Thoroughbred Owner Breeder

£4.95 OCTOBER 2019 ISSUE 182

Last tango in Paris Can Enable and Frankie make Arc history?

PLUS

Charlie Fellowes

Bedding in at Bedford House

Sir Anthony McCoy

‘Champ looks an absolute beast’

10

Tattersalls October

Star yearlings take centre stage

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20/09/2019 18:21

Welcome

Enable takes top billing for her ambitious career to date

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.theownerbreeder.com 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 subscriptions@ownerbreeder.co.uk

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£4.95 OCTOBER 2019 ISSUE 182

Last tango in Paris Can Enable and Frankie make Arc history?

PLUS

Charlie Fellowes

Bedding in at Bedford House

Sir Anthony McCoy

‘Champ looks an absolute beast’

10

Tattersalls October

Star yearlings take centre stage

9 771745 435006

www.theownerbreeder.com

Oct_182_Coverv3.indd 1

Cover: Enable and regular partner Frankie Dettori will be bidding to record an unprecedented third victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on October 6 Photo: George Selwyn

Oct_182_Editors.indd 1

Edward Rosenthal Editor

20/09/2019 18:21

ancing Brave, Frankel and Enable. Three wonderful thoroughbreds that have raced in the silks of owner Khalid Abdullah.

Arguably, it is Enable who has achieved the most of that powerful trio on the racecourse.

In 1986, apart from his Derby defeat, Dancing Brave carried all before him. He won the 2,000 Guineas, Eclipse and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes before that stunning triumph in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, when Pat Eddery unleashed his charge’s turn of foot down the Longchamp straight to such devastating effect.

Frankel, the highest-rated racehorse of recent times, was a phenomenon. His trainer, the late Sir Henry Cecil, realised the talent that the son of Galileo possessed at an early stage.

After four races and four wins as a juvenile, Frankel’s three-year-old season produced a 2,000 Guineas for the ages, when racegoers started clapping the colt with more than a furlong to run – a quite incredible occasion to be part of at Newmarket.

Frankel was unbeatable at three as he was in his four-year-old season. He surged to breath-taking victories in the Lockinge, Queen Anne Stakes, Sussex Stakes and Juddmonte International – who will forget the shots of him cruising past St Nicholas Abbey as if it were an exercise gallop – before signing off with victory in the Champion Stakes.

Whereas Frankel’s career was managed carefully, perhaps conservatively – he never raced outside of England – Enable has travelled far and wide to prove her prowess on the racecourse, undoubtedly reflecting the training talents and knowledge of John Gosden.

She started life on the Tapeta at Newcastle for a single outing at two, winning easily. A defeat on her first start at three would hardly signal what was to follow; Enable has won all of her 12 subsequent races, a haul that includes ten Group 1 contests, the same number won by Frankel.

However, it is the races themselves that mark Enable out as an extraordinary champion, taking the fight to the opposition in Ireland, France and America. She became the first winner of the Prix

de l’Arc de Triomphe to triumph at the Breeders’ Cup in the same season, taking the Turf at Churchill Downs in 2018. For a filly to achieve this feat is testament to her talent and tenacity, and of her course she has been quite masterfully handled by her trainer.

Now Enable, under her regular rider Frankie Dettori, will try and become the first three-time winner of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, following her decisive triumph at Chantilly in 2017 with that thrilling success over the ill-fated Sea Of Class at Longchamp last year.

In our Arc preview (pages 36-39), we look at the challenge Enable faces before she departs for the paddocks and run the rule over her main rivals who will by trying to etch their own name into the history books.

“She has taken the fight to the opposition all over the world” Charlie Fellowes won’t have an Arc runner this year – the 33-year-old would no doubt love to change that in future. A recent move to Luca Cumani’s former base at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket has signalled his intent to upgrade his string and challenge for the bigger prizes.

Prince Of Arran may not be in the Enable class but this globetrotter has amassed a handy £650,000 following some excellent efforts overseas, none more so than when running a fine third behind fellow UK-based duo Cross Counter and Marmelo in the 2018 Melbourne Cup. As Tim Richards discovers (Talking To, pages 42-46), Fellowes has some fascinating views on the sport – including on the controversial matter of the whip – and is undoubtedly a man we will be hearing a lot more from in the coming years.

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Contents

October 2019

106

48

42

News & Views

International Scene

ROA Leader

View From Ireland

Review of prize-money distribution needed

5

TBA Leader Book size restrictions unlikely

7 8 10 20 22

Features Logician's Leger triumph

Dewhurst dead-heat in 1988

Enable's Arc challenge

Travel and lifestyle

2

29

14 18

The Big Race

Racing Life Melbourne Cup magic

Jack Sisterson on the up

From The Archives

Howard Wright Don't mention the F word

26

The Big Picture

Tony Morris Beware over-hyping juveniles

Niels Petersen's five-timer

Around The Globe

Changes News in a nutshell

24

Continental Tales

News Planning for a no deal Brexit

Ronnie O'Leary's gamble

38

Talking To 32

Trainer Charlie Fellowes

42

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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112

29

14

Features October Yearlings

Andreas Putsch targets Tattersalls

Goffs UK Yorton Sale Inaugural auction a hit

Breeders’ Digest

American Jockey Club's radical move

Sales Circuit

Reports from Europe and the US

Caulfield Files

Turf horses popular in the States

Dr Statz

Gutaifan leads first-crop sires

The Finish Line

With Sir Anthony McCoy

Forum 48 54 59 60 76 106 112

Forum The Thoroughbred Club Offers for TTC members

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78

ROA Forum

Ownership Day at Perth popular

TBA Forum

80 92

Ripon delights

Vet Forum

Focus on stress fractures

102

Data Book European Pattern Results and analysis

108

Did you know?

Our monthly average readership is

20,000 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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20/09/2019 19:16

ROA Leader

Nicholas Cooper President

Review of prize-money allocation is long overdue T

he constant debate about prize-money levels in racing goes far beyond the overall amount of money coming into the sport from racecourses, from the betting industry via the Levy Board and from owners.

The industry also increasingly finds itself asking whether the divisions of prize-money between the winner and the placed horses requires change and whether the distribution between owners, trainers, jockeys and stable staff is at the right levels.

Prize-money is the key lever in horseracing with which to influence the behaviour of those managing the supply of horses into the sport, and as the product around which racecourses and betting companies have built their businesses. How prize-money is allocated between classes, participants and places requires proper analysis and thought, and should be approached with an open mind, not clouded by current practice.

It is the duty of the whole industry to address this conundrum in an attempt to find a better system, even when financial improvement for one group may be at the cost of another.

Trying to achieve unanimity between owners and each of the groups making up racing’s workforce as to how prize-money should be divided is no easy task. The truth is, of course, that everyone’s perspective on this issue is coloured by where they sit within the sport. Any representative of a particular racing constituent would find it hard to accept a reduction in their percentage.

Getting agreement on changes to levels of prize-money between winners and placed horses is difficult enough, but making adjustments to the overall percentages received by jockeys, trainers and stable staff is an even bigger nettle to grasp.

As for the percentages relating to winners and placed horses, there is already some variation between those of pattern races and non-pattern races. Whether these should be extended to making a distinction between all handicaps and all weight-forage races is open to debate, as is the notion that variations should exist between all middle and lower tier events and premier races.

We then have various other matters within this area, such as appearance money and jockeys’ pension contributions, hugely important in their own right, but adding further layers of complication to this whole debate.

But this important work must go further than making racing’s stakeholders more comfortable with the distribution system. It must set out to have a positive impact on some of the industry’s key metrics such as the number of owners and horses in training, which in turn benefits trainers, jockeys and stable staff.

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All of this is to say nothing of the entirely separate question over whether the total prize-money split between classes of race is what it should be to deliver the maximum benefit to the sport.

Many owners question whether it is right that horses at the top of the racing pyramid should receive so much more prize-money than those running in Class 5 and 6 races. Is it fair, they ask, that horses, often with a high residual stud value, also take the lion’s share of prize-money?

Certainly, when you consider the average total prize fund for a Class 1 race last year was £139,039 against that of a Class 6 of £6,156, you might think they have a point. However, those on the

“The whole industry must address this financial conundrum in an attempt to find a better system” other side of the argument have equal conviction that racing must always reward the best horses to retain the international competitiveness of our top events, which provide by far the biggest draw for the sport.

As the industry is currently considering the longer-term possibilities for fixtures, funding and media rights, it is surely the right time to include a review of the allocation and distribution of prize-money. Ignoring the impact the reform of this mechanism could have on the supply side of the industry would be at best a massive oversight, and at worst negligent.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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20/09/2019 16:13

The TBA, with you for the journey We continually review our membership benefits to ensure that we provide you with the best possible support for your thoroughbred breeding interests.

Our members have access to a whole range of services including; employer support, tax and legal hotlines, buying group discounts, guidance documents, events, regional days, training courses, seminars, race badge offers and much more.

Why wouldn’t you support us?

thetba.co.uk

TBA Leader

Julian Richmond-Watson Chairman

Restricting book sizes is not the right route T

he American Jockey Club’s proposal – or “consideration”, as its formal announcement said – to cap the number of mares being covered by an individual stallion to 140 in any one season from 2021 came as a surprise to many in the breeding industry, perhaps as much to those who would have to abide by it as to those in the rest of the thoroughbred world.

Everyone involved in breeding racehorses has concerns about sustaining the genetic diversity of the thoroughbred and the most recent figures in the USA clearly highlight how much of an issue it is becoming in North America.

Figures published by the New York-based Jockey Club, which unlike its British equivalent is the keeper of the American Stud Book, revealed that since 2010 the number of stallions in the US covering in excess of 140 mares had risen from 24 to 43.

However, since 2007, when 37 stallions were each reported to have serviced 140 or more mares, the total number of mares being bred there dropped from 37,000 to 20,000.

Combining the detail of the two sets of figures meant that between 2007, when 37 stallions covered at least 140 mares, and this year, the proportion of mares covered by stallions with books of more than 140 increased from 9.5% of the total to 27%.

This represents a substantial change in behaviour, and in an increasing number of cases it means that new stallions going to stud can have more than 400 foals in utero or on the ground before any of their progeny has run. There is a real risk that many owners of mares are supporting a stallion who in the fulness of time will be less than successful.

The American infatuation with speed and the country’s general lack of a National Hunt breeding programme make their breeders very vulnerable to a narrow concentration on producing one type of horse. Simply by recognising the problem and opening up the debate the Jockey Club has encouraged everyone, not just in North America, to look at the issues involved and consider the options.

Over on this side of the pond, breeders in Britain and Ireland are not immune from the decline in genetic diversity, which has been borne out by work done by Dr Emmeline Hill, the Irish equine geneticist who is credited with discovering a gene for speed in horses.

At the TBA we have been concerned at the narrowing of this gene pool for some time. However, the idea of restricting mares visiting a stallion or the number of covers, which is more controversial, is fraught with problems, and several questions have to be asked before serious decisions can be made.

Should both hemispheres be included? If so, and the

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numbers were split between each hemisphere, shuttling of stallions would not be worthwhile. What about National Hunt stallions, who often reach high numbers only after they have been proven and painstakingly nurtured with lower figures for years?

It could be argued that as long as we are breeding from the ‘right traits’, we are improving the breed. If we are not, those breeders who have steered away from the potentially flawed and decreasing genetic pool by using out-crosses and a different gene pool will be rewarded.

Nature has managed to produce some wonderful racehorses and broodmares from very small gene pools, as well as some failures. As long as we all know there are dangers –

“It could be argued that as long as we are breeding from the ‘right traits’, we are improving the breed” and we do now have the genetic testing and tools to be much better informed – it must be up to individual breeders to make their own decisions.

Any restriction of the type proposed in North America would almost certainly lead to litigation and claims of restraint of trade. The argument about devaluation etc. would surely follow, but how this would play out in the courts in different jurisdictions is anyone’s guess. And what about a case where more than 140 mares are covered; what happens to the extra progeny?

I believe the proposal for any artificial restrictions looks to be just that. It would certainly open the door to mistrust and rumour, of which the breeding industry definitely needs no more.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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20/09/2019 16:12

News

Deal or no deal?

New rules will prevail if Britain leaves the EU without a deal before October 31

M

ore than three years after Britain voted to leave the European Union, nothing has changed, except an increasing sense of desperation at our politicians’ failure to resolve a situation that has left the country deeply divided.

For the racing and breeding industries, the threat of a no deal scenario unfolding before the deadline on October 31 would present a number of difficulties.

The tripartite agreement that guaranteed the free movement of thoroughbreds between Britain, Ireland and France would be ripped up and replaced by a new system, bringing with it additional requirements concerning the veterinary status and transportation of horses.

If Britain leaves the EU without a deal, owners, breeders and trainers must be aware of the requirements should they wish to send a thoroughbred to Europe for the purposes of racing, breeding or selling after October 31.

HEALTH REQUIREMENTS

Thoroughbred horses do not need an export declaration if they are being shipped for a race, training or breeding purposes. However, the following will apply: •H orses will need to be tested in the 30 days prior to travel to show that they are free of certain diseases. (The EU will decide on the UK’s animal health listing. This listing will dictate which diseases need to be tested for before a thoroughbred can be moved to Europe.)

8

A no-deal Brexit will see new requirements around transporting horses to Europe

• Before a registered horse is exported, it must be kept on a UK holding (or a country with similar health status) under veterinary supervision for 40 days.

and EEA. An EU community licence is also needed. Existing community licences can be used until December 31, 2019 even if there is a no-deal Brexit.

• Weatherbys horse passports will be valid, subject to studbook listing by the EU. If there is no studbook listing, you will need a government-issued ID.

K Drivers need a Driver Certificate •U of Professional Competence (CPC) qualification to drive a lorry professionally in the UK and other EU and EEA countries. To work for both EU and UK companies after Brexit, you need to exchange a UK Driver CPC qualification for an EU one.

To move horses to the UK from the EU, check whether you need to use new notification processes for imports from EU and non-EU countries.

TRANSPORT REQUIREMENTS

UK transporters – that includes owners, trainers and breeders – who are moving horses in the EU must appoint a representative within an EU member state and apply to the relevant member state to receive a transport authorisation, certificate of competence, vehicle approval certificate and journey log where necessary.

•H orses will only be able to enter the EU through a Border Inspection Post (BIP) designated for the specific consignment; an EU BIP requires notice 24 hours in advance.

•A s well as carrying your UK driving licence, drivers might also need an international driving permit to drive in some EU and European Economic Area (EEA) countries.

K operators must have a standard •U international operator licence for journeys to, through or from the EU

• I f there is a no deal Brexit you can use your existing EU Community Licence if the journey is entirely within the EU or EEA until December 31, 2019. European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) permits are needed for journeys through EU and EEA countries to ECMT countries not in the EU or EEA. Only two cabotage or cross-trade jobs within seven days of making an international journey are allowed until December 31, 2019.

• Regarding insurance, drivers must carry a Green Card for the vehicle they’re driving if there is a no-deal Brexit.

• Commercial trailers weighing over 750kg and non-commercial trailers over 3,500kg must be registered.

CUSTOMS, VAT AND TARIFFS

If you move horses to or from the EU after a no-deal Brexit you will need an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number that

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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20/09/2019 17:56

Stories from the racing world

Major horse transport hubs in tripartite agreement countries

ENHANCED VETERINARY CHECKS UNDER NO DEAL BREXIT A no deal Brexit would result in veterinary checks on UK thoroughbreds once they have arrived at a Border Inspection Post (BIP) at their European destination.

The accompanying table shows the location of BIPs, airports and shipping ports.

The veterinary checks would cover both documentation and physical examination of the horses, which could take considerable time and should be factored into travel plans.

The UK government does not plan to reciprocate the increased border checks on thoroughbreds coming into Britain from European countries, namely France, Ireland and Germany.

For more details on the guidelines around the export of thoroughbreds from Britain to Europe in the event of a no deal Brexit see gov.uk/guidance/export-horses-andponies-special-rules.

starts with GB. Customs declarations can be handled in-house or through a third party and you must check if you are eligible for simplified customs procedures. The UK customs declaration must be made when the horses arrive.

• You must determine the value and find out the commodity code for your horses to confirm the rate of duty and VAT you’ll need to pay. Check if there are any duty relief schemes.

• The EU will apply tariff rates of up to 11.5% for gelded Thoroughbreds exported from the UK to the EU. You should pay any tax or duty you owe in the destination country and usually there is no UK duty on exports.

• You should choose the right customs procedure code for your horses which will help you work out the customs or excise processes that you may want to use. For exports via roll on roll off ports or the Channel Tunnel, you or your customs agent must complete a combined safety and security and customs declaration before the goods get to the departure port. For other routes for export, this needs doing

Key Airport Shipping Port Border Inspection Post

Bold red label

Ferry Route Prestwick

Train Route

Stranraer Belfast

Dublin Airport Holyhead

Dublin port Shannon

Rosslare Fishguard

Pembroke

Stansted Heathrow Dover Folkestone Calais

Portsmouth

Le Havre

Caen * Marseille port is also a BIP; There are potential BIPs being constructed at Rosslare and Dublin ports (Ire) and Calais, Dieppe, Caen, Cherbourg and Roscoff (Fra)

before your horses board. For imports via roll on roll off ports or the Channel Tunnel, make your customs declaration before checking onto the ferry or train on the EU side.

• UK VAT-registered importers can account for import VAT on your VAT return. If registered for VAT, the VAT is zero rate on horses you export.

EU NATIONALS IN THE UK

The UK government has launched a ‘Settled Status’ scheme for EU and EEA citizens resident in the UK – and their families – before 11pm on October 31, 2019 to apply for the right to settle in the UK permanently following the UK’s withdrawal. This scheme will be open until at least December 31, 2020. EU and EEA citizens should apply for this status as soon as possible.

• The rights of Irish citizens to remain in the UK are unaffected owing to the Common Travel Area agreement between the UK and Ireland in the event of a no deal.

• Under no deal, the UK government has recently outlined that EU citizens

Deauville

Charles-de-Gaulle Paris Le Bourget

who move to the UK after October 31, 2019 will be able to apply to a European Temporary Leave to Remain scheme for a residency of up to 36 months.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE IS A DEAL?

If the UK and EU both agree, and ratify, a Withdrawal Agreement this will trigger an Implementation period under which, while the UK will no longer be a member state of the EU, the existing rules and regulations will continue.

This includes the rights of EEA citizens to move freely into and work in the UK, and may include the tripartite agreement for movement of thoroughbreds between the UK, France and Ireland. Nonetheless, this will not be a permanent arrangement as the next phase of negotiations will be to discuss the UK’s future trading and security relationship with the EU, and considerations such as the EU’s Animal Health Law (due to take effect in April 2021) will be key.

For the latest updates regarding Brexit please see britishhorseracing.com/ regulation/brexit.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Changes

Racing’s news in a nutshell

People and business

Graham Gibbons

Jockey is jailed for 16 weeks following fourth conviction for drink-driving; he had been riding out for David Barron.

Veteran chasers

New series for horses aged ten or older rated up to 125 to launch next month, and exclusive to conditional riders.

Chelmsford City

Plans to make the track the first floodlit grass venue in Britain are delayed until at least the summer of 2021.

Spendthrift Farm

Kentucky operation recruits five new stallions – Vino Rosso, Maximus Mischief, Coal Front, Mitole and Omaha Beach.

William Hill

Bookmaking giant will have a new Chief Executive from this month, with Ulrik Bengtsson replacing Philip Bowcock.

The Hollow Bottom

Famous Gloucestershire racing pub set to reopen this month under new management after closing suddenly in July.

Finian O’Toole

Conditional jockey is forced to retire after failing to recover fully from an horrific fall at Kelso in November.

Robert Winston

Rider who was very likely to have been champion jockey in 2005 but for a bad fall at Ayr, hangs up his boots aged 39.

Irish EBF

Helen Whately

Newmarket Gold Season

Gestut Fahrhof

Shaun Parker

Silvestre de Sousa

George Scott

ITV

Launches revamped median sires race series featuring 24 races with minimum prize-fund of €25,000 and a €200,000 race at Naas.

New initiative designed around the four weeks of the year when racing’s HQ becomes the international hub for sales and racing.

Appointed by BHA as head of stewarding, bringing to an end a twoyear search for the right person to replace Paul Barton.

Trainer moves to the 80-box Eve Lodge yard, the former base of Lester Piggott, after four years at Saffron House Stables.

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Named new minister responsible for gambling at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport after cabinet reshuffle.

Top German nursery planning to downsize broodmare band and sell more than 20 mares at the Arqana December Sale.

Three-time champion jockey will return to Hong Kong next month, where he has been granted a licence to ride until January.

Broadcaster reveals it has signed a deal to show the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe live within a two-and-a-quarter-hour show.

Aidan Coleman

Victory on Theflyingportrait at Kelso completed a full house for the rider, who has now won at every jumps track in Britain.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Changes

Racehorse and stallion

Movements and retirements

City Light

Haras d’Etreham acquires a share in top sprinter, who clocked a swift time during his convincing win in Prix du Pin at Longchamp.

Southern France

St Leger third is sold by Coolmore to a group of prominent Australian owners with a crack at the Melbourne Cup on the cards.

Crystal Ocean

This year’s Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner, also successful in six other Group races, is retired after a gallops injury.

Rajsaman

Sire of dual French Classic winner Brametot moves from stud in France to Longford House Stud in County Tipperary.

Hazapour

Last year’s Derby fifth is sold to race in Hong Kong, with now former trainer Dermot Weld believing he will thrive there.

Rashaan

13-time winner for Colin Kidd team who beat Apple’s Jade and Petit Mouchoir in a Grade 2 at Down Royal is sold to America.

Pretty Pollyanna

Last year’s European champion juvenile filly is retired; her career was highlighted by victory in the Group 1 Prix Morny.

Vazirabad

Top-class stayer who won three Group 1s for the Aga Khan and was Christophe Soumillon’s favourite horse is retired aged seven.

People obituaries Ferdy Murphy 70

Trained a number of top-class performers over jumps including Paddy’s Return, French Holly and Kalahari King.

Ray Hitchcock 89

Ran Messinger Stud in Solihull with wife Anne and enjoyed highly successful cricket career with Warwickshire.

Harry Lott 85

Pivotal figure at Weatherbys in Wellingborough for more than 20 years, where one of his roles was as Managing Director.

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Duke of Roxburghe 64

Steve Taplin 65

Author of the popular Two-YearOlds publications, which profiled approximately 1,500 juveniles every year.

Robin Knipe 80

Breeder of top jumpers Thistlecrack, Master Oats and Anzum who owned Cobhall Court Stud.

Breeder of 1,000 Guineas heroine Attraction whose Floors Stud is also responsible for current top juvenile Palace Pier.

Patrick Hibbert-Foy 76

Peter Brookshaw 92

Stan Cosgrove 91

Former leading amateur rider; unlike his champion jump jockey brother Tim Brookshaw, he never turned professional.

Former Senior Stewards’ Secretary who advised the stewards’ panel at Aintree to void the 1993 Grand National.

Pioneering vet at the centre of the Shergar kidnapping saga, and stalwart of Moyglare Stud for more than half a century.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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20/09/2019 11:59

The Big Picture

Logician’s Leger Frankie Dettori riding a hot favourite in a big race on a sunny afternoon. What could go wrong? Well, nothing. Dettori is enjoying a fantastic season and in the unbeaten Logician he had the perfect partner for the William Hil St Leger at Doncaster, the son of Frankel giving the rider his 16th Group 1 victory of the year with a clearcut success from Mark Johnston stablemates Sir Ron Priestley (black cap) and Nayef Road (blue/red).

Winning groom Mark Bent and Dettori certainly enjoyed the terrific triumph.

Photos George Selwyn

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Doncaster

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THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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The Big Picture

Doncaster

To Sir, with love Sir Dancealot is a real seven-furlong specialist and the David Elsworth-trained five-year-old made it four wins at Group 2 level with a decisive triumph in the Hird Rail Group Park Stakes at Doncaster for owners Chris Benham, Darren Whitford, Kevin Quinn and Leo Quinn. All five of Sir Dancealot’s Pattern victories have come under Gerald Mosse; judging by the expression on the Frenchman’s face afterwards, the gelding has a special place in his affections.

Photo George Selwyn

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THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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20/09/2019 15:44

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Hill 'n Dale - TOB Oct 19.indd 1

*statistic is exclusive of Japanese and Southern Hemisphere runners

20/09/2019 12:07

From The Archives

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THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Dewhurst Stakes on October 14, 1988

Dead-heat in Dewhurst If awesome juvenile Pinatubo shows up at Newmarket this month, the chances of the Dewhurst Stakes ending in a dead-heat are probably very slim. Thirty-one years ago, however, that was the outcome, with Michael Hills (left on Scenic) and Willie Carson (on Prince Of Dance) locked together at the line. Carson’s mount had started 6-4 favouite but needed to rally close home to share the spoils with 33-1 shot Scenic, the outsider of six and one of three runners in the much-loved maroon and white silks of Sheikh Mohammed. His others, Opening Verse and Samoan, finished fifth and sixth.

Photo George Selwyn

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Tony Morris

It pays to be cautious in bestowing rich accolades History tells us that ratings and rhetoric can sometimes go overboard when it comes to top two-year-olds, with Apalachee, Arazi and Celtic Swing – to varying degrees – cases in point Shamardal colt left his rivals for dead, extended his lead with every stride, and passed the post with nine lengths to spare over a highly-regarded colt who was himself a Group 2 winner.

Pinatubo has a perfect five-from-five record to date, having broken his maiden first time out at Wolverhampton, collected a Class 2 event at Epsom, notched a Royal Ascot win in the Listed Chesham Stakes, then picked up Group 2 honours in the Vintage Stakes at Goodwood. He had given more than a hint of his quality before his trip to Ireland, where he had greatness thrust upon him by many observers.

Some may say that he actually achieved greatness, but that is not something that a two-year-old – an adolescent thoroughbred – can do. The real tests come next year, when he reaches the age that brings the most competitive action that he can expect to face in his career.

Timeform is suggesting that Pinatubo is marginally better than Frankel was in his first season. Frankel was assessed on 133p after he had completed his season with victory in the Dewhurst, while the Godolphin homebred may yet turn out again. If he lines up for the Dewhurst, he will be long odds-on to win it, and the outcome may be an upward revision of his rating

by Timeform. The mind boggles.

Getting carried away It is easy to over-rate the performances of two-year-olds, and Timeform was inclined to do just that in some of the early Racehorses volumes. Windy City, the fastest juvenile of 1951, was awarded 142, amazingly 7lb higher than Derby winner Arctic Prince, and in 1955 the filly Star Of India was somehow credited with 138, which suggested she was 5lb better than Ribot.

There have been other more recent examples, one I especially recall being the 137 awarded to Apalachee in 1972. This was a Round Table colt trained by

GEORGE SELWYN

E

ngland’s Classic races were not designed as an annual series of events. They all had different origins, the St Leger (1776), Oaks (1779) and Derby (1780) in the latter part of the 18th century, the 2,000 Guineas (1809) and 1,000 Guineas (1814) early in the 19th.

The realisation that those five races represented a logical progression for three-year-olds through the season came later.

There was no grand plan involved, but it made sense that the Newmarket contests took place over a mile in spring, that Epsom’s mile and a half races featured in summer, and that the Doncaster event should test the generation over a longer trip in autumn.

Who first applied the term Classics to them, nobody knows.

And at least three colts had landed the treble of 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger before the feat came to be known as the Triple Crown.

What we do know for certain is that for 200 years what has mattered most in a thoroughbred’s career is three-year-old form. Throughout that time in Britain, and for almost as long in other racing nations, the breed has largely depended for its progress on horses who have excelled at three.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and the likes of Busted and Invincible Spirit may be cited as examples of horses who completed their second season without having established their credentials for an innings at stud.

There are also famous cases of horses who succeeded as stallions despite having failed to appear on the racecourse after their two-year-old season. Raise A Native, in the States, and The Tetrarch, in this neck of the woods, have long been recognised as examples of that phenomenon.

We can add the name of Dark Angel now, while regretting that his success has encouraged the early retirement of less worthy individuals with dubious claims to a berth at stud. Most are destined to contribute nothing to the breed, serving just to supply modest stock to the racing industry.

Sure, high-class form at two can be admirable, but it provides no guarantee of a similar or superior level of performance to follow at three.

That is worth remembering, when in September 2019 we have seen a display of such obvious brilliance by a current two-year-old that bookmakers immediately slashed his price for the 2,000 Guineas of 2020 to just a shade of odds against, and Timeform granted him the extraordinary accolade of a 134 rating.

Nobody who watched Pinatubo demolish his opposition in the Group 1 National Stakes on the Curragh could fail to be impressed by the manner of his performance. Once given an inch of rein, the

Pinatubo has had greatness thrust upon him already by some observers but that can come only as a three-year-old, not a juvenile

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THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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The man you can’t ignore Vincent O’Brien who ran only three times in his first season. He began with a win in a newcomers’ race on the Curragh in August, and followed up successfully in a race for maidens over the same course in September.

To that stage his form did not amount to much, but then he was sent for the Observer Gold Cup at Doncaster, where he was opposed by Mississipian, whose recent victory in the Grand Criterium had confirmed his status as France’s top youngster.

After the pair had drawn far clear of their rivals, Apalachee dismissed the French colt readily to win by two lengths.

I confess that I thought Apalachee was a potential worldbeater and told everyone who would listen to back him for the Triple Crown. But all the judges had wildly overestimated the colt, who returned with a comfortable win in the Gladness Stakes, then flopped as 4-9 favourite for the 2,000 Guineas and was never seen again.

And who can forget Arazi? He was already recognised as Europe’s top two-year-old when he was sent for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs in 1991. On his dirt track debut he gave an extraordinary display that never ceases to amaze Youtube devotees, however many times it is viewed. The performances prompted Timeform to give him a rating of 135, and racefans on both sides of the Atlantic became excited over his reappearance in Louisville for the Kentucky Derby.

“The colt who reigns at two and three has been quite an unusual individual in my time” I remember the day well. Raceform’s John Sharratt and I pretty much had the press stand at Newmarket to ourselves, as we watched Lester Piggott win his 30th Classic on Rodrigo de Triano in the 2,000 Guineas. We saw history made, while our colleagues who had ventured to Churchill Downs witnessed a dull effort from an Arazi who would never recapture his juvenile form.

Perhaps the closest comparison that recent history can provide in relation to Pinatubo and his challenge for 2020 Classic honours was the case of Celtic Swing, the top two-yearold of 1994. He began with a four-length victory in a median auction event at Ayr in July, and after a spell on the easy list for sore shins he resumed as a wide-margin winner over Singspiel in the Hyperion Stakes at Ascot. He signed off for the season with a 12-length triumph in the Racing Post Trophy that caused many to regard him as a potential Triple Crown hero.

Timeform made no apology for its assessment of 138 for Celtic Swing, and instead criticised the BHB’s official handicapper, Geoffrey Gibbs, for underestimating his merit. In fact, the official rating was nearer the correct mark. The colt’s Doncaster victims were nothing special, and the prevailing soft ground made the winner look better than he was.

For all that, Celtic Swing did come back strongly at three, collecting Classic honours in the Prix du Jockey-Club after missing out by a head to Pennekamp as odds-on favourite for the 2,000 Guineas.

Top two-year-olds frequently do add further high-level successes at three, but the colt who reigns at both two and three has been quite an unusual individual during my time in this business.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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The Howard Wright Column

Cheltenham is in March, let’s not go for home yet A

Pattern system and a series of high-value handicaps, and did not need the invention of British Champions Day to set the tone, jumps racing has its own sequence of high-profile events, starting in October, yet their immediate importance is too often overshadowed in the rush by media and broadcasters to look ahead to the following March and April.

Rory McIlroy had it about right when, after banking a cheque for £12.2 million for winning the Tour Championship, he responded to critics who pointed to his failure to win a recent major tournament by saying: “If the narrative becomes

“The plea is for media and broadcasters to ban the C and F words until January 1 at the earliest” that the majors are the only important thing in golf, that’s dangerous, because are fans not going to care for the other 48 weeks a year?”

The same goes for jump racing, hence the plea for media and broadcasters to ban the C word and the F word until January 1 at the earliest. Not the words that crudely punctuate Love Island but those that perpetually run through the earliest part of the jumps season, Cheltenham Festival.

Give the sport a break. Please.

GEORGE SELWYN

ttempting to divert mainstream media and broadcasters from a popular line is akin to King Canute II’s futile attempt to turn back the tide or Boris Johnson’s to steer his government in an orderly direction towards Brexit. But here goes.

October marks the climax and inevitable winding-down of the turf season, but also the start of the jumps season proper. Yet, just as with modern football, which once enjoyed a welcome summer break, publicity for what was known as the winter game appears to be relentless, if skewed towards events due to take place months hence.

Two major influences seem to be at work. The daily trade newspaper, the Racing Post, has upped its commitment to Irish racing, which naturally slants greater coverage towards jumps racing. More recently, Racing TV’s audacious manoeuvre to scoop up the 26 tracks in Ireland from under the noses of the embryo Sky Sports Racing service has placed increased emphasis on Irish racing, even if the split-screen technique has come into play more often.

It’s one thing racing fans pencilling dates for Cheltenham and Aintree into next year’s diaries as soon as the current fixtures end, and for tickets for the following year’s meetings to go on sale at an early stage. One involves personal planning, the other commercial expediency.

My gripe comes back to the media and broadcasters, and their seemingly inexorable emphasis on the major Cheltenham and, to a slightly lesser degree, Aintree fixtures, to the detriment of those taking place in the moment. Looking forward is all very well, but let’s give immediacy a chance to sink in.

The BHA’s jump racing review, whose 41 recommendations were published in December 2015 after deliberations by a 23-strong committee – how British racing loves a committee, the bigger the better – only once referred to the issue at hand.

“The pre-eminence of Cheltenham was a subject aired by many during the consultation, though views on the impact of the Festival on the rest of the jump calendar were varied,” it said, before commenting, “There was consensus that there was a need for jump racing to provide a more high-profile event with a number of opportunities for horses ranked below the level required to take part at Cheltenham and Aintree.”

The Challenger Series was introduced, with a finals day at Haydock in late-April, and this season there will be three consecutive days’ valuable jumping at Musselburgh, Kelso and Carlisle in late-March. Good for the north, but of no real significance for the run through autumn and early winter.

The review made an oblique reference to the need to give events before March and April the recognition they deserve, buried under the recommendation, ‘Promote and be positive about the sport,’ where it suggested, “Great British Racing could do more promotion of jump racing, and ownership in particular.” If that has happened, its impact has escaped me, while the specific recommendations for a new jockeys’ championship, with monthly prizes and further emphasis on the north, seem to have been quietly, and rightly, shelved.

While Flat racing has a natural narrative, based on the

Good jumps action: it does exist before the spring falls

22 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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MUHAARAR Putting CLASS into his 2yos

ENEMY (left) - Eyecatching winner on debut

STAR IN THE MAKING (left) - Living up to her name with dominant win at Salisbury

“He’s a miler and an exciting one for next year”

“Made all and stayed on strongly close to home to assert”

KEVIN DARLEY, INTERNATIONAL RACING REPRESENTATIVE (QATAR RACING)

RACING POST, 3 SEPTEMBER 2019

Six-figure lots at Arqana and Doncaster, where his yearlings averaged more than £100,000 Discover more about the Shadwell Stallions at www.shadwellstud.com Or call Richard Lancaster, James O’Donnell or Tom Pennington on 01842 755913 Email us at: nominations@shadwellstud.co.uk

View Fr m Ireland

O’Leary hoping buying spree will reap long-term dividends

“Right now, we still like everything that we bought this summer” they need to look the part and have the page to back that up.

“Those guys, they want the cream of the crop, and if we want to sell to them, that’s what we need to buy.”

He added: “This time next year, I’ll be able to tell you the whole story. We’ll find

TATTERSALLS IRELAND

T

his could be the biggest two years of Ronnie O’Leary’s career in horseracing, with the County Clare-based trainer having spent more at this summer’s Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale than just about any other person or agent.

O’Leary is well-known for turning a profit by giving a good value store horse form in point-to-points or bumpers.

Fascino Rustico stands out as the obvious example, having been bought for €23,000, sent out to win a Carlisle bumper, and then taken to the sales at Cheltenham to be sold for a record £310,000, bought by Grand Nationalwinning owner John Hales.

At that same 2012 sale, O’Leary sold Mystical Dreamer, who he had also trained to win a bumper, for £160,000, having bought the Flemensfirth gelding unraced for €27,000.

He also sold €31,000 store Keeper Hill for £110,000 and €26,000 store Three Ways for £190,000 at Cheltenham in 2015, and more recently €35,000 store Peculiar Places for £100,000. However, since 2017, big sales have been harder to achieve, so O’Leary made the call to change his model.

“We just decided we had to up the ante to keep going,” he said. “Maybe I made the wrong decision, but when you are selling to the likes of Nicky Henderson,

Derby Sale top lot Clerval, a son of Martaline, was bought by Ronnie O’Leary (inset) out then if it was the right idea. But right now, we still like everything that we bought this summer and won’t be sending any back, just yet.”

At the Derby Sale, O’Leary signed for five geldings, costing a total of €779,000.

The quintet was headed by the sale’s top lot, French-bred Clerval, who sold for €220,000, having been bought in France last year for €145,000.

Out of a half-sister to ten-time winner Royal Auclair, the three-year-old comes from the family of Champion Bumper second Blue Sari and Cheltenham Festival winner Brindisi Breeze, so he ticked all of O’Leary’s boxes. But can he really make a profit on the son of Martaline?

“We had to have him,” the trainer said.

“You couldn’t knock him. He’s a beautiful horse, and is now broken and riding. He’s been very simple, but we haven’t found out yet what ability he has.

“None of them will tell us what they’re capable of for a while. They can’t run in point-to-points or bumpers until next spring, so until then we will bring them on slowly.”

O’Leary has made a habit of starting horses in bumpers, rather than point-topoints, but has not ruled that out for any of his Derby Sale haul. He explained how he makes the choice between the two.

“When we start schooling them, some are more natural than others,” he said.

“Some just take to it automatically, others take longer, and those we might instead take to a bumper.”

He added: “Of course there are sharper ones, with plenty of speed, that we might start off in a bumper. Some of those big horses take a long time, though, and it’s our job not to press them before they are ready.

“If they go weak on you, you have to leave them, give them a break, then go again. That’s them telling you they are not up to it yet. They aren’t mature enough.

“If you keep pushing through that, if you keep going and going, you might end up with nothing.”

Next year will reveal whether this strategy will work in the long run for Willow Farm Stables. The spend was only bettered at the Derby Sale by Olly Murphy and Highflyer Bloodstock, and amongst O’Leary’s other buys was another son of Martaline, from the family of top hurdler Geos, who cost €160,000, and the first foal out of top jumps mare Adriana Des Mottes, bought for €110,000.

Whilst their future is unknown to O’Leary now, he does have his eye on others in the yard.

“We will have some for the autumn

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By Jessica Lamb that weren’t ready last season,” he said, “less forward types that we had to wait with. From them, the one that catches my eye at the moment is a Shirocco. They aren’t named yet, because we don’t name them until they are ready to run. It’s unlucky.”

Opportunity knocks

There were other new names amongst the big spenders at the store sales this summer, the first store sales without Gigginstown House Stud since the announcement earlier this year that it would be winding down its operation.

Kilkenny trainer Ellmarie Holden took home a full-brother to two-time Cheltenham Festival winner Douvan for €140,000, the Walk In The Park gelding being only the second offering from the dam.

At the Goffs Landrover Sale, trainer Martin Brassil signed for the top lots in Part 1 and Part 2, a son of Yeats being his most expensive purchase at €185,000.

The influx of that valuable stock comes off the back of the Grand National-winning trainer’s first Cheltenham Festival victory last March.

City Island landed the honours in the

Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle for sponsors Sean and Bernardine Mulryan, the pair also enjoying their first Festival win – and a revival in their Irish racing interests.

Much of the Mulryans’ success has been in France, notably with 19-time jumps winner Cyrlight, three-time Grande Steeple-Chase de Paris winner Mid Dancer, and Group 1 winner Thewayyouare, who has gone on to sire UAE Derby winner Toast Of New York.

Now they have City Island, the promising Yeats gelding, and Punchestown bumper winner Longhouse Poet among their cast this season.

Replacement of Dundalk surface in 2020 had become too fast and was causing horses to return stiff and sore after racing.

Some trainers boycotted the track and Horse Racing Ireland applied pressure on management to make the necessary improvements by withdrawing their lucrative summer race meetings. That did not speed up the timeframe but did prompt the stadium to seek a short-term fix.

The fixture list also revealed good news for small tracks Kilbeggan, Listowel and Sligo, which were among seven courses awarded new fixtures.

The move gives Listowel a three-day meeting over the June Bank Holiday, and bolsters Sligo’s and Kilbeggan’s tallies to nine cards across 2020. The other big winner was Tramore, which now gets one race meeting in July, to take its total of racedays to 12.

Other tracks to receive new fixtures include the Curragh, Cork and Naas, with HRI imposing six blank Sundays to ease pressure on stable staff, and reverting the Irish Derby meeting to Friday and Saturday after this year’s Thursday to Saturday experiment failed.

CAROLINE NORRIS

Dundalk will close for two months next year to facilitate the €3 million replacement of its much-criticised surface.

Stakeholders praised the course last month when the 12-year-old Polytrack was revamped by 54 tonnes of extra fibre, and it was announced that a full refurbishment was in the pipeline.

Now the 2020 fixture list has revealed that it will be closed from April 22 to July 12 in order to finish the job.

Many professionals have called for this move since early this year, when reports started coming in that the track

The surface at Dundalk is to be replaced and the track closed for two and a half months next year

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Prolific Petersen enjoys day of days at Ovrevoll NORWAY

N

orwegian Derby day, at Ovrevoll in Oslo on August 25, represented a high water mark in the career of that nation’s champion trainer Niels Petersen.

It was not just that he won half of the ten races on the biggest day of the year, nor that his five-timer included the two most valuable races in the Norwegian calendar – the £114,914 Norsk Derby itself and the Group 3 £117,860 Marit Sveaas Minnelop.

No, the most startling aspect of his mighty achievement was the utter dominance of the winners of those two showpiece events.

The 14-strong Derby field was blown away by 15 and a quarter lengths by the British-bred Sea The Moon colt Privilegiado, while Square de Luynes, a French-bred Manduro gelding named after a square in central Paris, landed the Marit Sveaas Minnelop by a ‘mere’ eight and three-quarter lengths.

“To have five winners on a single card is always fantastic, never mind the way that they win,” Petersen enthuses. “So for them both to be so impressive made me extremely happy – I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”

The two biggest victories were gained in partnership with Newmarket-based jockey Pat Cosgrave, a last minute replacement for Petersen’s stable jockey Rafael Schistl, who was starting a six-week suspension that could turn out to signal the end of his career in the saddle.

“That was the only downside of the day,” Petersen admits, “that we weren’t able to share it with Rafael, who had done so much of the groundwork in the earlier careers of both horses.

“Sadly he was found guilty of having taken a prohibited diuretic pill that was part of his ongoing battle against the scales. Rafael is

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in Florida now and we have parted on the best of terms.

“I don’t believe that he is going to try to ride again, I’ve suggested that he gets involved with the breeze-up sales over there as he’s a great judge and great at educating horses, with lovely hands and superb balance.

“He and I go back many years as he was only 17 when I first came across him in Dubai. Fresh over on the plane from Brazil, he couldn’t speak five words of

English, yet was prepared to travel on with us to Norway to try to make a new life for himself here.”

The pair shared six Pattern victories together, most recently Square de Luynes’ easy Oslo Cup triumph in June, while Schistl also landed two Group races in Germany when based there between 2015 and 2016.

On the plus side, the more widelytravelled Cosgrave was able to reassure Petersen that he was not shooting at the moon with his desire to upgrade his two stable stars from the tranquil waters of Scandinavia to the much stormier seas of the wider international scene.

“Pat told us that we wouldn’t be making fools of ourselves if we took either horse to France, and I am a bit tempted to take Square de Luynes to Paris for the Prix Dollar on Arc weekend,” Petersen added.

“He’s extremely talented but a bit fragile. He had an injury as a two-year-old, hence I’ve been very careful with him and have never got to the bottom of him.

“Privilegiado has had an easy threeyear-old campaign, I have to be realistic and admit that he’s been against moderate company, so we’ve yet to see how good he is. The Qatar Derby in December is his end-of-season target and, though he stays a mile and a half no problem, I’m sure that he would be effective over shorter.”

In the slightly longer term, both are bound for next year’s Dubai World Cup Carnival, which has long been a favoured destination for Petersen even though his record there (one victory from around 125 runners) is surprisingly modest.

“Coming from Scandinavia, we start in Dubai at a disadvantage as our horses inevitably lose a bit of condition during our very cold weather,” he says.

“But I have had very good subsequent results with horses that I have brought back from Dubai and, talentwise, Square de Luynes is quite possibly the best I have ever trained.”

STEFAN OLSSON/SVENSK GALOPP

Continental Tales

Niels Petersen: nap hand of winners on the Derby card

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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By James Crispe, IRB

British raids well up on last year France’s racecourses have never been such a popular destination for Britishtrained horses. Who knows, maybe it’s a last hurrah prior to the travel difficulties that Brexit could bring, but ferry timetables have rarely been such a crucial part of a racing secretary’s armoury, almost regardless of the calibre of horse involved.

Up until the end of the first week of September, trainers from these shores had already saddled more than 400 runners in France in 2019, a figure that is a full 100 ahead of the tally achieved at the same point in 2018, which itself was a record year, witnessing no fewer than 532 cross-Channel raids before Hogmanay celebrations began.

Of course, lucrative Pattern races are the most alluring attractions and Deauville proved a particularly happy hunting ground this summer, with British visitors plundering nine of the 13 Group 1 and Group 2s staged at the Normandy venue in July and August.

But the fact that the usual stream of British horse boxes transiting through the Channel ports has become something close to a flood is down to the number of equine guests enticed by lesser targets. France may be home to some 250 racecourses, but until very recently only a handful have hosted travellers from across La Manche on a regular basis.

Not so in 2019. When, on September 8, Wiltshire handler Dai Williams saddled the 36-rated Dark Angel mare Angelical Eve in the Prix Roger et Gael du Halgouet at Redon, 250 miles south-west of Paris, the Brittany track became the 34th different venue to host a British runner since the turn of the year.

A couple of weeks earlier, on August 22, a tally of eight different British horses, from five different yards, took part in French races, and all eight ran at courses the domestic governing body, France Galop, classify as ‘provincial’.

All bar one of that raiding party took part in the mixed card at Clairefontaine, just down the road from Deauville,

GEORGE SELWYN

FRANCE

Archie Watson: sent Mrs Dukesbury on a successful mission to Pornichet where the Joe Tuite-trained Surrey Thunder was the star, landing the £24,775-to-the-winner Grand Prix. But the final member of the octet was the Archie Watson-trained 70-rated juvenile Mrs Dukesbury, who made the mammoth trip from Berkshire to Pornichet, on France’s Atlantic coast, to win a claimer.

Claimers in France have such generous prize-money that they are viable opportunities for overseas visitors despite the cost of travel to get there.

The number of British trainers wise to this situation, and apprised of the intricacies of the French claiming system, is on the rise.

Running their horses in claiming company has for long been the foundation point upon which the Lambourn-based pair of Stan Moore and Jo Hughes have based their strategy for regular cross-Channel raids.

But in the eight weeks since Henry Spiller sent the Zebedee colt Lloyd over to Maisons-Laffitte to land a juvenile claimer on July 13, Watson, Tuite, Mark Johnston, William Haggas and Karl Burke have all returned to Britain with empty boxes having seen their charges claimed in France.

Such expeditions can make financial sense. The French rules state that if your horse attracts a post-race bid, any amount above the published claiming price is split 50-50 between the racecourse and the owner.

Lloyd was in to be claimed for €22,000 but was the subject of a top bid of €33,877, meaning that Spiller’s owners, Franconson Partners, were paid €27,939 for a horse they bought at the breeze-up sales less than three months earlier for just £5,500. When you then add the prize-money they collected –

£10,361 – the whole venture gleaned £36,071.

The viability of the sortie is further enhanced if your horse is eligible for French owner premiums. The Frenchbred Mrs Dukesbury is, so the value of her Pornichet victory was bumped up by 54% to be worth €9,240.

She was claimed for €15,555, €3,555 above her claiming price, so her owners, W Nash & Partner, accrued a total of £20,746 for her excursion.

Claim upon claim

While on the subject of French claimers, the seven-year-old British-bred gelding Cosmic City is becoming a standardbearer for how the system can be successfully exploited. He has been claimed an incredible 25 times over the past four and a half years.

A son of Elusive City who cost a mere €8,000 as a yearling, the most recent of his 17 career wins came at Clairefontaine in mid-August, after which he was claimed for €25,600. He has since moved to the yard of his tenth different trainer, the Czech Republicbased Vaclav Luka.

Cosmic City’s career earnings, including owners’ premiums, currently run at a remarkable €380,000, despite never having contested a Group or Listed race. This figure is slightly misleading as on 16 of the 25 occasions he has been claimed, it has been by his existing owner.

Such friendly claims are subject to a levy whereby if the only claim is by the current owner, 50% of the amount above the published claiming price must be paid to the racecourse or, if the friendly claim tops other hostile bids, the entire amount above the claiming price goes to the racecourse.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Around The Globe

The Worldwide Racing Scene

Sisterson doing it for himself NORTH AMERICA

By Steve Andersen

KEENELAND

O

n a Thursday afternoon in early September, trainer Jack Sisterson set off for the races after morning training to watch two runners in turf races at a popular countryside track with undulations and big sweeping turns.

The destination was Kentucky Downs, far from Sisterson’s base at Keeneland racecourse. From the looks of Kentucky Downs, it could have been a venue around the corner from his hometown of Durham in the north of England.

“It’s like going to Sedgefield back home,” he said.

Sisterson has been on the go since the summer of 2018 when he accepted a position as a trainer for Brad Kelley’s historic Calumet Farm of Lexington, Kentucky. Sisterson has a group of his own runners but also works with Calumet’s other trainers throughout the United States to prepare Kelley’s horses that are based in Kentucky before being sent to stables coast-to-coast.

“Calumet makes you feel so welcome,” he said. “They allow you to put the horses first. That makes our job easier. It’s a whole team effort. There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t see. We felt over the past year the few winners we’ve had is a joy.”

Sisterson, who will turn 35 in October, had his first winner in August 2018 at Belterra Park in Ohio and his first stakes win with Oxy Lady in the Grade 3 Tempted Stakes at Aqueduct in New York last November. This year, up to the end of August, Sisterson had had four stakes wins, including three Grade 3 races, and was third in the Grade 1 Arlington Million with Bandua.

This autumn at Keeneland, Bandua is scheduled to run in the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile on turf on October 5, a day before Vexatious runs in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes for fillies and mares on dirt.

One of those could be Sisterson’s first Breeders’ Cup runner at Santa Anita on November 2.

Sisterson grew up in a racing-mad family that often attended local point-topoints.

“As far as I can remember, I was going racing,” he said. “Every big race we had on – Flat or jumps. I was a huge fan – I wanted to be a jockey.”

Jack Sisterson: up-and-coming trainer could be represented at the Breeders’ Cup next month

“I’m fortunate, if it wasn’t for Doug O’Neill I wouldn’t be in this position” Height took care of that dream, but Sisterson, who stands more than six feet, was enough of an accomplished footballer to draw interest from the University of Louisville, where he earned a sports scholarship and studied business with an emphasis on equine administration in the mid-2000s.

Being in Louisville, Sisterson naturally gravitated toward Churchill Downs, where he met Pat Byrne, who allowed him to see the inner workings of a Kentucky-based stable.

“He took me under his wing,” Sisterson said. “He allowed me to come racing in the morning. That allowed me to be

introduced to the American side.”

Sisterson began working in the stables for trainer Michael McCarthy, an assistant to Todd Pletcher at the time. Sisterson moved to California and worked for five years for trainer Doug O’Neill at a time the stable won two Kentucky Derbys.

Sisterson had an active role in a barn that was among the leaders at tracks such as Del Mar, Hollywood Park and Santa Anita.

“I’ve been very fortunate along the way,” Sisterson said. “Doug let me travel with the best horses that he had. I can’t be more thankful. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be in this position.”

After leaving O’Neill, Sisterson briefly worked for Eaton Sales in Kentucky and again for O’Neill before taking his current position.

The barn currently has 40 runners as well as the horses being prepared for other Calumet trainers. “Enough to keep the alarm clock going off at 3am!” he said.

At Keeneland, Sisterson is stabled adjacent to American Royal Ascot specialist Wesley Ward. One of these years, Sisterson would like to have a runner for Calumet at the famous meeting.

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Around The Globe

Handicap hole plugged

by Carpenter

By Danny Power

T

he clods on the hallowed turf of Flemington racecourse hadn’t even been replaced after last year’s Melbourne Cup when Racing Victoria’s chief handicapper, Greg Carpenter, had begun to plot a path to handicapping this year’s event.

Carpenter is a man of history like the many Melbourne Cup handicappers before him – in his case influenced by modern history. The handicappers of the past, such as Carpenter’s predecessor Jim Bowler, were very much men who relied on the history of Australia’s great staying handicap when setting the Cup weights.

For more than a century, the history books stood the test of time.

However, a line was drawn in the handicapping sand when Dermot Weld and the wonderful Vintage Crop won the Cup, and changed the course of history, for Ireland in 1993. Since Weld ‘internationalised’ the Melbourne Cup, Carpenter has had to throw a lot of the historical markers for handicapping the race out the window.

When Godolphin’s Cross Counter captured last year’s Cup, it was the second year in succession that a European three-year-old (regarded as a four-year-old in the southern hemisphere) had won the Cup. Joseph O’Brien’s Rekindling carried 51.5kg compared to Cross Counter’s 51kg, which was, thanks to being six months younger, 1kg less than the Australianbred Runaway who had a similar profile.

Cross Counter’s trainer Charlie Appleby admits to plotting to win the Cup with a progressive staying threeyear-old after watching Rekindling’s win. Carpenter realised that he needed to adjust the weight the northern hemisphere-bred three-year-olds were to carry because it was obvious they were getting in too light, and the locals were grumbling.

“Something needed to be done because the Europeans had worked it out, so we altered the Australian

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AUSTRALIA

Constantinople (left), seen here at Royal Ascot, is a leading Melbourne Cup contender

weight-for-age scale,” Carpenter said.

The result was an extra kilo from 51kg to 52kg for horses with the profile of Cross Counter and, in Rekindling’s case, a lift from 51.5kg to 52.5kg.

“It’s not about trying to set up a set of circumstances where the northern hemisphere three-year-olds won’t be able to win the race, but it was an anomaly that they were getting a larger allowance under the Australian weight-for-age scale than if they were running on the same day over the same distance in Europe,” Carpenter said.

This year, Great Voltigeur runner-up Constantinople has been handicapped on 52.5kg in the Melbourne Cup and 53kg in the Caulfield Cup, while German Derby runner-up Django Freeman has been given the same weights.

As soon as Australian trainer David Hayes announced he had formed a syndicate to buy a major interest in Constantinople from the Ballydoyle team, the corporate bookies rushed him to the top of the Melbourne Cup markets.

“I’ll tell you after this year’s Cup if I have got it right; I will either have given them too much weight or not enough - time will tell,” Carpenter said. It seems the bookies have made their minds up.

Django Freeman, now trained by Robert Hickmott, who has trained two Cup winners for Lloyd Williams and partners, arrived in Australia early and reports are that he has settled in beautifully.

Hayes, who trains in partnership with his son Ben and nephew Tom Dabernig, also bought Cape Of Good Hope from trainer Aidan O’Brien and his Coolmore owners, but the colt is way short of qualifying for a Cup start and was given 50kg.

O’Brien and his son Joseph, at the time of writing, hadn’t confirmed their Melbourne Cup contenders, but O’Brien jnr and owner Lloyd Williams are keen on bringing Royal Whip Stakes winner Buckhurst (52kg) to Melbourne. Aidan O’Brien’s leading three-year-old contender is Lonsdale Cup third Il Paradiso (53kg).

Carpenter said he expected Aidan O’Brien’s St Leger winner Kew Gardens to come to Melbourne and he’s allotted him top weight of 58kg. “He showed with his second in the Coronation Cup that he’s returning to form - he’s a worthy top weight of the 152 entries in the Melbourne Cup,” he said.

“Aidan is keen to come and he profiles similar to Cross Counter, who has a weight rise of 6.5kg, to 56.5kg.

It’s a similar rise given to a lightly raced progressive winner in Let’s Elope after she won the Cup in 1991.”

Joseph O’Brien and the Williams ownership team are targeting Master Of Reality, Latrobe and Twilight Payment, although there is a problem getting a place in the quarantine centre at Werribee (just out of Melbourne), which is busting at the seams, and some of the non-qualified horses, including Latrobe, may have to come to Australia through Sydney’s quarantine station at Canterbury Park and then make the ten-hour horsebox trip to Melbourne.

Hughie Morrison is returning with Marmelo for a third try at winning the famous handicap, which is worth $A8 million (£4.37m) this year. Marmelo won the Prix Kergolay at Deauville on August 18; a race he ran second in last year on his way to finishing second in the Cup. He has 56kg this year, the same as he had last year, but he meets Cross Counter on 6.5kg better terms.

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W I N D O W

O F

O P P O R T U N I T Y

Don’t miss his exciting first crop yearlings at the upcoming sales in 2019 Goffs Orby & Sportsman Sales - 9 Colts & 4 fillies Tattersalls October Sales - 4 Colts & 4 fillies Goffs Autumn Yearling Sale - 1 Colt & 3 fillies

Markaz

• Tough and consistent sprinter • Rarely out of the frame in 19 starts.

• Won and Group placed at 2.

• Group winner at 3 and 4.

• Full brother to dual Gr.1 winner Mecca’s Angel.

• First crop foals in 2018 made 60,000gns, €65,000, etc.

t: +353 (0)1 6286228

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e: info@derrinstown.com w: www.derrinstown.com

20/09/2019 11:37

Racing Life

edited by Sarah Rodrigues

A NATION STOPS

VINCE CALIGIURI/GETTY IMAGES

Known as ‘the race that stops a nation’, the Melbourne Cup is probably the biggest event on the Australian social schedule, and certainly the most important on the country’s racing calendar

James McDonald and Shillelagh after a 2018 Derby Day win Melbourne Cup. At the time, this was about equivalent to the annual earnings of an Australian man, and £500 more than the Beatles had been paid for their 1964 tour of the country.

Fashions and finery have long been a talking point of the event, but few outfits have ever made such an impact as Shrimpton’s: when she appeared, she was wearing a white dress that fell a few inches above the knee, without the addition of stockings, gloves or a hat.

The photo taken of the model, hair loose,

VINCE CALIGIURI/GETTY IMAGES

F

irst run in 1861, the Cup was not a cup as such: prizes included a gold watch and 710 gold sovereigns.

Even when a trophy was eventually awarded, in 1865, it failed to impress its winner, who deemed the English-made creation a ‘monstrosity’ and promptly sold it on to the Flemington Hunt Club, where it was rebranded and inscribed as the trophy for its annual cup. The 1866 Melbourne Cup, won by The Barb, who is considered as Australia’s first great racehorse, is now held in the National Museum of Australia, as well as the 1934 cup won by racing legend Phar Lap. Run on the first Tuesday in November ever since 1875, the Cup has always been accompanied by prize-money, but 1985 marked the first time that an Australian race carried a $1 million purse.

Although large sums of money are par for the course when it comes to racing’s top prizes, they’re often overlooked by pundits in relation to guest appearances – despite the fact that where there’s horseracing, there is, of course, glamour. Nowhere was this better seen than in 1965, when British model Jean Shrimpton was paid £2,000 for a two-week visit to Australia, including an appearance at the

dazzling smile, ultra-modern outfit, with a crowd of trussed-up women in the background, sweltering in the Australian summer heat, has understandably become an iconic image.

Fashion still plays a huge part in the Melbourne Cup. The ‘Fashions on the Field’ competition was first held in 1962, in an effort to lure more women to what, at the time, was a male-dominated event. Now sponsored by Australian department store MYER, it attracts both men and women, as well as children, families, designers and of, course, milliners.

In fact, this year, Melbourne-based Millinery Jill was introduced to Royal Ascot Millinery Collective, marking the first time that an international designer has ever been included in the collection – after all, Royal Ascot, is an event well known for its rigid adherence to sartorial standards and tradition.

This year’s Cup event is set to be even more exciting than ever, with its prize pool reaching a record A$27.6 million, thanks to injections from the Victoria Racing Club (VRC), Racing Victoria and the Victorian government, all of which demonstrates a commitment to the carnival, said VRC Chairman Amanda Elliott.

“Melbourne Cup week is Australia’s premier social and sporting event,” she said. “It attracts the world’s best horses, trainers and jockeys. The significant prize-money increases underline the

Flemington racecourse

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SAM TABONE/GETTY IMAGES

WAYNE TAYLOR/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE VRC

Melbourne Cup

Glamour is a hallmark of Australian racing

galleries to be explored, as well as wide open spaces, courtesy of the Botanic Gardens and riverside spaces or, farther afield, the Dandenong Ranges and Great Ocean Road.

There’s a distinctly European vibe at play here as well, with narrow lanes and arcades some of the distinguishing features of the city – not to mention the restaurants, which fuse new world flavours with the culinary influences of Greece, Italy and Spain, one of the city’s cultural gifts from the waves of immigrants who came to Australia from the beginning of the 19th century, in response to the country’s need for skilled labour.

The 2019 Melbourne Cup Carnival begins with AAMI Victoria Derby Day on Saturday, November 2, followed by Lexus Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, November 5, Kennedy Oaks Day on Thursday, November 7 and Seppelt Wines Stakes Day on Saturday, November 9.

Flemington.com.au

VINCE CALIGIURI/GETTY IMAGES

Also last year, on the carnival’s opening day, Darren Weir saddled Extra Brut to win the AAMI Victoria Derby, while the carnival came to a close with Seppelt Wines Stakes Day, on which a 67,567 strong crowd watched AAMI Victoria Derby-winning jockey John Allen ride the Jarrod McLean trained Trap for Fools to win the Seppelt Mackinnon Stakes.

Coverage of the Melbourne Cup was streamed to millions of viewers in Australia, while the attendance at Flemington itself was also exceptional, despite the fact that poor weather plagued Cup day. Racegoer numbers were swelled by cruise ships, with three vessels from Sydney and one from Melbourne delivering almost 8,000 visitors.

There’s far more to Melbourne, of course, than its eponymous Cup - the city is well known as an ethnically diverse, gastronomical heaven; it’s also celebrated for its incredible coffee culture, stylish boutiques and buzzing cultural scene.

There are a wealth of museums and

VINCE CALIGIURI/GETTY IMAGES

status of this world-class event.”

During the 2018 Melbourne Cup carnival meeting, 451 horses, including 20 internationally-trained horses, competed in 37 races, which saw 23 individual trainers and 21 jockeys enjoy victory.

The event was declared a massive success, highlighted by Godolphin’s breakthrough Melbourne Cup win with Cross Counter.

Trained by Charlie Appleby, the win secured Britain’s place in the rich history of the race.

Although Australia has a reputation for prowess in many things of a sporting nature, breeding champion racehorses isn’t one of them and, in recent years, it’s been the internationally-bred and -trained horses that have commanded the race. Set over a gruelling two miles, the race lasts for approximately three and half minutes – during which the nation is at a standstill – but there’s always scope for record-breaking: in 1990, Kingston Rule, trained by Bart Cummings, covered the distance in an unmatched 3.16.30 seconds.

Melbourne Cup day at Flemington is a bustling, fantastic occasion with top-class sport

Damian Lane riding Aristia defeats Tim Clark riding Greysful Glamour

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Kerrin McEvoy riding Cross Counter

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Racing Life

Lifestyle

BURNING LOVE

New luxury chocolate brand Firetree draws its richness and flavour from the volcanic earth in which its beans are grown

H

aving grown up as part of a family confectionery business, there’s not much that David Zulman doesn’t know about chocolate. With this experience, and together with cofounders Martyn O’Dare and Aidan Bishop, he has created a new premium chocolate range, Firetree, which launched at this year’s Taste of London Awards.

The Ring of Fire is the name given to a 25,000-mile geographical stretch, linking New Zealand in the south to Alaska in the north, along the expanse of which lie the world’s most active volcanoes. It’s from islands scattered throughout this volcanic belt that the brand’s exceptional cocoa beans are sourced: the brand name, Firetree, refers to the distinctive cacao tree that’s found on these islands.

With its vivid orange, yellow and red pods, it thrives on the rich volcanic soil of its host territories and produces cocoa beans of exceptional quality, full of natural flavours that develop on the palate.

“The beans take their nuances and flavours from the chaos underground,” is

how David Zulman, puts it. It’s a point validly, as well as poetically, made, as no further flavours are added: the cocoa beans are specially selected by local farmers and expertly crafted by skilful chocolatiers to create a chocolate of extraordinary depth and complexity.

Best farming and manufacturing processes are adhered to, with natural fermentation, as well as drying in the warmth of the tropical sun, plus whole bean, in-shell roasting and slow conching.

Firetree also have a strong commitment to sustainability and best practice, with farmers paid fairly and directly, and support given for improvement of conditions and

investment into their farms.

Seven flavours, ranging from 69 to 100%, make up the range; dairy-free, allergen-free, nut-free and vegan, the bars contain only cocoa beans, cocoa butter, unrefined cane sugar and sunflower lecithin. Berlin-based artist Andreas Fischer was especially commissioned to produce the packaging for each bar in the range, each one a visual reveal of the flavour profile. “As a consumer, you taste first with your eyes,” says Zulman, “and the colours on each Firetree package reflect notes of honey, caramel, plum and so on.” www.firetreechocolate.com

BLONDE AMBITION

A

head of the auction of Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe’s clothing and costumes, set to take place on November 1 at Julien’s Auctions at Beverly Hills’ The Standard Oil Building (and online at juliensauctions.com), The May Fair Hotel will be displaying four of the star’s outfits, alongside exclusive dinner screenings and a limited edition cocktail menu.

The dresses on display are from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, There’s No Business Like Show Business, River of No Return and Some Like It Hot and these films will be screened at various times between September 27 and October 18. May Fair Bar’s award-winning team has designed a cocktail menu to accompany the season, including the Lorelei Lee, combining Courvoisier VSOP, Moët & Chandon Brut, Cabernet Sauvignon and cherry reduction and Champagne foam, and the Victoria Hoffman, a luscious mix of Roku gin, Yuzu, St Germain, spiced honey syrup and egg white.

Each cocktail is priced from £14 to £18, while a £20 ticket gains access to a screening and popcorn in the charming May Fair Theatre, followed by one of the Monroe-themed cocktails in the bar. The package can also be extended with dinner at the May Fair Kitchen. themayfairhotel.co.uk

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UK equestrian property market continues to attract buyers from around the globe

For Sale

For Sale

Rhonehurst, Upper Lambourn

Manor Farm, Marsworth, Buckinghamshire

A famous training yard in Upper Lambourn comprising a handsome 6 bedroom Georgian House, two 2 bedroom staff cottages, 5 bedroom staff hostel, 66 boxes in three yards.

A residential and equestrian farm comprising a 6 bedroom farmhouse, converted granary, extensive outbuildings, indoor and outdoor school, gallop, cross country course.

Guide: £3.5 million

About 18.6 acres

The truly global scale of the horse racing and breeding sector does have a significant influence on the property markets associated with the industry. As the racing community continues to evolve, we regularly welcome new entrants from all over the world into the UK, some who have established racing and breeding businesses elsewhere and others who are completely new to the sector. This overseas interest in the UK is complemented by domestic interest in the market, which combined contribute to the reputation of the UK as the premier country from where to run breeding and training operations.

As with all property markets, demand remains strong for best in class property. Oliver Carr, Associate with Savills Cambridge and Newmarket offices agreed the sale of a wellknown stud in Newmarket earlier this year to an overseas buyer. He comments: “Racing and breeding properties located in the most desirable locations such as Newmarket continue to change hands at strong prices to both national and international buyers.”

Savills benefits from its truly global presence in being able to attract buyers from all over the world. In addition, the business

Guide: £3.75 million

About 120 acres

has a dedicated equestrian team to help match buyers and sellers of all types of equestrian property. As a result of these local and global links the team has been involved in some of the leading racing, breeding and mainstream equestrian property sales in recent years.

Louise Harrison, Director in Savills equestrian team based in its London head office, adds: “For the equestrian industry – and in particular the world of racing – discretion is paramount.

Just as many training yards and studs are sold privately as are publically advertised. The market for these properties remains very specialist and having a detailed knowledge of who is in the market at any one time and at what level and with what ambition remains fundamental to brokering a successful deal.”

The team is also fortunate to have access to additional expertise across the property spectrum including planning, farming, property management, building consultancy, architectural design, lettings, valuation, and finance. Whatever your interest in the racing and breeding world, please do not hesitate to contact us and we would be delighted to meet and discuss your requirements.

Sold

Sold

Snailwell Stud, Newmarket

Glebe House and Stud, Newmarket

Attractive 5 bedroom owner’s house, stud groom’s house, 4 cottages, staff flat, 70 boxes, stores and stud office, immaculate post and railed paddocks. In all, about 77 acres.

Sold to an international buyer as a new entrant into the racing and breeding business.

One of the finest private stud farms in the Newmarket area comprising a 7 bedroom Rectory, 4 staff cottages, 30 stables and associated facilities. In all, about 74 acres.

Sold to local buyers having attracted both national and international interest.

Louise Harrison Savills London 020 7016 3715 lharrison@savills.com

Oliver Carr Savills Newmarket & Cambridge 07808 643 274 ocarr@savills.com

savills.co.uk | Follow us on

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Racing Life

COASTAL HAVEN O

verlooking the epic sweep of Saunton Sands, Chalet Saunton redefines the Great British coastal break. Built on the site of the owner’s former family home, it’s a haven of luxury and good taste: floor to ceiling glass, offering endless views of sea, sand and sky, combined with state-of-the-art appliances, ensure maximum contentment inside, with underfloor heating, intelligent lighting, sumptuous bathing areas and dangerously comfortable beds and sofas against a background of muted tones and moody artworks.

Located just a few minutes’ drive from Saunton Golf Club, one of the UK’s finest, Chalet Saunton makes the ideal base for an oceanfront golfing weekend, with the choice of six three-bedroom apartments and two-bedroom Penthouse facilitating indulgent group getaways, if desired. The two ground floor apartments, with direct beach access, are also dog friendly.

Bordering Biderford Bay and the estuary of River Taw, Saunton Golf Club is situated on the Braunton Burrows, the

largest sand dune system in England. The land at Braunton Burrows has hosted golf ever since 1897, and the East Links course was created in the 1920s by Herbert Fowler, famed designer of Walton Heath, The Berkshire and Delamere Forest. The course is ranked at number 32 in the Golf World ‘Top 100 Courses,’ while the Club’s West Links course, which emulates the general characteristics of the East course, is ranked at 67.

After a long day on the course, Chalet guests, having been welcomed with a hamper of local produce, can recharge with a home-cooked meal and drinks from the climate-control wine fridge; alternatively, Saunton Sands and nearby Croyde and Georgeham offer a range of both low-key and upmarket dining options. www.chaletsaunton.com

HATS F OFF

ollowing the success of their AW18 collaboration, esteemed hatters Lock & Co are once again collaborating with Escorial Wool - this time with an expanded collection, allowing customers to experience the fabric in the form of felt; a first for the hatting industry.

Traditionally, the production of Escorial wool was reserved, in its entirety, for the Spanish Royal family. The flock originally came from North Africa and grazed on the plains overlooking Madrid, where the Escorial Palace was located; today, descendants are extremely rare and only to be found in New Zealand and southern Australia, where they are carefully preserved as an endangered breed.

Lock & Co were established in 1676, making them the oldest hat shop in the world and, now in its seventh generation, one of the oldest family-owned businesses still in existence. Their creations have been worn by some of history’s most revered characters, including Admiral Lord Nelson, Sir Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin and Queen Elizabeth II. The store also holds two royal warrants and is still located in its original premises at 6 St James’s Street.

Working in collaboration with Europe’s premier felters, the range produced includes the Stafford fedora, Grosvenor flat cap, Tremelo cap and a baseball cap. The edit will be available exclusively in store and online, with prices ranging from £135 to £475.

Lockhatters.co.uk

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Lifestyle

CRYSTAL CLEAR

F

ans of TV drama Downton Abbey were thrilled by the announcement of a spin-off film, which was released in mid-September.

Although reacquaintance with familiar faces and the playing out of existing storylines was key to anticipation, delight also surrounded the costume and set design, with lavish interiors, in particular, sparking all kind of Christmas setting inspiration.

Key to the Downton look is Cumbria Crystal’s Grasmere collection, which adorned the tables around which the family convene (as much, it seems, for drama as for dining) and which featured prominently in one of the film’s promotional posters, depicting a glass being polished by hand.

Held by iconic Edinburgh jewellery store and long-time holder of the Royal Warrant, Hamilton & Inches, the crystal is crafted by the UK’s last producer of luxury hand blown and hand cut 24% lead crystal.

Located in the Lake District, a team of

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23 highly skilled artisans are responsible for Cumbria Crystal’s sparkling creations: using age-old techniques, their education is rigorous, with glass blowers undertaking 15 years of training and cutters, five. Quality standards are so high that, despite the fact that minor variations are to be expected in hand made crystal, only 50% of production is awarded “Premium Quality” status – and such is the attention to detail that products typically take at least 10-12 days to make.

It’s not the first time that Cumbria Crystal Grasmere has graced the screen: a whisky tumbler from the collection was used by Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale. On a more private scale, it’s used for formal dining in all British embassies worldwide, as well as by Royal families.

As well as the glasses shown in Downton Abbey, Hamilton & Inches hold a selection of Cumbria Crystal decanters, some of which are topped by exquisitely rendered silver birds. The jeweller has

been Edinburgh’s premier destination for fine jewellery, luxury watches and hand-crafted silver since 1866, maintaining their own silver workshops since inception and continuing to offer a range of specialist in-house services including repairs, engravings and valuations.

Prices for Grasmere crystal start at £70 for a port glass or whisky tumbler. hamiltonandinches.com cumbriacrystal.com

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20/09/2019 18:12

The Big Race Enable enjoys the perfect prep for her date with destiny under Frankie Dettori in the Yorkshire Oaks on the Knavesmire

The last

DANCE Brilliant mare Enable will try to make history with a third Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe victory – she’s hot favourite to do so but can she and Frankie Dettori triumph at Longchamp where others have failed?

S

he rewrote the record books last autumn when becoming the first Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner to triumph at the Breeders’ Cup in the same season. Can Enable etch into racing history a more significant mark with an unprecedented third triumph in Europe’s most prestigious contest?

Khalid Abdullah’s homebred daughter of Nathaniel, trained by John Gosden, is hot favourite for the

“Enable has enjoyed a clear run into this year’s Arc unlike in 2018” Longchamp showpiece this month and will have racing fans glued to television sets as well as pouring through the racecourse gates in the hope of seeing something special.

Frankie Dettori, Enable’s jockey, is himself having a special season with an incredible 16 top-flight triumphs at

the time of writing – but none would mean more than a third Arc for Enable.

Indeed, chances are the 48-year-old rider would consider it his careercrowning accomplishment.

Enable has won 13 of her 14 races, ten at Group 1, and has enjoyed a clear run into this year’s Arc, unlike in 2018, when she did not appear until September. Her latest victory was an imperious two and three-quarter length triumph over Magical in the Yorkshire Oaks.

However, Enable was arguably lucky to beat the ill-fated Sea Of Class by a short neck in last year’s Arc, that rival having little luck in running, and with a few solid rivals in opposition, this is surely her ultimate test yet.

Eight horses have won two Arcs but none a third. Treve was evens favourite when trying for a third success in 2015 but could manage no better than fourth. The winning rider that day was a certain Frankie Dettori, on Golden Horn.

Can Enable and Dettori do what Treve and Thierry Jarnet could not? We’ll soon know.

Standing in their way are the likes of Japan, Sottsass and Ghaiyyath. They are by no means the only dangers but are the biggest, according to the market. So what sort of challenge do they pose?

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Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

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The Big Race ›› JAPAN

3yo colt by Galileo out of Shastye (by Danehill); trainer Aidan O’Brien, owner Coolmore, breeder Newsells Park Stud, 8 runs, 5 wins, 2 Group 1 wins Profile Progressive three-year-old who will get 3lb from Enable. Won Beresford Stakes as a juvenile to establish Classic credentials and ran promising third in the Derby when not well fancied; he started at 20-1 at Epsom, which ranked him only fifth choice of Aidan O’Brien’s seven runners. Has not lost in three runs since, winning the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris over the Arc course and distance and the Juddmonte International at York, beating Crystal Ocean by a head – Enable had beaten the same horse by a head in the King George.

Plusses Strong sense that immensely powerful Ballydoyle operation have had him at the top of their middle-distance pecking order for some time; receives an allowance from Enable; has the assistance of Ryan Moore and is by Galileo.

Minuses Naturally less battle-hardened than older rivals and had much tougher race at York than Enable.

SOTTSASS

3yo colt by Siyouni out of Starlet’s Sister (by Galileo); trainer Jean-Claude Rouget, owner White Birch Farm, breeder Ecurie

Des Monceaux, 6 runs, 4 wins, 1 Group 1 win Profile Has had classic French three-year-old colt lead up, via the Prix du Jockey Club, which he won readily as a 13-1 shot by two lengths from favourite Persian King, and Prix Niel, which he did very well to win having been

Sottsass sprints clear under Cristian Demuro to win the Prix Niel at Longchamp

trapped in a pocket until inside the final furlong. Has won four of his six outings and possess a turn of foot well suited to a contest like the Arc. Price for the Arc contracted only marginally after the Niel on basis he did not win by five lengths, but ability was hard to gauge there. Light campaign likely to stand him in good stead and has scored on good and soft going.

Ghaiyyath: intriguing dark horse in the Arc

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Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe

Japan, with Ryan Moore in the Derrick Smith silks, just gets the better of Crystal Ocean (yellow cap) at York

Waldgeist: solid performer will have his backers

BEST OF THE REST

Plusses Classic winner and victor of a trial over course and distance last month, when it was evident the colt boasts a smart change of gear; like Japan he will receive 3lb from the reigning champ.

Minuses Inexperienced and would not have faced level of opponent he will here.

Japan, Sottsass and Ghaiyyath might look the biggest threats to Enable on paper but several others will have their supporters. Any Japanese representative will have any number of backers, and with the Arc the number one race above all others that the nation craves victory in, anything they send over demands respect.

Kiseki is sure to benefit from the experience of running in the Prix Foy, while as we went to press connections of Deirdre, an unlucky fourth in the Irish Champion Stakes, were mulling over a supplementary entry. Group 1 winner Blast Onepiece looks best of those who have yet to be seen in Europe.

Closer to home, the Arc’s leading trainer, seven-time winner Andre Fabre, is preparing Waldgeist for another crack at Enable. The five-year-old is an experienced campaigner, never to be written off given his potent turn of foot. He enjoyed a nice prep, winning the Prix Foy readily, and, while the mighty mare has got the better of him so far – including in the Arc last year – given decent ground and a trouble-free passage, he could prove a real danger.

Even more sick of Enable’s hind-quarters must be Magical, who has already finished second to Enable twice this year, in the Yorkshire Oaks and CoralEclipse. She did likewise in the US last year at the Breeders’ Cup. Enable appears to have her measure but Magical is extremely likeable and reliable, and if her great rival has an off day or suffers bad luck, she would be a likely candidate as the one to take advantage.

GHAIYYATH

by an astonishing 14 lengths. Arc will be much tougher yet he’ll come into the race as the unknown quantity and arguably the most interesting runner as hard to know just how good he is.

Profile The archetypal dark horse. Was an Arc candidate last year after solid win in Group 3 at the Arc venue but has taken career to new heights this season. While he ran well in the Prix Ganay against Waldgeist and Study Of Man in April, it was arguably a bit disappointing to finish third there as odds-on favourite. But on his first run since in the Grosser Preis von Baden, he blitzed his rivals from the front to win

Plusses You couldn’t fail to be impressed with a 14-length victory in a Group 1; that was his first stab at a mile and a half and it could hardly have gone better; three of seven races have been at Longchamp.

4yo colt by Dubawi out of Nightime (by Galileo); trainer Charlie Appleby, owner Godolphin, breeder Springbank Way Stud, 7 runs, 5 wins, 1 Group 1 win

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Minuses Weighing up the value of his Grosser Preis von Baden victory is tricky; could be vulnerable tactically if he gets a disadvantageous draw.

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Talking To...

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Charlie Fellowes

Charlie’s

ANGELS

Bedford House is the new home to Royal Ascotwinning trainer Charlie Fellowes, who loves all his string but especially blossoming stayers Interview: Tim Richards Photos: George Selwyn

Y

ou grew up on your father’s farm, 30 minutes from Newmarket and were occasionally “dragged”, in your words, to the races. What made you fall in love with the game?

Mum used to be in a syndicate with Geoff Wragg and I would go along and watch the horses train. When I went racing with them at Newmarket, Mum would give me a pound to bet on each race.

The combination of those experiences and watching Channel 4 racing avidly, enjoying the likes of Francome, Tommo and Brough, completely hooked me. I have always been competitive, loved sport and I guess the horses just clicked even though I don’t come from a horsey background. As a kid I wanted to be a jockey but at 6ft 3in that was never going to happen. I always idolised Frankie [Dettori], something I’ve never told him even though I see him regularly.

Charlie Fellowes with his assistant Mike Marshall and Melbourne Cup hope Prince Of Arran

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Following work experience aged 14 with Nicky Henderson you spent time with Richard Gibson in Chantilly, Lee Freedman in Australia and Godolphin before five years as assistant to James Fanshawe in Newmarket. How did all that experience equip you for life as a trainer?

My time as a stable lad with Nicky, and in Chantilly when I was 16, cemented my belief that I wanted to go into racing. I did eight months with Godolphin during my gap year before university; Simon Crisford taught me a lot. I helped run a barn under the supervision of my now assistant Mike Marshall and learnt about the basics of bandaging, dressing

wounds and medication. Lee Freedman in Australia was a great experience with a lot of travelling. Then the five fantastic years with James Fanshawe were the most informative of my racing career and moulded the way I train now.

You’d see a lot of James Fanshawe in what I do now. He is an extremely good horseman – the best I’ve ever worked with – and quite meticulous. He understands his horses so well. I just hope I can follow him. I love the horse side and trying to understand them. Every horse is a puzzle.

Some are easy and some are incredibly difficult and the best trainers are the ones who complete the most puzzles.

“Every horse is a puzzle. Some are easy, some are incredibly difficult” Earlier this year you purchased the 120-box Bedford House Stables in Newmarket from Luca Cumani. When do you expect to fill the yard and what are the benefits compared with your previous establishment?

I’d love to fill the yard tomorrow; it would help to pay a few of the bills. But that’s

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Talking To... ›› not going to happen and I’m not in a rush.

Filling the boxes is a gradual process. It is difficult to adapt when your numbers increase rapidly. We have a covered ride and extensive paddocks, which we didn’t have at St Gatien. It is a very relaxed atmosphere. Eventually I would like to try to create a boutique yard. We have about 55-60 in training at the moment.

Training in Britain is more competitive

than anywhere else in the world and the rewards are far less. How do we improve the situation?

I don’t think we can. The rewards in Britain are never going to equal the quality of racing because of mistakes made years and years ago. Those earlier decisions have meant that, financially, bookmakers have taken far more for their own ends than they do in other countries. Bookmaking companies have

shareholders they have to keep happy and horseracing is not at the top of their list of priorities. A reason to be positive: I like what the Alizeti consortium is doing in trying to revitalise the Tote and put more back into racing, which would be a major factor in uniting all stakeholders. It is run by some great guys and could be the light at the end of the tunnel.

The big issue with staffing is the hours because people nowadays want

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Charlie Fellowes

their weekends off. But, because we are responsible for horses, you cannot close the stables down on Friday night and reopen on Monday morning. We are doing all we can to make the hours more flexible, but it is not easy.

How do you attract owners to Bedford House Stables and, perhaps more importantly, retain them?

I am not a good salesman. Ringing owners and asking them to send me a horse is not something that comes easily. I prefer to focus on doing a good job with the horses and if I can do that, then the owners will come. As long as I can maintain the results then hopefully owners will stay with me and continue to come through the gates.

Communication is important and you have to ensure owners enjoy visiting the yard. We are an entertainment industry at the end of the day.

Thanks Be and Hayley Turner provide Charlie Fellowes with his first winner at Royal Ascot, which he describes as “the pinnacle of horseracing”, while top, Khadijah Mellah – whom Fellowes helped – celebrates her momentous win at Goodwood in August

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You have taken a strong stance in the controversial whip debate, stating that when a jockey breaks the rules – as Hayley Turner did on your first Royal Ascot winner Thanks Be – the horse should be disqualified. Why? A lot of people have said that I am antiwhip, which I am not. After the national press reports following Hayley’s Royal Ascot win on Thanks Be, people read it wrong. One of the most damaging things to horseracing are negative headlines in the national press. Racing transcends the news media only very occasionally, with positive stories featuring our superstars like Frankel and Enable and that’s to be encouraged. But when jockeys are banned and fined there is much wider coverage.

While I was driving home from Royal Ascot, every hour on the hour the Radio 5 Live headlines kept repeating that Hayley Turner, the first woman jockey to win at Royal Ascot for 32 years, had incurred a nine-day ban and £1,600 fine for misuse of the whip. Suddenly the whip gets into the working man’s consciousness and people think it’s cruel, which it is not. I think we have to get rid of those headlines by stopping jockeys breaking the rules.

How do we do that? Some say with bigger bans and bigger fines. But that won’t work. Disqualification of the horse will.

If jockeys know that breaking the whip rules means the horse will be kicked out – the owner, trainer and jockey with them – because they’ve overstepped the mark, they will not risk it. Particularly when the horse involved is a prospective multi-million-pound stallion. If that’s the punishment then for sure jockeys won’t break the rules, meaning no more tainted media headlines. And the whip will survive a lot longer. Society is changing; people are becoming more sensitive to global warming and animal rights, especially the younger generation. If we want the whip to stay – and there isn’t a single person in racing that wants it to go – we need to be far more proactive.

What was your immediate reaction after Thanks Be had provided Turner with the first Royal Ascot victory for a female jockey since Gay Kelleway broke the ice in 1987?

Training my first Royal Ascot winner at what I believe to be the pinnacle of horseracing was a momentous day and something I had dreamt of for years. I was also over the moon for Hayley, a good friend who has done so much for female jockeys and it was great she was the one to do it. But I have to admit my immediate reaction was: Well done, me!

I was sad to see Thanks Be leave for America but the owners, Emma and Simon Capon, have been great supporters of mine and always tradesmen. If a good offer comes for a horse they sell and I don’t blame them. If they’re making money, then fantastic. Thanks Be is a filly I’ll never forget and it was hard watching her stepping into the horsebox for the last time.

You helped Khadijah Mellah prior to her widely publicised win in the Magnolia Cup at Goodwood. How do you reflect on her achievement and that success?

It was utterly remarkable. I have had an incredible 365 days taking in winning in Australia, finishing third in the Melbourne

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Talking To... ››

Charlie Fellowes

Cup, winning at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood and then along came Khadijah Mellah into my life – she trumped the whole lot. She arrived at the yard six weeks before the Magnolia Cup and on her first morning fell off twice. I rang Ollie Bell, her mentor, and told him Khadijah wasn’t good enough or fit enough to ride at Goodwood. From that moment Khadijah proceeded to prove me wrong every step of the way, working incredibly hard on her fitness and riding. Racing won big time and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.

Is your position as Chairman of Newmarket’s annual Henry Cecil Open Weekend a part of your philosophy of encouraging racing to open its doors to a wider public?

Yes. I think to a lot of people, racing is very much in its own bubble and there is a serious lack of trust in the sport from outside. There are those outsiders who believe it is rigged and horses are drugged. I didn’t come from a racing background and I am constantly telling my friends that racing in Britain is the cleanest in the world. The Henry Cecil Open Weekend is a really good way to open our doors and show people what we do. It was a big factor in my becoming Chairman of the event. It is a small way I can give something back, having come from a privileged background. We raise a lot of money for charities – Racing Welfare, the British Racing School and the Racing Centre – and hopefully it will continue to grow.

You take part in an entertaining fortnightly podcast with fellow trainer George Scott. What’s the idea behind it?

Last year George and I had a bet on who would train the most winners and prizemoney. We used to take the mickey out of each other and have a bit of banter.

Then local journalist Tony Rushmer heard of this and said it would be amusing on a podcast. We enjoy the recordings, which are light-hearted and fun. We are in the process of setting up a syndicate which will have one horse with George called Charlie Fellowes and one with me called George Scott. Hopefully we’ll have people coming into the syndicate as a result of listening to the podcast. Their involvement will be very cheap and hopefully very cheerful!

As an up and coming 33-year-old trainer, what changes do you believe would benefit racing?

I wish everyone would sing from the same hymn sheet, though I don’t think it will

ever happen. As long as we keep fighting our own corners the money will be divided between more and more interests.

If only the racecourses, bookmakers, trainers, owners, breeders and BHA could all realise that if we work together instead of pulling against each other it would be so much more beneficial. I think Australia do that so well, working together for the greater good.

Is there a type of horse you like to train and what do you look for first in a thoroughbred – pedigree or conformation?

I don’t want to be typecast as a trainer who is good with one type of horse at the exclusion of another. I love middledistance stayers; being patient and allowing them to come along in their own time. It suits the way my brain works. I like horses that blossom as they get older like Prince Of Arran and Endless Acres, who have got better with time. But one of my bugbears is that I haven’t had a good sprinter and that’s something I want.

Conformation is very important but if you’ve got the money pedigree is very important as well. I go on the physical aspect, a strong, well bodied horse that is correct. Trouble is, those with top pedigrees invariably end up with John Gosden or Aidan O’Brien. I use agents Will Douglass, a friend of mine who found Thanks Be, together with his boss, Charlie Gordon Watson. They have found me some lovely horses.

Prince Of Arran, who has won in Dubai and Australia, finished third in last year’s Melbourne Cup. Is he heading back there for another crack?

The plan for Prince Of Arran is to have a couple of runs at the Carnival in October in Australia before the Melbourne Cup. He

CLOSE UP AND… PERSONAL

My superstition is… always wear odd socks Four dinner party guests… any friends from school. I don’t get to see my mates very much because of work. They’d be more fun than some random famous people I am annoyed by… people who walk slowly and cars that sit in the middle lane on motorways Favourite holiday destination…

Mallorca I spend my downtime… playing golf

CLOSE UP AND… PROFESSIONAL

Biggest lesson I’ve learnt… never judge a book by its cover. There’s a wonderful array of people in racing – some good, some bad!

Racing has taught me… to be patient with horses and humans Best bet I’ve had… Society Rock at 33-1 in the 2011 Golden Jubilee Stakes My racing hero… George Scott Alternative career… chef

enjoys travelling because he is laid-back – so intelligent that a change of scenery interests him and acts as a new lease of life. He likes flat round tracks and there aren’t many in England so he does well abroad. A clever horse invigorated by all the travelling.

Where would you like to be in five years’ time?

Filling Bedford House Stables with improving quality.

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THE AGA KHAN STUDS Success Breeds Success

HARZAND First yearlings selling this Autumn

The only dual Gr.1 stallion son of SEA THE STARS. Won the Gr.1 Derby and Gr.1 Irish Derby.

A brother to 3 Stakes winners, his dam was a Group winner.

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Tattersalls October Yearling Sale

Putsch in line for

SALES COUP Under the careful cultivation of Andreas Putsch, Haras de Saint Pair

has become one of the leading nurseries in France. Following another memorable season on the track, they are returning to sell at Tattersalls Words: Lizzy Sainty Photos: Zuzanna Lupa

A

ndreas Putsch of Haras de Saint Pair leapt into the bloodstock industry 25 years ago and has never looked back. From his initial forays into pinhooking, a sharp and analytical approach to the industry, and a self-belief that led him to sell out of the family company to invest entirely in breeding, he has quietly and quickly established his Haras de Saint Pair as one of the highest quality bloodstock operations in France.

Six Group 1 performers have been bred by his operation since 2011. And for the second consecutive year this October, the Saint Pair banner will be represented in Newmarket as the vendor of seven yearlings across Books 1 and 2 of the Tattersalls October Sale.

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He explains how he found his way into the industry, saying: “I began breeding Hanoverian showjumpers.

We were mixing all the best bloodlines, but we never bred anything good! My grandmother lived near Baden-Baden, not far from where I grew up. So every year for the Grosser Preis von Baden, we went racing and to the sales together, and that’s how I realised that it’s much more exciting than showjumping!

“I started pinhooking when I lived in Florida, and in 1995 I bought my first foals in America. I bought three foals, and a mare out of training who was by Green Dancer, Light Of My Life, whose half-sister by Sharp Cat then won a Grade 1. So I put her in foal to Diesis.

The foals made a loss as yearlings, but I

resold the mare in-foal and she made a nice profit. That put me in the black so I thought it was easy!”

After several years trading in the USA, Putsch made his return to Europe and started looking for a more permanent base for his bloodstock activities.

“I came back in 1997 when I sold my shares in the family company to my brother, and that’s when I started investing in bloodstock in Europe,” he says. “I was boarding mares in farms all over Europe, through an Irish company called 6C Racing, which was the predecessor of Saint Pair.

“I settled on France as I was living in Monaco at the time, plus the prizemoney and premiums system in France made a lot of sense. I love the area and I

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“If you just breed for the sale ring, you lose your focus on breeding racehorses”

Six Group 1 performers have been bred at Andreas Putsch’s Haras de Saint Pair in Normandy since 2011

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Tattersalls October Yearling Sale ››

have a house in Deauville. It took me five years to find the right stud, and I came across Haras de Saint Pair in 2007.”

Putsch displays an infectious enthusiasm for his stud and his horses when discussing his farm, and the passion that has led him to this point is clearly still flourishing.

“It is one of the most beautiful farms in Normandy, and also has an excellent record of producing racehorses,” he says.

“It is spectacular in its quality and also its landscapes. We have a strict policy of two hectares per horse, which is double the average for a commercial farm. We are limited in numbers, so it logically follows that we invest in quality and not in quantity.

“It’s paramount that I balance the books so there will always be both a commercial and racing side to it. Racing and bloodstock, they are cross fertilising.

You can’t do one without the other. If you just breed for the sales ring, you lose your focus on breeding racehorses.

“You have to race the horses from your families to get to know your families well enough to do proper matings for them. All these things are very important.

The families at Saint Pair are in their third and fourth generation now, so I have a pretty good idea what stallions to use and what stallions to avoid! I didn’t have that advantage when I started. I enjoy the sales and the races; I love all the parts of the process.”

From their select yearling crops, Saint Pair has produced this year alone the Group 2-placed Guildsman and Group 3 scorer Graphite, while the progressive Lucky Lycra, another bred and sold by the stud, won her second Listed race in France in the colours of Al Shaqab at the beginning of September.

Consistent stakes performer Trais Fluors passed through the ring at Tattersalls as a yearling, and was bought back at 100,000gns.

This year’s Tattersalls Book 1 draft comprises five yearlings, among them a Frankel colt from the celebrated family of Via Milano, one that has been nurtured carefully by Putsch with great success.

Muhaarar is the sire of a half-sister to multiple stakes performer Subway Dancer, while Dubawi is responsible for a half-sister to Prix du Moulin de Longchamp winner Vadamos, now a stallion at Tally-Ho Stud, a colt out of the Classic-placed Irish Rookie, and a filly out of Listed winner Glorious Sight, another Classic-placed miler who is a sister to blue hen Beauty Is Truth.

“Anything that can be sold goes to the ring,” says Putsch. “Of course, there are always horses that don’t make it,

SCENE SET FOR ANOTHER MEMORABLE BOOK 1 The bar keeps raising ever higher as far as the Tattersalls October Sale is concerned, writes Nancy Sexton.

When all was done and dusted at the end of the 2018 renewal of Book 1, Tattersalls could celebrate generating a record turnover for the seventh consecutive year as the host of 106 million guineas worth of yearlings.

Included in that total was the world’s most expensive yearling of 2018 in the Dubawi brother to Too Darn Hot, sold by his breeder Watership Down Stud to David Redvers for 3.5 million guineas.

Only time will tell whether this year’s edition can match those heady levels. But a catalogue of 552 well-bred individuals, among them the full or halfsiblings to 56 Group/Grade 1 winners, aligned with another year of excellent results on the track, that growing momentum behind the £25,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 bonus and increased international interest is a potent mixture that suggests another strong renewal is on the cards.

However, the lower levels of Book 2 and certainly Books 3 and 4 will present a very different test. In an increasingly selective market, those yearlings that don’t conform to market expectations will be a challenge to move on, many of them undoubtedly winners in waiting. Look no further than Princess Margaret Stakes heroine Under The Stars, a 6,000gns yearling out of Book 3 last year.

THE INSIDE VIEW CHARLIE VIGORS, HILLWOOD STUD “One thing that has been evident out of the early sales so far this year is the polarisation of the market - the gap is getting wider and wider. Average but perfectly acceptable fillies, which I’m sure will go on to win plenty of races, will be hard to sell and I can see that trend going right the way through the season.

“We have a draft of 11 heading to Book 1. I suppose the obvious one is the Kodiac colt out of Yarrow. We bought the mare out of the Ballymacoll dispersal and this is a gorgeous first foal, very athletic. The Awtaad colt out of Witnessed is a lovely strong colt. We also have a very nice Frankel colt out of Tropical Paradise and a particularly nice Lope De Vega colt out of Moi Meme.

“Looking at Book 2, we have a solid bunch of horses by the right kind of stallions. The Exceed And Excel halfbrother to Rawdaa is a lovely colt. We also have the Charming Thought half-sister to Accidental Agent. She represents a great opportunity to buy into a happening family and this filly is very similar to Accidental Agent at the same stage.”

PAUL THORMAN, TRICKLEDOWN STUD “We have five going to Book 1, which is the most we’ve ever had, and the individuals stack up. The Frankel colt out of Fann is a good colt and then we have the Muhaarar colt out of Talampaya, who for me is one of the best mares out there as the dam of Group 3 winner La Rioja and granddam of Liberty Beach.

“Book 2 is the real barometer of the market – if we get there and there’s a demand for those 30,000gns to 40,000gns yearlings, then we’re okay.

“The Goffs UK Premier Sale was strong, especially on the first day. But if you had one that missed, even by the slightest, it didn’t just drop 10% in value, it dropped 30%.

“Looking at it all so far this year, a fantastic amount of horses have been bought in. It’s not just overproduction – yes it plays its part but, for me, the biggest change of the past three to four years has been the drop in smaller trainers buying those £15,000 - £20,000 horses. If you talk to them, they say there are two problems.

“First, they don’t have the staff good

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Frankel colt out of Via Manzoni: among the five-strong Book 1 draft from Haras de Saint Pair

because of veterinary issues. They are the ones that end up racing for you.

Then, of course, there are the ones that don’t match the market. Today’s markets are so selective, and buyers have so many options, that it’s not very often that you have more than one or two people interested in each yearling. You have to make an evaluation and defend it.

“I’m not afraid to bring them home if they don’t make what they are worth.

Don’t be afraid to race, because there’s a lot of fun and money in racing too, and the market for good racehorses right now is very strong. [Listed winner] Volfango was unsaleable – we never took him to a sale because of vet issues but he became a very consistent stakes horses for us. The vets have to cover their backs, but the good teams are the buyers and vets that have worked together for a long time and are confident in their

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Five to watch out for...

Lot 11 • b f Invincible Spirit - Scarlett Rose (Royal Applause) enough to ride two-year-olds, so it becomes cheaper and more manageable to buy an older horse. And second, the BHA needs to sort the novice race system out. If you go into an open novice, the chances are you’ll meet a highly rated animal and have little chance of winning.

So unless those cheaper yearlings are freaks, they’re now having little choice but to go handicapping.”

ROBIN SHARP, HOUGHTON BLOODSTOCK “We’re very fortunate in that we have a pair of Shamardals in Book 1. Lot 144 is exceptional. He’s big, strong and a good mover - he looks to me like the next Blue Point. The Kingman filly out of Lustrous is attractive and we also have two free-moving colts by Oasis Dream.

“For Book 2, there is a very smart New Approach colt and Pearl Secret colt out of a half-sister to Sands Of Mali, who looks like a real strong two-year-old type.

“As ever, the top end of the market will be great. But by the end of Book 3 and then into Book 4, we’ll all be under pressure. The smaller trainers have fewer orders and they’re no longer buying on spec.”

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The half-sister to fellow Book 1 graduate Blue Point, who captured the imagination of the racing public earlier this year with his sweep of Royal Ascot’s King’s Stand and Diamond Jubilee Stakes.

Oak Lodge & Springfield House Studs

Lot 19 • b f No Nay Never - Seeking Solace (Exceed And Excel) The sister to Ten Sovereigns. Successful in last year’s Middle Park Stakes, Ten Sovereigns returned this season to take the July Cup and is currently in training for a tilt at the Everest at Randwick in Australia.

Camas Park Stud

Lot 77 • b c Dubawi - The Fugue (Dansili) The first foal out of Lord and Lady Lloyd-Webber’s champion mare The Fugue to come under the hammer. A member of Watership Down Stud’s Sumoto family, The Fugue was saddled by John Gosden to win the Yorkshire Oaks, Irish Champion, Nassau and Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

An outstanding draft for Dubawi also includes the half-brothers to Legatissio and Galileo Gold as well as the first foal out of Prix de l’Opera heroine Speedy Boarding. Watership Down Stud

Lot 166 • b f Dark Angel - Anna Law (Lawman) The sister to sprint sensation Battaash, Sheikh Hamdan’s speedball who was at his most lethal recently when lowering Dayjur’s track record in the Nunthorpe Stakes. Ballyphilip Stud

Lot 180 • b c Frankel - Attraction (Efisio) Hopes will be high that this colt can provide a fitting tribute to his breeder, the Duke of Roxburghe, who died in late August. He is the 11th foal out of the Duke’s wonderful miler Attraction and a brother to this year’s York Stakes winner Elarqam. A strong draft for Frankel also includes the half-brother to Golden Horn and half-sister to Japanese Derby hero Deep Brillante. Floors Stud

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Tattersalls October Yearling Sale ›› decisions. A lot of emphasis is put on

the x-rays, but they can’t predict if he’s a good racehorse!”

He adds: “We have sold at Tattersalls before, including last year. We consign everything ourselves when logistics allow, as we consign ony homebreds.

Saint Pair is a brand, and it’s important that we sell the horses under our own name.

“Those selling at Tattersalls are all just lovely yearlings. They are all very wellbred and very nice horses so we are very happy to take them to Book 1. There is the first foal out of Irish Rookie, which is exciting. He’s a lovely colt.”

Irish Rookie, who was trained by Martyn Meade to run second in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, was bought by Putsch through Crispin de Moubray at the Tattersalls December Sale in 2016 for 935,000gns.

Putsch has continued to renew his broodmare band with high quality purchases of fillies-in-training, and carefully integrates them into his operation.

“When buying fillies, I still prefer form over pedigree,” he says. “Obviously, you want the best of both, but I still very much believe in the power of the first generation so if there’s a lot of class in the mare and the sire it’s the first thing that I look at before I go deep into the pedigree. The in-depth pedigree study is more of an intellectual pastime to amuse myself. If the quality is in the sire and in the dam, that’s the best chance you have of buying a top-class producer.

“I try to identify families when they are on the up. Most people buy families when they are peaking, and I try to find them when I think something’s

52

“Emphasis is on x-rays but they can’t predict if it’s a good racehorse” happening. It’s not always easy, and I’m not always right! This is what happened with Via Milano, who we bought out of training when there wasn’t much in the pedigree, and what she has done for us is quite spectacular. It’s a very special family to us.

“My preferred mating is to send a stakes-winning or -producing mare to a confirmed stallion, but these stallions are not easy to get to and they are very expensive. When you look at the numbers of mares that these stallions are covering you can definitely argue that they are over-priced. And you also have to ask when a stallion becomes a ‘confirmed’ stallion. They can have a spectacular start, and everybody flies to them but after time you realise they have a chink in the armour. Of those elite stallions, in Europe there are only about five, and you can breed only a small number of mares to them.

“Again, if there is a stallion that I really liked as a racehorse, who did enough as a racehorse, then I’m not afraid to use them as I think they might present better value than a halfconfirmed stallion who is over-hyped.

Frankel is the obvious example of this,

but also Muhaarar, who was a wonderful racehorse.”

He adds: “There is plenty of discussion at the moment about capping the books for stallions and I am all for it. Given the almost unlimited numbers that stallions are covering in Europe, stallion fees are far too high. The breeders are also implicit in the market: an Australian breeder once told me that breeders are like lemmings! They all flock together to the same stallion and that hurts them in the end. It’s a chronic problem that affects us all. Really good stallions don’t need large books of mares to make it – look at Monsun, who never had more than 40 foals in his first five years.”

Given his choice to keep numbers on the stud limited, Putsch also sells a number of high-profile fillies and broodmares. They have also continued to add to the families for new breeders, such as Via Medici, a daughter of Via Milano, now in Japan and dam of champion two-year-old and dual Group 1 winner Admire Mars. This year’s unbeaten Prix du Royaumont heroine Pellegrina is another progeny of a Saint Pair mare, with her dam Pearls Of Passion, out of Pearly Shells, having been sold for 600,000gns at Tattersalls.

With his attention to detail and commitment to breeding and raising topclass horses, Putsch continues to drive his breeding operation towards an ever-expanding future, developing his bloodstock with precision and perception. Fewer and fewer commercial breeders are in the position where they can support their stock to the level that Putsch is prepared to, and his belief in his stud and his horses puts weight behind the banner of Haras de Saint Pair.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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20/09/2019 18:16

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Goffs UK Yorton Sale

Off and

RUNNING Domestic and international buyer interest contributed to a memorable first edition of the Goffs UK Yorton Sale Words and photos: Emma Berry

I

n the heady bloodstock boom days of the 1980s, Kentucky breeders doubtless delighted in the arrival at Lexington’s Bluegrass Airport of the private plane of Robert Sangster and Vincent O’Brien, along with that of their fierce sales-ring rival Sheikh Mohammed.

Fast-forward almost 40 years and the ruler of Dubai was back at Keeneland, his ardour for the pick of the American yearling crop seemingly undimmed, if his $16 million outlay is anything to go by. On a ‘dark’ day between Books 1 and 2 of the September Sale, across the water an auction of a different variety made a successful debut on the scene, albeit at a more accessible level of the market for most.

For this particular event, Dai Walters proved to be the Sheikh Mohammed of the British National Hunt breeding sector, arriving at the inaugural Goffs UK Yorton Sale by helicopter to join reams of visitors from across Britain, a busload of 20 from Ireland and a clutch of French trainers. Walters added five youngsters to his National Hunt string to make him the day’s leading buyer (see Sales Circuit, page 68) but what must have been most pleasing to the organisers of this commercial experiment was the range of bidders in action within the walls of James and Jean Potter’s historic model farm in Welshpool now known as Yorton.

British jump racing has seen an influx of precocious French horses over the last few decades and there was a touch of ‘coals to Newcastle’ when the first two lots of the sale were bought by young French trainers Gabriel Leenders and

David Cottin. Admittedly, at £26,000 and £22,000 respectively, these were not transactions even close to the six-figures sums which must change hands regularly in the other direction for readymade French talent, but it is a credit to the Yorton Farm team even to have attracted French visitors, let alone for them to have become active participants within the opening minutes of the sale.

Anthony Bromley of Highflyer Bloodstock was also engaged on behalf of leading French jump trainer Francois Nicolle, as well as buying a yearling colt

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Prospective buyers view the stock on offer for the inaugural event, the brainchild of Yorton Farm’s David Futter, pictured with Tessa Greatrex (inset)

for his longstanding clients Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, who race many of their horses in France.

Racing in Britain has been built over centuries upon solid foundations, but tradition should never scupper the chances of progress. We are of course used to seeing National Hunt stock offered as foals and store horses – formerly as four-year-old stores but now typically three-year-olds. That is progression in itself but it is still not rapid enough to keep up with our friends and rivals across the Channel, where it is not uncommon for youngsters to be tackling obstacles in training at the tender age of two.

Former top-class jump jockey David Cottin, whose ascent in the training ranks is every bit as precocious as the stock he likes to assemble in his stables, said: “There are two-year-olds and some yearlings here and for us there’s no point

Oct_182_YortonSale.indd 55

“It’s a credit to the Yorton team even to have attracted French visitors” in buying unbroken three-year-olds – it’s far too late. We want them to be broken in and ridden away at two. We actually break ours in as yearlings and our twoyear-olds are already schooling and are quite advanced, especially the ones who will make their debut in March and April “We have such a good three-year-old programme in France with huge prizemoney, so there’s no time to lose. Often

the horses you see at the store sales are too big and not the type to race early, but there are some nice horses here for us. We’re very familiar with a lot of the pedigrees in the book and we like the Yorton stallions as well.”

To that end, the assembling of a catalogue of 38 horses all owned by Yorton Farm, which had either been bred at the stud or pinhooked during French shopping trips, was a job well done. The group of yearlings and two-year-olds was numerically select and handpicked to appeal to fellow racehorse owners or pinhookers. Most of the fillies had the extra lure of being eligible for the Mare Owners’ Premium Scheme (MOPS).

Kevin Ross, working the sale with Ben Case, signed for a pair of two-year-olds, a filly and a gelding, both of whom will return to a more traditional store sale.

He said: “It’s an interesting idea and the horses are very well prepped. They’ve

››

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Goffs UK Yorton Sale ›› managed to get a fantastic crowd here in

a lovely setting and it’s good to see the French coming over. There are a lot of more forward-looking horses – the type of horse they might like – so it’s a good concept and most of them are getting sold, which is the main thing.”

Indeed, any sale in the land would settle for a clearance rate of 90% and, held before the onslaught of the main National Hunt season, a decent number of trainers made the trip to Wales, including Nicky Henderson, Warren Greatrex, Nigel Twiston-Davies, Henry Daly and Dan Skelton. The latter picked up a two-year-old by young Haras du Logis stallion Masterstroke, whose obvious appeal across the codes should be in the fact that he is not just a son of Monsun but is out of the Irish Oaks runner-up Melikah, a half-sister to Galileo, Sea The Stars and Black Sam Bellamy.

Gloucestershire-based trainer Fergal O’Brien is open to a new approach of training young jumpers but with a sensible caveat. He said during the sale: “It all depends on the individual. It’s like children going to school – some will cope with it better than others. But I think this is a fantastic initiative by Goffs UK and Yorton Stud. When I started with Captain Tim Forster, we used to bring the horses in and break them in as fouryear-olds. It was always very hard work but now we’re starting more with the three-year-olds. It’s evolution, I suppose, and just because we’ve always done things one way it doesn’t mean that’s the way we always have to do it.”

And that in essence is the mindset which has propelled David Futter, who runs Yorton Farm, to the forefront of a vibrant new way of thinking by some members of the National Hunt breeding community. He has been a driving force behind a revitalised TBA National Hunt Committee, with a particular strength being to look beyond Britain to forge alliances with fellow stud farmers in Ireland and France. Futter’s close alliance with Rathbarry Stud has seen regular swapping of stallions and pooling of resources to import French stallions.

One such example is Malinas, who was brought in from Haras de la Hetraie to stand for four seasons at Yorton and has just completed four years at Rathbarry’s National Hunt wing, Glenview Stud. Fellow German-bred Gentlewave has just returned to Yorton after switching back to France for two seasons, and he will replace Blue Bresil, who has left Yorton for Glenview. In fact, half of the horses in the Yorton Sale were by stallions associated to the farm.

Trade was topped by two-year-old Prince Des Ficheaux, bought for £105,000 by Dai Walters

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” said James Potter as the sale drew to a close and Dai Walters’ helicopter whirred into action in the background. “I’m especially pleased to see a lot of people having come over from France and Ireland. I hope it has been a good advertisement for the farm – the sale of stock from some of our families and by some of our stallions.

“David and the team at Yorton have put a tremendous amount of work into this so it’s good to start off with a successful sale like this. I very much hope we will be here again next year and that the sale will get stronger and stronger.”

There’s no doubt that such an event, just like the now-defunct TBA National Hunt Foal Show before it, provides as much of a social outing for Britain’s small

pool of National Hunt breeders as it boosts trade. And that element of fun, as anyone involved in racing should realise, is an important factor.

“We’re delighted with the support we’ve had,” said David Futter flanked by his hard-working sons Lester and Riley.

“You never know with a new thing like this – it’s something different – but we genuinely want this to be exactly what we’ve had here today.

“We want people to come here, we’ll have a party, and they will hopefully see some nice horses that they can buy at the right price. The end-users can perhaps buy them for a little bit less than they might as three-year-olds, and the pinhookers can sell them on. Really it’s an opportunity for people to mix and have fun.”

Dai Walters, pictured with Nigel Twiston-Davies and Ian Ferguson, spent £230,000 at the sale

56 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Breeders’ Digest

Nancy Sexton Bloodstock Editor

Our bloodstock coverage this month includes Sales Circuit: Huge demand for top offerings sees yearling records tumble – pages 60-74 Caulfield Files: Plenty to encourage turf runners in North America – pages 76-77 Dr Statz: Promising start for this year’s batch of first-crop sires – page 106

American Jockey Club proposal on book sizes offers food for thought

Oct_182_BreedersDigest.indd 59

GEORGE SELWYN

T

he American Jockey Club really set the cat among the pigeons last month with the announcement that they were considering imposing a 140mare limit on stallion book size.

To recap, the action is being considered due to concern regarding the narrowing diversity of the thoroughbred gene pool. The size of the North American foal crop has diminished significantly, from 37,499 in 2007 to an estimated 20,500 for 2020. All the while, however, the number of stallions with book sizes of 140 or more in the US has escalated, with 43 such animals most recently covering 7,415 mares – 27% of the North American mare population.

“The combination of these changes has resulted in a substantial increase in the percentage of foals produced by a discreet segment of stallions – signalling a worrisome concentration of the gene pool,” explained The Jockey Club.

The response within the American industry has understandably been mixed. After all, such action amounts to a restraint of trade. Others argue that American racing has greater issues for the Jockey Club to deal with, notably the public perception of the sport following the rash of Californian breakdowns earlier in the year. They’re not wrong.

However, as we know several studs worldwide already happily operate a restricted book system; for instance, in the case of Claiborne Farm and their flagship stallion War Front, you could argue that the decision to never cover more than 115 mares in a season with the horse remains one of the factors behind his appeal.

It would also surely prompt stallion masters to be far more selective in choosing what mares may be bred to their best stallions. There will also be fewer instances of stallions flooding the market – there is little worse for a breeder than opening a catalogue and finding you’re one of 30 by a single horse in a single sale.

And who knows? Breeders may even find their stock rising in value.

War Front: never has more than 115 mares

There have been murmurings of a similar vein over the past few years in this part of the world, and personally, I wouldn’t be adverse to seeing such discussions being opened up as some of the numbers associated with various stallions are sometimes just too big.

“It has got out of hand,” says Paul Thoman of Trickledown Stud. “If America can get this off the ground, hopefully we will follow suit. Our industry has been talking of looking at it but we keep being told that it’s a restraint of trade.

“But it’s like owning a good painting in that once something is limited, then it suddenly has value. “ He adds: “I think a cap of something around 150 is probably a good number – that’s enough to give a stallion a good start. We either do something that is for the good of the breed and the commercial health of the industry or continue to act in a greedy manner by using it as a cash cow.”

Last year, there were 22 stallions in Britain and Ireland who covered in excess of 180 mares during the season.

A number of that group, including the busiest stallion Soldier Of Fortune (covered 290 mares), are aimed at the National Hunt market, where such polarisation in popularity seems to be more prevalent.

The Flat brigade, meanwhile, included big names such as Frankel (183), Dark Angel (218), Caravaggio (217) and Profitable (185).

This season, Kingman joined the club, as the recipient of over 220 mares.

This is going to be an issue likely to now rumble on and on in America. The announcement has got plenty of stallion masters’ backs up and you can guarantee that several will do everything they can to challenge the ruling if it comes to pass.

No doubt, several farms over here will also be watching with interest.

Palace Pier offers promise of fitting tribute

Hopes will be high that the well regarded Palace Pier can confirm his early promise and provide a fitting tribute to his breeder Guy Innes-Ker, the tenth Duke of Roxburghe who passed away in late August at the age of 64.

The Duke will long be remembered for his association with Attraction, bred by his Floors Stud out of Flirtation. Equipped with not the best of front legs, the frontrunning Efisio filly won the hearts of the racing public in 2004 when trained by Mark Johnston to land five Group 1 races beginning with the Newmarket and Irish 1,000 Guineas.

In a lesson on the vagaries of breeding, Attraction has since become a hit in the sale ring, with a series of exceptionally good-looking and correct colts out of the mare realising 1,600,000gns, 1,350,000gns and 450,000gns. They include the very classy Elarqam, that 1,600,000gns Frankel colt fittingly trained

by Johnston.

Palace Pier, bred in partnership with Highclere Stud, is two from two and as low as 10-1 for the QIPCO 2,000 Guineas.

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Sales Circuit • By Carl Evans

Records go as competition heats up for top offerings Some sales just keep bouncing along, popular with vendors and buyers, and with a proven record of success on the track.

This sale is but one example, delivering year on year, and hopefully doing so for decades to come, whatever Britain’s relationship with the European Union – which, as we went to press, remained stubbornly unresolved.

Fortunately, the progeny of worldleading sires are of global, not just European, interest, and have been helping to give bloodstock sales stability when other industries are on a knife edge. In that canon of equine excellence you will find Kingman, the Juddmonte sire whose progeny are feted by all – one of his sons wrapped this two-day event in gold when selling for £440,000.

That was a £60,000 rise on the

GOFFS UK/SARAH FARNSWORTH

Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale

This Kingman colt set a new Premier sale record when selling for £440,000 to MV Magnier

Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale Top lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

C Kingman – Shamandar

Hillwood Stud

440,000

MV Magnier

C Wootton Bassett - Miss Vendome

Coulonces Sales (Anna Sundstrom)

280,000

Richard Ryan, agent

C Mehmas – Entreat

Highclere Stud

260,000

Oliver St Lawrence

F Siyouni – Anneli

Mount Coote Stud

250,000

Charles Gordon-Watson B/S

C Adaay - Place In My Heart

Jamie Railton Sales Agency

210,000

Shadwell Stud

C Night Of Thunder - Queen Bodicea

Pier House Stud

200,000

Alex Elliott

C Siyouni – Aristotelicienne

Longview Stud

200,000

Shadwell Stud

C Cable Bay – Bonhomie

Highclere Stud

175,000

Shadwell Stud

C Maxios – Tassina

Manister House Stud

170,000

Shadwell Stud

C Dandy Man - Dream Date

Lynn Lodge Stud

170,000

Hong Kong Jockey Club

F Muhaarar - Fig Roll

Longview Stud

170,000

Longways Stables

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

Top price (£)

2019

397

18,468,000

46,519

35,000

440,000

2018

420

19,066,500

45,396

35,000

380,000

2017

391

19,822,750

50,698

37,000

270,000

2016

396

17,455,000

44,078

34,000

280,000

2015

410

17,644,000

43,034

30,500

280,000

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Overview and analysis of the latest events in the ring

“In the canon of equine excellence you will find Kingman”

• A BHA review into the buying and selling of horses stoked debate once it was leaked to the Racing Post, which published its findings.

The timing of the article meant agents who were active at Doncaster were guarded when answering some questions, even when keen to give a full account. There is nothing wrong in agents owning shares in pinhooked foals, but fearing misinterpretation there was a theme of ‘leave my name out’ when it came to some press inquiries.

The Post’s chief reporter, Lee Mottershead, rather than a member of its bloodstock team, continued to work on the story in the following days, apparently gaining support from some well-known figures, brickbats from others, and no doubt silence, too. Mottershead claimed some clients had pulled adverts from his employer’s publication.

Quite where the BHA can go with this subject is intriguing, for auctions are designed to involve an amount of secrecy. A vendor wants the best price for their horse, a buyer wants to get it for the least amount of money so they keep their cards close to their chests before revealing them in the ring – sometimes the vendor receives a windfall, sometimes the buyer gains a horse for less than they expected.

If the unknown is removed auctions become pointless and horses may as well be placed in shop windows with price tags attached.

As one American trader is reported to have said, “auctions are no place for men in short trousers” and that is true for auctions of any commodity. However, in an age when social media can quickly turn a subject into viral debate that can spin off into wild inaccuracy, transparency has grown in relevance.

Thanks to man’s great ally the horse and the wonderful world of horseracing, bloodstock vendors, buyers and agents should all be able to make a living through an honest day’s work. ring, that mum’s absence opened the floodgates.

A £260,000 Mehmas colt, a halfbrother to smart juvenile Golden Horde, reaped a golden hoard for his breeders, the Cloney family of Kilkenny’s Clara Stud, and a £250,000 daughter of Siyouni – the sire of poster-girl Laurens – were other big-money moments.

GOFFS UK/SARAH FARNSWORTH

previous high set 12 months earlier by a Gleneagles colt whose valuation was £100,000 up on the previous high.

Consigned by Tracy and Charlie Vigors’ Wiltshire-based Hillwood Stud on behalf of breeders Bob and Pauline Scott, the Kingman yearling was knocked down to MV Magnier’s Coolmore representative Kevin Buckley.

Backing up this memorable moment in Doncaster’s ring was a £280,000 Wootton Bassett colt who generated tears in vendor Anna Sundstrom. The buyer was Richard Ryan, acting for a client who will send his purchase to Newmarket trainer Roger Varian.

Sundstrom’s emotions were stirred by this, her biggest Doncaster result – although the colt will have to go some to lower Laurens’ place in her affections – but also because her mother, Maja, who bred the yearling, was in hospital, albeit expected to fully recover. So close are the family ties and responsibilities within Sundstrom’s Coulonces Consignment, and so great can be the tension within the sales

TALKING POINTS

Richard Ryan’s purchase of this colt was an emotional result for vendor Anna Sundstrom

Oct_182_SaleCircuit.indd 61

The colt, who was consigned by Highclere Stud, went the way of Oliver St Lawrence and his client Fawzi Naas, while the filly, offered by Mount Coote Stud, was knocked down to Will Douglass, acting for a client of Paddy Twomey. The last-named has been a familiar face and trader/pinhooker at leading bloodstock sales, but it seems he is a pretty mean trainer, too, as this sale underlined. We would have heard more about him had Sunday Sovereign justified his place as hot favourite for the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot, but he could do no better than eighth of 14, and has since transferred to Varian.

The number of six-figure horses dipped by two to 35, but the bigmoney buys helped the average price rise by three per cent. The median was unmoved, but turnover took a three per cent fall, which was on the cards once it became apparent 25 fewer horses would be heading to the ring.

Shadwell Stud has a fondness for Premier Sale horses that has remained undimmed for some years and keeps its representative, Angus Gold, busy throughout. He signed for 16 lots, adding just under £1.9 million to turnover and ensuring Shadwell was leading buyer, while Highclere Stud’s sale of 12 yearlings for £964,000 meant it headed consignors.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Sales Circuit Goffs UK Silver Yearling Sale

to the middle of September – rather than waiting five weeks and a place alongside its October Autumn Sale – plus the lure of Germany’s BBAG Sale, held the day after the Silver Sale, and you get a sense of congestion.

Until 2014 the Silver Sale had a standalone slot and was called the St Leger Sale – although it was not the St Leger Sale held at the old sales venue, which morphed into the Premier Sale.

When moved forward in the calendar and attached to the Premier Sale it did well for several years, serving a purpose as a place to sell a lesser-grade yearling.

At the latest edition there were some worthy horses for buyers to pick over, as witnessed by a son of Adaay, who is bound for Ger Lyons’ stable after selling

After the highs of the previous two days, when Premier Sale yearlings were in such demand, this single-session auction proved less rewarding.

A marked drop in the clearance rate, which fell from 82% to 64%, and 33% declines in the average and median prices, represented a low-key moment for many vendors, while Goffs UK had to take a 40% downturn in turnover.

Hopefully this was a one-off blip, although it would not take a genius to imagine that Tattersalls’ Ascot Yearling Sale, which was to take place for the third time a couple of weeks later and is apparently on an upward curve, is having some impact.

Add in that Goffs UK brought forward a single-session of yearlings

for £45,000. Mark Dwyer of Yorkshire’s Oaks Farm Stables had pinhooked the colt for 24,000gns as a foal. Since then his year-older half-brother, Streamline, had won twice and been placed in Listed company.

Due Diligence, the sire of Streamline and a colleague of Adaay at Whitsbury Manor Stud, was responsible for the second most valuable horse, a colt knocked down to Clive Cox for £38,000.

In summing up the auction, Tony Williams, Goffs UK’s MD, underlined the continuing success of Silver Sale graduates on the racecourse, but conceded it had been “a buyers’ market, and yearlings that did not meet the selective nature of trade struggled”.

Goffs UK Silver Yearling Sale Top lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

C Adaay – Ahwahnee

Oaks Farm Stables

45,000

Gaelic Bloodstock

C Due Diligence - Harryana To

Whitsbury Manor Stud

38,000

Clive Cox Racing

F Dutch Art - Winds Of Time

Parks Farm Stud

27,000

George Mullins Ltd

F Garswood - Dangerous Moonlite

Trickledown Stud

27,000

Barberini/Ontoawinner/Burke

F Fountain Of Youth - Golden Nun

Bearstone Stud

25,000

Bobby O'Ryan

Three-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

Top price (£)

2019

104

841,800

8,094

5,500

45,000

2018

136

1,385,400

10,187

8,250

40,000

2017

120

1,411,500

11,763

10,000

48,000

BBAG September Sale

An €820,000 record top price for a yearling in Germany, and a new high for the sale’s average price, made this a day to remember.

The star lot, one of 20 to make a six-figure sum – six more than last year – was a Sea The Stars filly who was bought by Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation. The underbidders, the Tsui family, raced the filly’s sire.

Way back in 2007 Gregor and Julia Baum of Gestut Brummerhof had the honour of selling the previous record-setting lot – a son of Monsun who made €710,000 – and they retained association with the record by consigning the filly. She was a daughter

TALKING POINTS • Sheikh Mohammed was in free-spending mode at this sale. In 2018 he bought three horses for €543,000, but at the latest edition he nearly quadrupled his spend when gaining four lots for €2,050,000.

He was no less bold at Keeneland a couple of weeks later, which bodes well for the upcoming Goffs Orby and Tattersalls October Sales in Ireland and England.

• Breeze-up consignor Roger Marley made his presence felt when gaining three yearlings for €124,000 – his name had not appeared on the buyers’ sheet one year earlier – but Peter and Ross Doyle, who bought three horses for €218,000 in 2018, made not a single purchase this time.

››

• Jeremy Brummitt, a familiar face at BBAG, added another three buys when spending €149,000, but the Hong Kong Jockey Club was more circumspect, gaining, for €40,000, just a single horse, the same as in 2018. It did however make a bold play for the €700,000 Kingman colt who fell to Godolphin.

62 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Taylor Made OB Oct 2019 f-p.indd 1

19/09/2019 09:10

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

020 20 2020 Isfahan - winner of the German Derby 2016 - a BBAG graduate

October Mixed Sales 18th and 19th October 2019

Sales Dates 2020 Spring Breeze Up and HIT Sale 22nd May 2020 Premier Yearling Sale 4th September 2020 October Mixed Sales 16th and 17th October 2020

www.bbag-sales.de

Sales Circuit hails from the famous Anna Paola family.

The 2018 edition of this sale was not a strong one, but the bounce back to form revolved around more than just one horse, and a Kingman colt from Gestut Rottgen added €700,000 to turnover when joining Godolphin’s list of purchases. Godolphin also gained a €360,000 Lope De Vega filly from Brummerhof.

These big-money buys meant turnover was bound to rise long before the last lot entered the ring, and it duly gained 35% – this despite 51 fewer horses from which to choose.

The aforementioned record average price of €56,552 was 48% up, while the clearance rate gained ten points to achieve 74%.

Buyers came from around the globe, with several sales to Australia, and six-figure horses heading to a diverse range of countries, including Switzerland and Sweden.

Daughters of Sea The Stars have now headed this sale in consecutive years, for a €280,000 filly by that sire headed proceedings in 2018. This

MARCRUEHL.COM

›› of the stakes-placed Anna Mia, who

The record-setting Sea The Stars filly was the highlight of four purchases made by Godolphin

year’s far more highly-valued offering meant Sea The Stars demoted German champion Soldier Hollow to the runner-

up spot among the day’s leading stallions, and her breeders at Gestut Brummerhof became top vendors.

BBAG September Sale Top lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (€)

Buyer

F Sea The Stars - Anna Mia

Gestut Brummerhof

820,000

Godolphin

C Kingman – Weltmacht

Gestut Rottgen

700,000

Godolphin

F Lope De Vega - Akua'Ba

Gestut Brummerhof

360,000

Godolphin

F Sea The Stars – Saldenehre

Gestut Wittekindshof

190,000

Jack de Jong, agent

C Sea The Moon – Maricel

Gestut Gorlsdorf

170,000

Godolphin

F Soldier Hollow - Djidda

Ronald Rauscher

150,000

Panorama B/S

C Wootton Bassett – Quariana

Gestut Fahrhof

150,000

RTC GmbH

F Adlerflug - Enjoy The Life

Gestut Hof Ittlingen

140,000

IVA-All

C Sea The Stars – Goiania

Gestut Fahrhof

140,000

RTV GmbH

C Free Eagle – Paraisa

Gestut Fahrhof

125,000

Klaus Allofs/Fahrhof

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Average (€)

Median (€)

Top price (€)

2019

145

8,218,000

56,629

34,000

820,000

2018

158

6,046,500

38,513

24,000

280,000

2017

165

7,688,500

46,597

28,000

500,000

2016

174

7,982,500

45,876

26,000

500,000

2015

148

6,402,050

43,257

30,000

400,000

Oct_182_SaleCircuit.indd 65

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Sales Circuit Osarus Yearling Sale

This sale continues to make progress, despite minor falls in turnover, clearance and average at the latest, two-day edition.

Attracting better yearlings, which in turn attracts more buyers, will be a key to its future image, and the €170,000 sale of a Myboycharlie filly – a sister to Eddie Lynam’s smart sprinter Soffia – was further evidence that it can attract the horses and the purchasers.

It was worth noting the comment of leading French agent Marc-Antoine Berghgracht after his €80,000 purchase of a Kendargent colt out of Group 1-winning racemare Pearly Shells.

Berghgracht said it was the first time Haras De Saint Pair’s Andreas Putsch had sold at Osarus, adding: “I hope this price will encourage him and others to continue presenting yearlings of this standard here.”

The top price, a record for the event, was achieved after agent Nicolas De Watrigant and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget locked horns in a bid to gain the

TALKING POINT • Breeze-up pinhooker and racehorse owner Con Marnane, who was the leading buyer in 2017, reduced his involvement markedly a year ago, gaining just four horses.

At the latest edition Marnane was Myboycharlie filly’s passport from her breeders, Aliette and Gilles Forien of Haras De Montaigu. They had bought her dam, Rime De Rien, from Newsells Park Stud for 27,000gns in 2016, one year after she had produced Soffia.

De Watrigant came out on top in the joust to gain the latest family member, acting for an undisclosed client, although he said the Foriens would retain a share and that Frederic Rossi would handle her training programme.

Three horses made a six-figure sum, matching last year’s tally. De Watrigant also orchestrated the €100,000 purchase of a Shalaa colt, while Ghislain Bozo of Meridian International gave €105,000

far more active, leaving with ten lots costing a total of €157,000. It will be interesting to see how many he sends to a breeze-up sale, and how many he puts into training with a view to selling once they have shown racecourse form. for a Bated Breath filly. The last-named was a half-sister to smart three-year-old colt Araamhes, who was shaping like a future stakes winner when scoring twice in early summer, and while absent since could yet become a notable name next season for France-based trainer Carla O’Halloran.

Berghracht’s MAB Agency bought 14 lots for €455,000 to head buyers, while Jean-Pierre and Guillaume Garcon’s Haras de l’Hotellerie led consignors when trading 15 yearlings for €354,000.

Myboycharlie’s sale topper, plus five other horses he sired, meant his progeny turned over €240,000 and gave him top spot in the table of leading stallions.

Osarus Yearling Sale Top lots Name/Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Price (€)

F Myboycharlie - Rime A Rien

Haras de Montaigu

170,000

Buyer Mandore International Agency

F Bated Breath – Anjella

V Le Roy

105,000

Meridian International

C Shalaa - Mambo Mistress

Ecurie Yann Creff

100,000

Mandore International/AGV Karwin

C Kendargent - Pearly Shells

H Honore

80,000

MAB Agency

C Kheleyf - Reech Band

Yann Creff

75,000

ITS Bloodstock

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Average (€)

Median (€)

2019

199

2018

213

2017

4,060,000

21,000

17,000

170,000

4,504,500

23,053

17,000

120,000

201

4,001,000

21,674

16,000

105,000

2016

214

3,573,000

18,816

15,000

110,000

2015

182

4,053,500

21,445

18,000

70,000

Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale

This sale, which launched in 2017, looks here to stay after a successful third edition.

A record top price of £50,000 immediately places the event and the horses it offers in the lower tiers, as does an average of £10,684, but if steady growth and a growing sense of goodwill are key to a sale’s long-term prospects, then this one is on the right track.

In his close-of-sale statement, Matt Prior, recently appointed as Head of Tattersalls’ Ascot auctions, singled out Great British Racing International (GBRI) for its assistance in promoting the event, and also his Tattersalls colleagues, who went into overdrive on marketing. That involved reaching out to trainers in a bid to encourage them to attend the sale, and the buying bench seemed noticeably larger.

Another element which became

Top Price (€)

apparent was a number of very good pinhooks from cheap-as-chips foal purchases – Sarah Dempsey, who works for leading consignor Peter Nolan, took a punt on a 950gns Equiano foal last year (bought outside the ring), and reaped £22,000 when he was bought

by Newmarket trainer Alan Bailey, while Conor Norris, son of well-known consignor Liam, converted a 2,500gns Holy Roman Emperor filly into one worth £26,000 when knocked down to

››

66 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Sales Circuit syndicate specialists Middleham Park Racing.

The last-named also accounted for the top lot, a Showcasing filly offered

by Whitsbury Manor Stud, where the sire is in residence and growing in stature by the year.

It was not all clover for vendors, some of whom were there merely to shift stock or gain a place in next year’s Tattersalls October Auction Stakes on the Rowley Mile. Thirty-three of the 160 horses offered failed to find a buyer, but that was a 79% clearance rate, a sixpoints improvement on 2018, despite a slightly larger catalogue.

Turnover gained a wholesome 24%, the average gained eight per cent and the median 14%.

TATTERSALLS ASCOT

›› Ross Doyle. He was acting for racing

Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Showcasing filly topped a solid renewal of the Ascot Yearling Sale

Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale Top lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

F Showcasing - Hot Secret

Whitsbury Manor Stud

50,000

Aidan O'Ryan/Middleham Park/Richard Fahey

F Mehmas – Symbol Of Peace

Clonmult Farm

45,000

Henry Candy

F Starspangledbanner – Callendula

Jamie Railton

40,000

Peter & Ross Doyle B/S

C Footstepsinthesand – Challow Hills

Hegarty Bloodstock

37,000

Peter & Ross Doyle B/S

C Lethal Force – Kenyan Cat

Mickley Stud

35,000

Middleham Park Racing

Three-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

Top price (£)

2019

127

1,356,850

10,684

8,000

50,000

2018

111

1,096,000

9,874

7,000

46,000

2017

85

787,500

9,265

7,000

47,000

Goffs UK Yorton Sale

This innovative new event, held at David Futter’s Yorton Stud near Welshpool in Powys, made an excellent debut.

Restricted to yearling and twoyear-old jumping stores, it achieved a barely conceivable 90% clearance rate and turnover of £711,000 from the sale of 29 horses, key indicators that were well above Futter’s aspirations.

Inspired by the French model, in which jumping horses are sold, broken and raced younger than their British and Irish counterparts, Futter, a man of significant energy and no lack of vision, came up with the idea of a public auction at his stud, and Goffs

UK backed the idea by managing the event.

What no one could guess would be the market’s reaction – two-year-old stores have not been enthusiastically received at public auctions on the northern side of the Channel, in part because they have been few in number, but Futter sensed a gap in the market.

No lack of promotion and marketing helped, and by attracting a handful of French trainers and some bold pinhookers from Ireland, not to mention a long list of UK jumps trainers, the buying bench became an auctioneer’s delight.

From a catalogue comprising horses

bred at Yorton or bought by Futter and partners with a view to being resold at this sale, it was a €50,000 pinhook who headed trade when more than doubling in price to a mark of £105,000. This was a two-year-old colt by No Risk At All who was sold to racehorse owner Dai Walters, the founder of Ffos Las racecourse.

Sales often succeed on the fiscal clout of one man, and Walters certainly played a role in the success of this one, for he left with five lots, including a £60,000 son of Fame And Glory.

The quintet will be kept to race said Walters, although you sensed they could well make a profit if reoffered at

››

68 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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THE STAGE IS SET Take your opportunity to buy at the world’s biggest and best sale of breeding stock and foals this November.

NOVEMBER.KEENELAND.COM

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

Keeneland_Owner_Full_NovSale_October2019.indd 1

NOVEMBER T U E S . 5 - S AT. 16

20/09/2019 11:48

GOFFS UK/SARAH FARNSWORTH

Sales Circuit

The Goffs UK Yorton Sale, an innovative new event held at David Futter’s stud near Welshpool in Powys, made an excellent debut

›› traditional store sales next year.

That was certainly in the plans for other buyers, with agents Kevin Ross and Hamish Macaulay among those acting for clients hoping to resell.

Conversely, French trainers Gabriel Leenders and David Cottin bought five horses between them with a view to running in France next year, while

Donnchadh Doyle and Rob James were among members of Ireland’s point-topoint community who invested.

All buyers now have to temporarily park their purchases, who are too young for any further public activity this year, but they all did so in the belief they had bought for a good price. Futter was more than happy to say that he had set

reserves that ‘left something for the next man’.

In that regard, this event will succeed in the long term if it becomes a source of good results at other auctions and on the racecourse. Goffs UK and Yorton’s chief seem confident, and were planning the 2020 event as soon as the final horse left the ring.

Goffs UK Yorton Sale Top lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (£)

Buyer

C No Risk At All – Princesse Kap

Yorton Stud

105,000

Dai Walters

G Fame And Glory – Gales Present

Yorton Stud

60,000

Dai Walters

G Blue Bresil – Cutielilou

Yorton Stud

40,000

Donnchadh Doyle

G Masterstroke – Prairie Scilla

Yorton Stud

28,000

Dan Skelton

G Scalo – Briska Des Bordes

Yorton Stud

26,000

Gabriel Leenders

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Average (£)

Median (£)

Top price (£)

2019

29

711,000

24,517

20,000

105,000

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Sales Circuit Goffs Champions Sale

First-time racegoers attending Ireland’s Champions meeting enjoyed the added bonus of witnessing a bloodstock sale.

It could be said they had ‘a taster’, for just five lots were offered and three failed to beat their reserves.

Goffs Group chief executive Henry Beeby reiterated the point that such racecourse sales are quite different from traditional auctions, and low clearance rates are not necessarily a matter of concern. The horses are invariably owned by racehorse owners, rather than traders, and they are happy to retain their stock for further racing unless they receive a

bumper price. Beeby referred to his company’s auctions in London and Goodwood when making his comment, and said that by associating Goffs with such prestigious events his company benefits.

That may be true, but a point could be reached where such sales of Flat horses lose credibility. Meanwhile, sales of jumpers held during festivals at Aintree, Cheltenham and Punchestown have become magnets for vendors and buyers, and steadily produce excellent results. The dates on which they take place tie in well with traders’ plans, although with autumn horsesin-training sales approaching it is

surprising that Leopardstown does not attract more lots. Last year it drew just eight horses, and it seems trainers and owners prefer the traditional auction ring sale at which to clear stock.

Trainer John Murphy was happy to use Leopardstown as an opportunity to sell, and he parted with the Chantal Regalado-Gonzalez-owned four-yearold gelding War Diary for €200,000, and his own two-year-old colt Think Big for €100,000.

Fellow trainer Mick Halford bought War Diary on behalf of Paul and Clare Rooney, while Will Douglass signed for Think Big, whose next racing appearance will be in Qatar.

Goffs Champions Sale Those who sold Name/Sex/breeding

Vendor

Price (€)

Buyer

War Diary G Declaration Of War – Titivation

Highfort Stables

200,000

Michael Halford

Think Big C Night Of Thunder – Avenue

Montaigne

100,000

Charles Gordon-Watson B/S

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Average (€)

Median (€)

Top price (€)

2019

2

300,000

150,000

150,000

200,000

2018

8

1,312,000

218,667

185,000

500,000

2017

9

1,275,000

141,667

120,000

290,000

2016

2

560,000

280,000

280,000

300,000

2015

5

925,000

185,000

150,000

450,000

In a throwback to the pre-recession era, Book 1 of the Keeneland September Sale exceeded all expectations, yielding $160.4 million in gross sales and an eyepopping top price of $8.2m paid for a daughter of American Pharoah, writes Nancy Sexton.

That figure is not a record for the sale – that accolade belongs to the Kingmambo colt Meydan City, bought for $11.7m by John Ferguson on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed in 2006 – but it is the most paid for a yearling in the Keeneland sales arena since those heady days. It also makes the daughter of American Pharoah the highest-priced filly in September Sale history.

For breeders Clarkland Farm, it was naturally a momentous result. Fred and Nancy Mitchell’s outfit paid ‘just’ $100,000 for Leslie’s Lady, a stakeswinning daughter of Tricky Creek, out of the estate of James T Hines Jnr at Keeneland in 2006 when her first major runner, Grade 1 winner Into Mischief, was

KEENELAND

Keeneland September Sale - Book 1

Mandy Pope landed the $8.2 million American Pharoah filly

still a yearling. Today, Into Mischief sits among the elite of American stallions while another daughter, Beholder, developed into a true champion as the winner of 11 Grade 1 races. A later foal, meanwhile, is the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Mendelssohn, himself the $3m sale-topper of 2016.

All of which made the mare’s latest

foal extremely hot property. Set against the final hours of Book 1 trading, bidding on the filly rapidly boiled down to the Coolmore partners, Sheikh Mohammed and Mandy Pope. Coolmore dropped out at around $4m, leaving Sheikh Mohammed, bidding out back, and Mandy Pope, seated within the pavilion, to trade heavy blows until the latter

››

72 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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BEN MARSHALL

Leicestershire 1768 – 1835 London

Lord Jersey’s bay colt Mameluke by Partisan out of Miss Sophia with Will Wheatley up and a groom at Newmarket Signed, inscribed Mameluke and dated 1828 lower centre Oil on canvas: 28 × 36 in / 71 × 91.5 cm Mameluke, a bay colt by Partisan out of Miss Sophia, was bred by Robert Elwes and sold to George Villiers, 5th Earl of Jersey. In 1827 Mameluke ran in two celebrated and controversial races. He won the Epsom Derby, beating Lord Jersey’s Glenartney. Although Lord Jersey owned both the winner and the runner-up, the crowd was convinced that Glenartney had been ‘pulled’ and that Mameluke had been backed by the stable. Mameluke was then sold to John Gully, a former prize-fighter and a future MP for Pontefract. Mameluke ran in the St Leger at Doncaster and was beaten by the Hon Edward Petre’s Matilda. Gully had backed Mameluke to win some £40,000, but there was a conspiracy in which William Crockford, a former fish peddler, was implicated. There was a whisper that Crockford had bribed the other jockeys to jostle Mameluke at the Start. With the money he won over Mameluke, Crockford set up his famous gaming house in St James’s Street. In 1828 Mameluke won the Oatlands Stakes and the Port Stakes at Newmarket.

33 New Bond Street, London W1S 2RS Telephone: +44 (0)20 7499 4738

190917 TOB.indd 1

www.richardgreen.com Email: paintings@richardgreen.com

On view for sale at 147 New Bond Street, London W1S 2TS Telephone: +44 (0)20 7493 3939

17/09/2019 16:35

Sales Circuit ›› sealed the deal with that record-

breaking $8.2m bid.

“You can’t fault her,” said Pope, a well established player at the top end of the market whose other high-profile purchases include Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, bought for $10m at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. “She’s perfectly balanced. She’s gorgeous – not too big or small. This will probably put me out of shopping in November; I think I pretty much went through my broodmare budget for November.”

Sheikh Mohammed had better luck in his pursuit of a Curlin colt out of Bounding, for whom he outbid Coolmore at $4.1m. Sold through Eaton Sales, the colt encapsulates the small nature of the bloodstock world: bred by Barbara Banke’s Stonestreet Farm in Kentucky, he is the first foal out of his Australian-bred dam, a Group 1-winning daughter of Lonhro sourced

by Stonestreet for A$1.5m at the 2016 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.

And three years on, Bounding is now a half-sister to an Epsom Derby hero in Anthony Van Dyck.

In all, Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin

The sale-topper was the most expensive filly to sell in Keeneland Book 1 history

came away with four of the top five lots and $16m worth of stock to end the book as leading buyer.

TALKING POINTS • This was a sale at which Curlin deservedly came of commercial age. The flagship stallion of Hill ’n’ Dale Farm in Kentucky, his current crop of yearlings were bred the year his fee was raised to $150,000, resulting in a quality that was borne out in a series of strong sale results; of his 27 yearlings to sell during the week, five hit million dollar territory, while an average of $697,222 put the son of Smart Strike fall behind only Medaglia d’Oro on $739,063.

Among the first-crop sires, Claiborne Farm’s Runhappy turned in another strong performance as the sire of eight yearlings who sold for an average of $462,500.

Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell Estate Company wasn’t too far behind, however, signing for 18 lots worth $11.07m, including a pair of seven-figure yearlings

by Curlin.

A strong Japanese presence was led by investment from new owner Yuji Hagesawa, who went to $1.5m for a Tapit brother to champion Unique Bella through bloodstock agent Hiroyasu Takeuchi.

European-based agents Jamie McCalmont, David Redvers, Joseph Burke and James Delahooke were also among those to strike.

When all was done and dusted on Book 1, a total of $160,463,000 had been traded on 340 yearlings at an average of $471,950 and median of $355,000.

A total of 20 yearlings made a million dollars or more.

Given this year’s book was shortened by a session to cover three days - a move seemingly welcomed by the majority of buyers and consignors - year-to-year comparisons are not exact. However, it is worth noting that the average and median represented increases of 30% and 18% respectively.

• As ever, Book 1 featured a smattering of representation

by European sires. Dubawi fared particularly well as the sire of two yearlings who averaged $600,000; a colt out of Zenyatta’s half-sister Eblouissante, made $700,000 to Maverick Racing and the China Horse Club, while a filly out of Chilean Group 2 winner Guapaza realised $500,000 to Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm.

As for Galileo, his pair of representatives sold were led by a daughter of Grade 1 winner Turbulent Descent who is set to race in Japan after selling for $710,000 to North Hills Co. Ltd.

Keeneland September Sale - Book 1 Top Lots Sex/breeding

Vendor

F American Pharoah - Leslie’s Lady

Clarkland Farm

8,200,000

Price ($)

Whisper Hill Farm LLC

C Curlin - Bounding

Eaton Sales, agent

4,100,000

Godolphin

C War Front - Believe You Can

Brereton C. Jones/Airdrie Stud

2,900,000

Godolphin

C Tapit - Seeking Gabrielle

Hinkle Farms

2,500,000

Godolphin

C Medaglia d’Oro - Tara’s Tango

Denali Stud, agent

2,150,000

Godolphin

C Pioneerof The Nile - Magical World

Taylor Made Sales Agency

2,100,000

E-Five Racing/Mike Ryan, agent

F Empire Maker - Lady Pewitt

Gainesway, agent

C Tapit - Unrivaled Belle

Timber Town, agent

1,500,000

Yugi Hasegawa

C Medaglia d’Oro - Weekend Whim

Lane’s End, agent

1,500,000

Repole Stables, Viola, MV Magnier

C American Pharoah - Escampette

Hunter Valley Farm

1,300,000

Jamie McCalmont, agent for MV Magnier

2,000,000

Buyer

Shawn Dugan, agent

74 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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carterjonas.co.uk Offices throughout the UK

YARM, NORTH YORKSHIRE Worsall Grange Farm Equine stud with huge potential •

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Detached 3 bedroom dwelling with planning consent for replacement managers dwelling Planning consent for conversion of traditional building to create staff accommodation Excellent range of versatile modern general purpose buildings 1½ furlong canter ring Planning consent granted for further facilities Grassland extending in all to approximately 175 acres (70 hectares)

For sale as a whole or in up to 3 lots

Guide price £1,800,000 Harrogate 01423 707801 sam.johnson@carterjonas.co.uk

Fractional ad pages October 2019.indd 75

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER 75

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Caulfield Files

Plenty to incentivise North American breeders in production of turf runners Consistently bold showing by European-bred horses in the States in recent seasons could mean an upsurge in American buying interest at upcoming sales

L

GEORGE SELWYN

ook back to those enviably simple days before the word Brexit cursed the land and you will find that the exchange rate for the US dollar against the pound stood at 1.53 on September 1, 2015.

Four years later the figure had plunged to around 1.20, which suggests strongly that we are going to see much more involvement from American buyers when Book 1 of Tattersalls’ October Yearling Sale gets under way on October 8.

And it isn’t just the exchange rate which will act as an incentive for American owners to invest in yearlings with European turf pedigrees. Although the number of races contested in the US continues to fall (from 74,071 in 1989 to 36,586 in 2018), more races are being run on turf, with 17% per cent of the nation’s races being on turf in 2017, compared to 8.8% as recently as 2004.

It is now not unusual for dirt-bred youngsters to start their careers on the kinder turf courses, with the Kentucky Derby winners Barbaro and Big Brown among them, and this year has seen the predominantly dirt-bred Triple Crown winner American Pharoah make a substantial early splash with his turf two-year-olds. His 12 winners from his first 35 starters included no fewer than eight on turf (including three in Europe).

We are also seeing some valuable additions to America’s turf programme, such as the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes which carried a first prize worth more than £2 million in January 2019. Then there’s the Belmont Derby and Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes, with these two Grade 1 races

GEORGE SELWYN

Newspaperofrecord: daughter of Lope de Vega has flown the flag for British-breds in US

Kingman: could be popular with US buyers

having received a considerable boost in their value in 2014.

The success of the Belmont Derby and Oaks has now encouraged the New York Racing Association to instigate a ‘Turf Trinity’ for the colts and geldings and a ‘Turf Tiara’ for the fillies. The Turf Trinity comprises three $1 million races over the same distances as the dirt Triple Crown events. The second leg, the Saratoga Derby, was contested on August 4, and the series was completed by the Jockey Club Derby over a mile and a half on September 7.

The Turf Tiara comprises three races carrying $750,000 in prize-money, the second leg being the Saratoga Oaks and the third the Jockey Club Oaks.

Although the four new races won’t be eligible for Graded stakes status until their third year, they represent a clear incentive for breeders and owners to invest in turf bloodlines.

The distances of the races also make them ideal for European-bred horses, which generally have stouter pedigrees than their American counterparts.

There is also one more factor which is likely to favour the turf horse. The current public relations nightmare facing

America’s racing industry, following the deaths of so many horses at Santa Anita’s winter meeting, is forcing the industry to concentrate on the safety of its racetracks.

Michael Dickinson of Tapeta Footings is advocating a re-think about all-weather surfaces, which were installed, then removed, at several of America’s leading tracks, including Santa Anita, Del Mar and Keeneland. Dickinson insists that today’s synthetic surfaces are much superior to their predecessors, and the statistics from Wolverhampton and Newcastle suggest strongly that he is right.

“We can’t carry on as we are,” Dickinson recently told the TDN. “The politicians will close us down. We don’t have a choice. I think it’s a choice between safer surfaces or no racing at all. How close were we to having to close down Santa Anita? It’s a different world now than what it was 30 years ago.”

According to the American Jockey Club’s Equine Injury Database, there were 1.68 deaths per 1,000 starters on American racetracks in 2018.

Dirt surfaces had the worst figure, of 1.86 deaths per 1,000 starters, whereas synthetic surfaces were markedly safer at 1.23 per 1,000. But in the argument

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Bloodstock world views

“It isn’t hard to envisage the number of turf races continuing to climb” the 2016 foal sales or the 2017 yearling sales. Examples include two daughters of Dansili. Blowout, a €450,000 daughter of the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches winner Beauty Parlour, won the Wild Applause Stakes for Peter Brant and has been placed at Grade 2 and Grade 3 levels, notably failing by only a neck in the Lake Placid Stakes.

Art Of Almost, a Dansili filly who failed to find a buyer at Arqana as a foal, is another who has been placed at Grade 2 and Grade 3 levels.

Then there’s Dansili’s son Value Proposition. A 400,000gns purchase from Meon Valley Stud, the colt has carried the colours of Klaravich Stables to victory in two of his three starts.

Another promising sort is Dubawi’s son Demarchelier. Bought for 425,000gns on behalf of Brant, the Newsells Park graduate improved his record to three-forthree when he landed the Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont in June. Unfortunately he suffered a condylar fracture to a foreleg when second favourite for the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes.

The Belmont Derby also featured another colt which was bought as a yearling for Klaravich Stables. This was Digital Age, a 325,000gns son of Invincible Spirit who started third favourite, on the strength of his victory in the American Turf Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard. In finishing fourth in the

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Noble Mission setting a fine example It will also be interesting to see whether breeders in America are becoming more willing to use European-bred turf stallions.

They weren’t particularly keen when the Juddmonte-bred Powerscourt retired to Ashford Stud after a career which twice saw him cross the line first in the Arlington Million (on the second occasion winning by three lengths from Kitten’s Joy).

After four seasons, during which his fee went from $12,500 to $7,500, Powerscourt was sold to Turkey. He received only 39 mares in his final season.

Perhaps breeders could be forgiven their indifference, as they weren’t aware that Frankel, a colt bred to a similar pattern to Powerscourt, was going to develop into a superstar in Europe over the next few years.

Powerscourt was sired by Frankel’s grandsire Sadler’s Wells from Frankel’s second dam Rainbow Lake.

Powerscourt currently ranks as the broodmare sire of America’s outstanding turf filly Concrete Rose.

This daughter of the up-and-coming Twirling Candy easily added the Saratoga Oaks Invitational to her earlier victory over raiders from Ireland, Japan and France in the Belmont Oaks Invitational.

There has also been major success for Frankel’s American-based brother Noble Mission with his three-year-olds from his first crop sired at Lane’s End. Of course Noble Mission was a turf specialist who became a Group 1 winner in three countries, most notably

Belmont Derby, Digital Age suffered his first defeat in four starts, but he was to finish a creditable second in the Saratoga Derby on his next start.

Sadly Chad Brown, the trainer of Digital Age, Demarchelier, Value Proposition and Blowout, has been having a comparatively disappointing time with his Lope de Vega filly Newspaperofrecord.

However, this doesn’t seriously detract from the Klaravich-owned filly’s achievements as a two-year-old, when she beat the future Grade 2 winner Varenka by over six lengths in the Miss Grillo Stakes and then took the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf by nearly seven.

The Brown-Brant combination also paid 400,000gns for Sketches Of Spain, a 2017 Lope de Vega filly who made a

when following in Frankel’s footsteps in the QIPCO Champion Stakes. Mated to the dirt specialist Reunited, a winner of five of her eight three-year-old starts including a Grade 3, Noble Mission is responsible for one of America’s top dirt three-year-olds in Code Of Honor.

Foaled as late as May 23, Code Of Honor turned in a career-best effort when he landed the Travers Stakes on August 24.

When mated to Limonar, a mile Listed winner on turf in France, Noble Mission sired Spanish Mission, a decisive winner of the Bahrain Trophy.

Coincidentally, Spanish Mission’s owners decided to miss the St Leger in favour of the newly-instituted Jockey Club Derby at Belmont, in which they were rewarded when he ran down Pedro Caro to win the $1 million event.

GEORGE SELWYN

between traditional dirt and all-weather, it mustn’t be forgotten that the American statistics showed that turf was marginally the safest option, with 1.20 deaths per 1,000 starters. With racing under everincreasing scrutiny, it isn’t hard to envisage the number of turf races continuing to climb.

Another factor in favour of European horses is the suspicion that the American thoroughbred has become less sound following decades of raceday medication.

All of which should help maximise American demand for European horses, as should the pleasing North American results achieved by some of the European youngsters which were bought either at

Noble Mission (left): Frankel’s younger brother is faring well in Kentucky

winning debut at Saratoga, with the help of the stewards.

I suspect that American demand for Kingman’s progeny is also going to be high at the European yearling sales this autumn. Klaravich paid only 120,000gns for his son out of the Cherry Hinton Stakes winner Please Sing, but the colt – now named Good Governance – made a belated winning debut at Saratoga on August 4.

Good Governance was then odds-on for the Saranac Stakes towards the end of the Saratoga meeting and failed by only a neck to land the $110,000 first prize.

Saratoga also saw Kingman’s daughter Jazzique come from a long way back to take a spring maiden on her debut for Chad Brown.

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www.thethoroughbredclub.co.uk •

@TTC_GB

Upcoming badge offers for members

Riders line up before the 2016 edition of the Sun Chariot Stakes – TTC members have the chance to win free badges for this year’s running

T

he Thoroughbred Club is pleased to announce a number of exciting ticket offers for its members this autumn.

Autumn Racing Weekend and Ascot Beer Festival, Ascot racecourse Friday, October 4 Members of The Thoroughbred Club have the opportunity to attend Ascot’s Autumn Racing Weekend and Beer Festival for half-price. The penultimate weekend of Ascot’s Flat racing season will feature a competitive card including the Listed London Metric Noel Murless Stakes, while there is a choice of almost 200 real ales, ciders and other drinks at the racecourse’s annual Ascot Beer Festival. Half-priced tickets can be

purchased on the day from Ticket Office East following presentation of a valid TTC membership card.

Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes, Newmarket racecourse Saturday, October 5 Members can win two Grandstand & Paddock badges for the Sun Chariot raceday. The day will feature the Group 1 Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot Stakes, which has been previously won by the likes of Laurens, Roly Poly and Alice Springs. To enter, simply email info@ thethoroughbredclub.co.uk with your name and contact details.

Nottingham racecourse Wednesday, October 16

The Thoroughbred Club members are invited to join the TBA at Nottingham for its sponsored race. Members will be granted access on presentation of a valid TTC membership card. Entry will not be granted without the membership card.

Diary Dates and Reminders Tuesday, December 10-12 TBA Stud Farming Course The British Racing School Further information on all TBA events can be found on the TBA website

Learn more about stud farm management Members of The Thoroughbred Club can now book a place on the TBA Stud Farming Course to learn more about the latest in stud management from industry experts.

The course will be run at the British Racing School in Newmarket on December 10-12 and will cover a variety of topics to provide a comprehensive overview of general stud management. The three-day course also includes a course dinner on the first evening, which provides an open networking opportunity for delegates and industry experts.

The programme will include a variety of external visits to stud farms and veterinary practices to broaden delegates’ understanding by enabling behind-the-scenes learning at a veterinary practice and stud farm. The course will be supported with a variety of opportunities to ask questions or raise concerns for discussion, whilst all participants will be assisted with a handbook for additional notes and information.

For more information and to book a place, please visit info@ thethoroughbredclub.co.uk or call Melissa on 01638 661321.

Management tips will be on offer at the British Racing School

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EUROPEAN ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY 2019-20 Earn points for a spot in the Churchill Downs starting gate on the first Saturday in May by competing in these races: Date

Race

Points Awarded

28/9/19

Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket – 1 Mile (T)

10 • 4 • 2 • 1

29/9/19

Beresford Stakes at The Curragh – 1 Mile (T)

10 • 4 • 2 • 1

6/10/19

Prix du Jean Luc Lagardère at ParisLongchamp – 1 Mile (T)

10 • 4 • 2 • 1

26/10/19

Vertem Futurity at Doncaster – 1 Mile (T)

10 • 4 • 2 • 1

March 2020

Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes at Kempton Park – 1 Mile (AWT)

20 • 8 • 4 • 2

March 2020

Patton Stakes at Dundalk Stadium – 1 Mile (AWT)

20 • 8 • 4 • 2

April 2020

Cardinal Stakes at Chelmsford City – 1 Mile (AWT)

30 • 12 • 6 • 3

For more information, contact:

Mike Ziegler, Executive Director of Racing Mike.ziegler@kyderby.com, +1.502.394.1137

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ROA Forum

The special section for ROA members

Ownership Day at Perth racecourse

O

ver 60 members and guests joined the ROA regional meeting and Industry Ownership Day at Perth racecourse on September 9.

It was a wet start to the day, which following 15mm of steady rain in the 24 hours before racing saw the going change from good to good to soft, and then soft after the third race.

The Lawn Marquee provided a good location from which to enjoy the racing, offering trackside views of the course beyond the finishing line.

Members gathered before racing for the regional meeting and networked with fellow members and the ROA executive team, members of the racecourse executive and committee and Scottish Racing.

ROA Chief Executive Charlie Liverton updated members on industry matters, including fixtures and funding, prizemoney, equine and participant welfare and use of the whip.

Members asked questions about accuracy of going information and reports, prize-money and media rights contracts, the raceday experience for owners, minimum values and the appearance money scheme.

There was some debate about a perceived proliferation of horses travelling over from Ireland to race at Perth and other Scottish and northern courses. Some members felt differences in the handicapping and monitoring systems put horses trained in Ireland at an advantage when running in Britain.

The merits of the distribution of prize-money were also discussed, and particularly how this impacted on owners of horses running at the grassroots level.

Long journeys to Perth paid off for a number of runners on the day. Ten horses who travelled from Ireland provided three winners of the seven races, including the ROA Owners Jackpot race won by Holy Motivation, who won the three-mile ROA Owners Jackpot race after finishing second over the same trip at the course in July and August. Her success notched a double on the day for trainer Gordon Elliott and jockey Richard Johnson.

Owners Pioneer Racing were delighted to win the £2,000 Owners Jackpot bonus. Sam Boswell said: “We were really pleased to see her win after

ROA members made presentations to the winning connections at Perth

hitting the crossbar twice at Perth previously. Her owners have been hugely supportive and are very passionate about their racing. Winning the bonus makes a huge difference in helping to cover costs and we will look out for future bonus races.”

Owners of all qualified runners in the ROA Owners Jackpot race received £250 towards travel expenses, as usual.

A long road trip paid off for connections of Le Musee, who travelled from Tiverton to Perth to bag the ROAsponsored Class 2 handicap chase for owners Dragonfly Racing.

Miles travelled weren’t confined to the equine participants, with member Maurice Stringer having made the journey from Wiltshire to join the regional meeting. He is on his third cycle of visiting every racecourse in the country and is making good use of free admission as an ROA member.

Along with other members, he got involved in helping judge best turned out awards and making a presentation for the ROA-sponsored races on the card.

As ever, the ROA had a gazebo with the ROA membership team on hand to welcome members and racegoers and answer questions on ownership and membership. Goody bags with information on the benefits of membership were provided for racegoers who visited the facility on the day.

Members may be interested to know the Scottish Racing Annual Review and Outlook can be downloaded at http://www.scottishracing.co.uk/ annual-review/

Diary dates and reminders OCTOBER 2 Industry Ownership Day and regional meeting at Nottingham OCTOBER 11 Hospitality offer for members at Chepstow’s NH season opener OCTOBER 17 Member visit to the first day of Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale OCTOBER 19 Pre-racing drinks reception and private box with hospitality package for QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot NOVEMBER 12 Industry Ownership Day and regional meeting at Hereford NOVEMBER 27 Industry Ownership Day and regional meeting at Wetherby DECEMBER 12 ROA Horseracing Awards, London For more details or to book see roa.co.uk/events

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“I want to make others fall in love with racing” Alexandra Mulligan on her graduate placement with the ROA

Alexandra Mulligan (second from right) with her fellow graduates at Newmarket

As the BHA Graduate Programme draws to a close, I’m prompted to reflect on the incredible opportunities and experiences that I’ve had over the last ten weeks. My placement with the Racehorse Owners Association has been incredibly rewarding and has given me tremendous insight into the vital role that owners play within the industry.

Horses have always played a major part in my life. I’ve competed in showjumping and dressage in Dubai and was co-founder of the inaugural University of California, Santa Barbara Polo Team while living in the US. Most importantly, while studying English Literature at Trinity College Dublin, I was involved in the TCD Horse Racing Society, where I focused on encouraging university students to engage with racing.

My earliest memory of racing is attending the Dubai World Cup as a young child, where I watched the late-night racing and was asked by Frankie Dettori what I was doing up so late – it’s safe to say I perked up immediately after that! Ever since, I’ve always had a great interest in horseracing but have seldom had the opportunity to fully immerse myself in the industry, until I discovered the BHA Graduate Programme.

For many alumni, the programme has paved the way for a successful career in the sport. It provides an opportunity for all graduates with a love of racing to build a network with other like-minded individuals and pursue their passion.

Before our placements began, we arrived at the British Racing School in Newmarket for a two-week induction course.

While there, we were lucky enough to learn from leading industry specialists who gave us an insight into their different roles. From horse welfare to funding and breeding, all aspects of horseracing were covered.

All guest speakers were incredibly generous with their time and I left each lecture with a far deeper understanding of the industry. Furthermore, we were very fortunate to speak to individuals such as Ed Chamberlin and Nick Luck, whose enthusiasm and passion for horseracing was inspiring.

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We also visited Dalham Hall, The Jockey Club Rooms and Tattersalls. One of my favourite moments was visiting the sales for the first time and experiencing the electric atmosphere that fills the room once bidding begins. At the weekends, our trips to Sandown Park and Newmarket’s July Course provided opportunities for the graduates to form long-lasting friendships. Our bond grew over our mutual love for ‘Queen’ Enable as we watched her gallop to glory in the Coral-Eclipse.

Upon returning from Newmarket, I began my placement at the ROA in central London, where I have focused on the Industry Ownership Strategy. I’ve researched how to best promote ownership amongst young people in the hopes that others will fall in love with the sport, like I have. I have also attended the York Ebor meeting, where the ROA hosted a box for members. It was wonderful to meet attendees, chat about their horses and learn about their contributions to horseracing.

I also attended the Industry Ownership Day at Ripon, which demonstrated to me how crucial owner input is in the development of the sport, and the ROA pre-raceday drinks at Goodwood, where members bravely faced the elements!

Soon I will be starting the Graduate Diploma in Law at the University of Law in Moorgate. After my studies, I hope to specialise in bloodstock law, which will enable me to use the skills and knowledge I have accumulated while with the ROA. It was listening to Tom Goff and Matt Coleman in Newmarket that piqued my interest in bloodstock. While I intend to approach this area of the industry from a legal perspective, I hope I can continue to learn more about the practicalities of breeding and producing winning racehorses.

Finally, I would like to thank Cath Goff and Peter Williams for organising the two-week induction course at the British Racing School and Michelle Douglas for helping graduates with their search for careers within the industry. Most of all, I would like to thank the ROA team – I’ve learned so much and have thoroughly enjoyed my eight-week placement.

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ROA Forum

MY DAY AT THE RACES with Lee Bond at Redcar on August 10

L

ee Bond entered into ownership in 2014 and now has several horses in training in the north of England.

He was at Redcar to watch his five-yearold gelding Give It Some Teddy run an excellent second in a mile handicap.

TONY KNAPTON

When did you get into racing?

I had a friend who had horses and after he bought Willie The Whipper from the sales in Ireland, I decided to take a trip to the stables and see how to get involved.

Once I’d purchased my first horse, I was hooked.

How many horses do you currently have in training?

I have several horses in training at the moment, all with Tim Easterby.

What is the best horse you have owned?

Without a doubt Give It Some Teddy – Super Ted – is my favourite horse.

I bought him as a yearling out of the Goresbridge Sale in Ireland and he spent his first years with Alan Swinbank until his sudden death. I actually bought him from watching a video of his breeze.

He didn’t have the quickest time, but when he was asked, he changed legs.

I think that sums him up; when he’s asked he will give it his all. He won some really nice handicaps, including at York and of course the Straight-Mile Series Final Handicap at Redcar last year. He couldn’t be with a better trainer.

Lee Bond with his favourite horse Give It Some Teddy – or Super Ted as he is known

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

Yes, I received an email from the course that provided all the information I required.

and a big screen is available to watch the race.

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

The staff were very helpful. I was able to collect my badges and gain entry quickly.

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

We managed to get a second on the day with Give It Some Teddy, but our friend had a winner in the next race, so we managed to take advantage of the great hospitality and a few glasses of bubbles in the winners’ room. A great experience and we were made to feel very welcome.

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

The location is not the greatest as it faces away from the racecourse itself.

There is a viewing area, however, that you can walk through to, which offers a good view. It is comfortable with a bar and betting facility available. Though they could have had a colder fridge for the beer! We were offered a meal and also a tea/coffee.

How was the pre-parade ring/paddock experience?

Very good; you are clearly able to see the horses getting saddled, which builds to the racing experience.

Give It Some Teddy enjoys running at Redcar, where he has won four times

How did you find the facilities for owners’ viewing?

Owners are able to view the track well

Were you able to review a replay of your race easily on course?

Yes, that wasn’t an issue.

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

I love the course, as I have always been made to feel very welcome by the staff, and I would definitely return.

HOW IT RATED Entry Viewing Atmosphere Owners’ facilities Food Overall score

★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ 19

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ZOE VICARAGE

Bob Champion Cancer Trust fundraiser

Cheveley Park Stud welcomed ROA members on September 3

Superb stud visits in Newmarket contain the Injured Jockey’s Fund’s Peter O’Sullevan House, the Newmarket version of Oaksey and Jack Berry House, which is due for its full launch in October.

The afternoon saw a trip back across town to Banstead Manor, home to Juddmonte champions past and present. First up was man of the moment Kingman, whose fee is set to rise after the phenomenal success of his early crops.

The most relaxed stallion on show is always Bated Breath and this year was no different. He has had a stellar season, with three Royal Ascot winners.

The youngest stallion on parade was Expert Eye, who impressed a few people in his transition from racehorse to stallion.

Finally, there was Frankel and his adoring stallion man, Rob. As usual, Frankel showed off to the crowd, standing and posing for pictures like an old hand! He was certainly the star of the show and members were lucky enough to have group shots taken with him to provide a special memento. A fantastic day all round.

Bob Champion with his Grand National winner Aldaniti

ZOE VICARAGE

On a sunny day in Newmarket members were treated to a wonderful double header at Cheveley Park and Banstead Manor Studs on September 3.

First up was Cheveley Park, where a tour of the red liveried grounds including parades by stud favourite Pivotal, still covering at the grand old age of 26.

Twilight Son was his usual boisterous self, whilst Dutch Art – now kept in a warmer part of the facility to help with his fertility – was also on show. Mayson, who evidently relishes his job, was in good form.

Members also had a rare opportunity to meet some of the younger foals with their mothers who weren’t as yet weaned. It was a wonder some of us didn’t try to smuggle the youngsters onto the coach!

The British Racing School welcomed us for lunch, but not before a tour of their facilities to hear about the fabulous work they do with the youngsters training to become the jockeys and stable staff of the future. The grounds now also

Plumpton racecourse will play host to the Bob Champion Cancer Trust Raceday and Lunch on Monday, October 21.

Members can support the day and help raise funds in a variety of ways. Places can be booked for lunch in a marquee facility, which includes a drinks reception, three-course lunch with wine, and afternoon tea. Places are £95 per person and includes an admission badge.

Owners can also support the day by including their colours in the racecard for a donation of £100.

There is also a Shetland pony race – sponsoring a pony in advance of the day will cost £275.

The Bob Champion Cancer Trust was established in 1983. In 2000, in conjunction with the Institute of Cancer Research, the trust opened the Bob Champion Cancer Research Laboratories in Surrey, creating the first male-dedicated research centre in Europe. The trust’s second facility was opened in February 2015 at the campus of the University of East Anglia.

Bookings can be made by calling Lucy Wilkinson at The Bob Champion Cancer Trust on 020 7924 3553 or online at www. bobchampion.org.uk.

The star of the show, Frankel, with his admirers at Banstead Manor Stud

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ROA Forum

Dedicated facilities for syndicates The ROA-led Industry Ownership Strategy, which is generously supported by the Levy Board, continues to make good progress on a range of areas which support the ownership experience.

Kempton’s trial

Our thanks go to Kempton Park racecourse for its support of the pilot syndicate facility that we have developed, with an additional facility provided for two racedays in September supporting syndicate members with a generous raceday badge allocation.

On September 6, Kempton Park welcomed all syndicate members with a horse entered in the evening’s racing.

Exclusively open to syndicate members, the Kauto Star bar offered a warm and friendly atmosphere that starkly contrasted with the cooler temperatures outside.

With a view of the weighing room, guests were immersed in the raceday excitement from the start.

Many shared their enthusiasm (and at times their trepidation!) about their horse’s performance while enjoying the refreshments provided. The pervasive response was that it was “wonderful to see racecourses trying something different” and that the Kauto Star bar felt “very inclusive”. It is hoped that more racecourses will follow suit and provide syndicate-focused facilities in the future.

We hope that we will be able to build on this, and extend this across additional racecourses and racedays, and discussions are ongoing.

In addition, work is progressing on the development of a Syndicate Accreditation Scheme and a parallel Quality Mark scheme, which will provide added security for syndicate members, and guidance around the experience delivered by individual syndicates.

Syndicate members enjoyed an enhanced badge allocation at Kempton on September 6

by the ROA Raceday Committee, ROA member feedback, and the scores achieved by racecourses in the visits undertaken by the National Association of Racing Staff (NARS), the scores will be key in determining the 2019 Gold Standard Racecourses.

Leasing Agreement

A template leasing agreement has been revised and developed to assist with the promotion and structure of leasing as a cost-effective introduction to ownership.

The document can be found at roa.co.uk/ leasing.

Industry Ownership Racedays The Industry Ownership Racedays

continue to progress well. The role of owners is heightened as a result of the racedays, and ownership is celebrated throughout the days.

A focus of the day is an ROA regional meeting for members and guests who live nearby and the racing features an Owners Jackpot race, with a £2,000 bonus if the winner is qualified in terms of being owned by ROA members.

Full details of the Owners Jackpot can be found at roa.co.uk in the Benefits section.

The remaining racedays in 2019 are at Nottingham on October 2, Hereford on November 12 and Wetherby on November 27.

Racecourse Quality Mark

The racecourse assessments undertaken

by AA Hospitality Services to underpin the Racecourse Quality Mark scheme are now complete. The scores will be reviewed and will form the basis of the 2019 accreditation scheme. In addition, together with the reports completed

The Kauto Star bar became an exclusive facility for syndicate members at Kempton

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Five fight for Owners’ Experience award The Racecourse Association (RCA) and Racehorse Owners Association announced last month the five racecourses – Ayr, Bangor-on-Dee, Haydock Park, Musselburgh and Newbury – that have been named as finalists in the Owners’ Experience category for the prestigious Showcase & Awards.

The winner will be revealed at the Showcase & Awards ceremony on Thursday, November 14 at Hamilton Park racecourse.

Hosted by the RCA, the Showcase & Awards is the marquee event of British racecourses that annually celebrates first-class customer experience in partnership with Moët Hennessy, Racing Post and Great British Racing.

For the Owners’ Experience accolade, members of the ROA were invited to nominate racecourses for examples of where they had met and exceeded expectations relating to the raceday experience for owners. The Showcase principles of excellence and innovation were paramount in the selections, with the five finalists receiving multiple nominations from ROA members.

Charlie Liverton, ROA Chief Executive, said: “The owners raceday experience is a hugely important part of the wider racehorse ownership experience and this is reinforced to

Ayr is one of five finalists in the Owners’ Experience category

the ROA by owners, daily. There have been a number of improvements across the country at racecourses that should, rightly, be celebrated and our thanks and congratulations go to this year’s finalists.”

DOUBLE-HEADER IN YORKSHIRE On a gloriously sunny day in early September a select group of ROA members undertook an interesting double-header visit in Yorkshire. The first port of call was trainer Brian Ellison’s Spring Cottage Stables in Malton, where members were warmly greeted by Brian and his wife Claire (plus myriad dogs!).

After some initial questions and introductions over a hot drink, the group was taken on a tour of the dualpurpose yard, which includes some unusual Australian-style stabling for some of the yard’s flagship horses and those thought most likely to benefit from them. Open-doored stables lead onto small, individual sand-based paddocks, allowing the horses plenty of ventilation, more space to move, and the choice of whether to be inside or out.

The most prestigious of these occupants included high-class chaser Definitly Red and the ever-popular Top Notch Tonto, who was very happy to have an audience. After the tour members got to accompany Brian to the gallops, to watch horses canter in front of the simply stunning backdrop of the surrounding countryside.

Thereafter, members travelled a short distance south to the Retraining of Racehorses centre New Beginnings,

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which is one of the newest retraining venues, enthusiastically run by Pam Hollingworth and Kevin Atkinson at Bishop Wilton. They have very few permanent residents – although these do include 2008 Cheltenham Festival winner Mister McGoldrick – but are known for the patient approach they take in retraining the horses in their care.

As well as a tour, members were treated to a long-reining display by ex-National Hunt horse Singeur, and a ridden display from one of the centre’s real project horses, The Banana Man. Attendee Cliff Verity also got to say hello to one of his ex-racers, Kirkham, who is currently going through the retraining process.

The ROA extends its thanks to both the Ellison yard and New Beginnings for allowing these visits to take place.

Reunion: Cliff Verity says hello to his former racer Kirkham at New Beginnings

Top Notch Tonto was the star attraction at Brian Ellison’s Spring Cottage Stables

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ROA Forum

MAGICAL MOMENTS with ROA member Tony Linnett

A

s every racehorse owner will know, when your silks are carried to victory for the first time on a racecourse, it is a rare and precious moment. For Sheikh Mohammed, it was Hatta at Brighton on June 20, 1977. For Tony Linnett and his four friends in The North South Syndicate, it was Free Love at Catterick on September 22, 2018.

Free Love’s first visit to the winners’ enclosure was, quite literally, the end of a chapter. Enthused by his rollercoaster journey as a racehorse owner over the previous 12 months, Linnett decided to put pen to paper for A Year of Free Love; living the dream of racehorse ownership on a shoestring budget.

So, what was the motivation for writing about his experiences as a novice racehorse owner?

“I’m a passionate advocate for racing – it’s a wonderful sport – and sometimes we don’t show it in its best light,” Linnett explains. “I think a lot of people reckon there’s a book in them but don’t get around to writing it, though I was realistic as to what I could write about. I wanted to share our story and enthusiasm for racing.

“The chronology was easy; I had all the emails and messages, and I actually got to enjoy the process of writing the book.

“The period covered in A Year of Free Love goes from us visiting the yard of Tom Clover to talk about buying a yearling at Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, to that first win at Catterick a year later.

It felt like a conclusion of sorts.”

Linnett, whose wife Jennie and children Matthew, Celia and Joseph all follow Free Love’s progress, may be a huge racing devotee – he credits that wonderful performer Sea Pigeon for “lighting the flame” – yet his own story started not on the racecourse but at the dog track.

After finishing university, and much to his parent’s dismay, he spent five years as an assistant racing manager at Catford.

He also worked at Wimbledon and

Free Love has won four times for Theodore Ladd and improved her rating from 63 to 90

White City, yet the sport’s popularity was clearly in decline and, quite literally, on shaky ground.

Linnett explains: “The greyhound tracks were on prime London real estate and gradually sold off. It became obvious what was happening and that I was not going to get a career out of the sport!

“I officiated at the last Greyhound Derby run at White City, won by Whisper Wishes. That was in 1984.

“Then I spent five years in the charity sector working in schools. I enjoyed the education side, so took the plunge and undertook a one-year postgraduate teacher training course.

I worked in primary schools for 30

years and ended up as a headteacher.”

Linnett’s first exposure to thoroughbreds came in the somewhat unlikely location of a building site aged 16, during a summer job organised by his father, who worked in construction and engineering.

He says: “Every lunchtime this builder would stop to look at his paper and go through the racecards, make his selections and have a few quid on them. One day I asked him what he was doing. He explained, so I decided to pick out a couple of horses myself.

“I quickly got to understand the runners, jockeys, races and form.

Soon enough we were having tipping competitions. I mentioned this to a

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The North South Syndicate of Peter Smith, Tony Linnett, Trevor Wyatt, Mick Corringham and Patrick Hickey with their filly at Tom Clover’s yard

friend at school whose family were into racing and we started going to the track together. That was it; I was wrapped up in racing and in a short period of time I had worked out the rhythm of the year, the major races and festivals, etc.”

The move into ownership started, as many do, through a syndicate, namely

“We’d love to get some black type but the plan is to keep going as long as possible” Heart Of The South Racing, which he describes as “a good introduction”.

He continues: “My involvement with Heart Of The South Racing really whetted the appetite for ownership.

“I came up with a plan to involve some other pals and do it all together – decide which horse to buy, name it, choose the colours, speak to our trainer about which races to run in, do everything for ourselves.

“Five of us got together – my fellow owners are Trevor Wyatt, Peter Smith, Mick Corringham and Patrick Hickey – and we went for it with trainer Tom Clover.

“Our maximum budget for a yearling was £10,000 and we put in another £20,000 for the first year’s training. That original £30,000 got us through to end of August [in Free Love’s two-year-old season], by which time we had a 63-rated handicapper that had yet to win in seven races.

“In truth, we were on the verge of not being able to continue and having to think about selling. The last throw of the dice was to move Free Love to Mick Appleby; not because we were unhappy with Tom, but so the boys based in York did not have to travel so far for the races.”

The Rutland air at Appleby’s Oakham base clearly agreed with Free Love as 19 days after moving stables the daughter of Equiano won the race at Catterick that bookends Linnett’s account of his first year as an owner.

However, the Free Love story does not end there. Three further victories in 2019 saw the sprinter’s rating hit a mark of 90 – an improvement of some 27lb.

The hallowed words of ‘black type’ have now been mentioned for Free Love. If this was achieved, this year or next, would her owners think about

cashing in on their valuable asset?

“The plan is to keep racing her,” Linnett says. “We’d love to get some black type but really the plan is to keep going as long as possible.

“The only reason we would sell at the end of her four- or five-year-old season is because we feel someone should breed from her.

“I’ll look into the possibility of breeding from her ourselves, though I have been told it is a difficult path!”

He continues: “I’ve told the other owners, even if we run out of money

by December, we can put more in.

Free Love has residual value now as a four-time winner that has reached a mark of 90.

“If you have a decent racehorse and are competing in good races, and you can have great sport out of it, delaying the breeding project by a year isn’t a big deal.

“The plan is for her to finish in the Catterick Dash on October 19 and have a good break, come back into training in February and be ready to start again in April, possibly in a Listed race at Bath.”

If Free Love improves as much from three to four as she did from two to three, perhaps you’ll see ‘Another Year of Free Love’ at a bookshop near you in 12 months’ time!

A Year of Free Love; living the dream of racehorse ownership on a shoestring budget, by Tony Linnett, is priced at £8.99 and available at racingpost.com.

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ROA Forum

Nominations are now open for the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards 2020. Owners and breeders are encouraged to get involved by nominating a member of staff that they feel are deserving of recognition.

The awards, now in their 16th year, recognise and reward the outstanding skills, commitment and contribution of over 10,000 stud and stable staff in England, Scotland and Wales.

Sponsored by Godolphin and run by the British Horseracing Authority in association with the Racing Post and Racing TV, the awards provide total prize-money of £128,000, with up to £40,000 available to a single yard or stud.

Nominations will close on Tuesday, November 12 and can be made on behalf of anyone working in a yard or stud.

Video submissions will again be accepted in advance of the 2020 awards, ensuring that the nominations procedure is as fair as possible for all those involved, irrespective of their level of written communication and language skills.

The judging panel of 12 will once again by chaired by Brough Scott.

The awards will take place on Monday, February 24 at The Underglobe, which is directly beneath Shakespeare’s Globe on London’s South Bank.

Hugh Anderson, Managing Director of Godolphin (UK and Dubai), said: “It is crucially important that we reward those dedicated, hardworking people who do so much for the racing and breeding industries and Godolphin is delighted to be continuing its support of the awards for 2020. I would like to wish all those who are nominated the best of luck on behalf of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.”

Nick Rust, Chief Executive of the BHA, said: “Those who work at yards and studs up and down the country are the backbone of our fantastic racing and breeding industries.

“These awards highlight year-on-

DAN ABRAHAM

Godolphin Stud & Stable Staff Awards

Catriona Bissett was named Employee of the Year at the 2019 awards ceremony

year some of the people who are so devoted to our horses and who give so much of their time to keep the show on the road. We are lucky to work alongside them and I look forward to hearing more examples of their enthusiasm and commitment in 2020.”

The categories

The Rory MacDonald Community Award acknowledges those who support stud and stable staff or have made an outstanding contribution to benefit the wider racing community The awards provide an opportunity for the racing industry to highlight and thank the hard work put in by stud and stable staff across the country, and this award in particular acknowledges people who have had a positive impact on their community.

The winner of each of the first four categories will receive a prize of £5,000, with an additional £5,000 being awarded to the winner’s yard or stud. Two runners-up in each of these categories will win £2,000, with the same amount going to their yard/stud.

The winner of the Rory MacDonald Community Award will receive £5,000, with the same going to a charity of their choice. The two runners-up will receive £2,000, with the same going to a charity of their choice.

The winner of the David Nicholson Newcomer Award will receive £2,000, with the same amount going to their yard or stud, while two runners-up will receive £1,000 each, with the same amount for their yard. There is an additional prize for the winner of the David Nicholson Newcomer Award, with a five-day educational tour of Dubai, including return flights, and five nights’ accommodation in a five-star hotel.

The awards will also recognise an Employee of the Year, who will be selected from the winners of the first four categories. That winner will receive an additional prize of £15,000, with the same amount going to their yard or stud.

To make a nomination for the Godolphin Stud & Stable Staff Awards 2020 head to studandstablestaffawards.co.uk.

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The opening day of the Ebor meeting at York provided one of the season’s most thrilling finishes and most impressive performances, as Japan battled on to deny a valiant Crystal Ocean in the closing strides of the Juddmonte International Stakes.

Forty ROA members and guests enjoyed this memorable day’s racing in two private boxes on the fifth floor of the Melrose Stand.

The sun was doing its best to shine for most of the afternoon, interrupted briefly by a downpour, allowing guests to enjoy stunning panoramic views of the racecourse from the balcony which adjoined the facilities.

This is the fifth year we have had an exclusive box for members for the day’s racing with a bespoke hospitality package.

Several guests were back for the fifth renewal and, with annual friendships renewed, guests enjoyed some in-house competition with what has become a feature of the day in a tipping sweepstake.

ROA Scotland representative and

SADIE EVANS

Members at York for opening day of Ebor meeting

Members enjoyed the hospitality on the opening day of York’s most prestigious fixture

board member Ken McGarrity popped into the facility to meet members and guests on the day.

We are grateful to York for providing

this excellent facility for members and hope to repeat in future years what is always a memorable event in our social calendar.

News in brief The cost of the visit is £40 per person, which is kindly subsidised by Tattersalls, and members can book a place for one guest. Bookings can be made online at roa.co.uk or by calling the ROA on 020 7152 0200.

Chepstow offer

Members can join a tour of Tattersalls on October 17

Tattersalls visit

Members can book in for a hosted tour of Tattersalls on day one of Book 3 of the October yearling sales on Thursday, October 17. Members and their guests will see behind the scenes with the chance to soak up some expert guidance on what to look for when buying yearlings. Lunch will be provided. Timings are 11am to 3pm (approximately).

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Members heading to the first day of Chepstow’s new season on Friday, October 11 can take advantage of an exclusive hospitality offer on the day, as well as a networking opportunity with fellow members.

This is a popular day’s racing as the opening fixture of the new season, featuring the Grade 2 Fox Family Persian War Novices’ Hurdle.

Our special package for members includes access to the Dream Alliance Suite, on the second floor of the Premier Stand, offering a private balcony with excellent views overlooking the racecourse, with a three-course lunch and racecards.

Places cost £90 per person and

can be booked online at roa.co.uk or by calling 020 7152 0200.

Ascot discount

Members are able to enjoy generous discounts at Ascot racecourse, both on raceday admission and fine dining, and there are eight fixtures left through to the end of this year.

Members can take advantage of a huge 50% discount on Queen Anne admission. Those looking for a fine dining option can enjoy a 10% discount on hospitality packages.

Details of the discount code can be found in the Members Area of the ROA website.

Training agreement update

The ROA/NTF training agreement template has been updated to reflect references to the recently rewritten Rules of Racing. The document can be found in the Resources section and members area of roa.co.uk.

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ROA Forum Figures for period September 1, 2018 to August 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 Ayr Chelmsford City Pontefract Salisbury Musselburgh Hamilton Park Kempton Park Ripon Beverley Wetherby Thirsk Newcastle Carlisle Lingfield Park Redcar Nottingham Windsor Catterick Bridge Leicester Bath Yarmouth Wolverhampton Ffos Las Brighton Southwell Chepstow 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 JCR I I I I ARC JCR ARC I JCR ARC I I ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC

483,125 281,612 219,461 194,119 135,655 86,392 85,233 84,426 81,748 76,305 51,802 48,293 46,113 45,027 43,753 42,466 42,196 41,391 41,151 39,741 39,497 37,422 37,369 36,175 35,506 34,920 33,363 32,605 32,175 30,375 27,072 25,702 25,112 22,339 22,199 20,252 64,420

122,961 93,621 83,568 76,413 70,671 54,439 55,705 46,649 45,399 43,252 34,595 21,594 29,038 27,985 21,439 21,706 20,019 21,872 22,857 13,743 20,176 20,455 19,684 24,114 21,810 23,226 20,695 18,984 21,392 18,398 18,869 17,227 12,860 16,195 17,422 14,450 31,311

274,452 117,388 78,097 119,110 75,683 39,998 37,173 14,837 38,303 19,605 14,144 6,230 3,747 6,666 5,691 4,760 6,129 5,176 4,609 5,520 7,372 5,476 6,342 4,592 15,344 7,425 5,963 3,149 5,435 4,490 4,993 3,791 3,872 3,228 2,651 3,468 21,447

885,232 496,511 386,197 389,642 284,444 182,829 183,111 147,037 165,919 144,158 100,541 77,594 81,023 80,495 70,883 68,932 68,767 68,440 68,616 59,003 67,128 63,685 63,395 64,882 72,994 66,006 60,021 54,737 59,792 53,387 51,694 46,739 41,843 41,763 42,272 38,170 118,114

18 18 19 10 39 16 18 16 24 23 15 64 16 15 16 16 67 17 20 3 15 52 14 74 18 23 26 15 19 22 23 81 9 21 34 12 908

15,934,180 8,937,199 7,337,735 3,896,419 11,093,315 2,925,268 3,296,001 2,352,590 3,982,055 3,243,557 1,508,120 4,966,022 1,296,367 1,207,422 1,134,126 1,102,916 4,607,411 1,163,472 1,372,322 177,010 1,006,920 3,311,622 887,530 4,801,269 1,313,887 1,518,133 1,560,543 821,054 1,136,044 1,174,522 1,188,966 3,785,846 376,590 877,016 1,437,248 458,037 107,188,730

471,868 245,681 209,693 188,051 130,510 85,527 85,182 86,927 79,579 77,249 39,264 50,590 46,023 45,594 45,699 42,456 36,096 42,241 35,880 46,662 35,100 38,745 39,352 38,098 36,444 34,872 34,796 32,578 35,919 25,567 30,827 25,711 30,465 23,296 22,412 23,287 63,436

Up/ down

s s s s s s s t s t s t s t t s s t s t s t t t t s t s t s t t t t t t 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 Ayr Kelso Doncaster Wincanton Chepstow Fakenham Perth Newton Abbot Exeter Cartmel Taunton Carlisle Newcastle Ludlow Wetherby Market Rasen Warwick Huntingdon Hereford Uttoxeter Stratford-On-Avon Hexham Musselburgh Catterick Bridge Leicester Ffos Las Plumpton Lingfield Park Bangor-On-Dee Fontwell Park Worcester Sedgefield Southwell Towcester 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 JCR ARC I I I JCR I I JCR ARC I I JCR JCR JCR ARC ARC I I I I I ARC I ARC I ARC ARC ARC ARC I

289,395 270,179 172,193 112,571 103,797 66,977 60,684 47,158 42,580 41,470 39,434 36,702 36,455 36,407 35,716 35,501 35,049 34,136 33,773 33,247 32,809 32,677 32,053 29,422 29,169 27,649 27,174 26,897 26,314 25,448 25,392 24,001 23,619 23,511 22,810 22,035 21,791 19,905 19,652 18,603 0 46,314

147,203 122,532 92,522 95,888 89,152 65,279 70,708 38,782 35,287 44,224 35,070 34,640 22,125 33,013 32,652 31,177 30,387 21,279 35,496 31,041 29,460 31,230 29,267 30,597 25,839 25,515 29,513 22,739 22,202 24,643 23,818 29,306 24,759 24,729 21,485 20,801 19,960 22,704 20,871 19,502 0 36,737

79,125 70,669 19,766 19,776 19,050 10,500 16,696 12,082 5,986 6,522 6,417 9,687 0 4,300 0 7,418 5,468 5,920 7,318 5,757 4,742 6,295 5,807 6,903 5,547 5,975 7,076 4,222 2,852 3,404 2,819 4,206 5,212 4,746 4,839 3,992 3,367 3,933 3,295 3,584 0 9,034

515,723 464,005 288,856 234,347 223,881 143,173 149,566 101,867 85,995 94,852 81,454 81,030 58,580 74,303 68,367 74,097 70,904 61,336 84,482 70,461 67,304 70,559 67,343 67,046 61,871 59,140 63,762 53,857 51,368 53,951 52,030 57,513 53,590 52,985 49,135 46,977 45,118 46,542 43,819 41,689 0 92,973

8 16 8 9 9 12 11 13 14 11 15 15 12 15 18 15 9 13 12 12 17 14 22 18 19 9 23 18 16 11 8 9 15 16 6 15 24 15 19 20 0 561

4,125,784 7,424,083 2,310,850 2,109,122 1,902,993 1,718,072 1,645,224 1,324,277 1,203,933 1,043,375 1,221,813 1,215,449 702,957 1,114,548 1,230,610 1,111,453 638,133 797,364 1,013,781 845,528 1,144,175 987,833 1,481,540 1,206,833 1,175,542 532,256 1,466,534 969,431 821,895 593,460 416,237 517,617 803,851 847,763 294,810 704,657 1,082,832 698,134 832,561 833,784 0 52,111,090

285,889 267,292 156,372 112,263 101,536 55,259 31,636 44,263 42,293 38,891 33,049 31,415 33,455 85,960 27,636 32,259 34,420 29,173 33,770 30,848 55,259 30,264 28,060 32,417 26,637 31,772 27,054 33,555 26,596 22,074 24,089 26,637 26,095 20,415 42,293 22,083 22,223 24,918 18,849 18,575 23,909 46,035

s s s s s s s s s s s s s t s s s s s s t s s t s t s t t s s t t s t t t t s s t 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

90 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Considering Ireland?

First 50 2YO Maidens 2019

WON BY 35 OWNERS

10

%

Average Irish Monthly Training & Racing Costs

1

ST

IRISH RACE PROGRAMME IS BLACK TYPE

€1,700

RATIO OF THOROUGHBREDS TO POPULATION IRELAND

GREAT BRITAIN

FRANCE

USA

50

10,000

5

10,000

4

10,000

3

10,000

FOR INFORMATION ON OWNERSHIP IN IRELAND: E: owners@hri.ie I T: +353 45 455 455 I www.racehorseownership.ie

Nr Salisbury, Wiltshire

FOAL PURCHASE AND PINHOOKING Fantastic results on the track and in the ring Group 1 Winning foal purchaser – GARSWOOD purchased for just 19,000gns Group 1 winner Garswood

Outstanding equestrian property in a first class setting •

Highly respected equestrian stud situated in a peaceful and secluded setting in the Nadder valley

•

Modern thatched 3 bedroom dwelling with self-contained annexe

•

Gardens and swimming pool

•

50m x 25m outdoor manège

•

35 stables, horse walker and lunge pen

•

3.5 furlong gallop (in need of refurbishment)

•

Offices and lorry parking

•

Ring fenced free draining chalk land

•

In all about 50 acres (20.23 ha)

Guide Price £1.7 million 01722 424515 | s.clotworthy@w-w.co.uk | www.w-w.co.uk

Fractional ad pages October 2019.indd 91

SUCCESSFUL PINHOOKS HAVE INCLUDED: 28,000gns into £120,000 • €42,000 into €130,000 42,000gns into 110,000gns • 47,000gns into €120,000 110,000gns into 220,000gns • €55,000 into €90,000 40,000gns into £80,000 • €48,000 into 80,000gns €50,000 into 85,000gns • 20,000gns into £62,000

Call or email now to discuss your next foal purchase

RICHARD KNIGHT BLOODSTOCK AGENT tel: +44 7769 349240 email: richard@richardknightbloodstockagent.com web: www.richardknightbloodstockagent.com

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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TBA Forum

The special section for TBA members

Ripon the venue for north regional day TBA members enjoyed an afternoon of racing at Ripon for the north regional day

O

n Monday, August 5 TBA members gathered at the picturesque Ripon racecourse to attend the TBA’s north regional day. Members arrived to the racecourse in the morning and were directed to a hospitality box, kindly hosted by Weatherbys, which overlooked the course.

Members were greeted by TBA Chief Executive Claire Sheppard and Education and Welfare Manager Caroline Turnbull before refreshments were served.

Claire Sheppard began the day by welcoming members, followed by a presentation which updated members on the TBA’s ongoing plans. Claire informed members of the developments of the new scheme that will replace both the Plus10 and NH MOPS. An overview of the work being carried out in preparation for the Brexit deal was provided alongside a brief summary of the ongoing veterinary research projects which the TBA supports.

Caroline Turnbull continued the

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presentation by discussing the ongoing work of the veterinary advisors and the TBA’s veterinary committee in ensuring members are informed of the latest updates in veterinary-related matters, particularly disease outbreaks The veterinary research projects discussed included research into parasite interactions, early pregnancy loss and EHV. Caroline updated the group about the TBA’s future plans of a digital E-learning platform and the aim to educate and encourage new entrants into the industry. A summary of the National Stud and the TBA’s dual regional training opportunities was also discussed to the group.

Nick Craven, Communications Director at Weatherbys, supported the day and finished the morning by updating members on the development of Weatherbys GSB Digital Focus. He discussed the movement of working towards paperless digital registrations by 2020. The development and the design of the E-passport was proposed

to members and Nick discussed the digital benefits the E-passport provides with regards to disease prevention and horse traceability. Nick informed members of the Movement App, which was designed alongside the BHA and the TBA for the post-Brexit environment.

Weatherbys assured members they are continually working alongside DEFRA and DAFM on post-Brexit plans.

The presentations were followed by an opportunity for members to raise any relevant questions or causes for concern, whereby TBA Board member Sam Bullard assisted the TBA and Weatherbys in answering any queries.

Shortly after the morning presentations closed, members enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by the hospitality team at the racecourse before enjoying a sunny afternoon of racing, including the Weatherbys TBA Handicap.

The TBA would like to thank Weatherbys and the team at Ripon racecourse for providing members with a great day.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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Giorgia Pascoe reflects on her graduate placement with the TBA I recently graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a 1st Class Bsc Honours degree in Equine Science and Thoroughbred Management, whereby I was fortunate to develop both my academic and practical skills within the racing industry. The fouryear degree provided an opportunity to carry out a placement year in the industry, where I was lucky enough to work for the likes of Shadwell and Derek Shaw.

These placements, alongside the achievement of my degree, encouraged me to apply for the BHA Graduate Development Programme to further my knowledge and understanding of the racing industry.

Following the interview process, I was privileged to be accepted onto the scheme alongside 22 other applicants.

The programme consisted of a twoweek residential course at the British Racing School, where graduates were given a wide range of lectures and talks from industry experts alongside a variety of field trips to some of the most prestigious breeding and racing operations. We were fortunate to receive talks from some of the most renowned industry professionals including Nick Luck, Ed Chamberlin, Matt Coleman and Dale Gibson to name a few.

Graduates indulged in educational visits, which included a visit to The Jockey Club Rooms, a tour of Dalham Hall Stud to see the likes of Dubawi and Golden Horn and a morning visit to a trainer’s yard. The highlight of the course for me was meeting trainer Sir Mark Prescott and having a tour of his astonishing racing operation in the heart of Newmarket. The two weeks provided a range of opportunities to network and interact with the leading industry experts to develop

relationships and our understanding of how the organisations interrelate to support the industry.

After the residential course I began an eight-week placement in the industry with the Thoroughbred Breeders Association in Newmarket.

I was allocated projects that enabled me to assist in all departments of the organisation. The projects provided me with a true insight into the work that takes place to ensure British breeders’ values and the thoroughbred breed are promoted in the most beneficial way possible.

My projects included producing content for Thoroughbred Owner Breeder magazine and sourcing information for future E-learning portals. I was fortunate enough to assist at the educational courses, seminars, regional forums and the TBA’s Annual General Meeting.

Additionally, assisting at conferences and meetings provided me with networking opportunities and more importantly developed my understanding of the work the TBA carries out and the strategies that are implemented to ensure the breeding industry is supported and represented by an association effectively.

I would like to express my gratitude, firstly to the BHA for the opportunity and the continuous support throughout the placement, and secondly to everyone at the TBA for sharing their departments and knowledge with me. I would particularly like to thank Caroline Turnbull, Education and Welfare Manager at the TBA, for mentoring me and providing me with the opportunities to excel during my time at Stanstead House.

If you are looking at the next stage post-graduation and have a

Giorgia Pascoe: enjoyed time at the TBA

keen interest and passion for the racing industry, then I would highly recommend applying to the BHA Graduate Development Programme.

It is highly-valued amongst professionals in the industry and will provide graduates with extensive opportunities to excel in the industry and further their career.

Limited spaces left on the TBA regional forums The final regional forums of 2019 will be taking place in October. The popular events, which are hosted at racecourses across the UK in association with Weatherbys, provide an informal meet and greet with the

Oct_182_TBAForum.indd 93

regional representative, a member of the TBA Board and a member of the TBA team.

The meetings are free to attend, however members are required to book in advance. The forums will

be followed by a light lunch and an afternoon of racing.

Thursday, October 3 – Salisbury racecourse Thursday, October 31 – Newton Abbot racecourse

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TBA Forum

I’ll Have Another strikes at Newmarket As part of the TBA’s support of fillies and stayers, it is again sponsoring three races for staying fillies, the first of which was held at Newmarket on Saturday, August 17.

The race, which was restricted to fillies with a rating of less than 105, was run over a distance of one mile six furlongs and was won by the Mark Johnston-trained three-year-old I’ll Have Another, owned by Paul and Clare Rooney.

The filly, partnered by Hong Kong’s leading homegrown rider Vincent Ho, held on well to win the race by a neck from Oydis, with last year’s winner Jedhi back in third place.

I’ll Have Another is a daughter of Dragon Pulse and has won four of her 15 races to date, being placed on a further seven occasions and banking over £86,000 in prize-money.

I’ll Have Another and Vincent Ho score at Newmarket

Godolphin Stud & Stable Staff Awards 2020 Nominations are open for the 2020 Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards, which recognise and reward the outstanding skills, commitment and contribution of racing’s stud and stable staff.

There is more than £120,000 in prizemoney offered and the winners and runners-up will be revealed during an evening awards ceremony.

Nominations can be made online at studandstablestaffawards.co.uk and must be made by Tuesday, November 12.

David Nicholson Newcomer Award For those who have displayed a desire to improve, have progressed their skills and knowledge and become an integral part of the team while employed in the industry for less than three years.

Leadership Award For those managing two or more staff who have displayed leadership qualities amongst their colleagues, a desire to succeed in the industry and strong mentoring skills that have been to the benefit of those around them.

Stud Staff Award This award is for those who have shown expertise, dedication and reliability,

Cheveley Park’s Andrew Snell received the 2019 Stud Staff Award from Sir AP McCoy

excellent horsemanship, adaptability and teamwork, while employed within a stud.

Rider/Groom Award For those who have shown talent for horsemanship, consistency and reliability in and out of the saddle and/or have achieved something outstanding in 2019, either in an equine or personal capacity.

Dedication Award For a member of staff who has served a minimum of 15 years in the industry, is an integral part of the team, offers a wealth of industry experience and knowledge

and a love and dedication of their job.

Rory MacDonald Award This award, in conjunction with Racing Welfare, is to recognise those who have shown outstanding contribution to the racing industry. This could include those who support the stud and stable staff or have made an outstanding contribution to benefit the wider racing community.

Nominees for this award do not need to be employed by the racing industry but are those unsung community heroes who contribute to the greater good of the sport.

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Diary Dates & Reminders Thursday, October 3 TBA West Regional Forum Salisbury racecourse Thursday, October 31 TBA South West Regional Forum Newton Abbot racecourse Tuesday, December 10 – Thursday, December 12 TBA Stud Farming Course British Racing School Further information on all TBA events can be found on the TBA website

New Members Philip Wilkins, Staffordshire Tara Watt, Norfolk Andrea Brereton, Oxfordshire R Outhwaite, Oxfordshire Kelly Bainbridge, Durham Sylvia Scott, Scotland Old Mill Stud, Suffolk Kerry Robertson, Scotland

RoR/TBA Retrained Racehorse Challenge Final The final of this year’s RoR/TBA Retrained Racehorse Challenge Series took place at the RoR Goffs UK National Championships on Saturday, August 24 and was won by Wild West, who was ridden by Lizzie Harris.

The finalists competed the three-phase class of showjumping, ridden showing and in-hand showing and were awarded points for each phase of the class with the final decision made during the evening performance.

The winner was a son of Galileo out of Monumental Gesture, making him a half-brother to dual Grade 1 winner Rhinestone Cowboy and Cheltenham Festival winner Wichita Lineman. Trained by Jonjo O’Neill for his owner JP McManus, he ran seven times but failed to win before being retired in 2013.

However, it is in his post-racing career that he has thrived, proving incredibly versatile. He enjoyed his greatest triumph when crowned ROA and Goffs UK Supreme Champion at the 2017 RoR National Championships at Aintree.

Winners: Wild West and Lizzie Harris

Aside from showing, the 11-year-old gelding enjoys hunting, team chasing and eventing, as well as helping to educate young racehorses.

Remember to register a change of ownership TBA members are reminded that it is now a legal requirement that all horse owners register their ownership within 30 days of purchase with their passport issuing organisation. Weatherbys is the body thatissues all passports for thoroughbreds registered with the General Stud Book.

This legislation applies to all equines and so TBA members are reminded to ensure that any other horses in their ownership are also up to date with the requirements.

Passport Issuing Organisation (Weatherbys) within 30 days of purchase.

2. From October 1, 2018, this became a legal requirement and is enforceable

by Trading Standards.

Please see below guidelines on the horse passport legislation requirements:

3. The legislation also requires that a horse’s passport is returned to Weatherbys to be updated with the new ownership details. Racing ownerships have been granted an exemption; however, when a horse comes out of training this exemption no longer applies.

1. It has been a requirement of the Horse Passport Regulations since 2009 for all equine owners in Great Britain to register their ownership with the Government designated

4. The owner of a horse in training should have previously registered their ownership with Weatherbys before the horse went into training unless they are the breeder, in

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which case the ownership is already correct.

5. When a horse comes out of training and the racing ownership is terminated, the Weatherbys ownership (i.e. the ownership registered with Weatherbys before the horse entered training and was registered in the BHA database for racing purposes) becomes the valid ownership recognised by DEFRA and the Central Equine Database.

6. Even if a racing owner retains ownership of a horse after it finishes racing they will be required to register their continued ownership with Weatherbys - if they hadn’t already done so prior to the horse going into training (unless, of course, they bred the horse).

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TBA Forum

More success for British-breds in August August saw black-type success for British breeders in five countries and Group 1 winners at the major festivals.

The Qatar Goodwood Festival kicked off the month with Group 1 success in the Qatar Sussex Stakes for Watership Down Stud-bred Too Darn Hot. The win was his third at the highest level; unfortunately he suffered a careerending injury and has now been retired to stand at Dalham Hall Stud.

Liberty Beach gave her owner and breeder Philip Wilkins further success in the Group 3 Markle Insurance Molecomb Stakes, which she won in commanding style ahead of fellow British-bred Alligator Alley and Show Me Show Me. The daughter of firstseason sire Cable Bay followed up the success with a close second in the Group 2 Sky Bet Lowther Stakes at York’s Ebor Festival.

Billesdon Brook returned to the winners’ enclosure at Goodwood following victory in the Group 3 Theo Fennell Oak Tree Stakes. The daughter of the late Champs Elysees, who was bred by Stowell Hill Partners, won last year’s QIPCO 1,000 Guineas, when she beat subsequent Group 1 winners Laurens, Happily and Wild Illusion.

August 4 saw four winners across Europe for British breeders. On home soil, Major Jumbo gave breeder David Botterill success in the Listed MBNA Queensferry Stakes at Chester. The fiveyear-old son of Zebedee had previously been placed in both the Group 2 Prix du Gros-Chene and Group 2 Duke of York Stakes. Elsewhere, there were a pair of British-bred stakes winners at Deauville. Glass Slipper was the winner of the Listed Prix Club Hipico SantiagoPrix Moonlight Cloud. Trained by Kevin Ryan, she is bred and owned by Terry Holdcroft’s Bearstone Stud and is a daughter of five-time Group 1 winner Dream Ahead.

Fellow British-bred Advertise brought his Group 1 tally to three when winning the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest. The son of Showcasing was bred by Cheveley Park Stud and bought

by Dermot Farrington for £60,000 at the Goffs UK Doncaster Premier Sale in 2017. There was also success at Dusseldorf for Bristano, who was the winner of the Group 3 Fritz Henkel Stiftung-Rennen. The son of Dansilli is owned and bred in Great Britain by Litex Commerce.

Khalid Abdullah’s gallant grey Logician has proved unbeatable this year West End Girl provided her sire Golden Horn with his first stakes winner when she won the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket on August 10. The filly, who was bred by Car Colston Hall Stud, is out of half-sister to Group 1 winner Reckless Abandon. On the same day, fellow Dalham Hall Stud resident Dubawi recorded his 150th European-bred stakes winner when Magical Touch, a Godolphin homebred, captured a Listed prize at Hoppegarten.

Further afield, Mr Ritz, who was bred in Britain by Earle Mack, was the winner of the Group 3 Seagram Cup Stakes at Woodbine in Canada. The son of Oasis Dream won on debut for Jeremy Noseda before being transferred to Canadian-based handler Josie Carroll.

Kick On, a son of Charm Spirit, won his second black-type race in the Group 3 Tattersalls Sovereign Stakes at Salisbury. He was bred by Shutford Stud and was sold at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale by Pier House Stud for 135,000gns.

Fount, a Juddmonte-homebred son of Frankel, was an impressive winner of the Group 3 Arqana Prix de Lieurey at Deauville on August 15. His breeders enjoyed further success on the day when Headman won the Group 2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano Haras du Logis Saint-Germain. His sire, Kingman continued his phenomenal season with further stakes success with Alligator

Alley, bred by Whatton Manor Stud and winner of the Listed Roses Stakes at York, and Boomer, successful in the Group 3 Prestige Stakes at Goodwood for his breeder Andrew Black’s Chasemore Farm.

Buckhurst, who was bred in Great Britain and is now owned by Lloyd Williams, was victorious in the Group 3 Royal Whip Stakes at the Curragh on August 16 and is now being aimed at the Melbourne Cup. His breeders, Denford Stud, saw further success when Coronet stormed home to win the Group 1 Darley Prix Jean Romanet, the second Group winner in 24 hours for her sire Dubawi after Glorious Journey was victorious in the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes. Bred by Normandie Stud, Glorious Journey topped the Tattersalls October Book 1 Yearling Sale when selling for 2,600,000 gns.

Back in Deauville, British-breds enjoyed five stakes wins. Alongside Coronet’s triumph, Tropbeau won the Group 2 Shadwell Prix de Calvados by an impressive two and a half lengths.

The son of Showcasing was bred by Lord Margadale and sold for 60,000gns at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale (Book 2) before re-selling at the Arqana May Breeze-up sale for €180,000.

Juddmonte’s Delaware, a son of Frankel, was a four-length winner of the Group 3 Shadwell Prix Daphinis.

The next day, Dame Malliot stepped

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up to Group 2 company in the Darley Prix de Pomone, in which she stayed on well to win by a head. The progressive daughter of the late Champs Elysees is owned and bred by Anthony Oppenheimer’s Hascombe and Valiant Studs.

Marmelo rounded off the weekend with a win in the Group 2 Darley Prix Kergorlay. Bred by Deepwood Farm Stud, the son of Duke Of Marmalade finished a close second in last year’s Melbourne Cup and will be aimed at the race once again this year.

Back in Great Britain, Perfection was the winner of the Listed EBF Stallions Highfield Farm Flying Fillies’ Stakes for Cheveley Park Stud. After the race, Matthew Sigsworth, Cheveley Park’s Bloodstock Manager, commented: “We’re delighted with Perfection. She’s been second in three Group 3s this year and run very well in the Wokingham, and she really deserved a win.

Everything went right for her today.”

York’s Ebor Festival proved another successful hunting ground of British breeders with five stakes winners, the first of which came for another Juddmonte homebred son of Frankel in Logician, who won the Group 2 Sky

Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes and went on to capture the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster. His owner-breeder had further success when Enable won her tenth Group 1 in the Yorkshire Oaks.

The race was ‘the Queen of the Turf’s’ last run on British soil before she bids to win her third Arc this month. One rival she will face at Longchamp is fellow British-bred Japan, who added to his Group 1 tally with a win in the Juddmonte International for his breeder Newsells Park Stud.

Kirsten Rausing’s Lanwades Stud scored a stakes double on August 24. First, Zaaki landed the Group 3 Strensall Stakes. The son of Leroidesanimaux was bought at Book 2 of the Tattersalls October Sale for £40,000 by Ahmad Alotaibi. Shine So Bright was the stud’s second winner of the day in the Group 2 City of York Stakes, defeating six-time Group 1 winner Laurens.

Sir Ron Priestley rounded off a stellar month for British-bred horses with a win in the Group 3 March Stakes at Goodwood. The son of Australia was bred by Mascalls Stud before being sold to Mark Johnston for 70,000gns at Tattersalls.

GB-bred black-type winners for British breeders (August 2019) Bearstone Stud Glass Slippers

Car Colston Hall Stud West End Girl Chasemore Farm Boomer Cheveley Perfection D R Otterill Major Jumbo Deepwood Farm Marmelo Denford Coronet Denford Stud Buckhurst Earle Mack Mr Ritz Godolphin Magical Touch Hascombe And Valiant Studs Dame Malliot Juddmonte Fount Juddmonte Headman Juddmonte Delaware Juddmonte Logician Juddmonte Enable Kirsten Rausing Zaaki Kirsten Rausing Shine So Bright Litex Commerce Bristano Lord Margadale Tropbeau Mascalls Stud Sir Ron Preistley Newsells Park Japan Normandie Stud Glorious Journey Showcasing Advertise Shutford Stud Kick On Stowell Hill Billesdon Brook Whatton Manor Alligator Alley

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Prix Club Hipico Santiago - Prix Moonlight Cloud (Listed) Sweet Solera Stakes (Group 3) Prestige Stakes (Group 3) Flying Fillies’ Stakes (Listed) Queensferry Stakes (Listed) Prix Kergolay (Group 2) Prix Jean Romanet (Group 1) Royal Whip Stakes (Group 3) Seagram Cup Stakes (Group 3) Grosser Preis Des Mhwk (Listed) Prix De Pomone (Group 2) Prix De Lieurey (Group 3) Prix Guillaume D’ornano (Group 2) Prix Daphnis (Group 3) Great Voltigeur Stakes (Group 2) Yorkshire Oaks (Group 1) Strensall Stakes (Group 3) City Of York Stakes (Group 2) Fritz Henkeftung-Rennenl Sti (Group 3) Prix Du Calvados (Group 2) March Stakes (Group 3) Juddmonte International (Group 1) Hungerford Stakes (Group 2) Larc Prix Maurice De Gheest (Group 1) Sovereign Stakes (Group 3) Oak Tree Stakes (Group 3) Roses Stakes (Listed)

In Brief Breeders’ badge offers The following racecourses have kindly invited TBA members to apply for breeders’ badges.

Members can apply for up to two badges per horse entered and badges will be issued only subject to the horse(s) being declared to run. Applications must be made by midday on the day prior to the race and must be submitted by email to Olivia.May@thetba.co.uk with the breeder’s name, details of the horse, race entered and name of the person collecting the badges if not the breeder.

• Goodwood Season Finale Goodwood racecourse October 13 • Newmarket Dubai Future Champions Festival Newmarket racecourse October 11-12 • Ascot Qipco British Champions Day Ascot racecourse October 19 These offers are for TBA members only. If you would like more information on becoming a member to take advantage of these and other great benefits, please contact the office.

Free tickets for members at Nottingham TBA members will have the opportunity to attend Nottingham racecourse for free on Wednesday, October 16. Members will be granted access on presentation of a valid TBA membership card on the day. Please ensure you have your membership card or you will not be granted entry.

Revised nomination forms available from the TBA office The TBA has recently updated their template stallion nomination forms.

Nomination forms are available for both October 1 pregnancy and live foal terms and can be purchased from the TBA office. For further information, please contact Pauline. stoddart@thetba.co.uk.

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TBA Forum INVESTING IN BREEDING & RACING – TBA Stud Farming Course

The TBA’s flagship educational course includes a trip to see the world-class stallions at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket

There’s always something to learn about thoroughbred breeding, and for Chris Dee, a newcomer to the business, the more knowledge she could gain when she enrolled for last December’s TBA Stud Farming Course the better.

Despite having been around horses all her life, from Pony Clubs to racing, Dee is new to breeding. She and her son Charlie, who joined bloodstock agent Luke Lillingston in Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, as assistant two years ago, after graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a first-class degree in equine science and thoroughbred management, formally established Little Ireley Stud in Gloucestershire in April this year.

Chris explains: “After graduating, Charlie started buying foals, which came to me during the winter and then went off at the end of July to be prepped for the sales. But I hadn’t had any connection at all with breeding, so I went on the TBA course to get some baseline information, as well as to meet like-minded people, because it did seem to cater for smaller breeders as well as the bigger farms.”

The course is the TBA’s flagship educational project, run annually over three days at the British Racing School, with a programme that provides a comprehensive overview of stud management topics, delivered by leading experts and combined with visits to such as Dalham Hall Stud and the Newmarket

Equine Hospital.

Topics cover the widest range of breeding involvement, from preparing for foaling, sales preparation and vetting to paddock management, nutrition, pedigrees and genetics.

The 2018 renewal met all Chris Dee’s expectations. “From a content point of view I found it absolutely brilliant,” she says.

“There were a couple of bits that went over my head, such as the part about genetics, but that was probably to be expected. Otherwise the content was what I hoped it would be.

“In addition, there were great opportunities for networking, particularly at meal breaks and during the mid-point dinner, where I met a completely different gang of people, some of whom I’ve kept in touch with on an ad hoc basis.”

Dee adds: “I learned an awful lot from the course, right down to the basics of thoroughbred pregnancies, which was really interesting. There was a fascinating presentation on the care of the specialneeds foal, as well as an interesting session on biosecurity and an absolutely brilliant talk on pasture maintenance.

“Overall, it totally opened my eyes to a lot more aspects of breeding, and means I read Owner Breeder magazine much more avidly than I might have done before.”

Dee has already put much of what she learned into action, “in some shape

or form,” and expects to apply more in the coming months, as Little Ireley Stud expands from its single mare and foal. “It’s onwards and upwards,” she says.

As well as being framed for stud owners, managers and TBA members who wish to update their theoretical knowledge, the course is popular with employees seeking continued professional development training, for whom certificates of completion are issued after attending the full three days.

Caroline Turnbull, who oversees delivery of the course for the TBA, adds: “The TBA is extraordinarily lucky to have access to a wide range of veterinary and stud management professionals who are willing to share their knowledge with delegates.

“All of the speakers are approachable and generous with their time, for which we are extremely grateful, and this is what makes the course so popular year after year.”

The 2019 course runs from December 10-12. The cost to attend is £395 for TBA members and their representatives and £495 for non-members, but does not include accommodation, which must be arranged separately. Discounts are available for employers wishing to send three or more delegates.

For more information and to reserve a place on the course, contact Melissa Paris on 01638 661321.

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Breeder of the Month Words Hyperion Promotions Ltd

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SPECIAL MERIT AWARD – AUGUST

For a second consecutive month, one of the season’s Group 1 highlights produced an epic finish between two British-bred horses with the Southcourt Stud-bred Crystal Ocean again coming off second best.

On this occasion, he was denied victory in the Juddmonte International Stakes at York by Ballydoyle’s threeyear-old colt Japan, who fought back tenaciously to prevail by a head. With the Floors Stud-bred four-year-old Elarqam finishing a length further back in third, it was another clean sweep of the places for British breeders in what has been a golden summer.

Japan is one of 11 Group 1 winners bred or raised by Newsells Park Stud since 2010. His dam, the Danehill mare Shastye, has proved something of a goldmine for the Hertfordshire-based stud. Her yearlings have earned more than 11,000,000gns – not a bad return on the 625,000gns Newsells paid for her through John Warren.

Coolmore have been keen buyers of those yearlings, a particular attraction being her frequent matings with their perennial champion sire Galileo.

That mating, which replicates the renowned Galileo/Danehill cross, first sprung to prominence with the Group 2 winner and 2013 Oaks runner-up Secret Gesture, who Newsells raced in partnership with Qatar Racing.

A year after that Classic near miss, the Irish operation went to 3,600,000gns to get her brother, the future Group 3 winner Sir Isaac Newton.

Japan himself has proved something

CAR COLSTON HALL STUD

GEORGE SELWYN

NEWSELLS PARK STUD

Japan (centre): latest star out of Shastye

of a bargain at the 1,300,000gns that was required to buy him at the 2017 Tattersalls October Book 1 Sale.

Nine days after the then two-yearold won the Group 2 Beresford Stakes at Naas, MV Magnier was back in action at Park Paddocks, although on this occasion he had to go to 3,400,00gns to secure Japan’s yearling full-brother.

Named Mogul, the colt opened his account for Aidan O’Brien in a Curragh maiden at the end of August.

The stakes-placed Shastye is a halfsister to Jean-Luc Lagardere’s 1998 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe hero Sagamix and the Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Sagacity. They are out of Italian champion Saganeca, by Sagace.

As Shastye is now 18, there is likely to have been considerable satisfaction at the stud when she foaled a full-sister to Japan in January this year.

“She’s been a lifeblood to us as a commercial operation,” reflected Julian Dollar, General Manager of Newsells Park Stud.

“Whether we’ll get a mare as good as her again I don’t know. We’ve got a few daughters of hers we’re starting to breed from, which is great.”

In 1995, Nicholas and Jane Forman Hardy, accompanied by bloodstock agent Alexandra Scrope, went to the Keeneland November Sale and bought what was to become their stud’s foundation mare Wiener Wald.

Although the daughter of Woodman had managed no better than fifth place in five maiden races, she possessed a top-class pedigree, her dam the dual Grade 2 winner Chapel Of Dreams being a three-parts sister to Storm Cat. It was not surprising, then, when bred to Rainbow Quest, she produced Racing Post Trophy winner Crowded House.

However, the Silver Hawk foal she was carrying was to make an even greater impact. Named Argent du Bois, her own racing career ended when she contracted the neurological disease EPM. Happily she recovered to enjoy a successful stud career as the dam of dual Grade 1 winner Ticker Tape and French Group 1 winner Brando. Argent du Bois is also the dam of Listed-placed Sant Elena (by Efisio) whose own daughter Free Rein (by Dansili) produced West End Girl. The Mark Johnston-trained filly, a 95,000gns purchase at the Tattersalls October Sale, provided Golden Horn with his first pattern winner in the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket.

Car Colston Hall Stud was founded in 1999 at the Forman Hardy’s home in Nottinghamshire. It comprises 140 acres.

The five Group/Grade 1 winners bred at the stud also includes Soldier Hollow, who achieved championship honours in Germany and Italy and is now one of the leading stallions in Germany.

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Vet Forum: The Expert View

Stress fractures in the young thoroughbred racehorse

A

stress fracture is a partial or complete bone fracture that occurs as a result of the repeated application of stress at a level lower than the stress required to fracture the bone in a single loading.

Stress fractures are common injuries in both human and equine athletes whose bones are placed under constant strain whilst undergoing rigorous training regimes. First described by Aristotle in 200 BC, stress fractures were initially recorded in the medical literature in 1855 by the Prussian military physician Breithaupt, who described what is now known as a “march fracture�, or a stress fracture of the metatarsals within the foot. Much early research was based upon military personnel, however, as the general population engaged in more vigorous and weight-bearing sporting activities, these injuries became of interest to the wider medical field.

Paula Radcliffe received media attention following the news that she had sustained a stress fracture of her femur in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In the racing media, Jack Hobbs was reported to have sustained a pelvic stress fracture having been pulled up in the Group 2 Jockey Club Stakes at Newmarket in late April 2016.

The occurrence of these injuries, often at vital points in training programmes, underlines the importance of early recognition allied with an accurate diagnosis. Both are essential to ensure the appropriate management, to permit a timely return to training and to reduce the risk of recurrence in the next training phase.

This article reviews the more commonly identified stress fractures, the pathology underlying their development, their diagnosis and the subsequent management.

the resorption of bone tissue. During exercise, bone adaptation is triggered by a change in the number of strain cycles and the magnitude, the rate of change and distribution of strain.

In other words, increasing levels of exercise results in increased bone remodelling. Training over further distances, galloping at faster speeds and not allowing a sufficient rest period between training sessions can all push this remodelling adaptation to the limit. This can alter the continuum of adaptive and non-adaptive responses of bone and result in fracture.

How do we diagnose stress fractures?

The diagnosis of a stress fracture is based upon a combination of the presenting clinical signs, the training history of the horse and the radiographic, ultrasonographic or gamma scintigraphic (bone scan) findings. Lameness can vary from mild (often indicating early stress fracture pathology) to severe (this can be associated with a complete fracture of the bone). Generally it is recognised that two-year-olds undertaking their first pieces of fast work and horses returning to exercise following a period

of rest are over-represented in the affected population.

A thorough clinical examination of the limb may identify a painful response in the affected area and this can guide radiography or ultrasonography.

If a painful focus is not identified, survey radiography of the limb and ultrasonography of the pelvis are performed in order to examine those sites commonly affected by stress fracture pathology, and to rule out other possible injuries.

Unfortunately, regardless of the level of lameness, initial radiographic and ultrasonographic examinations may prove non-diagnostic as changes are too subtle to be detectable with each of these modalities at the onset of lameness. Further bone remodelling can be required in the areas of these stress fractures in order for them to become visible on radiography and ultrasonography. If no definitive abnormalities are identified at this stage then the horse is box rested and a repeat imaging examination is performed ten to 14 days later.

Alternatively, scintigraphy may be employed.

Scintigraphy (bone scan) is the gold standard approach for identifying many

Why do stress fractures occur?

Bone is an active tissue that is constantly changing in response to the forces placed through it. Osteoblasts are the cells that are the building blocks involved in the creation and mineralisation of new bone, whilst osteoclasts are the cells involved in

Lateromedial radiographs of the bottom of the tibia demonstrating bony callus characteristic of a distal tibial stress fracture. Both radiographs are of the same injury on day one (left) and day 21 (right)

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By Deidre Carson MRCVS

By Stuart Williamson BVSc MRCVS stress fractures that are not evident when investigated with other imaging modalities. The opportunity to obtain a firm diagnosis and therefore more accurately plan further training of the horse often outweighs the additional expense and transport to a hospital.

Whilst scintigraphy is an excellent tool for highlighting areas of excessive bone remodelling, there remains a risk of a negative or an inconclusive result if these animals are presented too early.

For this reason, delaying scintigraphic examination until ten to 14 days postinjury permits the appropriate bone remodelling to occur that will be more easily identified upon scintigraphic examination.

In human medicine, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination is the gold standard for the diagnosis of stress fractures but unfortunately the size of the equine patient and the design of the machines available in most hospital set-ups limits its use to evaluation of the lower limb.

How do we manage stress fractures?

Primary management is dependent upon the level of lameness. In most cases, a period of box rest is advised, until the horse is sound and can commence walking exercise. Those with a marked or a non-weight bearing acute lameness are often cross-tied until a definitive diagnosis is established and a complete bone fracture has been ruled out. Following completion of box rest, equal periods of both walking and trotting exercise (generally three to four weeks) are recommended before cantering exercise is resumed. Imaging monitoring may occasionally be used to tailor the rehabilitation programme for a specific injury.

A specimen of the equine pelvis. The red arrows indicate the left and right ilial wings whilst the blue arrows indicate the left and right ilial shafts PELVIS Ilial stress fractures can occur in either the wing or in the shaft portion of this bone. Ilial wing stress fractures are more commonly identified. Those that involve the shaft of the ilium are generally more serious, particularly if complete and displaced. They may

be catastrophic if a sharp fractured portion of the bone lacerates one of the arteries closely associated with it.

Whilst cases of ilial stress fractures do not necessarily present with any localising clinical signs, mild early cases of ilial stress fractures may resent firm palpation over the pelvic

››

Common stress fracture locations

TIBIA Tibial stress fractures have been identified as the most common musculoskeletal injury of the young thoroughbred in training. Lameness frequently precedes the radiographic changes and indeed many of these tibial stress fractures remain radiographically subtle or silent, prompting scintigraphic examination to obtain a definitive diagnosis. Most cases will require six to ten weeks out of cantering exercise. The prognosis for a return to full athletic function following a tibial stress fracture is generally considered to be excellent.

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Left: bone scan image demonstrating an area of increased radionucleotide uptake on the back edge of the left ilial wing (red arrow). Right: ultrasonographic appearance of the ilial wing stress fracture (red arrow) identified on the bone scan image on the left. Note the disrupted contour of the ilium and the associated callus

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Vet Forum: The Expert View ›› area. More significant fractures

frequently display muscle spasm and guarding over the gluteal musculature.

Diagnosis can be made by ultrasound examination of the ilium.

As with other stress fractures, the absence of ultrasound findings does not rule out injury, especially with ilial shaft stress fractures as these can be difficult to visualise. In the absence of ultrasonographic findings, scintigraphy could follow. Alternatively, horses can be treated symptomatically and rested as they would with a definitive diagnosis.

The prognosis following ilial stress fractures is varied. Non-displaced wing and shaft fractures carry a good prognosis. Displaced wing fractures generally carry a good prognosis though pelvic asymmetry can often be marked, whilst displaced shaft fractures carry a guarded prognosis for a return to racing. Most ilial stress fractures do not produce a bony callus that would encroach on the birth canal and preclude a broodmare career.

HUMERUS Humeral stress fractures typically occur without any history of preceding lameness. Whilst they can be noted during any stage of training, they are more often noted in horses in trotting or light cantering exercise.

Subtle radiographic changes are often difficult to detect and most humeral stress fractures are diagnosed following scintigraphy.

A small proportion of these stress fractures recur but given the appropriate rehabilitation period most carry an excellent prognosis for a return to full athletic soundness.

EQUESTRIAN PROPERTY

Left: bone scan image demonstrating increased radionucleotide uptake at the bottom of the humerus (red arrow). Right: bony callus noted on the outer aspect of the bottom of the humerus (red arrow) UPPER CANNON This stress injury of the upper cannon can also involve pathology within the proximal suspensory ligament and is a common cause of lameness in young racehorses. Both radiography and ultrasonography are frequently unremarkable, with MRI the modality of choice following localisation of the lameness with local anaesthesia. Following the appropriate rehabilitation period, this injury carries a good prognosis for a return to full athletic performance.

RADIUS Usually occurring at the mid to lower third of the radius, this injury is observed less frequently than the previously discussed stress fractures.

A moderate or marked lameness is usually observed in the thoroughbred.

RACING EQUIPMENT

Subtle radiographic abnormalities may be noted but scintigraphy is often required for diagnosis of this particular injury.

Summary

In summary, stress fractures are common injuries in the thoroughbred racehorse as a result of the intense training regimes they undertake.

The common imaging modalities, radiography and ultrasonography, can have a low sensitivity for identification of these injuries, prompting the use of scintigraphy.

Timely intervention is essential in the diagnosis and management of these injuries in order to optimise healing, to reduce time out of training and to help reduce the risk of developing further stress injuries in the future.

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THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER 105

20/09/2019 11:35

Dr Statz

John Boyce cracks the code

This year’s group of first-crop sires one of the best in 20 years I t’s hard to believe that at this point in the season, with so many opportunities for two-year-olds at all levels still ahead, the best first-season sires since 2000 have been approaching 30 individual winners.

Iffraaj, who retired to stud in 2007, had already amassed 29 winners by early September.

Some will blaze a trail in the early months of the season. But later in year one and during years two and three, as the focus turns away from precocity and points towards quality, most stallions fall by the wayside, to be replaced by the next generation of shooting stars. Our table of all freshmen sires since 2000, ranked by individual winners to September 8 in their individual seasons, clearly demonstrates the mix of precocity and class.

Gutaifan’s excellent total of 25 winners so far is already four clear of where his grandsire Acclamation was in 2007 and three ahead of the number his sire Dark Angel had posted at this stage in 2011. All the sires on our table can be considered fast starters, but for the vast majority it was always going to be their one time in the spotlight. Of the 33 fast starters between 2000 and 2019, 58% have recorded a stakes winner to runner percentage of less than 5% and as many as 12 haven’t managed 3%. Moreover, the majority failed to improve their mares.

And let’s not forget, we are looking only at the better first-season sires here.

However, there are stallions that can manage to be both precocious and long lasting. Dubawi had registered 20 winners by early September on his way to an excellent total of 34. With his stock’s astonishing average improvement of 23lb from two to four on the Timeform scale, he’s become one of the great sires of recent times. It looks very likely that No Nay Never will follow a similar path. He too had 20 individual winners by this time and he’s sired the winners of the July Cup and Superlative Stakes this year. Significantly, his strike-rate stands at 10.9% stakes winners to runners and it will be interesting to see if he can stay the right side of 10% through his career, which could very much depend on whether he’s a sire of pure sprinters or sprinter-milers.

There is no surprise to see the Irish National Stud’s Invincible Spirit high on the table with 24 winners to his name by

First-season sires 2000-2019 ranked by winners (to September 8)

Sire

IFFRAAJ FASLIYEV ZEBEDEE CANFORD CLIFFS GUTAIFAN KHELEYF INVINCIBLE SPIRIT DUTCH ART RED CLUBS SIR PRANCEALOT BERTOLINI BUNGLE INTHEJUNGLE DARK ANGEL ACCLAMATION CHOISIR FAST COMPANY CAPTAIN RIO DUBAWI NO NAY NEVER CAPE CROSS MULL OF KINTYRE SHOWCASING EXCEED AND EXCEL EXCELLENT ART HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR NIGHT OF THUNDER ONE COOL CAT

Wnrs

%W/R

Career %S/W

29 26 26 25 25 25 24 23 23 23 22 22 22 21 21 21 20 20 20 19 19 19 18 18 18 18 18

53.7 39.4 34.7 42.4 37.9 41.7 43.6 54.8 36.5 37.7 36.1 44.9 38.6 44.7 35.6 36.8 25.6 40.0 45.5 48.7 35.2 42.2 34.6 38.3 40.0 52.9 32.1

5.3 2.3 1.8 2.7 2.4 8.6 6.0 3.6 3.6 1.6 2.9 6.6 4.8 6.3 4.2 2.1 15.9 10.9 7.3 2.3 5.4 7.0 5.3 6.4 5.9 2.5

KEY TO STATS • Wnrs – Individual Winners • %W/R – Percentage Individual Winners to Runners Career %S/W – Career Percentage Individual Stakes Winners to Runners

this stage in 2006. Cape Cross also combined a fast start with ultimate longevity: he had 19 winners by this point and went on to sire such luminaries as Sea The Stars and Golden Horn.

There are several other sires that ultimately became commercial successes.

Recorder-breaker Iffraaj, sire of 38 winning youngsters in 2010, has also stood the test of time, siring horses as good as top miler Ribchester (rated 129 by Timeform) in Europe and the 125-rated Turn Me Loose in Australia. The brilliant Battaash’s sire Dark Angel has built a reputation for tip-top sprinters since his first season with runners in 2011, while Exceed And Excel is widely acknowledged as a source of fast two-year-olds both here and in Australia.

Quite where the latest set of freshman sires end up is anyone’s guess, but there are already some excellent performances among the group.

At the time of writing, Yeomanstown Stud’s Gutaifan is only four behind Iffraaj’s record-breaking pace, while Night Of

Thunder (18), Cable Bay (16), Due Diligence (15) and Gleneagles (15) have also built impressive tallies.

So far, 11 different sires have sired at least one stakes winner. That fact alone marks this group down as one of the most successful in the period.

Only three times in 20 years – 2014, 2009 and 2007 – have there been more sires of stakes winners. And those years launched of the careers of Lope De Vega, Siyouni, Dubawi, Shamardal and Oasis Dream. Three sires – Night Of Thunder, Gleneagles and Due Diligence – have registered two stakes winners apiece and it’s not difficult to see these three, plus the likes of Golden Horn, continuing to progress later this year and beyond.

Night Of Thunder is also one of only four sires in the past 20 years to maintain a 50%-plus winners to runners strike-rate in 2019 with 18 winners from only 34 runners (53%) – and you can be certain there are more progressive types waiting in the wings.

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Data Book • Analysis by Andrew Caulfield European Pattern 230 KEENELAND PHOENIX STAKES G1 CURRAGH. Aug 9. 2yoc&f. 6f.

1. SISKIN (USA) 9-3 £154,054 b/br c by First Defence - Bird Flown (Oasis Dream) O-Mr K. Abdullah B-Juddmonte Farms Inc TR-G. M. Lyons 2. Monarch of Egypt (USA) 9-3 £51,351 b c by American Pharoah - Up (Galileo) O-P Brant/Mrs J Magnier/M Tabor/D Smith B-Ran Jan Racing Inc TR-Aidan O’Brien 3. Royal Lytham (FR) 9-3 £24,324 b c by Gleneagles - Gotlandia (Anabaa) O-Mr M. Tabor, D. Smith & Mrs John Magnier B-S.A.R.L. Haras Du Logis Saint Germain TR-Aidan O’Brien Margins 0.75, Head. Time 1:17.14. Going Soft.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2 4 4 0 £263,486 Sire: FIRST DEFENCE. Sire of 7 Stakes winners.

1st Dam: BIRD FLOWN by Oasis Dream. Winner at 2 in France. Dam of 1 winner:

2016: 2017: 2018: 2019:

Turaco (c First Defence) unraced to date.

SISKIN (c First Defence) 4 wins at 2, Keeneland Phoenix S G1, GAIN Railway S G2, ISF EBF Marble Hill S LR. (f Flintshire) (f Noble Mission)

2nd Dam: Silver Star by Zafonic. 1 win at 2 in France, 3rd Prix Coronation LR. Own sister to XAAR. Dam of BARSANTI (g Champs Elysees: Carey Group Buckhounds S LR, 2nd Hardwicke S G2). Grandam of CLOSE HATCHES, LOCKDOWN, Hail. Third dam of TACITUS. Broodmare Sire: OASIS DREAM. Sire of the dams of 39 Stakes winners. In 2019 - SISKIN First Defence G1, OBLIGATE Frankel G2, TWILIGHT PAYMENT Teofilo G2, DAAHYEH Bated Breath G3, DELAWARE Frankel G3, MIDTERM Galileo G3, RAVEN’S CORNER Raven’s Pass G3, SIR DRAGONET Camelot G3.

SISKIN b/br c 2017 Unbridled

Fappiano Gana Facil

Trolley Song

Caro Lucky Spell

Seattle Slew

Bold Reasoning My Charmer

Toussaud

El Gran Senor Image of Reality

Green Desert

Danzig Foreign Courier

Hope

Dancing Brave Bahamian

Zafonic

Gone West Zaizafon

Monroe

Sir Ivor Best In Show

Unbridled’s Song FIRST DEFENCE b 04 Honest Lady

Oasis Dream BIRD FLOWN b 11 Silver Star

Back in 1979, Robert Sangster must have been disappointed when Monroe was beaten a length at odds-on in the Gr1 Phoenix Stakes. However, it was still a pretty good effort for a filly born as late as May 21. The small daughter of Sir Ivor trained on to win the Gr3 Ballyogan Stakes over five furlongs at three, before Sangster sold this very well-connected filly to Khalid Abdullah.

Her new owner could have had no complaints about Monroe’s broodmare career, as she produced three Group winners, headed by the champion two-year-old Xaar, and six of Monroe’s daughters were to produce black-type winners. One of them, Didicoy, is ancestress of such as Cityscape and Bated Breath, while Diese became the dam of American Gr1 winner Senure.

However, the daughter making the greatest impact in recent years is Silver Star, a talented sister to Xaar.

One of Silver Star’s daughters, Rising Tornado, produced Close Hatches, America’s champion older mare of 2014 who in turn has produced Tacitus, winner of the

2019 Wood Memorial Stakes before being placed in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.

Now the seven-furlong two-year-old winner Bird Flown, Silver Star’s last foal for Juddmonte, has made amends for Monroe’s Phoenix Stakes defeat. Her son Siskin landed his fourth win in as many starts when he too started odds-on for this Gr1 event. Choosing a stallion for Bird Flown in 2015 and 2016 can’t have been too complicated. Following Close Hatches’ five Gr1 successes in 2013 and 2014, Close Hatches’ sire First Defence became the obvious contender for Bird Flown, with this pairing producing a pedigree which combines two highly successful daughters of Best In Show, winner of the Kentucky Broodmare of the Year title. One of them is Monroe, the other being Sex Appeal, who appears in First Defence’s pedigree via her brilliant son El Gran Senor, sire of First Defence’s remarkable third dam, Toussaud.

Toussaud raced exclusively on turf but she produced the top dirt horse Empire Maker to Unbridled, the grandsire of First Defence. First Defence’s dam Honest Lady – one of four Gr1 winners out of Toussaud – gained one of her six wins on turf and so did First Defence, who landed the Gr3 Jaipur Stakes on turf before taking the Gr1 Forego Stakes impressively on dirt.

231 LONGINES GROSSER PREIS VON BERLIN G1 BERLIN-HOPPEGARTEN. Aug 11. 3yo+. 2400m.

1. FRENCH KING (GB) 4 9-6 £90,090 ch c by French Fifteen - Marina Piccola (Halling) O-H H Sheikh Abdulla Bin Khalifa Al Thani B-Umm Qarn Farm TR-H-A Pantall 2. Communique (IRE) 4 9-6 £27,027 ch c by Casamento - Midnight Line (Kris S) O-Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum B-Godolphin Management Company Ltd TR-Mark Johnston 3. Old Persian (GB) 4 9-6 £13,514 b c by Dubawi - Indian Petal (Singspiel) O-Godolphin B-Godolphin Management Company Ltd TR-Charlie Appleby Margins 1, Short Head. Time 2:35.16. Going Good.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-4 17 8 7 £704,053 Sire: FRENCH FIFTEEN. Sire of 3 Stakes winners. In 2019 - FRENCH KING Halling G1, SESTILIO JET Fasliyev G3.

1st Dam: MARINA PICCOLA by Halling. 2 wins at 3 in France, Prix de Thiberville LR. Dam of 2 winners:

2014: 2015:

2016: 2018:

SUHAIL (c Makfi) 2 wins at 2 in France.

FRENCH KING (c French Fifteen) 8 wins at 2 to 4 in France, Germany, Qatar, Switzerland, Longines Grosser Preis von Berlin G1, Carl Jaspers Preis G2, pferdewetten.de Grosser Hansa Preis G2, Longines H.H.The Amir Trophy LR, 2nd Coupe des Trois Ans LR, Dirickx GP de la Ville de Craon-Mayenne LR, 3rd Prix Frederic de Lagrange LR, G.P de la Region Grand Est Defi du Galop LR. Marzuq (c Charm Spirit) in training.

Mutabahi (c French Fifteen)

2nd Dam: MARINE BLEUE by Desert Prince. 4 wins at 3 in France, Germany Kolner Herbst Stuten Meile G3.

Dam of MARINA PICCOLA (f Halling, see above), Wednaan (c Dubawi: 3rd Al Tayer Motors UAE 2000 Guineas G3). Grandam of Marinka.

Broodmare Sire: HALLING. Sire of the dams of 29 Stakes winners. In 2019 - FRENCH KING French Fifteen G1, CONTRA CHECK Deep Impact G3, EASY EDDIE Super Easy G3, INDIAN BLESSING Sepoy LR.

FRENCH KING ch c 2015 Dyhim Diamond

Night Shift Happy Landing

Clara Bow

Top Ville Kamiya

Ashkalani

Soviet Star Ashtarka

Zarzaya

Caro Zahra

Diesis

Sharpen Up Doubly Sure

Dance Machine

Green Dancer Never A Lady

Desert Prince

Green Desert Flying Fairy

Mirina

Pursuit of Love Mirea

Turtle Bowl FRENCH FIFTEEN ch 09 Spring Morning

Halling MARINA PICCOLA ch 09 Marine Bleue

Although Night Shift’s son Dyhim Diamond was a smart sprinter, he didn’t start his stallion career in France until he was seven years old in 2001 and he was exported (temporarily) to Spain in August 2005, so anyone could be forgiven for thinking that his long-term impact would be negligible.

However, from fewer than 200 foals, he sired the Gr1 winners Turtle Bowl and Bannaby, with Turtle Bowl’s career featuring a victory in the Gr1 Prix Jean Prat and a close third in the Gr1 Queen Anne Stakes.

Turtle Bowl also enjoyed a brief but productive time as a stallion in France. After covering his first mares in 2008, he was exported in October 2012 to Japan, where he was to die at the age of 15 at Shadai Stallion Station.

His legacy in France included his Gr1-winning sons Lucayan (2012 Poule d’Essai des Poulains) and French Fifteen. Inheriting some of his male line’s toughness, the two-year-old French Fifteen was winning for the fifth time when he took the Criterium International over a mile. French Fifteen also made an excellent start to his three-year-old campaign, winning the Gr3 Prix Djebel before failing by only a neck to ruin Camelot’s Triple Crown aspirations in the 2,000 Guineas.

Unfortunately, the rest of his career was an anti-climax and he started his stallion career at only €6,000 as a five-year-old in 2014.

French Fifteen is also proving to be something of a surprise package, with his first crop producing Sestilio Jet, winner of the Gr3 Prix de Saint-Georges over five furlongs, the speedy Listed winner Teckwin, the Gr2-placed French Pegasus and the progressive French King. Placed in several provincial Listed races at three, French King has become a big earner at four. The bulk of his prize-money came when he took the H.H. the Amir Trophy at Doha in Qatar in February, since when he has been unbeaten in three Group races in Germany. His coming-of-age came in the Gr1 Grosser Preis von Berlin, when he defeated the British raider Communique.

French King’s dam, the Halling mare Marina Piccola, was useful at

up to a mile and a half in France, while her dam Marine Bleue earned black type in France, Italy and Germany, where she was a Gr3 winner over a mile at three.

232 P. FRESNAY LE BUFFARD JACQUES LE MAROIS G1 DEAUVILLE. Aug 11. 3yo+c&f. 1600m.

1. ROMANISED (IRE) 4 9-5 £514,775 b c by Holy Roman Emperor - Romantic Venture (Indian Ridge) O-Mr Robert Ng B-Mrs M. Aherne TR-K. J. Condon 2. Shaman (IRE) 3 8-13 £205,946 ch c by Shamardal - Only Green (Green Desert) O-Wertheimer et Frere B-Wertheimer et Frere TR-C. Laffon-Parias 3. Line of Duty (IRE) 3 8-13 £102,973 ch c by Galileo - Jacqueline Quest (Rock of Gibraltar) O-Godolphin B-Triermore Stud TR-Charlie Appleby Margins 1.25, Nose. Time 1:35.16. Going Good.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-4 14 4 3 £883,071 Sire: HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR. Sire of 84 Stakes winners. In 2019 - ROMANISED Indian Ridge G1, LLUVIA DE PLATA Total Impact G2, FULLNESS OF LIFE Stravinsky G3, ROMAN TURBO Monsun G3, DUCA VALENTINOIS Fruits of Love LR, HOLY LEGAL Minstrel Glory LR, INFERNO Redoute’s Choice LR, PARA HOLY Fusaichi Pegasus LR, SACRED ROMAN Elusive Quality LR. 1st Dam: ROMANTIC VENTURE by Indian Ridge. 2 wins.

Own sister to SIGHTS ON GOLD. Dam of 6 winners:

2004: 2005:

2006: 2008: 2009: 2010:

2015:

2016:

LIFETIME JOURNEY (c Thunder Gulch) Winner at 5 in Kingdom of Saudi Ara. FICTIONAL ACCOUNT (f Stravinsky) 6 wins at 3 to 6, Ire.Field Leger Trial Ballycullen S LR, SIS Live Fenwolf S LR. Broodmare.

TIMELY PRODUCTION (c Peintre Celebre) 4 wins at 3 in Sweden.

SAMARKAND (g Sadler’s Wells) Winner at 3.

Black Romantic (c Singspiel) ROCK OF ROMANCE (c Rock of Gibraltar) 5 wins at 3 to 6 in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Premio St Leger Italiano G3.

ROMANISED (c Holy Roman Emperor) 4 wins at 2 to 4 at home, France, Tattersalls Irish 2000 Guineas G1, P. Fresnay le Buffard Jacques Le Marois G1, P. Power Minstrel S G2, 2nd BetBright Solario S G3.

Roman Venture (f Holy Roman Emperor) unraced to date.

2nd Dam: Summer Trysting by Alleged. Dam of DESIGNS ON ROME (g Holy Roman Emperor: The Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup G1 (twice), Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup G1, Longines Hong Kong Cup G1, 2nd Goffs Vincent O’Brien National S G1), SIMPLE EXCHANGE (c Danehill: American Derby G2), SIGHTS ON GOLD (g Indian Ridge: betfair.com Brigadier Gerard S G3, Dubai Duty Free Arc Trial G3, 2nd Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase G1). Grandam of EL NINO. Broodmare Sire: INDIAN RIDGE. Sire of the dams of 106 Stakes winners. In 2019 - ROMANISED Holy Roman Emperor G1, BUSHTOPS Archipenko LR, MAGICAL DREAMER Acclamation LR, MAID IN INDIA Bated Breath LR, MILLISLE Starspangledbanner LR, NEW ENGLAND Arazan LR, SURREY THUNDER Le Havre LR. The Holy Roman Emperor/Indian Ridge cross has produced: ROMANISED G1, Ahlan Emarati G2.

ROMANISED b c 2015 Danzig

Northern Dancer Pas de Nom

Razyana

His Majesty Spring Adieu

Secretariat

Bold Ruler Somethingroyal

Fanfreluche

Northern Dancer Ciboulette

Ahonoora

Lorenzaccio Helen Nichols

Hillbrow

Swing Easy Golden City

Alleged

Hoist The Flag Princess Pout

Seasonal Pickup

The Minstrel Bubinka

Danehill HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR b 04 L’On Vite

Indian Ridge ROMANTIC VENTURE ch 97 Summer Trysting

108 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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CAULFIELD ON ROMANISED: “He ranks alongside the Irish Derby victor Grey Swallow and the Irish Oaks scorer Covert Love as one of four Group 1 winners descending from his fourth dam Bubinka” It takes a very good horse these days to take the title of Horse of the Year in Hong Kong, as Designs On Rome did in the 2013-14 season. By the time his career ended this son of Holy Roman Emperor had won four Gr1 races over a mile and a quarter and amassed the equivalent of nearly £5 million. No wonder, then, that Designs On Rome’s talented half-sister Romantic Venture was sent to Holy Roman Emperor in 2014, and the magic worked again.

Romantic Venture’s colt, Romanised, won the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2018 at 25-1 and has bounced back in 2019 to win the Gr2 Minstrel Stakes over seven furlongs and the Gr1 Prix Jacques le Marois over a mile.

Romanised’s owner Robert Ng is based in Hong Kong, which has imported several of Holy Roman Emperor’s most successful sons.

One of them, Beauty Only, earned the best part of £4m and two of the others, Rich Tapestry and Glorious Empire, became Gr1 winners after they moved on from Hong Kong to the US. Romanised is the third black-type winner out of Romantic Venture, who won over 8.5 furlongs on the first of only two outings. Although Romantic Venture had the sprinter Indian Ridge as her sire, she also had the dual Arc winner Alleged as the sire of her dam Summer Trysting.

A subsequent mating between Indian Ridge and Summer Trysting resulted in Sights On Gold, a middle-distance Group winner who was once beaten only half a length in the Gr1 Hong Kong Vase over a mile and a half. In these circumstances perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that Romantic Venture’s previous black-type winners were stayers. Fictional Account, her daughter by the champion sprinter Stravinsky, won Listed races over a mile-and-threequarters at the Curragh and two miles at Ascot.

Next came Rock Of Romance, her colt by the top miler Rock Of Gibraltar, a horse bred to a similar pattern to Holy Roman Emperor.

Rock Of Romance won the Gr3 St Leger Italiano over a mile-and-threequarters and a German Listed race over two miles. Summer Trysting produced middle-distance Group winners to three fast horses.

Romanised ranks alongside the Irish Derby victor Grey Swallow and the Irish Oaks scorer Covert Love as one of four Gr1 winners descending from his fourth dam Bubinka.

3. Red Tea (GB) 6 9-0 £25,743 ch m by Sakhee - Maimoona (Pivotal) O-Capel Street Syndicate B-Sheikh Hamdan Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum TR-Joseph Patrick O’Brien Margins 0.75, 1.75. Time 2:09.95.

Going Heavy.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-5 17 6 9 £1,199,126 Sire: DUBAWI. Sire of 176 Stakes winners. In 2019 CORONET Darshaan G1, GHAIYYATH Galileo G1, OLD PERSIAN Singspiel G1, TOO DARN HOT Singspiel G1, AL HILALEE Authorized G2, ALMANAAR Bahhare G2, BALL OF MUSCLE Gold Brose G2, D’BAI Green Desert G2, GLORIOUS JOURNEY Dansili G2, LAH TI DAR Singspiel G2, NORTH AMERICA Yankee Victor G2, PLUMATIC Anabaa G2, POETIC CHARM Danehill G2, THE REVENANT Excellent Art G2.

1st Dam: APPROACH by Darshaan. 3 wins at 2 to 4 at home, USA, Lord Weinstock Mem.Ballymacoll S LR, 2nd Winstar Galaxy S G2. Own sister to Intrigued. Dam of 6 winners:

2006: 2007:

2008: 2009:

2010: 2011: 2012: 2014:

2015: 2016: 2017: 2018:

By Request (f Giant’s Causeway) ran 3 times. Broodmare.

MIDAS TOUCH (c Galileo). 2 wins at 2 and 3, Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial S G2, 2nd Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby G1, Ladbrokes St Leger S G1, 3rd Hyland Colours Underwood S G1. Sire.

ARABESCATTA (f Monsun) 4 wins at 3 in France. Broodmare.

Bristol Fashion (f Dansili) unraced. Dam of Cribbs Causeway (f Rip Van Winkle: 5 wins at 3, 3rd 188Bet September S G3, Al Basti Equiworld Bronte Cup S G3) Golden Touch (c Galileo) ran on the flat in France.

Streetcar To Stars (c Sea The Stars) Winner at 3, 2nd King George V Cup Nijinsky S LR, 3rd Ballyroan S G3.

MURGAN (g Galileo) Winner at 3.

CORONET (f Dubawi) 6 wins at 2 to 5, 2019 at home, France, Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud G1, Darley Prix Jean Romanet G1, Ribblesdale S G2, Betfred Middleton S G2, Godolphin Zetland S LR, 2nd Qipco Brit.Champions Fillies/Mare S G1, Darley Yorkshire Oaks G1 (twice), Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud G1, 3rd King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S G1, Qipco Brit.

Champions Fillies/Mare S G1, The Gurkha Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary G1.

PHOTOGRAPHER (g New Approach) Winner at 2.

Fly The Flag (f Australia) Arbiter (c Kingman) unraced to date.

Regent (f Frankel)

2nd Dam: LAST SECOND by Alzao. 4 wins at 2 and 3 Vodafone Nassau S G2, Sun Chariot S G2, 2nd Coronation S G1. Dam of AUSSIE RULES (c Danehill: Gainsborough Poule d’Essai des Poulains G1, Shadwell Turf Mile S G1), APPROACH (f Darshaan, see above), Gooseberry Fool (f Danehill Dancer: 3rd Silver Flash S G3), Intrigued (f Darshaan: 3rd EBF Chalice S LR, EBF Joan Westbrook Pinnacle S LR). Grandam of PRIVATE SECRETARY, MICHELANGELO, Red Eldest, Amedeo Modigliani.

Broodmare Sire: DARSHAAN. Sire of the dams of 251 Stakes winners. In 2019 - CORONET Dubawi G1, BANGKOK Australia G3, MASTER OF REALITY Frankel G3, MATTERHORN Raven’s Pass LR, MC QUEEN Silver Frost LR, PRIVATE SECRETARY Kingman LR, SOUTH SEA PEARL Galileo LR. The Dubawi/Darshaan cross has produced: AL KAZEEM G1, CORONET G1, SOBETSU G1.

CORONET gr m 2014 Dubai Millennium DUBAWI b 02

Seeking The Gold Mr Prospector Con Game Colorado Dancer Shareef Dancer Fall Aspen Deploy

Shirley Heights Slightly Dangerous

Jawaher

Dancing Brave High Tern

Zomaradah

233 DARLEY PRIX JEAN ROMANET G1 DEAUVILLE. Aug 18. 4yo+f. 2000m.

1. CORONET (GB) 5 9-0 £128,694 gr m by Dubawi - Approach (Darshaan) O-Denford Stud B-Denford Stud Ltd TR-John Gosden 2. With You (GB) 4 9-0 £51,486 b f by Dansili - In Clover (Inchinor) O-Mr George Strawbridge B-G. Strawbridge TR-F. Head

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Darshaan APPROACH gr 00

Shirley Heights Mill Reef Hardiemma Delsy

Abdos Kelty

Alzao

Lyphard Lady Rebecca

Alruccaba

Crystal Palace Allara

Last Second

See race 125 in the August issue

234 DARLEY PRIX MORNY G1 DEAUVILLE. Aug 18. 2yoc&f. 1200m.

1. EARTHLIGHT (IRE) 9-0 £180,171 ch c by Shamardal - Winters Moon (New Approach) O-Godolphin S.N.C. B-Godolphin Management Company Ltd TR-A. Fabre 2. Raffle Prize (IRE) 8-10 £72,081 ch f by Slade Power - Summer Fete (Pivotal) O-Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum B-Godolphin Management Company Ltd TR-Mark Johnston 3. Golden Horde (IRE) 9-0 £36,041 ch c by Lethal Force - Entreat (Pivotal) O-AlMohamediya Racing B-CN Farm Limited TR-Clive Cox Margins Neck, 2.5. Time 1:12.00. Going Heavy.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2 4 4 0 £243,684 Sire: SHAMARDAL. Sire of 137 Stakes winners. In 2019 - BLUE POINT Royal Applause G1, CASTLE LADY Elusive Quality G1, EARTHLIGHT New Approach G1, MORGAN LE FAYE Lomitas G2, PINATUBO Dalakhani G2, HAZAPOUR Daylami G3, SHAMAN Green Desert G3, SKARDU Iffraaj G3, TARNAWA Cape Cross G3, WALDPFAD Mark of Esteem G3.

1st Dam: Winters Moon by New Approach. Winner at 2, 3rd Dubai Fillies’ Mile S G1. Dam of 1 winner:

2017:

2018: 2019:

EARTHLIGHT (c Shamardal) 4 wins at 2 in France, Darley Prix Morny G1, Darley Prix de Cabourg G3. (f Dubawi) (f Shamardal)

2nd Dam: SUMMERTIME LEGACY by Darshaan. 2 wins at 2 in France Prix des Reservoirs G3, 3rd Prix Saint-Alary G1. Dam of MANDAEAN (g Manduro: Criterium de Saint-Cloud G1), WAVERING (f Refuse To Bend: Montjeu Coolmore Prix Saint-Alary G1), Winters Moon (f New Approach, see above), Mister Green (g Green Desert: 3rd Betdaq Winter Derby Trial S LR).

Grandam of Switching, Flowrider, Maxi Boy, Johara.

Broodmare Sire: NEW APPROACH. Sire of the dams of 1 Stakes winner.

EARTHLIGHT ch c 2017 Storm Cat

Storm Bird Terlingua

Mariah’s Storm

Rahy Immense

Machiavellian

Mr Prospector Coup de Folie

Helen Street

Troy Waterway

Galileo

Sadler’s Wells Urban Sea

Park Express

Ahonoora Matcher

Darshaan

Shirley Heights Delsy

Zawaahy

El Gran Senor Exotic Treat

Giant’s Causeway SHAMARDAL b 02 Helsinki

New Approach WINTERS MOON ch 12 Summertime Legacy

Earthlight had a lot to live up to when he began his two-year-old career. His sire Shamardal had been the champion juvenile of 2004, when he won all three of his starts, including the Gr1 Dewhurst Stakes, and his broodmare sire, New Approach, had been the champion juvenile of 2007, when he won all five of his starts, including the Dewhurst. It remains to be seen whether Earthlight can remain unbeaten or claim champion status as a two-year-old but he has made a perfect start, winning his first four starts, including the Gr3 Prix de Cabourg and the Gr1 Prix Morny.

One of Earthlight’s main rivals for the juvenile championship is Pinatubo, another unbeaten Shamardal colt, and there is a link between the two colts. Pinatubo’s broodmare sire, the Prix du Jockey-Club and Arc winner Dalakhani, was sired by Darshaan, another Prix du Jockey-Club winner who sired Summer Legacy, the

second dam of Earthlight.

Shamardal’s other stakes horses with a second dam by Darshaan include the Listed winners Dusky Queen, Haripour and Samurai. While Dusky Queen was a seven-furlong specialist, Haripour and Samurai both won Listed races over a mile and a half.

Earthlight is the first black-type winner out of a New Approach mare.

His dam Winters Moon was beaten only half a length when third in the Gr1 Fillies’ Mile, before a rather disappointing second season.

Winters Moon has the distinction of being a half-sister to two Gr1 winners. The first, the Refuse To Bend filly Wavering, won the Prix Saint-Alary over a mile and a quarter and the second, the Manduro colt Mandean, took the Criterium de Saint-Cloud over the same distance as a two-year-old.

Earthlight’s second dam Summertime Legacy was at her most successful as a two-year-old, when she won the Gr3 Prix des Reservoirs over a mile on heavy ground, but she was also third in the Gr1 Prix Saint-Alary at three. Summertime Legacy’s dam, the minor mile winner Zawaahy, cost 420,000gns as a yearling in 1990. This daughter of the brilliant El Gran Senor was a threeparts-sister to Nijinsky’s first Derby winner, Golden Fleece. Earthlight’s fifth dam, the celebrated Rare Treat, ranked as the second dam not only of Golden Fleece but also of Be My Guest, a top-class colt who became champion sire in 1982.

235 JUDDMONTE INTERNATIONAL STAKES G1 YORK. Aug 21. 3yo+. 10f.

1. JAPAN (GB) 3 8-13 £602,544 b c by Galileo - Shastye (Danehill) O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor B-Newsells Park Stud Limited TR-Aidan O’Brien 2. Crystal Ocean (GB) 5 9-6 £228,438 b h by Sea The Stars - Crystal Star (Mark of Esteem) O-Sir Evelyn De Rothschild B-Southcourt Stud TR-Sir Michael Stoute 3. Elarqam (GB) 4 9-6 £114,325 b c by Frankel - Attraction (Efisio) O-Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum B-Floors Farming TR-Mark Johnston Margins Head, 1. Time 2:07.70. Going Good.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-3 8 5 2 £1,289,675 Sire: GALILEO. Sire of 316 Stakes winners. In 2019 ANTHONY VAN DYCK Exceed And Excel G1, CIRCUS MAXIMUS Danehill Dancer G1, HERMOSA Pivotal G1, JAPAN Danehill G1, MAGICAL Pivotal G1, SOVEREIGN Danehill Dancer G1, WALDGEIST Monsun G1, ARMORY Danehill Dancer G2, PLATINUM WARRIOR Clodovil G2, CONSTANTINOPLE Danehill G3, GREY LION Danehill G3, KLASSIQUE Footstepsinthesand G3, LOVE Pivotal G3, MIDTERM Oasis Dream G3, MOHAWK Encosta de Lago G3, NAYEF ROAD Danehill Dancer G3, PEACH TREE Pivotal G3, SOUTHERN FRANCE Anabaa G3.

1st Dam: Shastye by Danehill. 2 wins at 3 and 4, 2nd totesport.com Pontefract Castle S LR. Dam of 5 winners:

2006: 2008: 2010:

Shastyes Pinch (c Pivotal). unraced, Died at 2 years.

Shabyt (f Sadler’s Wells) unraced. Dam of Shaherezada (f Dutch Art: Winner at 2, 2nd netbet.co.uk Height of Fashion S LR) SECRET GESTURE (f Galileo) 4 wins at 2 to 5, Betfred Middleton S G2, 2nd Investec Oaks S G1, Henkel Preis der Diana - Stuten Derby G1, 3rd Darley Yorkshire Oaks G1, Darley Prix Jean Romanet G1, Beverly D S

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20/09/2019 19:27

Data Book European Pattern 2011:

2012: 2013: 2014: 2015: 2016:

2017: 2019:

G1. Broodmare.

MAURUS (g Medicean) 6 wins at 3 to 5 in Australia, Channel 7 Ipswich Cup LR, 2nd Channel 7 Premier’s Cup G3, Sky TB Central Kingston Town S G3, Daily Telegraph Neville Sellwood S G3, Sporting Globe After the Last JRA Cup G3, 3rd Attwood Marshall A D Hollindale S G2.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON (c Galileo) 3 wins at 3 and 4, Finlay Volvo International S G3.

SECRET SENSE (f Shamardal) Winner at 3. Broodmare.

Secret Soul (f Street Cry). Broodmare.

Secret Gaze (f Galileo) unraced.

JAPAN (c Galileo) Sold 1,300,000gns yearling at TAOC1. 5 wins at 2 and 3 at home, France, Juddmonte International S G1, Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris G1, Beresford S G2, King Edward VII S G2, 3rd Investec Derby S G1.

Mogul (c Galileo) (f Galileo)

2nd Dam: SAGANECA by Sagace. Champion older mare in Italy in 1992. 1 win at 3 in France CIGA Prix de Royallieu G2, 2nd Gran Premio di Milano G1. Dam of SAGAMIX (c Linamix: Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe G1, 3rd Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud G1), SAGACITY (c Highest Honor: Criterium de Saint-Cloud G1, 3rd P. de l’Arc de Triomphe-Lucien Barriere G1), SAGE ET JOLIE (f Linamix: Prix de Malleret G2), Almighty (c Sadler’s Wells: 2nd MBNA Europe Bank Chester Vase G3), Shastye (f Danehill, see above). Grandam of SAGEBURG, SAGAWARA, SAGAROI, SAGAUTEUR, Saghann.

Third dam of Sagaciously, Sadarak, Branzini.

Broodmare Sire: DANEHILL. Sire of the dams of 400 Stakes winners. In 2019 - IMPERADOR Treasure Beach G1, IRIDESSA Ruler of The World G1, JAPAN Galileo G1, POETIC CHARM Dubawi G2, QUEEN OF DIAMONDS Savabeel G2.

The Galileo/Danehill cross has produced: BANC DE FORTUNE G1, BONDI BEACH G1, CIMA DE TRIOMPHE G1, CUIS GHAIRE G1, DEAUVILLE G1, FIELDS OF ATHENRY G1, FRANKEL G1, GOLDEN LILAC G1, GUSTAV KLIMT G1, HIGHLAND REEL G1, IDAHO G1, INTELLO G1, JAPAN G1, MAYBE G1, NOBLE MISSION G1, ORCHESTRA G1, PROMISE TO BE TRUE G1, RODERIC O’CONNOR G1, ROMANTICA G1, SCINTILLULA G1, SECRET GESTURE G1, TAPESTRY G1, TEOFILO G1, VENICE BEACH G1, Galileo’s Destiny G1, Gile Na Greine G1, Mars G1, The Assayer G1, BROADWAY G2, CAPE OF GOOD HOPE G2, CONSTANTINOPLE G2, GRETCHEN G2, GREY LION G2, PRETTY PERFECT G2, REEM G2, Barbados G2, CRYSTAL GAL G3, DAZZLING G3, FALCON EIGHT G3, GALIWAY G3, JOHN F KENNEDY G3, LAGALP G3, MEKONG RIVER G3, SAYANA G3, SIDERA G3, SIR ISAAC NEWTON G3, THE CORSICAN G3, THE MAJOR GENERAL G3, WONDERFULLY G3, Brightest G3, Circling G3, Claiomh Solais G3, Granddukeoftuscany G3, Impulsive Moment G3, Marksmanship G3, Simply Beautiful G3, BIRCH GROVE LR, CUFF LR, CURLY LR, EASTER LILY LR, ILTEMAS LR, MISS GALILEI LR, SEARCH FOR A SONG LR, Acteur Celebre LR, Amerique LR, Benkei LR, Cosmica Sidera LR, Provenance LR, Via Galilei LR.

B-Orpendale, Chelston & Wynatt TR-Aidan O’Brien 3. Lah Ti Dar (GB) 4 9-7 £45,730 b f by Dubawi - Dar Re Mi (Singspiel) O-Lord Lloyd Webber B-Watership Down Stud TR-John Gosden Margins 2.75, 10. Time 2:29.90. Going Good.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-5 14 13 1 £9,382,243 Sire: NATHANIEL. Sire of 17 Stakes winners. In 2019 CHANNEL Dansili G1, ENABLE Sadler’s Wells G1, AMORELLA Dubawi G2, DASHING WILLOUGHBY Dylan Thomas G2, TAMNIAH Rock of Gibraltar G3, MUTAMAKINA Danehill LR, STEEL PRINCE Danehill LR. 1st Dam: CONCENTRIC by Sadler’s Wells. 3 wins at 3 in France, Prix Charles Laffitte LR, 2nd Prix de Flore G3.

Own sister to DANCE ROUTINE and Light Ballet. Dam of 5 winners:

2010: 2011: 2012:

2013: 2014:

2015: 2016: 2017: 2018: 2019:

Considerate (f Dansili) unraced. Broodmare.

TOURNAMENT (g Oasis Dream) 3 wins.

Contribution (f Champs Elysees) 2 wins at 3 in France, 3rd Shadwell Prix de Pomone G2. Broodmare.

Birdwood (f Oasis Dream) unraced. Broodmare.

ENABLE (f Nathaniel) Champion 3yr old filly in Europe in 2017, Champion older mare in Europe in 2018. 13 wins at 2 to 5, 2019 at home, France, USA, Coral Eclipse G1, Darley Irish Oaks G1, King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S G1 (twice), Investec Oaks S G1, Darley Yorkshire Oaks G1 (twice), Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe G1 (twice), Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf G1, 188Bet September S G3, Arkle Finance Cheshire Oaks S LR. CENTROID (c Dansili) Winner at 3.

Entitle (f Dansili) Winner at 2, 2nd Tattersalls Musidora S G3.

Portrush (f Frankel) unraced to date. (c Sea The Stars) (c Nathaniel)

2nd Dam: APOGEE by Shirley Heights. 2 wins at 3 in France Prix de Royaumont G3. Dam of DANCE ROUTINE (f Sadler’s Wells: Prix de Royallieu Hotel du Golf Barriere G2, 2nd Prix de Diane Hermes G1), APSIS (c Barathea: Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord G3, Prix Thomas Bryon G3), CONCENTRIC (f Sadler’s Wells, see above), SPACE QUEST (f Rainbow Quest: Prix Joubert LR), Light Ballet (f Sadler’s Wells: 3rd Prix Minerve G3), Summit Meeting (g Sadler’s Wells: 3rd WKD Core Hurdle G2). Grandam of FLINTSHIRE, KOCAB, DANCE MOVES, PENCHEE, Tandem, Porgy, Badee Ah. Third dam of PROJECTED, HEADMAN, VIRTUAL GAME, Delivery, Zamoura, TUK TUK. Fourth dam of Fifth Position.

Broodmare Sire: SADLER’S WELLS. Sire of the dams of 432 Stakes winners. In 2019 - ENABLE Nathaniel G1, WAR OF WILL War Front G1, FIFTY STARS Sea The Stars G2, RAA ATOLL Sea The Stars G2, WORTH WAITING Bated Breath G2.

ENABLE b m 2014

NATHANIEL b 08

GALILEO b 98

Northern Dancer Nearctic Natalma Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Miswaki

Mr Prospector Hopespringseternal

Allegretta

Lombard Anatevka

Danzig

Northern Dancer Pas de Nom

Razyana

His Majesty Spring Adieu

Sagace

Luthier Seneca

Haglette

Hagley Sucrette

Urban Sea

Danehill SHASTYE b 01

Urban Sea

Miswaki Allegretta

Silver Hawk

Roberto Gris Vitesse

Mia Karina

Icecapade Basin

Galileo

JAPAN b c 2016 Sadler’s Wells

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Saganeca

See race 172 in the September issue 236 DARLEY YORKSHIRE OAKS G1 YORK. Aug 22. 3yo+f. 12f.

1. ENABLE (GB) 5 9-7 £241,018 b m by Nathaniel - Concentric (Sadler’s Wells) O-Mr K. Abdullah B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd TR-John Gosden 2. Magical (IRE) 4 9-7 £91,375 b f by Galileo - Halfway To Heaven (Pivotal) O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor

Magnificient Style

Sadler’s Wells CONCENTRIC b 04

Northern Dancer Nearctic Natalma Fairy Bridge

Bold Reason Special

Shirley Heights

Mill Reef Hardiemma

Bourbon Girl

Ile de Bourbon Fleet Girl

Apogee

See race 174 in the September issue 237 COOLMORE NUNTHORPE STAKES G1 YORK. Aug 23. 2yo+. 5f.

1. BATTAASH (IRE) 5 9-11 £226,840 b g by Dark Angel - Anna Law (Lawman) O-Mr Hamdan Al Maktoum B-Ballyphilip Stud TR-Charles Hills 2. Soldier’s Call (GB) 3 9-9 £86,000 b/br c by Showcasing - Dijarvo (Iceman) O-Clipper Logistics B-Llety Farms TR-Archie Watson 3. So Perfect (USA) 3 9-6 £43,040 b/br f by Scat Daddy - Hopeoverexperience (Songandaprayer)

O-Mr D. Smith, Mrs J. Magnier, Mr M. Tabor B-Machmer Hall TR-Aidan O’Brien Margins 3.75, 1. Time 0:55.90. Going Good to Firm.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-5 19 10 8 £1,394,759 Sire: DARK ANGEL. Sire of 58 Stakes winners. In 2019 - BATTAASH Lawman G1, VALAC Danehill G3, FANAAR Royal Academy LR, FOX POWER Kyllachy LR, HAPPY POWER Selkirk LR, KHAADEM Footstepsinthesand LR, SHELIR Dalakhani LR, THAMMIN Desert Style LR. 1st Dam: Anna Law by Lawman. ran a few times at 2.

Dam of 1 winner:

2014:

2015: 2017: 2018:

BATTAASH (g Dark Angel) Sold 200,000gns yearling at TAOC2. Champion older sprinter in Europe in 2018. 10 wins at 2 to 5, 2019 at home, France, Coolmore Nunthorpe S G1, Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp - Longines G1, Qatar King George S G2 (3 times), Armstrong Temple S G2 (twice), Coral Charge Sprint S G3, Randox Health Scurry S LR, 2nd King’s Stand S G1 (twice), 3rd Godolphin Cornwallis S G3.

Littlelordconford (g Intikhab) Valletta Gold (f Gutaifan) unraced to date. (f Dark Angel)

2nd Dam: PORTELET by Night Shift. 4 wins at 3 and 4.

Dam of ETLAALA (c Selkirk: SGB Champagne S G2, 3rd Darley July Cup G1), Selective (g Selkirk: 3rd Betfair John of Gaunt S LR), Back On Top (f Lope de Vega: 3rd Irish Stallion Farms EBF Cooley S LR), Button Moon (f Compton Place: 3rd Herbertus Liebrecht-Gedachtnispreis LR). Grandam of TASLEET. Broodmare Sire: LAWMAN. Sire of the dams of 5 Stakes winners. In 2019 - BATTAASH Dark Angel G1, AWESOMETANK Intense Focus LR. The Dark Angel/Lawman cross has produced: BATTAASH G1, Dark Rose Angel G2.

BATTAASH b g 2014 Royal Applause

Waajib Flying Melody

Princess Athena

Ahonoora Shopping Wise

Machiavellian

Mr Prospector Coup de Folie

Night At Sea

Night Shift Into Harbour

Invincible Spirit

Green Desert Rafha

Laramie

Gulch Light The Lights

Night Shift

Northern Dancer Ciboulette

Noirmant

Dominion Krakow

Acclamation DARK ANGEL gr 05 Midnight Angel

Lawman ANNA LAW b 10 Portelet

For a horse who earned the lofty Timeform ratings of 136 in 2017 and 133 in 2018, Battaash has a rather uneven record. When the now-fiveyear-old lowered York’s five-furlong record to 55.90 seconds in winning the Nunthorpe Stakes, he was gaining only his second Gr1 success in seven attempts, following his win in the 2017 Prix de l’Abbaye. He has, though, also won five Gr2 events.

Battaash’s sire Dark Angel now has seven Gr1 winners to his credit.

Four of them – Battaash, Harry Angel, Lethal Force and Mecca’s Angel – are top-class sprinters, but the others demonstrate some versatility on their sire’s behalf. His daughter Persuasive won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes over a mile, while his American-raced sons Hunt and Raging Bull respectively gained their Gr1 successes over a mile and nine furlongs.

Battaash’s broodmare sire is the Prix du Jockey-Club winner Lawman.

However, Lawman’s stamina is balanced by plenty of speed on the dam’s side of Battaash’s pedigree.

His dam Anna Law raced only over

sprint distances and the next dam, Portelet, didn’t win until she was dropped back to five furlongs, having previously been tried at up to a mile.

One of her wins came over Epsom’s fast five furlongs.

Portelet passed on plenty of speed to her Selkirk colt Etlaala, who was third in the July Cup, having won the Gr2 Champagne Stakes at two.

Portelet is also the second dam of another very smart sprinter in Tasleet, winner of the Gr2 Duke of York Stakes.

Battaash’s fourth dam Krakow visited Sadler’s Wells to produce the very smart stayer Braashee and the Gr3-winning American miler Adam Smith. This is the Wigan family’s famous Pelting family, which produced a wide variety of Gr1 winners, others being Dark Angel’s son Hunt and Diesis’ son Keen Hunter, winner of the Prix de l’Abbaye in 1991.

238 LONGINES GROSSER PREIS VON BADEN G1 BADEN-BADEN. Sep 1. 3yo+. 2400m.

1. GHAIYYATH (IRE) 4 9-6 £135,135 b c by Dubawi - Nightime (Galileo) O-Godolphin B-Springbank Way Stud TR-Charlie Appleby 2. Donjah (GER) 3 8-9 £54,054 b f by Teofilo - Dyanamore (Mt Livermore) O-Darius Racing B-Gestut Karlshof TR-Henk Grewe 3. Laccario (GER) 3 8-13 £22,523 br c by Scalo - Laccata (Lomitas) O-Gestut Ittlingen B-Gestut Hof Ittlingen TR-A Wohler Margins 14, 4.25. Time 2:30.08. Going Good.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-4 7 5 2 £308,826 Sire: DUBAWI. Sire of 176 Stakes winners. In 2019 CORONET Darshaan G1, GHAIYYATH Galileo G1, OLD PERSIAN Singspiel G1, TOO DARN HOT Singspiel G1, AL HILALEE Authorized G2, ALMANAAR Bahhare G2, BALL OF MUSCLE Gold Brose G2, D’BAI Green Desert G2, GLORIOUS JOURNEY Dansili G2, LAH TI DAR Singspiel G2, NORTH AMERICA Yankee Victor G2, PLUMATIC Anabaa G2, POETIC CHARM Danehill G2, THE REVENANT Excellent Art G2.

1st Dam: NIGHTIME by Galileo. 2 wins at 3, Boylesports Irish 1000 Guineas G1. Dam of 5 winners:

2008: 2010:

2011: 2012: 2013: 2014: 2015:

2016: 2018: 2019:

La Chapelle (f Holy Roman Emperor) ran on the flat in France. Broodmare.

Sleeping Beauty (f Oasis Dream) Winner at 3, 3rd Irish Stallion Farms EBF Salsabil S LR. Dam of Irish Territory (c Declaration of War: Winner at 3 in USA, 2nd With Anticipation S G3) NEW YEAR’S NIGHT (g Raven’s Pass) 3 wins at 3 and 4.

ZHUKOVA (f Fastnet Rock) 7 wins at 3 to 5 at home, USA, Man O’War S G1.

Broodmare.

Jathab (g Shamardal) unraced.

MIDNIGHT FAIR (f Raven’s Pass) 2 wins at 3 in France.

GHAIYYATH (c Dubawi) 4 wins at 2 to 4 at home, France, Longines Grosser Preis von Baden G1, Prix d’Harcourt G2, Godolphin Autumn S G3, Prix du Prince d’Orange G3, 3rd Prix Ganay G1.

Estrella (f Zoffany) in training. (c Dubawi) (c Dubawi)

2nd Dam: CAUMSHINAUN by Indian Ridge. Champion older mare in Ireland in 2001. 5 wins at 3 and 4 Turtle Island Platinum S LR. Dam of NIGHTIME (f Galileo, see above), Mermaid Island (f Mujadil: 2nd ISF Victor McCalmont EBF S LR). Grandam of ONDINA, Holy Cow, Wishfully.

Broodmare Sire: GALILEO. Sire of the dams of 154 Stakes winners. In 2019 - GHAIYYATH Dubawi G1, INVINCIBELLA I Am Invincible G1, MAGNA GRECIA Invincible Spirit G1, SISTERCHARLIE Myboycharlie G1, SOTTSASS Siyouni G1, THE AUTUMN SUN Redoute’s

110 THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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CAULFIELD ON GHAIYYATH: “His dam isn’t any old daughter of Galileo; Nightime became the first of many Classic winners for Galileo when she landed the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2006” Choice G1, WATCH ME Olympic Glory G1, WINNING WAYS Declaration of War G1.

The Dubawi/Galileo cross has produced: DARTMOUTH G1, GHAIYYATH G1, NIGHT OF THUNDER G1, Secret Advisor G2, Red Galileo G3, UAE JEWEL LR, Galactic Prince LR, Seema LR.

GHAIYYATH b c 2015 Seeking The Gold Mr Prospector Con Game

Dubai Millennium

Colorado Dancer Shareef Dancer Fall Aspen

DUBAWI b 02

Deploy

Shirley Heights Slightly Dangerous

Jawaher

Dancing Brave High Tern

Sadler’s Wells

Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge

Urban Sea

Miswaki Allegretta

Indian Ridge

Ahonoora Hillbrow

Ridge Pool

Bluebird Casting Couch

Zomaradah

Galileo NIGHTIME ch 03 Caumshinaun

Back in 2011 Danedream won the Grosser Preis von Baden by six lengths as a prelude to winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe by five lengths. No wonder, then, that the Arc was named as the next target for Ghaiyyath after this son of Dubawi landed Baden-Baden’s major prize by no less than 14 lengths. The powerful galloper follows the 2,000 Guineas winner Night Of Thunder as the second Gr1 winner Dubawi has sired from Galileo mares.

Coincidentally, Ghaiyyath was conceived just a matter of days after Night Of Thunder’s Classic success.

Ghaiyyath’s dam isn’t any old daughter of Galileo; Nightime became the first of many Classic

Stand Stakes winners Indian Ridge and Bluebird, and his fourth dam, Casting Couch, was by another leading sprinter in Thatching.

However, Caumshinaun won the Listed Platinum Stakes over a mile.

Ghaiyyath’s fifth dam, the speedy Drama, won the Gr3 Greenlands Stakes over six furlongs and went on to produce a pair of notable broodmares in the Gr3 winner Tycoon’s Drama and the Listedplaced Last Drama.

Last Drama was the dam of the Gr1-winning American turf performer King’s Drama and second dam of Dubawi’s smart son Move Up, who won mile-and-a-half Group races in Britain and Turkey.

winners for Galileo when she landed the 2006 Irish 1,000 Guineas.

Although Nightime’s subsequent efforts left it unclear whether she stayed beyond a mile, her achievements as a broodmare indicate that she would have stayed quite well. Ghaiyyath follows the Gr1 Man o’War Stakes winner Zhukova as her second Gr1 winner and Zhukova stayed a mile and a half well despite having the top Australian sprinter Fastnet Rock as her sire.

Nightime has also produced middledistance winners to Oasis Dream and Raven’s Pass.

Ghaiyyath’s second and third dams, Caumshinaun and Ridge Pool, were respectively sired by the King’s

Group 2 and 3 Results 08/08

G3

GRENKE Ballyroan Stakes (Leopardstown)

09/08

G3

Qatar Phoenix Sprint Stakes (Curragh)

10/08

G3

Rose of Lancaster Stakes (Haydock Park)

10/08

G3

germantb.com Sweet Solera Stakes (Newmarket)

11/08

G3

Prix Minerve (Deauville)

15/08

G2

15/08 15/08

12f

Latrobe (IRE)

4

C

Camelot

Question Times

Shamardal

239

Gustavus Weston (IRE)

3

G

Equiano

Chrissycross

Cape Cross

240

Addeybb (IRE)

5

G

Pivotal

Bush Cat

Kingmambo

241

West End Girl (GB)

2

F

Golden Horn

Free Rein

Dansili

242

2500m

Tamniah (FR)

3

F

Nathaniel

Ezdehar

Rock of Gibraltar

243

Prix Guillaume d’Ornano-Logis St Germain (Deauville)

2000m

Headman (GB)

3

C

Kingman

Deliberate

King’s Best

244

G3

Arqana Prix de Lieurey (Deauville)

1600m

Fount (GB)

3

F

Frankel

Ventura

Chester House

245

G3

Prix Gontaut-Biron-HKJC (Deauville)

2000m

Olmedo (FR)

4

C

Declaration of War

Super Pie

Pivotal

246

15/08

G3

Invesco Desmond Stakes (Leopardstown)

8f

Madhmoon (IRE)

3

C

Dawn Approach

Aaraas

Haafhd

247

15/08

G3

Tattersalls Sovereign Stakes (Salisbury)

8f

Kick On (GB)

3

C

Charm Spirit

Marika

Marju

248

6f 10f 7f

16/08

G3

Comer Ballycullen St Leger Trial Stakes (Curragh)

14f

Southern France (IRE)

4

C

Galileo

Alta Anna

Anabaa

249

16/08

G3

Royal Whip Stakes (Curragh)

10f

Buckhurst (IRE)

3

C

Australia

Artful

Green Desert

250

17/08

G2

Shadwell Prix de la Nonette (Deauville)

2000m

Terebellum (IRE)

3

F

Sea The Stars

Marvada

Elusive City

251

17/08

G2

Shadwell Prix du Calvados (Deauville)

1400m

Tropbeau (GB)

2

F

Showcasing

Frangipanni

Dansili

252

17/08

G2

Unibet Hungerford Stakes (Newbury)

7f

Glorious Journey (GB)

4

G

Dubawi

Fallen For You

Dansili

253

17/08

G3

ISF EBF Give Thanks Stakes (Cork)

12f

Tarnawa (IRE)

3

F

Shamardal

Tarana

Cape Cross

254

17/08

G3

Shadwell Prix Daphnis (Deauville)

Delaware (GB)

3

C

Frankel

Zatsfine

Oasis Dream

255

17/08

G3

Unibet Geoffrey Freer Stakes (Newbury)

Technician (IRE)

3

C

Mastercraftsman

Arosa

Sadler’s Wells

256

18/08

G2

Darley Prix Kergorlay (Deauville)

3000m

Marmelo (GB)

6

H

Duke of Marmalade

Capriolla

In The Wings

257

18/08

G2

Darley Prix de Pomone (Deauville)

2500m

Dame Malliot (GB)

3

F

Champs Elysees

Stars In Your Eyes

Galileo

258

1600m 13f

21/08

G2

Sky Bet Great Voltigeur Stakes (York)

Logician (GB)

3

C

Frankel

Scuffle

Daylami

259

21/08

G3

Tattersalls Acomb Stakes (York)

7f

Valdermoro (USA)

2

C

Declaration of War

Snooki

Empire Maker

260

22/08

G2

Sky Bet Lowther Stakes (York)

6f

Living In The Past (IRE)

2

F

Bungle Inthejungle

Ayr Missile

Cadeaux Genereux

261

23/08

G2

Debutante Stakes (Curragh)

7f

Alpine Star (IRE)

2

F

Sea The Moon

Alpha Lupi

Rahy

262

23/08

G2

Galileo Irish EBF Futurity Stakes (Curragh)

7f

Armory (IRE)

2

C

Galileo

After

Danehill Dancer

263

23/08

G2

Al Basti Gimcrack Stakes (York)

6f

Threat (IRE)

2

C

Footstepsinthesand

Flare of Firelight

Birdstone

264

23/08

G2

Weatherbys Hamilton Lonsdale Cup Stakes (York)

16f

Stradivarius (IRE)

5

H

Sea The Stars

Private Life

Bering

265

24/08

G2

Ladbrokes Celebration Mile Stakes (Goodwood)

8f

Duke of Hazzard (FR)

3

C

Lope de Vega

With Your Spirit

Invincible Spirit

266

24/08

G2

Sky City of York Stakes (York)

7f

Shine So Bright (GB)

3

C

Oasis Dream

Alla Speranza

Sir Percy

267

24/08

G3

Preis der Sparkassen Finanzgruppe (Baden-Baden)

Alounak (FR)

4

C

Camelot

Awe Struck

Rail Link

268 269

12f

2000m

24/08

G3

Ladbrokes March Stakes (Goodwood)

24/08

G3

Ladbrokes Prestige Stakes (Goodwood)

14f

Sir Ron Priestley (GB)

3

C

Australia

Reckoning

Danehill Dancer

Boomer (GB)

2

F

Kingman

Wall of Sound

Singspiel

24/08

G3

Sky Winter Hill Stakes (Windsor)

270

Desert Encounter (IRE)

7

G

Halling

La Chicana

Invincible Spirit

271

24/08

G3

Sky Strensall Stakes (York)

25/08

G2

Casino Baden Baden Goldene Peitsche (Baden-Baden)

1200m

Zaaki (GB)

4

G

Leroidesanimaux

Kesara

Sadler’s Wells

272

Royal Intervention (IRE)

3

F

Exceed And Excel

Exciting Times

Jeune Homme

25/08

G2

L. Barriere Grand Prix de Deauville (Deauville)

273

2500m

Ziyad (GB)

4

G

Rock of Gibraltar

Arme Ancienne

Sillery

25/08

G3

274

Prix Quincey Barriere (Deauville)

1600m

Skalleti (FR)

4

G

Kendargent

Skallet

Muhaymin

275

25/08 25/08

G3

Prix de Meautry - Barriere (Deauville)

1200m

Spinning Memories (IRE)

4

F

Arcano

Hanalei Memories

Hard Spun

276

G3

Weatherbys Supreme Stakes (Goodwood)

7f

Suedois (FR)

8

G

Le Havre

Cup Cake

Singspiel

277

29/08

G3

Coolmore Fairy Bridge Stakes (Tipperary)

7.5f

Waitingfortheday (IRE)

4

F

Elzaam

Wiolante

Lagunas

278

30/08

G3

Flame of Tara Irish EBF Stakes (Curragh)

8f

Cayenne Pepper (IRE)

2

F

Australia

Muwakaba

Elusive Quality

279

30/08

G3

Round Tower Stakes (Curragh)

6f

Lope Y Fernandez (IRE)

2

C

Lope de Vega

Black Dahlia

Dansili

280

9f

7f 10f 9f

30/08

G3

Snow Fairy Stakes (Curragh)

Goddess (USA)

3

F

Camelot

Cherry Hinton

Green Desert

281

31/08

G2

T von Zastrow Stutenpreis (Baden-Baden)

2400m

Amorella (IRE)

4

F

Nathaniel

Anaita

Dubawi

282

31/08

G3

Wackenhut Zukunfts Rennen (Baden-Baden)

1400m

Alson (GER)

2

C

Areion

Assisi

Galileo

283

31/08

G3

Prix d’Arenberg (Chantilly)

1000m

Al Raya (GB)

2

F

Siyouni

Fig Roll

Bahamian Bounty

284

31/08

G3

Betway Atalanta Stakes (Sandown Park)

8f

Lavender’s Blue (IRE)

3

F

Sea The Stars

Beatrice Aurore

Danehill Dancer

285

31/08

G3

Betway Solario Stakes (Sandown Park)

7f

Positive (GB)

2

C

Dutch Art

Osipova

Makfi

286

01/09

G2

Oettingen Rennen (Baden-Baden)

1600m

Vintager (GB)

4

G

Mastercraftsman

White And Red

Orpen

287

01/09

G3

Prix La Rochette (Parislongchamp)

1400m

Kenway (FR)

2

C

Galiway

Kendam

Kendargent

288

01/09

G3

Prix de Lutece (Parislongchamp)

3000m

Moonlight Spirit (IRE)

3

C

Dubawi

Moonsail

Monsun

289

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The Finish Line with Sir Anthony McCoy In 2015 Sir Anthony McCoy called time on a riding career that had yielded 20 consecutive jockeys’ titles and well over 4,300 winners.

AP was never going to settle for a ‘pipe and slippers’ retirement and adjusting has taken time. However, he nowadays cuts a far more comfortable and relaxed figure, both at home and at work. In September, he returned to the saddle for a one-off ride in a charity race to support Pat Smullen and cancer trials in Ireland, which, of course, he won.

Interview: Graham Dench

I wouldn’t necessarily say I feel healthier for my change of lifestyle and putting on weight. When I was riding, I was never ever sick, but now I get coughs and colds all the time. Maybe I’m just getting soft, but I think my immune system was working better when I wasn’t eating, which isn’t what you would expect. I’m not actually fat though!

The pre-training business wasn’t always the plan, but it’s evolved into a satisfying part of my life. It’s good not being totally tied down to it like a trainer.

I can be at other training establishments, or over in Ireland seeing JP [McManus], or else playing golf perhaps. It started when I was seeking planning permission to build my house and said I wanted a training establishment there as I might train when I finished riding. That didn’t materialise, strangely enough, but I had to build the training complex and we have everything there now, with 32 stables at the moment, plus gallops, horse walkers, stalls and so on. Cieran O’Brien, who was Alan King’s head lad, runs it and I basically work for him when I’m allowed. He’s just what I need; he’s fussy and he’s got some really good riders working for him.

112

I help Frank [Berry] to manage JP’s horses in England, and perhaps I wasn’t pulling my weight to begin with. But I’m putting more into that now. I like going to all the different yards and seeing the way trainers do the job. How busy I am at home varies according to the time of year, but we might have 50-odd horses in the summer, and then there’s a transition period when the jumpers go back into training and we wait for the yearlings.

We normally break all of Jim Hay’s, and Alan King and Jonjo usually have a few horses with us, too. Then there are plenty of JP’s which come and go.

to the sport and I don’t know how Newmarket has managed for so long without a similar facility. Sir Peter would be really proud of it.

The horse I’m looking forward to most is Champ – I’d nearly come out of retirement for the chance to ride him, if they’d let me. He’s my son Archie’s favourite horse, so when he came back in, we went down to Nicky’s together to see him. He looks an absolute beast and if you were looking to buy the perfect horse for jumping, there wouldn’t be many you would put in front of him.

When I first saw him at Nicky’s I told JP we had to have him. For a horse that had never run he wasn’t cheap, and in giving him the name Champ, JP made sure that if he didn’t work out, we wouldn’t forget whose idea it was! He’s going straight over fences and there’s no reason he won’t be good.

The Injured Jockeys’ Fund costs £3.5 million a year to keep going, so I try to do what I can for it. I’ve been playing a lot of golf because a lot of kind people have golf days in aid of the IJF. Supporting those days to help raise money is not a chore, but frustratingly I’m not mentally strong enough to be a really good golfer and my handicap is still 12. The opening of Peter O’Sullevan House on October 11 will be a big day for the IJF. Oaksey House and Jack Berry House have been huge assets

JP likes competition and it’s disappointing for racing as a whole, particularly in Ireland, that Gigginstown is scaling down. Some say it might give the smaller trainers more chance, as Michael O’Leary had nearly all of his concentrated with two or three trainers, unlike JP, but it’s a big loss for Irish racing however you look at it. I can understand him wanting to spend more time with the kids but I’d be surprised if he were to disappear from racing. I think those colours will still be around in ten years.

CAROLINE NORRIS

L

ife got a bit busier than usual while I was getting fit for Pat Smullen’s charity race, as I was doing a lot of riding out, which I enjoyed. I rode out for Jonjo [O’Neill], Nicky [Henderson] and also at Harry Fry’s, and did a bit at Richard Hughes’, as the Flat horses are doing a bit more work than jumpers. I also rode out a lot at home. I was 10st 2lb the day I retired and I was 12st 9lb during Cheltenham [this year]. I got down to 12 stone for the charity race, but it was hard work.

Pat is a special person and a great friend to us all. I said I’d never ride in a horserace again – and I genuinely meant it – but I’m glad I did. It was a tough and emotional day.

Sir Anthony McCoy with Pat Smullen after winning on Quizical at the Curragh

Talking of kids, my daughter Eve, who is 11, is mad into showjumping.

It’s not a cheap hobby, and with the price ponies are now I could do with winning the Euro Millions. Her brother Archie is six and doesn’t know if he wants to be Tiger Woods or Cristiano Ronaldo at the moment. He definitely doesn’t want to be AP McCoy, but he can ride too, to be fair, and that might change. At least he’s an Arsenal fan!

THOROUGHBRED OWNER BREEDER

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DAR17339 Owner Breeder full page BP, Sham 01OCT19.qxp 19/09/2019 12:25 Page 1

AS OF 15-9-19

Shamardal has sired 139 Stakes winners.

One more than Sadler’s Wells at the same age. He gets 12% Stakes winners to runners – world class. He has two top-notch juveniles in 2019 – unbeaten G1 winners Earthlight and Pinatubo, at Timeform 134p, the highest-rated juvenile this century. Shamardal, in other words, is not just one of the best. He’s one of the best ever.

Which makes the retirement of his fastest and highest-rated son truly momentous. Standing alongside Shamardal at Kildangan Stud next season will be the only horse ever to win three Royal Ascot G1 sprints: He’s also Ascot’s six-furlong record-breaker and, in a golden age of sprinters, one of the most dazzling. Point made.

BluePoint.

Darley