ireland counterparts. But their pedigrees can be distinctly old-fashioned.

The Breeding

“You need to have the right genes in a racehorse that will make it really effective over jumps,” argues Macaire. “French-bred horses are far more effective jumping fences, not hurdles. The bigger obstacles provide a real test and jumping ability is crucial.

“Horses such as First Gold, Japhet and Tempo D’Or – they were all out of dams that enjoyed a test of stamina and jumped very well.”

Macaire has written in Paris -Turf about the danger of introducing too much speed into French pedigrees. “We must keep the ‘mould’ for producing our jumpers,” he says. “Many dam lines have been lost by the introduction of US blood. I have tried to signal a ‘red alert’ because we are weakening the breed.

“Years ago in France all horses had similar pedigrees. For example, Vatellor sired the winner of both the Epsom Derby and French Champion Hurdle in 1948. However, the influx of American blood has caused destruction.

There is more speed in pedigrees now, but this

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does not make for correct jumping ability.

“Old fashioned horses (were big in the shoulder)...whereas American horses are dominated by their hind quarters. A jump horse must be able to lift its shoulders fully; this is impossible for a (US-style) ‘quarter horse’.

“A horse that has the ability to lift its shoulders will not get as tired as a horse without this ability in its genes.”

Cottin stresses the importance of the ‘bottomline’ in French jumping, saying: “So many breeders retain shares in their mares so that they can breed from them after racing. They know the family inside out and understand which crosses will work. This is what has strengthened our breeding industry.”

The enthusiasm for sires who themselves won over jumps is a fascinating aspect of the French breeding industry. Of the leading 20 jump sires in France in 2008, seven had raced over hurdles or fences.

Highlighting the impact that French-breds now exert at the top level of the sport in Britain, Racing Post figures (as of April 7) showed that 33 horses were rated 166 or above.

Of these, 20 carry the ‘FR’ suffix, eight of whom were sired by a winner over jumps, including Madison Du Berlais and Welsh National winner Notre Pere.

Pedigree expert Andrew Caulfield wrote in Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder four years ago about “an invading force overrunning the home defence”, referring to the domination of Frenchbred jumpers in the UK Espousing the view that “soundness, suitable conformation, stamina and courage” could be passed on to their progeny by stallions raced over jumps, Caulfield asked why there were so few entire horses racing over jumps in Britain and Ireland compared to France. He concluded that breeders and trainers outside France often resort to gelding “even when a colt’s temperament doesn’t deserve it”.

Caulfield, who pointed to the impact of French-breds Roselier and Over The River on British and Irish racing, said: “Perhaps breeders need reminding of the names of Celtic Cone, Vulgan, Harwell, Deep Run and Arctic Slave, all of whom won over jumps before becoming major contributors to National Hunt breeding”.

It is a thought that has also occurred to master Irish trainer Willie Mullins, who says: “Should we put aside one or two jumpers with nice pedigrees and not geld them? It’s food for thought.”

Macaire is already at that particular dining table. He has masterminded the careers of a succession of talented jumpers who have gone on to make leading stallions, including Indian River, Saint Preuil, Saint Des Saints, Robin Des Champs (recently imported to Ireland) and Kapgarde, who at the time of writing sat in 11th place in the leading jump sires table in France, despite his first crop being only four this year.

“We need to continue to produce top jump horses, which is why I decided not to geld some jumpers that could make stallions,” he says.

“Robin Des Champs is one of the best jump sires, because he dominated with his shoulders.

This is important, because horses jump with their shoulders, not their bottoms.

“He is a son of Garde Royale (broodmare sire of Master Minded), who is by Mill Reef (who also features in the pedigree of Kauto Star, who is inbred 3 x 3 to him). The Garde Royale blood, combined with Robin Des Champs’s size and good character, made him an excellent stallion prospect.

“I believe in crossing the same genes. A little bit of inbreeding is a good thing, as you duplicate the ability. If a dam has lots of class, you should try and use a stallion with a similar ability. You cannot mix a Ferrari and a tractor, because what you get is a useless vehicle.”

Cottin, whose family stands jump stallions Discover D’Auteuil, Antarctique and Michel Georges, feels that the French breeders enjoy an advantage when it comes to choosing which stallions to patronise.

He says: “Because new sires have their first crop running over obstacles at three, if these horses do badly, breeders will not use them as much. We find out a lot earlier which sires have the potential to be a big success, whereas in Britain and Ireland new sires normally have their first runners at four or five, and then often in

“Should we put aside one or two jumpers with nice pedigrees and not geld them?

It is food for thought” Willie Mullins bumpers. By the time you find out which sires are the best, they may not have much time left!

“Also, with the broodmares, you find out earlier which ones are producing the quality horses. Those that are not could be culled and new dam lines brought in.”

The Physique

Interestingly, it is not just a pedigree that can influence a horse physically. Bloodstock agent Anthony Bromley, who has purchased Kauto Star and Big Buck’s among many others for British owners, feels the French approach to training creates sounder horses.

He says: “In France, they do push their jumpers hard from an early stage. If a horse can survive the ‘Macaire academy’, it stands an excellent chance of adapting to the British set-up and training regime.

“A lot of work is done with their horses between the age of two and three, which I

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“The French horses are very forward and seem to thrive on our training. A lot of hard work is done at an early stage” Paul Nicholls believe helps their tendons, ligaments and muscle structure. Horses are used to exercising from a young age and I think this early development contributes to them being such good jumpers of fences.”

Paul Nicholls has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the efforts of French breeders – and that of Bromley – with four of his five Festival winners this year carrying their suffix.

“The French horses are very forward and seem to thrive on our training,” says Nicholls. “Fitness is very important. A lot of work is done with the horses at an early age and the horses are tough as a result.

“Kauto Star would be a more typical Frenchbred, in that he is athletic and quite narrow, whereas Master Minded is bigger and stronger.

In terms of soundness, I don’t think it makes a difference where the horse is bred.”

Mullins, whose latest star, Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle winner Mikael D’Haguenet, was bought from France last year as a maiden, also feels that French horses benefit from being trained harder at a younger age.

He says: “The French produce horses to race.

They’re certainly not mollycoddled like store

horses in Ireland, which can look like bullocks when sold young.

“When you bring a horse over from France they generally don’t take long to acclimatise and are ready to go, as they already have plenty of experience, whereas a pointer can take a year’s training before he’s ready for a race.

“I would say that French-breds are lighterframed and probably sounder overall, but only because they weed out the unsound ones at an earlier age due to their training and racing structure.”

Cottin feels that the soundness factor could explain, in part, why French horses have done so well in the UK. He says: “Our horses are lighter-framed. In my experience it is easier to keep this kind of horse sound – heavier horses exert more pressure on their limbs. The typical British chaser is 16 hands or bigger. If a horse is this size in France, the breeder is unlikely to race him too early and will often try to sell.”

One of the main charges levelled against French-bred horses is that they don’t last as long compared to British and Irish horses.

“Mileage is mileage with horses,” says Cottin.

“Therefore, you cannot expect a horse that has been racing since three to last as long as a horse that started racing at five or six.”

Nicholls, however, feels that there is no set rule regarding longevity, saying: “Certainly, mileage on the clock is significant and we try not to overdo the horses.

According to Nicholls, Kauto Star (below) is a more typical French-bred, as he is “athletic, quite narrow; whereas Master Minded is bigger, stronger”

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“Kauto has run an awful lot, though, and is better than ever at the age of nine. But then he is a freak. As for Master Minded, he would have run more often but there simply aren’t the races for him. They are both top class horses and we try to look after them.

“You can also point to the careers of horses like Royal Auclair – he’s still running well and winning races at the age of 12.”

The Future

The decision to sell many of their most promising young horses may contribute to a weakened domestic race programme. Yet it enables French breeders, owners and trainers to reinvest in new stock. Good news for British owners.

“We have a saying: you cannot have the butter and the money of the butter,” says Macaire.

“Nobody is forced to sell but often that is the logical decision.”

Cottin agrees, saying: “French racing relies on English buyers, especially in this economy.

Selling on top horses is important for me, especially as a breeder. If I have the dam and brothers and sisters at home, it pushes up their value.

“Agents seem to want to buy the bigger, better-looking horses, especially geldings. I train Princesse D’Anjou (dual winner of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris) and Grivette (conqueror

Mon Mome romps home under Liam Treadwell in the Grand National, the first French-bred winner for a century

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“We have a saying: you cannot have the butter and the money of the butter. Nobody is forced to, but often it is logical to sell” Guillaume Macaire of Hurricane Fly in a Grade 1), both tiny mares, and Oculi, who is a high-class chaser but not attractive. At least it means I get the chance to train a few good ones!”

As for British breeders, there appears to be a growing enthusiasm for educating jump horses at a younger age.

“The introduction of three-year-old bumpers and four-year-old points is a step in the right direction and is forcing breeders to get going earlier,” says Robert Chugg of Little Lodge Farm, Worcestershire.

“I wouldn’t say, genetically, that French horses are more precocious than ours. We have produced and sold winning three-yearolds, but by the age of four they have grown and developed significantly.

“Thirty years ago, a horse wouldn’t be broken in until it was at least four. But times have changed and there has been a shift, albeit quite a slow one.”

At a time of increasing success for Frenchbreds, it may well be that the pace of change could become much, much quicker. I

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Time to put the Fizz back into the Flat Why is there a growing indifference to Flat racing, asks Alan Lee, and just as importantly, what can be done to revive it at a time when jumping is thriving?

Photos: George Selwyn

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FIZZING THE FLAT

ards on the table, first. I was neither born to racing nor brought up with it.

When smitten, not far short of 30, it was jumping that captivated me – the danger, spectacle, camaraderie, climactic seasons and, most particularly, the characters. More than two decades on, despite cultivating interest and enjoyment in the Flat, it is still those elements that identify to me the superior appeal of the winter code. Purely personal, of course, but to my surprise, the difference now is that many more people seem to agree with me.

For the first time since I entered the sport –

C

and, remember, I was a complete newcomer, oblivious to entrenched protocols and prejudices – I detect a growing indifference to aspects of the British Flat season that, in some cases, borders on antipathy. Moreover, I am hearing ever more unflattering comparisons with what was once unarguably the poor relation.

So how and why has this happened? Is it just a fad or a more profound failing in the workings of the Flat? And what does jumping achieve that Flat racing finds elusive?

The perceived advantages of jump racing are being stated with increasing frequency and

Alan Lee: how Flat racing can be revived

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“There is not just too much Flat racing but too much bad Flat racing...it needs a Premiership-style structure within years, although some will bluster that Flat racing still attracts some fine crowds”

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sometimes from within the ranks of racing professionals. Most feted are the personalities and accessibility of its practitioners, the grouping of its major events on Saturdays and the logical narrative through the season. It is easier to follow, to feel a sense of belonging. Perhaps it has always been this way – certainly, in my mind it has – but a sea change has occurred.

Rich owners have flocked to jumping in recent years but, rather than allowing their money to make it a sterile cousin to the Flat, they have embraced its sporting cultures. Andy Stewart has experienced both codes but his preferences are plain. He says: “Paul Roy is an old friend of mine and it was he who got me into the Flat. We had some success and some fun but it isn’t the same. My heart isn’t in it as it is in the jumps.

One thing I don’t like is elitism and you do find that in Flat racing. To me, racing is something you’ve got to share with everybody.”

So Stewart and others in his wealth bracket – Trevor Hemmings, Graham Wylie, Grahame Whateley, to mention a few – invest in National Hunt, where once such money would have gone to the yearling sales and distant Classic dreams.

It could have taken the soul out of jumping but the opposite has occurred: the jumps horses are better, the owners better known, the jockeys more famous and the whole spectacle has a welldefined target (Cheltenham and Aintree) that Flat racing has never managed to emulate.

Many in racing have recently been quizzed about such paradoxes, though not necessarily on this specific subject, by Harrison Fraser, the research company charged with finding a new ‘brand’ for racing. Their inquiries have focused on what works for the sport and what does not.

Palpably, the rhythms and volumes of Flat racing fall clumsily into the latter category.

Several leading trainers – John Gosden, Mark Johnston and Richard Hannon among them – have been publicly critical of the structure of the fixture list and its championships. With Johnston, indeed, the championships, which he believes should work by the calendar year rather than being split into turf and all-weather, have become an ongoing crusade.

Too much bad Flat racing

There is not just too much Flat racing but too much bad Flat racing. Like jumping, it now goes on 12 months of the year, but whereas the ‘off season’ for jumpers is spent on rural summer courses with their own enthusiastic audience, winter Flat racing is conducted on all-weather tracks where the atmosphere can kindly be described as sterile. This negative impression is not easily dismissed. Imagine trying to sell Flat racing to a complete innocent. Take him to Southwell or Wolverhampton on a February Monday, when the crowd is numbered in dozens and the only point of proceedings is to service the betting shop market. The visitor may see the rationale of the business but he is most

unlikely to mark it down as a sport to which he will return.

And then there is the vexing subject of the launch and finale of each season. Doncaster has the honour of both, an historical aberration in my mind. Starting with the Lincoln is fine, though clashing with the Dubai World Cup, as it did this year with a consequent loss of top jockeys and trainers, shouldn’t be that hard to avoid. The problem with the launch is what follows, which is three weeks of navel-gazing dross while the jumps climax is played out.

The close of each season is another matter and needs urgent attention. Does anyone care about the November card on Town Moor that brings the curtain down? The Flat should end with a chorus of stars on its finest stage at a time of year when it is more likely to gather a crowd worthy of the name. That means Ascot, no later than mid-October. Oh yes, I can hear the bleating about trainers with late two-year-olds that must be given their opportunity to race. Fine. Put such cards crammed with indecipherable maiden races on, well into November if necessary, but do not confuse them with the elite season.

From here on, Flat racing must operate a Premiership that defines each season and attempts to command the wider public attention it currently lacks.

The rest of the meetings, which will be a majority, can operate for the bookmakers and the inveterate punters, but their lower level should henceforth be admitted and used as a virtue, a finding of their level.

Outrage among traditionalists

This is such a radical suggestion I can imagine the outrage among traditionalists and the difficulties it presents being raised like impossible barriers. It was ever thus. Last year, Ascot and Newmarket got their heads together and agreed, at least conditionally, to pool the resources of their respective QEII and Champions Day meetings so that a proper finale could be shared between the courses. It was not only innovative but splendidly collaborative, yet has proceeded no further because of the usual prevarication – officially, reluctance to antagonise the French with changes to the Pattern. The French, that is, who glibly alter the dates and status of their own big races to suit themselves.

It is time to stop such self-defeating courtesies before it is too late. For I firmly believe that unless British racing takes control of its own destiny and creates such a Premiership inside the next two or three years, its coverage in the congested summer months of Flat racing will continue to diminish. More and more newspapers will make their own selection process of which racecards to publish and the space they save will not necessarily go on racing editorial.

The oxygen of national publicity will be slowly withdrawn.

A Premiership would probably include the

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principal fixture each day, with two on Saturdays. There should be minimum prizemoney for all such meetings and, by definition, they would attract not just the best horses but the best jockeys. Hence, a daily showcase, easy to promote. Naturally, there will be those who bluster that none of this is necessary and that summer racing still attracts some fine crowds.

So it does, at certain courses and for certain reasons. One of the benefits of summer is its potential for parties, social evenings, music, and girls’ nights out. The cards that combine such extracurricular attractions do well and the trend shows no sign of abating. Its exploitations are a credit to racecourse marketing but it says little for the product out on the track, much of which goes unseen by the majority. And that is no way to safeguard the future of a sport.

Radical thought

Here is another radical thought for summer evenings, one more to provoke reactionary howls. Flat races do not last very long and the gaps of half an hour between bites of action are utterly alien to the culture of modern sportswatching. So let’s experiment with races over two or three furlongs run every 15 minutes, a kind of Twenty20 racing. It won’t take over the sport but there are surely sufficient speed animals around to fill the fields and it just might make a diversionary attraction if staged as a series.

Much more important, though, is to initiate the Premiership and then build its profile, which will require far more input from trainers and jockeys than they have previously found convenient. It seems hardly fair to hold up Paul Nicholls as the paragon, for his openness to the media is almost freakish. Yet to compare him with his equivalents on the Flat is to see one fundamental reason why the two sports are diverging in appeal. Aidan O’Brien’s lengthy silence about the springtime setback for Rip Van Winkle, a leading Guineas fancy, and Sir Michael Stoute’s ritual whirling away from any media inquiries after races are but two examples.

Fortunately, there are those who see the bigger picture and it is to be hoped that such young, enlightened minds as Tom Dascombe and George Baker continue to climb.

Jump racing is not perfect but it builds each week to Saturday features and then relentlessly through each winter towards the natural Everests in March and April. Most, if not all, of its trainers and jockeys, also recognise the value of communication and are sufficiently articulate to make it work.

Ideally, the sport would promote its weekend attractions with a Friday morning media conference, year-round. Every other sport does it. Racing, despite its seven-days-a-week treadmill, should find a way. This applies equally to both codes. It is, though, the Flat that is taxing many minds right now, and the Flat that requires surgery many may find unpalatable. I 52 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

“Flat races do not last very long yet there are half-

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FIZZING THE FLAT

hour gaps between them. Let’s make it every 15 minutes, to create a Twenty20 for racing”

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Trainer John Gosden, who described 1,000 Guineas favourite Rainbow View as the “wildest” filly he has trained, took her for a racecourse gallop (on right)

t has often been said that the Flat season does not start until the Craven meeting.

That is patently nonsense nowadays, but there is no doubting the action steps up a gear or two at Newmarket, where for once it was both a privilege and pleasure to be present, with the big trials won in spectacular fashion and the weather unusually kind.

The Luca Cumani-trained Sadler’s Wells filly Fantasia, who at two was beaten only by the brilliant Rainbow View in the Fillies’ Mile, was stunning in the Nell Gwyn. Then, 24 hours later, the Brian Meehan-trained Dewhurst fifth Delegator confirmed the promise of a scintillating recent gallop at Manton by bursting from last to first to win the Craven Stakes by nearly three lengths, despite tending to pull up in front.

However, following her sale to Rainbow View’s owner George Strawbridge in the winter, Fantasia looks destined to run at Longchamp in the Pouliches instead of returning to Newmarket, and Delegator did little more than he was entitled to against relatively ordinary opponents, and so has still to prove he has come on enough from two to three to justify his new position at the head of the 2,000 Guineas market.

I

John Gosden, who describes Rainbow View as the “wildest” filly he has ever trained, gave her a racecourse breeze on Nell Gwyn day in order to take a bit of fizz out of her, and the Rae Guest-trained Cheveley Park winner Serious Attitude followed her up the Rowley Mile with a lead horse. All we learned was that both fillies are alive and well.

The acid test will come back at Newmarket on May 3, when nobody can deny the race will be all the poorer for Fantasia’s absence.

While the 1,000 Guineas is Rainbow View’s to lose, the colts’ race is more open.

Delegator may well be the real deal.

Meehan obviously has enormous faith in him, for his impressive Racing Post Trophy winner Crowded House would have been a worthy Guineas favourite himself, yet the trainer seemed already to have decided on sending him the Dante/Derby route even before Delegator had reappeared.

Let’s hope he is right, not least as Guineas success for Delegator would be a terrific boost for all owner/breeders operating on a relatively modest scale, as John Good’s Dansili colt is homebred, from the family of his French Derby winner Holding Court and his classy sprinter Tomba.

Classic trials Newmarket’s principal tests were won in spectacular fashion by Fantasia and Delegator, while Aidan O’Brien, Jim Bolger and Mick Channon have reason to dream as the Classic picture takes shape Words: Graham Dench, Chief Analyst for the Racing Post

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RACING REVIEW

Delegator shot to the head of the 2,000 Guineas market after winning the Craven Stakes impressively

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“The 1,000 Guineas will be all the poorer for the fact that Fantasia seems destined to contest the Pouliches”

As Meehan is no doubt well aware, though, the significance of the Craven is diminishing in an era when seven of the last ten Guineas winners, among them all five sent out by Aidan O’Brien, have been making their seasonal reappearance.

O’Brien has been harder to read than ever this year. The Phoenix and National Stakes winner Mastercraftsman, unbeaten until his lacklustre fourth in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, seemed favoured by layers for much of the spring, but by the end of Craven week there was little between him and less exposed stablemate Rip Van Winkle, who won his first two in 2008 and was not ridden to best advantage when a hot favourite for the Dewhurst. Neither is sure to stay a mile and a half, even though Rip Van Winkle is by Galileo, so one would expect them to be primed for the Guineas. But Ballydoyle has other Newmarket possibles and it sometimes pays to look beyond the obvious.

While O’Brien has kept us guessing, Jim Bolger, who was so widely castigated for seemingly misleading us over New Approach and the Derby, was candid when discussing his Classic plans after Vocalised had beaten Cityscape in what looked a run-of-the-mill Greenham Stakes at Newbury.

The Dewhurst winner Intense Focus, whom he said was not wound up when beaten on his reappearance, is the stable’s 2,000 Guineas runner, while Vocalised will go for the French equivalent.

Gan Amhras could be a Derby colt and last

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year’s Royal Ascot winner Cuis Ghaire, a Galileo filly and the only homebred in the Classic quartet, runs in the 1,000 Guineas, where Lahaleeb, who won the Fred Darling, will be among her opponents.

It is doubtful if Lahaleeb has quite the class to win at Newmarket, but nobody could begrudge trainer Mick Channon if she did.

He is still awaiting his first domestic Classic success, and Nahoodh’s traffic problems in last year’s 1,000 Guineas was just the latest in a series of misfortunes suffered by some serious candidates for that race.

Lahaleeb was unplaced three times at Folkestone before getting off the mark in a humble nursery, but she won’t be out of it.

Serious Derby and Oaks clues were in short supply at Newmarket and Newbury, but that changed at Leopardstown at the end of that week, when Aidan O’Brien saddled four in the Ballysax Stakes, a race he took with his Derby winners Galileo and High Chaparral.

Fame And Glory faced no easy task with a 5lb penalty for last year’s win in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, but having settled well off a strong pace he came through smoothly and was always doing enough to beat the race-fit Fergus McIver and the John Oxx-trained favourite Mourayan.

Just O’Brien’s second winner of the year from more than 30 runners, he is open to plenty more improvement and looks every inch a serious Derby colt. He could well become Montjeu’s third Derby winner in five years, following Motivator and Authorized.

PHOTOS: GEORGE SELWYN

Owner George Strawbridge had plenty to ponder after Fantasia’s stunning victory in the Nell Gwyn Stakes at Newmarket

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RACING REVIEW

Tamazirte leaves things out of Proportion(al) By the time the Craven meeting took place, seven Classic trials had been run. Two of them resulted in major setbacks for horses figuring prominently in ante-post betting for Newmarket.

The first shock came in Maisons-Laffitte’s Prix Djebel with the defeat of Sheikh Hamdan’s Naaqoos, whose Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere win on Arc day was one of several highlights in an outstanding 2008 for Freddie Head. A big, long-striding colt who looked ideal for Newmarket and was as short as 5-1 for the 2,000 Guineas, he looked to have a straightforward task and made the running, as he had done at Longchamp.

However, it was clear going into the last two furlongs that Le Havre, a Noverre colt who had won twice at two, was going to make him work, and he was worn down and beaten a head at odds of 2-5.

Two days later the impressive Prix Marcel Boussac winner Proportional, trained by Head’s sister Criquette, and as low as 6-1 for the 1,000 Guineas, went off at even shorter odds in the Prix de la Grotte at Longchamp, but was beaten into third behind Tamazirte.

Both Naaqoos and Proportional are now likely to stay at home for the French Classics, which will also be the targets of the race’s two winners, both of whom were saddled by

a very much in-form Jean-Claude Rouget.

Rouget, who saddled a staggering 237 winners in 2008, has begun the new season in blistering form and had also taken the previous weekend’s Prix Noailles with Grandcamp, as well as the Prix Imprudence on the Djebel card with Elusive Wave, who had chased home Proportional in the Boussac. All four Rouget winners, each of whom were ridden by Christophe Lemaire, have realistic prospects in the French Classics, and Tamazirte in particular would not want underestimating. A Danehill Dancer granddaughter of the Cheveley Park second Tanami, she is improving fast.

Aidan O’Brien sent challengers for the Noailles, Prix de Fontainebleau and Prix La Force, but all three were beaten. Black Bear Island, an easy winner at Naas at two and a brother to the 2002 Derby winner High Chaparral, was third favourite in some lists for the Derby yet could finish only third to On Est Bien in the Force after getting trapped on the rail. However, with the stable having made a slowish start to the new season and its representatives in the four previous runnings also beaten, not too much should be read into it. It was improved form and Black Bear Island retained his position in the Epsom lists. Vast improvement is required but it will not be a surprise if he is a player.

“Having saddled a staggering 237 winners in 2008, Jean-Claude Rouget has started the new season in blistering form, with four realistic Classic hopes”

PHOTO: APRH

In a race that developed into a sprint, Tamazirte won the Prix de la Grotte, which witnessed a surprise defeat for Proportional, who could finish only third

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Well Armed offers some reflected glory Dubai World Cup night was billed

by Nick Mordin in the Racing Post Weekender as ‘arguably the best day’s racing ever held on the planet.’ He was serious too.

In the event, it proved something of a letdown. We should not be too hard on Eoin Harty’s World Cup winner Well Armed, who was utterly dominant from the start and strode home 14 lengths clear, almost doubling the previous record margin, which was set when he was third behind Curlin in 2008. However, not for the first time, the race as a whole failed to live up to its worth.

There were positives for the Europeans, nevertheless. Pascal Bary enjoyed a huge payday in second with the former Argentinian-based Graded winner Gloria De Campeo, who had hardly distinguished himself in three runs on turf in France last year. And there was also some reflected glory to be had from the fact that Well Armed had attended nursery with Clive Brittain, his

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owner/breeders WinStar Farm sending him to Newmarket in the belief he would receive a better education than at home in the States.

Few will remember the Lingfield maiden winner’s fourth in a Group 3 at Salisbury in 2005, but Dylan Thomas was only a length and a half in front of him in second. One has to wonder what became of the winner, Blitzkrieg.

European champion sprinter Marchand D’Or was never going to beat the American dirt specialists in the Golden Shaheen, as the surface is totally alien to his exaggerated hold-up style. Just ignore it and look forward instead to another cracking turf campaign, highlighted hopefully by a showdown with Hungarian ace Overdose.

Godolphin sent out both first and second in the card’s first two races, the Godolphin Mile and UAE Derby, but the immediate horizons of all four horses now lie in the States. We can, however, look forward to seeing sensational Dubai Duty Free winner Gladiatorus and the Sheema Classic winner Eastern Anthem competing in some of the top races in Europe this summer, for while both were saddled by the ‘find’ of the 2009 carnival, Mubarak Bin Shafya – and ridden by apprentice Ahmed Ajtebi – they have joined

PHOTOS: GEORGE SELWYN

Godolphin secured one-twos in both the Godolphin Mile and UAE Derby, in which Regal Ransom (above, right) edged out odds-on Desert Party

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RACING REVIEW

Above: Eastern Anthem wins a thriller to pip Spanish Moon (far side) and Purple Moon in the Dubai Sheema Classic. Below: Ahmed Ajtebi enjoyed a double

Godolphin, or more correctly rejoined Godolphin.

The former Italian-based American-bred Gladiatorus put up a stunning front-running performace in beating the Luca Cumanitrained Presvis, who did not have a prayer from stall 16 but finished well. He may find it harder in the top European mile races, especially those run on a straight track, but underestimate Gladiatorus at your peril.

Eastern Anthem, by Singspiel out of Godolphin’s 1,000 Guineas and Oaks winner Kazzia, looks to have improved out of all recognition since winning a three-runner conditions race at Newmarket last summer.

It’s true that Spanish Moon, Purple Moon and Youmzain did not appreciate the steady pace and ran really well in the circumstances, but Eastern Anthem came from the back too, and so it hardly played to his strengths.

In 2010 the carnival moves to the extraordinary new Meydan complex, and the World Cup will reportedly be worth $10 million, with prize-money down the card likely to receive a commensurate increase.

We can forget then about ‘arguably’.

Sheikh Mohammed will make sure it will ‘definitely’ be the best day’s racing ever held on the planet.

“Next year’s World Cup meeting, held at the new Meydan complex, could well be the best day’s racing ever staged”

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SALES CIRCUIT

REPORTING FROM THE BREEZE-UPS This son of Pastoral Pursuits sold to Malih Al Basti for £190,000, making him the sale-topper at Doncaster

The going gets tough Q Fewer than half of pinhooks showed a profit at both the Tattersalls and Doncaster breeze-ups Words: Ed Prosser Photos: Thoroughbred Photography and Emma Berry

uite how many of the 115 juveniles sold at Tattersalls’ flagship Craven Breeze-Up Sale will end up racing for Sheikh Mohammed and his family remains to be seen, but it’s fair to say his input was crucial to the sale’s success.

Just as 12 months ago, the sheikh and John Ferguson were much in evidence at an auction which saw turnover and average dip by around 27% on 2008. Their bidding was done through a variety of agents and trainers.

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At last year’s two Tattersalls breeze-ups, the Maktoums bought 15 of the dearest 20 lots and it is likely that at least 30, and possibly more, of the Craven BreezeUp lots were bought by Sheikh Mohammed’s team.

The likes of Dick O’Gorman, Tom Goff, John McCormack, Luke Lillingston, Anthony Stroud and Mark Johnston, who were buying for Darley at the 2008 sale, were again back in action, with some new agents joining the team this year.

But, whereas 12 months ago the sheikh’s buyers were rarely beaten for a horse, this time they were not immune to pulling up stumps, and on more than one occasion were rumoured to have caught out an over-optimistic vendor.

O’Gorman, who bought the 260,000gns sale-topper at Tattersalls, had been

underbidder a week earlier on the two most expensive lots at the Doncaster BreezeUp Sale, which were bought

by Malih Al Basti and Spurs manager Harry Redknapp.

Paying his first visit to the sale, Coolmore buyer Demi O’Byrne, along with Michael Tabor, Paul Shanahan and MV Magnier, were keeping their cards as close to their chests as the Darley team.

Underbidders

Bidding through Jamie McCalmont, they were underbidders – usually to Sheikh Mohammed – on a string of the dearest lots last year but they were less active this time around.

A 220,000gns Invincible Spirit filly fell to McCalmont after agent Richard Frisby, one of the many agents acting for an anonymous client this year, dropped out.

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Sir Robert Ogden, Dubai owner Jim Hay and Macaubased Thomas Li were others to spend 200,000gns or more. Six-figure buyers included Koji Maeda from Japan, Mark Gittins, Malih Al Basti, Earle Mack and Rabbah Bloodstock.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Hamdan’s team, who openly made several six-figure purchases 12 months ago to top the buyers’ list, were notably absent.

Healthy

An official clearance rate of 71% at Tattersalls increased to a healthy 83% once private sales were taken into account, an almost identical figure to the 84% at Doncaster, where private sales have always been included in the end-of-sale figures.

But trainers were noticeably thin on the ground at Newmarket and consignor Jamie Railton was among those who considered the spectrum of buyers to be relatively small.

“There was not a lot of depth to the buying base, you’d be lucky to find that there were two people in on a horse – quite often there was only one or none at all,” said Railton.

“So the difference between getting the horse sold for the price you want and not is very fine.”

Few consignors came out with a big overall profit from the sale. Mocklershill’s Willie Browne described 2009 as “a year to batten down the hatches and hope you cover costs.”

According to our calculations, only 29% of the pinhooked lots at Doncaster, and 39% of those at Tattersalls, made a profit after production costs.

Con Marnane’s Bansha House Stables, which had over 20 lots catalogued at Newmarket, sold the £190,000 sale-topper at Doncaster but the County

Tipperary-based consignor felt the two sales were not comparable.

“I had a fantastic sale at Doncaster; I had four horses there and got them all sold,” said Marnane. “But you couldn’t really compare that with Newmarket; they are two completely different sales. There were a few trainers missing at Newmarket but maybe they haven’t sold their own horses (bought ‘on spec’ as yearlings).”

With the Guineas Sale at Tattersalls on May 1 and subsequent events to follow at Arqana, Dundalk and Goresbridge, there will be plenty more chances for breeze-up buyers this spring.

“The important thing is that horses do change hands and the Guineas Sale is going to be crucial,” added Railton. “Whereas the Craven has become a bit like the Houghton Yearling Sale used to be, the Guineas catalogue is very good and there’s something in there for everyone for not too much money.”

Just as at the Goffs’ Kempton sale in March, the new £500,000 Breeze-Up Bonus Scheme made a major impact at Doncaster, with both consignors and agents reporting additional interest because of the incentives.

With a 74,443gns average at the Craven sale, it had less sway at Tattersalls, but it should again play its part at the Guineas sale on May 1.

Tattersalls Marketing Director Jimmy George said: “The £500,000 Breeze-Up Bonus Scheme caught the imagination of buyers and any such measure has to be applauded. Obviously, we participated in that – all the sales companies made a financial contribution – and such schemes are an example of industry self help and people working together to generate participation in ownership at a difficult time.”

Mark Player (left), with Nick Littmoden and Larry Stratton

“It’s a very thin market” What the major players are saying about the breeze-ups Hugo Lascelles, agent “Coming off a bumper sale last year, it is not surprising the Craven figures were down.

There is a recession, after all.

The top end at Newmarket was good, if you had the right article, but the middle and bottom were very thin. I think in that respect Doncaster was stronger.”

Con Marnane, consignor “We were much more prepared to let them go this year and I had only three (out of more than 20) that didn’t sell at Tattersalls. One will go to France and the other two will be reoffered at Goresbridge. That’s far fewer we’ll be taking home than in the past. That said, I thought the best horses would have sold better – we were missing fireworks. The bonus scheme definitely got a lot of the cheaper horses sold, although it didn’t make any difference at the top.”

Mark Player, Hong Kong Jockey Club “We were keen to try the breezeup route to source horses this year and, while we found it difficult to purchase within our budget, we were delighted to see a strong, quality offering of horses who appear to have a good future on the racetrack.

We got two horses and hopefully found a bit of value with them.”

Jamie Railton, consignor “Selling two-year-olds is so precarious; it’s a very thin market and feels even more so this year.

We didn’t do at all well on the first day at Newmarket but had a good one on the second day. I think everyone else was also up and down. It probably was what we expected – you couldn’t dream of comparing it with last year’s figures, which weren’t normal.”

Con Marnane: “We were much more prepared to let them go this year”

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Craven Breeze-Up Aggregate: 8,561,000gns (-28%) Sold: 115 (71% clearance) Average: 74,443gns (-27%) Median: 60,000gns (-14%) Top lots Sex Pedigree

Vendor

Price gns

Buyer

c

Medaglia D’Oro-C’est L’amour

Yeomanstown Stud

260,000

Richard O´Gorman BS

c

Giant’s Causeway-Zoe Montana

Mocklershill

230,000

Sir Robert Ogden

f

Invincible Spirit-Tathkara

Hawthorn Villa Stud

220,000

Jamie McCalmont

f

Redback-Flames

Tally-Ho Stud

210,000

Tom Tate

c

Kingmambo-Speed Of Thought

Oak Tree Farm

200,000

Hugo Lascelles BS

c

Yes It’s True- Limited Entry

Bloodstock Connection

200,000

Li Chu Kwan

c

Exceed And Excel-Classic Vision

Mocklershill

190,000

Anthony Stroud BS

c

Footstepsinthesand-Innocence

Jamie Railton, Agent

175,000

Hugo Merry BS

c

Distorted Humor-Sweet Serendipity

Tally-Ho Stud

175,000

Anthony Stroud BS

c

Dalakhani- Mia Mambo

Hawthorn Villa Stud

160,000

Anthony Stroud BS

c

Elusive Quality-Kumari Continent

Kilminfoyle House Stud

160,000

Peter Doyle BS

in an ownership ballot.

Highlights

The highest-price of 260,000gns was the lowest since 2003. Ten lots made 300,000gns or more in 2008, but none reached that landmark this year. Similarly, there were 16 lots to sell for 200,000gns-plus last year, compared to just six this time around.

Mark Player of the Hong Kong Jockey Club was a first-time visitor at the sale, buying a 65,000gns Medaglio D’Oro colt and a 55,000gns son of War Chant. They will go to Nick Littmoden’s Newmarket stable before heading to the Far East early next year to be offered as Griffin prospects

The Japanese buyers who in the past have made a major impact at this sale were, as last year, thin on the ground. One exception was vet Dr Hiroshi Fakuda, who paid 125,000gns on a Sangster family-bred Pivotal colt on behalf of owner Koji Maeda.

Local agent Richard Frisby finished leading buyer, getting six lots for 600,000gns.

Anthony Stroud and Dick O’Gorman, who like Frisby were acting for anonymous clients, came second and third on the leaderboard.

The two ‘superpower’ sellers dominated the consignors’ list. Willie Browne’s Mocklershill Stables sold 18 lots for 1,491,000gns, while Con Marnane’s Bansha House Stables sold 16 lots for 876,000gns.

Willie Browne: sold 18 lots

Jim Hay and his wife Fitri, among the leading buyers at last year’s sale, were again busy. Alex Cole, the couple’s racing manager, was underbidder on at least one high-profile lot, while their successful purchases included a 210,000gns sister to Lahaleeb, who a few days later won the Fred Darling Stakes.

“Ten lots made 300,000gns or more last year. This year there were none. In 2008, 16 lots made 200,000gns-plus. It was six in 2009”

Ten-year tale of the Craven Breeze-Up Aggregate (gns)

Average (gns)

Median (gns)

12,000,000

120,000

120,000

10,000,000

100,000

100,000

8,000,000

80,000

80,000

6,000,000

60,000

60,000

4,000,000

40,000

40,000

2,000,000

20,000

20,000

2000 2001 2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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2000 2001 2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2000 2001 2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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Calculations show that 114 Tattersalls lots appear to have been pinhooked. Only 45 of them (39%) showed a profit on their yearling price

Vendors’ interest in American-bred lots showed no sign of diminishing, with six of the top 11 yearlings sold beingby US-based stallions.

Pinhook Tales A total of 114 of those offered appeared to be pinhooked, with only 45 (39%) showing a profit and 69 not returning their cost after including £10,000 for preparation costs and £3,000 for shipping from the United

States.

The biggest winner was the 260,000gns Medaglio D’Oro colt, a $125,000 yearling purchase by Gay O’Callaghan and family’s Yeomanstown Stud. A 175,000gns Footstepsinthesand colt sold

by Jamie Railton cost 20,000gns as a yearling.

On the flip side, a Mr Greeley colt who had cost $250,000 as a yearling made only 70,000gns when re-sold

Frequent buyer: Sheikh Mohammed attended Tattersalls

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Doncaster Breeze-Up Aggregate: £2,724,600 (-17%) Sold: 112 (84% clearance) Average: £24,326 (-15%) Median: £18,000 (-18%) Top lots Sex Pedigree

Vendor

Price (£)

c

Pastoral Pursuits-Midnight Angel

Bansha House Stables

190,000

Malih Al Basti

c

Exceed And Excel-Georgianna

Malcolm Bastard

92,000

Bryan Smart

c

Maria’s Mon-Gender Dance

Knockanglass Stables

80,000

Blandford BS

c

Pivotal-Brigitta

Mocklershill

72,000

Peter Doyle BS

f

Exceed And Excel-Basbousate Nadia

Bansha House Stables

60,000

McKeever St Lawrence

c

Kheleyf-Victoria Lodge

Malcolm Bastard

58,000

Wessex BS

f

Bertolini-Factice

Mocklershill

55,000

Bobby O´Ryan

c

Bernstein-Demure

Mocklershill

55,000

McKeever St Lawrence

c

Danehill Dancer-Coralita

Harefield Lodge Stables

50,000

Charlie Swan

c

War Chant-Bold Classic

Mocklershill

50,000

Howard Johnson

c

Fusaichi Pegasus-April Starlight

Sherbourne Lodge Stud

50,000

Hugo Merry BS

c

Antonius Pius-White Paper

Oak Tree Farm

50,000

Gill Richardson

Highlights

Fortunately for racing, there is still plenty of money left in football. Spurs manager Harry Redknapp paid £92,000 for the second top lot through trainer Bryan Smart, while Newcastle’s Joey Barton was among the players at the sale. He is believed to have jointlybought at least one of the more expensive lots.

A £60,0000 Exceed And Excel filly signed for by Johnny McKeever will also join Smart, having been bought for owner Patricia Brown.

Dick O’Gorman and

David Loder, who bought last year’s top two lots for Sheikh Mohammed, were at the sale again. But they dropped out to be underbidders on the two dearest animals this time around.

Buyer

Top-lot buyer: Malih Al Basti

lots – 12 – that made £50,000 or over this year.

This compared to 20 at the sale both last year and in 2007.

Malih Al Basti, who topped the Doncaster St Leger Sale last year when paying £220,000 for a Dubawi colt, also headed the breeze-up trade. Buying through Richard Hannon jnr, he spent £190,000 on a Pastoral Pursuits colt.

Howard Johnson and Graham Wylie, who bought Norfolk Stakes winner South Central at last year’s sale, paid £47,500 privately for the Forest Camp colt’s brother, offered from John Collins’s Brown Island Stables. Wylie and Johnson also bought a £50,000 War Chant colt from Willie Browne’s Mocklershill operation.

There was a marked reduction in the number of

County Kildare-based Norman Steel, a client of

Dubai-based businessman

“Of the 77 pinhooked lots, 22 of them (29%) made a profit for their vendors, while 55 showed a loss”

Ten-year tale of the Doncaster Breeze-Up Aggregate (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

6,000,000

60,000

60,000

5,000,000

50,000

50,000

4,000,000

40,000

40,000

3,000,000

30,000

30,000

2,000,000

20,000

20,000

1,000,000

10,000

10,000

2000 2001 2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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2000 2001 2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2000 2001 2002

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

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The second top lot: a colt by Exceed And Excel bought for £92,000

agent Gill Richardson, has made some expensive purchases in the last couple of years to join Ann Duffield.

He splashed out £50,000 for an Antonius Pius colt, who will be trained by Richard Fahey.

bought as a yearling to resell.

When you factor in costs of £10,000 for preparation and £3,000 for those shipped from America, we estimate that 22 of those horses – 29% – showed a profit for their vendors, while 55 made a loss.

Bobby O’Ryan bought Cockney Rebel as a yearling for owner Phil Cunningham at Doncaster and picked up the 2,000 Guineas winner’s Bertolini half-sister for £55,000. She will be trained for Cunningham by Barry Hills.

Pinhook Tales By

our calculation, 77 of the lots offered had been

The

top lot, a Pastoral Pursuits colt, was the biggest winner. He had cost £45,000 as a yearling and resold from Con Marnane’s Bansha House Stables for £190,000.

Those

enjoying less luck included the individuals behind lot 95A, an Antonius Pius colt who had cost €42,000 as a yearling but

Bryan Smart and Oliver St Lawrence

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THE SPECIAL SECTION FOR ROA MEMBERS

Charlotte Grissell, Pip Menzies, Hannah McDonald and Rose Grissell

Laura McGimpsey, Daniel Abraham, Rebecca Corbett and Alex Pritchard

Zoie Vaughan and Cat White

BetfairClub ROA Fun times as 30 members of BetfairClub ROA enjoy their private chalet on the Thursday of the Cheltenham Festival

B Club heroine: Za Beau

etfairClub ROA’s string of six horses continue to fly the flag, notching wins number 16 and 17 thanks to Za Beau at Newcastle on March 15 and Cornus at Thirsk on April 18. The admirable and consistent Za Beau, trained by Jim Goldie, has since left the club’s ranks to begin a new career as a broodmare.

The focus is now on the club’s new Flat performers, with anticipation surrounding unraced

two-year-old filly Xaara Star, trained

by Eve Johnson Houghton, and the Peter Winkworth-trained recruit Safari Mischief.

The club’s social calendar continues to impress, with a table for members at the PJA’s awards, ‘The Lesters’, on April 9. More news and pictures to follow in the next issue.

SPECIAL HALF PRICE OFFER For a limited period, ROA

members can purchase an annual BetfairClub ROA membership as a gift, for a friend or relative in the 18-32 age range, at the very special price of £99, a saving of 50%. A monthly payment option of just £8.25 is also available.

Club membership is the perfectyear round present for young racing enthusiasts.

To purchase this gift, or for further details, please call the ROA office on 020 7408 0903 or email betfairclubroa.com

Beverley’s Gold Standard Award not being renewed Requirement to provide free food for owners with runners on the day is not met Beverley has become the first racecourse to lose its Gold Standard Award status. The award, which is reviewed annually, has not been renewed at the Yorkshire track.

The Gold Standard recognises overall excellence in the raceday experience for owners, their horses and stable staff, and Beverley was among the first racecourses to receive the accolade, in 2006.

Steven Astaire, Gold Standard

Committee member and ROA Council member, said: “It is with great regret that we have been unable to renew Beverley’s award, as they have consistently shown most of the attributes required of a Gold Standard racecourse.

“However, the decision not to renew the award was a necessary step, due to their failure to meet a key aspect of the selection criteria.

One of the important conditions of renewal is the provision of a free

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food offering for owners with runners on the day, and they were unable to fulfil this requirement.

“We very much hope, in future, should they have a change of mind, that we will be able to look at restoring their Gold Standard status. The award has become a respected benchmark of excellence, and holders must be at the forefront of best practice in all areas of the award’s wide-ranging criteria.”

Steven Astaire

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Six nominees for Council election

Council Agenda

Six candidates will stand for three places in this year’s Racehorse Owners Association Council elections.

Existing Council members Dena Arstall, Peter Cundell and David Silk are restanding for election.

The other candidates are Bill Gredley, who served on the Council for 12 years between 1993-2005, Alan Halsall and Linda Pestell.

An election supplement will be mailed to ROA members with details of the candidates, their manifestos and a ballot card.

Voting closes on Friday, June 19 and the results will be announced at the ROA AGM on Thursday, June 25 at our new venue, the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge.

The March Council meeting,

by Chief Executive Michael Harris

Howard to make guest speech

Michael Howard is the guest speaker at the ROA’s AGM lunch. The former Conservative Party leader and MP for Folkestone and Hythe is chairman of Northern Racing and a keen follower of racing.

Lunch is preceded by a Champagne reception, sponsored once again by Arbuthnot Latham.

Tables of ten can be booked for £750, or tickets are £85 each. Places must be booked in advance through the ROA office or via www.racehorseowners.net

ROA business The Chief Executive presented his 2009/10 budget and debate ensued as to membership projections for the coming year. There was an expectation that the percentage of registered owners who became ROA members would continue to increase but that the number of owners was expected to decline as the effects of the recession continued to bite.

There was general agreement that the ROA offices would be relocated towards the end of 2010 so that we would join the BHA/Jockey Club Racecourses, etc, at a new location in High Holborn. It was agreed that any perceived downsides of making this move were outweighed by the benefit of being part of a “racing industry office”. However, it was clear that the ROA should not be financially disadvantaged by this move.

Legal dispute The Council heard how a new magazine called International Thoroughbred had been launched in competition to Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder, which had recently bought Pacemaker.

The new magazine was styled on Pacemaker and contained various “digs” directed at our magazine.

The matter was now the subject of a legal dispute and could therefore not be widely discussed at this stage.

Insurance scheme A recent mailing about the ROA’s third party liability insurance scheme had produced an excellent response in terms of

attracting new members.

Badge Scheme The Council continued to discuss a revised proposal relating to the Racecourse Badge Scheme for Owners and were delighted to hear that, pending final ratification by the Racecourse Association board, the Badge Scheme would next year be open to owners with 50% of a horse in training, rather than 100%.

As part of this new arrangement, the ROA would make an annual contribution towards the RCA’s administration costs.

Latest on the levy The Council continued their discussion relating to the bookmakers’ offer of a threeyear deal and the President reported on the events that had unfolded at the previous day’s levy meeting.

He believed we should accept the 10% rollover proposal for three years but must ensure it is conditional upon real progress on modernisation of the levy. A flat rejection of the proposal by racing would undoubtedly invite an unfavourable response from Government.

The President said there was at least unanimity from all sides of the Levy Board on the need to impress upon DCMS the importance of finding a way to force those overseas bookmakers taking bets on British racing to pay tax and levy.

However, progress was proving to be slow and difficult in getting the levy reinstated on overseas racing shown by British firms.

Database agreement The President reported that,

after many months of discussion, the Memorandum of Understanding that underpinned the incorporation of Racing Enterprises Limited (REL) was now agreed. This meant that REL was now in a position to pursue its function as racing’s commercial body.

Meeting with the Tote The President reported that there had been a refreshingly good meeting with the Chairman of the Tote, Mike Smith, at which there had been a proposal that the Tote would inject further substantial sums into race sponsorship. This, however, was conditional upon the racecourses agreeing to a number of points on their relationship with the Tote.

The President said he was keen that sponsorship money should be used to increase prize-money and that we did not find it was used to improve some racecourses’ bottom line.

Channel 4 The Council heard that a deal to secure the continuation of Channel 4 Racing was close to being agreed. This would involve a payment from the Levy Board and a renewal of a programme sponsorship deal with Dubai Holding.

Retraining of Racehorses The meeting ended with a presentation from Peter Deal and Di Arbuthnot about work carried out by RoR. It was also recognised that RoR required a greater level of funding, and the Council were receptive towards ideas as to how this might be achieved.

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Colin Fiford with his colt Novilho, a product of the leasing scheme

News in brief ‘All Star’ award for ROA The ROA has been named an ‘All Star’ emailer by Constant Contact, a leading provider of email marketing, for maintaining sound permissionbased email management.

To celebrate this, all ROA members who send us their email address by Wednesday, May 20 will be entered into a free prize draw to win £250 of vouchers to spend with John Lewis.

Members who already receive ROA email bulletins will automatically be entered into the draw. Otherwise, send your name, postcode and membership number to info@roa.co.uk

Leasing success

F

our two-year olds have now been successfully matched through the ROA/TBA Free Lease Exchange, which was launched at the turn of the year to match up prospective owners with available two-year olds, and has since been extended to include older horses.

ROA member Colin Fiford has successfully leased a twoyear old Noverre colt out of Fairy Story, named Novilho, who is in training with Jimmy Fox. The colt was put up for lease by his breeder Deepwood Stud after previously being offered at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Important template Fiford said: “I had leased successfully before, but nonetheless the article by Justin Wadham in February’s edition of Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder proved quite a useful template for anyone who is considering leasing.

“It has all worked well. I’ve been to visit the colt at the yard at Collingbourne Ducis (in Wiltshire) and he seems to be coming along fine.”

As a result of this lease, Deepwood Stud has also sent a horse to be trained by Fox, much to the delight of the yard.

“We’ve found the Free Lease Exchange has worked successfully,” said the stable’s Sarah-Jane Durman. “An initial enquiry on behalf of an owner has led to two really nice twoyear-olds joining the yard this season, and we are very excited about training them both.”

ROA Council member Sally Rowley-Williams, who was involved in the setting up of the Free Lease Exchange, said: “It is great that we have four horses thus far who have found new homes and are in training.

“With the start of the Flat season and an expansion of the scheme to include older horses, we hope to be able to report soon on some great successes.”

There are over 70 horses listed as being available to lease, and 80 people have signed up to receive details.

Any owner or trainer wishing to add a horse to the listing is encouraged to contact Sadie Ryan at the ROA on 020 7408 0903. Details of horses available are at www.racehorseowners.net

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Glorious Goodwood ROA members looking to buy badges for the Richmond Enclosure at Glorious Goodwood can make savings if they order in advance.

Members can buy up to four badges each day, to include three guests. This service is otherwise restricted to Goodwood’s annual members and their guests.

Prices: June 1 June 2 onwards

July 28 & 29 £60 £65 July 30 £72 £77 July 31 & £65 £70 August 1 The ROA car park label doesn’t apply at Glorious Goodwood, but labels for Car Park 8 may be purchased at £8 per day. To order, contact the ROA office on 020 7408 0903 or visit www.racehorseowners.net Chester package Chester racecourse and its caterers Heathcotes Outside are offering ROA members an exclusive hospitality package on Friday, June 26 (evening) and Saturday, September 26.

For £35 per person, inclusive of VAT, ROA members will receive admission, a three-course buffet meal in the Final Furlong Restaurant, trackside access, car parking, cash bar waitress service and Tote betting facilities. A jockey or trainer will run through the card.

Places must be pre-booked with the racecourse in advance using your ROA membership number as a reference. Payment in full is required at the time of booking. Please contact Sarah Oldroyd or Kirsty Potempa on 01244 304631.

Antonia Deuters expedition “A life-changing experience” is how Antonia Deuters described the recent ‘Hike for Hope’ Sinai Desert challenge. Antonia took up the challenge in memory of her late husband Chris Deuters, the former President of the ROA. The five-day challenge covered the mountainous terrain of the Sinai Desert and shores of the Red Sea. A group of 79 undertook the trek, which has already raised over £200,000 for Prostate UK and Wellbeing for Women.

Antonia said: “We began the ascent of Mount Sinai at 2.30am, after only two hours sleep, and gathered at the summit for a minute’s silence at dawn, remembering those we were walking for. We were accompanied by Bedouin tribesmen with their camels and we camped under the stars”.

Antonia was delighted to discover that racehorse owners and breeders were well represented in the group, through Brian Barnes, who enjoyed a winner at Lingfield with ‘Brunelleschi’ whilst they were trekking, Katharine Watts a longtime owner with Sir Mark Prescott, and Victoria Sutherland of the Newmarket farming community (all pictured below).

Funds raised will help find cures for prostate and gynaecological cancers. Anyone wishing to donate can do so by sending a cheque made out to ‘Hike for Hope’ to the ROA office.

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Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

Racecourse ownership

Exec + Sponsors (£)

% of Total

Levy Board (£)

1 Aintree JCR 2 Cheltenham JCR 3 Ascot I 4 Epsom Downs JCR 5 Hamilton Park I 6 Goodwood I 7 Chester I 8 York I 9 Sandown Park JCR 10 Thirsk I 11 Haydock Park JCR 12 Doncaster Arena 13 Newmarket JCR 14 Bath North 15 Ripon I 16 Newcastle North 17 Carlisle JCR 18 Windsor Arena 19 Yarmouth North 20 Salisbury I 21 Ayr I 22 Stratford-on-Avon I 23 Pontefract I 24 Hexham I 25 Fakenham I 26 Newbury I 27 Musselburgh I 28 Wetherby I 29 Great Leighs I 30 Beverley I 31 Wincanton JCR 32 Leicester I 33 Market Rasen JCR 34 Lingfield Park Arena 35 Chepstow North 36 Redcar I 37 Cartmel I 38 Huntingdon JCR 39 Kempton Park JCR 40 Brighton North 41 Bangor-on-Dee I 42 Perth I 43 Nottingham JCR 44 Catterick Bridge I 45 Fontwell Park North 46 Warwick JCR 47 Ludlow I 48 Folkestone Arena 49 Uttoxeter North 50 Kelso I 51 Sedgefield North 52 Exeter JCR 53 Hereford North 54 Taunton I 55 Towcester I 56 Newton Abbot I 57 Southwell Arena 58 Worcester Arena 59 WolverhamptonArena 60 Plumpton I Total

1,648,337 2,839,457 4,728,156 1,160,120 319,179 1,470,947 573,270 757,003 1,258,080 204,567 1,044,859 1,516,718 3,433,466 206,382 237,655 366,488 204,297 307,810 199,823 250,325 553,595 211,774 191,777 71,264 86,794 896,342 270,850 219,571 449,631 174,967 190,806 216,320 159,410 700,101 187,278 144,965 33,314 120,882 765,743 88,746 105,415 102,216 101,950 106,064 120,122 95,988 76,150 83,759 101,215 55,890 46,881 65,316 36,032 41,848 38,365 34,327 70,206 12,412 -11,426 -4,610 29,739,189

50.4 50.1 46.0 39.1 38.7 38.4 37.9 37.9 33.9 32.4 32.3 32.0 30.7 30.4 30.0 29.8 27.9 27.3 26.5 26.1 25.8 24.5 23.7 23.4 23.3 23.1 22.7 21.3 21.1 20.6 18.6 18.3 18.3 17.8 17.1 17.0 16.4 16.3 16.3 15.6 15.5 15.1 14.7 14.4 13.4 12.6 11.4 10.5 9.7 9.3 8.9 8.4 7.1 6.7 5.9 5.6 3.1 2.0 -0.4 -1.0 28.0

1,180,520 1,874,860 3,055,180 736,780 409,890 1,740,060 784,840 870,350 1,901,815 339,200 1,708,790 2,052,820 3,361,990 392,890 481,920 700,040 448,220 652,090 440,380 544,150 1,263,280 580,980 526,130 202,760 286,490 2,293,670 807,300 695,430 1,469,000 573,660 706,990 807,323 628,505 2,735,810 756,290 439,520 152,355 525,210 3,308,240 424,110 528,690 537,990 442,210 555,390 678,250 545,640 535,570 607,010 792,400 504,750 400,190 586,560 415,160 521,680 553,335 552,760 1,957,640 530,270 2,531,680 439,550 57,076,563

% of Total

Owners (£)

% of Total

Total 2008/9 (£)

Total 2007/8 (£)

% total Up/ 2007/8 down

36.1 414,741 12.7 3,273,598 2,815,616 33.1 888,006 15.7 5,672,323 5,888,522 29.7 2,361,513 23.0 10,272,349 9,200,464 24.8 1,040,762 35.1 2,965,662 3,026,583 49.8 56,675 6.9 823,744 797,561 45.4 535,903 14.0 3,832,910 3,452,474 51.9 86,830 5.8 1,510,940 1,366,447 43.6 340,472 17.1 1,995,325 4,290,913 51.3 503,070 13.6 3,708,965 3,635,843 53.7 66,183 10.5 632,050 720,250 52.9 380,971 11.8 3,231,870 3,008,675 43.3 1,039,493 22.0 4,736,531 4,081,433 30.1 4,127,283 36.9 11,182,239 7,785,901 57.9 66,167 9.8 678,639 645,705 60.8 43,291 5.5 792,366 736,371 56.8 150,901 12.3 1,231,629 1,513,498 61.2 65,383 8.9 732,900 728,323 57.8 123,777 11.0 1,127,677 1,083,000 58.4 84,779 11.2 753,942 687,378 56.8 83,343 8.7 957,818 824,813 58.9 293,828 13.7 2,144,003 1,920,862 67.3 63,410 7.3 863,664 788,098 65.0 54,257 6.7 809,664 1,064,359 66.5 31,076 10.2 305,100 515,300 76.7 0 0 373,284 374,500 59.1 493,109 12.7 3,878,121 3,498,686 67.6 81,275 6.8 1,193,925 1,236,272 67.5 91,142 8.9 1,030,143 809,750 68.9 142,852 6.7 2,131,983 67.6 65,488 7.7 849,115 929,879 68.8 99,361 9.7 1,028,157 1,101,091 68.4 90,893 7.7 1,180,037 1,277,395 72.2 82,485 9.5 870,400 935,714 69.5 327,454 8.3 3,934,684 3,943,056 69.1 120,632 11.0 1,095,200 1,130,410 51.7 232,365 27.3 850,400 932,250 74.9 17,714 8.7 203,383 199,550 70.9 76,576 10.3 740,668 735,958 70.4 440,125 9.4 4,697,885 4,175,623 74.5 56,169 9.9 569,025 524,932 77.9 42,861 6.3 678,466 708,950 79.4 30,694 4.5 677,900 651,500 63.9 93,267 13.5 691,927 660,985 75.2 54,988 7.5 738,442 848,380 75.9 86,530 9.7 893,402 757,985 71.8 93,320 12.3 760,448 1,103,834 80.0 51,250 7.7 669,470 678,077 76.1 83,623 10.5 798,142 874,243 75.9 145,253 13.9 1,043,868 1,038,750 83.6 30,980 5.1 604,120 734,597 76.3 58,525 11.2 524,496 529,650 75.4 85,760 11.0 777,636 972,292 81.8 56,343 11.1 507,535 455,753 83.5 44,307 7.1 624,785 505,509 84.7 54,300 8.3 653,000 510,336 90.7 4,972 0.8 609,759 626,665 87.2 174,619 7.8 2,246,015 1,793,100 84.7 75,932 12.1 626,214 342,289 88.3 255,941 8.9 2,868,095 3,218,897 94.9 28,310 6.1 463,250 593,639 53.7 16,871,529 15.9 106,319,287 99,988,882

60.4 M 55.1 M 52.2 M 45.4 M 19.6 L 40.0 M 37.8 L 45.1 M 37.4 M 27.8 L 30.7 L 38.3 M 38.0 M 14.5 L 27.2 L 27.5 L 17.3 L 24.5 L 11.3 L 23.2 L 23.3 L 21.0 L 24.9 M 15.8 L 19.7 L 30.2 M 22.8 M 11.0 L - N/A 21.4 M 14.9 L 14 L 12.9 L 14.7 L 13.0 L 5.5 L 9.8 L 11.3 L 21.4 M 3.3 L 14.3 L 12.3 L 11.7 L 11.5 L 12.5 L 15.3 M 16.0 M 21.2 M 6.7 L 17.9 M 4.0 L 14.3 M 1.8 L 13.8 M 4.5 L 5.1 L -0.8 L -1.8 L 2.4 M 8.2 M 29.9 M

In order of racecourses’ percentage contributions to overall prize-money Figures relate to prize-money for the 12-month period April 1, 2008 to March 30, 2009

EXPLANATION OF TABLE This table sets out the three main contributors to prize-money with percentages of the total: 1 Racecourses’ executive and sponsorship; 2 Levy Board; 3 Owners. A small additional contribution is also made by the Divided Race Fund and the BHA Development Fund. The order is taken from the percentage in the second column of figures. This shows how much each racecourse has contributed to prize-money, expressed as a percentage of their overall prize-money. The arrows at the end of each line are based on a comparison between the percentages for the two rolling year periods. If a racecourse has improved its position by this criteria it receives a green ‘up’ arrow. If the year-on-year percentage has decreased it receives a red ‘down’ arrow.

Note: All of the figures are produced on an ‘as originally programmed’ basis, i.e. where any transferred fixtures were originally programmed rather than where the fixtures have actually taken place. However, any transferred BHA ‘National’ fixtures and ‘Regional’ fixtures are attributed to the courses where the fixtures have actually taken place. Please note, however, that the rearranged York August meeting races are shown against host courses.

RACECOURSE OWNERSHIP KEY JCR Jockey Club Racecourses

North Northern Racing Ltd Arena Arena Leisure Ltd I Independently owned racecourse Gold Standard Award

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David and Martin Pipe with Well Chief. Jonothan Lower is on board. The regional trip to Pond House set a high mark to follow

Raising the bar The success of the TBA’s regional days hit new heights with a trip to Pond House

T

he first of the 2009 TBA regional visits set a high standard to follow, when over 50 members and guests visited Pond House Stables on March 30. Tucked away down a narrow lane on the Devon/Somerset border, this leading National Hunt stables is home to over 140 equine residents and around 70 staff.

Despite the big Aintree meeting approaching, we received a warm welcome from Martin, Carol and David Pipe, and over a welcoming cup of coffee we were treated to the sight of Well Chief looking relaxed under Jonothan Lower. The TBA gathering was then split into two groups, each led by David and Martin, for a thorough tour of the stables, facilities and horses, which gave an informative and fascinating insight into this successful training operation.

Pond House Stables boasts a wide range of facilities aimed at providing a smooth and tailored training regime for its occupants. Exercise can take

place in virtually all weathers, with a ride of two and a half furlongs round, loose school for teaching horses to jump, and sand ring for starting young horses all under cover.

The three horse walkers and two treadmills are also housed indoors, as is the circular swimming pool with adjoining solarium, all of which enable horses with injuries and muscle problems to carry out their return-to-work programme uninterrupted by the weather.

Throughout the visit the yard was a hive of activity and we were able to view all of the facilities in use, including a number of circular metal cages out in a paddock, where the occupants could relax in the fresh air, have a pick of good grass or just enjoy the view in safety. A well-organised tack room housed an array of tack, rugs and colours, and in the spacious feed room the quantity of feed necessary for this large operation was on view, including oats which, together with the hay fed at Pond House, are home-grown.

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At the heart of this modern, forward-thinking operation is a horse management programme focusing on attention to detail and treatment of horses as individuals. Horse welfare is of key importance, with temperatures taken and recorded routinely twice daily by staff, and weekly blood tests analysed in the on-site laboratory by a qualified technician. Horses are blood tested at the five-day declaration stage, and David Pipe feels strongly that these activities provide an early warning system, allowing for pro-active intervention to ensure horses are at peak condition when they run.

Moving on to the gallops which are situated close at hand, we watched horses work twice up the six-furlong all-weather gallop, which is laid up a fairly steep hill, enabling the horses to have a good blow. Aboukir Bay and Big Eared Fran (winner of the EBF Paddy Power Novice Handicap Hurdle Final at Sandown in March this year), Bathurst Man and Qulinton (both winners over hurdles) and Monreale and The Accordianist worked twice up the woodchip which, being very well-drained, can be used in almost any weather.

Across from the woodchip gallop, hurdles, plain fences and open ditches provide the full range of schooling opportunities.

From the gallops it was a fiveminute car journey to the Pipe's local hostelry, the Culm Valley Inn, where we were well-looked after by the landlord and staff, who clearly enjoy their association with Pond House.

The visit was rounded off by Martin Pipe entertaining the audience with a display of memorabilia based on the life of Dorothy Paget and Golden Miller, whose double of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in 1934 remains a unique achievement.

This was a fascinating visit behind the scenes and was thoroughly enjoyed by members. The open hospitality of the Pipe family and staff was second to none, and the happy horses and friendly, efficient staff left a positive and lasting impression on us all.

TBA members had the privilege of viewing Comply Or Die just before Aintree 2009

PHOTOS: JOHN WHISTLER

THE SPECIAL SECTION FOR TBA MEMBERS

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Watership Down Stud Sales Race boosts market

Owner-breeder Paul Gardner (left) with Lyes Green, the first leg of a memorable double at Newbury

Cracking double for Gardner

PHOTO: IAN HEADINGTON

W

hen Lyes Green and Argento Luna landed valuable prizes within 70 minutes of each other at Newbury on March 21, it represented a superb achievement for their owner and breeder Paul Gardner.

The gifted greys, both trained

by Oliver Sherwood, are halfsiblings, sharing the same dam, Dissolve. The daughter of Sharrood out of a Grundy mare was bought by Gardner as a foal for just 1,500 guineas at Doncaster in November 1992.

Now 17, Dissolve is Gardner’s sole jumps broodmare, based alongside five Flat broodmares, at his Springcombe Park Stud, which encompasses 100 acres of a former dairy farm in Bruton, Somerset.

“I’m not from a racing background but I always followed the sport and thought I’d like to have a horse, so I went to buy one,” said Gardner, 51, the Managing Director and major shareholder of two chemical companies.

“But to be honest, when I picked out Dissolve, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing! I also bought two other foals at the same time – Evaporate and

Vapourise – and they were not very successful.

“Dissolve had gone through a fence before the sale and had a big scar on her leg. However, she was a strapping grey mare and I really liked the look of her.

“I was initially interested in the racing side only but when Dissolve retired aged five I found myself with a fledgling breeding operation! It has progressed and I now have around 30 horses at home, including Flat mares and young stock.”

Dissolve’s racing career, which started off on the Flat, yielded two wins over hurdles at a modest level. However, her half-sister by Salse, Karla Wyller, won a Listed contest in Italy and secured Group 3 black type.

All four of Dissolve’s offspring to make the course have won at least once.

Geldings Sommelier, Winsley and Lyes Green have done their breeder proud but it is Argento Luna, who edged out Ravello Bay in the Listed EBF Byrne Bros Mares NH Novices’ Hurdle Final, who is the star.

Gardner said: “Argento Luna has a very good turn of foot and is improving. We’ll try to win a Grade 3 and I suppose the David

Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle next year is the logical progression.

“I’m happy to continue racing Argento Luna as I have Dissolve’s four-year-old Kayf Tara filly, a three-year-old Lomitas filly and yearling Sulamani filly at home, plus her two-year-old Tamure colt.

And Dissolve recently had a foal

by Halling.”

Gardner’s plan is to sell the colts and geldings, and retain the fillies. After the success with Dissolve, he would like to move more into National Hunt breeding.

“I’m passionate about breeding and really enjoy it, but I think it has to run on a commercial basis,” he said.

“I took the decision not to cover my Flat mares this year and intend to cut back on that side and have a couple more jumping broodmares.

“The farm was bought in 2007 and the infrastructure is not yet complete. I’m about two years into a five-year plan and the aim is to have a stand alone operation that makes a profit.”

He added: “In this game you get good days and bad, so you have to make the most of your success. Newbury was a cracking day and it’s still hard to believe that I bred both winners.”

The Watership Down Stud Sales Race 2009 has become an integral part of the racing calendar for fillies and is cosponsored by the TBA as part of their ongoing commitment to provide increased race opportunities for mares and fillies. Since its inception it has significantly boosted the market for fillies.

Now in its ninth year, the race offers prize-money of £250,000 and provides two-year-old fillies with a competitive Class 2 race.

Last year’s winner was Penny’s Gift (pictured below), who went on to win the Listed Bosra Sham Fillies’ Stakes at Newmarket, while 2006 winner Indian Ink went on to land the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes and the Coronation Stakes.

This year’s race will be held at Ascot on Friday, September 25 and TBA members will be offered the chance to attend this day. Notification of this will be sent to members nearer the time.

The first forfeit stage for the 2009 running of the Watership Down Stud Sales race is on Tuesday, May 5.

Entry forms for the 2010 race will be sent from the sales houses, and fillies need to be nominated with the TBA prior to sale. Fillies must be sold as yearlings at Tattersalls, Doncaster Bloodstock Sales, or Brightwells.

For further information please contact Samantha Knight at Stanstead House.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER 73

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Diary Dates and Reminders Thursday, May 7 – Yorkshire A visit to Ferdy Murphy’s Wynbury Stables, John Morgan speaking over lunch, and a tour of the Black Sheep Brewery.

Monday, July 6 Extraordinary General Meeting of the TBA, 5pm Jockey Club Rooms, Newmarket, followed by a drinks party at Stanstead House.

Wednesday, May 20 – Scotland Morning lectures on the medical and orthopaedic problems of foals and yearlings, afternoon tour of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

Tuesday, July 14 – East Anglia A morning tour of the Godolphin stables, followed by an afternoon visit to the Newmarket Equine Hospital.

Thursday, May 21 – The North Morning seminar at Haydock Park covering pedigree analysis and sales preparation, and globalised diseases, followed by complimentary afternoon racing.

Tuesday, May 26 – The West A morning visit to Richard Hannon’s yard and an afternoon tour of Lady Whent’s Raffin Stud.

Thursday, June 25 – South East A visit to Whitsbury Manor Racing Stables, home to Ralph Beckett, followed by a tour of Chris Harper’s Whitsbury Manor Stud.

Friday, June 26 – Wales A visit to Llety Stud, followed by a tour of Dyffryn Tywi Equine Clinic and the afternoon at Ffos Las. Tuesday, June 30 TBA Seminar, ‘British Breeding: Now and in the Future’ at Tattersalls.

Thursday, July 23 – West Midlands A morning visit to George Baker’s Far Westfields Farm, followed by an afternoon tour of Robert Waley-Cohen’s Upton Viva Stud.

Friday, September 25 Watership Down Stud Sales Race, Ascot.

NEW MEMBERS Please contact Stanstead House on 01638 661321 if you have any queries HOME: A Turbitt Esq, West Yorkshire. Mrs P Beaton, Essex.

Mrs B Paterson, East Sussex. A Duffield Esq, Gloucestershire.

Mrs P Fenner, Suffolk. S Winfield Esq, Norfolk. P Foster Esq, Norfolk. O Williams Esq, East Sussex. Mrs W Jenkins, Hertfordshire. C Bennett Esq, Cheshire. Mrs S Fox, Dorset. F Frankland Esq, Cambridgeshire.

Mrs P Parris, Suffolk. A Yolland Esq, Kent. Spring Bloodstock Ltd, West Sussex.

Award for Punjabi’s breeder Wilson On the opening day of Aintree, the TBA were delighted to be able to arrange for Dinah Nicholson and Christopher Naylor (right) to present the ‘TBA John G Charlton British Breeders’ Award’ to Captain Jim Wilson, as breeder of the British-bred Champion Hurdle winner Punjabi, who is by Komaite out of Competa.

74 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Annual Seminar focus will be on supporting breeders To support breeders and help them to manage their businesses during the economic downturn, this year’s TBA Annual Seminar will be entitled ‘British Breeding – Now and in the Future.’

Focusing on the business aspects of bloodstock production, topics will include selection and marketing, finance and business profitability. There will also be opportunities for debate on the wider issues of balancing supply and demand, British and international racing and sales trends, and how to sustain the industry in the context of global recession.

The day will kick off with an economic overview of the industry introduced by renowned bloodstock analyst and journalist Bill Oppenheim. A session on the marketplace will follow, looking at the requirements of agents, owners and the racecourse. To wrap up the morning, speakers and panel members from race planning, sales companies and financial bodies, together with leading broodmare and stallion owners, trainers and consignors, will debate the state of our industry now and explore how it might survive through the next few difficult years.

As the seminar originated from discussions at the TBA Next Generation Committee, which aims to give help and

encouragement to new entrants into the industry, the afternoon will focus on specific areas of running a stud business.

Sessions on marketing, maximizing profitability, terms of trading and debt recovery, together with land, property and planning issues, will aim to give some practical advice on how to run a leaner and more efficient business.

The day will close with a debate on the afternoon’s topics.

Not-to-be missed This seminar follows 2008’s successful Emerging Equine Diseases, which resulted in a united racing and breeding industry exerting effective pressure at Government level for an improved disease control strategy.

It is a not-to-be-missed event which aims to demonstrate that while things are tough for all breeders, we have to look to the future and ensure that British breeders continue to supply racing with the quality and quantity of bloodstock necessary to sustain a thriving, healthy industry.

The seminar will take place at Tattersalls, Newmarket, on Tuesday, June 30, starting at 10.15am and running until 4.30pm. More information will be sent to members in the April mailing.

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Breeders’ Prizes Based on dates money was paid

National Hunt HBLB Breeders’ Prizes worth £2,600 or more Breeder Prize (£) P K Gardner T/A Springcombe Park Stud 10,600

Horse *Lyes Green Argento Luna

Sire Bien Bien Mtoto

Dam Dissolve Dissolve

J K M Oliver Capt J H Wilson P C Green Mrs S J Brasher Cheveley Park Stud Ltd J W Haydon

10,000 10,000 9,600 9,600 9,600 8,600

Rambling Minster Punjabi Junior Tarablaze *Trenchant Russian Trigger

Minster Son Komaite Singspiel Kayf Tara Medicean Double Trigger

Howcleuch Competa For More Princess Hotpot Tromond Cobusino

Lord Oaksey Isobel Phipps Coltman B J Eckley Mrs S J Maltby

7,700 5,300 5,200 5,200

Carruthers Kayf Aramis Jaunty Flight Picts Hill

Kayf Tara Kayf Tara Busy Flight Romany Rye

Plaid Maid Ara Jaunty June Nearly A Brook

Jennie M Raymond M H Ings Exors of the Late Mrs A M Jenkins P J Mercer Rosemary F Greener R W Russell G Brown Halewood International Ltd The Woodhaven Stud Mrs J A Gawthorpe J R Bosley & Mrs E Bosley V Hargreaves Mrs N G Mills Mrs P H Parris P B Shaw Mrs Kin Lundberg-Young T R G Vestey A Jenkins Bricklow Ltd Barry and Dame Sheila Noakes G A Bosley Side Hill Stud Exors of the Late B Johnston Miss K Rausing A G Knowles

4,800 4,800 4,800 4,800 3,000 3,000 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600 2,600

Jass Bob Bob Bobbin Darkness Aimigayle Mintiverdi Santia Silver By Nature Bannister Lane Psychomodo *Daldini Patsy Finnegan Wot Way Chief Very Cool Panama At Once Busy Isit Oakfield Legend Song Of Songs Cousin Nicky Deep Purple Green Gamble Tom’s Toybox *Ela Re *Watch My Back *Heathcote Brave Rebellion

Robellino Bob Back Accordion Midnight Legend Kayf Tara Kahyasi Silver Patriarch Overbury Mark Of Esteem Josr Algarhoud Sir Harry Lewis Defacto Sir Harry Lewis Commanche Run Busy Flight Midnight Legend Singspiel Bob Back Halling Environment Friend Classic Cliche Sabrehill Bob Back Unfuwain Primitive Rising

Iota Absalom's Lady Winnowing Cherrygayle Just Jodi Santana Lady Gale Miss Club Royal En Vacances Arianna Aldini Bampton Fair Wych Willow Laurel Diver Cherry Sip Eatons Kins Token Thea Little Red Spider Seal Indigo Gemma's Wager Jobiska Lucia Tarditi Gallants Delight Chere Amie Grand Queen

Date 21/03/09 21/03/09 27/02/09 14/02/09 10/03/09 05/12/08 14/02/09 21/02/09 14/03/09 25/02/09 14/02/09 12/03/09 05/03/09 05/03/09 20/03/09 10/01/09 21/02/09 28/02/09 21/03/09 28/02/09 15/03/09 07/02/09 13/02/09 16/02/09 21/02/09 26/02/09 27/02/09 27/02/09 06/03/09 06/03/09 06/03/09 07/03/09 09/03/09 16/03/09 17/03/09 20/03/09 21/03/09 21/03/09 06/02/09 20/02/09

Course Newbury Newbury Doncaster Haydock Park Cheltenham Sandown Park Haydock Park Kempton Park Uttoxeter Folkestone Ascot Cheltenham Carlisle Wincanton Newbury Ayr Chepstow Newbury Newbury Kempton Park Fontwell Park Ayr Sandown Park Carlisle Newcastle Ludlow Doncaster Newbury Ayr Sandown Park Sandown Park Sandown Park Taunton Hereford Kempton Park Kelso Haydock Park Haydock Park Fontwell Park Musselburgh

*second tier (40% of Breeders’ Prize awarded)

Flat HBLB Breeders’ Prizes worth £1,800 or more Woodcote Stud Ltd

9,200

Scintillo

Fantastic Light

Cheveley Park Stud Ltd

3,000

Spinning Gallantry

Pivotal Green Desert

Old Mill Stud

3,000

Benhego

Act One

R S A Urquhart The Earl of Halifax J Hinds

2,800 2,100 2,000

Suits Me Wind Flow Smokey Ryder

Bertolini Dr Fong Bertolini

Hesmonds Stud Ltd The Complimentary Pass Partnership

1,800 1,800

Titan Triumph Mafaaz

Zamindar Medicean

Danseuse du Soir

21/03/09 Lingfield Park 18/03/09 Kempton Park Starring 06/02/09 Wolverhampton Gay Gallanta 07/02/09 Lingffield Park 26/02/09 Wolverhampton Sadaka 01/03/09 Lingfield Park 12/02/09 Kempton Park Fancier Bit 10/02/09 Lingfield Park Spring 26/02/09 Wolverhampton Another Secret 26/02/09 Southwell 27/02/09 Lingfield Park Triple Green 14/02/09 Lingfield Park Complimentary Pass 18/03/09 Kempton Park

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER 75

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Sponsored by

THE SPECIAL SECTION FOR TBA MEMBERS Fast Horse

Breeder of the Month – Isobel Phipps Coltman Kayf Tara proves right choice for Ara, with the mating producing Festival scorer Kayf Aramis Words: Alan Yuill Walker here was a second successive Britishbred Champion Hurdler in Punjabi, but as was the case with Katchit last year, he is ostensibly Flat-bred, so the March NH Breeder of the Month award has gone to the owner of another Festival winner in Kayf Aramis.

Successful in the Pertemps Final, the seven-year-old son of Kayf Tara was bred in Gloucestershire by his owner, Isobel Phipps Coltman, who wins a year’s free nutritional consultancy and 20 sacks of stud feed balancer from TopSpec.

“I thought of sending Kayf Aramis’s dam Ara to Fraam,” said Isobel, “but I also went to see Kayf Tara and I liked him.”

She liked him so much in fact that now she is also the proud owner of Kayf Aramis’s four-year-old sister Kaylifa Aramis, as well as a two-year-old brother. Up until now, she has chosen to breed from their dam in alternate years only.

However, Phipps Coltman is the first to admit she knew absolutely nothing about racing and breeding when she purchased Ara privately.

She explained: “I was looking for a riding horse and saw this advertisement in Horse & Hound for an unbroken three-year-old.

“I went to see her at Maggie Spreckley’s stud in Hertfordshire, where her sire, Birthright, was standing.

“I liked the look of Birthright and I liked Ara, although she was small. I

PHOTO: IAN HEADINGTON

T Isobel Phipps Coltman leads in Kayf Aramis after his Cheltenham win

bought her for £1,000 and at the time I had no idea how she was bred – I didn’t even look at the passport.”

Ara was just the sort of mare that many ‘experts’ would say was not worth breeding from. Sold as a yearling at Ascot in November 1991 for 500gns, she was out of a mare with an appalling breeding record in Sharpway, who produced only three foals from 13 seasons at stud.

Series of firsts

Kayf Aramis, who also has the distinction of winning at the York Dante meeting in 2006 and 2007, not only belongs to Kayf Tara’s first crop and is his first Cheltenham Festival winner, but he is also the first horse his owner bred.

Now Ara has her unraced daughter, Kaylifa Aramis, as a paddock companion outside Gloucester.

While Kaylifa Aramis produced a colt on March 4, her dam’s gestation had over-run at the time of writing.

Kayf Tara would be the obvious choice should Ara be covered this season.

Phipps Coltman, who is hands-on with the horses, deserves her success.

“It is hard work,” she admitted, “but to win at Cheltenham was really something else. I still can’t believe it.

“What’s more, it paid for one of Simon Sherwood’s excellent field shelters – he came and put it up the other day.”

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VETS FORUM THE EXPERT VIEW

Corrective Surgery – How far should we go?

Early assessment and close monitoring of a foal’s conformation is crucial so that measures can be taken to improve any abnormalities.

However, one particular treatment, ‘corrective surgery’, has become so commonly performed on even minor conformational imperfections that many are now questioning whether it is being carried out too frequently and whether its disclosure at the yearling sales should be mandatory. Here we look at the issues involved Words: James Tate BVMS MRCVS Knock-kneed or bow-legged

‘Angular limb deformities’ are conformational abnormalities seen most commonly in thoroughbred foals that require early recognition and treatment.

They occur more frequently in front legs, are seen when viewing the foal from the front or back and are broadly categorised into two types – ‘valgus’ and ‘varus’. A valgus conformation is where the limb deviates away from midline, for example, a foal with valgus conformation of its knees is often described as being ‘knock-kneed’.

A varus conformation is where the limb deviates towards midline, for example, a foal with varus conformation of its knees is often described as being ‘bow-legged’.

Angular limb deformities occur most commonly at the knee (carpus) but also quite frequently at the fetlock joint or the hock. The degree of the deformity is usually evaluated by repeated visual examination but can also be measured and assessed using x-rays. The main problem is often an imbalance of growth in the growth plates. For example, if the outside of the growth plate just above the knee is growing slower than the inside, then the foal’s leg

will deviate away from midline and so develop a carpal valgus conformation – knock-kneed.

Congenital and acquired deformities

These conformational deformities are broadly grouped into congenital or acquired forms, with congenital deformities being present at birth and acquired deformities usually appearing at a few weeks of age.

Congenital abnormalities are caused by either laxity of joint ligaments or incomplete formation of the small bones of the knee or hock. Careful palpation of joints should establish the presence of joint laxity and the conformation of such foals can usually be corrected successfully with conservative management, even in relatively severe cases.

Incomplete formation of the knee or hock bones is typically found in premature foals and so x-rays should be performed as a routine.

Conservative management of angular limb deformities is successful in most foals and, in fact, a degree of carpal valgus conformation is normal in a newborn foal.

Therapy consists of restricting exercise to box rest with a limited turnout period per day, providing a firm bedding and turnout pasture, as well as corrective

78 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

hoof trimming and, if necessary, the use of glue-on extensions that force the foal to straighten its legs. This allows the growth plates to be stimulated but prevents stress and compression on the affected side of the growth plate. If the affected limb of a newborn foal can be manually ‘straightened’ because it is being caused by

joint laxity, then conservative management will usually be successful. More severe cases are treated with splints or limb casts, but these should be used with caution and changed regularly to avoid skin rubs.

Acquired angular limb deformities are caused by asymmetrical bone growth from the growth plate, with one side of the growth plate growing faster than the other. Sometimes the cause of such deformities is not known, but it can be the result of injury to one side of the growth plate, uneven loading on one leg due to lameness of the other leg, inappropriate nutrition (for example, too much nutrition

On the left is a foal with obvious carpal valgus conformation – its right foreleg deviates away from midline at the knee On the right is a two-year-old with fetlock varus conformation – its right fore pastern deviates towards midline from the fetlock

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A periosteal elevation (‘+’ sign) was performed on the outside of this foal’s right knee, resulting in a correction of its carpal valgus conformation one month later

or an incorrect calcium/phosphorous ratio), excessive exercise, or improper foot-trimming.

Whilst affected foals can also be treated conservatively, this is when many foals are booked in for surgery.

Corrective surgery – more now than ever

There are two surgical treatments that should be used for the more severe cases but which are now being used more than ever.

Both techniques depend on continued growth in order to straighten the leg and so should ideally be carried out before the foal is two months old (especially in fetlock deformities) and in severe cases the techniques can be performed together.

The first surgical technique is a periosteal elevation, which is carried out on the side of the growth plate that is not growing fast enough and its aim is to stimulate growth on this side of the growth plate. The outer surface of the bone (the periosteum) is thought to

have a restraining influence on growth and by removing a strip of periosteum over the slow-growing side of the growth plate, growth is stimulated. For example, periosteal elevations are performed on the outside of the knee in a foal with carpal valgus, or the inside of the knee in a foal with carpal varus. An inverted ‘T-shaped’ incision is usually made approximately 2.5cm above the growth plate and its maximum effect is seen after approximately two months.

It has a few advantages over the second surgical technique described below in that it is a one-off surgery, it is minimally invasive and there appears to be little risk of over-correction, although some argue that this is because it is not that effective. Indeed, recent research has suggested that foals with the mild deformities currently treated by periosteal elevation generally improve without the need for surgery if treated with box rest and corrective farriery alone.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER 79

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This foal’s left fore fetlock varus conformation was corrected using a transphyseal bridge on the outside of the joint (two screws connected by wire, which can clearly be seen on the right picture)

The second surgical technique works in the opposite way to a periosteal elevation, in that it slows down the side of the growth plate that is growing too fast.

Temporary transphyseal bridging is the insertion of metal implants to slow down the growth of one side of the growth plate to allow the other side to catch up.

Traditionally, a staple is inserted over the growth plate or two screws are placed either side of the growth plate and either wires or plates join them together.

However, more recently, a new method of inserting a single screw across the growth plate has been developed, as it has the advantage of a better cosmetic result. All of these methods are very effective.

However, the metal implants must be removed as soon as the leg is straight, otherwise over-correction and deviation in the opposite direction may occur.

There is no doubt that, if left untreated, severe angular

limb deformities cause big problems for horses and the result is often osteoarthritis of the joints which have been put under excessive pressure by the poorly balanced limb.

Veterinary surgeons have become so proficient at these corrective surgeries that they are becoming very widely used, even for minor conformational abnormalities. Therefore, the possible disadvantages must be discussed.

conformation to exactly the right degree as its conformation is likely to alter after corrective surgery has had its effect. However, in reality veterinary surgeons are now so good at judging these corrective surgeries that this is rarely a problem. The only significant practical downside of the surgeries seems to be the minimal scars and white hairs that can be left after the procedures, if the breeder is unlucky – although one or two do attempt to fix this with a little boot polish at the sales!

From an auction sale point of view, these corrective surgeries are excellent and have very few disadvantages.

However, the final important issue is whether performing all of these corrective surgeries is good for the racing careers of the horses concerned or, indeed, the breed as a whole.

In 2004, Anderson, McIlwraith and Douay published a paper in the Equine Veterinary Journal on the role of conformation in musculoskeletal problems in the racing thoroughbred, and the highly-respected Professor Wayne McIlwraith presented his findings at the Thoroughbred Racing and Breeding Seminar at Cheltenham racecourse.

He made two significant points. First, he came to the slightly unexpected conclusion that a degree of carpal valgus, which many are currently ‘correcting’, is actually a good thing and may serve as a protective mechanism for soundness.

Second, he argued that we should try to “manipulate Mother Nature” when we need to and suggested that corrective surgery is not always helpful and can actually contribute to unsoundness.

Widespread use does spark some concerns

In summary, corrective surgeries are excellent procedures for the treatment of extreme angular limb deformities. However, their widespread use leads everyone involved in the thoroughbred industry to have two serious concerns.

First, is it correct to be performing so many surgeries? Second, should vendors be made to disclose which yearlings at the auction sales have had such corrective surgeries?

The second concern is exactly what the North American Consignors and Commercial Breeders Association have been suggesting for some time.

Are there any downsides to such surgery?

In 2006, Santschi et al reported on their findings from studying the conformation of 199 thoroughbred foals from birth to yearling auction age, and found that knee and fetlock conformations change greatly with foals, generally becoming less carpal valgus and more fetlock varus as they become older.

This could lead the reader to suggest that it may be difficult to ‘correct’ a foal’s

The breeder is unlucky if the horse is left with significant scarring or white hairs, as above, following corrective surgery

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ANDREW CAULFIELD REPORTS ON THE BLOODSTOCK WORLD

Inherited problems Recent troubles for Kingsgate Native and Selkirk recall suggestions that there is a familial element to infertility

W

hile it sounds incongruous to say that if the father is infertile there is a chance the son will be too, there does appear to be a familial element to infertility.

These words of two years ago sprung to mind with the news of the troubles suffered by two Newmarket stallions at the start of the current breeding season.

At one end of the scale, the four-year-old Kingsgate Native is being returned to training after he struggled to get any of his mares in foal. At the other, 21-year-old Selkirk was withdrawn from service after a

sudden loss of fertility.

Kingsgate Native is a grandson of Storm Bird, the champion juvenile of 1980 who spent his stallion career at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

Fertility-wise, his statistics for the eight covering seasons between 1987 and 1994 were fine, achieving at least 70% live foals.

Sadly, the situation started to change in the 1995 covering season, when Storm Bird was 17 and his live foal tally fell to 55%. In 1999 it was announced the 21-year-old stallion had been retired “after experiencing declining fertility for the last several years.”

82 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Storm Bird’s retirement came only a few months after the Kentucky Derby had been dominated by three of his male line descendants, headed by his grandson Charismatic, by Summer Squall, who also had his struggles with infertility.

Although Summer Squall started out well enough during his career at the Farishes’ Lane’s End Farm, by his fifth season he was getting only 61% live foals; then his percentages dropped to 58%, 56%, 42%, 47%, 42% and finally 45% during the 2002 covering season.

In 2002, Farish claimed Lane’s End had examined

Summer Squall’s semen and that it was fine. Yet in 2003 he impregnated only one of his ten foals and Lane’s End test-bred him to another ten mares in December 2003 and January 2004. When he failed to get any of them in foal, he was retired aged 17.

Summer Squall was one of three Group-winning colts sired

by Storm Bird from daughters of Secretariat, the others being the champion sire Storm Cat and the fast British juvenile Mujadil – sire of Kingsgate Native.

Mujadil’s second-best son, the Mill Reef Stakes winner Galeota, also proved infertile when he retired to stud in 2006 and was successfully returned to training after being gelded.

Storm Bird’s July Stakes winner Wharf was another who experienced fertility problems as a young horse, and

PHOTO: TREVOR JONES

Kingsgate Native has been returned to training after failing to get mares in foal – the fact he is a grandson of Storm Bird may have an influence

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Conquering Hero was another Storm Bird horse whose stallion career wasn’t straightforward.

Moving on to Selkirk, he has been such an excellent servant to the British industry that I am keeping my fingers crossed for some level of recovery. If the problem isn’t resolved, he at least lasted longer than his sire Sharpen Up, whose rags to riches career gave us Kris, Diesis, Sharpo, Sanglamore and Trempolino.

Selkirk saves the day Although many Americanbased stallions retain their fertility well into their 20s, Sharpen Up started having problems in his late teens.

In 1987, aged 18, he covered 72 mares. Only 33 produced live foals and this decreased to six foals from 24 mares the following year. As he was such an accomplished stallion, Gainesway persevered with him in 1989, aged 20, but that season resulted in only two foals and Sharpen Up was retired.

Fortunately, one of the 33 foals in Sharpen Up’s last sizeable crop was Selkirk, who flourished after having an undescended testicle removed in the summer of his three-yearold season.

At that stage he had won only one of his six starts, but he returned to win his last two starts at three, including the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, before adding three more Group victories at four.

Selkirk’s contribution to the breed features 34 Group winners, including ten at the highest level, and he hit the Classic target with Wince in the 1,000 Guineas and Kastoria in the Irish St Leger.

His daughters are already producing performers of the calibre of Mount Nelson, Quiff and Simply Perfect. The only blot on his record is that he hasn’t yet come up with a son capable of stepping into his shoes.

With four crops yet to face the Classic test, there’s still time for him to remedy that.

Lago a key sire everywhere Phenomenal success in Australia should help focus buyers’ attention when his Irish progeny reach the sales ring later this year George Washington’s problems at the start of the 2007 covering season forced the Coolmore team to take a couple of emergency measures. One was to retire Holy Roman Emperor, denying him his chance of Classic glory, and the other was to bring the Australian stallion Encosta de Lago to Ireland.

Encosta de Lago became Australia’s champion sire by a margin of nearly AUS$4,000,000 (£2 million) in the 2007/08 season and the son of Fairy King is currently fighting out a close three-way battle with Redoute’s Choice and Scenic in the race for the 2008/09 title, which albeit still has some way to go.

There could hardly have been a better demonstration of his talents than on March 14, when the stallion scored Group-race doubles at both Flemington Park

and Randwick.

His four Group winners ranged from the royally-bred two-year-old Manhattan Rain, who scored over six furlongs, to six-year-old Newport, who won over ten furlongs. Newport had earlier won at Group 1 level in the Metropolitan and he ranks as one of four Group 1 winners among the ten Group winners representing Encosta de Lago during the current season.

Sacred Kingdom, one of the superstars of Hong Kong racing, is another son of Encosta de Lago.

The scale of the stallion’s success in other parts of the world should help focus attention on his Irish progeny when they reach the yearling sales later this year.

He has at least 42 yearlings from the book of just over 60 mares he covered during an

abbreviated 2007 season. Quite a few are out of mares with Group winners to their credit, including the dams of the Group 1 winners Sligo Bay, Ashkalani, Atticus and Subtle Power. One of the fillies is out of Dedicated Lady, who produced the very smart middle-distance filly Fairy Queen to Encosta de Lago’s sire Fairy King.

Encosta de Lago’s Irish book must have seemed like easy work compared to his demanding schedule in Australia. He has covered 1,500 mares in the last seven Australian seasons, with a high of 245 in 2005.

His fee was AUS$302,500 (£146,000) in 2008, second only to Redoute’s Choice, which indicates how far he has come since he stood his first three seasons at AUS$8,500 (£4,000)!

Encosta de Lago’s Irish book must have seemed easy compared to his demanding Australian schedule

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DATA BOOK LISTINGS OF EVERY SINGLE WORLDWIDE STAKES WINNER

Top sires’ influence is felt far and wide Last Tycoon is an excellent example of the increasing internationalisation of the bloodstock industry – as our exclusive worldwide Pattern results indicate Words: Jeremy Early he increasing internationalisation of racing and bloodstock, with the practice of shuttling stallions between the hemispheres a key factor, is ensuring that the global influence of some sires has assumed almost mind-boggling dimensions.

Take Last Tycoon, who died in 2006. In the last two years he has been represented by the sire O’Reilly, responsible for this year’s dual Group 1 scorer Maco’reilly, plus daughters who have foaled eight Group 1 winners of 13 races in six countries: Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and New Zealand.

His descendants this year include Darley’s high-class Australian threeyear-old Sousa and Jungle Rocket, successful in the New Zealand Oaks at the end of March.

T

Japan’s Jungle

Jungle Rocket’s pedigree has another intriguing aspect, since she is the first Group 1 winner by 2001 Japanese Horse of the Year Jungle Pocket, rated 131 by Timeform after landing the Japan Cup. Shadai-based Jungle Pocket has shuttled to New Zealand and Australia, where he stood at only A$9,900 (£4,800) last year.

As a rule, sires who raced principally or exclusively in Japan do not shuttle, and although exJapanese Divine Light sired Natagora, finding a genuine international star for Japan may take some doing.

Another shuttler who has made a significant mark is More Than Ready, by that marvellous Argentinian sire Southern Halo, and a classy performer at up to a

mile in the United States.

He hasn’t sired a host of top performers at Vinery in Kentucky but at that stud’s Australian satellite he has got four Group 1 winners led by Sebring and Phelan Ready, successful in the last two runnings of the Golden Slipper Stakes, the latter early this April.

More Than Ready, primarily a speed sire, has some way to go to match that race’s leading sires Star Kingdom and Danehill with five wins apiece, but with two Group 2 scorers through the month he too is making his presence felt.

It is no surprise that his 2008 fee was A$110,000 (£54,000), compared with US$45,000 (£30,500) this year in Kentucky.

Street talk Stateside

Seventh Street’s victory for Darley in the Apple Blossom Handicap was another feather in the cap of Street Cry, giving him his sixth Grade 1 winner Stateside.

It was also a welcome return on the $1 million the filly cost as a two-year-old at Calder, suggesting that perhaps breeze-up auctions are as valuable locations as the yearling sales for Sheikh Mohammed to spend money.

The first two in the UAE Derby, Regal Ransom and Desert Party, were also bought as juveniles, with both potentially going for additional gold in the Kentucky Derby.

By comparison, the 80-plus yearlings purchased for at least $1 million on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed in the USA since 1999 have won just one Group/Grade 1 event between them.

Darley is also connected with undoubtedly the best bred major winner of the last month, having

84 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

produced Eastern Anthem, successful in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

By Singspiel out of dual Classic heroine Kazzia, the four-year-old has superlative quality on both sides of the pedigree.

Uncommonly for a Darley-bred notching a top event, Eastern Anthem did not run in the colours of Sheikh Mohammed or Godolphin at Nad Al Sheba. That will not be repeated as he has rejoined Godolphin, together with Dubai Duty Free winner Gladiatorius.

The latter’s triumph provided a much-needed boost to his sire Silic’s standing.

The Breeders’ Cup Mile winner is standing in California at $3,500 (£2,400) and from 117 named foals aged three and up from five covering seasons between 2001 and 2005 he has had just the one stakes winner.

Argentina’s bubbly sire

The name of Slew Gin Fizz as sire of two recent Group 1 winners in Argentina, Cayaya and 2008 Horse of the Year Latency, might suggest my comments last month about Seattle Slew in South America were wide of the mark.

In fact, 18-year-old Slew Gin Fizz, who stands at Haras Rodeo Chico, is by Relaunch and has Seattle Slew as his maternal grandsire.

He shuttled to Florida from 2001 to 2005 without making a massive mark but, with four champions, he has certainly done well in Argentina.

For the record, worldwide he is the only sire to have had two individual Group/Grade 1 winners last month.

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DATA BOOK

Global Stakes Results – 2009 Argentina Date Grade 6 Apr G2 5 Apr G1 4 Apr G1 4 Apr G1 29 Mar G3 28 Mar G3 22 Mar G3 21 Mar G2 14 Mar G2

Race Clasico Benito Villanueva Gran Premio Eliseo Ramirez Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena G. P. de Honor - Copa J y C Menditeguy Clasico Arturo A Bullrich Premio General Arenales Clasico Estados Unidos de America Clasico Ricardo y E Fernandez Guerrico Clasico America

Dist 8.0f 7.0f 10.0f 10.0f 6.0f 5.0f 5.0f 8.0f 8.0f

Horse Ever Peace (ARG) Ishitaki (ARG) Cayaya (ARG) Latency (ARG) Arisca Toss (ARG) Fabulosa Adri (ARG) Que Vida Buena (ARG) Dando Amor (ARG) Ever Peace (ARG)

Age 4 3 4 8 6 4 4 4 4

Sex C F F H M F C F C

Sire Alpha Plus (USA) Interprete (ARG) Slew Gin Fizz (USA) Slew Gin Fizz (USA) Fine Toss (ARG) Adorjinsky (USA) Bernstein (USA) Thunder Gulch (USA) Alpha Plus (USA)

Dam Ever Beauty (ARG) Nice Watch (ARG) Candy's Breeze (ARG) Latencia (ARG) Talismania (ARG) Fabada (ARG) Queen Tango (ARG) Declaring Love (USA) Ever Beauty (ARG)

Broodmare Sire Equalize (USA) The Watcher (USA) Candy Stripes (USA) El Asesor (ARG) Kleven (USA) Payant (ARG) Lode (USA) Gone West (USA) Equalize (USA)

G1 G2 G3 G1 G3 G1 G1 G1 G3 G2 G2 G2 G1 G2 G3 G2 G3 G2 G1 G1 G2 G1 G2 G1 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G2 G1 G3 G2 G3

AAMI Golden Slipper Stakes Myer Tulloch Stakes Burswood Complex West Australian Oaks Vinery Stud Storm Queen Stakes Feltex Carpets South Australia Oaks BMW HE Tancred Stakes Big6 Queen of the Turf Stakes Hong Kong World City George Ryder Stakes Strickland Stakes Darley Pago Pago Stakes Go for 2 & 5 Karakatta Plate Parramatta Leagues Club Magic Night Stks Dubai Rosehill Guineas Hyland Colours Ajax Stakes Cleanevent Birthday Card Stakes Jacob’s Creek Todman Stakes Jansz National Stakes Perfect Vision Ilasik Reisling Slipper Schweppes South Australasian Oaks Coolmore Classic McGrath Found Phar Lap Stakes Robert Sangster Stakes Myer Canterbury Stakes Ranvet Stakes Hyperion Stakes Big6 Star Kingdom Stakes Showcase Jewellers Newmarket Handicap Turnpoint Skyline Stakes Hylands Sweet Embrace Stakes Ascend Sales Challenge Stakes Turnpoint Royal Randwick Guineas Patinack Farms Matron Stakes Blamey Stakes Wolf Washroom Randwick City Stakes

6.0f 10.0f 12.0f 10.0f 12.5f 12.0f 7.5f 7.5f 9.0f 6.0f 6.0f 6.0f 10.0f 7.5f 6.0f 6.0f 6.0f 6.0f 10.0f 7.5f 7.5f 6.0f 6.5f 10.0f 7.0f 5.5f 7.0f 6.0f 6.0f 5.0f 8.0f 8.0f 8.0f 10.0f

Phelan Ready (AUS) Harris Tweed (NZ) Cassandara Shadow (NZ) Purple (AUS) Zapurple (NZ) Fiumicino (NZ) Neroli (AUS) Vision And Power (NZ) Marasco (AUS) Tickets (AUS) Gold Rocks (AUS) Indian Ocean (AUS) Metal Bender (NZ) Solo Flyer (AUS) Gamble Me (AUS) Real Saga (AUS) Majestic Music (AUS) More Joyous (NZ) Gallica (AUS) Typhoon Tracy (AUS) Heart of Dreams (AUS) Bel Mer (AUS) All Silent (AUS) Theseo (AUS) Tarzi (AUS) The Jackal (AUS) Solo Flyer (AUS) Manhattan Rain (AUS) Headway (AUS) Olonana (AUS) Metal Bender (NZ) Fifth Avenue Lady (AUS) Largo Lad (AUS) Newport (AUS)

3 4 4 4 4 6 6 7 7 3 3 3 4 5 5 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 6 6 7 7 5 3 3 4 4 5 5 7

G C F F F H M H G C F F G H M C F F F F G M G G G G H C F F G M G G

More Than Ready (USA) Montjeu (IRE) Johannesburg (USA) Commands (AUS) Zabeel (NZ) Zabeel (NZ) Viscount (AUS) Carnegie (IRE) Scenic Redoute’s Choice (AUS) Oratorio (AUS) Danehill Dancer (IRE) Danasinga (AUS) Belong To Me (USA) Rock of Gibraltar (IRE) Tale of The Cat (USA) Al Maher (AUS) More Than Ready (USA) Redoute’s Choice (AUS) Red Ransom (USA) Show A Heart (AUS) Bel Esprit (AUS) Belong To Me (USA) Danewin (AUS) Desert Prince (IRE) Bite The Bullet (USA) Belong To Me (USA) Encosta de Lago (AUS) Charge Forward (AUS) More Than Ready (USA) Danasinga (AUS) Encosta de Lago (AUS) Encosta de Lago (AUS) Encosta de Lago (AUS)

Nancy Eleanor (AUS) Sally (NZ) Pentamerous (NZ) Lady Viola (NZ) Purple Groove (NZ) Latte (NZ) Dalquarren (AUS) Escada (NZ) Bluegrass Belle (AUS) Staging (AUS) Alozie (AUS) Dashkova (AUS) Jacqwin (AUS) Fly The Flag (NZ) Good Gamble (USA) Windy Kate (AUS) Regal Flute (AUS) Sunday Joy (AUS) Swing Queen (USA) Tracy’s Element (AUS) Academy Of Dreams (AUS) Drop Anchor (AUS) Lisheenowen (AUS) Ozone Sand (USA) Majestic (AUS) Positive Surprise (AUS) Fly The Flag (NZ) Shantha’s Choice (AUS) Chatelaine (AUS) Arkadina (AUS) Jacqwin (AUS) Miss Jakeo (AUS) Lady Marion (AUS) Sibelienne (GB)

Blevic (AUS) Prized (USA) Pentire (GB) Zabeel (NZ) Rhythm (USA) Maroof (USA) Canny Lad (AUS) Centaine (AUS) Is It True (USA) Success Express (USA) Luskin Star (AUS) Fasliyev (USA) Bluebird (USA) Sir Tristram Pleasant Tap (USA) Air Express (IRE) Royal Academy (USA) Sunday Silence (USA) Kingmambo (USA) Last Tycoon Royal Academy (USA) At Talaq (USA) Semipalatinsk (USA) L’Enjoleur (CAN) Twig Moss (FR) Best Western (AUS) Sir Tristram Canny Lad (AUS) Flying Spur (AUS) Myocard (NZ) Bluebird (USA) Unbridled’s Song (USA) Danehill (USA) Nishapour (FR)

G3 G3 G1 G1 G3 G2 G3 G1

Grande Premio Mario Azevedo Ribeiro Grande Premio Luiz Fernando Cirne Lima G. P. Francisco Eduardo de Paula Machado Grande Premio Diana Grande Premio Euvaldo Lodi G. P. Presidente Jose de Souza Queiroz G. P. Presidente Arthur da Costa e Silva GP.Asoc.Latinoamericana de Jockey Clubes

7.0f 7.0f 9.5f 9.5f 8.0f 7.0f 9.5f 10.0f

Taos (BRZ) Desejada Normand (BRZ) Uragano Point (BRZ) Smile Jenny (BRZ) Tauane (BRZ) Indomito (BRZ) Time For Fun (BRZ) Hot Six (BRZ)

3 3 4 4 4 3 5 4

C C C F F C H C

Signal Tap (USA) Roi Normand (USA) Nugget Point Wild Event (USA) Dancer Man (BRZ) Red Runner (USA) Yagli (USA) Burooj (GB)

Infini (BRZ) Super Desejada (BRZ) Faldilla (ARG) Jenny Jacquet (BRZ) Op Colony (BRZ) Recall Box (BRZ) Tarradine (BRZ) Babysix (USA)

Dynaformer (USA) Mensageiro Alado (BRZ) Johnny’s Prospect (USA) Roy (USA) New Colony (USA) Emmson New Colony (USA) With Approval (CAN)

G3 G3 G2 G3

Premio Juan Cavieres Mella Gran Handicap del Chile Premio Municipal de Vina del Mar Premio Seleccion de Potrillos

6.5f 8.0f 9.5f 6.0f

Individual Dance (CHI) Dickson Carr (CHI) Nos Feratus (CHI) Blind Street (CHI)

3 6 5 3

F H H C

Dance Brightly (CAN) Mons (GB) Sadlers Congress Compendium (USA)

Individual Spirit (USA) Extranjera (CHI) Nucleare (CHI) Blufera (CHI)

Seattle Slew (USA) Edgy Diplomat (USA) Noble Fighter (USA) Broker’s Tip (NZ)

G3 G2 G3 G1 G3 G2 G2 G3 G3 G3 G3

Lord Derby Challenge Trophy Sankei Osaka Hai March Stakes Takamatsunomiya Kinen Mainichi Hai Nikkei Sho Hanshin Daishoten Chunichi Sports Sho Falcon Stakes Flower Cup Laurel R.C. Sho Nakayama Himba Stakes Toyota Sho Chukyo Kinen

8.0f 10.0f 9.0f 6.0f 9.0f 12.5f 15.0f 6.0f 9.0f 9.0f 10.0f

Take Mikazuchi (JPN) Dream Journey (JPN) Espoir City (JPN) Laurel Guerreiro (JPN) Iron Look (JPN) Al Nasrain (JPN) Asakusa Kings (JPN) Jo Cappuccino (JPN) Viva Vodka (JPN) Kiss To Heaven (JPN) Sakura Orion (JPN)

4 5 4 5 3 5 5 3 3 6 7

C H C H C H H C F M H

Gold Allure (JPN) Stay Gold (JPN) Gold Allure (JPN) King Halo (JPN) Admire Boss (JPN) Admire Vega (JPN) White Muzzle (GB) Manhattan Cafe (JPN) Dance In The Dark (JPN) Admire Vega (JPN) El Condor Pasa (USA)

Kazumi Harukoma (JPN) Oriental Art (JPN) Eminent City (JPN) Big Tenby (JPN) Luca Dance (JPN) Elatis (USA) Croupier Star (JPN) Jo Psykhe (JPN) Tokai Stella (JPN) Long Virgin (JPN) Sakura Secrettame (USA)

Maruzensky (JPN) Mejiro McQueen (JPN) Brian’s Time (USA) Tenby (GB) Hector Protector (USA) El Gran Senor (USA) Sunday Silence (USA) Fusaichi Concorde (JPN) Tokai Teio (JPN) Northern Taste (CAN) Danzig (USA)

G1 G1 G3 G2 G2 G1 G3

NZ BloodstockThoroughbred Breeders Stks Ford Manawatu Sires Produce Stakes The Oaks Stud Manawatu Classic Lawnmaster Awapuni Gold Cup First Sovereign Trust Japan/NZ Trophy NZ Bloodstock Insurance New Zealand Oaks ZM Thompson Handicap

8.0f 7.0f 10.0f 10.0f 8.0f 12.0f 8.0f

Dane Julia (SAF) The Heckler (AUS) Izonit (NZ) Maco’reilly (NZ) My Astron (NZ) Jungle Rocket (NZ) Jonbalena (NZ)

6 3 4 6 6 4 6

M C C G G F G

Caesour (USA) Lucky Owners (NZ) Volksraad (GB) O’Reilly (NZ) My Halo (ARG) Jungle Pocket (JPN) Lord Ballina (AUS)

Precious Julia (AUS) Comedy Cafe (AUS) Label Basher (NZ) Double Babu (NZ) Salute (NZ) Gu Li (NZ) Desdemona (NZ)

Danehill (USA) Rory’s Jester (AUS) Conquistarose (USA) Centaine (AUS) Mistral Dancer (CAN) Last Tycoon Truly Vain (AUS)

G2

Clasico La Copa

11.0f

Deepak (USA)

5

H

Pikepass (USA)

Unbridled Queen (USA)

Unbridled (USA)

Sycamore Sprint Colorado King Stakes H F Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes Gerald Rosenberg Fillies & Mares Stakes Strelitzia Stakes Godolphin Barb Stakes Protea Stakes Pretty Polly Stakes South African Classic Man O’War Sprint South African Fillies Classic Caradoc Gold Cup King’s Cup

5.5f 10.0f 8.0f 10.0f 5.0f 5.0f 5.5f 5.5f 9.0f 5.5f 9.0f 14.0f 8.0f

Sweet Sanette (SAF) Senor Versace (SAF) Smart Banker (SAF) Spring Garland (SAF) Eternal Flame (SAF) Villandry (SAF) Runaway Man (SAF) Corpes da Elite (SAF) Forest Path (SAF) Warm White Night (SAF) Gypsy’s Warning (SAF) Bayete (SAF) Pirate’s Gold (SAF)

4 5 5 6 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 8 6

F G G M F G C F C C F G G

Jallad (USA) Parade Leader (USA) Strike Smartly (CAN) Rambo Dancer (CAN) Caesour (USA) Var (USA) Goldkeeper (USA) Mogok (USA) Fort Wood (USA) Western Winter (USA) Mogok (USA) Rambo Dancer (CAN) Rich Man’s Gold (USA)

Scented Samantha (SAF) Donatella (SAF) Larapinta (SAF) Garden Verse (SAF) Flaming Reality (SAF) Amazon Lily (SAF) Indecent Proposal (SAF) Dazzling Danzig (SAF) Money Trail (SAF) Thousand Nights (SAF) Gypsy Queen (SAF) French Braid (SAF) Shiver My Timbers (SAF)

National Assembly (CAN) Fine Edge Al Mufti (USA) Foveros Rainbow Dream (FR) Complete Warrior (USA) Raise A Man (USA) Shoe Danzig (USA) Northern Guest (USA) Foveros Royal Chalice (SAF) Formaz (USA) Cordoba (USA)

Australia 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 18 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar

Brazil 5 Apr 4 Apr 29 Mar 29 Mar 22 Mar 15 Mar 15 Mar 14 Mar

Chile 4 Apr 28 Mar 18 Mar 14 Mar

Japan 5 Apr 5 Apr 29 Mar 29 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 22 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 15 Mar 14 Mar

New Zealand 4 Apr 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 21 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar

Peru 22 Mar

South Africa 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 1 Apr 1 Apr 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 27 Mar

G3 G2 G1 G2 G3 G3 G3 G3 G1 G3 G1 G3 G3

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DATA BOOK LISTINGS OF EVERY SINGLE WORLDWIDE STAKES WINNER Global Stakes Results – 2009 United Arab Emirates Date Grade 28 Mar G2 28 Mar G1 28 Mar G1 28 Mar G2 28 Mar G1 28 Mar G1

Race S & M Al Naboodah Group UAE Derby Gulf News Dubai Golden Shaheen Stakes Dubai Duty Free Stakes Etisalat Godolphin Mile Nakheel Dubai Sheema Classic Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup

Dist 9.0f 6.0f 9.0f 8.0f 12.0f 10.0f

Horse Regal Ransom (USA) Big City Man (USA) Gladiatorus (USA) Two Step Salsa (USA) Eastern Anthem (IRE) Well Armed (USA)

Age 3 4 4 4 5 6

Sex C C C C H G

Vinery Madison Stakes Beaumont Stakes Fantasy Stakes Las Flores Handicap Wood Memorial Stakes Illinois Derby Santa Anita Derby Providencia Stakes Ashland Stakes Arcadia Handicap Excelsior Handicap Carter Handicap Apple Blossom Handicap Skip Away Stakes Oaklawn Handicap Potrero Grande Handicap Central Bank Transylvania Stakes Santa Paula Stakes Rampart Stakes Blackberry Florida Derby Swale Stakes Next Move Stakes Appleton Stakes Tokyo City Handicap Bonnie Miss Stakes Orchid Stakes Santa Ana Handicap Lane’s End Stakes Bourbonette Oaks San Luis Rey Handicap Distaff Handicap Pan American Stakes Herecomesthebride Stakes Honeybee Stakes Inside Information Stakes Palm Beach Stakes Louisiana Derby Rebel Stakes Tampa Bay Derby San Felipe Stakes Florida Oaks Cicada Stakes Fair Grounds Oaks New Orleans Handicap Gulfstream Park Handicap Hillsborough Stakes Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap Mervin H Muniz Jr Memorial Handicap

7.0f 7.0f 8.5f 6.5f 9.0f 9.0f 9.0f 8.0f 8.5f 8.0f 9.0f 7.0f 8.5f 9.5f 9.0f 6.5f 8.5f 6.5f 9.0f 9.0f 7.0f 9.0f 7.5f 12.0f 9.0f 12.0f 9.0f 9.0f 8.0f 12.0f 6.0f 10.0f 9.0f 8.5f 7.0f 9.0f 8.5f 8.5f 8.5f 8.5f 8.5f 6.0f 8.5f 9.0f 8.0f 9.0f 9.0f 9.0f

Bloodstock SA Nat.Yearling Sales Phumelela Zimbabwe Guineas

10.0f 8.0f

Sire Distorted Humor (USA) Northern Afleet (USA) Silic (FR) Petionville (USA) Singspiel (IRE) Tiznow (USA)

Dam Kelli’s Ransom (USA) Mini Appeal (USA) Gmaasha (IRE) Two to Waltz (USA) Kazzia (GER) Well Dressed (USA)

Broodmare Sire Red Ransom (USA) Valid Appeal (USA) Kris Seattle Slew (USA) Zinaad (GB) Notebook (USA)

Informed Decision (USA) War Kill (USA) Rachel Alexandra (USA) Sweet August Moon (USA) I Want Revenge (USA) Musket Man (USA) Pioneerof the Nile (USA) Acting Lady (USA) Hooh Why (USA) Dixie Chatter (USA) Giant Moon (USA) Kodiak Kowboy (USA) Seventh Street (USA) Finallymadeit (USA) It’s A Bird (USA) Soul City Slew (USA) Stormalory (USA) Carlsbad (USA) One Caroline (USA) Quality Road (USA) This Ones For Phil (USA) Weathered (USA) Kiss The Kid (USA) Stream Cat (USA) Justwhistledixie (USA) Dress Rehearsal (IRE) Belmont Cat (NZ) Hold Me Back (USA) Hot Cha Cha (USA) Midships (USA) Secret Gypsy (USA) Buddy’s Humor (USA) Gozzip Girl (USA) Just Jenda (USA) Game Face (USA) El Crespo (USA) Friesan Fire (USA) Win Willy (USA) Musket Man (USA) Pioneerof the Nile (USA) Don’t Forget Gil (USA) Heart Ashley (USA) Rachel Alexandra (USA) Macho Again (USA) Smooth Air (USA) Backseat Rhythm (USA) Life Is Sweet (USA) Proudinsky (GER)

4 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 6 6 3 3 4 3 3 4 6 6 3 4 5 3 3 4 4 5 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 6

F F F F C C C F F C C C F H H G C F F C G F H H F F M C F C F H F F F C C C C C F F F C C F F H

Monarchos (USA) War Chant (USA) Medaglia d’Oro (USA) Malibu Moon (USA) Stephen Got Even (USA) Yonaguska (USA) Empire Maker (USA) Theatrical Cloud Hopping (USA) Dixie Union (USA) Giant’s Causeway (USA) Posse (USA) Street Cry (IRE) Concerto (USA) Birdonthewire (USA) Slew City Slew (USA) Storm Cat (USA) Rocky Bar (USA) Unbridled’s Song (USA) Elusive Quality (USA) Untuttable (USA) Key Contender (USA) Lemon Drop Kid (USA) Black Minnaloushe (USA) Dixie Union (USA) Galileo (IRE) Felix The Cat (USA) Giant’s Causeway (USA) Cactus Ridge (USA) Mizzen Mast (USA) Sea of Secrets (USA) Distorted Humor (USA) Dynaformer (USA) Menifee (USA) Menifee (USA) A P Indy (USA) A P Indy (USA) Monarchos (USA) Yonaguska (USA) Empire Maker (USA) Kafwain (USA) Lion Heart (USA) Medaglia d’Oro (USA) Macho Uno (USA) Smooth Jazz (USA) El Corredor (USA) Storm Cat (USA) Silvano (GER)

Palangana (USA) Battenkill (USA) Lotta Kim (USA) Silent Academy (USA) Meguial (ARG) Fortuesque (USA) Star of Goshen (USA) Lady Fairfax (GB) Magic Merger (USA) Mini Chat (USA) Moonlightandbeauty (USA) Kokadrie (USA) Holiday Runner (USA) Gold For My Gal (USA) Faithful City (USA) Sweet Soul (USA) Miss Halory (USA) Kits Peak (USA) Powder (USA) Kobla (USA) Heaven’s Gate (USA) Thunder Stand (USA) Black Tie Kiss (USA) Water Course (USA) General Jeanne (USA) Sassenach (IRE) Morgan Glory (NZ) Restraint (USA) Reduced Sentence (USA) Interim (GB) Miss Utada (USA) Hello Barbara Sue (USA) Temperence Gift (USA) Liberty School (USA) Galleon of Gold (USA) Commodities (USA) Bollinger (AUS) City Fair (USA) Fortuesque (USA) Star of Goshen (USA) Livermore Leslie (USA) Pretty ‘n Smart (USA) Lotta Kim (USA) Go Donna Go (USA) Air France (USA) Kiss A Miss (USA) Sweet Life (USA) Proudeyes (GER)

His Majesty (USA) Rahy (USA) Roar (USA) Royal Academy (USA) Roy (USA) Fortunate Prospect (USA) Lord At War (ARG) Sharrood (USA) Corporate Report (USA) Deputy Minister (CAN) Capote (USA) Coronado’s Quest (USA) Meadowlake (USA) Gold Alert (USA) Hooched (USA) Lord Avie (USA) Mr Prospector (USA) Pine Bluff (USA) Broad Brush (USA) Strawberry Road (AUS) Septieme Ciel (USA) Thunder Puddles (USA) Danzig (USA) Irish River (FR) Honour And Glory (USA) Night Shift (USA) Justice Prevails (AUS) Unbridled’s Song (USA) Broad Brush (USA) Sadler’s Wells (USA) Rahy (USA) Dehere (USA) Kingmambo (USA) Pine Bluff (USA) Gone West (USA) Private Account (USA) Dehere (USA) Carson City (USA) Fortunate Prospect (USA) Lord At War (ARG) Mt Livermore (USA) Beau Genius (CAN) Roar (USA) Wild Again (USA) French Deputy (USA) Kissin Kris (USA) Kris S (USA) Dashing Blade

Rebecca’s Fleet (ZIM) Rebecca’s Fleet (ZIM)

4 4

F F

Kitalpha (USA) Kitalpha (USA)

Rebecca’s Song (ZIM) Rebecca’s Song (ZIM)

Sailor Prince (NZ) Sailor Prince (NZ)

United States 9 Apr 8 Apr 5 Apr 5Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 4 Apr 3 Apr 29 Mar 29 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 28 Mar 27 Mar 22 Mar 22 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 21 Mar 15 Mar 15 Mar 15 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar 14 Mar

G1 G2 G2 G3 G1 G2 G1 G2 G1 G2 G3 G1 G1 G3 G2 G2 G3 G3 G2 G1 G2 G3 G3 G3 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3 G3 G3 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3 G2 G3 G3 G2 G2 G2 G3 G1 G2

Zimbabwe 29 Mar 1 Mar

G3 G3

Leading sires by stakes winners – 2009 Horse

Born

Sire

Stands/Stood

Redoute’s Choice (AUS) Encosta de Lago (AUS) O’Reilly (NZ) Giant’s Causeway (USA) Zabeel (NZ) Elusive Quality (USA) Distorted Humor (USA) Red Ransom (USA) Belong To Me (USA) Unbridled’s Song (USA) More Than Ready (USA) Lemon Drop Kid (USA) Van Nistelrooy (USA) War Chant (USA) Exceed And Excel (AUS) Smart Strike (CAN) Put It Back (USA) Danewin (AUS) Speightstown (USA) Razeen (USA) Scenic Admire Vega (JPN) Apprentice (USA) Candy Ride (ARG) Danehill Dancer (IRE) Indygo Shiner (USA) Manhattan Cafe (JPN) Chester House (USA) Mizzen Mast (USA) Tiznow (USA) Unusual Heat (USA) Thorn Park (USA) Monarchos (USA) Choisir (AUS) Western Winter (USA) Rubiton (AUS)

1996 1993 1993 1997 1986 1993 1993 1987 1989 1993 1997 1996 2000 1997 2000 1992 1998 1991 1998 1987 1986 1996 1990 1999 1993 1998 1998 1995 1998 1997 1990 1999 1998 1999 1992 1983

Danehill (USA) Fairy King (USA) Last Tycoon Storm Cat (USA) Sir Tristram Gone West (USA) Forty Niner (USA) Roberto (USA) Danzig (USA) Unbridled (USA) Southern Halo (USA) Kingmambo (USA) Storm Cat (USA) Danzig (USA) Danehill (USA) Mr Prospector (USA) Honour And Glory (USA) Danehill (USA) Gone West (USA) Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells (USA) Sunday Silence (USA) Forty Niner (USA) Ride The Rails (USA) Danehill (USA) A P Indy (USA) Sunday Silence (USA) Mr Prospector (USA) Cozzene (USA) Cee’s Tizzy (USA) Nureyev (USA) Spinning World (USA) Maria’s Mon (USA) Danehill Dancer (IRE) Gone West (USA) Century (AUS)

Aus Aus, Ire NZ USA NZ Aus, USA USA Aus, USA USA USA Aus, USA USA USA USA Aus, Ire USA Brazil Aus USA SAF Aus Jpn Peru USA Aus, Ire USA Jpn USA USA USA USA Aus USA Aus, Ire SAF Aus

86 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

BTH BTW GH GW 15 18 12 16 11 8 12 10 13 9 14 10 7 7 12 12 11 5 4 7 11 5 7 5 17 6 6 5 8 9 6 5 5 10 5 6

9 8 7 7 7 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

9 10 7 10 7 4 4 7 8 5 8 6 3 5 9 7 3 2 1 0 6 4 3 3 9 4 4 4 4 7 3 3 3 7 4 4

3 5 4 4 6 3 2 3 2 3 4 2 0 2 1 2 1 2 1 0 3 3 2 3 1 1 3 3 2 2 0 2 2 2 3 2

Redoute’s and Encosta undeniably world class The year’s top stakes sires owe their position principally to big races in Australia and New Zealand. It follows the standings are likely to alter once the northern hemisphere Pattern season gets into full swing, with such as Galileo and Montjeu no doubt starting to pile in the winners.

Be that as it may, the achievements of Redoute’s Choice and Encosta de Lago, with 17 black type winners between them, confirm them as world class. Mind you, they do not come cheap – last year Redoute’s Choice stood at A$330,000 (£161,000) and Encosta de Lago at A$302,500 (£147,500).

The latter, who started out at A$8,500 (£4,140), is a Coolmore sire.

The esteem in which he is held is shown by the fees of some Coolmore shuttle sires in Australia in 2008, notably Danehill Dancer (A$110,000, £54,000), Dylan Thomas (A$44,000, £21,500) and Rock Of Gibraltar (A$82,500, £40,000). Encosta de Lago got around 40 foals from one year in Ireland (2007) and it will be fascinating to see how they fare.

The top four in the list on black type winners are all descendants of Northern Dancer but the leader in number of Graded victories, Zabeel with six, traces to Sir Ivor. Two of the six, Maldivian and Fiumicino, have won Group 1 races to take his score to 39 in that category.

Comments: Jeremy Early Statistics to April 4 BTH = black type horses; BTW = black type winners; GH = Group horses; GW = Group winners

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DATA BOOK

EUROPEAN PATTERN AND NATIONAL HUNT GRADE 1 WINNERS

European Pattern 1 PRIX EXBURY G3 SAINT-CLOUD. March 14. 4yo+. 2000m.

1. COURT CANIBAL (GB) 4 8-11 £38,835 b c by Montjeu - Pas d’Heure (Arazi) O-Marquise de Moratalla B-Childwick Bury Stud Management TR-M Delzangles 2. Diyakalanie (FR) 5 8-6 £15,534 b m by Ashkalani - Diyawara (Doyoun) O-R Luce B-Raymond Luce TR-Y de Nicolay 3. Chinchon (IRE) 4 8-11 £11,650 b c by Marju - Jarama (Hector Protector) O-Darpat SL Stables B-Zubieta Ltd TR-C Laffon-Parias Margins 0.75, nose. Time 2:14.20 (slow 9.80).

Going Heavy.

Age 2-4

Starts 10

Wins 2

Places 4

Earned £93,356

Sire: MONTJEU. Sire of 65 Stakes winners. In 2009 COURT CANIBAL Arazi G3, MOSKOVA Machiavellian LR. 1st Dam: PAS D’HEURE by Arazi. Winner at 3 in France. Dam of 3 winners: 2001: WAIVE TIME (g Vettori) 5 wins.

2002: CUIDADO CHAVAL (g Alhaarth) 6 wins, Prix Andre Massena Gde Crse 4yo Hurdle LR. 2003: Absenteiste (c Spinning World) unraced.

2005: COURT CANIBAL (c Montjeu) 2 wins at 2 and 4 in France, Prix Exbury G3, 2nd Prix Noailles G2, Prix Maurice Caillault LR, 3rd Grosser Preis von DSW21-St Leger G3.

2006: Biased (f Haafhd) unraced to date.

2007: Timepecker (f Dansili) unraced to date.

2008: Pas Perdus (c Footstepsinthesand) 2nd Dam: LA TIRANA by Akarad. 4 wins at 4 in France Prix Le Fabuleux LR, 2nd Prix Corrida G3, Prix de Flore G3. Own sister to AROKAR. Dam of WALKON (g Take Risks: Coral Future Champion Finale Juv Hurdle G1, 2nd JCB Triumph Hurdle G1).

Buffard Jacques Le Marois G1. Dam of 5 winners: 1993: Dangerous Love (f Lear Fan) unraced.

1994: Danger Reef (c Nureyev) 1995: Discret Amour (c Riverman) unraced.

1996: Dancing Fire (f Dayjur) unraced. Dam of Montecito (f Montjeu: 4 wins, 3rd Dahlia S) 1997: DREAM SEEKER (c Lear Fan) 2 wins over jumps in France.

1998: DURER (c Kingmambo) Winner at 3 in France.

1999: Diamant Bleu (c Our Emblem). unraced, died.

2000: DANCING WARRIOR (c Lear Fan) Winner at 4 in USA. 2001: Loup du Soir (c Loup Sauvage) 2003: JUMBAJUKIBA (g Barathea) 7 wins at 2, 4 and 5, Castlemartin & La Louviere Gladness S G3, Keeneland Minstrel S G3, ladbrokes.com Solonaway S G3 (twice) 2005: SCINTILLO (c Fantastic Light) Sold 30,000gns yearling at TAOC2. Champion 2yr old in Italy in 2007. 4 wins at 2 and 4 at home, Italy, Gran Criterium G1, sportingbet.com Winter Derby G3, Digibet Dragonfly S LR, 2nd David Wilson Homes Cocked Hat S LR, Weatherbys Bank Stonehenge S LR, 3rd Ladbrokes Great Voltigeur S G2, Juddmonte Royal Lodge S G2, Usk Valley Stud Washington Singer S LR, Digibet Floodlit S LR, Betdaq Exchange Winter Derby Trial S LR. 2007: (c Barathea) 2nd Dam: DANCE BY NIGHT by Northfields. 2 wins at 2, unraced at 3 years due to an accident. Dam of DANSEUSE DU SOIR (f Thatching, see above), DANA SPRINGS (f Aragon: Upavon Fillies’ S LR, Piaget d’Or LR), DON CORLEONE (c Caerleon: Robert Sice Memorial July Trophy S LR, 2nd Westminster Taxi Insurance Gordon S G3, 3rd Tripleprint Geoffrey Freer S G2), Danseuse du Nord (f Kahyasi: 3rd Prix de Malleret G2), Circus Dance (c Sadler’s Wells: 3rd Emirates Airline Prix du Jockey Club G1). Grandam of AUDACIEUSE, LORD JIM. Third dam of DANZON, Reduit, La Reine Mambo, Saucy Brown.

Broodmare Sire: ARAZI. Sire of the dams of 18 SW. In 2009 - COURT CANIBAL Montjeu G3.

Broodmare Sire: THATCHING. Sire of the dams of 54 Stakes winners. In 2009 - SCINTILLO Fantastic Light G3.

COURT CANIBAL b c 2005

SCINTILLO ch c 2005

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Fairy Bridge Special High Top Top Ville Sega Ville Tennyson Toute Cy Adele Toumignon Red God Blushing Groom Runaway Bride Northern Dancer Danseur Fabuleux Fabuleux Jane Labus Akarad Licata Silver Shark Arosa Andrea II

Blushing Groom

Northern Dancer

Sadler’s Wells MONTJEU b 96 Floripedes

Arazi PAS D’HEURE ch 96 La Tirana

Rahy Glorious Song FANTASTIC LIGHT b 96 Nijinsky Jood Kamar Thatch Thatching Abella DANSEUSE DU SOIR b 88 Northfields Dance By Night Elvina

Red God Runaway Bride Halo Ballade Northern Dancer Flaming Page Key To The Mint Square Angel Forli Thong Abernant Darrica Northern Dancer Little Hut Dancer’s Image Relicia

2 WINTER DERBY S G3

3 PARK EXPRESS S G3

LINGFIELD PARK. March 21. 4yo+. 10f.

CURRAGH. March 22. 3yo+f&m. 8f.

1. SCINTILLO (GB) 4 9-0 £56,770 ch c by Fantastic Light - Danseuse du Soir (Thatching) O-White Beech Farm B-Woodcote Stud Ltd TR-R Hannon 2. Premio Loco (USA) 5 9-0 £21,520 ch g by Prized - Crazee Mental (Magic Ring) O-Bernard Westley B-Kidder, Cole, Griggs TR-CF Wall 3. Bronze Cannon (USA) 4 9-0 £10,770 bbr c by Lemon Drop Kid - Victoria Cross (Mark of Esteem) O-AE Oppenheimer B-Hascombe And Valiant Studs TR-JHM Gosden

1. OH GOODNESS ME (GB) 3 8-9 £56,884 b f by Galileo - Coyote (Indian Ridge) O-Mrs June Judd B-Sir Eric Parker TR-JS Bolger 2. Firey Red (IRE) 3 8-9 £16,689 ch f by Pivotal - Step With Style (Gulch) O/B-Moyglare Stud Farm TR-DK Weld 3. Mad About You (IRE) 4 9-10 £7,951 b f by Indian Ridge - Irresistible Jewel (Danehill) O/B-Moyglare Stud Farm TR-DK Weld Margins short head, head, . Time 1:47.03 (slow 9.03) Going Soft.

Age 2-3

Starts 6

Wins 2

Places 3

Earned £81,606

Lodge Park EBF Park Express S G3, 2nd Eyrefield S LR, Silken Glider S LR. 2007: Huff And Puff (c Azamour) unraced to date.

2008: (f Medicean) 2nd Dam: CARAMBA by Belmez. 2 wins at 3 Falmouth S G2, Vodafone Nassau S G2. Dam of Coyote (f Indian Ridge, see above) Broodmare Sire: INDIAN RIDGE. Sire of the dams of 34 Stakes winners. In 2009 - OH GOODNESS ME Galileo G3.

The Galileo/Indian Ridge cross has produced: NIGHTIME G1, OH GOODNESS ME G3, Fiulin G3.

OH GOODNESS ME b f 2006 Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge GALILEO b 98 Miswaki Urban Sea Allegretta Ahonoora Indian Ridge Hillbrow COYOTE b 98 Belmez Caramba Melodrama

4 PRIX EDMOND BLANC G3 SAINT-CLOUD. March 29. 4yo+. 1600m.

1. GRIS DE GRIS (IRE) 5 9-2 £38,835 gr h by Slickly - Deesse Grise (Lead On Time) O-J-C Seroul B-J-C Seroul TR-A de Royer-Dupre 2. Alnadana (IRE) 4 8-8 £15,534 gr f by Danehill Dancer - Alnamara (Linamix) O-HH The Aga Khan B-Haras De Son Altesse L’Aga Khan Scea TR-A de Royer-Dupre 3. Racinger (FR) 6 9-0 £11,650 b h by Spectrum - Dibenoise (Kendor) O-Hamdan Al Maktoum B-Mme Rene Geffroy TR-F Head Margins 2, 1.5. Time 1:43.20 (slow 5.20).

Going Soft.

Age 2-5

Starts 21

Age 2-4

Starts 20

Wins 4

Places 9

Earned £204,654

Sire: FANTASTIC LIGHT. Sire of 17 Stakes winners.

In 2009 - SCINTILLO Thatching G3.

1st Dam: DANSEUSE DU SOIR by Thatching. 5 wins at 2 and 3 in France, Dubai Poule d’Essai des Pouliches G1, Prix de la Foret G1, 3rd P. Fresnay-le-

Sire: GALILEO. Sire of 43 Stakes winners. In 2009 DRESS REHEARSAL Night Shift G3, OH GOODNESS ME Indian Ridge G3.

1st Dam: Coyote by Indian Ridge. Winner at 3, 3rd Amtico EBF Valiant S LR. Dam of 2 winners: 2003: With Style (f Grand Lodge) 2004: ERADICATE (g Montjeu) 4 wins, Braveheart S LR, 3rd Prix Gontaut-Biron G3.

2005: Chesapeake Bay (g High Chaparral) 2006: OH GOODNESS ME (f Galileo) Sold 120,000gns foal at TADEF. 2 wins at 2 and 3,

Wins 7

Places 9

Earned £233,225

Sire: SLICKLY. Sire of 5 Stakes winners. In 2009 GRIS DE GRIS Lead On Time G3.

1st Dam: DEESSE GRISE by Lead On Time. 10 wins at 2 to 6 in France. Dam of 3 winners: 2002: EFISIA (f Efisio) 7 wins at 3 to 6, in France.

2003: Taulane (f Vettori) 2004: GRIS DE GRIS (c Slickly) 7 wins at 2 to 5, Prix du Muguet G2, Prix Edmond Blanc G3, Prix de Pontarme LR, Prix Altipan LR, Prix de la Californie LR, Grand Prix de la Riviera Cote d’Azur LR, 2nd Prix Edmond Blanc G3, Prix Perth G3, Prix Aymeri de Mauleon LR, 3rd Premio Emilio Turati G2, Prix Montenica LR. 2005: GIRALDINA (f Xaar) Winner at 3 in France.

2006: Frere Bai (c Slickly) 2nd Dam: GREY GODDESS by Godswalk.

Champion older miler in Ireland in 1987. 5 wins at 3 and 4, Gladness S G3, Matron S G3, 4th Trusthouse Forte Mile G2. Dam of Alost (g Highest Honor: 2nd Derby du Languedoc LR, 3rd Red Smith H G2).

Grandam of PIPALONG, OUT OF AFRICA. Broodmare Sire: LEAD ON TIME. Sire of the dams of 7 SW. In 2009 - GRIS DE GRIS Slickly G3.

GRIS DE GRIS gr h 2004 Bellypha Miss Carina Breton Lunadix Lutine SLICKLY gr 96 Mr Prospector Conquistador Cielo K D Princess Slipstream Queen Explodent Country Queen Carrie’s Rough Northern Dancer Nureyev Special Lead On Time Lorenzaccio Alathea Vive La Reine DEESSE GRISE gr 94 Dancer’s Image Godswalk Kate’s Intent Grey Goddess Busted Thiella Seaswan Mendez

Linamix

Margins Nose, 1.75. Time 2:03.79 (fast 0.01). Going Standard.

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special Mr Prospector Hopespringseternal Lombard Anatevka Lorenzaccio Helen Nichols Swing Easy Golden City El Gran Senor Grace Note Busted Matineea

5 1000 GUINEAS TRIAL S G3 LEOPARDSTOWN. March 29. 3yof. 7f.

1. MAOINEACH (USA) 9-0 £41,083 ch f by Congaree - Trepidation (Seeking The Gold) O-Mrs JS Bolger B-WinStar Farm TR-JS Bolger 2. Heart Shaped (USA) 9-0 £12,053 ch f by Storm Cat - Twenty Eight Carat (Alydar) O-Michael Tabor B-Brushwood Stables TR-AP O’Brien 3. Smart Coco (USA) 9-0 £5,743 b f by Smarty Jones - Djebel Amour (Mt Livermore) O-Michael O’Flynn B-Edward J Gregory et al TR-T Stack Margins 1.75, neck. Time 1:27.90 (slow 2.40).

Going Good to firm.

Age 2-3

Starts 3

Wins 2

Places 0

Earned £79,377

Sire: CONGAREE. Sire of 1 Stakes winner. In 2009 MAOINEACH Seeking The Gold G3.

1st Dam: Trepidation by Seeking The Gold. unraced.

Dam of 2 winners: 2005: TIZ NOW TIZ THEN (c Tiznow) 3 wins at 3 in USA, Iowa Derby LR, 3rd Jim Dandy S G2.

2006: MAOINEACH (f Congaree) 2 wins at 2 and 3, Go And Go Round Tower S G3, Leopardstown 1000 Guineas Trial S G3.

2007: Southbound (f Southern Image) unraced.

2008: (c Tiznow) Broodmare Sire: SEEKING THE GOLD. Sire of the dams of 52 Stakes winners. In 2009 - COWBOY CAL Giant’s Causeway G2, TRUE QUALITY Elusive Quality G2, MAOINEACH Congaree G3.

MAOINEACH ch f 2006 Red God Runaway Bride Northern Dancer Danseur Fabuleux Fabuleux Jane CONGAREE ch 98 Northern Dancer Mari’s Book Mari Her Mari’s Sheba Known Fact Sheba Little Come Back Raise A Native Mr Prospector Gold Digger Seeking The Gold Buckpasser Con Game Broadway TREPIDATION ch 2001 Storm Bird Storm Cat Terlingua Troubling Danzig Dispute Resolver Blushing Groom

Arazi

6 2000 GUINEAS TRIAL S G3 LEOPARDSTOWN. March 29. 3yo. 8f.

1. RECHARGE (IRE) 9-0 £41,083 b c by Cape Cross - Rebelline (Robellino) O-Lady O’Reilly B-Skymarc Farm, Castlemartin Stud TR-K Prendergast 2. Intense Focus (USA) 9-3 £12,053 b c by Giant’s Causeway - Daneleta (Danehill) O-Mrs JS Bolger B-Robert N Clay, Airlie Stud TR-JS Bolger 3. Born To Be King (USA) 9-0 £5,743 b c by Storm Cat - Quarter Moon (Sadler’s Wells) O-Mrs John Magnier B-Premier Bloodstock TR-AP O’Brien Margins 1, 2.5. Time 1:40.60 (slow 2.20).

Going Good to firm.

Age 2-3

Starts 3

Wins 2

Places 1

Earned £49,175

Sire: CAPE CROSS. Sire of 49 Stakes winners. In 2009 - RECHARGE Robellino G3, RE BAROLO Irish River LR. 1st Dam: REBELLINE by Robellino. 6 wins at 2 to 4, Tattersalls Gold Cup G1, 3rd Prix de l’Opera G1.

Own sister to QUWS. Dam of 2 winners: 2004: REGALLINE (f Green Desert) Winner at 3.

2005: Rockcliffe (g King’s Best) 2006: RECHARGE (c Cape Cross) 2 wins at 2 and 3, Leopardstown 2000 Guineas Trial G3.

2008: (c Galileo) 2nd Dam: Fleeting Rainbow by Rainbow Quest. Dam of REBELLINE, QUWS (c Robellino: Blandford S G2).

Broodmare Sire: ROBELLINO. Sire of the dams of 23 SW. In 2009 - RECHARGE Cape Cross G3.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER 87

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DATA BOOK EUROPEAN PATTERN AND NATIONAL HUNT GRADE 1 WINNERS European Pattern RECHARGE b c 2006 Danzig Green Desert Foreign Courier CAPE CROSS b/br 94 Ahonoora Park Appeal Balidaress Roberto Robellino Isobelline REBELLINE b 98 Rainbow Quest Fleeting Rainbow Taplow

Northern Dancer Pas de Nom Sir Ivor Courtly Dee Lorenzaccio Helen Nichols Balidar Innocence Hail To Reason Bramalea Pronto Isobella Blushing Groom I Will Follow Tap On Wood Fighting

7 PRIX D’HARCOURT G2

Margins Head, 0.75. Time 2:10.77 (slow 0.77).

Going Good.

Age 2-3

Starts 4

Wins 3

Places 0

Earned £95,236

Sire: PLATINI. Sire of 29 Stakes winners. In 2009 GRANDCAMP Big Shuffle G2, PARACCHINI Persian Bold LR. 1st Dam: Gaudera by Big Shuffle. Dam of 1 winner: 2006: GRANDCAMP (c Platini) Sold 8,365gns yearling at AROCT, 22,408gns 2yo at ARAPR. 3 wins at 3 in France, Prix Noailles G2.

2007: Gondola (f Lando) unraced to date.

2008: (c Numerous) Broodmare Sire: BIG SHUFFLE. Sire of the dams of 11 SW. In 2009 - GRANDCAMP Platini G2.

LONGCHAMP. April 5. 4yo+. 2000m.

1. TRINCOT (FR) 4 9-1 £71,942 b c by Peintre Celebre - Royal Lights (Royal Academy) O/B-Ecurie Bader TR-P Demercastel 2. The Bogberry (USA) 4 8-11 £27,767 ch c by Hawk Wing - Lahinch (Danehill Dancer) O-S Efros, A Khakhonin B-March Thoroughbreds TR-A de Royer-Dupre 3. Vision d’Etat (FR) 4 9-4 £13,252 b c by Chichicastenango - Uberaba (Garde Royale) O-J Detre B-Gaetan Gilles TR-E Libaud Margins 3, head. Time 2:02.88 (fast 1.02).

Going Good.

The Platini/Big Shuffle cross has produced: DIMARO LR, GRANDCAMP G2.

GRANDCAMP gr c 2006 Surumu PLATINI ch 89 Prairie Darling

Big Shuffle

Age 2-4

Starts 15

Wins 5

Places 6

Earned £201,677

GAUDERA bl 2000 Goldene Aue

Sire: PEINTRE CELEBRE. Sire of 40 SW. In 2009 TRINCOT Royal Academy G2, COLLECTION American Chance LR. 1st Dam: ROYAL LIGHTS by Royal Academy. 2 wins at 3 in France. Dam of 2 winners: 2001: Gry Royal (g Grey Risk) 2002: Royal Bay (g River Bay) 2003: ROYALETTO (g Kendor) 2 wins at 2 and 3.

2005: TRINCOT (c Peintre Celebre) 5 wins at 3 and 4 in France, Prix d’Harcourt G2, Prix Dollar G2, Prix de Guiche G3, 3rd Prix du Prince d’Orange G3.

2006: Royo (c Kendor) 2007: Meer Royal (c Meshaheer) unraced to date.

Broodmare Sire: ROYAL ACADEMY. Sire of the dams of 66 SW. In 2009 - HEART OF DREAMS Show A Heart G1, TRINCOT Peintre Celebre G2, FOXYSOX Foxhound G3, MAJESTIC MUSIC Al Maher G3, SWEET AUGUST MOON Malibu Moon G3, AMADO MIO Our Emblem LR, MRS KIPLING Exceed And Excel LR, PEACH PEARL Invincible Spirit LR, PERGRAM General Nediym LR, STAR ENCOUNTER Jeune LR. The Peintre Celebre/Royal Academy cross has produced: TRINCOT G2, ART DECO G3.

TRINCOT b c 2005 Nearctic Natalma Forli Special Thong Raise A Native Alydar Sweet Tooth Habitat Petroleuse Plencia Northern Dancer Nijinsky Flaming Page Crimson Satan Crimson Saint Bolero Rose Young Generation Cadeaux Genereux Smarten Up Bustino Fire Flash Dazzling Light Northern Dancer

Nureyev PEINTRE CELEBRE ch 94 Peinture Bleue

Royal Academy ROYAL LIGHTS b 96 Million Lights

Birkhahn Lis Reliance II Surama Suncourt Red God Stanford Sweet Almond Northfields Prairie Belle Prairie Beauty Bold Reasoning Super Concorde Prime Abord Elevation Raise Your Skirts Strings Attached Ennis Pentathlon Palmural Zank Gondel Goldhenne Literat

CURRAGH. April 5. 4yo+. 7f.

1. MAD ABOUT YOU (IRE) 4 8-11 £41,019 b f by Indian Ridge - Irresistible Jewel (Danehill) O/B-Moyglare Stud Farm TR-DK Weld 2. Dohasa (IRE) 4 9-0 £11,990 b g by Bold Fact - Zara’s Birthday (Waajib) O-Sean Jones B-Eamon D Delany TR-GM Lyons 3. Kargali (IRE) 4 9-0 £5,680 gr c by Invincible Spirit - Karliyka (Last Tycoon) O/B-HH The Aga Khan TR-John M Oxx Margins 2.5, 1.25. Time 1:27.50 (slow 3.59).

Going Yielding.

Age 2-4

Starts 10

Wins 3

Places 6

Earned £233,483

Sire: INDIAN RIDGE. Sire of 82 Stakes winners. In 2009 - MAD ABOUT YOU Danehill G3, LIBANO Bound For Honour LR. 1st Dam: IRRESISTIBLE JEWEL by Danehill. 3 wins at 3, Ribblesdale S G2. Dam of 1 winner: 2005: MAD ABOUT YOU (f Indian Ridge) 3 wins at 2 to 4, Gladness S G3, Garnet S LR, 2nd Irish 1000 Guineas G1, Pretty Polly S G1, Silver Flash S LR, 3rd Moyglare Stud S G1, Prix Marcel Boussac G1, Park Express S G3.

2006: Royal Diamond (g King’s Best) 2008: (f Distorted Humor) 2nd Dam: IN ANTICIPATION by Sadler’s Wells. 2 DIAwins at 3. Dam of IRRESISTIBLE JEWEL, MOND TRIM (f Highest Honor: Finale S LR. Grandam of PROFOUND BEAUTY.

9 GRAND PRIX AUFGALOPP G3

Broodmare Sire: DANEHILL. Sire of the dams of 103 Stakes winners. In 2009 - DANE JULIA Caesour G1, TUESDAY JOY Carnegie G1.

COLOGNE. April 5. 4yo+. 2200m.

MAD ABOUT YOU b f 2005

1. OSTLAND (GER) 4 9-0 £31,068 b c by Lando - Ost Tycoon (Last Tycoon) O-Stall Hornoldendorf B-Gestut Wittekindshof TR-P Schiergen 2. Ambassador (GER) 5 8-11 £9,709 b h by Acatenango - After Eight Blues (Bold Ruckus) O-J O’Connor B-Gestut Fahrhof TR-T Mundry 3. Zaungast (IRE) 5 9-2 £4,854 b h by Alkalde - Zauberwelt (Polar Falcon) O-J Erhardt B-J Erhardt TR-W Hickst Margins Head, head. Time 2:22.87. Going Soft.

Lorenzaccio Ahonoora Helen Nichols INDIAN RIDGE ch 85 Swing Easy Hillbrow Golden City Danzig Danehill Razyana IRRESISTIBLE JEWEL b 99 Sadler’s Wells

Age 2-4

Starts 9

Wins 3

Places 3

In Anticipation

Earned £128,640

Sire: LANDO. Sire of 19 Stakes winners. In 2009 OSTLAND Last Tycoon G3.

1st Dam: OST TYCOON by Last Tycoon. Winner at 3 in Germany. Dam of 2 winners: 2001: OMIKRON (c Germany) 7 wins, Preis der Deutschen Einheit G3.

2002: Omikra (f General Monash) 2004: Old Lips (f Lord of Men) unraced.

2005: OSTLAND (c Lando) Sold 32,183gns yearling at BBAGS. 3 wins, Grand Prix Aufgalopp G3, 2nd BMW Deutsches Derby G1.

2007: Ostdogin (f Doyen) unraced to date.

2nd Dam: OSTKONIGIN by Alpenkonig. 5 wins.

Dam of OSTWAHL (f Waajib: Deutscher Buchmacher Stutenpreis G3. Grandam of Oligarchica.

Aptostar

LONGCHAMP. April 5. 3yoc&f. 2100m.

Aggravate LANDO b 90 Sharpman Laurea Licata Try My Best Last Tycoon Mill Princess OST TYCOON b 94 Alpenkonig Ostkonigin Obhut

88 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

1. FORPADYDEPLASTERER (IRE) 7 b g Moscow Society - Run Artiste (Deep Run) O-Goat Racing Syndicate B-John Broderick TR-Thomas Cooper 2. Kalahari King (FR) 8 b/br g Kahyasi - Queen of Warsaw (Assert) 3. Planet of Sound (GB) 7 b g Kayf Tara - Herald The Dawn (Dubassoff) Age 5-7

Starts 10

Wins 5

Places 5

Northern Dancer Nijinsky

CHELTENHAM. Mar 10. 16f 110yds. Gd to Sft.

1. GO NATIVE (IRE) 6 br g Double Eclipse - Native Idea (Be My Native) O-Docado Syndicate B-PJ Murphy TR-N Meade 2. Medermit (FR) 5 gr g Medaaly - Miss d’Hermite (Solicitor) 3. Somersby (IRE) 5 b g Second Empire - Back To Roost (Presenting)

Flaming Page MOSCOW SOCIETY ch 85 Dewan Afifa Hooplah Pampered King Deep Run Trial By Fire RUN ARTISTE b 87 Arctic Slave

GO NATIVE br g 2003

Acatenango

31 ARKLE CHALENGE TROPHY CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. March 10. 16f. Good to Soft.

Earned £224,152

FORPADYDEPLASTERER b g 2002

OSTLAND b c 2005 Literat Surama Aggressor Raven Locks Sharpen Up Miss Manon Dschingis Khan Liberty Northern Dancer Sex Appeal Mill Reef Irish Lass II Tamerlane Alpenlerche Kaiseradler Ostsee

When Double Eclipse retired to stud in Britain in 1998 he had a reputation for being one of the most accomplished stayers of recent seasons.

His story took an unusual turn after he had covered 23 mares in his first season and 20 in his second. Put back into training at eight in 2000, he was a close second on his only appearance before injury forced him back into retirement. He attracted only three mares at his Devon base in 2001, but, as so often happens, received more support when he was relocated to Ireland, to stand at Ballyash Stud in County Down.

Now Double Eclipse’s first Irish crop has produced Go Native, who improved his record to five wins and three seconds from his first nine starts when he gamely took the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

Go Native’s first two dams never raced, but his dam Native Idea is by Be My Native, the Coronation Cup winner who was champion sire of jumpers four times at the start of the century. His second dam, The Very Idea, was a half-sister to General Idea, winner of such good Irish chases as the Arkle Perpetual Challenge Cup, Galway Plate and Power Gold Cup. However, this is a high-class “McGrath” Flat family, the next two dams being the smart two-year-olds Small World and Royal Words, the latter a half-sister to the high-class Bog Road.

30 SUPREME NOVICES’ HURDLE G1

Age 4-6

Surumu

Klairon Phoenissa Martial Quaker Girl Delta Judge Free Flowing Skymaster West Shaw Northern Dancer Pas de Nom His Majesty Spring Adieu Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge Fappiano Stark Drama

National Hunt Grade Ones

Broodmare Sire: LAST TYCOON. Sire of the dams of 112 SW. In 2009 - JUNGLE ROCKET Jungle Pocket G1, TYPHOON TRACY Red Ransom G1.

8 PRIX NOAILLES G2

1. GRANDCAMP (FR) 9-2 £71,942 gr c by Platini - Gaudera (Big Shuffle) O-D-Y Treves B-Uwe Stallmann TR-J-C Rouget 2. Guest Ville (FR) 9-2 £27,767 b c by Highest Honor - Kadance Ville (Fabulous Dancer) O-Growthwork SARL B-Serge Boucheron TR-Mlle S-V Tarrou 3. Wajir (FR) 9-2 £13,252 b c by Danehill Dancer - War Game (Caerleon) O-Ecurie Wildenstein B-Dayton Investments Ltd TR-E Lellouche

10 GLADNESS S G3

Starts 9

Wins 5

Places 3

Pitcairn Ela-Mana-Mou Rose Bertin DOUBLE ECLIPSE b 92 Gay Lussac Solac Soragna Our Native Be My Native Witchy Woman NATIVE IDEA b 98 Harp Islet The Very Idea Idealist

Earned £149,968

Petingo Border Bounty High Hat Wide Awake Faberge II Green As Grass Orvieto Savigny Exclusive Native Our Jackie Strate Stuff Witchy Norma Sharpen Up Formentera Busted Small World

Gold Artiste Montgold

Nearctic Natalma Bull Page Flaring Top Bold Ruler Sunshine Nell Hillary Beadah Prince Chevalier Netherton Maid Court Martial Mitrailleuse Arctic Star Roman Galley Autumn Gold Montreal II

In 2008, following the success of Forpadydeplasterer in the Deloitte Novice Hurdle, we wrote: “Whenever a good young winner by Moscow Society comes along, it is always tempting to wonder whether the youngster might develop into another Moscow Flyer for the Nijinsky stallion. Of course, horses of Moscow Flyer’s achievements – 27 victories and earnings approaching £1.2 million – come

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Caulfield on Go Native: “His first two dams never raced but his dam, Native Idea, is by Be My Native, who was champion sire of jumpers four times at the start of the century” along very rarely, so it may be more realistic to wonder whether Forpadydeplasterer might develop into another Mighty Moss, Moscow Express, Kopeck, Rouble or Snowy Morning.”

Forpadydeplasterer took a major step in his quest to become another Moscow Flyer when he won the Arkle, a race won by Moscow Flyer in 2002. Although Moscow Flyer was effective at up to two and a half miles, he twice won the Champion Chase and the possibility exists that Forpadydeplasterer will also reap his greatest rewards at around two miles. However, there is no reason why he shouldn’t stay reasonably well. Moscow Society was runner-up in the Queen’s Vase over two miles and Forpadydeplasterer is out of Run Artiste, a daughter of the many-times champion sire Deep Run. An earlier mating between the two produced Optimistic Run, a winner over three miles over fences.

34 RSA CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. March 11. 24f 110yds. Gd to Sft.

1. COOLDINE (IRE) 7 b g Beneficial - Shean Alainn (Le Moss) O-Mrs V O’Leary B-Mrs E Hadden TR-WP Mullins 2. Horner Woods (IRE) 7 br g Presenting - Horner Water (Over The River) 3. Massini’s Maguire (IRE) 8 b g Dr Massini - Molly Maguire (Supreme Leader) Age 4-7

Starts 16

Wins 10

Places 4

Earned £259,222

COOLDINE b g 2002 High Top Top Ville Sega Ville BENEFICIAL b 90 Green Dancer Youthful First Bloom Le Levanstell Le Moss Feemoss SHEAN ALAINN b 88 Golden Love Stable Lass Kilcoran Lass

Derring-Do Camenae Charlottesville La Sega Nijinsky Green Valley Primera Flower Dance Le Lavandou Stella’s Sister Ballymoss Feevagh Above Suspicion Syncopation Straight Lad Shean Lass

32 CHAMPION HURDLE G1

35 QUEEN MOTHER CHAMPION CHASE G1

CHELTENHAM. Mar 10. 16f 110yds. Gd to Sft.

CHELTENHAM. March 11. 16f. Good to Soft.

1. PUNJABI (GB) 6 b g Komaite - Competa (Hernando) O-R Tooth B-Capt JH Wilson TR-NJ Henderson 2. Celestial Halo (IRE) 5 b g Galileo - Pay The Bank (High Top) 3. Binocular (FR) 5 b g Enrique - Bleu Ciel Et Blanc (Pistolet Bleu)

1. MASTER MINDED (FR) 6 b g Nikos - Haute Tension (Garde Royale) O-CD Smith B-Mrs MC Gabeur TR-PF Nicholls 2. Well Chief (GER) 10 ch g Night Shift - Wellesiena (Scenic) 3. Petit Robin (FR) 6 b g Robin des Pres - Joie de Cotte (Lute Antique)

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-6 29 11 9 £550,466 See race 7 in the February issue for analysis

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 3-6 16 9 3 £735,630 See race 8 in the February issue for analysis

PUNJABI b g 2003

MASTER MINDED b g 2003 Northern Dancer

Nureyev Special KOMAITE b 83 Mount Marcy Brown Berry Brown Baby Niniski Hernando Whakilyric COMPETA b 99 Indian Ridge Mo Chos Chle Liebside Lass

Nearctic Natalma Forli Thong Mahmoud Maud Muller Phalanx Crawfish Nijinsky Virginia Hills Miswaki Lyrism Ahonoora Hillbrow Be My Guest Vals Girl

Nonoalco Seximee NIKOS b/br 81 Sovereign Path No No Nanette Nuclea Mill Reef Garde Royale Royal Way HAUTE TENSION b 94 The Scoundrel La Vela II

Nearco Lady Angela Hasty Road Jambo Grey Sovereign Mountain Path Orsini Nixe Never Bend Milan Mill Sicambre Right Away Toulouse Lautrec Malekeh Vieux Manoir Passion

36 CHAMPION BUMPER NH FLAT RACE G1

CHELTENHAM. March 11. 21f. Good to Soft.

CHELTENHAM. March 11. 16f 110yds. Gd to Sft.

1. MIKAEL D’HAGUENET (FR) 5 b g Lavirco - Fleur d’Haguenet (Dark Stone) O-Mrs S Ricci B-Mme M Lelong TR-WP Mullins 2. Karabak (FR) 6 b g Kahyasi - Mosstraye (Tip Moss) 3. Diamond Harry (GB) 6 b g Sir Harry Lewis - Swift Conveyance (Strong Gale)

1. DUNGUIB (IRE) 6 b g Presenting - Edermine Berry (Durgam) O-Mr Daniel Harnett B-Liam Meade TR-Philip Fenton 2. Some Present (IRE) 6 b/br g Presenting - Some Pidgeon (Strong Gale) 3. Rite of Passage (GB) 5 ch g Giant’s Causeway - Dahlia’s Krissy (Kris S)

MIKAEL D’HAGUENET b g 2004

DUNGUIB b g 2003

Dschingis Khan Konigsstuhl Konigskronung LAVIRCO b 93 Surumu La Virginia La Dorada Luthier Dark Stone Divine Etoile FLEUR D’HAGUENET b 95 Olmeto Fleur De See Petite Prune

Tamerlane Donna Diana Tiepoletto Kronung Literat Surama Kronzeuge Love In Klairon Flute Enchantee Nijinsky Directoire Val de Loir Vivara Gorfou Worgine

Starts 4

Wins 3

PRESENTING br 92 D’Azy

Durgam EDERMINE BERRY b 94 Tickhill

Places 1

Earned £58,325

Crepello Sans Le Sou Mincio Amazer Alzara Bold Lad Persian Bold Relkarunner Riverman Belle Viking Vallarta Northern Dancer Nureyev Special Nashua Famed Princess Copper Princess Secretariat General Assembly Exclusive Dancer Prince Taj Royal Reproach First Nominee Busted

Mtoto

CHELTENHAM. March 12. 24f. Good to Soft.

1. BIG BUCK’S (FR) 6 b/br g Cadoudal - Buck’s (Le Glorieux) O-The Stewart Family B-H Poulat TR-PF Nicholls 2. Punchestowns (FR) 6 ch g Morespeed - History (Alesso) 3. Powerstation (IRE) 9 b g Anshan - Mariaetta (Mandalus) Age 3-6

Starts 23

Wins 8

Places 9

Nijinsky Green Dancer

CHELTENHAM. March 12. 21f. Good to Soft.

1. IMPERIAL COMMANDER (IRE) 8 b g Flemensfirth - Ballinlovane (Le Moss) O-Our Friends in the North B-LJ Flynn TR-NA Twiston-Davies 2. Voy Por Ustedes (FR) 8 b g Villez - Nuit D’Ecajeul (Matahawk) 3. Schindlers Hunt (IRE) 9 ch g Oscar Schindler - Snipe Hunt (Stalker) Age 4-8

Starts 13

Wins 7

Places 3

Hoist The Flag Alleged

Age 5-6

38 WORLD HURDLE G1

37 RYANAIR CHASE G1

Earned £253,441

IMPERIAL COMMANDER b g 2001 33 BALLYMORE NOVICES’ HURDLE G1

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 3-5 7 5 1 £191,276 See race 10 in the February issue for analysis

Flemensfirth’s two highest-rated winners, the 2008 Arkle winner Tidal Bay and Imperial Commander.

Both lined up for the 2009 Ryanair Chase and they filled first and fourth places, with Imperial Commander gaining a well-deserved first Gr1 success. Five of his six successes have come at Cheltenham, scene also of his victory in the valuable Paddy Power Gold Cup. Imperial Commander’s dam Ballinlovane won three point-topoints and comes from an excellent jumping family. His third dam Castlering was a half-sister to three successful broodmares, including Russian Fun, dam of Persian War Novices’ Hurdle winner Brown Trix, and Merry Chariot, dam of the Scottish National winner Four Trix.

Merry Chariot is also the second dam of Hidebound, winner of a Gr2 hurdle, and the third dam of Cousin Vinny, winner of the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

Earned £395,954

BIG BUCK’S b/br g 2003

Nearctic

La Vedrelle

With more than 50 sons and daughters of Presenting catalogued in the 2007 Derby Sale, it perhaps isn’t surprising that his four-year-old gelding out of Edermine Berry failed to find a buyer. Although the mare had won a handicap hurdle over 22 furlongs at Downpatrick, her best Racing Post rating was a modest 85 and, what’s more, she is by the little-known Durgam.

The son of Nureyev had cost $1,100,000 as a yearling but showed little sign of ability in three starts and was sold for 17,000gns at the end of his three-year-old season. Several lightly-raced, non-stakes-winning sons of Nureyev have justified their chance at stud, prime examples being Punjabi’s sire Komaite and Trafford Lad’s sire Tragic Role, but Durgam sired little of note.

Although Presenting’s son out of Edermine Berry was led out unsold at €19,000, he has proved to be worth considerably more than that.

After a 13-length victory in the Gr2 Future Champ INH Flat Race in 2008, he scored a ten-length triumph in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

Dunguib’s dam was a winner over hurdles, but he comes from a Flat family. His second dam Tickhill was

by General Assembly, a top-class American horse, out of Royal Reproach, runner-up to the Classicwinning Pidget in the 1972 Pretty Polly Stakes.

Princess Pout FLEMENSFIRTH b 92 Diesis Etheldreda Royal Bund Le Levanstell Le Moss Feemoss BALLINLOVANE b 85 Arapaho Billy’s Beauty Castlering

Tom Rolfe Wavy Navy Prince John Determined Lady Sharpen Up Doubly Sure Royal Coinage Nato Le Lavandou Stella’s Sister Ballymoss Feevagh Huntercombe Persuader Escart III Merry Trix

Mating daughters of Le Moss to Flemensfirth has the appeal of blending an element of speed with bottomless stamina. Flemensfirth was considered fast enough to tackle the St James’s Palace Stakes over a mile, though he was at his best over a little further. Le Moss, on the other hand, found fame with his dominance of the Cup races.

The combination of the two is working very well, producing

Green Valley CADOUDAL br 79 Sea Hawk II Come To Sea Camarilla Cure The Blues Le Glorieux La Mirande BUCK’S b 93 Buckskin Buckleby Thereby

Northern Dancer Flaming Page Val de Loir Sly Pola Herbager Sea Nymph Sayajirao Camilla Stop The Music Quick Cure Le Fabuleux La Magnanarelle Yelapa Bete A Bon Dieu Star Moss Besides

Cadoudal, the outstanding French National Hunt stallion of recent decades, died in July 2007 aged 28.

Fortunately, his influence lives on, via his runners and his stallion sons, such as Indian River (sire of Madison du Berlais), Saint des Saints and Kadalko (sire of Notre Pere).

The story is far from over, as Cadoudal’s last foals are three-yearolds of 2009 and some of his youngsters can be expected to follow in the footsteps of such as Fadalko, Lacdoudal and Kotkijet.

Cadoudal added another major winner to his long list when Big Buck’s landed the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. This was his third consecutive victory since being returned to hurdling following his last-fence blunder in the Hennessy Gold Cup. Big Buck’s dam Buck’s is a daughter of Le Glorieux, a muchtravelled French colt who landed the Washington DC International and

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Buck’s raced 42 times but won only twice, in a steeplechase at Cagnessur-Mer and a claiming hurdle at Auteuil.

The next dam Buckleby could be the source of some of Big Buck’s’s stamina, as she was by the outstanding long-distance horse Buckskin, but Buckleby’s halfbrother Pas de Seul showed plenty of speed for a son of Mill Reef, winning the Prix de la Foret.

KAUTO STAR b g 2000 40 SPA NOVICES’ HURDLE G1

Mill Reef Moulin

CHELTENHAM. March 13. 24f. Good to Soft.

1. WEAPON’S AMNESTY (IRE) 6 ch g Presenting - Victoria Theatre (Old Vic) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-A Metcalfe TR-Charles Byrnes 2. Pride of Dulcote (FR) 6 b g Kadalko - Quenice (Quart de Vin) 3. The Midnight Club (IRE) 8 ch g Flemensfirth - Larry’s Peach (Laurence O) Age 5-6

Starts 7

Wins 3

Places 2

High Fidelyty VILLAGE STAR ch 83 Reliance II Glitter Glistening Mill Reef Port Etienne Sierra Morena KAUTO RELKA b 93 Kautokeino Kautorette

Earned £91,605

Verdurette

Never Bend Milan Mill Hautain Paladrina Tantieme Relance III Aureole Causerie Never Bend Milan Mill Canisbay Saigon Relko Cranberry Lionel Tyrolina

WEAPON’S AMNESTY ch g 2003 39 TRIUMPH HURDLE G1

Busted Mtoto

CHELTENHAM. March 13. 17f. Good to Soft.

1. ZAYNAR (FR) 4 gr g Daylami - Zainta (Kahyasi) O-Men In Our Position B-HH The Aga Khan’s Studs SC TR-NJ Henderson 2. Walkon (FR) 4 gr g Take Risks - La Tirana (Akarad) 3. Mourad (IRE) 4 ch c Sinndar - Mouramara (Kahyasi) Age 3-4

Starts 6

Wins 3

Places 2

Earned £83,240

ZAYNAR gr g 2005 Mill Reef Doyoun Dumka DAYLAMI gr 94 Miswaki Daltawa Damana Ile de Bourbon Kahyasi Kadissya ZAINTA b 95 Darshaan Zaila Zahra

Never Bend Milan Mill Kashmir II Faizebad Mr Prospector Hopespringseternal Crystal Palace Denia Nijinsky Roseliere Blushing Groom Kalkeen Shirley Heights Delsy Habitat Petite Etoile

Daylami may have fallen far short of expectations with his Flat performers, with only Grey Swallow winning anything better than a Gr3, but this outstanding racehorse has made partial amends with his hurdlers. Ebaziyan won the 2007 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and there seemed a good chance Daylami would land another of the Cheltenham Festival’s main prizes when his sons Ebadiyan and Zaynar lined up for the 2009 Triumph Hurdle. Ebadiyan was leading when he ran out at the second last but his mishap made way for Zaynar, who ran on strongly to record his third win from as many starts.

Zaynar was bred by the Aga Khan, for whom he was second twice over middle distances in France. He shares with Ebaziyan the distinction of being out of a Classicwinning racemare.

Whereas Ebaziyan was out of a winner of the Irish Oaks and Prix Royal-Oak, Zaynar is out of Zainta, a Kahyasi filly who recorded Gr1 successes in the Prix Saint-Alary and Prix de Diane. Zainta is bred along similar lines to Zarkasha, dam of Zarkava.

Both mares are by Kahyasi and descend from Petite Etoile’s daughter Zahra. Zahra ranks as the second dam of Zainta and the third dam of Zarkasha. The family has also produced several useful jumpers, including Zariyan and Zarkali.

Amazer PRESENTING br 92 Persian Bold D’Azy Belle Viking Sadler’s Wells Old Vic Cockade VICTORIA THEATRE b 98 Salluceva Matinee Theatre Theatre Royal

Crepello Sans Le Sou Mincio Alzara Bold Lad Relkarunner Riverman Vallarta Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge Derring-Do Camenae Sallust Aliceva Little Buskins Leney Princess

The top two places on the leading sires’ list for 2007/08 were occupied by Old Vic and Presenting, so the very promising Weapon’s Amnesty – by Presenting out of an Old Vic mare – represents the best in today’s National Hunt breeding.

The winner of the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle over three miles is another example of the way Presenting’s progeny are often suited by a test of stamina, as demonstrated by Denman, War Of Attrition and Turpin Green.

Weapon’s Amnesty, now a winner of three of his five starts over hurdles, is by no means the first Cheltenham Festival winner for his family. His third dam Theatre Royal was a half-sister to Fort Leney, winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1968, and to Proud Tarquin, winner in 1970 of the Totalisator Champion Chase. Theatre Royal had another distinguished halfbrother in Lean Forward, winner of the Leopardstown Handicap Chase.

Theatre Royal, an unraced daughter of the stamina-packed Little Buskins, also demonstrated the stamina as she became the dam of Erins Invader, a talented hurdler who also won the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Victoria Theatre, an unraced daughter of Old Vic, is a half-sister to Closing Thyne, who visited Oscar to produce the Gr1-placed Augherskea.

41 CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 26f 110yds. Gd to Sft.

1. KAUTO STAR (FR) 9 b g Village Star - Kauto Relka (Port Etienne) O-CD Smith B-Mme H Aubert TR-PF Nicholls 2. Denman (IRE) 9 ch g Presenting - Polly Puttens (Pollerton) 3. Exotic Dancer (FR) 9 b g Turgeon - Northine (Northern Treat) Age Starts Wins Places Ear ed 3-9 31 18 9 £1,785,975 See race 1 in the January issue for analysis

90 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

42 ANNIVERSARY NOVICES’ HURDLE G1

Court Canibal, winner of the Gr3 Prix Exbury earlier in 2009.

43 MELLING CHASE G1 AINTREE. April 3. 20f. Good.

1. VOY POR USTEDES (FR) 8 b g Villez - Nuit D’Ecajeul (Matahawk) O-R Ogden B-M Guillaume, F Picoulet TR-A King 2. Schindlers Hunt (IRE) 9 ch g Oscar Schindler - Snipe Hunt (Stalker) 3. Nacarat (FR) 8 gr g Smadoun - Gerbora (Art Bleu) Age Starts Wins Places 3-8 31 14 13 See race 26 in the April issue for analysis VOY POR USTEDES b g 2001

AINTREE. April 2. 16f 110yds. Good.

1. WALKON (FR) 4 gr g Take Risks - La Tirana (Akarad) O-McNeill Racing B-Marquise Soledad de Moratalla TR-A King 2. Ski Sunday (GB) 4 b g King’s Best - Lille Hammer (Sadler’s Wells) 3. Starluck (IRE) 4 b g Key of Luck - Sarifa (Kahyasi)

Lyphard Lyphard’s Wish Sally’s Wish VILLEZ ch 92 New Chapter Valhalla Varig Sea Hawk II Matahawk

Age 3-4

Starts 13

Wins 8

Places 4

Earned £189,023

Carromata NUIT D’ECAJEUL b 87 Orvilliers La Divette

WALKON gr g 2005 Kenmare Highest Honor High River TAKE RISKS gr 89 Be My Guest Baino Bluff Rapids Labus Akarad Licata LA TIRANA b/br 87 Silver Shark Arosa Andrea II

Earned £979,888

Kalamoun Belle of Ireland Riverman Hairbrush Northern Dancer What A Treat Head of The River Sound of Success Busted Cordovilla Abdos Gaia Buisson Ardent Palsaka Ticino Adriana II

Were it not for Zaynar, another import from France, French-bred Walkon would boast an unbeaten record over hurdles. Beaten into second by Zaynar twice, Walkon recorded his second Gr1 victory with a dominant win at Aintree.

Unlike numerous French imports, Walkon and Zaynar were bred with a view to racing on the Flat. Walkon raced seven times over middle distances in the French Provinces as a three-year-old, winning four.

Walkon’s sire Take Risks was a triple Gr3 winner over a mile in France, with a Timeform rating of 116. He was reasonably successful as a stallion, siring four Group winners on the Flat, headed by Blushing Risk, winner of the Gr2 Prix du Conseil de Paris over 12 furlongs.

Take Risks’s British-trained jumpers include useful hurdlerchaser Takeroc and smart hurdlers Five Dream and Mister Hight.

Another of his sons, Monsieur Levicomte, has won a Listed crosscountry event in France.

Walkon’s dam, the Akarad mare La Tirana, developed into a very useful performer at around a mile and a quarter as a four- and fiveyear-old, without quite reaching the same level as her brother Arokar.

The colt earned a tilt at the Derby with his win in the Gr2 Prix Greffulhe and his second in the Gr1 Prix Lupin.

La Tirana is the second dam of

Wild Girl

Northern Dancer Goofed Sensitivo Garden Clubber Crepello Matatina Pan II Vale Herbager Sea Nymph St Paddy Carrozza Tanerko Vieille Demeure Wild Risk Jeannine

44 SEFTON NOVICES’ HURDLE G1 AINTREE. April 3. 24f 110yds. Good.

1. OGEE (GB) 6 ch g Generous - Aethra (Trempolino) O-Sir Evelyn De Rothschild B-Hesmonds Stud Ltd TR-Mrs P Robeson 2. Comhla Ri Coig (GB) 8 b g Sir Harry Lewis - Analogical (Teenoso) 3. According To Dick (IRE) 6 b g Accordion - Park’s Pet (Bob Back) Age 2-6

Starts 27

Wins 6

Places 10

Earned £102,716

OGEE ch g 2003 Northern Dancer Flaming Page Round Table Regal Gleam Dust Commander Master Derby Madam Jerry Tulyar Margarethen Russ-Marie Atan Sharpen Up Rocchetta Viceregal Trephine Quiriquina Majestic Prince Sensitive Prince Sensitive Lady Secretariat Hope For All Hopespringseternal Nijinsky Caerleon

Foreseer GENEROUS ch 88 Doff The Derby

Trempolino AETHRA ch 93 All For Hope

Generous has done more travelling than most stallions. After being sold to Japan in 1995, after four seasons at Banstead Manor Stud, he returned to England, to Plantation Stud, in 2002. He was also a regular visitor to New Zealand, where he stood between 1999 and 2004.

More recently he has been a member of the stallion team standing under the Scarvagh House banner but, following Scarvagh House’s closure as a public stud, the 21-year-old is now based at Tullyraine House Stud in Northern Ireland. His Flat progeny have an average winning distance of nearly a mile and a half, and his good performers include Enjoy The Moment and Yorkshire, who finished first and second in the Queen Alexandra Stakes over two and three-quarter miles. In the

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Caulfield on Zaynar: “The Triumph Hurdle winner was bred by the Aga Khan, and shares with Ebaziyan the distinction of being out of a Classic-winning mare, in his case Zainta” circumstances it isn’t surprising a step up to three miles has brought out the best in his son Ogee.

Starting at 25-1, this formerly useful Flat performer used his stamina to full effect to land the Sefton.

Ogee takes more after Generous than his dam Aethra. A hard-puller who did best over a mile, Aethra is a sister to Tamanna, winner of the Dusseldorfer BMW Preis over seven furlongs. Aethra’s best previous winner was Kane Ore, a Green Desert filly who collected Listed wins over six furlongs at two and a mile at three. Ogee’s second dam All For Hope was a three-parts-sister to French Oaks winner Lacovia, who is dam of Dewhurst winner Tobougg.

This is also the family of Miswaki.

45 MAGHULL NOVICES’ CHASE G1 AINTREE. April 4. 16f. Good to Soft.

1. KALAHARI KING (FR) 8 b/br g Kahyasi - Queen of Warsaw (Assert) O-Mrs J Morgan B-Mr HJY Malard TR-Ferdy Murphy 2. Tatenen (FR) 5 b g Lost World - Tamaziya (Law Society) 3. Made In Taipan (IRE) 7 br g Taipan - No Easy Way (Mandalus) Age 2-8

Starts 34

Wins 11

Places 17

Earned £268,663

KALAHARI KING b/br g 2001 Northern Dancer Flaming Page Ile de Bourbon Misti IV Roseliere Peace Rose KAHYASI b 85 Red God Blushing Groom Runaway Bride Kadissya Sheshoon Kalkeen Gioia Northern Dancer Be My Guest What A Treat Assert Sea Bird II Irish Bird Irish Lass II QUEEN OF WARSAW b 92 Sicambre Iron Duke Insulaire Reine de Proville Direct Flight Snow Storm Snow White Nijinsky

By the time Kalahari King appeared at Doncaster’s 2007 Spring Sales, his sire Kahyasi had been represented by Kasbah Bliss, Afsoun, Paddy’s Return and Ansar. As Kalahari King had shown useful form during his 21-race career on the Flat in France, notably winning a Listed race, he looked likely to sell very well, but his price of £50,000 ultimately fell well short of the sale’s best prices.

Kalahari King has earned over £170,000. Having gone down by a short head to Forpadydeplasterer in the Arkle Trophy, he recorded his fourth win from six starts over fences in the Maghull Novices’ Chase.

He remains highly effective over two miles, though he has twice won over a further half mile. He possesses

more speed than many of Kahyasi’s other jumping sons, even though his dam, the minor mile winner Queen Of Warsaw, is by Assert, winner of the French and Irish Derbys. His second dam, Reine de Proville, won over six and a half furlongs.

46 AINTREE HURDLE G1 AINTREE. April 4. 20f. Good to Soft.

1. SOLWHIT (FR) 5 b g Solon - Toowhit Towhee (Lucky North) O-Top Of The Hill Syndicate B-Haras de Preaux TR-Charles Byrnes 2. Fiveforthree (IRE) 7 gr g Arzanni - What A Queen (King's Ride) 3. United (GER) 8 b f Desert King - Una Kasala (Law Society) Age 3-5

Starts 11

Wins 6

Places 2

Earned £206,557

SOLWHIT b g 2004 Red God Runaway Bride Vaguely Noble Home Love Homespun SOLON b 92 Tamerlane Alpenkonig Alpenlerche Scilla Alizier Saxifraga Suleika Nearctic Northern Dancer Natalma Lucky North Olden Times Lucky Ole Me Me Next TOOWHIT TOWHEE b 88 The Axe II Hatchet Man Bebopper Chop Towhee Crozier Swiftybyrd Miss Glamour Gal Blushing Groom

Local Suitor

Solwhit has had an interesting career since he made a winning debut over hurdles at Enghien aged three.

Transferred to Ireland, he was kept to hurdling for his next two starts, winning at Punchestown, before connections tried him again on the Flat. He had finished in the rear at Dieppe on his only start on the Flat in France, but won two of his next four starts in 2008, including the Leopardstown November Handicap.

Solwhit has continued to make substantial progress since being returned to hurdling and at Aintree improved his seasonal record season to three wins from four starts.

Solon, a German-bred grandson of Blushing Groom, developed into a formidable performer after winning three of his four starts as a juvenile.

His Swiss Derby success began a sequence of five wins culminating in the Gr1 12-furlong Europa-Preis.

Solon’s best previous winners include Magadino, a multiple Listed winner over middle distances in France, and Si Sol, a dual Listed winner over hurdles.

Solwhit’s broodmare sire, Lucky North, was a useful miler in England and became a stakes winner after his return to the USA, where he sired Solwhit’s dam, Toowhit Towhee.

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FOAL GALLERY CLOUD HILL’s bay filly by COCKNEY REBEL was born on 15 February.

Her dam is a DANEHILL half-sister to the Listed winner HIGH AND LOW, who was also placed in two Group 1 contests including the Yorkshire Oaks.

HIGH AND LOW is herself the dam of a Listed performer.

This is also the immediate family of multiple Group 1 winner AMERICAN POST and Group 2 winner TRAMPSHIP. CLOUD HILL and her foal are owned

by Brian Liversage.

COCKNEY REBEL is also responsible for this strong, good-bodied filly out of COMPOSE (ANABAA), which was born on 9 February.

COMPOSE is a daughter of the Group-placed TOTALITY, who is herself out of Group 3 winner SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS. This is therefore the celebrated family of TOTALITY’s full-brother COMMANDER IN CHIEF, WARNING, YASHMAK, DUSHYANTOR etc.

COMPOSE and her foal are owned

by Mr P. Cunningham Snr.

HEDGEHOLME STUD **MISU BOND** This foal is a colt out of LAWLESS BRIDGET, who is also the dam of FRED'S LAD, MELALCHRIST and LA MATANZA, all of who were winners first time out.

Showcase your new foals here Just £135 ex VAT Call Anderson & Co on

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EQUINE SERVICES MOYNS PARK ESTATE & STUD (16 miles from Newmarket)

Boarding spaces available Foaling/walking in to Newmarket stallions Sales preparation

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Haras d’La Riviere Boarding • Foaling • Sales Prep • Resting Vacancies for boarding mares, 2009 season.

Superb new, purpose built facilities with walk-ins to all studs in Normandy.

Transport from UK £350 max.

Contact us to discuss all aspects of boarding your mare in France at very competitive rates and qualify for French Breeders Premiums.

Tel: 00 33 (0)2 33 83 58 73 Email: debra.hooper@nordnet.fr

92 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER MAY 2009

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Leading sires National Hunt sires 2008-09 by earnings Name

YOF

Sire

Rnrs

Wnrs

%WR

Wins

AWD

Earnings (£)

Top horse

Presenting Old Vic Flemensfirth Oscar Accordion Supreme Leader Passing Sale Beneficial Saddlers’ Hall Kayf Tara Bob Back Kahyasi Nikos Pistolet Bleu Village Star Moscow Society Villez King’s Theatre Sadler’s Wells Overbury Zaffaran Anshan Lord Americo Montjeu Cadoudal Hernando Taipan Turgeon Dr Massini Alderbrook Daylami Midnight Legend Glacial Storm Galileo Take Risks Sir Harry Lewis Definite Article Komaite Turtle Island Good Thyne Kadalko Indian River Norwich Alflora Robin des Pres Double Trigger Bob’s Return Lavirco Luso Unfuwain Mister Lord Classic Cliche Fourstars Allstar Selkirk Enrique Rudimentary Mansonnien Halling Oscar Schindler Double Eclipse Alhaarth Rashar Cloudings In The Wings Solon Dom Alco Robin des Champs Exit To Nowhere Kalanisi King’s Best Smadoun Morespeed Carroll House Perugino Silver Patriarch Law Society Marju Apple Tree Video Rock Tragic Role Trempolino Minster Son Saint Preuil Shernazar Night Shift Linamix Indian Ridge Highest Honor Lost World Roselier

1992 1986 1992 1994 1986 1982 1987 1990 1988 1994 1981 1985 1981 1988 1983 1985 1992 1991 1981 1991 1985 1987 1984 1996 1979 1990 1992 1986 1993 1989 1994 1991 1985 1998 1989 1984 1992 1983 1991 1977 1988 1994 1987 1989 1994 1991 1990 1993 1992 1985 1979 1992 1988 1988 1996 1988 1984 1991 1992 1992 1993 1986 1994 1986 1992 1987 1997 1988 1996 1997 1990 1982 1985 1991 1994 1982 1988 1989 1984 1986 1984 1985 1991 1981 1980 1987 1985 1983 1991 1973

Mtoto Sadler’s Wells Alleged Sadler’s Wells Sadler’s Wells Bustino No Pass No Sale Top Ville Sadler’s Wells Sadler’s Wells Roberto Ile de Bourbon Nonoalco Top Ville Moulin Nijinsky Lyphard’s Wish Sadler’s Wells Northern Dancer Caerleon Assert Persian Bold Lord Gayle Sadler’s Wells Green Dancer Niniski Last Tycoon Caro Sadler’s Wells Ardross Doyoun Night Shift Arctic Tern Sadler’s Wells Highest Honor Alleged Indian Ridge Nureyev Fairy King Herbager Cadoudal Cadoudal Top Ville Niniski Cadoudal Ela-Mana-Mou Bob Back Konigsstuhl Salse Northern Dancer Sir Ivor Salse Compliance Sharpen Up Barathea Nureyev Tip Moss Diesis Royal Academy Ela-Mana-Mou Unfuwain Alleged Sadler’s Wells Sadler’s Wells Local Suitor Dom Pasquini Garde Royale Irish River Doyoun Kingmambo Kaldoun Pharly Lord Gayle Danzig Saddlers’ Hall Alleged Last Tycoon Bikala No Lute Nureyev Sharpen Up Niniski Dom Pasquini Busted Northern Dancer Mendez Ahonoora Kenmare Last Tycoon Misti IV

305 170 186 254 155 213 13 181 229 131 148 45 29 84 1 92 18 110 91 119 82 152 114 63 27 39 68 17 89 85 53 36 64 32 10 47 76 4 104 41 15 5 65 142 10 58 89 8 109 21 44 93 60 36 5 85 18 35 26 10 42 45 58 55 2 8 21 69 26 38 8 3 62 19 94 3 26 7 28 15 26 35 14 78 30 32 19 15 10 26

75 39 51 65 37 61 4 39 42 37 37 14 8 24 1 20 9 33 22 35 20 23 21 20 8 14 19 3 17 15 19 19 15 10 5 16 19 2 17 7 7 1 14 21 4 14 10 3 14 7 10 18 6 10 2 17 5 11 6 2 12 9 12 10 1 2 9 9 5 12 2 1 9 4 12 2 9 5 8 6 8 7 2 13 4 10 4 5 4 5

24.6 22.9 27.4 25.6 23.9 28.6 30.8 21.6 18.3 28.2 25.0 31.1 27.6 28.6 100.0 21.7 50.0 30.0 24.2 29.4 24.4 15.1 18.4 31.8 29.6 35.9 27.9 17.7 19.1 17.7 35.9 52.8 23.4 31.3 50.0 34.0 25.0 50.0 16.4 17.1 46.7 20.0 21.5 14.8 40.0 24.1 11.2 37.5 12.8 33.3 22.7 19.4 10.0 27.8 40.0 20.0 27.8 31.4 23.1 20.0 28.6 20.0 20.7 18.2 50.0 25.0 42.9 13.0 19.2 31.6 25.0 33.3 14.5 21.1 12.8 66.7 34.6 71.4 28.6 40.0 30.8 20.0 14.3 16.7 13.3 31.3 21.1 33.3 40.0 19.2

104 56 73 92 56 84 7 57 55 55 50 23 13 34 3 28 13 47 27 54 30 33 25 24 16 17 28 4 24 18 25 30 25 16 9 27 27 3 23 9 11 3 16 23 5 18 21 8 15 10 14 21 9 18 3 24 7 16 6 6 17 12 14 11 3 2 11 12 8 14 4 2 9 4 15 6 11 8 10 9 12 12 2 16 5 11 4 6 5 7

20.5 19.9 19.6 20.1 19.6 20.6 24.6 18.8 20.2 19.2 18.6 18.6 18.5 20.9 24.8 18.6 22.6 19.2 19.2 20.6 19.8 20.9 21.1 17.4 22.0 20.3 20.3 20.8 19.1 20.7 17.6 20.1 21.0 19.1 16.6 20.5 19.1 19.0 18.5 18.5 22.6 25.2 18.5 18.9 20.0 19.8 21.0 18.5 22.0 18.5 20.5 20.9 19.1 17.0 16.2 20.1 18.7 17.9 18.3 18.4 16.9 21.3 20.8 18.7 17.3 26.0 19.7 20.4 16.9 18.2 19.1 23.0 20.3 17.9 21.5 19.6 17.4 18.7 19.8 19.9 18.2 21.2 19.5 19.4 16.6 18.1 16.1 20.1 17.3 24.8

1,585,941 1,342,939 1,312,768 1,032,100 895,861 856,553 719,253 712,058 625,281 587,712 576,280 557,909 527,199 488,200 468,393 461,739 454,409 433,498 392,959 392,674 388,833 384,231 376,784 375,866 345,259 341,722 341,162 322,945 313,080 303,997 300,053 298,277 289,005 277,954 277,586 272,002 267,500 264,927 258,171 237,355 228,059 224,985 224,626 222,392 213,435 210,556 210,316 209,201 208,857 202,723 200,978 198,503 196,302 196,012 193,248 191,986 176,554 174,260 172,184 167,138 165,516 165,323 161,961 161,622 157,321 154,939 153,521 148,163 146,900 146,299 145,446 141,229 140,793 140,515 138,248 136,853 136,064 135,434 134,221 133,729 131,186 130,483 129,970 128,750 127,697 125,097 125,050 124,007 123,784 122,230

Denman Snoopy Loopy Imperial Commander Casey Jones According To Pete Can’t Buy Time Mon Mome Cooldine Barbers Shop Kayf Aramis Irish Invader Sentry Duty Master Minded I’msingingtheblues Kauto Star Forpadydeplasterer Voy Por Ustedes Wichita Lineman Hills Of Aran Ballyfitz Irish Raptor Powerstation Siegemaster Hurricane Fly Big Buck’s State of Play Made In Taipan Exotic Dancer Massini’s Maguire Glenfinn Captain Zaynar Aimigayle Alpha Ridge Celestial Halo Walkon Diamond Harry Candy Creek Punjabi Island Life Brave Inca Notre Pere Madison du Berlais Skip Two Isn’t That Lucky Petit Robin Russian Trigger Joncol Mikael d’Haguenet Preists Leap Always Waining Kahuna Classic Fiddle Chomba Womba Sublimity Binocular Sole Bonne Femme Golden Silver Deep Purple Schindlers Hunt Go Native Tharawaat Penny’s Bill Cloudy Lane Arctic Wings Solwhit Neptune Collonges Quevega Noland Simarian Ski Sunday Nacarat Punchestowns Roll Along Harchibald Carrickboy Catch Me Oodachee Lough Derg Nenuphar Collonges Trafford Lad Consigliere Rambling Minster My Will Marlay Park Well Chief Medicinal Indian Pace Numide Tatenen Monet’s Garden

Earned (£)

112,939 242,310 214,009 61,677 88,859 64,354 574,376 173,046 55,157 57,146 62,290 134,063 361,530 80,347 468,393 150,890 273,862 64,168 60,109 41,887 70,828 63,074 51,060 81,250 255,097 102,811 93,421 215,739 56,930 87,099 78,240 59,805 85,977 139,026 159,354 75,516 26,848 253,303 44,502 94,993 142,911 222,359 34,327 27,566 99,878 74,420 50,562 183,511 63,107 42,250 39,434 31,310 123,445 64,095 184,957 31,114 70,211 54,203 133,425 139,210 43,472 64,530 59,414 18,925 157,322 142,841 68,406 71,728 37,526 53,891 100,242 140,433 72,877 63,816 23,713 131,781 66,280 96,261 21,953 98,273 26,024 83,644 113,000 12,769 68,448 34,232 99,896 65,780 79,331 42,855

National puts wind in Passing Sale position The Grand National had the potential to alter the earnings table out of all measure, but in the event the winner Mon Mome’s sire Passing Sale has had too few runners in Britain and Ireland to pose a threat to the leaders.

Even so, the 22-year-old based at Haras d’Isse has leaped into seventh place thanks to Mon Mome’s tally of £574,376.

This was the first National victory by a French-bred for a century. Oslot, winner of the Galway Plate last year, is Passing Sale’s best other runner outside France.

At the head of affairs, Presenting looks safe and sound as champion, and the leader in number of runners too.

He leads that particular list by more than 50 from Oscar, with Saddler’s Hall and Supreme Leader also boasting more than 200 runners. Given that Supreme Leader died in May 2002, that’s a remarkable achievement.

In terms of percentage of winners to runners, none of that quartet reaches 30%, a figure that is hard to attain with so much ammunition.

Among the stallions with fewer representatives, the undoubted pick is 18-year-old Midnight Legend, based at Pitchall Farm at £2,000.

Nineteen scorers from 36 runners is remarkable – and they are by no means ordinary performers either. Novice chasers My Petra and Aimigayle respectively landed a Grade 2 at Ascot and a valuable mares’ event at Newbury, while Itsa Legend, Midnight Chase, Midnight Sail and Oakfield Legend all showed smart form.

Clearly, Midnight Legend merits close inspection by breeders.

Comments: Jeremy Early

Statistics to April 5

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THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BLOODSTOCK WORLD

British and Irish-bred winners overseas Breeder

Winner

Sire

Age/sex Dam

Ctry

Agricola Dell 'Olmo Srl Azienda Agricola Antezzate Srl Azienda Agricola Antezzate Srl Azienda Agricola Francesca Azienda Agricola Il Cascinotto Azienda Agricola Razza Emiliana Srl Azienda Agricola Rosati Colarieti Azienda Agricola Rosati Colarieti Azienda Agricola Rosati Colarieti Azienda Agricola Rosati Colarieti Balding, P Ballymacoll Stud Farm Ltd Ballymacoll Stud Farm Ltd Ballymacoll Stud Farm Ltd Banahan, J & E Barton Stud Bazzani, S Begley, M Biddestone Stud Bishop Wilton Stud Boesso, Antonio Boland, R Bolger, J S Brinkley Stud SAS Brinkley Stud SAS, Agr Ficomontanino SRL, R Righi Brinkley Stud, Ficomontanino, Bego Blu Brundeanlaws Stud Burrell, Mrs M Caley, Exors of the Late W L Cantoni, Mr R Casieri, R Chandris, Mrs J Cheveley Park Stud Ltd Cheveley Park Stud Ltd Childwick Bury Stud Management Ltd Churchtown House Stud Citadel Stud Citadel Stud Clarke, M Cloneen Stud Cora Srl Corduff Stud Cullen, Miss N Darley Darley Darley Darley Darley Darley Darpat SL, Chevington Stud & Laffon Davin Investments Ltd Davis, J G and Mrs Davis, Lady Davison, Miss M Dayton Investments Ltd Dayton Investments Ltd Dayton Investments Ltd Dayton Investments Ltd Dayton Investments Ltd Dayton Investments Ltd Dayton Investments Ltd de Moratalla, Marquesa Deerfield Farm Dibben, Mrs S F Dioscuri di Alduino E Guisseppe Botti Dioscuri di Alduino E Guisseppe Botti Ditta Nardi Raffaele Donlon, B Dullea, M Dunne, F Dwyer & Mrs L Young, Mrs J Egan, Mrs Ann Ennis, P Ezekiel, Mrs V Faeste, Mrs C Finnan, Arthur Foursome Thoroughbreds G B Bloodstock Limited Gainsborough Stud Management Ltd Gainsborough Stud Management Ltd Gestut Etzean Gigginstown House Stud Gorman & B Gallagher, S Grangecon Stud Granville, William Grundy Bloodstock Grundy Bloodstock Ltd Grundy Bloodstock S R L Hascombe & Valiant Studs Hearson, N P Hesmonds Stud Ltd Hesmonds Stud Ltd His Highness the Aga Khan’s Studs SC Hodgson & Star Pointe Limited, Peter Hunter, Mrs E L Hyde & S Millard, M

Destination Place Desert Tita Red Parisi Fagutela Rosa di Su Exotic Horse Abaton Ekin Kiai Taurakina Athara Hard Top Hidden Rainbow Moonlight Danceuse Fay Choy Ichiban Key To Success Rokel Ci Penso Un Po Grand Star Furia Ceca Chicchirichi Passi di Danza Macrial Effetto Speciale Amante Latino Anonimo Veneziano Pom Pom Pom Yarqus Gold Amber Quiza Quiza Quiza Kalashnykov Live Concert Gesture Gesture Court Canibal Capo Malfatano Mafra Mafra Corioliss Cottonmouth Noguchi Silky Steps Aiboa Claremont Criticism Eastern Anthem Little Nell Shadow Cabinet Skycap Trevelez Uramazin Skins Game Funny Me Elizabeto Acteur Celebre Board Meeting Golconde Mine Mount Kenya Poincon de France Pointilliste (USA) Vesuve Le Duanier Singolar Tenzone Meiner Spiel Open Intent Open Intent Wangona Choosing Mariscal Kokkola El Postigo Apro Lunare My Fingers Crossed Tombeur de Femmes Lady Teabing Arapiles Rosy Mantle Dubai Rose Flying Cloud Keyofsong Timos (GER) Achilles of Troy Zenside Sugar Mint Republicano Place In The Sun Heedas Ransom Hope Tuscan Evening Military Power Celtinger Sunny Peace Zaydoun Hammadi St Trinians Peggy’s Pearl

Dubai Destination (USA) Desert Prince Red Ransom (USA) Dr Fong (USA) Cape Cross Efisio Dansili Mujahid (USA) Zamindar (USA) Selkirk (USA) Forzando Darshaan Spectrum Bering Intikhab (USA) Mujahid (USA) Almutawakel Hawk Wing (USA) Medicean Mujahid (USA) Celtic Swing Bertolini (USA) Daggers Drawn (USA) Mull Of Kintyre (USA) Mujahid (USA) Compton Place Big Shuffle (USA) Diktat Kyllachy Golden Snake (USA) Fasliyev (USA) Singspiel Bahri (USA) Bahri (USA) Montjeu High Chaparral Kalanisi Kalanisi Verglas Noverre (USA) Pivotal Nayef (USA) King Charlemagne (USA) Sadler’s Wells (USA) Machiavellian (USA) Singspiel Cape Cross Noverre (USA) Dubai Destination (USA) Alhaarth Danehill Dancer Diktat Dr Fong (USA) Noverre (USA) Galileo Anabaa (USA) Alamo Bay (USA) Freedom Cry Peintre Celebre (USA) Giant’s Causeway (USA) Green Tune (USA) Second Empire Singspiel Singspiel Nayef (USA) Nayef (USA) Okawango (USA) Choisir (AUS) Soviet Star (USA) Daylami Bahhare (USA) Orpen (USA) Desert Story One Cool Cat (USA) Traditionally (USA) Xaar Daylami Dubai Destination (USA) Storming Home Key Of Luck (USA) Sholokhov Danehill Dancer Diktat High Chaparral Soviet Star (USA) Dubai Destination (USA) Lomitas Red Ransom (USA) Oasis Dream Dubai Destination (USA) Celtic Swing Vision Of Night Anabaa (USA) Red Ransom (USA) Piccolo Ishiguru (USA)

3f 4f 3f 3f 5m 4c 3c 4c 3c 3f 3f 7g 6g 4f 4g 5h 3f 3f 6m 5h 5h 4f 3f 3c 5h 3c 3f 6g 4f 3f 3c 5h 7g 7g 4c 3c 3f 3f 3c 5m 4c 4f 3f 3c 5m 5h 3f 4c 4c 4c 3c 3c 4c 5h 3c 3f 7m 7g 5h 6h 3c 8g 5m 6h 3c 3c 4c 4f 3c 4f 7h 3c 7h 3c 5m 4c 3f 3f 3f 3f 4c 4c 3f 4f 4c 3c 3c 4c 4f 4c 10 h 4f 5g 4c 4f 5m

Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Fr Usa Fr Fr Hk Kor Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Fr Usa Fr Ity Ity Jpn Ity Ity Fr Ity Fr Fr Ity Ity Ity Fr Fr Fr Usa Uae Fr Aus Uae Fr Hk Fr Usa Spa Fr Fr Fr Fr Fr Fr Fr Fr Ity Jpn Ity Ity Ity Usa Spa Ity Spa Ity Hk Ity Usa Spa Usa Fr Fr Ity Fr Hk Spa Usa Spa Ity Ity Fr Usa Uae Ity Usa Fr Uae Usa Swe

94 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Pleasure Place Tita Bravo (ITY) Rebecca Parisi Sumingasefa Gin Rosa Viva Verdi Guntakal Eye To Eye Special Society Asmita Leominda Well Head Grecian Urn Stage Struck Al Amlah (USA) Shining Cloud Rojan Al Simma Colour And Spice Cragreen St Edith Velate (USA) Vampire Queen Reba Egine (USA) Supercharger Supercharger Passata (FR) Will You Dance Ziara (FR) Quiz Chow (ITY) Golden Center Dance Lively (USA) Stark Ballet (USA) Stark Ballet (USA) Pas d’Heure Toy Show Sovana Sovana Queen’s Ransom Nafzira Tuscania (USA) Legal Steps Spirit Of Hope Mezzo Soprano (USA) Innuendo Kazzia (GER) Lady Catherine Shadow Roll Flagbird (USA) Agapimou Uriah (GER) Mouriyana Goodie Twosues Ela’s Gold Actrice Bright Moon (USA) Grenouillere (USA) Mountain Spirit Poughkeepsie Peinture Bleue (USA) Verveine (USA) Cas Royaux (USA) Star Ridge (USA) Elegant Carol Alt Carol Alt Nalaya Some Merit Cat’s Tale Sidelined Dix Sur Dix (FR) My Filly (FR) Daylight Ahead Nadayem (USA) Theatregoer Riding School Dominion Rose (USA) Russian Rose Criquette Song Of Success (USA) Triclaria (GER) Twice The Ease Zenith Anna Karenina (USA) Flower From Heaven Star On Stage Heed The Way (USA) Field of Hope The Faraway Tree Susun Kelapa (USA) Tea Colony (USA) Three Gifts Zayana Ruby Affair Cherrycombe-Row Sweet Compliance

Date

22/3/09 28/3/09 04/4/09 22/3/09 25/3/09 18/3/09 25/3/09 11/3/09 17/3/09 14/3/09 10/3/09 11/3/09 24/3/09 10/3/09 22/3/09 08/3/09 05/4/09 22/3/09 01/4/09 15/3/09 29/3/09 24/3/09 15/3/09 14/3/09 18/3/09 25/3/09 16/3/09 28/3/09 13/3/09 05/4/09 05/4/09 21/3/09 08/3/09 22/3/09 14/3/09 31/3/09 12/3/09 24/3/09 08/3/09 08/3/09 15/3/09 15/3/09 06/4/09 05/4/09 22/2/09 28/3/09 27/3/09 19/3/09 20/3/09 12/3/09 22/3/09 08/3/09 25/3/09 08/3/09 02/4/09 05/4/09 13/3/09 17/3/09 17/3/09 06/4/09 14/3/09 27/3/09 11/3/09 29/3/09 08/3/09 28/3/09 26/3/09 22/3/09 29/3/09 29/3/09 08/3/09 04/4/09 11/3/09 12/3/09 03/3/09 29/3/09 11/3/09 05/4/09 02/4/09 21/3/09 23/3/09 04/3/09 29/3/09 19/3/09 29/3/09 29/3/09 08/3/09 25/3/09 28/2/09 13/3/09 07/3/09 25/2/09 12/3/09 13/3/09 14/3/09 05/3/09

Racecourse

Distance

Milan Milan Milan Milan Milan Milan Milan Naples Rome Milan Saint-Cloud Gulfstream Park Compiegne Saint-Cloud Sha Tin Seoul Milan Pisa Milan Rome Milan Rome Rome Milan Milan Milan Angers Golden Gate Deauville Milan Rome Hanshin Pisa Rome Saint-Cloud Rome Amiens Compiegne Rome Rome Pisa Cholet Maisons-Laffitte Longchamp Gulfstream Park Nad Al Sheba Lyon-Parilly Kensington Jebel Ali Deauville Sha Tin Bordeaux Le Bouscat Santa Anita Mijas Longchamp Longchamp Deauville Lyon-Parilly Saint-Cloud Maisons-Laffitte Saint-Cloud Lyon-Parilly Naples Nakayama Pisa Milan Pisa Gulfstream Park Zarzuela Pisa Mijas Milan Happy Valley Pisa Sunland Park Zarzuela Santa Anita Lyon-Parilly Longchamp Milan Saint-Cloud Sha Tin Zarzuela Santa Anita Zarzuela Milan Rome Fontainebleau Santa Anita Jebel Ali Siracusa Santa Anita Amiens Jebel Ali Santa Anita Taby

1m £16,504 1m1f £9,077 1m3f £7,427 1m2f £7,427 1m2f £8,252 1m £4,126 1m2f £9,078 5f £4,126 7f £4,951 1m £7,427 1m £8,738 1m1f £7,500 1m £11,165 1m2f110y £21,903 1m £31,979 1m110y £13,082 1m £7,427 1m1f110y £4,951 6f £4,126 1m3f £7,014 1m1f £12,378 1m £4,126 1m1f £6,189 1m2f £7,427 1m2f £9,078 6f £7,427 1m3f110y £12,136 1m £3,625 6f110y £8,252 1m1f £16,504 6f £12,378 1m £179,268 7f110y £23,106 (L) 7f £23,106 (L) 1m2f £38,835 (Gr3) 1m1f110y £10,315 1m3f £7,282 1m4f £8,738 1m £12,378 1m2f £10,315 7f110y £4,951 1m2f110y £4,854 6f £16,505 1m3f £16,505 1m3f £41,667 (Gr3) 1m4f £2,090,909(Gr1) 1m £6,796 7f165y £8,519 7f £6,250 6f110y £11,165 1m £43,492 1m £7,282 1m £8,333 1m165y £4,854 1m2f £11,650 1m3f £16,505 1m4f £7,282 1m3f £8,252 1m7f110y £11,165 1m7f110y £25,243 (L) 1m2f110y £11,650 1m4f £4,854 1m2f £4,538 1m2f £138,456 1m2f £5,776 1m1f £6,189 1m3f £3,300 1m £15,417 1m £9,709 1m2f £4,951 1m2f110y £5,340 1m £23,106 (L) 6f £43,492 6f £4,126 1m £4,042 1m1f £5,340 1m £21,667 1m3f £6,796 1m2f £11,650 7f £4,126 1m4f £25,243 (L) 6f £43,492 1m £4,854 1m £23,333 1m1f £5,825 1m2f £7,427 1m110y £8,252 1m £10,680 6f £20,000 1m1f £10,227 1m2f £4,126 1m £10,417 1m55y £7,282 5f £56,818 (L) 1m £21,667 6f £4,397

Prize-money (£)

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20/4/09

14:39

Page 4

DATA BOOK

The data published in this section is restricted to breeders based in Great Britain or Ireland, as determined by the address used when the foal was first registered. Some foreign-based breeders may be included if the mare was boarded in Great Britain or Ireland and is registered as being ‘care of’ a domestic breeder. Performance data covers results processed by Weatherbys during March Hyperion Bloodstock Irish Tours Thoroughbred Partnership Irish, J Juddmonte Farms Ltd Juddmonte Farms Ltd Juddmonte Farms Ltd Kenilworth House Stud Kersey, N C Kilfrush Stud Kilfrush Stud Kruger II, Joseph Loder, Sir E J Lodge Park Stud Lostford Manor Stud Maher, D Maher, D Malone, J Marchetti, Ugo McCaughey, P J McDonnell, D Mickley Stud Mills, Ms Florence Millsec Limited Moran, Larry and Billy Moran, Larry and Billy Moratalla, Marquesa De Moyles & Anthony Eiffe, Robin J Mulino Verde Stud SRL Mulligan, J Myriad Communications & New England Stud Mystic Meg Limited Nataf, P Nataf, P Newsells Park Stud Limited Newsells Park Stud Limited Newsells Park Stud Limited Nolan, Mrs S O’Brien, Mrs A M O’Connor, J Panetta, A Panetta, A Parker, Sir Eric Pearson, Lars Penfold Bloodstock Ltd, Mr D Clark & Mrs F Gordon Penfold Bloodstock Ltd, Mr D Clark & Mrs F Gordon Petra Bloodstock Agency Ltd Poole & Trickledown Stud, N E and Mrs Quellier, C Rausing, Miss K Razza Del Pian Del Lago Razza Dormello Olgiata & CITAI Razza Montalbano S R L Redmyre Bloodstock & Stuart McPhee Robiati, Angelo Rockhart Trading Ltd Ryan, P Ryan, P Sadril SAS Sangster, B Sangster, B Savill, P D Savill, P D Sc Day Just Sas Sc Blueberry S R L Scarpellini Lino Scuderia Blueberry SRL Scuderia Golden Horse S R L Scuderia Sant’ Ambroeus S R L Scuderia Sant’ Ambroeus S R L Scuderia Tamara S A S Scuderia Tamara S A S Searle, R J Sinnott, Joe Skymarc Farm Skymarc Farm Skymarc Farm Skymarc Farm Inc Snig Elevage Soc Finanza Locale Consulting Srl Soc Finanza Locale Consulting Srl Soc Finanza Locale Consulting Srl Soc Finanza Locale Consulting SRL Societe Civile de L’Ecurie de Meautry Stone Ridge Farm Stowell Hill Ltd Sunderland Holdings Ltd Swan, D Theakston Stud Theakston Stud Triermore Stud Villa Dosia S R L Walshe, L A Wertheimer & Frere West Lodge Stud Western Bloodstock Zumreoglu, L

Vitesse Superieure Stay Another Day Black Captain Prince Apollo Bright Mind Triple Beat Partner Shift All Nines Lanildut Rain Of Melody Bellabelini Liwa Facilita Tom Paris Bauhinia (HK) Bauhinia (HK) Piramide Spirit Of Sport Sugimoto London Express Marysty Golden Prince (MAC) Stand To Gain Apprimus Apprimus Overlogo Northern Flight Aria di Festa Feels All Right Battle of Hastings Spice Trade Dubai Queen Storming Spirit Lowengang Tartesos Tartesos Master Winter Belpasso Dock Chicks Galidon Galidon April Pride Paradise Beauty Lord Prospector Lord Prospector Celimene Hellvelyn Majesty Davis Supernando Pedra Ona Louise Aron Morgan Drive Okikoki Last Samurai Rendir Mister Pyrus Mister Pyrus Tirzia Churchills Victory Churchills Victory Collection Collection Queen Black Efisio Dream Eldest Lady Sadowa Golden Enemy Cibicotti Faysal Libano Libano Perfectamente Yellow Sponge Blue Rockies Silver Frost Vestris Peach Pearl Spahi (FR) Parfaite Tel Que Moi Young Americans Emotionner Russian Desert Terry’s Tip Smooth Jazz Dress Rehearsal Reve d’Ete Chamoriscan Prince Fasliyev Front House Mument Dulz Il Sovietico Only Green Flight To The Moon Paul’s Gift Magic Livius

Statue Of Liberty (USA) Iron Mask (USA) Captain Rio Dansili Zamindar (USA) Beat Hollow Night Shift (USA) Royal Applause Daylami Night Shift (USA) Bertolini (USA) Mozart Fasliyev (USA) Bertolini (USA) Daggers Drawn (USA) Daggers Drawn (USA) Pyrus (USA) Marju Pursuit Of Love King Charlemagne (USA) Needwood Blade Fayruz Hawk Wing (USA) Trans Island Trans Island Coroner Fasliyev (USA) Orpen (USA) Danehill Dancer Royal Applause Medicean King Charlemagne (USA) In The Wings Lomitas In The Wings In The Wings Masterful (USA) Danehill Dancer Docksider (USA) Galileo Galileo Falbrav Catcher In The Rye Zamindar (USA) Zamindar (USA) Dr Fong (USA) Ishiguru (USA) Dansili Hernando (FR) Mark Of Esteem Intikhab (USA) Namid Ishiguru (USA) One Cool Cat (USA) Danehill Dancer Pyrus (USA) Pyrus (USA) Fasliyev (USA) Danehill Dancer Danehill Dancer Peintre Celebre (USA) Peintre Celebre (USA) Fasliyev (USA) Efisio Indian Ridge Nayef (USA) Indian Danehill Xaar Xaar Indian Ridge Indian Ridge Reset (AUS) Fayruz Rock Of Gibraltar Verglas Vettori Invincible Spirit Dubai Destination (USA) Daggers Drawn (USA) Masterful (USA) Nayef (USA) Kris Kin (USA) Desert Prince Namid Zafonic (USA) Galileo Orpen (USA) Diktat Fasliyev (USA) Sadler’s Wells (USA) Octagonal (NZ) Soviet Star (USA) Green Desert (USA) Halling (USA) Rock Of Gibraltar Titus Livius (FR)

3f 5m 3c 4c 5h 5g 3g 9h 5g 3c 6m 6h 3f 5g 8g 8g 3f 3c 5h 6h 3f 9g 3c 3c 3c 3c 6g 3f 3c 3g 4c 4f 5g 4c 4c 4c 3c 6h 6h 3c 3c 3f 4f 5h 5h 3f 5h 3f 2c 3f 3f 4c 5g 3c 3c 3c 3c 5m 3g 3g 4c 4c 3f 3f 4c 3f 4c 4f 5h 3c 3c 3f 4c 5h 3c 4g 3f 3c 4c 3c 3f 3c 5h 4g 7g 4f 3f 4c 5h 4f 7h 3c 3f 7h 4f 5g

Energetic Star Plaintarra (SWI) Love Giulia Mooring Bright Spells (USA) Three More (USA) What A Picture (FR) Jugendliebe Pont-Aven Hit The Sky Bethania Pilgrim’s Way (USA) Felicita Nom Francais Ravensdale Rose Ravensdale Rose Bamboo Be Crafty (USA) Pips Way Robin Flower Seeker Pennine Pearl Plum Fairy Athlumney Dancer Athlumney Dancer Wagtail (FR) Young Affair Alarme Belle Zagreb Flyer Subya Nutmeg Dubai Victory Aptostar (USA) Euro Empire (USA) Bimbola (FR) Bimbola (FR) Winter Dolphin Beltisaal (FR) Regal Revolution My Personal Space (USA) My Personal Space (USA) Hasta (USA) Peruke Lanasara Lanasara Lunassa (FR) Cumbrian Melody Panarea (FR) Superstore (USA) Najmat Alshemaal Liszewska Morning Prancer Crofters Ceilidh Art Fair Streetcar Glencoagh Order Glencoagh Order Indian Walkin Kingsridge Kingsridge Lasting Chance (USA) Lasting Chance (USA) Grand Teacher Filly Bergere Lara’s Shock Sadowa (GER) Sweetwater Run (USA) Celestial Bold Forever Midnight Daniela Grassi Daniela Grassi Phantastica (FR) Somers Heath Blue Fern (USA) Hidden Silver Parting Gift Paix Royale Lusitanie Shwe Dagon Shwe Dagon Life At Night Night Home (ITY) Dievotchka Kadarassa Halska Sassenach Adlona (USA) Majalis Malaisienne (FR) Adjalisa Calcinate Alexanders Way (FR) Only Seule (USA) Rising Of The Moon Coralita Majakerta

Fr Fr Ity Fr Aus Fr Fr Hk Fr Fr Spa Uae Fr Mac Hk Hk Ity Ity Ity Hk Ity Mac Fr Ity Ity Fr Mac Ity Fr Usa Spa Fr Fr Fr Fr Fr Fr Uae Ity Ity Ity Usa Gny Ity Ity Fr Usa Fr Fr Ity Ity Ity Mac Ity Jpn Ity Ity Ity Spa Spa Hk Hk Ity Ity Ity Ity Ity Fr Ity Ity Ity Spa Ity Fr Fr Fr Fr Fr Fr Ity Ity Ity Fr Hk Spa Usa Ity Spa Fr Uae Ity Ity Fr Ity Usa Ity

26/3/09 04/4/09 20/3/09 30/3/09 19/3/09 12/3/09 25/3/09 07/3/09 29/3/09 15/3/09 22/3/09 20/3/09 06/4/09 20/3/09 04/3/09 18/3/09 15/3/09 17/3/09 14/3/09 04/3/09 18/3/09 08/3/09 29/3/09 22/3/09 05/4/09 14/3/09 21/3/09 04/4/09 26/3/09 01/3/09 22/2/09 26/3/09 17/3/09 06/4/09 04/4/09 29/3/09 09/3/09 20/3/09 22/3/09 08/3/09 29/3/09 08/3/09 05/4/09 14/3/09 28/3/09 16/3/09 26/2/09 17/3/09 29/3/09 19/3/09 08/3/09 21/3/09 08/3/09 09/3/09 15/3/09 14/3/09 28/3/09 21/3/09 08/3/09 22/3/09 07/3/09 22/3/09 21/3/09 28/3/09 29/3/09 14/3/09 05/4/09 20/3/09 04/4/09 22/3/09 05/4/09 08/3/09 15/3/09 23/3/09 23/3/09 15/3/09 19/3/09 19/3/09 12/3/09 29/3/09 21/3/09 02/4/09 05/4/09 18/3/09 22/3/09 22/3/09 26/3/09 15/3/09 24/3/09 05/3/09 22/3/09 22/3/09 20/3/09 15/3/09 26/3/09 21/3/09

Saint-Cloud Nancy Rome Fontainebleau Kensington Deauville Fontainebleau Sha Tin Mont-De-Marsan Lyon-Parilly Mijas Jebel Ali Maisons-Laffitte Taipa Sha Tin Happy Valley Pisa Rome Milan Sha Tin Milan Taipa Saint-Cloud Milan Rome Toulouse Taipa Milan Saint-Cloud Santa Anita Mijas Saint-Cloud Lyon-Parilly Chatillon-Sur-Chalaronne Nancy Senonnes-Pouance Compiegne Jebel Ali Pisa Rome Rome Santa Anita Cologne Siracusa Siracusa Compiegne Gulfstream Park Lyon-Parilly Mont-De-Marsan Pisa Pisa Milan Taipa Naples Nakayama Siracusa Siracusa Milan Mijas Mijas Sha Tin Sha Tin Siracusa Milan Milan Milan Rome Deauville Siracusa Rome Rome Mijas Pisa Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud Saint-Brieuc Deauville Deauville Deauville Rome Milan Florence Moulins Happy Valley Mijas Gulfstream Park Pisa Mijas Nantes Nad Al Sheba Pisa Rome Deauville Pisa Oaklawn Park Siracusa

7f £11,650 1m1f165y £9,709 5f110y £5,364 1m2f £12,621 1m4f £8,519 1m1f110y £7,282 1m £11,650 1m £31,979 1m2f £5,340 1m £12,136 6f110y £4,854 1m £9,090 6f £12,136 1m £11,149 1m55y £24,816 1m55y £24,816 1m1f £4,951 1m £10,315 1m3f £4,126 1m55y £43,492 5f £4,126 6f £10,180 1m4f £11,650 1m2f £7,427 1m2f £10,315 1m3f £13,107 7f110y £14,300 6f £9,077 1m2f £16,505 6f £41,667 (Gr3) 1m165y £4,854 1m £11,650 1m3f £9,709 1m £4,854 1m4f £6,311 1m3f110y £6,796 1m2f £10,194 5f £6,818 7f110y £6,189 1m1f £10,315 1m2f110y £12,378 1m £31,833 (L) 1m3f £3,884 1m £4,126 1m3f110y £4,126 1m2f £16,505 5f £18,750 1m3f £6,796 5f £4,854 7f110y £5,776 7f110y £10,315 7f £14,441 7f110y £14,300 1m £5,776 1m £53,710 1m2f110y £4,126 1m £4,126 7f £6,189 1m2f £4,854 1m165y £5,825 1m1f £71,634 1m2f £833,034 (L) 6f £4,126 1m110y £7,427 1m £9,077 1m2f £4,126 7f110y £4,951 1m1f110y £8,252 6f £4,126 7f110y £10,315 7f110y £23,106 (L) 6f110y £6,796 6f £4,951 1m2f110y £21,903 1m £26,699 (L) 1m £5,340 6f110y £26,699 (L) 1m4f £16,505 1m1f110y £7,282 1m2f £6,189 7f110y £7,427 1m2f £4,126 1m3f £4,369 6f £31,979 1m2f110y £4,854 1m4f £62,500 (Gr3) 7f110y £4,126 1m1f £4,854 1m £10,194 1m4f £104,545 (Gr2) 6f110y £4,126 1m2f110y £7,014 7f110y £16,505 1m2f £4,951 5f £5,750 1m110y £8,252

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER 95

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14:41

Page 4

YOUR SAY

So much for Betfair being a niche market Colin Cameron Author of ‘You Bet – The Betfair Story: How Two Men Changed The World Of Gambling’

Dismissed at first by traditional bookmakers, this market leader now accounts for 95% of a fast growing sector and has two million users

or the last 18 months I have spent rather too much time with bookmakers.

I have at least emerged with something to show in the form of a new book: ‘You Bet – The Betfair Story’. It charts how Andrew Black and Ed Wray, founders of today’s principal betting exchange, revolutionised gambling.

Many people I interviewed recalled how they initially thought that betting exchanges were merely a niche and that Betfair was simply one of many.

And now? Betfair accounts for over 95% of a still fast-growing market. Ask a traditional bookmaker today if betting exchanges are niche.

If you still struggle with the notion that by spending time amid Betfair I have been mingling with bookmakers, you will, perhaps unusually, find yourself aligned with the more traditional members of that trade who see Betfair clients as the bookies and the company, itself, as, well, anything from an irritation to evil incarnate for peddling illegal betting.

F

dot.com millionaires yet still struggle to pay their connection charges. Andrew Black lives on a 330-acre estate in Surrey. That should be real enough for most evaluators.

But there is also an important qualitative element to Betfair. The founders have had huge success in establishing excellent relations with Government. Interviews with Treasury officials and others from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, recognise as much – as does the fact that Betfair very quickly established an understanding that they were an operation happy to debate unresolved issues in a much more open style than bookmakers, overdependent on their parliamentary lobby.

In seeking licences in Australia, Betfair went a step further. There, the company proposed to work with state-controlled racing and betting set-ups in order to nurture the success of these, and in doing so also the trade on the exchange.

Betfair was ultimately granted a licence in Tasmania. What secured the paperwork was reassurance that Betfair guaranteed to top up

“Valued at $3 billion, Betfair makes more trades daily than Europe’s stock markets put together” For me, the Government ended this particular debate. Or rather the tax man did. For legal and fiscal purposes, regardless that exchanges feature a number of departures from traditional bookmaking custom, it has been ruled that Betfair ranks alongside Ladbrokes and others.

An argument over the foundations of Betfair – ‘aren’t internet concerns here today, then gone tomorrow, if not on the same day?’ – should similarly be dismissed by a consideration of the organisation’s scale. The payroll is 1,350, customers number over two million and make more trades daily than all of Europe’s stock markets put together. Annual revenues exceed £200 million.

What’s more, when Betfair sold a 23% stake in the company for £355 million to SoftBank, the Japanese internet group, the corporate valuation of $3 billion had a meaning and substance that was never the case when, a decade ago, residents of Silicon Valley could declare themselves

96 THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

betting’s annual contribution to racing if the arrival of betting exchanges proved bad for business (which, incidentally, it didn’t).

To many in racing, betting interests are a necessary evil from the purposes of funding. Yet, bearing in mind the success Betfair has had courting Government, there may well be some lessons to learn for interests that perceive themselves as to be without a voice in Westminster.

With Betfair, of course, there is the issue of intergrity, but those who believe Betfair has a detrimental impact on integrity usually have a commercial interest diametrically opposite to Betfair.

One thing is surely beyond dispute, namely that Betfair has had a major impact across the board in under a decade of trade. The sub-title to my book is ‘How Two Men Changed The World Of Gambling’.

They have changed your world, too.

Aintree image: www.grossickracing.co.uk

Sir Peter O ’Sullevan

If you’ve already backed a winner, why not put a little money on the donkey? Your return from just £25 could be saving the lives of four working donkeys and horses.

You can bet on the Brooke. As a Patron, I know that the Brooke is doing an amazing job treating thousands of working animals and training their owners in better care. But they cannot reach all the animals who need them – and help the poor owners who depend on them to earn a living.

Sir Peter O’Sullevan, Brooke Patron

YES! I’ll save 4 donkeys like Panwar and help the poor people who depend on them

FORM GUID E: PANWAR ODDS: 500/1 Panwar ran a but suffered brave race a in the Uttar nasty fall Pradesh Bric k Kiln Stakes.

His toughes t test to date saw him carrying hea v of 150kg to y weights he owner earn lp his poor a living.

He eventuall y from exhaus collapsed ti his knees. N on, injuring ow neither of them can w both go hun ork, they’ll gry.

09PRR01TO

To help, go to www.thebrooke.org/sirpeter Alternatively call 020 3012 3456 Brooke Hospital for Animals, 30 Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4HH Registered Charity No 1085760

BH251_racing_C.indd 1

20/4/09 10:29:29

DAR09 OB Singspiel OBC MAY issue.qxd

9/4/09

18:25

Page 1

Sing when you’re winning

Sire of the winners of the world’s richest race, the world’s richest mile, and now – with Eastern Anthem’s victory in the Sheema Classic – the world’s richest mile-and-a half.

His stock, which include a higher proportion of horses rated 100+ by Timeform than Montjeu, Pivotal or Dansili, have won G1s at all stops from five furlongs to 20 furlongs.

SINGSPIEL

£15,000 Oct 1st, SLF. Standing at Dalham Hall Stud, Newmarket. +44 (0)1638 730070 www.darleystallions.com

Darley