Thoroughbred Owner Breeder

ÂŁ4.95 MAY 2018 ISSUE 165

Giant strides

Masar, Archie Watson and Richard Kingscote set to star on the Flat in 2018

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PEACE ENVOY

NEW FOR 2018

Power (GB) ex Hoh My Darling (GB)

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

“He was a very smart juvenile.”

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08/11/2017 14:51

Welcome

Kingscote shows his mettle to battle back

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£4.95 MAY 2018 ISSUE 165

Giant strides

Masar, Archie Watson and Richard Kingscote set to star on the Flat in 2018

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Cover: Masar and William Buick record a resounding success in the Craven Stakes at Newmarket for Godolphin Photo: George Selwyn

Edward Rosenthal Editor

20/04/2018 16:43

ow do you come back from two punctured lungs, an elbow broken in five places and breaks to your collarbone, forearm and wrist? Better than ever, if your name is Richard Kingscote.

The jockey sustained his serious injuries when brought down at Wolverhampton in November 2014, riding for boss Tom Dascombe. Just over four months later and he was enjoying Group 2 glory on the back of yard favourite Brown Panther in the $1 million Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan.

Sadly, Brown Panther is no longer strutting his stuff on the racecourse but his regular rider has gone from strength to strength. The previous two seasons have seen the 31-year-old record centuries for the first time in his career with the promise of much more to come in 2018.

It’s been some response to the doubters who wondered whether Kingscote would ever be able to get back to the level he was at before his horror fall.

The Flat jockeys’ championship now runs for a truncated season between Newmarket’s Guineas meeting and British Champions Day at Ascot and while Kingscote (Taking To, pages 46-50) may not quite have the ammunition to launch a title bid – he has been supported by some of the bigger stables such as Sir Michael Stoute and Ralph Beckett – a top-five berth is certainly within reach if he continues in his current form.

Another potential drawback to a title challenge could be Kingscote’s weight, around 8st 9lb – current champion Silvestre de Sousa can ride as low as 8st 2lb. Yet Danny Tudhope is in a similar position and he is targeting the top tier this year. Kingscote has the talent and backing to go far – with a bit of luck along the way, the rider could well hit new heights this year.

Archie Watson has wasted little time in showcasing his talent as a trainer. Since receiving his licence and sending out his first winner in October 2016, he has made giant strides, sending out 56 winners in 2017, his first full season, and he has already banked half that number in 2018.

Watson took the decision to strike out on his

own at Saxon Gate Stables in Lambourn, having previously spent time with Alec Laird in South Africa and William Haggas in Newmarket. He took plenty from both men yet is very much his own man when it comes to his operation and, for a 29-year-old, employs something of an oldfashioned approach to training racehorses.

“I’m probably slightly Luddite in that I don’t like using heart monitors, GPS trackers, that sort of thing,” Watson tells Julian Muscat (The Big Interview, pages 40-44). “I prefer to train by eye and my feel for a horse, and also what my riders tell me.

“I’ve got a great team of riders. They can tell me a lot more about a horse than a device telling you your horse has just gone 39.6mph in its gallop, and that its heart rate went above 140.

“He has the talent and backing to hit new heights in 2018” “I developed my instinct to train from Alec. I’d set up a work morning when he came down to visit, and he’d ask the rider to lift up his horse’s sheet before deciding the horse didn’t need to work that morning, even though he’d wanted to work it. He is very natural and intuitive that way.”

Interestingly, for a man who spent some of his formative years at Flat racing’s HQ, Watson decided it wasn’t the right place from where to launch his own career.

“I’m not knocking Newmarket, but I find it is getting a bit overcrowded in terms of human, horse and car traffic,” he explains. “There are public gallops here but it is almost like having your own. You don’t really run into other people and the atmosphere is nice and quiet. It seems to suit horses coming out of big yards.”

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Contents

May 2018

40

8

34

News & Views

International Scene

ROA Leader

View From Ireland

Levy reform on horizon

5

TBA Leader All-weather racing growth

7 8 10 24 26

Features At Aintree, Meydan and Newmarket

King Of Kings’ Guineas glory

Emerging trainer Archie Watson

Fine wine, watches and racing

2

32

14 22

The Big Interview

Racing Life How to look the part at Royal Ascot

The cost of dreams

From The Archives

Howard Wright Weight watching

30

The Big Picture

Tony Morris My favourite book

Sensational rise of Mickaelle Michel

Around The Globe

Changes News in a nutshell

28

Continental Tales

News Aintree Chairman defends National timing

Plugging away to make it pay

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40

Talking To...

Top jockey Richard Kingscote

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52

46

14

Features

Forum

Tullyraine House Stud Northern Ireland’s finest – and only

ROA Forum 52

Breeders’ Digest Stayers’ Million launched

59

Cushing’s Disease

66

Data Book

87 96

Forum The Thoroughbred Club Offers galore

88

National Hunt Graded Races

24 Hours With...

Handicapper Dominic Gardiner-Hill

80

Vet Forum

Dr Statz Breaking through is hard to do

Point-to-Point Bonus is back

60

Caulfield Files Sharpen Up’s continuing relevance

70

TBA Forum

Sales Circuit Tricky start to breeze-up season

Interview with our oldest member

68

Winners, pedigrees and analysis

90

Did you know?

Our monthly average readership is

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ROA Leader

Nicholas Cooper President

Dream of levy system reform finally realised M

ention of a Legislative Reform Order may not send the average racehorse owner into raptures, but the importance of this statutory instrument should not be lost on any of us.

An LRO is the means by which the government is changing the legislation surrounding the levy system so that, from next April, the Levy Board should be making way for a completely new funding structure.

The flow of money from betting operators to British racing will continue to be based on a racing levy but it will be collected by the Gambling Commission and distributed by a new Racing Authority.

As I have said before, this system marks the most exciting change in British racing administration in over 50 years. Combined with the fact that the levy has now been extended to include bets taken by offshore operators (for those bets struck by British-based punters on British horseracing) and you can see what progress our industry has made under this government and its predecessor.

The Racing Authority is made up of equal representation from the Horsemen’s Group, the Racecourse Association and the British Horseracing Authority and its constitution underpinned by a tripartite agreement. Further consolidation of the board has come with Sir Hugh Robertson joining as the independent chairman.

It has, of course, been a much-cherished ambition for many years that the horseracing industry should have responsibility for distributing what it rightly considers to be its own money. At the same time, the statutory system for collection and enforcement will, under the Gambling Commission, remain watertight with appropriate powers of audit over betting operators’ levy returns.

Unlike the Levy Board, the Racing Authority will have no direct input from the government. The new system will increase efficiency and create substantial cost savings as the duplication of functions and layers of administration are removed. Most importantly, it will also remove much of the confrontational element that has so often sullied the relationship between the racing and betting industries.

With this in mind, a Betting Liaison Group will be set up as a sub-committee to the Racing Authority. The group will use data collected by betting operators, racecourses and media rights holders to influence decisions made on race planning and fixture issues with the aim of increasing betting on British racing.

Already the current annual levy is indicating a substantial increase thanks to the annexation of offshore betting.

Based on a 10% deduction on most betting operators’ gross win, levy income is forecast to be £85 million for the fiscal year 2017/2018, a 31% increase on the previous year’s figure of £65m (which included payments from Authorised Betting Partners) and only the third time in the last decade that year-on-year declines have been reversed.

Add to this the huge growth in racecourse media rights payments and racing might soon be looking at an annual income of approaching £250m, although, before we get too excited, the government’s imminent decision on FOBTs, with its possible effect on betting shop numbers, may well cause us to temper this prediction.

We also have to remember that the Racing Authority will be required to take over responsibility for various grants now covered by the Levy Board. These encompass the advancement of veterinary science and education and the improvement of nonthoroughbred breeds of horses. But none of this detracts from the big picture in which the lion’s share of the levy funding will continue to be targeted on prize-money and appearance money ‘for the improvement of racing’.

“This marks the most exciting change in British racing administration in over 50 years” Industry observers will know how long we have campaigned to achieve reform of the levy system to create a sustainable, enforceable, legally sound way of providing a fair return to the sport’s grassroots from the estimated £11 billion of annual betting on British horseracing.

And now, with prize-money this year due to total £160m, it looks as though we are finally going to achieve this ambition.

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TBA Leader

Julian Richmond-Watson Chairman

All-weather tracks useful but is form comparable?

I

have written before about the steady increase in all-weather racing, and during one of the worst, wettest springs I can remember the six racecourses with synthetic surfaces have kept the show on the road, ensuring that levy and media rights income continued to flow. In addition, the Good Friday all-weather championship finals at Lingfield provided an excellent and competitive programme, which in attracting three winners from France proved that with the right prize-money this code can hold its own with turf racing.

In 2018 all-weather tracks account for 37.5% of the scheduled Flat programme. In business terms they have no restrictions on the number of races or fixtures they can stage. So the cost of operating the site and the return on capital invested are much better spread than on turf tracks, more than half of which race fewer than 20 times in a year.

The economics for the smaller, turf-only tracks, whether National Hunt or Flat, are more precarious. How long some of them will be able to continue the battle to keep up with the constant burden of regulation, legislation and demands on capital expenditure, while also competing to match the modern standards expected by racegoers, is yet to be seen. But I do feel that in time more and more Flat racing will gravitate to the allweather tracks, whose surfaces provide guaranteed and mainly consistent going.

Twilight racing, which usually takes place under floodlights, allows the sport to operate when punters at home, particularly those using online accounts, are available to bet in real time after work, and there are also suitable opportunities to exploit overseas markets. As more information comes through from the betting industry about client behaviour, this aspect will become increasingly important, and Chelmsford City’s innovation in building the first British turf track that will operate under floodlights may not be the last.

The betting and leisure industries are changing rapidly and the requirement to stage live sport when more people can watch, enjoy and participate in it will inevitably result in everincreasing pressure for British racing to be held during that available leisure time, and not on the proverbial wet Tuesday afternoon.

Attendance figures for 2017 highlighted a growing split between the major and minor, weekend and midweek fixtures, and I have little doubt that our feature meetings, festivals and weekend racing will continue to thrive and grow, in contrast to lesser fare on racecourses where facilities and standard of racing will become even more differentiated from their more successful neighbours.

So, if this is what the future promises to be, more breeders should be looking to produce horses that do best on artificial surfaces. I have not yet seen an all-weather champion stallion being promoted as just that in Britain, in contrast to US dirt champions who never venture on to turf.

It is amusing to hear pundits discuss the pedigree of a horse and suggest that a ‘dirt pedigree’ should allow them to race well on Polytrack. Horsemen in the US do not consider the surfaces to be at all alike, and their opposition forced fleeting trials with Polytrack and Tapeta to be generally abandoned in favour of a return to the traditional dirt surface.

So, is Polytrack form completely interchangeable with turf form? Or do some horses act better on one surface than the

“If this is what the future holds, breeders should produce horses that do best on artificial surfaces” other, and how should the industry plan for this difference? Most horses are nowadays trained on an artificial surface, with large numbers in Newmarket and Lambourn using Polytrack, but is enough known about the different types of injuries incurred on different surfaces?

Since Wolverhampton was revamped into a floodlight course in 1993, only Great Leighs/Chelmsford City has been built as a new track, while the other four all-weather surfaces have been put down using existing layouts, which are often not ideal.

Two final questions come to mind: what should a purpose-built floodlight track, possibly with a US-type turf surface, look like, and what type of horses should be bred to utilise it best?

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News

Aintree Chairman defends Grand National start time after criticism

R

ose Paterson, Chairman of Aintree racecourse, has come out fighting following Howard Wright’s criticism of the Randox Health Grand National start time in April’s magazine.

Questioning why the world-famous race is run so late in the day, Wright highlighted the fact that since 1988 the National had been staged at nine different times between 3pm and 5.15pm, the current off-time.

Wright wrote: “Television congestion, media inconvenience, betting confusion, late departure for the on-track crowd, an unnecessarily long day that fuels the risk of drinkrelated misbehaviour. Great race though it remains, it’s time to ask: can we have our traditional Grand National start-time back, please, missus?”

Paterson has now responded to Wright’s call for a “sensible start time” for the Aintree showpiece and set the record straight regarding the timing in previous years.

She said: “Howard may not be aware that the reason for the clash this year with Liverpool’s home match is that Sunday, April 15 is the anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy and Liverpool rightly vowed never to play on that day.

“The differing times over the last 30 years are easy to explain. The 1997 renewal was a one-off, because it was the Monday National following the bomb scare.

“The earlier times up until 1996 were linked to overseas promotions by our then sponsor Martell; the race was simulcast to Happy Valley and Sha Tin as part of a major cognac marketing exercise.

“In 1998, 3.45pm became the time for seven years but the management’s long-term aim was to have the National later in the card, based on the premise that it is preferable to build up to your main attraction. As Howard will know, you do not end the Olympics with a 30km walk – you end with the exciting 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 relays.

“From our perspective, 5.15pm is an ideal time, with one race following to

8

Rose Paterson: maintaining current timings

help stagger departure. It has proved a resounding success in the past three years.”

While this year’s peak viewing figure for ITV’s second Grand National day broadcast was up on 2017, it still fell short of the numbers achieved in the final two years of Channel 4’s production. Paterson, though, was delighted with the coverage.

She continued: “In 2016 we added an extra one million viewers, while last year on the first hot sunny afternoon of the year, when most of the nation was outdoors, our broadcasters ITV achieved 8.2 million and an unprecedented 62% share of all viewers.

“This year, again on a warm sunny afternoon after a long cold winter, it was 8.5 million and 60%. These are excellent figures and a comparison with the BBC’s last year in 2012 [10 million] is irrelevant, because the way people

view sporting events has changed out of all recognition in the last six years.

“Answering the other points raised in Howard’s article, I would ask where is the television congestion at 5.15pm?

ITV have said that it’s the “sweet spot” all broadcasters covet. Media inconvenience is an old chestnut and may have had an inkling of truth, when copy was filed over the phone and there were ‘stone’ deadlines, but not in this digital age.

“The late departure for the on-track crowd is also questionable; if Howard had visited the Red Rum Garden this year he would have witnessed the party continuing till 7pm.

“Addressing betting confusion, I haven’t detected any sign that the 24% of the entire UK population who bet on the National are confused. Far from it, judging by the bookmakers’ reaction to Tiger Roll’s victory this year.

“As for ‘a long day that rules the risk of drink-related misbehaviour’ – not in our experience; a phone call to the police would have confirmed this. Also, I would like to know the ‘traditional’ start time that Howard requests.

“As long as our racegoers, our sponsors, our broadcasters and all our stakeholders, including our betting partners, remain happy with current times, we will maintain them.”

Paterson added: “I would be delighted to welcome Howard to Aintree next year as my guest – as long as it’s not past his bedtime!”

Howard Wright responded: “I am grateful to Rose Paterson for providing such a detailed explanation. However I would like to point out that Liverpool FC could have avoided the Hillsborough anniversary as Sky’s Monday evening match, instead of their covering the West Ham v Stoke nonevent.

“I would also suggest that rather than assisting print times, digital transmission has brought preparation of early editions even earlier, cutting down potential National coverage. A traditional off-time? Between 3.153.45pm. At least then I could get back to Surrey in time for my traditional cup of cocoa.”

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Stories from the racing world

Winx equals Black Caviar’s record Winx has the chance to break Black Caviar’s 25-race winning streak in a race that has been renamed in her honour by the Australian Turf Club.

The Warwick Stakes at Randwick on August 18 will be run as the Winx Stakes, and the wonder mare could well contest it as she works her way towards trying to win the Cox Plate for the fourth time.

Australia’s darling of the turf won her 25th consecutive race in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes last month, equalling the feat of Black Caviar, though the Diamond Jubilee winner of 2012 will always have one over Winx, as she went unbeaten through her career. To date, Winx has won 29 of her 35 outings, of which 18 have been Group 1s – Black Caviar registered 15 top-level wins.

The Winx Stakes, as it is now known, has been won by Winx for the past two years as a Group 2 – it has been elevated to Group 1 status this year.

It is not a certainty that Winx will run

Winx’s 25th consecutive win in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes under Hugh Bowman

in ‘her’ race, though it will inevitably be a hugely tempting target after her break.

Part-owner Peter Tighe said: “It is all hypothetical at the moment about which races Winx runs in during the spring carnival. Yes, there is a possibility of her running in her own race but the ownership group don’t want to put Chris [Waller, trainer] under any pressure to run her in it.

“We have given no commitment to the club, either. We are happy to receive the honour but made no guarantees about the mare running in the race. It is all up to Chris and what he thinks is right for the mare.”

ATC Chairman Laurie Macri said: “It is fitting for this race to be run as a Group 1 for the first time to be named in honour of Winx. We thank and congratulate all of her owners, Debbie Kepitis, Peter Tighe and Richard Treweeke, for allowing us to use this new name for one of our Group 1 races.”

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Changes

Racing’s news in a nutshell

People and business Brexit Boost for racing as government says it expects rules governing movement of horses to continue during the 21-month implementation period.

Sun Bets Firm behind the ‘Piegate’ stunt involving ex-Sutton goalkeeper Wayne Shaw has licence reviewed by Gambling Commission and is hit with £84,000 penalty.

Molly Dingwall

27-year-old is appointed General Manager of Carlisle racecourse.

Glebe Stud Renowned nursery in Cheveley, outside Newmarket, goes on the market as owner Julia Scott decides to downsize her breeding interests.

Hazel Park Raceway Becomes the fourth thoroughbred venue to shut its doors in Michigan since 2007, leaving the state without any thoroughbred racing.

Maggie Carver Racecourse Association announces that her term as Chair has been extended for another three years starting from July 1.

Mohammed Ghazali Trainer has a ten-month ban extended by two months and is given a hefty fine after his sprinter Sandbetweenourtoes tested positive for a banned substance.

Brian O’Connell Jockey, 31, who enjoyed three Grade 1 wins on Dunguib, is forced to retire due to an ongoing shoulder injury.

Gambling Commission Neil McArthur is confirmed as its new Chief Executive, having been in charge on an interim basis, succeeding Sarah Harrison.

Jody Townend Younger sister of jockey Paul notches her first success under Rules at Tramore – the 20-year-old won a maiden hurdle on her father’s Port Rashid.

Irish Stud and Stable Staff Awards Goldolphin-backed awards, which received a record 350 nominations, now has a shortlist of 24, who will vie for honours at a ceremony on May 21.

Galway Plate Sponsor the Tote signs up to back the prestigious chase for another three years.

Dermot Farrington Newmarket-based bloodstock agent joins Phoenix Thoroughbreds to help continue the development of the operation.

Lee Newman Champion apprentice now plying his trade in Australia suffers a setback in his recovery from a broken neck and could be out for another three months.

Poundland Hill The controversial rebranding of the Hill at Epsom’s Derby meeting comes to an end after the Jockey Club finishes agreement with the retailer.

People obituaries

Arena Racing Company Group ‘unlocks’ every race for the rest of 2018, securing the extra funding which will boost prize-money at its 15 tracks this year to in excess of £35 million.

Jose Luis Flores 56 Longserving jockey with 4,650 career victories dies in hospital in Philadelphia after a fall at Parx Racing.

Arqana Launches new boutique National Hunt horses-in-training sale, with the first edition to be held on May 19 at Auteuil on Grand Steeple-Chase weekend.

Peter Cullis 87 Former jockey who had his one and only ride in the Grand National at the age of 43, when Red Rum beat Crisp in 1973.

10

Mike Tucker 74 BBC’s lead equestrian commentator from 1992 to 2017 who was a steward at Chepstow and Bath, and was also a Retraining of Racehorses trustee.

Bob Gilling 92 Revolutionised racing safety with his plastic running rail design and product.

››

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TWEENHILLS TIMES AN EYE FOR SUCCESS

May 2018

HOMEBRED OCTAVE HITS RIGHT NOTE Qatar Bloodstock homebred Count Octave made a winning return at Wolverhampton on April 10 and looks set for another good season.

He’s a laid-back colt – he spent his winter holiday back at Tweenhills, so we know him well – and will improve plenty for his comeback.

Born and raised at Tweenhills, Count Octave was runner-up in the Gr. 2 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot last term and also sixth in a strong Gr. 1 St Leger at Doncaster.

By Frankel, Count Octave is out of Mark of Esteem mare Honorine and thus closely related to Gr. 1 Irish Derby winner Treasure Beach. Honorine is now 18 and still owned by Qatar Bloodstock.

KINGS SHIELD LOOKS CLASS ACT Kings Shield, bought by David Redvers at the Craven Breeze-Up Sale last year, maintained his unbeaten start at Kempton on April 7 and looks destined for big things.

Oisin Murphy, Count Octave and Holly Rose

staff PROFILE Jason Curtin Stallions No one-trick pony…

I’m from Clare in Ireland. We had 15 acres at home so dad got me and my brother Michael a pony, then I started doing Pony Club when I was 10 or 11. I worked with hunters through my teens, getting a few going through the summer then moving them on.

Nursed along…

I did vet nursing at college before working for a small thoroughbred stud in Australia, where my sister lives. I then did a year in Rossdales in Newmarket and last season worked in Fethard Equine Hospital – I learnt so much at both practices. I also worked recently at Rich Hill Stud in New Zealand.

Works like a Charm…

I joined Tweenhills in January. I’m assistant stallion man at present, helping with Havana Gold and Hot Streak’s covers, though I’m also very interested in the broodmare/foaling side too. I watch lots of racing and, having seen Charm Spirit in New Zealand, will be watching his first 2-year-olds closely this year.

As a 675,000-guinea sales-topper, Kings Shield has more to live up to than many other horses, but he’s answered every question so far. His trainer John Gosden holds him in high regard, and he could run in the French 2,000 Guineas.

A physically stunning son of the late Scat Daddy, Kings Shield – along with Gr. 2-winning and Gr. 1-placed stable stablemate Roaring Lion – is a very exciting prospect for Qatar Racing.

Kings Shield makes it 2 from 2

INTERNATIONAL STAKES DOUBLE There was plenty of reason to cheer on April 15 as Pearl Bloodstock’s Great Pearl and Qatar Racing’s Out of The Flames won Stakes races on different continents.

High-class dirt performer Great Pearl

Five-year-old entire Great Pearl showed a fantastic attitude to win the Gr. 3 Antares Stakes at Hanshin, his first start for 11 months. He has now won his last five starts, all on dirt. Three-year-old filly Out of The Flames matched him for determination when winning the inaugural Listed Mizdirection Stakes at Aqueduct.

CHARM SPIRIT – FOUR TO FOLLOW With Charm Spirit’s first runners having hit the track recently, here are four of his offspring to follow in 2018.

We start with a colt out of Ysper trained by David Simcock. We also like the fillies out of Air Biscuit with Charlie Hills and out of Mill Guineas with Richard Hannon. Finally, there’s a colt out of Shuttle Mission with Johnny Murtagh. All will be named shortly.

Tweenhills, Hartpury, Gloucestershire, GL19 3BG W: www.tweenhills.com T: + 44 (0) 1452 700177 M: + 44 (0) 7767 436373 E: davidredvers@tweenhills.com 3118 - Tweenhills Time_May 2018_V3.indd 1

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Changes

Horse obituaries Lucarno 14 St Leger winner in 2007 and a useful sire of jumpers who was standing at Longford House Stud in County Tipperary.

Toormore 7 Group 1-winning champion two-yearold who was described as a “gamechanger” for former owners Middleham Park Racing.

Hasili 27 Juddmonte’s outstanding broodmare who was the dam of five individual Group or Grade 1 winners, a record she shares with Eight Carat.

Silviniaco Conti 12

Prolific winner for the Paul Nicholls yard who won seven Grade 1 chases including the King George VI Chase in successive years.

Karpino 5 German 2,000 Guineas winner who was a new recruit to Glenview Stud in Fermoy, County Cork and had successfully covered a number of mares.

A Genie In Abottle 7 Won a bumper, a hurdle race and three chases; he started favourite for the 2017 National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham, finishing fifth.

Litigant 10 Won the 2015 Ebor, giving trainer Joseph Tuite the best moment of his career to date.

Vision D’Etat 13 Haras de Cercy stallion who won the Prix du Jockey Club, Prix Ganay, Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Hong Kong Cup. Lilbitluso 10 Point-to-pointer who suffered a fatal fall at the Canal Turn in the Foxhunters’ at Aintree.

Racehorse and stallion

Movements and retirements Highland Reel Popular globetrotter will shuttle from Coolmore’s Irish base to Adam Sangster’s Swettenham Stud in Victoria.

Dansili One of the leading British-based sires in the history of the Pattern is pensioned from stud duties by Juddmonte Farms owing to declining fertility.

Sign Of A Victory High-class Nicky Henderson-trained hurdler is retired aged nine; he won six times – two bumpers, three over hurdles and once on the Flat from 17 starts.

Giant’s Causeway 21

Six-time Group 1 winner known as the Iron Horse, who became an equally hugely successful sire, with 31 individual top-level winners.

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Saint Are 12-year-old who has run in the last four Grand Nationals, and five in all, is retired – he came closest to winning the race in 2015 when second to Many Clouds.

Cue Card

Hugely popular 12-year-old, winner of the King George VI Chase, Ryanair Chase and Champion Bumper, is retired; his career earnings were £1,447,454.

Cause Of Causes Three-time winner at the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National runner-up in 2017 for JP McManus and Gordon Elliott is retired aged ten.

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The Big Picture

Tiger tames Company A thrilling finish to this year’s Randox Health Grand National saw Tiger Roll and Davy Russell (right) just last home to deny the fast-finishing Pleasant Company and David Mullins. The result saw Gordon Elliott, training for Gigginstown House Stud, outpoint big rival Willie Mullins to capture his second National following Silver Birch’s triumph in 2007, while Russell was winning the race for the first time Photos Bill Selwyn and George Selwyn

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Grand National

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The Big Picture

Ultra tough The National fences bring out the best in some horses and Ultragold (right, yellow cap) proved his prowess over the obstacles by winning the Randox Health Topham Chase for the second year running under Harry Cobden. This year the Colin Tizzard-trained ten-year-old, owned

by Brocade Racing, Terry Warner and John Romans, made every yard of the running to score by three and threequarter lengths from Shanahan’s Turn Photos George Selwyn

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Aintree

Above right: Nicky Henderson is thrilled with L’Ami Serge’s strike in the Aintree Hurdle.

Below: Politologue and Sam Twiston-Davies (yellow) outpoint Min and Paul Townend in the JLT Melling Chase.

Left: Might Bite follows up his Cheltenham Gold Cup second with a decisive win in the Betway Bowl Chase under Nico de Boinville

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The Big Picture

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Dubai World Cup

Snow thunders home Thunder Snow will perhaps always be known as the horse who embarrassingly bucked his way out of the Kentucky Derby, but with quirk often comes talent, and the four-yearold was right at the top of his game under an excellent ride from Christophe Soumillon in the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan. The duo were never headed and beat US-trained favourite West Coast by five and three-quarter lengths to cap a stunning Group 1 four-timer for Godolphin in their own back yard Photos George Selwyn

On a Meydan card that boasted plenty of strength in depth, from left, among the other big winners were Hawkbill (Dubai Sheema Classic), Mendelssohn (UAE Derby) and Vazirabad (Dubai Gold Cup)

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The Big Picture

Craven Stakes

Masar by far The Craven Stakes in April produced a most impressive winner as Godolphin’s Masar pulverised his rivals to record a nine-length victory under William Buick, with White Mocha second and Roaring Lion in third.

The Charlie Applebytrained three-year-old, a son of Derby victor New Approach, will bid to land Classic glory in the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas back at Newmarket on May 5 Photo George Selwyn

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From The Archives

Kings for the day Aidan O’Brien already has the trainers’ record for victories in the 2,000 Guineas and this month will be gunning for a ninth. His first came 20 years ago courtesy of King Of Kings, who under Mick Kinane made a successful seasonal reappearance in the Newmarket colts’ Classic, scoring by a length and a quarter from Lend A Hand, with favourite Xaar fourth. King Of Kings carried his head high but O’Brien said: “He just likes to look around because he’s very inquisitive and intelligent. In fact I think it’s a good thing.”

Photo George Selwyn

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King Of Kings on May 2, 1998

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Tony Morris

Towers of strength behind GSB passion

O

n a recent visit from the family one granddaughter remarked astutely that I had rather a lot of books.

There was no arguing with that. Then came the question that I should probably have anticipated: “Which one is your favourite, Grandad?”

“Well, see if you can find it,” I replied. “I’ll give you a clue. It’s in my study, and it’s about five yards wide.” She looked puzzled, but went to look all the same, then came back, insisting not only that I had no such book, but that she could not believe any book would be that big.

I had to show her, pointing to everything on three wide shelves, and was promptly accused of cheating. So I explained that some books come in more than one volume, and that the one which was my favourite came in 48 volumes, some of those in more than one part.

I could tell she wasn’t convinced, but after I had shown her that the title page on the first volume was the same as on the last volume I detected some grudging measure of acceptance.

Of course, she then she had to ask: “What is the General Stud Book, anyway?” I felt that could wait for another day.

Still, I had given an honest answer to her first question. The GSB has been my favourite book since I acquired the newly issued Volume 35 in 1965 and decided that somehow I must contrive to get my hands on all of the previous 34, then keep my set complete by purchasing future volumes.

What makes the GSB so special for me? Well, I love history and Flat racing, and more particularly the history of Flat racing through breeding, so I’m bound to cherish the work that encapsulates it all. It charts the development of the thoroughbred virtually from its origins in the late 17th century – Old Bald Peg and all that – and I never cease to marvel at the inventiveness, the dogged determination and the diligence of the fellow who conceived the plan and established the model that would be emulated by his successors wherever the sport flourished all over the globe.

That man was William Sidney Towers, who set himself the Herculean task of trying to record all that breeders had done over the best part of a century, and to end the evil of false pedigrees, which had been commonly bandied about. His first stab at the job was published in 1791 and the outcome was remarkable. He had to depend on receiving reliable information from those he canvassed and from records previously published, but there was obviously much that was simply unavailable to him. So much had gone unrecorded.

Strange though it may seem, a significant amount of information that he could not gather is becoming available now. A band of amateur sleuths constantly search documents and archives relating to the nobility and gentry who were once prominent in breeding that have been preserved on the web and elsewhere.

Towers included nothing in his publication that he felt could not be authenticated. Today’s enthusiastic researchers are not discovering much that he got wrong; they are mostly filling in the gaps that have existed all along because 18th century breeders failed to keep proper records or omitted to pass on the information they had.

For me Towers has always been something of an unsung hero

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Kalaglow – victim of one of the notable errors in the General Stud Book when his dam and another mare had their identities mixed up

in the history of the thoroughbred. It should not be forgotten that he was gathering all his data half a century before the law required the registration of human births, marriages and deaths, his pioneering efforts ensuring that the pedigrees of today’s thoroughbreds can be traced back further than those of all but a tiny proportion of the genus homo sapiens.

But we have long been aware that the pages of the GSB contain errors, some of them in quite recent volumes, uncovered and corrected during my time as a keen student of thoroughbred pedigrees. One of the most notable concerned Kalaglow, a top-class performer trained by Guy Harwood in the early 1980s. He was a four-year-old before it came to light that his dam and another mare had their identities inadvertently switched ten years earlier. The matter was cleared up in time for him to run under the correct pedigree in the 1982 Eclipse and King George, both of which he won.

Further back in time there were notorious instances of deliberate deception, none more so than the case of the horse who finished first in the 1844 Derby masquerading as Running Rein. He not only ran under the wrong pedigree, but was a year older than he was supposed to be. The ruse was fortunately exposed and the perpetrators did not profit from their criminal activity. Other names like Francasal and Flockton Grey spring to mind as subjects of fraudulent switches of identity.

The development of blood-typing allowed more confidence in the authenticity of GSB entries, and once DNA testing had been introduced the possibility of errors in identification was pretty much erased. Today’s thoroughbreds compete under pedigrees that are guaranteed correct.

But scientific advances, while ensuring the integrity of present-

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The man you can’t ignore day pedigrees, have been able to detect errors in the identification of horses from the past. The method devised by Towers and adopted by all other official stud books focused on the female of the species and her produce – the logical way to extend the record from one generation to the next.

When the Australian Bruce Lowe came along a century later he traced pedigrees back to the earliest recorded female source and assigned numbers to the families. He drew a lot of wrong conclusions from his researches, but others accepted his numbering system and expanded on it, dividing the families into branches. The notion that such a classification is actually useful in helping breeders to produce better horses is largely discredited these days, but once geneticists understood that the transmission of mitochondrial DNA was a female-line function, they had the ability to check the authenticity of the numbered families.

We soon learnt that there were anomalies, and that the faults would not lie in the MtDNA. In numerous cases differently numbered families were found to go back to a common ancestress, and a few years ago there came proof that the horse who won the 1880 Derby as Bend Or and became sire of the mighty Ormonde was not Bend Or at all. He was Tadcaster, as was asserted by some at the time of his stellar career on the turf.

The work on the x (female) chromosome that uncovered so much was always deemed to be worthwhile, as it was known to contain much more genetic material than the y (male) chromosome. Study of the y seemed to offer little prospect of yielding valuable information, but that view is perhaps due some revision.

“The GSB has been my favourite book since I acquired Volume 35 in 1965” A couple of months ago I was contacted by Suzi Prichard Jones, who wanted to draw my attention to the fact that the male line of the Byerley Turk seemed to be dying out in this part of the world. I was aware of its evident decline, but had not realised that in Britain and Ireland it now had no more than five representatives – Dunaden, Indian Haven, Notnowcato, Orientor and Pearl Secret.

What were the chances that one of them might suddenly become commercially attractive to breeders, or that some other representative of the line might be imported and become favoured with good opportunities? Where might such a horse be found?

While we were scratching our heads over that situation, we heard that there had been recent research into the horse’s y chromosome undertaken by a team headed by Barbara Wallner in Vienna. And errors had been found, among them the revelation that male-line descendants of Persimmon and St Frusquin had the markers associated with the Byerley Turk line.

Persimmon and St Frusquin between them won the colts’ Classics of 1896, each a son of the multiple champion sire St Simon, and hitherto recognised as products of the Darley Arabian line.

And there is a plausible candidate to explain the anomaly.

St Simon’s sire, the 1875 Derby winner Galopin, was recorded as being by Vedette, a bona fide Darley descendant. But there had always been a suspicion that he was instead a son of Delight, from the Byerley line. We might start to believe that now.

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The Howard Wright Column

For richer for poorer – weighty problems F

act: each generation of youngsters in Britain is, on average, taller and heavier than the one before. Question: what is the BHA doing to take account of this irreversible trend?

A trip to any shopping centre or local video game store will inform the amateur anthropologist that while the UK might not yet rival the US for weight carried by teenagers and younger, it is well down the road. That’s the visual, anecdotal approach. For British racing, statistics culled from the most easily identifiable database, the official list of apprentices, provide the facts.

The most recent compilation comprises 132 apprentices – 108 males (or 81.8%) and 24 females (18.2%) with their submitted weights, which in some cases will have been underestimated.

Taking as a base point the lowest weight of 8st set for the first big handicap of the turf season, the Lincoln, 90 of the apprentices – more than two-thirds – would not have made the mark. That 19 of them, or nearly 80% of their total, were female, is an interesting sidelight but of no immediate consequence here.

In the event, bottom weight carried in the 20-runner Lincoln was 8st 12lb and only one claimer figured. Of more concern, therefore, was the apprentice handicap that concluded the afternoon. Perhaps to take some account of the facts, lowest weight was set at 8st 10lb, with three allowances based on numbers of winners, yet of the 132 listed apprentices, ten could not have met the 8st 7lb lowest weight for a 3lb claim, and 61 were above the 8st 3lb criterion for a 7lb claim.

The BHA racing department will probably argue that weights carried are generally higher than in the immediate past, but that is not the point. Managing expectations for the future should be uppermost and raising the lowest weight to be carried is inevitable.

There’s no time like the present.

However, there is a more worrying, wider aspect to the undeniable truth that the fat kid in the class is not going to make it in racing, not above ground level, that is.

The two racing schools take individual measurements of incoming students, but tight control of resources means that neither has a comprehensive database from which to deduce or analyse trends. The British Racing School has relaxed its previous strict limit of 9st 7lb and relies more on assessing physical fitness, while the Northern Racing College no longer takes riders over 11st.

Their evidence of rising weight among youngsters is anecdotal.

Now, though, has come a study by University College London, which tracked more than 56,000 children born in Britain

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in 1946, 1958, 1970 and 2001, that proves the point, and more. Its principal finding is that the poorest children are now 4.6lb heavier than those from rich families, with a corresponding increase in body mass index, which is a complete reversal from 1957, when 11-year-olds from upper-class families were 4.4lb heavier than those from deprived backgrounds.

Why should this finding be of interest to British racing? Let’s not beat about the bush. The current vogue for recruiting stable employees through Pony Clubs and equine colleges is helpful but is never going to do more than scratch the surface of trainers’ concerns about shortage of trained staff.

“The poorest children are now 4.6lb heavier than those from rich families, with a corresponding increase in body mass” A significant percentage of students attending foundation courses at both racing schools come from the poorer areas of Britain, many from single-parent homes with troubled backgrounds, for whom racing is a last resort. The recruitment situation has been made no easier by the raising of the schoolleaving age and could become even harder with the arrival of Brexit.

Yet, for various sociological reasons outlined by the UCL study, this is the very cohort that is getting heavier and taller.

The BHA, which alone has the power to raise racing weights, will require a more imaginative approach to stable-staff recruitment, some of whom will go on to be apprentices. Expectations need to be managed carefully, among potential jockeys but more particularly for stable staff, more of whom will have to be taught to keep their feet on the ground, literally and Addeybb (yellow) metaphorically. runs away with a Lincoln in which only one apprentice rode

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View Fr m Ireland

imply staying in business has become the target for many Irish National Hunt trainers faced with the might of Gordon Elliott and Willie Mullins.

As another season of their dominance concludes, multiple Grade 1-winning handler Paul Nolan has revealed how close he came to handing in his licence – and what had to be done to prevent that.

Like many that once hovered in Ireland’s top-ten trainer list, Nolan felt the tidal surge of Gordon Elliott’s emergence and Willie Mullins’s reaction – his horses, including those belonging to Gigginstown House Stud, being sucked out of his Enniscorthy yard in numbers.

This reduction began before Wexford neighbour Colm Murphy, trainer of mighty hurdlers Brave Inca and Fethard Lady and Champion Chase winner Big Zeb, departed the training ranks in September 2016, and it has not begun to reverse.

“More than half of our boxes now are full of stores, two- and three-yearolds that have been in the place since they were foals,” said Nolan. “They are in a different section of the yard to the racehorses, because that’s what we can do with our layout, and we’re breaking about ten three-year-olds. They will be sold privately or go to the sales.”

He stressed: “Without that, I would not be in business. Without having bought those horses as foals and yearlings to be sold as stores, I would have gone out of business by now, without doubt.”

Nolan, trainer of eight Grade 1 winners, two Cheltenham Festival winners and three Galway Hurdle heroes, and only 42 years old, could have gone out of business just three years after saddling his last Grade 1 winner, Defy Logic, at the Leopardstown Christmas festival in 2013.

So how is it that such a talented trainer, with a superb record of big-race winners and so many good years ahead of him, was almost forced out of the sport?

“We had no horses,” Nolan explained.

“We had such small numbers. We were buying youngsters at three years of age, expecting them to come out and work wonders as four-year-olds. It just doesn’t work that way. So we had very little ammunition, and the ones that we had were very big, backward type horses that were not going to the track as four-yearolds. There’s no way I’d point the finger at anyone other than ourselves.

“The owners that were still with us were actually breeding horses, and we were looking after their horses from foals

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CAROLINE NORRIS

Plenty in store for trainer Nolan S

Paul Nolan came close to joining colleagues who have quit the game

“You can never get cocky at this game, you never know what’s around the corner” to three-year-olds, but a lot of them, particularly from the Browne family (owners of Irish Gold Cup winner Joncol), happen to be from a very big family – they weren’t going to run early.

“It’s about being patient when an awful lot of people want instant success.”

In 2015, Gigginstown stopped sending horses south, and long-time patron Barry Connell set up his own yard on the Curragh. Des Sharkey, provider of Nolan’s second Cheltenham Festival winner Noble Prince, cut down all numbers and went to Gordon Elliott. This season, breeder Robert Hennelly, an owner with Nolan for a decade-plus, moved to Denis Hogan.

“You can’t criticise people who are as successful at what they do as Gigginstown House Stud,” said Nolan. “I don’t think people left us because Gigginstown did, people are going to go to those having

success – we unfortunately weren’t.”

The 2016-17 season was Nolan’s worst since he saddled his first winner in 1998 – five wins from a mere 138 runners, the first time in 17 years he had sent out fewer than 165 runners. Then the tide changed.

“We changed our long gallop from sand to woodchip,” said Nolan. “It wasn’t the gallop that stopped us having success, but we wanted to do it. It took a while to get used to it, but we have the horses fit on it now. We are doing better. We are confident enough that if a horse came to us, we can help it realise its potential.

Whatever ability is there we can find it.”

The yard is, however, about to enter a quiet period, Nolan saying: “We haven’t got the numbers for the summer. We’ve just three or four owners and without any one of them we would be in trouble.

“Hopefully we’ve youngsters coming forward for next year. We are trying to get back up in numbers, the gates are open, but you have to have success to encourage owners to come to you.”

This continued struggle draws into question why Nolan continues – why he has not pulled up stumps like his peers Colm Murphy, Sandra Hughes and Charlie Swan have done in recent seasons.

He owns the yard and land he trains on.

It has been in his family for generations, operating as a sheep farm in his youth. His assistant trainer and brother James owns further land nearby. Is there not a simpler income to be gleaned from this?

“At the end of the day, it’s what we love doing,” he said. “No way would I go back to farming, because in my opinion it just doesn’t pay. It would be different if you had a dairy farm, with a steady cheque every month, even though it’s tough work.

“But regarding the amount of land we’ve got, thinking you’re going to go into dry stock or tillage or corn – you wouldn’t get a chinese takeaway out of it a week. You’re basically just surviving. You genuinely would be better off on the dole than trying to farm 150 acres of land.”

He concluded: “There’s no rule to this, you can never get cocky at this game, you never know what’s around the corner. We didn’t realise what we had when we had such a good bunch of horses, and all of a sudden the thing turns on its head and from over 100 horses, you’re left with 20.

“You’re putting your hands in the air, going down on one knee and sort of starting to pray again and hope that things will change. Hopefully they are now.”

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GEORGE SELWYN

By Jessica Lamb

Pat Smullen, seen here after winning the Derby on Harzand two years ago, has been diagnosed with a tumour

Jockeys’ health checks in spotlight In the wake of shocking news that nine-time Irish champion Flat jockey Pat Smullen has been diagnosed with a tumour, IRB Chief Medical Officer Dr Adrian McGoldrick has called for yearly health checks for all riders at the Irish Jockeys’ Association AGM. Smullen’s diagnosis at just 40 has rocked the weighing room and wider industry, and though his condition would not have been unearthed during the medical procedures available at an annual check-up, Dr McGoldrick feels it would provide invaluable information to the ongoing health of riders.

“At present, jockeys have medical checks only when they first apply for their licence, and then have yearly checks once they are 35, if they are a National Hunt jockey, and 40 if riding on the Flat,” he said. “I would like to bring in annual health checks that assess mental health, and look at bone density, weight, concussion and any physical problems they may have.

“Aside from the obvious, the main benefit of annual health checks would be to keep highlighting what services are available to all jockeys – from our dietician, to physiotherapist, psychologist, and also the strength and conditioning coaches, which are now all available at RACE as part of the Jockey Pathway.”

Jockeys have welcomed the motion.

Robbie Power said: “I am now of the age

that means I have to have a yearly health check already, but having said that, I think it is a good idea.

“Anything that Dr McGoldrick puts forward is always in the interests of jockeys’ wellbeing and I would support any suggestion he made. No one has done more for the health of jockeys.”

The Jockey Pathway, launched in September last year, offers a suite of professional services to all jockeys, fully funded by CARE, Horse Racing Ireland’s training and education department.

The latest addition to services is a bone density scanner, purchased by the Irish Injured Jockeys’ Fund for €80,000 and recently unveiled. It is free to use for all jockeys.

“Whether we can add yearly health checks to this service will come down to funding,” Dr McGoldrick continued.

“Maybe it could start with every five years and go from there.”

Bone density and dehydration (mainly through poor diet and wasting to make weight) were the key problems Dr McGoldrick identified and targeted early in his tenure as IRB Chief Medical Officer.

Research continues on bone density in jockeys, alongside two further research projects at Waterford IT and the University of Limerick on the physiology of jockeys, and on jockeys’ mental health.

The latter issue Dr McGoldrick sees as the

greatest problem facing Irish jockeys.

“We conduct these research projects to better help jockeys and to understand what is needed,” he said. “In the general population, research has shown that 26% of those aged between 20 and 35, which is the age group of most of our jockeys, show signs of depression.

“They don’t necessarily have depression, but they do present depressive symptoms. In our jockeys it was 57%.”

In response to this statistic, Dr McGoldrick has implemented anxiety and depression testing into every jockey’s baseline concussion test, which occurs every two years.

He added: “Since Mark Enright came forward three years ago, about 40-50 riders have contacted me.

“We have set up the Jockey Pathway to combat this – my mobile number is on there, and all the details of what is available.

“This year we have run a piece about mental health in The Irish Field newspaper every weekend, with an information advert on it, to further highlight what is available and to raise awareness of mental health within the industry.

“A protocol to allow jockeys to ride as normal while prescribed anti-depressants has also been put in place, the British governing bodies reciprocating.”

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PA

Continental Tales

Mickaëlle Michel has taken French racing by storm, emerging from obscurity to head Christophe Soumillon and co in the riders’ standings

Say allo allo to riding sensation Michel FRANCE

T

he big story over the first few months of the French racing year is the incredible ascent of the female jockey Mickaëlle Michel, who has risen from complete obscurity to lead the Flat jockeys’ championship.

Reigning champion Christophe Soumillon has spent much of the period in Dubai and is no longer involved in an ‘I’ll go to any provincial racecourse for a winner’ duel with Pierre-Charles Boudot, a battle that saw him smash the European record for number of winners last season, 305 of them coming on home soil.

But into April and Michel was still clear at the top of the ladder, a remarkable achievement given that as recently as September she was a 22-year-old novice who had notched just a solitary career success some three years earlier.

In truth, Michel’s early twenties were blighted by an injury she sustained while travelling, which meant that she didn’t even apply for her licence in 2016. Yet how any jockey can go from winning on just one of her first 60 mounts to – just a few short months later – being the most in-demand rider in the whole nation, as she has been since the start of the year, is the stuff of fairytales.

Of course, the 2kg (4.4lb) female

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riding allowance, brought in by France Galop on March 1, 2017 has played its part.

Even now, having been to the winners’ enclosure on more than 50 occasions and with that allowance recently cut back to 1.5kg, Michel is still able to claim the regular apprentice allowance on top of her female weight reduction.

Two other women, Delphine Santiago and Coralie Pacaut, are also flourishing in the top 20 of the riders’ standings and nine of the top 50 jockeys are female.

Yet the allowance alone does not explain why Michel has done so well – a huge amount of talent must also be involved.

Her back-story is utterly unremarkable, though some might contest that her lack of racing heritage makes her subsequent meteoric rise all the more amazing. Her family were not racing people at all, she learned to ride at the age of ten and six years later decided to enrol in the AFASEC Jockeys’ School in Marseille.

Then, for five long years, nothing really happened – not many rides, that one victory at the tiny venue of Vesoul, near the Swiss border, and a long injury lay-off.

Michel takes up the story: “Following my injury I didn’t ride through 2016 and I took time to think seriously about my future. Then at the end of 2017 [when she

rode 14 winners during November and December]; that was pure magic!

“My first ride back was in late June at Chantilly racecourse for my new boss David Smaga. I finished fourth on a filly named Private School and from there I met my agent, Frédéric Spanu, who believed in me and my ability to ride in races.

“What happened after is… just unbelievable!”

Soumillon will soon be back in his eight-rides-a-day routine so it is highly likely that Michel’s name will be replaced at the head of the standings come May 1. However that does not mean that she is going to give up, far from it; she comes across as a very determined and energetic young lady.

“My ambitions for this year are to progress every day to increase my ability in order to compete with the best jockeys, and to get rides with the famous stables and then be able to ride in the Classics and Group races,” she says.

“My longer term ambitions are to remain in the top ten in the jockeys’ championship and to travel around the world to ride at the top international meetings.

“In order to succeed, I have to work hard, I have to be convincing, and I have to perform without letting go. I am ready.”

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By James Crispe, IRB

Three strikes and is Klug out?

GERMANY

heartbreak of Erasmus’s injury, he saddled Arcado to a frontrunning success in the Derby Trial at Bremen.

There must have been a bittersweet atmosphere after the race as most of the 8,000 crowd at this traditional fixture was in attendance to show its solidarity for this 112-year old course, which is council-owned and in severe danger of going the same way as Frankfurt, forced into closure last year and currently being transformed into a centre of excellence for the German Football Association.

The threat at Bremen is rather more prosaic – the building of much-needed housing – but the course’s ongoing existence is hanging by a thread.

Klug’s future prospects are rosy by comparison, and he still has a few classy three-year-old bullets left to fire, not just Arcado but also Suada, who chased home Rock My Love in the Winterkonigin. But he will need to unearth some new talent if he is to defend his training title.

One young German trainer worth looking out for in the coming months is Henk Grewe, a former journeyman jockey who is showing signs that he will achieve greater things out of the saddle than he ever did in it.

Grewe (pronounced ‘Grave-er’) managed around 300 winners as a jockey, including a couple of Group 3 successes, and sneaked into the top ten of the German jockeys’ championship on two occasions.

Now 35 and six and a half years on from hanging up his riding boots, he has expanded his Cologne-based training operation to its current strength of 71 horses, sporting the silks of a fine and varied collection of owners.

Last season was his fourth with a training licence and, all too aware of the relatively low level of prize-money on offer at home, he decided to concentrate his attentions on the richer pickings available 125 miles away across the French border.

So, in comparison with his 123 runners in Germany, he had almost exactly 100 more in France, where his 33 winners included a breakthrough Listed success at Deauville in the Prix de Tourgeville, in which his Kendargent colt Farshad was inexplicably gifted a 20-length advantage by his six rivals and never looked like being caught.

Farshad has since been sold to Hong Kong but an emboldened Grewe has continued his French sorties, notching up 14 victories at a superb 32% strike-rate in the first three months of the year, culminating in a Chantilly treble on March 26.

Some of this success may be down to the sand training track at Cologne, which was replaced the previous winter, giving his horses a fitness advantage. Yet with the retired multiple Group 1-winning jockey Terry Hellier as one of his lieutenants, it surely won’t be too long before Grewe is celebrating his first Pattern race success.

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Markus Klug, who was crowned German champion trainer for the third time in four years last term, will do well to retain his crown in 2018 after losing all three of his top two-year-olds from last season, one through injury and the other two having been sold to continue their careers for other trainers.

The misfortune that probably hurt Klug the most befell the colt Erasmus – he was not just the best male juvenile in the yard, he was by a long way the best in Germany and, according to official figures, earned an end-of-year rating of 112, getting him to within a solitary pound of being Europe’s champion twoyear-old of 2017.

An impeccably-bred offspring of the 2011 French Derby winner Reliable Man and the previous year’s German Oaks heroine Enora, Erasmus’s rating was pretty much down exclusively to his brilliant performance in Germany’s top race for junior colts, the Preis des Winterfavoriten, which he won by no less than eight lengths.

So it was no great surprise that he was installed as hot favourite for this year’s German Derby, only for a sesamoid fracture suffered while exercising on Good Friday to rob him of his entire Classic year.

The silver lining to this cloud is that the injury was stable enough to allow him to be transported to Newmarket, where an operation was pronounced a success. It is hoped that he may be able to return to the racecourse in 2019.

The carpet was pulled from under Klug’s feet as far as his top two juvenile fillies were concerned. Narella, who beat the colts to win the Group 3 Zukunftsrennen at Baden-Baden’s flagship early autumn meeting, was sold shortly afterwards to Japan’s leading owner-breeder Teruya Yoshida, and has since joined Roger Varian in Newmarket.

Rock My Love, winner of the top end-of-season race for fillies, the Group 3 Preis der Winterkonigin, has since been acquired by the top American owner-breeder George Strawbridge and sent to Freddy Head. The daughter of Rock Of Gibraltar made an inauspicious start for her new connections when she could finish only sixth of seven runners behind Barkaa in the Group 3 Prix Vanteaux at Longchamp on April 8.

Good Friday was not all bad for Klug as, a few hours after the

Markus Klug: terrible misfortune to lose his three best juveniles from last year and faces tough trainers’ title defence as a result

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Around The Globe

Cost factor in Ascot adventure NORTH AMERICA

By Steve Andersen

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he Americans will return in force to Royal Ascot this June, but the number of runners and depth of the traveling team was a work in progress as of early April.

Judging from results of the last two years, the American team will command attention. The champion mare Tepin won the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes in 2016 for trainer Mark Casse. Last year, trainer Wesley Ward had two wins from ten runners – Lady Aurelia in the Group 1 King’s Stand Stakes and Con Te Partiro’s 20/1 upset in the Sandringham Handicap.

Ward said in early April he was in the midst of forming the group that will travel to England. Casse said he did not have plans for a starter this year. Prominent trainers such as Chad Brown and Graham Motion are unlikely to take part, but Bill Mott was considering the two-time stakes winner Yoshida for the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes on the first day of the meeting on June 19. Todd Pletcher said Gidu, a stakes winner at Tampa Bay Downs in March, may run in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup on June 22.

As those trainers assess their runners against Europe’s finest, the cost of the journey is a prominent aspect of the discussion. It is not cheap to travel from the United States to England, just as expenses are a factor for UK owners and trainers contemplating trips to the United States each autumn for the Breeders’ Cup. Casse suggests his clients budget at least $30,000 in costs for a single runner at Royal Ascot, a price that encompasses travel for the horse and people involved, nomination fees and costs on the ground.

Ward said the Royal Ascot executive will help offset some costs of equine travel for a Group 1 runner, but not for a filly bound for the Sandringham or Queen Mary Stakes.

“Each two-year-old I’ve brought, some of the owners come home with big smiles and some come back with a dent in their pocket,” Ward said. “It’s a little pricey. A lot of the owners are in it for the sport, and they realise it.

“If you do hit the mark, or place, it’s enshrined in their pedigrees and that will substantially increase their value.”

This year, for the first time, the winners of four leading races at Royal Ascot will

Trainer Wesley Ward has had a lot of success at Royal Ascot, but it doesn’t come cheap

“Some owners come home with big smiles, some a dent in their pocket” receive fees-paid berths to Breeders’ Cup races at Churchill Downs on November 2-3, provided the horses are nominated to the Breeders’ Cup programme when preentries are taken in late October.

The winner of the Queen Anne Stakes will receive a berth for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, while the Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner will gain entry for the Turf. The winner of the Norfolk Stakes for twoyear-olds will earn a place in the new Juvenile Turf Sprint, while the winner of the Diamond Jubilee Stakes will receive a berth in the Turf Sprint Ward, 50, is a Royal Ascot veteran.

Since 2009, he has won nine races at the famous meeting. Last year, he had one of his biggest teams, while Casse, Motion,

Mott and Pletcher each sent one runner.

Ward’s experience has given him greater insight into how to plan a horse’s training and how to manage travel costs for his staff, which includes California trainer Blake Heap, who takes a break from his small stable to accompany the Ward horses to England. Heap oversees a small team of exercise riders and grooms.

Ward says his clients share the costs of staff travel.

“You divide it up,” he said. “It’s not like one guy gets the bill. We’ve been lucky in the past. Those that have won or placed are all happy.”

As of early April, Ward was preparing several juveniles for their first starts with a trip to Royal Ascot a possibility. The threeyear-old Hemp Hemp Hurray may run in the Group 1 Commonwealth Cup. A colt

by Artie Schiller, Hemp Hemp Hurray was second in the Grade 2 Summer Stakes at Woodbine last September and won the minor Animal Kingdom Stakes at Turfway Park in Kentucky on March 31.

Casse may miss 2018, but he hopes to return in future season.

“It takes a special horse to go over there,” he said. “Honestly, when I went over there, I didn’t realise what it would end up meaning to me.”

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The Worldwide Racing Scene

‘Colonial’ families in spotlight AUSTRALIA

By Danny Power

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ust like She Will Reign last year, the 2018 $3 million Group 1 Golden Slipper winner Estijaab comes from a famous Australian family founded in the 1800s.

It’s encouraging that these once revered old ‘colonial’ families, despite the flood of international blood washing through our breed in modern times, can remain relevant after nearly 150 years.

Estijaab and She Will Reign trace to imported broodmares who had a profound influence on the thoroughbred breed in this part of the world.

She Will Reign’s pedigree goes back to the imported Touchstone mare Juliet, the dam of four Classic winners, and whose descendants dominated Australian and New Zealand races, including the Melbourne Cup, Derbys and Oaks, between 1870 and 1900.

Estijaab’s imported foundation mare, Chand Beebee, didn’t have the same impact as Juliet, but she was regarded in the early 1900s as one of the great broodmares of her time.

Whereas Juliet’s influence waned for 100 years or so, there has hardly been a decade since Chand Beebee’s arrival from England (in August 1882 aboard the steamer Port Albert as an unraced twoyear-old) that she didn’t appear in the female side of the pedigree of an outstanding galloper.

Her descendants include at least two of Australia’s greatest racehorses; the prolific, enduring champion of the 1920s, Amounis (ten Group 1 wins, Estijaab wins the Golden Slipper under Brenton Avdulla

including a Cox Plate, Caulfield Cup and two Epsom Handicaps), and the flashy chestnut darling of the Australian turf of the early 1960s, Wenona Girl (11 Group 1 strikes from 22 Group wins).

Chand Beebee is the third dam of Amounis and the sixth dam of Wenona Girl. She also is the 12th dam of Estijaab.

Chand Beebee – bred by Queen Victoria at the Royal stud at Hampton Park by the Thames – was bought at auction in England for 50 guineas by Newcastle (NSW) coalmine entrepreneurs, brothers John and William Brown.

John Brown was a reclusive, eccentric fellow who refused interviews with the press and made baffling decisions. He often spent big at the auction houses, locally and overseas, to buy the best bloodstock, but, inexplicitly in some cases, banished the bluebloods to the back paddocks of his farms never to be broken in or bred.

Brown bred and raced the champion colt Prince Foote, winner of the 1909 Melbourne Cup and Victoria and AJC Derbys. Prince Foote was a son of Brown’s imported stallion Sir Foote (a son of 1892 Epsom Derby winner Sir Hugo), who stood at Motto Stud Farm in the early 1900s, after winning the Futurity Stakes, Newmarket Handicap and Doncaster Handicap in a stellar 1902 autumn. Prince Foote went on to sire the champion colt Richmond Main, winner of the AJC Derby and Victoria Derby in 1919.

Chand Beebee was raced by William Brown. She won only one race, at Hawkesbury in 1895.

When Chand Beebee was retired, her first three foals were

bred by John Brown and nothing much became of them. William took over the mare and in 1899 bred the filly Chantress, who won for him the 1903 Newmarket Handicap. Her 1901 filly, Bee Bee, won the 1903 Maribyrnong Plate at Flemington and her 1905 filly, Baw Bee, won the 1907 AJC Breeders’ Plate. Incidentally, her five best racetrack performers were by sons of England’s champion sire St. Simon, although it’s unknown whether this was by clever design or fluked by William Brown.

The old mare, in her 18th year, saved her best to nearly last – a brown colt by Positano, born in 1908, who became the champion stayer, Piastre, winner of the 1912 Melbourne Cup for William Brown.

He continued his investment in thoroughbred breeding by buying the famed Hunter Valley farm, Segenhoe Stud (now Vinery Stud), near Scone, in 1918.

Between them, the brothers, at the height of their involvement in racing, owned more that 500 horses.

Chand Beebee died at Segenhoe Stud in 1920. William died in 1927 and John, who is said to have been Australia’s first millionaire, in 1930.

While the Brown brothers’ thoroughbred interests were dispersed, Chand Beebee’s legacy has carried on to today in a profound way.

Estijaab’s dam Response (by Charge Forward from the Group 1-placed Live It Up, by Match Winner) was a brilliant racehorse, winning twice at Group 1 level before her owners, Barrie and Midge Griffith, sold her to SF Bloodstock at the 2012 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $840,000, which was only $4,000 more than she banked on the racetrack.

Not a bad investment for a $50,000 outlay at the 2008 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.

SF Bloodstock bred two foals out of Response. The first, a filly by Fastnet Rock, sold for $1,050,000 to the China Horse Club in 2015 – named After Call, she won twice from five starts. The second, a colt by Exceed And Excel, didn’t make his reserve at sale and was retained. Named De Gaulle, he showed brilliant form in trials before breaking down unraced.

Newgate sold Response, in foal to champion sire Snitzel (by Redoute’s Choice), at the 2015 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale to the bid of Japan’s Katsumi Yoshida for $1.5m. The resultant filly made $1.7m, from the Arrowfield Stud draft, at last year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, bought

by His Excellency Nasser Lootah, the principal of Emirates Park Stud.

He named her Estijaab, which is Arabic for response.

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Racing Life

Watches

BRAVE NEW BASELWORLD Tag Heuer is at the forefront of bringing traditional horology to contemporary consumers

By Sarah Rodrigues

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n an event that’s renowned as being the international showcase for the inimitable luxury and craftsmanship of the Swiss watch industry, luxury goods colossus LVMH’s head of watches JeanClaude Biver caused more than a ripple of conversation around his claims that Smartwatch manufacturers should be actively welcomed to the event.

Speaking at Baselworld, the annual luxury expo in Switzerland, Biver’s words resonated all the more clearly, since he was one of the main drivers behind the reinvigoration of the Swiss watch industry after it suffered a blow in the form of Japanese battery developments in the early eighties.

Purists, some say, believe that smartwatches, with their focus on connectivity, “aren’t really watches”. Tag has been one of the few Swiss watch brands to incorporate connected-watch technology; it was also revealed that sister company Hublot, which Biver also heads, has produced a Smartwatch which will be worn by referees at this year’s World

Modern and stylish: the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Chronometer

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The TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph GMT: created for the younger generation

Cup. Biver argued that the popularity of Smartwatches with the younger generation is precisely what makes them a force to be harnessed, rather than shunned.

“Apple and Samsung are promoters of the watch because they teach people to wear something on their wrist,” he said. “Imagine a generation who did not wear any watch. It would be much more difficult for us to sell them something.”

TAG Heuer’s 2018 collection, revealed at Baselworld, demonstrated that the focus for the year is very much on the Carrera, which now celebrates its 55th year.

The Carrera Chronograph GMT seems to have been created precisely for the younger generation of whom Biver spoke: it’s described as being an essential tool for those hungry for travel and adventure, with the design codes and DNA of the original 1963 Carrera employed, complete with its ‘3-6-9’ counter layout. The chronograph minutes and hours are at 3 and 9 o’clock, with the permanent small second hand at 6 o’clock and the date window at 4.30, completed by the GMT function – the first time that TAG Heuer has added this complication to one of its manufacture movement.

The second time zone, which can be adjusted by way of the crown, is read

using the lacquered red hand and the blue and black ceramic bezel – smart, strong colours for an intrepid and independent wearer. Optimum legibility is ensured by ingenious mounting of the GMT hand: its secondary position, between the hour and minute hands, allows it to glide over the indexes and GMT scale.

Water resistant to 100 metres, and worn on a steel bracelet or rubber strap, the Heuer 02 manufacture movement is housed inside a solid 45mm case and visible through the skeleton dial.

Another Carrera unveiled at this year’s Baselworld was the ‘Tête de Vipère’ Chronograph Tourbillon Chronometer.

The ‘Tête de Vipère’ stamp of excellence – which involves rigorous testing over 16 days, five positions and three temperatures – is rarely awarded; this is the first TAG watch to receive the certification and one of only 500 to have been awarded it since 2006. Available in a limited edition of 155 pieces (in recognition of the 55th anniversary), it features two of the most revered complications of traditional watchmaking – namely a tourbillon and chronograph – but set within a contemporary design incorporating a midnight blue ceramic case, black alligator strap and polished, brushed and bead-blasted finishes. www.tagheuer.com

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Cognac

CRYSTAL CLEAR As LOUIS XIII opens its Harrods boutique, Sarah Rodrigues looks at the cognac’s inimitable legacy

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n writing this month’s largely alcoholinfused pages, it’s become more apparent than ever that true pleasure in drinking comes as much from the fundamental elements of the drink itself, as it does from the occasions it lubricates and the stories it unravels and gives rise to. By ‘fundamental,’ I mean not only its chemical components or, for instance, its balance and aroma, but also the ‘essence’ of the drink: its history and its narrative.

Not judging a wine by its label is common wisdom; but what of a cognac and its decanter? Each iconic LOUIS XIII vessel is handcrafted by French crystal workers; the contents are no less meticulously created over the course of four generations and over 100 years.

Blends are cellar-stored in oak barrels and tasted annually to assess the aging process and, in finishing a blend, the Cellar Master – an esteemed position, which is currently held by Baptiste Loiseau – draws upon a meticulously selected collection of eaux-de-vie, resulting in a blend of up to 1,200, ranging in age from 40 to over 100 years old. In London in 2016 Sotheby’s sold a magnum of LOUIS XIII for £188,000, making it one of the most expensive bottles of cognac ever sold.

Only a spirit with such remarkable heritage could so comfortably inhabit 30 sqm in Harrods’ new wine and spirits department: LOUIS XIII has recently opened its first European boutique in this temple of luxury. Far from being a mere point of retail, an experience is created for the client which immerses them into the LOUIS XIII world.

Design is, of course, key to the endeavour: think chalky terroir evoked by use of limestone, copper reminiscent of the stills and oak, artfully employed to summon up images of the ancient casks. Glass and crystal scatters light and recalls the elegance of decanters; the vision behind the space comes from RDAI, the renowned luxury design and architecture firm, which counts the flagships of such design luminaries as Hermes and Ellie Saab among their past coups.

The LOUIS XIII boutique in Harrods – a luxurious setting for the world-class cognac

Encapsulating the centrality of storytelling, the boutique has as its centrepiece The Century Wheel, a light wheel which rotates through the history of LOUIS XIII. Varying and deepening hues represent the maturation process in the surrounding glass bricks – there are 1,200 of them;

LOUIS XIII is “an exception in the world of spirits, an icon of French art de vivre”

the number itself harks back to the number of eaux-de-vie which each decanter may contain.

“LOUIS XIII is an exception in the world of spirits, it’s now an icon of French art de vivre and excellence,” says Ludovic du Plessis, LOUIS XIII Global Executive Director. “We think a century ahead as each decanter is the life achievement of generations of cellar masters.”

Each cellar master carefully sets aside the finest eaux-de-vie as a legacy to future successors, resulting in a cognac that’s said to evoke myrrh, dried roses, leather, figs, cigar box, honeysuckle and passionfruit.

“A boutique allows us to offer our clients the ultimate retail experience,” says Eric Vallat, CEO of the House of Rémy Martin. “Whether they are connoisseurs or sensitive to craftsmanship and exception, quality and history, our clients are not merely looking for a product. They want to experience the brand. LOUIS XIII has the ability to change the rules of the game in our industry, to resonate beyond cognacs and dialogue directly with its valued clients.” www.remymartin.com www.harrods.com

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Racing Life

Fine Wine

Liquid Narratives Sarah Rodrigues discovers that good wine is as much about the stories it tells, as the stories it encourages you to spill

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amplight illuminates the swirling descent of snowflakes outside the Royal Society of Chemistry; the cold snap, dubbed ‘The Beast from the East’, has wintered the footpaths and given London a Christmas card appearance that’s at least two months too late. People slip-slide awkwardly as they make their way to the station; it’s a night for getting home as quickly as possible and hoping that tomorrow the snow is even heavier, or completely gone – depending on the direction to which your feelings about getting to work tend.

Unless, that is, you have a 2015 Bordeaux on your mind: wine merchants Justerini & Brooks are holding one of their regular tastings here tonight and, perhaps contrary to weather-based expectations, it’s drawn a crowd. Availed of note-making materials, invited guests take a glass and make their way around the venue, sampling the wines of makers such as Château Lafleur, Château Beychevelle and Vieux Château Certan. Standing in line for the cloakroom later on (the conditions outside are making people take rather longer than usual to re-robe) the talk is lively and overwhelmingly approving.

“Bordeaux fell out of favour for a few years,” explains Giles Burke-Gaffney, Buying Director of Justerini & Brooks.

“2009 produced some highly reputed vintages and prices soared – possibly a little too much. In the years that followed the bubble burst: prices were still reasonably high but the quality wasn’t as strong and it soured confidence in the product. Consequently, the 2014 vintage wasn’t hyped – the wines were actually really very good, but people were still steering clear of it.”

Convinced of the strength of the product, Justerini & Brooks went out on what Burke-Gaffney describes as “a bit of a limb,” promoting the vintage and sharing their faith – and the following vintages have lived up to that confidence. Prices have, accordingly, risen again, but in a more measured, “not unreasonable” way.

Giles Burke-Gaffney has been with the company for upwards of 20 years; having started out as a cellar hand, he has developed his tasting skills and palate, and now heads up a buying team of five, spending a great deal of his time travelling between vineyards, primarily in Europe.

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Bordeaux fell out of favour for a few years but is making a comeback with some quality vintages selling at reasonable prices

The history of the company is even more impressive: first established in 1749, it occupied a site in Pall Mall for around 200 years before a short stint in Bond Street and then, as of the late 1960s, its current location in Green Park. They were awarded their first Royal Warrant by King George III in 1761, and by every successive monarch since. Fittingly, for a merchant with such royal credentials, Justerini & Brooks have sponsored several polo tournaments and tours; 1992’s J&B Polo team, which was victorious in the J&B Pro International Polo Tournament, was captained by HRH Prince Harry’s former coach James Lucas.

The dining room upstairs at their Mayfair premises has even played host to the Queen Mother.

This dining room is the setting for client meals – “drinking, dining and discovery,” as Burke-Gaffney puts it. “Building

Justerini & Brooks: head to St James’s Street in Piccadilly for some fine wines

relationships with our clients and suppliers is central to what we do,” he explains.

Getting to know customers and what they like is entwined with his primary advice, which is to buy what you love drinking, according to your palate – not solely for investment.

“Acquaint yourself with your merchants, go to tastings, deal with people who know you and can advise you according to your own tastes - in ten to 15 years, if you find that you have too much of a particular wine then you can sell a couple a cases,” he points out. “But don’t stock your cellar purely on the basis of possible future returns; keep it balanced and, over time, you’ll get to see what you have too much of.”

Of course, not everyone has a cellar in which to store their wines, which is why Justerini & Brooks offer a storage solution by way of Cellarers. With the company both legally and physically separate from Justerini & Brooks, clients have peace of mind about their stores, not least because the company individually lands, assigns and labels each case of wine to the specific customer, ensuring that every case purchased is exactly the same as the one that’s ultimately delivered.

Rigorous shipment and storage conditions are also adhered to so that quality is not compromised.

As the experience with Bordeaux demonstrates, Justerini & Brooks are no strangers to flying the flag for lessersung or out-of-favour heroes. In the early nineties, when the fashion, where Italian

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Property wines was concerned, was for Tuscany, the company started championing Piedmont: their recommendations, especially in the last five years, have really started paying off - 2010, in particular, says Burke-Gaffney, was an important year, and 2014, which is about to be released, is a beautiful vintage.

“The Piedmontese winemakers are great ambassadors for the region,” he says. “These are wines that age well and production is on an even smaller scale than Burgundy; recently being made a UNESCO World Heritage Site is also having a great

effect. New generations of producers and drinkers are having an impact as well; there’s an experimental attitude that’s equally as open to Barolo and Barbaresco as to Burgundy and Bordeaux.

“People go out more, they travel more, they have greater access to technology and therefore knowledge – and they have more of an interest in provenance.”

Provenance is a large part of what makes wine as alluring as it, according to Burke-Gaffney – and it’s another reason why he advises buying for enjoyment,

rather than investment. “Wine is about stories in a way that money or stocks isn’t,” he says. “It’s living and breathing, it says something about the terroir from which it came, there’s a capriciousness to it that’s exciting. There’s a saying, ‘There are no great wines, only great bottles’, and that’s true: it’s not just about the wines but about the occasions when and the circumstances under which you drink them.”

Justerini & Brooks 61 St James’ Street, London, SW1A 1LZ www.justerinis.com

THE GRAPE ESCAPE

Sarah Rodrigues looks at properties for the oenophile, at home and abroad

A stunning Montpellier chateau set in 165 hectares can be yours for €13 million – vineyard included

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he combination of overseas property and winemaking is unmistakably alluring – it smacks of sun-dappled glamour and repleteness. For anyone who’s ever wandered the rows of a vineyard and looked forward to that first preprandial glass, being in possession of one’s own vineyard may have seemed like a large step from wine tourism. And yet – in much the same way as you might receive the offer of a second glass – why not?

In the last six months of 2017 British buyers led the search for overseas wine properties, accounting for 44% of all enquiries through property agents FrenchEntrée. Although corporate buyers form a proportion of these, there are, equally, a number of properties more favourably priced for the individual – those attracting enquiries though FrenchEntrée between May and October 2017 ranged in value from €360,000 to €50 million.

Around 35% of prospective buyers are seeking properties in the Bordeaux region; not only because it’s well known and therefore has the ‘safety’ of familiarity, but because there are simply more vineyards and, therefore, more choice across a range of budgets. The Burgundy region has a huge weighting towards inheritance making it all but impossible to buy into, meaning that it barely blips on the buying radar – but Provence and Languedoc Roussillon are also areas attracting buyer interest.

“Much of the time the decision on area is led by budget,” says Annick Dauchy, Property Business Development Manager at FrenchEntrée. “You can still pick up a vineyard in the Bordeaux or Languedoc area for less than €2 million… buyers have plenty of choice – there’s a property to suit each buyer’s circumstances.”

And as for know-how? There’s less of that than there is liquid

assets, it seems – 81% of prospective buyers intend to fund their purchase with cash, but with owners willing to facilitate instructional handover periods, and existing workers happy to retain their employment, lack of experience is less of a problem than you might expect. Current offerings include, at the higher end, a Montpellier chateau and vineyard; its whopping 165 hectares comes with a similarly substantial €13m price tag. Still in the Languedoc Rousillon area, but less intimidating, in terms of both size and price, is a seven-bedroom home for €400,000; its three hectares of vines puts it at just one-fifth of a vineyard’s average minimum.

Less interested in the grapes than in the wine? From country home innovators Quada comes the award-winning Harford Manor, priced at £30m, which is set within a 40-acre estate in prime polo territory outside Windsor, less than 30 miles from central London. A 1,000-bottle wine cellar is just the start of it: the external areas comprise full equestrian facilities, with full indoor and outdoor ménages and currently stabling for ten horses (although there’s scope to extend this to 25). Further available for inclusion are a stick ‘n’ ball polo pitch, outdoor polo arena and canter track.

Inside, there are six large, en-suite bedrooms, plus library, dining and entertaining space and two kitchens. Relaxation is a certainty, with a spa, Jacuzzi, sauna, 12-metre indoor pool, fullyequipped gym, entertainment room with a pool table and stateof-the art cinema room all on the premises – and with private garage housing eight cars and a private helicopter landing area you’re in no danger of ever knocking around on your own. www.frenchentree.com • www.quada.co.uk

Harford Manor: set within a 40-acre estate in prime polo territory outside Windsor

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Racing Life

ROYAL ASCOT: dress to impress

By Christopher Modoo Christopher Modoo is a men’s style expert and has conducted suit fittings in both Buckingham and Beckingham Palace. He is often quoted in the press on matters of etiquette and correct dress, and writes a regular feature for the online edition of The Rake magazine

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he dress code at Royal Ascot (June 19-23) always receives good press.

This year the focus was on socks, with the organisers insisting that they should be worn! This has taken away from the articles and conversations about hemlines and fascinators that usually dominate the articles.

The dress for the Royal Enclosure at Royal Ascot remains morning dress. This archaic expression is code for formal day dress and it is required due to the attendance of the monarch or a senior member of the Royal family in their presence. For this reason, it is also worn at state occasions such as the opening of parliament or an investiture.

The main element of morning dress is, of course, the morning coat that became fashionable as an alternative to the fustier frock coat in the early part of the last century. It was Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, who abolished the frock coat from court in 1936 and thus promoted the morning coat to be the most formal expression of civilian male dress and the daytime equivalent of ‘white tie and tails’. Serving members of the military are permitted to wear their equivalent dress uniforms but it is important to remember that morning dress is not a uniform and should be approached with an attitude of elegance and discreet self-expression.

There are a number of ways that the well-dressed modern gentleman can be correctly and appropriately dressed without resorting to costume.

An important aspect is the choice of neckwear. ‘Cravats’ have been banned, so a regular tie should be worn. This should be a woven design in some sort of check or an expensive foulard from Hermes.

Your knot is a matter of personal choice but I prefer a neatly tied four-in-hand, also known as the ‘schoolboy’, but some prefer the symmetry of the Windsor knot.

Of course, the collar should be turneddown and not a wing and I strongly

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recommend wearing a proper starched collar for the occasion. They are much smarter and, thanks to the success of recent period dramas, still available to purchase. There are even traditional laundries that can clean, starch and polish collars. If you are wearing a starched collar with studs, I would always recommend wearing a coloured shirt to complement the contrasting textures. Sky blue and baby pink are elegant choices in fine stripes or checks. If you insist on wearing a soft-collar, at least pick a traditional shape such as a cutaway.

The sleeves of your shirt should be closed with cufflinks and you are permitted to wear a stick-pin in your tie.

The stick-pin would have been worn with the (now contraband) cravat but can be used to create a favourable arch in your neck-tie and should be placed just below the dimple. Do not wear a tie-bar as they are redundant when a waistcoat is worn.

Which brings us elegantly on to the vest (as we call it on Savile Row). Please keep it simple; those fancy numbers that were worn in the 1990s and noughties should remain in Richard Curtis movies.

A well-cut plain to match or contrast the coat is always preferable and it must be long enough to cover the waistband of the trousers. Double-breasted models with ample lapels always look dashing but please button up all the buttons.

There has been a modern trend to leave the bottom one undone, as a nod to the apocryphal tale of King Edward VII and his expanding girth. On a well-fitting single-breasted model, it is a matter of choice – some tailors will create a model where the last button can’t be fastened.

There are a wide range of trousering cloths available for morning dress as well as the conventional grey and black stripes.

Houndstooth checks and glen plaids are entirely appropriate with or without turnups and I would encourage you to wear

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Royal Ascot Special

The gentleman’s etiquette guide to the Royal Enclosure

The Expert View...

Dominic Sebag-Montefiore of Edward Sexton The best way to stand out at Royal Ascot, as with any occasion when wearing tailoring, is cut. There is nothing more refined and elegant than a beautiful fitting morning suit with balanced proportions. Keep it simple and keep it chic. If you want a bit of detail, a nice tone on tone braid on the jacket can emphasise the lines of the jacket.

The worst mistake a man can make with morning dress is allowing a gap between the bottom of the waistcoat and the top of the trousers showing the shirt. This just ruins the line. Flat board ready to wear and hire morning suits are not nearly as nice as a more shaped garment. www.edwardsexton.co.uk

Antonia Ede of Montague Ede

OLIVER BROWN is an official licensee of Royal Ascot. Proprietor Kristian Ferner Robson has some strong views on what a gentleman should and shouldn’t wear in the Royal Enclosure. We particularly like his ‘don’ts’. You have been warned!

DO . . .

• Wear black or grey morning dress • Wear a single or double-breasted waistcoat. When wearing a single-breasted waistcoat ensure the bottom button is left undone. When wearing a double-breasted waistcoat you can button all the way up • Show three-quarter inch of cuff

Keep it classic – make sure that what you are wearing fits: trousers the right length, cuff on show (but not too much) and NO shirt sticking out between vest and trousers! The morning suit is arguably one of the smartest pieces of menswear often worn (white tie being slightly less regular!), so making sure you have a properly starched collar, clean cuffs and polished shoes is a must. Dress slips are very affordable, and easy to attach to a vest with buttons, really taking the outfit up a notch. Subtle details, such as silk braiding or turned back (lapped) cuffs are brilliantly understated, and signs of bespoke garments. Vintage shops are a great place to find old (often barely worn) morning suits looking for a new lease of life.

Please avoid loud waistcoats. The sharpest and most elegant dressers are often the most understated; buff, grey or pale yellow vests with slips look totally timeless. Don’t be afraid to veer away from striped trousers, but make sure they go with the rest of the outfit. Rather than big statement accessories, keep it subtle: a vintage tie pin and white pocket square is more than enough to complement the look, no need for heavy watch chains or bling. www.montagueede.com braces. They will keep your shirt in place all day and are supremely comfortable.

With all the options available to the gentleman it is little wonder that morning dress is gaining female attention. In 2017 Daisy Knatchbull of Savile Row tailors Huntsman created history by being the first lady to wear traditional morning dress in the Royal Enclosure in the most elegant and respectful way. An example to us all.

Please enjoy the occasion – and do not forget your socks! www.huntsmansavilerow.com

• Ensure your jacket tail is half an inch above the back of the knee • Wear your top hat flat on the head • Wear black shoes. Loafers, lace ups and tassel loafers are acceptable • Wear braces so your trousers are above your hips; buttons or clips are fine to use, however buttons are preferable • Try different colours, however remember if you have a brighter tie or pocket square then you should keep your waistcoat subtle and vice-versa • Gentlemen may remove top hats within a restaurant, a private box, a private club or that facility’s terrace, balcony or garden • Tie a Windsor knot in your silk tie • Your waistcoat should be flush or below the top of your trousers – you shouldn’t be able to see your shirt untucked

DON’T . . .

• Wear a customised top hat (with, for example, coloured ribbons or bands) – these are NOT permitted in the Royal Enclosure • Wear your top hat tilted • Place your top hat on its crown when taken off • Wear shoes without socks • Wear a cravat • Wear sunglasses • Reshape or stretch your top hat.

• Remove your jacket within the Royal Enclosure • Have a gap between waistcoat and trousers • Wear brown shoes • Wear a wing collar shirt

For all your Royal Ascot kit, from bespoke suit to collar stud, visit Oliver Brown on Lower Sloane Street. They also have one of the best collections of original vintage silk top hats. www.oliverbrown.org.uk

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The Big Interview

Archie an

ACE Archie Watson has made an exceptional start

to his training career, with horses like Corinthia Knight showcasing his ability to get the best out of his string, but his drive to succeed will ensure there is no resting on laurels this year Words: Julian Muscat Photos: George Selwyn

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or trainers driven by ambition, these are difficult times in which to make an impact. The big Newmarket batteries are augmented on Britain’s racetracks by the best from Ballydoyle, which enjoyed a record-breaking 2017.

This promotes a trickle-down effect across the scale. Stakes races represent something of a glass ceiling for most young licence holders, yet Archie Watson has made such a splash since he started 18 months ago that he has long since broken through.

By any yardstick, Watson’s progress has been striking. It first gained momentum on the back of horses deemed surplus to the requirements of others. Horses like six-year-old Brandon Castle, who ran 19 times without success before he joined Watson, and who has since improved his official rating by 34lb in winning six races.

The last trainer to revive jaded older horses with similar aplomb was David O’Meara. It is a particular skill, yet many who possess it do not fare as well with horses they buy as yearlings. Yet Watson has already answered that question too.

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Corinthia Knight gilded a remarkably successful all-weather campaign when he landed the 32Red 3 Year Old All-Weather Championship Conditions Stakes in March. Watson bought the son of Society Rock for €15,000 as a yearling and the colt has now banked small change short of £200,000. More importantly, however, his triumph made an attractive statement about his trainer.

Prize-money at the All-Weather Championships invariably draws the bigger stables out of hibernation. They duly aligned against Corinthia Knight, yet Watson’s horse had achieved so much that he was sent off a hot favourite at 5/4. It is one thing to start favourite for a £150,000 race; it is quite another to win it. Watson was more than a match for the challenge.

“I’d been saying all along that the race on finals day would be perfect for him,” says Watson. “I did feel a bit of pressure on the day because Corinthia was favourite, but, in terms of getting him ready, he is just a really tough horse who thrives on his racing. We do very little with him at home.”

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Archie Watson

Archie Watson has not had a licence long but has already passed the breakthrough stage

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The Big Interview The Watson string returns from exercise, main image, and right, the trainer with star sprinter Corinthia Knight

Corinthia Knight’s triumph couldn’t ›› quite secure his trainer the accolade of leading all-weather trainer. Watson gave best narrowly to Mick Appleby, although it was never the intention to try to top the pile.

“We started to take notice only in February,” he says. “We gave it a good crack from there; we trained at 24% [winners-to-runners] over the whole winter and there wasn’t anything more we could have done with our small team.

Mick had a great final month and just pipped us.”

At that point most fledgling trainers would have been happy to pause and draw breath. Not Watson. His rapid rise means that he has bigger fish to fry. Most of his all-weather horses will be roughed off while he calibrates plans for a different set. The man who started with only

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three horses in October 2016 now has a separate string for the turf season.

“The winter was good but it’s important we kick on again on the turf,” he says. “We had a good turf season last year: we trained 19 winners at 20%. We started this turf season ahead of schedule, but then we do have more horses.”

It is clear that Watson, 29, keeps a close eye on his numbers. They tumble from his mouth as he outlines his achievements to date. He is a meticulous planner. Beneath an outwardly calm exterior is a restless mind.

He admits to living and breathing his business more than he should. “My main fault is that I’m a bit too racing-obsessed,” he says. “I’m thinking about race planning in the evenings when I should be relaxing.

I get told off by Claire the whole time.”

Watson met Claire Short when the pair

worked in Newmarket: she for Robert Cowell and he for William Haggas, to whom he was assistant for five years before he set up shop in Lambourn.

The two operate closely in tandem, although their union has no official status.

“I constantly get told off for that too,” Watson says with a smile.

Haggas is one of a number of prominent industry figures Watson has served under, both at home and abroad.

He also aligned himself with Blandford Bloodstock when enrolled at Edinburgh University, and has invaluable experience of having worked on stud farms – notably Shadwell and Windsor Park, in New Zealand.

But his most formative experience was the two-year stint he spent in South Africa, where he ran the satellite yard of local training legend Alec Laird. With Laird

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Archie Watson operating primarily out of Johannesburg, Watson was largely responsible for training and saddling the stable’s runners in Durban.

“That’s where I learnt the most,” he reflects. “Alec is a fantastic trainer; the best horseman I have ever worked for.

When you are an assistant running your own yard, it is like training but without the financial pressures and pressure from owners. I was insulated from all of that.

“I’m sure I made plenty of mistakes,” he continues. “There were times at the races when jockeys would jump off and say the horse wasn’t quite fit enough, or whatever.

That’s why I was able to learn so much.”

Laird’s influence over the young Watson was profound. The man who tutored a South African icon in London News trains with a finely calibrated eye that misses very little, if anything at all.

“I developed my instinct to train from Alec,” Watson says. “I’d set up a work morning when he came down to visit, and he’d ask the rider to lift up his horse’s sheet before deciding the horse didn’t need to work that morning, even though he’d wanted to work it. He is very natural and intuitive that way.”

Those self-same tenets govern Watson’s approach to training. There is no set routine; each horses is trained individually, with Lambourn’s array of gallops ensuring that the whim of just about any horse can be catered for.

“I’m probably slightly Luddite in that

I don’t like using heart monitors, GPS trackers, that sort of thing,” Watson says.

“I prefer to train by eye and my feel for a horse, and also what my riders tell me.

“I’ve got a great team of riders. They can tell me a lot more about a horse than a device telling you your horse has just gone 39.6mph in its gallop, and that its heart rate went above 140.”

“Alec Laird is a fantastic trainer; the best horseman I have ever worked for” A distinct feature of Watson’s horses is that they hold their form for uncommonly long periods. “People ask me how we do it,” he says. “I don’t have the answer to that; it’s not really something I can quantify. David Simcock always said to me that fit and happy horses win races. That is what we are trying to achieve here.”

Corinthia Knight is a case in point.

The three-year-old debuted in April last year, since when he has run another 12

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The Big Interview

Archie Watson

Great partnership with Eddie Greatrex

Eddie Greatrex arrived at Saxon Gate Stables in March last year and immediately impressed with his work ethic. The young apprentice was at a pivotal stage: he was 25 winners away from shedding his claim and needed a suitable platform to take his career forward.

“He comes in here four days a week to ride out and he has taken the opportunity,” Watson says. “As stable jockey he rides the majority – although I still use Oisin Murphy and Luke Morris when they are available. I like having a core of jockeys who know my horses, and know how I like them to be ridden.”

For Greatrex, the association could not have come at a more opportune time. “After I left Andrew Balding’s I didn’t ride a winner for five months,” he reflects. “Every young jockey knows that the transition from apprentice is very hard. I saw that for myself, but Archie gave me chances as soon as I came here. It took a while before I rode my first winner for him, but he stuck by me.”

The consequence is that Greatrex’s confidence has soared. “Archie lets me ride in some stakes races so I am busier than ever,” he says. “I’m a different jockey now. The best part is that we are a young team full of new ideas. Morale in the yard is good.”

The son of Lambourn trainer Warren, Greatrex has posted seasonal totals in the mid-30s for the last three years. He seems sure to leave that well behind in 2018, having passed the 20-mark before March was out.

“Archie has routines with each horse down to a tee,” the jockey says. “His horses are always very fit and they look well. If there is half a length to be found in any horse, he will find it. It has been a great help to me that he is so loyal.”

So much so that Watson entrusted Greatrex with two rides aboard Corinthia Knight this winter. The combination obliged both times. “It’s difficult to explain what that does for your morale,” Greatrex says. “I wouldn’t swap my job with anyone.”

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times, including a fine fourth place on the Breeders’ Cup undercard at Del Mar in November. He also picked off a Listed race at Chantilly in March.

Corinthia Knight has become the yard’s flagbearer. High-profile horses like him attract attention, and the racing community will equate how he fares with the prowess of his trainer when he is up against the big boys. It will be a demanding examination, yet Watson exudes a quiet confidences. It speaks well of him that he has unearthed a horse of such calibre so early in his career.

Most of what Watson does is geared towards the future. He has a two-month plan for every horse at Saxon Gate, a small yard next to Rhonehurst where Fulke Walwyn and Mick Channon were previous occupants.

He now has around 70 in training, and is adding 60 new boxes at Iveagh Barns, across the road from his main yard, which has scope for another 30 within an existing framework that can be erected at short notice.

Meanwhile, the human infrastructure has an accent on youth. Few fledgling yards have their own stable jockey, yet Watson has installed 19-year-old Eddie Greatrex alongside a couple of apprentices. Hollie Doyle, who has started riding out once a week, is also expected

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to take mounts for the stable this year.

“Around 95% of the staff are under 35,” Watson says. “I also like using young jockeys because we do things our way, not how other people do them. The idea is that we can all develop together as a team.”

“You don’t really run into people here and the atmosphere is nice and quiet” Despite having worked solely in Newmarket, Watson was sold on a move to Saxon Gate as soon as he saw the place. He’d looked without success for a suitable yard in Newmarket and was pleasantly surprised by his first visit to Upper Lambourn.

“I’m not knocking Newmarket, but I find it is getting a bit overcrowded in terms of human, horse and car traffic,”

he says. “There are public gallops here but it is almost like having your own. You don’t really run into other people and the atmosphere is nice and quiet. It seems to suit horses coming out of big yards [which Watson has generally excelled with].”

It is testament to what Watson has achieved to date that some prominent owner-breeders are patronising him – among them Philippa Cooper’s Normandie Stud, Nurlan Bizakov’s Hesmonds Stud and Al Asayl Bloodstock, which has been with him from the start.

They will provide Watson with the sort of quality he will require in the quest to raise his sights. He relishes the prospect, although there is no discernible sense of impetuousness about him. He is also confident in the young horses he purchased at public auction, from where so much of his success has emanated.

“Having bought our first lot of yearlings last autumn, the quality is definitely up across the board,” he says.

“We didn’t even spend more money [than the previous year]; the vast majority cost between ten and 30 grand.”

Needless to say, as with everything else, Watson was instrumental in deciding which yearlings to buy. He is backing himself to the hilt. The early returns suggest he is in the right business.

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Talking To...

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Richard Adam Beschizza Kingscote

Ink him in as a jockey to

NOTE Richard Kingscote’s tattoos and love of motorbikes mark him out as a

jockey with a difference but so too does his talent and 100-plus winner seasons, campaigns unlikely to be the ceiling given his strong backing Interview: Tim Richards Photos: George Selwyn

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hat do you recall of your first involvement with horses, helping with 30 ponies giving rides to holidaymakers on Weston-superMare beach?

That was following a few years as a kid having pony lessons, in exchange for looking after them in the morning. Then I moved on to the beach. I would be on a horse for six to eight hours a day in the holidays and weekends, which gave me a feel for riding when I was 14 or 15. They were all very quiet horses and I didn’t start falling off until I got on racehorses.

Your early journey took you through the British Racing School and on to

Roger Charlton’s stable. Were they good learning curves?

I wasn’t bred into racing. My mum had heard about the Racing School, which was and is a great place to find out what racing is all about. They look after you and find you a job at the end. Being on ponies and messing about on the beach is a completely different ball game to riding out in a racing yard on racehorses and looking after them. There was a lot to learn and for the first six months at Roger’s I was dreadful. Falling off or being run away with every other day. Mr Charlton had a lot of patience; I started in the November and the following spring he was letting me ride work, which was

great. As I gained more experience he put me on horses like Patavellian [winner of the Stewards’ Cup and Prix de l’Abbaye], which was a massive boost.

You are now riding 100 winners a year as stable jockey to Tom Dascombe. Can you explain your boss’s influence in the development of your career?

I’ve been riding for Tom almost 11 years.

More than anything, Tom being confident in me gave me confidence. Backing me early on in my career when I was still claiming was a big help; he gave me the belief in myself to go out and ride in races without worrying if I was doing the right thing. He put me up on everything when

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Talking To...

“A horse could have the talent of Frankel, but if he doesn’t try he’ll never show it” ›› he was training 30 horses and now it’s

more like 100-plus. We have built a trust in each other. I know how he wants his horses ridden, but if things don’t go to plan I can do what I want with Tom knowing I’ll be doing my best whatever the situation. He gives me guidelines with different horses rather than tying me down with strict instructions. When I go up to Cheshire from my home near Lambourn to ride out I stay with Tom and we might go out for dinner. Each Chester or Haydock meeting I might be staying there for the week.

Your success on Michael Owen’s Brown Panther, trained by Dascombe, has been well documented. You won the Irish St

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Leger and Dubai Gold Cup on him. What made Brown Panther so special?

The fact that he tried every time he went out on to the track. You knew he was always going to do his absolute best.

He would run through a wall for you. A horse could have the talent of Frankel, but if he doesn’t try he’ll never show it when it matters. Brown Panther was very consistent in Group races and for a stayer he had a lot of speed and he used that speed to put his races to bed at the crucial moment. That turn of foot he possessed in those top long-distance races made all the difference.

Richard Kingscote riding out on the much-missed Brown Panther, while below he wins on the promising juvenile Jackstar at the Craven meeting at Newmarket

His death at the Curragh must have been hard to accept, for you, the owner and the stable. How did you manage to move on after such a tragic event?

It was very hard because I became very attached to Panther. I will always owe him a lot and I did find it very difficult when he wasn’t there. A lot of the lads in the yard were very upset as well because he was there such a long time and they had become very close to him. He was with us for five years, a bit of a character and a nice horse to have around the place, even without his fantastic ability. With Michael breeding him it had a big effect on him as well as his parents, who were also involved. it was a big blow to all of us. Unfortunately,

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Richard Kingscote

it does happen in racing and you have to crack on, do the best you can and try to find another Brown Panther.

You returned from serious injury in a fall at Wolverhampton to partner Brown Panther in Dubai, 2015. Did you ever think two punctured lungs, an elbow broken in five places, together with plates in your left wrist, arm, elbow and right collarbone would end your career?

No, I never felt it would end my career, though the elbow was the major problem because they had to put in a lot of metal work to secure it. I suppose if the elbow had been irreparable it might have been a different story, but the surgeons were great. My immediate worry was that I wouldn’t be able to ride Black Panther in Dubai because of the healing process. The surgeon wanted to take the metalwork out before I returned to racing but that couldn’t be done in time for Dubai.

However, he agreed to leave the metalwork in and let me get back to riding with it and then take it out a year later. The elbow held up very well and it was no problem.

Everyone says I’m not an up and down

person, just pretty level and, living round the corner from Oaksey House, I managed to keep my head up. I was in Oaksey House every day, rehabbing and working out in the gym. The hardest part was the first week in hospital, realising that my arm might never be the same. Fortunately, it was fine.

Ashleigh, my wife, stayed in hospital with me because I couldn’t eat anything.

My mother-in-law was looking after our eldest, Sebastian, who was quite badly affected because his mum and dad had suddenly disappeared for a couple of weeks.

You lost a lot of weight as a result of that accident. How is your weight nowadays and what is your fitness regime?

I’ve made life difficult for myself the last couple of years. I started on a healthy regime and became quite light and, because I enjoy weight lifting I thought I’d bulk up, build up the muscle and lose the fat. A year ago I ended up weighing 9st 3lb and was worried about it. I calmed down on the weights over the winter and I’m now between 8st 9lb and 8st 11lb. I have built a

gym inside our garage which I use, while in the summer I’ll go for a run round the different racecourses.

You have appeared on ITV’s Opening Show and also been sponsored by Haydock Park as a guest columnist in the Liverpool Echo. How did you enjoy the experience in front of the cameras?

I was very, very nervous that day because I have never been one for the cameras. Also, I have a dreadful memory so I was quite worried. But to be fair I did quite enjoy the experience and the ITV boys looked after me very well. I’d definitely do it again but I’d need to work on it. I had a brilliant ghost writer for the Liverpool Echo but don’t do that any more. I get on very well with Matt Chapman on ITV and at At The Races.

Although Matt can be bolshie, he’s good fun, people open up to him when he asks tricky questions and I think he’s good at his job.

Would you be in favour of the occasional camera in the jockeys’ room so the racing public at home could join in the weighingroom craic?

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Talking To...

Richard Kingscote years have been my best two years with 113 and 100 winners, so managing the kids couldn’t have been too much of a problem!

Can you give us a two-year-old and threeyear-old to follow this year?

Jackstar, by Dark Angel, is a two-year-old everyone in the yard had been talking about. He duly fulfilled all those hopes by winning at last month’s Craven meeting. I had sat on him very early on and he was already mentally forward then. Now we’re hoping he’ll step up from his win. The three-year-olds are a nice bunch, different from what we’ve had before. Finniston Farm, second in the Free Handicap last month, was very weak last year. He has strengthened up and should go on with that Newmarket run under his belt.

Kingscote and Tom Dascombe have developed an excellent partnership over 11 years

›› We have had it when Channel 4 used to

come in and for the most part the jocks didn’t mind, but then maybe it became a little bit too personal. Racing has become a lot more open to the public – showing the stewards’ inquiries was a big step forward.

I wouldn’t mind a camera occasionally watching us in the jockeys’ room.

You are well known for some amazing tattoos on your body. Why tattoos, and when did you have your first one?

My three elder siblings have them and I remember saying, ‘As soon as I’m 18 I’m going to have a tattoo as well.’ It can be a bit of an addiction and I had an awful lot done in a short time. Now I’ve not had any for five years. The lads used to take the mickey out of me at first when I used to strip off in the weighing room, but now I’ve been around a bit everyone knows me and my tattoos.

Racing is more a way of life than a job.

How do you switch off and what would be the ideal way to spend a day off?

I spend time with the kids, Sebastian, 5, and William, 2. Before we had the children we lived in Cheshire and I used to take my motor bike to Oulton Park or even Donnington Park. Now that side of my life has taken a back seat in favour of the family, which is growing up fast.

You are a motorbike fanatic. Do you still occasionally ride one to beat the traffic to the races?

I hadn’t used my motor bike for a while but now it’s back on the road I’d like to be on it a bit more. The last time I used it for getting from meeting to meeting was after riding on Oaks day at Epsom a couple of years ago. Tom needed me to

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get to Goodwood for the evening meeting and I made it through the traffic – I’m not sure I’d have got there in time by car. It has certainly come in handy. My model is a Yamaha R6, which is plenty powerful enough for me. When I used to ride on the racing tracks I held my own against the bigger bikes because of the favourable weight difference with me being so light.

When the kids start school I’ll think about returning to the track.

Chester and Haydock are two courses local to Dascombe’s Cheshire stables where you excel. How do these two different tracks bring out the best in you?

Chester is very important to the yard and its owners. The way Tom’s horses are ridden works well round the Chester bends. They are positive and quick from the stalls, which is the difference and certainly makes my life a lot easier. It can be tricky on certain horses; you need one that’s well balanced and handles the turns.

Tom sends a lot of nice horses to Haydock as well and there is a knack to riding the round course at Haydock. I’ve been lucky to have had a lot of rides and chances to do different things round there and not always been tied down to orders. Last year paid off with a lot of winners there.

Your wife Ashleigh is a pastry chef and bakes for friends, families and parties while you are permanently galloping round the country. So how do you both cope with two young children at home?

Ashleigh looks after the children all the time and I help out when I’m at home. It is getting easier now that William is that bit older and sleeping through. The early years were demanding trying to juggle our different jobs. To be honest, the last two

What does the future hold for Richard Kingscote – what would you like to achieve in the next five years?

I have never been one for target-setting, just take it as it comes. After all, things can change so quickly in racing. I have been fortunate to ride 100 winners these last two years and I’d like to keep that up with as many Group winners as possible. My career has really started to go the right way, thanks to Tom. I also have support from Ralph Beckett, Sir Michael Stoute and Mark Johnston. The goal is always to ride as many good horses as possible.

CLOSE UP AND… PERSONAL

Actor to play me on screen…

Gaspard Ulliel, a French film star. My wife says he looks just like me!

Four dinner party guests… George Baker, Tom Dascombe, Guy Jewell, my agent, and Anthony Hopkins, who I would love to meet My relaxation is… playing play stations and riding my motorbike I am annoyed by… traffic Favourite song/artist… Eminem

CLOSE UP AND… PROFESSIONAL

I’d love to win… the Arc Best advice I’ve been given… good manners cost nothing and can get you a long way My racing idols… Kieren Fallon and AP McCoy Racing has taught me… to be patient Alternative career… motorbike racing

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Tullyraine House Stud

Our friend in the

NORTH The Suffern family’s Tullyraine House Stud is the sole thoroughbred stallion station in Northern Ireland and has recently welcomed Native River’s dam to be covered by Conduit Interview: Alex Cairns Photos: Alex Cairns and George Selwyn

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ccording to the latest figures from the International Studbook Committee, there are 245 thoroughbred stallions standing in the Republic of Ireland. In Northern Ireland, there is one. The 2008 St Leger winner Conduit flies the flag for the North at County Down’s Tullyraine House Stud, where he settled in 2015 following five years at Big Red Farm in Japan. Conduit arrives with his impressive racing career still fresh in the minds of many, but has some hard acts to follow at Tullyraine, whose top-level National Hunt success has far outstripped relatively humble means. Owner Hugh Suffern reflects on the stud’s 25-year history, reveals how he hopes to establish Conduit as a stallion, and looks to a future overshadowed by the uncertainties of Brexit.

What is your background in racing and thoroughbred breeding?

My father was a dairy farmer and very into pedigrees for his cattle. Every evening was spent absorbed in statistics and milk records. So the thought process that goes into pedigrees and breeding was handed down to me. And then when I was studying veterinary in Dublin for five years, every Saturday a bunch of us from college would go racing. It was actually the horses I watched in those days that I have followed in years to come.

In the late 1980s I bought a broodmare and within a couple of years I had purchased another ten. Out of that initial

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band, we bred Dorans Pride, who won the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. There were other good ones, too, who won many Graded races. From a small band of mares we had a lot of nice winners and so it escalated to standing a stallion within a few years.

How exactly did the stallion business come about?

In the early 1990s my brother-in-law Alfred Buller and I bought Zaffaran to stand. He was a half-brother of Irish Derby winner Shareef Dancer and an out-andout stayer. He sired Gold Cup and RSA winner Looks Like Trouble, but what made him really special was that he produced all types, from bumper horses, to hurdlers, to chasers. In 1993 Alfred and I bought what is now Tullyraine House Stud and Veterinary Clinic as our own operation.

We brought in a horse called Insan, who was by Our Native and had been beaten a short-head in the 1988 Irish Derby. He got really good-looking, athletic horses, but he had poor fertility and it was always a struggle to get any reasonable number of mares in foal. Thankfully our veterinary side allowed us to fiddle along with him for many years.

The next inmate was Winged Love.

I was over in Germany to vet him for Scarvagh House Stud and really loved him. So before I got home I had bought a half-share and he stood here for 13 years until he died in 2015. He did very well from pretty limited opportunities, siring horses

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Adam Beschizza Hugh Suffern and multiple Group 1 winner Conduit, who arrived in Northern Ireland from Japan in 2015

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Tullyraine House Stud “In 2016 we covered 110 mares, last year it was just under 120”

Suffern casts his eye over one of the members of Conduit’s second crop of foals to be born at Tullyraine House, out of a mare by the stud’s former stallion, Insan

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such as Twist Magic, Bostons Angel, and recent Grand National third Bless The Wings. He’s intertwined through a lot of our pedigrees now. We have three or four Winged Love mares and hopefully his legacy can carry on in the next generation.

Conduit has been with you since 2015.

What first attracted you to him?

That’s a bit like when Debbie McGee was asked what first attracted her to multimillionaire Paul Daniels. But seriously, John Weld is a bloodstock agent who works internationally and he rang me to say the horse may be coming available from Japan. He’d won the St Leger, the King George, two Breeders’ Cup Turfs.

Any one of those would have made him very attractive to me and when you look at the horses he was measured against and beat, his markers are all bang on. He was only two and a half lengths off Sea The Stars in the Arc. The big problem for me was that he was on the other side of the world. I really like to have a good-looking horse with a good frame, balance and movement because the model you start out with is basically what you are going to breed. If you’re breeding from something that has a conformational defect you are going to produce stock with the same issues and that would be unacceptable to me.

I had to make a quick decision. At one point I had a call saying I had three hours to decide. John assured me he was seriously correct and I wouldn’t be disappointed, but I had a lot of sleepless nights in the ten weeks before he arrived.

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What if he’s got a twisted knee, or no bone, or just something I didn’t like?

Anyway, he was gorgeous. From the minute I saw him I was thrilled. He had the pedigree, form, model, and even though he wasn’t suited to the Japanese market he has been producing a lot of winners out there, with a winners-to-runners rate well over 50%. Then the icing on the cake was having four-year-old Thinking Dancer win a Graded chase at Tokyo in 2017.

Have you been pleased with his Irishbred stock so far?

Conduit arrived at the end of the season in 2015, so we had his first foals only in 2017. So far I am thrilled with his stock. He gets very well balanced, correct animals.

They’re good movers, bright, energetic, and athletic. We had some really good results at the foal sales and the breeders were very pleased that they sold well.

After Winged Love’s death, did you consider simply not finding a replacement and stepping away from the stallion game?

Certainly. I was working at the Doncaster May Sales in 2015 and in the hours when I was travelling back Winged Love had taken a really severe colic. He was 23 years old and twisted his small intestine.

So it was a rapid end and he was euthanised before I even got home. He was a lovely horse, a great character, and

Dorans Pride, the winner of 29 of his 70 starts under rules, including the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, was an early star of Suffern’s breeding operation

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Conduit en route to one of two Breeders’ Cup Turf wins at Santa Anita, and below at Tullyraine House Stud

more than just a commercial asset. I knew it would be very difficult to get back in the game with the sort of animal that I wanted to stand. Then I looked at what my place was geared for doing and what I had the staff for and the answer was to stand a stallion. I had decided to go to France and look at some possibilities over there. Then it was just out of the blue that Conduit became available. I had to make up my mind very quickly and here we are.

How easy is it to establish a new sire on the market?

It is hugely difficult. There are so many strong studs out there, with the financial muscle and connections to bring on good young sires. Whereas a small operation like ours doesn’t have a huge pot for promotion and the stud has to pay for itself. So what I try to do when starting a new stallion is make him as financially attractive as possible.

Have you employed any particular approaches or incentives to give Conduit the best possible start?

What I did in the latter years of Winged Love’s career was cut the covering fee to a bare minimum, with two tiers. So for Conduit there is a very minimal fee of £700 for a filly foal and a fee of £1,600 for a colt. Unfortunately there is a general problem in that some people will bring a mare for covering, yet never have any

intention of paying. So now we have a rock-bottom fee, but this has to be paid up front. If the mare doesn’t go in foal or doesn’t produce a foal then you get your money back. This generates a small amount of regular turnover and, more importantly, we encourage genuine breeders. This has been hugely successful and takes a lot of the stress out of the process. I pitched Conduit at probably less than half of what a bigger stud might have. After that you just try to encourage people with nice mares to use him, see how his stock is, and then hope they can run.

Are you getting the number and quality of mares you want? Has your

previous success helped develop a good reputation?

We’ve been very lucky in the support we’ve had, but you’d always like nicer mares, of course. In terms of reputation, I don’t think it counts for very much in thoroughbred breeding. People make their own decisions and pick the horse they want to use. We target all the mare owners in the northern half of Ireland and directly reach out to them. This is a precisely targeted and effective approach and a lot of our mares do come from the north, but we’ve also had good uptake from Meath and even Cork. To come to us from Cork they are bypassing a lot of good horses, so Conduit must have strong appeal and be perceived as good value.

In 2016 we covered 110 mares, last year it was just under 120, which was very satisfying. I don’t know how this year is going to go. He is now a third-season sire so people’s attentions naturally go elsewhere. Also, a lot of breeders tend to use a horse once or twice and then move on. Probably in the first two seasons I may have maxed out on his fan club, so now Conduit has to start making a name for himself as a sire.

Conduit this year covered Gold Cupwinner Native River’s dam Native Mo. How did this come about?

Fred Mackey, the breeder of Native River and owner of Native Mo, is local and has

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Tullyraine House Stud Suffern: “The collapse of thoroughbred stallion studs in Northern Ireland is an absolute tragedy”

›› been a client and friend of ours for many

years. Native Mo would have been with us to set up for other stallions in years gone by and now Fred’s decided to use Conduit. Native River’s half-sister Mo Bury has actually produced a foal by Conduit this year. Another breeder owns her and we had no connection with them at all. They just saw the horse advertised and thought it a good match.

You clearly hope Conduit will become established as a top sire, but what are your realistic expectations?

Quite simply, I hope he becomes a stallion who breeds winners. Winged Love achieved this. The one thing he wasn’t that good at was producing early horses. I think with Conduit’s form he should be able to get a nice four-year-old bumper or point-to-point horse. With quality and gears a bit like himself. If he gets those winners early then he’ll get the profile he needs. Obviously it’s a very tough market and a lot of it is fashiondriven, particularly in Ireland, so I’m under no illusions and it will be an uphill struggle.

Tullyraine is the only thoroughbred stallion stud in Northern Ireland. Why do you think this is?

The collapse of thoroughbred stallion studs in Northern Ireland is an absolute tragedy. When we stood Insan around 25 years ago, we used to produce a brochure for all the stallions in Northern Ireland. There were normally between 20 and 25 sires advertised. So we’ve gone

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from that down to one horse. That’s a lot to do with incentives in terms of tax relief and rates that the rest of Ireland has but we can’t avail of. The horse industry is deemed to be important to the economy of the Republic. In Northern Ireland, our government sees it as something for the wealthy and as a pastime, which is wrong. So this is really not the right part of the world to stand a sire, unfortunately.

Sometimes I do wonder why I’m still doing it, but the thought of breeding some nice horses and having winners keeps me going.’

How might Brexit affect Tullyraine House Stud?

I don’t think we’re any closer to knowing what will happen with Brexit than we were on the day people voted. There has been a lot of talk and no concrete direction. What I do know is that most businesses are still finding that there’s no soft money about, whether it’s me standing a stallion or the guy down the road producing point-to-pointers. It’s hard work and, across the racing industry, I think a lot of people are finding it tough.

So if you add in another percentage of tariffs, then it will be very difficult for the industry to cope with an extra draw on finances. And this will affect the whole island. The market in the Republic relies heavily on Britain, so if you add in more costs then an already small margin could be taken away entirely. Why are we putting this handbrake on trade? In order to open up new markets? That doesn’t make sense to me.’

TULLYRAINE’S TRACK RECORD Previous stallions and their top-rated progeny:

ZAFFARAN (USA) (1985 b h) Assert - Sweet Alliance (Sir Ivor) 1. Looks Like Trouble (OR 170) 2. Scotsirish (157) 3. Beau (154)

INSAN (USA) (1985 b h) Our Native - Artania (Ruritania) 1. Davenport Millenium (153) 2. Ballycassidy (149) 3. Silver Kate (145) WINGED LOVE (IRE) (1992 b h) In The Wings - J’Ai Deux Amours (Top Ville) 1. Twist Magic (175) 2. Hunt Ball (162) 3. Josses Hill (158)

Where do you see Tullyraine in ten years?

I hope that the veterinary practice continues to flourish and go forward. In terms of the stud, I suppose our fortunes completely depend on Conduit and whether he can become established as a successful stallion. I can’t do much about the general state of northern breeding or Brexit, but I can try to give Conduit the best possible start, so that will be my focus going forward.

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Looking for Classic winners…

BBAG graduate WINDSTOSS leads home a remarkable 1-2-3-4 in the „148. IDEE Deutsches Derby“ (Gr. I)

BBAG graduate DSCHINGIS SECRET winner of the “Preis von Berlin“ (Gr.I) winner of the “Grosser Hansa-Preis“ (Gr. II), “Gerling Preis“

Spring Breeze Up Mixed Sale: 1st June 2018 Premier Yearling Sales: 31st August 2018 Sales & Racing Festival: 19th and 20th October 2018 www.bbag-sales.de

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Breeders’ Digest

Emma Berry Bloodstock Editor

Our bloodstock coverage this month includes: Sales Circuit: Breeze-up season off to a shaky start – pages 60-64 Caulfield Files: Oh so missed: reflecting on the influence of Sharpen Up – pages 66-67 Dr Statz: Which sires fare best in the respective distance divisions – page 87

A million good reasons to race a stayer

LAURA GREEN/TATTERSALLS

W

hether you love the quirkiness of Vazirabad, the downright bad-boy antics of Pallasator or the heart-on-the-sleeve courage of Big Orange, there are few followers of racing who fail to get caught up in the romance of the staying division.

An extra level of intrigue will be added to the programme this season as the Gold Cup approaches and we wonder whether one of the winners of the Sagaro Stakes (May 2), Ormonde Stakes (May 10), Yorkshire Cup (May 18) or Henry II Stakes (May 24) will put themselves in the frame for the Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers’ Million, which was launched last month.

To snare the £1 million bonus, the winner of one of those four qualifying races will have then to go on to glory in not just the Gold Cup but also the Goodwood Cup and, finally, the Lonsdale Cup during York’s Ebor meeting.

We know already that the Aga Khan’s treble Dubai Gold Cup winner Vazirabad will not be challenging for the Million, though an appearance at Ascot is very much on his agenda, according to his trainer Alain de Royer Dupre. Pallasator, now in the care of Gordon Elliott and a Grade 2-winning hurdler to boot, is apparently due to return to the Flat this summer. Given the versatility and resilience of Pallasator’s Cheltenham Festival and Grand National-winning stablemate, I wouldn’t put it past Tiger Roll to be able to land a major Flat staying race and allow Elliott to emulate his great rival Willie Mullins in more ways than one. Tiger Roll is, after all, a half-brother to Godolphin’s Lonsdale Cup winner Ahzeemah.

There’s just one way in which the Stayers’ Million concept could be improved, and that would be to include the Doncaster Cup, a traditional leg of the stayers’ Triple Crown which is now, like so many of Doncaster’s fixtures, in danger of being overlooked.

‘Million’ has very much been the buzzword, or number, in the last month, with first York announcing that its premier handicap, the Ebor, will be worth £500,000 this year and £1 million in 2019 – a boost which may stem the flow of European-bred stayers to Australia but

Retired hurdler Franchoek in action with Matt Prior during the Craven Breeze-up

which could potentially have a detrimental effect on the Group 2 Lonsdale Cup, which is run at the same meeting a day earlier.

An attempt has been made to address this by restricting the Ebor to four-year-olds and up.

Meanwhile, Newmarket followed York’s lead by boosting the Cesarewitch to £500,000 in 2018, followed by further increases to £750,000 in 2019 and £1 million in 2020. Likewise to protect the Pattern, there will be a ratings cap of 110.

The problem for Newmarket is that it doesn’t yet have a sponsor. Sky Bet has stepped in to sponsor the Ebor in a five-year deal and York has managed to keep the entry fee to the traditional 0.5% of the race value. In contrast, to enter the Cesarewitch in 2020 under present plans it will cost £12,500, or 1.25% of the prize fund, around half of which is likely to have been provided by those entry fees. Last year’s winner, Withhold, had only earned £13,532 prior to running in the Cesarewitch, in which he won £155,625. A £12,500 entry fee may not have deterred his owner Tony Bloom but it will doubtless give others pause for thought in future.

Yes, there’s a huge pot on offer, but in a 34-runner handicap, it’s still an expensive roll of the dice.

Breeze-ups tough The Guineas breeze-up sale was famously the source of Ascot Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris for a bargain 20,000gns and

the sector will be hoping for some more big-name graduates this year to retain interest from buyers. Halfway through the breeze-up season, it’s fair to say that this year’s sales, with a larger number of horses catalogued, have been hard work so far for many vendors.

Until they appear on a racecourse, it’s always hard to verify how many of the horses marked as sold at any auction have genuinely changed hands. There have been the headline highs – mostly focusing on members of the final crop of Scat Daddy – but trade below the top tier has been notably patchy.

Breeze-up pinhookers are significant investors in the yearling market, so a bad season for them could well have repercussions for breeders this autumn.

A Giant of the turf During his memorable summer of 2000, Giant’s Causeway led home Dansili by three-quarters of a length in the Sussex Stakes, one of five Group 1 victories that season for the colt dubbed the ‘Iron Horse’.

Within 24 hours last month, news came first of Giant’s Causeway’s death at Ashford Farm in Kentucky at the age of 21 and was followed by Juddmonte’s announcement of Dansili’s retirement from stud duties.

There have been plenty of examples of top-class racehorses making very little impression at stud, but that has not been the case for Giant’s Causeway or Dansili, whose names will be carried across the turf by their ancestors for generations to come.

Franchoek back in action There was a welcome but fleeting return to the racecourse from JP McManus’s classy hurdler Franchoek during the Craven meeting. Now 14, the Grade 1 winner was the trusty mount for Tattersalls auctioneer and breeze-up whipper-in Matt Prior, who marshalled the Craven Sale lots as they headed off to gallop two furlongs of the Rowley Mile.

It was a busy week for Prior as a few days later he married Amanda Bossom of Great British Racing International. We wish them both much happiness.

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Sales Circuit • By Carl Evans Tattersalls Craven Breeze-up

Breeze-up trade reached the upper echelons at this two-session sale, where the theme of horse-to-buyer ratio was dominant again.

During an alarming opening session a mere 58% of lots found a new home, and while the clearance rate improved to 74% on day two the figure for both days showed a third of horses failed to find a buyer. An additional 22 lots had been offered, yet turnover dipped by 6%, the average price diminished by 2%, but the median by 32%.

Some excellent pinhooks and strong demand for horses at the top of the scale – many sourced as yearlings in the USA – helped the average price, but that median figure demonstrated the cracks at lower levels.

Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony liked the demand generated for the cream, saying: “The top of the market continues to be robust with more lots fetching in excess of 400,000gns than ever before,” but he admitted, “we would have liked to have seen a better clearance rate.”

John Cullinan, a key figure in the

TALKING POINTS • Scat Daddy produced the sale topper at the Craven Sale last year, but he proved far more dominant at the latest edition, and waltzed the leading sires’ table with six sold for 3,150,000gns.

Four sons from his final crop made the top-ten board, including the top three, emphasising the industry’s loss following his death from a heart attack at the age of 11 in 2015, while being led from his paddock at Ashford Stud.

• Seven of the top ten lots were bred in the USA, including the top five.

• Representatives of Phoenix Thoroughbreds, key buyers of breeze-up horses last year, were evident and helpful to the market by helping drive up prices on some of the bigger lots. Trainer Jeremy Noseda and agent Tom Ludt did the bidding on behalf of the organisation, but their tastes were similar to others whose valuations of stock proved higher.

Phoenix left with just one horse, a son of Munnings who made 160,000gns.

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No buyer was identified by agent Stephen Hillen for the 900,000gns Craven top lot

Breeze-Up Consignors’ Association, enjoyed a couple of fine transactions in partnership with Roger Marley under their Church Farm & Horse Park Stud banner, but he felt that the number of horses was hurting trade.

Cullinan said: “Traders are lacking orders and the market is unforgiving – it’s been very tough. Overproduction has come to a head and there are not enough people to absorb the horses. An extra 400 breezers, from 840 last year to more than 1,200 this time, illustrates the problem. There will be a few casualties [consignors who give up] along the way.”

The views of other traders and

observers suggested a number of issues had become aligned to create the problem. A glance at the table of prices given for breezers as yearlings showed quantities of vendor buybacks and not sold lots – had yearling consignors been too greedy? Had they decided the breeze-up market was on a wave that should be hopped onto if their yearlings did not achieve premier prices?

Trainers who bought yearlings on spec and had not sold them to owners were unlikely to be buying many breezers, and maybe months of wet and grim weather had played a

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part, too. The idea of a balmy evening on the July Course, or at Chester or Goodwood, had not been easy to envisage when heavy ground and abandoned meetings was a central topic of the racing media.

Cullinan and Marley’s fiscal high came when they sold a Kodiac colt for 420,000gns to agent Alastair Donald of SackvilleDonald, who became the event’s leading buyer with four secured for 1,595,000gns.

Willie Browne’s Mocklershill was the leading consignor, trading 13 horses for 2,374,000gns.

The top lot, whose 900,000gns valuation was the second-highest in Tattersalls’ breezing history, proved to be a Scat Daddy colt who was knocked down to Stephen Hillen on behalf of an unnamed client. Ronaldo De Souza’s Mayfield Stables operation consigned the colt, who had been bought by Hunter Valley Farm at FasigTipton’s specialist turf yearling sale for $200,000.

LAURA GREEN/TATTERSALLS

Overview and analysis of the latest events in the ring

John Egan breezing a Scat Daddy colt bought for $270,000 and sold on for 800,000gns

Tatts Craven Breeze-up Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

C Scat Daddy - Madera Dancer

Mayfield Stables

Price (gns) 900,000

Hillen Bloodstock

Buyer

C Scat Daddy – Alegendinmyownmind

Mocklershill

800,000

C Gordon-Watson Bloodstock

C Scat Daddy – Lauded

Mocklershill

775,000

Jamie McCalmont/MV Magnier

C Street Sense - Light And Variable

Gaybrook Lodge Stud

575,000

SackvilleDonald

F More Than Ready - Sis City

Greenhills Farm

500,000

Godolphin

C Sea The Stars - Lily's Angel

Powerstown Stud

425,000

Godolphin

C Animal Kingdom – Sirmione

Tally-Ho Stud

420,000

Alex Elliott/Kaleem Shah

C Kodiac - Folegandros Island

Church Farm & Horse Park Stud

420,000

SackvilleDonald

C Scat Daddy - Oxbow Lake

Kilminfoyle House Stud

375,000

Hong Kong Jockey Club

F Kodiac - Graphic Guest

Church Farm & Horse Park Stud

360,000

SackvilleDonald

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (gns)

Avg (gns)

Mdn (gns)

Top Price (gns)

2018

94

13,313,500

141,633

75,000

900,000

2017

98

14,120,000

144,082

110,000

675,000

2016

78

8,641,500

110,788

77,500

360,000

2015

96

9,893,500

103,057

71,000

850,000

2014

93

10,489,000

112,785

70,000

1,150,000

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Sales Circuit Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze-Up

More horses and a reduced clearance rate was a theme at this breeze-up sale, too, although the results proved more or less on a par with traders’ expectations.

Last year’s 90% clearance rate was a hard act to follow, and an additional 48 lots did not help that figure, which fell this time to 74%, a figure derived from sales of 138 of the 182 horses who walked the ring.

Turnover grew by 2%, but the average and median marks dropped 1% and 13% respectively.

Bansha House, which sold Group 2 winner Prince Of Lir at Goffs UK, consigned the top lot

Michael O’Callaghan took home two of the four most expensive lots of the sale

Con Marnane, one of breezing’s most prolific traders, could bask in top-lot honours when gaining £220,000 for a Kyllachy colt he had bought for €50,000 at Goffs as a yearling. Trainer Michael O’Callaghan signed the buyers’ list for this one, a horse whose valuation proved some way below the £360,000 Kodiac colt, subsequently named Roussel, who set a record for the sale 12 months earlier.

Looked at in another way. the top of the market held its own, with 13 horses making a six-figure sum, one more than in 2017.

A winner and black-type earner with promise of more to come, Roussel had done his bit for the auction, and its ability to throw up winners, not least at Royal Ascot, has been part of its success.

Goffs UK Doncaster Breeze-Up Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

C Kyllachy - Westerly Air

Bansha House Stables

220,000

Michael O'Callaghan

F Toronado - Miss Mediator

Oaks Farm

210,000

Blandford Bloodstock

C Showcasing - Sunrise Star

Brown Island Stables

C Kodiac - Ermine Ruby

Tally-Ho Stud

180,000

Michael O'Callaghan

C Kodiac - Knapton Hill

Tally-Ho Stud

160,000

P Harper/Almohameidya Racing

C Pivotal – Hoodna

Hyde Park Stud

140,000

Phoenix Thoroughbreds

C Dark Angel - Kate The Great

The Bloodstock Connection

125,000

David Redvers

C Kodiac - Dutch Rose

Longways Stables

125,000

Hillen/Hughes

C Scat Daddy - Come To Hee

Mocklershill

110,000

Hillen/Hughes

C Charm Spirit - Child Bride

Lynn Lodge Stud

105,000

Cool Silk Partnership/Stroud Coleman

200,000

Cool Silk Partnership/Stroud Coleman

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2018

138

5,528,000

40,058

25,500

220,000

2017

120

5,408,000

45,067

30,000

360,000

2016

109

3,562,750

32,686

22,000

170,000

2015

128

5,032,500

38,684

30,000

185,000

2014

127

4,646,250

36,585

22,000

340,000

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Tattersalls Ireland Ascot Breeze-Up

Europe’s first breeze-up sale of the year gave a taste of things to come at subsequent British auctions by demonstrating that more can sometimes equal less.

A bigger catalogue was not matched by an increase in buyers, and testing going on the breeze-up grounds – a legacy of a winter that lingered into the second week of April – reflected trade for consignors in this area of the market. Some excellent pinhooks were on the horizon, but there

increased numbers will not surprise many.

Those who left Ascot with a spring in their step included bloodstock agent Alex Elliott and trainer George Scott, who were delighted to buy a £120,000 saletopping son of Excelebration on behalf of Southampton footballer Charlie Austin and friends, founders of Excel Racing. The colt, one of two in the sale to reach six figures, was offered by the Benson family – namely brothers Danny and Jordan and their mother, Carol – of Meath-based Dunsany Stables, a small operation which has been trading for four years.

were to be a lot of unsold horses, too.

At this event the point could not be made more starkly than in figures which showed 118 horses were offered, 34 more than in 2017, yet only 59, exactly 50%, found a buyer – that compares to an 80% clearance rate 12 months earlier. Turnover which had grown by 5% in 2017, fell 31%, while the average and median prices showed falls of 17% and 8%.

Too many horses was a popular complaint among traders, but given the way in which breeze-up trade has flourished in the past few years the

Tattersalls Ireland Ascot Breeze-Up Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

C Excelebration - Wooded Glade

Dunsany Stables

120,000

A C Elliott/Excel Racing

C Swiss Spirit – Jollification

C A J Stables

100,000

Thomas Morley

C Kodiac – Elpida

Bansha House Stables

88,000

Stroud Coleman Bloodstock

C Gale Force Ten – Shamarlane

Church Farm & Horse Park Stud

75,000

Hillen/Hughes

C Hard Spun - Jaish

Brown Island Stables

60,000

Colm Sharkey

C Dandy Man - Paddy Again

Knockanglass Stables

58,000

Federico Barberini

F Kodiac – Toppled

Mocklershill

58,000

Peter & Ross Doyle Bloodstock

C Shanghai Bobby – Anysaturdayinmay

Brown Island Stables

55,000

Colm Sharkey

C Dandy Man – Scrumptious

Church Farm & Horse Park Stud

50,000

Pam Sly

F Kodiac - By Jupiter

Ballinahulla Stables

45,000

Amy Murphy Racing

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2018

59

1,422,900

24,117

16,000

120,000

2017

67

2,041,600

30,472

21,000

130,000

2016

59

1,914,500

32,449

22,000

180,000

2015

34

838,000

24,647

20,000

90,000

2014

21

315,700

15,033

8,000

52,000

Goffs UK Aintree HIT Sale

At a time when the market in breeze-up two-year-olds has been patchy, trade in young, lightly-raced pointers and bumper horses sailed serenely onwards and upwards.

This event, held after racing on day one of Aintree’s Randox Health Grand National Festival, and typically dominated by four-year-old Irish pointers, generated an improved set of figures. Turnover rose 43%, the average went up 15%, while the median gained 16%, hitting six figures for the first time in the event’s three-year history. Of

24 horses offered, 19 found a buyer, amounting to 79% of those offered.

Not that traders were helped by the weather leading up to the auction, for they need race meetings at which to compete and advertise their horses.

Incessant rain had meant heavy ground was a common theme, and while fixtures in Britain were hit, it was worse at times in Ireland, where just one of four point-to-points could take place on the weekend before the sale.

Some handlers said the lost fixtures had hit their plans, others pointed to the fact that a sale at Cheltenham

the following week, plus one at Punchestown’s Festival, gave them other opportunities to take a horse to market.

Ubiquitous bloodstock agent Tom Malone had lost a key client following Alan Potts’ death last year – the two men had bought the sale topper at this event in 2017 – yet the former jockey has many other customers, and a relatively new and important rapport with David and Patricia Thompson of Cheveley Park Stud.

He secured the couple Envoi Allen, a £400,000 four-year-old pointer at

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Sales Circuit ›› Cheltenham in February, and at this

sale brought the hammer down for £325,000 top lot Malone Road, who he said would be going into training with Gordon Elliott.

Two days later Elliott continued his remarkable rise as a trainer when Tiger Roll became his second Grand National winner. Malone Road was bred and owned by Jane Buchanan, sister of former jump jockey Peter Buchanan, and trained by Stuart Crawford to win at Loughanmore a little under two weeks before his ring appearance.

TALKING POINTS • At a press conference following Tiger Roll’s Grand National victory the horse’s owner, Michael O’Leary, singled out agent Mags O’Toole for praise and her part in securing the horse. At the Aintree Sale O’Toole bid £105,000 to buy the leading British pointer Eurobot. One of four, four-year-old UK pointers in the sale – the other three sold for £30,000, £60,000 and £85,000 – Eurobot, a son of Malinas and the Welsh National-winning mare L’Aventure, will be going into training with Noel Meade, said the buyer.

Willie Mullins has bought a couple of very nice young horses from Tom Lacey’s Herefordshire stable, and it was good for the sport in Britain to see two more eminent Irish players in O’Toole and Meade combining to take a Britishbred and raced pointer.

Goffs UK Aintree HIT Sale Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

Malone Road (Kalanisi – Zaffarella)

Newlands Farm (Stuart Crawford)

325,000

T Malone/G Elliott

Champagne Platinum (Stowaway - Saffron Holly)

Knockanglass Stables (Roisin Hickey)

250,000

Kieran McManus

Little Light (Walk In The Park - Luna Rossa)

Ballyboy Stables (Denis Murphy)

200,000

Aiden Murphy

Faustinovick (Black Sam Bellamy - Cormorant Cove)

Coolmeen Stables (Ellmarie Holden)

170,000

Colin Tizzard

Blazer's Mill (Westerner – Creation)

Bernice Stables (Warren Ewing)

160,000

Highflyer Bloodstock

Soldier At War (Soldier Hollow - Sang Sun)

Bernice Stables (Warren Ewing)

140,000

Aiden O'Ryan/G Elliott

Gaelik Coast (Coastal Path – Gaelika)

Monbeg Stables (Donnchadh Doyle)

110,000

Donald McCain

Lisnagar Oscar (Oscar - Asta Belle)

Lisnagar Stables (Denis Fitzgerald)

105,000

Rebecca Curtis

Eurobot (Malinas - L'Aventure)

G & T Racing (Tom Ellis)

105,000

Mags O'Toole/N Meade

Tara West (Kayf Tara - West River)

Monbeg Stables (Donnchadh Doyle)

100,000

A Honeyball

Minella Bobo (Oscar - Line Kendie)

John Nallen

100,000

Rebecca Curtis

Hill Sixteen (Court Cave - Chasers Chic)

Milestone Stables (Colin Bowe)

100,000

Highflyer Bloodstock

Jillythejet (Jeremy - Listen Up)

Monbeg Stables (Donnchadh Doyle)

100,000

Highflyer Bloodstock

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2018

21

2,417,000

115,095

100,000

325,000

2017

17

1,720,000

101,176

90,000

300,000

2016

21

2,170,000

103,333

70,000

335,000

Please contact Andrew Mead (+44 7940 597573 mead@castlebridge.eu) or Bill Dwan (+353 87 648 5587 dwan@castlebridge.eu) to discuss all your 2018 sale requirements

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Caulfield Files

Remembering an all-time favourite Sharpen Up’s line may have been blunted but it still cuts it, especially at Overbury Stud

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EMMA BERRY

T

he recent news that Trempolino, the Arc winner of 1987, had finally succumbed to the grim reaper at the age of 34 revived many memories of his sire Sharpen Up, one of my all-time favourites. Sharpen Up could indeed be compared to another of my favourites, Dark Angel, as both these winners of the Middle Park Stakes have far exceeded general expectations as stallions.

The Middle Park provided Sharpen Up with his fifth win from as many starts but, remarkably, his record was officially good enough to make him only the third-best juvenile in Bernard van Cutsem’s Stanley House Stables. Van Cutsem, trainer of such former stars as Park Top and Karabas, was also the handler of Crowned Price, the impressive conqueror of future Arc winner Rheingold in the Champagne Stakes, and High Top, the burly DerringDo colt who won the Observer Gold Cup, as a prelude to his win in the following year’s 2,000 Guineas.

Although Timeform rated Sharpen Up only 1lb below Crowned Prince, there was a vast difference in their respective backgrounds. Crowned Prince, a magnificent-looking colt with the distinction of being a brother to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Majestic Prince, had set new record figures for a yearling when he sold for $510,000 in 1970. The homebred Sharpen Up, on the other hand, was a son of Atan, a once-raced American horse who had briefly stood in Ireland for a fee of 100gns before being sold to Japan.

Atan had shown terrific speed on his single appearance but Sharpen Up’s dam Rocchetta had failed to win in 14 attempts at up to two miles. Rocchetta was, though, a sister to Outcrop, an admirably tough and game filly who had landed both the Yorkshire Oaks and the Park Hill Stakes.

With this pedigree of opposites it was difficult to guess what Sharpen Up’s optimum distance might be as a threeyear-old. ‘Racehorses of 1971’ expressed the view that speed was Sharpen Up’s greatest asset and that “although we are not, at the moment, prepared to rule him out of the Two Thousand Guineas … we expect instead to see him make his mark as a sprinter.”

It fell to me, in my first year at Timeform, to summarise Sharpen Up’s

Trempolino, who died recently in retirement at Haras du Mezeray at the age of 34

second season, as follows: “His record as a three-year-old, with runs over seven furlongs, then six, then five, implies that his connections held similar beliefs [to the previous year’s Timeform writer], but now, looking at his performances in 1972, we are not sure we were right.”

Of course a colt who went close to winning the July Cup must have had plenty of speed but, as I wrote at the time, “it seems a pity that we did not have the chance of seeing Sharpen Up racing at a mile.”

Sharpen Up was syndicated for £3,750 per share and retired to Side Hill Stud at Newmarket. As there were only 40 shares in the syndicate, Sharpen Up was valued at £150,000. Although he had the handicap of being by a little-known stallion Sharpen Up’s looks more than compensated, with Timeform’s describing him as a strongly-made, lengthy, most attractive colt, and he was also an eyecatching mover.

Even as long ago as 1973, breeders were eager to use fast horses with plenty of juvenile ability, but the British industry was much smaller then and Sharpen Up covered no more than 34 mares in his first year. Nowadays it is hard to believe that a stallion of Sharpen Up’s achievements is credited by equineline as having sired only 646 foals during a career which spanned 17 seasons, from 1973 to 1989. His fertility

began to fade in his last few seasons, forcing his retirement in 1990, two years before his death at the age of 23.

Small numbers, big results

It is worth stressing how small Sharpen Up’s output was in comparison to today’s stallions. For example, the similar Dark Angel already has 919 foals of racing age from his first eight crops. He also has a yearling crop numbering more than 150 and, with luck, he should eventually leave around 2,000 foals. Another recent Middle Park Stakes winner, Shalaa, is reported to have covered 158 mares in his first season in France before being shuttled to Arrowfield in Australia, where he covered a further 155. That’s a firstseason total of 313 mares, compared to Sharpen Up’s 34.

An older shuttle sire, Fastnet Rock, is currently credited with having sired 2,250 of racing age, even though he is no older than 17 in 2018. Fastnet Rock’s 2017 exertions included 133 mares in Ireland and a further 163 in his native Australia.

Danehill, another famous shuttler, left a legacy of 2,499 foals, a total which has already been easily overtaken by Galileo, with his tally of 2,610 foals of racing age.

Galileo’s sire Sadler’s Wells left 2,259 foals without ever being asked to shuttle.

Move the search back another generation

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Bloodstock world views time Sharpen Up’s services were in great demand, with a 1980 nomination selling for £10,500 and a share for £27,000.

And therein lay the potential problem.

Sharpen Up was rapidly becoming the type of horse likely to attract an offer which the original shareholders would find extremely difficult to refuse.

Then along came another tremendous season for Sharpen Up in 1980. Kris continued to rule the roost among the older milers, extending his record to 14 wins from 16 starts, and Sharpen Up’s three-year-old crop – the one for which nominations had sold for as little as £337 – contained the excellent sprinters Sharpo (William Hill Sprint Championship) and Sovereign Rose (Diadem Stakes).

The 1980 juveniles were headed by that admirable filly Pushy (Queen Mary Stakes and Cornwallis Stakes).

brother Diesis, who completed the Middle Park-Dewhurst Stakes double in 1982, and Sharpen Up’s final British crop contained Pebbles, the highly popular 1,000 Guineas winner who went on to further Group 1 successes in the Eclipse, the Champion Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Although Sharpen Up’s reputation in Britain rested largely on his fast and precocious stock, the likes of Pebbles and Sharpman showed that he could also sire very smart performers over middle distances, given mares with enough stamina to support the staying blood in the bottom half of his pedigree. His American progeny produced several more like them. Trempolino won the 1987 Arc, Exactly Sharp the 1988 Prix Lupin and Sanglamore the 1990 Prix du Jockey-Club.

He also sired Grade 1 winners over nine

ROUCH WILMOT

to Sadler’s Wells’s sire Northern Dancer and you come to a Sharpen Up-like total of 646, all of which illustrates how enormously the industry has changed – and not always for the better.

As book sizes have risen, the percentage of black-type winners sired by stallions has generally fallen substantially.

Whereas Northern Dancer’s figure stood at a stunning 23 per cent, Sadler’s Wells achieved 13 per cent and Galileo is currently credited with ten per cent, even though he is the outstanding stallion of his era. Dubawi has 11 per cent and War Front ten per cent, while both Deep Impact and Tapit have eight per cent.

Despite starting at a fee of £1,000, Sharpen Up managed to sire 12% blacktype winners in a career divided between Side Hill and Gainesway in Kentucky.

You can get a good idea of his progress from the prices paid at public auction for Sharpen Up’s nominations and shares.

By the 1975 season (his third), his nominations were averaging around £500 but by his fourth year the figure had slipped to £337, from nine sold. His 1977 nominations sold for £700 after his first two-year-olds had made an unspectacular start on the home front (there was a Group 3 winner in Italy).

The tide started to turn in 1978, when his juveniles featured the multiple winner Fire Angel (Timeform 116), the Coventry Stakes runner-up Sharpen Your Eye (TF 113) and the classy filly Smarten Up (TF 109). The response was that a 1978 nomination sold for £2,300, and two breeders decided that the time was right to sell their Sharpen Up share, with the price rising from the original £3,750 to an average of £5,900.

Then Smarten Up won the Temple Stakes and ran second in the William Hill Sprint Championship to boost her Timeform rating to 119, while Kris ended an unbeaten juvenile season with victory in the Horris Hill Stakes to boost his rating to 123. Kris’s contemporaries included Captain Nick (107), Eyelet (112) and Jeroboam (116), which added up to an excellent achievement for a stallion whose no-guarantee nominations had sold for only £500.

The only nomination sold at auction for the 1979 season made £5,400 and the buyer had every reason to feel smug when Kris proved the dominant British miler of 1979, helping Sharpen Up finish fourth on the sires’ table. Sharpen Up’s 1979 three-year-olds also included Sharpman, who underlined his sire’s versatility by finishing third in the Prix du Jockey-Club over a mile and a half. By this

Sharpen Up started at a fee of just £1,000 but sired 12% black-type winners in his career

The upgrader

It was impossible not to notice that he had sired Kris from a lightly-raced mare with a Timeform rating of 59; Sharpo from an unraced mare; Sovereign Rose from a mare who had failed to win on the Flat or over hurdles; and Pushy from a minor winner with a Timeform rating of 81. Here was that Holy Grail every breeder searches for – a stallion capable of seriously upgrading his mares. Inevitably the too-good-to-berefused offer was made by Gainesway Farm, which had previously harvested the likes of Lyphard and Riverman from other European studs.

Confirmation that Sharpen Up’s sale represented a serious blow to the British industry was provided by Kris’s

furlongs and a mile and a quarter in the U.S., but his last top-class winner in Britain was Selkirk, a first-rate miler.

Trempolino originally joined his sire at Gaineway and he contributed five Grade 1 winners to a total of more than 50 Group/ Grade 1 winners sired by sons of Sharpen Up, the most prolific being Selkirk, Diesis and Kris. Kris and Diesis shared the distinction of siring a total of four Oaks winners, led by the 1,000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger heroine Oh So Sharp.

The male line has started to struggle in recent years, following the deaths of Selkirk and Diesis’s son Halling, but it isn’t finished yet - Overbury Stud is home to Selkirk’s Dubai Duty Free winner Cityscape and Halling’s Irish Derby winner Jack Hobbs.

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Member benefits – ticket offers

A

s part of subscription to The Thoroughbred Club, members can enjoy a large number of racing offers and benefits throughout the year.

Members are able to receive halfprice tickets to all meetings at Ascot racecourse, excluding QIPCO British Champions Day. This offer includes two days at the Royal Ascot meeting, Tuesday, June 19 and Wednesday, June 20. The five-day meeting is one of the most highly anticipated and celebrated racing festivals in the world and members will get the chance to enjoy races such as the Prince of Wales’s Stakes, St James’s Palace Stakes and the King’s Stand Stakes.

Application forms for Royal Ascot tickets can be downloaded from our website – please note that tickets are valid only for the Queen Anne and Windsor enclosures. For all other meetings at Ascot no application is needed and members can purchase tickets on the day at Ticket Office East, on presentation of a valid TTC card (subject to availability).

TTC members also have the chance to win a pair of tickets for each of the QIPCO Champions Series racedays throughout the 2018 Flat season. The series, which is now in its eighth year, incorporates 29 of the top races in Great Britain, across ten different racecourses and cumulates at British Champions Day, which is held at Ascot on October 20.

To be in with a chance of winning the tickets, you must share the competition post through our social media platforms, or alternatively email your interest to info@thethoroughbredclub.co.uk. Entries close two weeks before the date of the race and the winners will be announced on our social media channels.

There are offers galore at Ascot, including at the Royal meeting in June

For a full list of raceday offers available to members and to book your tickets, please visit our website. Other selected offers will be available to our members throughout the year, so please keep an eye on our social media pages and emails for details on our latest member badge offer.

Newmarket racecourses have also offered members a reduced ticket price for a number of their top-class fixtures across the season. This includes QIPCO 1,000 Guineas Day at Newmarket on May 6 and the July Feel Good Friday raceday on July 13, which features the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes.

Date

Racecourse

Meeting

Badge Offer

02/05/2018

Ascot

Sagaro Stakes Raceday

Half-price ticket

05/05/2018

Newmarket

QIPCO 2,000 Guineas Day

2 x free ticket draw

06/05/2018

Newmarket

QIPCO 1,000 Guineas Day

Reduced ticket price

06/05/2018

Newmarket

QIPCO 1,000 Guineas Day

2 x free ticket draw

11/05/2018

Ascot

May Race Night

Ticket, drink and racecard for £10

12/05/2018

Ascot

May Race Night

Half-price ticket

18/05/2018

York

The Dante Festival

2 x free ticket draw

19/05/2018

Newbury

The Al Shaqab Lockinge Day

2 x free ticket draw

01/06/2018

Epsom Downs

The Investec Ladies' Day

2 x free ticket draw

02/06/2018

Epsom Downs

The Investec Derby Day

2 x free ticket draw

13/06/2018

Ascot

Summer Mile Weekend

Half-price ticket

14/06/2018

Ascot

Summer Mile Weekend

Half-price ticket

19/06/2018

Ascot

Royal Ascot

Half-price ticket

20/06/2018

Ascot

Royal Ascot

Half-price ticket

Ticket offers available to members in May and June. For a full list of races offers, please visit our website

Dates for your diary Tuesday, May 8 Regional Day: tour of David Dennis Racing and Throckmorton Stud.

Saturday, June 9 TTC Event to Dalham Hall and Banstead Manor.

Wednesday, May 30 Regional Day: tour of Hillwood Stud.

Thursday, June 28 Regional Day: Ralph Beckett’s Kimpton Down Stables.

Wednesday, June 6 Regional Day: tour of Floors Castle Stud.

Tuesday, July 24 National Stud/Regional Course at Lackham Hall, Wiltshire.

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Saturday, July 28 Breeders Seminar (ISER) at Tattersalls.

Thursday, September 6 National Stud/Regional Course at Exeter racecourse.

Thursday, September 13 National Stud/Regional Course at Haydock Park racecourse.

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www.thethoroughbredclub.co.uk •

@TTC_GB

Event: Chasemore Farm & Sandown Park The first event of The Thoroughbred Club’s calendar proved to be a hit with members by offering a truly memorable visit to Chasemore Farm followed by an exciting day’s racing at Sandown Park.

Members were treated to a behindthe-scenes tour of Chasemore Farm

by Stud Manager Paul Coombe, which included a look at the farm’s foaling unit and main yards. Members were then given a talk by resident vet Dr Patrick Sells, who explained a number of veterinary aspects involved on a busy stud, including mare fertility and conformational defects in young horses. To finish off the morning, attendees were treated to a view of some of the resident mares and foals in the main yard.

The group then headed to Sandown for an afternoon of racing, which included the Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle and access to our hospitality box.

The Club would like to extend its thanks to both Chasemore Farm and Sandown Park for hosting such a fun day for our members.

Members viewed some of the resident mares and foals on the stud

Tractor and trailer was the preferred method of transport for the stud tour

Event reminder: Banstead Manor and Dalham Hall tour There is still time to book onto our flagship event of the summer, a visit to two of the biggest stud farms in Newmarket, Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms and Darley’s Dalham Hall Stud, on Saturday, June 9. The tour gives members

the chance to see ten-time Group 1 winner Frankel and the phenomenal leading British-based stallion Dubawi, sire of 33 Group 1 winners to date. For more information and to book your place, please visit thethoroughbredclub.co.uk.

New Members The TTC would like to warmly welcome the following new members and look forward to seeing them at our events throughout the year.

Daniel Thompson Nancy Haddon Roy Healy Sophie Hall Laura Creighton Katie Thurtle Georgina Kivneen Frederica Rowland Emma Sansom

Phenomenally successful Darley sire Dubawi could be posing for your camera in June

Kirsten Smith

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ROA Forum

The special section for ROA members

ARC prize-money surpasses £35m

T

he ROA welcomed news last month that Arena Racing Company has committed to ‘unlock’ every race for the Appearance Money Scheme (AMS) for the rest of the year, securing extra funding that will lift prize-money at its 15 tracks to in excess of £35 million in 2018.

The racecourse operator’s full adoption of the three-year prize-money agreement, announced by the BHA in January and aimed at the grassroots of the sport, will guarantee a minimum purse of £6,000 for races of Class 6 and above.

As a result, ARC’s executive contribution will grow to a planned £17.5m this year, up from £11.3m in 2015.

The grassroots prize-money scheme entitled racecourses access to £1,600 in incentive and appearance money payments from a central pool, if the tracks put in an additional £900 to Class 4-6 races on the Flat and Class 3-5 over jumps.

It was not obligatory and while the BHA said there had been 97% take-up in the latest edition of the programme book, ARC advertised ten races at the minimum level of £3,500 in order to develop “a better understanding of the impact of prize-money on field sizes”.

When the first contest at Wolverhampton attracted only five declarations, after re-opening, the experiment was abandoned, resulting in ARC now making a full commitment to providing the additional investment.

ARC Chief Executive Martin Cruddace said: “ARC is pleased with 2018 prize-

Grassroots racing has been further boosted by ARC committing to additional investment

money levels. In line with the industry approach, the significant increases in prize-money is at the grassroots level and we look forward to measuring the impact this has on field sizes and ownership in the months and years ahead.

“We are putting significant energy and investment into our media rights models, which we believe offers British racing the opportunity to safeguard and increase the value of its product, while growing betting on the sport in partnership with betting operators around the world.”

ROA Chief Executive Charlie Liverton

said: “ARC’s continued investment in grassroots racing is particularly satisfying given the importance this area of the fixture list plays to many owners in British racing.

“It is encouraging to see how important the Appearance Money Scheme is to owners and other horsemen, and it is therefore pleasing to receive confirmation from ARC that they will unlock every eligible race until the end of the year. Our thanks go to Martin Cruddace and his team for their continued investment and support.”

EPSOM CLASSIC BREAKFAST EVENT Would you like to join a memorable morning on Epsom Downs watching horses that are entered in the Investec Derby Festival cantering on the course for the Breakfast with the Stars event on Tuesday, May 22?

Members will have use of the Royal Box in the Queen’s Stand.

From the facility, guests will be able to watch and listen to the morning’s presentation and interviews with

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connections from the adjacent Duchess Stand. We will see horses canter past on the track from the balcony, which offers panoramic views of the course, before enjoying a sumptuous breakfast.

This special morning will start at 7.30am, and we hope to glean some clues on the future winner of this year’s Derby and Oaks. With Cracksman and Enable entered in the

Coronation Cup, the Investec Festival is shaping to be a two-day feast of racing.

Places are bookable at £47.50 per person - visit roa.co.uk/events or call the ROA on 020 7152 0200.

Breakfast and the morning presentations will be followed by an optional course walk at around 10.15am, highlighting the unique configuration of the Derby course.

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Having a grand time at the National meeting Eighty ROA members enjoyed a memorable day’s racing on the opening day of Aintree’s Randox Health Grand National Festival.

The day began with a Grand National course walk led by jockey Nico de Boinville and Simon Claisse, Clerk of the Course at Cheltenham.

The two-mile walk gave members an opportunity to ask questions about the course, how it rides, tactics and the all-important going.

Around 30 members took up this option and were able to get up close to Becher’s Brook, the Canal Turn, Valentine’s and measure up to The Chair.

The course-walking group joined 50 fellow members in a private hospitality facility overlooking the course to enjoy a hot buffet lunch.

The Aintree catering team provided a warm welcome and excellent service and the facility offered an exciting view of racing as the field rounded the bend past the winning post.

The success of Might Bite proved popular in the Betway Bowl Chase, his rider having led the member course walk earlier in the day.

Our thanks go to Aintree racecourse for hosting a special day for members, and also for the very popular free admission to members on Thursday and Friday of the Aintree Festival, and parking labels, all of which were well subscribed and greatly appreciated.

Simon Claisse and Nico de Boinville (right) lead the course walk group at Aintree

The hospitality facility, which comes with a great view of the track, proved a real winner

Central Equine Database now live Lord Gardiner from DEFRA and Stewart Everett from Equine Register announced the launch of the Central Equine Database (CED) at the National Equine Forum in March. The database, which went live with around 1.2 million records on it, holds passport details for all UK equines on one single, central system for the first time. The system is accessible to DEFRA, Food Standards Agency, Local Authorities, Trading Standards, Passport Issuing Organisations and EU Member States, with the main purpose to secure the UK’s food chain and provide animal traceability.

To complement the CED a free National ChipChecker has been

launched by Equine Register to provide the public with secure access. By entering a microchip number on Equine Register’s website, people will be able to check the information held on the CED, receiving details such as the Passport Issuing Organisation, animal gender, colour, species, approximate age, the recorded food chain status and if the horse has been reported deceased. This will be really useful for people when buying and selling horses who wish to check any paper records against the Central Equine Database.

Equine Register will also be launching its Digital Stable for owners and keepers, enabling them to manage

and keep all their equine information accurate and up-to-date from one place. The Digital Stable will also let owners provide additional information and alerts about their equines which can be seen via the National ChipChecker.

These will include whether the horse is on loan, stabled with a keeper, not for sale, and even has the ability to notify national authorities if an animal is missing.

There will be a number of services that will be rolled out over the coming weeks and months. To find out more and register for future updates see www.equineregister.co.uk

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MAGICAL MOMENTS with ROA member Alan Bolt

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he amusingly-named Dodgybingo and his part-owner Alan Bolt were both born in March. They have that in common but little else when it comes to age. For the horse was born in 2013, the owner in 1919.

Bolt will receive a letter from the Queen next spring, when his landmark birthday might be spent, as many happy days have been in recent years, at his local racecourse Cartmel.

They do not race that early in the year, but it is an all-year round venue as far as hospitality is concerned so Bolt, his wife and friends might well be there, and they have seen and benefited from the significant improvements at the track in recent years, especially under ex-Managing Director Jonathan Garratt.

Like Garratt, who is now at Kelso, Dodgybingo is experiencing pastures new, for having been with Noel Meade he is now with Jimmy Moffatt – who else, seeing that Cartmel is extremely likely to feature on his itinerary.

It is, however, an itinerary that took a while to get off the ground following a wind operation and unseasonal soft ground. When one of your owners is 99 such a combination of factors is not ideal, so when Dodybingo made his debut for his new yard it was a big day for his syndicate of owners, especially their most senior member.

Bolt doesn’t have a racing background, but he does have an equine one, as he explains when saying: “The only horses I owned before were Irish hunters, my favourite being a grey mare called Granite. I hunted with the Surrey Union for 40 years after getting back from a prisoner of war camp in Germany.

“I was taken prisoner in North Africa and was originally sent to a POW camp in Italy, but was moved fairly soon to a camp on the river Elbe in Germany called Mühlberg, where I remained for the rest of the war.

“My contact with racehorses came through being clerk of the course for many years at the Surrey Union pointto-point, held at Peper Harow near Godalming, when I got to know the rules of racing.”

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Alan Bolt is very much looking forward to seeing Dodgybingo run, hopefully at Cartmel

Bolt also got to know Cartmel very well after moving with wife Alison to Cumbria some 37 years ago, hunting on foot for much of it.

Bolt says: “We enjoyed the racing at Cartmel, the horses, the people we met there, and our parking space was 50 yards from the finishing line. We got to know the people parked up alongside us very well.

“We got to see close up the enjoyment of having a racehorse, and when we were asked if we would be interested in being part of a syndicate, we said yes.

“Jimmy Moffatt found a horse at the Goffs UK September horses in training sale, a four-year-old who had won three times over hurdles in Ireland.

“There are eight of us in the syndicate, and I am also a member of Elite Racing, a birthday present from my wife a couple of years ago. I was looking forward to seeing an Elite horse run at Nottingham this afternoon, but unfortunately the meeting was abandoned.”

While Elite has been a real success story, it caters for the masses, and so when you own your first racehorse aged 99 within a much smaller syndicate, it is perhaps understandable that you would be keen to see him race.

Bolt was not able to see Dodgybingo at Ayr last month, but with Cartmel beginning its nine-race season this month hopefully he will not have to wait much longer to see him race in the flesh.

“It’s very exciting,” he says, “and we were looking forward to the ground changing. He likes decent ground.

“He had to have a minor operation for a breathing problem, which meant some time off. He had been due to run on New Year’s Day at Musselburgh. He’s fully recovered but the ground has been against him.

“We’re intending to go to Cartmel on May 26, and there are three meetings dotted around the Bank Holiday Monday, plus meetings in June. July and August. The plan is that Dodgybingo runs at least once at Cartmel.

“That will be a magical moment and

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I’m looking forward to that very much.

It was also great to see him exercise at Jimmy’s yard, he’s a nice-looking horse.”

Bolt continues: “Good trainers send their horses to Cartmel these days. The quality of horse running has improved, and you get top jockeys riding there.

“They built a brand new stand, the facilities for trainers and owners have improved a great deal, the new restaurant is excellent, as is the balcony and viewing.

“They let it out for weddings and parties and I’m contemplating having my 100th birthday party at the racecourse. The party for my 99th had to be postponed this year so I was sung ‘happy birthday’ a week late!”

Bolt has, of course, been retired for many years. He became a teacher in Surrey after the First World War, also writing four school textbooks, the first two of which sold more than 100,000 copies.

He was a talented musician too – “I was playing percussion by the time I was three!” – and a member of a very good choir. Rather typically of a spirit of an age unfortunately long behind us, Bolt also relayed that he started up a symphony orchestra while at Mühlberg POW camp.

“Some of the POWs had instruments already and others were obtained locally, often using cigarettes as payment,” he says. “There were Canadians, French, Americans and Poles in the camp as well as British, so it was very international.

“I didn’t have access to full orchestral scores, so orchestrated the music myself using piano reductions and memory, and if we didn’t have all the right instruments I substituted what we did have, such as saxophones.”

Whether there was any bingo was not something that cropped up in a conversation that was a privilege to have – the ROA’s oldest member is fantastically lucid – facilitated by his wife and greatest support, Alison.

As for Dodybingo, Bolt will be hoping a little of his mum’s racing luck rubs off on him, his mum having drawn Foinavon in the sweepstake in that infamous 1967 Grand National.

Bolt himself drew Gas Line Boy in this year’s National. He slightly ran out of gas on the run-in. The same cannot be said of his ticket holder.

ROA/Racing Post Owners Jackpot races

The In It To Win Partnership celebrate Oud Metha Bridge’s Owners Jackpot success

Hoping to run your horse in May? You could win an Owners Jackpot of £2,000 on top of prize-money if you win one of the weekly Owners Jackpot races.

There are five opportunities this month to win a bonus, so £10,000 is up for grabs for qualified runners.

The ROA has reviewed the impact of the introduction of the Appearance Money Scheme (AMS) on race values within the context of minimum/ maximum values, and in order to encourage Class 6 Flat and Class 5 jump races to be run as Owners Jackpot races we are reducing the minimum threshold for these classes of race to £6,500 (including AMS and Race Incentive Fund) from May onwards.

All other Owners Jackpot races will be required to offer minimum prizemoney of £7,500 (inc AMS/RIF).

This month’s Jackpot races May 1, Brighton 5f Handicap - 71-85 - 4+ May 11, Market Rasen 2m5f Handicap Chase 0-100 May 18, Aintree 2m1f Novices’ Hurdle May 23, Yarmouth 7f Handicap 66-80 May 31, Hamilton Park 1m Fillies’ Handicap 3yo+ 51-70 Further details including qualification can be found at www.roa.co.uk/jackpot

Owners Jackpot+ The next Owners Jackpot+ day will take place at Chester on July 13. As well offering a £2,000 bonus for the owner of the winner of the Jackpot race and Champagne for every qualifying runner, we also provide: • Travel expenses of £250 for every qualifying ROA-owned runner in the Jackpot race; • ROA hospitality for association members with or without a runner

in a racecourse facility, with a complimentary drink and canapes.

• Where the trainer of a qualifying winning horse in the Jackpot+ race is an ROA member, the winning yard will also benefit with a payment of £500.

To book in for the member facility to watch the afternoon’s racing please contact the ROA office or book online at roa.co.uk/events

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ROA Forum UPCOMING EVENTS...UPCOMING EVENTS...UPCOMING Glorious Goodwood member offers

You can do Goodwood even more stylishly thanks to our special hospitality package

The ROA is once again providing a special service for members attending the Qatar Goodwood Festival, offering badges for the Richmond Enclosure for the five-day festival, July 31-August 4.

The Qatar Goodwood Festival is one of the highlights of racing’s summer calendar. The racing draws an audience of 100,000 guests to enjoy the quintessentially English sporting and social occasion, where linen suits, Panamas and elegant millinery mix with strawberries and cream on the lawn.

The Richmond Enclosure is the premier enclosure at Goodwood, featuring stylish bars, a Champagne Lawn, restaurants and private boxes. It offers excellent vantage points of the parade ring and racecourse.

Richmond Enclosure badges are £89 per person from May 1. Members can book a maximum of four badges per day at roa.co.uk/events.

Places are limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment.

Junior badges (18-24 years) are £44.50. Please call the ROA office if you require any. Under 18s are free of charge, but we do need to know the age of the child to order their correct wristband.

The ROA Car Park label is not valid over the Qatar Goodwood Festival.

Members can purchase labels for Car Park 8 for £12 each.

Juddmonte International day at York

We are delighted to be able to offer a private ROA facility with a speciallypriced hospitality package for members heading to York on the opening day of the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival on Wednesday, August 22.

The feature race of the day is the Group 1 Juddmonte International, the richest race of York’s season and ranked one of the world’s top races, having been won by some of the greats in recent years, including the invincible Frankel.

Last year’s renewal saw a careerbest performance from Ulysses, beating Churchill and Barney Roy. The son of Galileo gave his trainer Sir Michael Stoute a record sixth success in the race.

The day also features the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes, one of the top middle-distance races for the Classic generation. Last year’s winner Cracksman went on to win the Prix Niel at Chantilly and QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot.

The specially tailored ROA package is exceptionally good value, and includes a place in a private box with balcony in the Melrose Stand, a County Stand badge, lunch and afternoon tea, for £230 per person inc VAT. Drinks are not included in the package. Guests can pre-order wine and there will be a cash bar on the day.

This has been a really popular event in the ROA calendar in recent years and early booking is recommended. Visit www.roa.co.uk/events or call 020 152 0200.

Ownership Matters evening

Members of the ROA team will head to Harrogate on the evening of June 5 to host an Ownership Matters event.

Open to members and guests, the evening is designed to allow owners to network with other owners, potential

Special hospitality package

The ROA and Goodwood have also teamed up to provide a special hospitality package for members during the Qatar Goodwood Festival. The package includes a reception drink, Richmond Enclosure badge, car parking label, three-course sit-down meal in the Horsewalk Restaurant, located in the Charlton (head-on) stand, afternoon tea, racecard and Tote facilities, with a cash bar.

The exclusive package is priced at £170.50 per person on Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, and £185.50pp for Thursday and Friday.

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There will be a private ROA facility on the Knavesmire for the Ebor Festival at York

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EVENTS... owners and trainers in a relaxed environment to discuss racing and ownership issues.

The venue is the Hotel du Vin. The evening is free to attend. Members are asked to book a place as drinks and canapes will be served.

Royal Ascot

The ROA has a number of discounted dining options for members during Royal Ascot (June 19-23). The offer applies across three locations offering varied hospitality packages in the Balmoral, Carriages and Furlong restaurants.

As places have been selling fast please check the ROA website at www.roa.co.uk/events for package availability and price options or call the ROA office on 020 7152 0200.

AGM and lunch

We very much hope to see a good member attendance at the ROA AGM on Tuesday, July 3 at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel, Knightsbridge, London.

The morning session, which is free to attend, will include speeches from ROA President Nicholas Cooper and Nick Rust, Chief Executive of the BHA. Members have an opportunity to listen and engage in informative industry debate, and pose questions to the ROA board and our guest speaker.

Members will be welcomed from 10am with coffee. The formal meeting will start at 10.30am and will include the results of the ROA Board Election.

There will be an owners’ forum, and guests who are interested in posing a question but are unable to attend are invited to contact the ROA with questions on ownership and membership. As in previous years, we will be streaming the event live via the ROA website at www.roa.co.uk for those unable to attend in person.

Tickets are on sale for the annual members’ and guests’ lunch, which takes place after the AGM. Those who book a place will be welcomed with a champagne reception, and will enjoy a three-course lunch with wine.

The lunch is always popular and is sure to sell out, so book your tickets today! For ROA members and guests, it is £115 per person including VAT. Tables of ten are available at £1,150.

Diary dates and reminders MAY 11 Owners Jackpot+ at Market Rasen MAY 22 Breakfast with the Stars facility for members at Epsom Downs JUNE 4 ROA regional meeting at Newton Abbot JUNE 5 Ownership Matters event at Harrogate JUNE 19-23 Discounted ROA hospitality package for Royal Ascot.

Over five days of the Royal meeting, across a choice of restaurants. See roa. co.uk/events for availability

SEPTEMBER 21 Member visit to Cheveley Park and Banstead Manor Studs, Newmarket, with lunch OCTOBER 20 Private box at Ascot for QIPCO British Champions Day OCTOBER 24 Owners Jackpot+ at Fontwell OCTOBER 30 ROA regional meeting at Chepstow NOVEMBER 1 Ownership Matters event at Edinburgh NOVEMBER 20 ROA regional meeting at Southwell

JULY 1 Curragh and AIRO member offer

DECEMBER 6 ROA Horseracing Awards

JULY 3 ROA AGM and members’ and guests’ lunch, London

See roa.co.uk/events for further details on all the above and to book.

JULY 5 ROA regional meeting at Perth JULY 13 Chester Owners Jackpot+ JULY 30-AUGUST 1 Galway Festival – access to AIRO marquee JULY 31-AUGUST 4 Glorious Goodwood package and service for selling Richmond Enclosure badges AUGUST Deauville Festival – selected dates, Access to exclusive owner dining facility AUGUST 22 Juddmonte International Stakes at York – private box and hospitality package SEPTEMBER 19 ROA regional meeting at Sandown

WIN FREE TICKETS

Racing Welfare Charity Raceday, Doncaster racecourse on Friday July 6 This wonderful day’s racing is the pinnacle of Racing Staff Week. Guests at the popular charity lunch enjoy a champagne reception followed by a three-course meal, as well as some fantastic Flat racing including the thrilling Clock Tower Cup, a charity race for stable staff. The ROA has sponsored a table for lunch and has nine places up for grabs for members.

If you would like to come along please email info@roa.co.uk with Clock Tower Cup in the subject line and your name, and if you would like to go into the prize draw for one or two tickets in the email. Winners will be informed

by May 31. Standard ROA competition rules apply. Good luck!

News in Brief Foreign racing commissions

The BHA has made a slight amendment to its terms and conditions on BHA racing accounts in relation to foreign racing commissions.

With effect from May 1, any transactions on an owner’s BHA racing account relating to foreign racing will incur a Weatherbys Bank charge of 0.05%, or a minimum charge of £10. This change will impact only on those with runners

overseas. This charge already applied to Weatherbys Bank account holders.

Feedback winner

This month’s lucky winner of a £50 John Lewis giftcard is Janet Davies, owner of Court Minstrel amongst other horses.

Could it be you next month? Complete our feedback form when you next go racing with a runner at roa.co.uk/ feedback and take your chance.

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ROA Forum

TRACK TALK

have also embraced the BHA’s Race Incentive Fund (RIF) and Appearance Money Schemes (AMS) for the Class 4 and 5 races that we stage, and have effectively invested in prize-money across all race classes.”

Latest news from the UK’s racecourses

Newmarket purses are on the rise, especially the Cesarewitch, won here by Withhold

NEWMARKET PRIZE-MONEY BOOST

The ROA welcomed news in April of a £1 million increase in prize-money at Newmarket racecourses this season.

The rise of 10% will see the total prize fund increase to £10.85m.

Among the highlights are a doubling of prize-money for the Cesarewitch to £500,000. In what is a major boost to Britain’s staying programme, by 2020, the race will be worth £1 million.

Charlie Liverton, Chief Executive of the ROA, said: “We very much welcome the announcement that 2018 prizemoney at Newmarket racecourses has increased significantly. Owners will be particularly encouraged by the fact that, in addition to boosting prize funds for Newmarket’s flagship Group races and handicaps such as the Cesarewitch, the Jockey Club has invested in prizemoney across all race classes, which will benefit racing’s grassroots and offer rewards for owners from all tiers of the sport at the home of horseracing.”

The autumn programme on The Rowley Mile is strengthened considerably in terms of prizemoney, including the Group races on Juddmonte day and the Cesarewitch.

The first Classics of the season, the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas and 2,000 Guineas, as well as the Group 1 Darley July Cup run at the Moët & Chandon July Festival on the July Course, the Group 1 bet365 Fillies’ Mile and the Group 1 Darley Dewhurst Stakes all maintain their individual prize sums of £500,000 each.

The QIPCO Guineas Festival, being held over the weekend of May 5 and 6,

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is worth almost £1.7m, which is a new record; the Dubai Future Champions Festival in October offers an aggregate total of over £2m, while the average prize-money per race across the entire 39-fixture programme is nearly £40,000.

The changes to the Cesarewitch, which will be worth £750,000 in 2019 and £1m in 2020, have been developed in partnership with the BHA and industry stakeholders. This includes adjustments to the race conditions, ensuring the protection of the European Pattern for staying races, through the introduction of a ratings cap of 110 (BHA official ratings). Entry stakes will be 1.25 per cent of prize-money. All aspects have met with the approval of the industry’s Racing Group, whose members include representatives of the ROA and National Trainers’ Federation (NTF).

Newmarket’s backing for the stayers’ programme is also reflected in an increase in prize-money for the Bahrain Trophy, the Group 3 contest for threeyear-olds run over one mile and five furlongs at the Moët & Chandon July Festival, with the fund increased by 50% to £150,000. By 2020 the race value will rise to £200,000.

Amy Starkey, Regional Director of Jockey Club Racecourses East Region, said: “We are maintaining our investment in prize-money for all our top races, while making a significant commitment to the racing industry’s support for stayers, including doubling prize-money this year for the Cesarewitch, which will ultimately become a £1 million race by 2020. We

Owners and trainers visiting Newmarket this year will able to enjoy a two-course meal (main course and dessert) at all 39 racedays. This complimentary offering is part of Newmarket racecourse’s commitment to improving the owner/ trainer experience.

A new booking system for the Runners Lounge has also been introduced to assist with managing the facility more efficiently and improve the overall experience. Owners can make bookings via an online form or by contacting the course direct with their PASS card number.

A maximum of six meal vouchers will be issued per ownership. Additional meal vouchers may be available for purchase at £20 each, subject to availability.

YORK ANNOUNCE £1M EBOR

GEORGE SELWYN

PA

IMPROVED EXPERIENCE

York will stage Britain’s first £1 million handicap next year, the Sky Bet Ebor

British Flat racing will next year have its first £1 million handicap after York unveiled a major new sponsorship deal with Sky Bet that is set to transform the Ebor and make it Europe’s most valuable race for stayers.

The Sky Bet Ebor will this year be worth £500,000 – up from £285,000 in 2017 – with its purse soaring to £1m in 2019.

Announcing the news, York revealed the Leeds-based bookmaker, which has agreed to back the open handicap for at least five years, is vowing to make Ebor Saturday “the most innovative, inclusive,

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adrenaline-fuelled Flat racing event of the year.”

Nakeeta landed last season’s Ebor en route to running in the Melbourne Cup, whose public popularity and media coverage York aspires to one day emulate. This year’s Melbourne Cup, the first to be held under the Lexus banner, will offer £3.8m in prizemoney.

In an effort to prevent damage to the three-year-olds’ Pattern programme, the Ebor will in future be restricted to horses aged four or over, although only two three-year-olds have lined up in the last decade due to the order of participation being determined by weight, not rating.

Sky Bet will also take over the backing of the three-year-olds’ only Melrose Handicap, which rises in value from £105,000 to £125,000, while the firm replaces Betway as sponsor of York’s St Leger trial, the £170,000 Great Voltigeur Stakes, won last year

by Cracksman.

York Chairman Teddy Grimthorpe said: “The Ebor has been a feature of my racing life and I think these plans set it on a firm course for future success.

“This great race encapsulates ambition, innovation and heritage, all of which are very much a part of York’s ethos.”

GOODWOOD OWNER INITIATIVES

Grace Muir speaking to ROA members at HEROS’ headquarters in Oxfordshire

reputation for correctly matching horses to their new owners.

Members enjoyed a ridden demonstration and a guided tour of the facilities, led by Grace Muir, whose knowledge and passion for horses and her work shone through. Members were looked after well with hot drinks and biscuits on what was a rainy morning, and were provided with handfuls of carrots to feed horses as they went around, which was appreciated by both givers and receivers.

A group of around 20 members visited HEROS, at North Farm Stud, on April 10.

The charity in Fawley, Oxfordshire, retrains and rehomes thoroughbred ex-racehorses to have a new life after racing under the watchful guidance of Chief Executive and founder Grace Muir.

The centre was granted charitable status in 2006 with help from the RoR (Retraining of Racehorses) and North Farm Stud, where the charity is based. They have successfully rehomed hundreds of ex-racehorses and have developed an extremely good

Ex-racehorses are rehomed by HEROS and their dedicated and talented staff

has been extended slightly to create an outdoor area with decking. The decked area runs parallel with the Horsewalk and will provide owners with a good view of horses as they are led from the parade ring and onto the course.

Goodwood racecourse produces an owners’ & trainers’ booklet which can be downloaded from www.goodwood.com

card showing a video replay of their horse’s winning race.

In a new initiative, syndicates will be given the option to extend their allocation of admission badges to 12, without complimentary lunches attached.

Syndicate members would be able to purchase any owner lunches at £30 per person, as required.

Syndicates can, if they prefer, arrange an allocation of six owners’ admission badges which includes four complimentary lunches in the owners & trainers’ restaurant.

The location of the owners & trainers’ restaurant has been opened up. The hedge previously in place has been removed, opening up the area which

APPEARANCE MONEY SCHEME (AMS)

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Goodwood is introducing a number of enhancements which will be welcomed by owners with a runner this season.

The winning owner of each race will be provided with a TV in a card as a memento. This follows positive feedback from winning owners at last year’s Qatar Goodwood Festival, who were provided with a TV in a

Member visit to HEROS

Goodwood have introduced a number of new initiatives for owners in 2018

We welcomed news last month that more than £1,000,000 was paid to owners during the first three months of this year through the Appearance Money Scheme (AMS). It is clear that these payments are making a difference to owners as the grassroots level.

The ROA has been undertaking an analysis of AMS payments, and data showing a breakdown by course of the number of races unlocked by each racecourse can be viewed at www.roa. co.uk/ams We hope that this information will assist owners with running plans for your horses in the weeks and months ahead.

Full details of race fixtures through to the end of June and those races offering AMS payments can be accessed by registered owners via the Racing Admin website at www2.racingadmin.co.uk.

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MY DAY AT THE RACES With Emma Collins at Cheltenham on March 14

ROA member Emma Collins certainly enjoyed the thrill and experience of having a runner at the Cheltenham Festival when Le Breuil contested the Coral Cup, as evidenced by her ratings for the occasion.

Trained by Ben Pauling at Bourton-on-the-Water, the talented six-year-old followed up his mid-division finish at the Festival with a victory at Fakenham last month Did you receive any welcome information as an owner in advance of the raceday?

I received a pre-race day letter explaining the options and arrangements for badges back in February. This had the options for dining that could be booked in advance. It also had directions for getting to the racecourse and where to go on arrival and details as to whether extra badges were available and how to order them. After the six-day forfeits I received badges and car parking tickets – we were in the top 30 in the handicap for our race - and information on who to call for badges. When I called regarding the tickets after the two-day declaration the person in the office could not have been more helpful.

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

Driving in was very easy and we were directed to the owners’ and trainers’ car park. Parking was slightly trickier than normal purely due to the mud caused by the weather! Collecting the owners’ badges was exceptionally easy and straightforward. A friend, whose name I had given to the office in advance, collected two before I arrived. On arrival I collected the other four. Everyone on the desk was very friendly and helpful.

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Emma Collins chatting to Le Breuil’s jockey Aidan Coleman before the Coral Cup

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

Yes, we had lunch in the Tattersalls Pavilion (there was also an option in the Princess Royal Stand). We were lucky to find a table, but people did come and go. The lunch was a very good buffet, and drinks were available for purchase and served at the table.

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

The Tattersalls Pavilion was well located near the Northern Gate entrance and close to the paddock. The meal was complimentary. There was an excellent range of options, including lobster! It was possible for four people to have lunch, which was great.

How was the pre-parade ring/paddock experience?

The pre-parade ring was good and surprisingly not too busy. It was very easy to go from the pre-parade ring to the paddock. The paddock was very crowded, but completely understandable in a race with 26 runners. It was a great atmosphere!

How did you find the facilities for owners’ viewing?

I watched on the lawn just below the

owners’ and trainers’ steps, where I could see the big screen on the course and the bend/finish line, whilst experiencing the general atmosphere.

It would also have been good to watch the race on the big screen in the paddock or from the Princess Royal Stand.

Were you able to review a replay of your race easily on course?

Yes, replays of the last few jumps were easily viewed on the big screens.

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

A great day; such a buzz! Considering the numbers, owners were treated exceptionally well. The facilities are extremely good and the course, as always, looked amazing!

HOW IT RATED Entry Viewing Atmosphere Owners’ facilities Food Overall score

★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 25

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Figures for period April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018

Flat Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Ascot York Goodwood Epsom Downs Newmarket Chester Newbury Doncaster Sandown Park Haydock Park Musselburgh Lingfield Park Chelmsford City Newcastle Salisbury Hamilton Park Ripon Pontefract Ayr Kempton Park Leicester Wetherby Thirsk Beverley Carlisle Nottingham Bath Ffos Las Windsor Redcar Yarmouth Catterick Bridge Wolverhampton Chepstow Southwell Brighton Total

Ownership

Avg racecourse spend per fixture (£)

Avg HBLB spend per fixture (£)

Avg owner spend per fixture (£)

Avg prizemoney per fixture (£)

Total no. of fixtures

Total prize-money (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2016-2017 (£)

I I I JCR JCR I I ARC JCR JCR I ARC I ARC I I I I I JCR I I I I JCR JCR ARC I ARC I ARC I ARC ARC ARC ARC

439,135 229,497 191,742 155,972 117,576 85,085 81,645 76,801 67,769 66,025 57,827 45,907 44,056 41,889 40,004 39,024 38,886 38,082 34,085 33,488 32,722 32,248 31,417 31,160 30,373 30,086 29,696 28,053 27,072 26,370 25,440 23,738 23,278 22,492 20,934 19,596 58,662

131,739 88,889 84,869 71,141 73,515 39,937 59,715 48,622 45,638 39,812 19,272 26,443 19,223 22,025 27,344 21,005 20,218 31,388 16,626 20,377 22,798 7,234 16,847 19,769 16,304 19,007 16,821 12,017 19,270 17,845 17,573 16,278 18,435 13,494 15,038 12,846 30,659

262,713 111,472 69,935 112,900 66,124 10,653 38,401 33,811 28,872 18,325 6,692 5,527 5,629 6,166 6,014 4,709 4,661 3,928 5,202 5,205 5,987 5,184 6,017 4,060 5,208 6,101 4,408 3,965 5,102 13,563 4,865 2,825 3,493 3,857 2,468 2,826 20,073

834,005 432,914 347,124 340,014 257,343 137,341 182,070I 159,273 142,279 125,717 84,958 77,876 69,009 70,080 73,363 64,738 63,882 73,398 55,913 59,070 61,557 44,667 54,281 55,041 51,885 55,237 50,925 44,035 51,481 57,778 48,233 42,840 45,220 39,844 38,440 35,268 109,641

18 18 19 11 39 15 17 26 16 23 18 73 59 46 16 17 17 16 17 59 20 3 16 19 13 23 22 6 27 18 24 17 72 16 37 22 895

15,012,086 7,792,450 6,595,357 3,740,149 10,036,381 2,060,116 3,095,187 4,141,086 2,276,470 2,828,643 1,529,247 5,684,972 4,071,556 3,223,659 1,173,800 1,100,549 1,086,001 1,174,375 950,525 3,485,138 1,231,138 134,000 868,500 1,045,782 674,510 1,270,460 1,120,356 264,211 1,389,992 1,040,000 1,157,583 728,282 3,255,870 637,500 1,422,265 775,899 98,074,093

439,286 212,321 176,251 140,472 114,448 80,126 76,642 79,833 62,705 54,369 41,025 22,870 39,987 30,964 37,668 31,889 36,725 36,467 45,309 25,418 26,736 32,066 28,713 30,417 26,996 25,603 26,611 24,167 28,527 22,330 23,371 22,440 20,559 23,081 11,697 19,068 52,327

Up/ down

▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲

Jumps Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Aintree Cheltenham Ascot Sandown Park Haydock Park Newbury Kempton Park Ayr Doncaster Newcastle Wincanton Warwick Perth Chepstow Cartmel Ludlow Carlisle Exeter Hereford Stratford-On-Avon Fakenham Newton Abbot Wetherby Kelso Market Rasen Leicester Musselburgh Taunton Huntingdon Ffos Las Catterick Bridge Uttoxeter Hexham Worcester Lingfield Park Towcester Plumpton Fontwell Park Bangor-On-Dee Sedgefield Southwell Total

Ownership

Avg racecourse spend per fixture (£)

Avg HBLB spend per fixture (£)

Avg owner spend per fixture (£)

Avg prizemoney per fixture (£)

Total no. of fixtures

Total prize-money (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2016-2017 (£)

Up/ down

JCR JCR I JCR JCR I JCR I ARC ARC JCR JCR I ARC I I JCR JCR ARC I I I I I JCR I I I JCR I I ARC I ARC ARC I I ARC I ARC ARC

275,542 265,619 146,862 111,098 106,436 85,960 56,570 44,071 37,957 35,712 34,671 31,542 31,149 30,992 30,773 30,735 30,689 30,401 30,378 30,302 30,284 29,790 29,043 28,595 28,558 28,060 27,636 27,427 26,647 24,551 24,089 24,014 22,464 22,394 21,324 21,270 20,091 19,959 19,948 17,850 17,428 44,070

129,713 118,522 85,689 88,144 83,677 64,402 55,931 36,322 42,455 34,383 34,496 30,652 23,924 36,994 19,406 30,667 28,478 33,486 25,396 19,142 23,226 29,781 30,040 27,368 29,463 31,287 32,235 28,903 21,100 23,181 23,712 25,011 16,158 19,289 27,812 18,292 24,810 19,447 19,167 19,516 19,666 34,601

70,798 67,541 18,076 17,087 16,684 21,492 8,895 10,823 7,945 5,790 5,678 5,921 3,556 8,544 4,398 4,989 5,052 5,980 6,340 3,483 0 60 5,173 3,809 4,826 4,897 4,364 5,536 4,626 5,162 2,796 5,493 2,891 3,898 4,538 3,676 3,656 3,257 4,155 3,147 3,598 8,362

476,866 451,683 252,849 217,995 218,376 173,216 121,754 91,392 88,885 76,510 74,845 68,489 58,628 76,529 54,576 66,391 67,097 69,867 62,113 53,310 53,510 59,631 64,256 59,771 63,063 64,244 64,235 62,545 54,226 53,213 50,596 54,643 41,513 45,581 53,675 43,429 48,557 42,663 43,430 41,013 40,692 87,565

8 16 9 9 10 9 14 13 9 8 14 16 15 15 9 16 12 14 6 17 12 17 16 11 22 8 10 14 17 11 9 24 15 22 6 12 14 22 14 17 19 551

3,814,929 7,226,922 2,275,637 1,961,958 2,074,568 1,558,946 1,704,553 1,188,101 799,967 612,078 1,047,833 1,095,825 879,425 1,147,939 491,185 1,062,261 805,169 978,132 372,679 906,272 642,120 1,013,719 1,028,093 657,481 1,387,389 513,952 642,350 875,625 921,850 585,342 455,366 1,311,433 622,698 1,002,787 322,047 521,154 679,802 938,580 608,023 697,223 773,154 48,204,564

250,443 241,377 136,540 98,738 94,200 27,787 51,499 37,426 37,803 25,293 26,620 22,048 50,965 35,458 30,843 51,499 20,148 21,329 24,651 28,775 22,789 27,779 25,596 36,891 18,015 22,643 19,792 26,130 22,643 20,793 16,963 24,391 18,526 19,683 36,891 16,176 16,031 19,653 22,137 18,072 17,893 38,344

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▲

EXPLANATION The tables set out the average prize-money at each fixture staged by a racecourse over the last 12 months. They show how this is made up of the three sources of prize-money: 1. Racecourses’ contribution 2. Levy Board (HBLB) 3. Owners The tables also confirm the number of fixtures staged and the total amount of prize-money paid out by each racecourse throughout this period.

The racecourses are ordered by the average amount of their own contribution to prizemoney at each fixture.

This contribution originates from various sources including media rights, admission revenues and racecourse sponsors.

If a racecourse has increased its average contribution at each fixture compared with the previous 12 months, it receives a green ‘up’ arrow. If its average contribution has fallen, however, it receives a red ‘down’ arrow.

As these tables are based on the prizemoney paid out by each racecourse, the abandonment of a major fixture could distort a racecourse’s performance.

OWNERSHIP KEY JCR Jockey Club Racecourses ARC Arena Racing Company I

Independently owned racecourse Gold Standard Award

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TBA Forum

The special section for TBA members

Regional courses for breeders The TBA, in conjunction with the National Stud, is hosting three regional training courses for members in 2018, giving breeders an update on stud management topics from experts within the industry.

The courses are free to TBA members and will deliver a range of topics, such as nutrition, farriery, worm control and preparations for covering.

The first of the three courses will

be held at Lackham Hall, Wiltshire on Tuesday, July 24, followed by Exeter racecourse, Devon on Thursday, September 6. The final course will be held at Haydock Park racecourse, Merseyside on Thursday, September 13.

For more information or to book a place, please contact Leaya Slater on 01638 675930 or email Leaya@ nationalstud.co.uk

Sign up now for free courses on a range of stud management topics for breeders

Bonus Winners March 7, Catterick Bridge Noel Fehily Cheltenham Previews At 188Bet Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle (Betfred Series Qualifier) (Class 4) Winner: SEA STORY Owned by John and Susie Kottler, and Emma Buchanan Bonus Value: £2,500 March 13, Sedgefield The Bookies.Com Wednesday Cheltenham Tips Mares’ Standard Open NH Flat Race (Class 5) Winner: PINEAPPLE RUSH Owned by The Bradley Partnership Bonus Value: £5,000 March 13, Sedgefield 88Bet Casino Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (Class 4) Winner: JAXLIGHT Owned by James King Bonus Value: £2,500 Bring yourself up to date with all areas of stud management topics on our free courses

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TBA-sponsored races in March

JOHN HOY

In Other News…

DAVID PRATT PHOTOGRAPHY

Saturday, March 10 saw the running of the Listed EBF Stallions/TBA Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race at Sandown Park. The competitive race saw eight mares line up and was won in a close finish by Queenohearts. The daughter of Flemensfirth was bought at the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale in 2016 for £13,000 and has since gone on to win two out of her three starts for trainer Stuart Edmunds.

FRANCESCA ALTOFT PHOTOGRAPHY

The following day the EBF/TBA Mares’ Chase took place at Warwick and was won impressively by Timeforwest. Ridden by Killian Moore, she was held up before taking the lead with two fences left to jump and staying on to win by nine lengths. The sixyear-old mare, who is owned by the Jockey Club South West Ownership Group and trained by Jonjo O’Neil, was bought from the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham Sale in 2016 by Peter and Ross Doyle.

Another TBA-sponsored Listed race took place on Saturday, March 24 at Newbury.

The TBA/EBF Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle was won by the Dan Skelton-trained Roksana.

Sixteen mares lined up for the feature race of the Be Wiser Jumps Season Finale and it proved to be highly competitive, with a number of mares still in contention when coming into the straight. However, Roksana, who was ridden by Bridget Andrews, stayed on to win decisively by two and three-quarter lengths.

• The launch of the Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers’ Million took place on Monday, March 26 at the Jockey Club Rooms in Newmarket. The initiative, which was announced earlier in the year, offers a £1 million bonus to the connections of any horse which wins one of four prep races in May - the Longines Sagaro Stakes at Ascot, the Boodles Diamond Ordmonde Stakes at Chester, the Yorkshire Cup at York or the Matchbook Henry II Stakes at Sandown - and then goes on to win the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, the Qatar Goodwood Cup and the Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup. The launch was hosted

by Nick Luck, who highlighted the importance of the initiative through interviews with a number of industry experts, including TBA Chairman Julian Richmond-Watson.

• Recent articles in the Racing Post and also appearances on BBC Radio 4 have highlighted the TBA’s continued work towards the issue of Brexit. With a year to go before the start of the implementation period, the TBA has been working closely with French and Irish counterparts and EFTBA (European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders’ Associations) in political discussions, forging solutions regarding issues such as the free movement of horses and people to ensure the best outcome for the industry.

30-day foal notification reminder TBA members are reminded that from the start of 2018 breeders are now required to notify the General Stud Book (GSB) of the birth of all foals within 30 days of their birthdate. Notifications can be managed through the Weatherbys GSB online system.

For more information on the new system and help on submitting a notification, please visit www. weatherbys.co.uk/30day.

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TBA Forum

Breeders’ badges The TBA is delighted to announce the following breeders’ badge offers:

Royal Ascot, June 19 to 23

For this year’s Royal meeting, Ascot racecourse is repeating its offer for two badges for each horse declared who has been bred by a TBA member.

Winning breeders will also be invited to a special lunch hosted by Ascot racecourse Director Guy Henderson, on the Friday of the King George meeting (July 27), where they will receive a special memento to acknowledge their achievement.

York Ebor Festival

Breeders of runners at this year’s Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival (August 22 to 25) are invited to apply for badges to see their horses run on the Knavesmire. This offer is exclusive to TBA members and is limited to a maximum of two badges per breeder.

Diary Dates Tuesday, May 8 Wales and West Midlands Regional Day David Dennis Racing and Throckmorton Stud

The TBA is thankful to racecourses, in particular Ascot and York, who continue to recognise breeders’ contribution to the industry with opportunities to attend race meetings.

Reminders of these fantastic offers will be sent out nearer the dates by email and will be posted on the TBA website.

To register your interest for badges, please email annette.bell@thetba.co.uk with the following information:

Friday, May 18 TBA 3-2-1 P2P Bonus Bumper at Aintree racecourse.

Monday, May 21 National Hunt Celebration Dinner at Mount Pleasant Hotel, Doncaster Wednesday, May 30 West Regional Day at Hillwood Stud

BREEDER’S NAME TBA MEMBERSHIP NUMBER HORSE’S NAME RACE ENTERED

Friday, June 8 TBA 3-2-1 P2P Bonus Bumper at Stratford racecourse Wednesday, June 6 Scotland Regional Day at Floors Castle Stud

Please note that badges will be issued only once eligibility has been verified.

If you are not yet a TBA member but would like to take up these and similar offers please contact Annette Bell at the TBA office.

Thursday, June 28 South-East Regional Day at Ralph Beckett’s Kimpton Down Stables Wednesday, July 18 TBA Annual Awards Evening Newmarket

Have you booked your tickets for the NH Celebration Dinner?

Thursday, July 19 TBA Annual General Meeting at The Jockey Club Rooms, Newmarket Tuesday, July 24 National Stud/TBA Regional Course at Lackham Hall, Wiltshire Tuesday, July 24 South-West Regional Day at Roger Chalton’s Beckhampton Stables Saturday, July 28 Breeders’ Seminar (ISER) at Tattersalls

ADAM SMYTH

Sunday, July 29 TBA ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ Foal Show at Bangor-on-Dee racecourse

Ten awards will be up for grabs as breeders gather to celebrate the best of British jumping

Later this month the annual NH Celebration Dinner will take place at the Mount Pleasant Hotel near Doncaster on Monday, May 21.

The event, which takes place on the eve of the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale, gathers breeders, trainers and National Hunt enthusiasts together to

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celebrate the British breeding industry’s achievements on the racecourse throughout the 2017-18 National Hunt season. Ten awards will be presented during the evening.

Tickets are available to be purchased on the TBA website, for a price of £55 per person.

Thursday, September 6 National Stud/TBA Regional Course at Exeter racecourse Thursday, September 13 National Stud/TBA Regional Course at Haydock Park racecourse

New Members

Canary Thoroughbreds, Norfolk Mark Evans, Shropshire Jonathan Gerrelli, Hampshire Jack Conroy, Surrey Guillaume Sarda, France Katarina Jacobson, Sweden

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Do you know someone who might be interested in applying for the E2SE course?

Following the success of last year’s pilot TBA Entry to Stud Employment course (E2SE), applications are now being accepted for the 2018 programme.

The course, which is run by the National Stud with funding from the TBA and the Racing Foundation, aims to provide a route for adults who lack the practical experience but are committed to a career in the thoroughbred breeding industry. The programme is split into two parts; an initial nine-week residential programme at the National Stud, which provides candidates with basic stud work skills, transferrable skills and accredited qualifications, followed by a six- to nine-month period of paid work on a stud farm, where candidates are able to gain valuable experience.

Applications are open to anyone aged 18 or above and there are no entry criteria, other than a physical aptitude for the job and a drive to learn and work in the industry. Prior experience with horses is not required, with last year’s candidates coming from a variety of backgrounds including legal, catering, armed forces and engineering.

For further information on the scheme, please visit the National Stud’s website or contact Caroline Turnbull at the TBA 01638 661321/email caroline. turnbull@thetba.co.uk.

Employers who are interested in taking on a student from the programme, or who have a potential candidate in mind, should contact Tabbi Smith, Training Director at the National Stud.

Entries are being sought for the second Entry to Stud Employment Course

Updates for regional days The South-West Regional Day will be held at the historic Beckhampton Stables, Marlborough on Tuesday, July 24. Situated in spectacular Wiltshire landscape, the yard boasts nearly 200 years of history with a total of almost 40 English Classic winners to its credit.

Roger Charlton has been based there since 1978, when he was assistant to Jeremy Tree. The Derbywinning trainer has continued to add to his success and trains for many high-profile patrons including HM The Queen and Khalid Abdullah, assisted by his two sons, Harry and Tom. In 2017, Roger trained the treble Group 1 winner Decorated Knight and Withhold, who won the Cesarewitch in emphatic style.

Application forms will automatically be sent to those within the south-west area. All other members should request a form by emailing annette.bell@thetba.co.uk or call 01638 661321.

The North Regional Day has been provisionally set for Tuesday, September 11 and will include a dual visit to Richard Fahey’s yard and Mark Dwyer’s Oaks Farm Stables, both based near Malton, North Yorkshire.

Visit historic Beckhampton, where Roger Charlton trains more than 100 horses

Richard Fahey has trained over 30 Group winners, including Group 1 Ribchester in the 2017 Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot. Oaks Farm provides top-class preparation of all types of young horses ready for re-sale with breaking and pre-training facilities.

Richard Fahey will be opening his doors to members for the North Regional Day

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TBA Forum

TBA Annual General Meeting All members are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, which will take place on Wednesday, July 19 at the Jockey Club Rooms, Newmarket. The meeting, which takes place the day after the TBA Annual Awards Evening, will commence at 10.30am and members are also invited to join the board for light lunch and refreshments following the meeting.

Further details, including the agenda, will be available on the TBA website.

3-2-1 Point-to-Point Bonus back in place

Mares have the opportunity to win a bonus of up to £3,000 as part of the TBA’s 3-2-1 P2P Bonus

The TBA’s 3-2-1 Point-to-Point Bonus will once again be offered at three endof-season bumpers run under Rules on licensed racecourses. The initiative was introduced as part of the TBA’s work to improve race opportunities for mares, ensure the diversity of the breed is protected and gives the opportunity to win a bonus of up to £3,000.

The bonus operates on a sliding scale

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with the highest-placed mare in each of the bonus races receiving £1,000, a further £1,000 if she is British-bred and another £1,000 if she is owned by a TBA member (terms and conditions apply).

The first of this year’s bonus races was held at Exeter on April 24, and will be followed by another at Aintree racecourse on May 18 and at Stratford on June 7.

Robert Waley-Cohen, Chairman of the TBA’s National Hunt Committee, commented: “The domestic National Hunt breeding industry is producing top-quality thoroughbreds and we hope that by improving opportunities within point-to-pointing more Britishbred horses will rise through pointto-pointing to the highest levels of National Hunt racing.”

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INVESTING IN BREEDING & RACING Equine Health & Welfare Chairman Julian Richmond-Watson referred last month to the phrase ‘charity begins at home,’ urging a redistribution of prize-money aimed at those who buy or breed British thoroughbreds. He might equally have been referring to the TBA’s support for equine veterinary research and other health and welfare issues that affect the industry, which for decades has assisted breeders in Britain and beyond.

In 2017 the TBA contributed £279,687 to research alone, as its Veterinary Committee implemented objectives that include funding study projects, providing support and guidance on the surveillance and control of infectious diseases, and disseminating information, advice and guidance to members on all relevant veterinary matters.

This work has been going on since the mid-1960s, and Kirsten Rausing, chairman of the Veterinary Committee, is keen to put the TBA’s role into historical context, saying: “Many of the things that we breeders nowadays take completely for granted were developed through support from the TBA, not only financially but also morally and in other ways.

“I’m thinking especially of aspects of reproductive medicine that we use on a daily basis, such as the ultra-sound scanner, the reduction in twin pregnancies and the management of the mare’s reproductive cycle hormonally, which were developed by Professor Twink Allen with TBA funding and support. Britain was a world leader in this respect, and so it’s been of worldwide benefit to breeders.”

As the owner of Lanwades Stud,

Rausing has personal experience of the advances, notably through the ultrasound scanner, which she describes as “a fantastic help,” adding: “Life was considerably more difficult in my early years as a breeder.”

She recalls: “Many years ago, a client bought a mare at the December Sales and sent her to us for boarding. I didn’t see the mare at the sales, and when she arrived, I thought she was carrying very, very heavily, and said to the owner I wouldn’t have been surprised if she was carrying twins.

“The buyer said that couldn’t be possible, as he’d bought the mare from ‘a very reputable stud’. Anyway, a senior vet came up and listened to the mare’s heartbeat externally, and sure enough, he found three heartbeats. Sadly, I was right.

The mare produced two little ‘rabbits’ two months before her due date and they died.

“Nowadays this sort of instance would be extremely unusual. Twins would be found at a very early stage and you would deal with the situation.”

In 2017 TBA grants included £50,000 towards the Animal Health Trust’s Infectious Diseases Service (IDS), a sum that will be repeated in 2018, along with a commitment to support the organisation’s Equine Herpes Virus vaccine project with a similar sum for the next five years, subject to review.

Asked to sum up the significance of the TBA’s contribution, Dr Richard Newton, the AHT’s director of epidemiology and disease surveillance

says: “The short answer is that its support is very important.”

He adds: “The TBA is an especially important player in the HBLB Codes of Practice, through its veterinary advisers and Professor Sidney Ricketts in particular, who maintain a watching brief to monitor what’s going on and ensure the Codes are fit for purpose.

“Over the years the Codes have grown in response particularly to exotic diseases such as Equine Infectious Anaemia and Dourine, which are now in the Codes but weren’t before. That was in response to the occurrence of disease elsewhere in Europe, with Italy as a major example after its problems in 2011 with nonthoroughbreds.

“The TBA contributes directly to the AHT as one of the three streams of funding for IDS, which allows us to maintain resident expertise, including myself and other experts such as in pathology and virology, who can respond to any endemic disease threats, such as EHV1-4.

“The TBA also supports subsidised abortion investigations and clearance, which is very important because if they are not investigated properly, they can turn into big problems.”

Kirsten Rausing realises that the Veterinary Committee she chairs will not go short of work. “This is a never-ending subject,” she says. “There are always new diseases we have to fight, not least with the enormous international movement in bloodstock nowadays, and there’s always room for further research.”

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Breeder of the Month Words Hyperion Promotions Ltd

BREEDER OF THE MONTH – MARCH

NEWSELLS PARK STUD Owners and trainers searching for future Cheltenham Festival winners should pay close attention to horses in training bred by Newsells Park Stud. The Hertfordshire-based operation was the leading breeder at the 2017 Festival after wins for Penhill in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle and Supasundae in the Grade 3 Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle, as well as a second place for Melon in the Grade 1 Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. Twelve months later, all three horses returned to Prestbury Park with very similar results.

Julian Dollar, General Manager of Newsells Park, reflected on the unexpected success: “We don’t set out our stall to be National Hunt breeders, but this is an extra bonus and we have to be proud of it. It’s great fun.”

On the opening day of this year’s meeting, Melon finished second in the Grade 1 Unibet Champion Hurdle, only a neck behind the reigning champion Buveur D’Air. By Medicean out of Night Teeny, the six-year-old gelding is a halfbrother to three Stakes horses on the Flat.

Two days later, it was the turn of Penhill and Supasundae to fight out the finish of the Grade 1 Sun Bet Stayers’ Hurdle. Two lengths separated the pair at the end of the three-mile contest, with victory going to Penhill, a son of former Newsells resident Mount Nelson and bred in partnership with Equity Bloodstock.

He was sold for 24,000gns at Tattersalls October Book 2 Sale in 2012 and again

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Sponsored by

Manufacturers of

for 230,000gns at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale two years later.

Tony Bloom, who also campaigns Librisa Breeze, another Newsells Parkbred son of Mount Nelson, and the winner of last year’s Group 1 QIPCO British Champions Sprint at Ascot, owns the dual Festival hero.

Commercial breeders did not share Bloom’s faith in Mount Nelson, despite a very respectable ratio of stakes winners to runners during his time at Newsells.

In 2016, he was sold to Boardsmill Stud in Ireland where he now stands as a dual-purpose stallion. Among the mares he covered last year was Penhill’s dam Serrenia who is by High Chaparral. Aiden Murphy’s Warren Chase Stud purchased her from Newsells in 2012.

“We’re not in the business of standing dual-purpose horses but I always loved Mount Nelson and to a certain degree it vindicates what we thought about him he’s produced a top-class sprinter and a classy hurdler like Penhill. He can do both jobs,” said Dollar.

Stayers’ Hurdle runner-up Supasundae, winner of the Grade 1 Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown in February, is by Galileo out of Distinctive Look, a Danehill half-sister to Newsells Park’s exciting young stallion Nathaniel.

There is link between Newsells and one of the most controversial renewals of the Cheltenham Stayers’ Hurdle through Sir Humphrey de Trafford who established the stud in 1926. His daughter Catherine was married to legendary Lambourn trainer Fulke Walwyn. He trained 40 winners at the Cheltenham Festival between 1946 and

Penhill clears the final flight at Cheltenham with fellow Newsells-bred Supasundae

1986, a record which stood until 2012, when beaten by fellow Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson.

Among that number were three victories in the Stayers’ Hurdle between 1982 and 1986. Crimson Embers became the first dual winner, taking the title for the first time in 1982 and then regaining it four years later. However, it probably should have been three wins as in 1985 Crimson Embers was badly hampered on the run-in by his stable companion Rose Ravine. There was no objection as both horses were in the same ownership. After a prolonged enquiry, the local stewards let the result stand but the Disciplinary Committee of the Jockey Club made it clear that Crimson Embers should have been promoted to first place, although at the time the rules of racing did not allow it to enforce that judgement.

There was another success for a Newsells-bred horse at the Fairyhouse Easter meeting when Pallasator, winner of the Group 2 Doncaster Cup on the Flat, won a Grade 2 Novices’ Hurdle.

He could be a contender for the 2019 Stayers’ Hurdle.

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Dr Statz

John Boyce cracks the code

Harder to break through in stallion ranks than on track

A

s we embark on another exciting Flat season in Britain and Ireland, there is plenty to look forward to. We have some of the highest-rated racehorses in recent memory such as Cracksman, Enable, Battaash and Harry Angel returning to the fray – and who knows what gems the Classic generation will throw up this year?

On the stallion front we yearn for another sire that can match or even surpass the proven incumbents. But unlike the racing scene where the balance of power alters every season, the stallion charts don’t change that much from year to year. Many stallions will have been presented with varying degrees of opportunity to break into the big time, but, as we all know too well, the vast majority will fail to make the grade.

Currently, we have only 24 sires in Britain and Ireland with 100 or more runners that have managed at least 6% black-type winners to runners. And even among those, many are considered failures, either because they produce horses with non-commercial aptitudes or simply that the market expected much more from them.

For instance, only nine of the 24 are siring black-type winners at a higher rate than would be expected of their mares. The best in this regard are Dubawi (+4.5%), Pivotal (+3.8%), Galileo (+2.6%), Mastercraftsman (+2.2%) and Dark Angel (+2.1%). Ironically, the sire with the biggest black-type ratio to overcome from his mares is Frankel.

The dams of Frankel runners currently produce black-type winners at a rate of 22.8%, which gives Frankel a deficit of seven percentage points to try to claw back. But there has to be common sense applied here. He’s a young sire who covered more black-type producers in his first three years than most sires do in a lifetime. We know that over time a mare’s ability to produce her best drops off as she gets older.

My own research suggests that by the age of 15 a broodmare’s prospects of producing a superior runner is only 40-45% of what it was when she started out. So, if you overload a stallion with older proven mares, you will not get the same percentage returns that those mares delivered earlier in their careers – even if

TOP ACTIVE SPEED SIRES STANDING IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND (100-plus runners, ranked by % BTW to Runners) Stallion

Sire

To Stud

Rnrs

AWD

BTW

%BTW

MOR

TFR

T10

Pivotal

Polar Falcon

1997

1226

7.9

138

11.3

7.5

112

126.5

Oasis Dream

Green Desert

2004

1004

7.7

109

10.9

12.2

112

125.1

Invincible Spirit

Green Desert

2003

1168

7.4

97

8.3

8.0

111

125.9

Dark Angel

Acclamation

2008

615

7.8

44

7.2

5.1

111

124.7

Exceed And Excel

Danehill

2004

870

6.8

61

7.0

7.5

110

121.4

TOP ACTIVE INTERMEDIATE SIRES STANDING IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND (100-plus runners, ranked by % BTW to Runners) Stallion

Sire

Dubawi

Dubai Millennium

To Stud

Rnrs

AWD

BTW

%BTW

MOR

TFR

T10

2006

791

9.2

125

15.8

11.3

114

127.5

Frankel

Galileo

2013

133

8.9

21

15.8

22.8

113

118.9

Dansili

Danehill

2001

1033

9.5

125

12.1

11.1

114

127.4

Lope de Vega

Shamardal

2011

270

8.4

29

10.7

8.9

111

117.9

Tamayuz

Nayef

2009

226

8.7

20

8.8

9.6

110

116.7

TOP ACTIVE STAYING SIRES STANDING IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND (100-plus runners, ranked by % BTW to Runners) Stallion

Sire

Galileo

Sadler's Wells

Sea The Stars

Cape Cross

Teofilo

Galileo

Mastercraftsman

Danehill Dancer

Beat Hollow

Sadler's Wells

To Stud

Rnrs

AWD

BTW

%BTW

MOR

TFR

T10

2002

1457

10.9

239

16.4

13.8

114

132.3

2010

327

10.4

45

13.8

17.8

114

124.8

2008

599

10.1

60

10.0

8.5

111

121.3

2010

483

10.1

32

6.6

4.4

110

118.4

2003

324

10.0

21

6.5

6.8

113

118.3

KEY TO STATS • Rnrs – Runners • AWD – Average winning distance • BTW – Black-type winners • %BTW – Percentage of black-type winners • MOR – Mares’ other runners • TFR – Timeform rating • T10 – Average rating of sires’ top ten runners

you are a top-class stallion.

Therefore, we have to wait until Frankel’s young mares go on to produce a full set of foals before these figures start to balance out. Sea The Stars is another who has to some extent fallen foul of this phenomenon and it almost certainly explains why his deficit is four percentage points. But for the vast majority of sires understanding the opportunity his mares give him is key to understanding how well he is performing.

Our tables set out the leading five stallions in three categories ranging from speed to stamina. In the speed division, the youngest sire is Dark Angel, who is now covering his tenth book of mares. There has been much more change in the other two categories. Frankel has burst on the scene in the intermediate division, rivaling Dubawi’s ratio of black-type winners, albeit from much better mares. Lope De Vega made a huge impression with his early crops, so we can expect much better things from his second wave of good mares.

In the staying division, Mastercraftsman certainly deserves more attention, but aside from the top-performing halfbrothers Galileo and Sea The Stars, Teofilo stands out as an excellent sire in that he gets 10% black-type winners to runners and improves his mares.

It says a lot about where our bloodstock production is going when you can name only four staying sires currently at stud in Britain and Ireland that can produce more than 6% black-type winners. The corresponding number for the other two categories is nearly 40.

Of course there are others who, by dint of proving to the commercial breeder that they have what it takes, have been given renewed and better opportunities for future success. Stallions such as Showcasing, Iffraaj and Kodiac will always excite commercial breeders regardless of the ratio of black-type winners. But all three should see their positions climb further as their best-bred runners start to reach the track in the coming seasons.

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Vet Forum: The Expert View

How to recognise and treat Cushing’s Disease

ROSSDALES

W

e have all heard or talked about Cushing’s Disease – which is otherwise known as Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction – in horses and most people are referring to a very hairy old pony, such reference usually accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders as if to say it is an untreatable condition that commonly affects geriatric horses. Personally, I can remember a famous stallion being walked around my village looking like a cross between a pit pony and a woolly mammoth and until recent times little could be done for these horses apart from clipping them to keep them comfortable.

While we don’t see a great deal of Cushing’s Disease on our thoroughbred studs (and I can’t ever remember hearing about a case in a horse in training due to their young age), we do see the occasional case in an older broodmare or stallion, and it is certainly an issue for a small number of retired racehorses that have gone on to do other things, or simply been turned away to live out their lives as companions.

In the more recent past there has been considerable confusion about the correct term for this condition in horses and ponies. We now know much more about the underlying cause and the range of symptoms that are involved – many more, and much more complex than simple summer hairiness!

A pony with Cushing’s Disease (PPID) following hoof trimming

Very simply, with advancing age there is a reduction in the inhibitory action of a brain hormone called dopamine on the output of the pars intermedia (PI). This results in an enlargement of the PI and overproduction of several hormones, including ACTH. In a small number of cases this overproduction might be a result of a pituitary tumour (or adenoma).

ACTH is responsible for stimulating the production of cortisol and other corticosteroids by the adrenal glands so blood levels of these hormones increase resulting in the characteristic signs.

What causes it?

88

Symptoms

ROSSDALES

In mammals the pituitary gland is a very small structure at the base of the brain with three functionally separate areas: the anterior, intermediate and posterior lobes.

In humans, Cushing’s Disease is usually caused by dysfunction of the anterior lobe (pars distalis), most commonly due to the development of a tumour. In horses the corresponding condition is caused by abnormality of the intermediate lobe (pars intermedia).

Consequently, in horses, it is more correct to call the condition Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction or PPID, although ‘Cushing’s’ is easier for many to remember.

Excessively long coat affecting limbs in a horse with PPID

The most easily recognised symptom of PPID is excessive hair growth, but coat changes can be more subtle than that. Initially there might be patchy abnormalities in the coat length, irregularity in the growth pattern or simply a delay in shedding the coat in spring. Established cases will usually, though not always, have a long, excessively curly coat that does not shed, resulting in the horse or pony having to be clipped regularly, even throughout the warmer months.

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Other symptoms include loss in body weight or reduced muscle mass, despite good feed and exercise. The affected horse might drink – and consequently urinate - more than usual.

This might be very hard to detect if the horse is turned out with others or has an automatic waterer. The bed might just seem excessively wet. The horse will often become lethargic and sweat easily or generally appear under the weather. This can be mistaken for evidence that they are simply ‘getting old’ or there is another underlying problem. PPID is also associated with increased susceptibility to infection so you might see an increased incidence of respiratory disease or skin conditions.

One of the most important symptoms is laminitis as this can be life threatening. Horses and ponies suffering from PPID have significantly increased risk of developing laminitis and often suffer recurrent episodes if the PPID isn’t managed. Laminitis might be the first symptom noticed and it makes sense to test for PPID if there is no obvious instigating factor such as grain overload, access to lush pasture or systemic illness.

In a very small number of cases enlargement of the PI can cause pressure on the internal nerves responsible for transmitting signals from the eyes to the brain, resulting in partial or total loss of vision.

Diagnosis

The ‘gold standard’ test for this condition used to be the dexamethasone suppression test, where a dose of the corticosteroid dexamethasone is administered and the effect on circulating cortisol levels measured in the blood. In a normal horse, the blood cortisol level should drop. In a PPID horse the cortisol level remains elevated.

The problem with this test is that it could potentially exacerbate clinical signs, especially laminitis, by artificially elevating the circulating corticosteroid levels in the blood.

These days, the most reliable test is to measure the circulating level of ACTH in a blood sample. Ideally a blood sample should be taken and chilled within three hours, then sent to the laboratory as soon as possible, keeping the sample chilled at all times.

Paired or serial samples can be useful if results are equivocal. Levels of ACTH vary throughout the year and so this seasonal variation has to be taken into consideration when interpreting results.

ROSSDALES

By Deidre Carson MRCVS

An x-ray showing long toe (arrow) seen in laminitis

As levels are usually higher in August to October this is probably the best time to do the test, but if symptoms are present the test should be performed regardless of the time of the year.

Another test which can be used if results of the ACTH test are inconclusive is the TRH (Thyrotropin releasing hormone) stimulation test.

This looks at the levels of ACTH before and after administration of a dose of TRH. In PPID the response is greatly exaggerated. These samples should also be kept chilled from as soon as possible after collection until delivery to the laboratory.

Treatment

Specific treatment is aimed at replicating the lost dopaminergic stimulation of the PI and is required for the rest of the horse’s life. PPID cannot be ‘cured’ – it can only be managed.

Pergolide is the drug of choice and is available in the UK as a licenced product for use in the horse. Dosage usually starts at 1mg per day and should be increased if required. Initially some horses might stop eating when receiving this product. In such cases reducing the dose until the horse is eating again and then gradually increasing it can overcome this.

Some horses require higher doses to bring their blood ACTH levels down

to within normal limits and repeated blood tests should be performed until the right dose for that individual has been achieved. Note that, due to its mechanism of action, pergolide might interfere with milk production in mares, so it is advisable to stop using it in pregnant mares for the last month of pregnancy.

Another drug which can be used is cyproheptadine, but the results are much less reliable. It is sometimes worth considering a combination of the two if a particular case is not responding to pergolide on its own.

Symptomatic treatment is also necessary, particularly if the horse has developed laminitis. While pergolide might help to prevent a recurrence of this life-threatening condition, the induced changes to the feet won’t be reversed and if the laminitis was severe the horse will continue to require careful management and foot care.

In cases where there have been recurrent instances of mild laminitis the response to pergolide can appear almost miraculous, with the animal returning to functional soundness after only a short period. An improvement in attitude and a reduction in the amount of water drunk should also been seen in cases that respond to treatment.

Improvements in the hair coat can be variable.

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Data Book • Analysis by Andrew Caulfield Grade 1 Winners 175 BETFAIR ASCOT CHASE G1 ASCOT. Feb 17. 5yo+. 21f.

1. WAITING PATIENTLY (IRE) 7 11-7 £85,827 b g by Flemensfirth - Rossavon (Beneficial) O-Mr Richard Collins B-V. Finn TR-Ruth Jefferson 2. Cue Card (GB) 12 11-7 £32,457 b g by King’s Theatre - Wicked Crack (King’s Ride) O-Mrs Jean R. Bishop B-Mr R. T. Crellin TR-Colin Tizzard 3. Frodon (FR) 6 11-7 £16,452 b g by Nickname - Miss Country (Country Reel) O-Mr P. J. Vogt B-Mr P. Gasdoue TR-Paul Nicholls Margins 2.75, 15. Time 5:25.90. Going Soft.

Age 4-7

Starts 9

Wins 7

Places 2

Earned £163,075

Sire: FLEMENSFIRTH. Sire of 70 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - POETIC RHYTHM Taipan G1, RELEGATE Silver Patriarch G1, WAITING PATIENTLY Beneficial G1, ALLETRIX Old Vic G2, FITZHENRY Sri Pekan G2, GLENCAIRN VIEW Riot Helmet G2, INVITATION ONLY Alamo Bay G3, ROBINSFIRTH Phardante G3, SUMOS NOVIOS Strong Gale G3, TOPOFTHEGAME Mister Lord G3.

1st Dam: Rossavon by Beneficial. unraced. Dam of 2 winners:

2010: 2011:

2013: 2014: 2015:

WALKING IN THE AIR (g Flemensfirth) 2 wins.

WAITING PATIENTLY (g Flemensfirth) 7 wins, Betfair Ascot Chase G1, Star Sports Altcar Novices’ Chase G2, 32Red Casino williamhill.com Chase LR. (c Milan) (g Milan) (f Milan)

Broodmare Sire: BENEFICIAL. Sire of the dams of 8 Stakes winners.

The Flemensfirth/Beneficial cross has produced: ONE TRACK MIND G1, WAITING PATIENTLY G1, Ainchea LR.

WAITING PATIENTLY b g 2011 Hoist The Flag

Tom Rolfe Wavy Navy

Princess Pout

Prince John Determined Lady

Diesis

Sharpen Up Doubly Sure

Royal Bund

Royal Coinage Nato

Top Ville

High Top Sega Ville

Youthful

Green Dancer First Bloom

Orchestra

Tudor Music Golden Moss

Alleged FLEMENSFIRTH b 92 Etheldreda

Beneficial ROSSAVON b 05 Sparkling Opera Shining Jug

Deep Run Shinaro

For all his achievements as a stallion (which are reflected in his 2018 fee of €15,000), Flemensfirth has never managed to take the title of champion sire. Perhaps it will be a different story in 2017-18, as the veteran son of Alleged was lying second to King’s Theatre in late-February. His main earner has been Waiting Patiently, who boosted his unbeaten record over fences to six wins when he defeated Cue Card to land the Grade 1 Ascot Chase.

Flemensfirth – now 26 years old – has also enjoyed Graded success in 2017-18 with Poetic Rhythm (Gr1 Challow Hurdle), Relegate (winner of a Gr2 bumper), Topofthegame (a Gr3 winner over hurdles), Invitation Only (a Gr3 novice chase winner) and Robinsfirth (a Gr3 chase winner) Waiting Patiently cost only €16,000 at the 2014 Derby Sale. His dam Rossavon is an unraced daughter of champion sire Beneficial, while his second dam Sparkling Opera was an unraced daughter of 90

Orchestra, a stallion responsible for such good chasers as Dorans Pride, Rince Ri, Pat’s Jester and Fiddling The Facts.

Sparkling Opera’s best winner was Ciara’s Prince, who was Graded-placed over hurdles before winning over fences. The third dam Shining Jug, a daughter of multiple champion sire Deep Run, was a half-sister to the smart hurdler Miller Hill (Supreme Novices’ Hurdle), as well as being a sister to the dam of the very smart hurdler Mighty Mogul.

203 OLBG DAVID NICHOLSON MARES’ HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 4yo+f. 20f.

1. BENIE DES DIEUX (FR) 7 11-5 £67,582 b m by Great Pretender - Cana (Robin des Champs) O-Mrs S. Ricci B-Mr G. Doyen TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Midnight Tour (GB) 8 11-5 £25,498 b m by Midnight Legend - Uppermost (Montjeu) O-James and Jean Potter B-Mr & Mrs J. Potter TR-Alan King 3. Apple’s Jade (FR) 6 11-5 £12,790 b m by Saddler Maker - Apple’s For Ever (Nikos) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Mr R. Coveliers TR-Gordon Elliott Margins 0.5, 1. Time 5:10.10. Going Heavy.

Age 3-7

Starts 13

Wins 7

Places 4

Earned £188,696

Sire: GREAT PRETENDER. Sire of 13 Stakes winners.

NH in 2017/18 - BENIE DES DIEUX Robin des Champs G1, CLAIMANTAKINFORGAN Take Risks G2, GREAT FIELD Definite Article G2, A MI MANERA Turgeon G3, CRACKING SMART Le Pommier d’Or LR. 1st Dam: Cana by Robin des Champs. Dam of 1 winner:

2011:

BENIE DES DIEUX (f Great Pretender) 7 wins, OLBG David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle G1, BBA Ireland Ltd Opera Hat Mares Chase LR, Houghton Mares’ Chase LR, 3rd Prix Andre Michel Hurdle G3.

Broodmare Sire: ROBIN DES CHAMPS. Sire of the dams of 7 Stakes winners.

The Great Pretender/Robin des Champs cross has produced: BENIE DES DIEUX G1, Great Alana LR.

BENIE DES DIEUX b m 2011 Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Regal Beauty

Princely Native Dennis Belle

Darshaan

Shirley Heights Delsy

Aborigine

Riverman Prima

Garde Royale

Mill Reef Royal Way

Relayeuse

Iron Duke Reliorneuse

Cadoudal

Green Dancer Come To Sea

Easy Horse

Carmarthen La Horse

King’s Theatre GREAT PRETENDER b 99 Settler

Robin des Champs CANA b 03 Cardoudalle

After Benie des Dieux had built an impressive record of three wins from three starts over fences, her trainer Willie Mullins adopted a similar policy to that which had paid great dividends with another of his French-bred mares, Vroum Vroum Mag. That daughter of Voix du Nord had been unbeaten in six starts over fences before reverting to hurdles not long before her victory in the 2016 OLBG Mares’ Hurdle. The ploy also worked well with Benie des Dieux, who maintained her unbeaten record for Mullins with another victory in the Mares’ Hurdle.

Benie des Dieux is the second Gr1 winner that Mullins has trained

by Great Pretender, following Great

Field, winner of the Gr1 Ryanair Novice Chase at the 2017 Punchestown Festival. The French industry is therefore reaping considerable rewards – once again – from leaving some of its male jumpers entire.

Great Pretender, a son of champion jumping sire King’s Theatre, won both his starts over hurdles at Auteuil, including a Listed race. He had previously finished second in the Gr2 Prix Noailles and fourth in the Gr1 Prix du Jockey-Club.

Great Pretender has also been very ably represented by Ptit Zig, the Paul Nicholls-trained gelding who returned to France to win the Gr1 Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil in 2016.

Ptit Zig’s earlier wins included some good prizes over fences. Great Pretender’s other Anglo-Irish winners include the smart chaser Mr Mole, the Gr2 winner Claimantakinforgan and the Gr1-placed Cracking Smart.

Benie des Dieux comes from a flourishing French jumping family. Her dam, the lightly-raced Cana, was bred for jumping, with her sire and broodmare sire being Robin des Champs and Cadoudal. Robin des Champs, a winner of four of his five starts over jumps, made a huge impact on the Mares’ Hurdle, with his daughter Quevega winning six consecutive editions.

Benie des Dieux’s second dam Cardoudalle won over hurdles and fences at Auteuil, and also produced the successful broodmares Cardounika and Cardamine. Both have produced a pair of black-type winning jumpers, with Cardounika’s contribution being Ceasar’s Palace, a multiple Gr3 winner over hurdles, and Cokoriko, now a popular stallion in France. Benie des Dieux’s third dam, Easy Horse, was a sister to the good jumpers Funny Horse and Dazzling Horse and this is also the family of Gr1-winning hurdlers Blue Shark and Grandouet.

204 RACING POST ARKLE CHALL. TROPHY NOV.CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 5yo+. 16f.

1. FOOTPAD (FR) 6 11-4 £99,663 b g by Creachadoir - Willamina (Sadler’s Wells) O-Mr Simon Munir/Mr Isaac Souede B-L. Collet & C. Collet TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Brain Power (IRE) 7 11-4 £37,398 b g by Kalanisi - Blonde Ambition (Old Vic) O-Mr Michael Buckley B-D. Harvey TR-Nicky Henderson 3. Petit Mouchoir (FR) 7 11-4 £18,725 gr g by Al Namix - Arnette (Denham Red) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Mr P. Gueret TR-Henry de Bromhead Margins 14, 0.75. Time 4:02.40. Going Heavy.

Age 3-6

Starts 19

Wins 9

Places 8

Earned £523,314

Sire: CREACHADOIR. Sire of 3 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - FOOTPAD Sadler’s Wells G1, MITCHOUKA Black Minnaloushe G3.

1st Dam: WILLAMINA by Sadler’s Wells. Winner at 4 in France. Own sister to SADLER’S FLAG. Dam of 5 winners:

2004: 2005:

ANIMATEUR (g Highest Honor) 8 wins in France.

Organisateur (g Highest Honor) 6 wins, 2nd Grand National Hurdle LR, Virginia Gold Cup Timber Chase LR, My Lady’s Manor Timber Chase LR.

2006: 2008: 2009: 2010: 2012:

Motoriste (g Daylami) ran on the flat in France.

Dilliwalla (c Green Tune) ran on the flat in France.

WANABA (c Anabaa) 6 wins, Prix General de Rougemont H. Hurdle LR, 3rd Prix Amadou Hurdle G2.

Wild Mania (f King’s Best) 2 wins over jumps in France, 3rd Prix Hopper Chase LR. FOOTPAD (g Creachadoir) 9 wins, GAIN Spring Juvenile Hurdle G1, 2nd BHP Insurances Champion Hurdle G1, 3rd JCB Triumph Hurdle G1, Ladbrokes Ch. Stayers Tipperkevin Hurdle G1, Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle G2, Racing Post Arkle Chall.

Trophy Nov.Chase G1, Frank Ward Arkle Challenge Cup Nov.Chase G1, Racing Post Christmas Novice Chase G1, Prix Alain du Breil d’Ete 4yo Hurdle G1, Prix Questarabad Hurdle G3, 2nd Prix Renaud du Vivier 4yo Hurdle G1.

2nd Dam: ANIMATRICE by Alleged. 4 wins at 2 to 4 in France Prix de Malleret G2, 3rd Gold Seal Oaks S G1, 4th Prix Vermeille G1, Gran Premio di Milano G1. Dam of SADLER’S FLAG (f Sadler’s Wells: Prix de Royaumont G3, 2nd Prix de Malleret G2, Prix de Pomone G2), Anysheba (f Alysheba: 3rd Prix Petite Etoile LR).

Grandam of JEBEL MUSA, BAILADOR, BONDI ICEBERG. Third dam of LADYS FIRST, GOLDEN WOOD, Chantalle Rua, Primero.

Broodmare Sire: SADLER’S WELLS. Sire of the dams of 413 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - FOOTPAD Creachadoir G1, WHISKEY SOUR Jeremy G1, BEAU GOSSE Falco LR, EBANOUR Indian Ridge LR, RENEW Dansili LR.

FOOTPAD b g 2012 Kingmambo

Mr Prospector Miesque

Allegretta

Lombard Anatevka

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Anima

Ajdal Cocotte

King’s Best CREACHADOIR b 04 Sadima

Sadler’s Wells WILLAMINA b 99

Northern Dancer Nearctic Natalma Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Alleged

Hoist The Flag Princess Pout

Alexandrie

Val de L’Orne Apachee

Animatrice

see race 84 in the February issue 205 SKY BET SUPREME NOVICES’ HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 4yo+. 16f.

1. SUMMERVILLE BOY (IRE) 6 11-7 £71,188 b g by Sandmason - Suny House (Carroll House) O-Mr R. S. Brookhouse B-P. Rothwell TR-Tom George 2. Kalashnikov (IRE) 5 11-7 £26,713 br g by Kalanisi - Fairy Lane (Old Vic) O-Mr Paul Murphy B-Sunnyhill Stud Ltd TR-Amy Murphy 3. Mengli Khan (IRE) 5 11-7 £13,375 b g by Lope de Vega - Danielli (Danehill) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Ballylinch Stud TR-Gordon Elliott Margins Neck, 1.75. Time 4:05.00. Going Heavy.

Age 5-6

Starts 6

Wins 3

Places 3

Earned £113,820

Sire: SANDMASON. Sire of 1 Stakes winner.

1st Dam: Suny House by Carroll House. unraced. Dam of 1 winner:

2007: 2008: 2009: 2010: 2011: 2012:

2013: 2014: 2016: 2017:

(f Hubbly Bubbly) Sand House (f Sandmason) unraced. (c Sandmason) (f Sandmason) Desert Retreat (g Sandmason) SUMMERVILLE BOY (g Sandmason) 3 wins, Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle G1, 32Red Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle G1, 2nd Sky Bet Supreme Trial Sharp Nov. Hurdle G2. (c Sandmason) (c Sandmason) (c El Salvador) (c Snow Sky)

Broodmare Sire: CARROLL HOUSE. Sire of the dams of 5 Stakes winners.

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CAULFIELD ON ALTIOR: “His sire High Chaparral won the Derby, Irish Derby and two Breeders’ Cup Turfs in a magnificent career which established him as one of Sadlers’ Wells’s best sons” SUMMERVILLE BOY b g 2012 Chief’s Crown

Danzig Six Crowns

La Papagena

Habitat Magic Flute

Mill Reef

Never Bend Milan Mill

Sayonara

Birkhahn Suleika

Lord Gayle

Sir Gaylord Sticky Case

Grand Lodge SANDMASON ch 97 Sandy Island

Carroll House

Silver Shark Vimelette

Tuna SUNY HOUSE b 98

Mourne Fair Bid

Sunyboy

Mulloch Brae

Le Levanstell Roman Nose

Stella Roma

See race 123 in the March issue 206 UNIBET CHAMPION CHALLENGE TROPHY HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 4yo+. 16f.

1. BUVEUR D’AIR (FR) 7 11-10 £266,384 b g by Crillon - History (Alesso) O-Mr John P. McManus B-Gerard Ferte TR-Nicky Henderson 2. Melon (GB) 6 11-10 £99,958 ch g by Medicean - Night Teeny (Platini) O-Mrs J. Donnelly B-Newsells Park Stud Limited TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Mick Jazz (FR) 7 11-10 £50,049 b g by Blue Bresil - Mick Maya (Siam) O-Mr G. P. Mahoney B-Mrs G. Albert TR-Gordon Elliott Margins Neck, 3. Time 4:05.00. Going Heavy.

Age 3-7

Starts 17

Wins 14

Places 3

Earned £865,847

3. Next Destination (IRE) 6 11-7 £13,375 b g by Dubai Destination - Liss Alainn (Flemensfirth) O-Mr Malcolm C. Denmark B-Mr N. Flynn TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 2.75, 5. Time 5:18.20. Going Soft.

Age 4-6

2003:

2004: 2005: 2007: 2011:

PUNCHESTOWNS (g Morespeed) 9 wins, BGC Long Walk Hurdle G1, 2nd Ladbrokes World Hurdle G1, Totepool Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase G1.

Quiet Story (f Franc Bleu Argent) ran on the flat in France. Broodmare.

RACKHAM LEROUGE (g Fado) 7 wins.

TISTORY (g Epalo) 5 wins.

BUVEUR D’AIR (g Crillon) 14 wins, 2nd Betfair Bumper Standard Open NH Race LR, Stan James Champion Chall.Trophy Hurdle G1 (twice), Unibet Fighting Fifth Hurdle G1, Unibet Christmas Hurdle G1, Betway Aintree Hurdle G1, Imagine Cruising Top Novices’ Hurdle G1, Betfred Contenders Hurdle LR (twice), 3rd Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle G1.

Broodmare Sire: ALESSO. Sire of the dams of 2 Stakes winners.

BUVEUR D’AIR b g 2011 Rainbow Quest

Blushing Groom I Will Follow

Fiesta Fun

Welsh Pageant Antigua

Riverman

Never Bend River Lady

Garden Green

Pinturischio Focal

Alleged

Hoist The Flag Princess Pout

Leandra

Luthier Ady Endre

Altayan

Posse Aleema

Lili Dancer

Evainqueur Keen Dancer

Saumarez CRILLON b 96 Shangrila

Alesso HISTORY b 95 Clair Deux Lune

See race 47 in the February issue 207 BALLYMORE BARING BINGHAM NOVICES’ HURDLE G1

Places 0

Earned £177,058

1st Dam: Dun Dun by Saddlers’ Hall. unraced. Dam of 2 winners:

2005:

2008: 2009: 2012:

2014: 2015: 2016:

COCACOBANA (g Snurge) 3 wins over hurdles.

Incher Rose (f Golan) ran once in a N.H. Flat Race and over hurdles.

Meet The New Boss (g Lend A Hand) unraced.

SAMCRO (g Germany) 7 wins, Future Champions Flat Race LR, Ballymore Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle G1, Deloitte Brave Inca Novice Hurdle G1, Monksfield Novice Hurdle G3.

Think Positive (g Jeremy) (f Jeremy) (f Jet Away)

Broodmare Sire: SADDLERS’ HALL. Sire of the dams of 16 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - SAMCRO Germany G1, SPIDER WEB Presenting G2, FAMOUS MILLY Famous Name LR.

SAMCRO ch g 2012 Sharpen Up

Atan Rocchetta

Trephine

Viceregal Quiriquina

Big Spruce

Herbager Silver Sari

Inca Queen

Hail To Reason Silver Spoon

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Sunny Valley

Val de Loir Sunland

Be My Native

Our Native Witchy Woman

Frankford Run

Deep Run Golden Owen

Trempolino GERMANY b 91 Inca Princess

Saddlers’ Hall DUN DUN b 02 Frankly Native

See race 130 in the March issue 208 BETWAY QUEEN MOTHER CHAMPION CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 14. 5yo+. 16f.

1. ALTIOR (IRE) 8 11-10 £228,872 b g by High Chaparral - Monte Solaro (Key of Luck) O-Mrs Patricia Pugh B-P. Behan TR-Nicky Henderson 2. Min (FR) 7 11-10 £86,552 b g by Walk In The Park - Phemyka (Saint Estephe) O-Mrs S. Ricci B-Madame M. Mimouni TR-W. P. Mullins 3. God’s Own (IRE) 10 11-10 £43,872 b g by Oscar - Dantes Term (Phardante) O-Crossed Fingers Partnership B-Mrs C. O’Driscoll TR-Tom George Margins 7, 11. Time 4:07.60. Going Soft.

Age 4-8

Starts 16

Wins 14

Places 1

Earned £623,085

Sire: HIGH CHAPARRAL. Sire of 123 Stakes winners.

NH in 2017/18 - ALTIOR Key of Luck G1, TOWER BRIDGE Linamix G1, LANDOFHOPEANDGLORY Acatenango G3, CARTWRIGHT Nashwan LR, HORNETS’ NEST Dansili LR. 1st Dam: MONTE SOLARO by Key of Luck. 2 wins, Brandon Hotel H. Hurdle G3. Dam of 4 winners:

2007: 2008: 2009: 2010:

CHELTENHAM. Mar 14. 4yo+. 21f.

1. SAMCRO (IRE) 6 11-7 £71,188 ch g by Germany - Dun Dun (Saddlers’ Hall) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-D. Taylor TR-Gordon Elliott 2. Black Op (IRE) 7 11-7 £26,713 br g by Sandmason - Afar Story (Desert Story) O-Mr R. S. Brookhouse B-P. Rothwell TR-Tom George

Wins 8

Sire: GERMANY. Sire of 9 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - FAUGHEEN Accordion G1, SAMCRO Saddlers’ Hall G1.

Sire: CRILLON. Sire of 5 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - ALEX DE LARREDYA Panoramic G1, BUVEUR D’AIR Alesso G1, DIAMOND CAUCHOIS Limnos G2.

1st Dam: History by Alesso. Dam of 4 winners:

Starts 8

2011: 2013:

KEY TO THE WEST (g Westerner) 4 wins.

Cestus (g High Chaparral) PRINCESS LEYA (f Old Vic) 3 wins, R E./B G.Golf Classic New Stand H.Hurdle G2. Broodmare.

ALTIOR (g High Chaparral) 14 wins, 3rd Betfair Bumper Standard Open NH Race LR, Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle G1, Sky Bet Supreme Trial Sharp Nov.Hurdle G2, Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase G1, Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase G1, Racing Post Henry VIII Novice Chase G1, Bet365 Celebration Chase G1, Betfair Exchange Game Spirit Chase G2 (twice), 32red.com Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase G2.

SILVERHOW (g Yeats) 3 wins.

Melior (f Milan) ran twice in N.H. Flat Races.

2015: 2017:

(c Milan) (f Walk In The Park)

209 RSA INSURANCE NOVICES’ CHASE G1

Broodmare Sire: KEY OF LUCK. Sire of the dams of 14 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - ALTIOR High Chaparral G1, CANDIDE Turtle Bowl G2.

ALTIOR b g 2010 Nearctic Natalma

Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Darshaan

Shirley Heights Delsy

Kozana

Kris Koblenza

Chief’s Crown

Danzig Six Crowns

Balbonella

Gay Mecene Bamieres

Broken Hearted

Dara Monarch Smash

Sire: SIR PERCY. Sire of 19 Stakes winners.

Remoosh

Glint of Gold Rivers Maid

1st Dam: Hunca Munca by Presenting. 2 wins in point-topoints. Dam of 1 winner:

Kasora

Key of Luck MONTE SOLARO br 00

1. PRESENTING PERCY (GB) 7 11-4 £100,132 b g by Sir Percy - Hunca Munca (Presenting) O-Philip J. Reynolds B-Preston Lodge Stud TR-Patrick G. Kelly 2. Monalee (IRE) 7 11-4 £37,867 b g by Milan - Tempest Belle (Glacial Storm) O-Mr Barry Maloney B-A. Aherne TR-Henry de Bromhead 3. Elegant Escape (IRE) 6 11-4 £19,194 b g by Dubai Destination - Graineuaile (Orchestra) O-Mr J. P. Romans B-J. Leahy TR-Colin Tizzard Margins 7, 7. Time 6:32.40. Going Soft.

Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells HIGH CHAPARRAL b 99

CHELTENHAM. Mar 14. 5yo+. 24f.

Footsteps

Age 5-7

2008:

Three visits by Altior to the Cheltenham Festival have yielded three decisive victories, with his Queen Mother Champion Chase success being his 13th in 13 appearances over hurdles and fences. Coincidentally, he was chased home at a distance of seven lengths by Min, who had also finished a seven-length second to Altior in the 2016 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

Altior’s sire High Chaparral won the Derby, Irish Derby and two editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf in a magnificent career which established him as one of Sadler’s Wells’s best sons. His legacy from his northern hemisphere crops featured nine Gr1 winners (all male), including Toronado, Free Eagle, High Jinx, Rekindling and Wigmore Hall, but there was a time when his career could have taken a different direction.

With his fee falling to €10,000 in 2009, High Chaparral began to attract National Hunt breeders. His 2009 book included numerous mares with National Hunt backgrounds, one being Monte Solaro, a bumper winner as a four-year-old who later won a Grade C handicap over hurdles. The resultant foal was Altior. High Chaparral’s other good winners during the 2017-18 season include Tower Bridge, Cartwright and Landofhopeandglory, while his broodmare daughters are responsible for Penhill and Elgin.

Monte Solaro’s talent over hurdles couldn’t have been predicted from her pedigree. A daughter of the versatile Key Of Luck, Monte Solaro shares the same sire as Alamshar, winner of the Irish Derby and King George.

Monte Solaro’s dam Footsteps (who admittedly shared the same sire, Broken Hearted, as the Grand National winner Numbersixvalverde) was a dual seven-furlong winner as a two-year-old.

Monte Solaro visited Old Vic to produce another talented hurdler in Princess Leya, who gained all her wins over two miles. The mare has a 2015 son by Milan, a 2017 filly by Walk In The Park and visited Vadamos in 2017.

2009: 2010: 2011:

2012: 2014: 2016:

Starts 17

Wins 9

Places 5

Earned £258,467

The Jive Monkey (g Grape Tree Road) unraced.

Just Imagine It (g Kayf Tara) unraced.

Chipmunk (f Kayf Tara) unraced.

PRESENTING PERCY (g Sir Percy) 9 wins, John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle G2, Pertemps Network Final H. Hurdle LR, RSA Insurance Novices’ Chase G1, Bar One Racing Porterstown H. Chase G2, 2nd Red Mills Chase G2, 3rd L&V Brennan Mem Florida Pearl Nov Chase G2.

Monkey Puzzle (g Sulamani) Minella Swift (g Shirocco) unraced. (f Malinas)

Broodmare Sire: PRESENTING. Sire of the dams of 19 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - DEATH DUTY Shantou G1, MIGHT BITE Scorpion G1, MONBEG NOTORIOUS Milan G1, PRESENTING PERCY Sir Percy G1, RATHVINDEN Heron Island G2.

PRESENTING PERCY b g 2011 Darshaan

Shirley Heights Delsy

Homage

Ajdal Home Love

Blakeney

Hethersett Windmill Girl

Laughing Girl

Sassafras Violetta III

Mtoto

Busted Amazer

D’Azy

Persian Bold Belle Viking

Phardante

Pharly Pallante

Mark of Esteem SIR PERCY b 03 Percy’s Lass

Presenting HUNCA MUNCA b 99 Tulladante

Tullow Performance Gala Performance Maid of Tullow

The 2006 Derby winner Sir Percy has often been woefully under-used

by Flat breeders, who seem to forget that he wasn’t just a Classic winner but also a champion two-year-old.

For example, his 2011 crop numbered only 54 foals and at least one of them – Presenting Percy – was bred with a jumping career in mind. His dam, Hunca Munca, is a daughter of Presenting, a four-time champion sire of jumpers, and Hunca Munca had spent most of her racing career in the point-to-point field, winning twice over three miles.

Hunca Munca was bred to be something better than just a point-to-point winner. She is a half-sister to Western Charmer, a very useful hurdler/chaser who once finished second in the Irish Grand National. Hunca Munca’s second dam, the winning hurdler Tullow Performance, produced several successful broodmares, including Cuilin Bui, dam of King Harald, winner of the Jewson Novices’ Chase at the 2005 Cheltenham Festival, and Rosceen Bui, dam of the smart Irish hurdler/chaser Emotional

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Data Book Grade 1 Winners Moment. Another of Tullow Performance’s daughters, An Bothar Dubh, became the second dam of War Of Attrition, the Presenting gelding who triumphed in the 2006 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Now Presenting Percy is adding to his family’s record at the Cheltenham Festival. Having won the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle at the 2017 Festival, he returned in 2018 to challenge for the RSA Chase. In the meantime he had won three of his first four starts over fences, as well as picking up a Gr2 over hurdles. Untroubled by the testing conditions, Presenting Percy dominated the RSA Chase in a fashion which suggests that a third consecutive Festival victory may not be beyond him in 2019, with the Gold Cup a likely target.

Presenting Percy isn’t the only good recent winner with a dam by Presenting, others being Might Bite, Rathvinden, Death Duty and Monbeg Notorious.

210 WEATHERBYS CHAMPION BUMPER NH FLAT RACE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 14. 4-6yo. 16f.

1. RELEGATE (IRE) 5 10-12 £42,713 b m by Flemensfirth - Last of The Bunch (Silver Patriarch) O-Mr Paul McKeon B-R. McCarthy TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Carefully Selected (IRE) 6 11-5 £16,028 b g by Well Chosen - Knockamullen Girl (Alderbrook) O-Miss M. A. Masterson B-J. Lalor TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Tornado Flyer (IRE) 5 11-5 £8,025 b g by Flemensfirth - Mucho Macabi (Exceed And Excel) O-T. F. P. B-Sweetmans Bloodstock TR-W. P. Mullins Margins Neck, 3.25. Time 4:04.30. Going Soft.

Age 5

Starts 3

Wins 3

Places 0

Earned £88,422

Sire: FLEMENSFIRTH. Sire of 70 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - POETIC RHYTHM Taipan G1, RELEGATE Silver Patriarch G1, WAITING PATIENTLY Beneficial G1, ALLETRIX Old Vic G2, FITZHENRY Sri Pekan G2, GLENCAIRN VIEW Riot Helmet G2, INVITATION ONLY Alamo Bay G3, ROBINSFIRTH Phardante G3, SUMOS NOVIOS Strong Gale G3, TOPOFTHEGAME Mister Lord G3.

1st Dam: LAST OF THE BUNCH by Silver Patriarch. 3 wins. Dam of 1 winner:

2013:

2014: 2015: 2016: 2017:

RELEGATE (f Flemensfirth) Sold 11,111gns yearling at TINO1. 3 wins in N.H. Flat Races at 5, Weatherbys Champion Bumper NH Flat Race G1, Coolmore NH Sires EBF Mare INH Flat Race G2. (g Gold Well) (c Flemensfirth) (f Ocovango) (c Ocovango)

Broodmare Sire: SILVER PATRIARCH. Sire of the dams of 3 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - RELEGATE Flemensfirth G1, CHRIS’S DREAM Mahler G3, SCORPIANCER Scorpion LR.

The veteran Flemensfirth was responsible for four of the 23 runners in the Champion Bumper, including a trio trained by Willie Mullins. These three finished first, third and seventh, which suggests we are going to hear more of them, especially the winner Relegate, who is unbeaten in three starts. As a winner of the Champion Bumper, Relegate has a lot to live up to, as the race’s previous winners include such as Monsignor, Florida Pearl and Cue Card.

There is good reason for thinking that Relegate will appreciate longer distances as she matures.

Flemensfirth’s older progeny include such good staying chasers as Imperial Commander (Cheltenham Gold Cup), Tidal Bay (Lexus Chase), Pandorama, Joe Lively and The Last Samurai.

Relegate’s stamina should also be reinforced by the sires of her first two dams. She is out of Last Of The Bunch, a Silver Patriarch mare who stayed nearly three miles over hurdles. Silver Patriarch won the St Leger and his best winner over jumps was Silver By Nature, winner of the Gr3 Grand National Trial over nearly three and a half miles. Relegate’s second dam Elegant City, a bumper winner who also scored over hurdles, was by the stayer Scallywag. Elegant City’s brother Better Times Ahead was a very prolific winner over hurdles and fences who scored at up to three and a half miles.

211 JLT GOLDEN MILLER NOVICES’ CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 15. 5yo+. 20f.

1. SHATTERED LOVE (IRE) 7 10-11 £85,425 b m by Yeats - Tracker (Bustino) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Limetree Stud Ltd TR-Gordon Elliott 2. Terrefort (FR) 5 11-3 £32,055 gr g by Martaline - Vie de Reine (Mansonnien) O-Mr Simon Munir & Mr Isaac Souede B-Mr F. Montauban TR-Nicky Henderson 3. Benatar (IRE) 6 11-4 £16,050 b g by Beneficial - Carrigeen Lily (Supreme Leader) O-Mr Ashley Head B-Mrs R. H. Lalor TR-Gary Moore Margins 7, 5. Time 5:11.80. Going Soft.

Age 4-7

Hoist The Flag Alleged Princess Pout FLEMENSFIRTH b 92

Diesis

Sharpen Up Doubly Sure

Royal Bund

Royal Coinage Nato

Saddlers’ Hall

Sadler’s Wells Sunny Valley

Early Rising

Grey Dawn II Gliding By

Etheldreda

Silver Patriarch LAST OF THE BUNCH ch 05

Scallywag

Sea Hawk II Scammell

City’s Sister

Maystreak Must Improve

Elegant City

92

Prince John Determined Lady

Places 5

Earned £243,374

1st Dam: Tracker by Bustino. unraced. Dam of 4 winners:

2000: 2002: 2003:

2004: 2006: Tom Rolfe Wavy Navy

Wins 10

Broodmare Sire: BUSTINO. Sire of the dams of 66 Stakes winners.

SHATTERED LOVE b m 2011

2007: 2009: 2010: 2011:

Vallum (g Master Willie) unraced.

LAVENDER TRACK (f Pistolet Bleu) 3 wins.

Broodmare.

You Take Care (f Definite Article).

Broodmare. Dam of KEEPER HILL (g Westerner: 6 wins, 188Bet Sidney Banks Mem. Novices’ Hurdle LR, bet365 December Novices’ Chase G2) (c King’s Theatre) MAKE A TRACK (g Hernando) 9 wins, 3rd Irish Form Book Monksfield Nov. Hurdle G2, Tim Duggan Memorial H. Chase G2.

Top Track (f Beneficial) unraced.

IRISH CAVALIER (g Aussie Rules) 8 wins, Guinness H. Chase G1, 2nd EMS Copiers Novice H. Chase G1, 3rd Guinness H. Chase G1.

Timo (f Alhaarth) unraced. Broodmare.

SHATTERED LOVE (f Yeats) 9 wins, 3rd Goffs Nickel Coin Mares’ NH. Flat Race G2, EBF Boreen Belle Mares Novice Hurdle LR, Coolmore Solerina Mares Novice Hurdle G3, 2nd Lough Construction EBF Mares Nov Hurdle G3, Frontline Security Grabel Mares Hurdle LR, Neville Hotels Fort Leney Novice Chase G1, JLT Golden Miller

Northern Dancer

Nearctic Natalma

Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Top Ville

High Top Sega Ville

Diamond Land

Sparkler Canaan

Busted

Crepello Sans Le Sou

Ship Yard

Doutelle Paving Stone

Royal Gunner

Royal Charger Levee

Look Out

Vimy Visor

Sadler’s Wells YEATS b 01 Lyndonville

Bustino TRACKER b 95 Make A Signal

See race 89 in the February issue 212 RYANAIR FESTIVAL TROPHY CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 15. 5yo+. 21f.

1. BALKO DES FLOS (FR) 7 11-10 £200,263 ch g by Balko - Royale Marie (Garde Royale) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-C. Bardin & F. Bardin TR-Henry de Bromhead 2. Un de Sceaux (FR) 10 11-10 £75,733 b g by Denham Red - Hotesse de Sceaux (April Night) O-E. O’Connell B-Haras de La Rousseliere & Mme Monique Choveau TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Cloudy Dream (IRE) 8 11-10 £38,388 gr g by Cloudings - Run Away Dream (Acceglio) O-Mr Trevor Hemmings B-E. Purcell TR-Ruth Jefferson Margins 4.5, 8. Time 5:23.60. Going Soft.

Age 4-7

Starts 19

Wins 7

Places 8

Earned £538,904

Sire: BALKO. Sire of 8 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 BALKO DES FLOS Garde Royale G1, DEFIT D’ESTRUVAL Le Fou G2, DISSAVRIL Smadoun LR, VISION DES FLOS Turgeon LR. 1st Dam: ROYALE MARIE by Garde Royale. Winner over jumps in France. Dam of 3 winners:

2004: 2005: 2006:

2008: 2010: 2011:

Sire: YEATS. Sire of 8 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 SHATTERED LOVE Bustino G1, CAPIVARI Hernando LR, FOR GOODNESS SAKE Deploy LR, THOMAS CAMPBELL Hernando LR.

The Flemensfirth/Silver Patriarch cross has produced: RELEGATE G1, Flementime LR.

RELEGATE b m 2013

Starts 17

2012: 2014: 2015:

Novices’ Chase G1, Kerry Lombardstown EBF Mares Nov. Chase G3, 2nd L&V Brennan Mem Florida Pearl Nov Chase G2.

River Blue (g Flemensfirth) ran once over hurdles. (f Jeremy) (c Pour Moi)

2012: 2013: 2015:

Ludonito Royal (c Nononito) unraced.

SALUT FLO (g Saint des Saints) 5 wins, Byrne Group Plate H. Chase G3.

Marie Royale (f Turgeon). Broodmare. Dam of VISION DES FLOS (g Balko: 2 wins, 188Bet Exeter Novices’ Hurdle LR, 3rd Totepool Persian War Novices’ Hurdle G2) Nonita Royale (f Nononito) unraced. Broodmare.

Royal des Flos (g Arvico) BALKO DES FLOS (g Balko) 7 wins, thetote. com Galway Plate H’cp Chase G1, Ryanair Festival Trophy Chase G1, 2nd Leopardstown Christmas Lexus Chase G1, PWC Gowran Champion Chase G2, 3rd EMS Copiers Novice H. Chase G1, Flogas Novice Chase G1, Clonmel Oil Chase G2, Woodlands Park 100 Club Naas Nov. Chase G3.

Caro des Flos (g Tiger Groom) FLOT DES FLOS (f Balko) 2 wins over jumps at 4 in France.

Marie des Flos (f No Risk At All) unraced to date.

Broodmare Sire: GARDE ROYALE. Sire of the dams of 58 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - BALKO DES FLOS Balko G1, BEL AMI DE SIVOLA Network G2, ECHIQUIER ROYAL Martaline G2.

The fact that Balko never raced on the Flat has proved no problem to this son of Pistolet Bleu. He won nine of his 19 starts over jumps, from three to five years, and his three-year-old wins included Gr2 successes over hurdles and fences at Auteuil.

The longest distance he was asked to tackle was two miles five furlongs and that sort of distance has suited the best of his progeny seen in Britain or Ireland. Gitane du Berlais won the Gr1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase and now Balko des Flos has won the Gr1 Ryanair Chase.

Balko des Flos is the second smart performer produced by Royale Marie, following Salut Flo, a Gr3 chase winner over two miles five furlongs. Royale Marie, a winner of a claiming race over hurdles, is by Garde Royale, a stallion also noted as the sire of that good jumping stallion Robin des Champs, sire of such as Quevega, Vautour and Sire des Champs. Another of Garde Royale’s daughters, Uberaba, produced the recently-deceased Prix du Jockey-Club winner Vision d’Etat.

Balko des Flos’s second dam Marie des Epeires won on the Flat before scoring over hurdles and fences. Her half-sister Marie de Beaujeu is the dam of the Deutsches Derby winner All My Dreams, as well as being the second dam of I’m A Dreamer (Gr1 Beverly D Stakes).

213 SUN BETS STAYERS’ HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 15. 4yo+. 24f.

1. PENHILL (GB) 7 11-10 £192,707 b g by Mount Nelson - Serrenia (High Chaparral) O-Mr Tony Bloom B-Newsells Park Stud Limited & Equity Bloodstock TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Supasundae (GB) 8 11-10 £72,312 b g by Galileo - Distinctive Look (Danehill) O-Ann & Alan Potts Limited B-Newsells Park Stud Limited TR-Mrs J. Harrington 3. Wholestone (IRE) 7 11-10 £36,207 br g by Craigsteel - Last Theatre (King’s Theatre) O-Mr Simon Munir & Mr Isaac Souede B-Michael O’Donovan TR-Nigel Twiston-Davies Margins 2, 3. Time 6:20.40. Going Soft.

Age 2-7

Top Ville

High Top Sega Ville

BALKO b 01

Pampa Bella

Armos Kendie

Ella Royale

Royal Charter

Mill Reef Royal Way

La Main Heureuse Rex Magna Calinta Mill Reef

Never Bend Milan Mill

Royal Way

Sicambre Right Away

Rose Laurel

Klairon Honeysuckle Rose

Marie de Bethisy

Balidar Froidestrees

Garde Royale ROYALE MARIE d/b 97 Marie des Epeires

Wins 12

Places 6

Earned £401,440

Sire: MOUNT NELSON. Sire of 20 Stakes winners.

1st Dam: Serrenia by High Chaparral. unraced. Dam of 3 winners:

2010: 2011:

BALKO DES FLOS ch g 2011 Pistolet Bleu

Starts 28

2012: 2013: 2015: 2017:

DUCHESS OF SEVILLE (f Duke of Marmalade) Winner at 3. Broodmare.

PENHILL (g Mount Nelson) Sold 24,000gns yearling at TAOC2. 12 wins, Sun Bets Stayers’ World Hurdle G1, Albert Bartlett Spa Novices’ Hurdle G1, Guinness Dorans Pride Novice Hurdle G2, Joe Mac Novice Hurdle G3, 2nd Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle G1.

Bondi Sun (c Mount Nelson) ran on the flat in Italy.

SIERRA LAW (g Lawman) 2 wins.

Harbour Rose (f Harbour Watch) in training. (c Havana Gold)

2nd Dam: HELVELLYN by Gone West. 1 win at 2.

Dam of HERBORISTE (f Hernando: La Prevoyante H G2), FAST AND FURIOUS (c Singspiel: Derby du Languedoc LR, 2nd Hollywood Derby G1, 3rd Shoemaker Breeders’ Cup Mile S G1), Healing Music (f Bering: 2nd Prix des Sablonnets LR). Grandam of ROYAL MENANTIE, HIGH DUTY, At First Sight, Torrid Hell, Hot Beat, Fields of Song.

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CAULFIELD ON KILBRICKEN STORM: “His Festival win is the latest of a long line for Oscar’s sons, after the likes of Rock On Ruby, Lord Windermere, Big Zeb, Peddlers Cross, O’Faolains Boy and At Fishers Cross” Broodmare Sire: HIGH CHAPARRAL. Sire of the dams of 21 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - PENHILL Mount Nelson G1, ELGIN Duke of Marmalade G2.

PENHILL b g 2011 Danzig Razyana

Offshore Boom

Be My Guest Push A Button

Selkirk

Sharpen Up Annie Edge

Yukon Hope

Forty Niner Sahara Forest

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Kasora

Darshaan Kozana

Gone West

Mr Prospector Secrettame

Accredited

Alleged Belle de Nuit

Independence

High Chaparral SERRENIA b 05 Helvellyn

Having covered only 22 mares in 2016 in his last year as a Flat stallion in Britain, Mount Nelson was kept very busy with a book of more than 200 mares in his first season at Boardsmill Stud. The horse he has to thank for his popularity in the jumping sector is Penhill, who returned to the Cheltenham Festival to win the Gr1 Stayers’ Hurdle a year after his victory in the Albert Bartlettt Novices’ Hurdle. This double is all the more noteworthy because Penhill hadn’t raced for 323 days before his latest win.

Mount Nelson, who enjoyed Gr1 success in the Criterium International and the Eclipse Stakes, has also enjoyed Gr1 success via his son Librisa Breeze, who triumphed in the QIPCO British Champions SprinT. Penhill cost 230,000gns at the 2014 Autumn Sales, having proved himself a fairly useful middle-distance handicapper as a three-year-old.

Although he proved progressive as a four-year-old, it wasn’t until his attention was turned to hurdling that he started to justify his high price. He has now won seven of his ten starts, with the last three wins coming over three miles.

The likely source of his stamina is his broodmare sire High Chaparral.

Penhill’s dam Serrenia is an unraced half-sister to Herboriste and Fast And Furious, a pair of French winners who went on to show very useful form in the US. 214 ALBERT BARTLETT SPA NOVICES’ HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 16. 4yo+. 24f.

1. KILBRICKEN STORM (IRE) 7 11-5 £77,600 b g by Oscar - Kilbricken Leader (Supreme Leader) O-A Selway & P Wavish B-Mrs S. O’Keeffe TR-Colin Tizzard 2. Ok Corral (IRE) 8 11-5 £29,119 b g by Mahler - Acoola (Flemensfirth) O-Mr John P. McManus B-D. Dorgan TR-Nicky Henderson 3. Santini (GB) 6 11-5 £14,580 b g by Milan - Tinagoodnight (Sleeping Car) O-Mr & Mrs R. Kelvin-Hughes B-Mr & Mrs R. G. Kelvin-Hughes TR-Nicky Henderson Margins 3, 1.5. Time 6:13.60. Going Soft.

Age 5-7

Starts 8

1st Dam: KILBRICKEN LEADER by Supreme Leader.

Winner of a N.H. Flat Race. Dam of 2 winners:

2004: Danehill

Rock of Gibraltar MOUNT NELSON b 04

Leader G3, FINIAN’S OSCAR Taipan LR.

Wins 4

Places 2

Earned £106,142

Sire: OSCAR. Sire of 70 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - KILBRICKEN STORM Supreme Leader G1, BALLYEGAN HERO Strong Gale G2, BEER GOGGLES Good Thyne G2, ENNISCOFFEY OSCAR Old Vic G2, OSCAR KNIGHT Supreme Leader G2, OUR DUKE Good Thyne G2, LACKANEEN LEADER Supreme Leader G3, SPLASH OF GINGE Supreme

2005: 2007: 2011:

2012: 2014: 2015: 2017:

Great Leader (f Great Palm) ran a few times in N.H. Flat Races and ran twice over hurdles.

Rainbow Sally (f Needle Gun). Broodmare. (f Classic Cliche) KILBRICKEN STORM (g Oscar) 3 wins over hurdles at 6 and 7, Albert Bartlett Spa Novices’ Hurdle G1, Albert Bartlett Bristol Novices’ Hurdle G2, 3rd Betfred Challow Novices’ Hurdle G1.

I KNOW U TOO WELL (g Stowaway) 2 wins in N.H. Flat Races at 4 and 5. (c Jeremy) (f Jeremy) (c Sageburg)

Broodmare Sire: SUPREME LEADER. Sire of the dams of 75 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 KILBRICKEN STORM Oscar G1, OUTLANDER Stowaway G1, BENATAR Beneficial G2, FOLSOM BLUE Old Vic G2, ON THE BLIND SIDE Stowaway G2, OSCAR KNIGHT Oscar G2.

The Oscar/Supreme Leader cross has produced: AT FISHERS CROSS G1, BLACK JACK KETCHUM G1, KILBRICKEN STORM G1, LACKANEEN LEADER G1, MINELLA CLASS G1, OSCAR ROCK G1, OSCAR TIME G1, SPLASH OF GINGE G1, Apache Jack G1, GALLANT OSCAR G2, OSCAR KNIGHT G2, OSCAR LOOBY G2, Lake View Lad G2, Oscar Hill G2, Rock Diplomat G2, BALTIMAN G3.

KILBRICKEN STORM b g 2011 Northern Dancer

Nearctic Natalma

Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Reliance II

Tantieme Relance III

Vindaria

Roi Dagobert Heavenly Body

Bustino

Busted Ship Yard

Princess Zena

Habitat Guiding Light

Mandalus

Mandamus Laminate

Kilbricken Bay

Salluceva Kilbricken Money

Sadler’s Wells OSCAR b 94 Snow Day

Supreme Leader KILBRICKEN LEADER b 95 Kilbricken Star

Having got off the mark at the third attempt in his short point-to-point career, the six-year-old Kilbricken Storm was offered at Goffs soon afterwards, with Colin Tizzard securing the son of Oscar for only €22,000. A steeplechase career might have seemed the obvious route to follow with a gelding who would turn seven in 2018 but Tizzard opted for the hurdling route – with increasingly impressive results.

Although Kilbricken Storm was sent off at 20/1 on his hurdling debut in late-October, it was only five months later that he triumphed in the Gr1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, with his shock victory improving his record over hurdles to three wins from five starts. His wins also included the Gr2 Bristol Novices’ Hurdle over three miles. That the gelding is suited by a stiff test of stamina is no surprise – his second dam Kilbricken Star was a sister to the Grand National fourth St Mellion Fairway.

Kilbricken Storm’s dam, the bumper winner Kilbricken Leader, is a daughter of Supreme Leader.

Daughters of this two-time champion sire have enjoyed plenty of success with Sadler’s Wells’s stallion sons, and especially with Kilbricken Storm’s sire Oscar. The partnership’s good winners during the 2017-18 season also include Lackaneen Leader (a Gr3 winner

over hurdles), Splash Of Ginge (winner of the Gr3 BetVictor Gold Cup Chase) and Lake View Lad (second in a Gr2 chase).

Previous representatives include Black Jack Ketchum, At Fishers Cross, Oscar Rock, Oscar Hill, Gallant Oscar, Minella Class and Oscar Time, all of whom achieved an official rating higher than 145.

Kilbricken Storm’s Festival win is the latest of a long line for Oscar’s sons, after the likes of Rock On Ruby (Champion Hurdle, Arkle Chase), Lord Windermere (RSA Chase, Cheltenham Gold Cup), Big Zeb (Champion Chase), Peddlers Cross (Neptune Hurdle), O’Faolains Boy (RSA Chase) and At Fishers Cross (Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle).

215 JCB TRIUMPH HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 16. 4yo. 17f 110yds.

1. FARCLAS (FR) 11-0 £71,188 gr g by Jukebox Jury - Floriana (Seattle Dancer) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Mr Remy Gier & Mr Hans-Ueli Fruh & Mr Edy Enz TR-Gordon Elliott 2. Mr Adjudicator (GB) 11-0 £26,713 b g by Camacho - Attlongglast (Groom Dancer) O-Mr David Bobbett B-Mrs L. N. Harmes TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Sayo (GB) 11-0 £13,375 gr g by Dalakhani - Tiyi (Fairy King) O-Palmerstown Racing Partnership B-Wertheimer et Frere TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 1.75, 3.5. Time 4:17.00. Going Soft.

Age 2-4

Starts 7

Wins 2

Places 5

Earned £111,358

Sire: JUKEBOX JURY. Sire of 2 Stakes winners.

1st Dam: Floriana by Seattle Dancer. 3 wins at 3 and 4 in Germany, Switzerland, 3rd SWB Derby Trial LR. Dam of 1 winner:

2012: 2013: 2014:

2015: 2017:

Florice (f Lord of England) unraced.

Fiorentino (c Lord of England) unraced.

FARCLAS (g Jukebox Jury) Sold 25,101gns yearling at ARNOV. 2 wins, JCB Triumph Hurdle G1, 2nd Tatts Ireland Spring Juvenile Hurdle G1, Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle G2.

Folcano (c Falco) unraced to date.

Forlano (c Papal Bull)

This crop, which numbers 58, also includes Stuke, who has been placed at Gr1 level over hurdles in Italy, and Wiesenbach, a Gr3 winner on the Flat in Italy. Given the fact that it is hard for any German-based stallion to establish a long-term career, we may yet see Jukebox Jury transferred to the jumping sector in Ireland, where he dead-heated in the 2011 St Leger. A Group winner every year from two to five, he possessed the toughness to shine as a sire of jumpers.

Farclas was a minor mile-and-ahalf winner in France before being transferred to Ireland, where he was second at Gr2 and Gr1 levels over hurdles prior to his Triumph Hurdle success.

Farclas’s dam, the Listed-placed Floriana, was a prolific winner in Germany and Switzerland. His family has produced nothing of great note in recent generations but his fifth dam is the Oaks second Furioso, who found fame as the dam of Teenoso (Derby and King George) and Topsy (a Sun Chariot Stakes winner who produced the very smart Most Welcome).

216 TIMICO CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 16. 5yo+. 26f.

1. NATIVE RIVER (IRE) 8 11-10 £369,822 ch g by Indian River - Native Mo (Be My Native) O-Brocade Racing B-F. Mackey TR-Colin Tizzard 2. Might Bite (IRE) 9 11-10 £138,773 b g by Scorpion - Knotted Midge (Presenting) O-The Knot Again Partnership B-Mr J. O’Brien TR-Nicky Henderson 3. Anibale Fly (FR) 8 11-10 £69,484 b g by Assessor - Nouba Fly (Chamberlin) O-Mr John P. McManus B-EARL Baty, Mr V. Baty, Mr F. Lemercier TR-A. J. Martin Margins 4.5, 4. Time 7:02.60. Going Soft.

Age 4-8

Starts 22

Wins 11

Places 7

Earned £844,421

Sire: INDIAN RIVER. Sire of 7 Stakes winners.

2nd Dam: Florilla by Big Shuffle. Dam of Florado (c Dashing Blade: 2nd Grosser Plural Preis LR), Floriana (f Seattle Dancer, see above)

1st Dam: Native Mo by Be My Native. unraced. Dam of 3 winners:

Broodmare Sire: SEATTLE DANCER. Sire of the dams of 48 Stakes winners.

2002: 2003:

FARCLAS gr g 2014

2004:

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Floripedes

Top Ville Toute Cy

Kenmare

Kalamoun Belle of Ireland

Feerie Boreale

Irish River Skelda

Nijinsky

Northern Dancer Flaming Page

My Charmer

Poker Fair Charmer

Big Shuffle

Super Concorde Raise Your Skirts

Furiella

Formidable Palmella

Montjeu JUKEBOX JURY gr 06 Mare Aux Fees

Seattle Dancer FLORIANA b 05 Florilla

Sons of Montjeu are all the fashion in the jumping sector, with Walk In The Park, Montmartre, Authorized, Scorpion and Davidoff ranking among those who have already sired a Gr1 winner. Now the admirable Jukebox Jury has joined the club, thanks to the Triumph Hurdle success of his first-crop son Farclas.

2001:

2005: 2007: 2009: 2010:

2012: 2013: 2015: 2016:

Milford Woman (f Taipan) unraced.

Broodmare. (f Good Thyne) ORPHEUS VALLEY (g Beneficial) 4 wins, Guinness H. Chase G1.

Holmshill Gill (f Exit To Nowhere) unraced.

Broodmare.

Kilcamin Bay (g Luso) unraced.

Mo Bury (f Overbury) unraced. Broodmare. (f Milan) NATIVE RIVER (g Indian River) 11 wins, 32redsport.com Plymouth Novices’ Hurdle LR, 2nd Bet365 West Yorkshire Hurdle G2, Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase G1, Betfred Mildmay Novices’ Chase G1, Bet365 Worcester Novices’ Chase G2, Betfair Denman Chase G2 (twice), Coral Welsh National H. Chase G3, Hennessy Gold Cup H. Chase G3, 2nd National Hunt Challenge Cup Chase LR, 3rd Timico Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase G1, Kauto Star N. Clark Feltham Nov Chase G1, Totepool Towton Novices’ Chase G2.

MAHLER TEN (g Mahler) Winner over hurdles.

One Night In Milan (g Milan) (f Jeremy) (f Milan)

Broodmare Sire: BE MY NATIVE. Sire of the dams of 53 Stakes winners. NH in 2017/18 - GENERAL PRINCIPLE Gold Well G1, NATIVE RIVER Indian River G1, PAIROFBROWNEYES Luso G1, COLIN’S SISTER Central Park G2, BELLSHILL King’s Theatre G3.

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Data Book Grade 1 Winners NATIVE RIVER ch g 2010 Green Dancer

Nijinsky Green Valley

Come To Sea

Sea Hawk II Camarilla

Cadoudal INDIAN RIVER b 94

Funny Hobby

The Fun The Lark

Lanark Norman Lass

Our Native

Exclusive Native Our Jackie

Witchy Woman

Strate Stuff Witchy Norma

Be My Native NATIVE MO b 96 Milford Run

Meadow Mint Zakyna

Deep Run

Pampered King Trial By Fire

Belle of The West Royal Buck Shelly River

A Cheltenham Gold Cup contested on soft going demands an endless supply of stamina and a hefty measure of determination. In the circumstances it was no surprise to see victory go to the extremely bold and courageous Native River, whose last two visits to the Festival had produced a second in the four-mile National Hunt Chase and a third place in the 2017 Gold Cup, when the good ground placed less emphasis on stamina.

Native River’s previous victories included one in the Gr1 Mildmay Novices’ Chase, two in the Gr2 Denman Chase and others in such hard-fought handicaps as the Welsh Grand National and the Hennessy Gold Cup. He has now won 11 of his 20 starts over obstacles.

Although bred in Ireland, Native River is by Indian River, a stallion who was bred and raced in France. A son of Cadoudal, France’s perennial champion jumping stallion, Indian River won six times over hurdles and fences, including in the Gr3 Prix du President de la Republique, a handicap chase over nearly three miles. There was a fair amount of interest in him after his arrival in Ireland in the autumn of 2005, but this interest had begun to fade until the emergence of his French-bred son Madison du Berlais as a high-class staying chaser. A winner of the Hennessy Gold Cup, he then added the Gr2 Totesport Bowl Chase in April 2009. Consequently, Indian River covered his largest book – 128 thoroughbred mares – that year, with Native River being this crop’s star.

Indian River’s Irish foals also include Keppols Queen, a dual Gr3 winner over hurdles.

Native River has a traditional Irish jumping pedigree, his first two dams being daughters of the champion sires

Be My Native and Deep Run, and his third dam being the useful chaser Belle Of The West. His dam Native Mo has another good winner to her credit in the Beneficial gelding Orpheus Valley, winner of the Grade A Guinness Handicap Chase at Punchestown. The next dam, the bumper winner Milford Run, had a distinguished half-brother in Minella Lad, a very smart winner of seven of his 11 races over hurdles.

Other good winners out of Be My Native’s daughters include the Gr1 winners Bellshill, Gilgamboa, Go Native, Felix Yonger and Pettifour, as well as numerous other black-type winners.

217 IRISH STALL. FARMS EBF MARES’ NOVICES’ HURDLE G1 FAIRYHOUSE. Apr 1. 4yo+f. 20f.

1. LAURINA (FR) 5 11-7 £52,212 b m by Spanish Moon - Lamboghina (Alkalde) O-Sullivan Bloodstock Limited B-A. Clavier, Dr. V. Roger-Yves Simon & Nicolas Simon TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Lackaneen Leader (IRE) 6 11-7 £16,814 b m by Oscar - Shandora (Supreme Leader) O-Mrs C Walsh/Grant Mercer B-M. Ryan TR-Gordon Elliott 3. Alletrix (IRE) 5 11-7 £7,965 b m by Flemensfirth - Miracle Trix (Old Vic) O-Mrs S Rowley-Williams B-R. McCarthy TR-Mrs John Harrington Margins 8.5, 3.75. Time 5:29.90. Going Soft to Heavy.

Age 4-5

Starts 6

Wins 4

Places 1

Earned £131,254

Sire: SPANISH MOON. Sire of 2 Stakes winners.

1st Dam: LAMBOGHINA by Alkalde. 2 wins at 3 in Germany. Dam of 7 winners:

2003:

2004: 2005: 2006: 2007: 2008:

2009: 2011: 2012: 2013:

2014: 2016:

LAMBORGINO (c Silvano) 8 wins in France.

MEZZOLINO (c Marchand de Sable) Winner at 2 in France.

Lagatera (f Marchand de Sable) LAMIRA (f Daliapour) Winner over jumps in France.

Lantana (f Lando) ran on the flat in France.

LAMIGO (c American Post) 8 wins over jumps to 2018 in France, Prix Prince d’Ecouen H. Hurdle LR, Prix de Beaune H. Hurdle LR. LORADO (c Anabaa Blue) 4 wins at 3 to 5 in France.

Troglodyte (f Early March) unraced.

FOR YOUR LOVE (f Spanish Moon) Winner over jumps in France.

LAURINA (f Spanish Moon) Sold 11,507gns yearling at OSNOV. 4 wins over hurdles at 4 and 5, Irish Stall. Farms EBF Mares Nov. Hurdle G1, Trull House Dawn Run Mares Nov. Hurdle G2, Solerina Mares Novice Hurdle G3.

Immortality (f Spanish Moon) unraced.

Starman (c Sri Putra) unraced to date.

Broodmare Sire: ALKALDE. Sire of the dams of 19 Stakes winners.

LAURINA b m 2013

Age 3-6 Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Lady Capulet

Sir Ivor Cap And Bells

Rainbow Quest

Blushing Groom I Will Follow

Bourbon Girl

Ile de Bourbon Fleet Girl

Konigsstuhl

Dschingis Khan Konigskronung

Astra

Kaiseradler Anekdote

Pentathlon

Ennis Palmural

Landfrau

Frontal Lagalb

El Prado SPANISH MOON b 04 Shining Bright

Alkalde LAMBOGHINA b 97 Landina

During his racing career El Prado’s son Spanish Moon became noted as much for his quirks as his talents. At one stage he was banned from racing in Britain for six months, having been reported by the starter three times in the space of 12 months. Fortunately, the ban didn’t apply outside Britain and Spanish Moon won the Gr1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, after again being reluctant to enter the stalls.

Thoroughly genuine once the stalls were behind him, Spanish Moon also won the Prix Foy, and when the time came for him to retire it was to a French stud.

His eldest progeny are six years old in 2018 and they are busily turning the spotlight onto their sire. Willie Mullins trains two of his best winners, including Crack Mome, a first-crop son who has been Gr2-placed over hurdles, and Laurina, a second-crop daughter.

Laurina maintained her unbeaten record for Mullins when she followed up her easy Gr2 win at the Cheltenham Festival with another simple victory in the Gr1 Mares Novice Hurdle Championship Final, in which she had more than eight lengths to spare over the Gr3 winner Lackaneen Leader.

Mullins also trains Shanning, winner of her first two starts for the Irish trainer.

Understandably, Spanish Moon is now attracting plenty of attention from breeders and he covered 145 mares in 2017.

Laurina’s broodmare sire, the German 2,000 Guineas winner Alkalde, shared the same sire – Konigsstuhl – as Monsun. Alkalde’s wins also included the Gr2 Union-Rennen over 11 furlongs, but he raced mainly over a mile as a four-year-old. Lamboghina, the dam of Laurina, has also produced Lamigo, a very useful French jumper by American Post. Lamboghina won at up to a mile and a quarter, whereas Lamigo scored at up to two and three-quarter miles and Laurina has now shown she stays two and a half miles.

218 RYANAIR POWERS GOLD CUP NOVICE CHASE G1 FAIRYHOUSE. Apr 1. 5yo+. 20f.

Native River: bold and courageous winner of this year’s Gold Cup 94

1. AL BOUM PHOTO (FR) 6 11-10 £52,212 b g by Buck’s Boum - Al Gane (Dom Alco) O-Mrs J. Donnelly B-E. Clayeux & J. Rauch TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Shattered Love (IRE) 7 11-3 £16,814 b m by Yeats - Tracker (Bustino) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Limetree Stud Ltd TR-Gordon Elliott 3. Invitation Only (IRE) 7 11-10 £7,965 b g by Flemensfirth - Norabelle (Alamo Bay) O-Andrea & Graham Wylie B-Mr S. McKeogh TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 1, 7. Time 5:35.90. Going Soft to Heavy.

Starts 10

Wins 4

Places 2

Earned £107,035

Sire: BUCK’S BOUM. Sire of 2 Stakes winners.

1st Dam: Al Gane by Dom Alco. unraced. Dam of 2 winners:

2012:

2013:

AL BOUM PHOTO (g Buck’s Boum) 4 wins, Easter Festival Novice Hurdle G2, Ryanair Powers Gold Cup Novice Chase G1, 2nd Flogas Novice Chase G1.

DITEOU (f Buck’s Boum) Winner over jumps at 4 in France.

Broodmare Sire: DOM ALCO. Sire of the dams of 4 Stakes winners.

AL BOUM PHOTO b g 2012 Green Dancer

Nijinsky Green Valley

Come To Sea

Sea Hawk II Camarilla

Le Glorieux

Cure The Blues La Mirande

Buckleby

Buckskin Thereby

Dom Pasquini

Rheffic Boursonne

Alconaca

Nonoalco Vela

True Brave

Dancing Brave True Lady

Carama

Tip Moss Miss Jefferson

Cadoudal BUCK’S BOUM b 05 Buck’s

Dom Alco AL GANE b 05 Magic Spring

Eight starts by Cadoudal’s son Buck’s Boum yielded only one victory, over hurdles at Auteuil, but Buck’s Boum also finished second to another son of Cadoudal in the Gr1 Grande Course de Haies des 3 Ans. That other son was Long Run, future winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and two editions of the King George VI Chase. But whereas Long Run was a gelding, Buck’s Boum was still an entire and he was able to take up stallion duties after being pulled up on his final start.

His first foals were born in 2012 and among them was Al Boum Photo, who wore down the favourite Shattered Love to gain his best victory, in the Ryanair Gold Cup Novice Chase. His record over fences now stands at five starts, for two wins and two falls. Buck’s Boum’s second crop included Duc des Genievres, runner-up in a Gr1 Irish novice hurdle in February 2018.

Al Boum Photo’s dam Al Gane also has a 2017 colt by Buck’s Boum. Al Gane never raced but this daughter of Dom Alco is closely related to several good winners. When Al Gane’s second dam Carama visited Dom Alco she produced Al Co, winner of the 2014 Scottish Grand National, and Al Tip, a Listed winner over hurdles at Auteuil. Carama’s daughter Fee Magic also shone with Dom Alco, producing that very smart hurdler/chaser Grands Crus and the Gr3-winning hurdler Gevrey Chambertin.

Dom Alco won six races over hurdles, including two Listed events at Auteuil, but failed to win in 14 attempts on the Flat, including in claiming races.

His failings on the level proved no handicap to a stallion career which also produced the likes of Silviniaco Conti, Neptune Collonges, Al Ferof and Unioniste.

Al Boum Photo’s fourth dam Miss Jefferson was another Auteuil Listed winner, as was Miss Jefferson’s son Le Cheyenne.

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Grade 2 & 3 Winners Date 10/02 10/02 10/02 10/02 11/02 16/02 17/02 17/02 17/02 17/02 17/02 17/02 17/02 18/02 18/02 20/02 22/02 24/02 24/02 24/02 24/02 24/02 24/02 25/02 25/02 25/02 25/02 09/03 10/03 10/03 10/03 10/03 13/03 13/03 14/03 14/03 15/03 15/03 15/03 16/03 16/03 21/03 21/03 23/03 23/03 24/03 01/04 01/04 01/04 01/04

Grade G2 G2 G2 G3 GrB G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G3 G3 G2 G2 G3 G3 G2 G2 G2 G3 G3 G3 G2 G2 G3 GrB GrB G2 G3 G3 GrA G2 G3 G3 G3 G2 G3 G3 G3 G3 G2 G3 G2 GrB G2 G2 G3 GrB GrB

Race (course) Betfair Denman Chase (Newbury) Betfair Exchange Game Spirit Chase (Newbury) Betway Kingmaker Novices’ Chase (Warwick) Betfair Handicap Hurdle (Newbury) Boylesports Grand National Trial H Chase (Punchestown) Weatherbys J. Seymour Mares’ Nov. Hurdle (Sandown) Sodexo Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase (Ascot) Red Mills Chase (Gowran Park) Albert Bartlett Prestige Novices’ Hurdle (Haydock Park) Betfred Rendlesham Hurdle (Haydock Park) Betway Kingwell Hurdle (Wincanton) Red Mills Trial Hurdle (Gowran Park) Betfred Grand National Trial Hcp Chase (Haydock Park) Ladbrokes Ireland Boyne Hurdle (Navan) Ten Up Novice Chase (Navan) Surehaul Mercedes Powerstown Nov. Hurdle (Clonmel) Thurles R’Crse M.Purcell Mem. Nov.Hurdle (Thurles) Betdaq Adonis Juvenile Hurdle (Kempton Park) Betdaq Pendil Novices’ Chase (Kempton Park) Sky Bet Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle (Kempton Park) At The Races Bobbyjo Chase (Fairyhouse) Winning Fair Juvenile Hurdle (Fairyhouse) Betdaq Handicap Chase (Kempton Park) Totepool National Spirit Hurdle (Fontwell Park) Paddy Power Johnston Novice Hurdle (Naas) Paddy’s Rewards Newlands Chase (Naas) Whatoddspaddy Nas Na Riogh Nov.Chase (Naas) TRI Equestrian Carrickmines Hcp Chase (Leopardstown) Holden Plant Rentals Shamrock Hcp Chase (Gowran Park) EBF Matchbook Nat.Hunt Nov.Hcp Hurdle (Sandown Park) Matchbook Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle (Sandown Park) toals.com Leinster National Hcp Chase (Gowran Park) National Hunt Challenge Cup Nov Chase (Cheltenham) Ultima Handicap Chase (Cheltenham) Boodles Fred Winter Juvenile Hcp Hurdle (Cheltenham) Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (Cheltenham) Trull House Dawn Run Mares Nov. Hurdle (Cheltenham) Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Hcp Chase (Cheltenham) Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (Cheltenham) Johnny Henderson Gd. Annual H. Cup Chase (Cheltenham) Randox Health County Handicap Hurdle (Cheltenham) Charleville EBF Dawn Run Mares Nov.Chase (Limerick) Kerry EBF Shannon Spray Mares Nov.Hurdle (Limerick) toals.com Webster Cup An Uaimh Chase (Navan) Irish Stallion Farms EBF Nov. Hcp. Chase (Navan) EBF/TBA Nat. Hunt Mares’ Nov. H. Hurdle (Newbury) Underwriting Exchange Novice Hurdle (Fairyhouse) Imperial Call Chase (Cork) FBD Insurance Easter Handicap Hurdle (Cork) Boylesports Greenogue Nov Hcp Chase (Fairyhouse)

Dist 23f 16f 16f 16f 28.5f 20f 24f 20f 23f 23f 15f 16f 28f 21f 24f 24f 20f 16f 20.5f 16f 25f 16f 24f 19f 16f 16f 20f 21f 18f 20f 16f 23f 32f 25f 16f 21f 17f 21f 24f 16f 17f 22.5f 22f 16f 24f 20.5f 20f 24f 19f 16.5f

Horse Native River (IRE) Altior (IRE) Saint Calvados (FR) Kalashnikov (IRE) Folsom Blue (IRE) Midnight Tune (GB) Black Corton (FR) Our Duke (IRE) Chef des Obeaux (FR) Donna’s Diamond (IRE) Elgin (GB) Forge Meadow (IRE) Yala Enki (FR) Diamond Cauchois (FR) Monbeg Notorious (IRE) Chris’s Dream (IRE) Blow By Blow (IRE) Redicean (GB) Cyrname (FR) Global Citizen (IRE) Bellshill (IRE) Mitchouka (FR) Master Dee (IRE) Old Guard (GB) Hardline (IRE) Doctor Phoenix (IRE) Fitzhenry (IRE) Spider Web (IRE) Goulane Chosen (IRE) Sam’s Gunner (GB) Mr Antolini (IRE) Pairofbrowneyes (IRE) Rathvinden (IRE) Coo Star Sivola (FR) Veneer of Charm (IRE) Bleu Berry (FR) Laurina (FR) The Storyteller (IRE) Delta Work (FR) Le Prezien (FR) Mohaayed (GB) Youcantcallherthat (IRE) Lackaneen Leader (IRE) Great Field (FR) Glencairn View (IRE) Roksana (IRE) Pallasator (GB) Sumos Novios (IRE) Ministerforsport (IRE) Bel Ami de Sivola (FR)

Age 8 8 5 5 11 7 7 8 6 9 6 6 8 7 7 6 7 4 6 6 8 4 9 7 6 10 6 7 9 5 8 9 10 6 4 7 5 7 5 7 6 7 6 7 8 6 9 10 7 7

Sex G G G G G M G G G G G M G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G M G G G G M M G G M G G G G

Sire Indian River High Chaparral Saint des Saints Kalanisi Old Vic Midnight Legend Laverock Oscar Saddler Maker Cloudings Duke of Marmalade Beneficial Nickname Crillon Milan Mahler Robin des Champs Medicean Nickname Alkaadhem King’s Theatre Creachadoir King’s Theatre Notnowcato Arcadio Dr Massini Flemensfirth Presenting Well Chosen Black Sam Bellamy Catcher In The Rye Luso Heron Island Assessor Fast Company Special Kaldoun Spanish Moon Shantou Network Blue Bresil Intikhab Brian Boru Oscar Great Pretender Flemensfirth Dubai Destination Motivator Flemensfirth Dubai Destination Network

Dam Native Mo Monte Solaro Lamorrese Fairy Lane Spirit Leader Harmonic Motion Pour Le Meilleur Good Thyne Jenny O Dame de Gene Inish Bofin China Tea Ballys Baby Cadiane Diamond Turtle Borleagh Princess Janebailey Shean Rose Red Halo Narquille Lady Willmurt Fairy Native Minnaloushe Miss Lauren Dee Dolma Hidden Reserve Lowroad Cross She Took A Tree Poetics Girl Vixen’s Cry Falcon’s Gunner Victory Run Frankly Native Peggy Cullen Santorine Nova Tor Somosierra Lamboghina Bally Bolshoi Robbe Abu Dhabi Reyaada Fruitful Venture Shandora Eaton Lass Ballerina Laura Talktothetail Ela Athena Gaelic Million Lady Alacoque Notting Hill

Broodmare Sire Be My Native Key of Luck Pistolet Bleu Old Vic Supreme Leader Bob Back Video Rock Good Thyne Passing Sale Glacial Storm High Chaparral Bob Back Cadoudal Limnos Presenting Silver Patriarch Roselier Galileo Passing Sale Mandalus Be My Native Black Minnaloushe Montelimar Marchand de Sable Heron Island Anshan Sri Pekan Saddlers’ Hall Miner’s Lamp Gunner B Old Vic Be My Native Presenting Della Francesca Trans Island Blushing Flame Alkalde Bob Back Video Rock Saint Cyrien Daylami Fruits of Love Supreme Leader Definite Article Riot Helmet Flemensfirth Ezzoud Strong Gale Anshan Garde Royale

Index 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241

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24 hours with... DOMINIC GARDINER-HILL The BHA’s new Head of Handicapping is an early riser and feels he can achieve more by the time many of us are out of bed than for the rest of the day – it’s a dog’s life, alright Interview: Tim Richards

96

DAN ABRAHAM

N

ormally I’m up between half seven and eight. But Toffee, our 13-yearold border terrier, is suffering from Cushing’s disease, which means she wakes us to go out for a pee at 4am. Sometimes I’ll start work then and, refreshed with no distractions, achieve more by 8am than during the rest of the day.

On a really busy Monday, the last day before the weekly 7am Tuesday deadline for new ratings to be at Weatherbys, I’m in my office by 5am. It depends on the day.

I put Toffee out with our other border terrier, Fudge, make a cup of black coffee and have a slice of toast for breakfast.

Whenever I have time I take the dogs for two good walks a day in the West Sussex countryside.

My working day falls roughly into three categories, in my office at home, on the racecourse or in the BHA’s HQ in Holborn.

Time in London will increase when I take over from Phil Smith as Head of Handicapping in May. In summer I’ll work in my office until three and head off to Epsom, Sandown or wherever for evening racing.

Of course, I also enjoy Royal Ascot, the Derby and Cheltenham. I check in with the stipendiary stewards in the stewards’ room, make sure there are no handicapping issues with runners on the card and then into the jockeys’ room for a large cup of black coffee.

I have been handicapping for 25 years – the ‘downhill slide’ started in 1968 when my dad took me to Chepstow races as a four-year-old! I consider I have a very good working relationship with the majority of trainers. There might be a query or two but generally there’s mutual respect between us. It is a more civil existence than when I first started.

We, the BHA team of 12 handicappers, give horses a rating based on their racecourse performance, which is then used to produce weights for handicaps they run in. We put a numerical value on the horse’s ability. Those ratings are reevaluated on a weekly basis and have to be with Weatherbys each Tuesday morning.

From a handicapping perspective on the big stage, the 2004 Royal Hunt Cup won

by Mine, with about two lengths covering the first ten home, was most satisfying because our aim is to produce exciting races. But, in my experience there’s been nothing to touch Frankel. I was responsible for his ratings over a mile as a three-yearold and through to the Queen Anne the following season. I don’t think we will ever see a horse that produces such a sustained run of brilliance again.

Frankel had eight 130-plus performances, which had never been achieved before and I suspect will never be seen again. Every time I raised his rating he either did it again or bettered it. It was fantastic to be involved in a small way with a horse that stirred so much interest and had everyone asking, ‘Is he the best ever?’ I did, though, have to carry my international colleagues along with me in terms of giving him a world rating as exorbitant as 140.

We oversee a lot of BHA courses; I might spend half a day at the British Racing School in Newmarket to do a three-hour module on handicapping. We have Racing Group Committee meetings to discuss the nuts and bolts of British racing, a sub-committee of the European Pattern

Committee where we look at the standard of certain Flat races in Britain. Occasionally I’ll attend a jumps committee meeting or a ‘new ideas meeting’ where we thrash out possible different race types. We also have lengthy Breeders’ Cup international conference calls. There is a lot going on beyond the everyday handicapping.

Lunch – a sandwich or bowl of soup – is minimal, as I don’t work well after a meal.

I very rarely have a full day off; sometimes my wife Rachel and I take the dogs for a walk on West Wittering beach, about an hour’s drive away. Before our son, Adam, left home for Nottingham University I used to help coach his football team. It’s good to shut the office door and get away from racing for half a day.

Rachel and I are very fond of the south of France and normally try to take a house or villa down there for a week.

We have our evening meal between 7-8pm and I love cooking. Rachel is now a professional counsellor and often isn’t home until late so I prepare the meal, usually pretty basic stuff like a chilli, Indian or Mexican. I can also turn my hand to a bit of fish or steak.

Most evenings I crash out with a glass of beer or wine and watch TV. Occasionally we go out for a drink on Friday evenings with former Racing Post colleagues, Ian Heaney and his wife Jill. We also use the local pubs in rotation for a meal out and occasionally go to the cinema in Guildford.

Bed is between 10-10.30pm. I used to be a great reader in bed but these days as soon as my head hits the pillow I’ve gone.

I’m a good sleeper – until Toffee wakes us.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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