Thoroughbred Owner Breeder

£4.95 MAY 2019 ISSUE 177

Bright start

Silvestre de Sousa and King Power Racing off to a flyer

PLUS

Richard Spencer

Young trainer’s Classic dream

Super sires

05

Sea The Stars and Lope De Vega excel

Bob Baffert

Triple Crown king’s patient approach

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Welcome

Background boy de Sousa now leading from the front

Editor: Edward Rosenthal Bloodstock Editor: Nancy Sexton Luxury Editor: Sarah Rodrigues Design/production: Thoroughbred Group Editorial: First Floor, 75 High Holborn, London WC1V 6LS Tel: 020 7152 0209 Fax: 020 7152 0213 editor@ownerbreeder.co.uk www.ownerbreeder.co.uk Twitter: @OwnerBreeder Equine Advertising: Giles Anderson/ Anna Alcock UK: 01380 816777 IRE: 041 971 2000 USA: 1 888 218 4430 advertise@anderson-co.com Luxury/Fashion Advertising: Nick Edgley Tel: 07774703491 nedgley@nemediaworld.com Subscriptions: Keely Brewer Tel: 020 7152 0212 Fax: 020 7152 0213 subscriptions@ownerbreeder.co.uk

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£4.95 MAY 2019 ISSUE 177

Bright start

Silvestre de Sousa and King Power Racing off to a flyer

PLUS

Richard Spencer

Young trainer’s Classic dream

Super sires

05

Sea The Stars and Lope De Vega excel

Bob Baffert

Triple Crown king’s patient approach

May_177_Cover2.indd 1

9 771745 435006

www.ownerbreeder.co.uk

Cover: King Power Racing’s Shine So Bright and Silvestre de Sousa win the European Free Handicap at Newmarket on April 16 Photo: Hugh Routledge

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Edward Rosenthal Editor

18/04/2019 18:02

hen this magazine spoke to Silvestre de Sousa in 2011, the Brazilian was enjoying his best season to date, battling it out with Paul Hanagan for the jockeys’ championship, having earned his maiden century the previous year.

At that time, de Sousa was modest about his chances of a first title – he would go on to finish the season as runner-up – and explained the challenge of riding against the likes of Hanagan, Richard Hughes, Kieren Fallon and Ryan Moore et al.

“To be where I am is a dream,” de Sousa told Julian Muscat. “But the title is far from my mind. I just want to stay in the background and see what happens.

“You need to be careful with the big guys,” he continued. “In a race you cannot go where you like. You must have respect and ride with intelligence, otherwise they will punish you.

“It’s very competitive on the track. You talk in the paddock, but friendship is over when you get on the horse.”

Eight years on and de Sousa is undoubtedly now one of the “big guys”, even if he himself denies this assertion.

Yet it is hard to argue with the facts; he is the current champion jockey, taking the title for the last two years as well as in 2015, enjoyed the world’s highest profile riding job with Sheikh Mohamed’s Godolphin operation, and is now retained rider for the ambitious King Power Racing.

“I don’t feel like one of the big guys!” de Sousa tells Tim Richards (Talking To, pages 4951). “I am just the same as the rest of the guys, but I do believe in what I can deliver when I am on a horse.

“It is nice to have a high-profile job in this sport. I just hope I can do well, but I am still one of the lads, not above anyone else. I am the same as I was, only with a different job. I still hope to be available at times to ride for those who have helped me reach the position I am in now.”

De Sousa has certainly made a blistering

start to his new association with King Power Racing, including winning the European Free Handicap on the exciting Shine So Bright.

Some eye-catching spending at the sales will ensure King Power Racing’s retained rider gets to sit on some of the best-bred thoroughbreds in training in Britain.

A fourth title may be difficult to achieve with a focus now on quality over quantity, yet you would not put it past a jockey with de Sousa’s incredible work ethic – “a day off for me is a lost opportunity” – to surprise the doubters.

Quality over quantity could also apply to the burgeoning stable of Newmarket trainer Richard Spencer, who is in only his third full

“A fourth title may be difficult with a focus on quality over quantity” season with a licence but has already enjoyed a Royal Ascot victory and sent runners to the Breeders’ Cup. Phil Cunningham, who enjoyed Classic success with Cockney Rebel, has put his faith in the young handler to deliver big-race glory to Sefton Lodge stables. Julian Muscat finds out about both men’s ambitions and plans for the season (The Big Interview, pages 40-46).

Welcome Nancy We are delighted to welcome Nancy Sexton as Thoroughbred Owner Breeder’s new Bloodstock Editor. Nancy brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role and her enthusiasm and passion for her subject will prove a huge asset to both our print and digital offerings.

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Contents

May 2019

49

52

40

News & Views

International Scene

ROA Leader

View From Ireland

Media rights transparency vital

5

TBA Leader Welcome Annamarie Phelps

7 8

Changes News in a nutshell

10 22 24

Changes afoot at Santa Anita

30

Features From Aintree and Meydan

Old Vic in the Chester Vase

With trainer Richard Spencer

Travel and fashion

2

Around The Globe

14 20

The Big Interview

Racing Life Hats off to the Kentucky Derby

28

From The Archives

Howard Wright Let racing do the maths

Racecourse role for Oscar Urbina

The Big Picture

Tony Morris Right Tack kicks off new series

26

Continental Tales

News New Chair for the BHA

Whirlwind windfall for Turley

40

Talking To...

32

Champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa

49

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104

96

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Features

Forum

US Sires Versatility on the rise

ROA Forum 52 58 68

Paddock Maintenance Two-part series on what you must know

70

Dr Statz Santa Ana Lane leads Lope De Vega charge

96

The Finish Line Legendary US trainer Bob Baffert

104

Forum The Thoroughbred Club Much in store for the month of May

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First Regional Forum at Ludlow

86

Vet Forum

Caulfield Files Sea The Stars shows the way

76

TBA Forum

Sales Circuit Breeze-ups in the spotlight

Inaugural ROA Industry Ownership Day

74

Q&A on the equine flu outbreak

94

Data Book Graded Races Top-level jumps winners assessed

98

Did you know?

Our monthly average readership is

20,000 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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23/04/2019 09:59

FIRST FOALS IN 2019

GALILEO - OCCUPANDISTE (KALDOUN)

Defeated 16 Gr.1 winners

t: +44 (0) 1429 856 530 e: info@elwickstud.co.uk w: www.elwickstud.co.uk

STANDING AT Elwick Stud, Sheraton Farm, Hartlepool TS27 4RB

ROA Leader

Nicholas Cooper President

Time to end secrecy over media rights revenue I

t is certainly gratifying to know that a new formal prize-money agreement between horsemen and BHA on the one side and racecourses on the other is now high on racing’s agenda after the very public fall-out with ARC. The last of these agreements ran from 2014 to 2017, while the terms were largely continued with in 2018.

Broadly, the agreement commits racecourses to contribute either a minimum of 40% or 33% of their media rights income to prize-money, depending on whether the racecourse is categorised as being in the Premier Tier or Standard Tier. On their side of the agreement, the horsemen and BHA would commit to ensuring certain benefits were given to participating racecourses, one of which would be to allow a racecourse to stage any of the 250 BHA-owned fixtures allocated each year.

Of course, there are a number of so-called special circumstances, such as the loss of a major sponsor, under which racecourses can reduce their contribution, but, by and large, the agreements worked well, with good faith shown on both sides, and there is now growing optimism that a new agreement will soon be ratified with most racecourses.

The extraordinary growth of media rights payments to racecourses during the past two decades has made these prize-money agreements a vital cog in the machinery of racing administration. When racecourses were receiving minimal income from bookmakers to allow them to show their pictures in betting shops, the rights were not that relevant. Now, however, with the annual figure in the region of £140m, it has become essential to have a mechanism that reflects the crucial part that owners and horsemen play in generating this money.

Although racing is now fearful that the new FOBTs legislation will deplete betting shop numbers and so materially impact on the sport’s income, the current uncertain climate should create an incentive for horsemen and racecourses to work closer together to their mutual benefit.

Even with a new deal in place, the spread and clarity of information that horsemen and the BHA receive from racecourse media companies on media rights deals is superficial at best. The more we are allowed to penetrate the outer shell of these often complex arrangements, the more it has the potential to benefit all parties. At the same time, owners and horsemen would take comfort and assurance from knowing that income for which they are fundamental in creating is being used for the overall good of the sport.

As betting operators are now agreeing to share more data with the Levy Board around those races and fixtures that generate the most turnover and profit, so racecourses,

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horsemen and the BHA should have similar detailed discussions, perhaps through the medium of an independent body whose members would, of course, be committed to confidentiality.

It is entirely understandable that racecourses have over the years gravitated towards the retail operations of bookmakers as the place to find the richest pickings, but, if we are to believe those pessimistic forecasts for betting shops closures, then racecourses, or their media rights representatives, should surely start to broaden their horizons.

Everybody now expects to see live pictures of sporting events and, as more betting moves away from shops towards online, there is a logic to putting greater focus on the websites

“Understanding all the implications would allow the sport to make better informed decisions” of betting operators as a means to increase income from live streaming. Of course, this is already happening, but, when you look at the list of online bookmakers worldwide, you wonder whether those charged with selling the racecourses’ live pictures are fully exploiting this area of the market, especially internationally.

Whatever the soundness of this argument, it is possible that racecourses would find fresh impetus from working still closer with the rest of the industry. Understanding all the implications would allow the sport to make better informed decisions about future strategy, while it would be a step towards the industry being able to construct a much-needed and joined-up commercial plan.

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TBA Leader

Julian Richmond-Watson Chairman

Welcome to the exciting world of horseracing N

ext month, Annamarie Phelps will become Chair of the British Horseracing Authority. She comes to the job highly recommended but, as I understand, with no intimate knowledge of racing.

This set me thinking about how I would explain the intricacies of the sport to someone coming in from outside and completely new to racing, especially someone who is to be so intrinsically involved in the day-to-day running and well-being of the sport in Britain.

My initial thought is to explain that horseracing is just like rowing, where Annamarie was first an eminent competitor and more recently Chairman of British Rowing. Both are straightforward sports, in which the winner is the first past the post, as long as the participants abide by the rules. There is no need for a complicated scoring system, just a judge and a camera to determine the result.

However, unlike almost all other major sports, racing involves two living participants, the horse and the jockey, and it is their combined effort that produces the result. Undoubtedly this complicates matters, but then, after all, it is the most exciting, unique aspect that those involved glorify and love.

Yes, there is a myriad of rules. The BHA rule book is large, even after recent efforts to slim it down, but all participants work under a strict set of regulations that are there to ensure fair play. The safety and welfare of those taking part, human and equine, is paramount and the conduct of those who are licensed on and off the racecourse is continually in the limelight.

In order for everyone to come together in competition, we have racecourses. In contrast to team sports, they do not own players or participants but provide the venue and put on contests for which racehorse owners are invited to pay an entry fee and run for prize-money.

The conditions of the races and the rules under which they are staged might at times be complicated, but it is a simple premise that if these or the level of prize-money on offer are not attractive, fewer participants will turn up. It’s a point that racecourses sometimes take for granted.

Annamarie, welcome to the glorious sport of horseracing.

I hope you enjoy it as much as do the vast majority of those people you will meet on and off the racecourse, and I wish you a successful time in chairing the BHA. Turning to an aspect of racing that directly resonates with readers of this column, results at this year’s Cheltenham Festival were a stark reminder of how far the British National Hunt breeding industry has fallen in comparison to Ireland and

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France. The bare statistics – 14 winners bred in each of Ireland and France, and none in Britain – represented a low water mark for British breeding, which has done better in the past and, hopefully, will do so again in the future.

There is no physical reason why British breeders should not be supplying the majority of horses, and therefore winners, to race both on the Flat and over jumps here. The quality of British-bred Flat horses is testament to that observation, and it is difficult to imagine leading figures in the Irish or French racing industries accepting a situation where most of their racehorses were supplied from overseas.

The reasons for the position in which Britain finds itself have to be found elsewhere, and the balance must be redressed in favour of our own breeding industry and the future of racing. These reasons might be complex and historical. Yet

“The safety and welfare of those taking part, human and equine, is paramount” the work done to support breeders in Ireland and France is proof that over time it is possible to build an industry that not only supports domestic racing but also sustains an export programme.

Support for breeders needs to be substantially improved if new entrants, particularly a younger generation who rightly expect to make a reasonable return on their investment, are to be encouraged into the sector. The TBA will work on all fronts to improve the climate and recognition of issues that the industry faces, so that over the next five years more and younger breeders start out on the road to success.

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News

Phelps named new BHA Chair A nnamarie Phelps, Vice-Chair of the British Olympic Association and a former Olympic rower, will take over as the new Chair of the British Horseracing Authority next month, succeeding Steve Harman and interim Chairman Atholl Duncan.

Phelps is an experienced senior figure in British sport, though this will be her first role in horseracing.

She has worked for a variety of governing bodies dealing with complex political and regulatory issues. She was Chair of British Rowing until last year and also chaired the independent review into British cycling in 2017.

She competed for Britain at the Atlanta Games in 1996 in the women’s eight and was a world champion in 1993. She was awarded a CBE for services to rowing in 2016.

Phelps said: “I relish the opportunity to work in British racing. Everything I’ve seen and heard tells me that racing people are passionate about their sport,

Winx goes out on a high

Annamarie Phelps: brings a wealth of experience in regulatory issues

proud of its magnificent heritage and unified by a love of horses.

“I’m looking forward to working with new colleagues at the BHA and across the sport. My priority is to help with the immediate challenges we face, but I’m excited by the opportunities for racing to grow and flourish in the years ahead.

“I believe that collaboration is the key to success and am privileged to be given a chance to play my part.”

Phelps was selected unanimously by the BHA’s nominations committee, which includes representatives from the racecourses and horsemen. Her appointment was approved by the BHA’s shareholders and the board.

Nicholas Cooper, President of the ROA, who represented the Horsemen’s Group during the selection process, said: “Annamarie understands the drive, determination and commitment to excellence of professional sportsmen and women, and will be a great supporter of racing’s participants.”

She’s apples: Winx and Hugh Bowman forged a remarkable partnership on the racecourse

Australia’s darling Winx did what was expected of her at Randwick on April 13, winning her third Queen Elizabeth Stakes and retiring as the winner of her last 33 races.

Gust Of Wind, in the Australian Oaks at Randwick on April 11, 2015 will be the answer to the quiz question about the last horse to defeat Winx. Since then the daughter of Street Cry proved invincible, ending her career with a record of 37 wins from 43 races and amassing over £14.5 million in prize-money.

Trained by Chris Waller and ridden in her races by Hugh Bowman, both of whose profiles sky-rocketed in tandem with their wonderful mare, Winx transcended her sport like no other horse, surpassing the exploits of Black Caviar, the mare who retired from racing in 2013 as the winner of all 25 of her races.

Unlike Black Caviar, Winx was never tested in Europe – a topic sure to continue to provoke debate in her retirement – but at home she proved irresistible to punters and public alike.

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18/04/2019 17:57

Stories from the racing world

The Triumph of Henry Cecil hits bookstands The remarkable comeback of Tiger Woods, who won the US Masters 11 years after his previous major triumph, got plenty thinking about racing’s own stories of coming back from the brink.

One person from ‘our world’ who springs readily to mind is the late Sir Henry Cecil, whose career looked more or less over in 2005, when he sent out just 12 winners.

For such a legend of the game, it was a difficult time, while there were personal losses as well as professional blows, but thanks in no small part to Frankel, Cecil was to emerge from the wilderness to once again make his

mark at the highest level.

His authorised biography, by Tony Rushmer – who worked for Cecil for the seven years up to his death in 2013 – has now been published by Constable.

The Triumph of Henry Cecil tells the story of the trainer’s remarkable revival from an insider’s perspective, covering the Frankel years coinciding with Cecil’s brave battle against illness, which made the pair’s numerous victories all the more noteworthy and popular.

The book can be ordered for £20 from www.littlebrown.co.uk and is also available as an eBook.

Onwards and upwards for Fellowes

Bedford House Stables is the new base of up-and-coming trainer Charlie Fellowes

Charlie Fellowes has taken over at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket, describing the opportunity to purchase the historic yard from Luca Cumani as “too good to turn down”.

Fellowes, at 32 one of British racing’s headquarters’ up-and-coming trainers, has big footsteps to follow at Bedford House, where Cumani trained with huge success for 43 years.

Fellowes, based previously at St Gatien Cottage Stables in the town, enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2018, thanks in no small measure to Prince Of Arran, who won the Lexus Stakes before finishing third in the Melbourne

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Cup three days later.

Fellowes said: “It’s a really exciting move for me and my owners. Last year was our best in terms of global prize-money as we won over £1 million.

“Prince Of Arran’s performances in Australia were amazing, but we also had three Listed-winning fillies and Escalator, who recently won in Dubai.

“I need somewhere to expand my business, so when Bedford House came on the market I saw it as too good an opportunity to turn down. I really can’t wait to get started.”

Cumani sent out Derby winners from Bedford House in the shape of

Kahyasi and High-Rise, among a host of big-race scorers, and Fellowes thanked the previous occupant – who is now concentrating on running Fittocks Stud with his wife Sara – for his cooperation during the sale.

“It really is such an honour to be able to train out of one of the most prestigious and beautiful yards in the country,” said Fellowes. “I cannot thank Luca and Sara Cumani enough for how helpful they’ve been during the whole process.

“If I can train half as many Derby winners as Luca I’ll be doing really well.”

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Changes

Racing’s news in a nutshell

People and business Annamarie Phelps

Former chair of British Rowing selected as new BHA Chairman, succeeding Steve Harman, and will start with the body on June 1.

ITV Racing

Grand National viewing figure up by over a million this year as 9.58m people watched Tiger Roll claim a second win.

Grech and Parkin

Owners decide to end their collective interest and will sell more than 30 horses that they owned in partnership.

Jim Mullen

Barry Geraghty Jockey hoping to be back in action for the Galway festival in July after breaking his tibia and fibula following a fall at Aintree.

Former Chief Executive of Ladbrokes Coral joins the board of Racecourse Media Group, along with Kindred Group’s Britt Boeskov.

Paul Nicholls

The 11-time champion trainer becomes only the third handler – after Martin Pipe and Nicky Henderson – to reach 3,000 jumps winners in Britain when Kupatana won at Cheltenham in April.

Levy Board

Injects £6.5 million into prize-money due to the expected decline in media rights revenue for racecourses due to FOBTs limits.

Harry Whittington Trainer sends out the 100th winner of his career with Captain Tommy at Wincanton on April 3.

Brendan Powell Trainer relinquishes his licence after 19 years and joins up with rising star Joseph O’Brien in Ireland.

Fran Berry

Jockey, 38, quits the saddle on medical advice after a career that yielded over 1,300 winners.

188Bet

Firm that sponsored the Chester Cup ceases trading in Britain and Ireland citing “a commercial decision in a competitive market.”

Lambourn

A report finds that horseracing contributes more than £20 million to the local area and is responsible for one in three jobs.

Charlie Fellowes

Up-and-coming trainer buys Bedford House Stables in Newmarket from Luca Cumani.

Martin Harley

Group 1-winning jockey set to extend Hong Kong stay and will not return to ride in Britain until July.

People obituaries Jean Bucknell 82

Well-known work-watcher in Newmarket who had trained point-to-pointers and was nanny to Sir Henry Cecil’s children.

Sue Bradburne 70

Former trainer who sent out 170 winners; one of her best horses was Blue Charm, runner-up in the 1999 Grand National.

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Doug Moscrop 77

Trevor McKee 81

Bob Butchers 94

Dr Brendan Doyle 63

Award-winning racing writer and tipster who, jointly with Clare Balding, won the Journalist of the Year gong at the HWPA Derby Awards in 2003.

The original Newsboy tipster on the Daily Mirror, where he spent 39 years, having initially plied his trade as a jockey.

Co-trainer of top-class mare Sunline, who retired in 2002 as the winner of 32 of her 48 races and A$11.3m in earnings.

Outgoing treasurer of AIRO who owned six-time winner Quiscover Fontaine with Willie Mullins.

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Changes

Racehorse and stallion

Movements and retirements

Bless The Wings

Evergreen chaser is retired aged 14 after finishing 13th behind stablemate Tiger Roll in the Grand National.

Ice Breeze

Son of Nayef, winner of the 2017 Prix Royal-Oak, is recruited by Woodlands Stud in County Galway, where his fee is €1,500.

Gregorian

Young sire son of Clodovil relocates from the National Stud to his birthplace at Rathasker Stud in County Kildare. His fee is €6,000.

Idaho

Roaring Lion

Outstanding son of Kitten’s Joy, standing his first season at Tweenhills Farm, will shuttle to Cambridge Stud in New Zealand.

Winx

Australia’s outstanding mare is retired after winning her 33rd successive race, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick.

Justify

US Triple Crown hero will shuttle to Coolmore Australia at Jerrys Plains in New South Wales, to stand alongside American Pharoah.

Galileo’s son, a talented performer over middle-distance and staying trips, is retired and will stand at Coolmore’s Beeches Stud.

Thomas Crapper

Robin Dicken-trained chaser bred by Jeanette Carr-Evans who placed three times as the Cheltenham Festival is retired aged 12.

Horse obituaries Turgeon 33

World’s oldest active thoroughbred stallion whose progeny included recent Cheltenham Festival winner Siruh Du Lac.

Mini Sensation 26

Welsh National winner in 2002 for owner JP McManus, trainer Jonjo O’Neill and jockey Tony Dobbin.

We Have A Dream 5

Talented hurdler, owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede and trained by Nicky Henderson, dies on the gallops.

Up For Review 10

Graham Wylie-owned chaser is fatally injured after being brought down at the first fence in the Grand National.

12

King’s Best 22

Winner of the 2,000 Guineas in 2000 who sired Derby and Arc victor Workforce dies at stud in Japan.

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The Big Picture

Tiger rolls over National rivals Runners stream over the Canal Turn in the ÂŁ1 million Randox Health Grand National at Aintree led by Rathvinden, who was to finish third, with winner Tiger Roll (maroon and white) prominent, likewise runner-up Magic Of Light (noseband).

Just under half of the 40 runners who set out for the worldfamous chase on April 6 completed the gruelling four and a quarter miles-plus, with Don Poli last home in 19th. Tiger Roll is pictured inset crossing the line under Davy Russell to win an historic second Grand National for owners Gigginstown House Stud and trainer Gordon Elliott.

Photos George Selwyn, Trevor Meeks and Naresh Joshi

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Randox Health Grand National

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The Big Picture

Bear hugs all round for Tiger It is perhaps not that difficult to pick out the winning owner and trainer despite the crowded scenes after Tiger Roll’s terrific second success in the Grand National at Aintree. As the boss of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary is a public face anyway, and the Gigginstown House Stud supremo can be seen here giving trainer Gordon Elliott a joyous hug after his small but big-hearted and hugely-talented Tiger Roll had become the first since Red Rum in the 1970s to win two Nationals. Also in a bear-hugging frame of mind was the nine-year-old’s jockey Davy Russell, who is pictured giving the trophy for Britain’s most valuable jumps race a warm embrace.

Photos George Selwyn, Trevor Meeks and Naresh Joshi

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Randox Health Grand National

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The Big Picture

Thunderous finish The world’s richest race, the $12 million Dubai World Cup, capped a brilliant day’s action at Meydan in producing a thrillingly close finish. The locally-trained Gronkowski (right) and Oisin Murphy did their best to spoil the party for Godolphin in their own backyard, keeping on tenaciously on the rail against the previous year’s winner Thunder Snow and Christophe Soumillon. The tremendously gutsy Saeed Bin Suroor-trained Thunder Snow just pulled out enough, however, to claim the verdict by a nose and become the first ever dual winner of the Dubai World Cup. The five-year-old entire now has earnings of more than £12.5 million. And counting.

Photo Bill Selwyn

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Dubai World Cup

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From The Archives Vase victory dash For a top-class rider like Steve Cauthen, known as a particularly good judge of pace and superb riding from the front, the always-on-the-turn, helter-skelter nature of Chester was a nice fit. Thirty years ago, riding the Henry Cecil-trained Old Vic in the Vase, the Kentucky Kid, as Cauthen was known, injected even more pace into a race run at a strong gallop six furlongs out, sweeping past pacesetting Child Of The Mist and dictating the Group 3 Derby trial from that moment.

Warrshan – like Old Vic and Child Of The Mist owned

by Sheikh Mohammed – started favourite for the fiverunner race at 11-8, with Old Vic at 6-4, but Cauthen and his partner had the market leader in trouble two out, careering away to win by two and a half lengths, with Golden Pheasant staying on past Warrshan to be second. Old Vic’s next two starts would see him land the French and Irish Derby, also under Cauthen.

Photo George Selwyn

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Old Vic at Chester on May 9, 1989

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Tony Morris

Wrongfooted by a Classic hero after Ally Pally start In the first of a new six-part series, Tony Morris recalls some of the most memorable top-level winners he has seen, starting with Right Tack, victorious in the 1969 2,000 Guineas

ROUCH WILMOT LIBRARY

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attended the 2,000 Guineas for the first time in 1965 and have seen every renewal since then, so it hardly needs saying that I have been privileged to witness many notable performances in the colts’ first Classic.

My list of the champions who excelled over the Rowley Mile in spring would inevitably include – in chronological order – Sir Ivor, Nijinsky, Brigadier Gerard, El Gran Senor, Dancing Brave, Nashwan, Sea The Stars and Frankel – but the one who perhaps gave me the most reasons to remember him was not quite in their class.

My reference is to Right Tack, the colt from a relatively humble background who triumphed exactly 50 years ago.

My first acquaintance with this somewhat unlikely hero came at the St Leger yearling sales in September 1967, where something about his pedigree naturally caught my eye.

There was really nothing special about his sire Hard Tack, who had won twice as a juvenile on the Curragh, had run second to Right Boy in the King George Stakes at Goodwood at three, and had become fairly respectable at stud, getting a few decent runners without ever threatening the top 20 in the sires’ list.

What aroused my interest in the colt’s pedigree was the identity of his dam. She was Polly Macaw, who in 1962 had featured in a notorious incident over the running of a two-yearold selling plate at Lincoln – a race that would have serious consequences.

In a seven-runner field the two market leaders were stablemates trained by Bob Ward at Hednesford. When betting opened, Lester Piggott’s mount Lone was favourite at 4-6, with Polly Macaw, ridden by Peter Robinson, at 3-1, but the pair flip-flopped following some frantic action in the ring. At the off Polly Macaw was as an even-money shot, with Lone at 11-8.

After Polly Macaw’s win, the Jockey Club took an interest in the affair and eventually concluded that Lone had not been allowed to run on her merits. Ward’s licence to train was withdrawn and Piggott received a lengthy suspension that made him an absentee on Derby day and at Royal Ascot. (Many years later, his licence restored, Ward – a loveable rogue if ever there was one – gave me chapter and verse on the whole incident, and if that had not occurred late at night after much strong drink had been taken, I might now be able to recall the details.)

Anyway, what little I knew of the event in 1967 was sufficient to make me curious about Polly Macaw’s yearling colt. As I was reporting the sale for the Press Association, it might serve to give me a line or two in the event of a transaction that merited attention.

As it turned out, the colt made the day’s top price of 3,200gns, and my interview with the buyer, Peter McKeever, marked the start of an enduring valued friendship with the Curragh Bloodstock Agency’s Managing Director.

I was present when Right Tack made his first two starts as a two-year-old for John Sutcliffe’s Epsom stable. His debut was at Epsom on the eve of the Derby, and although he finished second in the Caterham Stakes, it was hard to gauge what the form was

Right Tack, with Geoff Lewis, outran his breeding in the Guineas

worth, given that the 1-3 favourite War Lass had unseated her rider when leading inside the last furlong.

Right Tack won his second race, and won it easily by two lengths, but all that did at the time was to suggest to me that he probably wasn’t very good. The reason for that was the venue.

Everyone knew that Alexandra Park, London’s own racecourse, was basically a class-free zone. High-quality horses were hardly ever seen there, and if Sutcliffe – as shrewd a trainer as any of his generation – sent him to Ally Pally, chances were he did not rate him highly.

That assumption proved very wrong. The colt’s mission that day was a confidence-building exercise – the rest of his juvenile campaign showed him to be among the best of his generation.

His victory in a minor event at Windsor was awarded in the stewards’ room after he had clearly been impeded by the shorthead first past the post, and once he had given weight to ten rivals in an Epsom nursery, winning impressively by six lengths, it was clear that his trainer could aim him at bigger targets.

In September he proved a ready winner of the Imperial Stakes at Kempton, and he signed off for the season with a strong late run to overcome the highly-regarded trio of Tower Walk, Burglar and Tudor Music in the Middle Park Stakes. I had seriously underestimated the colt’s ability, and now had to concede that, for once, Alexandra Park had played host to a genuinely top-class individual.

The Jockey Club handicapper made Right Tack second-best among 1968 juveniles, only 2lb below Ribofilio, the Kentucky-bred colt who had created a tremendous impression when collecting the Champagne at Doncaster and the Dewhurst at Newmarket.

The Timeform annual separated the pair by the same margin.

By an inconsistent sprinter and out of a low-grade sprinter, Right Tack could not be guaranteed to stay further than the six

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The man you can’t ignore furlongs he had mastered at two, and in his first venture over seven as a three-year-old he was beaten by former victim Tower Walk. But in that Greenham Stakes he was attempting to give his rival 5lb, and defeat by a length and a half was no disgrace. Why not let him have a shot at the Guineas?

In common with most other observers, I could not see beyond Ribofilio for the Classic, especially after seeing him win his trial at Ascot with ease. Nobody – well, perhaps hardly anybody – was prepared for what we witnessed on the Rowley Mile.

The favourite, who had drifted from 13-8 to 15-8 in the minutes before the race, was never in contention, and when stone last and labouring three furlongs from home, Lester Piggott pulled him up.

Meanwhile, Right Tack came with an eye-catching run to grab the lead inside the final furlong, then drew clear to win by two and a half lengths from Tower Walk.

What had happened to Ribofilio? Nothing conclusive ever emerged, but I recall a conversation with a leading bookmaker over beers in the Golden Lion later. He told me that he had enjoyed a particularly successful day, having laid the colt to big money. “I just didn’t fancy him,” he claimed. I couldn’t help but think Ribofilio had been got at, and that he had been aware of it.

A few weeks later at the Curragh, Right Tack became the first colt to add the Irish 2,000 Guineas to his victory at Newmarket, and he went on to land the St James’s Palace Stakes by half a length from Habitat before being laid low with a cough. He could not recapture his best form when he returned, and was retired after finishing unplaced for the first time in the Prix du Moulin, a race won readily by a much-improved Habitat.

“High-quality horses were hardly ever seen at Alexandra Park; it was a class-free zone” That result meant that Right Tack surrendered the title of Europe’s champion miler to Habitat, whom Timeform rated his superior by 3lb, and the pair went on to experience sharply contrasting stud careers.

While Habitat ranked among the leading sires in Europe throughout his innings, siring 50 individual winners of 108 Pattern races, Right Tack’s tally was two winners, one in Group 2 and one in Group 3.

But, amazingly, a colt from Right Tack’s initial crop, Take A Reef, was named England’s champion three-year-old in 1974 without ever having taken part in a Pattern race. Out of the amusingly misspelt Nigthingale, he owed his title to a victory under 9st 11lb in a valuable handicap at Goodwood.

My last sighting of Right Tack was at the Newmarket December Sales of 1976. The ultra-rare incidence of a male Classic winner going to auction had its expected impact, and he realised 70,000gns, a record for a stallion, though that was less than half the sum reached by a six-year-old mare in that catalogue.

The transaction at Tattersalls resulted in Right Tack’s export to Australia, where his record turned out to be undistinguished, though he was said to have experienced fertility problems there.

He died in 1985. His most important legacy to the breed was his 1974-foaled daughter Mofida, who became the grand-dam of Zafonic and Zamindar.

Right Tack may be just an obscure name from the past to many, but I will always recall him with affection.

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The Howard Wright Column

Maths anxiety? Maybe Phil Smith is the answer

‘A

ccording to a recent survey’: words that thrill those who take notice of the findings or fill with a mixture of dread and scepticism those who cannot believe the results.

Here’s one from the outside world that British racing may wish to take to heart.

According to researchers from Cambridge University’s Centre for Neuroscience in Education, the number of children who experience maths anxiety is of a “real concern”. Ten per cent of children surveyed expressed “overwhelming negative emotions” towards maths, ranging “from rage to despair,” including feelings of apprehension, tension and frustration.

Taking the issue to the next stage, it seems the proportion of adults with average functional maths skills has fallen alarmingly.

So, perhaps British racing, or in the first instance betting, could help.

An anecdote in Phil Bull’s biography, in which I admit to having more than a passing interest, refers to his mother Dolly. “She was a schoolmistress,” Bull told a bookmakers’ dinner in Liverpool.

“Very early she taught me to count correctly – one, 5-4, 6-4, 7-4, two…”

The experience did Bull no harm. He gained a maths degree at Leeds University, taught for a number of years in London, and eventually helped to formulate the mathematical basis for Timeform ratings, which resound to world acclaim to this day.

Perhaps the unequivocal relationship between betting and horseracing would present too great a barrier for a similar learning process to be applied in the modern curriculum. Racing To School has a perpetual challenge to avoid the stigma of association that characterised the early days of its original, overarching body, the British Horseracing Education and Standards Trust.

BHEST started life as the awarding body for qualifications under training provided by the British Racing School, Northern Racing College and National Stud, but when that role was

Racing To School uses the racecourse as a big classroom

transferred to independent authorities its efforts were concentrated on an education programme, Racing To School, whose name it finally took in February 2016.

Rhydian Morgan-Jones, the driving force behind Racing To School from 1998 to 2013, had fingers in so many industry pies that eventually he ran out of fingers, but on retirement he left a lasting legacy in the form of the charitable organisation that, according to its website, works with around 250 primary and secondary schools, delivers more than 370 events a year and aims to engage a record 14,750 people in 2019.

Racecourses, studs and trainers’ yards host groups of children,

“Perhaps British racing could help with the falling proportion of adults with average functional maths skills” for many of whom the experience represents a rare day out in the fresh air. Its main focus, the education programme linked to the national curriculum, challenges them with numeracy, literacy and problem-solving tasks that would not be possible in the confines of the classroom.

Dressing up in jockey silks is the fun part of the exercise; assessing weight on the scales and measuring the perimeter of the parade ring to decide how many horses can be accommodated offer serious conundrums. This is the three Rs in practice, with a purpose. Maths without anxiety, in fact.

Going back to the Cambridge University research, maybe Racing To School could offer part of a solution. British racing might even go a stage farther, should anyone in the education system wish to act on the survey findings.

Of all racing administrators in recent years, Phil Smith boasts a remarkably symmetrical career record. In his own words: “23 years as a student, 23 years as a teacher and 23 years as a handicapper.” Maths was his forte.

With the sport’s governing body, whether BHB or BHA, gradually loosening the shackles with which its officials were restrained from uttering more than a ‘Good day’ remark in public, Smith became a well-known and well-respected figure when handicapping matters came to be discussed.

His experience as a teacher helped in putting across a well-reasoned argument, and behind the scenes he injected a high level of practicality and involvement to audiences not used to being exposed to the nuances, or even the basics, of handicapping.

If the government is looking for a maths czar to tackle the Cambridge findings, the now-retired Smith could be the man. Such an appointment may even get racing back into Westminster’s good books.

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Your next chances to find a Derby winner

Weltstar winner of the German Derby 2018 - a BBAG graduate

Windstoss - winner of the German Derby 2017 - a BBAG graduate

Isfahan - winner of the German Derby 2016 - a BBAG graduate

Spring Breeze Up: Friday, 31st May +++ Entries close: Friday, 12th April 2019 +++

Premier Yearling Sales: Friday, 30th August +++ Entries close: Friday, 26th April 2019 +++

www.bbag-sales.de

View Fr m Ireland

Whirlwind a big win for Turley and team

TATTERSALLS

T

his column has focused a lot on the increasing value of jumps mares, so could not ignore that the top lot at the Cheltenham Festival Sale was female.

The fact that she was the most expensive horse her young handler had bought before confirms that there has never been greater respect for a jumps mare than there is now.

Patrick Turley sold the Doyen gelding Power Of Pause for £180,000 on the same evening he collected £400,000 for My Whirlwind, the pair having done everything up to that point together, and matched each other stride-forstride.

But JP McManus, who also bought Onefortheroadtom from Turley two years ago, wanted the filly. Turley had seen Lecale’s Article go for €320,000 at Punchestown last April, so was no stranger to big prices, though that did not prepare him for what occurred.

“It was unreal,” he said. “You never think you’re going to get a price like that. We were very confident about her, after she won the way she won, but we still never thought we’d get that kind of money.”

He added: “We had two horses at the sale. Power Of Pause was the other – amateur rider Mark O’Hare owned half with me. They had been working well together and doing things just as easily as each other, so when he won we knew we were on the right road with her. We were confident she would win too – and a couple of weeks later she did.”

Lecale’s Article had cost €26,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale, a sensible price in Turley’s eyes, but he blew the lid off his limit with his record-setting daughter of Stowaway at the same sale a year later.

“She was the dearest horse we bought ever, My Whirlwind,” he admitted. “We try to buy value more than anything. I have a figure in my head and try not to go over it, though I did for

Patrick Turley with My Whirlwind, bought for €42,000 and sold for £400,000

“It was unreal.

You never think you’re going to get a price like that” her. I thought she would be €35,000, and we’ve gone to €42,000 to get her, but I would say that was my last bid. Put it this way, I wasn’t going to go to €45,000!

“That’s me flat out now, and I don’t plan to go and spend €50,000 or €60,000 this year just because we got well-paid for her.”

Turley’s success puts the spotlight back on Northern Ireland. Others who have thrived in this section of the NH market include Wexford’s Donnchadh Doyle at Monbeg Stables, Colin Bowe at Milestone and Denis Murphy at Ballyboy.

But the north used to be the place to go; Antrim’s Colin McKeever and Ian

Ferguson, for example, producing the likes of Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial Commander, fellow Cheltenham Festival winners Yorkhill, Simonsig and Zemsky, and Grand National runners Ballyoptic and Blaklion.

Turley is the first person to train from his family’s farm in the centre of Downpatrick racecourse, so while there is a footprint and acreage to work with, there were no facilities. He is building everything himself.

“We’re an arable farm and I started out with one point-to-pointer and he won, so I bought another and he won and it went from there,” he explained.

“The money from My Whirlwind?

We’ll start by paying all the bills. We put a lot of money into the farm at home, building gallops and sheds, and we plan to build a schooling strip this year as well, so that will go into that. Any bit of money we have, we put back into it.

“We don’t really live the high life. It’s never ending, trying to improve the place, keep it clean and disease-free.”

Take note then of Turley’s purchases at this summer’s store sales, particularly any horse he deems worthy of more than his self-imposed €30,000 limit.

26 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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By Jessica Lamb

For the first time, Ireland will have an event to rival the Good Friday open days in Britain when 29 trainers open their doors on Saturday, May 18.

Across the length and breadth of the island of Ireland, trainers of all levels and codes will welcome racing fans, and hopefully prospective owners, including Gordon Elliott, Joseph O’Brien and Henry de Bromhead, whose mornings sold out within 48 hours of registration opening.

De Bromhead explained why he signed up to be part of the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing and Horse Racing Ireland initiative.

He said: “Generally speaking, a race meeting is the sole opportunity for racing fans to get close to racehorses.

However, it provides little to no insight into what actually happens at a professional racing yard in the build-up

GEORGE SELWYN

First chance to go behind the scenes at yards

Henry de Bromhead: throwing support behind Irish open morning to the all-important racedays.

“I would encourage anyone interested in racing to participate in the open morning. It will provide an

opportunity for racing fans and those interested in racehorse ownership to experience a training yard, see the horses and facilities first hand and meet the trainers and their support team. I look forward to welcoming the visitors to my yard.”

Irish Classic-winning trainer Michael Halford and fellow top Flat racing operators Tracey Collins, Fozzy Stack and Ado McGuinness are also on the list, which also includes the opportunity to visit Irish Grand National-winning trainer Dot Love, who often looks after Gigginstown House Stud’s youngstock, retired or out-of-action horses.

Big personalities Paul Nolan and Shark Hanlon, as well as top young Flat trainer Johnny Levins, are other options with the full list available at racehorseownership.ie/openmorning.

Bless The Wings bows out with honourable effort One of Ireland’s unluckiest racehorses, Bless The Wings, retired last month with a queue of prospective new owners, having completed the Grand National for the second time in his illustrious career.

The 14-year-old jumped round to finish 13th on his 63rd and final outing, signing off a memorable career in style.

Camilla Sharples, who has looked after him at trainer Gordon Elliott’s for the last four years, described him as “the ideal man”, as she paid tribute to the remarkable veteran.

“If we had 11 horses running somewhere and he was the only runner somewhere else, Gordon would let me go with him, even though there was so much to do with the others,” she said. “He knows how much the horse means to me.

If he was human, he’d be your ideal man.

He’d look after you, and treat you well.

He’s just the ultimate gentleman.”

She added: “He tried his heart out in the National, the younger legs just got the better of him. I was just delighted to see him finish a race. I don’t think he quite realises what he’s achieved in his 14 years. He’s become a bit of a celebrity and is loved by everybody in the yard.”

Bless The Wings’ career was perhaps crowned by his third in the 2018 Grand National. In seven Cheltenham Festival appearances, he finished second three times, without ever gaining that deserved win.

May_177_VFI.indd 27

He also twice finished second In the Irish Grand National, Rogue Angel beating him an agonising short head in 2017.

It never halted the son of Mandalus’ enthusiasm, though, and he retires a seven-time winner, including in a cross-country chase at Cheltenham aged 12.

It was there at this year’s Festival that owners Adrian Butler and Stephen O’Connor feared the game was finally up, as he pulled up behind Tiger Roll in another cross-country chase. Sharples explained that it was a tough call whether to continue.

She said: “When I came back with him, his owners were asking, ‘Is it time?

Is it time?’, and I thought it was, because you wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

“He’d always try his best and he just couldn’t get into the race at Cheltenham.

He wasn’t himself there, and his owners decided that if he got into the National, they wanted to finish at the top.”

Creeping in at number 39 of 40, Bless The Wings gave Robbie Dunne an armchair ride to take his total Nationalfence tally to 76.

Sharples added: “Gordon bought him out of Alan King’s yard for £16,000 and he’s been second at Cheltenham Festivals, second in two Irish Nationals, and was third in the Aintree National, and

Bless The Wings: popular chaser was retired after his Grand National effort he’s never in his career taken one lame step. To get a horse like that is pretty special. They aren’t easy to come by.”

No sooner was word out that he was looking for a new home, O’Connor’s phone was ringing off the hook, but Sharples has just one criteria these suitors need to be measured by.

“All I can say to Stephen and Adrian is that it doesn’t matter where he ends up, as long as it’s the best home,” she said.

“I’d love to take him, but I’ve already got an ex-racehorse and I wouldn’t have time for two – it wouldn’t be fair.”

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Continental Tales

Urbina aims to boost Seville scene SPAIN

Oscar Urbina had a successful career in the saddle and is now Director of Racing at Dos Hermanas

28

GEORGE SELWYN

W

hen Cross Counter, Blue Point and Old Persian completed an incredible £4.5 million treble by all winning at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night, one man 3,650 miles away in southern Spain had every right to feel a sense of pride and satisfaction.

The man in question is Oscar Urbina, regular partner of all three of those Godolphin stars prior to quitting his job as work-rider with ‘The Boys in Blue’ at the end of last year. Urbina has returned to his Spanish roots to begin a new job as Director Of Racing at the Gran Hipódromo de Andalucía – otherwise known as Dos Hermanas racecourse – in Seville.

“All three of them were a pleasure to ride, and I have been aboard Old Persian right from the beginning when he was quite lowly rated as a two-yearold,” recalled Urbina. “But Blue Point was the one that gave me the best feel – I’ve never sat on a sprinter quite like him.”

Such a compliment is worth listening to when it comes from a Group 1-winning pilot who has clocked up approaching 800 victories during a 30-year career in the saddle.

So why has the Basque-born former retained rider to trainer James Fanshawe decided to leave Newmarket at a time when his former employer, Charlie Appleby, seems to have big-race successes coming out of his ears?

“I had been with Godolphin for three years and had been very lucky there,” said Urbina. “I spent the winters in Dubai then popped back to Spain to race-ride at the weekends during the summer.

“With so many good kids coming through in England I never even thought about returning to riding full-time there, it would have been too hard to get back going. People don’t realise just how much commitment and hard work it takes to get back to a high level.

“I had always intended to come back home at some point and when you have been a jockey, just riding in the morning is not really fulfilling. I am 46 now, so had started to look around for something else, and this job offer came at a good time.”

Although notching only six Spanish winners last term, he landed some nice races in the process and his strike-rate was fifth best of those jockeys that had

50 or more rides. As things stand, he has decided to hang up his boots, though he concedes that his Spanish licence is still valid and, given that he is still riding out in the mornings, “you should never say never”.

Urbina is keen to encourage the development of Dos Hermanas, a modern facility just three miles from the centre of Seville.

“We’ve been open for only 12 years and we don’t race in the summer – it’s too hot – but we hold a weekly fixture through most of the winter and then we host evening meetings in the spring when it starts to warm up,” he said.

“The biggest crowd that we get would be only around 4,000 but it still creates a good atmosphere, and it is treated more as a family day out with

some lunch thrown in, rather than a gambling opportunity.”

He added: “Part of my mission is to try to encourage English visitors and English people to bring their horses down here.

“We’ve just opened a new grass track; this year all our racing will be on turf and the minimum prize-money per race is €5,000, which is pretty good considering the modest quality of the horses competing.

“The winter temperatures here are ideal, up to around 20 degrees, and horses seem to thrive in our conditions.

Trainers could come down here for two months, their day-to-day running costs are half what they would be in England, and there is always interest in buying British imports.”

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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By James Crispe, IRB

And now for something different The QIPCO 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 4 is in many ways the ultimate race as far as the European racing industry is concerned – the event that makes more stallions than any other. And to many racing fans it represents a rite of passage, signifying the true start of the Flat racing season and, more broadly, announcing that ‘summer is here’.

However, the Guineas is not every racing enthusiast’s cup of tea. If you fall into that category, maybe an alternative attraction being staged in France on the very same day, something rather more down-to-earth, something remote from the big business side of our industry, something that appeals to our deepseated love of the sport, might be more to your taste.

For May 4 is also the date of the third annual French Point-To-Point (or ‘Course Au Clochers’ to give it its French title), a 12-race spectacular including cross-country races, Flat races, pony races and trotting races which, remarkably, features neither a single euro worth of prize-money nor any gambling.

These races are unofficial, with nothing more than sponsor-donated and usually liquid mementoes on offer

GEORGE SELWYN

FRANCE

Emmanuel Clayeux: the brains behind the annual French Point-To-Point event to winning connections. They are treated as public gallops by the powers-that-be, so current horses in training are not excluded.

Urgent De Gregaine, placed behind Tiger Roll in each of the last two renewals of the Glenfarclas CrossCountry Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, and runner-up in the 2017 Velka Pardubicka, took part in the initial French Point-To-Point, while the recently-retired Alary, third in the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris of 2016, is set to take part in this year’s race for hunters, where riders wear full hunting regalia.

The meeting will also feature the second of nine legs of the 2019 Gentlemen’s League Jump Jockeys’ Championship, an amateur steeplechase competition fought out by riders from seven different countries (including Dave Pritchard from Britain), which began at Cork on March 21 and runs through until Barbury Castle in Wiltshire hosts the final stop on a series that

encompasses visits to Belgium, Italy and the Czech Republic.

The French Point-To-Point was the brainchild of leading jump trainer Emmanuel Clayeux, who staged its first renewal on his own land at Vaumas near Vichy in east central France in 2017. Last year it moved 250 miles to the west to the defunct racecourse at ChateauGontier that had lain dormant since 2015 but was revived thanks to the efforts of a team of volunteers working on the track.

Inspired by the uplifting, amateur ethos of the best point-to-points in Britain and Ireland, this event could be seen as the grassroots of the French racing industry endeavouring to show the governing body, France Galop, how a meeting should be staged and promoted to attract a crowd rather than simply to fit in with international simulcasting schedules.

Last year, boosted by an after-racing gig from the Chantilly trainer and Jon Bon Jovi lookalike Nicolas Caullery and his ten-piece band Keep Going, the event attracted a crowd of no less than 5,500 – a figure that would exceed attendances on all except the biggest days at the likes of Longchamp, Auteuil and Saint-Cloud.

More music is on the menu this time around and, for the cost of just €10 per car load or €5 per pedestrian, a number of new attractions have been planned.

There is a race restricted to stable lads who have never race-ridden before and another for companies within the equine world who, for a fee of €800, are guaranteed a place in the field but have to recruit a horse and rider themselves.

POLAND Szczepan Mazur, the reigning Polish champion jockey, has begun to make an impact riding in Dubai this past winter and, given the right opportunities, appears to have the talent that could see him become the next big thing among European riders.

Even after his Middle-Eastern exploits, Mazur’s name remains largely unknown because his two breakthrough Group 1 victories over recent months have both been registered in races restricted to Purebred Arabian horses.

But he can ride thoroughbreds, too, speaks fair English and has gained some

familiarity with this country thanks to a pair of visits to Newmarket when still in his teens.

Despite having no family background in our sport, his achievements in his native land are impressive. He became the youngest ever Polish Derby winner when guiding Natalie Of Budysin to victory in 2012, landed the Triple Crown last year on Fabulous Las Vegas, and, aged just 23, already has four national riding titles under his belt.

Dubai apart, so far his foreign forays have been restricted to visits to the Czech Republic and Germany, with limited success. He deserves a chance to impress a wider audience.

DUBAI RACING CLUB/ERIKA RASMUSSEN

Mazur most promising rider you’ve never heard of?

Szczepan Mazur has the credentials to break through on a bigger stage

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Around The Globe

Safety at Santa Anita in spotlight NORTH AMERICA

Santa Anita brought back noted track consultant Dennis Moore, who had left at the end of 2018, and opted for shorter programmes of eight to ten races on most days instead of nine to 11. Some lower-class races for claiming horses have been scrapped.

Horses undergoing workouts had to be registered with racing officials 48 hours in advance, so race and veterinary records could be reviewed. In some cases, horses were given veterinary inspections before being permitted to work.

Several medication policy changes have been made, including a 50% reduction in the permissible dosages of the anti-bleeder medication Lasix to 5cc, a ban on legal therapeutic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, an increase in out-of-competition testing, and the transparency of veterinary records when horses switch stables.

The long-standing policy in the state for the track’s official veterinarian and veterinarians assigned by the racing board to physically inspect all runners on racedays has been enhanced.

While those policies are less stringent than in any country outside of North America, they are considerably tougher than what is in place at other tracks throughout the United States

By Steve Andersen

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GEORGE SELWYN

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he helicopter hovered about 1,000 feet above Santa Anita Park for more than an hour on the afternoon of April 6. On the ground, an 11-race programme with three Grade 1 stakes races unfolded safely, as a small group of protesters lined a sidewalk near an entrance and knowledgeable observers watched the races with an element of concern.

In the preceding three months, 23 horses had been euthanized as a result of injuries while racing and training at Santa Anita, a toll so severe that the track cancelled 13 days of racing between March 7-28 to inspect and renovate the main dirt track. No reason for the series of fatal injuries had been determined as of early April, though a wetter than normal winter was believed to have played a role.

The most notable equine casualty was Battle Of Midway, the winner of the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile who was third in the 2017 Kentucky Derby. He suffered a leg injury in a workout on February 16.

When racing resumed on March 29 for a three-day weekend, the problem did not subside. On March 31, Arms Runner was fatally injured in the Grade 3 San Simeon Stakes on the track’s hillside turf course. In response, the track cancelled racing on the hillside turf course indefinitely.

Four days of racing were held safely from April 4-7. The helicopter, believed to be from a local television station, was not the first of its kind to fly over Santa Anita in late March and early April. The fatalities were the subject of widespread unwanted publicity that made national news.

At a time in the spring when American racing is typically celebrating the start of its famous Triple Crown races, the sport was defending itself from a variety of critics, notably California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who called for the cessation of racing at Santa Anita until an investigation was complete.

Racing is scheduled to continue at Santa Anita’s marathon six-month meeting up to June 23, largely on a fourday-per-week basis.

With the Breeders’ Cup coming to Santa Anita on November 1-2, several regulations have been introduced to improve safety.

and Canada. The policies apply only to two tracks owned by the Stronach Group in California – Santa Anita and Golden Gate Fields near San Francisco – although Stronach Group officials said implementation could occur in future at the company’s other tracks, notably Laurel and Pimlico in Maryland and Gulfstream Park in Florida.

The California Horse Racing Board will consider rule changes this year to make the medication policies apply to other tracks in the state, though that process could take several months.

For now, racing in California will continue, with pressure mounting from the public, state regulators and government for a safer sport. Santa Anita will need years to rebuild public relations, if possible.

In a way, the track saw first-hand on April 6 the business effects of the recent injuries. The card was led by the $1 million Santa Anita Derby and $600,000 Santa Anita Handicap, which had been rescheduled from March 9.

The Santa Anita Derby programme is typically one of the best attended days of the year. In 2018, it attracted 39,023 people, a figure that fell to 30,713 this year, despite perfect weather for a day at the races.

An unprecedented number of fatalities at Santa Anita led to a total shutdown

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The Worldwide Racing Scene

ARROWFIELD STUD

Redoute’s Choice was a true great AUSTRALIA

By Danny Power

BRONWEN HEALY

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ustralia lost one of its greatest stallions when Redoute’s Choice died at Arrowfield Stud on March 26, aged 22.

Redoute’s Choice deserves to be ranked as the best Australian-bred stallion to stand in this country since Heroic dominated the racing and breeding scene in the 1930s. Heroic collected seven consecutive champion sire titles from the 1932-33 season to 1938-39.

The only possible rival since then is Bletchingly, who won three titles between 1979-80 and 1981-82.

However, unlike Redoute’s Choice, neither Heroic nor Bletchingly, despite their dominance, could leave a sire son of note to carry on their bloodline.

Redoute’s Choice died as the most influential sire son of Danehill, who is the most important stallion to stand in Australia during the shuttle era. Danehill won eight sire titles and he has sired four sons to take the title – Redoute’s Choice (three times), Fastnet Rock (two), Exceed And Excel (one) and Flying Spur (one).

Redoute’s Choice’s ability to produce a sire son of note is significant in carrying on the Danehill line in the southern hemisphere. His son Snitzel (also at Arrowfield Stud) won the Australian title in 2016-17, which means it is the first time in Australia’s near 150-year history of recording leading sire statistics that three stallions of the same direct lineage (sonson-son) have won the title – DanehillRedoute’s Choice-Snitzel.

Redoute’s Choice was bred to be a top sire. He was born at Coolmore Stud in the Hunter Valley to a 1995 union between Danehill and Shantha’s Choice, a daughter of Canny Lad and the incredible mare Dancing Show (by Nijinsky), who is also the dam of Group 1 winners and sires Umatilla and Hurricane Sky. Dancing Show’s grand-dam, Best In Show, is a 1982 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year who founded a wonderful line of stallions including Try My Best, El Gran Senor and Xaar – but none better than Redoute’s Choice.

Rick Hore-Lacy, at Caulfield, trained Redoute’s Choice for his breeder Muzaffar

Champion sire Redoute’s Choice (inset) has left behind a true star in The Autumn Sun Yaseen, a Sri Lankan businessman whose first play into Australian racing was to buy the colt’s dam Shantha’s Choice. HoreLacy rushed to get the colt ready for the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes in 1999, which he brilliantly won after a successful debut only seven days before.

Redoute’s Choice was scratched from the Golden Slipper on race morning due to illness. He returned as a three-year-old against the older horses in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley and beat them. In the autumn in 2000, he won the Group 1 Orr Stakes at Caulfield and was retired soon after an Arrowfield Stud-led syndicate bought half of the prized colt.

In all, Redoute’s Choice had ten starts, winning five (including four Group 1s) and earning A$1.6 million in prize-money.

Redoute’s Choice has won three Australian champion stallion titles, in 2005-06, 2009-10 and 2013-14 (beating his son Snitzel, also an Australian first).

This year his daughters are set to earn him his first champion broodmare sire title.

His most productive breeding season was 2009. It produced his star sprinter Lankan Rupee, the champion racehorse of 2013-14. That season, Redoute’s Choice sired 21 stakes winners from only 107 foals, which is a phenomenal strike-rate of 19.6% stakes winners to foals.

Redoute’s Choice has sired 1,053 winners of 2,933 races, of which 164 are stakes winners. His strike-rate of stakes

winners to runners is 11.8%, which is elite for any stallion in the world.

He stood two seasons at the Aga Khan’s Bonneval Stud in Normandy, where he produced 167 foals and 11 stakes winners. European breeders should cherish mares that carry his blood.

Redoute’s Choice is the sire of 34 Group 1 winners, the most recent being his sensational son The Autumn Sun, who has won five Group 1s and is set to stand at Arrowfield Stud alongside four of his other sons – the outstanding duo Snitzel and Not A Single Doubt, Scissor Kick and Pariah, who covered his first mares last spring.

Redoute’s Choice has 22 stakes-siring sons, ten of them also Group 1 sires. They are responsible for 279 stakes winners, while his daughters have left 86 stakes winners, including 13 at Group 1 level.

He covered his first book of 134 mares in 2000 at a fee of $30,000 at the fledgling Arrowfield Stud, after Arrowfield split with Coolmore (and sold their share of Danehill) and had to acquire a farm. In those early years, the farm was a work in progress on virgin ground, and Redoute’s Choice was taller than most of the trees that lined the new paddocks.

Arrowfield Stud is a now a showplace farm, mostly due to the money earned by Redoute’s Choice in his 19 years covering mares – only 74 and 45 in his past two seasons at a fee of $137,500. His fee peaked in 2007 and 2008 when it set an Australian record of $330,000 (inc. GST).

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Racing Life

COMING UP ROSES More than 400 blooms are used in creating the garland of roses in which the Kentucky Derby winner is draped each year; it’s been the official flower of the event since 1904.

Sarah Rodrigues looks at some of the other traditions surrounding this iconic race

Roses are an enduring symbol of the Kentucky Derby

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illed as ‘the greatest two minutes in sport’, this year’s $3 million Kentucky Derby will mark the 145th incarnation of the event. Held on the first Saturday in May, the ten-furlong race for three-year-olds may itself be over in a flash, but the process by which horses qualify for the honour of running in it is lengthy: this will be the seventh consecutive year in which a tiered points system in select races will determine which horses will run. Known as the Road to the Kentucky Derby, this is a

series of 35 races at tracks both countrywide and worldwide, with points awarded to the top four finishers in each race. The 20 horses with the highest number of points get to enter the event’s starting gate.

Of course, where there is racing there are also hats, and the Kentucky Derby has become as synonymous with extravagant headwear as with horses.

The tradition dates right back to the first-ever running of the Derby, largely organised by Colonel Meriwether Lewis

The Kentucky Derby has been billed ‘the greatest two minutes in sport’

Clark jnr. Having spent time in Europe, attending the Epsom Derby and meeting with members of the French Jockey Club, he sought to create a similar spectacle at home. Recruiting fashionable women was one of his methods for attracting his target clientele; from the 1960s onwards, with attitudes around fashion becoming ever-more relaxed, the headwear seen at the event became increasingly flamboyant.

With around 160,000 attendees, there are plenty of reasons to want to stand out, and this year, Christine A Moore, known for her extravagant and stylish headwear, is the Kentucky Derby’s featured milliner for the second year in a row. “It’s exciting to continue as the featured milliner for the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby,” said Moore. “The historic race may be the most important part of the day, but the iconic hats make the Derby a spectacle of fashion and colour that’s unlike any other event in the world.”

Mint Juleps are to the Kentucky Derby what strawberries and cream are to Wimbledon; made with Kentucky bourbon, they’ve been the traditional drink of the event for nearly a century and, each year, almost 120,000 of them are served at the Churchill Downs racetrack over the course of the two-day

This year will mark the 145th anniversary

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Travel

Christine A Moore is once again the event’s featured milliner event - a quantity requiring no less than a whopping 1,000 pounds of freshly picked mint. The cups in which these drinks are served have become, over time, one of the race’s leading collectables; indeed, it’s reported that, in 1939, when the tradition of allowing racegoers to keep their cups started, sales of mint juleps tripled.

This year French luxury brand Baccarat is the Kentucky Derby sponsor;

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Mint Juleps are the official drink of the Kentucky Derby

accordingly, the winner of the event will be toasted in the winner’s circle with Woodford Reserve - the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby - in Baccarat crystal tumblers. The brand also created a limited edition set of six Highball glasses to celebrate the sponsorship, each engraved with the official logo of the Kentucky Derby and presented in the distinctive red Baccarat box, complete with the exclusive recipe for

the Woodford Reserve Classic Mint Julep. www.kentuckyderby.com Christine A. Moore millinery: www.camhats.com Baccarat: www.baccarat.com

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Sarah Rodrigues

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Racing Life

OLIVER BROWN

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or the third consecutive year, Oliver Brown is an Official Licensee of Royal Ascot and, although the deadline for bespoke orders has now passed, racegoers can still benefit from the capsule collection of morning dress and accessories, which has been created by Kristian Ferner Robson, Oliver Brown’s proprietor, to embody the sartorial elegance of the Royal Meeting.

Inspiration for the collection, on which Ascot collaborated, draws on the heritage of the 308-year-old racecourse and comprises traditional formal daywear, such as a doublebreasted waistcoat with shawl collar and contrast piping, crafted from pure wool. Classically cut with a cream satin back panel and traditional waist adjuster, the waistcoats come in green, royal blue and buff, and are finished with mother-ofpearl buttons and a cream lining.

Royal Ascot has been a huge aspect of the brand’s success since being brought out of liquidation by Ferner Robson in

1998 - especially with the early decision to hire quality formalwear, which this year will see Oliver Brown hiring out around 2,000 morning suits over that week alone.

The store, based near Sloane Square, doubled in size in 2017, which created space for a dedicated bespoke department. If you’re visiting for a browse, it’s well worth asking if you can take a look at the top hat room downstairs: not only is this the world’s most comprehensive collection, but it’s a sartorially delightful peek into the brand’s history, which has its roots in the memory of Ferner Robson’s first-ever race meeting with his father. oliverbrown.org.uk 75 Lower Sloane Street London SW1W 8DA Sarah Rodrigues

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Royal Ascot

THE ROYAL FORESTERS, ASCOT A real thoroughbred amongst pubs

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n the early 1900s, The Royal Foresters was a popular pub on Ascot’s London Road less than half a mile from the racecourse. However, some years ago it started to decline and came close to becoming just another apartment block.

Then, last July, following a substantial investment, the award-winning group Oakman Inns re-opened the historic pub, giving it a new lease of life. Their vision was to recreate the welcoming atmosphere of a pub as it should be, offering not only great food and drink for all tastes and occasions at any time of the day, but also providing an inclusive, comfortable and welcoming environment for the local community and visitors to the Ascot area.

As a result, the reimagined Royal Foresters has encompassed both the traditional and the contemporary within one innovative and exciting building, which stimulates the senses and provides plenty of space to suit every kind of gathering. Its original and lovingly restored bar with log

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fires is surrounded by cosy seating, drawing you towards a sense of relaxation.

Then, you get a waft of delicious charcoal grilled steak or freshly hand-made Neapolitan Pizza, coming hot from the traditional wood-fired oven. The open theatre-style kitchen is full of the bustle of skilled chefs plying their craft to a restaurant area and private room that between them can seat over 160. On warmer days you’ll find guests relaxing in the garden enjoying the heady perfume of the ancient Wisteria or dining al fresco on the pretty terrace.

Those lucky enough to spend a night in one of their 24 beautiful ensuite guest rooms will find each one to be individually

designed with traditional British furnishings.

Whatever the occasion, their enthusiastic and talented team will make it a memorable one. www.theroyalforesters.co.uk Royal Enclosure patrons, and owners with Royal Ascot runners, who are wearing valid badges for the day of their dinner reservation can celebrate with a complimentary glass of champagne served with their meal.

Terms & Conditions apply.

Visit www.theroyalforesters.co.uk/legal

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Racing Life

Fine Jewellery

Royally Received The appointment of a new CEO – the first in 40 years – is just one of the many exciting things on the Hamilton & Inches agenda, reports Sarah Rodrigues

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stablished in Edinburgh in the 19th century, Hamilton & Inches’ history is one of which the brand is rightly proud: it has maintained its own silver workshops since their 1866 beginnings and has held a Royal Warrant as silversmiths to the Queen for more than 120 years. The title originally bestowed on them was the rather cumbersome ‘His Majesty’s Clockmaker and Keeper and Dresser of his Majesty’s Clocks, Watches and Pendulums in Palaces and Houses in his Ancient Kingdom of Scotland’. Perhaps unsurprisingly this title is no longer in currency, and 2010 saw Hamilton & Inches appointed ‘Silversmiths and Clock Specialists to her Majesty the Queen’.

A more recent appointment has been that of Victoria Houghton as Hamilton & Inches’ new Chief Executive Officer, taking over from former CEO Stephen Paterson, who has stepped down after 40 years at the helm. With her Honours degree in Cultural and Historical Art, as well as an A grade certificate in Gemology, Houghton has been with the company in a nonexecutive role since 2018. With her appointment, Hamilton &

Hand-crafted sterling silver Kelpies Statuette, £32,000

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Horse motif bowl, handcrafted and hand-chased by Panos Kirkos, £23,800 Inches aim to preserve their rich Scottish heritage while pursuing a wider target of doubling turnover to £20 million over the next five years.

“Houghton is the perfect candidate to step into the new role of CEO for Hamilton & Inches,” comments Chairman Peter Lederer. “Houghton’s involvement over the past year has been exceptional and her understanding of global industry trends in retail and unique ability to get to the crux of the issues is impressive. She brings passion, dedication and a fresh approach to deliver the five-year growth strategy for Hamilton & Inches.”

The brand, founded by Robert Kirk Inches and his uncle James Hamilton, had its first store on Edinburgh’s Princes Street. Eighty-six years later it relocated to 87 George Street, where it has been based ever since. Adapting to - and succeeding in - an increasingly challenging retail landscape is a large part of Hamilton & Inches’ outlook, with plans for an experiential retail approach to be implemented in the George Street showroom, as well as interior and exterior refurbishment. A desire to promote Edinburgh as one of the world’s leading shopping destinations is also woven into the brand’s vision.

Hamilton & Inches’ workshop is one of the last of its kind in the UK and occupies three floors directly above the George Street showroom. It

Master silversmith and hand chaser Panos Kirkos at work is home to a team of highly-skilled craftsmen who employ time-honoured techniques to create bespoke and contemporary pieces ranging from fine jewellery to engagement rings.

Maintaining a coveted position in the fine jewellery market is also being achieved by extending the brand’s own watch offering by way of partnerships with Rolex, Patek Philippe and Bremont.

Each one of these new partners has endorsed Houghton’s appointment, and Houghton herself is full of enthusiasm for the challenges and inevitable successes that the role will bring.

“I am delighted to be joining Hamilton & Inches as CEO at such an exciting time for the business,’’ she says. “I look forward to continuing my work to reposition such an iconic Scottish heritage brand to build market share in the global retail landscape.” hamiltonandinches.com Sarah Rodrigues

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OLIVER BROWN CHELSEA ENGLAND

Antique Silk Top Hat, Morning Coat, Royal Ascot Shirt, Royal Ascot Silk Tie, Royal Ascot Double Breasted Silk Waistcoat, Houndstooth Morning Trousers

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Racing Life

HICKS & BROWN R

aised in Suffolk, sisters Alice and Rosie maintained strong links with rural life when they left to live in London, eventually naming their fashion label after the farm on which they grew up. It’s here that Hicks & Brown are now creatively based, with their designs available online and through a number of independent stockists throughout the UK. A commitment to British design and craftsmanship infuses every aspect of their work, which focuses primarily on hats and accessories, intended to be worn as effortlessly in a city setting as in a rural one. Their pop-up shop, which tours the country throughout the year, was recently at the Cheltenham Festival for their third consecutive year.

“The Cheltenham Festival is such a highlight in the Hicks & Brown calendar,” says Alice. “We absolutely love the buzz

that the week brings - and, as well as the incredible atmosphere, we just love seeing so many racegoers wearing Hicks & Brown at the Festival. Hats play a huge part in the racing fashion seen at Cheltenham and given our collection predominantly consists of Fedoras and Trilbies, our hats are becoming part of the go-to look, which is an amazing feeling. We are really busy in the weeks

running up to the event with people planning their outfits well in advance. Everyone is in great spirits regardless of the weather and the racing cannot be compared to any other event – it’s truly unique. Watching Bryony Frost win on Frodon was a moment in history that will stay with us forever!”

Hicks & Brown also do a range of men’s hats and accessories, including this stylish and summer-ready Holkham Panama, which retails at £80. They will be exhibiting at the Badminton Horse Trials and the Royal Windsor Horse Show in May, and at various other equestrian events throughout the year. www.hicksandbrown.com Sarah Rodrigues

Bamford London F

ollowing the success of the Bamford Mayfair, the recently launched Bamford Mayfair Date has been created in response to demand and takes this popular design to the next level. With a Swiss Ronda 715 Date Quartz Movement, the Bamford Mayfair Date features a new case, crown, crown guard, dial design, movement, bezel, bezel insert and date feature.

Recognising that the Bamford wearer combines an adventurous lifestyle with urban sophistication, the watch brings style and practicality together, coming in a range of colours and strap materials, as well as being waterproof to 10ATM. Bamford London lead the way in creating personalised luxury products, in part due to their

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relationships with the world’s best tanners and embossers. An industry-leading luxury brand with years of experience, Bamford London also offers the Bamford Heritage accessory range, featuring the finest calfskin hides, all of which can be customised with premium stitching, technical or grain embossed patterns and a range of colours: think watch rolls, games, wallets and even a cigar humidor.

The Bamford Mayfair Date has an RRP of £500 and is available to buy online at Bamford London and existing stockists. www.bamford.com Sarah Rodrigues

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Lifestyle

ROMY ELLIOTT H

aving originally intended to study at the Florence Academy of Art for just one year, Romy Elliott was so astounded by the steepness of the learning curve she experienced that she continued for a further two years before returning to the UK. Dogs and horses now make up much of her work, a fact that’s not hindered by her own lifelong relationship with both types of animal.

“I grew up with dogs and have been riding since the age of six,” she explains.

“It helps, as an artist, to know your subject and its anatomy well; grooming horses throughout my life has given me an understanding of the way their muscles and tendons sit over the bones, an understanding that translates into my work.”

Describing herself as incredibly fortunate to have learned so much while in Florence, Romy acknowledges that dogs and horses are frequently less cooperative subjects; for that reason, her

sense of their character is important when you’re creating something as personal as a portrait of a beloved animal.”

Working from her studio in south London, Romy uses oils, pencils and an old-fashioned dipping pen - but many of her works are in charcoal, a medium she loves the immediacy and fluidity of.

“Charcoal also allows me to deliver to my clients relatively quickly and affordably,” she points out. With word of mouth a large driver of her business, she says that the reactions of some of her clients has been incredibly gratifying. “I’m doing something I love, with creatures I’m passionate about and bringing joy to others in the process,” she says. “I’m very lucky.”

Pantone 5395

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Sarah Rodrigues

Pantone 5435

Pantone 5395

Follow Romy on Instagram @romyelliottart For more information visit romyelliott.com

commissions generally involve a preliminary photo shoot, enabling her to capture the animal in a range of moods and lights. “The value is that I also get to meet the muse,” she says. “Getting a

Pantone 5435

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The Big Interview

Richard Spencer at Sefton Lodge stables in Newmarket, home to plenty of exciting talent and lots of ambition

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Richard Spencer

A name to

All smiles: Jamie Osborne is enjoying life more than ever as he celebrates his 20th season training

NOTE

Richard Spencer is in only his third full season with a licence yet already has a Royal Ascot winner to his name and a stable full of promising young horses at Sefton Lodge in Newmarket Words: Julian Muscat Photos: George Selwyn

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little over a century ago Sefton Lodge still espoused the purpose for which it was built.

One of the finest properties of its kind in Newmarket, it was designed to accommodate its owner in style – together with adjacent stables for horses to be trained on site.

Until her death in 1894 it was home to Caroline Agnes, the Duchess of Montrose, a notoriously redoubtable Turf dame who attracted an array of sobriquets. ‘Bob’ to her friends, she was also known as ‘Carrie Red’ after her second husband’s racing silks, and ‘Mr Manton’ to avert the Jockey Club diktat preventing women from owning horses.

Her buxom physique prompted others to dub her ‘Six Mile Bottom’.

The son of a farmer, Richard Spencer is free of such opprobrium.

It is testament to the changing face of the sport that Spencer now resides at Sefton Lodge Stables, while the grand house itself is the Newmarket home of Phil Cunningham, who shot to prominence as owner of Cockney Rebel, winner of the 2,000 Guineas in 2007.

One half of that horse’s name accurately portrays Cunningham. He was born in 1970 at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, which as any self-respecting Cockney knows, is “within the sound of Bow Bells”. The Cockney passport

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belongs to those who were born to the peeling sound of the bells of St Maryle-Bow church, which rang out every 15 minutes across London’s Cheapside.

It’s the ‘Rebel’ bit that is not autobiographical. The founder of Direct Commercial Ltd, an underwriter and insurer in the motor industry, Cunningham appropriated the word in appreciation of the best horse he had previously owned. Rebel Rebel finished runner-up to Footstepsinthesand in the same Newmarket Classic Cockney Rebel would annex two years later.

That Classic triumph inspired Cunningham to redouble his commitment to the sport he has loved since childhood. He recruited Spencer to Albert Lodge, the 23-box Newmarket stables he bought in 2016 to have all his horses under one roof. Two years on and the venture had outgrown itself.

That’s when Cunningham decided to buy Sefton Lodge from Martyn Meade, who was moving to Manton.

Spencer moved into Sefton Lodge last summer but still pinches himself in his surroundings. Prior to Meade the place was occupied by David Loder as private trainer to Edward St George, whose older brother, Charles, stabled his horses there when they were trained

by Henry Cecil. Michelozzo, winner of the 1989 St Leger, was among them.

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The Big Interview

Richard Spencer

Rajasinghe provided Rebel Racing, Richard Spencer and jockey Stevie Donohoe with Royal Ascot glory in the 2017 Coventry Stakes

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Although Spencer, 30, is cognisant of Sefton Lodge’s history, he has a more practical appreciation. “It’s an amazing place,” he says. “The yard is really airy, which is good for the horses. Somehow it manages to stay warm in winter and cool in summer.”

Spencer himself will need to stay cool this summer. He approaches it on the back of two successful seasons that have seen his numbers swell.

Cunningham’s father owned horses before him; he has learnt the virtues of patience. But Spencer’s rising profile has attracted a much broader patronage.

New syndicates have sprouted, and two-year-olds from other owners keep arriving at short notice. The combined 74 boxes of Sefton Lodge and Albert House are full but the flip-side is that expectation has replaced hope. Spencer no longer has a point to prove but a point to reinforce.

The Spencer/Cunningham alliance

“Winning at Royal Ascot wasn’t luck; we knew we had a good horse” got off to a flyer when Rajasinghe won the 2017 Coventry Stakes in the trainer’s first full year with a licence. It was a defining moment, especially since Spencer had only seven other two-yearolds in training.

“A lot of people put it down to luck,” the trainer reflects, “but we knew we had a good horse on our hands.

“We ran him first at Newcastle because we knew there was one month between that race and the Coventry,

which suited us ideally.

“But even then, you still need a bit of luck on the day,” he continues. “The race didn’t go to plan. We were slowly away and got bumped, yet the horse still overcame everything and broke the [juvenile] track record.”

Spencer’s euphoria was such that he remembers very little subsequent to Rajasinghe crossing the winning line.

And the way things unravelled for the horse beyond Royal Ascot made him resolve to better savour the moment next time round.

“We ran him in the July Stakes with a penalty, which was a mistake,” he recalls. “Then we wanted to run him in France but he scoped dirty. Time was running out so we took him to the Breeders’ Cup [Juvenile Turf], where he got drawn widest of all in stall 14.”

Then, having pleased Spencer in a racecourse gallop before last year’s 2,000 Guineas, all those aspirations for a successful three-year-old campaign

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The Big Interview ›› turned to dust in the blink of an eye at

Newmarket.

“I could see there was something wrong after one furlong,” Spencer says.

“His injury soon came to light and we had to retire him. Rajasinghe was our flagship horse so it was a big blow.

After a short time training I have seen there are more lows than highs. That’s why you must celebrate the highs properly.”

There was mitigation. As Rajasinghe battled in vain to recover from Newmarket, Spencer unleashed a juvenile to alleviate the gloom. Rumble Inthejungle was the only colt able to lay up with Wesley Ward’s Shang Shang Shang in the Norfolk Stakes before he faded into fourth. But his early speed served him well in the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood, which he won decisively by two and a half lengths.

Rumble Inthejungle then bombed out in the Flying Childers before returning to somewhere near his best when third in the Middle Park Stakes.

The Commonwealth Cup beckons him this season, for which Spencer has other three-year-olds capable of making an impact.

In their number is Thrilla In Manila,

“There are more lows than highs so you must celebrate the highs” the winner of his only juvenile start at Newbury in October. “We wanted to run him earlier this season but he had a dirty scope,” Spencer says. “That put us on the back foot a bit but we’re still hoping to get him ready for the 2,000 Guineas. If that comes a bit too soon there’s the French Guineas.”

There are also high hopes for the juvenile intake, which numbers in excess of 40. “They are the best bunch we’ve had,” the trainer says, “and there’s a broader spectrum for the whole season rather than just two-year-old types. I think a few of them will make it to Royal Ascot. We have a Frankel colt, Sefton Warrior, who we have high hopes for.”

The very idea that Spencer would have a son of Frankel on his books must

Richard Spencer have seemed like a pipedream when he was obliged to consider his future after a riding accident in 2015. The amateur who rode 25 point-to-point winners broke his back, which ended his days in the saddle.

“At that point I thought I’d better start thinking about training,” he says.

“I saw an advert Phil [Cunningham] placed for a private trainer but our paths had crossed before. I met Phil when he had horses in training with Barry Hills 12 years earlier.”

Cunningham, who likes a bet, was intrigued to reprise the acquaintance.

“At that time Richard used to break in all of Barry’s yearlings,” he recalls.

“From 100 of them he would pick out one colt and one filly, and they usually turned out to be top-class horses. He does seem to be able to spot good horses quite early on.”

Livestock are second nature to Spencer, who learnt to walk and ride simultaneously on the family’s Costwold farm. At 16 he left a school he could barely abide to work for Peter Bowen, where he’d spent time in the summer holidays and where he gained valuable insight into the blue-collar way of training. The memories are poignant to this day.

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Thrilla In Manila, winner of his only start at two, could be a Classic contender this year

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The Big Interview ‘I didn’t expect this success so quickly’

Owner Phil Cunningham: set for an exciting year

Phil Cunningham’s commitment to racing goes well beyond what he ever envisaged. The man who owned greyhounds at Romford when he left college hit the jackpot when Cockney Rebel landed the 2,000 Guineas 12 years ago. He has never looked back.

“Cockney Rebel was the dreammaker,” Cunningham says. “When I sold 50% of him I got into the breeding side through buying some mares to send to him. I reinvested all the money I made and my involvement now has become a minibusiness of its own.”

Cunningham subsequently bought three Newmarket properties: the training outfits at Sefton Lodge and Albert House, together with Swynford Paddocks Stud, where he keeps his 12 mares and horses out of training.

That Newmarket triumph was a spellbinding moment. The 2,000 Guineas had long been Cunningham’s favourite race: he attended for years on end while his father entertained

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“It was possibly the biggest eyeopener I have had,” Spencer says.

“Peter’s a genius; the whole family are when it comes to horses. You can see that by the way his two sons [Sean and James] are riding, and the way the oldest son [Mickey] is training his pointto-pointers.”

After 18 months Spencer moved on as pupil assistant to Hills, where

corporate clients at the track. It is now he who entertains like-minded souls who have joined his Rebel Racing syndicates.

He is surprised at the pace at which his syndicates have grown on the back of Richard Spencer’s success. “If I’m being perfectly honest I didn’t expect Richard to be so successful quite so quickly,” he says.

“Just being able to participate at this level is a dream come true. I’d have overachieved if I’d happened to be involved with one stallion like Cockney Rebel. But I’ve also got Rajasinghe, and next year, when Rumble Inthejungle goes to stud, I’ll be involved with three.”

Cunningham is undaunted by his status as a rare British owner tilting against the might of Middle-Eastern involvement. He wouldn’t have it any other way. “I just love the sport,” he says. “We’re all very excited about the new season. It’s my 50th birthday come January and I’m enjoying it more and more.”

he learnt to take the rough with the smooth. “I was told by one of the senior staff that if he wasn’t bollocking you the whole time, he didn’t like you,” Spencer says of Hills.

“I never found out whether that was true or not, but I loved it. If I did not have the ambition to train I’d probably still be there now. I met some great people, and I think this game is a lot

Richard Spencer

“Your goals are those of your owners; now Phil wants a Derby winner” about who you know.”

He also met Cunningham, with whom he is in partnership over the Rebel Racing syndicates. Initially Cunningham spent high five-figure sums on most of the Rebel Racing yearlings, but after Rajasinghe’s victory at Royal Ascot he set Spencer a test.

He told him to buy five yearlings at an average cost of £10,000 for five individuals in Rebel Racing who wanted an involvement beyond that.

“All five horses won as two-yearolds last season, when they earned £150,000 in prize-money,” Spencer says. “The owners had runners at Royal Ascot, the Doncaster St Leger meeting and in France. It was originally going to be called the Bargain Bucket Syndicate but they have done better than that.”

Spencer is well aware that expectations rise on the back of such achievement. “When I started working for Phil I asked him what he’d like to achieve and he said a Royal Ascot winner,” he reflects.

“Now that we’ve achieved that, Phil says he wants a Derby winner. Some owners want precocious two-year-olds for Ascot, others want middle-distance three-year-olds. As we have grown the targets have become varied.

“I’ve got goals but I don’t really like to tell too many people. As a trainer your goals are those of your owners, although to have a Classic winner would be a dream come true.”

For that to happen Spencer will have to mix it with his more established contemporaries along Bury Road. “It’s hard,” he says, “but we’ve done well when we have competed with them.

“Some have a lot more horses but I think that makes it difficult. I like to think I’m a hands-on trainer with a hand on every one of my horses. I want to stay the same size for now.”

If Spencer succeeds he won’t be quite so in awe of his surroundings at Sefton Lodge. It’s unlikely to be long before he starts to feel at home.

46 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Peter O’Sullevan House NEWMARKET

In 2019 the Injured Jockeys Fund will open its third Rehabilitation and Fitness Centre Peter O’Sullevan House in Newmarket.

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48 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Talking To...

Silvestre de Sousa

Power to

DE SOUSA His new role with King Power Racing may stop him from claiming a

fourth jockeys’ championship but one thing is certain: Silvestre de Sousa is now recognised as one of the very best riders anywhere in the world Interview: Tim Richards Photos: George Selwyn

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s newly retained jockey for the expanding and ambitious King Power Racing, will you be going flat out for a fourth jockeys’ championship this year?

No. I am very focused on my new job and don’t have it in my mind to go for the title. I’m taking my foot off the gas as far as concentrating on every winner everywhere is concerned to give my all to King Power Racing. We have about 100 very well-bred horses spread among several trainers, including Andrew Balding, Richard Hannon, John Gosden, Sir Michael Stoute, Tim Easterby and Karl Burke. It’s a case of quality over quantity. With the Chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha passing away in that Leicester helicopter crash last year, his son Vichai, who rides and plays polo, is keen to carry on the legacy.

You have an incredible non-stop work ethic. How do you switch off?

I chuckled when you first asked me about switching off, because the only thing I know is to work hard. That’s my life. When I get a ban and have a day off, for me, that’s a lost opportunity, as is any day when I am not riding. Of course, I enjoy being with our three boys, Ryan, 12, Max, 1, and baby Harry, particularly after being in Hong Kong for four months this winter.

After getting home last month, I was serving a ban from Hong Kong so we took Ryan for a day’s showjumping.

The seventh of ten siblings from Sao Francisco, north Brazil, you had a tough start in life. How much did you learn from rounding up cattle on horseback on your father’s farm and riding bareback in the mornings on Sao Paulo’s Cidade Jardim racecourse?

As a kid it was a fun thing to do, riding round the farm with the cattle. We rode bareback and I think that taught me about balance. I sat on a thoroughbred for the first time at Cidade Jardim racecourse and did my apprenticeship there. We had to ride every way on the track – bareback, with saddles, learning all the time.

Having been with animals all my life, when I got to the racecourse the only thing I wanted was to be a jockey. I couldn’t start until I was 16, so I filled in time helping my brother with his furniture business. That experience has made me realise how lucky I am to be where I am today.

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Silvestre de Sousa has made a superb start to his new role riding for King Power Racing

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Talking To...

De Sousa scores on exciting colt Fox Chairman at Newbury in April

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You became champion apprentice in Sao Paulo before spending three years with Dermot Weld at the Curragh, not getting a ride. Did you consider starting again?

I did think of packing my bags and going back to Brazil because I had been doing well at home but wasn’t getting any opportunities in Ireland. I struggled with the language and was frustrated because I had hoped to find a whole new life there, but the opportunities never came. It was a shame and they were tough times.

But I believe tough times can make you tougher, particularly if you can accept them in the right frame of mind.

Your association with Godolphin, which yielded Group 1 triumphs with Farhh and African Story, ended somewhat prematurely. How do you reflect on your time riding for the boys in blue?

I was with Godolphin for three years and it was a good time. I won a lot of races for them in Dubai and England, where you were on the big stage. I appreciated the opportunity I was given there, but then you have to move on. I am a great believer in myself, in what I can do and in what I hope to achieve. It was after those years with Godolphin that I became champion jockey. Looking back, I have no regrets.

Your first job in England was with the late Dandy Nicholls, where you met your future wife, Vicky, who rode 19 winners as an apprentice. Now with three young children, how much input does Vicky have in the de Sousa racing business?

Having worked in racing, Vicky can put that experience and knowledge into practice and is a big help. Of course, as

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“I won a lot of races for Godolphin.

So I have no regrets” my wife she is a good woman to have at my side and a great support. She understands the business and helps with the paperwork and organises me when I am on the move, such as booking accommodation and flights. She is also very hands-on with the ponies, dogs and animals at home, not to mention our three children. She plays a big part in Ryan’s riding and showjumping.

You are always happy to say, ‘I wake up every morning 8st 4lb’. It’s a big advantage not having to waste and sweat. How do you maintain the fitness of a top athlete?

I need to be active because when I have time off and chill out I am not busy and not hungry, so I lose weight.

If I have a week off, I come back a few pounds lighter. When I’m riding I am hard-working, drink plenty of water and put those few pounds back on. It’s just the way I am and I’m very lucky. I have a full-time driver, so I don’t mind all the travelling. I can sleep in the car, study form and think about how I’m going to ride a race.

Everyone gets stressed at some stage and I suppose I do as well, but with me it’s more frustration, though generally I am pretty chilled out. I get angry when I am banned and find myself watching the horses I should be riding!

Mark Johnston has been a longstanding supporter. What’s the key to your success with the Middleham maestro?

Mark has been a big supporter of mine throughout my career. Basically, he wants to win every race, and so do I! We match up well together and when I am riding for him, I always feel he is a great believer in what I can do and that gives me confidence. When I go out on one of his horses, I just feel I can do what’s best in the moment; it doesn’t always work, but most of the time it does. And you always feel that Mark will be of the same opinion. He is a gentleman to work for and I hope we will be able to continue our association when I am not required by King Power.

Based locally in Newmarket, will the new Peter O’Sullevan House, opening this summer for injured jockeys, feature in the de Sousa health and fitness campaign?

I have never had to go to Oaksey House in Lambourn or Jack Berry House in Malton and in that respect I am lucky. But the jockeys who have used the facilities speak very highly of both rehab centres.

With Newmarket being the centre of racing, Peter O’Sullevan House will be most welcome and I am sure very popular. It is a great asset to have on our doorstep and generally jockeys are well looked after and cared for these days.

Racing is a big family, a big community and we try to look after each other.

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Silvestre de Sousa You rode 44 winners in a four-month stint in Hong Kong this winter, up against local stars Zac Purton and Joao Moreira. What is the biggest challenge of riding in Hong Kong, how much did you enjoy the experience, and could you see yourself moving out there permanently?

It was my third time riding in Hong Kong – and fantastic. On my previous visit I rode 19 winners so I was delighted to make 44 this winter, because I arrived thinking if I could hit 20 that would be really good. The races are very tight and very tactical so you can’t afford to miss a trick. If you make a mistake you won’t ride the horse again. When you’re there for a short time you cannot do more than they give to you.

I had been approached by King Power before I went and if the deal had not gone through I would have stayed out there.

The contract was signed and now I am really pleased to have the job with King Power, riding on all the different tracks in England. There is so much variety here compared with Hong Kong, which has just the two tracks, Sha Tin and Happy Valley.

Racing is well organised there and the prize-money is unbelievable. Owners in Hong Kong are attracted by the prizemoney – here they are turned away by the lack of it. Much more money from betting is put back into Hong Kong racing than it is in England. Theirs is an example we need to follow for the benefit of not only owners but breeders and all those who work in the sport.

You have ridden all round the world, also taking in places such as India, the UAE

and Australia for the Melbourne Cup. Is there anywhere else you would like to prove yourself?

I haven’t been to Japan but one day I would like to ride in some of their top races, or perhaps take part in a jockeys’ challenge. It would be a great experience to test the water out there. I have ridden a winner at Belmont in New York for Godolphin and also one at Del Mar in California. I’ve been back to Brazil once to ride in a jockeys’ challenge and had a couple of winners. I have also enjoyed two King’s Cup winners in Saudi Arabia.

You have been quoted as saying, ‘It’s all about the moment’. There must be one that stands out above all the others…

Winning the Dubai World Cup on African Story in 2014. That was probably my greatest moment. It is the biggest race in Dubai and World Cup night is amazing.

It was one of my most memorable moments in the saddle and now my goal is to find a horse and go back and win the race again.

Given time away from the horses, what would be the perfect day off?

Something nice and simple, a day out with the family. Playing with the kids, kicking a football around. Some people fly halfway round the world for a few days off but doing the simple things with the kids as they grow up takes a lot of beating.

Your new job in the blue and white King Power silks got off to a flier at the Doncaster Lincoln meeting with a treble on Bangkok, Fox Champion and Good Birthday, following two winners earlier in De Sousa says winning the Dubai World Cup on African Story was his “greatest moment” in the saddle

the week. Can you give us two to follow this summer?

Richard Hannon has about 20 horses for King Power and one of the two-yearolds I sat on during a recent visit to his yard seemed full of promise, a Night Of Thunder colt called Sun Power. Fox Champion, who has won at the Lincoln and Craven meetings this year, could have a good season in front of him. I am looking forward to teaming up with him again and he could progress through the season.

When we spoke to you in 2011, you had yet to be champion jockey and talked of riding against the “big guys”. What does it mean to you now to be one of the “big guys” – and how is your outlook different?

I don’t feel like one of the big guys! I am just the same as the rest of the guys, but I do believe in what I can deliver when I am on a horse. And it is nice to have a high-profile job in this sport. I just hope I can do well, but I am still one of the lads, not above anyone else. I am the same as I was, only with a different job. I still hope to be available at times to ride for those who have helped me reach the position I am in now. We try to help newcomers in the weighing room and my advice is always to work hard.

CLOSE UP AND… PERSONAL

I’d love to meet… the Queen at a presentation after winning a big race Four dinner party guests… Pele, Neymar, Ronaldo and David Beckham Best advice I have been given… never leave the rails Favourite meal… steak What keeps you awake at night… the kids

CLOSE UP AND… PROFESSIONAL

My racing idols are… Mick Kinane and Jorge Ricardo, Brazilian jockey and winner of over 12,000 races I deal with pressure by… trying to do things right Hardest competitors are…

Ryan Moore, Jim Crowley and Paul Hanagan I’d love to win… the Dubai World Cup (again) and Melbourne Cup Racing has taught me… to be tough and consistent

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US Sires

Versatile

APPEAL The ability of American stallions to work on dirt and turf has become more important than ever before Words: Nancy Sexton Photos: George Selwyn

I

t is doubtful many onlookers would have considered Noble Mission a potential source of Kentucky Derby candidates the day he signed off his career with that tenacious win in the QIPCO Champion Stakes at Ascot.

Not long after that performance in October 2014, it was announced that he would retire to stud in Kentucky at Lane’s End Farm, rather than Europe. After all, Banstead Manor Stud was already home to his celebrated brother Frankel, while American breeders were by then well-tuned into the potential of Galileo. For all that Noble Mission won up to 12 furlongs on turf, he naturally appealed as a horse who could garner transatlantic interest.

Four years on and Noble Mission is justifying those early hopes – but primarily as the sire of Kentucky Derby hope Code Of Honor, who laid down his Classic claim with a victory in the Fountain of Youth Stakes on the Gulfstream Park dirt.

Granted, Code Of Honor is out of a Grade 3 dirt winner in Reunited, while in keeping with his own profile, Noble Mission has also sired a number of winners on the turf and all-weather.

However, although it’s still early days for the stallion, such an early varied look to his stud career obviously places him at an advantage among his contemporaries, as it did for the likes of Medaglia d’Oro, Quality Road, More Than Ready and Speightstown before him. And that kind of asset has become especially important in light of the New York Racing Association’s (NYRA) recent launch of a $5.25 million Turf Triple Series for threeyear-olds, something which has the ability to propel American turf racing to a far greater standing.

Of course, such versatility is nothing new. For instance, the European thoroughbred owes much of its development to the influence of Kentucky Derby winner Northern Dancer.

However, the marketplace has a habit of pigeonholing stallions as an influence for one surface over

the other, even though the list of those with the ability to work on both is actually pretty deep.

Now thanks to that increased American interest in the turf, those types of horses are becoming easier to market.

“The internationalisation of the sport has become now so great,” says John Sikura of Hill ’n’ Dale Farm, whose roster ranges from top turf sire Kitten’s Joy and champion grass runner Flintshire to leading dirt influence Curlin.

“The American horses are going to Europe and they’re winning. That drives demand and we’re seeing a market now that is becoming far more open. There is now a significant appetite for turf racing. The trend has been slow to reverse but now we’re moving back. I noticed it in the time we’ve stood Flintshire – as a turf horse he’s operating in a smaller market, but since we got him I think the market has shifted.”

The undoubted leader among the group is War Front. Although out of reach for most breeders now at $250,000, Claiborne Farm’s son of Danzig originally made his name off early inexpensive crops that included European standouts War Command and Declaration Of War alongside dirt star The Factor.

Now the stallion appears to be on the cusp of another landmark year, this time via dirt runners War Of Will and Omaha Beach, both of whom have switched from turf to become legitimate Kentucky Derby candidates; Arqana breeze-up graduate War Of Will, the product of a Sadler’s Wells mare no less, won the Lecomte and Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, while Omaha Beach now reigns as one of the favourites having recently landed the Arkansas Derby and a division of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park..

“To have those Derby entrants is a huge feat for War Front,” says Walker Hancock, President of Claiborne Farm. “Elite sires can get runners on dirt and turf so I am just glad the public is being

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Frankel’s brother Noble Mission (pink cap) achieved his biggest win in the Champion Stakes, defeating Al Kazeem, and is now siring winners on turf and dirt from his base at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky

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US Sires

Declaration Of War (middle) finished a close third in the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic, having already proved himself top-class on turf

›› reminded War Front can get a top

quality dirt runner too – people forget Declaration Of War nearly won the Breeders’ Cup Classic a few years back.”

Claiborne has a long history in managing international heavyweights, having imported the likes of Nasrullah and Blenheim in the decades before they came to host the stud careers of Mr Prospector, Danzig and Nijinsky.

More recently, Arch served as a popular versatile option, a mantle his son, Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame, has come to assume. Blame has sired a number of good dirt runners but has also fared well in Europe, notably as the sire of Prix de Diane heroine Senga.

“His trainer Al Stall always thought Blame could have been a nice turf horse too,” says Hancock. “Being from the family of Special and Sadler’s Wells, it’s no surprise he is getting a lot of toplevel turf runners.”

Of course, Blame is a member of that tough Roberto sire line that has long been utilised by American and European breeders to great effect.

And it would seem that Adena Springs’ Point Of Entry, one of the last sons

“Blame is a member of the Roberto sire line long utilised by US and European breeders” of Dynaformer at stud, is heading in the same direction. A multiple Grade 1 winner on the turf, he is also represented on the Kentucky Derby trail

by UAE Derby winner Plus Que Parfait.

The colt is from the second crop of his sire, whose first contained the Grade 1-placed turf runner Analyze It. “We’ve seen other Roberto-line horses show this kind of consistency and versatility at stud, like Red Ransom and Kris S,” says Ken Wilkins, stallion

sales manager at Adena Springs, where Point Of Entry stands for $20,000.

“With Point Of Entry, you could say we’re seeing a similar profile to his sire Dynaformer, who got a Kentucky Derby third Blumin Affair in his first crop alongside a slew of turf runners.

“Point Of Entry was obviously a very good turf horse but he actually broke his maiden on the dirt by 16 lengths. It’s very exciting to have a stallion like him – turf racing is becoming more important but when they have one on the Derby trail as well, it takes everything to a really different level.”

At the other end of the age spectrum is 25-year-old Stormy Atlantic. Hill ’n’ Dale Farm’s son of Storm Cat has sired Grade 1 winners on both surfaces led by back-to-back Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint hero Stormy Liberal.

Closer to home, he has also been patronised with success by Kirsten Rausing, who bred stakes winner Kinetica by the stallion as well as her excellent producer Here To Eternity, dam of Glorious Forever and Time Warp.

“We brought him up from Florida as a $6,500 stallion,” says John Sikura.

“Now he’s on 108 stakes winners.

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“Kirsten Rausing was shrewd enough to identify him early on and it’s been good to see her well rewarded. He’s really been a rewarding horse to be involved with and we’ve been honoured to stand him.”

On what is surely one of the most varied rosters in Kentucky, Hill ’n’ Dale also offers breeders other affordable yet versatile options in Kantharos, a $20,000 stallion who was recently

represented by Grade 1 winners X Y Jet and World Of Trouble in Dubai and New York over consecutive weekends, and Violence, a son of Medaglia d’Oro who is standing for a career high of $40,000 after a strong start to his stud career.

“Kantharos has thrown what probably is the fastest horse on dirt and turf right now in the US in World Of Trouble,” says Sikura. “He’s on his way to becoming highly influential. They’re fast,

they run on dirt and turf, and they’re tough – that kind of versatility is great.

“And Violence seems to be equally proficient on turf and dirt. He’s on the cusp of becoming very important.

They’re horses who offer breeders the chance to win anywhere in the world.”

In today’s increasingly global marketplace, that is the kind of attribute in a stallion which is going to become only more valuable.

POTENTIAL ADAPTABILITY BECOMING KEY The importance of maximising a stallion’s potential versatility doesn’t seem to have been lost on some of those Kentucky stallion masters with younger horses coming through.

For instance, American Pharoah, the first Triple Crown hero in 37 years, might have been a star on dirt but he will be given every chance to shine in Europe by Coolmore.

“My grandfather founded Ballydoyle on American dirt horses and we strongly believe in American Pharoah,” M V Magnier told reporters after signing for a first-crop daughter of the stallion at Arqana last August.

“Be it him, or Justify, we think that a horse of that type can once again have a transforming impact on European bloodlines. So that’s what we want to do: to get the best American Pharoahs we can, put them in Ballydoyle, and try to make him a new Northern Dancer.”

At the time of writing, Ballydoyle officially houses four American Pharoahs, including Monarch Of Egypt, who made a striking debut when winning at Naas in April. Others by the stallion are scattered between Joseph O’Brien, John Gosden and Charlie Appleby, among others.

The Niarchos family, meanwhile, have thrown their weight behind Poule d’Essai des Poulains and Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Karakontie, and have two-year-olds from his first crop in training in Britain, Ireland, France and the US as a result.

In terms of their own versatility, however, few can offer the race record of Claiborne Farm’s Lea. By First Samurai and out of a Galileo mare, Lea won the Grade 1 Donn Handicap on dirt and ran second in the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile on the turf. His first crop of yearlings averaged $85,782 last year and now it’s crunch time as they take to the track.

“I think he was one of those

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American Pharoah already has an Irish turf winner to his credit

rare horses that come along every couple of years who can win in Grade 1 company on both surfaces,” says Walker Hancock, President of Claiborne Farm, “and we are seeing early indications from his offspring that he will have both dirt and turf runners.”

He adds: “We were very pleased with his first crop. He bred 100 mares in his first year at stud but that then dropped down to around 50 in his second year. We were pretty worried about his third-year book size but then his weanlings hit the market at the November Sale and breeders saw the quality he was throwing so he ended up breeding 120 mares, which is an incredible jump for a third-crop sire.

“He’s had a good mix of both dirt and turf mares. I think everyone realised his versatility, which added to his appeal. With the popularity surge in turf racing the past five years or so I think he is positioned well to succeed.”

One year behind him in the production line is Shadwell Farm’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile hero Tamarkuz.

Although very effective on dirt himself, the son of Speightstown is a halfbrother to St James’s Palace Stakes winner Without Parole and has been

well supported by Sheikh Hamdan.

With that in mind, he looks poised for exposure in Europe.

“While he was a top performer on the dirt, many people may forget that he did win as a two-year-old on the synthetic track at Kempton and Wolverhampton,” says Kent Barnes, stallion manager at Shadwell Farm.

“Shadwell has supported him with an average of about 12 mares in each of his first three seasons.

Approximately a third of these would be mares with a turf-type pedigree, which will allow us to try the offspring in Europe or on the turf in the US.” Tamarkuz fired in an average of $82,500 at the Keeneland November Sale – a bold showing off a first year fee of $12,500.

“They were bought by horsemen with an eye for a good horse such as Gerry Dilger, who bought the $140,000 colt out of Abby Road – he went to Ireland,” says Barnes.

“We have several homebreds on the farm and they seem to be a very uniform bunch. You can see a lot of the Speightstown coming through. They are very well-balanced individuals who are correct with good strong quarters and a good walk.”

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Breeders’ Digest

Nancy Sexton Bloodstock Editor

Our bloodstock coverage this month includes Sales Circuit: Solid start to breeze-up season – pages 58-67 Caulfield Files: Sea The Stars is siring quality around the globe – pages 68-69 Dr Statz: Lope De Vega assuming elite sire status – page 96

Let’s continue to savour the stayer

GEORGE SELWYN

W

e live in a world of strange contradictions. For many breeders, the idea of producing a Derby winner is the ultimate. Yet when it comes down to it, very few actively decide to go down that route. And that’s very understandable when the market continues to reward the combination of speed and precocity with such consistency.

Even so, it’s a measure of how upside down our industry has become that you can have a Derby winner struggling for patronage whilst an array of sprinters and/or fast but limited two-year-olds consistently cover three-figure books.

With that in mind, it was good to see Ruler Of The World, one of the best-bred Derby winners of recent years, come up with a filly of the quality of Fillies’ Mile heroine Iridessa out of a first crop of 44 foals. In his case, such a dearth of representation was the result of an injury that halted his 2015 season. However, he hasn’t exactly caught the imagination of breeders since then judging by the size of his recent books, which numbered 69 and 47 in 2017 and 2018. Hopefully Iridessa has helped remedy that.

We all know the financial pressures that come with breeding racehorses, especially for those operating in the middle to lower ranges. It’s not an easy game, and one that is arguably becoming more polarised in favour of the bigger players. When faced with such challenges, ‘commercial speed’, often via first-crop sires (safer bets in that they have yet to do anything wrong), understandably becomes even more attractive.

But surely diversity is key to the health of the breed. And from a racing perspective, there is also much positivity to be gleaned from the longevity of stayers, many of whom build up a strong following with racegoers. In addition, there continues to be no shortage of demand from international markets for those progressive middle-distance horses to complement the traditional interest from the jumps community. Overall, there’s a fair bit of money to be made with those types if the cards fall right.

Those efforts from the TBA and BHA,

Stradivarius: a terrific flagbearer for the British staying division

among them significant enhancements to the stayers’ racing programme, will hopefully continue to address the issue.

Meanwhile, the British staying division couldn’t really have a better flag-bearer than Bjorn Nielsen’s admirable homebred Stradivarius. On a sunny late March day in Newmarket, the son of Sea The Stars was paraded at John Gosden’s Clarehaven Stables to promote the second year of the £1 million Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers Million, a prize he swept last year with a series of tough performances.

Launched as another measure to incentivise the breeding and ownership of staying horses, it is good to see the series back on the table this year and with an expanded set of qualifying races.

This year’s octet began with the Dubai Gold Cup at Meydan, won by Cross Counter in a performance that promised much for the rest of the season, notably the prospect of a clash with Stradivarius down the line. That would really be something to savour, not just for the health of the staying division but for racing as a whole.

HUNT FOR IMPACT HEIR

A glimpse into a bloodstock world without Deep Impact was alarmingly forthcoming last month with the news that the Shadai Stallion Station had been forced to curtail the stallion’s current season due to a ‘neck injury’.

The stallion drops out of service with

20 mares in foal for this season at a fee of 40,000,000 yen (£273,000), among them the Aga Khan’s Azmiyna, dam of current Australian star The Autumn Sun. Hopefully, this enforced absence doesn’t evolve into anything more sinister for the stallion.

Deep Impact has dominated the scene in Japan since his first crop hit the track in 2010 and with his prowess now well recognised on an international level, his popularity with the world’s leading breeders has never been stronger.

Perhaps his younger stud-mate Lord Kanaloa will come to secure his share of international respect. Despite his excellent start, however, he still has a long way to go before he assumes the importance of Deep Impact.

All of which makes the hunt for an heir to Deep Impact suddenly that bit more urgent. Shadai have taken no chances with six Group 1-winning sons at their disposal, including international performers Kizuna, Real Steel and Real Impact, while Lex Stud is home to Prix d’Ispahan winner A Shin Hikari. Outside of Japan, Real Impact and Mikki Isle shuttle to Arrowfield Stud.

Of course, in this part of the world, breeders have the option of Coolmore’s Saxon Warrior, one of several Europeanbased sons alongside Martinborough, Barocci and Albert Dock. Batsford Stud also deserve credit for introducing Danon Ballade to British breeders last year; ironically, it was his promising start with his first runners that prompted his repatriation to Japan for the 2019 season.

Comparatively speaking, Danon Ballade has been the most productive son of Deep Impact at stud, having arguably made a brighter start than Japanese Derby winner Deep Brillante, so far sire of a single stakes winner.

Now the focus switches to fellow Group 1 winners Kizuna, Real Impact and Spielberg as their first juveniles take to the track. In that respect, we are coming up to crunch time on how Deep Impact’s reputation as a sire of sires will unfold.

In the meantime, here’s hoping that Deep Impact will be back to court some of the world’s best mares next year.

56 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

May_177_BreedersDigest.indd 56

18/04/2019 18:10

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4/15/19 2:58 PM

Sales Circuit • By Carl Evans

Solid opening to the breeze-up sales season A top-lot whose 850,000gns price broke the European record for a breezer of her sex, and another significant contribution to trade

by Sheikh Mohammed and Team Godolphin were among highlights at this two-day auction.

It had barely opened for business when Lot 6, a daughter of Kingman walked in, but so significant was the crowd that piled in behind her it was clear she would be giving turnover a lusty boost. At 850,000gns the hammer fell in the direction of Anthony Stroud, bidding for the sheikh, and a superb pinhook had been achieved by Roger O’Callaghan and his family at Tally-Ho Stud.

Bloodstock agent Matt Coleman had bought the filly on Tally-Ho’s behalf for 92,000gns as recently as December.

Some way removed from the muscular,

TATTERSALLS

Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up

This daughter of Kingman set a new sale high for a filly when sold by Tally-Ho Stud for 850,000gns to Godolphin

Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Price (Gns)

Buyer

F Kingman – Shyrl

Tally-Ho Stud

850,000

Godolphin

C Invincible Spirit - Mare Nostrum

Oak Tree Farm

575,000

Godolphin

C Night Of Thunder - Sunset Avenue

Brown Island Stables

375,000

Godolphin

C Shamardal – Patronising

Grove Stud

340,000

Sam Wright

C Farhh - Anything Goes

Oak Tree Farm

300,000

Godolphin

C Night Of Thunder - Permission Slip

Houghton Bloodstock

300,000

Godolphin

C Medaglia d'Oro - Fire And Flame

Lynn Lodge Stud

280,000

Godolphin

F Competitive Edge - Hug And A Kiss

C H Thoroughbreds

280,000

Highland Yard LLC/Harvey Bloodstock

C Night Of Thunder – Travel

Powerstown Stud

260,000

Godolphin

C Kingman - Upper Street

Mocklershill

250,000

Jane Chapple-Hyam

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (Gns)

Avg (Gns)

Mdn (Gns)

Top Price (Gns)

2019

85

10,343,000

121,682

85,000

850,000

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

58 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

May_177_SaleCircuitv2.indd 58

18/04/2019 19:18

Overview and analysis of the latest events in the ring TALKING POINT • It is frequently said that selling at the top-end is relatively easy, but the middleto-lower tier is challenging if not impossible.

Ger Kennedy’s Sherbourne Lodge Stud seemed to buck that theory when taking four horses to the Craven Sale, three of which had been cheap purchases as yearlings. A $14,000 Lemon Drop Kid colt was sold for 62,000gns, while a $5,000 Animal Kingdom colt made 50,000gns, wonderful percentage increases on small-money risks. Kennedy was luckless with a £3,000 Bated Breath filly who did a very fast breeze, but had to be withdrawn – he is happy to race her – while the fourth horse failed to sell.

Kennedy said: “Tattersalls gave us a great chance and are very good people to deal with. They respect our judgement when we say we have good horses to sell, and we have produced lots of good racehorses.”

Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin dominated trade, buying six of the top seven lots

conker-bay colts which often head proceedings at these sales, this small filly was not unlike her dam, Shyrl, who was placed in the Queen Mary Stakes. As Coleman put it: “Everyone wants Royal Ascot horses,” and on the evidence of her stature and breeze it seemed unlikely it will take until the Cambridgeshire meeting before she makes her debut.

The catalogue was cut by 25 lots, and the 109 who walked the ring was 33 fewer than in 2018. The aim of pushing up the clearance rate was achieved and it rose from 66% to 78%, but the reduced number of lots pulled down turnover by 22%. The average price also fell, taking a 14% knock, but the median gained 13%.

Sheikh Mohammed’s contribution could not be ignored. He bought seven horses for 2,940,000gns, which was slightly more than 28% of turnover, and six of the seven made the top-ten board.

Not quite on the same level was Peter Swann’s Cool Silk Partnership, no stranger to a breeze-up sale, but a 600,000gns investment in four horses was a marked increase in spending.

Other potentially big buyers were absent – the Hong Kong Jockey Club was one, Shadwell was another, and while Justin Casse was underbidder on several choice lots and did buy a couple, US spending was low-key. Kerri Radcliffe was underbidder on the top lot, but did not invest in another horse.

It has been reported that the late Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha’s family will continue involvement under the King Power Racing banner, yet they made no impact. Their agent, Alastair Donald, bought a 210,000gns Wootton Bassett

May_177_SaleCircuitv2.indd 59

colt, but for P K Siu. Consignors left with mixed feelings.

Con Marnane, whose Bansha House Stud sold just three of six horses in the ring at an average of 44,000gns, looked dejected, said prize-money in Britain was hurting trade, yet was looking optimistically forward to selling some French-bred breezers at Arqana.

Brendan Holland of Grove Stud offered and sold two horses for turnover of 560,000gns, and said: “My two sold well, but overall it has been a bit sticky. The support of Godolphin hasn’t gone unnoticed.” The king of the breeze-up ring, Willie Browne, offered and sold 11 of his Mocklershill horses, but managed to creep just one lot onto the top ten board.

It had been dominated by US sires in 2018, when the final crop of Scat Daddy put buyers into a frenzy. Seven lots

by US sires made the top-ten on that occasion, but just two were there this time, a colt by Medaglio d’Oro and a

filly by Competitive Edge – his daughter sold for 280,000gns, a great pinhook for Cian Hughes, who was selling under his own name at the Craven Sale for the first time. She was his only representative and he bought her for €32,000 at Goffs’ Sportsman’s Sale.

Norman Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm enjoyed a fine sale, parting with four of five lots, and gaining 575,000gns for the leading colt, a son of Invincible Spirit who also joined the Godolphin fold. Williamson had been briefly perplexed two days earlier during the breeze when the colt’s rider made no attempt to stoke him up for the furlong work-out. It was not until he came closer that it became clear one rein had snapped and was dangling by the colt’s chest.

He behaved impeccably, pulling himself up under Gary Halpin’s soothing words from the saddle, and an hour later did a breeze which caught the eye of clockwatchers.

››

The Invincible Spirit half-brother to Erupt made 575,000gns after an eventful first breeze

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER 59

18/04/2019 19:18

Sales Circuit Like a hard-pruned rose bush this sale benefited from a good chop and looked a good deal healthier, fulfilling its role of providing a market place where horses will find a buyer.

The catalogue was cut from 146 lots to 91, and 78 walked into the ring, down from 118 last year, helping the clearance rate climb from a disappointing 50% to a very good 86%. Turnover fell three per cent, which was to be expected given the reduction in horses, but it was a little disappointing that the average and median figures were down too, falling by 15% and 19% respectively. Still finding its feet as the newest of Europe’s breezeup sales, but now established as the curtain raiser, it offers vendors a chance to get some early stock shifted, and in that respect it succeeded.

Bearing in mind that Tattersalls stages two established breeze-up sales in Newmarket, the company gave this one a boost by creating a £100,000 bonus for any juvenile who wins one of the six two-year-old races at Royal Ascot, and given that former graduates include such speedsters as Sands Of Mali and The Wow Signal, the cash could be under pressure in June.

Lambourn trainer Jamie Osborne will certainly be hoping so, having invested £110,000 in a Swiss Spirit colt who topped the sale – no doubt that

TATTERSALLS IRELAND

Tattersalls Ascot Breeze-Up

This Swiss Spirit colt joined Jamie Osborne after topping the Tattersalls Ascot Sale

stallion’s new masters, the Varey family of Batsford Stud in Gloucestershire, will be keeping their fingers crossed too. A €15,000 Goffs Orby yearling, the colt clocked the fastest time on Osborne’s watch, and he duly bought him out of Thomond O’Mara’s Knockanglass Stables consignment.

In summing up the single-session auction, Richard Pugh, the company’s director of horses in training sales, said: “Achieving a healthy clearance rate was our foremost priority,” and he also singled out a colt whose sale put

spotlight not only on Ascot’s breeze-up but also its fledgling yearling sale.

The horse in question, a son of Coach House, had been bought by Robson Aguair for just £2,000 in September, yet reaped a superb mark up when changing hands for £85,000 here.

The buyer, on behalf of the Cool Silk Partnership, was Matt Coleman of Stroud Coleman Bloodstock, an agent whose activities and success stories at sales of jumpers and Flat horses marks him out as a dual-purpose performer.

Tattersalls Ascot Breeze-Up Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

C Swiss Spirit - Royal Pardon

Knockanglass Stables

110,000

Jamie Osborne

C Summer Front – Iboughtheranyway

Brown Island Stables

85,000

Blandford Bloodstock/R Hughes

C Coach House – Koharu

Aguiar Bloodstock

85,000

Cool Silk Partnership/Stroud Coleman Bloodstock

C Gutaifan - Burning Dawn

Meadowview Stables

60,000

Jamie Osborne

F Hot Streak - Qatar Princess

Dunsany Stables

60,000

Cool Silk Partnership/Stroud Coleman Bloodstock

C Cable Bay – Hadeeya

Kilminfoyle House Stud

55,000

Howson & Houldsworth/John Guest Racing

C Hot Streak – Positivity

Knockanglass Stables

55,000

Thomas Morley

C Due Diligence – Chicklade

RMM Bloodstock

42,000

Stroud Coleman Bloodstock

C Lucayan – Gallaecia

Bansha House Stables

40,000

Federico Barberini /Apple Tree Stud

C Shanghai Bobby - Lemon Maid

Powerstown Stud

38,000

Durcan Bloodstock

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2019

67

1,377,000

20,552

13,000

110,000

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

60 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

May_177_SaleCircuitv2.indd 60

18/04/2019 19:18

Goffs UK Aintree Sale

The figures keep stacking up for Goffs UK at the company’s Aintree Sale, held during the Randox Health Grand National meeting, and typically dominated by four-year-old Irish pointers.

A thoroughly cold and wet evening could not dampen the enthusiasm of buyers, who left with 25 of the 28 horses that graced the racecourse’s winners’ enclosure after racing on the first day of the meeting. Turnover, which had risen 43% last year, gained another 32%, the average rose 11%, while the median gained five per cent – both the average and median, which had become sixfigure sums for the first time last year, repeated that achievement.

For once the headline sale-topper did not make the biggest headlines.

The sale of four-year-old winning Irish pointer Papa Tango Charly for £440,000 to Jonjo O’Neill and his client, racehorse owner Martin Tedham, might have been a record for the sale, but Lots 1 and 2, Don Poli and Outlander, were far more newsworthy for the national press, being Grade 1 performers who held entries in the Grand National.

Don Poli was sold for £170,000 to Yorkshire trainer Philip Kirby, while agent JD Moore bought Outlander for £165,000 on behalf of Phil Cunningham’s Rebel Racing – neither horse could reach the places in the big race, but their class should stand them

TALKING POINT • Horses with classy form and the enticement of holding a big-race engagement are not uncommon at spring festival sales, nor at Goffs’ London Sale, yet vendors who believe buyers will pay beyond the market value to enjoy a runner at the attached race meeting mean reserves can be set too high.

At this auction, the vendor of Grand National entrants Don Poli (£170,000) and Outlander (£165,000), namely Gigginstown House Stud, had set the bar just right and both horses found a buyer.

Two days later they finished unplaced in the big race, while Gigginstown House Stud’s Tiger Roll roared to victory. On paper it was a very good bit of business for Michael O’Leary, the Gigginstown chief, who owned the big-race winner and sold two also-rans, yet agent J D Moore, who bought Outlander, was able to reel off a host of valuable races around Europe that such a horse could tackle, regardless of his finishing position at Aintree. Don Poli is now in Yorkshire with Phil Kirby and Outlander in Newmarket with Richard Spencer – exiting Gordon Elliott’s brilliant yard could be perceived as a negative, but the change of scenery might see them return to something near their best.

• In 2018 a very wet and occasionally snowy winter created heavy ground that made it difficult for trainers of pointers to find opportunities to run horses before this sale. One year later and ground that was bordering on quick had been the headache. Sales at Cheltenham, Doncaster and Punchestown await smart fouryear-old pointers, but unless this proves to be a wet spring that repels the onset of summer until well into May some talented youngsters are likely to be held back until the autumn. in good stead for a few years yet.

Papa Tango Charly had been bought unbroken in France by shrewd Walter Connors, who then sent the horse to Colin Bowe for training and a run in an Irish point. He duly hacked up, a performance that was noted by fellow point-to-point trainer Aidan Kennedy, who rang Gloucestershire-based O’Neill

and suggested he might be interested.

O’Neill was in Ireland the next morning, and liked what he saw, but the horse was also on the radar of JP McManus, O’Neill’s landlord at Jackdaws Castle Stables. McManus’s team, bidding through Goffs UK’s Derek O’Connor, duly registered their interest in the ring but left as underbidders.

››

Goffs UK Aintree Sale Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

Papa Tango Charly (No Risk At All - Chere Elenn)

Milestone Stables (Colin Bowe)

440,000

Aidan Kennedy

Adrimel (Tirwanako - Irise De Gene)

Josh Ryan

280,000

Ed Bailey Bloodstock

Fiddlerontheroof (Stowaway - Inquisitive Look)

Camas Park Stud

200,000

Doyle/Tizzard

Grandads Cottage (Shantou - Sarah's Cottage)

Monbeg Stables (Donnchadh Doyle)

200,000

A Murphy/O Murphy Racing

Don Poli (Poliglote – Dalamine)

Gigginstown House Stud

170,000

P Kirby

Big Bresil (Blue Bresil – Cutielilou)

Monbeg Stables (Donnchadh Doyle)

170,000

Roger Brookhouse

Outlander (Stowaway - Western Whisper)

Gigginstown House Stud

165,000

JD Moore

On The Bandwagon (Oscar - Deep Supreme)

Ballyboy Stables (Denis Murphy)

160,000

Stroud Coleman/Jonjo O'Neill

It Sure Is (Shirocco - Stay At Home Mum)

Milestone Stables (Colin Bowe)

150,000

Highflyer Bloodstock

Vandemere (Jeremy - Victoria Bridge)

Monbeg Stables (Donnchadh Doyle)

120,000

Seamus Burns

Four-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2019

25

3,198,000

127,920

105,000

440,000

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

May_177_SaleCircuitv2.indd 61

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

61

18/04/2019 19:18

Sales Circuit Returning to the fray after a five-year omission, this sale of breezers and horses-in-training was generally well received.

During its previous 22-year run from 1993 to 2014 it was exclusively for breezers, and six Classic winners sprang from its catalogue pages, including Big Brown and Thunder Gulch, who each won two legs of the Triple Crown.

Despite such successes some vendors opted to watch the market’s reaction to the event’s return, and Geoffrey Russell, Keeneland’s director of sales operations, said: “We’re in a rebuilding process for this sale. Some people were willing to rebuild with us, and some people wanted to wait and see. We hope they liked what they saw and will participate next year.”

Among those delighted by the timing of the sale, let alone that it was held during Keeneland’s Spring Meet race meeting when the buying bench was at its broadest, was Floridabased Dean De Renzo of Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds, which sold the $1,300,000 sale-topper, a filly breezer

by Tapit. He said: “She is a May foal, and we have taken our time with her.

We wanted to target a sale that is a little later in the year – we love the timing.”

Bloodstock agent Chad Schumer, buying his most valuable horse to date, lowered the hammer for De Renzo’s filly, whose dam was Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades winner My Conquestadory.

Schumer, who was buying for Prince Sultan of Saudi Arabia, said: “Once you

KEENELAND

Keeneland April Sale

A Tapit daughter of Grade 1 winner My Conquestadory led the way at Keeneland’s April Sale, selling to Chad Schumer for $1,300,000

get above a certain number it is kind of numbing. I have never gone that high before, so it has not sunk in yet.”

His purchase had clocked a furlong in ten seconds, and once again quick times influenced prices, as proven by a colt who matched the filly’s time and at $350,000 became the pick of his sex.

He was also a notable result for new sire Liam’s Map, a son of Unbridled’s Song standing at Lane’s End.

Of the horses-in-training the most highly-valued was three-year-old Sweet Diane, who had been placed at Grade 2 level. She was knocked down to River Bend Farm for $500,000 as a racing and breeding project.

From a catalogue of 169 horses, 95 entered the ring and 67 (71%) found a buyer, generating turnover of just over $6,000,000 at an average of $90,000.

Keeneland April Sale Top lots Sex/Name/Breeding

Vendor

Price ($)

F Tapit - My Conquestadory

Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds

Sweet Diane (Will Take Charge - Inside Passage)

ELiTE

500,000

River Bend Farm

C Liam's Map - Jenny's So

Great Wavertree Stables

350,000

ERJ Racing & Dennis O'Neill

Higher Power Medaglia d'Oro – Alternate

Stidham Racing

250,000

Lane's End Bloodstock

F Competitive Edge – Lefreakcestchic

Kirkwood Stables

235,000

Larry Hirsch

C American Pharoah - New Wave

Wavertree Stables

230,000

Kenny McPeek

1,300,000

Buyer C. Schumer/Prince Sultan bin Mishal al Saud

Figures Year

Sold

Agg ($)

Avg ($)

Mdn ($)

Top Price ($)

2019

67

6,083,500

90,799

40,000

1,300,000

62 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

May_177_SaleCircuitv2.indd 62

18/04/2019 19:18

Coolmore Stud’s M V Magnier is no stranger to an investment or two at this breeze-up sale, but he ramped up his input at the latest edition.

It produced fabulous figures for some vendors, yet fewer than six in ten horses found buyers.

Held at Gulfstream Park for a fifth year, it provided the stage for a sale-topping son of Curlin to strut his stuff and leave with a valuation of $3,650,000, a record for the event and by some margin. The buyer was Magnier and some unnamed partners, who left the bidding to agents Jamie McCalmont and Donato Lanni.

US bloodstock sales are noted for quick selling, but the colt, who was consigned by Crupi’s New Castle Farm, spent nine minutes in front of the auctioneer, or eight minutes and 50 seconds longer than it took him to gallop a furlong during the breeze. That performance, allied to a catalogue page that showed he was a half-brother to the Group 1-placed Arabian Hope and related to a stack of other talents, resulted in his big-money valuation. He will be trained

by Bob Baffert.

Magnier was involved in the purchase of four of the six horses sold for seven figures at the sale, which was ripe with records, including a Gulfstream best for a filly, a daughter of Into Mischief who made $1,500,000 to a bid from the free-spending OXO Equine, and there

FASIG-TIPTON

Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale

A superb breeze by this Curlin colt saw him top the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale

were new highs in all the key figures. A 24% increase in turnover, 28% rise in the average price and 27% improvement in the median backed up the comment by Fasig-Tipton president Boyd Browning that “. . . there was a tremendous demand for a quality horse,” although 41% of the 100 lots offered failed to find a new home, which compares to 33% in 2018.

Browning said the large number of

horses withdrawn from the sale (88) and the not-sold rate were higher than Fasig-Tipton officials would prefer, but said that given the many facets to a breeze-up sale, from the horse’s galloping performance and time, to subsequent vet checks and owners’ reserves, the rates of withdrawals and clearance would always be under pressure. He added: “That’s why the horses that jump through all the hoops bring a significant premium.”

››

Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Price ($)

Buyer

C Curlin – Achieving

Crupi's New Castle Farm

3,650,000

M V Magnier

C American Pharoah - Spice Island

Eddie Woods

1,650,000

M V Magnier

F Into Mischief – Specification

Tom McCrocklin

1,500,000

OXO Equine

F Curlin – Sarasota

Paul Sharp

1,300,000

KSI & M V Magnier

C Medaglia d'Oro - After Thought

Bobby Dodd

1,200,000

Narvick Int'l.

C Into Mischief - Cor Cor

SGV Thoroughbreds

1,000,000

M V Magnier

C Sky Kingdom – Truelladeville

Wavertree Stables

875,000

Rockingham Ranch

F Uncle Mo - Coin Broke

Hartley/De Renzo Thoroughbreds

800,000

KSI

C Into Mischief – Shopit

McKathan Bros

800,000

Cromwell Bloodstock

C American Pharoah – Jeweliana

Top Line Sales

775,000

Katsumi Yoshida

Three-year tale Year

Sold

2019 2018 2017

May_177_SaleCircuitv2.indd 63

Agg ($)

Avg ($)

Mdn ($)

Top Price ($)

59

29,115,000

61

23,495,000

493,475

375,000

3,650,000

385,164

295,000

1,200,000

74

25,115,000

339,332

270,000

1,500,000

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER 63

18/04/2019 19:18

Sales Circuit Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale

The internationally renowned Inglis Easter Yearling Sale in Sydney finished with pleasing results for Inglis and most vendors as the sale figures held up strongly against last year’s heady results, writes Danny Power.

Competition from a huge local and international buying bench from the ‘stallion’ investors meant that the hot colts in the sale were hot property.

The sale was restricted to a select 450 yearlings selling over two days, on April 9 and 10.

This year’s gross was A$122,795,000 from 344 yearlings sold, compared to last year’s figure of A$116,847,500 for 337 sold. The average was up slightly from A$346,728 to A$354,900.

The top-priced yearling was a powerful, mature son of champion sire Snitzel bought for A$2.8 million. Out of the former crack filly Ichihara, winner of the Group 2 Magic Night Stakes, he is a close relation to one of Snitzel’s best sons, Menari.

The colt was offered by boutique breeder George Altomonte’s Corumbene Stud and was bought by bloodstock agent James Harron for his “colts’ syndicate”, which boasts some of

A Snitzel colt out of Ichihara topped a strong renewal of the Inglis Australian Easter Sale at A$2,800,000

the big players in Australian bloodstock and racing.

It’s the most ever paid for a yearling

by Snitzel, and the most Harron has

spent on a yearling. “He’s the best yearling I have seen for years and I had some sleepless nights thinking about him,” said the Sydney-based Irishman.

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Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Price (A$)

Buyer

C Snitzel - Ichihara

Corumbene Stud

2,800,000

James Harron B'stock

C Fastnet Rock - Legally Bay

Segenhoe Stud

2,300,000

Aquis Farm

C Deep Impact - Grito

Arrowfield Stud

1,700,000

Spendthift/Kennewell/Group 1 B'stock

C Exceed And Excel - Written Dash

Tyreel Stud

1,700,000

Aquis Farm

C I Am Invincible - Captivating Claire

Segenhoe Stud

1,400,000

T Magnier/Hemitage B'stock

F Lonhro - Dancing Heather

Newhaven Park

1,400,000

Sheikh Khalifa Al Maktoum

C Redoute's Choice - Traceability

Arrowfield Stud

1,300,000

Orbis B'stock

F Exceed And Excel - More Than Real

Kia Ora Stud

1,200,000

Hermitage B'stock

C I Am Invincible - Mrs Boxall

Torryburn Stud

1,200,000

James Harron B'stock

C I Am Invincible - Camporella

Yarraman Park

1,200,000

Jadeskye Racing/B Widdup

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (A$)

Avg (A$)

Mdn (A$)

Top Price (A$)

2019

346

122,795,500

354,900

260,000

2,800,000

2018

337

116,847,500

346,728

250,000

2,300,000

2017

308

109,320,000

354,935

260,000

2,500,000

2016

349

98,937,500

283,489

200,000

2,300,000

2015

355

103,285,000

290,944

200,000

2,200,000

64 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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MAX YOUR RETURNS....

Contact Bill Dwan (+353 87 648 5587) or Andrew Mead (+44 7940 597573) to discuss your 2019 sale entries

www.castlebridge.eu

Sales Circuit Osarus Breeze-Up Sale

A steady ship on a gentle breeze summed up this auction, held on the south-west coast of France following racecourse gallops on La Teste-deBuch’s Hippodrome Becquet.

Of 74 horses offered – three fewer than in 2018 – 46 found a buyer, or 64%, and while the latter figure is uninspiring it was an increase on the previous year. Turnover dipped two per cent to come in at just under €1,000,000, but while the average price was trimmed nine per cent, the median figure gained seven per cent.

Emmanuel Viaud of Osarus commented: “This first Osarus Sale

of the year was satisfactory overall, which is a positive sign in an uncertain environment.”

There was nothing uncertain about the market’s belief in progeny by Haras du Quesnay’s Anodin, a son of Anabaa and brother of brilliant filly Goldikova.

Five youngsters from his second crop came up for auction and they all sold, including a filly whose €90,000 valuation headed trade.

A €17,000 Arqana October yearling graduate, she was consigned by Paul Basquin’s Haras du Saubouas and bought by trainer Christophe Ferland for Ecurie Vivaldi. Ferland later bought an Anodin colt from the same draft for €60,000, and the sale-topper meant

Haras du Saubouas has now achieved the pick of the sale for four years in a row.

This was almost exclusively a French affair, although expatriate former UK trainer Vicky Haigh, who now holds a licence in France, bought a couple of inexpensive horses, including one of two consigned by John Bourke’s Hyde Park Stud.

Among higher-value horses was a son of ever-popular Siyouni who made €75,000 and will be joining Richard Hannon to run for Middleham Park Racing. Nicolas De Watrigant brought the hammer down for this one, who was bred by Al Shahania Stud.

Osarus Breeze-Up Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Price (€)

F Anodin - Ciao My Love

Haras du Saubouas

90,000

Buyer Christophe Ferland

C Siyouni - Mythical Border

Ecurie Prevost Baratte

75,000

Mandore International

C Anodin - Midas Medusa

Haras du Saubouas

60,000

Christophe Ferland

F Camelot - Drole De Dame

Ecurie la Frenee

57,000

Mandore International

F Siyouni - Sage Melody

Ecurie Prevost Baratte

50,000

MAB Agency

C Wootton Bassett – Bryanka

Ecurie Yann Creff

50,000

Mandore International

C Anodin – Sheema

Ecurie Prevost Baratte

47,000

Clemence Vandel

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2019

46

991,000

22,537

216,000

90,000

2018

49

1,039,800

21,220

10,000

105,000

2017

47

677,500

14,415

9,000

77,000

2016

68

1,079,500

15,875

10,000

60,000

2015

43

909,000

22,725

15,000

65,000

Please contact Andrew Mead (+44 7940 597573 mead@castlebridge.eu) or Bill Dwan (+353 87 648 5587 dwan@castlebridge.eu) to discuss all your 2019 sale requirements

May_177_SaleCircuitv2.indd 67

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Caulfield Files

Sea The Stars: quality and adaptability around the globe Ajax Stakes winner Fifty Stars is proof that horses can show greater versatility if given the chance, which is often the case when European runners are imported to Australia

GEORGE SELWYN

T

he first horse to benefit from the stayers’ incentives was Stradivarius, an admirably tough, game and consistent son of the outstanding Sea The Stars.

Although he was fast enough to win the 2,000 Guineas – a race which didn’t feature in the career of his half-brother Galileo – Sea The Stars has generally proved a strong influence for stamina. The Racing Post credits his progeny with an average winning distance of 11.2 furlongs, which exactly matches the figure of his older half-brother.

Galileo has sired winners of the Gold Cup and Prix du Cadran, as well as multiple winners of the St Leger, Irish St Leger, Derby, Irish Derby, Oaks, Irish Oaks and King George. Although Sea The Stars is eight years younger, he has already supplied winners of several of these major races, including the Gold Cup, Derby, Irish Derby, King George, Oaks and Irish Oaks.

There is therefore a perception that he too is a strong influence for stamina, and I am expecting to see a shift in the type of mares he is sent, in much the same way that Coolmore has been loading Galileo’s book with mares who were fast or precocious, or both.

It must be said that Sea The Stars has been coping perfectly well with mares with plenty of stamina in their pedigrees, siring Group 1 winners from daughters of Sadler’s Wells, Hernando, Monsun and Bering, but his progeny have tended to shine after the age of two – no great surprise when his own Timeform rating rose from 109p at two to 140 at three.

As the size of Sea The Stars’ early crops has fluctuated (118 foals in his first crop, followed by crops of 67, 124, 74, 93, 136 and 102), so too has his number of two-year-old winners.

However that crop of 136, born in 2016, contained 13 two-year-old winners in Britain and Ireland, plus others in France and Italy, and it is noticeable that their broodmare sires included such fast or precocious horses as Exceed And Excel, Fasliyev, Elusive City, Anabaa, Shamardal and Teofilo.

It is worth mentioning that one of Sea

Sea The Stars has been well represented in Australia as the sire of Fifty Stars

The Stars’ most fruitful relationships has been with Kingmambo, a top-class miler who also possessed smart form at two.

This partnership has yielded Cloth Of Stars, who ranks alongside My Titania as one of only two juvenile Group winners so far by Sea The Stars, and Zelzal, who became Sea The Stars’ only Group 1 winner over a mile when he landed the 2016 Prix Jean Prat.

With a background like this, it seemed rather unlikely that Sea The Stars’ progeny would thrive in Australia. His ex-English son Oceanographer won the Group 3 Lexus Stakes for Godolphin in 2016 but that win came over an extended mile and a half, and the Irish-foaled Tall Ship won a couple of Listed races at up to 13 furlongs a year earlier. However, we have since seen him very ably represented by a much faster son in Fifty Stars.

Born in Ireland in February 2015, Fifty Stars arrived in Australia in November 2016, having been purchased for 110,000gns at Tattersalls.

The Airlie Stud graduate laboured under the handicap of having to race against opposition which were roughly six months older, in much the same way that the Australian-bred Merchant Navy had to when he was transferred to Europe for the first half of 2018. Merchant Navy proved to be up to the task, and so has Fifty Stars.

At the time of writing he had raced 12 times, establishing the proud record of eight wins and two seconds.

That this son of Sea The Stars is very talented is no surprise, as his pedigree features a couple of highly successful nicks. What is surprising is that he has flourished over distances of a mile or less, even though his pedigree would no doubt have led to a middle-distance career had he remained in Europe.

His wins in 2018 were gained from six to seven and a half furlongs, with his Group 3 success in the Sandown Stakes coming over the latter distance. This year has seen him win the Group 2 Blamey Stakes over a mile and the Group 2 Ajax Stakes over seven and a half furlongs.

Fifty Stars is one of Sea The Stars’ 47 foals aged three or over out of mares by Sadler’s Wells. They are a talented collection, led by that excellent filly Taghrooda, whose exploits over a mile and a half featured victories in the Oaks and the King George; Storm The Stars, who finished third in the Derby and second in the Irish Derby in addition to winning the Great Voltigeur Stakes; the headstrong Knight To Behold, who defeated the future St Leger winner Kew Gardens to take the Lingfield Derby Trial and later landed the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano over ten furlongs.

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Bloodstock world views Other members of the Sea The Stars-Sadler’s Wells team are Crimean Tartar, a mile-and-a-half Listed winner who achieved a Timeform rating of 117p, and Almodovar, who was good enough to be placed in the Hardwicke Stakes and Prix d’Ispahan. Then there’s Fox Tal, who finished a close third in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud over ten furlongs as a two-year-old.

This list demonstrates that Fifty Stars is effective at much shorter distances than the norm, and his ability over seven and a half furlongs and a mile is all the more surprising because his dam, the unraced Swizzle Stick, is bred to the same nick –

by Sadler’s Wells out of a Darshaan mare – as the dam of Taghrooda.

Of course, Sadler’s Wells’ nick with Darshaan mares was one of the most famous of modern times. Although this partnership produced 169 foals, it maintained its effectiveness, to the extent that 28 of them – 17% - became blacktype winners.

Twenty were successful at Group level, with High Chaparral, Ebadiyla, Islington, Septimus, Milan, Yesterday and Quarter Moon all becoming Group 1 winners. Of course, Milan won the St Leger, Septimus the Irish St Leger and the Doncaster Cup, and Ebadiyla the Prix Royal-Oak, the so-called French St Leger, so there was no shortage of stamina here.

Fifty Stars’ second dam Viz was a typical Darshaan, in that she did her winning over a mile and a half, including in a Listed race, so why doesn’t Fifty Stars fit the expected profile? The most obvious answer is that he is showing the influence of his grandsire Cape Cross, who was a miler sired by a sprinter-miler, but I suspect that Australia’s training methods are playing their part.

I remember a British-trained colt called Jeune, who made his last 11 starts in Europe between ten and 12 furlongs.

However, Jeune wasn’t pigeon-holed as a middle-distance horse after his transfer to Australia. His extraordinary record featured Group 1 wins over seven furlongs and in the two-mile Melbourne Cup. In an article for the Thoroughbred Daily News, Gai Waterhouse once explained that her imported horses “work over six and seven furlongs and they travel at between 13.5 seconds and 14 seconds for the furlong. By this stage of their acclimatisation, the imports need some speed ‘injected’ into their work.

“Now I use the term ‘injected’ a touch loosely, but this is exactly what I am trying to do; these horses have been bred to stay, they have proved they can cruise over a trip back home, but the races are

May_177_CaulfieldFiles.indd 69

Reel value with stallions that stayed the distance If anyone ever questioned the wisdom of the measures introduced to boost the popularity of stayers in Britain, a look at the one-dimensional nature of Australian breeding should silence any doubters. Australia appears no longer to be able to produce sufficient horses to contest its valuable races which demand stamina.

I was reminded of this yet again when the former Juddmonte horse Midterm won the Group 3 N.E. Mannion Cup over a mile and a half at Rosehill on March 23. Of the 12 contestants, two were bred in Britain and another six were bred in Ireland, and these eight filled the first eight places, with the four Australian- or New Zealand-bred runners bringing up the rear. It had been a similar story in the 2018 Melbourne Cup, when the 24 runners included only four locally-bred horses and two from New Zealand, none of which reached the first five.

If we don’t want to see a similarly lop-sided industry developing in Britain and Ireland, breeders need to think twice before joining the herd that rushes to use virtually any first-season stallion which won a Group race over sprint distances at two, rather than stallions which progressed to do well beyond a mile.

The 2018 Return of Mares credits Aclaim, a triple Group winner over seven furlongs who won his only juvenile start, with an initial book of 160 mares. Then there’s Kodiac’s Group 2 five-furlong juvenile winner Ardad, who covered 132 mares in his first year; Caravaggio, the Phoenix Stakes and Coventry Stakes winner who received 217 mares; Molecomb Stakes winner Cotai Glory, who was welcomed with no fewer than 179 mares at Tally-Ho Stud; and the very speedy Profitable, who was kept busy with 185 mares.

On the other hand, only 66 mares visited Galileo’s very well-connected son Decorated Knight, a triple Group 1

designed much differently in Australia.

“They need to develop a turn of foot and they need to be able to maintain their speed for longer than they have in the past. Getting a horse to run faster for more of the race by introducing it to a

Highland Reel was popular in 2018, covering 184 mares

winner at up to ten and a half furlongs who didn’t win at two and didn’t become a Group winner until he was four. Mondialiste, another Group 1-winning son of Galileo with substantial earnings, paid the penalty for not having run at two or having won until he was four, with his first book falling short of 60 mares. And Ulysses, another of Galileo’s sons, needed strong support from Cheveley Park to boost his book to 115 mares, even though he is the son of two Classic winners and won two of Europe’s most competitive mile-and-aquarter races as a four-year-old.

The importance of good two-yearold form was underlined when Highland Reel, another of Galileo’s prolific Group 1 winners, was greeted with 184 mares, thanks partly to his having been a Group 2 seven-furlong winner at two and partly to this earner of £7.5 million being conservatively priced at €17,500.

The good-looking Postponed did win at two but the fact that this winner of the King George and Juddmonte International did most of his Groupwinning at a mile and a half, and after the age of three, resulted in a book of 112 and a reduction of his fee from £20,000 in his first year to £15,000 in his second. Ulysses was another whose fee had to be substantially reduced in his second year.

new way of training is one of the final steps in getting a European horse acclimatised to Australian conditions.”

Perhaps the message is that some of our racehorses could prove to be quite versatile, given the chance.

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Paddock Maintenance

Good soil and grazing equals happy and healthy horses In the first of a two-part series, Joe Grimwade, former manager of The Royal Studs, explains the processes and practicalities of providing first-rate paddock maintenance for thoroughbreds in the springtime to help achieve excellent roots and pasture

P

art of the joyful process of welcoming in the spring is being able to renovate the damage of winter grazing and set up the paddocks for the rest of the year. Good grazing is a massive asset to any stud and a level of management can provide dividends; it may need some hard feed supplementation but should be the best and cheapest feed for breeding stock.

The principles are simple – good pasture needs good roots which need good soil; to establish good grazing, it is logical to start with the soil and work up.

Understanding the soil

There are a wide variety of soils, most having good and bad points, and some farms may have more than one.

Knowledge of your soil types provides a valuable insight into how they will perform and how they are best managed.

Definitions include soil texture, structure and profile; an agronomist can advise if you don’t know your soil’s characteristics.

Soil texture quantifies the proportion of sand (largest), silt and clay (smallest) particles in the topsoil. Soil texture cannot be changed in practical terms, but it has a major bearing on soil structure.

Soil structure defines how the soil particles are stuck together in aggregates and is critical to root development.

Paddock management should aim to create a strong soil structure with aggregates descriptively called ‘crumbs’ (think sponge cake), which will hold a

level of water and nutrients in the soil but with plenty of spaces to allow water to pass through it and to encourage root development. The indicators of good soil structure are: • healthy, productive herbage • dense and deep root systems • extensive earthworm activity • good topsoil drainage • resistance to drought Profile defines soil types normally to three feet deep or the underlying rock, and potentially with multiple layers of soils or minerals. Typical profiles for grassland are calcareous (a variable depth of brown topsoil over a near-white strata of chalk), podsol (with a sand texture and poor structure) and brown earth (which can have distinct layers but with excellent soil structure).

Improving soil structure

Techniques to improve soil structure will, in most cases, be aimed at reducing compaction (when there is insufficient space between the aggregates for water transit and root development). It will normally involve ‘aerators’ and timing can be critical.

A valuable aerator for nearly every stud farm is a slitter or spiker – a tractormounted machine with blades on an axle which penetrate the soil to open it up.

They are best used in spring and autumn (repeated several times if required), when there is enough give in the soil to allow penetration without creating tyre

Table 1: Typical expectations for different soil textures

*High moisture retention can be an advantage in summer grazing

marks. The benefits should not be lost if preceding rolling.

If deeper penetration is required (and the soil profile allows), sward-lifters and sub-soilers are common choices – both being tractor-mounted machines with legs and feet that shatter the deeper soil; a shakaerator is another variation of a sub-soiler.

Waterlogging is a symptom of, as well as a contributor to, poor soil structure.

Permanent drainage systems can help significantly – especially for winter grazing – but the water needs to be able to get to the drains (which clay soils might not allow). On clay soils there could be value in using a mole-plough, which is similar to the sub-soiler but with a head which creates channels to take water away from the soil.

If sandy soil becomes waterlogged, the cause is likely to be ‘panning’ – where water passing through the sand deposits minerals which can eventually form an impervious layer; other forms of panning are more associated with arable land.

Dependent on the level of the pan, spiking or sub-soiling can provide the solution.

Whilst difficult to obtain, organic matter applications are often a great way to improve soil structure, but biosecurity and regulations need consideration.

As cautionary notes: • Sward-lifting should be avoided before or in periods of draught; in the autumn it carries less risk and can have the additional value of preceding the heavy rainfall and frosts.

• Sub-soilers in particular can bring up stones and are likely to create some ridge and furrow, especially if the legs are set too far apart; sward-lifters are designed to reduce this effect.

• Sub-soilers, sward-lifters and moleploughs may be working deeper than water supply pipes and old drainage systems; it may be worth doing some investigating before they are used.

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By Deidre Carson MRCVS

Maintaining paddocks to a high standard is vital to allow thoroughbreds to enjoy the best grazing possible In practice, there are times when the soil texture dictates that efforts to improve soil structure will not be rewarded and it is better to manage the problem rather than try to correct it. Using the extremes to explain the principle, sandy soil is unlikely to develop structure but will provide mud-free winter grazing – it may be best to accept that it will need regular feeding in the growing season and that alternative forms of nutrition will be required in droughts.

At the other end of the scale, a clay soil can provide good summer grazing but will be particularly prone to compaction, which will be exacerbated by winter grazing as well as attempts to repair the resultant damage. It may be best to try to keep your horses off the land in winter and use all-weather turn-outs.

Operations at and above ground level

More common paddock management procedures are completed with little or no ground penetration and particularly in the spring. Noting that an important target is to provide an environment where horses can live and self-exercise safely, these are aimed at levelling the soil surface as well as optimising the pasture.

The main components are harrowing, rolling and topping, with each having options to consider. Any movement of

May_177_PaddockManagement.indd 71

machinery (or horses) over the land will create compaction, which can be minimised by using smaller tractors and equipment (at the expense of speed of operations) and by fitting wide grassland tyres to reduce ground pressure (at the expense of grip). Compaction is significantly increased when there is moisture in the ground and, whilst the window to achieve levelling on some soils is very narrow, it needs to be timed when the soil is as dry as possible.

Harrowing has multiple roles including levelling the soil surface, removing dead herbage to open the sward, breaking up surface nutrients to release them back to the soil, encouraging grass tillering (when it forms new shoots) and spreading droppings. It can be completed during spring, summer and autumn (when the soil is dry enough to avoid tyre marks) but can stress the grass in wet or dry conditions and should be avoided when there is any ground frost.

The main options are variations of chain-harrows or spring-tyne harrows, which both come in a range of widths. It is largely down to personal preference – but chain-harrows are easier to set up and operate, whilst most spring-tyne harrows allow adjustment to dictate how aggressively they work. If you are trying to repair significant winter damage, you might consider an Agri-vator or aggravator which can be combined with

a seeder and has a similar action to a power harrow.

Rolling has three primary roles: levelling the surface, pushing surface stones back into the soil, and encouraging grass tillering – the main options are flat or Cambridge (ribbed) rollers. In both cases the weight of the roller can often be adjusted either with a rack for ballast or the option to fill the roller (noting to drain water out before the winter). If the roller is in sections along the axle, it will reduce skid damage when cornering. Cambridge rollers are better at breaking up soil clods and may be preferred for repairing damaged areas (e.g. gateways) but, again, it is largely down to personal preferences. Timing should follow the guidelines provided for harrowing (and the two actions are often completed consecutively with rolling after harrowing), but noting that it will cause compaction if the soil is wet and is unlikely to have value in the summer.

Topping is an important process to encourage tillering, control weeds (noting the danger of topping ragwort) and maintain the nutritional value of the grazing. Grass is, luckily, a hardy, adaptable plant; it will almost always thrive in the right conditions and can survive serious abuse. Its reaction to grazing, topping, rolling or harrowing is to put out extra shoots from its base to fill any gaps in the sward. Topping should

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Paddock Maintenance ››

not remove more than a third of the grass length to keep the plant healthy and to avoid creating large amounts of debris.

Grass not topped or grazed will go to seed before we want it to – causing a reduction in productivity, palatability and nutritional value. However, grass clippings have a negative effect – both taking nitrogen during the process of composting and robbing the sward of light, so grazing (especially using sheep or cattle in rotation) should be treated as preferable to remove surplus grass.

Toppers are normally rotary (with blades rotating on a horizontal plane) or flail (with blades rotating on a vertical plane). Both have advantages and disadvantages; considerations may include how they can handle undulations in the paddock (when rotary mowers may be preferred) or how well they mulch the grass into finer sections (when a flail may be preferred).

Soil nutrients and pH

It is important to recognise the difference between optimum growth and maximum growth; the aim is to produce a steady supply of herbage to provide palatable, digestible and balanced nutrition.

Excessive nitrogen (in particular) causes flushes of growth which can disrupt the balance of nutrition and create problems including colic, laminitis and developmental problems in youngstock. If prolonged flushes occur – and they may happen without fertiliser applications – it is worth considering other livestock to graze off the surplus.

The primary elements required to support growth are nitrogen, phosphate and potassium; other nutrients (trace elements) are equally important but in smaller quantities and include magnesium, sulphur, iron, manganese, copper, zinc, boron and molybdenum.

A sward-slitter opens up the soil

Table 2: Guidelines for when to complete paddock management processes

Fertiliser applications should be completed in the growing seasons and targeted at specific needs, which can be identified with soil and herbage sampling; analysis may be provided through your feed or fertiliser supplier and sometimes at no cost. Sandy soils will normally require more regular testing and feeding than clay soils, but the general principles are little and often (as far as is practical), using fertilisers which provide the major nutrients and trace elements to meet requirements.

Spring and autumn applications will normally differ; nitrogen is best applied in the spring and a slow release form is generally preferable.

Nutrients will be readily available to the plants only if the correct pH (acidity/alkalinity) is established. Soils with a calcareous profile will tend to be alkaline, whilst soils with a high content of organic matter will tend to be acidic; the standard target is a pH of 6.5 (slightly acidic) for horse pastures. Correcting acidity is easier than correcting alkalinity and professional advice should identify requirements as well as the best options to rectify them (which are likely to change from region to region). Lime applications on clay soils provide the additional benefit of flocculation, where clay particles are attracted to lime particles, forming aggregates and improving soil structure.

When applying fertiliser (normally in granular or liquid), consideration should be given to the standard regulatory requirements and, if applicable, the enhanced requirements within the

extensive DEFRA-designated Nitrogen Vulnerable Zones (NVZs).

It is often less expensive to use local contractors (if available) to complete the infrequent tasks which require substantial equipment (e.g. sub-soiling or applying lime), but they may need guidance if not familiar with the specific requirements of horse paddocks.

Herbage and herbicides

The ultimate test for a paddock is how the horses look when they are grazing on it. There may be a need to add grasses or herbs to improve productivity, palatability and variety, but permanent pasture tends to find a balance which is well adapted to the conditions; altering that balance can be counterproductive.

Options for sowing seed include slot seeding or strip seeding, where specialist machinery places the seed (and fertiliser if required) into the soil with minimal disturbance of the sward; broadcasting offers another option but it can be difficult to establish the seed sufficiently to compete with the existing herbage.

When chemicals are required (and noting that regulations apply), careful selection can limit unintended damage to desirable herbage and some techniques minimise the chemicals required; these include spot spraying with a knapsack sprayer and weed wipers, which apply the chemical via a boom to weeds standing above the main herbage.

Joe Grimwade trades as Stud Management Advisory Limited – for more details see stumanadv.com

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Half-price tickets to Ascot for members

Members can take advantage of a 50% discount for entry to two Ascot meetings in May

T

here are a number of exclusive discounts and badge offers available to members of the Thoroughbred Club in the upcoming month. For further information on all badge offers, please contact the club on info@thethoroughbredclub.co.uk.

Royal Ascot Trials Day Ascot, May 1 Members of The Thoroughbred Club will receive half-price admission to the Royal Ascot Trials Day at Ascot

on Wednesday, May 1.

The seven-race card will include a number of specific trials for Royal Ascot, including the Group 3 Longines Sagaro Stakes, which has been previously won by the likes of Colour Vision and Estimate, and this year continues to be part of the Weatherbys Hamilton Stayers’ Million.

Half-price tickets can be purchased on the day from Ticket Office East following presentation of a valid TTC membership card.

May Race Weekend Ascot, May 10-11 Members will also be able to purchase half-price tickets for the May Race Weekend on Friday and Saturday, May 10-11.

The two days will feature a number of high-class races including the Victoria Cup, a £100,000 seven-furlong handicap. Off the track, there will be entertainment from tribute acts, plus a wealth of innovative menus and cocktail bars.

Learn more about mating plans at one-day seminar The Thoroughbred Club members have been given the chance to attend a one-day seminar held in the Joan Westbrook Lecture Theatre at the National Stud on Wednesday, May 29.

The seminar, which is organised by the National Stud and the TBA, will provide an opportunity for members to learn more about the process involved in planning matings and pedigrees, and offer the chance to discuss views and opinions with industry professionals.

The cost to attend is £54 for TTC members (£108 for non-members), which includes lunch. To book your place or for further details contact the National Stud on students@ nationalstud.co.uk or call 01638 675930.

May 29 is the date for the seminar on matings and pedigrees at the National Stud in Newmarket

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www.thethoroughbredclub.co.uk •

@TTC_GB

Diary Dates and Reminders Tuesday, May 14 Visit to Weatherbys TBA Regional Day Wednesday, May 29 ‘The Mating Game’ Seminar The National Stud, Newmarket Tuesday, June 4 Visit to Whitsbury Manor Stud followed by lunch at a local pub TBA Regional Day Wednesday, June 5 Visit to David Menuisier’s Coombelands Racing Stables, followed by lunch and a visit to the Arundel Equine Hospital TBA Regional Day Wednesday, June 26 Visit to George Scott Racing and the Jockey Club Rooms TBA Regional Day Wednesday, July 3 Visit to Estcourt Stud followed by lunch at a local pub.

South West Regional Day

TTC members can visit Weatherbys on May 14 and Whitsbury Manor Stud on June 4

Upcoming events:

Weatherbys & Whitsbury A limited number of tickets are still available for the upcoming TBA trip to Weatherbys on Tuesday, May 14, which members of The Thoroughbred Club can attend for an exclusive discounted rate.

For those wishing to pursue a career in the industry, the trip will be a great way to learn more about one of the sport’s key administrators by exploring the role that Weatherbys plays within the racing industry, highlighting different areas of service and giving an opportunity to meet some of the Weatherbys’ team at their office in Wellingborough.

Members of The Thoroughbred Club will also get the chance to have an exclusive look at Whistbury Manor Stud

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in Hampshire on Tuesday, June 4.

Established in 1948, the stud combines boarding facilities for mares and youngstock, as well as standing four commercial stallions - Showcasing, Adaay, Due Diligence and new recruit Havana Grey.

The day will start at the stud for a behind-the-scenes tour of the stallions, broodmares and yearlings, followed by a talk by vet Charlie Pinkham of Pinkham Equine. The group will then convene at a local pub for lunch.

For further information and to book your place on either trip, please visit the TTC website or contact Melissa on info@thethoroughbredclub.co.uk or 01638 661321.

Thursday, July 4 ‘Youngstock and Development’ TBA/National Stud Regional Course York racecourse Tuesday, July 30 ‘Youngstock and Development’ TBA/National Stud Regional Course Harper Adams University For further information on all events, including an online booking form, please monitor the TTC website

New Members TTC would like to welcome the following members and look forward to meeting them at our events throughout the year: Beatrix Kilgour, Suffolk, Hannah Knowles, Suffolk, Charlotte Shilton, Cardiff, Molly Sherring, Gloucestershire

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ROA Forum

The special section for ROA members

Pontefract stages inaugural ROA Industry Ownership Day in April

The new owners’ and trainers’ facility at Pontefract was unveiled during the Industry Ownership Day last month

P

ontefract’s opening fixture of the season on April 9 proved to be a notable one, as it launched the ROA’s inaugural Industry Ownership Day and marked the unveiling of the course’s new facilities for owners and trainers.

This was the first of nine ROA Industry Ownership Days being held throughout the UK this year. The days are intended to recognise existing members and to promote the thrill and accessibility of ownership to potential racehorse owners.

Each of the racedays features an Owners Jackpot race, offering a £2,000 bonus to the winning horse. Owners of qualified runners in the Jackpot race also each receive £250 in travel expenses.

Winning yards and breeders can also

benefit. Where the winning trainer is an ROA member, the yard will receive a bonus of £500. In addition, the breeder will receive a bonus of £500 if they are an ROA member.

The racedays provide a number of benefits for members in attendance, including access to the ROA’s popular regional meetings, places for which are bookable in advance, and free admission.

Our day at Pontefract began with a regional meeting for 70 in the Dalby Stand, the fourth of this year. Members and their guests enjoyed lunch and the use of the facility during the afternoon’s racing.

The ROA sponsored seven races on the card, giving members an opportunity

Industry Ownership Days in 2019 Month Racecourse Date May

Newton Abbot

May 15

June

Haydock Park

June 6

July

Musselburgh

July 3

August

Ripon

August 6 (evening)

September

Perth

September 9

October

Nottingham

October 2

November

Hereford

November 12

November

Wetherby

November 27

to get involved in selecting best-turnedout awards and making presentations to winning connections.

Mick Fitzgerald acted as a raceday host, interviewing members and compered a question and answer session with Di Arbuthnot of Retraining of Racehorses.

ROA Chief Executive Charlie Liverton and members of the team were on hand to help during the day to answer questions about ownership and membership.

Invitations for regional meetings are posted to owners who live locally.

Members can book for a future event in advance to secure a place.

During the regional meeting at Pontefract, members were updated on the following topical issues:

• Prize-money in 2019 and beyond • The Appearance Money Scheme and the Levy Board’s support of £6.5m to underpin the scheme for the remainder of this year

• Equine welfare and political impact • Ownership Strategy project • Impact of Brexit Members raised a number of topics, including frustrations at being balloted out, and the impact of ARC’s decision

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to stop dividing races. Members were encouraged to share their views at www. roa.co.uk/ballot.

Members were interested in more detail on the breakdown of the sources of prize-money. Questions were also raised around the longer-term impact on a horse’s career of not being able to get a run, and the PASS admission system.

Pontefract enhancements

Owners and trainers visiting Pontefract this year will have the use of a new facility. The old bar has been completely renovated and almost tripled in size by taking in and knocking through what were storage areas and an old tote building.

Although the bar met expectations when it was originally constructed, the racecourse executive was aware that the facilities for owners and trainers had fallen behind the standards which owners had, quite rightly, come to expect. With the increase in the number of syndicates and partnerships, they were also mindful of the fact that space was often at a premium in the old layout.

Along with the refurbishment, there is a new enhanced lunch offering available in the owners’ and trainers’ bar.

These are not the only improvements to facilities at Pontefract. Winning connections have both a new room from where they can enjoy replays of their race and the added benefits from a new racecourse partnership this season with award-winning local farm shop Farmer Copleys, which will be providing a luxury Yorkshire hamper to the winning owner of every race.

Chepstow regional meeting

Almost 40 members gathered at Chepstow racecourse on March 21 for the

ROA members were involved in presentations to winning connections throughout the day

third regional meeting of this year.

The Piercefield Suite provided a comfortable location to enjoy racing on a bright spring day, with the balcony offering a great view of the course, parade ring and winners’ enclosure.

Charlie Liverton updated members on industry matters before inviting questions. Topics covered in the update included the Appearance Money Scheme, prize-money, changes in betting behaviour and how the shift in betting via mobile phones had impacted on racing’s share of the levy.

Members noted that 67% of races were run at minimum values at Class 5 and discussed checking prize-money on offer when looking at race entries. British racing’s high standards of welfare were discussed, as well as the threats and challenges posed by some who did not support racing.

There was an appetite from owners for racecourse groups to be transparent about racecourse income against their executive and sponsorship contribution

ROA President Nicholas Cooper opened the new facility with Pontefract’s Norman Gundill

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to prize-money.

Members expressed concerns at the lack of suitable opportunities, as well as clashes with nearby fixtures (Ludlow that day). They were invited to use the ROA’s online links at www.roa.co.uk/ballot to evidence occasions when they were frustrated at being balloted out.

Members voiced frustrations on the reliability of going reports. This was linked to racehorse welfare and it was noted global warming posed additional challenges.

While members noted one person’s assessment could differ from another, the track and condition were key, as was the hygiene within racecourse stables and bio-security.

Members expressed interest in racecourses organising a course walk for owners, two hours prior to the first race, setting off from the weighing room, with the clerk of the course.

It was noted that some courses offer course walks and it may be that this can be communicated more effectively in pre-raceday information. Poor customer service, especially around the arrival and admission process, was an irritation to owners at some courses.

Members noted that work is very much under way on this area through the Quality Mark ,with further resources/ training for racecourses and their staff being developed through the Ownership Strategy project.

They were updated on masterclasses for racecourses as service providers, which had been held at Newbury and York in mid-February.

Members enjoyed the chance to meet and network with fellow members on the day. The next three regional meetings will take place on May 15 (Newton Abbot), June 6 (Haydock) and July 3 (Musselburgh).

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ROA Forum

The ‘Thrill of Ownership’ in Liverpool

T

o celebrate the passion of ownership, as well as promoting the progress of the Industry Ownership Strategy, a dinner headlined the ‘Thrill of Ownership’ was held in the magnificent surroundings of Liverpool Cathedral on Wednesday, April 3 on the eve of the Randox Health Grand National meeting at Aintree.

The evening commenced with a drinks reception in the stunning Lady Chapel of the cathedral, which is the largest cathedral in the UK, before moving into the nave. Guests enjoyed a

Canon Bob Lewis delivered a racing-themed grace, while, above, Nick Luck (left) hosted the after-dinner panel

beautiful organ recital by Professor Ian Tracey, the cathedral organist, before being called to dinner. Canon Bob Lewis gave a witty racing-themed grace before dinner was served.

The focus of the evening was the Nick Luck-hosted after-dinner panel – featuring ROA Chief Executive Charlie Liverton, board member Charlie Parker and ROA member Paul Brocklehurst – where the common theme was the passion and emotional investment that surrounds racing.

Four videos were also unveiled that celebrate the variety of ownership involvement as well as the enjoyment and excitement involved. These can be viewed and enjoyed via www.bit.ly/ roayoutube.

BHA WHISTLEBLOWING POLICY The British Horseracing Authority launched details of its updated whistleblowing policy in March, which is now available to the racing industry and wider public.

Widening the policy out to external audiences aims to illustrate the BHA’s ongoing commitment to maintaining integrity, credibility and accountability in how it operates.

The policy also outlines the procedure by which any individual involved at any level of the sport of horseracing can report or blow the whistle on concerns relating to the running of the BHA or the actions or activities of its employees, officials, directors or members of BHA committees or industry committees administered by the BHA. It is designed to work in conjunction with other

policies, such as the BHA’s Safeguarding Policy, to protect anyone involved in British racing, whether as a participant or otherwise, from potential wrongdoing.

Examples of the sort of conduct which would be appropriate to report using the whistleblowing policy are:

• Any criminal activity • Possible corruption or lay betting • Conflicts of interest • Failure to maintain company standards You can raise any concerns by contacting whistleblowing@britishhorseracing.com.

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Don’t miss these events…

ROA AGM

The ROA AGM takes place on the morning of Tuesday, July 2 and members are welcome to join us on the day at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel, Knightsbridge, London.

As usual the AGM will feature keynote industry presentations and the chance to pose questions about ownership and membership issues to the ROA board. The meeting is free to attend. Coffee will be served from 10am for a prompt 10.30am start.

After the formal business of the morning, which will include the result of the ROA board election, there will be a champagne reception from midday, followed by lunch for those who have booked. Members can book individual places or a table of ten for the three-course lunch with wine.

The lunch offers a great opportunity to network with likeminded members and traditionally features an amusing after-lunch address from a guest speaker.

Tickets are priced at £115 per person.

Bookings can be made online at www. roa.co.uk/events or by calling the ROA office.

Members have been sent ballot papers for the board elections.

There are 16 candidates standing for three places. This is a chance to select candidates that represent your interests, so please do use your vote.

If you have mislaid your voting card, please call the ROA office, who will be able to reissue one.

Breakfast With The Stars

The Royal Box at Epsom Downs is the venue for our exclusive members’

morning on May 21 to celebrate the Investec Derby festival.

The event will see potential contenders in the Investec Derby, Oaks and Coronation Cup working on the course, and guests will be able to enjoy breakfast while viewing presentations from the adjacent Breakfast With The Stars event, where connections will be interviewed.

Breakfast will be rounded off by an optional course walk, taking in the unique camber and characteristics of the Derby course.

Places for this memorable morning are £47.50 per person and can be booked at www.roa.co.uk/events or by calling the ROA.

Royal Ascot

ROA members can take advantage of a number of special offers at Ascot racecourse this year. These include an admission offer on the opening two days of Royal Ascot, Tuesday, June 18 and Wednesday, June 19.

Members can enjoy a generous 30% discount on Queen Anne admission (only). The discounted price is £51.10 (full price £73).

We have a few places left in our fine dining package for members across three restaurants over the five days of Royal Ascot (June 18-22).

Places are sold out on some days and limited on others. Details of the offers, which can be enjoyed with or without admission, can be found at www.roa. co.uk/events.

Members can also enjoy a 10% discount on Queen Anne Enclosure admission and fine-dining packages at Ascot throughout this year outside of

ROA members at Breakfast With The Stars in 2018

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Royal Ascot.

Details of how to book can be found in the members’ area of the ROA website at roa.co.uk in the offers and discount codes page.

Animal Health Trust visit

The Equine Influenza outbreak earlier this year highlighted the vital work that the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket does for racing, and the equestrian world in general.

If you would like a look behind the scenes of one of the world’s leading veterinary and scientific research charities, then the ROA is offering a small number of members this exciting opportunity.

The visit, including a light buffet lunch, will take place on the morning of Friday, July 12, allowing attendees the opportunity to also go racing at Newmarket in the afternoon, with complimentary admission available through the ROA’s various schemes.

The highlight of the day’s racing is the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes, won in recent years by such fantastic fillies as Goldikova and Alpha Centauri.

Places are very limited and available on a first-come-first-served basis. The cost is £20 per member and bookings can be made on the ROA website at roa.co.uk/events or by calling the office on 020 7152 0200.

Trip to Tattersalls

Have you always wanted to know more about what happens at the sales, such as how auction houses work, how trainers pick horses, and what role the vets present on the day play?

At the ROA we hope to provide those answers with a member visit to the historic Tattersalls bloodstock auctioneers in Newmarket. The trip will take place during day one of Book 3 of the world-famous October Yearling Sale on Thursday, October 17.

Attendees will be treated to a guided behind-the-scenes tour of the action on the day, complete with lunch, which is kindly subsidised by Tattersalls.

The cost of the visit is £40 per person, and members are limited to bringing one guest each. To book please visit roa.co.uk/events or call the office on 020 7152 0200.

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ROA Forum

MAGICAL MOMENTS with ROA member Giles Morland

GEORGE SELWYN

E

ven those who prefer jump racing must feel a slither of excitement when Flat horses return to turf in the spring.

It may count for nothing as far as championship purposes are concerned, but the Lincoln meeting at Doncaster still possesses a magical quality, four months of all-weather action giving way again to lush green as the backdrop to the speedier side of our sport.

Winner of just the second race of the turf season, the Spring Mile, was Petrus, whose owner Giles Morland’s interest in racing – or at least betting! – has been life-long.

Petrus, trained for Morland by Brian Meehan, landed the prestigious 16-runner Doncaster handicap, which is effectively the Lincoln consolation, by half a length under Tom Marquand as a well-fancied 7-1 chance.

Explaining his background, Morland says: “My initial interest in horseracing started at school. This was very much from a gambling perspective, and the cleaning lady in our house used to place our bets for us. Interestingly she was, at weekends, a part-time police officer!

“When I started in the City, racehorses were beyond my means. I owned a number of greyhounds, which we syndicated around the bank. Later I moved on to racehorses; initially in syndicates and then outright ownership.

“I do all of my racing with Brian

Bacchus (far side) gets the better of Dreamfield in the 2018 Wokingham Handicap

Meehan and Sam Sangster, both of whom are great friends. I am Chairman of Manton Thoroughbreds, Centurion Thoroughbreds and Petrus Breeding Investments Limited; all of which I do with Sam and Brian.”

Morland, an investment banker for 30 years before retiring at the end of 2015, adds: “I currently have interests in 18 horses in training, all on the Flat. Six of these run in my name and my colours; the rest are Manton Thoroughbreds’, where I am Chairman and an investor.”

While Manton and the Sangsters are among the places and names that reverberate in Flat racing, history can sometimes be a burden. Manton must

be a lovely place from which to train but also a place where the ghosts of past glories are a constant reminder of high expectations.

Morland has plenty of faith in Petrus’ handler and continues: “My choice of Brian Meehan as a trainer is not only down to our friendship. I believe with the right raw material he is one of the very best in the country.

“He also has an exceptional eye for a yearling, which is important to me.

This is an expensive sport and if we can endeavour to make it pay, then all the better. I have had horses with Henry Candy and Archie Watson but am happiest being all in one place at Manton.”

Aintree Cloister facility proves a hit with members The ROA hospitality package available on the opening day of the Randox Health Grand National meeting provided a comfortable location for members and their guests to enjoy the day’s racing in what proved to be inclement weather conditions. Around 170 members enjoyed a carvery lunch in the Cloister facility, located above the weighing room.

A group of 20 members joined a course walk before racing, hosted by Jockey Club Racecourses regional head of racing Simon Claisse and jockey Danny Cook, completing a full two miles of the course.

Members also enjoyed free admission and parking on the first two days of the festival, and we would like to thank the team at Aintree for extending such a warm welcome to members who made use of all these options.

Members get up close to the famous Grand National fences at Aintree

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As good a start to the turf season as Morland made thanks to Petrus, it would take something a little bit higher-profile from the fouryear-old to make it into his magical moments shortlist.

His owner says: “Two magical moments stand out for me. First was Barraquero winning the Group 2 Richmond Stakes for Manton Thoroughbreds II. Second was Bacchus winning the Wokingham last year, my first Royal Ascot winner.”

Petrus also ran at Royal Ascot last year, finishing 12th in the Britannia off a mark of 97. His Doncaster win saw him rise 6lb back to that same mark.

There are a variety of answers when asking someone what aspects of ownership they especially enjoy, and Morland make no bones about the importance of occupying the prime spot in the winners’ enclosure.

“The best thing about being a racehorse owner is the winning; nothing beats it,” he says.

“I also enjoy the camaraderie; it is very much a team effort with everyone pulling together so, when it comes off, it is especially satisfying.”

He adds: “The worst thing is probably the prize-money at the lower levels. I believe that if you have a horse that wins two to three times in a season then, as a minimum, that should be a zero-sum game for you.”

It is a sentiment his thousands of fellow ROA members would undoubtedly share, with the Flat sector hoping for at least a zero-sum game as the turf season cranks up and spring turns into summer.

Wonderful offers at the Qatar Goodwood Festival

The ROA will host a pre-racing drinks reception on the opening day of the five-day fixture

Members can take advantage of two special offers this summer at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, July 30 to August 3.

We are very pleased to offer members the chance to book a specially discounted package, which includes lunch in the Horsewalk Restaurant.

The package includes admission to the Richmond Enclosure, a three-course lunch and afternoon tea. There will be a

minimum of 20 places available on each day, subject to availability. Details of how to book this special package can be found at www.roa.co.uk/events.

As usual, members are also able to book Richmond Enclosure badges for the five days of Glorious Goodwood through the ROA. On the opening day of the festival, Tuesday, July 30, the ROA will host a pre-racing drinks reception, for which places will be bookable in advance.

Diary dates and reminders MAY 15 Industry Ownership Day and regional meeting at Newton Abbot MAY 17 HEROS visit

JUNE 18-22 Royal Ascot offers JULY 2 ROA AGM and lunch

MAY 21 Breakfast With The Stars, Epsom Downs

JULY 3 Industry Ownership Day and regional meeting at Musselburgh

JUNE 6 Industry Ownership Day and regional meeting at Haydock

JULY 12 Visit to Animal Health Trust and racing at Newmarket

JULY 22 Visit to the British Thoroughbred Retraining Centre in Lancaster and racing at Cartmel JULY 29-31 Access to AIRO facility on the first three days of the Galway Festival JULY 30-AUGUST 3 Service to book Richmond Enclosure badges and hospitality package for Glorious Goodwood

For more details or to book see roa.co.uk/events

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ROA Forum

MY DAY AT THE RACES with Tony Outhart at Aintree on April 5

T

he Racing For Fun syndicate comprises nine members: Tony Outhart, Judith Moran, Roy Hyde, Dave McDermott, Martin Hill, Chris Trembath, Mick Hyde, Andy Spencer and Daron Paish. The new syndicate was formed when Rebecca Curtis bought Lisnagar Oscar at the Goffs Aintree National Sale in 2018. Curtis was adamant that this son of Oscar would turn into a really smart chaser one day, and as four of the syndicate members had previously owned a Cheltenham Festival-winning horse in O’Faolains Boy, also trained by Curtis, a plan was hatched to win the RSA again – and then the Grand National in 2022!

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

As we are a syndicate with nine members spread all over the country it is easiest for all pre-raceday info to be sent to our trainer, Rebecca Curtis, who then has the job of organising us! That said, Jockey Club Racecourses have all of the information that owners need to plan their day on their websites. The Aintree website is easy to navigate and provides all the necessary details.

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

We had 18 people attending so we were a little nervous about getting everybody sorted with tickets as we knew it would be extremely busy. The reception area where you pick up tickets was first class, and the operation was really well organised and very slick.

Lisnagar Oscar (10) is an exciting prospect for the Racing For Fun Syndicate

Fun times: Diana Fudge, Tony Outhart, Rebecca Curtis, Roy Hyde and Judith Moran

The staff were extremely efficient in organising our badges and wristbands.

As we had two horses running on the day we did not have to buy additional badges, although we did purchase six extra luncheon vouchers (£25 each) as you receive six complimentary vouchers per horse. If you have a large number of owners attending it is always a good idea to let the racecourse know what your requirements are in advance, rather than just turn up on the day, particularly at the major festivals. Carly Sage, the owners’ point of contact, is very helpful and efficient.

Did you use the O&T facility on the day?

Aintree has a different owners’ and trainers’ facility for the National meeting compared to its other racedays. It is a large facility with three bars and two restaurants to accommodate the numbers. The downside is that this facility is not course-facing, so allow ten minutes before race time to get to your chosen viewing spot. We arrived early so getting seated was no problem, but later on it was extremely busy.

We enjoyed an excellent meal (carvery) in the O’Sullevan’s restaurant on the first floor. The service was really good, plus we received a complimentary drink. The other food option is to book a table in Restaurant 1839. We have used this facility at previous National meetings and it is also excellent. Linda White and her team take really good care of you.

There are two sittings, noon and 2pm.

We prefer the latter as you can keep the table for the rest of the afternoon.

There is complimentary tea and coffee available all day.

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

If you arrive early as we did you will be fine with getting seating in the bar area.

Staff in the carvery did a great job in politely moving people on once they had eaten, so there was no problem at all getting a table when you were ready to eat, and there was not too much queuing either despite the big numbers.

This is definitely an improvement on previous years in this facility, when it has not been made clear that folk could not use the tables for most of the day!

How was the pre-parade ring/paddock experience?

It is always very special when you have horses running at the National meeting.

We were lucky that the terrible weather from the previous day had passed, so we enjoyed the paddock experience, particularly as we managed to get into the winners’ enclosure after the race, albeit in third place!

How did you find the facilities for owners’ viewing?

Owners’ and trainers’ badges allow access to all terraces in the grandstands, so it is very easy to pick a good spot to watch your race. It is a shame that the owners’ and trainers’

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Online invoices and VAT summaries

pavilion is not track-facing as it is for the other meetings at Aintree, but I’m guessing this is not possible given the numbers involved. This is probably the only aspect where Aintree does not equal Cheltenham.

The best place to view the race is from the O&T reserved area at the top of the Lord Daresbury Stand. It’s a bit of a trek from the O&T pavilion, then climbing several flights of stairs, and it can be quite blustery up there, so wrap up! But it is worth the effort as it is simply one of the best views of any racecourse in the world. Watching any of the three races over the National course from this viewpoint is as good as it gets from a spectator perspective.

All owners should include this on their bucket list.

As part of the BHA’s efforts to modernise and reduce the costs of racing administration, from the beginning of May many hard copy letters previously received by owners and trainers will be moving online.

Owners are not required to take any action, and the following outlines the changes being made.

What is moving online?

From May 1, invoices for BHA racing accounts and VAT summaries for all ownership types (including sole owners, companies, partnerships, syndicates and racing clubs) will be available to view online via the Racing Admin system.

For the avoidance of doubt, if you have a Weatherbys bank account as opposed to a BHA racing account, the way you receive your statements will not change, but your VAT summaries may move online as described below.

Were you able to review a replay of your race easily on course?

Yes, all connections of the placed horses were invited into a hospitality facility, offered champagne and food, and then we watched a re-run of the race. We were also given a memory stick with a recording of the race, which was a nice touch as most courses give this only to connections of the winner. Winning connections are taken to a separate facility which is adjacent to the weighing room.

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

We always enjoy having runners at Aintree, and particularly at the National meeting. It is one of the highlights of the jump season and has its own unique atmosphere. As owners we were extremely well looked after, from when we first arrived at the gates through to last orders at the owners’ and trainers’ bar. Although we didn’t win it was a memorable day – well done to the team at Aintree for making it a great occasion.

What does this mean for me?

As you already have access to the new Racing Admin system, you will be able to view your invoices and VAT summaries online. This will

include those for any partnerships you are involved in, plus any syndicates and racing clubs you manage. Your hard copy invoices and summaries will be replaced by monthly emails notifying you when these are ready to view online.

If your VAT summaries are currently delivered to a VAT agent, they will continue to receive these in hard copy.

What other improvements are being introduced?

In addition to the move online, invoices and VAT summaries are being aligned to cover the same dates each month, and their layout improved to make them easier to understand and utilise. For more information on these changes please visit support.racingadmin.co.uk.

Do I need to take any action?

While there is no need for you to take any action in order to enjoy these improvements, if you want to continue receiving hard copy invoices and VAT summaries, or you would like further information, please contact the Accounts Team via racingfinance@weatherbys.co.uk.

News in brief 19_04_02-BeHorseAwareCampaign-A4Print3.pdf

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ring and winners’ enclosure.

As announced last month the code, agreed between the Racecourse Association, ROA and NTF, promotes safety in these areas for those who genuinely should be in those areas.

Each association is providing guidance for its members. Specific guidance for owners can be found at roa.co.uk/races.

C

M

Y

CM

MY

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HOW IT RATED Entry Viewing Atmosphere Owners’ facilities Food Overall score

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CMY

Lease agreement

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★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 24

The Be Horse Aware logo will be visible and prominent around racecourses as part of the revised industry Code of Practice for the pre-parade ring, parade

The ROA has added a comprehensive lease agreement template to its resources for members. The agreement and all-important guidance notes can be downloaded in a word document from the Members Area of the ROA website at www.roa.co.uk. The agreement and guidance notes have been put together with input from the ROA, National Trainers Federation and Thoroughbred Breeders Association.

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ROA Forum Figures for period April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019

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 Sandown Park Newbury Chester Doncaster Haydock Park Chelmsford City Ayr Salisbury Pontefract Wetherby Hamilton Park Ripon Musselburgh Kempton Park Carlisle Nottingham Leicester Redcar Windsor Thirsk Newcastle Catterick Bridge Beverley Yarmouth Lingfield Park Bath Ffos Las Wolverhampton Brighton Chepstow 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 2018-19

Total prize-money 2018-19 (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2017-18 (£)

I I I JCR JCR JCR I I ARC JCR I I I I I I I I JCR JCR JCR I I ARC I ARC I I ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC

471,381 247,392 214,183 203,471 134,278 91,204 86,427 83,457 81,140 73,748 53,123 50,056 46,564 46,526 44,662 42,565 42,339 41,270 38,804 38,084 36,831 36,166 36,031 34,931 34,917 34,839 34,308 33,937 29,613 29,180 28,504 28,140 24,172 24,016 23,675 22,329 62,832

125,496 94,341 84,039 74,923 72,146 51,627 55,815 46,831 45,986 42,149 21,770 32,180 28,326 30,640 13,800 22,480 21,568 19,498 22,853 19,508 21,592 20,789 24,654 20,676 22,577 21,104 20,638 23,253 19,089 19,928 18,546 13,511 19,932 16,280 12,480 19,024 31,635

282,771 114,751 77,551 94,921 77,257 41,041 37,183 14,067 38,451 19,453 6,579 12,203 5,954 3,824 7,438 4,454 4,832 5,153 6,056 6,291 7,215 5,476 16,199 5,892 6,818 5,470 2,942 4,215 4,934 3,807 4,181 4,411 3,938 3,297 3,521 2,856 21,266

883,814 460,373 380,772 373,315 286,117 186,006 184,425 145,655 167,098 140,132 82,957 94,439 81,778 82,758 65,900 69,498 68,739 65,920 68,123 63,883 66,093 62,905 76,884 61,499 64,968 61,758 57,888 61,405 54,398 52,915 51,408 46,063 48,060 43,593 39,676 44,208 116,679

18 18 19 10 39 15 18 15 24 24 63 19 15 15 4 18 17 14 69 12 22 19 16 26 16 50 17 18 23 75 17 8 86 22 15 30 906

15,908,659 8,286,706 7,234,660 3,733,153 11,158,581 2,790,090 3,319,656 2,184,832 4,010,340 3,293,106 5,226,285 1,794,339 1,226,671 1,241,363 263,600 1,250,968 1,168,570 922,885 4,700,468 766,600 1,454,045 1,195,194 1,230,150 1,598,967 1,039,487 3,087,883 984,100 1,105,291 1,251,149 3,968,662 873,928 368,500 4,133,154 959,036 595,146 1,326,248 105,652,470

439,135 229,497 191,742 155,972 117,576 67,769 81,645 85,085 76,740 66,025 44,024 34,085 40,004 38,082 32,248 39,024 38,886 57,827 33,461 30,373 30,086 32,722 26,370 27,072 31,417 41,872 23,738 31,160 25,440 45,896 30,275 28,053 23,245 19,596 22,492 20,934 58,667

Up/ down

s s s s s s s t s s s s s s s s s t s s s s s s s t s s s t t s s s s s s

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 Kempton Park Newbury Kelso Ayr Doncaster Fakenham Newton Abbot Wincanton Chepstow Perth Exeter Cartmel Taunton Newcastle Ludlow Carlisle Wetherby Stratford-On-Avon Market Rasen Warwick Uttoxeter Hereford Huntingdon Ffos Las Hexham Towcester Musselburgh Catterick Bridge Leicester Plumpton Lingfield Park Fontwell Park Worcester 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 2018-19

Total prize-money 2018-19 (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2017-18 (£)

Up/ down

JCR JCR I JCR JCR JCR I I I ARC I I JCR ARC I JCR I I ARC I JCR I I JCR JCR ARC ARC JCR ARC I I I I I I ARC ARC ARC I ARC ARC

288,649 269,845 172,193 110,542 105,884 63,466 60,084 50,870 45,995 41,470 37,568 37,206 37,039 36,514 35,785 34,433 34,420 33,920 33,367 33,261 33,147 32,876 32,730 31,508 30,449 28,490 27,798 27,655 27,045 26,481 25,725 25,448 25,392 24,001 22,806 22,477 22,025 21,940 21,922 19,606 19,073 46,433

145,488 120,936 92,522 95,979 83,564 62,227 71,308 30,306 38,392 44,224 19,577 27,385 35,838 35,733 34,064 30,774 29,111 22,039 31,213 29,879 35,331 32,209 21,882 29,295 32,231 28,594 24,402 26,392 25,308 20,330 17,457 24,643 23,818 29,306 23,525 21,819 19,998 23,900 20,699 20,925 20,497 36,087

80,823 71,408 19,766 19,716 18,254 10,347 16,696 6,297 13,281 6,522 0 0 6,434 10,049 4,340 7,264 5,802 6,234 5,645 5,231 7,340 6,355 4,800 5,821 7,189 7,273 5,765 5,908 5,702 3,351 4,010 3,404 2,819 4,206 4,534 4,839 3,649 4,478 4,090 3,437 4,062 9,185

514,959 462,814 288,856 232,348 211,169 136,425 149,566 91,472 101,514 94,852 57,145 64,590 79,811 82,297 74,455 72,471 69,333 62,194 70,610 68,665 83,107 71,825 59,412 66,841 70,002 64,357 57,966 61,344 58,055 50,162 47,192 53,951 52,030 57,513 50,864 49,135 45,672 50,318 46,871 43,968 43,632 92,493

8 16 8 9 8 13 11 15 13 11 12 18 16 14 15 16 9 13 13 17 13 13 18 22 17 26 10 18 12 16 4 11 8 9 15 6 24 20 14 19 18 568

4,119,675 7,405,028 2,310,850 2,091,132 1,583,765 1,773,523 1,645,224 1,372,086 1,319,677 1,043,375 685,738 1,162,621 1,276,972 1,152,152 1,116,830 1,159,534 624,000 808,521 917,928 1,167,308 1,080,392 933,730 1,069,419 1,470,495 1,190,030 1,673,271 579,656 1,104,186 696,655 802,595 188,767 593,460 416,237 517,617 762,964 294,810 1,096,138 1,006,361 656,198 835,389 785,384 52,489,693

275,542 265,619 146,862 111,098 106,436 56,570 30,710 28,595 44,071 37,957 30,284 27,636 34,671 30,992 85,960 30,401 30,773 27,327 28,558 56,570 30,689 29,043 30,302 28,060 31,542 24,014 30,078 26,470 24,551 22,464 21,270 21,324 24,089 26,470 20,091 28,595 19,959 22,394 19,948 17,850 17,428 44,058

s s s t t s s s s s s s s s t s s s s t s s s s t s t s s s s s s t s t s t s s s s

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

84 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Email. info@ksbequine.com

Mobile. 086 8352998

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THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER 85

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TBA Forum

The special section for TBA members

First Regional Forum held at Ludlow

A

round 20 members from the Wales and West Midlands region attended Ludlow racecourse on Monday, April 1 for the first of the TBA’s Regional Forums, which have been added to the calendar of events in 2019.

TBA Chairman Julian RichmondWatson welcomed members and stressed the importance of maintaining a dialogue with the membership – especially those in more remote locations – hence the introduction of the forums. He stressed the importance of supporting the British breeding industry and also discussed the challenges that lay ahead in the event of the UK’s exit from Europe (with or without a deal), praising the work being done by DEFRA on behalf of British breeders to maintain free movement for thoroughbred horses.

He advised that whether or not the UK left with a deal, the Tripartite Agreement will be subject to change when the new animal health law comes into force.

Claire Sheppard, TBA Chief Executive, followed with a brief summary of some of the lesser known TBA membership benefits and issued an update on the work that is going on behind the scenes in veterinary research, and education programmes. The TBA’s headline Entry 2 Stud Employment (E2SE) course has proved to be a great success and will be expanded this year to take on additional students. The nine-week residential course at the National Stud is open not only to school leavers but to anyone wishing to pursue a change of career into the breeding industry regardless of age or experience.

The first of the TBA’s Regional Forums was well attended last month at Ludlow racecourse

Simon Cooper, Operations Director of the Weatherbys General Stud Book Company, underlined the importance of working closely with the TBA to ensure any changes or initiatives Weatherbys introduce are relevant and user friendly.

He also discussed the challenges that the industry faces in terms of ensuring the validity and integrity of information that Weatherbys hold on horse passports and explained how they are also working with the veterinary sector to identify gene manipulation in thoroughbreds.

He also advised that new technology was also making it easier for vets to record foal markings on iPad or iPhone.

Weatherbys is also working to ensure the

British General Stud Book is recognised by the EU post-Brexit.

The presentations were followed by a Q&A session, where the speakers answered questions from members. The forum was followed by lunch and an afternoon of racing. The TBA wishes to thank all members who took time out of their busy schedules to come along and support the Association with this new initiative and hopes to welcome more attendees at the other forums across the country later this year.

A full report from the event, which includes a copy of the presentations, is available on the members’ area of the TBA website.

30-day foal notification reminder TBA members are reminded that 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.

The 30-day notification is now in its second year of operation and the regulatory authorities will start to implement penalties for those who do not notify within the designated time period. Breeders are encouraged to complete the online notification as soon as possible within the 30-day period.

For more information on the new system and help on submitting a notification, please visit www.weatherbys.co.uk/30day.

There is also a new tool for checking a foal’s notification status. To check if your foal has been notified please visit selim.britishhorseracing.com/potro/

86 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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TBA NH Breeders’ Celebration Dinner

QIPCO Guineas Festival, Newmarket racecourse Newmarket racecourse has kindly offered TBA members the opportunity to watch a horse they have bred run at the QIPCO Guineas Festival on May 4-5.

Members who have bred a horse entered should email annette.bell@thetba.co.uk with their name, the name of the horse and race entered.

Badges are limited and will be restricted to two per member and issued on a first come, first served basis. Badges will be issued only if the horse is declared to run.

Deadline for applications is 3pm on Friday, May 3.

Places still available on one-day seminar at the National Stud The TBA has teamed up with the National Stud to offer a one-day seminar entitled ‘The Mating Game’ on Wednesday, May 29 in Newmarket.

The day will commence with an overview of the processes involved in planning matings, followed by an open floor discussion with a panel of industry experts.

This is a unique opportunity to hear and discuss views and opinions with industry professionals.

The cost to attend is £108, or £54 for TBA members, which includes lunch.

To book your place or for further details contact the National Stud on students@nationalstud.co.uk or call 01638 675930.

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EBF/TBA Mares’ Novice Chase Series On Sunday, March 10 the EBF/TBA Mares’ Novices’ Chase took place at Warwick racecourse and was won in impressive style by Lucca Lady.

The daughter of leading sire Milan was bred by Frank McGuinness and sold at the Goffs Land Rover Sale as a store for €15,500, and is now trained by Katy Price. Partnered by Ben Poste, she tracked the leaders before hitting the front three fences out and stayed on strongly to win by 13 lengths.

After the win, her trainer commented: “I thought Lucca Lady wasn’t quite ready or fully wound up, but this was the only opportunity we had to qualify for a mares’ race at Cheltenham in April. Our hand was forced and we had to come, but she is classy.

“We had her wind looked at twice before and they said it didn’t need doing, but we did it. She’ll go to Cheltenham next.”

Later in the month, another of the EBF/TBA Mares’ Novices’ Chases took place at Kelso on Saturday, March 23. The race was won by Kupatana, who made all to win by 18 lengths. The daughter of Westerner was purchased by Highflyer Bloodstock for £120,000 at the Goffs UK Aintree Sale in 2017 and is now trained by Paul Nicholls for owners Mike Grech and Stuart Parkin.

Kupatana and Sean Bowen make all to win at Kelso

ALAN RAEBURN – CALEDONIA PHOTO

Breeders’ badge offers

This year’s TBA NH Breeders’ Celebration Dinner will take place on Monday, May 20 at the Mount Pleasant Hotel in Doncaster.

The event, which is kindly supported

by Goffs UK and takes place on the eve of the Spring Store Sale, will celebrate British-bred successes on the racecourse from the 2018–19 National Hunt season.

Owners, breeders, trainers and jumps enthusiasts are invited to attend the evening, which will commence with a drinks reception and dinner, followed by the presentation of the awards.

Tickets for the event can be purchased for a cost of £55 on the TBA website or by contacting the office on 01638 661321 or email info@thetba.co.uk.

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TBA Forum

GEORGE SELWYN

INVESTING IN BREEDING & RACING – Great British Racing International

Queen Anne Stakes victor Accidental Agent was one of 33 British-bred Group 1 winners internationally in 2018

Natural British reserve usually drowns out attempts to shout about success.

Not so with Great British Racing International, one of whose chief purposes is to trumpet as loudly as possible about British winners, especially those bred here.

GBRI Operations Director James Oldring explains: “Our remit breaks down very simply into two key areas: to maintain and generate investment from overseas into British horseracing, and to promote British success internationally, whether that’s British-bred, -sold or -trained. They complement each other, because if we’re not promoting the product we are trying to sell, we’re only doing half a job.”

For breeders that involves a promotional partnership in which the TBA funds GBRI to promote Britishbred success, domestically but primarily internationally, and press releases carry both names, for instance.

Oldring reckons the association is working. “I believe many more British breeders now feel there is someone banging a drum on their behalf, with the recognition that Britain is not lagging behind Ireland and France but remains a world leader,” he says.

His assertion is backed by facts. “Last year was a great year for British-bred horses,” he says. “There were 41 Group 1 wins and 33 individual Group 1 winners internationally, and of those 24 were bred by smaller domestic breeders, a fact that we have been really keen to push.

“Britain’s in a good place with up-

and-coming stallions. Obviously Frankel is big internationally, because people remember his racing exploits and he’s had an outstanding start to his stallion career, but Britain also stands some very promising young sires. It’s definitely a good time to be promoting British breeding.”

Oldring is keen to stress GBRI’s neutrality, contrasting its independence with perceptions about some of its predecessors, which were cross-industry organisations, and enabling it to serve large and small operations alike.

“Giving greater recognition to the smaller farms helps when it comes to the sales season,” he reasons. “If you can say to buyers coming from overseas for the premier yearling sales, ‘These are the guys who bred so-and-so, a Group winner,’ it actually makes it easier to get them to view the stock. It’s not our business to tell people what they should buy, but I can point them in the right direction, and even if they end up being underbidder on a certain horse, it all helps the market.”

With this approach in mind, GBRI casts its net beyond the regular hunting grounds.

“The top end of the sales market tends to be fairly robust,” Oldring says, “but when things get difficult it’s the middle to lower end that struggles, which is why we look to countries which we know will buy at that level.

“Early this year we hosted around 60 Czech and Slovak breeders who are likely to be using stallions and purchasing

horses in the middle bracket, and, similarly, my colleague Amanda Prior visited Uzbekistan earlier this year and Greece last year.

“We spend as much time and effort hosting people from smaller or emerging countries as we would those at the top end of the market. We might be showing them different stallions but it’s very important that they feel Britain welcomes them and their trade, and they are made to feel important when they come.”

This year’s key targets will include China, where Oldring admits Britain is playing catch-up, and the US, where more owners and trainers are becoming aware of opportunities for turf horses.

“It’s really important to raise the profile of Britain to the fledgling Chinese horseracing industry,” he says. “It takes time to build relationships there, but we now have a representative based in Beijing, Mani Ma, who’s a graduate of the DITI (Darley International Thoroughbred Internship) scheme, knows global horseracing, is young and enthusiastic, and has good networking connections.

“As for the US, there are really only three places to get turf-bred horses in the northern hemisphere and we need to make sure we make the most of Britain’s great position and are promoting that fact to the Americans.

“The more competition we drive at auctions, the better the return for the commercial and hobby breeder. Also, the better the representation of the British thoroughbred internationally, the higher the value that’s put on it.”

88 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Fontwell – 16/03/2019

Recent winners Catterick Bridge – 06/03/2019

THE RACING TV HAS CHELTENHAM COVERED MARES’ NOVICES’ HURDLE RACE (CLASS 4) (NHMOPS Bonus Race) Winner: Pink Legend Owned by: Mr Francis Mahon Bonus Value: £10,000

Sandown Park – 09/03/2019

THE EBF STALLIONS/TBA MARES’ STANDARD OPEN NATIONAL HUNT FLAT RACE (CLASS 1) (Listed Race) (SERIES FINAL) (NHMOPS Bonus Race) Winner: Misty Whisky Owned by: Distillery Stud Bonus Value: £5,000

THE EBF bet365 MARES’ ‘NATIONAL HUNT’ NOVICES’ HURDLE RACE (CLASS 4) (NHMOPS BONUS RACE) (Qualifier for The EBF Mares’ NH Novices’ Hurdle Series) Winner: Shapiro Owned by: Mrs J Buckingham, Mr C Cobbett, Mr J Burley and Mr A Chapman Bonus Value: £5,000

Southwell – 18/03/2019

THE TOALSBET LIVE CASINO MARES’ STANDARD NATIONAL HUNT FLAT RACE (CLASS 5) (CONDITIONAL JOCKEYS’ & AMATEUR RIDERS’ RACE) Winner: Eyes Right Owned by: Hamer and Richardson Bonus Value: £5,000

Chepstow – 21/03/2019

THE FAUCETS INTRODUCING INTELLIGENT CARE FROM RADA MARES’ NOVICES’ HURDLE RACE (CLASS 4) (Novices’ Championship Hurdle Series Qualifier) Winner: Deadringerforlove Owned by: Mayoh, Callan, Beese and the Dennys Bonus Value: £10,000

Musselburgh – 22/03/2019

THE IRISH THOROUGHBRED MARKETING MARES’ INTERMEDIATE OPEN NATIONAL HUNT FLAT RACE (CLASS 4) (NHMOPS Bonus Race) Winner: Hello Bob Owned by: Robert Gibbons Bonus Value: £2,500

Uttoxeter – 30/03/2019

THE MARK SLATER ELECTRICAL MARES’ STANDARD OPEN NATIONAL HUNT FLAT RACE (CLASS 5) (NHMOPS Bonus Race) Winner: Wynn House Owned by: Rupert Anton Bonus Value: £5,000

Ludlow – 01/04/2019

THE RACING TO SCHOOL MARES’ NOVICES’ HURDLE RACE (CLASS 4) (NHMOPS Bonus Race) Winner: Rose To Fame Owned by: Jones Broughtons Wilson Weaver Bonus Value: £10,000

Diary Dates & Reminders Tuesday, May 14 Members’ day to Weatherbys Weatherbys, Wellingborough

Wednesday, July 3 South West Regional Day Estcourt Stud, Tetbury

Wednesday, September 11 North Regional Day Mark Johnston Racing, Leyburn

Monday, May 20 TBA NH Breeders’ Celebration Dinner Mount Pleasant Hotel, Doncaster

Thursday, July 4 ‘Youngstock and Development’ TBA/National Stud Regional Course York racecourse

Thursday, September 26 TBA Regional Forum Newmarket racecourse

Wednesday, May 29 ‘The Mating Game’ TBA/National Stud Seminar The National Stud, Newmarket Tuesday, June 4 West Regional Day Whitsbury Manor Stud, Hampshire Wednesday, June 5 South East Regional Day David Menuisier’s Coombelands Racing Stables and the Arundel Equine Hospital Wednesday, June 26 East Regional Day George Scott Racing and Cheveley Park Stud

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Tuesday, July 16 TBA Flat Breeders’ Awards Dinner Newmarket Wednesday, July 17 TBA AGM and Annual Seminar Tattersalls, Newmarket Tuesday, July 30 ‘Youngstock and Development’ TBA/National Stud Regional Course Harper Adams University Monday, August 5 TBA Regional Forum Ripon racecourse

Thursday, October 3 TBA Regional Forum Salisbury racecourse Thursday, October 31 TBA Regional Forum Newton Abbot racecourse Further information on all events can be found on the TBA website

New members Mrs Sarah Hampton-Howard, Devon Mr Jamie Peel, Suffolk Mr Jack Barber, Somerset Mr Jamie Railton, Hertfordshire

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TBA Forum

Progressive Annie Mc wins mares’ final at Newbury Annie Mc and Jonjo O’Neill jnr en route to victory

On Saturday, March 23 the EBF & TBA Mares’ NH Novices’ Handicap Hurdle Final took place at Newbury racecourse and was won by the progressive Annie Mc. The daughter of Mahler was bred by Jay Kavanagh and sold at the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham May Sale last year, where she was bought for £20,000 by Tom Malone.

Trained by Jonjo O’Neill for owners the Coral Champions Club, she was held up towards the rear before bursting to the lead two out and staying on well to win by eight lengths. After the race, her trainer commented: “It was a

good performance from Annie Mc and I thought the ground wouldn’t be soft enough for her because she seemed to relish it at Chepstow.

“She won there and I thought the handicapper was a bit harsh on her, but she’s improving. We’ve no plans, but we might look at Ireland. She’s been busy enough and could go chasing next season.”

The race forms part of the TBA’s work to improve black-type opportunities for mares to showcase their talent on the racecourse. For further information please visit the TBA website.

Your point-to-point mare could win up to £3,000 through the TBA’s 3-2-1 Bonus Following the success of last season, the TBA is once again offering the 3-2-1 bonus of up to £3,000 for point-to-point mares at three end-of-season bumpers.

The bonus forms part of the TBA’s work to improve race opportunities for mares and aims to encourage more owners to test their mares on the point-to-point circuit before progressing to the National Hunt racing programme.

The bonus operates on a sliding scale, with the highest-placed mare receiving a £1,000 bonus, a further £1,000 (£2,000 total prize) if she is British-bred and another £1,000 (£3,000 total prize) if she is owned by a TBA member.

This year’s bonus applies to the following end-of-season bumpers, which are run under rules on licensed racecourses: • Introducing Racing TV P2P Bumper, Exeter, April 16 • Goffs UK Spring Sale P2P Bumper, Aintree, May 17 • Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Champion P2P Bumper, Stratford, May 31 For further information on the bonus, please visit the TBA website or contact Alice Thurtle on alice. thurtle@thetba.co.uk/01638 661321.

Listed success and a NHMOPS bonus for Misty Whisky Misty Whisky, a homebred daughter of Stowaway, gained some valuable black-type with her win in the Listed EBF/TBA Mares’ Standard Open NH Flat Race at Sandown on Saturday, March 9.

Trained by Harry Fry and ridden by Sean Bowen, she was held up in midfield for the majority of the race before running on inside the final furlong to win by a length. She is owned and bred by Distillery Stud, who were also rewarded with a £5,000 NHMOPS prize for her success.

After the race her trainer said: “We are delighted. We couldn’t really split our runners coming into it. Misty Whisky handled the conditions.

She didn’t have the ideal preparation as we couldn’t run when we wanted due to the flu vaccination.

“Misty Whisky ran a really nice race on her debut, followed up at Ludlow and we put her away to come here. Sean Bowen said he was caught in a pocket for longer than he wanted, which probably benefited him going up the hill. We’ll enjoy this before thinking about future plans.”

The connections of Misty Whisky collect their prizes after her Listed victory at Sandown in March

90 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Rachael Flynn (Keystone Law) offers members advice on private horse sales As part of an occasional series of legal articles, Rachel Flynn of Keystone Law looks at some of the issues that can arise when selling horses privately A cause of calls to the TBA legal advice helpline is often a disagreement about the sale or disposal of a horse, the terms of which the parties later remember differently. This can be contentious when an animal is different from what the buyer is expecting in terms of its characteristics, racing and breeding record, behaviour or health; or the seller is expecting the horse’s future use to be limited or different (e.g. non-racing/ breeding) but nobody writes that down.

I strongly recommend the use of a written contract for the non-auction sale of any horse. Not only can the above issues be spelled out for the record, but it is particularly important when the contract involves a ‘consumer’. It is vital to distinguish between a private sale between private individuals and the situation where a trader (breeder/ trainer/agent) is dealing with someone who is not buying in the course of a business (i.e. a consumer). Such transactions may or may not be of high value in the thoroughbred world, but do present particular issues.

In the event of a true private sale (from private seller to private buyer), the rule is buyer beware (‘caveat emptor’), subject to any misrepresentation claims.

The latter are representations that the seller makes on which the buyer relies, which later turn out to be untrue and cause loss. In the case of a true private sale, the express warranties and representations that the seller intends

making about the horse’s health, fitness and ability should be spelled out in writing in order to reduce the likelihood of claims.

Where a sale is from trader to consumer, changes to sale of goods legislation brought about by the Consumer Rights Act have important consequences for sellers. In the main, this Act covers the same areas as the previous Sale of Goods Act, including fitness for purpose, compliance with description, satisfactory quality, etc.

The chief significance of the more recent changes to horse-related claims is that “goods (i.e. the horse) which do not conform to the contract at any time within the period of six months from delivery of the goods will be taken not to have conformed to it on delivery unless such a presumption is incompatible with the nature of the goods or how they fail to conform to the contract.”

So there is now a presumption that the problem existed at the point of sale, unless the seller is able to show that it did not. The burden of proof is reversed for the first six months. Clearly in horserelated cases a lot of damage can be done in that six months.

The best way to address this is in the contract terms dealing with the ‘nature of the goods’ (not exactly perishable but close) and ‘the nature of any failure to conform with the contract’ (by describing the horse clearly and any

TBA Stud Staff Award nominations This year the TBA will be offering a restructured Stud Staff Award, which will be presented at the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Flat Awards Dinner on Tuesday, July 16.

The award, which is generously sponsored by New England Stud, will provide the winner with a £2,000 cash prize and a perpetual trophy in the form of a magnificent Charlie Langton bronze.

The TBA Stud Staff Award aims to celebrate the significant contribution that stud staff make to the breeding industry by rewarding those who have shown dedication and excellence in their role.

Studs are invited to nominate deserving employees from both Flat and National Hunt stud farms, and can be made by completing the nomination form which is available to download on the TBA website, alongside further details and terms and conditions of the award. Nominations close on May 31.

May_177_TBAForum.indd 91

warranties given fully and properly in the first place). Dealt with in this way, a well-drafted contract will see off the majority of such claims.

Assurances that the seller intends giving (express warranties and representations) about the horse’s description, age, freedom from vice, whether or not she has been tested in foal, etc, can be set out clearly. The contract could also go on to say what warranties are NOT being given – e.g. about the horse’s characteristics, behaviour and ability.

The document should include details of the extent of any examinations (including veterinary inspections) carried out by the buyer; some general words about horses being living, breathing things who are easily affected by training, handling and management and their environment; the price and how it is to be paid; when property and risk is to pass; and insurance, etc.

‘Boilerplate’ clauses, such as those saying that the contract is the entire agreement and one stating the applicable law and jurisdiction, are also important in such cases.

Using a written contract falls into the category of prevention rather than cure, yet this is often (normally?) overlooked in cases involving the private sale of horses. When the sums in issue are significant – and even when they are not – very few disappointed buyers and unhappy sellers relish spending their hard-earned cash on lawyers’ fees and litigation. Yet there is a way to help yourself, which involves little more than a bit of knowledge and forethought – by using a written contract.

On the sale of a thoroughbred there is also a requirement to inform Weatherbys of change of ownership, which is something that is often forgotten in this situation. The Weatherbys website (weatherbys. co.uk/horses-racing/horse-passports/ passports-gb) describes what is needed.

As a benefit of TBA membership, Rachel Flynn provides an advice service to members (T&C’s apply). Please contact the TBA office for further information.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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18/04/2019 18:13

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NATIONAL HUNT BREEDER OF THE MONTH – MARCH

It would be fair to say that Robert and Margaret Robinson of Distillery Stud experienced the highs and lows of racing on Imperial Cup day at Sandown.

They are the breeders of One For Rosie, who was announced the winner of the EBF Novices’ Hurdle Final before the placings in the Grade 3 contest were reversed due to the photo-finish being taken at the wrong winning post.

Just over an hour later, their very own Misty Whisky, a half-sister to One For Rosie, provided valuable compensation by getting her head in front at the right winning post in the Listed EBF Stallions/ TBA Mares’ National Hunt Flat Race Final. In addition to the prize-money, they also collected a further £10,000 under the NH MOPS bonus scheme.

The dam of the Sandown duo is Whisky Rose, one of 14 broodmares the Robinsons keep at their stud farm at Annan in Dumfries and Galloway.

Robinson paid €9,500 for the daughter of Old Vic at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale in 2006, attracted by her pedigree.

Her dam, the Roselier mare Milford Rose, won a bumper and a hurdle race in Ireland and was a daughter of Milford Run (by Deep Run), who was ridden to victory in two bumpers in 1989 by her fledgling trainer, a certain Willie Mullins.

Around the same time, Milford Run’s Buckskin half-brother, Minella Lad, was winning six hurdle races and a steeplechase for the then Piltown-based Aidan O’Brien before going on to finish

92

GEORGE SELWYN

DISTILLERY STUD

Misty Whisky strikes at Sandown

third in the 1994 Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

A paddock injury prevented Whisky Rose reaching the racecourse but she has already proved her worth as a broodmare. Her first foal was Air Horse One (by Mountain High), who was sold privately to Dorset trainer Harry Fry. He won a bumper and three hurdle races as well as being placed at Grade 2 and Grade 3 level.

One For Rosie was next in line. Paul and Clare Rooney went to €48,000 to acquire the son of Getaway at the Goffs Land Rover National Hunt Sale in 2016 and put him into training with Nigel Twiston-Davies. He won three of his first four starts before his frustrating near miss at Sandown.

Robinson decided to retain Misty Whisky and sent the daughter of Stowaway to Fry because he was familiar with the family. A Listedwinning National Hunt mare with a strong pedigree is always likely to attract plenty of offers, but Robinson

plans to keep her in training next season with a view to joining his expanding broodmare band in due course.

Whisky Rose herself is still going strong and has a Dylan Thomas threeyear-old filly, an Ocovango two-year-old filly and a yearling colt by Soldier Of Fortune. This year she will be covered

by Getaway.

The land on which Distillery Stud now stands was originally the site of a whisky distillery, started in 1830 by former exciseman George Donald. The distillery closed before the First World War and in 1925 Robinson’s grandfather took over the lease on the land and turned it into a stock farm, whilst running the family’s Provost Oats mill in Annan.

In 2000 the Robinsons moved back to Distillery, Robert Robinson’s birthplace, and took the opportunity to pursue an interest in racing that began when Robinson spent time as an amateur with Tim Forster and rode in point-to-points. Within two years of their return they had converted the farm into a successful hands-on breeding operation, which to this day employs just one full-time stud hand.

In 2007 husband and wife David Thomson and Theresa Church purchased the old farm buildings from the Robinson family and began a long reconstruction project – the buildings are listed – with refurbishment work commencing in 2010 to reinstate Annandale Distillery.

Four years later Scotland’s most southern whisky distillery opened again for business, just a few yards away from one of Scotland’s largest National Hunt stud farms.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER 93

18/04/2019 14:15

Vet Forum: The Expert View

‘It was difficult but we rose to the challenge’ Dr Richard Newton, Director of Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance at the Animal Health Trust, discusses the recent equine flu outbreak that led to British racing’s six-day shutdown in February

T

he equine flu outbreak saw the AHT stretched to its limit. What was the biggest challenge you faced?

I think it is fair to say we were stretched. The biggest challenge for us at the Animal Health Trust was the seismic increase we saw in testing volumes – going from a normal week of activity to an unprecedented number of tests overnight. That sudden spike in volume was difficult, but we rose to the challenge and I think it is fair to say it would have stretched any laboratory service.

It quickly became clear that we would be looking at thousands of horses needing to be tested, so the priority was to get the swabs out quickly and then meet the demands of the tests to be carried out. We needed to do this in as an efficient manner as possible, whilst also being flexible to accommodate highpriority samples. Our process of using commercially-produced swabs, which are manufactured close to us here in Newmarket, the use of qPCR technology allowing us to process samples quickly, and our amazing staff and helpers all contributed to us delivering a year’s worth of test results in just a few days.

It is at times like this I’m proud to be working at the Animal Health Trust. We may be a relatively small veterinary and scientific charity, but what we do makes a difference in the UK and ultimately across the globe.

In the end racing was cancelled for six days. How did you make the decision that the sport would be able to resume after that time?

Racing is a highly connected sport, taking place on 60 racecourses and involving horses based all over the country. Bearing in mind that from just five race meetings over three days in February, hundreds of trainers and potentially 10,000 horses could have

been linked to equine influenza, it was extremely important to understand the scale of the issue. The decision to stop racing was taken to enable the BHA to take stock, limit any potential further spread of the disease and really understand how large an issue the sport was facing.

As a member of the BHA Veterinary Committee, we met every night during this period to discuss the situation as it was unfolding. It was only after gathering all the facts over the weekend of February 9-10 that the committee made its recommendations and the BHA took the decision late on the Monday evening to resume on Wednesday, February 13.

There were opposing voices on both sides of the debate – some calling for no cancellation at all, others saying it was foolhardy to start again so quickly.

Did you see that public conversation as a good or bad thing?

I can see why it generated so much debate, but personally I don’t believe it was helpful at the time. There was a view from some people that this was just a normal situation, but it was far from that.

The interest from the media was good and helped us to relay the key messages to prevent further spread

The huge number of equine flu nasal swabs stretched the AHT to the limit

to a much wider horse-owning population.

The outbreak brought the issue of disease prevention and control into the spotlight. What lessons should the industry take on board to improve safety and move things forward?

I think the equine industry needs to now begin to think much more widely than just racing. There is a much wider thoroughbred community out there, for example pre-training yards, transportation, sales rings, etc where the mixing of a large number of horses takes place every day. It is those networks that we now need to help better understand how good biosecurity practices, vaccination, etc, can help control outbreaks like this occurring in the future.

Is there more the industry should be doing to limit the chances of another outbreak occurring, concerning equine flu or any other disease? Put more money into finding new, improved vaccines, perhaps?

Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as just finding a new, improved vaccine. There are a number of variables at play here.

A vaccine today can have a particular vital strain in it, but tomorrow that virus changes ever so slightly and at some point down the line the vaccine will become out of date and stop working so well. It is, however, difficult to predict when and to what extent the vaccines will stop being effective. That is why continual surveillance of equine influenza, especially in vaccinated populations such as racehorses, is so critical, so the earliest warning of a problem with vaccine failure can be picked up.

Going forward, looking at our practical experience and mathematical modelling studies (i.e. the advice is based on firm scientific evidence), I believe the industry needs to consider vaccinating more frequently than

94 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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18/04/2019 17:38

By Deidre Carson MRCVS

With Dr Richard Newton BVSC MSC PHD FRCVS

Laboratory analysis and disease surveillance – assisted by funding from the Levy Board – enables the AHT to help all UK equines every 12 months in order to remain best protected against a virus that has shown it can overcome vaccination.

Of course, there needs to be a degree of flexibility built into this, but it could help limit an outbreak like this in future.

Will Brexit make it harder to stop infectious disease entering the British horse population?

I doubt it. In fact, it could make it easier to control disease if there are greater restrictions on the free movement of horses and the UK decided to introduce its own disease prevention rules.

What advice would you give to breeders and mare owners in light of recent events?

Although we saw a peak of flu outbreaks in February, it is likely that because there are still lots of horses that are not vaccinated against the disease that the current cases of flu will continue for many more months, albeit at a lower level.

Therefore my advice to breeders and mare owners is to remain vigilant and not be lulled into a false sense of security. Be constantly aware of the clinical signs of equine influenza – fever, cough, lethargy, etc, and boost your horse’s vaccination if it was given more than six months ago, and, importantly, isolate new arrivals on your premises.

Practising good biosecurity should be a given in preventing the impacts of infectious diseases.

The Animal Health Trust has an excellent website at equiflunet.org.uk providing advice for vets and horse owners, and also detailing latest outbreaks. If you are on Twitter, you can follow @equiflunet to receive news about outbreaks direct into your feed.

May_177_Vets_Forum.indd 95

What was different about this series of outbreaks? And what has the Animal Health Trust learnt that will aid the thoroughbred community in the future?

This is a strain of flu not commonly seen in the UK and Europe in recent years. All samples sent to the Animal Health Trust for diagnosis are also subjected to vigorous analysis by our research team, ensuring evidence on how the virus is affecting the horse population is collected. This information is then used to inform the Expert Surveillance Panel when it comes to looking at what flu strains should be included in vaccines going forward.

This is one reason why sending samples to the Animal Health Trust for analysis is superior to a number of horse-side testing options available.

Only through comprehensive analysis in a laboratory can new knowledge be gained on how this endemic disease continues to change and mutate, and

this, in time, helps the entire UK horse population.

Did we see the best of British racing during the crisis – the AHT, BHA and Levy Board working together to get the show back on the road as soon as possible?

I believe so. The support we received from the BHA and the significant financial contribution made by the Horserace Betting Levy Board over many years towards influenza surveillance not only saved racing, including some major fixtures such as the Cheltenham Festival, but also had benefits for other equestrian disciplines too.

The racing industry had the vision nearly 40 years ago to set up this surveillance scheme after outbreaks affected racing, and although it isn’t needed like this every year – thankfully – when it is called upon, it very much comes into its own.

Fundraising, such as via a charity raceday at the July Course, is vital to the AHT

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER 95

18/04/2019 17:38

Dr Statz

John Boyce cracks the code

Lope De Vega entering elite sire category

O

BRONWEN HEALY

ne stallion that made giant strides last year is Lope De Vega. The son of Shamardal sired no fewer than eight juvenile stakes winners, which should set him up for a prosperous 2019 season. Ironically, though, it is quite conceivable that two foreign-trained runners could spearhead the Ballylinch Stud sire’s efforts this year.

Santa Ana Lane, winner of the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes at Randwick and likely to be crowned champion sprinter in Australia, has Europe in his sights later this summer. So too does the Chad Browntrained Newspaperofrecord, the US-based filly that ran clean away from her opponents in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies’ Turf.

Owned by Gestut Ammerland and trained by Andre Fabre, Lope De Vega won his first two races at Deauville and Longchamp before finishing fourth in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in a three-race two-year-old campaign. After warming up with a third place in the Prix de Fontainebleau, he struck gold in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and followed that up with victory in the Prix du Jockey Club.

Rated 125 by Timeform, Lope De Vega stood his first year at €15,000 and attracted a well-above-average first book of mares, numbering 127. More importantly, there was plenty of quality amongst them.

Key to Lope De Vega’s future success was the fact that he made a big impact with his first set of juveniles. Four Group-winning two-year-olds emerged in the second half of his debut season, headed by the Dewhurst Stakes victor Belardo. Moreover, all his first-season youngsters looked like progressive types that would be seen to greater effect as three-year-olds. No surprise, therefore, to see breeders flocking to Lope De Vega in

Santa Ana Lane: rated 130 by Timeform

LOPE DE VEGA’S GROUP WINNERS Form G1w G1w G1w G1w G1w G1w G1w G2wG1p G2wG1p G2wG1p G2w G2w G2w G3wG1p G3wG1p G3wG1p G3wG1p G3w G3w G3w G3w G3w G3w G3w G3w LRwG2p

TFR 130 126 125 122 119 115 111 122 116 106 114 111 109 114 112 110 109 118 116 115 112 106 105 103 102 111

Name SANTA ANA LANE VEGA MAGIC BELARDO NEWSPAPEROFRECORD THE RIGHT MAN JEMAYEL CAPLA TEMPTRESS ENDLESS DRAMA VERY SPECIAL SPANISH WHISPER SPANISH REEF HERO LOOK FRENCH FERN PHOENIX OF SPAIN BLUE DE VEGA SOUSTRACTION SOUTH SEAS STEEL OF MADRID BURNT SUGAR RIDE LIKE THE WIND DIVINE UNICORN CANDY STORE ROYAL RAZALMA NAVARRA KING ANTONIA DE VEGA MAN OF HIS WORD

Born 2012 2012 2012 2016 2012 2013 2015 2012 2012 2015 2013 2012 2013 2016 2013 2015 2014 2013 2012 2012 2014 2014 2012 2014 2016 2012

the spring of 2015 with even better mares than he received first time around – hence his major flourish with last season’s two-year-olds.

Lope De Vega attracted 63 elite mares in his first season and this number – as it does with the vast majority of stallions – dropped in the next three years, in his case to 35, 37 and 35. But his strong showing in the autumn of 2014 pushed his elite mare number to 132 in 2015 – and it has stayed higher than 100 in the three seasons since then. It is a safe bet that the son of Shamardal will attract his best-ever book of mares in 2019.

Naturally enough, his fee has risen over the years, but it has done so in a controlled manner. After dropping to €12,500 in years three and four, it was raised to €40,000 in 2015, a price that looked conservative given the prevailing market conditions. Since then it has risen incrementally to €80,000 for 2019.

If the metrics that Lope De Vega is posting are anything to go by, then he deserves the very best mares. So far he’s sired 42 stakes winners from his northern hemisphere crops, which account for 11.2% of his runners. That puts him firmly into the elite-sire category. Only Galileo (16.6%), Frankel (16.3%), Dubawi (16.1%)

Sex G G C F G F F C F F F G F C G F G G G G G F F C F G

Dam Fast Fleet Admirable Danaskaya Sunday Times Three Owls Nawal Mrs Beeton Desert Drama Danielli Cutting Remark Lemon Reef Roscoff La Famelia Lucky Clio Burning Heights Mathematicienne Let It Be Me Bibury Lady Livius Biswa Inchberry March Madness Twiggy’s Sister Navarra Queen Witches Brew Mandalina

Broodmare Sire Fastnet Rock Magic Albert Danehill Holy Roman Emperor Warning Homme De Loi Dansili Green Desert Danehill Encosta De Lago Lemon Drop Kid Daylami Strategic Key Of Luck Montjeu Galileo Mizzen Mast Royal Applause Titus Livius Kafwain Barathea Noverre Flying Spur Singspiel Duke Of Marmalade Fasliyev

and Sea The Stars (11.9%) among active stallions can beat his percentage of stakes winners to runners. This group of super sires have had the not inconsiderable benefit of higher-quality mares.

There is no doubt that Lope De Vega excels with elite mares, something that not all sires do; 26 of his current stakes winners are from elite mares and they comprise 15.6% of the runners from such mares.

That rare ability to exploit good mares to the full is a great sign of prowess in a stallion. Moreover, like all elite sires, he also upgrades his mares. His 11.2% stakes winners has been achieved with mares that normally throw 8.8% stakes winners with other sires. Likewise, he also improves his elite mares, moving them from 10.3% to 15.6% stakes winners.

As time passes we are likely to see more top-class racehorses by Lope De Vega on the racecourse. Currently his two top-rated performers in the northern hemisphere are Belardo (TF125) and Newspaperofrecord (TF122). His southern hemisphere runners are racing ahead in this regard: Santa Ana Lane, a five-time Group 1 winner, is rated 130 by Timeform, and Vega Magic, also a winner at the highest level, is on a mark of 126.

96 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Data Book • Analysis by Andrew Caulfield Grade 1 Winners 206 OLBG DAVID NICHOLSON MARES’ HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 12. 4yo+f. 20f.

1. ROKSANA (IRE) 7 11-5 £70,563 b m by Dubai Destination - Talktothetail (Flemensfirth) O-Mrs Sarah Faulks B-John O’Leary TR-Dan Skelton 2. Stormy Ireland (FR) 5 11-5 £26,585 b m by Motivator - Like A Storm (Ultimately Lucky) O-Sullivan Bloodstock Limited B-S.C.E.A. Haras D’Orfausse TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Good Thyne Tara (GB) 9 11-5 £13,305 b/br m by Kayf Tara - Good Thyne Mary (Good Thyne) O-Mr Nigel King B-Wainbody Estates & N. G. King TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 2.25, 2. Time 5:00.20. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 5-7 8 4 4 £125,171 Sire: DUBAI DESTINATION. Sire of 34 Stakes winners.

NH in 2018/19 - ROKSANA Flemensfirth G1, ELEGANT ESCAPE Orchestra G3.

1st Dam: TALKTOTHETAIL by Flemensfirth. 2 wins. Dam of 2 winners:

2009: 2010: 2011: 2012:

2013: 2015: 2016: 2017: 2018:

Talktotheblonde (f Royal Anthem) unraced. (c Indian Danehill) ROBIN ROE (g Robin des Champs) 2 wins.

ROKSANA (f Dubai Destination) 4 wins over hurdles at 5 to 7, OLBG David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle G1, EBF/TBA Nat. Hunt Mares’ Nov. H. Hurdle G2, 2nd Doom Bar Sefton Novices’ Hurdle G1, 3rd 888Sport Contenders Hurdle LR. Talk To The Face (f Milan) unraced.

Broodmare. (f Mahler) (g Yeats) Helga (f Sholokhov) unraced to date. (f Shirocco)

Broodmare Sire: FLEMENSFIRTH. Sire of the dams of 5 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - ROKSANA Dubai Destination G1, OK CORRAL Mahler LR. The Dubai Destination/Flemensfirth cross has produced: NEXT DESTINATION G1, ROKSANA G1.

ROKSANA b m 2012 Mr Prospector

Raise A Native Gold Digger

Miesque

Nureyev Pasadoble

Alleged

Hoist The Flag Princess Pout

Mysteries

Seattle Slew Phydilla

Alleged

Hoist The Flag Princess Pout

Etheldreda

Diesis Royal Bund

Cheval

Javelot Shevaun

Silent Lady

Perspex Dromroo

Kingmambo DUBAI DESTINATION b 99 Mysterial

Flemensfirth TALKTOTHETAIL b 00 Glenview Lady

Unraced until the age of five, Roksana has rewarded the patience shown her by winning four of her seven races over hurdles, her finest moment coming when she benefited from the last-flight fall of the favourite Benie des Dieux in the Mares’ Hurdle.

Roksana is a daughter of Dubai Destination, a stallion whose career underwent numerous twists and turns. Having won the Queen Anne Stakes, he started his career at a fee of £25,000 but generally disappointing results at Dalham Hall Stud saw the son of Kingmambo transferred to the National Hunt sector, to stand at Glenview Stud from 2010. When interest from jumping breeders started to fade (18 mares in 2014), he was sold to Saudi Arabia. His exportation coincided with the blossoming of his daughters’ broodmare careers, with the likes of Postponed,

Golden Horn, Dutch Connection, Thunder Snow, God Given, Eziyra and The Juliet Rose among their Group winners.

Two of Dubai Destination’s best purpose-bred jumpers are out of daughters of the highly successful Flemensfirth. The first, Next Destination, was a dual Gr1 winner as a novice hurdler and Roksana is the second. Other good recent winners out of Flemensfirth mares include the Gr1 winner Identity Thief, Us And Them and OK Corral.

Roksana’s dam Talktothetail was successful in a bumper and a beginners’ chase and her second dam Glenview Lady had a similar record.

207 RACING POST ARKLE CHALL. TROPHY NOV.CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 12. 5yo+. 16f.

1. DUC DES GENIEVRES (FR) 6 11-4 £102,772 gr g by Buck’s Boum - Lobelie (Round Sovereign) O-Sullivan Bloodstock Limited B-Mrs C. Serre TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Us And Them (IRE) 6 11-4 £38,720 b g by Stowaway - Manorville (Flemensfirth) O-Burnham P & D Ltd B-Ms A. M. Ryan TR-Joseph Patrick O’Brien 3. Articulum (IRE) 9 11-4 £19,378 b g by Definite Article - Lugante (Luso) O-Martin McDonagh/Paul G Murphy/M J Nixon B-Exors of the Late Mr J. Harrington TR-Terence O’Brien Margins 13, 3.75. Time 3:58.90. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 4-6 10 3 4 £150,946 Sire: BUCK’S BOUM. Sire of 5 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - AL BOUM PHOTO Dom Alco G1, DUC DES GENIEVRES Round Sovereign G1, DYNAMITE DOLLARS Cardoun G1.

1st Dam: LOBELIE by Round Sovereign. 6 wins in France. Dam of 1 winner:

2010: 2013:

2015:

Abba des Genievres (f Antarctique) DUC DES GENIEVRES (g Buck’s Boum) 3 wins, 2nd Deloitte Brave Inca Novice Hurdle G1, 3rd Lawlor’s Hotel Slaney Naas Novice Hurdle G1, Racing Post Arkle Chall.

Trophy Nov.Chase G1.

Fee des Genievres (f Sageburg)

Broodmare Sire: ROUND SOVEREIGN. Sire of the dams of 1 Stakes winner.

DUC DES GENIEVRES gr g 2013

LOBELIE gr 99

1. KLASSICAL DREAM (FR) 5 11-7 £70,338 b g by Dream Well - Klassical Way (Septieme Ciel) O-Mrs J Coleman B-Mr. Hubert Honore & Mrs Laure Guillaume TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Thomas Darby (IRE) 6 11-7 £26,500 b g by Beneficial - Silaoce (Nikos) O-Mrs Diana L. Whateley B-Byerley Stud Ltd TR-Olly Murphy 3. Itchy Feet (FR) 5 11-7 £13,263 b g by Cima de Triomphe - Maeva Candas (Brier Creek) O-Kate & Andrew Brooks B-J. Cordonnier & D. Gromada TR-Olly Murphy Margins 4.5, 0.5. Time 3:59.50. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 3-5 10 4 4 £186,272 Sire: DREAM WELL. Sire of 11 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - CHAMP DE BATAILLE Turgeon G1, KLASSICAL DREAM Septieme Ciel G1.

1st Dam: KLASSICAL WAY by Septieme Ciel. 4 wins over jumps in France, Prix Roger de Minvielle Chase LR, 3rd Prix Congress Chase G2. Dam of 4 winners:

2008: 2010: 2011:

Nijinsky Green Valley Sea Hawk II Camarilla

2012:

Le Glorieux

Cure The Blues La Mirande

2014:

Buckleby

Buckskin Thereby

Kaldoun

Caro Katana

Anadyr

Targowice Lady King

Quart de Vin

Devon Quartelette

Grande Tirelire

Laniste Tirelire

Round Sovereign

Forlane V

The French stallion Buck’s Boum is credited with having had only 11 runners in Britain and Ireland during the 2018-19 season, yet the Cheltenham Festival saw him boost his total of Gr1 winners for the season to three. Dynamite Dollars, winner of the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase, didn’t make it to the Festival, but Al Boum Photo landed the Gold Cup three days after Duc des Genievres had dominated the Arkle Novices’ Chase. The six-year-old

CHELTENHAM. Mar 12. 4yo+. 16f.

1. ESPOIR D’ALLEN (FR) 5 11-10 £253,434 b g by Voix du Nord - Quadanse (Maille Pistol) O-Mr John P. McManus B-Bruno Vagne TR-Gavin Cromwell 2. Melon (GB) 7 11-10 £95,619 ch g by Medicean - Night Teeny (Platini) O-Mrs J. Donnelly B-Newsells Park Stud Limited TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Silver Streak (IRE) 6 11-10 £47,964 gr g by Dark Angel - Happy Talk (Hamas) O-Mr L. Fell B-Yeomanstown Stud TR-Evan Williams Margins 15, Neck. Time 3:59.00. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 3-5 10 9 1 £371,705 Sire: VOIX DU NORD. Sire of 21 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - DEFI DU SEUIL Lavirco G1, DUCA DE THAIX Subotica G1, ESPOIR D’ALLEN Maille Pistol G1, KEMBOY Victory Note G1, VOIX DU REVE Apple Tree G2.

1st Dam: Quadanse by Maille Pistol. unraced. Dam of 1 winner:

2009: 2010: 2012: 2014:

CHELTENHAM. Mar 12. 4yo+. 16f.

Come To Sea

Buck’s

209 UNIBET CHAMPION CHALLENGE TROPHY HURDLE G1

208 SKY BET SUPREME NOVICES’ HURDLE G1

Green Dancer Cadoudal BUCK’S BOUM b 05

scored by 13 lengths, having won by 15 lengths on his previous start.

Duc des Genievres is the only winner so far out of Lobelie, a selle francais who won six times at around a mile and a half on the Flat, with her last three successes coming in Corsica. Lobelie’s sire Round Sovereign won from seven furlongs to a mile and a quarter, his best win coming at Listed level, while her dam Forlane V was a mile-and-a-half winner.

Forlane’s sire Quart de Vin made his mark in Britain with Rolling Ball (1991 Sun Alliance Novices’ Chase) and Val d’Alene (1995 Racing Post Chase) and also sired the outstanding Ucello, twice a winner of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.

Stamina was one of Quart de Vin’s strong suits, as he won over two and a quarter miles on the Flat and also numbered the Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil among his hurdling victories.

KLASSICAL SUMMER (g Polish Summer) 4 wins.

KLASSICAL DANCE (f Nickname) Winner over jumps in France.

KLASSICAL RISK (f My Risk) 2 wins over jumps in France.

Klassical Music (g Irish Wells) ran on the flat in France and over jumps in France.

KLASSICAL DREAM (g Dream Well) 4 wins, Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle G1, C. Pharma Brave Inca Novice Hurdle G1.

Broodmare Sire: SEPTIEME CIEL. Sire of the dams of 25 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - KLASSICAL DREAM Dream Well G1, ANDI’AMU Walk In The Park LR.

KLASSICAL DREAM b g 2014 Northern Dancer

Nearctic Natalma

Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Alleged

Hoist The Flag Princess Pout

Normia

Northfields Mia Pola

Seattle Slew

Bold Reasoning My Charmer

Maximova

Green Dancer Baracala

Quest For Fame

Rainbow Quest Aryenne

Nobile Decretum

Noble Decree Mid Evening

Sadler’s Wells DREAM WELL b 95 Soul Dream

Septieme Ciel KLASSICAL WAY b 03 Negligente

See race 133 in the March issue

2015: 2018:

Vadanse (f Saint des Saints) unraced.

Broodmare.

Applaudie (f Daramsar) unraced.

Caviar d’Allen (g Laveron) ESPOIR D’ALLEN (g Voix du Nord) 9 wins, Unibet Champion Challenge Trophy Hurdle G1, Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle G2, Bar One Racing Juvenile Hurdle G3, Fishery Lane Hurdle G3, Limestone Lad Hurdle G3, Irish Independent Limerick Hurdle G3.

Freedom du Fenoir (f Saddler Maker) unraced.

Irish du Fenoir (c Petillo)

Broodmare Sire: MAILLE PISTOL. Sire of the dams of 1 Stakes winner.

ESPOIR D’ALLEN b g 2014 Lomond

Northern Dancer My Charmer

Vearia

Mill Reef Val Divine

Top Ville

High Top Sega Ville

Girl of France

Legend of France Water Girl

Pistolet Bleu

Top Ville Pampa Bella

Bric Mamaille

Bricassar Ti Mamaille

Lute Antique

No Lute Sweet Annie

Violeta

Rhapsodien Dalila

Valanour VOIX DU NORD b 01 Dame Edith

Maille Pistol QUADANSE b 04 Etoile d’Or II

Although Espoir d’Allen boasted a record of eight wins from nine previous starts, he was dismissed as a 16-1 chance for the Champion Hurdle, for which his owner JP McManus was also represented by Buveur d’Air, winner of the last two editions. However, Buveur d’Air fell at the third, while the favourite Apple’s Jade performed unaccountably badly, and it was Espoir d’Allen who ran out an impressive 15-length winner.

Espoir d’Allen won a National Hunt Flat race in his native France as a three-year-old before being transferred to Ireland, where he won his first four starts over hurdles so impressively that he started odds-on in the Gr1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle.

Although he disappointed there after racing freely, he has won all four of his subsequent starts.

Together with Defi du Seuil, winner of the JLT Novices’ Chase at the Festival, Espoir d’Allen is a reminder of the talents of the Gr1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud and the Gr1 Prix Lupin winner Voix du Nord, who died in

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CAULFIELD ON CITY ISLAND: “The Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle winner is unusual in that neither of his parents raced, and neither did his second dam, the renowned broodmare High Board” March 2013 at the age of only 12.

His string of smart performers in Ireland or Britain also include Kemboy (winner of the Gr1 Leopardstown Christmas Chase and Gr1 Aintree Bowl) and Voix du Reve (Gr2 Craddockstown Novice Chase).

Their predecessors included Vroum Vroum Mag (triple Gr1 winner over hurdles), Vaniteux (Gr2 Lightning Novices’ Chase), Duca de Thaix (Gr3 winner over hurdles). Voix d’Eau (Gr2 Silver Trophy Chase), Vibrato Valtat (Gr1 Henry VIII Novices’ Chase, etc), Bachasson (Gr3 novice hurdle winner now shining over fences), Val de Ferbet (Gr2 novice chase winner) and Taquin du Seuil (Gr3 BetVictor Gold Cup Chase, etc).

Espoir d’Allen’s dam Quadanse never raced. A selle francais, she is

by Maille Pistol, who started favourite for the 2001 Prix du Jockey-Club on the strength of his Gr2 wins in the Prix Greffulhe and Prix Hocquart. As a son of Pistolet Bleu, sire of such good jumpers as Sizing Europe, Geos, Katarino, Merigo and Balko, Maille Pistol was switched to hurdles as a four-year-old, winning one of his four starts.

Etoile d’Or, the second dam of Espoir d’Allen, was a prolific winner at around a mile and a half in the French Provinces, prior to a successful broodmare career. For more details on Espoir d’Allen’s family, see the notes on Envoi Allen in this issue.

210 BALLYMORE BARING BINGHAM NOVICES’ HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 4yo+. 21f.

1. CITY ISLAND (IRE) 6 11-7 £70,338 b g by Court Cave - Victorine (Un Desperado) O-Mrs B. Mulryan B-K. Parkhill TR-Martin Brassil 2. Champ (IRE) 7 11-7 £26,500 b g by King’s Theatre - China Sky (Definite Article) O-Mr John P. McManus B-P. & J. Myerscough TR-Nicky Henderson 3. Bright Forecast (IRE) 5 11-7 £13,263 b g by Arcadio - Check The Forecast (Shernazar) O-The Aldaniti Partnership B-N. R. Tector TR-Ben Pauling Margins 2, 2.25. Time 5:06.00. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 5-6 6 4 1 £97,600 Sire: COURT CAVE. Sire of 7 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - CITY ISLAND Un Desperado G1, DESIRABLE COURT Hernando LR, MISTER WHITAKER Le Bavard LR. 1st Dam: Victorine by Un Desperado. unraced. Dam of 5 winners:

2005:

2006: 2007: 2008: 2009: 2010: 2011: 2013: 2014: 2015: 2018:

Iconic Mystery (f Oscar) unraced.

Broodmare.

Molly Duffy (f Oscar) unraced. Broodmare.

TASITIOCHT (f Oscar) 4 wins. Broodmare.

PINK HAT (f Presenting) 4 wins.

Broodmare.

FORT WORTH (g Presenting) 4 wins.

EASY STREET (g High Chaparral) 4 wins over fences at 6 to 8.

Previctorious (g Presenting) ran a few times over hurdles.

CITY ISLAND (g Court Cave) 4 wins, Ballymore Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle G1.

O Connell Street (g Fame And Glory) (f Milan) (c Mount Nelson)

2nd Dam: High Board by High Line. unraced. Dam of MORLEY STREET (g Deep Run: 2nd Doncaster Cup G3, Smurfit Champion Challenge Trophy Hurdle LR, Sandeman Aintree Hurdle LR (4 times), Racecall Ascot Hurdle LR (twice), Mumm Novices’ Hurdle LR, Berkshire

May_177_DataBook.indd 99

Hurdle LR, Breeders’ Cup H. Steeplechase LR (twice)), GRANVILLE AGAIN (g Deep Run: Smurfit Champion Challenge Trophy Hurdle LR, F K Roofing Champion Trial Hurdle LR, Scottish Champion Hurdle LR, Seagram 100 Pipers Top Novices’ Hurdle LR, Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle LR). Grandam of HAND INN HAND, LOVETHEHIGHERLAW, Hersov, Almira. Third dam of Highway One O One, Fagan, Sunni May. Fourth dam of Jollyallan.

Broodmare Sire: UN DESPERADO. Sire of the dams of 16 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - CITY ISLAND Court Cave G1, NAUTICAL NITWIT Let The Lion Roar G2, ROCKY’S TREASURE Westerner G2, STAND DOWN Yeats LR.

CITY ISLAND b g 2013

1. ALTIOR (IRE) 9 11-10 £225,080 b g by High Chaparral - Monte Solaro (Key of Luck) O-Mrs Patricia Pugh B-P. Behan TR-Nicky Henderson 2. Politologue (FR) 8 11-10 £84,800 gr g by Poliglote - Scarlet Row (Turgeon) O-Mr J. Hales B-Mme H. Devin TR-Paul Nicholls 3. Sceau Royal (FR) 7 11-10 £42,440 b g by Doctor Dino - Sandside (Marchand de Sable) O-Mr Simon Munir & Mr Isaac Souede B-Mr G. Vimont TR-Alan King Margins 1.75, 1.75. Time 3:58.50. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 4-9 21 19 1 £1,149,328

Nearctic Natalma

Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Sire: HIGH CHAPARRAL. Sire of 139 Stakes winners.

Dancing Brave

Lyphard Navajo Princess

Bahamian

Mill Reef Sorbus

1st Dam: MONTE SOLARO by Key of Luck. 2 wins, Brandon Hotel H. Hurdle G3. Dam of 4 winners:

Top Ville

High Top Sega Ville

White Lightning

Baldric II Rough Sea

High Line

High Hat Time Call

Wemyss Bight

Un Desperado VICTORINE b 01

CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 5yo+. 16f.

Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells COURT CAVE b 01

211 BETWAY QUEEN MOTHER CHAMPION CHASE G1

High Board Matchboard

2007: 2008: 2009: 2010:

Straight Deal Royal Alliance

Beat Hollow went close to a notable double at the Cheltenham Festival, with Minella Indo taking the Gr1 Spa Novices’ Hurdle after Wicklow Brave’s gallant short-head second under top weight in the Gr3 Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle. Not to be left out, Beat Hollow’s four-year-younger brother Court Cave also enjoyed Gr1 success, when City Island landed the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle. He has now passed the post first in all four of his starts over hurdles, having also won the second of his two starts in bumpers, but he lost his first win over hurdles when traces of arsenic were found in his post-race sample.

The unraced Court Cave had previously enjoyed Gr1 success with Willoughby Court in the same race as City Island (when it was known as the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle), and his past winners also include the Gr2 scorers Champion Court and Court Minstrel.

This season, in addition to City Island, he has enjoyed Listed successes over fences with Mister Whitaker and Desirable Court.

City Island is unusual in that neither of his parents raced, and neither did his second dam, the renowned broodmare High Board. However, all three of these unraced horses were very well connected. His dam Victorine shares the same sire, Un Desperado, as the triple Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Best Mate. High Board, for her part, became famous when her sons Morley Street and Granville Again won the Champion Hurdle and their sister Deep Line became the dam of the Gr1-winning chaser Hand Inn Hand. High Board’s dam Matchboard was a smart winner of 11 chases and five point-to-points.

This daughter of Derby winner Straight Deal raced until she was 11, at which age she was beaten only a neck in the 1974 Kim Muir Memorial Chase. Matchboard was a three-parts-sister to the exceptional veteran Royal Bond.

2011: 2013: 2015: 2017:

KEY TO THE WEST (g Westerner) 5 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) 19 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 (twice), Betfair Tingle Creek Chase G1, Racing Post Henry VIII Novice Chase G1, Matchbook Clarence House Chase G1, Bet365 Celebration Chase G1 (twice), Betfair Exchange Game Spirit Chase G2 (twice), 32red.com Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase G2, Unibet Desert Orchid Chase G2.

SILVERHOW (g Yeats) 4 wins.

Melior (f Milan) (g Milan) (f Walk In The Park)

Broodmare Sire: KEY OF LUCK. Sire of the dams of 16 Stakes winners.

ALTIOR b g 2010 Northern Dancer

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

Remoosh

Glint of Gold Rivers Maid

Sadler’s Wells HIGH CHAPARRAL b 99 Kasora

Key of Luck MONTE SOLARO br 00 Footsteps

See race 78 in the February issue 212 RSA INS. NOVICES’ CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 5yo+. 24f.

1. TOPOFTHEGAME (IRE) 7 11-4 £98,473 ch g by Flemensfirth - Derry Vale (Mister Lord) O-Mr Chris Giles & Mr&Mrs P K Barber B-P. Kavanagh TR-Paul Nicholls 2. Santini (GB) 7 11-4 £37,100 b g by Milan - Tinagoodnight (Sleeping Car) O-Mr & Mrs R. Kelvin-Hughes B-Mr & Mrs R. G. Kelvin-Hughes TR-Nicky Henderson 3. Delta Work (FR) 6 11-4 £18,568 br g by Network - Robbe (Video Rock) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-C. Magnien & J. Magnien TR-Gordon Elliott Margins 0.5, 1.75. Time 6:17.20. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 4-7 11 4 6 £218,669 Sire: FLEMENSFIRTH. Sire of 80 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - INVITATION ONLY Alamo Bay G1, TOPOFTHEGAME Mister Lord G1, CASTLEGRACE PADDY Mtoto G2, COOLANLY Accordion G2, LOSTINTRANSLATION Hero’s Honor G2, MAGIC OF LIGHT Saumarez G2, QUEENOHEARTS Old Vic G2, BALLYMOY Dr Massini G3, BALLYWARD Saddlers’ Hall G3, JETZ Saddlers’ Hall G3, ROBINSFIRTH Phardante G3.

1st Dam: Derry Vale by Mister Lord. unraced. Dam of 2 winners:

2003: 2004: 2006: 2007: 2008: 2012:

2013:

Full of Wisdom (f Broken Hearted) unraced.

Cloneen Star (f Topanoora) unraced.

Derryvale Rose (f Flemensfirth) ran once over hurdles and over fences. (f Definite Article) (c Craigsteel) TOPOFTHEGAME (g Flemensfirth) 3 wins, Betfred Heroes H. Hurdle G3, 2nd Coral Cup H. Hurdle G3, RSA Ins. Novices’ Chase G1, 2nd 32Red Kauto Star Novices’ Chase G1.

GOLDEN WHISKY (g Flemensfirth) Winner over hurdles at 6.

Broodmare Sire: MISTER LORD. Sire of the dams of 9 Stakes winners.

The Flemensfirth/Mister Lord cross has produced: THREE MUSKETEERS G1, TOPOFTHEGAME G1.

TOPOFTHEGAME ch g 2012 Hoist The Flag

Tom Rolfe Wavy Navy

Princess Pout

Prince John Determined Lady

Diesis

Sharpen Up Doubly Sure

Royal Bund

Royal Coinage Nato

Sir Ivor

Sir Gaylord Attica

Forest Friend

Linacre Belle Sauvage

The Parson

Aureole Bracey Bridge

Merry Memories

Anthony Merry Mist

Alleged FLEMENSFIRTH b 92 Etheldreda

Mister Lord DERRY VALE ch 97 Nun Merrier

A nine-length victory in a point-to-point in March 2016 boosted Topofthegame’s price from €26,000 in June 2015 to €120,000 in April 2016.

Even at the higher price, he has proved very well bought. A Gr3 winner over hurdles, he has now followed up seconds to Defi du Seuil and La Bague Au Roi with a hard-fought victory in the RSA Novices’ Chase.

Flemensfirth has been a regular fixture among the top jumping stallions since 2007-08 and he is still plying his trade at a fee of €15,000 at the age of 27, having covered over 100 mares in 2018. Arguably best known as the sire of such as Imperial Commander, Flemenstar and Tidal Bay, Flemensfirth has recently extended his long list of Graded winners with the addition of Waiting Patiently (Gr1 Ascot Chase), Tornado Flyer (Gr1 Punchestown Champion INH Flat Race), Poetic Rhythm (Gr1 Challow Hurdle), Relegate (Gr1 Champion Bumper), Invitation Only, Robinsfirth, Lostintranslation, Jetz, Queenofhearts, Ballyward, Magic Of Light, Ballymoy, Castlegrace Paddy, Coolanly, Mr Big Shot and Sumos Novios.

Topofthegame isn’t the first notable member of his family sired by Flemensfirth. His dam Derry Vale is a grand-daughter of Merry Memories, who also ranks as the third dam of Flemensfirth’s daughter Miss Arteea, who found fame as the dam of Identity Thief, a Gr1 winner over two and three miles over hurdles.

Topofthegame stays very well, thanks partly to his broodmare sire Mister Lord. This son of Sir Ivor was ideally suited by a thorough test of stamina, as he showed when he lowered the record for Goodwood’s 19-furlong course. Mister Lord was also a useful performer over hurdles, winning four races at around two and

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Data Book Grade 1 Winners a half miles, including a handicap at Ascot. Mister Lord passed on a measure of his stamina to such as Mister Top Notch, Cailin Alainn, Lord Jack and Earthmover.

213 WEATHERBYS CHAMPION BUMPER NH FLAT RACE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 13. 4-6yo. 16f.

1. ENVOI ALLEN (FR) 5 11-5 £42,203 b g by Muhtathir - Reaction (Saint des Saints) O-Cheveley Park Stud B-Mr B. Vagne TR-Gordon Elliott 2. Blue Sari (FR) 4 10-11 £15,900 b g by Saddex - Blue Aster (Astarabad) O-Mr John P. McManus B-M.L. Bloodstock Ltd TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Thyme Hill (GB) 5 11-5 £7,958 b g by Kayf Tara - Rosita Bay (Hernando) O-The Englands and Heywoods B-Overbury Stallions Ltd TR-Philip Hobbs Margins 0.75, 1.75. Time 3:55.60. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 4-5 5 5 0 £109,130 Sire: MUHTATHIR. Sire of 34 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - ENVOI ALLEN Saint des Saints G1, QUEL DESTIN High Yield G1, ROXINELA Antarctique LR. 1st Dam: REACTION by Saint des Saints. 2 wins over jumps in France. Dam of 1 winner:

2014:

2015: 2016:

ENVOI ALLEN (g Muhtathir) 4 wins in N.H. Flat Races at 4 and 5, Weatherbys Champion Bumper NH Flat Race G1, Matheson INH Flat Race (c&g) G2, Future Champions Flat Race LR. Fighter Allen (g Vision d’Etat) unraced.

Glasgow Allen (f American Post) unraced to date.

Broodmare Sire: SAINT DES SAINTS. Sire of the dams of 7 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - DE BON COEUR Vision d’Etat G1, ENVOI ALLEN Muhtathir G1, GRAND DEPART Astarabad LR.

ENVOI ALLEN b g 2014 Diesis

Sharpen Up Doubly Sure

Modena

Roberto Mofida

Al Nasr

Lyphard Caretta

Elmaamul MUHTATHIR ch 95 Majmu Affirmative Fable Cadoudal Saint des Saints REACTION b 05

Affirmed Fairway Fable Green Dancer Come To Sea

Chamisene

Pharly Tuneria

Royal Charter

Mill Reef Royal Way

Violeta

Rhapsodien Dalila

Hesmeralda

dam Violeta is also the third dam of Espoir d’Allen. Envoi Allen’s second dam Hesmeralda was a nine-time winner at up to three miles and a furlong over jumps, competing mainly in cross-country events. This granddaughter of the great Mill Reef was mated to some of France’s best jumping stallions, Hesmeralda produced the Gr2 chase winner Une Epoque to Dom Alco and Envoi Allen’s dam Reaction to Saint des Saints. Reaction won a pair of crosscountry events over a furlong short of three miles as a five-year-old.

Envoi Allen shares the same broodmare sire, Saint des Saints, as the outstanding Irish chaser Douvan and the Gr1-winning hurdlers Adrien du Pont and De Bon Coeur. Saint des Saints, of course, has been responsible for such notable jumpers in Britain and Ireland as Djakadam, Days Of Heaven, Irish Saint, Quito de la Roque, Quel Esprit, Saint Calvados, Aux Ptits Soins and Lyreen Legend.

CHELTENHAM. Mar 14. 5yo+. 20f 110yds.

1. FRODON (FR) 7 11-10 £196,945 b g by Nickname - Miss Country (Country Reel) O-Mr P. J. Vogt B-Mr P. Gasdoue TR-Paul Nicholls 2. Aso (FR) 9 11-10 £74,200 b/br g by Goldneyev - Odyssee du Cellier (Dear Doctor) O-The Bellamy Partnership B-I. Pacault, A. Pacault & M. Pacault TR-Venetia Williams 3. Road To Respect (IRE) 8 11-10 £37,135 ch g by Gamut - Lora Lady (Lord Americo) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Miss I. Rothwell TR-Noel Meade Margins 1.25, 1.75. Time 5:09.50. Going Good to Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 3-7 31 13 9 £702,835 Sire: NICKNAME. Sire of 14 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - CYRNAME Passing Sale G1, FRODON Country Reel G1.

1st Dam: MISS COUNTRY by Country Reel. Winner over jumps in France. Dam of 3 winners:

2012:

214 JLT GOLDEN MILLER NOVICES’ CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 14. 5yo+. 20f.

1. DEFI DU SEUIL (FR) 6 11-4 £88,209 b g by Voix du Nord - Quarvine du Seuil (Lavirco) O-Mr John P. McManus B-Mme C. Boudot TR-Philip Hobbs 2. Lostintranslation (IRE) 7 11-4 £33,233 b g by Flemensfirth - Falika (Hero’s Honor) O-Taylor & O’Dwyer B-Mr A. R. M. M. Kavanagh TR-Colin Tizzard 3. Mengli Khan (IRE) 6 11-4 £16,632 b g by Lope de Vega - Danielli (Danehill) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Ballylinch Stud TR-Gordon Elliott Margins 2.25, 7. Time 4:59.50. Going Good to Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 3-6 16 11 3 £363,194 Sire: VOIX DU NORD. Sire of 21 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - DEFI DU SEUIL Lavirco G1, DUCA DE THAIX Subotica G1, ESPOIR D’ALLEN Maille Pistol G1, KEMBOY Victory Note G1, VOIX DU REVE Apple Tree G2.

1st Dam: QUARVINE DU SEUIL by Lavirco. 2 wins at 3 and 5 in France. Dam of 1 winner:

2011: 2013:

The former point-to-point winner Envoi Allen has wasted little time in justifying his purchase price of £400,000. Wearing the famous Cheveley Park Stud colours, he has run out a decisive winner of four bumpers, including a Gr2 event at Leropardstown and now the Weatherbys Champion Bumper.

His sire, the Gr1 Prix Jacques le Marois winner Muhtathir, originally made his name as a sire of Flat performers, responsible for five Gr1 winners. More recently, though, Muhtathir has been making his mark on the jumping sector, both directly and indirectly. His high-class international performer Doctor Dino has been very ably represented by the likes of La Bague Au Roi, Sharjah, Sceau Royal and Master Dino, while Muhtathir has enjoyed Gr1 success with both Quel Destin (Finale Juvenile Hurdle) and Envoi Allen.

As his name suggests, Envoi Allen comes from the same female line as Espoir d’Allen, winner of the 2019 Champion Hurdle. Envoi Allen’s third

215 RYANAIR FESTIVAL TROPHY CHASE G1

Brume du Seuil (f Equerry) ran on the flat in France.

DEFI DU SEUIL (g Voix du Nord) 11 wins, JCB Triumph Hurdle G1, coral.co.uk Future Chn.Finale Juv.Hurdle G1, Doom Bar Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle G1, JCB Triumph Trial Finesse Juv. Hurdle G2, JCB Triumph Trial Prestbury Juv. Hurdle G2, 888Sport Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase G1, JLT Golden Miller Novices’ Chase G1, 2nd BetBright Dipper Novices’ Chase G2.

Broodmare Sire: LAVIRCO. Sire of the dams of 7 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - DEFI DU SEUIL Voix du Nord G1, EASY GAME Barastraight G2.

The Voix du Nord/Lavirco cross has produced: DEFI DU SEUIL G1, DICA DE THAIX G3, Bonaparte Sizing LR.

DEFI DU SEUIL b g 2013 Lomond

Northern Dancer My Charmer

Vearia

Mill Reef Val Divine

Top Ville

High Top Sega Ville

Girl of France

Legend of France Water Girl

Konigsstuhl

Dschingis Khan Konigskronung

La Virginia

Surumu La Dorada

Video Rock

No Lute Pauvresse

Via Tennise

Brezzo Favorite

Valanour VOIX DU NORD b 01 Dame Edith

Lavirco QUARVINE DU SEUIL b 04 Fleur du Tennis

See race 132 in the March issue

2013: 2014: 2016: 2018:

FRODON (g Nickname) 13 wins, Ryanair Festival Trophy Chase G1, Betbright Trial Cotswold Chase G2, Betbright Pendil Novices’ Chase G2, Wincanton Rising Stars Novices’ Chase G2, Monet’s Garden Old Roan H. Chase G2, Caspian Caviar Gold Cup H. Chase G3 (twice), Crest Betvictor H. Chase G3, 2nd BetVictor Gold Cup H. Chase G3, Lavazza Silver Cup H. Chase LR, Future Stars Intrmediate Chase LR, 3rd Betfair Ascot Chase G1, Christy 1965 Chase G2.

TIDJY (f Slickly) Winner over jumps in France.

SAO (g Great Pretender) Winner over jumps in France.

Paolo (c Great Pretender) unraced to date. (f Kapgarde)

Broodmare Sire: COUNTRY REEL. Sire of the dams of 1 Stakes winner.

Last Tycoon

Try My Best Mill Princess

Last Tango

Luthier La Bamba

Simply Great

Mill Reef Seneca

Neomenie

Rheffic Nordenburg

Danzig

Northern Dancer Pas de Nom

Country Belle

Seattle Slew Balbonella

Solicitor

Emerson Ursula

Lost World

Newness

Country Reel MISS COUNTRY b 07 Miss d’Hermite

216 SUN STAYERS’ WORLD HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 14. 4yo+. 24f.

FRODON b g 2012

NICKNAME b 99

next dam, Miss d’Hermite, raced 34 times on the Flat but managed only one victory, over nine furlongs in the provinces. Her sire, the ultra-tough Solicitor, gained his only Group success over nine furlongs. Miss d’Hermite has had seven winners from ten foals, the best of them being her Medaaly gelding Medermit, who landed the Gr1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase. Miss d’Hermite is also the second dam of Saint Pistol, a Gr3 winner over fences in France who also stayed well enough to finish third in the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.

Nickname was tried only twice at three miles or beyond, without proving that he stayed. He became a Gr2 winner over two miles and five furlongs on his second start over fences and eventually retired as a winner of nine of his 15 starts over fences, his best win being a 14-length success in the Gr1 Paddy Power Dial-a-Bet Chase.

He had earlier won nine of his 16 starts over hurdles in France. Sadly Nickname died in 2011, and his early death has been made to look all the more unfortunate by the exploits of the likes of Corscia, As d’Estruval and Royale Flag in France and of Frodon, Cyrname, Yala Enki, Le Mercurey, Gwencily Berbas and Aurore d’Estruval in Britain and Ireland.

Surprise d’Hermite Kashmir II Sichah

The former French stallion Nickname is credited with only 11 runners over jumps during the 2018-19 National Hunt season in Britain and Ireland.

However, they include two seven-year-olds that rank among the season’s most improved chasers. One of them, Cyrname, has improved his official rating from 150 to 178, while the other, Frodon, has boosted his figure from 158 to 169 in the process of winning a Gr3, a Gr2 and a Gr1 at Cheltenham. He was very game in taking the Gr1 Ryanair Chase and he is tough, too – he gained his first win over hurdles in the April of his three-year-old season and his Ryanair victory came on his 31st start.

Frodon has won over a distance not far short of three and a quarter miles, even though there isn’t a great deal of stamina in the bottom half of his pedigree. His dam, the winning hurdler Miss Country, is a daughter of Country Reel, a speedy Danzig horse who won the Gimcrack Stakes and never tackled more than seven furlongs. The

1. PAISLEY PARK (IRE) 7 11-10 £182,878 b g by Oscar - Presenting Shares (Presenting) O-Mr Andrew Gemmell B-M. Conaghan TR-Emma Lavelle 2. Sam Spinner (GB) 7 11-10 £68,900 b g by Black Sam Bellamy - Dawn Spinner (Arctic Lord) O-Caron & Paul Chapman B-Wriggle Valley Thoroughbreds & Prof R. Eccleshall TR-Jedd O’Keeffe 3. Faugheen (IRE) 11 11-10 £34,483 b g by Germany - Miss Pickering (Accordion) O-Mrs S. Ricci B-Dr J. Waldron TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 2.75, 4. Time 5:53.30. Going Good to Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 5-7 10 6 3 £361,566 Sire: OSCAR. Sire of 77 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - PAISLEY PARK Presenting G1, QUICK GRABIM Beneficial G1, BAGS GROOVE Roselier G2, GOD’S OWN Phardante G2, LISNAGAR OSCAR Astarabad G2, LAKE VIEW LAD Supreme Leader G3, SINORIA Alleged LR. 1st Dam: Presenting Shares by Presenting. unraced. Dam of 6 winners:

2004: 2005: 2006: 2007: 2008: 2010: 2011: 2012:

2014: 2018:

HENRY KING (g Great Palm) 3 wins.

SOCIETY SHARES (g Moscow Society) Winner over hurdles.

Salou Blues (f Moscow Society) unraced.

Broodmare.

VA’VITE (f Vinnie Roe) 5 wins. Broodmare.

MR GREY (g Great Palm) Winner over hurdles.

Grande Vitesse (f Dr Massini) ran once in a N.H. Flat Race and ran a few times over hurdles.

The Flying Flynn (g Milan) unraced.

PAISLEY PARK (g Oscar) 6 wins over hurdles at 5 to 7, Sun Stayers’ World Hurdle G1, JLT Long Walk Hurdle G1, galliardshomes.com Cleeve Hurdle G2, Betfair Stayers H. Hurdle G3, 2nd Ballymore Leamington Novices’ Hurdle G2.

PRESENT VALUE (g Gold Well) Winner over hurdles at 4. (f Soldier of Fortune)

Broodmare Sire: PRESENTING. Sire of the dams of 26 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - PAISLEY PARK Oscar G1, AGUSTA GOLD Gold Well G2, BIRCHDALE Jeremy G2, PRESENTING PERCY Sir Percy G2, RATHVINDEN Heron Island G3, ROBIN DE CARLOW Robin des Champs G3.

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CAULFIELD ON FRODON: “The Ryanair victor has won over a distance not far short of three and a quater miles, even though there isn’t a great deal of stamina in the bottom half of his pedigree” The Oscar/Presenting cross has produced: PAISLEY PARK G1, MINELLA AWARDS G2, Montys Meadow G2, Hearts Are Trumps LR.

PAISLEY PARK b g 2012 Northern Dancer

Nearctic Natalma

Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Reliance II

Tantieme Relance III

Vindaria

Roi Dagobert Heavenly Body

Mtoto

Busted Amazer

D’Azy

Persian Bold Belle Viking

Royal Fountain

Royalty Fountain

Four Shares

The Parson Bright Record

Sadler’s Wells OSCAR b 94 Snow Day

Presenting PRESENTING SHARES b 99 Royal Shares

See race 81 in the February issue 217 ALBERT BARTLETT SPA NOVICES’ HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 15. 4yo+. 24f.

1. MINELLA INDO (IRE) 6 11-5 £70,338 b g by Beat Hollow - Carrigeen Lily (Supreme Leader) O-Mr Barry Maloney B-Mrs R. H. Lalor TR-Henry de Bromhead 2. Commander of Fleet (IRE) 5 11-5 £26,500 b g by Fame And Glory - Coonagh Cross (Saddlers’ Hall) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-P. Coghlan TR-Gordon Elliott 3. Allaho (FR) 5 11-5 £13,263 b g by No Risk At All - Idaho Falls (Turgeon) O-Cheveley Park Stud B-Mr E. Leffray TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 2, 7. Time 5:57.40. Going Good to Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 5-6 5 2 3 £79,479 Sire: BEAT HOLLOW. Sire of 27 Stakes winners.

1st Dam: Carrigeen Lily by Supreme Leader. 4 wins over fences, 3rd Pierse Leopardstown H. Chase G2. Dam of 5 winners:

2003:

2004: 2005: 2006: 2007: 2008: 2009: 2010: 2012: 2013:

Carrigeen Lunaria (f Saddlers’ Hall) ran a few times over hurdles and ran twice over fences. Broodmare.

Carrigeen Queen (f Darnay) ran twice over hurdles. Broodmare.

CARRIGEEN LECHUGA (f Beneficial) 2 wins over fences. Broodmare.

CARRIGEEN LONICERA (f Old Vic) Winner of a N.H. Flat Race. Broodmare.

Carrigeen Diamond (f Old Vic) unraced.

Broodmare.

Carrigeen Lobelia (f Presenting) CARRIGEEN LANTANA (f Beneficial) Winner over hurdles.

Carrigeen Lilium (f Stowaway) unraced.

Broodmare.

BENATAR (g Beneficial) 4 wins, Mitie Noel Novices’ Chase G2, 3rd JLT Golden Miller Novices’ Chase G1.

MINELLA INDO (g Beat Hollow) 1 win over hurdles at 6, Albert Bartlett Spa Novices’ Hurdle G1, 2nd Surehaul Powerstown Novice Hurdle G3.

Broodmare Sire: SUPREME LEADER. Sire of the dams of 81 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - MINELLA INDO Beat Hollow G1, SOUTHFIELD STONE Fair Mix G2, COGRY King’s Theatre G3, IMPULSIVE STAR Busy Flight G3, LAKE VIEW LAD Oscar G3.

MINELLA INDO b g 2013 Northern Dancer

Nearctic Natalma

Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Dancing Brave

Lyphard Navajo Princess

Bahamian

Mill Reef Sorbus

Bustino

Busted Ship Yard

Princess Zena

Habitat Guiding Light

Walshford

I Say Romany Rose

Rock Forest

King of The Jungle Tullymurry

Sadler’s Wells BEAT HOLLOW b 97 Wemyss Bight

Supreme Leader CARRIGEEN LILY b 91 Carrigeensharragh

Perhaps because his only previous win in four appearances was in a

May_177_DataBook.indd 101

point-to-point, Minella Indo was sent off at 50-1 in the Gr1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle. Despite his comparative lack of experience, the son of Beat Hollow held off the favourite Commander of Fleet by two lengths.

Beat Hollow was a multiple Gr1 winner in France and the US for Khalid Abdullah and spent several years at Banstead Manor before being transferred to Ballylinch Stud as a replacement for King’s Theatre. His first Irish foals are six in 2019, one of them being Minella Indo, and he has also enjoyed success over jumps with several of his Flat-bred sons, such as Cinders And Ashes (Gr1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle), Wicklow Brave (Gr1 Punchestown Champion Hurdle), Hollow Tree (Gr1 Finale Juvenile Hurdle) and Battle Group.

Minella Indo’s dam Carrigeen Lily had previously been represented by the smart Beneficial gelding Benatar, who defeated Finian’s Oscar to land a Gr2 novice chase. Carrigeen Lily and her dam Carrigeensharragh were both talented chasers. Carrigeen Lily won four times at around two and a half miles, as well as finishing third in the Leopardstown Handicap Chase, while Carrigeensharragh gained seven of her ten successes over fences, including three Listed races. Carrigeen Lily’s half-sister Carrigeen Kerria produced three Graded winners headed by Carrigeen Victor, winner of the Gr1 Dr P J Moriarty Novice Chase.

Minella Indo’s broodmare sire is the two-time champion sire Supreme Leader, whose daughters have often shone with Sadler’s Wells’s stallion sons. One of them produced the dual Gr2-winning chaser Champion Court to Beat Hollow’s brother Court Cave.

Others sired by sons of Sadler’s Wells from Supreme Leader mares include Black Jack Ketchum, Kilbricken Storm, At Fishers Cross, Blazing Tempo, Oscar Time, Massini’s Maguire, Sonofvic, Psycho, Jessber’s Dream, Lake View Lad, Cogry, Splash Of Ginge, Lackaneen Leader and Happy Diva.

218 JCB TRIUMPH HURDLE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 15. 4yo. 17f.

1. PENTLAND HILLS (IRE) 11-0 £70,338 b g by Motivator - Elle Galante (Galileo) O-Owners Group 031 B-Al Asayl Bloodstock Ltd TR-Nicky Henderson 2. Coeur Sublime (IRE) 11-0 £26,500 b g by Elusive Pimpernel - Love Knot (Lomitas) O-C. Jones B-Mr P. Croke TR-Gordon Elliott 3. Gardens of Babylon (IRE) 11-0 £13,263 b g by Camelot - Condition (Deploy) O-Mr John P. McManus B-Lynch Bages & Camas Park Stud TR-Joseph Patrick O’Brien Margins 3, 3.75. Time 4:04.30. Going Good to Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-4 13 4 4 £85,750 Sire: MOTIVATOR. Sire of 32 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - PENTLAND HILLS Galileo G1, PHOTO CHOC Loup Solitaire LR, STORMY IRELAND Ultimately Lucky LR. 1st Dam: Elle Galante by Galileo. 3 wins at 3 in Germany, 3rd Prix Belle de Nuit LR. Own sister to ELLE GALA. Dam of 6 winners:

2009: 2010:

SHUTTERFLY (c Dalakhani) Winner at 3 in France.

Pangaea Prince (c Invincible Spirit) ran on

2011: 2012: 2013: 2014: 2015: 2017: 2018:

the flat in France.

CAMLANN (g Cape Cross) 7 wins.

BALIOS (c Shamardal) 2 wins at 2 and 3, King Edward VII S G2.

Cersei (f Invincible Spirit) 4 wins, 2nd Prix Saonois LR. Broodmare.

BELGRAVIAN (g Pivotal) 2 wins at 3.

PENTLAND HILLS (g Motivator) Sold 40,000gns yearling at TAOC2. 4 wins, JCB Triumph Hurdle G1.

Ispahan (c Lope de Vega) unraced to date. (f Dubawi)

2nd Dam: ELLE DANZIG by Roi Danzig. Champion 3yr old filly in Germany in 1998, Champion older mare in Germany in 1999 & 2000. 12 wins at 3 to 5 in Germany, Italy Premio Roma G1 (twice), G.Dallmayr-Preis Bayerisches Zuchtrennen G1, 2nd Premio Presidente della Repubblica G1. Dam of ELLE SHADOW (f Shamardal: Rashit Shaykhutdinov-Cup G3, BelmondoPreis G3, Grosser Preis der Dortmunder Wirtschaft G3, 2nd Henkel Preis der Diana - Stuten Derby G1, 3rd Grosser Dallmayr Bayerisches Zuchtrennen G1), EL COMODIN (c Monsun: Prix Pelleas LR), ELLE GALA (f Galileo: MKT Night Magic Nereide-Rennen LR), Asyad (f New Approach: 3rd DFS Park Hill S G2), Lyric Street (g Hurricane Run: 3rd John Smith’s Silver Cup H LR), Elle Galante (f Galileo, see above), Elle Same (f Samum: 2nd Grosser Campanologist Neue Bult Cup LR) Broodmare Sire: GALILEO. Sire of the dams of 135 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - PENTLAND HILLS Motivator G1, SIR EREC Camelot G1, BEDROCK Fastnet Rock G2.

219 MAGNERS CHELTENHAM GOLD CUP CHASE G1 CHELTENHAM. Mar 15. 5yo+. 26f.

1. AL BOUM PHOTO (FR) 7 11-10 £351,688 b g by Buck’s Boum - Al Gane (Dom Alco) O-Mrs J. Donnelly B-E. Clayeux & J. Rauch TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Anibale Fly (FR) 9 11-10 £132,500 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 3. Bristol de Mai (FR) 8 11-10 £66,313 gr g by Saddler Maker - La Bole Night (April Night) O-Mr Simon Munir & Mr Isaac Souede B-Mr J. Touzaint TR-Nigel Twiston-Davies Margins 2.5, 3.75. Time 6:39.00. Going Good to Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 3-7 13 6 2 £475,344 Sire: BUCK’S BOUM. Sire of 5 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - AL BOUM PHOTO Dom Alco G1, DUC DES GENIEVRES Round Sovereign G1, DYNAMITE DOLLARS Cardoun G1.

1st Dam: Al Gane by Dom Alco. unraced. Dam of 2 winners:

2012:

PENTLAND HILLS b g 2015 Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Floripedes

Top Ville Toute Cy

Gone West

Mr Prospector Secrettame

Chellingoua

Sharpen Up Uncommitted

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Urban Sea

Miswaki Allegretta

Roi Danzig

Danzig Gdynia

Elegie

Teotepec Elektra

Montjeu MOTIVATOR b 02 Out West

Galileo ELLE GALANTE b 03 Elle Danzig

2013: 2015: 2017: 2018:

AL BOUM PHOTO (g Buck’s Boum) 6 wins, Easter Festival Novice Hurdle G2, Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase G1, Ryanair Powers Gold Cup Novice Chase G1, Savills Wilf Dooly Chase LR, 2nd Flogas Novice Chase G1.

DITEOU (f Buck’s Boum) Winner over jumps in France.

Al Amaison (f Khalkevi) unraced.

T’Araison (c Buck’s Boum) unraced to date.

Al Inea (f Cokoriko)

Broodmare Sire: DOM ALCO. Sire of the dams of 7 Stakes winners. NH in 2018/19 - AL BOUM PHOTO Buck’s Boum G1, FLORIDEE Masterstroke G3, EPI SACRE Secret Singer LR, FLYING STARTANDCO Cokoriko LR.

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

Although the fatal injury suffered by the hot favourite Sir Erec cast a shadow over the Triumph Hurdle, there was still plenty to admire about the performance of Pentland Hills, who improved his record over hurdles to two wins from two starts. The gelded son of Motivator had previously built a consistent record at around a mile and a half on the Flat, without approaching stakes class.

The most notable aspect of Pentland Hills’s pedigree is his 3 x 3 inbreeding to Sadler’s Wells through two of that great stallion’s most effective stallion sons – Montjeu and Galileo. His sire Motivator won the Derby impressively from another of Montjeu’s sons, Walk In The Park, who is now one of several popular National Hunt stallions by Montjeu. Motivator hasn’t had as much exposure as a sire of jumpers, but the sire of the brilliant Treve has been ably represented by the likes of Modus, Pallasator and Stormy Ireland.

Pentland Hills’s dam Elle Galante is a useful sister to the Listed winner Elle Gala, both being daughters of the top-class German filly Elle Danzig, who numbered the Preis der Diana, the Premio Roma and the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis among her 12 victories.

This family has a fine record with Shamardal, who sired the multiple Group winner Elle Shadow from Elle Danzig and the Gr2 King Edward VII Stakes winner Balios from Elle Galante.

BUCK’S BOUM b 05 Buck’s

Dom Alco AL GANE b 05 Magic Spring

Only one of Willie Mullins’ four contestants for the Cheltenham Gold Cup managed to complete the course, but the single survivor – Al Boum Photo – was good enough to provide the outstanding Irish trainer with his first success in Britain’s premier chase.

Al Boum Photo arrived at Cheltenham with a mixed record over fences. The French-bred gelding’s seven outings over fences had resulted in three wins, including one in the Gr1 Ryanair Gold Cup Novice Chase, as well as a close second, two falls and a ran out.

However, his record could easily have made more impressive reading, as he appeared to be on his way to victory in one of his falls and when his rider steered him away from the final fence in the Growise Champion Novice Chase. Neither horse nor rider made any mistakes in the Gold Cup and Al Boum Photo’s stamina proved decisive. As he is still only seven years old, he should remain a force in the top staying races for a few more years.

Coincidentally, Al Boum Photo is by Buck’s Boum, a son of Cadoudal.

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Data Book Grade 1 Winners Although Buck’s Boum managed only one victory from eight starts, over hurdles at Auteuil, he 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. Buck’s Boum is a brother to the exceptional Big Buck’s, a four-time winner of the Stayers’ Hurdle at the

Cheltenham Festival.

Buck’s Boum’s first foals were born in 2012, with Al Boum Photo among them. Buck’s Boum’s second crop includes the Gr1-winning novice chasers Duc des Genievres (Arkle Challenge Trophy Chase) and Dynamite Dollars (Henry VIII Novices’ Chase). It is worth stressing that France-Galop lists only 41 foals in that

first crop and 52 in the second. His subsequent crops are smaller, with only six foals in 2015, but Buck’s Boum is still only 14, so he has time to capitalise on his outstanding early results.

Al Boum Photo’s dam Al Gane also has a 2017 colt by Buck’s Boum, plus a 2018 filly by Cokoriko. Al Gane never raced but this daughter of Dom Alco is closely related to several very 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.

Grade 2 & 3 Winners Date 09/03 09/03 09/03 10/03 10/03 12/03 12/03 13/03 13/03 14/03 14/03 14/03 15/03 15/03 17/03 17/03 18/03 18/03 23/03 31/03

Grade G2 G3 G3 G3 GrA G2 G3 G3 G3 G2 G3 G3 G3 G3 G2 G3 G2 GrB G2 G3

Race (course) Holden Plant Shamrock Handicap Chase (Gowran Park) EBF Matchbook Novcies’ Final Hurdle (Sandown Park) Matchbook Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle (Sandown Park) Naas Directors Plate Novice Chase (Naas) Toalsbet 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) Tatts Dawn Run Mares Novices’ Hurdle (Cheltenham) Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Hcp Chase (Cheltenham) Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle (Cheltenham) J.Henderson Grand. Annual Hcp. 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 An Uaimh Chase (Navan) I.S.F. EBF Novice Handicap Final Chase (Navan) EBF/TBA Nat. Hunt Mares’ Nov. H. Hurdle (Newbury) Hugh McMahon Mem. Novice Chase (Limerick)

Dist 18f 20f 16f 20f 24f 31.5f 25f 16f 21f 17f 20.5f 24f 16f 17f 22.5f 22f 16f 24f 20.5f 24.5f

Horse Ex Patriot (IRE) Third Wind (GB) Malaya (FR) Kaiser Black (IRE) Pairofbrowneyes (IRE) Le Breuil (FR) Beware The Bear (IRE) Band of Outlaws (IRE) William Henry (IRE) Eglantine du Seuil (FR) Siruh du Lac (FR) Sire du Berlais (FR) Croco Bay (IRE) Ch’tibello (FR) Moyhenna (IRE) Robin de Carlow (GB) Darasso (FR) Scoir Mear (IRE) Annie Mc (IRE) Burrows Saint (FR)

Age 6 5 5 8 10 7 9 4 9 5 6 7 12 8 7 6 6 9 5 6

Sex G G M G G G G G G M G G G G M M G G M G

Sire Elusive Pimpernel Shirocco Martaline Germany Luso Anzillero Shantou Fast Company King’s Theatre Saddler Maker Turgeon Poliglote Croco Rouge Sageburg Westerner Robin des Champs Konig Turf Exit To Nowhere Mahler Saint des Saints

ELECTIONS

Broodmare Sire Mark Of Esteem Beat Hollow Kendor Strong Gale Be My Native Fabulous Dancer Be My Native Spectrum Bob Back Ultimately Lucky Le Balafre Garde Royale Alphabatim Neverneyev Montjeu Presenting Assessor Roselier Classic Cliche Mansonnien

Index 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239

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Leading NH Sires by earnings Name

YOF

Sire

Rnrs

Wnrs

Wnrs/Rnrs (%)

Wins

AvgDist

Flemensfirth Oscar King's Theatre Milan Presenting Beneficial Westerner Kayf Tara Stowaway Midnight Legend Getaway Voix du Nord Gold Well Mahler Yeats Authorized Court Cave Kapgarde Scorpion Robin des Champs Saddler Maker Shantou Martaline Galileo High Chaparral Dubai Destination Nickname Kalanisi Buck's Boum Arcadio Network Jeremy Brian Boru Doctor Dino Poliglote Walk In The Park Vinnie Roe Robin des Pres Black Sam Bellamy Doyen Craigsteel Shirocco Winged Love Saint des Saints Definite Article Gamut Beat Hollow Al Namix Califet Indian River

1992 1994 1991 1998 1992 1990 1999 1994 1994 1991 2003 2001 2001 2004 2001 2004 2001 1999 2002 1997 1998 1993 1999 1998 1999 1999 1999 1996 2005 2002 1997 2003 2000 2002 1992 2002 1998 1994 1999 2000 1995 2001 1992 1998 1992 1999 1997 1997 1998 1994

Alleged Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Mtoto Top Ville Danehill Sadler's Wells Slip Anchor Night Shift Monsun Valanour Sadler's Wells Galileo Sadler's Wells Montjeu Sadler's Wells Garde Royale Montjeu Garde Royale Sadler's Wells Alleged Linamix Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Kingmambo Lost World Doyoun Cadoudal Monsun Monsun Danehill Dancer Sadler's Wells Muhtathir Sadler's Wells Montjeu Definite Article Cadoudal Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Suave Dancer Monsun In The Wings Cadoudal Indian Ridge Spectrum Sadler's Wells Linamix Freedom Cry Cadoudal

283 294 159 307 314 273 207 221 237 164 209 33 181 157 173 61 157 64 216 101 26 134 90 85 59 88 11 141 11 105 59 114 76 6 29 24 68 72 119 77 70 99 69 45 68 42 62 45 24 32

79 81 67 82 89 81 74 57 72 74 68 18 65 53 63 26 52 26 50 30 10 44 32 27 17 24 8 32 6 27 21 32 24 5 18 11 17 22 21 24 27 24 17 17 17 12 19 11 8 11

27.92% 27.55% 42.14% 26.71% 28.34% 29.67% 35.75% 25.79% 30.38% 45.12% 32.54% 54.55% 35.91% 33.76% 36.42% 42.62% 33.12% 40.63% 23.15% 29.70% 38.46% 32.84% 35.56% 31.76% 28.81% 27.27% 72.73% 22.70% 54.55% 25.71% 35.59% 28.07% 31.58% 83.33% 62.07% 45.83% 25.00% 30.56% 17.65% 31.17% 38.57% 24.24% 24.64% 37.78% 25.00% 28.57% 30.65% 24.44% 33.33% 34.38%

109 121 114 122 131 134 110 82 118 119 100 36 94 88 98 44 81 41 68 49 14 59 43 35 24 33 14 45 13 40 31 48 39 10 27 15 27 33 28 41 40 32 32 26 27 19 24 19 9 14

20 19.6 19.6 20.6 20.3 19.5 19.7 19.8 19.3 20.1 18.4 18.3 20 20.1 19.2 18.2 20 18.9 19.2 19.6 19.8 19.7 18.9 18.7 17.8 18.7 20.5 18.8 19 18.2 19 16.9 20.3 17.8 19.1 18.2 20.1 19.4 19 17.7 20.8 18.7 20.9 19.7 19.3 19.8 17.7 18.4 17.8 21.3

May_177_DataBook.indd 103

Earnings (£) Top Horse £2,062,924 £1,995,431 £1,905,981 £1,895,654 £1,873,976 £1,802,609 £1,444,886 £1,435,586 £1,416,847 £1,374,655 £1,179,208 £1,130,465 £1,071,788 £1,039,557 £997,120 £956,117 £882,859 £861,555 £829,469 £787,026 £763,891 £751,946 £742,987 £740,424 £730,227 £706,383 £677,810 £668,488 £648,655 £624,072 £623,478 £617,003 £591,570 £588,320 £572,466 £542,004 £449,864 £439,932 £437,905 £428,862 £407,478 £401,330 £400,036 £397,110 £370,732 £352,346 £317,537 £316,410 £310,823 £308,646

Magic Of Light Paisley Park Champ If The Cap Fits Snow Falcon Lady Buttons Rocky's Treasure Good Thyne Tara Us And Them Crosspark Verdana Blue Espoir d'Allen Agusta Gold Ornua De Rasher Counter Tiger Roll City Island Clan des Obeaux Derrinross Sizing Tennessee Apple's Jade Beware The Bear Ramses de Teillee Supasundae Altior Elegant Escape Frodon Kalashnikov Al Boum Photo Hardline Le Richebourg Reserve Tank Sub Lieutenant Sharjah Politologue Min De Name Escapes Me Winter Escape Sam Spinner Battleoverdoyen Wholestone Third Wind Joey Sasa Aux Ptits Soins Definitly Red Road To Respect Minella Indo Al Dancer Clarcam Native River

Earned (£) £269,374 £347,744 £143,022 £201,812 £139,381 £135,866 £58,020 £87,560 £114,066 £120,440 £208,271 £307,633 £48,916 £121,863 £35,960 £565,299 £95,065 £240,295 £46,817 £154,396 £253,938 £90,697 £67,693 £215,460 £451,860 £188,354 £406,719 £88,886 £368,309 £97,986 £164,961 £66,295 £78,651 £283,075 £199,420 £262,447 £62,421 £57,568 £72,728 £61,466 £48,871 £53,338 £32,633 £58,882 £98,169 £167,984 £78,272 £66,284 £130,531 £102,275

Flemensfirth on top after Aintree and Cheltenham The top 11 sires are exactly the same as they were when the standings were last reviewed two months ago, but they are not in the same order. There is no arguing with Flemensfirth’s recent achievements.

Magic Of Light’s second place in the Grand National and good performances by novice chasers Lostintranslation and Topofthegame at both Cheltenham and Aintree have moved him right to the top.

However, with significant prize-money still on offer during April the title is not yet in the bag.

Paisley Park’s stirring victory in the Stayers’ Hurdle maintained Oscar’s standing, and Champ’s Grade 1 success at Aintree, following a fine run at Cheltenham, kept King’s Theatre in the hunt. If The Cap Fits was Milan’s star with his memorable win in the Ryanair Stayers’ Hurdle at Aintree.

Winners of most of the championship races, plus the Grand National, did not affect the top of the table, in part because, as so often, the French influence was strong. Voix du Nord excelled with both Espoir d’Allen and Kemboy to his name. Buck’s Boum was responsible for Al Boum Photo, Nickname for Frodon and Derby winners High Chaparral and Authorized respectively had Altior and Tiger Roll.

Grand National runner-up Magic Of Light (noseband) boosted Flemensfirth’s haul

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER 103

18/04/2019 18:00

The Finish Line with Bob Baffert With a shock of white hair and his frequent trips to the winners’ circle of nationally televised races, Bob Baffert, 66, is the most familiar face in American horseracing. A full-time thoroughbred trainer since 1991, Baffert is a perennial contender in the Triple Crown races, having swept the series twice in the last four years with American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. As of early April, Baffert had another strong group of candidates in Game Winner, Improbable and Roadster, who could all take their chances in the Kentucky Derby on May 4.

Interview: Steve Andersen

I

watch my horses really closely and see how they react after a race. I’m always working and trying to figure our plans for these horses. Approaching the Triple Crown, it’s day-to-day and weekto-week. The thing about Kentucky that you don’t know is what you will get with the weather. It can change in eight hours, like it did last year.

Though I won the Triple Crown with Pharoah, I enjoyed it more with Justify because we knew it could be done. We had the horse to do it and we felt more comfortable. But Justify and Pharoah were off-the-chart horses. This year I think I have solid three-year-olds.

I was a bit of a loner when I was younger.

I grew up on a ranch in Nogales, Arizona and couldn’t wait to get home and saddle up the horse that my dad gave me. I’d ride him for two hours.

It got me away from everything; I’ve always loved the horses.

Being attached to horses, when you have a lot of stress, they’re emotional support. They’ve been that for me and

I love being around them. I’m in charge of them and I’m responsible for their health and wellbeing. As long as I can be around them and we have this beautiful track, I could do this forever.

Santa Anita is basically my home. I wouldn’t send a good horse out there if I thought there was danger, or if the horses were at risk. Things happen in racing; they’re athletes and things go wrong. We see that in professional sports. I think for a lot of people, there has been a lot of awareness brought to the sport. You better think about your horses first before anything.

I keep hearing I’m the face of racing – or perhaps the hair of racing! – because I’ve won two Triple Crowns. I’m recognisable and I feel like I do have a responsibility that people want to hear from me and what I think. I’m very opinionated at times and I’ll tell you what I’m thinking.

I’m actually cutting back on my numbers as I don’t want a whole lot of horses. I want a manageable amount and I’d like to keep it to about 100. I’d like to take 40 two-year-olds every year, including homebreds.

When I first came over from Quarter Horses, I got my horses ready really early. Now I like to take my time and most of the horses I buy are bred to go longer. I like playing at the top end and my clients want to play at the top end; I’d like to get everyone to the Derby.

There’s nothing like it for excitement.

American Pharoah: 2015 Triple Crown hero

I had a plan with Roadster [winner of the Santa Anita Derby from stablemate Game Winner] and it worked out. I have new challenges every year – when the challenges come, I have a rolodex in my head. I don’t panic. I’ve always got

a game plan; that’s years of experience.

I surround myself with top people that carry out everything for me and it makes my job easier.

I bought [1998 Kentucky Derby winner] Real Quiet for $17,000. With conformation, I could find horses. But you can’t do that any more. It’s too tough, people have gotten sharper. At the end of the day, it’s all about speed.

That speed is the most important factor. I got in at the right time.

Pinhooking has changed everything; horses are changing hands far too much before they get to the track. The sale ring is always important but with the pinhooking, they go through a lot. They don’t get to grow up and be horses.

I own 15 guitars; I don’t know why I have so many. I just accumulate them. It’s like accumulating golf clubs. I’m trying to play a little golf with [14-year-old son] Bode now that he’s older. He’s going to be starting high school. He’s at the age where I can do more stuff with him.

Once I used to go to the Breeders’ Cup and by the time I got there my horses were empty. I’ve changed a lot. But you learn – you want to be a little fresh for it and I’ve learned to aim for these bigger races. If I have a horse that doesn’t work in California, I’ll let the owner know and maybe they can take them to a softer circuit.

I’m proud I’m still very good friends with the clients I’ve had for 30 years. People like Hal Earnhard and Mike Pegram.

You‘ve got to put the horses first. I love being able to develop the young horses, the two-year-olds, and that’s my favourite part, watching them grow.

They’re going to be coming in soon.

104 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

May_177_TheFinishLine.indd 104

18/04/2019 17:46

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