Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder June 2014

June_118_Cover_OwnerBreeder 21/05/2014 16:23 Page 1

£4.95 | June 2014 | Issue 118

Incorporating

Treasure Treve Criquette Head-Maarek’s outstanding filly set to sparkle at Royal Ascot

Plus • Ascot chief Charles Barnett talks royals and retirement • Channel 4 Racing: can the show re-connect with viewers?

• French sales house Osarus and its burgeoning reputation

06

9 771745 435006

www.ownerbreeder.co.uk

SYT_TBOB_DPS_Jun14_TBOB_DPS 19/05/2014 15:41 Page 1

Filly ex FOOLISH AMBITION Owned by B.V. Sangster

Colt ex SHE IS ZEN Owned by B.& N. Ferrand

Colt ex BALI BREEZE Owned by J. Yeomans, B. McGarvey & A. Everard

• ALFRED NOBEL • CAMELOT • CANFORD CLIFFS • CHOISIR • DANEHILL DANCER • DECLARATION OF WAR • DUKE OF MARMALADE • EXCELEBRATION • FASTNET ROCK • • FOOTSTEPSINTHESAND • GALILEO • HENRYTHENAVIGATOR • HIGH CHAPARRAL • HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR • MASTERCRAFTSMAN • MOST IMPROVED • PEINTRE CELEBRE • • POUR MOI • POWER • REQUINTO • RIP VAN WINKLE • ROCK OF GIBRALTAR • SO YOU THINK • THEWAYYOUARE • ZOFFANY •

SYT_TBOB_DPS_Jun14_TBOB_DPS 19/05/2014 15:42 Page 2

Filly ex STAR RUBY Owned by Michael Tabor

Filly ex VIA AURELIA Owned by Desert Star Phoenix Jvc

Rated

by Timeform just like his sire HIGH CHAPARRAL and grandsire SADLER’S WELLS

10-time Gr.1 winner over 9-10½ furlongs

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

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

NO COMPETITION

104

The Derby Sale 25 – 26 June 2014

INDIVIDUAL RACES

Featuring Select Horses in Training Section

Tattersalls Ireland (55%)

57

INDIVIDUAL RACES

Number of black type races won by graduates over three years from 2012 to 2014 sold at Auction*

Other IRE (30%)

28

INDIVIDUAL RACES Other GB (15%)

*Derby Sale v’s all other

Select store Sales in Ire & UK

THE NEW ONE “is the best horse we have ever had” Nigel Twiston-Davies, Channel 4 Racing, 3rd April Purchased for ¤25,000 at the Derby Sale All lots catalogued are eligible for the €100,000 Tattersalls Ireland George Mernagh Memorial Sales Bumper 2015

T: +353 1 8864300 info@tattersalls.ie www.tattersalls.ie

A4 col with bleed.indd 1

19/05/2014 15:43

June_118_Editors_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 18:35 Page 3

WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR Publisher: Michael Harris Editor: Edward Rosenthal Bloodstock Editor: Emma Berry Designed by: Thoroughbred Group Editorial: First Floor, 75 High Holborn, London WC1V 6LS Tel: 020 7152 0209 Fax: 020 7152 0213 editor@ownerbreeder.co.uk www.ownerbreeder.co.uk @OwnerBreeder

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Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Stanstead House, The Avenue, Newmarket CB8 9AA Tel: 01638 661 321 Fax: 01638 665621 info@thetba.co.uk • www.thetba.co.uk

Incorporating

Treasure Treve Criquette Head-Maarek’s outstanding filly set to sparkle at Royal Ascot

Plus • Ascot chief Charles Barnett talks royals and retirement • Channel 4 Racing: can the show re-connect with viewers?

• French sales house Osarus and its burgeoning reputation

06

9 771745 435006

www.ownerbreeder.co.uk

Cover: Criquette Head-Maarek with stable star Treve at her Chantilly stable Photo: George Selwyn

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n order to unravel this year’s Derby puzzle you’ll need to answer the following question: do you believe in Australia? That’s the horse, not the country.

A series of trials for Epsom have come and gone without revealing any other outstanding candidates while the main prep race, York’s Dante Stakes, produced a winner that is not even entered in the blue riband.

The result is that the Aidan O’Brien-trained runner is odds-on to triumph on June 7. Perhaps he deserves to be that price after two wins last season and a close third on his reappearance behind Night Of Thunder and Kingman in the 2,000 Guineas. Yet there are clearly other factors at play here.

Australia boasts the world’s best sire in Galileo, the Derby hero of 2001, while his brilliant dam, Ouija Board, won the Oaks three years later. Ouija Board’s previous progeny have all been unable to match their illustrious mother but she finally appears to have produced something special in Australia. Exactly how special is yet to be determined.

O’Brien believes this colt is the finest racehorse he has ever handled, which is some compliment bearing in mind the number of champions that have passed through his Ballydoyle stable. Taken with his breeding, it’s about as concrete as it gets.

Yet based on what he has achieved on the racecourse, Australia is no good thing in the Derby. He may well be the next superstar but it is unwise to celebrate a champion before he – or she – delivers champion performances. Which is why racing fans should be excited at the prospect of watching Treve make her British debut at Royal Ascot.

Treve’s victory in last year’s Arc was simply stunning and topped an unbeaten campaign for the daughter of Motivator. While she lost her perfect race record on her comeback in the Prix Ganay, a performance some thought was disappointing, her titanic struggle down

Longchamp’s home straight with the battle-hardened Cirrus Des Aigles only enhanced her reputation in my opinion.

Criquette Head-Maarek, Treve’s trainer, certainly wasn’t despondent after the defeat. As she tells Julian Muscat in this month’s must-read feature, losing to a top-class rival on his preferred ground is not a disaster.

“This is what happens in racing,” she says (The Big Interview, pages 34-38). “Things went wrong but at least it will put everyone back on the ground.

Some people were already on the moon, and wanting to go higher.

“That horse [Cirrus Des Aigles] is a champion. He wasn’t far behind Frankel at Ascot and you don’t beat him at Longchamp in those conditions. Many have tried.

“It’s a God-given thing to have Treve. Good horses make good trainers: when you come across one like her she takes you right to the top.

“I’m looking forward to running her at Royal Ascot, where I hope we have a good pace and fast ground.”

Also looking forward to Royal Ascot is Charles Barnett, though it will be his last in the role as Chief Executive, having moved to Berkshire from Aintree in 2007.

Barnett, this month’s ‘Talking To’ (pages 44-47), has achieved much in his 30 years working in racing, not least helping to establish British Champions’ Day, but will also be remembered as the man who told presenter Des Lynam, live on air, that the BBC would have to leave the track following the Grand National bomb scare in 1997.

The BBC, of course, no longer has to worry about being asked to depart a racecourse in a hurry, having left of its own volition a couple of years ago.

Channel 4 is now our sport’s sole terrestrial broadcaster, and in the second part of our feature on racing in the media (pages 40-43), Richard Griffiths looks at how it has fared since assuming this responsibility and re-vamping coverage.

“Her defeat against

Racehorse Owners Association Ltd First Floor, 75 High Holborn, London WC1V 6LS Tel: 020 7152 0200 Fax: 020 7152 0213 info@roa.co.uk www.racehorseowners.net

£4.95 | June 2014 | Issue 118

Australia’s promising but Treve is a true champion I

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

the battle-hardened Cirrus Des Aigles only enhanced her reputation

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June_118_Contents_Contents 21/05/2014 18:04 Page 4

CONTENTS JUNE 2014

48

34 NEWS & VIEWS

FEATURES

7

18

ROA Leader

9 10

Equine testing debate

News

Leading French trainer and stable star Treve

Julian Wilson tribute

14

34

COVER STORY Criquette Head-Maarek

TBA Leader

40

Tony Morris

44

Howard Wright Track maintenance vital

INTERNATIONAL SCENE 28

View From Ireland Hurricane Fly could be a stayer

30

Continental Tales Overdose still thrills

32

Around The Globe US triple crown bid on the cards

4

Caulfield Files Galileo’s broodmare success

96

24 Hours With...

Michael Owen

Media & Racing

Talking To...

Ascot’s outgoing CEO Charles Barnett

European Pattern problems

26

64

Is Channel 4 on the right path?

Changes Your monthly round-up

24

Sales Circuit Breeze-ups booming

The Big Picture Guineas races

Keep pool betting on agenda

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48

Osarus French sales house on the up

Over and out: Charles Barnett is set to retire from Ascot racecourse after this year’s royal meeting

June_118_Contents_Contents 21/05/2014 18:04 Page 5 B

4:53 pm

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BLOODLINES Simply the right policy – without the fuss We are able to provide cover for: All risks of mortality Theft Stallion’s congenital or permanent infertility Broodmare barrenness Prospective foal Foals from 24 hours

96

Yearlings unsoundness of wind Horses at grass

FORUM 66

ROA Forum Racing in the north needs help

73

Racecourse League Tables The latest positions

74

LEADING THE FIELD IN BLOODSTOCK INSURANCE

TBA Forum Election candidates focus

81

Breeder of the Month Sheikh Mohammed, for African Story

82

Next Generation Club Fun on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile

86

Vet Forum Colic in thoroughbreds: treatment

Grade 1 Winners Victors at the top level

95

AHEAD OF THE FIELD CONTACT US

DATA BOOK 88

TO STAY

TODAY

Stallion Statistics Theatre is King

Our monthly circulation is certified at

9,423 Can other magazines prove theirs?

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BLOODLINES Marlow House, 1A Lloyd’s Avenue London EC3N 3AA TEL: +44 (0) 207 938 3033 FAX: +44 (0) 207 938 3055 ENQUIRIES@BLOODLINES.CO.UK WWW.BLOODLINES.CO.UK Bloodlines is a trading name of Bloodlines Thoroughbred Insurance Agency Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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Festival Dreams Begin In Ireland FAUGHEEN (IRE)

THE NEW ONE (IRE)

2014 ‘Neptune’ Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) 2014 Champion Novice Hurdle (Grade 1) Purchased as a store for €12,000

2014 Aintree Hurdle (Grade 1) 2013 ‘Neptune’ Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) Purchased as a store for €25,000

Goffs Land Rover Sale

11-12 June 2014 Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale

25-26 June 2014 Includes Horses-in-Training section

Tattersalls Ireland August NH Sale

12-13 August 2014 Includes Horses-in-Training section

Ballymany, The Curragh, Co. Kildare, Ireland. T:+353 45 443060 • E: info@itm.ie • www.itm.ie

June_118_ROA_Leader_Layout 1 21/05/2014 17:28 Page 7

ROA LEADER

RACHEL HOOD President Racehorse Owners Association

What happens when pool betting licence expires?

Future of the Tote should return to racing’s agenda to influence key decisions

T

wo recent events remind us it is now three years since the Tote was sold to the bookmaker Betfred. The first of these came with the government announcement that racing would receive a further £50 million, of a total of £80m, for the Racing Foundation, the charity specifically set up for the purpose of receiving, investing and distributing funds from the sale of the Tote.

This was then followed by a spectacular Scoop6 rollover, which, at the time of writing, has raced past the £10 million payout level and could easily end up at £15m – an extraordinary and exciting sum for a horseracing bet.

Both events suggest that Betfred is doing very nicely out of its purchase of the Tote. Fred Done’s company has paid off its debt for the Tote early and has kept to the various commitments it made to racing as part of the purchase agreement. It has even found the wherewithal to acquire an all-weather racecourse and it will be interesting to see how the re-named Chelmsford City (formerly Great Leighs) operates under its bookmaker ownership.

Of course, the Betfred acquisition of the Tote had much more to do with Fred Done being able to acquire 517 betting shops than anything relating to the seven-year exclusive pool betting right, but it is fair to say that Betfred also appears to be doing rather well from the pool betting side of the business, as a 30% deduction from the Scoop6 pool would indicate.

It is against this background, with four of the seven years of the exclusive pool betting licence remaining, that there is a growing question mark hanging over the future of the Tote when the current exclusive licence agreement expires.

Racing must not cease to be involved because a racing charity has received £80m from the Tote sale. Any sense of gratitude must not be allowed to cloud the fact that it is the only benefit our industry has received from this

sale. Nobody wants to go back to rehearsing all those arguments about the Tote not being the government’s to sell, but it is more than curiosity that causes me to raise these concerns.

On the current assumption the government of the day will no longer allow an exclusive licence, it leaves one guessing as to what the next step will be. Will they, for instance, instead issue licences to a number of fit and proper entities, for an appropriate fee, to allow them to operate pool betting in the UK? As logical as this might sound, it would show a glaring lack of understanding of how pool betting works. Issuing multiple licences would devalue the product. Even as a monopoly, it has been difficult to make pool betting work in this country.

Several companies undercutting each other would surely end in commercial suicide as each failed to achieve the necessary level of liquidity.

This is one of the reasons why British racing should now reignite its interest in the future of the Tote. In some ways the pool betting picture of the future is very different from the one of the last 50 years. The days when it was deemed essential to market Tote products through betting shops and racecourses are almost behind us. With so much betting now going online, we have reached an age where the Tote could be very successfully marketed through the internet, which offers infinite possibilities of building spectacular worldwide pools.

The recent Scoop6 bonanza again showed how Tote pools grow exponentially once you get into reasonably big figures. The good profitability attached to these socalled exotic bets is one thing but they also produce huge PR benefits.

All of this shows that, even if British racing plc can no longer hope to possess the exclusive licence for pool betting, we must be proactive to ensure the right decisions are made.

“The good profitability attached to bets like the Scoop6 is one thing but they also produce huge PR benefits

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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June_118_TBA_Leader_TBA 21/05/2014 18:06 Page 9

TBA LEADER

RICHARD LANCASTER Chairman Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association

IFHA draws up global equine testing guides Not all member countries expected to sign up to out-of-training agreement

I

t is increasingly apparent that thoroughbred breeding is a global industry. Thanks to modern technology, it was possible to follow events at the recent Asian Racing Conference in Hong Kong without having to take a 13hour flight from Heathrow, via the dedicated website which followed each day’s video presentations and included detailed pages of back-up material provided by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

The first day was largely devoted to closed meetings of various official bodies, from which emerged a statement revealing that worldwide guidelines for out-of-training testing of horses for prohibited substances, including anabolic steroids, had been drawn up by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA) executive council, for ratification by its 60odd members in October.

IFHA Chairman Louis Romanet summed up the importance of the development when he said: “Without a strong out-of-competition testing programme, the interests of racing, breeding and wagering participants and stakeholders are seriously compromised.”

However, despite unanimity on the executive council, not every country is expected to sign up to every letter of the newly drafted Article 6e of the IFHA’s international agreement on breeding, racing and wagering, since there are believed to be differences of opinion on the timing of testing in a horse’s life – some countries want to start when a foal is born, others when a horse goes into training – and as this is a fundamental issue for breeders, further comment will have to wait until more details have made their way through the appropriate channels. Through this column in February, I outlined the TBA’s observations on this issue, and latest developments suggest that the legal position of racing authorities will be a factor in this debate.

Much more clear-cut was the message from the closing session devoted to racing and breeding in mainland China, which probably told us more in five hours than in a week’s worth of information gathering on an official trade mission.

China is occasionally portrayed as the last big frontier in the horseracing world, and has been the subject of attention from any number of sources, including Britain who through the efforts of the TBA recently secured an Export Protocol, albeit as a latecomer behind Australia, Ireland and France, but the conference highlighted more pitfalls than it offered promises and this supports the view that China is a long-term trading partner prospect.

Myriad layers of government involvement is one thing; the acute lack of registrations in the China Stud Book and of export licences, plus low regard for equine veterinary services, are far more important matters for breeders.

The Chinese Equestrian Association, which includes horseracing among its seven government departmental responsibilities, has laudable ambitions to develop the sport, but there is no escaping the fragmented nature of staging racing and the go-stop experience of most racecourses other than in the industrial city of Wuhan, as illustrated at the conference by Dr Kim Mak of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which is setting up a stabling and training centre near Guangzhou.

That in turn adversely affects the China Stud Book, which comes under the authority of the China Horse Industry Association and was approved by the International Stud Book Committee in 2002.

Yet while there are said to be more than 6.3 million horses in mainland China, only around 3,000 are thoroughbreds, and just 400 are formally registered, of which about 100 were foals born in the ten years to 2012 and 39 were mares, according to Kyo Shimizu, secretary general of the Asian Stud Book Conference.

There is simply no requirement or incentive for thoroughbreds, imports or homebreds, to be entered into the China Stud Book. The figures, allied to welfare issues that can be encapsulated in the statistic that there is one equine operating theatre in the whole of China, add up to a salutary warning that China’s emerging industry needs our support and guidance.

“There are differences of opinion on the timing of testing in a horse’s life; this is a fundamental issue for breeders

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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June_118_News_Owner 21/05/2014 17:13 Page 10

NEWS Stories from the racing world

Julian Wilson, 1940-2014

I

f Sir Peter O’Sullevan was the voice of racing, Julian Wilson was certainly the face of it. So said one jockey among dozens of people who paid tribute to the former BBC Racing anchorman, who died in April aged 73.

Wilson was an iconic figure and for anyone over the age of 35 whose interest in racing was sparked or furthered through the medium of television, memories of the man behind the microphone will be vivid.

Julian David Bonhote Wilson, who was born in 1940 in Devon, held the job of BBC television racing correspondent from January 1966 to December 1997.

He was one of the commentators on the Grand National from 1969 to 1991, a time when the BBC had a near-monopoly of top races.

Wilson was also a racehorse owner and respected punter, and was as passionate about cricket as he was racing.

His father Peter was a hard act to follow,

“He was a star, a

top-class broadcaster, a perfectionist and the most punctual man you could ever meet” having been one of the leading sports journalists of his day, his provocative style earning him the tag ‘The Man They Can’t Gag’.

Wilson attended Harrow School, then worked for various Mirror Group newspapers, before successfully auditioning for the BBC. Channel 4 Racing was born in 1985, the young upstart’s character contrasting with the traditional style of the BBC’s coverage. If Wilson was The Sporting Life, then Channel 4’s Derek Thompson was the Racing Post – the newspaper founded in 1986 as a ‘modern’ alternative to the Life.

It took the BBC longer to cave in to the new kid on the block than it took the Life, and much like the rivalry between the newspapers, terrestrial television coverage of racing divided opinion.

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Some preferred the swagger of Channel 4 and the antics of John McCririck, another Harrow old boy, others the more formal, traditional triumvirate of Wilson, O’Sullevan and Jimmy Lindley.

When Wilson and O’Sullevan both retired in 1997, it was truly the end of an era.

Wilson penned several books and was a regular letter writer to the Racing Post, his forthright conservative views on subjects generally striking a chord with the majority.

Trainer William Haggas, who shared many cricket pitches and interviews with Wilson, said: “He was a star and a great man. He was a top-class broadcaster and a very good private handicapper and punter.

“He was a perfectionist and the most punctual man you could ever meet, the most reliable of friends and discreetest of allies, and I shall miss him greatly.”

Wilson leaves behind his second wife, Alison, and has a son from his first marriage.

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June_118_News_Owner 21/05/2014 17:13 Page 11

Epsom targets £100,000 with charity appeal Epsom racecourse is driving a charity appeal in the memory of their former colleague Caroline Beaumont, who died last year at the age of 35.

‘Caroline’s Vision’ was launched at the track’s spring meeting in April, to raise funds for the Barts Cancer Unit, at which point more than £27,500 had been pledged towards the £100,000 target.

Caroline rode out for Epsom trainers Simon Dow and Pat Phelan, and worked for the Jockey Club, latterly at Epsom. She was a much-loved personality and a driving force of fundraising in the town.

She also organised the local owners’ and trainers’ awards evening for many years, and in 2010 was herself the recipient of the Stanley Wootton Award, named after the trainer whose commitment ensured the future of Epsom’s gallops facilities – the award goes to the person regarded as having contributed most to the town’s racing and training success.

Dow said in presenting Caroline with the award: “I don’t think there has been a more deserving recipient, because Caroline is typical of individuals who give more time than they have, and who put more emotion

Caroline Beaumont: much loved and greatly missed by her friends and family

than they should into arranging things for others.”

Last month, the annual 21-mile Derby Walk, organised by John Sandys, from Knightsbridge to Epsom raised money for Caroline’s fund, while the culmination of

events this summer will be a celebration of her life at Epsom on August 25, the Bank Holiday Family Raceday.

Donations can be made at: bartscharity.org.uk justgiving.com/carolinebeaumont1

Free movement of thoroughbreds guaranteed A revised Tripartite Agreement (TPA) has come into force allowing for traceable movement of horses, including thoroughbreds, between Britain, Ireland and France.

The Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, British Horseracing Authority, Weatherbys and British Equestrian Federation have been working in conjunction with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal Health Veterinary Laboratories Agency to see this regulation imposed.

The amendment of the TPA consents horses which are of demonstrably higher health status than the general horse population, and therefore at lower risk of transmitting disease, to travel under the TPA without veterinary health certification. These are: > Registered General Stud Book (GSB) thoroughbreds in Britain, France and Ireland, or which are registered in Weatherbys’ NonTHOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Thoroughbreds: higher health status

Thoroughbred Register (NTR), or Autre Que Pur Sang (AQPS) horses for breeding, sale, training and racing in France.

> Sport horses and ponies entered into Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) governed competition in France.

These two groups of horses have been assigned a high health status because of the regularity of veterinary checks they undergo and their compliance with their governing bodies’ vaccination policies and veterinary regulations.

Commenting on the amendment, Louise Kemble, TBA Chief Executive, said: “The TBA recognised the importance of continued free movement for thoroughbreds between the UK, France and Ireland, and have worked with other stakeholders to retain this important derogation.

“It will require new compliance measures for horses moving between the UK and France but this will improve traceability and protect the health status of thoroughbreds.”

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June_118_News_Owner 21/05/2014 17:13 Page 12

NEWS

Racing Foundation grants The Racing Foundation, set up to distribute funds received from the sale of the Tote to Betfred, has announced the award of grants totalling £501,609 to six charities working within racing.

Two joint-programmes run by the British Racing School and Northern Racing College have been among the initiatives to benefit – a three-year grant of £98,609 was awarded for a life skills programme for 16 to 18-year-olds attending the schools’ foundation courses, while a two-year grant of £120,000 was given for a flexible learning programme which sees 14 to 16-year-olds attend the racing schools one day per week and work towards a Diploma in Racehorse Care.

The Racing Foundation awarded £225,000 to the New Astley Club to support the delivery of RACEFIT, an injury rehabilitation service for jockeys and stable staff. The

service will be delivered from the club’s new gym and physiotherapy suite in Newmarket, which will be re-launched later this year as ‘The Racing Centre’. The project is in association with the Injured Jockeys Fund and Racing Welfare.

Roger Weatherby, Chairman of the Racing Foundation, said: “During our last funding round, we were particularly pleased to receive joint grant applications from the British Racing School and the Northern Racing College for two high quality programmes.

“The racing schools provide exceptional training and employment opportunities for young people and we are delighted to be able to support them.”

The Racing Foundation’s next funding round closes for applications on June 27.

Further details on how to apply are available at www.racingfoundation.co.uk

Roger Weatherby: applications pleasing

Barzalona loses Godolphin top spot Following news that Silvestre de Sousa will now have to share rides with Kieren Fallon for Saeed bin Suroor, fellow Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby has announced that Mickael Barzalona is no longer automatic first choice to ride for his stable, with William Buick and Martin Lane set for more opportunities.

The new arrangements represent a blow to Barzalona, who shot to prominence in 2011 as a 19-year-old with a dramatic Derby-winning ride on Pour Moi when based with Andre Fabre.

Barzalona won three Group 1s for Godolphin in 2012, including the St Leger on the subsequently banned Encke, but he enjoyed only one toplevel success in 2013, for Richard Hannon, and has endured a slow start to the current campaign.

Appleby said: “I feel you don’t need to be tied down to one specific rider.

I have 200 horses and there are plenty of jockeys out there. If Ryan Moore is available then I would use him.

This is how we feel things at Moulton Paddocks are going to be successful.

“Mickael is still employed by Godolphin but his contract is to ride

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horses as we see fit. We sat down and spoke about it and he has been very good and understanding.

“He’s a young lad, a very level-headed young man who had a very bright and successful start to his career and he has to keep firing the winners in.”

Charlie Appleby (right) will use William Buick (white cap) as well as Mickael Barzalona this season

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_News_Owner 21/05/2014 17:15 Page 13

NEWS

Newcastle granted all-weather approval The race to become the first all-weather racecourse in the north gathered pace at the end of April when the BHA accepted Newcastle’s application to enter the 2015 fixture allocation process. Owners Arena Racing Company (ARC) are aiming to convert the 1m6f Newcastle turf track into an allweather surface.

Chelmsford City racecourse – or Great Leighs as it was known under previous management – is also bidding for fixtures with its new owner, Betfred boss Fred Done.

Ruth Quinn, Director of Racing for the BHA, said: “Having submitted applications which met all of the criteria for new and converted racecourses, both Chelmsford City and the converted Newcastle all-weather track have been granted permission to join the 2015 fixture allocation process.

“However, this should not be interpreted as a guarantee or indication of an expansion of all-weather fixtures or the overall fixture list in order to accommodate new fixtures at either venue. We continue to develop the fixture allocation process, part of which involves determining customer demand for

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

ARC would like all-weather racing to be held at Newcastle from next year

fixtures and the scope of the horse population to meet such demand.”

The prospect of Newcastle, home of the valuable two-mile handicap the Northumberland Plate, losing its turf course has caused dismay among a number of

traditionalists, although some races could still take place on grass by switching to the hurdles track.

Independently-owned Catterick has also stated its intention to replace its turf course with an all-weather track.

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June_118_Changes2pp_Layout 1 21/05/2014 16:15 Page 14

in association with

Racing’s news in a nutshell PEOPLE AND BUSINESS Pat Cosgrave Jockey has six-month ban for poorly-judged ride on Anaerobio in Dubai reduced to four months on appeal.

Wetherby

Alan Jarvis

Yorkshire jumps track plans to stage Flat racing in the future and will stage a trial meeting this month.

Trainer’s career is over after the BHA deems him unsuitable to hold a licence; Jarvis intended to hand over his Buckinghamshire stable to son Tim, but that request was denied.

Camilla Tabor BHA Flat Racing Executive since 2008 is made redundant as part of a restructuring process.

Michael Sullivan Sam Twiston-Davies 21-year-old is appointed first jockey to leading jumps trainer Paul Nicholls, replacing the currently injured Daryl Jacob.

Leaves role as Chief Executive of Sportingbet, one of Australia’s most successful bookmakers, following its £460m purchase last year by William Hill.

Garrowby Stud North Yorkshire stud owned by Lord Halifax is available to let from July 1.

Kieren Fallon Six-time champion jockey is promoted to joint top rider for Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor, sharing the role with Silvestre de Sousa.

Deauville French track becomes the 20th worldwide to install a Polytrack surface.

Tadhg O’Shea Leaves role as retained jockey to owner Jimmy Long; he relinquished his job as second rider to Hamdan Al Maktoum to take the position in 2012.

More people and business...

Eddie O’Connell is banned for four years by the Turf Club after being found guilty by an investigation into betting irregularities; the horse in question, Yachvili, was pulled-up in a beginners’ chase at Downpatrick in September 2011. AP McCoy lands his 19th jockey’s title, while Paul Nicholls regains the crown as top jumps trainer; JP McManus is leading owner and Gavin Sheehan champion conditional. William Hill says it will close 109 betting shops following increased duty on gaming machines revealed in the Budget; Coral also announces shop closures. Jump jockey Denis O’Regan ends his partnership with trainer John Ferguson and will continue as a freelance. Patrick Kennedy announces intention to move on from eight-year tenure as Chief Executive of Paddy Power but says he won’t be joining a rival bookmaking firm.

Sarah Hordern, Newbury’s ex-Managing Director, joins the BHA on a temporary contract to help compile the 2015 fixture list.

Kirsten Rausing, former Chairman of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, is elected Honorary Chairman of the European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders’ Associations (EFTBA).

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RACEHORSE AND STALLION MOVEMENTS AND RETIREMENTS

Battle Group Talented but moody chaser, winner of nine races, is retired aged nine after refusing to race in the Grand National and then trying to do the same in the Scottish Grand National.

Reckless Abandon Dual Group 1-winning juvenile is removed from stallion duties at Darley’s Kildangan Stud due to sub-fertility and returns to training with Charlie Appleby.

Quevega Al Kazeem Last year’s Prince of Wales’s Stakes and Eclipse hero returns to training with Roger Charlton for owner/breeder John Deer after proving sub-fertile at stud.

Record-breaking mare, winner of six editions of the OLBG Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, is retired aged ten and covered by Beat Hollow.

It’s A Dundeel Outstanding New Zealand-bred son of High Chaparral, winner of six Group 1s in Australia between 9f and a mile and a half, is retired; he starts his stud career at Arrowfield Stud in NSW.

Fiorente Melbourne Cup winner, bred by Ballymacoll Stud, will stand at Eliza Park near Melbourne at a fee of A$17,600.

PEOPLE OBITUARIES

Zoustar Julian Wilson 73

Bertie Hayden 68

BBC racing presenter and commentator for over 30 years, he was also an owner and punter as well as a keen cricketer (see obituary page 10).

South African jockey who won the Durban July three times and the Met on five occasions.

Gillian McCalmont 72

HORSE OBITUARIES

Owner/breeder and accomplished horsewoman who joined her family’s Yeomanstown Stud, breeder of dual Group 2 winner Fairy Queen.

Flatterer 35 US-trained jumper who finished runnerup to See You Then in the 1987 Champion Hurdle; he won 24 times in 52 starts and over $500,000

Alfie Richards 82 Joined The Sporting Life newspaper after school and was described as “the form aficionado of the Man On The Spot team”.

Common Grounds 29 Group 1 winner at two who was bought by Morristown Lattin Stud, siring Prix Morny winner Bad As I Wanna Be and classy sprint filly Flanders. He died in Turkey.

Brian Kilpatrick 83 Jumps owner whose best horse was Sabin Du Loir, winner of the SunAlliance Hurdle and conqueror of Desert Orchid and Waterloo Boy over fences.

Divine Light 19 Al Bahathri 32

Ian Muir 86 Father of trainer William Muir who bred What A Myth, winner of the 1969 Cheltenham Gold Cup, and 1985 Henry II Stakes victor Destroyer.

16

Top-class performer in Australia over 6-7f, winning two Group 1s, suffers a ligament injury ahead of Royal Ascot and is retired to stand at Widden Stud in Victoria.

Outstanding filly and broodmare for Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, winner of six races, including the Irish 1,000 Guineas, and dam of Haafhd.

Japanese-bred son of Sunday Silence who sired 1,000 Guineas heroine Natagora.

Mark Of Esteem 21 Sheikh Mohammed’s homebred miler, winner of the 2,000 Guineas in 1996 and later sire of Derby winner Sir Percy.

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June_118_Big_Picture_NightOfThunder_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 15:30 Page 18

THE BIG PICTURE

June_118_Big_Picture_NightOfThunder_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 15:30 Page 19

2,000 GUINEAS

NIGHT TO REMEMBER He may have been dismissed in the betting but Night Of Thunder belied his 40-1 odds with a half-length success over favourite Kingman and Australia (pictured) in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. The result provided a first British Classic success for owner Saeed Manana and trainer Richard Hannon jnr in his debut season, and number 16 for evergreen jockey Kieren Fallon Photo George Selwyn

June_118_Big_Picture_MissFrance_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 15:26 Page 20

THE BIG PICTURE

FRANCE’S PREMIER TRAINER Andre Fabre has few peers when it comes to winning international races and he secured the full set of British Classics with the 1,000 Guineas triumph of Miss France, who held off the late charge of Lightning Thunder to score by a neck; her most likely target is the Prix de Diane at Chantilly on June 15 Photos George Selwyn

June_118_Big_Picture_MissFrance_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 15:26 Page 21

1,000 GUINEAS

Winning jockey Maxime Guyon with Andre Fabre and owner Diane Wildenstein after the 1,000 Guineas success of Miss France

Bobis OB June 2014_Bobis OB June 2014 21/05/2014 09:33 Page 1

Bobis OB June 2014_Bobis OB June 2014 21/05/2014 09:34 Page 2

June_118_Tony_Morris_Owner 21/05/2014 18:10 Page 24

THE MAN YOU CAN’T IGNORE COMMENT

Tony Morris The European Pattern is no longer what it was originally intended to be, its expansion making racing less competitive – and ratings suggest we are not breeding better horses

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GERRY CRANHAM

F

OR anyone in these islands anxious to learn about the racing programme in France, as I was in the mid-1960s, the annual Abrégé des Courses Plates provided a splendid guide. Five illuminating pages in the volume covering the 1965 season identified for me the names of the biggest races (the grandes epreuves), and they were neatly presented in chronological order under age groups. The courses where they were staged and the distances over which they were run were also included, and the most important events, designated classiques, were readily recognised by the simple use of capital letters.

Full marks to the French, I thought.

Somebody there had done a bit of serious planning, there was a logical structure to their campaign, and as well as its minor role in educating foreigners such as me as to what went on there it served a more significant purpose in indicating for the professionals in the game how the career of an aspiring highclass racehorse should be managed.

There were 21 races referred to as classiques, the Robert Papin, the Morny and the Grand Criterium for two-year-olds only, the Forêt for two-year-olds and up, the Greffulhe, the Daru, the Noailles, the Poulains, the Pouliches, the Hocquart, the Lupin, the Saint-Alary, the Jockey-Club, the Diane, the Grand Prix de Paris, the Royal Oak and the Vermeille for three-year-olds only, the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and Arc de Triomphe for three-year-olds and up, and the Ganay and Cadran for four-year-olds and up.

Significantly, none was a handicap.

The essential message conveyed by that list was: here is how we cut the prestige cake in French racing, so if you want a slice of it, earning a real reputation for your horse, and the appropriate financial rewards, these are your targets. How ordered, how sensible, how obviously founded in logic it was.

I was still pretty much a novice in the game then, but I could readily recognise that what we had in England was anything but a well-defined programme of major races. At York in August 1965, the Yorkshire Oaks was worth £4,465 to the winner, the Nunthorpe £3,741, the Great

The European Pattern has grown by 67% since Mill Reef won the Derby in 1971

Voltigeur £4,524, the Gimcrack £6,809, and the Ebor Handicap £10,419. The big betting race of the meeting provided the richest reward, and it was a contest in which the previous year’s Oaks heroine, Homeward Bound, carried top weight of 9st 7lb and was trying to concede as much as 35lb to some of her 24 rivals. Sent off at 33-1, she finished a never-dangerous eighth and victory went to one of the joint-favourites, Twelfth Man, another four-year-old, shouldering 7st 5lb.

Education, education, education Racehorses of 1965 awarded a rating of 133 to Gimcrack winner Young Emperor, 125 to Voltigeur winner Ragazzo, 122 to Nunthorpe winner Polyfoto, 113 to Yorkshire Oaks winner Mabel, and 103 to Twelfth Man. Those marks would not have surprised any racing professional with an understanding of what constituted class in the thoroughbred and which races had the potential to influence the breed, but for the man in the street the least gifted of the quintet, just a useful gelding, appeared to be the star turn.

He needed educating.

Exactly what it was that provoked the

powers-that-were in England to embark on that process of education I don’t know, but I have always liked to think it was the French model, which set such a shining example of the way it should be done. By 1969 England had a system of classification for its major races, a Pattern for Racing, as it was styled in the report of a committee chaired by the Duke of Norfolk. It came in quietly, with absolutely no fanfare, and few people were aware of its existence until it became part of an integrated scheme involving other European countries in 1971.

It made something of a stuttering start. The scheme, as announced, included major races from England, France, Ireland and Italy, but by publication date for the first annual setting out the conditions of entry for events in the new European Pattern, the Italians still had not got their act together. The dates of the scheduled races in Italy appeared in that slim volume, but there were no race conditions, an omission that could hardly have encouraged entries from other countries.

Indeed, such was the confusion and failure of communication that the fifth Pattern race of 1971 in Italy, the Group 3 Corsa dell’ Arno THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_Tony_Morris_Owner 21/05/2014 18:10 Page 25

at Florence, was run under handicap conditions. It remains the sole anomaly in that respect among the 14,174 European Pattern races contested in the first 43 years of the scheme.

In the year of its inception the European Pattern consisted of 243 races: 50 Group 1, 60 Group 2 and 133 Group 3. There were 161 individual winners, among them Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard, responsible for 11 victories between them. We always knew that the scheme would evolve, and additions were to be expected. Germany, not one of the original participants because many of its races were then closed to foreign horses, was cleared to join in 1973, and for many years just five nations were included in the scheme.

Further growth took place and other countries became involved, but there was a long period of stability with the number of races never exceeding 329 between 1986 and 2001. When the tally finally exceeded that figure, reaching 331 in 2002, that might have seemed no big deal, but closer examination revealed something that had clearly gone wrong. While the races in Group 3 numbered 172, around the level constant since the late 1970s, there were now 80 in Group 2, only one more than those in the elite Group 1 category.

There clearly needed to be an adjustment to restore a sensible differential between the top two Groups, but the way that was achieved in 2003 was far from satisfactory. The overall Pattern was extended by 16 races, with one addition in Group 1, 11 in Group 2 and four in Group 3. Unsurprisingly, the prestige cake was sliced more thinly than ever, with 270 individual winners.

It was clear that things were now out of control. The programme was extended by 20 races in 2004 and it has continued to grow. Last year the scheme included a record 406 races and no fewer than 315 individual horses, also a record, claimed a share of the prestige. Minor adjustments in 2014 – one race fewer in Group 1 and Group 2, and a rise of two in Group 3 – means the overall total remains the same. Let’s be realistic. The European Pattern is no longer what it was and what it was originally intended to be.

All this irrational growth has just provided opportunities for horses to avoid one another, to make racing less competitive, and to dispense specious honours. Can anyone argue that in 2013 there were 100 more horses worthy of recognition as a Pattern winner than there were in the late 1970s? Where is the evidence that we are now breeding better equine athletes? It is not to be found in the ratings.

The planned expulsion of Italy from the 2015 Pattern because of its failure to pay prize-money would wipe 30 races off the schedule.

As that ongoing problem has meant that Italian Pattern races have been attracting very few runners from the UK, Ireland and France over the last two years, they should probably have been struck off the list for 2013 and 2014 as well.

There should be no temptation to add races to the schedule in 2015 to make up for the Italian expulsions. Instead, the Pattern committee should be looking to strip numerous other races of their bogus status and attempt to restore our faith in a system that we welcomed as a reliable measure of class in 1971 and could still believe in up to the turn of the century.

“There was a long

period of stability, the number of races never exceeding 329 between 1986 and 2001”

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June_118_HowardWright_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 16:42 Page 26

HOWARD WRIGHT COMMENT

There’s been a lot of debate over which artificial surface is best but that’s missing the point – the key to a good racing track is proper maintenance

wonder what exactly were the grounds for Arena Racing Company’s choice of surface for the soon-to-be-relaid Wolverhampton and possibly-to-be-synthesised Newcastle, beyond an original news release that gave no indepth reasons based on quantifiable research but mentioned “an extensive consultation process.”

It did point out that Tapeta, its preferred choice, “is renowned internationally as a safe and durable surface for horses to both train and race on; it is used at four racecourses and dozens of training tracks across ten countries.”

No arguments there, although that was at the end of April. Make that three racecourses now, since Sheikh Mohammed subsequently sent in the bulldozers to remove Tapeta from Meydan, its flagship customer, just weeks after his brother Sheikh Hamdan had a few things to say about the need to make changes to all-weather surfaces every five years.

At the time, Sheikh Hamdan said: “Whether it is changed to Tapeta, or to dirt, I cannot say.”

Well, he can now.

That two of Sheikh Hamdan’s Dubai-based trainers had been wary, privately at least, about racing on Tapeta might be coincidental in terms of the Meydan upheaval, or not.

However, British trainers were definitely part of ARC’s extensive consultation process, because their trade body organised a survey. How many members responded and whether it was a oneman, one-vote system is not known, but it produced a remarkably balanced opinion.

According to ARC, “46% of NTF members were supportive of introducing Tapeta, with 46% in favour of maintaining a Polytrack surface.”

Whether that was actually 46% of NTF members, or 46% of NTF members who voted, is a moot point, but presumably the remaining 8% of the poll went to Fibresand, since Cushiontrack, Softrack and Safetrack, the only other synthetic surfaces approved by the BHA, are barely known in Britain for their racing capabilities.

Cushiontrack disappeared in the US when Hollywood Park closed; it lasted four years before being ripped up at one track in Queensland but survives at another. Softrack, which was brought into Martin Collins’ Polytrack group in 2011, and Safetrack, the latest surface to pass the BHA test, have no racecourse applications.

Since ARC’s original announcement, its

26

Wolverhampton website has been more helpfully forthcoming, noting: “Tapeta offers a number of advantages that ARC felt make it an ideal surface for racing… [it] will offer British trainers more choice about what surface to run their horses on. It is bringing innovation to British all-weather racing which is a unique opportunity for all stakeholders and one ARC feels is an important step for the sport.”

More choice, by way of a third all-weather surface, and innovation, because this Tapeta will be golden brown, rather than the black as black can be of Meydan. Not much science there, though.

Out with the old...

Never mind, the decision has been made and it’s farewell to Polytrack at Wolverhampton, although the original material had disappeared so fast over the last couple of years that its inventor finally went public to disassociate himself from the much-despised surface.

Therein lies the key to the long-term success

or otherwise of synthetic tracks. Whether it’s Fibresand, Polytrack or Tapeta is largely immaterial; the big issue is maintenance, maintenance, maintenance.

The gradual demise of synthetics in the US can probably be traced to the early bemusement of some track officials that once laid, the surface had to be regularly maintained to be effective.

That point, it seems, was on occasions not factored into the initial business plan.

In Britain this is where the BHA has to be at its firmest. Apparently, racecourses operating allweather tracks are required to have a maintenance arrangement in place, though how that squares with the Wolverhampton experience is unclear.

The requirement needs to be included as a formal and legally binding condition of allweather racecourses, now and in the future, being granted a licence to race. With one-third of the Flat-race programme depending on synthetic surfaces, British racing deserves nothing less.

GEORGE SELWYN

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The grounds for complaint

African Story wins the last Dubai World Cup on Tapeta as Meydan is turning to dirt

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June_118_View_From_Ireland_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 18:09 Page 28

VIEW FROM IRELAND

By JESSICA LAMB OF THE RACING POST

Old foes set to renew rivalry up in trip Former two-mile champion Hurricane Fly could meet Solwhit over three miles

“Hurricane Fly does

appear to be lacking speed now and I think he could be suited by a step up in trip” his races. No matter what speed they went, he always dropped the bit. Having said that, Hurricane Fly is now settling well too so he could well stay.”

Solwhit moved into the staying division to escape Hurricane Fly, whom he beat once in five meetings, but the development means that should he return from injury next season Solwhit could be facing the 19-time Grade 1 winner once again.

Byrnes added: “At this hour, I’m not

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GEORGE SELWYN

T

he Punchestown festival provided an earth-shaking changing of the guard but also hope that one of Ireland’s alltime greats is set to race on.

After the retirement and covering of sixtime Cheltenham Festival winner Quevega following defeat in the Ladbrokes World Series Hurdle, and the suggestion from owner Alan Potts that 12-year-old Sizing Europe would “go out on a high” after taking the Boylesports.com Champion Chase, rumours were rife that dual Champion Hurdle hero Hurricane Fly had run his last race.

His defeat by Jezki in the Racing Post Champion Hurdle confirmed that his defeat by the same animal in the Cheltenham equivalent was no fluke and that he no longer has what it takes to be Ireland’s champion hurdler. The baton has been passed, but the ten-year-old is not done according to trainer Willie Mullins.

Yes he has lost his “zip” and cannot match the new generation over two miles, but Mullins has said he is considering going up in distance with the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle winner. Whether that is to as far as three miles is yet to be decided, but trainer Charles Byrnes, trainer of Solwhit, feels it’s very achievable for the 19-time Grade 1 winner.

Byrnes said: “Solwhit always had a good chance of staying because he always settled in

Solwhit (left) may find himself facing a former adversary in Hurricane Fly (right)

worrying about him. I’m just working on getting him back from injury. I think he has every chance of coming back and that he still has a race or two in him, but he is ten going on 11 and we are well into bonus territory with him.”

Colin Motherway, whose family now own and breed from Hurricane Fly’s dam Scandisk, echoed Byrnes’s views about Hurricane Fly staying and added that they had been working on stamina in the pedigree.

He said: “He does appear to be lacking speed now and I think he could be suited by a step up in trip. He’s getting old and his legs don’t have the agility they used to.

“We have been going to Yeats with Scandisk. He was a good racehorse himself and will add stamina to the pedigree.

Hurricane Fly is by Montjeu, he’s a Flat-bred horse, but the foals we have had from the mare are not.”

Scandisk is 19 now and Motherway is grateful to have been able to produce two fillies by Yeats to continue the lucrative line.

Excitingly, the next to be raced is likely to be a colt by Shirocco that is in the care of Mullins.

Motherway said: “We bought her in-foal to Shirocco and that colt is now four. Our oldest filly is three and we have recently been discussing whether we will race her or not.

She’s been backed and has had a little bit done with her. She’s out in the field on a break and we have another year to decide.

“The thing is that the mare is getting old.

She is in foal to Yeats but it will get harder to get her in foal soon and we don’t want anything to happen to these fillies so they are there when she stops breeding. The fact that we have two means we could well race the older one and save the two-year-old just in case, God forbid, anything happens to the three-year-old.”

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June_118_View_From_Ireland_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 18:09 Page 29

Access all equine areas for students

Support for the equine industry has been gained at a countrywide academic level for the first time with the introduction of modules for transition year students in Ireland. From September, these students will have access to educational resources that will help them understand more about the equine and agri-food industries.

O’Connor’s fire reignited There is a new kid on the bloodstock block this summer as Grade 1-winning rider Matt O’Connor embarks upon a new career as an agent.

It has been five years since the 26-year-old sustained the severe head injuries in a fall at Thurles that ultimately ended his riding career and, far from being forced into this new position, at his own company Matt O’Connor Bloodstock, the Wexford native is stoked up and ready for action.

“This is the first thing since I started raceriding that gives me a fire in my belly,” he said.

“I’ve got a passion for this. From the age of ten I’ve been watching horses at sales with my father, Dr John O’Connor, and I like to think I’ve learnt from that, as well as from the experience that I got riding and training and doing our own sales horses, which I’m still doing.”

O’Connor returned to action just seven months after the fall that kept him hospitalised for a month and regrets that move, which he THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Agri Aware, a charitable trust aiming to improve the understanding people have of farming and the agri-food industry, is behind these modules and is assisting in building a new Agricultural Science syllabus for leaving certificate students.

It will be the first time that transition year students have had access to relevant

feels contributed to his early retirement from the saddle.

He said: “I came back too soon. It was no fault of anyone’s, but I did. I got another few broken bones soon after that and I fell out of love with it.

“I reverted to amateur, I tried everything. I was just getting by though. I saw myself becoming just another number and I didn’t want that. When I realised that I wasn’t going to get to where I had been, I moved on.”

From his family’s Graigue Farm in Bannow, County Wexford, O’Connor has already been associated with lucrative finds; RSA Chase and Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle winner Weapon’s Amnesty was bought by Graigue Farm as a foal and, more recently, his first point-to-point winner Going Concern, also bought as a foal, sold for £36,000. The sevenyear-old won a novice hurdle for Evan Williams last November, having been O’Connor’s first runner – though there will not be many more.

In-keeping with his ambitious nature, O’Connor is driven to build up his agency above anything else.

He said: “It might sound weird to you, but I genuinely have a passion for this. I might train as a hobby, but I don’t want to do it full time.”

He added: “It’s still very early days for me

CAROLINE NORRIS

Ruby Walsh and Barry Geraghty have given their support to the new initiative

educational material to develop their interest in the equine and agri-food world, whether they come from urban or rural areas.

The initiative is a collaboration between Agri Aware, the Irish Agricultural Science Teachers’ Association and the Irish Farmers Journal.

Chairman of Agri Aware, Bernard Donohue, said: “The Irish equine industry transcends all ages and classes of Irish society, is recreational, revenue generating and enjoyed by many spectators and breeders, right the way through from the smallest sports horse breeder to the thoroughbred breeder, who may one day win a Classic.

“I have no doubt that these modules will instil a knowledge and interest in students that will have long-term benefits, not only for the equine industry but the wider Irish economy. These second-level students will be better equipped to enhance the world class reputation of the Irish equine industry.”

Agri Aware’s Executive Director, Dr Vanessa Woods, added that the trust would try to ensure equine subjects are added to the new Agricultural Science syllabus.

Matt O’Connor: new goals in future

with this business. I know I’m going to have to work hard at it and give it a year or two before I’m mixing it with the likes of Gerry Hogan, Tom Malone and Ross Doyle. I want to be up there with them though and I’ve spent time learning from them.”

O’Connor’s Grade 1 win came on the Colm Murphy-trained Big Zeb in the 2008 Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase at Leopardstown, three months before his fall at Thurles.

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CONTINENTAL TALES

HUN

By JAMES CRISPE, INTERNATIONAL RACING BUREAU

RY GA

Overdose still a magic word

GEORGE SELWYN

Mere mention of successful sprinter enough to engage non-racing public

Overdose did, and is still doing, more for the sport in Hungary than any horse since the days of Kisber and Kincsem

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ITA

here can be little doubt that the positive publicity attracted by the career of the fabulously freakish Frankel gave British racing a major shot in the arm. Now the Hungarian racing authorities are trying to work out how best they can take

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Pattern ban not a done deal

The widely reported withdrawal of Group and Listed status from Italian races for 2015 because of slow prize-money payments dating back over two years is not yet a done deal, despite claims to the contrary.

Even the other members of the European Pattern Committee (EPC) would surely agree that the official decision cannot be made until its meeting in October, while the Italians themselves are adamant that EPC rules do not currently allow for a country’s expulsion.

The Italians also feel that they have done everything that is humanly possible to accelerate prize-money payment and point

30

advantage of the surge in interest following the exploits of the recently-retired ‘Budapest Bullet’, Overdose.

Hungarian racing was a big deal some 140 years ago. Kisber, bred at the Hungarian Royal Stud in the town of that name, won the

out that their implementation of a payment system akin to that currently used by Weatherbys and its French and German counterparts would be impossible, as it would actually contravene Italian banking law.

The facts as they currently stand are that all prize-money owed to overseas connections has now been paid, albeit some of it a few days after the EPC’s March 31 deadline.

But although (by the end of April) all prize-money had been paid for the whole of 2013 and the first two months of 2014, Italian owners and breeders are still waiting for their prizes for the final quarter of 2012.

Epsom Derby in 1876. And the legendary Kincsem – bred at the same stud – included the 1878 Goodwood Cup among her astonishing unbeaten career sequence of 55 races.

But racing is no longer a major sport – the country has a single racecourse, the stateowned Kincsem Park in Budapest, and a thoroughbred population of only around 500.

For the last few years, with betting turnover tumbling, there has been persistent lobbying for the government to cash in its chips and allow the 86-hectare city centre racecourse site to be sold to property developers.

Hopefully, Overdose has changed all that.

The British-bred son of Starborough cost just 2,000gns at Tattersalls’ December Yearling Sale and, like Frankel, won the first 14 starts of his career (15 if you include the infamous 2008 Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp, where he was denied a runaway victory by a false start fiasco) and became a national hero.

Persistent injury problems dogged the latter part of his career and he suffered three defeats, the best of his two British starts being a close fourth in the 2011 King’s Stand Stakes, before he was finally retired after several abortive comebacks.

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ANY

Carvalho handed big opportunity

French-born former jockey Jean-Pierre Carvalho has been handed a chance to make a big splash in his second career as a trainer as he is the latest man at the helm of the von Ullmann family’s Gestut Schlenderhan training facility at Bergheim, near Cologne.

Accepting the post has both risks and potential reward for 42-year-old Carvalho, who spent his entire riding career based in Germany, notching more than 850 victories without managing a top-level success – victory aboard Rotteck in the 2004 Group 2 Idee Hansa Preis was the best he achieved.

Risks because he will be the third different man to have his name above the Schlenderhan door in the last 18 months.

Potential reward because his 60-horse string includes some top prospects with fabulous pedigrees.

The Bergheim complex was modernised at some expense in 2007 and initially the investment looked money well spent as its first incumbent, Jens Hirschberger, notched seven Group 1 triumphs – including two German Derbies – in his first three seasons.

But, Energizer’s win in the 2012 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot apart, the stream of big-race wins dried up and Hirschberger was eventually replaced by Wilhelm Giedt for the 2013 campaign.

If anything, results got even worse, with rumours persisting about problems with the Bergheim gallops, and, after Giedt’s 69 runners from a 72-strong string gleaned a single stakes race success, he too was dismissed from the post.

Carvalho was not an obvious candidate to fill the vacancy. In five years with a training licence from three different yards in BadenBaden, Frankfurt and Chantilly he had racked up a less-than-startling tally of 63 wins, none more prestigious than Usbeke’s victory in a Listed contest at Saint-Cloud in 2009.

But the Carvalho/Schlenderhan link-up has begun promisingly thanks to Ivanhowe plundering the Group 2 Gerling Preis at Cologne on May 4. Ivanhowe had not been

sprinters quickened away from him,” Havlin said. “But he gave me a nice feel.

“It’s a bit early to say and life can be tough for three-year-old sprinters, but I suggested

GEORGE SELWYN

Now, a year later than Frankel, Overdose has just begun covering mares at the Hungarian National Stud in Babolna, while officials try to make the most of his legacy.

“The government has decided to try to develop the sport and has begun to put together a long-term plan,” reveals Zsolt Hegedus, a former senior employee of the state-run racing and betting organisations who now acts as a consultant for both of those bodies.

“There remains a big buzz around Overdose and while he was racing it was completely crazy. Nobody in the media was interested in racing but, even today, if you mention the magic word Overdose, suddenly you have everyone’s attention.

“The first step was to invest in new betting technology which has been brought over from France,” Hegedus continues. “Five hundred new betting terminals have been purchased and 200 new betting shops have been opened to go with the handful that already existed in Budapest.”

Then, on February 26, a new Otosbefuto bet was launched with – surprise, surprise – a photo of Overdose adorning all the promotional literature.

To begin with this bet is just a straight copy of the French ‘Quinte Plus’: one race a day, a French race, shown live on a Hungarian satellite sports television channel, with punters invited to predict the first five home.

It only differs from the original in that, in order to comply with Hungarian law, bets go into a local pool rather than the French PMU pool.

At present this offers no kind of competition against the existing Hungarian lotteries. “The bet is currently making 0.01% profit on its turnover – going against the established national gambling companies is like racing a purebred Arabian against Frankel,” Hegedus joked.

“But the ultimate goal is to get to the stage where the new bet can be on races at Kincsem Park. Then we can begin to stand on our own two feet.”

In the meantime there is a glimmer of hope that Overdose’s little brother, Opium Bullet, may deliver the Magyars further international glory. By Royal Applause, he cost over one hundred times the price of his illustrious sibling when sold to Hungarian owners at last April’s Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale.

Winner of two of his first three starts, Opium Bullet was sent to Munich to contest a Group 3 on May 1, ridden by Newmarketbased Robert Havlin, but could finish no better than eighth.

“He blew the start and then, just as he was getting into contention, the good older

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Georg von Ullmann: tough boss

seen since his eighth in the German Derby at Hamburg last July and Carvalho was adamant he was badly in need of the run.

So his easy length and a half defeat of Night Wish looks pretty good, especially given the fact that the son of Soldier Hollow was pinned against the inside rail throughout the penultimate furlong and would surely have won by further granted a clear passage.

Another Group 2, the Grand Prix de Chantilly, is his next target on June 2 and Ivanhowe looks, along with his German Derby conqueror Lucky Speed, the most likely candidate to follow in the hoofprints of Pastorius, Novellist and Danedream and plunder one of Europe’s top all-aged races for Germany during 2014.

He hails from one of Schlenderhan’s longest established Classic families – his fourth dam, Indra, won the German Oaks almost half a century ago – and is a halfbrother to Paul Nicholls’s classy novice hurdler Irving, who has been absent since losing his unbeaten record over the sticks to Vautour at the Cheltenham Festival.

that they take him back to Hungary, boost his confidence and do some work on the stalls.

Then he might be up to contesting a nice race in say, France, at the backend of the season.”

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June_118_AroundtheGlobe_v2_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 15:22 Page 32

AROUND THE GLOBE THE WORLDWIDE RACING SCENE

AUST R A L I A

by Danny Power

Sydney and Byron’s new chapter

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GEORGE SELWYN

W

hile the click of the turnstiles didn’t reflect anything remarkable about the Australian Turf Club’s A$18 million (£10m) two-meeting extravaganza at Randwick, ambitiously named ‘The Championships’, even the most sceptical observer would agree it was a good start.

The ATC is desperate to develop an autumn carnival in Sydney to rival Melbourne’s spring carnival. A fortune has been spent upgrading Royal Randwick, with a lavish grandstand to house 50,000-plus and a spurge of government-backed cash to help make it happen.

Despite excellent promotion, only 25,000 made it to Randwick for the headline second day of The Championships. Convincing Sydney people to support racing is just another issue facing the ATC as it attempts to build its new festival into something extra special.

While there wasn’t the flood of international interest the ATC hoped for, connections of the two horses that did brave the difficulty of the travel and a not-so-suitable quarantine won Group 1 races were rewarded, and that can only be a good thing.

Popular Irish gelding Gordon Lord Byron, already a seasoned traveller, handled having to quarantine in Melbourne before the 12-hour road trip to Sydney for his races. The Guinness flowed at Bondi when Gordon Lord Byron, ridden by Craig Williams, came with a powerful finish to win the $1m Group 1 George Ryder Stakes at Rosehill in March. His affable trainer, Tom Hogan, deliberated over whether The Championship assignment would be the $2.5m T.J. Smith Stakes or the $3m Doncaster Mile.

In the end Hogan chose the former, but in hindsight the ‘mile’ would have been the better choice, as Gordon Lord Byron was outpaced chasing Australia’s next sprint star, Lankan Rupee, before running on late for sixth.

The Japanese mare Hana’s Goal, trained by Kazuhiro Kati and owned by Japan-based Australian Michael Tabart, had three starts in Sydney. She kicked off with a luckless 14th behind Steps In Time in the Group 1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill in March but showed her talent with a terrific late-closing sixth behind Sacred Falls in the Doncaster.

A week later, outside The Championships

Gordon Lord Byron paid for his trip

carnival, she easily won the $405,000 Group 1 All Aged Stakes at Randwick.

There are already signs that Hana’s Goal’s success could encourage more Japanese horses to come to Sydney in future, especially if the quarantine issues can be sorted out.

Whether more Europeans will be enticed by

Gordon Lord Byron’s bankroll remains to be seen, especially with the rival and more established attraction of the Dubai carnival closer to home. The lure is the opportunity, as Hogan has done with his horse, to head on to Hong Kong and possibly Singapore.

The best result for the ATC has been the success of the branding of The Championships.

Excellent marketing, an interested and compliant media, plus enthusiastic and supportive participants put the concept firmly on the agenda.

One of the biggest issues facing the ATC is how to include the headline acts of the $3.5m Group 1 Golden Slipper, the world’s richest race for two-year-olds, and the $1.5m Group 1 BMW, both run at Rosehill on April 5. It was disappointing to see the Golden Slipper almost forgotten in the promotion and certainly the meeting was lacklustre.

Could it be that the Golden Slipper, so synonymous with Rosehill, will be moved to Randwick? That would upset some people but if it isn’t moved there is a strong chance it will continue to lose significance as all the energies go towards developing two Randwick meetings. Why shouldn’t the world’s richest race for juveniles be part of the main event?

S OU T H A F R I CA South Africa’s triple crown hero Louis The King

by Nicola Hayward

Laid-back Louis Randjiesfontein conditioner Geoff Woodruff has trained some outstanding horses, including El Picha, Jet Master and Yard-Arm. But even by his high standards, the 2014-15 season has been a stellar one.

Most notably it witnessed the maiden run of laid-back three-year-old Louis The King. He won and followed up three weeks later. He then took the Sea Cottage Stakes in January before he trounced his opponents by more than five lengths in the Gauteng Guineas on March 1.

By the end of that month, he had also claimed the Group 1 SA Classic and suddenly there was the possibility South Africa would have only its second triple

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NORT H A M E R I CA

by Steve Andersen

California dreaming HORSEPHOTOS.COM

Two down, one to go: that’s the scenario for California Chrome after adding the Preakness Stakes to his Kentucky Derby victory, setting up a tilt at the triple crown in the Belmont Stakes on June 7.

Steve Coburn, who owns the colt with Perry Martin, had told his 76-year-old trainer Art Sherman that California Chrome would be a star when the colt arrived at the racetrack in early 2013, and to expect appearances in the big races. ”Here’s your Kentucky Derby horse,” Coburn told Sherman at the time. The veteran trainer could only smile.

Coburn was right. California Chrome has turned out to be a star. After an emphatic win in the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 5, his fifth stakes victory, California Chrome was 5-2 favourite for the Kentucky Derby.

His performance lived up to the dreams of his working class owners from California and Nevada. Under regular rider Victor Espinoza, California Chrome stalked the pace, took a fivelength lead in the stretch and won by a length and three-quarters from Commanding Curve.

Sent off 1-2 favourite for the Preakness

California Chrome wins the Kentucky Derby prior to his Preakness Stakes victory

Stakes on May 17, California Chrome did not enjoy the best trip but still had too much class for his nine rivals, scoring by a length and a half from Ride On Curlin to set up his bid for the triple crown, last achieved by Affirmed in 1978.

Coburn, who turned 61 on Kentucky Derby day, and his wife Carolyn, live in Topaz Lake, Nevada, half an hour south of Reno. Coburn works for a company that makes magnetic tape for the back of credit cards. Five days after the Kentucky Derby he was back at work.

Perry and Denise Martin live in Yuba City, California, north of Sacramento. Perry Martin,

garners king’s ransom crown winner since Horse Chestnut in 1999.

In the weeks leading up to the SA Derby, social media was abuzz. This was not just because the triple crown was on but because Louis The King is the sort of horse ordinary racing folk love. His pedigree is not fashionable. His sire Black Minnaloushe, an Irish 2,000 Guineas and St James’s Palace Stakes winner, has stood at Maine Chance Farms since being imported from New Zealand in 2007 and has enjoyed limited success. His dam is an unremarkable daughter of Rich Man’s Gold called Pamushana, unplaced in two starts.

She was purchased in foal to Black Minnaloushe by Phillip Kahan of The

Alchemy Stud in 2010 for R20,000 (£1,130).

In 2011, she produced an early bay colt but then died before producing any more. The colt was consigned to the KwaZulu Natal Yearling Sale in 2012 but Kahan was forced to buy him back due to lack of interest.

Later in the car park, he told Woodruff of his disappointment. The trainer immediately agreed to buy him. Tiaan van der Vyver, a long-term client of Woodruff, subsequently bought the colt for his son Louis – hence the name. The fairytale was complete when on April 26, Louis The King sealed the final leg of the triple crown. To date he has won a king’s ransom of R3,342,500, plus a bonus of R2,000,000 for winning the triple crown.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

57, owns a laboratory testing company that tests products such as airbags and medical equipment.

The couples met through the Blinkers On racing syndicate in the 2000s. The syndicate, a lower-cost entry into racing, campaigned California Chrome’s dam, Love The Chase, who managed one win in six starts.

The Coburns and Martins bought her privately, drawing a sceptical response from one person on the Golden Gate backstretch.

“Anyone who buys her is a dumbass,” it was said. Hence, the Coburns and Martins had a stable name – Dumbass Partners.

In 2010, Dumbass Partners bred Love The Chase to Lucky Pulpit for $2,500 at Harris Farms in California. Lucky Pulpit never won beyond five and a half furlongs but did finish second or third in six stakes across the nation.

The resulting colt was born in February, 2011. With a big white face and four white feet, California Chrome had his name. He had a strong juvenile season, winning stakes races at Del Mar and now-closed Hollywood Park.

Initially, California Chrome did not merit significant attention nationally. He was 150-1 in the Kentucky Derby ante-post market in Las Vegas on January 27, two days after he won the California Cup Derby at Santa Anita. His status changed after wins in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes in March and Santa Anita Derby.

Sherman had a growing confidence through the spring, though he was not as vocal as Coburn. At 77, he is the oldest trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. Through the years, Sherman said he would not run a horse until he had one with a leading chance. California Chrome was that colt, fulfilling a dream that could get better still on June 7.

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THE BIG INTERVIEW CRIQUETTE HEAD-MAAREK

The Treve

OF LIFE

Chantilly trainer Criquette Head-Maarek has an appreciative and positive outlook, forged by superb horses – the latest being Arc heroine Treve – but also by some harrowing experiences, both personal and professional Words Julian Muscat • Photos George Selwyn

C

riquette Head-Maarek rises from her office chair and throws her arms apart in a gesture of welcome. It is only days since Treve lost her unbeaten record but any sense of disappointment is hard to discern. This fourth-generation trainer has seen too much to be downcast in defeat.

“That’s what happens in racing,” she reflects. “Things went wrong but at least it will put everyone back on the ground. Some people were already on the moon, and wanting to go higher.”

It’s tempting to assume Head-Maarek is putting on a brave

face. That pristine record has gone and with it the prospect of emulating Frankel by retiring unbeaten. Yet the trainer smiles when reliving the race in which Treve encountered a horse whose record on testing ground at Longchamp is unimpeachable.

Since he came of age four years ago, Cirrus Des Aigles has encountered such conditions seven times at Longchamp. His sole defeat dates to 2012, when he yielded by a short neck in the Group 2 Prix de Conseil de Paris even though he was trapped against the rail for much of the straight. >>

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Criquette Head-Maarek started training in 1978 and has Treve and plenty more besides to continue to look forward to

June_118_Criquette_v2_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 16:40 Page 36

CRIQUETTE HEAD-MAAREK >>

“That horse [Cirrus Des Aigles] is a champion,” Head-Maarek says. “He wasn’t far from Frankel at Ascot and you don’t beat him at Longchamp in those conditions. Many have tried.”

An interesting footnote to the Prix Ganay is that the first three home were all trained by women. It is generally assumed that Corine Barande-Barbe, who trains Cirrus Des Aigles, was inspired by Head-Maarek’s trail-blazing career as France’s first woman trainer. In fact, it is Myriam Bollack-Badel, trainer of the third horse home, Norse King, who holds that distinction.

Suspicious minds “Myriam started a couple of years before me,” Head-Maarek, 66, reflects. “At that time the authorities [the Societe d’Encouragement] didn’t want us to do it. When I applied they said I’d just be the name on the licence and that my father would be training the horses. They thought it was some kind of funny trick!”

That was in 1978, when Alec Head ran one of Europe’s most potent stables. He handled 200 regally-bred horses, many of them owned

by Jacques Wertheimer, whom Head had advised on bloodstock matters for more than two decades.

By then Head had won just about any race worth winning on either side of la Manche, including the 1956 Derby with Wertheimer’s Lavandin. As a jockey he’d also won the 1946 Champion Hurdle aboard Vatelys, trained by his father Willie, the year before he would finish runner-up in the same race on Le Paillon.

Handsome compensation for that near-miss was taken seven months later, when Willie

“They found a

tumour on my brain.

I had to have a big operation but I told no-one about it” saddled Le Paillon to win the 1957 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. By then Alec had retired from the saddle and turned to training. He was just 23, and would become champion trainer in France six times.

Nevertheless, Alec Head’s most notable contribution to the Turf is his overall horsemanship. In Riverman and Lyphard, he bought two yearlings that would excel as stallions; he was also underbidder on Arazi, Blushing Groom and Vaguely Noble. And the list of champions he bred at his Haras du Quesnay – or “le Quesnay”, as it is known – is the equal of any nursery in Europe.

Although Head-Maarek always wanted to train, “Papa” encouraged her to extend her education first. She spent four years at school in Britain, firstly in Guildford – “it was near Epsom, where an aunt of mine lived and

there was racing, so I was very happy” – and then in an Eastbourne finishing school.

From there she spent three years in Spain, where she met her first husband, Rene Romanet, before returning to France in 1974.

“Papa said I had to work alongside him before I could start training,” she recalls. “At the time I was also a bloodstock agent, buying and selling horses.”

What she doesn’t amplify is her success in that role. In 1977 Head-Maarek bought a filly

by Lyphard that she trained on taking out her licence the following year. Owned by her mother, Ghislaine, Three Troikas carried all before her in 1979 and closed her campaign by winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with brother Freddy in the saddle.

It was a dream start for Head-Maarek, who had saddled another filly, Sigy, to win the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye in her debut season. And the trainer has continued apace: she has won each of the French Classics at least once.

Overall, her record with fillies surpasses those of her colts. She has trained seven winners of the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches against one in the Poulains, and three Prix de Diane winners against one in the Prix du Jockey-Club.

Moreover, her four Classic triumphs in Britain have all been gained in the 1,000 Guineas.

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CRIQUETTE HEAD-MAAREK

Above: Head-Maarek watches Treve (nearside) lose her unbeaten record to Cirrus Des Aigles, trained by Corine Barande-Barbe (also pictured), in the Prix Ganay in April and, left, at home with her much-loved stable star, ridden by head lad Pascal Galoche

For all that, there has been hardship along the way. The family dynasty has undoubtedly been a help, but it has brought some complications. HeadMaarek started training for Khalid Abdullah in the early 1980s when the Saudi prince agreed to buy all the yearling colts bred by her father in partnership with the late Roland de Chambure, under their Societe Aland banner.

Then, in 1986, along came Bering, a magnificent colt who yielded only once in his three-year-old season – when runner-up to Abdullah’s Dancing Brave in the 1986 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. But the preamble was fraught. As Bering carried all before him, Abdullah wondered why the colt didn’t pass into his ownership as a young horse.

That was because Bering was bred by Alec Head on his own, rather than by his involvement in Aland. In time Abdullah came to recognise that, although any parting of the ways would have deprived Head-Maarek of several career highlights.

“It’s very easy for misunderstandings to come up,” she reflects, “but we THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

survived that. The prince has been so good to me. He is so easy to work with and we have had some fantastic success together.”

However, one key alliance that ran aground was her link with the Wertheimer family, whose horses she inherited when her father retired in 1983. Despite numerous owners’ and breeders’ titles, the two brothers pulled out of HeadMaarek’s stable in 2006 when the latter’s relationship with their retained jockey, Olivier Peslier, passed the point of no return.

Traumatic times It grieves her still to reflect on it, eight years later, although the tension between them was such that it doesn’t take long to resurface. “Everything was so difficult,” she recalls. “I remember I had a good Wertheimer filly running in a Group 1 race in August and I knew Peslier wouldn’t ride it how I wanted. I said to [the brothers] before the race, ‘If he doesn’t ride to instructions, I quit.’ So I went to see them the next morning to say my goodbyes.

“I was so upset,” she continues. “All those years when we did so well together and then it’s finished. But we are still very good friends and

I am delighted that my brother [Freddy] and son-in-law [Carlos Laffon-Parias, who married Criquette’s daughter Patricia] are training for them.”

It was a traumatic year all round for HeadMaarek, who was simultaneously fighting cancer. “I had chemotherapy and radiotherapy for three months,” she says. “I was away in hospital for one week while they operated, but otherwise I worked every morning. Maybe they [the Wertheimers] wanted to change because they weren’t comfortable with it.”

Come the summer and Head-Maarek returned to health, although it would be two further years before doctors were prepared to sign her off. Yet when you ask whether the scare changed her life, she returns a surprise.

“No, because I had worse than that in 1990,” she says. “They found a tumour on my brain. I had to have a big operation, but I told no-one about it, not even my father, until it was over. It happened in winter, so there was no problem with [training] the horses, and I came back fine.”

The onset of cancer 16 years later reaffirmed that she should enjoy every day. “There are too

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>>

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CRIQUETTE HEAD-MAAREK >> many problems when you have two scares like

that,” she says. “You are in the doctor’s room and he tells you he is going to operate but he doesn’t really know what the future holds for you. It is almost like you have already gone.

“You don’t see things the same way after, that’s for sure. You re-focus on the important things and I started realising how important life was in 1990. It can suddenly be taken from you, but I’ve had a fantastic life. I still love what I am doing and have no intention of quitting.”

There is no chance of that while Treve is here.

As she ushers you into her box you become aware of the filly’s physical range; she has certainly strengthened up for her winter’s rest.

But there’s more than just Treve to fill HeadMaarek’s eye. There’s Trophee, her three-year-old half-sister who needs time; and Torrid, her two-year-old half-sister by Fuisse who should be ready to debut at Deauville in August. Back at le Quesnay, Treve’s full-sister was foaled in April and is the best physical product yet from her dam, 14-year-old Trevise.

“It’s a God-given thing to have Treve,” HeadMaarek says. “Good horses make good trainers: when you come across one like her, she takes you right to the top. I’m looking forward to running her at Royal Ascot, when I hope we’ll have a good pace and fast ground.”

Treve will then defend her Arc crown in October, after which plans remain fluid. A second victory might well see her return to training next year. “Why not?” her trainer asks.

“I will see what Sheikh Joaan wants to do, but

“I’m looking forward

to running Treve at Royal Ascot, when I hope we’ll have a good pace and fast ground” when fillies are good at four, they are good at five. And no horse has won three Arcs!”

Another door opened for Head-Maarek when Sheikh Joaan bought Treve from her father last summer. The Qatari sent a few yearlings round to 32 Avenue du General Leclerc last autumn, among them a Sea The Stars half-brother to Treve’s Derby-winning sire Motivator.

That address is where Head-Maarek trains from an idyllic, 60-box stable that was bought from the Wertheimer family. On one side of it, at No 34, sits her parents’ Chantilly house, while on the other, at No 30, is where Laffon-Parias trains from. Freddy, meanwhile, trains a little further down the road at No 4.

One thing is plain. The family dynasty will run to several chapters yet.

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The Head family, Ghislaine, Alec and Criquette, with homebred Bering in 1986

Haras du Quesnay and the future On its purchase in 1958, it took Alec Head two years before he could run horses on the paddocks at Haras du Quesnay, four miles from Deauville. The 740-acre property had stood derelict since the end of World War II, when the German regional commanding officer made it his headquarters.

Evidence of the German tenure remains by way of three huge concrete bunkers sited too close to the 16th century chateau to be blown up. When Alec’s father, Willie, saw the place for the first time he thought renovating it would bring the family to its financial knees. But le Quesnay aroused different sentiments in Alec’s daughter, Criquette.

“All the stable doors were gone and there were coils of barbed wire in the boxes,” she says. “The frames of the buildings were there but everything else had to be rebuilt.”

The property now stands as a monument to Alec Head, who bred countless champions there. Bering, his dam and his granddam were all bred on a farm that has raised three Prix du JockeyClub winners and two Arc winners in addition to a plethora of Classic-winning fillies in Harbour, Ma Biche, Matiara, Ravinella, Riverqueen, Silvermine and now Treve.

In 2009, Head-Maarek and her brother Freddy took over running the farm in which their two sisters, Patricia and Martine, are also partners.

“My father asked us whether we wanted

to do it, otherwise he would sell it,” she reflects. “We said no, absolutely not. Papa loves that place. It is his lifetime’s work and we are the guardians of it.”

Although Treve initially carried Alec’s silks, the decision to sell was made jointly

by Criquette and Freddy as proprietors of le Quesnay. Sheikh Joaan also wanted to buy Treve’s dam, Trevise, but she was not for sale.

“He was very keen but I explained that our job is to create horses,” Head-Maarek says. “We cannot do that if we sell our best mares. And he has Treve, who he will breed from one day.”

The family has trimmed the broodmare band to concentrate on quality. There are 50 mares owned outright or in family partnerships, together with 70 boarders, some for new clients. “As beautiful as it is, it is very expensive to run,” she explains.

“We had to reopen the stud to clients; we didn’t have the money to continue what Papa was doing there.”

With the new regime in place it will be some time before le Quesnay passes to the next generation of Heads – if at all. “It is difficult to run a stud when there are many people in a family,” she says. “I have one daughter but Freddy has seven children.

“At le Quesnay, Freddy and I were brought up with horses the same way. We see the same way forward and never argue, so it works well. Papa was concerned when the two of us said we would run the farm, but he is happy now. He can see we are doing things properly.”

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Goffs OB June 2014 f-p_Goffs OB June 2014 f-p 20/05/2014 15:48 Page 1

“

“ The Orangery at Kensington Palace on The Eve of Royal Ascot

in association with QIPCO 2yo Breezers & Horses In Training | Monday 16 June 2014 Catalogue online at goffs.com

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RACING IN THE MEDIA PART 2: TELEVISION

Aiming to fly

HIGHER

In the second of our two-part series on racing’s coverage in the media, we look at how well Channel 4 has fared since taking over terrestrial broadcasting of the sport Words Richard Griffiths • Photos George Selwyn

T

he emergence of Channel 4 as the sole terrestrial broadcaster of horseracing was never likely to result in a gently flowing stream of acceptance.

As the veteran broadcaster Des Lynam wrote last year, “television viewers do not readily take to change.” Which is as neat a summary as you can get of the challenges facing Channel 4 when its new-broom coverage began in January 2013.

For the first time in many decades, horseracing viewers were denied the traditional option of watching the pageantry of Royal Ascot or a ‘crown jewel’ event such as the

40

Grand National on the BBC. What’s more, names that were not so much household as embedded in the living room of fans of the sport either declined, or were not invited, to join the pilgrimage.

In what has proven to be one of the most contentious aspects of the new-look Channel 4 Racing, former stalwarts such as John Francome, John McCririck, Alastair Down, and yes, even Derek Thompson, were replaced.

Clare Balding was snapped up from the BBC, Willie Carson was not; Mick Fitzgerald came with her in a much more prominent role. The urbane Nick Luck sashayed his way onto the

screens as presenter, replacing Down.

Jim McGrath, the Timeform one, stayed with the new venture. But having previously cosied up to the shaggy, instinctive wisdom of Francome, his new analytical partner became Graham Cunningham, promoted from the digital racing scene.

Tanya Stevenson became the face of the betting ring, but to no-one’s surprise McCririck did not go quietly. Indeed, his ‘ageism’ case against Channel 4 stirred up a lot of issues that, however subconsciously, may have weighed the racing public’s mind against the new format.

There are, of course, lies, damned lies and statistics, but in reality there was only one way Channel 4 was going to be judged in its role as sole terrestrial broadcaster. Viewing figures.

The first year was not a staggering success, with reports that Channel 4 racing’s audience was down for 73 of the 90 days on which it broadcast and that its Saturday Morning Line programme had closed the year with 15 out of its final 16 broadcasts down on 2012.

The Racing Post set the scene for discontent with an article that asked pointedly: “Why is racing on Channel 4 such a turn-off?”

It said: “Down 18% in January, 6% in February, 9% in March and 26% in April; the cold data from afternoon broadcasts is sobering enough but figures for the flagship Saturday Morning Line are worse.”

Indeed, The Morning Line was down 18% in January 2013, 11% in February, 26% in March, and 22% in April. More specifically, the Cheltenham Festival editions of The Morning Line were down by as much as 35%.

Further, more specific figures last year added THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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The current Channel 4 Racing team, fronted by Clare Balding and Nick Luck (centre)

to the sense of unease: the opening day of Royal Ascot averaged out at 600,000 viewers and peaked at 900,000, compared to the BBC’s 2012 opening day average of one million and a peak of 1.5m viewers.

Market share of the programmes being watched at the time were 8% and 14% respectively. The BBC figures may have been aided, mind you, by the Queen Anne Stakes participation of a certain Frankel.

The best is yet to come Corporal Jones said it, and now Simon Bazalgette, the Group Chief Executive of Jockey Club Racecourses, has taken up the mantra. Don’t panic.

Bazalgette, whose 15-strong racecourse group includes Aintree, Cheltenham, Epsom and Newmarket, remains a strong supporter of the four-year deal with Channel 4, not least because its 90 days of broadcasting gives racing “the most terrestrial TV coverage of any sport in Britain”.

Encouraged by an increase in the number of 18 to 25-year-old viewers, Bazalgette defended Channel 4’s first-year viewing results. “Live television audiences for sport are going down across the board and, in my experience of media, you must be careful with comparisons based on just one year given so many variables in play, from the weather to which horses line up for a given race,” he says.

“However, we have a shared interest in our regular audience increasing by the end of this four-year agreement. All relevant parties will be working together on this, in addition to making best use of the additional rights income we are receiving and the fantastic shop window for our sport being provided by Channel 4.”

“Viewing figures have added to the sense of unease but Channel 4 can boast of genuine achievement”

Looking at the other side of the coin, Channel 4 can boast of genuine achievement since January 2013. Its maiden National coverage clocked in at a peak of 8.9m viewers.

While that may have been 2m viewers down on the BBC’s historic and final 2012 National, it exceeded the previous three runnings under the BBC banner and claimed a 64% market share of the TV audience at the time.

This year’s National figure was 8.5m, but it was still the most watched TV moment of that day and notched up a 56% market share.

The race, sponsored for the first time by THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Jamie Aitchison: acted on feedback

Crabbie’s, was preceded by a flurry of intense promotion aimed at grabbing the attention of general Channel 4 viewers.

If part of the new brief is to push the sport to a wider market, then a flagship contest such as the National was used wisely.

Emma John, a non-racing journalist for The

Like Bazalgette, Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor for Sport, Jamie Aitchison, is thinking of the future.

“We’ve made a long-term commitment to racing and we are committed to continue innovating in our coverage and marketing,” he says.

“We want to work alongside the industry to maximise viewing to the sport.”

Inevitably, Aitchison is more positive than some media critics have been in assessing viewing figures, adding: “We were very pleased that both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Crabbie’s Grand National again attracted strong viewing figures, in line with previous years.

“Across both festivals, coverage attracted a share of audience in line with, and in some cases above, previous years. There was a dip in the audience volume, which was noted within the press, which reflected the drop in the total television audience across all channels over the period.”

In assessing what Channel 4 set out to do when it became the sole terrestrial broadcaster of racing, Aitchison says: “Our overall aim was to broadcast British horseracing in a professional style akin to other terrestrial sports with high production values on screen.

“We continually listen to feedback and, whilst taste and personal opinions differ from one individual to another, where the feedback is editorially justified we have acted on it.

We’ve introduced a number of new innovations into our coverage and over the coming months and years we are going to be exploring further enhancements.

“We have a four-year deal with British horseracing and within this period we will continue to explore and experiment with new technology, innovations and more.”

Aitchison has admitted that some of Channel 4’s early shows “lacked sparkle”, but feels a new team “can take a little time to settle… but I’m immensely proud of how they’ve performed over the last 15 months – and the strong editorial focus they’ve delivered on both The Morning Line and the live afternoon coverage.”

Guardian, wrote a wildly enthusiastic piece about watching the National as a layman.

She said: “There’s been scrutiny of Channel 4’s racing coverage, with viewing figures dropping over the past year, but I’d tune in solely to be talked through the form by Nick Luck – his smooth-talking Nescafe-ad style is

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RACING IN THE MEDIA

Racing UK: ten years on A decade after its first broadcast from Kempton on May 29, 2004, Racing UK has become the channel of choice for the serious racing fan.

This month will see the broadcaster cover Royal Ascot for the first time after the racecourse migrated from rival At The Races. In terms of headline signings, they don’t come much bigger.

Ascot’s addition means that Racing UK now has 34 tracks in its portfolio and the rights to televise showpiece events such as the Derby, Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National.

While Channel 4 may not be too concerned by its digital challenger – Racing UK now has over 50,000 subscribers – the fact that ‘die-hards’ have the option to watch another channel should keep Channel 4 on its toes with regard to the quality of its own coverage.

Racing UK’s viewing options also highlight the changing face of how people watch racing – residential subscription costs £22.50 per month but a cheaper package is available online.

Put simply, you don’t have to stay at home to watch the big races on Channel 4 when you can flip open an iPad on the bus.

Richard FitzGerald, Chief Executive of Racing UK’s parent company, Racecourse Media Group, said: “There were many in the racing industry who did not give Racing UK a chance of celebrating its first birthday, let alone tenth.

“We now show 733 fixtures a year, more than any other channel. Our coverage has developed via increased international coverage, features, studio programmes and no intrusive advertising.

“The business is ever-expanding and through RMG and its derivatives, TurfTV and GBI Racing, pays all its profits to its racecourse shareholders, which last year totalled £65 million.

Here’s to the next ten years!”

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as perfectly suited to the task as his name. If anything is going to persuade you to throw a wad at a nag, it’s a man who manages to make ‘The Package’ sound naughtily thrilling.

“Those of us who only watch the big races need some hand-holding as the tension mounts, and there is no-one whose hand we’d rather hold than Clare Balding. Fifteen minutes before the race she was running around the parade ring like Anneka Rice, introducing us to owners and door-stepping nervous jockeys before segueing seamlessly to tannoy-mode and announcing the Grand National.”

Still, not everyone is such a fan of new Channel 4, as our accompanying sidebar illustrates. There are those who clearly feel that

the new show is too bland, lacks insight and is immune to the wishes of punters seeking genuine betting aid.

The changes to the Channel 4 style have been made in partnership with new producers IMG, which replaced previous stalwarts Highflyer on a four-year deal.

Jamie Aitchison, Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor for sport, has emphasised the need for “creative and informative programming” as well as eye-catching imagery. In all, 47 cameras were in place for this year’s National, and it showed.

But whether Channel 4 Racing offers an improved product that attracts new viewers, or that it has alienated existing ones by becoming

This year’s Royal Ascot will be the first

too slick and almost a pastiche of modern day sports presenting, is not the only concern for the racing industry.

If viewers are alienated, will they end up

Has Channel 4 become too predictable?

In the search for an informed, layman’s view about the appeal of Channel 4 Racing, I couldn’t actually think of a better participant than my own dad.

William Arthur Griffiths, or Bill, is 73, a Cambridge graduate, former Chief Probation Officer of Northern Ireland, and most importantly a regular punter and keen watcher of Channel 4 Racing and The Morning Line.

At least he used to be.

“I used to follow The Morning Line enthusiastically,” he says. “It was part of my Saturday routine and I looked forward to it. Now I don’t bother.

“I watch it from time to time but now it’s

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neither here nor there if I miss it. It’s not just me: this is true for the other people I talk with about racing and betting.

“It may be we just don’t like change. But there’s no spark, it’s just people talking to themselves. The major turn-offs are the change in the people, the pre-occupation with their technology and the totally useless tipping.

“The biggest loss is Francome, not just because he was a champion but because he was individualistic. He felt like a real person, bringing something different and more than you could work out for yourself.”

There is also a defence of John McCririck, whose lack of popularity in surveys is viewed

Jim McGrath and John Francome

by Bill Griffiths as “obvious”.

He adds: “Nobody would say they liked him, especially women. He wasn’t there for that. Much of it is about attitude. We want argument, not predictability.”

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RACING IN THE MEDIA

shown on Racing UK, having won the contract from rival channel At The Races; Racing UK now has 34 tracks in its portfolio

betting less on horseracing and thus reduce the sport’s revenue from the levy?

It would be rash at this stage to blame Channel 4 were such a scenario to unfold.

Racing has long been accused of failing to engage with a younger audience; therefore, it may not be that surprising if viewing figures for both Channel 4’s afternoon and Morning Line programmes are slipping.

But racing cannot afford to be complacent, especially with racecourses locked in to a fouryear deal with Channel 4.

Still, there is no need to panic just yet. At least according to Coral’s PR and Broadcast Director Simon Clare.

“For all you read about the loss of viewers, our core betting audience hasn’t really changed,” he says. “There has been no impact on the ratio between betting on terrestrial races and betting on non-terrestrial races.

“Our own analysis as a company and through the Betting Patterns Working Party indicates there have been no serious implications [from the drops in figures].

“From that point of view we are comfortable THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

with the situation, and also from our position as a big-race sponsor and as an advertiser on The Morning Line.”

Clare says that Coral’s target audience “is still watching” Channel 4’s racing programmes and

“Younger generations of punters bet online and follow their bets through new media rather than the telly”

that any migration concerns “the more casual, less betting-orientated viewer.”

Likewise, Coral have identified no alarm bells in terms of its clients suddenly turning to other sports. If anything, since Channel 4 remodelled itself, racing’s share of the betting market has been “pretty static, maybe even

showing a small growth”.

One possible reason for a loss of TV viewers, Clare suggests, is due to younger generations of punters betting online and following the progress of their bets through new media rather than the traditional formant of the telly.

A rise in viewing figures for Racing UK – 44,200 subscribers at the end of 2012, 46,700 by the end of 2013, and now said to be more than 50,000 – is not regarded by that broadcaster as a protest against terrestrial TV coverage, more the success of Racing UK’s own marketing campaigns.

“Channel 4 is a fantastic shop window for racing, which complements the digital channels, which are more for the more hardcore racing enthusiast,” spokesman Seb Vance said (see sidebar on Racing UK).

Whether Channel 4 Racing is a dull version of its former self, vulnerable to further falls in viewing figures, or whether it is starting to find its stride and will ultimately nudge racing into mainstream thinking, remains to be seen.

The only thing we truly know is that it has less than three years to deliver.

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TALKING TO...

CHARLES BARNETT

Never a dull MOMENT! This year’s Royal Ascot will be Charles Barnett’s eighth and last as the track’s Chief Executive, his previous role at Aintree having witnessed him deal with a void National and a bomb scare

By Tim Richards • Photos George Selwyn

I

t is 30 years since you began your career in racing, having joined Haydock Park as Chief Executive in 1984. Why are you retiring now?

I know the world has changed and you don’t have to retire at a certain age any more, but I always had it in my mind I’d be at Ascot until I was 65, though in practice I’m doing a bit more than that. I live near Bangor racecourse in North Wales so it is a long way back and forth and the driving does become pretty onerous. There are a lot of things I want to do back at home and I have a couple of other projects in the offing. I hope to do some non-executive work in and out of racing. I certainly won’t be ‘unbusy’.

Do you come from a racing family and what were your first memories of the sport?

No, our family wasn’t specifically from racing, but we had point-to-pointers at home and I rode about 20 winners in point-to-points and hunter chases. We always had horses and were involved in the Pony Club and things like that.

We always knew a lot of people in racing but were never practically involved. My parents would go to Cheltenham and I used to get annoyed because my brother, who was older than me, would go but I didn’t. I even

remember him backing a winner, although he shouldn’t have at the age of eight! At my prep school we used to have sweepstakes in sweets and I drew Wyndburgh, who finished second to Sundew in the 1957 Grand National. So I made a lot of sweets!

What were you doing before you went into racecourse management?

I trained as a lawyer, worked in marine insurance in London and then worked for a ship owner in Liverpool. Racing came up by chance. I was thinking about a change of career and was told by a firm of headhunters to look at the job they were advertising as Chief Executive of Haydock, and that’s what I did. Haydock Park Leisure Company had just been created in a joint venture with Burtonwood Brewery and Philip Arkwright was Clerk of the Course.

Having taken the role as acting Chief Executive at Aintree, your first experience of the Grand National was the 1993 void race and widespread negative publicity that followed. Did you think your racing career was over at that point?

After John Parrett died I moved across from Haydock to Aintree to fill his position in an

acting management role and Rod Fabricius came as well as acting Clerk of the Course. In no way did I think the void race was the end of everything. Of course it was a dramatic time and extremely difficult to handle immediately after the event as far as customer engagement was concerned. As the race unfolded we didn’t know what was going on and nor did the customers who were understandably rather fed up. Yes, we had a complicated time dealing with disappointed customers and making sure we got through the rest of the card. But the overall aftermath of the void race, involving a detailed inquiry, was out of our hands.

What are your main memories of the 1997 ‘bomb scare’ renewal, when the entire course was evacuated?

The first phone call that came through during the running of the Aintree Hurdle and which suggested there was a bomb threat was obviously a matter of considerable concern.

Once we got into action ordering the evacuation of the course, there was so much to do we didn’t have much time to think about anything. The next two days were taken up with planning what to do next and we had some quite pertinent times trying to persuade the police that we wanted to run the race on the Monday.

CLOSE UP AND... PERSONAL

CLOSE UP AND... PROFESSIONAL

Actor to play me on screen… Gregory Peck

Racing hero… Lester Piggott

Four dinner party guests… Mikhail Gorbachev, Sophia Loren, Keira Knightley and Charlie Chaplin

Most difficult part of the job is… at one stage dealing with the press, but no longer

I relax away from racing by… gardening in summer and riding in winter

Best advice I’ve been given… keep your head when all about you are losing theirs (Kipling)

My autobiography would be titled… ‘Happy Days’

Favourite horse… Red Rum

Favourite meal… turbot

I handle pressure by… keeping calm

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That was quite an interesting meeting.

Once it was decided to go ahead we had to try to clear the site in preparation for the Monday National. We had to get everyone’s personal belongings out and even managed to water the course, because it was drying out and the police wouldn’t allow us on to the course until late on the Sunday evening. There were people wanting to get their dogs out of their cars but the police wouldn’t let them in the car parks until the Sunday. There were some very tricky

“I was disappointed

we could not persuade the BBC to bid for racing; they were not interested in Ascot” situations. It was a long 48 hours but rewarding in the end in that we managed to run the race with a satisfactory result, Lord Gyllene winning in front of a massive television audience.

Would you say that rescheduling the race for the following Monday, with all the work that involved, was your finest professional achievement?

I suppose people would think of it in those terms because it was so high profile around the world with people watching the turn of events throughout the weekend. In a personal sense I don’t see it that way, really. I consider the whole change at Aintree since 1983 and, in a way the changes at Haydock before that, as all part of important progress made in racecourse management at a time

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CHARLES BARNETT

A tale of two races: Barnett savoured the Queen’s Gold Cup win with Estimate last year and oversaw the Monday National that saw Lord Gyllene triumph in front of a huge television audience (below right)

>> when

racecourses were starting to employ executives from a variety of different professions.

After Royal Ascot you are standing down, having been in charge of two national institutions: the Grand National for 15 years and Royal Ascot for eight. How do the two events compare?

They are not dissimilar, though you do have a different audience for both. They are both major national and international events and very high profile. The Liverpool audience is rather special in a number of ways and jump racing audiences do tend to be very different from the crosssection of people who come to Royal Ascot. One of the charms of the industry is that racing attracts a complete cross-section of society, from the Queen and dukes down to dustmen.

more; they know where to meet their friends, understand how it works and how to get from one place to another. It’s a pretty impressive and spectacular building.

You were brought into Ascot in 2007 to iron out the numerous teething problems associated with the new £230 million grandstand. Was it a baptism of fire?

I don’t think I was necessarily brought in to iron out those problems. I only went there in May 2007 and part of a tricky process was to re-engage with the customers who had been disappointed with the Ascot experience in 2006. Trying to get people to understand the grandstand, how it worked, make the necessary changes and help that whole process. Like many new grandstands it is being improved all the time, and I think it has been working well.

And what has been your biggest disappointment?

I was disappointed that we were not able to persuade the BBC to get engaged in the last round of media rights talks. They had been interested a bit with Aintree but not Ascot. But as it has turned out we are very pleased with Channel 4, who have done a great job.

Have all the problems with regard to viewing from ground level been successfully resolved?

There was a big change made before 2007 and that sorted out a lot of the problems. People are enjoying and appreciating the stand more and

Do you consider the switch last year from BBC coverage to Channel 4 to have been a success? What effect has it had on the Royal meeting and Ascot in general?

Yes, it has been a success. They have given us

46

What has been the most rewarding moment during your time at Ascot?

A successful Royal Ascot is very, very important.

And I suppose one of the most rewarding aspects of the job is when racegoers go home happy, having enjoyed a good experience.

more continuity, though they have a lot of work to do in production and viewing audience terms. Having said that, viewing figures for sporting events on all channels are in decline and we have to accept that; we are never going to see the numbers we did five or ten years ago.

It is important that we keep an eye on that and make sure we are being watched by as many as possible.

Initially we did have some concerns having a commercial broadcaster for Royal Ascot, but actually Channel 4 produced a very good programme last year and we were extremely pleased.

Why was the decision taken to change the running order for some of this year’s races at Royal Ascot?

In the old days BBC1 used to do the first three races before switching to BBC2 and as we wanted the biggest viewing audience watching our main race, it was normally the third on the card. So with Channel 4 covering all six races it didn’t make much difference when your big race was, though we didn’t want it too late. The general focus is on having your feature race later on so we build up to it. We have changed it to

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CHARLES BARNETT several times in the UK, we were then deprived of seeing them at the end of the season because they went to the Breeders’ Cup. I thought to myself this is madness, the two top milers in the country going somewhere else to complete their ‘grand finale’.

We had been talking for some time about trying to create a big meeting at the end of the season. We have now achieved that; it’s definitely got its place in the calendar and I believe it will grow and grow in importance. I don’t think it is a challenge to the Arc meeting and we don’t intend it to be. The Arc is a mile and a half, as opposed to the mile and a quarter Champion Stakes. Our aim is to attract British and international horses to come and run here at the end of the season. We were fortunate to have Frankel for the first two runnings and I believe there will be years when we do better than the Arc and years when we don’t; that is just the way of the world in international racing.

Can you name one change that would benefit the whole industry?

The biggest change has got to be right at the top, getting engagement across the industry on all the major decisions that are going to be made in the next three or four years. Racecourses and horsemen are working much closer together and we have all got a much better relationship with the bookmakers. We are beginning to pull together and it is vital that we continue to do so more and more.

race four, with a big handicap immediately afterwards.

What has been your favourite Royal Ascot moment, and why?

The Queen winning the Gold Cup with Estimate last year and, outside the Royal meeting, Frankel winning the Champion Stakes. It is wonderful for us how much the Queen and the Royal family enjoy their racing here.

QIPCO will be the first commercial partner at Royal Ascot on the first day.

Have you found commercial partners for the other four days and how will Ascot benefit from having these relationships?

We haven’t for 2014 but we are working with a number of different brands at the moment and hope to conclude arrangements for 2015. It is another source of income that is designed to help with prize-money as much as anything else. The partners will get publicity and we will hopefully earn additional revenue, which will help to boost prize-money and improve facilities.

What does the future hold for British Champions’ Day and can it really challenge the Arc meeting or Breeders’ Cup as an end-of-year championship?

I cannot stress enough just how important a day this is to British racing. I remember very well in 2008 after Raven’s Pass and Henrythenavigator had taken each other on

Finally, what would be your one piece of advice to your successor at Ascot racecourse?

Be sure Royal Ascot maintains its status as the most important race meeting in the world and as an extremely precious jewel in British racing.

June_118_Osarus_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 18:05 Page 48

THE RISE OF OSARUS

Soaring to

SUCCESS Setting up a new auction house is no easy feat but it was a challenge worth facing for Osarus, which has gained annually in stature and this month celebrates its sixth birthday Words and photos Emma Berry

D

eauville, Doncaster, Baden-Baden, Fairyhouse, Kildare, Newmarket.

There’s a flow to the European yearling sales season and, barring the odd tweak here and there, it remains largely unchanged. Or at least it did until the arrival of a new name on the scene, complete with an enticing new venue, back in June 2008: Osarus.

Taking on the might of Arqana in France is not for the faint-hearted, particularly when establishing a new sales company in the midst of a global recession, but those behind the fledgling venture had plenty of experience in the market. The original trio of Guy Blasco, Nadja Govaert and Frédérique Lingua were joined by auctioneer Emmanuel Viaud, and later by Blasco’s son-in-law, the former jockey Sylvain Hureau, with both Lingua and Viaud having worked for Arqana and its predecessor, Agence Francaise, in Deauville.

Osarus held its first yearling sale at La Teste de Buch racecourse in Bordeaux in

Clairefontaine, Deauville

Le Lion d’Angers Pornichet

Ta Teste de Buch, Bordeaux

Guy Blasco, one of the three founders of Osarus

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Locations of the Osarus sales

June_118_Osarus_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 18:05 Page 49

September 2008 and has subsequently added a jumping sale at Le Lion d’Angers in 2010, followed by a Flat breeze-up sale in Pornichet in 2011. This year it took the even bolder step of hosting a mixed sale in January at Clairefontaine racecourse, right on the doorstep of Arqana’s Deauville base.

“We wanted to offer French breeders the opportunity to sell in a different place,” says Viaud, who is himself based in Normandy, while his colleagues and fellow yearling inspectors, Blasco and Hureau, live in Pau in the south-west of France.

“For French breeders it was a bit of a problem just to have one sales company – a monopoly is not a good position – but it wasn’t easy to set up this kind of business. Arqana is huge and very successful, with good backing from the Aga Khan and Goffs.”

At €75,000, this Mastercraftsman filly is the most expensive Osarus breezer to date

“We never thought

Tattersalls would be interested in us; we were just a small, new company” It wasn’t long, however, before Osarus found a powerful ally of its own in Europe’s foremost auction company, Tattersalls.

“I’ve known [Tattersalls’ French representative] Bertrand le Metayer for a long

time and he called us three years ago asking if we might be interested in setting up a partnership with the ‘big house’,” explains Viaud. “We were a bit surprised because we never thought that Tattersalls would be interested in us. They are one of the biggest brands in the bloodstock world and we are just a small new company. We said yes, of course.”

Backing from such an established name has seen the company’s flagship sale at the picturesque coastal venue of La Teste go from strength to strength, with turnover of €464,700 from 46 horses sold at the inaugural sale climbing to €2,935,500 for 157 sold in 2013.

Viaud adds: “Step by step people have seen that we are selling winners, that we can pay the vendors and that the prices are good value. The French breeders are happy because they can

Members of the Osarus team scour the auditorium for bidders as the breeze-up sale gets under way at Pornichet racecourse

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THE RISE OF OSARUS

Nadja Govaert and Emmanuel Viaud in action at the Osarus Breeze-up Sale

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sell. Six years after starting up we are now in a good place and starting to grow. People have confidence in us.

“The payment guarantee through our association with Tattersalls has helped enormously. Now we can pay the vendors 35 days after the sale. Without that we are not going to be sent the good horses to sell. The good figures from last year are because of that, I think.”

The association is not a one-way street and has benefits for Tattersalls, too, as Marketing Director Jimmy George explains: “It has given us exposure to the French and wider European market that we didn’t have a particularly detailed knowledge of.

“That region of France is a very vibrant and significant part of the French racing and breeding industry – you have the likes of JeanClaude Rouget and Francois Rohaut based near there at Pau – and there’s a decent number of up-and-coming young trainers in La Teste itself.

“The team at Osarus identified the fact that that particular area was good at breeding sharp precocious two-year-olds and perhaps they were

the sort of yearlings who struggled to hold their own in the more rarefied atmosphere of other French sales.”

With the Osarus team currently in the throes of inspecting yearlings all over France for possible inclusion in this September’s sale, it has also recently held its fourth breeze-up sale at

“We’re inspecting

around 1,000 yearlings this year and 600 of those are in Normandy” Pornichet racecourse on the Atlantic coast near Nantes. The catalogue contained 82 yearlings, all of whom were eligible for French owners’ premiums and – barring a few notable exceptions – were largely by domestic stallions.

Arnaud Poirier (right) of France Sire commentates on the breezes with Emmanuel Viaud

50

In this sphere, too, figures have risen steadily, with the first breeze-up sale – the only time it was held at La Teste before a switch to Pornichet – turning over €199,000 for just 14 of 44 sold, compared this time around to €801,500 for 47 sold from the 72 who stood their ground on the day.

As was to be expected, a decent number of French trainers and agents were in operation at Pornichet, but there were also visitors from Spain, Morocco and Sweden, while the British contingent included trainer David O’Meara with Nick Bradley of Middleham Park Racing, and agents Richard Venn and Liam Norris.

Venn, who will soon become a permanent French resident, is very familiar with the country’s various sales, both for Flat horses and jumpers, and welcomes the rise of Osarus.

He says: “The company definitely has its place in the market. It’s a very different atmosphere at their sales. It’s very relaxed and the September sale is a really good sale to go to.

It’s becoming more popular – the average and median are going up, and more people are starting to go there.

“A bonus is that all the lots sold are Frenchbred with premiums. Sometimes you have to check that at Arqana, if that’s what it is you are looking for.”

Venn adds: “The Bordeaux region is where lots of the two-year-olds are bred. Certain studs down in that area specialise in early types, such as Alain Chopard at Haras des Faunes with stallions like Indian Rocket and Deportivo, and Haras des Granges, which stands Diamond Green.

“As for the breeze-up sale, it’s more about movement than speed – it’s quite a short straight at Pornichet, only two furlongs, and they don’t really get up to full speed. I’ve been there for the last two years and it’s not about drilling the horses, it’s about how they move and how they look.”

Liam Norris, who buys in partnership with William Huntingdon, concurs with Venn’s assessment and, having made his first visit to Pornichet in April, is likely to add the Osarus dates to his sales rounds.

He says: “It was a good sale for people looking to buy a type rather than a page. It was well organised with easy viewing and the breezes were conducted on a tight track with a lively, forgiving surface.

“I like to buy an individual but, equally, the French premiums are a huge draw. A lot more British trainers are targeting French races, even claimers, and I can see this sale becoming more popular. I’d definitely go back – we usually buy two or three yearlings in the second Arqana sale [October] and we like that sale because there are lots of French-breds in the catalogue, so the fact that Osarus deals solely in French-breds is a big plus.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly given the stallion’s success with his first crop last season, a daughter THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_Osarus_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 18:05 Page 51

THE RISE OF OSARUS

A breezer stretches out along the short straight of Pornichet’s synthetic track

English agents Richard Venn and Liam Norris attended this year’s breeze-up

of Mastercraftsman topped the breeze-up sale at €75,000, and she became a dual Osarus graduate having cost Guy Petit €30,000 in La Teste last September. As a yearling, she was one of a nine-strong draft from the powerful

Coulonces Consignment, the first time Anna and Etienne Drion had taken yearlings to Bordeaux. It will be no surprise to see more of the bigger names included in the catalogue this September.

“We’re inspecting around 1,000 yearlings this year and around 600 of those are in Normandy,” says Viaud. “Guy and Sylvain inspect in the south-west, I do Normandy and Bertrand Le Metayer helps me. We don’t meet each other every day in a head office, we work by conference call once a week.”

With the introduction of the January mixed sale timed to coincide with the popular Route des Etalons weekend in Normandy, another new initiative is planned this year by Osarus in developing its recently introduced store horse section at Le Lion d’Angers.

“The first time we had a jumping sale was in 2010 and last year we had stores for the first

time,” explains Viaud. “We’ve partnered with a big show, Le National d’Obstacle at Haras du Pin on July 18, which includes foals and twoyear-olds. All will be pre-entered for our Le Lion d’Angers sale and it’s up to the breeders to say if they don’t want to go.”

The straddling of the two codes is doubtless a shrewd move in a country famed for its topclass jumpers, but it is the Flat yearling sale which started the ball rolling for Osarus and is beginning to give the company’s name wider recognition. Graduates such as the Listed winner and Group-placed Kenzadargent, who cost €8,000 at La Teste as a yearling and was resold at Arqana’s Arc Sale last year for €140,000, are helping in this quest.

“We have winners almost every day and there’s no reason that we will not continue to grow,” says Viaud with quiet confidence. “The best is still to come.”

Teaming up with Tattersalls Jimmy George, Marketing Director of Tattersalls, explains his company’s decision to enter into partnership with Osarus: “We’re a British-based company with an international client base, whether it’s vendors or purchasers, so it’s very important that we keep a very close eye on the global bloodstock market.

“In relatively recent years we identified an opportunity in Australia and we own a fraction below 20% of William Inglis, which is a company very similar to us both in its corporate ethos and its position in the bloodstock industry in the southern hemisphere.

“Turning our attention to Osarus was very much a similar thought process, albeit on a smaller scale. Europe is our doorstep market and France is one of the three most influential countries in European racing and breeding. Osarus is very much a fledgling company but it seemed a company with a future and in a very short space of time, from literally nothing, it has carved itself a niche in this very important market through hard work and identifying a sector of the French market in which there was an opportunity.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Tattersalls’ multi-lingual auctioneer John O’Kelly, seen here with David O’Meara, took to the rostrum in Pornichet

“We’re very pleased with the association. It’s a business with a bright future and we have a huge amount of admiration for the way the company has developed. You have to admire the progress it has made, in particular with its flagship yearling sale in September at La Teste.

“I think that’s already a significant part of the French bloodstock sales calendar which has very quickly established a loyal following from purchasers and vendors, and has a growing number of overseas buyers.”

51

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FEED THE DIFFERENCE

June_118_Bloodstock_Intro_Owner 21/05/2014 16:01 Page 53

BREEDERS’ DIGEST

By EMMA BERRY, Bloodstock Editor

Our bloodstock coverage this month includes

• Sales Circuit: Breeze-up bonanza as record high prices set across the board – pages 54-60 • The Breeding Business: Hammonds’ Classic hope; Will Ewart jumps to glory – pages 62-63 • Caulfield Files: Galileo’s dominance enhanced by success of his daughters – pages 64-65

Champagne on ice as breezers sparkle

P

inhooking, whether it’s foals to yearlings or yearlings to twoyear-olds, carries with it enormous risk, but there have been smiles on the faces of many of the breeze-up pinhookers after the most recent round of sales, at which records have been tumbling.

Not one but two new milestones were reached at Tattersalls’ Craven Sale, where the first session saw Gaybrook Lodge Stud’s High Chaparral colt set a new record top price at 800,000gns, only to be trumped 24 hours later by the first ever seven-figure transaction at a European breeze-up sale.

The sum of 1,150,000gns was given for a colt consigned by Willie Browne’s perennially successful Mocklershill operation by a stallion whose name is now seldom out of the sales headlines: War Front. The Claiborne resident has had a smattering of representatives at the European breeze-up sales, with one of his daughters also topping the Guineas Breezeup at 270,000gns. His popularity continues to flow unchecked in his home country, with a pair of juveniles fetching $510,000 and $420,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale which was concluding as we went to press.

Claiborne’s admirably strict policy of restricting its stallions to a little more than 100 mares each per season, coupled with the fact that many of those patronising the nonshuttling War Front are breeding to race, means that not many of his offspring come up for auction each year. That rarity value, especially when compared to some of the bigger-book sires, will almost certainly have played its part in ensuring the offspring of War Front, whose current two-year-olds were conceived when his fee was still just $15,000, command collectors’ item prices.

The Guineas Sale top lot was another eyecatchingly good result for Jim McCartan of Gaybrook Lodge Stud this season. After selling his 800,000-guinea colt at the Craven Sale, McCartan stated memorably: “I’ve just had an equine swimming pool built, I’m going to have to fill it with champagne now.”

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

The champagne kept flowing for McCartan, who sold the two most expensive youngsters at the Guineas Sale a fortnight later, and also for Brendan Holland of Grove Stud, whose season-capping moment came when selling the record-priced juvenile at the Arqana Breeze-up. The Invincible Spirit colt joined Sheikh Joaan’s team at €750,000, beating the previous year’s record of €520,000.

For Holland, this followed selling the top lot at a lively renewal of the DBS Breeze-up – with Sheikh Fahad paying £340,000 for the daughter of Exceed And Excel – while Grove Stud was also responsible for the most expensive filly at the Craven Sale, the fastbreezing Invincible Spirit two-year-old who also now belongs to Qatar Racing, having been bought for 450,000gns.

The clamour for horses untested under Rules doesn’t end on the Flat. The once-raced point-to-pointer Alisier d’Irlande topped Brightwells’ April Sale at Cheltenham at £300,000, while another four-year-old winning pointer, Birch Hill, took the honours at the Goffs Punchestown Sale at €160,000.

In both codes, we must be grateful for the fact there has been a resurgence of wealthy people prepared to pay sums which in most cases are unlikely to be recouped through prize-money in this country. Happily, the prestige of owning a winner at a major meeting, whether it’s Royal Ascot or the Cheltenham Festival, is enough to keep many coming back, while for some buyers the potential resale value of Flat horses to Asia or Australia is now a major consideration when buying youngsters.

New look We have a new column this month, ‘The Breeding Business’ (pages 62-63), containing snippets and updates from the bloodstock world. Please do get in touch via emma@ownerbreeder.co.uk if you’re a breeder with a story to tell about recent successes for your stock.

In addition to being able to find your favourite features and columns online at ownerbreeder.co.uk, you can also now take advantage of our free stallion tables on the web, with regularly updated statistics on leading sires, broodmare sires and freshmen.

War Front, whose stature and success is reminiscent of his sire Danzig, at Claiborne

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June_118_Sales_Circuit_Sales 21/05/2014 17:46 Page 54

SALES CIRCUIT

By CARL EVANS and EMMA BERRY

Strong yearling trade carries through to the breeze-ups Millionaire Craven colt leads the way as War Front’s stock continues to rise in Europe

Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale

54

LAURA GREEN/TATTERSALLS

V

ery strong prices for quality yearlings meant breeze-up pinhookers had to work hard to source raw material, but those who pitched in have been rewarded. At Europe’s biggest and most prestigious auction of race-prepared juveniles, staged by Tattersalls during the Craven race meeting at Newmarket, prices went up in line with the sums paid for yearlings.

Some stellar figures were achieved, headed by a pair of colts who broke records on consecutive days. Initially that involved a High Chaparral colt who set a European high on the first day when selling to Ross Doyle on behalf of Sheikh Joaan Al Thani’s Al Shaqab Racing for 800,000gns.

Twenty-four hours later a son of War Front confirmed his sire’s place as one of the bloodstock world’s most prized assets when making a colossal 1,150,000gns. He became the first seven-figure breeze-up horse sold in Europe, and his price was also the best in the world this year – it arrived at its towering high thanks to a duel rarely seen these days, involving Sheikh Mohammed and Coolmore.

John Ferguson was happy to bid past the million-guineas mark, but bloodstock agent Jamie McCalmont, bidding for the County Tipperary stud and its associates, was not to be thwarted.

The sale topper’s valuation rose significantly from his yearling price, yet he cost a not inconsiderable $240,000 when purchased by Willie Browne, outside the ring, at Keeneland’s September Sale.

More astounding perhaps was the rise in value of the High Chaparral, for he had been bought at Tattersalls December Yearling Sale for 41,000gns, about 5% of his resale value less than five months later. Vendor Jim McCartan of Gaybrook Lodge Stud admitted he had been forced to spend slightly more to buy his raw material last year, but looked stunned by this particular colt’s popularity.

A glance at the top-ten table shows the polarisation of this area of the market which

The Mocklershill-consigned War Front colt fetches 1,150,000gns at the Craven Sale

Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

C War Front-Julie From Dixie

Mocklershill

Price (gns)

C High Chaparral-Abunai

Gaybrook Lodge

800,000

Peter & Ross Doyle

F Invincible Spirit-Loch Jipp

Grove Stud

450,000

David Redvers Bloodstock

C Arcano-Safiya Song

Church Farm

320,000

Peter & Ross Doyle Bloodstock

C Speightstown-Sleepytime

Friarstown B/s

320,000

Mandore International

F Dutch Art-Classic Lass

Mocklershill

300,000

McCalmont Bloodstock

C Arcano-Singed

Bansha House

250,000

George Moore/SackvilleDonald

C Kodiac-Lady Lucia

Tally-Ho Stud

240,000

Shadwell

C Approve-Anne Bonney

Kilminfoyle House

240,000

Shadwell

F Invincible Spirit-Blue Azure

Gaybrook Lodge

210,000

R O’Gorman Bloodstock

1,150,000

Buyer McCalmont Bloodstock

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (gns)

Avg (gns)

Mdn (gns)

Top Price (gns)

2014

93

10,489,000

112,785

70,000

1,150,000

2013

103

9,235,000

89,660

55,000

760,000

2012

117

8,578,000

73,316

57,000

500,000

2011

112

7,987,000

71,313

60,000

320,000

2010

96

7,656,500

79,755

70,000

400,000

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_Sales_Circuit_Sales 21/05/2014 17:46 Page 55

is dominated by Coolmore and racing empires deriving from the Middle East, although Hong Kong’s George Moore broke the stranglehold with the purchase of an Arcano colt who will be trained by his father, John.

Could the Craven Sale become too rarefied, deterring the all-important buyers below the top level? Tattersalls will be considering all elements and potential outcomes, but for the time being it can reflect on marvellous sets of figures for the 2014 edition, including an average that soared into six figures and settled at 112,785gns. Breezeup specialists, many from Ireland, will enter the autumn’s yearling sales knowing they need big bucks to play this particular area of the market.

Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale

Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

F Exceed And Excel-La Pilaya (Pivotal)

Grove Stud

Price (£) 340,000

Buyer David Redvers

C Lope De Vega-Elshamms (Zafonic)

Mocklershill

260,000

David Redvers

C Henrythenavigator-Victorica (Exbourne)

Meadowview Stables 230,000

Richard Knight/Sean Quinn

C Dutch Art-Mary Goodnight (King’s Best)

Oak Tree Farm

190,000

Tan Sri Vincent Tan

C Acclamation-Coachhouse Lady (Rahy)

Horse Park Stud

180,000

Richard Knight/Sean Quinn

C Dutch Art-Nelly Dean (Pivotal)

Mocklershill

145,000

Richard Knight/Sean Quinn

C Mastercraftsman-Red Blossom (Silver Hawk)

Athassel House Stud

90,000

Brian Ellison

C Siyouni-Samerous (Generous)

Tally Ho Stud

90,000

Peter & Ross Doyle B/s

C Approve-Tiltili (Spectrum)

Church Farm Stables

90,000

Hillen/Middleham Park

C Thewayyouare-Margaux Dancer (Danehill Dancer)

Derryconnor Stud

90,000

David Redvers

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2014

127

4,646,250

36,585

22,000

340,000

2013

97

2,974,300

30,663

20,000

210,000

2012

122

3,601,500

29,520

24,000

300,000

2011

109

3,183,500

29,206

20,000

140,000

2010

122

3,247,300

26,617

19,750

140,000

DBS

It may be Europe’s oldest breeze-up sale, but the one-day Doncaster version looked anything but jaded.

Turnover shot up by 56% to pass £4,600,000, the clearance rate of 85% was one of which DBS could be proud, and the

Doncaster Breeze-Up Sale

An Exceed And Excel filly from Grove Stud led a vibrant renewal of the DBS Breeze-up when selling to David Redvers for £340,000

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

55

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June_118_Sales_Circuit_Sales 21/05/2014 17:46 Page 56

SALES CIRCUIT >> top lot created a new high for the sale. This

proved to be an Exceed And Excel filly, offered by Brendan Holland’s Grove Stud, and knocked down for £340,000 to David Redvers on behalf of Sheikh Fahad – she is now in training with Yorkshire’s David Barron.

The previous high – £300,000 – was given in 2012 for Fire Eyes, another product of Exceed And Excel and also bought by Redvers.

Six lots made six-figure sums – double the number achieved in 2013 – including a £260,000 Lope De Vega colt, offered by Willie Browne’s Mocklershill and another to fall into the net cast by Redvers.

“It may be Europe’s

oldest breeze-up sale but the Doncaster version looked anything but jaded” John Quinn’s son, Sean, has become his father’s representative at bloodstock sales, and he and Richard Knight gained a number of high-value breezers, including the third highest priced, a colt by Henrythenavigator who made £230,000, and there was a novel note when Cardiff City Football Club owner Vincent Tan from Malaysia made his first European purchase, a Dutch Art colt for £190,000. Jeremy Gask will handle this youngster’s future.

So there was much for Henry Beeby, DBS’s Managing Director, to be pleased about, and he has more breeze-up cards to play in his role as Chief Executive of Goffs, which holds its new eve-of-Royal Ascot London Sale on June 16.

Brightwells’ Cheltenham April Sale Top lots Name/Breeding

Vendor

Alisier D’Irlande (Kapgarde-Isati’s)

Lingstown Stables

Price (£) 300,000

Buyer Roger Brookhouse

Adam Du Breteau (Network-Odelie De Fric)

Camas Park

280,000

Jonjo O’Neill

Potters Point (Robin Des Champs-Tango Lady)

Milestone Stables

260,000

H Kirk/W Mullins

Moon Racer Saffron Walden-Angel’s Folly)

Coolcormack Stables

225,000

David Pipe

Champagne Present (Presenting-My Name’s Not Bin)

Knockanglass Stables

210,000

Jonjo O’Neill

Jeweloftheocean (Flemensfirth-Coole Assembly)

Ballyboy Stables

175,000

Jonjo O’Neill

Different Gravey (High Chaparral-Newtown Dancer)

Moate Stables

140,000

Highflyer Bloodstock

Micks Lad (Beneficial-Floree)

Moate Stables

132,000

Miss H Knight

Detroit Blues (Tobougg-Blue Missy)

Knockanglass Stables

100,000

T Malone/J Snowden

Corner Creek (Presenting-No Moore Bills)

Ballyboy Stables

100,000

Michael Scudamore

Golan To War (Golan-Velcro Girl)

P O’Connor Racing

100,000

David Dennis

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (£)

Avg (£)

Mdn (£)

Top Price (£)

2014 2013

39

3,362,000

86,205

65,000

300,000

57

3,702,500

64,956

52,000

250,000

2012

55

3,810,500

69,282

43,500

310,000

2011

59

3,555,000

63,482

36,000

250,000

2010

49

2,507,500

51,173

36,000

260,000

Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up and HIT Sale Top ten breezers Sex/Breeding

Vendor

F War Front-Pastel Gal

Gaybrook Lodge

270,000

David Redvers

F Invincible Spirit-Golden Flyer

Gaybrook Lodge

215,000

Shadwell

C Acclamation-Golden Legacy

Mocklershill

125,000

Peter & Ross Doyle

F Elusive Quality-Skip A Dare

Tally-Ho Stud

87,000

C Showcasing-Miss Rimex

Windmill Stables

80,000

Stephen Hillen

C Dutch Art-Evasive Quality

Kilminfoyle House

78,000

Charlie Gordon-Watson

C Azamour-Choose Me

Oaks Farm

75,000

Peter & Ross Doyle

C Fast Company-Red Titian

Bansha House

72,000

Peter & Ross Doyle

C Dutch Art-Arculinge

Athassel House

70,000

J Delahooke

C Showcasing-Bassinet

Brown Island

60,000

Rabbah B/s

Brightwells Cheltenham April Sale

C Kodiac-Jasmina

Oaks Farm

60,000

Peter & Ross Doyle

C Dutch Art-Angie And Liz

Powerstown Stud

60,000

Ibrahim Rachid

Despite a change in format and the potential impact of Brightwells’ new sale of jumping stock held six weeks’ earlier during the Cheltenham Festival, this annual event still came up smelling sweetly.

The catalogue had shrunk, but the figures will have pleased both vendors and Brightwells, with notable gains in the average and median price, and a small fall in turnover which gave no hint of the reduced number on offer – 47 horses compared to 88 in 2013.

Formerly held during Cheltenham’s twoday April meeting and based in the Centaur

Top three horses in training

56

Price (gns)

Buyer

Rabbah B/s

Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Great Hall (Halling)

Manton House

Price (gns)

Buyer

Mindurownbusiness (Cape Cross)

Trillium Place Stables

80,000

David Simcock

Pilates (Shamardal)

Kingsley House

52,000

Anthony Stroud

140,000

Sean Quinn

Figures for combined elements of sale (First staged as joint sale 2012) Year

Sold

Agg (gns)

Avg (gns)

Mdn (gns)

Top Price (gns)

2014

145

3,955,328

27,278

16,000

270,000

2013

120

2,761,000

23,008

14,000

110,000

2012

104

2,414,650

23,218

15,500

115,000

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_Sales_Circuit_Sales 21/05/2014 17:46 Page 57

EMMA BERRY

SALES CIRCUIT

arena, where buyers had the option of booking a table for dinner, it was switched this year to a stand-alone date and moved to the smaller Brightwells’ Arena. Those changes were not blamed for the number that came to market, and the major buyers were all present to pore over a smart bunch of young horses.

Brightwells put the catalogue size down to the reduced numbers running in Irish pointto-points, leading to fewer divisions of maiden races with a resultant fall in the number of winners. A four-year-old can score heavily on looks and pedigree, but it needs an opportunity to race and win or it will miss the bus.

As luck would have it, some above-average horses had taken their chance and scored in the weeks before this auction, leading to a raft of big prices. The best, a sum of £300,000, was given by racehorse owner and frequent buyer Roger Brookhouse for the gelding Alisier D’Irlande, who was guided to his sales slot by ace marksmen Willie Codd of Lingstown Stables.

Other Cheltenham regulars such as Jonjo O’Neill and Willie Mullins made their presence felt, but it was good to see younger trainers such as Jamie Snowden, Michael Scudamore and David Dennis registering sixfigure purchases.

Snowden trained his first Cheltenham Festival winner this year and took the view that if he was ever going to take a speculative punt on a lovely young horse, this was the time to do it.

Tattersalls Guineas Breeze-Up and HIT Sale Jim McCartan’s breeze-up season was given a polish at this one-day sale, where he consigned the top two horses.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

LAURA GREEN/TATTERSALLS

Jim McCartan has had a strong season

The Guineas Sale-topping daughter of War Front is led out of the ring at Tattersalls

US-based stallion War Front, whose progeny seem to have a mesmeric grip on European buyers, was again a factor, for it was one of his daughters who headed the bill. David Redvers, acting for his Qatari clients, signed for the filly after posting an offer of 270,000gns – McCartan bought her at Keeneland in September after she was led out unsold at $85,000 – but both buyer and vendor have done business to good effect in

“Tattersalls has got

away to a blistering start after three sales in Newmarket this year” the past. Two years ago Redvers bought Lightning Thunder from McCartan’s Gaybrook Lodge Stud for 115,000gns, and one day after this sale was completed she finished a close second in the QIPCO 1,000 Guineas.

Another member of McCartan’s draft, this one a filly by Invincible Spirit, made 180,000gns when bought by Sheikh Hamdan to go into training with Ed Dunlop, while Yorkshireman David Brown will handle

the sale-topping War Front filly.

It is noticeable how Sheikh Fahad and his brothers have patronised north of England trainers with some of their best stock. Mark Johnston apart, few trainers above Newmarket have enjoyed backing from racing’s top-tier owners, but the Al Thani family has, to date, shown no southern bias.

Tattersalls has got away to a blistering start after three sales in Newmarket this year, and Chairman Edmond Mahony reflected on “sustained demand at the top of the market” in his end-of-sale statement. The breeze-up portion generated turnover that rose 39% to 3,271,800gns, while the average and median prices went up by 28% and 33% respectively.

Overall turnover for the breeze and horsesin-training sections combined achieved a 43% increase to 3,955,328gns, albeit the catalogue was slightly larger with an extra 28 lots to ponder.

Pleasingly, the greater numbers did no harm to the clearance rate, particularly in the horses-in-training section where 85% of the 52 horses offered went to new owners.

Heading them with a valuation of 140,000gns, the first time a six-figure sum had been recorded in the sale’s three-year history and well up on last year’s 85,000gns best, was four-year-old Great Hall. A winner of two races, he came to the ring from Brian Meehan’s Manton House Stables, but was another bound for the north of England after being bought by Sean Quinn, representing his trainer/father John.

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June_118_Sales_Circuit_Sales 21/05/2014 17:46 Page 58

SALES CIRCUIT

Arqana Breeze-Up Sale The importance of the Al Thani family’s involvement in the bloodstock world was illustrated by results in Saint-Cloud where, at a record-breaking sale, Sheikhs Joaan and Fahad Al Thani accounted for almost a third of the turnover with eight purchases between them.

Top of the list, signed for by Nicolas de Watrigant on behalf of Sheikh Joaan, was the most expensive two-year-old colt bought at auction in France, a son of Invincible Spirit out of an unraced half-sister to Monsun, who fetched €750,000.

The colt’s sale price sealed an extraordinary breeze-up season for Brendan Holland’s team at Grove Stud, which has also been responsible for the most expensive filly at the Craven Sale and the top lot at the DBS Breeze-up.

“To have all this happen in the same year is really just unbelievable, that’s the only word for it,” said a beaming Holland, whose week was to improve even further after The Grey Gatsby, a horse he consigned at this same sale the previous year, went on to win the Dante Stakes at York.

Stephen Hillen bought The Grey Gatsby for Kevin Ryan, and the successful agent/trainer combination was busy again in Paris, with Hillen adding a Kendargent colt by the name of Mondial Jet, also from the Grove Stud draft, to Ryan’s string at €180,000. He too will race for The Grey Gatsby’s owner Frank Gillespie and will be joined at Ryan’s yard by three other colts and a filly from the sale, including a first-crop son of Siyouni out of the Gulch mare Blackberry who cost €115,000 and will run in the colours of Middleham Park Racing.

Hillen wasn’t the only agent to be impressed with the first two-year-olds of Siyouni, a powerful son of Pivotal standing at the Aga Khan’s Haras de Bonneval. David Redvers, buying for Sheikh Fahad, went to €300,000 to secure the second-top lot of the sale, a Siyouni colt named Svoul from a classy German family which also includes high-class chaser The Giant Bolster.

“He did a very quick and stylish breeze,” said Redvers. “I’ve been very impressed with the sire’s stock and have seen some really speedy and athletic-looking types by him.”

He had previously signed the docket for another colt by a freshman sire, this one a son of Whitsbury Manor Stud’s Showcasing, who has been quick off the mark with his winners this term.

“We’re looking for something to win the bonus, like we did last year,” said Redvers of the French-bred colt. Last season, Qatar Racing’s Arqana Breeze-up graduate My Catch won a maiden at Maisons-Laffitte and the Group 3 Prix de Cabourg at Deauville to qualify for a double Arqana jackpot payment of €110,000, not far short of his purchase price of €135,000.

At the final count, the auction, held on the

58

ARQANA

>>

Grove Stud’s Invincible Spirit colt out of Morning Sun sets a new record at Arqana

eve of the French Guineas, recorded significant increases in all areas bar the clearance rate, which fell three points to 76%. The aggregate was boosted by 18 six-figure transactions and stood at €6,750,000, while the average rose sharply to a new record for the sale of €76,705 (from €66,747). The median also improved, to €55,000 (from €49,000).

held for the third year at Pornichet racecourse on the romantically named Cote d’Amour, has certainly grown in the hearts of vendors and buyers alike.

Top price this year, given for a filly by Mastercraftsman who had been bought from the Osarus September yearling sale for €30,000, was, at €75,000, the best recorded at the company’s two-year-old auction. She was signed for by trainer Alan Couétil on behalf of Ecurie Cerdeval and John Studd.

With 82 horses catalogued and 72 eventually offered, 53 of those found buyers – a clearance rate of 73%, which was an improvement on last year, through the aggregate of €801,500 fell fractionally.

Osarus Breeze-Up Sale

As chronicled in our feature on the newest of the sales companies on pages 48-51, the profile of French-based Osarus has risen significantly in its short history, as have the prices at its six sales throughout the year. The breeze-up sale,

Arqana Breeze-Up Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

C Invincible Spirit-Morning Sun

Grove Stud

Price (€) 750,000

Buyer Mandore International

C Siyouni-Dansia

Mocklershill

300,000

David Redvers

C Showcasing-Armanda

Horse Park Stud

210,000

David Redvers

C Invincible Spirit-In The Light

The Channel Consignment

200,000

Mandore International

C Kendargent-Norwegian Princess

Grove Stud

180,000

Stephen Hillen

C Rock Of Gibraltar-Louve Sacree

Mocklershill

180,000

Stephen Hillen

C Rip Van Winkle-Poltava

The Channel Consignment

170,000

The Channel Consignment

C Bernardini-Peinture Rose

Mocklershill

165,000

Oceanic Bloodstock

C Mastercraftsman-Coup d’Eclat

Haras de Sabouas

160,000

Chantilly Bloodstock

C Cape Cross-Quezon Sun

Powerstown Stud

150,000

Narvick International

Five-year tale Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

Top Price (€)

2014

88

76,705

55,000

6,750,000

750,000

2013

91

66,747

49,000

6,074,000

520,000

2012

100

56,890

42,000

5,689,000

420,000

2011

111

62,090

50,000

6,892,000

260,000

2010

108

51,574

40,000

5,570,000

300,000

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_Sales_Circuit_Sales 21/05/2014 17:48 Page 59

SALES CIRCUIT

Osarus Breeze-Up Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

F Mastercraftsman-Infinitely

Quere Severine

Price (€) 75,000

Buyer Alain Couétil

C Sunday Break-Monatora

Haras du Chene

70,000

Jean-Claude Rouget

F Hannouma-Sweet Shop

Haras de Bernesq

51,000

Paul Nataf

C Martaline-Deesse d’Arabie

L’Ecurie Prevost-Baratte

45,000

Jean-Claude Rouget

F King’s Best-Victory Chant

L’Ecurie Prevost-Baratte

36,000

Sylvie Sine

F Dylan Thomas-Biased

The Channel Consignment

26,000

FBA

C Royal Assault-Fauvelia

Haras de Bernesq

24,000

Yann Barberot

F Early March-Indiena

L’Ecurie Prevost-Baratte

24,000

Nicolas Bertran de Balanda

F Naaqoos-Katelyn’s Kiss

Jérome Delauney

24,000

David O’Meara

F Whipper-Prairie Moon

Haras de Saint Arnoult

23,000

David O’Meara

Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

2014

53

801,500

16,255

10,000

75,000

2013

52

816,500

16,596

15,000

45,000

2012

27

308,000

11,920

10,000

30,000

Jean-Claude Rouget will train a scopeylooking son of Sunday Break, named Charly Bere, who was the most expensive colt in the sale, selling for €70,000 from Yann Poirier’s Haras du Chene. The Pau handler has also taken charge of a neat colt by Martaline out of the

EMMA BERRY

Figures Top Price (€)

Trempolino mare Déesse d’Arabie, who was Listed-placed on the Flat and a four-time winner over jumps in France and Germany. Rouget bought the colt in partnership with his friend and fellow trainer Francois Nicolle, who is expected to take over the training of the horse

Yann Poirier and his Sunday Break colt

when he progresses to jumping, like his dam.

Along with the home team of trainers and agents, buyers from Morocco, Sweden and Spain made the trip to Pornichet, as did a handful of British-based representatives, including trainers David O’Meara and Tony Carroll, who bought four horses collectively.

It has been a privilege to serve on the ROA Council for ten years, and served as Vice President and on the Executive Committee.

Having been a successful owner and breeder under both codes for 25 years, the welfare of our horses is something I feel strongly about. I have represented the ROA on the Board of Trustees of Retraining of Racehorses, overseeing the merger with the ROA’s own charity Emergency Relief for Thoroughbreds to create a strong charity.

Making a difference: I am chairman of the Awards committee which oversees the ROA Awards, developing the evening into one that raises significant sums for racing charities – totalling £130,000 during the last two years alone.

Representative: Prize-money is every owner’s biggest concern, and although we have successfully established prize-money agreements there is still a long way to go before owners receive a fair return that will encourage new faces into the sport and help those already involved. The ROA must be at the forefront of that campaign, and must continue with racing’s partners to keep up the pressure on government to bring offshore bookmakers into the levy system.

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Although progress had been made, there is still much work to be done.

I would ask ROA members to vote for Tony Hirschfeld.

For more information: www.racehorseowners.net/en/about-us/roa-council-election-2014/ tony-hirschfeld.cfm

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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>>

June_118_Sales_Circuit_Sales 21/05/2014 17:47 Page 60

SALES CIRCUIT >>

OBS April Sale They do things bigger in the USA, a comment that could apply to this four-day sale of breezeup horses.

It comprised a catalogue of 1,209 juveniles, drawing the pre-sale comment from OBS president Tom Ventura that “consignors now feel very confident that they can bring any level of horse here and have a chance to sell it.”

Inevitably there were withdrawals, and 952 juveniles came under the hammer, but a clearance rate of almost 81% was meritorious and the 767 who gained new owners took turnover for the event to a new high of just over $57,000,000. The average and median went up 24% and 34% respectively, achieving sums that were also new highs and adding to the success of the Florida-based sales company’s March Sale.

OBS and Barretts both enjoyed excellent breeze-up sale results, but the average and median prices fell at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale, and Keeneland April experienced declines in number sold and gross sales.

At this auction, expatriate Englishman Nick de Meric and his American wife Jaqui, whose de Meric Sales is based in Ocala, reaped several rewards and capped things with three horses in the top ten, including the number one, a colt by Tapit who made $725,000 to a bid from Mike Repole. This was the colt’s second venture to the ring, and more successful than the first – bred in Kentucky by Hargus and Sandra Sexton and Silver Fern Farm, he failed to make his reserve at Keeneland’s September Sale, where bidding halted at $130,000.

Tapit was also sire of a $1.6m colt who jointly topped OBS’s March breeze-up sale with a son of Giant’s Causeway, while New York-based Repole is a racehorse owner who made a fortune from a bottled water business he sold to Coca Cola.

The de Merics also topped the final session when selling an Indian Charlie colt to Ashford Stud for $625,000, having bought the horse for just $75,000 at Keeneland’s September sale.

OBS April Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

C Tapit-Ready For Fortune

de Meric Sales

Price ($) 725,000

Buyer

C Curlin-Silent Eskimo

Old South Farm

700,000

McKathan Bros/Fog City Stables

C Bernardini-Tarlow

Northwest Stud

700,000

Donato Lanni

Mike Repole

C Indian Charlie-Agatha

de Meric Sales

625,000

Ashford Stud

C Mineshaft -Kelly Pond

Eisaman Equine

550,000

Frank Fletcher

C More Than Ready-Coya

Northwest Stud

550,000

Mark Casse

F Harlan’s Holiday-Ruby Summer

Eisaman Equine

525,000

Donato Lanni

C Super Saver-Tiz Fate Crupi’s

New Castle Farm

525,000

Mark Casse

F Scat Daddy-Saint Bernadette

Woodside Ranch

425,000

Green Hills Farm

C Super Saver-Tell Some Fibs

Wavertree Stables

400,000

D P Racing

C Indian Charlie-Viva La Viva

de Meric Sales

400,000

Cam Allard

C Kitten’s Joy-Blazing Bliss

Cary Frommer

400,000

Narvick International

Figures Year

Sold

Agg ($)

Avg ($)

Mdn ($)

2014

767

57,032,000

74,357

47,000

Top Price ($) 725,000

2013

815

48,757,000

59,825

35,000

900,000

Goffs Punchestown Sale Top lots Sex/Breeding

Vendor

Birch Hill (Kalanisi-Miss Compliance)

Mount Davy’s Stables

Price (€) 160,000

Buyer Highflyer Bloodstock

Aqua Dude (Indian River-Ballyburn Lady)

Monbeg Stables

150,000

Evan Williams

Rock On Fruity (Fruits Of Love-Sancta Miria)

Liam Hackett

145,000

Kieran McManus

Baby King (Ivan Denisovich-Burn Baby Burn)

Sylvally Stables

130,000

Tom George

Riviera Sun (Milan-Riviera Sands)

Knockeen Stud

110,000

Brian Donlon

Boris De Blae (Mahler-Almost Trumps)

Nicholastown Stud

110,000

GH Bloodstock

Nick Brody Saffron Walden-Polar Lady

Willow Park Stable

100,000

Kieran McManus

100,000

She’s Da One (Presenting-Leader’s Hall

Walshtown Stables

The Last Euro (Scorpion-Nitelite)

Richard Frisby

90,000

GH Bloodstock

Tom Malone

Call Vinnie (Vinnie Roe-From The Future)

Mount Brown Farm

90,000

Bobby O’Ryan

Figures Year

Sold

Agg (€)

Avg (€)

Mdn (€)

2014

17

1,537,000

90,412

90,000

Top Price (€) 160,000

2013

12

1,094,000

91,166

72,500

190,000

2012

16

1,413,000

88,312

80,000

210,000

2011

14

1,013,000

72,357

55,000

200,000

(Inaugurated in 2011)

Goffs Punchestown Sale Wherever nice young Irish point-to-pointers are offered for sale a Briton will be there to buy them.

Hence Highflyer Bloodstock’s David Minton stepped into the midst of many Irishmen and landed the top-priced horse at this sale, held during Punchestown’s famous five-day racing festival. Minton’s €160,000 offer clinched Birch Hill, trained in Northern Ireland by Ian Ferguson, and the winner of his second start just a few days earlier at Loughbrickland. A son of Kalanisi, he had been looking a possible winner when falling three out on his debut earlier in April.

One of eight horses to breach the six-figure mark, Birch Hill contributed to a hefty 40% rise

60

in turnover, and while the average dipped imperceptibly, the median gained 20%. Such figures will swing from year to year depending on the quality of the horses-in-training on offer, but the 2014 renewal of this event was definitely brighter than its predecessor, at which 19 walked in and just 12 sold – this time 21 were offered and 17 sold.

Another visitor from Britain, Welshman Evan Williams, headed home with a valuable asset after spending €150,000 on Aqua Dude, who, like the top lot, had won the previous weekend.

The two transactions typify the trend in jumping circles for small-scale sales that offer winning horses still hot from the racecourse.

JP McManus’s place as Ireland’s leading

owner – narrowly from Gigginstown House Stud’s Michael O’Leary – was confirmed during the race meeting, and he has shown clear intent to retain it and the British title by making his presence felt at this and similar sales.

His son Kieran was sent into bat for the team on this occasion and claimed two of the sixfigure lots, while Tom George, who enjoyed a Grade 1 winner during the festival with God’s Own in the Ryanair Novice Chase, also took a place among British buyers who made it onto the top-ten board.

Goffs’ next auction of jumping stock is its June Land Rover Sale at which store horses come to market – and the process that leads to the Punchestown festival begins again.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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June_118_BreedingBusinessSpread_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 16:04 Page 62

THE BREEDING BUSINESS

Northern lights National Hunt breeder Will Ewart’s good season with his select broodmare band

JOHN GROSSICK

and she was given to me while at a children’s swimming party by another dad in the pool!”

The Ewart family has also enjoyed success on the track in the recently concluded jumps season via Snuker, who won twice for James Ewart at his local tracks of Carlisle and Hexham.

“Breeding has been my passion since I was very young,” says Will Ewart. “At 21, I went to work with Alfred Buller at Scarvagh House Stud and spent 18 months there, then Joss Collins sent me to America and Darby Dan Farm. Unfortunately Joss passed away, so Luke Lillingston took over trying to educate me, and sent me back to the States to FasigTipton, Jonathan Sheppard and Derry Meeting Farm.”

Ewart returned to the UK in 2007 to run the family farm.

“I kept the broodmares going as a hobby and interest on the side,” he says.

Tutchec, a four-time winner last season, out of Ewart’s foundation mare, Pocahontas

T

he recent TBA Economic Impact Study highlighted the concerning dearth of National Hunt breeders in Britain, but one family keeping the flag flying for the jumpers is the Ewarts, who are based in the Scottish Borders.

Jumps breeder Will Ewart runs the family’s Craig Farm in Langholm, where his brother James trains.

“I bought my first broodmare when I was 21 with a small inheritance given to me by my grandfather,” says Will Ewart, an organic sheep and cattle farmer.

That foundation mare is Pocahontas, a half-sister to the top-class chaser Azertyuiop, who is still going strong at the age of 18 and has been covered by Court Cave this year.

Her prowess as a broodmare was ably advertised in the 2013/14 season by her son Tutchec, the winner of four consecutive races between October and January for Nicky Richards.

Pocahontas is joined in the Ewart broodmare band by her daughter Azturk, by Baby Turk, who was her first foal. Azturk has produced a dual winner with her own first

62

foal, a six-year-old son of Tikkanen with a name that will give most commentators nightmares – Ueueteotl – and she has a filly foal by Court Cave, to whom she has returned.

“Presenting’s full-

sister Presuming was given to me while I was at a children’s swimming party!”

Tikkanen was also the mate in 2013 for Branceilles, the dam of 152-rated Sa Suffit who has a colt foal on the ground, while the quartet of mares is completed by the George Strawbridge-bred Presuming, a full-sister to Presenting, who is another to have visited Court Cave this season.

Ewart says: “I’ve had her for six months

Ashley House stars Bound for success Few small breeders have made a more auspicious start to the 2014 season than Devon-based Brian and Jane Hammond.

While Treasure Beach’s 2011 Irish Derby victory will always have pride of place for the couple’s Ashley House Stud, they could scarcely have hoped for a better couple of months so far this year.

The Hammonds retained Treasure Beach’s Authorized half-sister Honor Bound and she followed up a Windsor maiden victory in late April with a triumph in the Listed Lingfield Oaks Trial a couple of weeks later for trainer Ralph Beckett.

Meanwhile, the filly’s half-brother Elidor, who finished runner-up in last season’s Lingfield Derby Trial for Mick Channon, already has a win and an Ascot Listed third to his name this season.

But no Ashley House Stud-raised performer has shown more marked improvement recently than the five-yearold mare Beacon Lady, who is now rated 96 having won the Great Metropolitan

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_BreedingBusinessSpread_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 15:59 Page 63

A golden nugget for the Nugents When then three-year-old Noyelles sold for €22,000 at Arqana in December 2007, the buyer was particularly familiar to auctioneer Nick Nugent – it was his wife Alice.

“Nick was a bit shocked when I put my hand up,” she recalls. Any concerns were short-lived.

Noyelles’ first two foals – Lily’s Angel and Zurigha – are black-type winners, the mare has a couple of well-regarded runners to come and was recently covered by Sea The Stars.

“It’s a dream,” Alice adds. “We’ve got only one mare and she’s now bred two stakes winners.

There was a time when we wondered whether we’d made the right decision buying her but I’m obviously glad that we did.”

Alice spent her formative years working with her father Peter Player at Whatton Manor Stud in Nottinghamshire and spent time with Sir Henry Cecil, Rossdales’ vets and Kildangan Stud, before a career in advertising.

“I grew up walking the yearlings, first when we were in Newmarket and then in Whatton, so I had a good grounding – and then married Nick for my sins,” she jokes.

Noyelles lives at Whatton Manor, although is boarding with Des Leadon and Mariann Klay at Swordlestown Little Stud in Co Kildare after her date with Sea The Stars, and she has some exciting youngsters coming through.

“She had a filly foal by Harbour Watch this

Nick Nugent, left, with his brother-inlaw Ed Player and father-in-law Peter

year and an Arcano yearling filly who we are thinking of keeping as we’d love to have one from the family to breed from,” continues Alice, much of whose time is now spent running events, including the Body & Soul Festival, at the couple’s Co Meath home.

There are good reports from the Curragh about both Noyelles’ three-year-old daughter Cara Mia, with John Oxx, and her Bushranger juvenile, trained by Michael O’Callaghan, and Alice has enjoyed supporting the family.

“I saw Lily’s Angel win at Dundalk and then watched her finish second in the Group 1 Matron at Leopardstown,” she says. “Nick was away, I watched with Anthony Rogers and ended up kicking him very hard!”

FRESHMAN WATCH Keeping an eye on sires with first runners in 2014 Precocity preoccupies many in the breeding industry so it’s no surprise that there is a great focus on which first-season stallions can make the quickest mark on the racecourse.

Zebedee led the way when Julie Wood’s Magical Roundabout won the same Windsor maiden as his sire in early April but, as shown in the table below, it did not take long for many of his stallion contemporaries in Britain and Ireland to break their ducks.

April 7 - ZEBEDEE (Magical Roundabout, Windsor) April 8 - SHOWCASING (Abscent Friends, Southwell) April 11 - ARCANO (Kasb, Newbury) April 14 - FAST COMPANY (Low Cut Affair, Windsor) April 16 - APPROVE (Lazy Days In Loule, Beverley) April 20 - LOPE DE VEGA (Multicolor, Bordeaux Le Bouscat) April 22 - HELLVELYN (Charlie’s Star, Yarmouth) April 29 - EQUIANO (Moving Melody, Newcastle) May 1 - VALE OF YORK (Fontanelice, Milan)

Jane and Brian Hammond with Honor Bound as a foal alongside Honorine

Handicap at Epsom in April.

After missing her intended date at the yearling sales, she was sent to Bill Turner, and claimed for £3,000 by William Knight when finishing last as a juvenile at Kempton in September 2011. Having won her first start for Knight when rated 46, she has scarcely looked back, now boasting five victories at Brighton and two at Epsom.

Brian Hammond says: “She won very easily on her latest start at Epsom, she won it looking around. I haven’t made it to see

her run yet but will try to soon.”

Beacon Lady’s mother Oriental Lady went to India after selling for 8,000gns at the 2010 December Sale, something her vendor slightly rues.

Hammond adds: “Her first foal by Haafhd won eight races in Hungary, the second foal was Beacon Lady and then we sold her in foal to Holy Roman Emperor and she produced a colt called Be Safe, who became the best twoyear-old in India. So it may have been a mistake to sell her!”

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

May 2 - MAKFI (Mambo Paradise, Musselburgh) May 11 - LORD SHANAKILL (Giacas, Rome) May 15 - PACO BOY (Beacon, Salisbury)

The above table details the first winner for each freshman to the last date listed

63

June_118_Caulfield_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 16:02 Page 64

CAULFIELD FILES ANDREW CAULFIELD REPORTS ON THE BLOODSTOCK WORLD

Galileo’s girls making a name W

hen Sadler’s Wells achieved his 14th sires’ championship in 2004, I thought it unlikely that any other stallion would ever come close to matching his record-breaking achievement. I am now beginning to have second thoughts, as history seems to be repeating itself via his remarkable son Galileo.

One difference between the two that could ultimately work in Sadler’s Wells’s favour is that he was only nine when he first topped the sires’ table, whereas Galileo was ten. Both father and son then failed to take the title the following year before starting to look invincible. Galileo has now reeled off four consecutive championships, so he is hot in pursuit of his sire.

Happily, it appears that this isn’t the only area where Galileo is following in his father’s footsteps. Thanks to his first-crop son In The Wings, Sadler’s Wells soon drew attention to himself as a sire of sires, and Galileo has made faster progress in this area, thanks largely to the Classic sires Teofilo and New Approach.

Now we have the exciting prospect that Galileo is going to develop into as good a sire of broodmares as Sadler’s Wells. Remember, Sadler’s Wells was the champion broodmare sire every year from 2005 to 2011 – that’s seven consecutive titles.

The salient fact to be absorbed from that statistic is that Sadler’s Wells was 24 when he first topped the list. This is partly because a broodmare sire’s number of foals starts as a trickle and increases quite slowly for a few years.

Then the numbers start to soar exponentially, as more and more daughters become broodmares and the older daughters produce more and more foals.

If you think about it, a middle-distance horse who retires at the end of his three-year-old season – as did Sadler’s Wells and Galileo – will be seven before his first runners appear. If his first-crop daughters are allowed two years on the track, the stallion will be 13 before most of his first-crop daughters are represented by their first three-year-olds.

64

Clearly this is a slow process but a prolific stallion can continue to make his mark long after his death, as the 2014 broodmare table highlights. As I write, Sadler’s Wells is back on top, some 33 years after his birth. Significantly, his nearest pursuer is Galileo, a comparative youngster at the age of 16 whose best previous position had been seventh in 2013.

Galileo owes his position largely to the 2,000 Guineas success of Night Of Thunder, a Dubawi colt who is the first foal of Galileo’s Listed-placed daughter Forest Storm. Of course the AngloIrish statistics don’t reflect the $360,000 earned

by Lea, a son of the Galileo mare Greenery in winning the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope Stakes and the Grade 1 Donn Handicap in Florida. These two take the total of Group/Grade 1 winners out of Galileo mares to three, their predecessor being

“A prolific sire can be influential long after death; Sadler’s Wells is back on top 33 years after his birth”

La Collina, who won the 2011 Phoenix Stakes and 2013 Matron Stakes.

It is important for breeders to remember that only one of these three is by a Danzig line stallion, but you would never guess this from the statistics for Galileo’s broodmare daughters.

According to Equineline, 383 daughters of Galileo have a total of 846 foals of racing age (this is an increase of 283 foals from last year’s figure of 563 – a rise of 50%, which underlines my earlier point about exponent growth).

Unfortunately these figures include the southern hemisphere, where Galileo’s Australian progeny came nowhere close to matching their Irish counterparts.

EMMA BERRY

It takes time for a stallion to establish himself as a broodmare sire but once again the champion sire is emulating his father

Sadler’s Wells: a hard act to follow

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that as many as 218 of the 846 foals – more than 25% – are by sons of Danehill. Indeed, the three stallions with the highest number of foals out of Galileo mares are all sons of Danehill, with Duke Of Marmalade and Fastnet Rock sharing the lead with 28 foals each. Duke Of Marmalade’s collection includes the Irish Oaks runner-up Venus de Milo, the Group-placed Starbright and the Group-placed German filly Guinnevre.

The popularity of this cross surely owes a lot to Teofilo’s championship exploits as a two-yearold in 2006, since when the flames have been fanned by a succession of top Galileo performers out of Danehill mares, not least Frankel. The first Group winner out of a Galileo mare was sired by a son of Dansili, and the Danehill route immediately became the obvious choice.

Another 50 of the foals out of Galileo mares are by sons of Green Desert, including 18 by Invincible Spirit, 13 by Oasis Dream and another 13 by Cape Cross. Twenty are by sons of Danzig. Owners of Galileo’s Australian daughters have been turning to sons of Danehill’s champion son Redoute’s Choice, to the extent that there are 26 foals bred this way.

If I had to choose just one of these pairings, I would opt for Oasis Dream, whose record as I write stands at six winners from nine runners.

Among them are the French Group 2 winner Hard Dream, the big earner Oklahoma City (TF 110) and the Listed-placed Sleeping Beauty.

This combination’s trio of unraced two-yearolds are all out of stakes winners and include Almohtaseb, a Roger Varian-trained son of the 1,000 Guineas second Cuis Ghaire.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_Caulfield_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 16:02 Page 65

Needless to say, the Green Desert connection with Galileo has already enjoyed Classic success.

Galileo’s dam produced the magnificent Sea The Stars to Green Desert’s son Cape Cross and Galileo himself sired the Oaks winner Was from a Green Desert mare. Night Of Thunder’s dam also has a pedigree containing Galileo and Green Desert, and there could easily be more Classic success in the near future, as the hot Derby favourite, Australia, is by Galileo out of an exceptional daughter of Cape Cross.

The problem with nicks is that they can encourage tunnel vision and I would encourage breeders to remember that Galileo’s 32 Irishconceived Group 1 winners aren’t just about Danzig’s sons. In fact, a total of 22 broodmare sires are involved, including some rather unexpected names in Belmez, Erins Isle, Pennekamp and Presidium.

Roberto’s son Silver Hawk is the broodmare sire of three of the Group 1 winners and the Mill Reef line has also made an impact, via Shirley Heights, his sons Darshaan and Slip Anchor, and Darshaan’s son Mark Of Esteem.

Unfortunately the twin pursuits of fashion and speed mean that it isn’t easy for owners of Galileo mares to access some of these traditional classic male lines. But take a look at the pedigree of Dubawi, the sire of Night Of Thunder. His broodmare sire Deploy was by Shirley Heights out of a high-class daughter of Roberto, so it isn’t too surprising that Dubawi has done so well with a daughter of Galileo.

Dubawi also has the useful Red Galileo among his handful of runners out of Galileo mares. Dalakhani, a son of Darshaan, is the sire of Majestic Power, a 2014 two-year-old who is with David Wachman after being bought for €380,000. This filly is out of Galileo’s daughter Inchmahome.

Spare a thought, too, for Storm Cat line stallions. Galileo sired that tough filly Misty For Me from a Storm Cat mare and now his daughters are shaping up with two of Storm Cat’s grandsons, both by Giant’s Causeway.

One, the American-based First Samurai, is the sire of the Grade 1-winning Lea, while Jim Bolger has trained a trio of black-type horses by Intense Focus. Perhaps Galileo’s daughters will soon come up with some talented performers

by Shamardal.

Interestingly, Shadwell went to 400,000gns to buy Abhajat, a first-crop filly by Shamardal’s son Lope de Vega out of Galileo’s daughter Starry Messenger. Another high-priced 2013 yearling was Aldayha, an Acclamation filly out of Galistic who is now with Richard Hannon after being bought for €580,000. These two show that it can pay handsomely to think outside the box.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

GEORGE SELWYN

Look beyond the obvious

Can Classic heroine Miss France live up to the achievements of her namesake?

The other Miss France What’s in a name? If you search on the Equineline database, Miss France has been a popular choice over the years, to the extent that there have been six thoroughbreds bearing that name since 1946. The latest example, a daughter of Dansili and Miss Tahiti, must now be worth a fortune as a potential broodmare following her success in the 1,000 Guineas.

But she will do extremely well if she is to better the long-lasting achievements of the oldest of the six Miss Frances – a daughter of Jock II born in 1946.

This Miss France’s 1953 Krakatao colt, Talgo, won the Irish Derby before finishing second in the Arc, and her 1956 Arctic Star colt Fidalgo was similarly talented. He too won the Irish Derby, in between finishing second in the Derby and St Leger.

Even so, Miss France’s greatest legacy was her daughter, Etoile de France. This sister to Fidalgo produced two influential daughters in Pantoufle and the Pretty Polly

Stakes winner Place d’Etoile, but it is Pantoufle who concerns us here. This daughter of Panaslipper produced only one winner but that winner was the very talented (if temperamental) Sunbittern.

The very long line of Group winners descending from Sunbittern include eight Group/Grade 1 winners, featuring a Breeders’ Cup Turf scorer (In The Wings), a Derby winner (High-Rise), a 1,000 Guineas heroine (Virginia Waters) and an Oaks d’Italia winner (Zomaradah).

Of course Zomaradah became the dam of the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Dubawi, who added another Group 1 winner to his impressive collection when Night Of Thunder took the 2,000 Guineas a day before Miss France’s Classic success.

Dubawi even has a couple of Group winners – the fillies Kapitale and Majestic Dubawi – inbred to Sunbittern. As I said earlier, the latest Miss France has a lot to live up to.

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ROA FORUM The special section for ROA members

Don’t ignore our friends in the north Richard Wayman on his concerns over falling horse numbers and poor fixture planning The ROA is meeting with its members more than ever before and, although many serious issues remain, the feedback is more positive now than a couple of years ago. with prize-money increasing, albeit from a low base, and facilities for owners improving, at least at some tracks.

One thing that has been impossible not to notice, however, is at our northern gettogethers, regional concerns continue to dominate discussions and a growing message is racing in the north needs extra support.

Around one-quarter of ROA members live in northern England or Scotland, and we met a number of them at Wetherby in March and Haydock in May. On July 17, the ROA team will be at Hamilton to listen to the views of many of our Scottish-based members.

With the exception of three tracks – Catterick, Hexham and Redcar – all northern racecourses have signed prize-money agreements with the Horsemen’s Group, which ensures that an agreed percentage of each racecourse’s media rights will, as a minimum, be allocated to prize-money. As for the owners’ raceday experience, the recent ROA survey of members highlighted variable levels of service but the likes of Ayr, Haydock,

Hamilton and Musselburgh all rated highly compared with their peers throughout the rest of the country.

But you don’t have to look too hard to see some very real issues for racing in the north.

The decline in the number of National Hunt horses trained in the north has been significantly steeper than elsewhere with, for example, the number of northern-trained jumpers falling by 20% in the three years

“Other issues are a

decline in the quality of the northern jump race programme and harsh handicapping” between March 2011 and March 2014. To this add concerns regarding a steady decline in the quality of the northern jump race programme and a handicapping policy that is perceived as making it difficult for northerntrained jumpers, rated on their performances in generally less competitive races in the north, to compete when they venture south.

An even more frequently voiced complaint is the north’s National Hunt fixture list, which

includes periods of no racing as well as other days when meetings clash.

Take, for example, the afternoon of the ROA regional meeting at Wetherby on March 28. There had been no racing in the north on the previous five days, only for Wetherby and Newcastle to race on the same afternoon.

When combined with frustrations that some of the more go-ahead courses such as Musselburgh and Perth have faced restrictions in investing their own money in the creation of valuable self-funded fixtures, it is no surprise the northern fixture list often leaves members shaking their heads.

Northern owners from both codes regularly raise concerns regarding the increased transport costs when taking a horse to the racecourse with, given the distances involved, overnight stays anything but unusual. And, of course, linked to this is the need for an all-weather track in the north, for which the case is a very strong one. The idea, however, that this could be rectified by sacrificing one of the best turf surfaces in the country at Newcastle is, in my view, very sad.

Our industry faces challenges on many fronts, not least the need to significantly improve racing’s funding so that Britain does not remain so very firmly rooted at the bottom of the returns to owners league table.

Racing in the north, however, faces its own chronic challenges and, for the sake of its future, help is required to address them.

The ROA offers a special service whereby members can order badges for Goodwood’s Richmond Enclosure for the five days of Glorious Goodwood (July 29-August 2). The festival provides a feast of five days racing action at this beautiful track high on the Sussex Downs and is the quintessential summer raceday.

An early booking discount applies and badges booked before June 1 will cost £73 per person per day. Thereafter the cost will increase to £83 per person per day. Car parking labels for Car Park 8 can be purchased at £10 per day.

Members and guests aged 18-24 can enjoy a discounted rate of £41.50 per day (no early booking rate). Guests under 18 years of age will be admitted free of charge.

Bookings for both the above offers can be made online at racehorseowners.net or by calling 020 7152 0200.

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GEORGE SELWYN

Glorious Goodwood members’ badge offer

Enjoy superb summer racing in Goodwood’s Richmond Enclosure

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www.racehorseowners.net

Make your vote count in the election We would ask our members to use their vote in the ROA Council election. Full details of the candidates’ manifestos have been mailed out with voting cards.

The closing date for receipt of votes to Electoral Reform Services is Monday, June 23.

If you have mislaid your voting card please contact the ROA office and we will issue a replacement.

The election results will be announced at the ROA Annual General Meeting, which will be held on Tuesday, July 1 at the Jumeirah

Carlton Tower Hotel in London.

The attendance of members is heartily encouraged on the day. The morning’s proceedings will include an update on what the association has been striving to achieve for members over the past year, and our planned objectives for the year ahead. There will be an address by ROA President Rachel Hood and from the BHA Chairman, Steve Harman, one year into his role.

The programme includes a question and answer session where members can address

the ROA Council on any owner-related topics. Attendance in the morning is free of charge to members.

The formal proceedings are followed by a champagne reception and lunch, for which members and guests can book tickets, whether or not they are attending the morning session. Sir Mark Prescott is making the after-lunch speech so amusement is guaranteed! Tickets for the lunch are priced at £90 per person, or £825 for a table of ten.

Book online or call the ROA office for details.

ROA Council election: the candidates

Dr David Chapman-Jones

Age: 51 Current business position: Director, Medicine and Science and Business Development, Synapse Electroceutical; Operations Director, Tendonology, Specialist Tendon Treatment Centre for Racehorses Years as owner: 10 Current trainer: Derek Shaw Horses currently owned: Queen Hermione

Charles Liverton

Age: 40 Current business position: Racing Manager to Robin Geffen, Neptune Investment Management Years as owner: 4 Current trainers: Charlie Longsdon, Warren Greatrex and Ed Walker Horses currently owned: Hannibal The Great, Pied du Roi, Duke Of Destiny and Tsar Alexandre

Lynn Douglas

Age: 41 Current business position: Comms Officer with Metropolitan Police, Met Command Centre Years as owner: 4 Current trainers: Martin Smith and Richard Hannon Horses currently owned: Bounty’s Spirit, Spirit Of Arakan, Douglas Pasha, Indomitable Spirit (shared), Toormore (syndicate), Here For Good (syndicate)

Robert Moss

Age: 60 Current business position: Company founder and Managing Director Years as owner: 4 Current trainer: Simon Dow Horses currently owned: Presumido, El Campeon

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Tony Hirschfeld

Age: 66 Current business position: Chairman, Lodge Hotels and Cheval Court Stud Years as owner: 24 Current trainers: Rae Guest, William Haggas and Ralph Smith Horses currently owned: Jewelled, Miss Buckshot, Beaver Creek

Arno Rudolf

Age: 76 Current business position: CEO, AR Legal Collections Limited Years as owner: 35 Current trainer: Mick Easterby Horses currently owned: Leave It To Arno, Debt Free Dame

Trisha Keane

Age: 62 Current business position: Chairman, kdm communications ltd Years as owner: 25 Current trainers: Robert Eddery and Eve Johnson Houghton Horses currently owned: Beau Select, Craftsmanship, Karluk, Plymouth Sound, Front Page News

Dr Christine Stam

Age: 59 Current business position: Retired; previously Business Coordination and Development, Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd; Pharmacist and relief manager, Moss Chemists Ltd Years as owner: 8 Current trainer: Stuart Kittow Horses currently owned: Resurge, Weapon Of Choice (joint owner), Guilded Spirit (syndicate)

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ROA FORUM

Clean sweep for the ROA at Nottingham Jackpot meeting The fourth ROA Owners Jackpot meeting, held on Tuesday, April 29 at Nottingham racecourse, proved to be a massive success for ROA members as their horses scooped every prize on the eight-race card. To make the day even sweeter, a bonus of £1,500 was awarded on top of prize-money for each race.

A bonus fund of £10,000 is on offer to ROA members with winners at every Jackpot meeting; however, for fixtures such as Nottingham’s with seven or eight races on the card, the minimum bonus guaranteed is £1,500. ROA members have now gone through the entire card at two of the four Jackpot meetings to date and have won 23 out of the 27 races staged.

The Nottingham fixture was the first Flat meeting of the series, and the opening race was won by Cape Icon. The flashy colt also provided the first leg in a double for Berkshire-based trainer Clive Cox and jockey Adam Kirby.

Cape Icon’s owners, Rob Haim and Caroline Green, said: “The Jackpot really has been an incentive for us and makes the trip worthwhile.” The second Cox/Kirby winner was the Alan Spence-owned Hassle, who showed a great attitude to win the first division of the Class 4 one-mile-six-furlong handicap.

The second race, the ROA Owners Jackpot Handicap, was won by Celtic Sixpence, whose part-owner Cynthia Commons said: “So often nowadays prize-money barely even covers your travel and jockey fees. Any boost to prize-money has my support and the Jackpot is clearly an excellent idea, especially for us owners who don’t often get winners!”

Jackpot winners Marina Kent and Cynthia Commons (grey jacket) pictured with ROA Chief Executive Richard Wayman and Council member Sheila Bailey (right)

The other winners on the day were Lady Tiana, owned by The FOPS; Penhill, owned

by Clarendon Thoroughbred Racing; Wannabe Your Man, owned by Normandie Stud Ltd; Iffranesia, owned and bred by Cyril Humphris; and Scarborough, owned by

Mark Wainman.

We will report on the next ROA Owners Jackpot fixtures at Haydock on Thursday, May 29 and Salisbury on Tuesday, June 10 in ROA Forum. See racehorseowners.net for full details.

BENEFIT IN FOCUS – Third Party Liability Insurance Scheme All ROA members receive automatic third party liability insurance cover (up to a limit of liability of £10 million) against potential damages if a racehorse they own causes damage or injury to a third party or their property.

The ROA introduced this scheme as owners are currently vulnerable to claims even when their horse is in somebody else’s care.

Past accidents have highlighted that, as well as the horse’s trainer, an owner may be vulnerable to the risk of a claim – potentially running into millions of pounds – being brought against them by a third party for which they otherwise have inadequate protection.

The law defines a racehorse’s owner as any individual who has a financial interest in that horse, so all members of a racing partnership

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should be mindful of their potential exposure to the risk. The cover provided by ROA membership is for ROA members only and does not cascade down to non-ROA members in a syndicate.

The ROA third party liability insurance scheme applies to horses in training, horses being prepared to go into training and horses temporarily out of training.

The scheme, arranged through Weatherbys Hamilton, is not intended to provide primary cover, the type of which is required by both permit holders and licensed trainers. However, permit trainers who are ROA members can take advantage of a discount of 20% on a primary policy through Weatherbys Hamilton (01933 440077).

Full T&Cs and policy documents can be viewed at racehorseowners.net

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TRACK TALK

THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE UK’S RACECOURSES

‘The results were a wake-up call’ Stephen Wallis, Group Director of International and Racing Relations for Jockey Club Racecourses, on the outcome of last year’s survey that looked at racecourse facilities for owners At the beginning of 2013, ROA members took part in a JCR survey, which concentrated on the raceday facilities offered to owners with runners. What were you hoping to find out?

We had heard comment that whilst JCR was seen as having paved the way on prize-money, it had fallen behind on the owners’ experience.

We have used customer research as the basis for a number of changes over the years and getting first-hand feedback from owners was an essential starting point in a review of what we offered owners with runners at our racecourses.

Did any of the results concerning racecourses surprise you?

If you undertake research be prepared to hear the truth and act on it. We got a wake-up call.

There was a gap between how well we thought we were doing and how well our most important customers actually viewed our performance. We did not anticipate either the scale of that gap nor that any of our courses would be rated amongst the worst of all racecourses – two of our smaller ones were.

Have the survey results changed JCR’s thinking about the raceday experience? If so, what changes have already been implemented?

Yes! There is more focus by more people within JCR on the importance of the owner as our key customer than at any time that I can remember in the last 20 years. That focus combined with the research data and an audit of the owner’s ‘journey’ at all our courses drove change.

For example, Warwick made owners share a grandstand enclosure entrance, and didn’t provide so much as a sandwich once they got in. Thanks to Huw Williams, owners now have a smart dedicated entrance and a free food offer that any small racecourse would be hard pressed to beat. Nottingham have relocated the car park and entrance, and transformed an underused brasserie into an owners’ lounge that sets a standard for others to aspire to.

Warwick and Nottingham were the two JCR courses most criticised in the research.

Sandown launched its extended facility at the Bet365 Gold Cup meeting, Aintree tweaked its facility layout and also provided a free food offer during the Grand National meeting,

Newmarket has opened additional facilities at the Rowley Mile and the July Course so that a free food offer can be properly delivered, Kempton’s owners’ facility has had a complete makeover, Huntingdon and Exeter have both turned a bar previously shared with annual badge holders into a dedicated owners’ facility.

Other developments are in the pipeline at Carlisle and Market Rasen, and the much publicised grandstand development at Cheltenham includes a new owners’ suite with views of the course.

What else have you learnt?

It is not just about capital investment. A whole series of small measures taken together have played their part in generating positive feedback.

The challenge now is to ensure that we maintain the ‘business class’ standards and attitudes that we have set ourselves, that we minimise the occasional blips, and that we continue to listen to owners. We will consider repeating the research next year so that we can both quantify progress and review whether owner’s expectations have changed.

Latest news...

Pontefract’s liaison officer For the first time, Gold Standard Award racecourse Pontefract will have a dedicated owners’ and trainers’ liaison.

Polly Rodgers will be able to assist with all owner-related queries. On racedays she will be based predominantly at the new owners’ and trainers’ entrance.

Polly can be contacted through owners@pontefract-races.co.uk or on 01977 781307.

Keep in touch online GEORGE SELWYN

Track Talk is now also available online!

Find the latest owner-related news from all of Britain’s tracks under the ‘Raceday Experience’ tab at racehorseowners.net Much-improved Nottingham was one of two JCR tracks criticised in the survey

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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ROA FORUM

Diary dates and reminders MAY 29 Regional Meeting and Owners Jackpot day At Haydock Park.

JUNE 10 ROA Owners Jackpot day At Salisbury.

GEORGE SELWYN

JUNE 17-21 Royal Ascot fine dining discount See page 72.

JULY 1

Weatherbys’ service takes the hassle out of paying for training fees each month

ROA AGM and members and guests lunch

Training fees payment made easy

See page 67.

Weatherbys Bank now offers a training fee payments service to racehorse owners who don’t want to be bothered with the monthly administration of paying their training fees.

Owners can sign a training fees mandate which authorises Weatherbys to pay their trainer(s) upon receipt of bills. This free service works like a direct debit arrangement – the trainer sends the training invoices to Weatherbys each month and the bank settles them from the owner’s Weatherbys Bank account, subject to available funds.

The client is able to specify a particular payment date and a maximum monthly payment limit. If an invoice is received in excess of the limit, Weatherbys will contact the client for authorisation.

The benefit of the service is that the client does not have to write out a cheque or send a payment to their trainer each month – the payment is arranged on their behalf by Weatherbys.

The service works particularly well for owners who use Weatherbys VAT Service, as,

once paid, the invoice is passed to the VAT team for processing.

Training fees mandate forms are available on request from Weatherbys Bank online, or by calling 01933 304777.

New app launched Weatherbys Bank has launched its new Mobile Banking App for iPhone and iPad users with an Android version to follow in the summer.

The App will allow customers to view their balances and transfer funds between their accounts, with additional functionality such as external transfers and balance alerts planned for future releases.

Customers can use Weatherbys Mobile Banking by downloading the Weatherbys App from the App store, then logging in to the Weatherbys Online Bank, clicking on the mobile link and following the simple steps to register their device.

If any further information is required please contact the bank’s helpdesk on 01933 304777.

JULY 17 Regional Meeting and Owners Jackpot day At Hamilton Park.

JULY 22 Member visit to Greatwood Behind-the-scenes tour to the racehorse retraining centre near Marlborough, Wiltshire. Places can be booked by contacting Sarah Holton on sholton@roa.co.uk or calling 020 7152 0200.

JULY 29-AUGUST 2 Richmond Enclosure badges and dining options for Glorious Goodwood See page 66.

OCTOBER 19 ROA facility on QIPCO British Champions Day At Ascot.

Bookings for all ROA events can be made online at racehorseowners.net or by calling the ROA on 020 7152 0200

Farewell to Marketing Executive Chloe

ARNHEL DE SERRA

The ROA is very sorry to have said goodbye to its Marketing Executive, Chloe Homer (pictured), who left the organisation last month after three and a half years of exceptional service.

Originally recruited as the Subscriptions Secretary, Chloe progressed rapidly through the ranks to take over responsibility for the ROA’s marketing strategy, including most recently the launch of the ROA Owners Jackpot.

Despite a daily commute from Lambourn to the ROA office in central London, Chloe’s positivity never waned and everybody at the ROA will miss her, both professionally and on a personal level.

We wish her all the very best in her new role much closer to home.

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MAGICAL MOMENTS with ROA member Yvonne Jacques

A life of Grandeur: Yvonne Jacques (right) with trainer Jeremy Noseda and her “extremely precious” star

E

verything coming together to produce a big-race victory is described as nothing less than a “miracle” by Yvonne Jacques, proud owner of Grandeur among 40 or so racehorses in the past six years.

Jacques has always loved horses, having ponies as a child and having hunted and ridden horses for most of her life.

That hunting background meant that racehorse ownership initially centred on National Hunt horses with friends.

Jacques recalls: “I didn’t particularly follow Flat racing in great detail but then about ten years ago, when I had more time once my pet insurance business was sold, I decided I would like to become involved in Flat racing, learn about it and ultimately acquire some horses.”

Jacques was a member of a number of Highclere syndicates, notably that which owned King George winner Harbinger, but remained intent on owning her own horses.

“There was nothing more thrilling than when I had my first win in my own silks with Kajima,” says Jacques, an ROA member for six years.

“That was at Epsom in April 2010. Although he no longer races I still own him and he is being retrained as a dressage horse. It is amazing to see how well he is adapting to his new life.”

Grandeur has taken Jacques to another level, winning nine times, notably two Grade 2s in California, a Listed race at Lingfield, and most recently and most lucratively the Easter Classic, also at Lingfield. He has, in addition, finished THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

second and third in Grade 1s in the US. “It’s very difficult to pick one highlight as Grandeur has given me so many moments of pleasure and thrills over the last three years,” says Jacques. “I suppose his performances in California as a three-year-old, when in the space of five weeks he won two Grade 2s and was an unlucky second in a Grade 1, would take some beating.

“It is often hard and humbling being an owner but when it all comes together it is wonderful”

“He’s my best horse and owning only one at this level he’s extremely precious to me, as I’m very conscious of how relatively few Groupclass horses exist in any one year.

“One appreciates the miracle of finding a talented horse good enough to win a race, keeping that horse fit, then having your optimum ground on raceday, the right draw, good jockey, and luck in running. It can be highly frustrating when it doesn’t all happen

and fantastic when it does.

“It is often hard and humbling being an owner as so much is out of your control, but when it all comes together it is wonderful, and these are the moments to be treasured.”

Jeremy Noseda – “a highly talented, experienced trainer with a tremendous eye for detail and a great communicator” – and Marco Botti – “will be an important player in the future, his success is already very evident” – are Jacques’s trainers of choice, but there is more to her involvement than racing.

“I find the breeding side extremely interesting and I regret I didn’t become involved when I was younger,” Jacques admits. “In partnership with Carolyn and John Warren we own a few broodmares and their foals and yearlings.

“Also, I decided this year to cover three of my fillies: Appealing, who raced in the UK and California; Sleek, a half-sister to Dank; and Magique, a half-sister to Grandeur.”

Ascot, Goodwood, Sandown and York are name-checked by Jacques in terms of owners’ facilities, while hospitality in Hong Kong and at the Arlington Million in Chicago receive the thumbs-up. Britain’s “abysmal” prize-money gets a firm thumbs down.

Good job, then, ambitions stretch just about as high as it’s possible for an owner to go.

“I now concentrate on my hobbies,” Jacques says, “a charitable foundation I set up and my endeavour to breed, or have in training, a Classic winner.”

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ROA FORUM

EVENTS & SUPPORT: REGIONAL CO-ORDINATORS R O A O F F I C I A L C H A R I T Y PA R T N E R

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s the popularity of ex-racehorses has grown, so has the remit of RoR. With so many events now regularly taking place all across the UK, over the last two years ten regional co-ordinators have been appointed to organise competitions and workshops in their area, while simultaneously providing a local point of contact for advice and information.

This is no easy task, and this month we spoke with Vicky Smart to see what life as the North East co-ordinator is like.

Who are you helping in your role as a regional co-ordinator?

I have always felt that grassroots level is where my help is most needed. So many people have no idea what happens to a racehorse during its life in training and I try to help people understand why an ex-racehorse may not want to stand still while being mounted, or why they are not used to standing on a horse box or trailer all day at a show.

I have done lots of talks and lectures about training and re-training racehorses and have spoken to all sorts of people, from Pony Club members to vets, and I recently went to East Durham College to talk to their students. It is my passion and anything I can do to bridge the gap between a racehorse coming out of training and becoming a happy hacker or a top show horse is time well spent.

What sort of activities do you put on in your area?

We run regular clinics to help owners progress with their horses in to all sorts of competitions

North East co-ordinator Vicky Smart, pictured with her trainer husband Bryan

at a range of levels, and have built a very good relationship with top dressage trainer Charlotte Wilson. We recently ran a showing workshop at Northallerton Equestrian Centre and are helping local riding clubs to run unaffiliated competitions where RoR registered exracehorses can compete. As my area is so large I am always open to ideas from people who want to put on new clinics and competitions.

How important are regional coordinators for the charity?

Because the ex-racehorse is now one of the most

popular horses on the market, introducing the regional co-ordinators is probably the most significant thing RoR has done in recent years.

Every time I organise or visit a competition there are people riding ex-racehorses. Increasing the profile of the ex-racehorse as a versatile riding or competition horse has increased the number of people who now own them.

We do have to be careful that these horses are looked after properly and not passed on when people run into trouble, but most problems can be easily resolved with a bit of sound advice from the regional co-ordinators.

In Brief Hat offer is streets ahead A great option for ladies planning their summer racing outfits at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood, milliner Yvette Jelfs is offering ROA members an exclusive discount on her hats and headpieces for racedays. A discount of 10% will be applied to all styles, including men’s hats, at www.yvettejelfs.com and members can use the offer code ROA01 at checkout until July 4.

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This year the ROA is offering its members a significant discount off Balmoral, Carriages and Sandringham restaurant packages at Royal Ascot. A very limited number of packages are still available for purchase and enquiries should be made to Sarah Holton on 0207 152 0200.

BHA’s welcome removal of line charges last year, this means that BHA account holders can operate their account without monthly charges providing they have a direct debit arrangement. To set up a direct debit before August 1 owners can call the BHA Accounts team at Weatherbys on 01933 440077.

BHA account change

Royal meeting brochure

Royal Ascot restaurant packages

From August 1, the BHA will be introducing a £5 admin fee for BHA accounts that are settled by cheque. The fee will be payable on months where an amount is owing and where there is activity. There will continue to be no fee for any accounts settled by direct debit or for repayments of credit balances. Following the

The Royal Ascot owners’ & trainers’ brochure is now available to view online in the ‘Resources’ section of the ROA website. This is an invaluable guide for all those lucky enough to have a runner at the royal meeting, detailing badge allocation and arrangements, and dining and viewing options.

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Flat Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

1 Ascot 2 York 3 Epsom Downs 4 Newmarket 5 Goodwood 6 Chester 7 Doncaster 8 Sandown Park 9 Newbury 10 Haydock Park 11 Musselburgh 12 Pontefract 13 Ayr 14 Ripon 15 Lingfield Park 16 Salisbury 17 Ffos Las 18 Carlisle 19 Newcastle 20 Windsor 21 Thirsk 22 Kempton Park 23 Beverley 24 Leicester 25 Hamilton Park 26 Nottingham 27 Warwick 28 Catterick Bridge 29 Redcar 30 Wolverhampton 31 Bath 32 Yarmouth 33 Southwell 34 Chepstow 35 Brighton Total

Figures for period May 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014

Ownership

Avg racecourse spend per fixture (£)

Avg HBLB spend per fixture (£)

Avg owner spend per fixture (£)

Avg prizemoney per fixture (£)

Total no. of fixtures

Total prize-money (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2012-13 (£)

I I JCR JCR I I ARC JCR I JCR I I I I ARC I I JCR ARC ARC I JCR I I I JCR JCR I I ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC ARC

335,682 160,032 123,522 92,112 84,714 77,393 59,559 51,343 46,389 43,776 31,358 29,550 29,432 28,452 27,599 27,239 23,461 21,280 21,257 20,598 20,423 20,376 18,645 18,033 17,024 16,970 16,744 16,269 15,294 14,939 14,297 12,540 10,790 10,464 8,880 38,308

129,259 105,147 68,958 81,388 75,890 44,521 55,998 57,348 67,569 51,805 29,493 32,461 38,033 30,249 24,398 30,743 10,220 17,822 24,040 20,124 25,748 17,419 22,265 21,743 23,278 26,602 21,715 19,878 20,823 17,943 16,037 20,592 19,684 15,790 18,899 33,421

170,026 84,648 81,143 76,345 27,928 8,364 38,268 18,462 27,994 16,194 5,289 3,746 10,265 4,720 4,158 5,408 3,081 4,489 6,706 4,781 5,585 3,562 3,090 4,895 3,448 5,768 4,101 2,761 13,976 2,543 2,804 3,127 2,053 2,761 2,360 15,698

634,967 349,827 273,623 249,846 188,532 130,278 153,824 127,153 141,952 111,775 66,140 65,756 77,729 63,421 56,155 63,389 36,762 43,591 52,281 45,503 51,757 41,417 44,000 44,671 43,750 49,603 42,560 38,968 50,093 35,425 33,138 36,259 32,527 29,016 30,139 87,446

19 17 12 38 19 15 24 17 17 24 17 17 15 16 89 15 8 11 18 26 15 88 20 20 18 19 11 17 15 106 20 26 53 15 21 897

12,064,367 5,947,060 3,283,480 9,494,140 3,582,104 1,954,165 3,691,783 2,161,603 2,413,190 2,634,703 1,124,375 1,117,860 1,165,937 1,014,732 4,981,748 950,842 275,712 479,500 941,050 1,183,086 776,350 3,644,670 880,010 893,420 787,500 942,455 468,158 662,450 751,400 3,755,089 662,768 942,725 1,723,948 435,235 632,918 78,420,530

376,146 157,927 116,289 83,406 87,914 70,940 54,920 49,270 45,739 35,139 25,649 18,557 20,344 25,885 12,506 25,109 22,021 15,448 25,985 16,800 22,382 17,126 13,353 17,019 20,764 13,592 20,898 13,412 13,721 11,018 18,424 12,070 10,203 9,452 10,805 34,706

Up/ down

▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲

Jumps Racecourse League Table Ptn Racecourse

1 Aintree 2 Cheltenham 3 Sandown Park 4 Ascot 5 Haydock Park 6 Kempton Park 7 Newbury 8 Ayr 9 Chepstow 10 Perth 11 Wincanton 12 Newcastle 13 Cartmel 14 Ludlow 15 Wetherby 16 Market Rasen 17 Doncaster 18 Musselburgh 19 Huntingdon 20 Kelso 21 Stratford-on-Avon 22 Exeter 23 Newton Abbot 24 Warwick 25 Fakenham 26 Catterick Bridge 27 Carlisle 28 Plumpton 29 Fontwell Park 30 Bangor-on-dee 31 Lingfield Park 32 Hexham 33 Ffos Las 34 Taunton 35 Southwell 36 Worcester 37 Leicester 38 Towcester 39 Uttoxeter 40 Sedgefield Total

Ownership

Avg racecourse spend per fixture (£)

Avg HBLB spend per fixture (£)

Avg owner spend per fixture (£)

Avg prizemoney per fixture (£)

Total no. of fixtures

Total prize-money (£)

Avg racecourse spend per fixture 2012-13 (£)

JCR JCR JCR I JCR JCR I I ARC I JCR ARC I I I JCR ARC I JCR I I JCR I JCR I I JCR I ARC I ARC I I I ARC ARC I I ARC ARC

200,714 187,502 103,163 101,655 89,916 53,640 47,131 34,902 28,958 27,210 25,994 25,605 24,931 23,926 23,602 23,242 23,093 21,859 20,797 20,624 20,040 20,032 19,741 17,859 15,624 15,554 15,173 14,942 13,985 13,913 13,805 13,531 13,380 12,870 12,225 11,819 11,747 10,502 9,958 8,941 30,877

164,431 127,181 78,580 86,381 78,702 58,227 68,589 43,744 27,386 24,439 32,797 28,654 19,059 32,031 26,400 24,177 43,762 34,379 20,836 35,065 20,813 30,111 27,195 39,925 22,263 26,703 31,343 25,625 22,491 21,669 21,240 14,110 28,406 25,056 17,708 20,598 26,216 15,767 27,048 22,183 35,143

68,525 53,567 17,396 16,745 16,741 9,030 16,025 12,425 7,121 1,603 5,147 4,577 4,982 4,531 4,507 4,554 6,613 4,298 3,982 3,302 4,234 4,490 0 5,750 0 2,484 4,031 3,805 3,099 3,275 2,026 2,252 3,744 3,759 2,707 3,598 4,080 3,025 4,850 2,607 7,292

433,671 368,250 201,139 206,031 185,359 121,166 131,745 92,182 63,466 53,252 63,939 59,536 48,971 60,488 54,914 51,973 73,469 61,236 45,616 60,074 45,087 55,100 46,936 63,534 37,886 44,742 50,780 44,372 39,575 38,857 37,071 29,893 45,529 41,686 32,639 36,015 42,073 29,293 41,855 33,731 73,463

8 17 7 8 8 13 11 9 14 15 16 10 7 14 18 21 10 10 16 12 18 15 20 10 10 10 12 14 20 14 5 14 15 14 22 20 10 15 23 18 543

3,469,365 6,260,254 1,407,973 1,648,249 1,562,310 1,575,152 1,449,191 829,639 888,520 798,785 1,023,021 595,358 342,800 846,835 988,461 1,091,427 734,685 612,358 729,859 720,884 811,566 826,503 938,714 635,343 378,865 447,415 609,364 621,206 791,498 544,000 195,948 418,500 660,171 583,600 718,068 720,297 420,732 439,400 962,673 607,162 39,906,151

233,765 238,026 68,189 109,586 86,177 46,859 42,259 32,818 26,551 28,577 21,206 21,429 25,659 18,041 22,643 17,168 13,969 24,399 9,918 20,767 20,405 13,632 25,324 25,849 19,413 5,470 16,779 13,984 13,996 9,952 9,543 12,626 18,307 17,527 14,672 9,975 9,682 9,612 13,577 8,354 31,238

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Up/ down

▼ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ ▼

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 prizemoney: 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 prize-money 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

73

June_118_TBA_Forum_v2_Owner 21/05/2014 17:59 Page 74

TBA FORUM The special section for TBA members

TBA Board Election: candidate details Four members have put their names forward and have received the requisite number of nominations to stand for election for the two available seats on the TBA Board.

You will have received a ballot paper in your recent mail-out from Stansted House. Please ensure that you only vote for two of the four candidates, whose details can be found below.

The deadline for all votes to be cast is 9.30am on Friday, June 27. Please ensure you return your ballot paper to Stanstead House by then.

DOMINIC BURKE Career/Profession I have been CEO of JLT Group Plc, being a global insurance, reinsurance and employee benefits business with operations in 40 countries, since 2005. I joined the company in 2000 on selling my own business to the group.

Today, JLT sponsors the Lockinge (Newbury), Long Walk Hurdle (Ascot) and a novices’ chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Breeding/Racing Interests President of the York University Turf Club 1978/9. I have been an owner/breeder for 15 years, establishing Whitley Stud in Gloucestershire, home to 14 predominantly Flat broodmares.

Best horses bred are Habaayib (Albany Stakes), Miracle Seeker (Lingfield Oaks Trial) and Katchit (Champion Hurdle). The stud seeks to operate on a commercial basis whilst recognising the need to race our own progeny when necessary to develop the broodmare band. Appointed Chairman of Newbury racecourse in 2011.

Profile Being a breeder, owner, sponsor and racecourse administrator, I would seek to bring this collective experience and passion for our industry to bear for the benefit of all TBA members. I would wish to see that the TBA maintains a strong voice on such matters as Breeders’ Prizes and continues to further advocate the development of the mare’s NH racing programme working with the Horsemen’s Group; it is principally the racecourses who need to better recognise the need to run such races for the long-term benefit of the industry as a whole.

74

PHILIPPA COOPER Career/Profession Raising a family, whilst continuing my French literature studies and teaching.

Breeding/Racing Interests As our yearlings tend to be the more backward types, shunned by the market, we tend to race them ourselves and sell them in training. Twenty broodmares live at Normandie Stud, alongside many retired National Hunt and Flat horses, including the two brothers, Duncan and Samuel, Lady Cricket and I’m Supposin.

It is the plight of the small breeder that concerns me, particularly, with the recent recommendations that more foals are needed to replenish the fixture list, as it would be worrying for us to go back to the days of overproduction, which left many breeders in dire circumstances. We should not be forced to satisfy the demands of an industry that seeks instant gratification and we need to ask ourselves in whose interests this is.

The size of stallion books concerns me; it is not good for the breed, and as our industry has become more polarised we need to give the perceived ‘lesser’ stallions more of a chance, and by doing so create a more diverse gene pool.

Finally, please bear in mind that I can offer the diversity of perspective in the boardroom which constantly needs to challenge itself to keep pace with the changing dynamics of our industry.

BRYAN MAYOH Career/Profession Company Director (retail, consultancy).

Breeding/Racing Interests National Hunt breeder; lifetime racing and breeding enthusiast.

Profile I believe that everyone standing in this election has the experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to contribute to the Board.

However, I am perhaps alone in having first served several years on a TBA Committee, so I know what the TBA does well and what it could do better.

I have worked with others on the NH Committee to help British breeders. We

fought to retain Breeders’ Prizes; we devised the Elite Mares’ Incentive Scheme; and we argued for more mares-only black-type novice hurdles. We were successful in these endeavours. Recently we proposed an innovative scheme providing greater rewards for successful racemares, to boost demand for fillies. Disappointingly, the TBA Board’s reaction indicated that it requires further enlightenment on the difficulties faced by NH breeders!

If elected, I intend to provide this. I shall also listen to suggestions; think about problems; and work hard to develop ideas that benefit all TBA members. The needs of small breeders in particular, both Flat and NH, deserve attention. I cannot promise to achieve everything that British breeders would wish, but I can promise to try.

NICK POCOCK Career/Profession I have grown up with the bloodstock industry and have worked within it for over 15 years in England, Ireland and France.

Breeding/Racing Interests I am currently a partner in the family business, Stringston Farm, Somerset. We run 16 broodmares in a commercial enterprise alongside our dairy herd.

Profile I am principally a farmer, with a lifetime’s experience in breeding and animal husbandry. With a degree in genetics and many years experience at Haras D’Etreham and Coolmore, I returned to the family farm, where we have increased our mare numbers to 16. I enjoy a very hands-on role with the horses, from foaling to showing at the sales. This stabledoor approach has helped me identify problems and find the solution.

I am proud to have bred Group winners, including Golden Sword, Electric Beat and Genre. I have a great passion for breeding and feel that sitting on the Board will allow me to share my experiences and knowledge of running a small commercial broodmare band.

As a young businessman, I have experienced many of the difficulties in establishing oneself within the industry. As a Board member I would particularly focus on education and bringing in the next generation of breeders.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_TBA_Forum_v2_Owner 21/05/2014 17:59 Page 75

www.thetba.co.uk

Cheveley Park Stud stallion parade will open the 2014 Awards dinner We are delighted to announce that Cheveley Park Stud is very generously sponsoring our 2014 Awards dinner, which is taking place on July 8. In addition to their kind support of the dinner, Mr and Mrs David Thompson have also offered to host an exclusive stallion parade at Cheveley Park for all guests before the awards ceremony.

The event will commence at 6.15pm, when Cheveley Park’s seven outstanding stallions, including the stud’s newest additions, Lethal Force and Intello, will be paraded for guests. On conclusion of the

parade, guests will then move on to Woodditton to enjoy the dinner and awards at The Granary Barns.

Commenting on Cheveley Park’s generous contribution to the evening, Louise Kemble, TBA Chief Executive, said: “We are extremely grateful for this support

from Mr and Mrs Thompson. On an evening where we are celebrating the success of British-breds, it is fantastic to be doing so with Cheveley Park Stud.

“The inclusion of the stallion parade and their sponsorship of the awards dinner will ensure that the occasion is a unique and enjoyable evening, which I’m sure our guests will thoroughly enjoy.”

Please ensure all ticket applications are returned by June 9. For more information on tickets for the Awards dinner please contact lucinda.hird@thetba.co.uk

TBA announce partnership with three-day eventing Olympian We are delighted to announce that we have joined forces with one of Great Britain’s top three-day event riders, Tina Cook. We will be working with Tina to introduce our benefits and services to breeders, fans and riders within and beyond the racing world.

The Olympic Silver medallist (2012) and European Champion (2009), who is known for eventing and breeding thoroughbreds, also trains National Hunt and point-to-point horses with her brother, Nick Gifford. Tina has a number of thoroughbreds that she competes and this season will see her bring two exracehorses on to the eventing circuit.

Her background and involvement across both spheres makes her the perfect ambassador for the TBA as we look to extend our membership and offering to include additional equestrian sports where thoroughbreds are used, particularly eventing.

Tina is looking forward to supporting the work of the TBA and will assist to promote a new membership package specifically designed for those who enjoy breeding, eventing or racing.

Commenting on the sponsorship, Cook said: “I’m extremely proud to be in partnership with the TBA. It is an association that continues to invest in this wonderful breed by working hard to support breeders and the industry. From political lobbying to incentive schemes, the TBA has done a great deal to protect the British thoroughbred’s future.

Through its membership the TBA has so much to offer and I’m looking forward to sharing this with the eventing world.”

Cook held an exclusive TBA course walk at Badminton Horse Trials last month and she THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Tina Cook: will help to share the TBA’s message and services with a wider audience

will be attending and hosting more TBA events and activities throughout the year.

Louise Kemble, Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Chief Executive, commented: “We are delighted to have Tina Cook on board with the TBA. With her experience of breeding, eventing and racing thoroughbreds, Tina will

be the perfect ambassador for our association.

“Whilst the TBA remains steadfast to its racing roots, we are conscious that our membership can benefit other areas of thoroughbred sports and are confident Tina will help to share our message, opportunities and services to a wider audience.”

75

June_118_TBA_Forum_v2_Owner 21/05/2014 17:59 Page 76

TBA FORUM

Behind the scenes at the TBA

TBA Regional Days

With a membership in excess of 2,000 and six people in the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association office, the small team sails a big ship on a daily basis. We wanted to give you the chance to put a face to a name and tell you a bit more about the people you email or speak to at the TBA. This month we are focussing on the Education and Employment Manager CAROLINE TURNBULL

In a nutshell, what do you do for the TBA? My main area of responsibility is anything to do with industry employment, recruitment, education and training – I provide support for our members and work with other racing and breeding industry organisations on those areas. I go out to colleges to speak about the thoroughbred breeding industry and careers in it and make presentations on behalf of the TBA at various industry courses, organise our annual seminar and Stud Farming Course and work with the National Stud on courses and training for breeders and their staff. I also help with some of the NGC projects such as the BHA/NGC Graduate Scheme.

If your colleagues were writing your biography what would the title be?

‘Always Trying’ – as in the Mark Johnston slogan – not as in being tiresome or annoying, although of course my colleagues may say otherwise...!

What did you do before you worked for the TBA? I worked on a couple of Arab stud farms, before my introduction to the thoroughbred breeding world on a small stud in Leicestershire. After doing a farm secretarial course I applied for a job at the National Foaling Bank in Shropshire in 1989; the post was a short-term project sponsored by the TBA, after which I was offered the chance to come to Newmarket and the Equine Fertility Unit, where I spent six fascinating years and learnt a terrific amount about reproductive matters. From there I came to the TBA office in 1998, and apart from three years spent at the National Stud running the training courses there, I have been here ever since!

Talk us through a typical week...

Each week is different for me as I can be in the office or out and about. Sometimes I am at my desk working on projects such as the recent review of the industry Health and Safety Manual, or I’m dealing with member issues, updating the website, or planning courses and seminars. At other times my trips to colleges to talk to students can take me as far afield as Aberystwyth or Preston, or I might be hosting a visit to Newmarket for young people in the Pony Club or other similar organisations.

Liaison meetings with industry representatives are the other key part of my job.

76

TBA diary dates TUESDAY, JUNE 3 West Regional Day A visit to Andrew Balding’s Park House, followed by a tour of Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber’s Watership Down Stud.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11 South East Regional Day A visit to Olly Stevens’s Robins Farm, followed by a tour of Philippa Cooper’s Normandie Stud.

What do you love about working for the TBA? I’m lucky enough to work in an environment where the business is also an interest for me, and no two days are the same. The office is in a lovely location and we are a good team at Stanstead House. I also only have a five-minute commute to work!

If you could swap places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional, with whom would it be and why?

Charles Dickens – I would love to be able to write stories like his! His descriptive powers and capacity to create fascinating characters is second to none, and the amount of work he turned out was phenomenal – and all without a computer!

What is your favourite racecourse?

Taunton – it has a great atmosphere with a friendly local crowd, good racing and everything is close at hand. I also enjoy Newmarket’s July Course, you can’t beat a sunny summer afternoon there.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Apart from a spell when I thought I might be a ballerina (too tough!), I always wanted to be involved in the horse world. Despite not coming from a horsey background and having no exposure to racing as a child, I was lucky that things fell into place for me and I ended up where I am today.

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

I wish I was taller – about 5’7” – tall people always seem more in control and command respect!

What are you looking forward to doing with the TBA this year?

We have sponsored some new courses at the National Stud so I’m looking forward to those. I’m also helping the NGC with their ‘Careers Course’ in November, aimed at giving young people an insight into the industry, and that could be really exciting.

Giving people with no prior knowledge of the industry a chance to find out more has always been one of the most rewarding, important things I do.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 West Midlands & Wales Regional Day A visit to David Futter’s Yorton Farm, home to the stallions Great Pretender, Librettist, Malinas, Norse Dancer, Sulamani and Universal.

DATE TBA Northern Regional Day A visit to David O’Meara’s Arthington Barn Stables, followed by a tour of Lady Cecil’s Cliff Stud.

TBA events TUESDAY, JULY 8 TBA Awards Dinner This year’s Awards evening will begin with a stallion parade at Cheveley Park Stud, followed by a dinner and awards ceremony at The Granary Barns, Woodditton, Newmarket.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9 The TBA Annual General Meeting Will commence at 9.30am at the Jockey Club Rooms, Newmarket.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23 TBA Annual Seminar, Tattersalls, Newmarket This year’s seminar ‘Raising a Champion – from conception to sales ring’ takes place at Tattersalls Park Paddocks, Newmarket.

SUNDAY, JULY 27 National Hunt ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ Foal Show at Bangor After the success of the inaugural show last year, the TBA is delighted to be inviting members to the National Hunt ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ Foal Show at Bangor-on-Dee racecourse.

NEW MEMBERS J Broadbent, West Midlands; D Fremel, Suffolk; M Hill, Devon; J Meer, Derbyshire; M O’Toole, Suffolk, R P Phillips, Hereford; Mr and Mrs Wood, Hampshire.

18-35 MEMBERS Dan Tunmore, Norfolk

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_TBA_Forum_v2_Owner 21/05/2014 17:59 Page 77

w w w. t h e t b a . c o . u k

Breeders’ Prizes for TBA members Breeder

Mrs Tracey Turner and EA Brook

Prize (£)

5,400

Horse

Sire

Dam

Date

Course

Mick's Yer Man

Bahamian Bounty

Sheer Indulgence (FR)

04/04/14

Leicester

The Farleigh Court Racing Partnership

5,400

Montaly

Yeats

Le Badie

04/04/14

Leicester

Avington Manor Stud

1,800

Nirva

Excellent Art

Nirvana

04/04/14

Leicester

The Rt Hon Lord Rothschild

1,800

Stomp

Nayef

Strut

07/04/14

Windsor

Rosey Hill Partnership

5,400

Champagne Rules

Aussie Rules

Garabelle

08/04/14

Pontefract

West Is Best Syndicate

1,800

New Bidder

Auction House

Noble Nova

08/04/14

Pontefract

Cheveley Park Stud

5,400

Danehill Revival

Pivotal

Danehill Destiny

08/04/14

Pontefract

Mr George Strawbridge

5,400

Anglo Irish

Dansili

Tebee

10/04/14

Kempton Park

Newsellls Park Stud

1,800

Western Hymn

High Chaparral

Blue Rhapsody

11/04/14

Newbury

Shadwell Estate Co

5,400

Muwaary

Oasis Dream

Wissal

11/04/14

Newbury

Newsellls Park Stud

9,000

Evita Peron

Pivotal

Entente Cordiale

11/04/14

Newbury

Lady Bamford

5,400

Eagle Top

Pivotal

Gull Wing

12/04/14

Newbury

Wilsdon & Habton

5,400

Don't Tell Annie

Royal Applause

Oasis Breeze

14/04/14

Pontefract

David & Paul Hearson

1,800

Provident Spirit

Invincible Spirit

Port Providence

16/04/14

Newmarket

St Albans Bloodstock LLP

1,800

Magnus Maximus

Holy Roman Emperor

Chanrossa

16/04/14

Newmarket

Shadwell Estate Co

5,400

Munjaz

Sea The Stars

Qurrah

16/04/14

Newmarket

Carwell Equities Ltd

5,400

Cloudscape

Dansili

Set The Scene

17/04/14

Newmarket

Shadwell Estate Co

5,400

Ertijaal

Oasis Dream A

Shabiba

18/04/14

Lingfield Park

Pier House Stud & Martinstown

1,800

Mukhmal

Bahamian Bounty

May Day Queen

18/04/14

Musselburgh

Juddmonte Farms Ltd.

5,400

Escalating

Three Valleys

Pure Joy

19/04/14

Kempton Park

Shadwell Estate Co

1,800

Fear Or Favour

Haatef

Insaaf

19/04/14

Bath

Cheveley Park Stud

5,400

Queen Of Ice

Selkirk

Ice Palace

19/04/14

Kempton Park

Peter Baldwin

1,800

Piazon

Striking Ambition

Colonel's Daughter

21/04/14

Yarmouth

Straightline Construction Ltd

9,000

Ko Cache

Kodiac

Silver Cache

24/04/14

Newcastle

Mr Tobias B. P. Coles

2,700

Littlemissblakeney

Sir Percy

Littlemisssunshine

24/04/14

Newcastle

Shadwell Estate Co

5,400

Muteela

Dansili

Nufoos

24/04/14

Beverley

West Is Best Syndicate

1,800

New Bidder

Auction House

Noble Nova

25/04/14

Doncaster

Highfield Farm LLP

5,400

Eccleston

Acclamation

Miss Meggy

25/04/14

Sandown Park

Cheveley Park Stud

5,400

Windshear

Hurricane Run

Potal

25/04/14

Sandown Park

Strawberry Fields Stud

5,400

Basil Berry

Tobougg

Dolly Coughdrop

26/04/14

Doncaster

Rockcliffe Stud

5,400

Dittander

Exceed And Excel

Penny's Gift

27/04/14

Kempton Park

Mrs H. Steel

5,400

Moving Melody

Equiano

Luxuria

29/04/14

Newcastle

Juddmonte Farms Ltd.

5,400

Escalating

Three Valleys

Pure Joy

30/04/14

Ascot

Shadwell Estate Co

5,400

Adhwaa

Oasis Dream

Hammiya

30/04/14

Ascot

Middleham Park Racing XVI & Partner

5,400

Latenightrequest

Major Cadeaux

Love Quest

30/04/14

Pontefract

A

Prizes subject to confirmation of qualification with Weatherbys

Breeders’ Prizes National Hunt HBLB Breeders’ Prizes worth £1,250 or more Breeder

Horse

Sire

Dam

A. E. Smith And Co

Prize (£)

6,000

Parsnip Pete

Pasternak

Bella Coola

R. D and Mrs J. S. Chugg

2,500

Avispa

Kayf Tara

Miss Jayne Butler

2,500

Scotch Warrior

Karinga Bay

Stewart Pike

1,750

Land Of Vic

Old Vic

Cheveley Park Stud Ltd

2,000

Samstown

E. R. Hanbury

1,750

Kingsmere

Mrs S. Johnson

2,500

A. J. Wall

1,750

Based on date money was paid

Date

Course

03/04/2014

Aintree

Ladylliat

04/04/2014

Aintree

Tarda

11/04/2014

Ayr

Land Of Glory

11/04/2014

Ayr

Kingsalsa

Red Peony

12/04/2014

Ayr

King's Theatre

Lady Emily

17/04/2014

Cheltenham

No Planning

Kayf Tara

Poor Celt

19/04/2014

Haydock Park

Carlton Jack

Erhaab

Harry's Bride

19/04/2014

Haydock Park Newton Abbot

R. A. Bonnycastle and Marston Stud

2,500

Changing The Guard King's Best

Our Queen Of Kings 19/04/2014

Mr R. Johnson

1,250

Seebright

Milan

Aranga

24/04/2014

Perth

Mrs Angela Yeoman

3,000

Southfield Theatre

King's Theatre

Chamoss Royale

26/04/2014

Sandown Park

See breeders' prizes table effective from January 1 on TBA website, www.thetba.co.uk. Prizes subject to confirmation of qualification with weatherbys

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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TBA FORUM

Euro MP supports the work of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association At a meeting last month, MEP Vicky Ford and Newmarket’s MP Matthew Hancock promised to keep up their support for the equine sector.

The discussions with Louise Kemble, Chief Executive of the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, covered a wide range of issues from the effects of the latest reforms of European Agricultural Policy to the paperwork challenges relating to notifiable diseases.

Ford has already been active in promoting horse issues in Brussels. She has campaigned for improvements in the welfare of horses travelling to slaughter across the continent; for increased research into a vaccine for African Horse Sickness; and to make sure that European safeguards against infectious diseases are not relaxed.

She has also been making sure horse breeders are not disadvantaged by recent changes to Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy. She said: “From the top racehorse to the Thelwell pony, the equine sector is a very important part of the UK’s rural culture.

“Newmarket is not only the home of racing, it is also home to world-leading breeders, and many jobs rely on this. Organisations like the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association in Newmarket and Norfolk-based World Horse Welfare do a great job, and it is vital their concerns on international issues are addressed.”

Kemble said: “Our meeting enabled us to brief Matthew and Vicky on the findings of our Economic Impact Study, as well as discuss trade and veterinary issues affecting breeders both

Matt Hancock MP and Vicky Ford MEP with TBA Chief Executive Louise Kemble

domestically and internationally. The British breeding industry makes an annual economic contribution of £281 million to the economy and it is therefore vital that the TBA remains committed to finding solutions to these issues, not just for members but for the wider rural community. We cannot overstate the value of the positive support we receive from both Vicky Ford and Matthew Hancock.

“Since taking office as MEP for the East of England, Vicky and her colleagues have always

been on hand to provide the TBA with unstinting support. Their input has helped to safeguard the breeding industry on a number of occasions, and maintaining this work is particularly important with the upcoming European elections.”

Hancock said: “I’m working hard with Vicky Ford to stand up for Newmarket and the racing industry. We are working in partnership to put local issues at the top of the agenda in Westminster and fight our corner in Brussels.”

Wall will be missed at Stratford Place Stud The TBA Stud Staff Award for June goes to John Wall, nominated by employer Chris Wright, for whom he has managed Stratford Place Stud on a day-to-day basis since the operation started in the mid-1980s.

According to Wright, the stud has prospered during Wall’s time, breeding a whole host of top-class horses and winning races throughout the world. Over the years he has proved to be calm and competent under pressure, handling all aspects of the stud from foaling to breaking yearlings. His sales preparation skills are second to none and the stud has had many sale ring successes. It has also produced a high percentage of winners and black type performers, the latest Group winner being Bungle Inthejungle in 2012. All of this is testament to Wall’s skill and expertise.

He retires from the stud later in 2014 and will be sorely missed as a very safe pair of hands. Regional Representative Hazel West presented him with his certificate and cheque for £100 at the stud on April 28. It proved to be a good week for the Wall family as later that week son Mark trained and rode Theatre Queen, winner of the TBA Mares-only Hunter Chase Final at Cheltenham (see opposite page).

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John Wall receives his award from Hazel West

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_TBA_Forum_v2_Owner 21/05/2014 17:59 Page 79

w w w. t h e t b a . c o . u k

National Hunt Foal Show After the success of the inaugural show last year, the TBA is busy planning the 2014 National Hunt ‘Stars of Tomorrow’ Foal Show, which will again be taking place at Bangor-on-Dee racecourse.

This unique show provides an opportunity for mare owners to showcase their young stock, with separate classes divided into two age categories for colt and filly foals, and a championship where the first- and second-

placed foals from all classes will be asked to come forward for the judging of the Champion and Reserve Champion of the Show.

Judges from the UK, Ireland and France will choose the winners who, in their opinion, have the potential to make good racehorses. Entries close on July 11.

Members will have received a schedule and entry form but for further enquiries please contact pauline.stoddart@thetba.co.uk

Aiden Murphy’s Yeats colt out of Maiden Voyage, a winner in 2013

Opening the door to thoroughbred breeding During the recent Easter holidays, the TBA provided two opportunities for young people to get a closer look at the thoroughbred breeding industry, as part of its ‘grassroots’ work to encourage young people into the industry.

On April 9, Newsells Park Stud kindly hosted a visit from children at ‘Ride High’, a charity based near Milton Keynes which uses horses and ponies as means to support disadvantaged children and those having difficulties in their daily lives. Through structured, horse-based activities and interaction with their fellow members, the children develop skills in communication and teamwork, and improve their confidence and self-esteem.

A group of 13 aged between 13 and 15 years old took advantage of the opportunity organised

by Regional Representative Derek Christopher and kindly hosted by Julian Dollar and his team.

It was a beautiful sunny day and the youngsters thoroughly enjoyed their tour of the stud, guided by Racing Manager Gary Coffey, which included seeing the many mares and foals, and a parade of stallions. A picnic on the grass in the sunshine ended the visit, which was greatly appreciated by the children.

This was followed a week later by a visit to Newmarket for the Essex Union South Pony Club, organised by Regional Representative Richard Wilson. The day started with a trip to the Heath with James Eustace, after which youngsters had the chance to look around Park Lodge Stables and make friends with the residents there. Then it was on to the British Racing School, where most of the children and some adults demonstrated their skills on the racehorse simulators.

After lunch and a whistle-stop tour of the Horseracing Museum, the group ended the day with a tour of Lanwades Stud, where they saw stallions, mares and foals and youngstock.

There were many gasps of delight when they were presented with some very young foals of only a few days old and once again the group expressed their appreciation for the chance to THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

The Ride High team at Newsells Park Stud with Derek Christopher and Gary Coffey

have a good look behind the scenes of thoroughbred breeding and racing. A number from both groups expressed a desire to learn more about stud work and for them these visits were a timely introduction to the potential careers on offer in the industry.

On both occasions the visitors were

overwhelmed by the kindness of our hosts at Newsells Park and Lanwades Stud, Park Lodge Stables and the British Racing School.

The TBA is also extremely grateful for the generosity of the hosts at an exceptionally busy time of year and to Derek Christopher and Richard Wilson for organising the visits.

2014 Mares-only point-to-point finale The TBA’s new sponsorship of the 2014 Mares-only Point-to-Point races culminated with a hotly contested hunter chase final at Cheltenham on April 30.

Mark Wall rode and trained Theatre

Queen to victory, and so delighted the owners who had been tempted to take Theatre Girl under rules. They resisted in the hope that they could qualify and win this race.

Simon and Hazel Plumbly present the prizes to the owners of winning mare, Theatre Queen, who also receives the TBA bonus

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TBA FORUM

Pipe and Rowsell terrific hosts in South West The South West Region was always going to provide a great day for its members on April 23 at David Pipe’s Pond House and James Rowsell’s Ashbrittle Stud, and the proceedings certainly lived up to expectations.

A warm welcome from David’s team at Pond House naturally included father Martin and longstanding members of the Pond House Team, Chester Barnes and Gerry Supple. After introductions, a selection of this year’s stars were paraded and included Ryanair Chase winner Dynaste and Ballynagour, who was to finish a gallant second to Sizing Europe in Punchestown’s Champion Chase six days later.

Splitting into two groups, members then toured the yard, swimming pool, indoor ride and loose jumping school, taking in the horse walker, weight scales and treadmill, and a fascinating insight from Martin into the workings of the feed room, where Dodson and Horrell’s exclusive Pond House mix was stored. It was evident that consideration had been given to borrowing a number of clever techniques from others, whilst also master-minding revolutionary new ideas, none more so than in the laboratory overseen by Barry Allen, recruited by Martin from Newmarket more years ago than either cared to remember, to bring advances to detecting the optimum time to run their horses.

Between them the team have enjoyed many successes working on correct feed regimes and balances to overcome tying up issues, and more recently conducting additional trials on a new test which promises to identify viruses or bacterial infections up to six days before their symptoms become apparent.

A trip to the gallops rounded off the morning,

where a small group of horses that remained in training for the summer months worked on the five-furlong woodchip gallop. After lunch at the local Culm Valley Inn, we wound our way up the narrow lanes to the village of Ashbrittle to the stud’s main yard situated in the heart of this small hamlet, and extending to 185 acres.

Stud Manager Brendan Boyle and his team pulled out all the stops and we were shown every horse on the stud: broodmares with foals at foot, which despite Prowess’s absence still included some real jewels, including Penang Pearl, dam of Harbinger, and her Galileo colt foal, yearlings and two- and three-year-olds, plus a few older horses. For the more energetic there was an opportunity to walk through the paddocks, which all boasted a great pick of grass,

to admire the care and attention to detail which was clearly evident throughout the re-design of this smart and stylish yet very appropriate redevelopment of a former dairy farm.

Treated to tea with scones, cream and jam before departure, a happy group of members made their way home in the late afternoon.

John and Anne Soul said: “Thank you very much for another well organised south-west day out. The visit to David Pipe’s went like clockwork, the lunch at the Inn at Culmstock was of the highest order and the visit to Ashbrittle Stud was the icing on the cake. Anne and I look forward to next year’s excursion.”

Our thanks to our hosts and TBA Regional Chairman Anthea Gibson Fleming for a fantastic day.

Cheltenham Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle award

Robert Waley-Cohen and Louise Kemble present the award to Don Cantillon (right), owner, breeder and trainer of As I Am, who claimed the Listed TBA Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham on April 17

TBA ANNUAL SEMINAR ‘Raising a Champion: from conception to sale ring’ This year’s TBA Seminar takes place on Wednesday, July 23 at Tattersalls Park Paddocks and once again is free to members. Speakers include:

TBA members are entitled to one free ticket per membership Additional TBA guests: £45 Non-members: £65

A buffet lunch is included in the price. To be sure of a place, register your interest by email to: Christine Standley: christine.standley@thetba.co.uk

• Lady Carolyn Warren - Sales consigning • Professor Jacqui Matthews - Parasite control, best practice • Dr Mandi de Mestre - Early pregnancy loss Additional topics will include ‘Getting and keeping the mare in foal’, ‘Preparing and keeping pasture in optimum condition’ and ‘Nutrition for growing thoroughbred’.

Mark the date in your diaries now and join us at Tattersalls in July.

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The TBA Seminar, which takes place on July 23, is always a popular event

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June_118_BreederOfTheMonth_Owner 21/05/2014 15:58 Page 81

BREEDER OF THE MONTH

www.thetba.co.uk

Words Alan Yuill Walker Sponsored by

Manufacturers of

BREEDER OF THE MONTH – March/April 2014

SPECIAL MERIT – March/April 2014

Jeff Smith The transfer of Norse Dancer from his owner Jeff Smith’s Littleton Stud to Yorton Farm in south Wales coincides with an encouraging spring double in France for the son of Halling.

Carrying their owner/breeder’s distinctive purple colours, the Myriam Bollack-Badel-trained pair, Norse King and Norse Prize, scored at SaintCloud in the Group 3 Prix Exbury and Listed Prix Francois Mathet respectively. The former was also runner-up in the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt and third in the Group 1 Prix Ganay.

Related to homebred champion Lochsong, Norse King is a grandson

GEORGE SELWYN

Darley The first three home for the Maktoum family in the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan, spearheaded by African Story, flagged up a seventh victory for Godolphin in the world’s richest race and an eighth for Sheikh Mohammed, who won the second running with Singspiel in 1997.

Between Singspiel and African Story came Almutawakel (1999), Dubai Millennium (2000), Street Cry (2002), Moon Ballad (2003), Electrocutionist (2006) and Monterosso (2012).

All but three were homebred. Almutawakel was bred by Hamdan Al Maktoum from the Dalham Hall resident Machiavellian; Singspiel’s son Moon Ballad, a yearling acquisition, was bred by Prince Fahd Salman’s Newgate Stud; and Electrocutionist was purchased from Italy as a fouryear-old in training. Contemporaries Monterosso and African Story were in adjoining paddocks on Sheikh Mohammed’s Newmarket acres. The former, by Dubawi, was conceived at Dalham Hall, while the latter is by Pivotal, in whom Sheikh Mohammed owns a significant share and who stands at neighbouring Cheveley Park Stud.

Twelve months ago Darley won this award by virtue of Sajjhaa (Dubai Duty Free) and both are descendants of Victor McCalmont’s brilliant homebred Mesopotamia, the champion two-year-old filly of 1963. She has become a celebrated foundation mare, with her more recent descendants including Rip Van Winkle, Kingsbarns and Just The Judge.

A stalwart of Irish racing and breeding who owned Ballylinch Stud in Co Kilkenny, Victor McCalmont bred Mesopotamia by mating the resident stallion Zarathustra, winner of the 1957 Ascot Gold Cup, with his 1955 Irish Oaks heroine Agar’s Plough – she features as the fifth dam of African Story and sixth dam of Sajjhaa.

African Story is Godolphin’s seventh Dubai World Cup winner

of another of Jeff Smith’s top sprinters in Lochangel (Nunthorpe Stakes), whereas Norse Prize is a grandson of his owner/breeder’s good filly Spot Prize, who finished fourth in the 1994 Oaks.

Norse Dancer himself belongs to Dick Hollingsworth’s influential Felsetta family, as does last year’s Oaks heroine, Talent.

NH BREEDER OF THE MONTH – April 2014

Heather Calzini The only British-bred amongst the 13 runners for the Grade 2 Coolmore NH Sires Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse, Lieutenant Colonel came home a convincing winner by ten lengths for Gigginstown House Stud.

Described by trainer Dessie Hughes as “a smashing horse who will make a lovely chaser”, the Kayf Tara five-year-old was sold at the DBS Spring Sale in May 2012 to his present connections for £46,000. Then unbroken, he was consigned from Battlefield Stud, Malton, on behalf of Heather Calzini.

This success in Ireland provided a grand double for the breeder as in February the mare Toubeera, whose half-sister Agnese is the dam of Lieutenant Colonel, won a Grade 2 hurdle race at Haydock.

Heather Calzini has long kept a mare or two at her Union Hill Farm in Co Durham. Both Agnese and her dam Efizia are homebreds, the latter scoring five times on the Flat for Mary Reveley, and they belong to the family of Beech Road, winner of the 1989 Champion Hurdle.

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June_118_TBA_NGC_Owner 21/05/2014 18:07 Page 82

N E X T G E N E R AT I O N C L U B

www.nextgenerationclub.com

By Katherine Fidler

Celebrating the Classics in style Members gather for an action-packed weekend on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile

G

lorious sunshine – never guaranteed on the Rowley Mile – set a pictureperfect scene for the second Next Generation Club 2,000 Guineas picnic last month, where over 30 members gathered before racing to enjoy a glass of Pimm’s.

Alongside a table overflowing with a delicious picnic, members were treated to a run down of the afternoon’s card by

Tattersalls’ Harvey Bell and Matt Prior, fresh from the company’s Guineas Breeze-Up Sale the day before, which was topped by a daughter of the all-conquering War Front.

The stallion was also represented on the track that day by Guineas hopeful War Command, partnered by Ryan Moore – billed by Harvey as “the best jockey in the world”. While many may agree with that

theory, on Guineas day Moore was wellbeaten, finishing ninth behind shock winner Night Of Thunder, with 6-4 favourite Kingman in second. The pair, who finished in reverse order in the Greenham Stakes three weeks earlier, could go head to head again at Royal Ascot in the St James’s Palace Stakes – a race for three-year-old colts run over a mile, the same trip as the 2,000 Guineas.

Of course, while Royal Ascot is the pinnacle of racing for some, it is one of many festivals held across the country throughout the summer. From York to Newmarket to Goodwood and back again, there’s never a dull moment during the British Flat season, so be sure to get your fill!

IN NEXT MONTH’S ISSUE: News of a brand new Next Generation Club venture

NGC 2014 events SATURDAY, JUNE 14 A visit to the stable of trainer Eddie Creighton, followed by an afternoon of racing at Lingfield Park.

SATURDAY, JULY 26 Steve Croft, Ryan Ferris, Michael Mourse, David Croft, Ollie Davis and Jack Nice

A tour of Yorkshire trainer John Quinn’s yard, followed by racing at York, featuring the Sky Bet York Stakes.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27 A trip to the DBS Premier Sale.

SEPTEMBER 13-14 Irish Champions Weekend ticket offer, organised by the Young Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17 Ticket offer for Future Champions Day, Newmarket.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8 Visit to the yard of up-and-coming jumps trainer Harry Fry, followed by racing at Wincanton.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter – @TBANGC – for all the latest news and upcoming events from the Next Generation Club NGC members soak up racing tips from Tattersalls’ Harvey Bell and Matt Prior

82

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01638 661321 thetba.co.uk info@thetba.co.uk 83

June_118_AdFeature_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 15:21 Page 84

FOCUS ON...

It’s never too early to be thinking of sales prep and most consignors like to begin their yearling prep at least 12 weeks prior to sale, which allows for any interruptions due to injury or individual horses needing rest days. A simple, written plan is of great benefit in plotting the progress of yearlings and it’s helpful to have the aid of an extra pair of eyes, someone who will come in and look at the horses and perhaps spot changes you may have missed, writes Lissa Oliver

Does your horse match the market?

Of course, it is also vital to match each yearling to the most suitable sale in order to maximise returns. Topping the sale on a weaker day is always preferable to failing to sell in Book One, and a good individual will attract interest no matter which ring it passes through.

Take care in planning entries, taking into consideration the type of yearling (precocious, high-end, two-year-old type etc) usually sold at particular sales. Does your yearling match the likely market?

Regular handling is important and a gentle and gradual exercise regime can be employed from the winter right through to the final few weeks of preparation. Ideally, a ten-week prep should begin with a daily 20-minute walk inhand for the first week, gradually increasing to twice a day early on and eventually an hour, twice-daily, by the final weeks.

Many consignors recommend turning yearlings out daily, to prevent stress and to keep things as natural and simple as possible.

Simulating the sales ring at home is another useful tip – fetching yearlings in and out of their box and showing them to friends and neighbours.

Remember to take care of their feet and to make full use of your farrier. The timing of vaccination and worming is also vital, as some horses may lose condition as a result. They need to be arriving at the sales with as least stress as possible.

All experts agree that at the sales one look is enough. Buyers are looking for a good individual and that can only come from a good exercise regime and feeding programme. The preparation of a good sales yearling can begin even earlier, during the mare’s pregnancy, so the importance of good feeding practises to ensure a large, healthy foal cannot be emphasised enough.

It’s usual to feed a little and often – most horsemen recommend feeding four times a

84

day – and there are many specialised products on the market. Each company provides its own nutrition expert who will visit farms and monitor the progress of horses, advising on diet as required, which is an invaluable resource for breeders.

Ad-lib hay is a valuable source of roughage, but hard feed should ideally include 14% protein maximum and by the final weeks of sales prep, a ration of around 16Ib per day would be an average. Obviously this would depend upon each individual and can fluctuate from half that amount to 20Ib. The aim is for a well-covered but fit looking horse, as opposed to one that is over-topped.

Saracen

Stud Prep 14

Equi-Jewel® helps to give sales yearlings a sleek, well-toned look and an athletic outline.

Luminance™ Luminance™ is a fortified conditioning supplement that is part rice bran, part milled linseed, providing a rich source of Omega-3 fatty acids.

The oil levels are high, so the energy density of the product can be used to good effect when fed strategically to achieve optimum condition.

Increasing dietary levels of Omega-3 fatty acids can have extremely beneficial effects on a sales yearling’s coat and skin.

Saracen Horse Feeds, The Old Bank, Market Place, Lambourn, Berkshire RG17 8XU Tel: (+44) 01488 73456 Email: polly.bonnor@saracenhorsefeeds.co.uk

Stud Prep 14 is an ideal mix for sales preparation, showing, or adding weight and condition to any horse. It provides dense, palatable calories for horses with poor appetites.

The high oil formula, with added ‘super fibres’ in the form of sugar beet pulp, help with controlled weight gain, making it ideal for putting on even body condition and topline.

More importantly it keeps yearlings manageable and level-headed in their work. The feed is ideal for conditioning horses under stress, or for any horse with a poor appetite that is experiencing digestive difficulties.

Equi-Jewel® Rice Bran Supplement Equi-Jewel® is a pelleted high oil rice bran supplement, designed to increase the energy density (calories) of a ration. It can be added to boost calorie intake, or to replace part of the ration to reduce concentrate consumption.

The starch content is naturally much lower than cereal, and the fibre level is much higher, making it very compatible for use alongside Stud Prep 14. It is very effective at adding condition, muscle definition and topline.

Steady energy and calming effect

Red Mills

Conditioning Mix High oil steam cooked conditioning feed ideal for sales prepping. Contains lysine, selenium and Vitamin E for muscle health and development. Full range of minerals including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc for skeletal development along with a high level of copper. Soya oil and steam cooked barley promote condition and shine. Non-heating oat free formula.

Stud Cubes

Very compatible with Equi-Jewel

Traditional oat based stud cube complemented with cooked barley and full fat soya for a year round vitality and performance. Fully supplemented with needed vitamins and minerals essential for growth, skeletal and muscular development, fertility and performance. Ideal for broodmares, stallions and youngstock.

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June_118_AdFeature_Owner Breeder 21/05/2014 15:21 Page 85

Yearling Nutrition & Sales Preparation “Gro-Care contains

high-spec vitamins and minerals for sound musco-skeletal development” Gro-Care

GRO-CARE Balancer Gro-Care is unique balancer for broodmares, stallions and youngstock containing high spec vitamins and minerals for sound musco-skeletal development. The low starch and high nutrient formula helps to control growth rates and is of benefit when managing overweight broodmares or stallions. Gro-Care also contains natural acid buffers to assist with regulating stomach acidity, beneficial particularly at times of stress or increased workload such as sales prepping. FOS, MOS and Yeast are also included to act as a prebiotic, gut cleanser and to improve fibre digestion ensuring a healthy hindgut.

Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny, Ireland www.redmills.com

GAIN

Yearling Cubes Yearling Cubes are a nutrient dense cube suitable as a pre- and post-weaning diet for foals, growing yearlings and preparing weanlings, and also for foals and yearlings being prepared for show or sale.

They contain a very similar specification to the Young Stock mix – high quality trace mineral, vitamin and antioxidant content – but are slightly lower in starch due to the higher fibre level in the cube. Top quality protein sources provide the ideal amino acid balance for growth, making it ideal for yearlings needing extra condition, such as those in sales preparation.

Prep ‘N’ Condition Mix Gain Prep ‘N’ Condition Mix is a highly palatable coarse mix designed to promote top line condition and weight gain across all types of horses from yearlings being prepared for show

Helps condition and weight gain

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

or sale, to horses in training, point-to-pointers, breeding stallions and broodmares.

The highly-palatable coarse feed helps to achieve maximum intake and encourage fussy eaters, while a high energy blend of oils, fibre and cereals helps to support growth with condition. Elevated oil levels contribute to energy supply and help to maintain a healthy coat. Good digestible fibre levels also help to maintain efficient digestion.

The full-fat soya within Prep ‘N’ Condition Mix supplies essential amino acids, including lysine and methionine, to aid growth and development and help build and sustain ‘topline’, and minerals and micronutrients for optimum bone development.

Extra vitamins, including Vitamin E, help to support the immune, respiratory and muscular systems, while Mycotoxin binder helps combat any mycotoxin challenges from forage or bedding.

GAIN, Purcellsinch, Co Kilkenny Lo Call 1890 321 321 (Ireland only) / Int: +353 56 88 36600 E-mail: agricsc@glanbia.ie

Baileys

No. 5 Yearling Cubes Baileys Yearling Cubes are a non-heating, barley-free mix, supporting growth and promoting condition, particularly suitable for those youngstock being prepared for the sales or for yearlings going into training as two-yearolds.

Being highly digestible and energy dense, they allow for the delivery of the required nonheating energy and supporting nutrients in a reduced volume, thus helping to avoid overloading the digestive system or exacerbating excitable temperaments.

Like all Baileys cubes, they are barley-free and formulated to promote outstanding muscle tone and condition whilst containing vitamins and minerals, including Bioplex® minerals, to support continued growth.

Like other products in Baileys’ Stud Range, Yearling Cubes can, where necessary, be fed in reduced quantities alongside Stud Balancer to cut down the overall calorie content of the diet whilst maintaining essential nutrient levels.

Baileys Stud Balancer This flagship of the Baileys Stud Range is scientifically formulated to provide essential nutritional support for all types of breeding and youngstock as well as performance horses at rest or in work. The quality protein it contains supplies key essential amino acids, which are important for muscle and tissue development, and helps encourage steady even growth rates without promoting excessive weight gain.

Its balance of vitamins, minerals and trace elements, including Bioplex™ minerals, has been specifically devised to support correct skeletal development and tissue integrity as well as the immune system and general well-being.

The blend Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids from linseed and soya oil are essential for tissue integrity and help promote healthy skin and coat.

Essential nutrients in small volumes

Small, frequent, digestible meals are key to reducing excessive glycaemic response and avoiding starch overload, which can be associated with uneven growth rates. The nutrient density of Stud Balancer means that only small volumes are required, helping keep meals sizes down.

Yea Sacc1026 yeast culture is included, to stimulate fibre digesting bacteria, along with Digest Plus prebiotic, which feeds other beneficial species, and the two work together to promote overall gut health. This is of particular importance at times of stress and for the fussy feeder.

Prep Mix has been specifically developed for growing foals and youngstock which are being prepared for the sales or show ring. It offers a highly palatable all-in-one solution to promoting superb condition, muscle tone and top line whilst providing all the essential nutrients to support growth.

The mix is oat-free with super fibres and oil for slow-release energy with the balance of Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids helping to bring a head-turning shine to the coat.

The mix is nutrient dense so a smaller volume delivers the required energy and supporting nutrients without the risk of overloading the digestive system. Small, frequent, digestible meals are key to reducing excessive glycaemic response and avoiding starch overload.

Prep Mix Being non-heating and highly digestible, Baileys Prep Mix helps avoid exacerbating excitable temperaments and contains Yea Sacc® to stimulate fibre-digesting bacteria and promote overall gut health. This is particularly beneficial at times of stress, such as weaning and travelling, as well as attending shows and sales. Like other products in Baileys Stud Range, Prep Mix can, where necessary, be fed in reduced quantities alongside Stud Balancer to cut down the overall calorie content of the diet whilst maintaining essential nutrient levels.

Four Elms Mill, Bardfield Road, Braintree CM7 5EJ01371 850 247 nutrition@baileyshorsefeeds.co.uk

Next Month:

SUMMER SUPPLEMENTS FOR THE HEALTHY HORSE

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VET FORUM: THE EXPERT VIEW

By MARK HILLYER, BVSc PhD DipECVS DipECEIM MRCVS

PHOTOS: MARK HILLYER/NEH

Gut reaction In part two of our feature on colic, we look at expectations in regard to treatment and outcome

O

nce a horse starts to exhibit the typical clinical signs of colic it should be kept under close observation until it is certain that the episode has resolved. Basic first aid measures involve stopping the horse injuring itself or any personnel, removing feed and water and then seeking veterinary attention.

For mild colic cases, the simple act of holding the horse in a bridle or halter will be enough to distract the animal and it will stand quietly. When moderate colic signs are present then hand-walking may be employed. If the colic signs are more severe, and certainly if the horse has started to lose its self-preservation instinct, then it should be placed in a secure environment and left on its own. Depending on circumstances this may be a large stable or a small barn/pen. Ideally this environment should have solid walls with no sharp projections.

The feed and water should be withdrawn in the short term in case there is an obstruction present in order to avoid adding further to any distension and accumulation of ingesta. The question often arises as to whether a horse with colic should be allowed to lie down or roll. This is often based on an assumption that rolling may in some way exacerbate the condition. In almost all cases, provided the horse is not causing self-inflicted injuries, lying down or rolling does not alter the underlying condition.

The very fact that the horse is showing this colic behaviour indicates that there is a significant problem present and veterinary attention should be sought as soon as possible.

Veterinary examination The veterinary examination of the colic case involves an initial quick appraisal to assess the overall status of the horse and the severity of the pain. In many cases either a painkiller or a sedative will then have to be administered in order to control the horse and allow the remainder of the examination to be safely performed.

The aims of this examination are to assess the circulatory status of the horse with particular emphasis on identifying any early signs of dehydration or endotoxic shock. The latter occurs when bacterial products are able to enter

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the bloodstream as a result of damage to the intestinal wall. Here they exert potent effects on the circulation and if not corrected will cause the death of the horse. Any other specific abnormalities which may give an indication as to the primary cause of the colic also need to be identified. These examinations include taking the heart rate and looking at the colour of the gums and listening to the sounds of intestinal movement.

Rectal examination has for many years been the single most useful technique used to determine the status of the gastrointestinal tract.

It has limitations related to the size and temperament of the horse and that only the back third of the abdomen can be reached.

However, in many instances it can provide specific information as to the cause of the colic and the treatment that is required. It is a simple technique to undertake and can be repeated on several occasions in order to ascertain the progression of any findings.

More recently, the use of ultrasonography has become established as the most effective method of obtaining information on the gastrointestinal tract. It is quick and simple to perform, especially with the development of lightweight, battery powered scanners and can be undertaken in the stable even whilst the horse is showing signs of colic. Whilst there are still limitations to the structures that can be identified, much more can now be discovered about what is happening in the abdomen.

The presence of distension or displacement of the intestine can be appreciated and it is also possible to assess the wall thickness of the bowel and its motility. It can also be repeated on multiple occasions to assess the progression of any condition and to monitor the response to treatment. For a few specific causes of colic the diagnosis can be immediately made from the ultrasonographic findings.

Medical treatment For most colic cases the immediate treatment involves the administration of analgesic agents (painkillers) to control the abdominal discomfort. This will settle the horse and allow further examinations and treatments to be undertaken. As previously described, one of the major goals in treating a horse with colic is to

Intra-operative view of a simple obstruction of the intestine by impacted feed. The obstruction (left) is completely blocking the intestine so that the remaining loop (right) is empty

restore the normal flow of ingesta along the intestinal tract. Historically the analgesics used often had the unhelpful side-effect of slowing or stopping normal intestinal motility.

Fortunately, currently available analgesics have far less of these effects.

As previously discussed, the most common form of colic is the spasmodic/benign/medical type. This involves a transient motility disturbance to the intestine with no physical obstruction. It probably represents at least 70% of all colic episodes (and possibly even more as some episodes will pass without even attracting the handler’s attention).

A significant proportion of these bouts of colic will self-resolve with feed withdrawal and hand-walking, without recourse to any medical treatment. If no response is seen in 20 minutes then veterinary attention should be sought.

Others require medical treatment and almost invariably respond well to a combination of a painkiller and a spasmolytic drug which relieves the intestinal spasm. An almost instantaneous and complete cure is often achieved with one injection. The outcome for this form of colic is extremely good, with short and long-term survival to be expected in almost all cases.

Although far less common, blockages of food material within the gastro-intestinal tract (usually at the pelvic flexure of the large colon) require further treatment in addition to pain relief. Prevention of further food intake is important to avoid exacerbating the situation by increasing the size of the impaction.

Typically, fluids and electrolytes will be administered either by stomach tube or intravenously in order to maintain the horse’s circulation and promote intestinal motility. It is also often hoped that this treatment may help to soften the impacted material and allow it to be passed more easily.

Less commonly, other specific causes of colic THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

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is essential in these cases, but sadly in many instances the damage has already been done by the parasite.

Medical causes of colic account for up to 95% of all the colic episodes seen and fortunately the majority (up to 95%) of these episodes will in turn respond to appropriate medical treatment with a full recovery.

Surgical treatment Intra-operative view of strangulation of a segment of the small intestine by the stalk of a benign fatty growth (in the foreground). The affected segment (on the left) has lost its blood supply, is darkened and thickened and no longer viable. It will require surgical resection

Once the non-viable intestine has been removed the two healthy ends are joined (foreground) to re-create a functional tube

may be identified from the initial examinations.

Sand accumulation within the large intestine occurs usually where horses have been grazed on sandy soils and inadvertent ingestion occurs during normal foraging. Unfortunately the sand has a tendency to be retained and the quantity builds up over time until large concretions can be present. These solid ‘brick-like’ masses can then cause serious obstructions. Treatment of such cases involves trying to break down the sand impactions, and specific agents such as psyllium are often used to encourage subsequent clearance of the accumulated material.

Despite the widespread use of specific parasite control measures on thoroughbred premises, such as regular pasture faeces collection and administration of modern anthelmintics (wormers), cases of colic caused by parasites are still seen. Each individual parasite is usually associated with a specific type of colic, although recent research has also shown some to be possible causes of the spasmodic/benign/medical colics that are so commonly seen. Treatment with anthelmintics THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Approximately 5% of colic cases require surgical treatment. These occur where the changes and damage to the intestine are such that medical treatment alone will not be successful and physical correction of a displacement/twist or removal of a section is required. Colic surgery has been widely undertaken since the 1970s and the success rates have steadily improved.

Originally survival rates of 25% to 40% for horses leaving the hospital a week after surgery were all that could be achieved. Progressive advances in anaesthesia, surgical techniques and post-operative care have meant that now survival for at least two years after surgery with a full return to previous performance levels can be achieved in up to 85% of horses. Colic surgery does, however, remain a major undertaking requiring specialised facilities and a team of experienced personnel.

Identification of the 5% of horses that present with colic who have an underlying surgical lesion is critical. Initial examination will often not be able to distinguish such horses from the majority who have a medical condition. It is here that careful monitoring and further examinations is essential. In the past the criteria for identifying a horse with a surgical lesion were largely dependent on the recognition of the signs of endotoxic shock associated with the loss of viability of a segment of the intestine. Increasing pain and heart rate, together with absence of intestinal sounds, sweating, dehydration and changes to the appearance of the gums all indicated the potential for the presence of non-viable intestine.

In this situation surgical intervention is required in order to correct and often remove the affected segment. Depending on the area of the intestine involved, simple or complex ‘replumbing’ may be required to restore the flow of food material.

The problem with having to wait for the signs of endotoxic shock to decide if a horse needs surgical intervention is that invariably by the time the horse is in the operating theatre the intestine has deteriorated to an extent that removal of a segment is inevitable. For many colic surgeons the goalposts have now moved and the aim is to recognise a horse with a surgical lesion before irreversible damage has occurred. This then allows the surgeon to be

able to correct the abnormality and, as the intestine is still healthy, no resection is required.

Fortunately, ultrasonography is a vital tool in recognising these conditions at an early and reversible stage. Recent results from this approach have shown further significant improvement in both survival and postoperative performance for these horses.

Another new advance has shown that some of the displacements of the large colon do not require surgical treatment. In the 1980s and 1990s many of these horses underwent abdominal surgery to correct a displacement.

We now know that more aggressive medical management can be employed and that if motility can be promoted the intestine may empty, allowing the displacement to self-correct and avoiding the need for surgery.

This has many benefits in terms of minimal convalescence for the horse, improved longterm survival and for the owner reduced costs.

This approach does require continuous and detailed monitoring during the intensive medical treatment, ideally in a hospital environment, in order to be able to identify promptly those individuals where surgery is going to be required.

For those where surgery is avoided, this technique can be career saving, for example an unraced three-year-old horse with this type of colic in the middle of the Flat season would have little prospect of reaching the racecourse that year if surgery were performed.

Outcome after surgery As previously discussed, it is recognised that horses who survive colic surgery carry an inevitable increased risk of further colic episodes. However, research has shown that this increased risk is mostly seen in the 12 months after the colic surgery and beyond this period the colic risk is little more than that present in the background horse population.

It is reassuring that the majority of further colic episodes seen in horses after colic surgery are of a spasmodic or benign medical type.

Conclusions It is extremely rewarding to report the progress and many advances in recent years that have been made in the management of colic with the inevitable benefits to horse welfare.

Colic surgeons are now often faced with the dilemma of trying to avoid undertaking surgery on those horses which do not need it, whilst at the same time recognising those that do need surgery early enough that removal of intestine is not required. The challenges remain.

Dr Mark Hillyer is the Head of Soft Tissue Surgery, Internal Medicine and Intensive Care at Newmarket Equine Hospital

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DATA BOOK STAKES RESULTS

European Pattern 9 PRIX GANAY G1 LONGCHAMP. Apr 27. 4yo+. 2100m.

1. CIRRUS DES AIGLES (FR) 8 9-2 £142,850 b g by Even Top - Taille de Guepe (Septieme Ciel) O-Mr J. C. A. Dupouy B-M. Yvon Lelimouzin & M. Benoit Deschamps TR-Mrs C. Barande-Barbe 2. Treve (FR) 4 8-13 £57,150 b f by Motivator - Trevise (Anabaa) O-Al Shaqab Racing B-Haras du Quesnay TR-Mme C. Head-Maarek 3. Norse King (FR) 5 9-2 £28,575 ch g by Norse Dancer - Angel Wing (Barathea) O-J C Smith B-Littleton Stud TR-Mrs M. BollackBadel Margins Short Neck, 4.5. Time 2:14.13. Going Soft.

Age 2-8

Starts 56

Wins 20

Places Earned 29 £5,450,583

Sire: EVEN TOP. Sire of 1 Stakes winner.

1st Dam: Taille de Guepe by Septieme Ciel. unraced.

Dam of 2 winners: 2003: MESNIL DES AIGLES (c Neverneyev) 7 wins at 3 to 7 in France.

2004: Miss des Aigles (f Alamo Bay). Broodmare.

2005: Vie des Aigles (f Alamo Bay) ran on the flat in France. Broodmare.

2006: CIRRUS DES AIGLES (g Even Top) Champion older horse in Europe in 2011, Champion older horse in France in 2012. 20 wins at 3 to 8, 2014 at home, France, UAE, Qipco Champion S G1, Prix Ganay - Prix Air Mauritius G1 (twice), Longines Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Grand Prix de DeauvilleLucien Barriere G2, Qatar Prix Dollar G2 (3 times), Prix du Conseil de Paris G2, GP de Vichy-Auvergne Etapi du Defi Galop G3, La Coupe G3, La Coupe de Maisons-Laffitte G3, Prix du Prince d’Orange G3, Prix GontautBiron-Hong Kong Jockey Club G3, Prix de Boulogne LR, Grand Prix du Lion d’Angers LR, 2nd Qipco Champion S G1 (twice), Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud G1, Prix d’Ispahan G1, Longines Dubai Sheema Classic G1, Qatar Prix Dollar G2, Prix du Conseil de Paris G2, Prix Exbury G3, Prix Gontaut-Biron-Hong Kong Jockey Club G3, G. P. de Clairefontaine - Denis Weibel LR, Prix Matchem LR, Derby du Languedoc LR, Prix Policeman LR, 3rd Prix Ganay - Prix Air Mauritius G1, Longines Hong Kong Cup G1, Prix Gontaut-Biron-Hong Kong Jockey Club G3, Prix Ridgway LR, Prix Pelleas LR. 2008: Kiva des Aigles (f Enrique) ran on the flat in France.

2011: Flash des Aigles (c Sinndar) 2012: (f Siyouni) Broodmare Sire: SEPTIEME CIEL. Sire of the dams of 19 Stakes winners. In 2014 - CIRRUS DES AIGLES Even Top G1, JOHNNY GUITAR Lode LR.

CIRRUS DES AIGLES b g 2006 Ahonoora Topanoora Topping Girl EVEN TOP br 93 Niniski Skevena Skhiza Seattle Slew Septieme Ciel Maximova TAILLE DE GUEPE ch 99 Funambule Roots Ruma

10 QIPCO 2000 GUINEAS G1 Lorenzaccio Helen Nichols Sea Hawk II Round Eye Nijinsky Virginia Hills Targowice Anticlea Bold Reasoning My Charmer Green Dancer Baracala Lyphard Sonoma Rheffic Runnello

The Prix Ganay’s roll of honour features such as Mill Reef, Allez France, Sagace and Triptych, but even these superstars would struggle to compete with the Cirrus des Aigles fairytale. After winning the Ganay in 2012, the gelding returned as good as ever to Longchamp as an eightyear-old in 2014 to inflict the first defeat on the dazzling Treve.

Cirrus des Aigles has now raced 56 times, for 19 wins and 20 seconds, and his earnings stand at around £5.5 million, even though he cost next to nothing to produce. He is the only winner of note sired by Even Top, a short-head second in the 1996 2,000 Guineas who failed to win a

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Group race. Even Top initially stood in Ireland before being relocated to France and his legacy totalled only 163 foals. Even Top was a member of the first crop by Ahonoora’s son Topanoora and his efforts helped focus attention of this smart middledistance performer. Topanoora had initially struggled for support in Ireland and was exported to India, before being repatriated by Coolmore, where he was quickly transferred to its National Hunt division.

Cirrus des Aigles is only the second winner from the first six runners out of Taille de Guepe. Her early foals were by such little-known stallions as Neverneyev and Alamo Bay but more recently she has had foals by Enrique, Sinndar (the threeyear-old colt Flash des Aigles, who has finished in the frame in each of his first two starts) and Siyouni (sire of her 2012 filly). Cirrus des Aigles comes from a famous female line, tracing back to Lady Peregrine, dam of 2,000 Guineas winner Flamingo and second dam of the Champion Stakes winner Honeyway. His fifth dam, Run Honey, was a talented halfsister to Honeyway and her string of smart offspring included Cirrus des Aigles’s fourth dam Runnello, a triple winner at two, when rated 116 by Timeform. This family has also produced the very successful stallions Lord Gayle and Persian Bold, plus the 2008 Irish St Leger winner Septimus.

Cirrus des Aigles ranks alongside the American horses Officer, Happy Ticket and Proud Accolade as a Gr1 winner out of a daughter of the Prix de la Foret winner Septieme Ciel.

Funambule, sire of the gelding’s second dam Roots, was smart at up to a mile.

NEWMARKET. May 3. 3yoc&f. 8f.

1. NIGHT OF THUNDER (IRE) 9-0 £255,195 ch c by Dubawi - Forest Storm (Galileo) O-Mr Saeed Manana B-F. Dunne TR-Richard Hannon 2. Kingman (GB) 9-0 £96,750 b c by Invincible Spirit - Zenda (Zamindar) O-Mr K. Abdullah B-Juddmonte Farms Ltd TR-John Gosden 3. Australia (GB) 9-0 £48,420 ch c by Galileo - Ouija Board (Cape Cross) O-D Smith/Mrs J Magnier/M Tabor/T Ah Khing BStanley Estate & Stud Co TR-Aidan O’Brien Margins 0.5, Head. Time 1:36.60. Going Good to Firm.

Age Starts Wins Places Earned 2-3 4 3 1 £287,166 Sire: DUBAWI. Sire of 74 Stakes winners. In 2014 NIGHT OF THUNDER Galileo G1, PRINCE BISHOP Prospect Bay G1, TIGER TEES Gold Brose G1, CATKINS Catbird G2, ARABIAN GOLD Vettori G3, INTIMATE MOMENT Gold Brose G3, AKEED MOFEED Tiger Hill LR, DUBDAY Daylami LR, FAIR DUBAWI Nashwan LR, LUCKY NINE Green Desert LR, MURIOI Fantastic Light LR, SHAMAL WIND Machiavellian LR, SRIKANDI Hurricane Sky LR. 1st Dam: Forest Storm by Galileo. Winner at 2, 2nd Flame of Tara EBF S LR. Dam of 1 winner: 2011: NIGHT OF THUNDER (c Dubawi) Sold 32,000gns yearling at TAOC1. 3 wins at 2 and 3, Qipco 2000 Guineas G1, Scott Dobson Memorial Doncaster S LR, 2nd AON Greenham S G3.

2nd Dam: Quiet Storm by Desert Prince. 2 wins at 3, 2nd EBF Upavon S LR. Dam of Forest Storm (f Galileo, see above) Broodmare Sire: GALILEO. Sire of the dams of 21 Stakes winners. In 2014 - LEA First Samurai G1,

NIGHT OF THUNDER Dubawi G1, ARCETRI PINK Rock of Gibraltar G2, THUNDER FANTASY Lucky Owners G2.

The Dubawi/Galileo cross has produced: NIGHT OF THUNDER G1, Seema LR.

NIGHT OF THUNDER ch c 2011 Dubai Millennium DUBAWI b 02 Zomaradah

Galileo FOREST STORM ch 06 Quiet Storm

Seeking The Gold Mr Prospector Con Game Colorado Dancer Shareef Dancer Fall Aspen Shirley Heights Deploy Slightly Dangerous Dancing Brave Jawaher High Tern Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge Miswaki Urban Sea Allegretta Green Desert Desert Prince Flying Fairy Reference Point Hertford Castle Forest Flower

Back in 2005 Dubawi started an undisputed favourite for the 2,000 Guineas on the strength of his unbeaten juvenile campaign and his victory in Godolphin’s private Guineas trial at Nad Al Sheba.

Unfortunately for his supporters, Dubawi could finish only fifth, with the four ahead of him including the 1001 shots Rebel Rebel and Kandidate.

This disappointing effort has to be attributed to the ground, which Timeform considered firm, as Dubawi bounced straight back to take the Irish 2,000 Guineas on good ground.

He later confirmed his status as a top-class miler with his victory in the Prix Jacques le Marois on good to soft.

Dubawi has continued to make amends for his 2,000 Guineas flop, especially in the Newmarket Classic.

His first crop featured the 2010 winner Makfi, his second included Dubawi Gold, who chased home Frankel in 2011, and 2012 saw another son, Hermival, take third place behind Camelot. There was no Dubawi colt in the 2013 edition but Dubawi struck again when Night Of Thunder wore down Kingman, to reverse placings from the Greenham Stakes. Night Of Thunder nearly threw away his advantage by swerving markedly to his left.

Coincidentally, Dubawi had also veered markedly – this time to his right – when he took the lead in the Irish 2,000 Guineas.

Night Of Thunder cost no more than 32,000gns at Tattersalls as a yearling in 2012, even though Dubawi’s fee at the time of conception was £20,000 and had risen to £75,000 by 2012. The average price for a Dubawi yearling colt in 2012 was 114,364gns, so one has to assume that would-be buyers were deterred either by Night Of Thunder’s physique (he’s a first foal) or by the bottom half of his pedigree.

It could well have been the latter, as none of his first three dams had succeeded in winning a stakes race and neither his second or third dams had managed to produce a stakes winner. However, his dam Forest Storm showed useful form at two in Ireland, before drawing a blank at three. The second dam, Quiet Storm,

went within half a length of winning a Listed race over a mile and a quarter, which was her optimum distance. With Galileo as his broodmare sire, Night Of Thunder can be expected to stay a mile and a quarter.

There is a very notable name in Night Of Thunder’s female line – his fourth dam is Forest Flower. Although very small, this highly determined daughter of Green Forest proved herself England’s champion juvenile filly of 1986, before going on to take the Irish 1,000 Guineas. The next dam, Leap Lively, won the Fillies Mile at two and the Johnnie Walker Oaks Trial, as well as finishing a remote third in the Oaks and a creditable second in the Yorkshire Oaks.

11 QIPCO 1000 GUINEAS G1 NEWMARKET. May 4. 3yof. 8f.

1. MISS FRANCE (IRE) 9-0 £246,618 b f by Dansili - Miss Tahiti (Tirol) O-Ballymore Thoroughbred Ltd B-Dayton Investments Ltd TR-A. Fabre 2. Lightning Thunder (GB) 9-0 £93,498 b f by Dutch Art - Sweet Coincidence (Mujahid) O-Mr Mohd Al Kubasi & Pearl Bloodstock Ltd B-S. A. Douch TR-Olly Stevens 3. Ihtimal (IRE) 9-0 £46,793 b f by Shamardal - Eastern Joy (Dubai Destination) O-Godolphin B-Darley TR-Saeed bin Suroor Margins Neck, 0.5. Time 1:37.40. Going Good to Firm.

Age 2-3

Starts 5

Wins 3

Places 0

Earned £281,091

Sire: DANSILI. Sire of 92 Stakes winners. In 2014 MISS FRANCE Tirol G1, L’AMOUR DE MA VIE Smoke Glacken G2, PERMIT Swain LR. 1st Dam: MISS TAHITI by Tirol. Champion 2yr old filly in France in 1995. 2 wins at 2 in France, P.Marcel Boussac-Criterium des Pouliches G1, 2nd Prix de Diane Hermes G1, Prix Saint-Alary G1, 3rd Prix Vermeille G1. Dam of 5 winners: 1998: Maximum Security (c Sadler’s Wells) 3 wins at 3 and 5 in France, 2nd Prix de Reux LR, Prix Right Royal LR. Sire.

1999: MER DE CORAIL (f Sadler’s Wells) 2 wins at 4 in France, Prix d’Automne LR, Coupe du Fonds Europeen de l’Elevage LR, 2nd Prix de Royaumont G3. Dam of ALSACE LORRAINE (f Giant’s Causeway: 5 wins at 4 and 5, EBF Upavon S LR) 2000: Miss Hawai (f Peintre Celebre) unraced. Dam of BEACH BUNNY (f High Chaparral: 3 wins at 3, Dance Design S LR, 2nd Audi Pretty Polly S G1) 2001: MALEVITCH (c Exit To Nowhere) 2 wins at 2 in France.

2002: Maori King (c Spectrum) 2003: Miss Russia (f Sadler’s Wells) unraced.

2005: MISSION SECRETE (f Galileo) Winner at 3 in France. Broodmare.

2008: Memling (c Galileo) 2009: Mataiea (c Danehill Dancer) ran on the flat in France.

2011: MISS FRANCE (f Dansili). 3 wins at 2 and 3 at home, France, Qipco 1000 Guineas G1, Aqlaam Oh So Sharp S G3.

2013: (c High Chaparral) 2nd Dam: MINI LUTHE by Luthier. 1 win at 3 in France.

Dam of MISS TAHITI (f Tirol, see above). Grandam of ENGLAND’S LEGEND. Broodmare Sire: TIROL. Sire of the dams of 26 Stakes winners.

MISS FRANCE b f 2011 Danzig Danehill Razyana DANSILI b 96 Kahyasi Hasili Kerali Thatching Tirol Alpine Niece MISS TAHITI b 93 Luthier Mini Luthe Minifer

Northern Dancer Pas de Nom His Majesty Spring Adieu Ile de Bourbon Kadissya High Line Sookera Thatch Abella Great Nephew Fragrant Morn Klairon Flute Enchantee Jim French Valmarena

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Caulfield on Miss France: “Even though she was foaled when her dam was 18, she is the best of the ten foals of racing age out of Miss Tahiti, winner of the 1995 Marcel Boussac”

In building a reputation as one of the world’s most effective stallions, Dansili came up with the impressive total of 16 Gr1 winners. Significantly, no fewer than ten of those 16 were fillies (The Fugue, Dank, Proviso, Emulous, Fallen For You, Giofra, Winsili, Passage Of Time, Price Tag and Laughing). It therefore came as no great surprise that his 17th Gr1 winner should also be a filly, this being the gallant 1,000 Guineas heroine Miss France.

Even though she was foaled when her dam was 18, Miss France is the best of the ten foals of racing age out Date 08/04 12/04 12/04 12/04 12/04 13/04 13/04 13/04 13/04 13/04 15/04 16/04 17/04 17/04 17/04 20/04 21/04 21/04 25/04 25/04 25/04 27/04 27/04 27/04 27/04 27/04 28/04 30/04 01/05 01/05 03/05 03/05 03/05 04/05 04/05

Grade G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G2 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G3 G2 G3 G2 G2 G3 G2 G3

of Miss Tahiti, winner of the Gr1 Prix Marcel Boussac back in 1995. The mare’s only previous black-type winner was her Sadler’s Wells filly Mer de Corai, herself dam of the very useful filly Alsace Lorraine. Another of Miss Tahiti’s daughters produced the smart High Chaparral filly Beach Bunny, runner-up in the Gr1 Pretty Polly Stakes. As Beach Bunny’s first two foals are winners, including the 2014 two-year-old Beach Belle, there are now several generations of winners descending from Miss Tahiti.

Miss France’s broodmare sire Tirol was a miler – winner of the 2,000

Race (course) Prix Edmond Blanc (Saint-Cloud) P W McGrath Memorial Ballysax Stakes (Navan) AON Greenham Stakes (Newbury) Dubai Duty Free Fred Darling Stakes (Newbury) Dubai Duty Free John Porter Stakes (Newbury) Big Bad Bob Gladness Stakes (Curragh) Wettenleip Fruhjahrs-Meile (Dusseldorf) Prix de Fontainebleau (Longchamp) Prix de la Grotte (Longchamp) Premio Carlo Chiesa - Tris Straord (Rome) Prix Penelope (Saint-Cloud) Lanwades Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes (Newmarket) Connaught Flooring Abernant Stakes (Newmarket) Novae Bloodstock Insurance Craven Stakes (Newmarket) Weatherbys Earl of Sefton Stakes (Newmarket) Premio Ambrosiano (Milan) K.Baronin von Ullmann Schwarzgold Rennen (Cologne) Prix Noailles (Longchamp) bet365 Mile (Sandown Park) bet365 Classic Trial (Sandown Park) bet365 Gordon Richards Stakes (Sandown Park) G.P.Krefelder Rennclub Dr Busch Memorial (Krefeld) Prix Vanteaux (Longchamp) Prix de Barbeville (Longchamp) P.Regina Elena Tris Straord-1000 Guineas (Rome) Premio Parioli - Sisal Matchpoint (Rome) Prix Allez France (Chantilly) Longines Sagaro Stakes (Ascot) Prix du Muguet (Saint-Cloud) Silberne Peitsche (Munich) Qatar Bloodstock Jockey Club Stakes (Newmarket) Prix Greffulhe (Saint-Cloud) Pearl Bloodstock Palace House Stakes (Newmarket) Gerling Preis (Cologne) Qatar Bloodstock Dahlia Stakes (Newmarket)

Dist 8f 10f 7f 7f 12f 7f 8f 8f 8f 6f 10f 7f 6f 8f 9f 10f 8f 10.5f 8f 10f 10f 8.5f 9.5f 15.5f 8f 8f 10f 16f 8f 6.5f 12f 10f 5f 12f 9f

Horse Sommerabend (GB) Fascinating Rock (IRE) Kingman (GB) J Wonder (USA) Cubanita (GB) Sruthan (IRE) Amaron (GB) Ectot (GB) Lesstalk In Paris (IRE) Clorofilla (IRE) Goldy Espony (FR) Sandiva (IRE) Hamza (IRE) Toormore (IRE) Mull of Killough (IRE) Orpello (IRE) Meerjungfrau (GER) Gailo Chop (FR) Tullius (IRE) Western Hymn (GB) Noble Mission (GB) Lucky Lion (GB) Vazira (FR) Montclair (IRE) Vague Nouvelle (IRE) Salford Secret (IRE) Daksha (FR) Tac de Boistron (FR) Sommerabend (GB) Amarillo (IRE) Gospel Choir (GB) Prince Gibraltar (FR) Sole Power (GB) Ivanhowe (GER) Esoterique (IRE)

Guineas in Britain and Ireland – and Tirol in turn was a son of the top sprinter Thatching. However, Miss Tahiti stayed a mile and a half, no doubt thanks to her dam Mini Luthe, whose only victory from 21 starts came in a 15-furlong handicap.

Miss France’s third dam Minifer won only a couple of minor events at around a mile but fourth dam Valmarena was a Group-placed Listed winner. This female line goes back to Vieille Maison, an outstanding mare best known as the dam of Grand Prix de Paris winner Vieux Manoir. Vieille Maison also produced a notable Age 7 3 3 3 5 4 5 3 3 4 3 3 5 3 8 5 3 3 6 3 5 3 3 4 3 3 4 7 7 5 5 3 7 4 4

Sex H C C F M G H C F F F F G C G H F G G C H C F C F C F G H H G C G C F

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Sire Shamardal Fastnet Rock Invincible Spirit Footstepsinthesand Selkirk Arakan Shamardal Hurricane Run Cape Cross Refuse To Bend Vespone Footstepsinthesand Amadeus Wolf Arakan Mull of Kintyre Orpen Manduro Deportivo Le Vie Dei Colori High Chaparral Galileo High Chaparral Sea The Stars Montjeu Mastercraftsman Sakhee’s Secret Authorized Take Risks Shamardal Holy Roman Emperor Galileo Rock of Gibraltar Kyllachy Soldier Hollow Danehill Dancer

daughter in Vieille Pierre, who became the dam of the Prix de Diane winner Hermieres, herself dam of the 1977 Prix du Jockey-Club hero Crystal Palace.

Mini Luthe no doubt also appealed to the Wildensteins because of her sire Luthier, who figures as the broodmare sire of such good Wildenstein winners as Mersey, Muncie, Bon Vent and Lost World. In addition to Miss Tahiti, Mini Luthe produced Mystery Tune, a staying Commanche Run mare who produced Gr1 Beverly D Stakes to Lure – like Dansili from the Danzig male line.

Dam Sommernacht Miss Polaris Zenda Canterbury Lace Caribana Giveupyeraulsins Amandalini Tonnara Top Toss Crudelia Goldy Honor Miss Corinne Lady Shanghai Danetime Out Sun Shower Princess Angelina Meergottin Grenoble Whipped Queen Blue Rhapsody Kind Lips Arrow Vadaza Minaccia Zona Dhuyoof Dareen Pondiki Sommernacht Alte Kunst Chorist Princess Sofia Demerger Indigo Girl Dievotchka

Broodmare Sire Monsun Polar Falcon Zamindar Danehill Hernando Mark of Esteem Bertolini Linamix Linamix Great Commotion Highest Honor Mark of Esteem Alhaarth Danetime Indian Ridge Almutawakel Dashing Blade Marignan Kingmambo Cape Cross Danehill Big Shuffle Zafonic Platini Mr Greeley Sinndar Rahy Sicyos Monsun Royal Academy Pivotal Pennekamp Distant View Sternkoenig Dancing Brave

Index 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 42 43 44 45 46

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DATA BOOK STAKES RESULTS

National Hunt Grade 1s 209 BETFRED BOWL CHASE G1 AINTREE. Apr 3. 5yo+. 25f.

1. SILVINIACO CONTI (FR) 8 11-7 £84,405 ch g by Dom Alco - Gazelle Lulu (Altayan) O-Potensis Limited & Mr Chris Giles B-P. Joubert TR-Paul Nicholls 2. Dynaste (FR) 8 11-7 £31,800 gr g by Martaline - Bellissima de Mai (Pistolet Bleu) O-Mr A. J. White B-Mr P. Chartier TR-David Pipe 3. Argocat (IRE) 6 11-7 £15,915 b g by Montjeu - Spirit of South (Giant’s Causeway) O-Mrs Fitri Hay B-B. Bellaud & Caragh Bloodstock TR-Tom J. Taaffe Margins 1.5, 1.5. Time 6:21.80.

Going Good.

Age 4-8

Starts 21

Wins 12

Places 8

Earned £643,306

SILVINIACO CONTI ch g 2006 Traffic Rhenane La Varende Arctic Star Nearctic Seximee Sheshoon Cenerentola Forli In Hot Pursuit Red God Alannya Devon Quartelette Vieux Chateau Violine D P

Rheffic Dom Pasquini Boursonne DOM ALCO gr 87 Nonoalco Alconaca Vela Posse Altayan Aleema GAZELLE LULU ch 94 Quart de Vin Tatiana Lulu Kaline Lulu

See race 67 in February 2014 issue 210 DOOM BAR AINTREE HURDLE G1 AINTREE. Apr 3. 4yo+. 20f.

1. THE NEW ONE (IRE) 6 11-7 £112,540 b g by King’s Theatre - Thuringe (Turgeon) O-Mrs S. Such B-R. Brown & Ballylinch Stud TRNigel Twiston-Davies 2. Rock On Ruby (IRE) 9 11-7 £42,400 b g by Oscar - Stony View (Tirol) O-The Festival Goers B-J. O’Dwyer TR-Harry Fry 3. Diakali (FR) 5 11-7 £21,220 gr g by Sinndar - Diasilixa (Linamix) O-Wicklow Bloodstock Limited B-Haras de Son Altesse L’Aga Khan S.C.E.A. TR-W. P. Mullins Margins Head, Nose. Time 4:54.80.

Going Good.

Age 3-6

Starts 15

Wins 10

Places 4

Earned £437,515

THE NEW ONE b g 2008 Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Fairy Bridge Special Raise A Native Princely Native Charlo Crafty Admiral Dennis Belle Evasion Fortino II Caro Chambord Targowice Reiko Beronaire Comrade In Arms Brigadier Gerard Girl Friend Emerson Munsingen Langenargen Northern Dancer

Sadler’s Wells KING’S THEATRE b 91 Regal Beauty

Turgeon THURINGE b 01 L’Arme Au Poing

defeat of Rock On Ruby in the Aintree Hurdle.

Although clearly capable of highclass form over two miles, The New One gives the impression of being more at home over further. This is hardly surprising when his grandsires are Sadler’s Wells and Turgeon.

Turgeon won both the Irish St Leger and Prix Royal-Oak and was twice third in the Ascot Gold Cup. Although The New One’s dam Thuringe failed to win, she finished a creditable third in a Listed race on her debut over hurdles.

Turgeon has recently added the smart staying chaser Ma Filleule to his list of notable British performers, which also include the chasers Exotic Dancer, Chapoturgeon, Aerial, Turko and Turgeonev. Turgeon was France’s champion sire of jumpers in 2011, since when he has been very ably represented by such big earners as Shannon Rock and Formosa Joana Has. The next three mares in The New One’s female line all raced at around a mile and a half on the Flat. They were respectively daughters of Comrade In Arms (very smart at up to a mile), the Brazilian star Emerson, and Carmarthen (France’s dominant sire of jumpers during the 1980s).

211 INJURED JOCKEYS FUND JUVENILE HURDLE G1 AINTREE. Apr 3. 4yo. 17f.

1. GUITAR PETE (IRE) 11-0 £56,270 br g by Dark Angel - Innishmore (Lear Fan) O-Mrs Pat Sloan B-P. J. Burke TR-D. T. Hughes 2. Clarcam (FR) 11-0 £21,200 b g by Califet - Rose Beryl (Lost World) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-J. Michel & D. Le Breton TR-Gordon Elliott 3. Calipto (FR) 11-0 £10,610 b g by Califet - Peutiot (Valanour) O-Mr Ian Fogg & Mr Chris Giles B-Mr A. Priolet TRPaul Nicholls Margins 1.75, 2.25. Time 4:09.80. Going Good.

Age 3-4

Starts 15

Wins 5

Places 4

GUITAR PETE br g 2010 Royal Applause Acclamation Princess Athena DARK ANGEL gr 05 Machiavellian Midnight Angel Night At Sea Roberto Lear Fan Wac INNISHMORE b 01

The New One is still only six years old but he has already enjoyed substantial success at the festivals at Cheltenham and Aintree. The first notable success by the son of King’s Theatre came at Aintree, when he defeated My Tent Or Yours in the 2012 edition of the Gr2 Champion Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race.

Eleven months later he became a Gr1 winner, taking the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, and he then failed by only half a length to add the Gr1 Aintree Hurdle to his tally. Then, in 2014, The New One followed up his rather unlucky third in the Champion Hurdle with a

90

Earned £155,770

Green Desert Inishdalla Costly Wave

Waajib Flying Melody Ahonoora Shopping Wise Mr Prospector Coup de Folie Night Shift Into Harbour Hail To Reason Bramalea Lt Stevens Belthazar Danzig Foreign Courier Caro Arctic Wave

See race 147 in April 2014 issue 212 PINSENT MASONS MANIFESTO NOVICES’ CHASE G1

Linamix FRAGRANT MIX gr 94 Fragrant Hill

Dear Doctor JOLISANDRE b 97 Palisandre

Could Linamix be the next significant sire of sires in the jumping world?

One son, Martaline, enjoyed Gr1 success at the 2014 Cheltenham Festival thanks to Dynaste and Very Wood. When the action moved on to Aintree, another son of Linamix – the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Fragrant Mix – hit the Gr1 target with Uxizandre. This bold-jumping six-yearold was winning for the third time in five starts over fences when he held off Oscar Whisky in the Manifesto Novices’ Chase. Other sons of Linamix with good current representatives include Al Namix (sire of Grandouet and Saphir du Rheu) and Carlotamix (sire of the French Champion Hurdle winner Gemix).

Uxizandre’s sire Fragrant Mix covered a mix of thoroughbreds and non-thoroughbreds, initially as part of the French National Stud team. The gelding is the first foal of the onceraced Jolisandre. Although Jolisandre is a non-thoroughbred, her sire Dear Doctor was a top performer who won Group races from ten to 12 furlongs in France, Britain, Germany and the USA, notably taking the Gr1 Arlington Million. Uxizandre’s second dam Palisandre had a busy career, racing 56 times over jumps, mainly in crosscountry events. She won nine times at up to three miles and a furlong. This daughter of the Prix du Jockey-Club runner-up Night And Day also enjoyed success as a broodmare.

213 BETFRED MELLING CHASE G1 AINTREE. Apr 4. 5yo+. 20f.

1. BOSTON BOB (IRE) 9 11-10 £112,540 b g by Bob Back - Bavaway (Le Bavard) O-Andrea & Graham Wylie B-Burgage Stud TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Rolling Aces (IRE) 8 11-10 £42,400 b g by Whitmore’s Conn - Pay Roll (Roselier) O-Paul Barber, Ian Fogg & David Martin B-M. Daly TR-Paul Nicholls 3. Ballynagour (IRE) 8 11-10 £21,220 b g by Shantou - Simply Deep (Simply Great) O-Mr Allan Stennett B-G. T. Morrow TR-David Pipe Margins 3.25, 1.25. Time 4:58.10.

Going Good.

Age 5-9

Starts 16

Wins 5

Wins 10

Places 2

Places 5

Earned £108,253

Earned £368,387

BOSTON BOB b g 2005 Hail To Reason

1. UXIZANDRE (FR) 6 11-4 £50,643 ch g by Fragrant Mix - Jolisandre (Dear Doctor) O-Mr John P. McManus B-Mr F. Aimez TR-Alan King 2. Oscar Whisky (IRE) 9 11-4 £19,080 b g by Oscar - Ash Baloo (Phardante) O-Walters Plant Hire Ltd B-Mrs S. Hanly TR-Nicky Henderson 3. Western Warhorse (IRE) 6 11-4 £9,549 b g by Westerner - An Banog (Anshan) O-Mr R. S. Brookhouse B-Mr H. Kavanagh TRDavid Pipe Margins 1.5, 26. Time 4:59.40. Going Good.

Starts 12

Bellypha Miss Carina Breton Lunadix Lutine Mill Reef Shirley Heights Hardiemma Grey Dawn II English Spring Spring Is Here Blushing Groom Crystal Glitters Tales To Tell Zeddaan Adele Toumignon Alvorada Soleil Levant Night And Day Nuit de Noces Tiros Corisandre II Corisandre Mendez

AINTREE. Apr 3. 5yo+. 20f.

Age 4-6

See race 226 in this issue

UXIZANDRE ch g 2008

Roberto Bramalea BOB BACK br 81 Carry Back Toter Back Romantic Miss Devon Le Bavard Lueur Doree BAVAWAY b 87 Arctic Slave Chillaway Freezeaway

Turn-To Nothirdchance Nashua Rarelea Saggy Joppy Beauchef Roman Zephyr Worden Sees Le Haar Lueur d’Espoir Arctic Star Roman Galley Vulgan Skateaway

214 BETFRED MILDMAY NOVICES’ CHASE G1 AINTREE. Apr 4. 5yo+. 25f.

1. HOLYWELL (IRE) 7 11-4 £50,643 b g by Gold Well - Hillcrest (Thatching) O-Mrs Gay Smith B-P. Doyle TR-Jonjo O’Neill 2. Don Cossack (GER) 7 11-4 £19,080 br g by Sholokhov - Depeche Toi (Konigsstuhl) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Gestut Etzean TRGordon Elliott 3. Wonderful Charm (FR) 6 11-4 £9,549 b g by Poliglote - Victoria Royale (Garde Royale) O-Mr R. J. H. Geffen B-Mr J. Dubois TR-Paul Nicholls Margins 10, 7. Time 6:14.80. Going Good.

Age 4-7

Starts 18

Wins 7

Places 10

Earned £215,992

HOLYWELL b g 2007 Sadler’s Wells GOLD WELL b 01 Floripedes

Thatching HILLCREST b 93 Next Episode

Northern Dancer Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Fairy Bridge Special High Top Top Ville Sega Ville Tennyson Toute Cy Adele Toumignon Forli Thatch Thong Abernant Abella Darrica Northern Dancer Nijinsky Flaming Page Forli Continuation Continue

One of Sadler’s Wells’s unraced sons, Accordion, made a sizeable impact on the National Hunt world, siring such as Flagship Uberalles, Dato Star and Albertas Run. It is therefore no surprise that the unraced Gold Well has shown plenty of promise in a similar role, especially as he was a brother to the brilliant Montjeu.

Montjeu was himself responsible for the remarkable hurdler Hurricane Fly, plus the Graded chase winners Argocat, Noble Prince and Moskova, and the Graded hurdles winners Won In The Dark (a dual Gr1 scorer), Blue Bajan and Eradicate.

Sadly Gold Well died at the age of 12 in November 2013, but not before breeders and buyers had recognised his potential. The son of Sadler’s Wells covered 227 thoroughbred mares in 2012, in the last of his seven years at Arctic Tack Stud, and then covered a similar number in 2013, after a move to Beeches Stud.

His daughter Legacy Gold sold for £210,000 in April 2013 and has since won three times over hurdles.

These big books reflect the success enjoyed by members of Gold Well’s first crop, such as the Gr3 Paddy Power Gold Cup Chase winner Johns Spirit and the dual Cheltenham Festival winner Holywell. Having taken the Pertemps Final over hurdles in 2013, Holywell returned to Cheltenham a year later to win a Gr3 handicap chase. He then became a Gr1 winner in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase at Aintree, improving his record under rules to six wins and six seconds from 16 starts.

Holywell is well suited by three miles or more, even though his dam Hillcrest was a daughter of the champion sprinter Thatching.

However, his next two dams are by Nijinsky and Forli, two exceptional performers who stayed well enough

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June_118_Databook_Layout 1 21/05/2014 18:30 Page 91

Caulfield on Whisper: “His dam Belle Yepa, who won over hurdles at Enghien and Auteuil, has been a constant visitor to Astarabad, he being the fifth of her nine foals by him”

to win beyond a mile and threequarters. The second dam, Next Episode, was closely related to the champion miler Shadeed.

215 DOOM BAR SEFTON NOVICES’ HURDLE G1 AINTREE. Apr 4. 4yo+. 24f 110yds.

1. BEAT THAT (IRE) 6 11-4 £56,270 b g by Milan - Knotted Midge (Presenting) O-Mr Michael Buckley B-Mr J. O’Brien TR-Nicky Henderson 2. Cole Harden (IRE) 5 11-4 £21,200 b g by Westerner - Nosie Betty (Alphabatim) O-Mrs Jill Eynon & Mr Robin Eynon B-Mrs J. O’Callaghan TR-Warren Greatrex 3. Seeyouatmidnight (GB) 6 11-4 £10,610 b g by Midnight Legend - Morsky Baloo (Morpeth) O-Mrs A. M. Thomson B-Miss F. A. Evans TR-Sandy Thomson Margins 4, 25. Time 6:02.90. Going Good to Soft.

Age 5-6

Starts 6

Wins 3

Places 2

Earned £114,956

BEAT THAT b g 2008 Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge MILAN b 98 Darshaan Kithanga Kalata Mtoto Presenting D’Azy KNOTTED MIDGE b 00 Brush Aside Bula Beag Bulabos

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special Shirley Heights Delsy Assert Kalkeen Busted Amazer Persian Bold Belle Viking Alleged Top Twig Proverb Clonmel

See race 228 in this issue 216 DOOM BAR MAGHULL NOVICES’ CHASE G1

son of Nureyev and the Arc-winning Gold River. It is hardly surprising that Balder Succes is very effective over two miles, even though he has two wins at around two and a half miles.

Goldneyev raced only over a mile and was good enough to finish second in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains.

Goldneyev had his moments as a sire of Flat performers but more recently he enjoyed success as a sire of jumpers and his best French jumpers include the Gr1 winning hurdler Usual Suspects, the tough chaser Al Bucq and the smart Lord Carmont.

Balder Succes’s dam Frija Eria is an unraced daughter of Kadalko. This son of Cadoudal won only one of his 15 races on the Flat but it was a very different story over jumps, as he won 11 of his 15 races over hurdles.

Kadalko’s last win came in the Prix Leon Orly-Roederer over three miles, so he stayed well. Kadalko is also sire of the Gr1-winning Irish chaser Notre Pere, the smart staying hurdler Pride Of Dulcote and of Ladalko, a shorthead second in the Scottish National.

The second dam, the winning jumper Tyqualina, was by Quart de Vin, also sire of the second dam of Silviniaco Conti. Quart de Vin, best known as the sire of the outstanding French chaser Ucello II, numbered the Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil among his hurdling victories.

217 PERTEMPS NETWORK MERSEY NOVICES HURDLE G1

AINTREE. Apr 5. 5yo+. 16f.

1. BALDER SUCCES (FR) 6 11-4 £61,897 b g by Goldneyev - Frija Eria (Kadalko) O-Masterson Holdings Limited B-Mr Damien Bellanger et al TR-Alan King 2. Simply Ned (IRE) 7 11-4 £23,320 ch g by Fruits of Love - Bishops Lass (Marju) O-David & Nicky Robinson B-Miss I. Hatton TRNicky Richards 3. Trifolium (FR) 7 11-4 £11,671 b g by Goldneyev - Opium des Mottes (April Night) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Haras de La Rousseliere Scea & J. Poirier TR-Charles Byrnes Margins 4, 0.5. Time 3:48.40. Going Good.

Age 3-6

Starts 23

Wins 10

Places 4

Earned £210,548

BALDER SUCCES b g 2008 Northern Dancer Nureyev Special GOLDNEYEV b/br 86 Riverman Gold River Glaneuse Cadoudal Kadalko Koln FRIJA ERIA b 03 Quart de Vin Tyqualina Typique

Nearctic Natalma Forli Thong Never Bend River Lady Snob II Glamour II Green Dancer Come To Sea Fant Kornahre Devon Quartelette Tropique Principaute

AINTREE. Apr 5. 4yo+. 20f.

1. LAC FONTANA (FR) 5 11-4 £42,203 b g by Shirocco - Fontaine Riant (Josr Algarhoud) O-Potensis Limited B-S. C. A. La Perrigne TR-Paul Nicholls 2. Splash of Ginge (GB) 6 11-4 £15,900 b g by Oscar - Land of Honour (Supreme Leader) O-Mr J. D. Neild B-Mr S. Pike TR-Nigel TwistonDavies 3. Dell’ Arca (IRE) 5 11-4 £7,958 b g by Sholokhov - Daisy Belle (Acatenango) O-Prof. Caroline Tisdall B-B. & B. Matusche TRDavid Pipe Margins 1.5, 0.5. Time 4:50.60.

Going Good to Soft.

Age 2-5

Starts 15

Wins 5

Places 8

Earned £146,645

LAC FONTANA b g 2009 Konigsstuhl Monsun Mosella SHIROCCO b 01 The Minstrel So Sedulous Sedulous Darshaan Josr Algarhoud Pont-Aven FONTAINE RIANT b 03 Lightning

Although Balder Succes was considered good enough to tackle the Triumph Hurdle and Champion Hurdle, it looks as though chasing is his true vocation. His victory in the Gr1 Maghull Novices’ Chase was his fifth from six completed starts (and he was in the lead on the occasion he fell).

When Balder Succes gained his Aintree win, third place went to Trifoleum, another son of Goldneyev.

These two would be the best Britishtrained runners by this royally-bred

switch of spheres was probably inevitable. The move also no doubt reflected the fact that, despite siring Flat performers of the calibre of Brown Panther, Wild Coco, Shirocco Star and Grand Vent, the son of Monsun had failed to sire an allimportant Gr1 winner.

He should be in great demand now that he has moved to a specialist jumping stud, all the more so now that he has enjoyed Gr1 success with the hurdlers Annie Power (ten consecutive wins) and Lac Fontana.

The latter, a minor winner on the Flat in France, has proved very progressive and followed up a win in the Gr3 County Hurdle with a Gr1 success in the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle.

Fontaine Riant, the dam of Lac Fontana, won twice at around seven furlongs. With Darshaan’s speedy son Josr Algarhoud as her sire, she is a three-parts-sister to Marienbad, the Darshaan mare responsible for the Arc winner Marienbard. Lac Fontana’s third dam is Primula, a very successful broodmare who produced four stakes winners, headed by the Prix Morny heroine Sakura Reiko. This very good filly was by Kenmare, who also sired the dual Listed winner Kentucky Coffee from Lac Fontana’s second dam Marie de Fontenoy. Marie de Fontenoy is one of three daughters of Primula to have bred a stakes winner, the others being Marie de Flandre (dam of that good stayer Solo Mio) and Marie de Russy (dam of the Prix Royal-Oak winner Top Sunrise).

Marie de Fontenoy Primula

Dschingis Khan Konigskronung Surumu Monasia Northern Dancer Fleur Tap On Wood Pendulina Shirley Heights Delsy Try My Best Basilea Kashmir II Fidra Petingo Valrose

218 SILVER CROSS STAYERS’ LIVERPOOL HURDLE G1 AINTREE. Apr 5. 4yo+. 24f 110yds.

1. WHISPER (FR) 6 11-7 £67,524 b g by Astarabad - Belle Yepa (Mansonnien) O-Walters Plant Hire Ltd B-H. & S. Hosselet TRNicky Henderson 2. At Fishers Cross (IRE) 7 11-7 £25,440 b g by Oscar - Fermoy Supreme (Supreme Leader) O-Mr John P. McManus B-L. O’Regan TR-Rebecca Curtis 3. Thousand Stars (FR) 10 11-7 £12,732 gr g by Grey Risk - Livaniana (Saint Estephe) O-Hammer & Trowel Syndicate B-Mlle Camille & Mlle Ophelie Demercastel TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 1, 3.75. Time 6:06.80.

Going Good to Soft.

Age 4-6

Starts 12

Wins 7

Places 5

WHISPER b g 2008 Hoist The Flag Alleged Princess Pout ASTARABAD b 94 Darshaan Anaza Azaarika Tip Moss Mansonnien Association

Although it wasn’t until October 2013 that Shirocco joined the National Hunt stallions at Glenview Stud, this winner of the Deutsches Derby, Coronation Cup and Breeders’ Cup Turf had already been attracting jumping mares during his time at Dalham Hall. For example his mares in 2012 included daughters of King’s Theatre, Kayf Tara and Old Vic, and it was a similar story in 2013, so the

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Earned £160,422

BELLE YEPA ch 96 Yelapa Grande Yepa Grande Marque

Tom Rolfe Wavy Navy Prince John Determined Lady Shirley Heights Delsy Ribero Arcana Luthier Top Twig Margouillat La Soupe Mossborough Your Point Tombeur La Grandeur

Quite a few of France’s jumping stallions have comparatively unexceptional racing records, but that certainly couldn’t be said of Whisper’s sire Astarabad. This well-bred son of Alleged won the 1998 Prix Ganay, having finished third to Peintre

Celebre in the previous year’s Prix du Jockey-Club. Timeform rated him 122.

Astarabad spent 1999 racing in the USA before returning to France to take up stallion duties in 2001.

Alleged has an impressive record as a sire of jumping stallions, thanks to such as Flemensfirth, Montelimar, Shantou, Religiously, Alesso, Husyan and Leading Cousel. Astarabad has also made his mark, notably siring Questarabad, who landed the Grande Course de Haies (French Champion Hurdle) and three other Gr1 events.

He has also been ably represented in Britain by Cheltenian (Weatherbys Champion Bumper), Gaspara (Imperial Cup), Green Belt Elite and Prince Taime, but his very progressive son Whisper moved to the top of his British winners when he defeated At Fishers Cross and Thousand Stars in the Gr1 Silver Cross Stayers’ Hurdle.

This was his seventh win in 12 starts.

Whisper’s dam Belle Yepa is a sister to Subehargues, a smart staying chaser in France. She is by Mansonnien, as are the dams of Cheltenian and the useful performers Rick and Arturio. Mansonnien is a familiar name in Britain and Ireland following the successes of Golden Silver, J’y Vole, Taranis, Marasonnien and Mansony. Other good recent winners out of Mansonnien mares include Bostons Angel (Gr1 RSA Chase). Irish Saint (twice a Gr2 winner over hurdles), Vino Griego and the French Graded chase winners Bebe Star and Net Lovely.

Whisper’s dam won over hurdles at Enghien and Auteuil. She has been a fairly constant visitor to Astarabad, Whisper being the fifth of her nine foals by him. Best of the others was Chuchoteuse, a Listed winner over hurdles at Enghien.

219 IRISH STALL. FARMS EBF MARES NOV. HURDLE G1 FAIRYHOUSE. Apr 6. 4yo+f. 20f.

1. ADRIANA DES MOTTES (FR) 4 10-10

£48,750 b/br f by Network - Daisy des Mottes (Abdonski) O-Mrs S. Ricci B-E.A.R.L Ecurie Des Mottes TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Beluckyagain (IRE) 6 11-7 £14,250 b m by Old Vic - Whizz (Salse) O-Supreme Horse Racing Club B-P. Hore TR-W.P. Mullins 3. Urticaire (FR) 6 11-7 £6,750 b m by Mister Sacha - Opium des Mottes (April Night) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Haras de La Rousseliere & C. Poirier TR-W. P. Mullins Margins 7, 6. Time 5:16.80. Going Soft.

Age 3-4

Starts 8

Wins 2

Places 2

Earned £65,760

ADRIANA DES MOTTES b/br f 2010 Konigsstuhl Monsun Mosella NETWORK br 97 Reliance II Note Nicotiana Bolkonski Abdonski Abdecka DAISY DES MOTTES b/br 91 Pure Flight Dany Flight Toreta

Dschingis Khan Konigskronung Surumu Monasia Tantieme Relance III Naras Nina Balidar Perennial Abdos Strelka Nearctic Maid of Flight Sir Tor Nandina

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DATA BOOK STAKES RESULTS

National Hunt Grade 1s Sons of Monsun were in good form with their jumping progeny at the start of April. Shirocco enjoyed Gr1 success with Lac Fontana at Aintree, and Network added another good winner to his collection when Adriana des Mottes took the EBF Mares’ Novice Hurdle Championship Final.

Network hasn’t been as prominent during the 2013-14 season, because his brilliant son Sprinter Sacre has been sidelined, but the ex-French Adrianna des Mottes ranks alongside such as Rubi Ball (twice a winner of the Gr1 Prix La Haye Jousselin), Saint Are (Gr1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle) and Rubi Light (Gr1 John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase).

Network won the Gr2 UnionRennen over 11 furlongs in Germany.

Although he wasn’t extensively used early in his stallion career, he has larger crops in the pipeline. His 2013 crop, consisting mainly of AQPS youngsters, numbers 56.

Adriana des Mottes’s first Gr1 success came a day after the Grand National had fallen to Pineau de Re, another French-bred produced by a daughter of Abdonski. A son of the 2,000 Guineas winner Bolkonski, Abdonski won seven times on the Flat and twice over hurdles. He had the unusual record of progressing from winning a claiming race to landing a pair of Listed races at around a mile and a half at Longchamp. He didn’t make much of an impact as a sire but is clearly faring better as a broodmare sire.

Adrianna des Mottes was bought for €100,000 in July 2013, having finished third in the last of her three starts at Auteuil. Her dam Daisy des Mottes won over a mile on the Flat before finishing second over hurdles and fences. The best of Daisy des Mottes’s previous winners was the useful jumper Persy des Mottes. The next dam, Dany Flight, won four times at up to a mile and a quarter during a busy Flat career.

The fall of the favourite Ballycasey when still in the lead at the second last fence gifted victory to Rebel Fitz in the Powers Gold Cup. While luck may have been on Rebel Fitz’s side, no-one could say that this highly consistent performer didn’t deserve a big win. His effort at Fairyhouse improved his record in his last nine starts to seven wins and two seconds.

He has taken very well to chasing, having earlier enjoyed Gr3 success over hurdles.

Rebel Fitz has won at up to two and three-quarter miles but is very effective over shorter distances. His sire, the Gr2 Prix Dollar winner Agent Bleu, was very smart at around a mile and a quarter, but he had plenty of stayers in his pedigree, including his broodmare sire Rheffic, winner of the Grand Prix de Paris over nearly two miles. Agent Bleu’s great-grandsires included the St Leger winner Sodium and the stamina-packed Wild Risk, so it isn’t so surprising that Agent Bleu sired Line Marine, winner of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris over three miles five furlongs in 2003, and Kamillo, runner-up in the same Gr1 event in 2004.

Although Agent Bleu was a thoroughbred, Rebel Fitz is a selle francais. His dam, the unraced Gesse Parade, has a famous half-sister in Nuit d’Or II, a champion cross-country performer in France who found fame as the dam of the top-class chaser First Gold. This gelding enjoyed Gr1 success in France, Britain and Ireland, notably taking the King George VI Chase. Gesse Parade has another good winner to her credit in Ubak, a Kapgarde gelding who landed the Gr2 Mersey Novices’ Hurdle in 2013.

Rebel Fitz’s broodmare sire, the Sadler’s Wells horse Dress Parade, was a talented brother to Batshoof, a very smart winner at up to 10.5 furlongs.

222 BET365.COM CELEBRATION CHASE G1 SANDOWN PARK. Apr 26. 5yo+. 16f.

1. REBEL FITZ (FR) 9 11-10 £48,750 b g by Agent Bleu - Gesse Parade (Dress Parade) O-Mr B. Sweetnam B-P. de Maleisseye Melun et al TR-Michael Winters 2. Bright New Dawn (IRE) 7 11-10 £14,250 br g by Presenting - Shuil Dorcha (Bob Back) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Mrs M. Syme TR-D. T. Hughes Margins 15. Time 5:05.10.

Going Good to Yielding.

Age 5-9

Age 4-8

FAIRYHOUSE. Apr 20. 5yo+. 20f.

Starts 26

Wins 16

Places 9

Earned £360,529

REBEL FITZ b g 2005

Starts 25

Wins 14

Places 9

223 GROWISE ELLIER CHAMPION NOVICE CHASE G1 £46,500 b g by King’s Theatre - Baden (Furry Glen) O-Mr John P. McManus B-Kenilworth House Stud TR-J. E. Kiely 2. Ballycasey (IRE) 7 11-10 £14,250 gr g by Presenting - Pink Mist (Montelimar) O-Mrs S. Ricci B-R. Tanner TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Morning Assembly (IRE) 7 11-10 £6,750 b g by Shantou - Barrack Village (Montelimar) O-Clipper Logistics Group Ltd B-Mr J. J. Brennan TR-P. A. Fahy Margins 4.25, 12. Time 6:20.40. Going Good.

Starts 20

Wins 7

Places 6

Earned £277,432

CARLINGFORD LOUGH b g 2006 Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge KING’S THEATRE b 91 Princely Native Regal Beauty Dennis Belle Wolver Hollow Furry Glen Cleftess BADEN b 88 Linacre St Moritz Machete

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special Raise A Native Charlo Crafty Admiral Evasion Sovereign Path Cygnet Hill Gail Cleft Rockefella True Picture Macherio Eastern Slipper

See race 75 in February 2014 issue 224 HERALD CHAMPION NOVICE HURDLE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. Apr 29. 5yo+. 16f.

1. FAUGHEEN (IRE) 6 11-12 £46,500 b g by Germany - Miss Pickering (Accordion) O-Mrs S. Ricci B-Dr J. Waldron TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Valseur Lido (FR) 5 11-12 £14,250 b g by Anzillero - Libido Rock (Video Rock) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-M. Contignon & Mme N. Contignon TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Sgt Reckless (GB) 7 11-12 £6,750 b g by Imperial Dancer - Lakaam (Danzero) O-Mrs T. P. Radford B-Miss B. G. Coyle TR-Mick Channon Margins 12, 1.25. Time 3:57.60.

Going Good to Yielding.

Age 4-6

Starts 7

Wins 7

Places 0

Earned £148,975

FAUGHEEN b g 2008 Atan Rocchetta Viceregal Quiriquina GERMANY b 91 Herbager Big Spruce Silver Sari Inca Princess Hail To Reason Inca Queen Silver Spoon Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge Accordion Successor Sound of Success Belle Musique MISS PICKERING b 01 Sham Creative Plan Another Treat Make Me An Island Ballymoss Bali Near The Line Sharpen Up

Trempolino

See race 184 in May 2014 issue

Earned £613,998

225 BOYLESPORTS.COM CHAMPION CHASE G1

SIRE DE GRUGY ch g 2006

PUNCHESTOWN. Apr 29. 5yo+. 16f.

Lyphard Vacarme Virunga AGENT BLEU b 87 Rheffic Acoma Almyre Sadler’s Wells Dress Parade Steel Habit GESSE PARADE ch 94 Le Tyrol Fyrole II Verveine VII

92

Northern Dancer Goofed Sodium Vale Traffic Rhenane Wild Risk Ad Gloriam Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge Habitat Ampulla Verso II Princesse Lointaine II Pre Catelan II Galette Doree

Kenmare High River Be My Guest Baino Bluff Rapids Lyphard Vacarme Virunga Bon Sang Miss Mood Missy No Pass No Sale Northfields No Disgrace Reachout And TouchYouth Everything Nice Green Dancer Chamberlin On The Wing Alfaro Laida Dariga Highest Honor

Take Risks MY RISK b 99 Miss Pat

Passing Sale HIRLISH b 95 Tara Kane II

1. SIZING EUROPE (IRE) 12 11-12 £103,333 b g by Pistolet Bleu - Jennie Dun (Mandalus) O-Ann & Alan Potts Partnership B-Mrs A. Bracken TR-Henry de Bromhead 2. Ballynagour (IRE) 8 11-12 £31,667 b g by Shantou - Simply Deep (Simply Great) O-Mr Allan Stennett B-G. T. Morrow TR-David Pipe 3. Savello (IRE) 8 11-12 £15,000 ch g by Anshan - Fontaine Frances (Lafontaine) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-A. Walsh TR-A. J. Martin Margins 5.5, Head. Time 4:05.90.

Going Good.

Age 4-12

Starts 42

Wins 21

High Top Top Ville Sega Ville Armos

1. CARLINGFORD LOUGH (IRE) 8 11-10

Age 5-8

SIZING EUROPE b g 2002

PISTOLET BLEU b 88

PUNCHESTOWN. Apr 29. 5yo+. 25f.

Trephine

1. SIRE DE GRUGY (FR) 8 11-7 £71,188 ch g by My Risk - Hirlish (Passing Sale) O-The Preston Family & Friends Ltd B-La Grugerie TR-Gary Moore 2. Pepite Rose (FR) 7 11-0 £26,713 b/br m by Bonbon Rose - Sambre (Turgeon) O-Falcon’s Line Ltd B-Pegasus Breeding Ltd TRVenetia Williams 3. Special Tiara (GB) 7 11-7 £13,375 b g by Kayf Tara - Special Choice (Bob Back) O-Mrs S. Rowley-Williams B-D. E. M. Young TRHenry de Bromhead Margins 3.25, 1.5. Time 3:56.10.

Going Good to Soft.

220 POWERS GOLD CUP CHASE G1

See race 61 in February 2014 issue

Places Earned 16 £1,294,121

Pampa Bella Kendie Mandamus Mandalus Laminate JENNIE DUN b 94 Deep Run Lakelands Girl Charlie Girl

Derring-Do Camenae Charlottesville La Sega Mossborough Ardelle Klairon Amagalla Petition Great Fun Abernant Lamri Pampered King Trial By Fire Vic Day Polperro

At the end of April 2007, a five-yearold gelding called Sizing Europe made his first appearance at the Punchestown Festival, defeating the future Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Big Zeb in a novice hurdle. Since then this magnificent son of Accordion has become something of a fixture at the festival, notably notching up victories in the 2012 and 2014 editions of the Boylesports.com Champion Chase.

The 12-year-old’s latest victory boosted his record to 21 wins from 42 starts, and his total of eight Gr1 wins also features the AIG Europe Champion Hurdle, Queen Mother Champion Chase and the Tingle Creek Chase.

Sizing Europe’s sire Pistolet Bleu died at the age of 13 after only one season as part of Coolmore’s National Hunt team. This winner of the Criterium de Saint-Cloud and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud had previously sired such talented jumpers as Katarino and Geos while in France.

His Irish crop also proved a prolific source of good winners, which included the likes of Your Sum Man (Grand National Hurdle in the USA), Merigo (Scottish Grand National), Tullamore Dew, Coscorrig, Seven Is My Number, Parsons Pistol, Copper Bleu, I’msingingtheblues, Dover’s Hill, Cappa Bleu and Snap Tie. Also, two of his sons who won over jumps are now siring good winners, with Arvico getting the very smart chaser Arvika Ligeonniere and Balko the very useful French chasers Michto and Fago, plus the promising hurdler Gitane du Berlais.

Sizing Europe’s dam Jennie Dun is an unraced daughter of Mandalus.

This very tough horse made his name as a miler before showing surprising stamina over an extreme distance.

Mandalus sired those good staying chasers Sir Rembrandt, Macgeorge and Henry Mann, and his daughters’ other good recent winners include Roberto Goldback, Powerstation, Get Me Out Of Here, Made In Taipan, Mount Oscar, Sizing Rio and The Disengager.

226 BIBBY PUNCHESTOWN GOLD CUP CHASE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. Apr 30. 5yo+. 25f.

1. BOSTON BOB (IRE) 9 11-10 £100,000 b g by Bob Back - Bavaway (Le Bavard) O-Andrea & Graham Wylie B-Burgage Stud TR-W. P. Mullins 2. First Lieutenant (IRE) 9 11-10 £31,667 ch g by Presenting - Fourstargale (Fourstars Allstar) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Mrs M. O’Connor TR-M. F. Morris

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

June_118_Databook_Layout 1 21/05/2014 18:30 Page 93

Caulfield on Rebel Fitz: “While luck may have been on his side in the Powers Gold Cup at Fairyhouse, no-one could say that this highly consistent performer did not deserve a big win”

3. Long Run (FR) 9 11-10 £15,000 b/br g by Cadoudal - Libertina (Balsamo) O-Mr Robert Waley-Cohen B-Mrs M. R. Gabeur TR-Nicky Henderson Margins 3.25, 3.5. Time 6:22.40.

Going Good to Yielding.

Age 5-9

Starts 16

Wins 10

Places 2

Earned £368,387

BOSTON BOB b g 2005 Hail To Reason Roberto Bramalea BOB BACK br 81 Carry Back Toter Back Romantic Miss Devon Le Bavard Lueur Doree BAVAWAY b 87 Arctic Slave Chillaway Freezeaway

Turn-To Nothirdchance Nashua Rarelea Saggy Joppy Beauchef Roman Zephyr Worden Sees Le Haar Lueur d’Espoir Arctic Star Roman Galley Vulgan Skateaway

228 IRISH DAILY MIRROR NOVICE HURDLE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. Apr 30. 4yo+. 24f.

1. BEAT THAT (IRE) 6 11-10 £46,500 b g by Milan - Knotted Midge (Presenting) O-Mr Michael Buckley B-Mr J. O’Brien TR-Nicky Henderson 2. Don Poli (IRE) 5 11-9 £14,250 b g by Poliglote - Dalamine (Sillery) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Brian J Griffiths & John Nicholson TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Lots of Memories (IRE) 7 11-10 £6,750 b g by Jammaal - Remember Rob (Deep Society) O-Mrs S. Fahey & J. Breen B-M. Lett TR-P. Fahey Margins 0.75, 1.75. Time 6:05.10.

Going Good to Yielding.

Age 5-6

Starts 6

Wins 3

Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge MILAN b 98 Darshaan Kalata Mtoto Presenting D’Azy KNOTTED MIDGE b 00 Brush Aside Bula Beag Bulabos

Starts 5

Wins 3

229 ATTHERACES.COM CHAMPION INH FLAT RACE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. Apr 30. 4-7yof&g. 16f.

1. SHANESHILL (IRE) 5 12-0 £48,750 b g by King’s Theatre - Darabaka (Doyoun) O-Andrea & Graham Wylie B-Mr D. Johnson TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Silver Concorde (GB) 6 12-0 £14,250 b g by Dansili - Sacred Pearl (Daylami) O-Dr R. Lambe B-Mrs A. Coughlan TR-D. K. Weld

Earned £71,670

Starts 31

Wins 6

Places 14

Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge Reliance II Snow Day

Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge KING’S THEATRE b 91 Princely Native Regal Beauty Dennis Belle Mill Reef

DARABAKA b 90 Labus Darazina Djebellina

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special Raise A Native Charlo Crafty Admiral Evasion Never Bend Milan Mill Kashmir II Faizebad Busted Cordovilla Charlottesville Dalama

Although Shaneshill found Silver Concorde a bit too good for him when favourite for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper, the son of King’s Theatre gained his revenge when the pair clashed again in the Champion INH Flat race at Punchestown.

In addition to performance, Shaneshill has a pedigree which suggests he should develop into a first-rate hurdler. His dam Darabaka was a product of the Aga Khan’s studs and this unraced daughter of the 2,000 Guineas winner Doyoun comes from an outstanding Marcel Boussac family. Also, Darabaka is closely related to the useful hurdler Darbela, another Doyoun mare who produced the highly talented but short-lived hurdler Darlan (who, like Shaneshill, was by a son of Sadler’s Wells). Darabaka’s dam Darazina was the second dam of Darbela. Darabaka also has an important winner to her credit in Far Cry, winner of the Doncaster Cup and second in the Gold Cup, and she is the second dam of Grandeur (Gr2 Hollywood Turf Cup in 2012).

Darazina was also the second dam of Daryaba, a Prix de Diane and Prix Vermeille winner who went on to become the dam of the very smart performers Daramsar and Daryakana.

Darazina also ranked as the third dam of Darsi (Prix du Jockey-Club in 2006) and fourth dam of Darjina (2007 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches).

This is also the family of the smart Irish chaser Argocat.

230 LADBROKES WORLD SERIES HURDLE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. May 1. 4yo+. 24f.

1. JETSON (IRE) 9 11-10 £100,000 b g by Oscar - La Noire (Phardante) O-G McGrath/Mrs Moira McGrath B-G. M. McGrath TR-Mrs J. Harrington 2. Quevega (FR) 10 11-3 £31,667 b m by Robin des Champs - Vega IV (Cap Martin) O-Hammer & Trowel Syndicate B-P. Rives TR-W. P. Mullins 3. At Fishers Cross (IRE) 7 11-10 £15,000 b g by Oscar - Fermoy Supreme (Supreme Leader) O-Mr John P. McManus B-L. O’Regan TR-Rebecca Curtis Margins 1.25, 1. Time 6:00.50.

Going Yielding.

Earned £196,770

JETSON b g 2005

OSCAR b 94

Dumka Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special Shirley Heights Delsy Assert Kalkeen Busted Amazer Persian Bold Belle Viking Alleged Top Twig Proverb Clonmel

Places 2

Age 5-9

SHANESHILL b g 2009

Doyoun

Bearing in mind that Presenting has been champion sire four times, there is every reason to expect daughters of this Derby third to shine as broodmares. Sure enough, they are being ably represented by the likes of the high-class chaser Somersby and the Summer Cup Chase winner Storm Survivor, plus youngsters of the calibre of Rathvinden (third in the Gr1 Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle), Moyle Park (third in the Gr1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle) and Beat That.

Storm Survivor is by Milan and so is Beat That. Both clearly stay very well and the distance was an extended three miles when Beat That took the Gr1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle and the Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle in April 2014. Milan, of course, won the St Leger and Presenting was favourite to win the same Classic in 1995 before his late withdrawal. Not all of Milan’s progeny need a test of stamina, as Jezski showed in the Champion Hurdle.

Beat That is out of a stoutly-bred mare, the winning point-to-pointer Knotted Midge. The next two dams are daughters of Brush Aside, a highly talented but brittle son of Alleged, and Proverb, a Goodwood Cup winner who sired three winners of the Whitbread Gold Cup. The Brush Aside mare, Bula Beag, produced Drombeag, a brother to Knotted Midge who won the Christie’s Foxhunter Chase over three and a quarter miles.

THOROUGHBRED OWNER & BREEDER INC PACEMAKER

Age 4-5

Earned £114,956

BEAT THAT b g 2008

Kithanga

Boston Bob’s career appeared to be going smoothly when he took the Gr1 Dr P.J. Moriarty Novice Chase early in 2013, to improve his record under rules to six wins from eight starts.

Unfortunately he fell when leading at the last in the RSA Chase and again hit the ground on his next start. His connections took the precaution of giving him two races over hurdles when he eventually returned to action, but he was soon back over the bigger obstacles and his career is back on track, judging by his victories in the Melling Chase and Punchestown Gold Cup. Although the last few foals by his sire Bob Back were born in 2007, the high-class winners continue to flow from this excellent stallion, who also numbers the Lexus Chase winner Bobs Worth among his current representatives. Previously he had been responsible for such as Roberto Goldback, Burton Port, Cousin Vinny, Back In Front, Thisthatandtother, Bacchanal, Putty Road, Rare Bob, Treble Bob, Farmer Brown and Calling Brave.

Although Bob Back never won beyond a mile and a quarter, plenty of his best winners stay well. Boston Bob has yet to win beyond two miles five furlongs but his displays in the RSA Chase and the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle confirm that he stays three miles.

Boston Bob’s dam, Bavaway, never raced but she also produced the useful staying hurdler Belle Away and her unraced daughter Backaway is now the dam of the very smart Briar Hill.

This winner of the Weatherbys Champion Bumper is also a Gr1 winner over hurdles. Bavaway was also a half-sister to the smart hurdler/chaser Danny Harrold and the next dam, Chillaway, was a half-sister to the very useful chaser Golden Freeze. This is an old-fashioned Irish National Hunt pedigree, his first three dams being daughters of Le Bavard, Arctic Slave and Vulgan.

Places 2

3. Value At Risk (GB) 5 12-0 £6,750 b g by Kayf Tara - Miss Orchestra (Orchestra) O-Mr D. M. Huglin B-D. M. Huglin TR-Philip Fenton Margins 2, Head. Time 3:57.40.

Going Good to Yielding.

Vindaria Pharly Phardante Pallante LA NOIRE b 95 Deep Run Arctic Run Arctic Rhapsody

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special Tantieme Relance III Roi Dagobert Heavenly Body Lyphard Comely Taj Dewan Cavadonga Pampered King Trial By Fire Bargello Arctic Blaze

Any award for National Hunt Broodmare of the Year would surely go to Phardante’s daughter La Noire.

Although no great shakes on the racecourse – her best effort was her fourth of 19 in a Naas bumper – La Noire has proved a wonderful source of high-class performers.

Her first foal, the Presenting gelding Jered, numbered the Gr1 Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown among his three Graded wins. He was followed by two failures by Saddlers’ Hall but La Noire struck again with her 2005 Oscar gelding Jetson. Having won a bumper and a couple of races over hurdles, it was a natural progression for Jetson to tackle fences and he duly won on his third attempt. However, his connections clearly harboured doubts that chasing was his forte and he has raced mainly over hurdles since that win. Jetson achieved a career best as a nine-year-old when he held off Quevega in the World Series Hurdle.

La Noire’s owner continued down the Sadler’s Wells route by sending her to Milan and she added another two important winners to her tally in the Gr2 novice hurdle winner Jenari and the Champion Hurdle winner Jezki. More recently La Noire has produced a 2011 colt to Flemensfirth and a 2012 filly by Milan.

Although she failed to win, La Noire has a fine National Hunt pedigree. One of her half-brothers, Leading Run, took the 2006 Champion INH Flat race and another, Strong Run, won the BMW. Chase in 2002, so this family is no stranger to success at the Punchestown festival.

Jetson’s third dam, Arctic Rhapsody, was an unraced half-sister to Arctic Serenade, winner of the Irish Cesarewitch and dam of the useful staying hurdler Last Serenade. His second dam, the Deep Run mare Arctic Run, was a half-sister to Arctic Scale, dam of the talented Irish hurdler Red Square Lady.

231 RYANAIR NOVICE CHASE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. May 1. 5yo+. 16f.

1. GOD’S OWN (IRE) 6 11-10 £56,833 b g by Oscar - Dantes Term (Phardante) O-Crossed Fingers Partnership B-Mrs C. O’Driscoll TR-Tom George 2. Moscow Mannon (IRE) 8 11-10 £17,417 b g by Moscow Society - Unfaithful Thought (Mind

93

June_118_Databook_Layout 1 21/05/2014 18:31 Page 94

DATA BOOK STAKES RESULTS

National Hunt Grade 1s Games) O-J. M. Flanagan B-J. M. Flanagan TR-Henry de Bromhead 3. Balder Succes (FR) 6 11-10 £8,250 b g by Goldneyev - Frija Eria (Kadalko) O-Masterson Holdings Limited B-Mr Damien Bellanger & Mr Nicholas Bellanger TR-Alan King Margins 0.5, Neck. Time 4:11.80.

Going Yielding.

Age 4-6

Starts 13

Wins 4

Places 7

JEZKI b g 2008 Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge MILAN b 98 Darshaan Kithanga Kalata

Earned £88,686

Pharly Phardante Pallante

GOD’S OWN b g 2008

LA NOIRE b 95 Deep Run

Northern Dancer Sadler’s Wells Fairy Bridge OSCAR b 94 Reliance II Snow Day Vindaria Pharly Phardante Pallante DANTES TERM b 96 The Parson Parsons Term Zozimus

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special Tantieme Relance III Roi Dagobert Heavenly Body Lyphard Comely Taj Dewan Cavadonga Aureole Bracey Bridge Rarity Rahat-Lakoum

Admirers of the stallion Oscar could have made a lot of money on the third day of the Punchestown festival. One son, Jetson, sprang a 20-1 surprise in defeating Quevega in the Gr1 World Series Hurdle and then another son, God’s Own, defied odds of 25-1 to take the Gr1 Ryanair Novice Chase.

These valuable victories are, for sire stats purposes, in the first week of the 2014-15 season, but even if they had been included in the 201314 figures they wouldn’t have been quite enough for Oscar to close the gap on the title-winning King’s Theatre, so it was second place for a fourth consecutive year.

Like Jetson, God’s Own is out of a daughter of the St Leger second Phardante and so are two of Oscar’s other good winners, Oscar Whisky and Oscar Dan Dan. God’s Own’s win in the Ryanair Chase was his first in four attempts over fences.

His talented brother Working Title also won over fences but was later successfully returned to hurdling.

Their dam, the unraced Dantes Term, is a half-sister to the useful young hurdler Moonshine Lad. The best previous winner from this family was Blitzkreig, winner of the Victor Chandler Chase and Aintree Chase over two miles, and God’s Own is clearly also well suited by that distance, even though he has won beyond two and a half miles.

233 RACING POST CHAMPION HURDLE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. May 2. 4yo+. 16f.

94

Starts 16

Wins 11

Places 3

Arctic Rhapsody

See race 7 in January 2014 issue 234 TATTERSALLS IRELAND CHAMPION NOV. HURDLE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. May 2. 4yo+. 20f.

1. VAUTOUR (FR) 5 11-10 £46,500 b g by Robin des Champs - Gazelle de Mai (Dom Pasquini) O-Mrs S. Ricci B-Haras de Saint Voir & P. Joubert TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Apache Stronghold (IRE) 6 11-10 £14,250 b g by Milan - First Battle (Un Desperado) O-Mrs Patricia Hunt B-J. Robinson TR-Noel Meade 3. Lieutenant Colonel (GB) 5 11-10 £6,750 br g by Kayf Tara - Agnese (Abou Zouz) O-Gigginstown House Stud B-Mrs H. I. S. Calzini TR-D. T. Hughes Margins 3.5, 6. Time 4:49.10.

Going Good to Yielding.

Age 3-5

Starts 7

Wins 5

Places 2

Earned £593,066

Earned £200,262

VAUTOUR b g 2009 Mill Reef Garde Royale Royal Way ROBIN DES CHAMPS b 97 Iron Duke Relayeuse Reliorneuse Rheffic Dom Pasquini Boursonne GAZELLE DE MAI gr 89 Sword Dancer Mexia Kozmic Blues

Never Bend Milan Mill Sicambre Right Away Sicambre Insulaire El Relicario Ordonneuse Traffic Rhenane La Varende Arctic Star Eudaemon Doll Dance Swaps Red Spy

See race 149 in April 2014 issue 235 AES CHAMPION 4YO HURDLE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. May 3. 4yo. 16f.

1. ABBYSSIAL (IRE) 11-0 £51,667 ch g by Beneficial - Mega d’Estruval (Garde Royale) O-Mrs V. O’Leary B-J. J. Murphy & G. Adare TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Plinth (IRE) 11-0 £15,833 b g by Montjeu - Crazy Volume (Machiavellian) O-Mr John P. McManus B-Lynch Bages Ltd & Samac Ltd TR-Aidan O’Brien 3. Fox Norton (FR) 11-0 £7,500 b g by Lando - Natt Musik (Kendor) O-Mr B. Dunn B-S.A. Scuderia Del Bargelo TR-Nick Williams Margins 6.5, 1.5. Time 3:49.40.

Going Good to Yielding.

Age 3-4

Starts 6

Wins 4

Places 1

Earned £93,025

ABBYSSIAL ch g 2010 High Top

1. JEZKI (IRE) 6 11-12 £100,000 b g by Milan - La Noire (Phardante) O-Mr John P. McManus B-G. M. McGrath TR-Mrs J. Harrington 2. Hurricane Fly (IRE) 10 11-12 £31,667 b g by Montjeu - Scandisk (Kenmare) O-George Creighton & Mrs Rose Boyd B-Agricola Del Parco SS TR-W. P. Mullins 3. Steps To Freedom (IRE) 8 11-12 £15,000 b g by Statue of Liberty - Dhakhirah (Sadler’s Wells) O-Mrs Sean Hussey B-M. Thornton TR-Mrs J. Harrington Margins 3.25, 12. Time 4:06.80.

Going Good to Yielding.

Age 4-6

Arctic Run

Nearctic Natalma Bold Reason Special Shirley Heights Delsy Assert Kalkeen Lyphard Comely Taj Dewan Cavadonga Pampered King Trial By Fire Bargello Arctic Blaze

Top Ville Sega Ville BENEFICIAL b 90 Green Dancer Youthful First Bloom Mill Reef Garde Royale Royal Way MEGA D’ESTRUVAL ch 00 Toujours Pret Vocation Esperide

Derring-Do Camenae Charlottesville La Sega Nijinsky Green Valley Primera Flower Dance Never Bend Milan Mill Sicambre Right Away Val de Loir Dundee III Shikampur Ugalde

remarkable grand-daughter Quevega with her tenth consecutive victory – and her fifth at the festival – but Garde Royale’s name still cropped up in connection with one of the festival’s Gr1 winners in Champion Four-YearOld Hurdle victor Abbyssial (by Beneficial out of a Garde Royale mare). In the past Garde Royale’s son Garde Champetre became a standing dish in Punchestown’s cross country chases and the French stallion also enjoyed Gr1 success at the festival with his sons Royal Rosa and Nicanor.

A son of Mill Reef, Garde Royale sired the Prix de Diane winner Carling in addition to making a sizeable impact with his jumping progeny. One of his jumping winners, Uberaba, became the dam of the top-class middle-distance Flat performer Vision d’Etat and Abbyssial’s dam Mega d’Estruval also raced over jumps (without success). However, she had earlier won four middle-distance races for non-thoroughbreds, including a valuable event over a mile and a half at Longchamp.

Marie d’Estruval had a couple of half-brothers who showed good form over fences after leaving France. One, Notable d’Estruval, won the valuable Ulster Bank Handicap Chase at the 2008 Punchestown festival and another, Destin d’Estruval, was a useful handicap chaser at his best.

Abbyssial has won his last four completed starts, the one blot being his fall in the Triumph Hurdle. His sire Beneficial topped the stallion table in 2012-2013, since when he has also shone with the exciting staying hurdler More Of That. Despite More Of That’s efforts, it is probably fair to say that, thanks to such as Realt Dubh, Benefficient, Mount Benbulben, Cooldine, Gungadu and Kid Cassidy, Beneficial generally made a bigger impact with his chasers than his hurdlers. Abbyssial should therefore be an exciting prospect when the time comes to graduate to fences.

236 IRISH STALL.FARMS EBF MARES CHPN. HURDLE G1 PUNCHESTOWN. May 3. 4yo+f. 18f.

1. ANNIE POWER (IRE) 6 11-7 £51,667 ch m by Shirocco - Anno Luce (Old Vic) O-Mrs S. Ricci B-E. Cleary TR-W. P. Mullins 2. Jennies Jewel (IRE) 7 11-7 £15,833 b m by Flemensfirth - Fishin Joella (Gone Fishin) O-Mr A.N.McIntyre B-E. Sexton C. Bailey & N. McIntyre TR-Jarlath Fahey 3. Katie T (IRE) 5 11-7 £7,500 b m by Beneficial - Long Acre (Mark of Esteem) O-Barrywhite Partnership B-Long Acre Syndicate TR-Kevin Pendergast Margins 7, 3.5. Time 4:24.50.

Going Good to Yielding.

Age 4-6

Starts 12

Wins 11

Places 1

Earned £298,304

ANNIE POWER ch m 2008 Konigsstuhl Monsun Mosella SHIROCCO b 01 The Minstrel So Sedulous Sedulous Sadler’s Wells Old Vic Cockade ANNO LUCE ch 93 Prince Ippi

The latest Punchestown festival failed to provide Garde Royale’s

Annie Power’s starting price of 1-6 in the Mares’ Champion Hurdle was a reflection of the six-year-old’s outstanding record, which comprised ten consecutive victories followed by an honourable second in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle. The daughter of Shirocco won as expected, scoring by seven lengths.

Annie Power was in utero when her dam Anno Luce was sold by Darley for €60,000 at Goffs’ 2007 November sale. As a Gr3 winner on the Flat by the top jumping sire Old Vic, Anno Luce must have appealed to breeders from both the Flat and jumping sectors, but she initially went the National Hunt route, her next mate being Kalanisi.

Annie Power’s second dam is the champion German filly Anna Paola, a Preis der Diana winner who became the ancestress of numerous Group performers after her purchase by Darley, one of the most recent being the top Australian colt Helmet. No fewer than five of Anna Paola’s daughters produced stakes winners on the Flat, including six Group winners, one being the remarkably tough Annus Mirabilis, who earned over £1 million in Europe, the UAE and Japan.

Anno Luce contribution was Air Trooper, a colt by Annie Power’s grandsire Monsun foaled in the year of her sale. Air Trooper won his first two starts in France, including the Listed Prix de l’Avre, in the style of a smart performer but unfortunately he never raced again.

Old Vic, the broodmare sire of Annie Power, has been a strong influence for stamina, as can be gauged from the fact that he sired two Grand National winners. The mare’s family has produced several other good jumpers, including Atlaal, a useful performer over hurdles and fences, and Sadlers Wings, a Gr1 winner over hurdles. Anno Lune had already been represented by the talented hurdler Head Waiter, who went on to win a valuable chase.

Anna Paola Antwerpen

Dschingis Khan Konigskronung Surumu Monasia Northern Dancer Fleur Tap On Wood Pendulina Northern Dancer Fairy Bridge Derring-Do Camenae Imperial Prinzess Addi Waldcanter Adelsweihe

Annie Power: related to some high class Flat performers

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June_118_Databook_Layout 1 21/05/2014 18:31 Page 95

Caulfield on Abbyssial: “Despite his efforts and those of More Of That, it is probably fair to say his sire Beneficial has generally made a bigger impact with his chasers than his hurdlers”

Date 03/04 03/04 04/04 04/04 04/04 05/04 05/04 06/04 06/04 06/04 06/04 12/04 12/04 12/04 16/04 20/04 20/04 20/04 20/04 21/04 21/04 21/04 21/04 26/04 29/04 30/04 01/05 02/05 02/05 03/05 03/05

Grade G3 G3 G2 G3 G3 G2 G3 GB G2 G2 G2 G2 G2 G3 G2 GB GB GC G3 GA G2 G3 G3 G3 GB GA GC GC GA GB GB

Race (course) Dominican Republic Handicap Hurdle (Aintree) Silver Cross Red Rum Handicap Chase (Aintree) Int.Festival for Business Top Nov.Hurdle (Aintree) Alder Hey Children’s Charity Hcp Hurdle (Aintree) Crabbie’s Topham Handicap Chase (Aintree) Weatherbys Champion Open NH. Flat Race (Aintree) Crabbie’s Grand National Handicap Chase (Aintree) Clarion Hotel Liffey Valley Nov Hp Chase (Fairyhouse) Coolmore NH Sires Novice Hurdle (Fairyhouse) Normans Grove Chase (Fairyhouse) Rathbarry & Glenview Studs Novice Hurdle (Fairyhouse) Arcadia Future Champion Novices’ Chase (Ayr) QTS Scottish Champion Hurdle (Ayr) Coral Scottish Grand National Hcp Chase (Ayr) Wooden Spoon Charity Silver Trophy Chase (Cheltenham) Boylesports Easter Festival Hcp Hurdle (Fairyhouse) INH Stallion Owners EBF Novice Hp Hurdle (Fairyhouse) Easter Handicap Hurdle (Cork) Imperial Call Chase (Cork) The Boylesports Irish Grand National Chase (Fairyhouse) Keelings Irish Strawberry Hurdle (Fairyhouse) John & Chich Fowler Mem. EBF Mares Chase (Fairyhouse) Tayto Hurdle (Fairyhouse) bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase (Sandown Park) bragbet.com Handicap Hurdle (Punchestown) Guinness Handicap Chase (Punchestown) Three.ie Black Hills Handicap Chase (Punchestown) Seaniemac EBF Glencaraig Lady H. Chase (Punchestown) Aon Novice Handicap Chase (Punchestown) Palmerstown House Pat Taaffe Hcp Chase (Punchestown) Setanta Sports Handicap Hurdle (Punchestown)

Dist 24.5f 16f 16.5f 20f 21.5f 17f 35.5f 17f 20f 17f 16f 20f 16f 32.5f 21f 16f 24f 19f 24f 29f 20f 20f 16f 29.5f 16f 20 16f 21f 21f 25f 20f

Horse Doctor Harper (IRE) Parsnip Pete (GB) Josses Hill (IRE) Clondaw Kaempfer (IRE) Ma Filleule (FR) Ballybolley (IRE) Pineau de Re (FR) Some Tikket (IRE) Lieutenant Colonel (GB) Arvika Ligeonniere (FR) Valseur Lido (FR) Eduard (IRE) Cockney Sparrow (GB) Al Co (FR) Buywise (IRE) Daneking (GB) Lots of Memories (IRE) Blacklough (IRE) Toner d’Oudairies (FR) Shutthefrontdoor (IRE) Thousand Stars (FR) Une Artiste (FR) Ivan Grozny (FR) Hadrian’s Approach (IRE) Cool Macavity (IRE) Orpheus Valley (IRE) Mallowney (IRE) Burn And Turn (IRE) Operating (IRE) Chartreux (FR) Deep Trouble (IRE)

Age 6 8 6 6 6 5 11 7 5 9 5 6 5 9 7 5 7 6 7 7 10 6 4 7 6 11 8 8 7 9 7

Sex G G G G M G G G G G G G M G G G G G G G G M G G G G G M G G G

Sire Presenting Pasternak Winged Love Oscar Turgeon Kayf Tara Maresca Sorrento Tikkanen Kayf Tara Arvico Anzillero Morozov Cockney Rebel Dom Alco Tikkanen Dylan Thomas Jammaal King’s Theatre Polish Summer Accordion Grey Risk Alberto Giacometti Turtle Bowl High Chaparral One Cool Cat Beneficial Oscar Flemensfirth Milan Colonel Collins Shantou

Dam Supreme Dreamer Bella Coola Credora Storm Gra-Bri Kadaina Gales Hill Elfe du Perche Ally Rose Agnese Daraka Libido Rock Dinny Kenn Compose Carama Greenogue Princess Sadie Thompson Remember Rob Oh Susannah Iroise d’Oudairies Hurricane Girl Livaniana Castagnette III Behnesa Gifted Approach Cause Celebre Native Mo Silkaway Pescetto Lady Seymourswift Ruaha River Out of Trouble

Broodmare Sire Supreme Leader Northern State Glacial Storm Rashar Kadalko Beau Sher Abdonski Roselier Abou Zouz Akarad Video Rock Phardante Anabaa Tip Moss Rainbows For Life King’s Best Deep Society Turgeon Passing Sale Strong Gale Saint Estephe Tin Soldier Suave Dancer Roselier Peintre Celebre Be My Native Buckskin Toulon Seymour Hicks Villez Mandalus

Index 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 221 256 257 258 259 260 227 261 262 232 263 264

Leading National Hunt sires 2013/14 by earnings Name

King's Theatre Oscar Milan Beneficial Presenting Flemensfirth Old Vic Kayf Tara Westerner Dom Alco Bob Back Maresca Sorrento Shantou Midnight Legend Anshan Gold Well Dr Massini Montjeu Alflora My Risk Definite Article Winged Love Martaline Karinga Bay Shirocco Cloudings Robin des Champs Brian Boru Heron Island Accordion Witness Box Alderbrook Sir Harry Lewis Overbury Stowaway Turgeon Vinnie Roe Golan Saddlers' Hall High Chaparral Desert Prince Court Cave Azamour Germany Exit To Nowhere Moscow Society Lavirco Galileo Saint des Saints Goldneyev

YOF

1991 1994 1998 1990 1992 1992 1986 1994 1999 1987 1981 1995 1993 1991 1987 2001 1993 1996 1989 1999 1992 1992 1999 1987 2001 1994 1997 2000 1993 1986 1987 1989 1984 1991 1994 1986 1998 1998 1988 1999 1995 2001 2001 1991 1988 1985 1993 1998 1998 1986

Sire

Rnrs

Runs

Wnrs

%WR

Wins

Earnings (£)

Top horse

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Top Ville Mtoto Alleged Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Danehill Dom Pasquini Roberto Cadoudal Alleged Night Shift Persian Bold Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Niniski Take Risks Indian Ridge In the Wings Linamix Ardross Monsun Sadler's Wells Garde Royale Sadler's Wells Shirley Heights Sadler's Wells Lyphard Ardross Alleged Caerleon Slip Anchor Caro Definite Article Spectrum Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Green Desert Sadler's Wells Night Shift Trempolino Irish River Nijinsky Königsstuhl Sadler's Wells Cadoudal Nureyev

268 358 326 364 395 332 223 237 148 33 61 7 90 122 92 57 114 64 149 2 167 84 21 98 29 80 27 86 116 58 58 81 72 120 45 35 90 91 66 70 16 66 28 13 80 69 23 74 29 4

1,212 1,457 1,355 1,619 1,513 1,230 899 780 588 138 268 26 373 489 410 261 483 306 599 10 593 354 98 416 87 378 82 405 379 216 287 348 316 398 204 147 360 301 301 251 74 316 122 61 275 259 112 254 104 26

118 119 114 117 117 87 67 81 48 17 20 2 34 40 27 24 29 18 40 1 43 26 9 32 12 29 8 28 30 12 19 24 24 26 13 14 23 19 16 20 6 22 11 6 17 21 13 18 10 2

44.03 33.24 34.97 32.14 29.62 26.20 30.04 34.18 32.43 51.52 32.79 28.57 37.78 32.79 29.35 42.11 25.44 28.13 26.85 50.00 25.75 30.95 42.86 32.65 41.38 36.25 29.63 32.56 25.86 20.69 32.76 29.63 33.33 21.67 28.89 40.00 25.56 20.88 24.24 28.57 37.50 33.33 39.29 46.15 21.25 30.43 56.52 24.32 34.48 50.00

191 177 169 175 175 127 97 123 71 22 32 3 50 70 36 46 48 27 58 6 58 40 15 54 23 50 14 44 45 15 25 38 34 35 19 25 34 26 22 24 10 33 23 11 27 30 20 24 12 7

2,689,382 2,511,153 2,257,141 2,093,276 1,899,142 1,329,642 1,110,064 1,052,474 772,924 729,113 671,708 602,115 593,092 570,678 552,836 551,789 509,368 506,441 496,684 485,699 481,553 454,445 443,964 428,408 411,211 384,306 382,881 381,959 380,711 359,261 351,672 337,862 326,179 321,996 311,494 310,967 300,255 290,393 276,819 276,768 272,966 271,611 270,869 259,577 258,254 244,908 242,587 234,461 233,232 229,782

Balthazar King Lord Windermere Jezki More Of That On His Own Jennies Jewel Spring Heeled No Planning Western Warhorse Silviniaco Conti Boston Bob Pineau de Re Ballynagour Bally Legend Last Instalment Johns Spirit Rocky Creek Hurricane Fly Wishfull Thinking Sire de Grugy Cailin Annamh Josses Hill Dynaste Pass The Hat Annie Power Cloudy Too Vautour Shotgun Paddy Rathvinden Shutthefrontdoor Godsmejudge Bygones Of Brid Harry Topper Bury Parade Hidden Cyclone Ma Filleule The Crafty Butcher Missunited White Star Line Hadrian's Approach My Tent Or Yours Court Minstrel Zarkandar Faugheen Highland Retreat Muzak Roi du Mee Royal Irish Hussar Sametegal Balder Succes

Earned (£)

289,300 327,985 426,343 209,608 201,992 64,071 66,538 59,941 103,852 250,160 226,680 590,618 103,763 88,182 78,628 129,877 85,268 202,748 48,088 483,244 46,550 73,917 236,173 42,950 196,807 70,020 183,138 63,543 34,940 129,119 60,130 33,304 99,335 65,162 129,878 114,456 33,223 135,168 91,350 101,142 216,367 47,082 85,321 149,438 52,947 38,665 82,254 41,756 51,416 131,414

Theatre leaves rivals standing in the stalls King’s Theatre held on to notch the title by a decisive margin, nearly £180,000. The achievement is all the more meritorious given that he had significantly fewer runners than the next five in the list, including 127 less than Presenting.

King’s Theatre was also top on percentage of winners to runners among stallions who had 50 or more runners, and on wins. His tally there, a phenomenal 191, put him 14 clear of Oscar, with Beneficial and Presenting both on 175.

King’s Theatre and Oscar are by Sadler’s Wells, as are Milan in third, Old Vic in seventh and Kayf Tara in eighth. The Coolmore stalwart has another ten in the top 50, which is possibly predictable but does make things look rather top heavy. Kayf Tara, the top British-based sire again, did well to break the £1 million barrier. He had 237 runners, a much higher figure than any jump sire in the UK would have had a few years ago, but 123 wins is a fine score.

Milan, who is 16, and ninthplaced Westerner, who is a year older, are the young bloods and with natural attenuation playing its part they can be expected to figure ever more prominently. Westerner in particular, with only 148 runners last season, looks one to follow.

Statistics to May 3

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95

June_118_24Hours_Owner 21/05/2014 15:20 Page 96

24 HOURS WITH… MICHAEL OWEN

96

GEORGE SELWYN

F

ootballers are not renowned for getting up early, but these days I am out of bed by 6.30am. I accept that in the greater scheme of things in my new life of racing, football media work and running a youth management company, it is not exactly the crack of dawn.

But it’s a case of getting our four kids ready before I do the school run with our son, James. That’s a half-hour drive from our home near Mold, in North Wales, but quite convenient because it’s on the way to my office at Manor House Stables in Malpas in Cheshire. I always pop into the newsagent on the way to pick up my Racing Post. So it fits in quite well.

I’m a natural waker and don’t have a drink that early in the morning because I don’t do tea or coffee at all; just a shave and a shower followed by a smoothie before helping my wife Louise organise Gemma, 10, James, 8, Emily, 6, and Jessica, 4.

Since I retired I’ve been trying to keep the weight off so I bought a smoothie maker. Four or five different fruits go into the pot; I mix them up and drink a healthy breakfast.

I built my office at the stables for my day-to-day business, which is managing a dozen young footballers attached to clubs in the north-west. We look after the better and most promising players, trying to turn their potential into a career. When I was playing football I realised how much bad advice and wastage there was in the game and saw a niche in the market. Now I enjoy trying to develop and cultivate these youngsters on and off the field.

I also work for three broadcasters covering Premier League games: BT Sport, who have just bought

Former Liverpool and England striker MICHAEL OWEN is helping the next generation of football stars from his office at Manor House Stables, home to Gold Cup hope Brown Panther the rights for the Champions League for three seasons from 2015; the BBC; and Premier League Productions, the worldwide broadcaster for the Premier League. I also do an article for The Daily Telegraph on Saturdays.

As part of my fitness campaign I trained for the London Marathon this year and completed in 3hr 45m.

It was hell at the time but good fun looking back on a great occasion. Once you get your head round the training you become obsessed by the whole challenge and start to enjoy your own company on those long runs. I raised £78,000 split between

Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, the Manchester Eye Hospital and Prostate Cancer UK. It is an event I’ll never forget – and never do again!

Now I keep fit chasing the kids round the garden and play the occasional game of football. A few weeks back I turned out at Anfield in a Hillsborough charity match.

I am quite a big eater, which is a bit tricky when I’m trying to keep my weight down. But if I’m around the yard and an owner calls in, Tom Dascombe, our trainer, will ask me to join them for lunch. I enjoy the trip to a local pub for a hearty meal,

rather than the usual sandwich. I am very poor in the cooking department and am basically a meat and veg man. Louise is the cook, and a good one.

We have about 90 horses in the yard. A couple carry my colours and I own bits and pieces in about eight others. I also have some broodmares and foals, most of them are in Surrey at Chasemore Farm, owned by Andrew Black, my partner in Manor House Stables.

We are hoping Brown Panther, who thrilled us with his comeback win at Chester, will defend his crown in the Goodwood Cup, which he won last year. But more immediately his first big target is the Gold Cup at Ascot. After Goodwood it could be the Irish St Leger followed by either the Melbourne Cup or Ascot’s Champions Day Marathon.

My main role as British Champions Series Ambassador is to project the whole event and try to create a new audience for the sport.

I don’t bet as much as I used to because I don’t have that much time. Or that much money now I’m no longer a professional footballer.

I don’t like relaxing. If I can wiggle a day off I like to go racing at Chester or anywhere we have runners.

Otherwise I enjoy watching the horses on the gallops or the kids doing their afterschool clubs. We also have a place in Portugal where we can holiday as a family.

If I am not away watching matches we tend to bath the kids together in the evening before sitting down to a meal around 8pm and Louise will cook some meat and veg. I get to bed by 11pm. As soon as my head hits the pillow I’m asleep. And I’m a good sleeper, too.

Interview by Tim Richards

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Castlebridge OB June2014 f-p_Castlebridge OB June2014 f-p.qxp 21/05/2014 09:46 Page 1

The Castlebridge Consignment On the track ...and in the sales ring

NIGHT OF THUNDER sold at the Tattersalls October Sales, Book 1, wins the Gr.1 Qipco 2000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket, 2014.

CHICQUITA winner of the Gr.1 Darley Irish Oaks, sells for €6m at Goffs.

Please contact BILL DWAN or ANDREW MEAD to discuss selling and preparing your horse as part of the Castlebridge draft at Arqana, Doncaster, Goffs, Tattersalls or Tattersalls Ireland.

Castlebridge East and UK Office, 9 Paddocks Drive, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9BE, England ANDREW MEAD +44 (0) 7940 597573 (m) • mead@castlebridge.eu Castlebridge Stud, Kildalkey, Navan, Co. Meath, Ireland BILL DWAN +353 (0) 87 6485587 (m) • dwan@castlebridge.eu

www.castlebridge.eu

DAR6336 OB page Poets Voice 26 MAY14 14/05/2014 16:07 Page 1

A thrill standing still, Just stunning when running

Chapter and verse

Dubai Millennium: One of the best of all time.

Dubawi: As fine a sire as there is.

Poet’s Voice: Dubawi’s highest-rated juvenile and an exceptional miler.

Follow the line...

All the way to the yearling sales.

The first by Poet’s Voice sell this year.

POET’S VOICE

Dubawi – Bright Tiara (Chief’s Crown) +44 (0)1638 730070 +353 (0)45 527600 www.darleystallions.com

Darley